Be nice if this country had some more journalists with courage. Instead too many have made a virtue of stenographers and gotcha hacks. This will happen when we suck on the propaganda bubble.
The Daily Blog weekly measurably descends further and further into a conspiracy theory laden cesspit of stupidity.
It is difficult to over-emphasise how much the The Daily Blog has drifted to a far right conspiracy theory site these days. Bradbury makes claims about events conducted by "the woke" and "the professional middle class" that happen outside the realm of observation, that are often outlandish and far-fetched, and that are not even necessarily meant to be believed, but rather function as part of his on going smear campaigns against his vast array of enemies real and imagined.
It's being part of being of the alt media, here man of the people/popular masses/working class against the establiishment.
Being one of that group, while of the left, reminds one of the Strasser brothers, however Bomber is more the man vs woke liberal feminists than an ally of the race based social conservatives.
You handle the Gonzo nature of TDB or not I guess. It started out with union sponsors and some pretty good writers, most of whom rarely contribute any more. Wayne Hope, Susan St. John, Dr David Robie and Mike Treen being exceptions albeit not regularly.
It is a bit of a blocked S–bend the way a bunch of nutters have slipped their collar from various right wing blogs and been encouraged at TDB. The “woke” meme and late 90s look are indeed tiresome.
And…The Standard…some great people here, and some unrepentant Rogernomes.
I agree with Sanc re BB's writing style, it's combative, puerile and reads like an absolute dog. I wish he had someone to second and make his thoughts more readable, as there is a lot of good stuff that's he's trying to say amongst all that.
I suggested he hire Toby Manhire to write on his behalf (instead of just railing about him), as that guy can seriously write, but the comment got blocked .
I was a regular contributor to TDB for a few years but eventually got sick and tired of Bradbury's woke rants, the trolls and nutters who just wanted to abuse people, not engage in any meaningful debate. So I came here instead, much better.
Reports off the wire get changed all the time, to full out the context and put it into the local context.
Such is sensible journalism. I suspect what the controversy is about is misrepresentation though. Amending stuff from Reuters would only have an ethical basis if the editor declared that the story had been amended…
There is too much pro-Ukraine (almost propaganda) floating around in the MSM. It has been good to see a note of realism in the reporting of the recent Ukraine offensive operations.
But I have difficulty with praise for The Daily Blog. Bomber's growing obsession with wokeness is frankly weird. And now he is criticising the Green's radical Wealth Tax saying:
"but the reliance on a the wealth tax to do all the heavy lifting here is simply delusional."
This is also weird-I thought Bomber was strongly in favour of a WT and to my knowledge the Greens have not ruled out other measures in addition to this. But he is right that a Land Tax is a good option.
I would suggest that some of the Standard's commentators fall into the same category for criticism as RNZ, hence the vitriolic attacks on the Daily Blog above.
The words of Chris Trotter
The people’s broadcaster became both the purveyor and defender of neoliberal and social-liberal orthodoxy – as swift to denounce Posie Parker as Vladimir Putin. Contracting-out economic commentary to the Aussie banks’ in-house economists, and political commentary to PR firms. It’s journalists appeared to be more comfortable attacking Hate Speech than defending Free Speech.
Orthodoxy and Dissidence at the Standard – that would make a good post.
The main reasons the Daily Blog is criticised is 1) it's owner appears to be a deeply unpleasant bully and 2) the site is riddled with conspiracy thinking and alt-right memes. You only have to read the comments section to see the place attracts lunatics and losers by the bucketload.
Bradbury's predilection for objectifying his enemies as collectively part of some sort of organised conspiracy is disturbing, and he seldom offers much by way of constructive solutions to anything. His posts generally consist of the same cut-and-pasted talking points endlessly and bombastically re-cycled. I mean, the guy believes in flying saucers FFS.
I think a key difference between many of the contributors on this site and TDB is the Standard contains many people who have had successful careers working with or as part of institutions, and they bring with that actual life experience and insight into the difficulties of generating change in an environment that is ambiently hostile to even moderately left wing agendas. The TBD consists largely of serial complainers and professional fringe merchants who long ago fell victim to the romance of dissidence and whilst they are veterans of protest, they offer little by way of practical insight on how to get change over the line.
Bradbury is an egotistical blowhard and a serial chancer whose failed attempts of being a disrupter to the hated establishment included buddying up to Kim Dotcom, because – surprise, surprise – he thought the Internet party would be the "king makers" who'd shake thing up. Nowadays he shills TOP and Maori party as the latest batters up in his quest to get payback on the establishment.
He attracts some interesting commentators who should know better to his podcast I believe but the site itself is just a shithole.
TPM seem to me to be largely interested in playing performative games as they really don't want to recognise the legitimacy of parliamentary government in NZ. Insofar as they don't believe in our current democratic arrangements or the legitimacy of the "settler state" they have no business with accepting a seat and salary within it's institutions.
TOP are a contradiction in terms, a centrist anti-establishment party. In reality it is just another attempt at the suppression of politics with "applied common sense".
I think the key word in your assessment of tpm is 'performative'..
But dig down and their social policies are old school labour/dismantling of the neoliberal policies adhered to by labour post ' '84.
And they are a tidy fit with the social policies of the greens..(hence my spine metaphor..)
But looking past the 'performative'..much of tpm is whathat labour used to be all about..
Another interesting aspect of this is I heard on mainstream media..that is that there has been a noticable increase on those on the maori roll..having moved from the general roll..
And as far as that is concerned..I can only see tpm benefitting from that shift..
And to my mind this will be a very good/coalition spine-building thing…
Luckily the standard is not just a reflection of it commentators, otherwise it might be misread as a elitist, smug collection of know it all's who think their farts don't smell.
' ….Because the narrative that [Trotter] is constructing is one that the left wing, not the right, is actively dismantling and destroying the system of rights and privileges that we as a democracy have..
…It's dangerous because what it does is shift the narrative from the clear and present danger being presented by the far right to our democracy and social cohesion to one being presented by the left; spearheaded by a Labour government with all infinite power to change our lives via a majority in Parliament and further supported by the Greens and their "extremist" views.
It portrays those on the far right, and on the right in general, as very much victims of a wider plot by the left to shut them out of democracy and violating their freedom of expression. It's an attempt to gaslight the public into believing that they are the "true victims" of perceived state repression and paint them in a more positive light by dressing their cause up as a resistance to overbearing government mandates and regulations, the dark veil of "censorship" via "cancel culture", and the many other talking points of the culture war the right has wholesale adopted from elsewhere.'
It's censorship if facts are suppressed, but it's not facts that are the weapons of choice, but disinformation, feelings, nebulous rumours, fostering political tribalism, and hate-filled othering of minorities.
Listen to the RNZ interview: ethical journalists and truthful(ish) governments are caught in a stick: reportage to debunk becomes amplification of the lies.
Did you miss the opening remarks, they have convicted the reporter and effectively calling him a Putin puppet. Then moan how could this happen to RNZ.
You undercut you own argument by that piece of reporting being emotive, fostering political tribalism, and disinformation. Their feeling have been hurt and the digital reporter is to blame.
It felt like a skit from not the nine o'clock news. This is why I hardly listen to RNZ after it got gutted by Key and co. 9 till noon is just truly awful, the stasi would be proud.
Yeah, that default to a mainstreamer view eternally propounded by state media has always irritated me too. You can see why online culture has proliferated alt views. Trouble is, too many are delusional.
It's the antique conundrum: caught between the devil & the deep blue sea. The devil works within the control system to direct state media toward controller-approved narratives while competing storytellers have another toke & hallucinate. However the good news is that we can escape that binary via a third alternative: relativise all views.
The 21st century alt-media ocean is treacherous. We'd like somewhere to stand on common ground, but it's all awash out there…
It's delusional to think we live in societies without bias. It's that Chomsky thing, where to function together, we have to agree on a few basic stories about ourselves. Of course governments shape that narrative.
I became aware of 'party lines' at the age of 10 or so. The Catholic magazine, Zelandia I think it was, had a different version of events in the 'Irish Troubles' from the BBC-derived story on tv news here. And, of course, there was the gap between scurrilous, but true, Wellington gossip Muldoon and what appeared in national media. Oh, and working out that Readers Digest toilet reading spun emotive yarns.
That why we have brains, to learn how detect bullshit when it's being flogged to us.Unfortunately, Trump began an avalanche of ‘alternative facts’ in political discourse. Chaff strewing wasa Nazi propaganda tactic – put so much in the water that facts and logical discourse become obscured by outrage of the day.
It has it own set of problems. But on the whole I find it better than most here. Also broader in the people and opinions it expresses. Bigger population helps.
During the submissions on RNZ and TVNZ I put forward the idea, That the ABC take over operations of our public media, and tax the banks to pay for it – as they are Australian anyway.
Reuters produces general news content, and does not allow change of their content of without permission, which is what the RNZ editor did. This broke both the editor's responsibility as an employee, and RNZ's terms and conditions with Reuters.
Here's Reuters rating for factual reliability. 'Reuters achieved the fifth-highest score for any site that we analyzed. This suggests that articles from Reuters are highly neutral in their reporting, strictly conveying information in an objective and unbiased way.'
And here is RTs rating. 'RT scored an average Factual Grade of 41.8%, placing it in the 1st percentile of our dataset. This is the third-lowest score for any site that we analyzed.'
Really, quoting the corporate web site factual who is owned by yahoo – who in turn are owned by Apollo Asset Management a company who ranks rather low on most trust meters, and quite high on the corporate spin meters is rather funny. Irony is such a harsh task master.
What the does the straw man RT have to do with anything?
In wars people lie. Short and simple. Don't think for one minute Reuters are above it, they have been caught lying before and lying by omission is still a lie.
'The Factual' analyses (among many things) articles written by media organisations/news sources to obtain a "Factual Grade", and a "Writing Tone" metric (how neutral/opinionated articles are) for each source.
Here's Reuters rating for factual reliability. 'Reuters achieved the fifth-highest score for any site that we analyzed. This suggests that articles from Reuters are highly neutral in their reporting, strictly conveying information in an objective and unbiased way.'
According to the info in that link, "Reuters scored an average Factual Grade of 69.8%", which places it in 42nd place (of 239 sources analysed.) Reuters' average 'Writing Tone' score was 0.80, which has the much higher ranking of 5th place.
So, Reuters is pretty good overall, and better for 'Tone' than 'Factual'.
Interestingly (unsurprisingly?), five of the top ten 'Factual' sources have strong STEM themes:
Something very odd at the end of the article discussing the Australian diplomat. Apparently Luke Harding wants to highlight the diplomats involvement in the now discredited Trump Russia investigation. That looks rather odd coming from the author of the book 'Collusion', promoting the whole conspiracy.
Neoliberals do gradualism routinely. The idea is that Adam's Smith's invisible hand takes a while to get moving – but boy, it sure is inertial once it gets moving.
the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton who commissioned a report to look at the country’s electricity generation options as it decarbonises. The findings will also make National’s energy policy look ridiculous, given that it has pledged to immediately scrap all work on Onslow if it forms the next government. What will leave even more egg on National’s face is that it has generally taken notice of what Upton has had to say on issues like the Natural and Built Environments Bill and climate change. And, after all, he is a former National Minister and a pretty significant one at that.
Upton’s report finds that the annual emissions savings from Onslow (including from the construction of Onslow) would be equivalent to around 0.06% of New Zealand’s total emissions.
Accuse me of heresy if you like, but a big spend-up to eliminate .06% of a problem ain't no master-stroke. However, David Parker sometimes gets it right – best to wait & see.
So the difference between National & Labour re climate change is the difference between do nothing and do something infinitesimally small. Simon Upton does us all a favour by high-lighting this dramatic difference between the right & the left.
Onslow only saves 0.06% of NZ's emissions so is also a non-starter.
Closing Tiwai would buy NZ a lot of time. During this time rapidly evolving battery technology may well advance to a point that battery-storage as opposed to Onslow-storage would be cheaper and more efficient. At the same time other power saving technologies would also be developed such as smart meters for homes.
Can you explain the hydrogen comment? I keep hearing it's "just storage" not generation, but isn't that the same with fuel? I'm a bit lost in the forest of it (sorry about that and thanks).
Thanks tWiggle – I do hope that the 'make NZ ungovernable' anti-democracy movement doesn't grow, but multiple global challenges are fuelling conspiracy theories/theorists.
Would value- (save lives), evidence-based responses to pandemic threats have caused a smaller ripple of disaffection 40 years ago? Possibly less 'entitled exceptionalism', no online social media amplifying fringe theories, and less backlash against 'team of 3 million'-type memes? It may be self deception, but I'd like to think so.
The Weaponization of Conspiracy Theories: A Growing National Security Threat [11 May 2022; PDF]
Humans do not cognitively manage uncertainty well. We regularly look for quick, simplified answers to assuage the discomfort that comes with attempting to discern meaning in the ambiguity and nuance of significant events, such as 9/11 or the coronavirus pandemic. Conspiracy theories provide one such pathway to resolving uncertainty in the face of reality’s complexity and they often present new communities for disaffected individuals. In this new in-group, individuals find fellow travelers of like mind, and most importantly, there is a diminished chance that one’s niche, outlandish thoughts will be derided by their peers. Conspiracy theories often present individuals a means to express agency and conduct a personal or collective search for truth — a process of discovery that can reduce uncertainty and provide a sense of purpose. However, conspiracy theories rarely exist in isolation and often overlap heavily with other conspiracy theories, creating suites of similarly oriented outlooks that can be rotated at will by adherents. Thus, the process of discovery can become an all-consuming facet of one’s life that perpetually moves the goal posts on identifying “truth.”
Choose your reality: Trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise [10 July 2022]
Rejecting what they hear from scientists, journalists or public officials, these people instead embrace tales of dark plots and secret explanations. And their beliefs, say experts who study misinformation and extremism, reflect a widespread loss of faith in institutions like government and media.
Shining a spotlight on the dangerous consequences of conspiracy theories [October 2022]
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated how conspiracy beliefs–that explain important events as the secret actions of the powerful–can severely impact health choices (such as reduced infection-prevention behaviours). However, the consequences of conspiracy beliefs span far beyond the topic of COVID-19. This review shines a spotlight on how conspiracy beliefs could impact public and personal health (e.g., vaccine uptake), democratic citizenship (e.g., political engagement), intergroup relations (e.g., prejudice and discrimination), and may inspire violence and extremism. We argue that conspiracy beliefs are likely to have the power to mobilise citizens in ways detrimental to a smooth-running society.
Contemporary trends in psychological research on conspiracy beliefs. A systematic review [8 February 2023]
The research presents evidence on the links between conspiracy beliefs and a range of attitudes and behaviors considered unfavorable from the point of view of individuals and of the society at large. It turned out that different constructs of conspiracy thinking interact with each other.
To boil down your posts, and what a slog, they are all about anti-radicalization in any form.
Which in the face of economic beating most people are taking is well, I'll let you decide.
Plus the climate crisis, this pressure on people and their lives is just getting worse.
Come on, be honest with people. About the economic situation they are in and why its that way – and most of this crap about conspiracy theories will fall by the way side.
To pretend that this system is fine, and people are not suffering from this hellish economic b.s. – makes you just as bad, if not worse, than those pushing conspiracy theories.
To boil down your posts, and what a slog, they are all about anti-radicalization in any form.
…
To pretend that this system is fine, and people are not suffering from this hellish economic b.s. – makes you just as bad, if not worse, than those pushing conspiracy theories.
adam, sorry you feel that I'm "just as bad, if not worse, than those pushing conspiracy theories" – let's agree to disagree. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" [Marx] may not be sufficiently radical for you, but it appeals to me as a way through our footprint-related challenges. I favour greatly increasing wealth redistribution – recent Green party policies would be a start.
seems such a strange take on my comment(s). Many Kiwis are suffering real deprivation. If "pushing conspiracy theories" has the potential to alleviate financial hardship, then "show me the money", but imho many conspiracy theories are at best distractions, and often used by grifters to cynically manipulate their marks.
My apologies for my clumsy writing, it was not meant as a personal attack. It was meant as an attack on the pieces posted, and their push to quell any and all radicalization to the current system.
And yes I find Marx lacking in many ways. His analytical skills are second to none, but, his social solutions show up his class, race, and misogyny. Engels was a more rounded figure in that regard.
As for economic deprivation, poverty is a breading ground for all sorts of tomfoolery. Especially the self destructive kind. Conspiracy theories are right up there with substance abuse and self mutilation. None produce economic benefit, but all fill a gap in a persons life. As you say, a situation easily exploited in a society such as ours. Where the greedy keep trying to fill their craven needs.
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With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today. “Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect ...
The Government has yet again failed to do the one thing that needs to happen to ensure houses can be built – commit to ongoing funding, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The Bill proposes much-needed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that will remove barriers to increasing private ...
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944. Hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs of every description left nothing but piled ...
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill Mr. Speaker, I move that the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the Bill. Thank you, Mr. ...
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care, says Minister for Children Karen Chhour. “When I became the Minister for Children, I made ...
Kia ora koutou, good morning, and zao shang hao. Thank you Fran for the opportunity to speak at the 2024 China Business Summit – it’s great to be here today. I’d also like to acknowledge: Simon Bridges - CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency Ambassador - Wang ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
Education is facing a bunch of changes, but the important ones are not banned cell phones or ‘woke’ foods. The Government has ordered teachers to adopt ‘structured literacy’ to get children reading. That means Reading Recovery, a system New Zealand pioneered and spread to the world, along with ‘whole language’, ...
What a difference a year has made for Caroline Powell. After coming last at the Badminton Horse Trials in 2023, Powell triumphed at this year’s event earlier this month, on board her sometimes-feisty Irish-bred mare Greenacres Special Cavalier – much to her astonishment. Now she hopes to succeed at the ...
The publishing sensation of 2024 is wartime memoir The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson, which tells the amazing story of a woman who operated behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France. Sales went through the roof as soon as it was published: in its first week it became ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 22 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: NZ’s main political parties need to reach a consensus on how to adjust to China’s dominance and coercion The post Bridging the Aukus chasm appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Jacinda Ardern’s leadership significantly enhanced New Zealand’s profile on the global stage. In the first five months of her second term of government, between December 2020 and April 2021, her name appeared 24 times in the Washington Post, 10 in the New York Times, 27 in the Times and ...
Comment: The public has seen the PM’s ruthless side, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a member of the coalition faces the same punishment The post Christopher Luxon the disciplinarian appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Maia Ingoe, RNZ News journalist A NZ Defence Force plane carrying 50 New Zealanders evacuated from New Caledonia landed at Auckland International Airport last night. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would be working with France and Australia to ensure the safe departure of several evacuation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Snow, Research Scientist, CSIRO CSIRO How often do you check your local weather forecast? How about your local climate projections for 2050? For many farmers, the answer to the first question is all the time. But the answer to the ...
Pacific Media Watch A Māori supporter of Pacific independence movements claims the French government has “constructed the crisis” in New Caledonia by pushing the indigenous Kanak population to the edge, reports Atereano Mateariki of Waatea News. A NZ Defence Force Hercules is today evacuating about 50 New Zealanders stranded in ...
COMMENTARY:By Gordon Campbell The split opening up in Israel’s “War Cabinet” is not just between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his long-term rival Benny Gantz. It is actually a three-way split, set in motion by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. It was Gallant’s open criticism of Netanyahu that finally flushed ...
Reacting to today’s Budget Speech from Labour’s Finance spokesperson, Barbara Edmonds, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “It is encouraging to see that one of Labour’s stated priorities is to focus on creating ‘a level ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Turner, System Lead, Sustainable Economies, Climateworks Centre atk work/Shutterstock In the budget last week, the government was keen to talk about its efforts to turn Australia into a renewable superpower under the umbrella of the Future Made in Australia policies. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Opposition Leader Peter Dutton might have done us a favour. As part of his budget reply speech on Thursday night he promised to stop foreigners buying existing Australian homes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Maguire, Associate Professor in Human Rights and International Law, University of Newcastle The request by Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), for arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders is a significant step in the effort to ...
RNZ Pacific A New Zealand author, journalist and media educator who has covered the Asia-Pacific region since the 1970s says liberation “must come” for Kanaky/New Caledonia. Professor David Robie sailed on board Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior until it was bombed by French secret agents in New Zealand in July 1985 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand Fonterra caught the business world by surprise last week with plans to sell off its consumer brands and businesses – including supermarket mainstays such as Anchor, Fresh’n Fruity and Mainland. The move ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Small, Senior lecturer, Above the Bar School of Educational Studies and Leadership, University of Canterbury With an air force plane on its way to rescue New Zealanders stranded by the violent uprising in New Caledonia, many familiar with the island’s history ...
A New Zealand government plane is heading to New Caledonia to assist with bringing New Zealanders home. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today confirmed it was the first in a series of proposed flights. Peters said the flight would carry around 50 passengers with the most pressing needs from Nouméa ...
Regional councils must focus on building meaningful and enduring relationships with iwi and hapū to support better freshwater management, says the Auditor-General in a new report. ...
Chris Glaudel, Deputy Chief Executive of Community Housing Aotearoa, sees the announcement as a step towards addressing New Zealand’s high and rising levels of homelessness by improving our approach and system to delivering affordable homes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research fellow, Middle East studies, Deakin University The death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash this week occurred during one of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s most challenging periods. Raisi, a prominent figure in the political elite, ...
The end of universal flu shot funding for under-12s is a step backwards for New Zealand child health, say experts from the University of Auckland and the University of Otago. New Zealand’s decision to no longer offer free influenza vaccines for all children under 12 will likely wipe out recent ...
The PSA is taking action to force the Ministry of Education to comply with its legal obligations to do everything it can to find other roles for staff it is laying off because of the Government’s spending cuts. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Waling, Senior Lecturer & Research Fellow, Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University Netflix There has been much excitement in the lead up to the first four episodes of Bridgerton’s season three, featuring leading couple Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa De Bortoli, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational Research Taylor Flowe/Unsplash, CC BY Australian teenagers have more disruptive maths classrooms and experience bullying at greater levels than the OECD average, a new report shows. But in better news, Australian ...
Poet, editor and former bookseller Jane Arthur’s debut children’s novel Brown Bird is the story of a shy, self-conscious 11-year-old – partly based on her childhood self – venturing out of her quiet comfort zone. Children’s books are close to my heart because mostly I believe that adults are rings ...
Peter Jackson is bringing Lord of the Rings back to Wellington, producing two new Gollum films in Wellington. Madeleine Chapman (Gollum) argues with Madeleine Chapman (Smeagol) about it. First of all, I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. Of course it’s great news!I don’t know, it gives me ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a part-time media librarian and superannuitant explains how he spends and saves. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Male Age: 65 Ethnicity: EuropeanRole: Media librarian ...
The Government’s Environmental Select Committee is refusing to engage meaningfully when it matters the most over new fast tracking environmental legislation, says Ngāti Ruanui. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Marsh, Senior Research Fellow in Public Health, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Christoph Soeder/dpa New Zealand’s decision to no longer offer free influenza vaccines for all children under 12 will likely wipe out recent gains in uptake. And it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexis Anja Kallio, Deputy Director (Research), Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University Many young people in contact with the justice system come from backgrounds of extreme poverty, parental abuse or neglect, parental incarceration and disrupted education. These complex traumas often manifest as addictions ...
The agency was found to be underperforming and ‘not financially viable’, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A damning report A government-ordered ...
Asia Pacific Report For more than 76 years, Palestinians have resisted occupation, dispossession and ethnic cleansing, culminating in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Yet in the midst of this catastrophic seven months of “hell on earth”, it is a paradox that there exists an extraordinary oasis of peace and nature. ...
You’ll never set foot in one. But its emissions still effect you. Shanti Mathias reports on a campaign to make private jet owners pay for their emissions in some way. The private jet passengers saunter down the red carpet, wearing sunglasses and heels; paparazzi cameras flash. The sky is blue, ...
Quality teachers back on the front line can only be a good thing. One of the difficult things we teach in senior English classes at secondary school is the development of an idea. This involves deepening your argument, without instead “going sideways” and merely adding examples while repeating the same ...
Opinion: People with certain types of health conditions are more likely than others to have their symptoms dismissed, minimised or disbelieved. These conditions are diagnosed based on the patient self-report of symptoms, where there is no definitive diagnostic test that can prove the existence of disease or demonstrate structural or ...
The intensity of it, ironically, can feel like bullying. Social media activism is reaching something of a peak with the war in Gaza, using the hashtag Blockout2024. It started at this year’s MetGala when influencer and model Haley Kalil was caught on video muttering ‘let them eat cake’ – suddenly ...
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Good coverage at the daily blog on the whole RNZ story.
Be nice if this country had some more journalists with courage. Instead too many have made a virtue of stenographers and gotcha hacks. This will happen when we suck on the propaganda bubble.
The Daily Blog weekly measurably descends further and further into a conspiracy theory laden cesspit of stupidity.
It is difficult to over-emphasise how much the The Daily Blog has drifted to a far right conspiracy theory site these days. Bradbury makes claims about events conducted by "the woke" and "the professional middle class" that happen outside the realm of observation, that are often outlandish and far-fetched, and that are not even necessarily meant to be believed, but rather function as part of his on going smear campaigns against his vast array of enemies real and imagined.
It's being part of being of the alt media, here man of the people/popular masses/working class against the establiishment.
Being one of that group, while of the left, reminds one of the Strasser brothers, however Bomber is more the man vs woke liberal feminists than an ally of the race based social conservatives.
You handle the Gonzo nature of TDB or not I guess. It started out with union sponsors and some pretty good writers, most of whom rarely contribute any more. Wayne Hope, Susan St. John, Dr David Robie and Mike Treen being exceptions albeit not regularly.
It is a bit of a blocked S–bend the way a bunch of nutters have slipped their collar from various right wing blogs and been encouraged at TDB. The “woke” meme and late 90s look are indeed tiresome.
And…The Standard…some great people here, and some unrepentant Rogernomes.
I agree with Sanc re BB's writing style, it's combative, puerile and reads like an absolute dog. I wish he had someone to second and make his thoughts more readable, as there is a lot of good stuff that's he's trying to say amongst all that.
I suggested he hire Toby Manhire to write on his behalf (instead of just railing about him), as that guy can seriously write, but the comment got blocked .
Case of attack the messenger and not the message. Or in a political debate we'd call that a straw-man in search of missing the point.
Indeed. The pieces you link to weren't written by Bomber.
next time put the authors' names in your comment rather than say it's TDB, might get more engagement. Quotes always help too.
When people hide the URL in an embedded link, people can't see what the post is about, and imo they're less likely to click through.
Sorry weka but those types of ad hominem towards Martyn Bradbury are lazy and quite childish.
If people want to write emotive knee jerk responses, I'm not responsible for their laziness.
you can't really complain about that if you're too stubborn to change yourself 🤷♀️
I see what redlogix meant now…
I was a regular contributor to TDB for a few years but eventually got sick and tired of Bradbury's woke rants, the trolls and nutters who just wanted to abuse people, not engage in any meaningful debate. So I came here instead, much better.
How would you feel if I altered your comments without telling you and without your permission so that they would convey quite a different message?
Did he change anything written by RNZ or just foreign sourced reports?
Reuters might have a complaint with RNZ though, about the impact on its reputation.
IDK
Exactly. He could/should have asked to write his own rebuttal. Wouldn't have been permitted of course.
Like Max Blumenthal has here.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1669228835936632832.html
False equivalence, it's not personal for starters. Secondly, journalism is not stenography.
Reports off the wire get changed all the time, to full out the context and put it into the local context.
This time someone stuck it to propaganda spewing from a source, and people are acting like the world collapsed.
War makes liars of all sides. If you think one side is telling the truth all the time, I have these NFT's I'd like to sell you…
Such is sensible journalism. I suspect what the controversy is about is misrepresentation though. Amending stuff from Reuters would only have an ethical basis if the editor declared that the story had been amended…
Not for me it's propaganda pure and simple. One person got caught not reporting the official narrative, and its' a shit storm. Ugly times.
There is too much pro-Ukraine (almost propaganda) floating around in the MSM. It has been good to see a note of realism in the reporting of the recent Ukraine offensive operations.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/14/ukraine-failed-assault-near-mala-tokmachka-raises-counteroffensive-challenges
But I have difficulty with praise for The Daily Blog. Bomber's growing obsession with wokeness is frankly weird. And now he is criticising the Green's radical Wealth Tax saying:
"but the reliance on a the wealth tax to do all the heavy lifting here is simply delusional."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/06/16/why-green-party-wealth-tax-is-only-part-of-the-solution-and-cant-be-the-only-solution-and-why-ftt-and-land-tax-are/
This is also weird-I thought Bomber was strongly in favour of a WT and to my knowledge the Greens have not ruled out other measures in addition to this. But he is right that a Land Tax is a good option.
Totally agree Adam.
I would suggest that some of the Standard's commentators fall into the same category for criticism as RNZ, hence the vitriolic attacks on the Daily Blog above.
The words of Chris Trotter
Orthodoxy and Dissidence at the Standard – that would make a good post.
The main reasons the Daily Blog is criticised is 1) it's owner appears to be a deeply unpleasant bully and 2) the site is riddled with conspiracy thinking and alt-right memes. You only have to read the comments section to see the place attracts lunatics and losers by the bucketload.
Bradbury's predilection for objectifying his enemies as collectively part of some sort of organised conspiracy is disturbing, and he seldom offers much by way of constructive solutions to anything. His posts generally consist of the same cut-and-pasted talking points endlessly and bombastically re-cycled. I mean, the guy believes in flying saucers FFS.
I think a key difference between many of the contributors on this site and TDB is the Standard contains many people who have had successful careers working with or as part of institutions, and they bring with that actual life experience and insight into the difficulties of generating change in an environment that is ambiently hostile to even moderately left wing agendas. The TBD consists largely of serial complainers and professional fringe merchants who long ago fell victim to the romance of dissidence and whilst they are veterans of protest, they offer little by way of practical insight on how to get change over the line.
Bradbury is an egotistical blowhard and a serial chancer whose failed attempts of being a disrupter to the hated establishment included buddying up to Kim Dotcom, because – surprise, surprise – he thought the Internet party would be the "king makers" who'd shake thing up. Nowadays he shills TOP and Maori party as the latest batters up in his quest to get payback on the establishment.
He attracts some interesting commentators who should know better to his podcast I believe but the site itself is just a shithole.
Um..!..top have some good policies..
It is their using their votes to prop up a right-wing govt..that is their danger for any left-leaning voter seduced by those policies..
..and unsure of for why your apparent disdain for the maori party..?
I see them..along with the greens..as being the spine labour is so lacking..
That spinal deficit has been heavily underlined by their recent stint of total power..
And what they didn't do with it…
TPM seem to me to be largely interested in playing performative games as they really don't want to recognise the legitimacy of parliamentary government in NZ. Insofar as they don't believe in our current democratic arrangements or the legitimacy of the "settler state" they have no business with accepting a seat and salary within it's institutions.
TOP are a contradiction in terms, a centrist anti-establishment party. In reality it is just another attempt at the suppression of politics with "applied common sense".
I think the key word in your assessment of tpm is 'performative'..
But dig down and their social policies are old school labour/dismantling of the neoliberal policies adhered to by labour post ' '84.
And they are a tidy fit with the social policies of the greens..(hence my spine metaphor..)
But looking past the 'performative'..much of tpm is whathat labour used to be all about..
Another interesting aspect of this is I heard on mainstream media..that is that there has been a noticable increase on those on the maori roll..having moved from the general roll..
And as far as that is concerned..I can only see tpm benefitting from that shift..
And to my mind this will be a very good/coalition spine-building thing…
Luckily the standard is not just a reflection of it commentators, otherwise it might be misread as a elitist, smug collection of know it all's who think their farts don't smell.
I knew I recognised your nose pressed up against the window of the elitist annual dinner.
We dined on foie gras, endangered creatures and seasoned it all with Martyn Bradbury’s salty tears. And oh! How we laughed.
If I was you, I wouldn't be giving up my day job with that po-faced response.
Alas, adam, you are the po-faced one:
'She remained po-faced all evening, even when the rest of us were in stitches at Bob's jokes.'
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/po-faced
While not in stitches, I certainly grinned at Sanctuary's comment.
No prizes for seconds
Of course as a vegan…(no rotting meat in there)…my farts don't smell..
And if they did they would have a je ne sais quoi quality..
And I do think I know some shit about some stuff…
(Maybe that makes me ' smug'..?..and as a believer in education.. maybe also 'elitist'..?
Guilty as charged…?
Kathryn Ryan interviews researcher Joan Donovan on media fact checking, political weaponsiation of memes
Very topical interview.
a critique of Trotter's position on free speech from a reddit discussion 10 months ago that sums up him up nicely.
' ….Because the narrative that [Trotter] is constructing is one that the left wing, not the right, is actively dismantling and destroying the system of rights and privileges that we as a democracy have..
…It's dangerous because what it does is shift the narrative from the clear and present danger being presented by the far right to our democracy and social cohesion to one being presented by the left; spearheaded by a Labour government with all infinite power to change our lives via a majority in Parliament and further supported by the Greens and their "extremist" views.
It portrays those on the far right, and on the right in general, as very much victims of a wider plot by the left to shut them out of democracy and violating their freedom of expression. It's an attempt to gaslight the public into believing that they are the "true victims" of perceived state repression and paint them in a more positive light by dressing their cause up as a resistance to overbearing government mandates and regulations, the dark veil of "censorship" via "cancel culture", and the many other talking points of the culture war the right has wholesale adopted from elsewhere.'
Censorship is a slippery sloop and far to many on the left and the right have embraced it as normal.
But to call someone far right for opposing the curtailing of free speech, or anti-democratic is really clutching at straws.
It's censorship if facts are suppressed, but it's not facts that are the weapons of choice, but disinformation, feelings, nebulous rumours, fostering political tribalism, and hate-filled othering of minorities.
Listen to the RNZ interview: ethical journalists and truthful(ish) governments are caught in a stick: reportage to debunk becomes amplification of the lies.
Did you miss the opening remarks, they have convicted the reporter and effectively calling him a Putin puppet. Then moan how could this happen to RNZ.
You undercut you own argument by that piece of reporting being emotive, fostering political tribalism, and disinformation. Their feeling have been hurt and the digital reporter is to blame.
It felt like a skit from not the nine o'clock news. This is why I hardly listen to RNZ after it got gutted by Key and co. 9 till noon is just truly awful, the stasi would be proud.
Yeah, that default to a mainstreamer view eternally propounded by state media has always irritated me too. You can see why online culture has proliferated alt views. Trouble is, too many are delusional.
It's the antique conundrum: caught between the devil & the deep blue sea. The devil works within the control system to direct state media toward controller-approved narratives while competing storytellers have another toke & hallucinate. However the good news is that we can escape that binary via a third alternative: relativise all views.
The 21st century alt-media ocean is treacherous. We'd like somewhere to stand on common ground, but it's all awash out there…
It's delusional to think we live in societies without bias. It's that Chomsky thing, where to function together, we have to agree on a few basic stories about ourselves. Of course governments shape that narrative.
I became aware of 'party lines' at the age of 10 or so. The Catholic magazine, Zelandia I think it was, had a different version of events in the 'Irish Troubles' from the BBC-derived story on tv news here. And, of course, there was the gap between scurrilous, but true, Wellington gossip Muldoon and what appeared in national media. Oh, and working out that Readers Digest toilet reading spun emotive yarns.
That why we have brains, to learn how detect bullshit when it's being flogged to us.Unfortunately, Trump began an avalanche of ‘alternative facts’ in political discourse. Chaff strewing wasa Nazi propaganda tactic – put so much in the water that facts and logical discourse become obscured by outrage of the day.
So…who do you 'listen to' adam..?
Hosking perchance..?
No, The ABC in Australia mainly their Phil
Abc is solid enough…
It has it own set of problems. But on the whole I find it better than most here. Also broader in the people and opinions it expresses. Bigger population helps.
During the submissions on RNZ and TVNZ I put forward the idea, That the ABC take over operations of our public media, and tax the banks to pay for it – as they are Australian anyway.
Reuters produces general news content, and does not allow change of their content of without permission, which is what the RNZ editor did. This broke both the editor's responsibility as an employee, and RNZ's terms and conditions with Reuters.
Here's Reuters rating for factual reliability. 'Reuters achieved the fifth-highest score for any site that we analyzed. This suggests that articles from Reuters are highly neutral in their reporting, strictly conveying information in an objective and unbiased way.'
And here is RTs rating. 'RT scored an average Factual Grade of 41.8%, placing it in the 1st percentile of our dataset. This is the third-lowest score for any site that we analyzed.'
Really, quoting the corporate web site factual who is owned by yahoo – who in turn are owned by Apollo Asset Management a company who ranks rather low on most trust meters, and quite high on the corporate spin meters is rather funny. Irony is such a harsh task master.
What the does the straw man RT have to do with anything?
In wars people lie. Short and simple. Don't think for one minute Reuters are above it, they have been caught lying before and lying by omission is still a lie.
This is old, but it might help
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2022/0304/They-seem-so-like-us-How-bias-creeps-into-war-reporting
What a great site – new to me – thanks.
https://www.thefactual.com/blog/biased-factual-reliable-new-sources/
'The Factual' analyses (among many things) articles written by media organisations/news sources to obtain a "Factual Grade", and a "Writing Tone" metric (how neutral/opinionated articles are) for each source.
According to the info in that link, "Reuters scored an average Factual Grade of 69.8%", which places it in 42nd place (of 239 sources analysed.) Reuters' average 'Writing Tone' score was 0.80, which has the much higher ranking of 5th place.
So, Reuters is pretty good overall, and better for 'Tone' than 'Factual'.
Interestingly (unsurprisingly?), five of the top ten 'Factual' sources have strong STEM themes:
Smithsonian Magazine…85.9%
Science Alert………………..80.9%
Space.com……………………80.5%
MIT Technology Review 75.9%
New Scientist……………….75.4%
"Publisher Bias" is "Center" for all five of these sources.
It makes my geeky heart sing to see New Scientist in the top 5.
But what happens when so-called disinformation turns out to be true? If we quickly censor it (the truth) as disinformation, it would never come out.
For example, Nicky Hager vs the NZ Defence Force.
https://www.nbr.co.nz/defence-cover-up-starts-to-unravel/
That’s merely one reason why what you are pushing/supporting needs to be stopped.
Something very odd at the end of the article discussing the Australian diplomat. Apparently Luke Harding wants to highlight the diplomats involvement in the now discredited Trump Russia investigation. That looks rather odd coming from the author of the book 'Collusion', promoting the whole conspiracy.
Neoliberals do gradualism routinely. The idea is that Adam's Smith's invisible hand takes a while to get moving – but boy, it sure is inertial once it gets moving.
Accuse me of heresy if you like, but a big spend-up to eliminate .06% of a problem ain't no master-stroke. However, David Parker sometimes gets it right – best to wait & see.
So the difference between National & Labour re climate change is the difference between do nothing and do something infinitesimally small. Simon Upton does us all a favour by high-lighting this dramatic difference between the right & the left.
Reading that:
So close down Tiwai.
Can you explain the hydrogen comment? I keep hearing it's "just storage" not generation, but isn't that the same with fuel? I'm a bit lost in the forest of it (sorry about that and thanks).
Would be good to hear from this expert: https://info.scoop.co.nz/Molly_Melhuish
Local & bioregional applications seem more inherently interesting than the macro view into the national grid. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/scaling-down-hydrogen-to-our-communities
Paul the Other One discusses the safety meaures recommended for election candidates this year.
The CT crowd engendered from Covid measures has mutated into a general anti-democracy movement.
Thanks tWiggle – I do hope that the 'make NZ ungovernable' anti-democracy movement doesn't grow, but multiple global challenges are fuelling conspiracy theories/theorists.
Would value- (save lives), evidence-based responses to pandemic threats have caused a smaller ripple of disaffection 40 years ago? Possibly less 'entitled exceptionalism', no online social media amplifying fringe theories, and less backlash against 'team of 3 million'-type memes? It may be self deception, but I'd like to think so.
To boil down your posts, and what a slog, they are all about anti-radicalization in any form.
Which in the face of economic beating most people are taking is well, I'll let you decide.
Plus the climate crisis, this pressure on people and their lives is just getting worse.
Come on, be honest with people. About the economic situation they are in and why its that way – and most of this crap about conspiracy theories will fall by the way side.
To pretend that this system is fine, and people are not suffering from this hellish economic b.s. – makes you just as bad, if not worse, than those pushing conspiracy theories.
And because we all need a laugh
http://www.itanimulli.com/
adam, sorry you feel that I'm "just as bad, if not worse, than those pushing conspiracy theories" – let's agree to disagree. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" [Marx] may not be sufficiently radical for you, but it appeals to me as a way through our footprint-related challenges. I favour greatly increasing wealth redistribution – recent Green party policies would be a start.
https://www.greens.org.nz/ending_poverty_together
Here's a subset of TS comments that mention this idea of Marx.
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13-05-2019/#comment-1616295
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-10-2020/#comment-1755513
.https://thestandard.org.nz/nzme-is-on-a-mission-to-change-the-government/#comment-1859605
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30-08-2022/#comment-1908223
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13-05-2023/#comment-1949949
seems such a strange take on my comment(s). Many Kiwis are suffering real deprivation. If "pushing conspiracy theories" has the potential to alleviate financial hardship, then "show me the money", but imho many conspiracy theories are at best distractions, and often used by grifters to cynically manipulate their marks.
My apologies for my clumsy writing, it was not meant as a personal attack. It was meant as an attack on the pieces posted, and their push to quell any and all radicalization to the current system.
And yes I find Marx lacking in many ways. His analytical skills are second to none, but, his social solutions show up his class, race, and misogyny. Engels was a more rounded figure in that regard.
As for economic deprivation, poverty is a breading ground for all sorts of tomfoolery. Especially the self destructive kind. Conspiracy theories are right up there with substance abuse and self mutilation. None produce economic benefit, but all fill a gap in a persons life. As you say, a situation easily exploited in a society such as ours. Where the greedy keep trying to fill their craven needs.
Thanks DM Kram for listing those refs.
I was delighted to see that despite what Michael Wood has gone through (OK, he should have got rid of those damn shares much earlier), he still has managed a quick reposte to Erica Stanford's witterings on the AM show this morning. Being retired, I don't do mornings, let alone what passes for morning TV shows, though I was up bright and bushy tailed today to do battle at our local CAB. I came across this snippet on STUFF and had a wee chortle. I also took note of Erica Stanford on '7 Days' last evening in the 'Yes Minister' segment. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the format, a parliamentarian, Minister, Back Bencher, Govt or Opposition MP cames in to answer questions which are pretty loaded and they are not to answer YES or NO. Our Erica was in jovial spirits and answering correctly until she didn't and said the Y word, so that was that. She looked as black as her outfit when told to vacate the stage – the old saying came to me 'if looks could kill'. I don't think she was a happy chappy.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300907038/weve-never-gone-quite-that-far–tv-gaffe-leaves-mps-in-awkward-laughter