Makes me wonder if Trump will enable more firebrands on the left as well.
Like Louisiana firebrand New Dealer Huey Long, sometimes it’s better to burn out
than to fade away.
I have no doubt the Chumpanzee’s antics have helped elect the likes of Ocasio-Cortez, That’s one of the very few bright spots of the current political moment.
But in terms of making lasting changes for the better, are the firebrands more successful or does it work better to be a bit quieter and more thoughtful and willing to round off the edges to account for the other side’s biggest concerns? Seems to me there’s plenty of examples to bolster and refute both sides of that question.
I’m just starting to think about President Trump’s legacy.
Not in any of his policies, but in his communicative capacity, his strength in resonating messages, his willingness to break rules both social and legal, his smashing of institutions. He’s pushed what is possible.
The inflated shape of Trump in the American mind has expanded big and will pop, but its space will be there for a long, long time.
For sure he’s going to have an outsized effect on the shape of politics to come. But it’s still an open question whether it will be a long term spreading the boundaries to allow what was previously unacceptable, or a backlash because he’s proven the rules and norms have value and it causes real problems when they get trashed.
Probably a mix of both, depending on which area we’re looking at. For instance, it would be a good thing if Americans got over their prurient hangups about their pollies’ sex lives, while also becoming less accepting of the powerful abusing their power for their sexual gratification. I’d be astonished if he doesn’t provoke a backlash round of rulemaking towards increased financial transparency and avoidance of financial conflicts of interest, and I can’t see any downside to that happening.
I’m hoping for more, but there’s a few areas that will come up post-Trump family trials.
I think there will be a vetting requirement to release tax affairs.
Also in vetting, if we can remember that Democrat VP Eagleton who failed to disclose mental health issues, I suspect full banking records will need releasing in vetting.
I’m looking to see whether the 1974 Supreme Court’s Nixon ruling on the tapes still overrides “executive privilege”. A general hard testing of executive privilege is coming up soon. General tests on privilege will get looked at.
The citizen-inreach of the intelligence community is going to get a smacking. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was an outgrowth of the committee’s investigations, and it created the special FISA court to authorize surveillance operations when driven by national security concerns.
Also a protocol that the intelligence community should STFU about Presidential Candidates three months out unless they have ball-clenching evidential proof of treachery.
Maybe something on further limiting paid lobbyists who also claim legal privilege. After Watergate, most law schools in the United States required courses about professional responsibility, and the American Bar Association rewrote its responsibility code.
There will be a legacy of language. Words and sayings from Watergate are part of the common language of America, from President Nixon’s famous “I am not a crook” statement to President Ford’s declaration that “our national nightmare is over.” But nothing has been more prevalent that the use of suffix “gate” to indicate a scandal.
If I were feeling adventurous, if he goes down in sufficient flames, we should see regulation of the Google and Facebook and Baidu networks, in just the same way that public US broadcasting was regulated in the early 1950s. Unregulated communications networks are killing democracy by degrading it, and none moreso than there in the US. Would need a united Senate and President to overcome First Amendment issues, but it has to be done, and arguably it’s the Trump Presidency that’s caused the need.
Excellent article by Alison Mau.
Looks at how we value lives differently.
“No-one is talking. Nothing can be reported. When, at the Auckland vigil for Grace Millane on Wednesday night, I stood on stage and read out the names of all the 2018 victims, I could only refer to her as “the unnamed woman killed in Flat Bush”
In contrast to the crowd, the waiata and the public sorrow for Grace, there were no candles, and no floral tributes laid in that South Auckland cul-de-sac.”
That has got to be the stupidest article I’ve seen in a long time.
Why on earth would Alison Mau expect every other case to get identical public profile as every other? Such a stupid case of ‘butwhatabout….’
No young woman in the last decade has forced as much national self-reflection as Grace. The Prime Minister had to defend us to the entire world media. It’s very likely judges will reflect hard about the average tariffs for this kind of case, because they must reflect society.
It is precisely because of this self-reflection that so many other cases will get stronger scrutiny, and the public debate will be raised higher. A great thing Alison surely?
Mau is a ghoulish ambulance-chaser going after yet another grisly death.
Little is just as stupid as Mau – and one of them copy-pasted from the other.
Not all deaths will be treated BY THE MEDIA the same. They might want to hold up a hand mirror to themselves.
We’ve had multiple social media platforms that have got better over years and years of such stories:
– smoking
– domestic violence
– mental health
– child poverty
– drink driving
They work.
Just takes lots of sustained community effort that makes the likes of Mau and Little remember what they constantly forget.
Poor Grace, it is her death that has woken Rip van Winkle (an old European fable) in NZ that has spent so much time asleep when it comes to deaths of women, and children also, and violence also against the vulnerable whoever they are.
Some are too far into their privilege to see the truth from Mau …
There’s truth in that statement. A double standard has been operating here and I’m as guilty of it as anyone. To be fair, part of the angst is because Grace Millane was a visitor to this country, but nevertheless we don’t mourn the loss of all the other women who have died as a result of sexual violence to anything like the same degree.
But if this particular death results in a change of direction in NZ, then something truly worthwhile will have been achieved. However the jury will be out on that one for some time to come.
How is her death going to change the direction of NZ?
The whole thing was a ghoulish media driven affair done purely for clicks, eyeballs and egos.
She’ll be forgotten within a couple of months once the media move onto their next cause célèbre.
I’d rate the NZ media as some of the worst in the world, no better than paparazzi.
And some of the commenters on news and views are pretty bad, but not good enough to be the worst in the world, though they will no doubt keep trying, and may yet succeed!
We know that it’s not a competition – it is a tally of shame. Our violence is appalling towards women. We have to stop it. The terrible death of grace may help some see what is right in front of their face – in their living room or mirror – I bloody hope so.
Well I actually agree with Ad. Aside from which for whatever reason there was huge suppression around the south Auckland homicide, I have to ask myself why wasn’t Alison mau respecting that? It’s unusual, but I am sure the police/courts have their reasons.
Some stories just do resonate more with people. Look at the Thai boys trapped in the cave. Or the young woman on the Gold Coast who fell off the balcony (?maori). I am sure maus research on how some ethnicities receive less public sympathy is true. But for god sake bringing it up in the context of graces recent murder I find in poor taste.
Can’t we stick to the point, which is to use good research to figure out what might work in reducing homicide and violence towards all people
There are many terrible acts out there
We have to reluctantly accept that some acts will attract varying media attention depending what others captures the news and public sentiment.
It is what results follow these, better one captures the public than none. And all these deaths are a shock and we need to do better.
We can only hope that changes do arise from this.
And hopefully something similar from this 😢 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12176781
Driving the Mercedes was 19-year-old Rouxle Le Roux, who had drunk wine and smoked cannabis earlier in the day.
When Kraatskow crossed the intersection, riding a small bike and wearing headphones but no helmet, the Mercedes ploughed through the crossing, sending him across the bonnet and into the air. He landed some distance away and died at the scene.
Where is the source of that fact bwaghorn. I thought that no wall was built till Trump started it, and there had been no agreement to make the money available before him.
There have been bits and pieces of wall getting built for decades. I can even remember bits of wall at the border in the early 70s at Tijuana. So I wouldn’t find it in the slightest bit surprising if the rate of wall-building is higher under Obama than Adolf Twitler.
The difference is up till now the building has generally been in response to specific problem areas, whereas the Grab’em’fuhrer made a mindless throwaway comment at an early rally, liked the reaction so he kept repeating to get the same reaction, and now he feels like he needs to be seen to be doing something about it.
James you don’t know why Morriston has done this!
Bennelong has the highest number of Jewish voters of any electorate in Australia the Liberal Party lost the by election now are pandering to get it back and play into the anti Muslim White supremacist vote at the same time.
On RadioNZ this morning
7.11 Meg De Ronde: the problem with ‘tough guy’ world leaders
Meg De Ronde, Campaigns Director for Amnesty International New Zealand
You’re right Ad so we need to be reminded of what we did have, and get highly motivated to save what we can from the remainder and work out methods to prevent it continuing or to limit its progress. Also we need to get powered up to organise systems to comfort and support those affected who have lost greatly at the hands of these apparently unstoppable forces.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve found myself agreeing with Mark Richardson and Bill Ralston.
(RNZ Media Watch on the media, name suppression and Grace Millane )
And I guess Martin Devlin and the other ZB talkback hacks must be really disappointed
In order to gloat, label and reaffirm their prejudices @ mm
Or as @ Wayne would have it, in the interests of “open and public” justice.
Being the exceptional ‘entrepreneur’ I am, I’m thinking of starting a business manufacturing stocks – they’re the shape of the future
but I’m now even more convinced that name suppression should be automatic until after a verdict is delivered. And if you listen to that Mediawatch thing, Martin Devlin had already jumped/hoped to a conclusion (as I say – In order to re-affirm, and even justify his prejudices).
And while we’re feigning outrage at Google for emailing the defendant’s name as it ‘trended’, Google algorithms would never have received the necessary ‘inputs’ had not Brit journalists on the ground published (in the NZ legal definition) the name.
Net result: Someone who is possibly guilty has a good argument as to the fairness or not of his trial.
So much for that ‘open and public’ justice @ Wayne speaks of.
Oh, btw….. for a good many of them, it tells them what it’s not – specially if you’re a Devlin.
It’s not a Hiriwini, or Khan or a Singh or a Wong or a Kwese. PANIC – what is it? Can’t quite remember, it’s a Smith-Jones? no… it’s a Ferguson-Llewellyn (with a single ‘s’ doncha know)?, no…. ummmm I think it begins with a ‘K’ (and one of those English sounding names)
Thank Christ ‘D’ is nowhere near a ‘K’ in the alphabet eh?
Whoar that could have been a near miss
Are you planning a new sort of stock exchange? For petty crooks, con artists, fraudsters I have been thinking recently that a day in the stocks followed by a week in prison, rest of sentence suspended while a re-education class is attended would be a cheap and effective way of dealing with these minor predators.
Hadn’t thought of that @ grey but as a true entrpreneur, I’m always looking for ways to monetise an idea (it doesn’t necessarily have to be my own idea either).
I did have another idea though that I thought lprent could assist with (because he’s renown for his efficient programming skills – almost to the point of obsession) .
We develop an ‘app’/application. The Police (or other prosecutors) simply provide the various inputs, and it’s sent to some sort of social media platform.
We give it a week or so and count the number of ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ records received.
We then determine guilt or otherwise, and depending on a set criteria, we deliver judgment.
What’s not to like? We can do away with all that expense of a judiciary and the legal profession, and we get “open and public” justice. Very efficient and effective.
Of course, anyone charged is automatically placed on remand in the stocks in an open warehouse where the public can walk by and decide on a kind of pre-guilt or pre-innocence and choose what kind of food to throw
Rotten tomatoes to you OWT. But peddle the idea to the Insensitive Sentencing Untrustworthies, they’ll be onto you like a starving dog.
Having experienced my friend’s frustration dealing with a serial fraudster who plays the the law like a kid playing hopskotch, andI think it would add to our enjoyment of life in all its glory if we could see some of these non-violent scumbags face to face, at a distance of course, for their safety.
The group for this type of punishment would include roaming non-tradesmen skimming vulnerable people, and ones who sell themselves as worthy and are not (a relation has had an 8 week renovation job extend to 18 weeks and encountered rudeness and being patronised when she phones Mr High and Mighty lead tradesman, and has had to endure two rainstorms while the roof was being repaired and the tarpaulin blew away, soaking the rooms below). And I am sure others can top these.
This brings to mind a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song about who would not be missed. I’ll brighten my day and that of anyone who has a list and needs a lift. I’d love to go to the proms in London one day!
BM that’s because many people left moved out because of the earthquakes especially retired or those about to retire. Many moved to Wanaka now theirs a bubble their.
Award-winning Kiwi documentary maker Bryn Evans has been kidnapped twice, been caught in firefights, told the story of the Taliban’s cricket team, and introduced some hip-hop dancing pensioners to the world. Most recently he was the man behind the documentary about Scott Dixon, called Born Racer. He talks about the transition from photos to film and why he’s chosen Berlin as the place to hang out.
Fun and frolic from Paris early 1900s, you feel that you are there. It looks a good place to be – perhaps we should have stayed in the horse-drawn days.
Thanks Grey (10) … being an old francophile from way back, I thoroughly enjoyed it 🙂 Loved the mobile platform/people mover. No doubt that would have been state of the art technology way back then.
Certainly a lot has been done to improve the quality of the film. And the sound was pretty good too.
glad you liked it i thought it was a marvel – the sound is so good. did you notice that they used paired grey horses for the fire units? they were very showy and dramatic.
Because she traveled safely through South America on her OE.
Grace got to Auckland, and within 2 days was Killed by some alleged cowardly Kiwi bastard. Just two days.
That Bastard will no doubt pull out every sore finger and every bit of family scrapping and every bit “of poor me” to kid the Judge and jury that he is a down trodden lovely, lonely victim and not a Murderer.
Whereas, the ONLY victim was Grace Millane (and her Family). They had no smarty Lawyer or dodgy Barrister. Or softy judge. Or tearful Jury – picked by the Barrister. None whatever. Grace had no one to save Her. No Lawyer. No Barrister.
The murderer, with nifty Lawyer and greasy Barrister who’s fees will be paid by the NZ Worker, will be searching under every leaf to declare “The alleged Murderer a poor very low intelligence person who enjoyed having a good time day and night. Especially when it came to that fullfilling game called Sex and Murder. A person who must not be named.”
Oh yes. And very likely not to be held to account. For such is the strange ease of getting free of any serious charge within New Zealand Law.
I am not sure about the “wonderful” other 18 +2 Femme Murders this year, but certainly a number of those who were murdered were known to the Victim.
The message is: Women should not trust any NZ male who knows them. Get well away from them. Go to any lengths to remove those men from your life.
NZ males adore violence and sex. Unlike other civilised places. The games they play are full of violence. They are also cowardly. To make matters worse, they are often drug and gang centered too. But they know how to Kill. Oh Yes. !
Hey Observer
Restrain yourself. You are sounding so law and order then you can come up with this: Whereas, the ONLY victim was Grace Millane (and her Family). They had no smarty Lawyer or dodgy Barrister. Or softy judge. Or tearful Jury – picked by the Barrister. None whatever. Grace had no one to save Her. No Lawyer. No Barrister.
The murderer, with nifty Lawyer and greasy Barrister who’s fees will be paid by the NZ Worker,
The lawyers, the courts, the police are all paid for by us as part of a law-based society. That’s something to be cherished. Otherwise we get people like yourself all riled up and looking for someone to hang, at worst any likely person you can pin the crime on will do.
Our system at present has not been sufficient to bring up men with good standards of behaviour at all times, or discourage men who are through and through shits, but that is not the lawyers fault, it is the way that all of us allow society to proceed. And we get an example from the screen, films and television are laced with sex, crims and cunning and most find that enticing to watch. For instance, Godfather has been a great success as good cinema – all about the Mafia.
We enable drunkenness which is at the base of much of our criminality and enables men and women to become untrustworthy liars. So don’t vent your spleen on the justice system when bad results result from all this twisted-mind behaviour going from theory to practice. Even police have been affected by the dominant sexual ideas that swirl in many people’s heads. It is a virus in society that breaks out openly regularly, and always treated as a rare occurrence instead of a hidden chronic weakness.
Australia overtook Qatar to become the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas last month following a $200bn decade-long investment to ship the fuel to Asia. But the export boom has come at a cost.
The country is now facing a looming domestic gas shortage in its most populous states, leading prices to skyrocket and concerns over security of supply to increase.
When local resources are exported then locals find that they can no longer afford to live.
Putin says “if it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it”…
… Putin noted that “rap is based on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest”. But he is particularly concerned with drug themes prevalent in rap, saying “this is a path to the degradation of the nation.” He said “drug propaganda” is worse than cursing.
It’s got nothing to do with the cheap heroin that Putin’s oligarch mates are bringing into the country from central Asia, combine with 30 years of ‘reforms’ that have led to the highest rates of of intravenous drug abuse in the world.
At the time of the election earlier this year I pointed out that it was a total fiasco and that the Minister responsible should take responsibility for the only real job he has.
He should have.
Arranged for a repeat of the Census.
Sacked the head of the Statistics Dept.
Sacked the person responsible for the Census.
Announced that “The buck stops here” and resigned as Minister.
Instead he, like a number of his apologists on this blog said that everything was sweet and that they could still produce accurate results.
Now, when it is too late to run it again we are seeing that my comments were accurate and that the integrity of all our statistics is at doubt and that even the election organisation will be suspect.
It isn’t really to late for you Shaw.
Resign. NOW. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109363944/election-2020-at-risk-of-being-compromised-due-to-census-delays
However, I am not enchanted with the way Murdered Victims are flung from the Court House.
Victims of Murder go without Lawyers, without Barristers and without Support of any kind. While the Murderer gets the blubber of scheming Lawyers and Precedents.
Personally, I would put Lawyers and Barristers on traffic offences and keep them out of the way of serious crime.
For is it not true that the Police and Forensics know what crime has taken place in matters of Murder. They have been on site. Not stuck in chambers.
All I can see is the Barrister playing cynically with a Corpse. And favouring yet another “nice boy” with a cozy detention of some limited kind.
Greywarshark, why are NZ men allowed so much support and leeway in their crimes ? Name suppression; Previous crimes suppressed; nil real Punishment. But Comfortable incarceration – if any at all .
You simplify things too much Observer. You no doubt are a very good guy? but even so, you are busy scheming how to get round a case being properly examined in a Court of law under the controlled conditions of it, the conventions of it, and the precedents of the past, all set down to avoid highs and lows in the treatment of crime so all are treated in the same way. The law can be an ass but it is better than the alternative. Also it has been said “Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law” Oliver Goldsmith, which seems to be fairly true to the poor, anyway most of the time. However not having law produces conditions that the song Strange Fruit laments.
We reap what we sow when it comes to murder. You are angry about the murders you hear about, and every one is sad to some extent usually, whether woman or man. But the punishment after being dealt with by the law is usually meted out properly. Your emotion against the law process does not make any woman or man safer after their death.
If you turned your concern into getting values and respect and self-respect taught in schools, and to parents, and how to be compassionate as well as righteous taught to everybody, crime would be reduced. And the better and more honestly respect is carried out and role-modelled by all adults, then the more good results would follow.
Billie Holliday sang about something that really happened; a rule by emotion-fired, immoral men posturing as moralistic. I despise that sort of attitude and I hope that you don’t encourage others to think in the way you have expressed; that is the start of a posse, a lynch mob.
Billie Holiday Lyrics
“Strange Fruit”
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop
Hot contender for the stupidest climate denial argument of all time.
/
DeFazio on climate: "This is the existential threat to the future of the planet."Insanity.For comparison, the atmosphere Venus is 96.5% CO2 — and the planet is still there.In contrast, Earth's atmosphere is only ~0.04% CO2. https://t.co/SvScU32iZG via @politico— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) December 15, 2018
DeFazio on climate: "This is the existential threat to the future of the planet."
Insanity.
For comparison, the atmosphere Venus is 96.5% CO2 — and the planet is still there.
Peter De Fazio? Old white man. Should be very wise at his age. Has been a career politician 1987-2018, over 30 years.
I’m against having politicians making a career of it. Three terms tops. They can work hard while they are there, and then make room for a new trier. If they don’t work hard they will only get two terms, maybe only one. It should be something to be proud of, serving and being honoured by your fellow citizens – not a gravy train.
Peter Anthony DeFazio is the U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 4th congressional district, serving since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes Eugene, Springfield, Roseburg, Coos Bay, Florence, and part of Corvallis. Wikipedia
Born: 27 May 1947 (age 71 years), Needham, Massachusetts, United States
More evidence our capitalist system is overshooting the planet’s environmental limits.
Now crayfish populations are collapsing.
We choose capitalism or a liveable planet.
Sadly the greedy rich want the former.
“A conservation group is calling for a total fishing ban for crayfish in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty as the population “collapses towards extinction”.
Forest & Bird is calling for the wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfishing area (known as CRA2) to be closed for three years to allow the species to start recovering.
“The wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfish population has undergone a significant decline,” Forest & Bird marine conservation advocate Katrina Goddard said.
“Without an urgent end to fishing pressure, crayfish could become functionally extinct throughout the entire area within a few years.”
“US troops now control a third of Syria. They are there on an indefinite basis. I hate to be so annoyingly quaint, but Congress hasn’t authorized this. Permanent war has become normalized. Boring even.”
The Government, through the Presidencies of Bush, Obama and Trump have all taken action based on a 2001 resolution that allowed them to do almost anything.
It is argued whether the Syrian situation is covered but it was passed way back in the time just after 9/11 and it was as broad as hell.
Whether you think it is still valid and covers the present situation depends on your political views.
I’m sure you remember the old song
“You say potayto and I say potahto,
You say tomayto and I say tomahto”
Well that is about the way the debate on this goes.
I did actually know in advance that NZ Men do not like being told they should not Murder Women.
That is why very few men took any notice of the Murder of Grace Millane. She was after all, just a female. Women gathered together in huge numbers. Not men.
NZ men know that the Lawyers and Barristers will give the male muderer every possible consideration. There is no doubt about that.
But just for the record, I wish guys like you could say a good word for Women – now and then. Nothing dramatic Greywarshark.
I mean, there is every possibility that you may have had a woman as a mother.
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At almost every level, the problem with medicinal cannabis is a lack of good information. In the US, FDA regulations make it hard to research. Most doctors aren't familiar with what research there is and most patients don't know either. ...
Redline is critical of Corbyn for his political weaknesses, but he’s no anti-Semite. There is no substance to the McCarthyist witch-hunt being run by the right wing, and the pro-Israel lobby inside and outside the Labour Party in the UK. ...
The government's billion trees program is the sort of policy which could make a real difference to our emissions and the fight against climate change. But climate scientist Jim Salinger isn't convinced:The Forestry Minister Shane Jones' one billion trees won't ...
Last month the government was celebrating another surplus. Meanwhile, children are starving:One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health. It found ...
Show Me The Money! The alternative to state funding of infrastructure is, of course, to fund it by taking on massive amounts of private debt. On this issue, at least, Auckland mayoral challenger, Tamihere, has some solid points to make. ...
If we are to avoid making the earth uninhabitable, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to practically nothing over the next decade. But that will still leave us with the problem of the carbon we have already emitted, which ...
Former Waikato DHB CEO Nigel Murray allegedly misused public funds, spending more than $120,000 of public money on unjustified travel. He was forced to resign and the Serious Fraud Office began an investigation. But despite the SFO finding that the ...
Jeremy Corbyn, we are told, is being advised – not least by his deputy (as well as by some of his would-be successors) – that he must come “off the fence” on the Brexit issue if he wants to bolster ...
The End of Life bill has been read a second time and is now heading for the House for further debate. Personally, I support the proposal. I don't ever epect to take advantage of the Bill's provisions myself, but as ...
Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.read more ...
Below is a translation of the editorial in the June 24 round of weekly workplace bulletins issued all over France by the revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvriere. Last Saturday, 8,000 people took to the streets of Belfort (eastern France) to ...
Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...
Holly Lawford-Smith is a senior lecturer in political philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She’s currently writing a book about radical feminism. This article appeared on Feminist Current Academics should be standing together in defence of universities’ fundamental values: the ...
The Otago Daily Times has an in-depth article about the future of wind energy in New Zealand, and it is looking bright:The news that wind will play the leading role in New Zealand’s energy future was put up in lights ...
If the sight of schoolkids striking for a future has been filling you with hope, good news: they want you to join them on September 27:Students will take to the streets again demanding action on climate change, and this time ...
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...
To express concern about foreign ownership and control in New Zealand is often to invite accusations of xenophobia and economic illiteracy. It is worthwhile, therefore, to rehearse the grounds for that concern, and to explore the various forms it can ...
It must be a day ending in Y because the Guardian - remember when it used to be a good paper1 - is running another spurious story about Corbyn's leadership being threatened over anti-Semitism.The headline the Guardian runs is: "MPs tell ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 23 through Sat, June 29, 2019 Editor's Pick When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and ...
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...
First way – the state, Keynesian demand management, the working class as the base of support. Second way – free-market, reduce the scope of the state and cut taxes, relative indifference to social justice. Third Way – well that's the ...
E15 is a London-based housing campaign that arose from the eviction of a group of young working-class mothers from a homeless hostel in 2013. Cat Wiener, through her work with the Revolutionary Communist Group, helped get Focus E15 up and ...
Going Upstairs: If we accept the LGBTQI+ community’s untrammelled right to advance their understanding of love, then we must also accept Israel Folau’s right to articulate his own simplistic and inadequate interpretation of the Christian religion.ONE OF THE FIRST things ...
So, some Labour MPs and peers have written Corbyn a letter complaining about the re-admission of loudmouth MP Chris Williamson, who had been suspended over allegations he made anti-Semitic comments.Never mind the Guardian's typically biased headline that Corbyn is facing ...
When the NZDF was asked to release US information on Operation Burnham which would have revealed how the villagers died, they refused, claiming that the US objected. So, Nicky Hager and Deborah Manning requested it in the US, under that ...
Statistics New Zealand has released a new report on New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions, with a sectoral breakdown shown how much is caused by different sectors of the economy. The data is crystal clear: half our emissions are caused by ...
Another day, another IPCA report finding police misbehaviour, this time in relation to police beating a suspect in Huntly in 2017. But despite a finding that officers used excessive force, the police as usual refused to prosecute their own. But ...
Compare And Contrast: One of the reasons so many powerful forces combined to oust the Third Labour Government was its obvious determination to move beyond progressive rhetoric and embrace progressive action. When assessing the behaviour of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Please find attached embargoed copies of two media statements from the Interim Climate Change Committee http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1907/Embargoed_Interim_Climate_Change_Committee_Accelerated_electrification_MEDIA_STATEMENT.pdf ...
Greenpeace Executive Director, Dr Russel Norman, has reacted with disbelief that the Government’s latest climate proposal includes an option for dairy to voluntarily deal with their emissions over the next six years. ...
This week’s “Youth Parliament” is an expensive waste of time that promotes taxpayer-funded junketeering, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . “We shouldn’t be training kids on the joys of the trough,” says Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones admitted on Q+A tonight that the state of New Zealand’s infrastructure planning is “dismal” and the government needs to get on with building “rather than writing more reports about it.” ...
DairyNZ has released its submission on the Zero Carbon Bill and is calling on the Government to revise the methane target in the Bill to one that does not put at risk New Zealand’s world-leading dairy sector. Farm profit could ...
July 15 (BusinessDesk) - Foreign Minister Winston Peters will have bi-lateral meetings with two of US president Donald Trump's most hawkish defence and security advisers in a five day trip to Washington D.C. ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero are calling for Members of Parliament to show political courage as the Zero Carbon Bill goes through the crucial Select Committee process. ...
Annual net migration was provisionally estimated at 50,200 (± 800) in the year ended December 2018 compared with 52,600 in the previous year, Stats NZ said today. ...
New Zealanders have the opportunity to contribute to the government’s Review of Retirement Income Policies, including questions around Superannuation and KiwiSaver. Submissions are now open for the Review, being run by the Commission for Financial ...
Yesterday at Mataatua Marae the Tamaki Makaurau Electorate of the Māori party congratulated Rangi Mclean who was appointed to the Vice president Tāne role of the party nation-wide executive. ...
The funding crisis facing the disability sector has become more urgent following the disturbing news that the Ministry of Health will not increase contract prices for providers this year, the New Zealand Disability Support Network said today. ...
The growing number of working poor is an alarming indicator that the regulatory Minimum Wage does not cut it said Closing the Gap spokesperson Peter Malcolm. ...
Historic hui gives overwhelming agreement for a Māori Inquiry The inquiry into state run Oranga Tamariki will be led by whanau, kaimahi and Māori leaders. ...
Drug infiltration into our maximum security prisons is putting prisoners and staff at unnecessary risk, and one tool that would be of huge benefit is a full body scanner. ...
The Socialist Equality Group is hosting a protest rally in Cuba Street, Wellington (at the intersection with Left Bank) on Sunday 14 July at 2:30pm to oppose the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and to ...
Simon Shepherd: The National Party proposed its own medicinal cannabis scheme last year. Its Health Spokesperson, Michael Woodhouse, says it shouldn’t have been ignored. So I began by asking him what his problem is with the government’s proposed regime. ...
Countries around the world are also dealing with medicinal cannabis. Britain legalised it last year, but the uptake has been slow. Neurologist Professor Mike Barnes wrote the report that convinced UK lawmakers it was a good idea. He's coming here ...
Simon Shepherd: Green MP Chloe Swarbrick’s name has become synonymous with drug reform, so following years of campaigning for safe, public access to medicinal cannabis, what does she think of the government’s new plan? Well, Chloe Swarbrick joins me ...
Social Credit is calling for a Government enquiry into the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board over it's handling of the Sarah Preece attack in 2017 and its subsequent report. ...
An overwhelming response sees Māori from across the country pouring into Māngere today. The call for action came from Māori leadership concerned with the practice of tamariki removals by the state. Whānau, experts, and highly skilled Māori from ...
Responding the announcement of a $2.37 million loan from the Provincial Growth Fund to a Northland berry farm, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “Why couldn’t this business get a loan from the bank? If no bank was ...
Multicultural NZ is delighted to congratulate former Gisborne Mayor, Meng Foon, who has been appointed as New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner. ...
Award-winning broadcaster, Waatea has been selected by North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to exclusively livestream the historic Māori-led Inquiry on Oranga Tamariki. ...
“The Peace Movement sends an urgent call to Winston Peters to reject any US demands for New Zealand participation in patrolling the Persian Gulf and Straits of Hormuz. New Zealand should have nothing to do with any war on the ...
More than 50 senior non-commissioned officers from militaries in the Asia-Pacific Region gathered this week in Auckland for a conference hosted by the New Zealand Army. ...
The addition of an absurd Treaty of Waitangi clause in the Plant Varieties Act raises the question whether “Maoridom” will claim royalties on new plant varieties, Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson Casey Costello said today. ...
What are we going to do about District Health Boards? News this week that the Government is looking at a further bail-out of cash-strapped Boards to help reduce their deficits has raised afresh questions about the sustainability of the current ...
Legal proceedings were filed in the Wellington High Court this week to have certain blocks of land at Shelly Bay returned to the ownership of Taranaki Whānui iwi. The land in issue is currently the proposed site for a high ...
The government’s reluctance to front up about support for mentally traumatised mosque shooting survivors has shined a spotlight on the limitations of ACC, writes RNZ’s Veronica Schmidt.The difficulty with being held up as a symbol of empathy and compassion is ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Two school girls from East Java, Aeshnina Azzahra (alias Nina), 12, and Zahira Zade, 11, have sent hand-written protest letters to US President Donald Trump over the dumping of toxic plastic waste in Indonesia. The ...
Jacinda Ardern needs to make a stand for the things she says her Government believes in, despite the public preference for strong, dominant and often otherwise repugnant politicians. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentClimate change Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern defends ‘laughable’ ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Options for getting agriculture into ETS unveiled, leading academic savages billion trees programme, and OIO approves Westland Milk sale. A historic day for climate change policy in New Zealand, with agriculture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sumeet Walia, Senior Lecturer and Vice Chancellor’s Fellow, RMIT University What better way to build smarter computer chips than to mimic nature’s most perfect computer – the human brain? Being able to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney Debates about constitutional change in Australia inevitably raise the poor success rate of referendums. Only eight out of 44 attempts have ever succeeded ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Whitehouse, Bennett Chair of Autism, Telethon Kids Institute, Univeristy of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Therapies given to infants before they receive a diagnosis of autism may lead to important ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Fobert, Research Associate, Flinders University Clownfish achieved worldwide fame following Finding Nemo, but it turns out these fish don’t do so well in the spotlight. Our research, published in Biology Letters, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Pollack, Associate Professor, University of Sydney Someone we know recently told us about a team-building event that proved anything but. The chief executive who arranged it loved mountain biking. So he ...
Oskar Howell travels to Otorohanga to interview Danielle Hawkins, author of When It All Turns to Custard, over a delicious two-course home-cooked lunch. ...
Dreamed of traveling long term, but at a loss about how to afford it? Here’s how Kristin Hall and her partner managed it (spoiler: involves a lot of brown rice and cabbage).*Scroll to the end for an important note about ...
Daniel Ziffer’s rollicking account of Australia’s Royal Commission into banking is a jaw-dropping laundry list of scandals, heartbreaking stories, and ‘gotcha’ moments.The Haynes Commission was set up in 2017 to inquire into and report on misconduct in the Australian banking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Harry Hobbs, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has announced that the state will begin a conversation about a pathway to treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mair Underwood, Lecturer in Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Queensland Months after a public breakup with her husband, the politician Barnaby Joyce, Natalie Joyce made news when she displayed her “new” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brittany Huber, Postdoctoral researcher, Swinburne University of Technology Most (80%) Australian parents worry children spend too much time with screens. But what children are doing on and off screen matters more than ...
A local photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ requesting they work “unpaid” on Married At First Sight NZ. A wedding photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ on Reddit after the production company requested that they work for ...
How ANZ Bank fought for more than three years to keep its role in New Zealand’s biggest Ponzi scheme quiet and stop a regulator telling out-of-pocket investors the details. ...
Sam Brooks reviews Mean Mums, the new sitcom from Three that manages to make putting a great show together look easy.When it premiered as part of Three’s Pilot Week last year, I called Mean Mums the winner of the bunch. Nearly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Last week on this podcast we talked to Ken Wyatt about the government’s plan for a referendum – hopefully this parliamentary term – to recognise ...
Imagine if we treated our native birds with as little care as we do our precious fish stocks, writes ecologist Stella McQueen.Earlier this year, 900 at-risk native mudfish were relocated to make way for a wastewater development. But despite a ...
For when toast or cereal just doesn’t cut it, but you don’t have the time or inclination to do any actual cooking, try this. If I ever cook rice (or grains of any kind) for dinner, I often make extra to ...
For their latest ageing episode, Hilary Barry joins the On the Rag team to talk wrinkle creams, menopause and why people still think she is Jeremy Wells’ mum. This month’s episode of On the Rag is all about ageing. Time ravages ...
The Auditor-General's investigators are to look into the National Party's complaints about taxpayer funding being used to underwrite KiwiBuild homes. ...
Its rolling slate of cringey jokes and meaningless trivia is a familiar sight wherever there’s a captive audience – but what the hell is Giggle TV? Johnny Crawford looks into the tweet-stealing, wife joke-telling phenomenon.If you’ve spent any time in ...
COMMENTARY:By Yamin Kogoya in Auckland More than 50 years of “torture” has been inflicted on the Papuan people by the Indonesian government. With the complicity of Western governments, great fear has been put in the hearts and minds ...
It’s landlords who are finding themselves out in the cold as property managers begin to walk away from clients who haven’t insulated their rentals, reports Don Rowe.Two weeks after the first of New Zealand’s healthy homes deadlines, property managers are ...
Event date and time: Friday, July 26, 2019 – 17:00–18:30JOIN US for this Pacific Media Centre‘s smorgasbord “launch” mid-winter fono and celebration for: + Two new documentaries on climate change and media freedom + The ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Tuesday’s contentForeign affairs and trade Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): US ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Monday’s contentOranga Tamariki, state care of children, adoption Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): Māori ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Senior research fellow, Southern Cross University Humans’ distant ancestor Australopithecus africanus had a unique approach to raising their young, as shown in our new research published today in Nature. Geochemical ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au You might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joyce Y.M. Nip, Senior lecturer, Department of Media and Communications; Department of Chinese Studies, University of Sydney As China grows more powerful and influential, our New Superpower series looks at what this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trent Yarwood, Infectious Diseases Physician, Senior Lecturer, James Cook University and, The University of Queensland This year’s flu season is off to an early start, with 144,000 confirmed cases so far in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Todd Denham, PhD Candidate, School of Global, Urban & Social Studies, RMIT University Governments are looking to fast rail services to regional cities to relieve population pressures in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. ...
Open Mike 16/12/2018 
The Interim Climate Change Committee's report on Action on agricultural emissions: Evidence, analysis and recommendations was finally released today, and as you might guess from the title, it is recommending that we actually act, rather than let farmers keep ...21 hours ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...23 hours ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...1 day ago
Later this month, thousands of people are expected to march to parliament as part of the #HandsOffOurTamaraki movement. At its heart, the movement is about preserving whānau and demanding that the state stop removing children from their whānau, hapū and iwi. ...2 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The recent statements made by the former FARC commander, Carlos Lozada (legal name Julian Gallo), where, from his seat in Congress, he praised the Colombian Army demonstrate how low the farianos have sunk. Lozada began by ...3 days ago
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...3 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...6 days ago
1 week ago
1 week ago
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...2 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...2 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...2 weeks ago
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Blog Writing Tips. I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the ... 2 weeks ago
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...3 weeks ago
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...3 weeks ago
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
Statistics New Zealand has released a new report on New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions, with a sectoral breakdown shown how much is caused by different sectors of the economy. The data is crystal clear: half our emissions are caused by ...3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...1 day ago
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...32 mins ago
The government’s reluctance to front up about support for mentally traumatised mosque shooting survivors has shined a spotlight on the limitations of ACC, writes RNZ’s Veronica Schmidt.The difficulty with being held up as a symbol of empathy and compassion is ...39 mins ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Two school girls from East Java, Aeshnina Azzahra (alias Nina), 12, and Zahira Zade, 11, have sent hand-written protest letters to US President Donald Trump over the dumping of toxic plastic waste in Indonesia. The ...1 hour ago
Jacinda Ardern needs to make a stand for the things she says her Government believes in, despite the public preference for strong, dominant and often otherwise repugnant politicians. ...1 hour ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Options for getting agriculture into ETS unveiled, leading academic savages billion trees programme, and OIO approves Westland Milk sale. A historic day for climate change policy in New Zealand, with agriculture ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sumeet Walia, Senior Lecturer and Vice Chancellor’s Fellow, RMIT University What better way to build smarter computer chips than to mimic nature’s most perfect computer – the human brain? Being able to ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Whitehouse, Bennett Chair of Autism, Telethon Kids Institute, Univeristy of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Therapies given to infants before they receive a diagnosis of autism may lead to important ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Fobert, Research Associate, Flinders University Clownfish achieved worldwide fame following Finding Nemo, but it turns out these fish don’t do so well in the spotlight. Our research, published in Biology Letters, ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Pollack, Associate Professor, University of Sydney Someone we know recently told us about a team-building event that proved anything but. The chief executive who arranged it loved mountain biking. So he ...5 hours ago
The government is proposing a new road safety strategy called Road to Zero, aiming to cut road deaths by 40 percent in the next decade. ...5 hours ago
Oskar Howell travels to Otorohanga to interview Danielle Hawkins, author of When It All Turns to Custard, over a delicious two-course home-cooked lunch. ...6 hours ago
Highland dancing's lone male competitor, Angus Hendry, dominated the sport's national championships in Marlborough. ...6 hours ago
Jacinda Ardern’s comments jar with advice over extending ACC cover to mentally injured terror attack victims. ...6 hours ago
Auckland's lava caves offer a glimpse of volcanic activity on this planet and others - but they may be at risk. ...6 hours ago
Dreamed of traveling long term, but at a loss about how to afford it? Here’s how Kristin Hall and her partner managed it (spoiler: involves a lot of brown rice and cabbage).*Scroll to the end for an important note about ...6 hours ago
Daniel Ziffer’s rollicking account of Australia’s Royal Commission into banking is a jaw-dropping laundry list of scandals, heartbreaking stories, and ‘gotcha’ moments.The Haynes Commission was set up in 2017 to inquire into and report on misconduct in the Australian banking ...6 hours ago
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Why you should have a moment of sympathy for Jabba the Drumpf. A very brief and mild one that should already have come and gone, but nevertheless …
https://www.salon.com/2018/12/15/all-donald-trump-wanted-was-to-be-president-and-just-look-how-it-turned-out/
Makes me wonder if Trump will enable more firebrands on the left as well.
Like Louisiana firebrand New Dealer Huey Long, sometimes it’s better to burn out
than to fade away.
I have no doubt the Chumpanzee’s antics have helped elect the likes of Ocasio-Cortez, That’s one of the very few bright spots of the current political moment.
But in terms of making lasting changes for the better, are the firebrands more successful or does it work better to be a bit quieter and more thoughtful and willing to round off the edges to account for the other side’s biggest concerns? Seems to me there’s plenty of examples to bolster and refute both sides of that question.
I’m just starting to think about President Trump’s legacy.
Not in any of his policies, but in his communicative capacity, his strength in resonating messages, his willingness to break rules both social and legal, his smashing of institutions. He’s pushed what is possible.
The inflated shape of Trump in the American mind has expanded big and will pop, but its space will be there for a long, long time.
For sure he’s going to have an outsized effect on the shape of politics to come. But it’s still an open question whether it will be a long term spreading the boundaries to allow what was previously unacceptable, or a backlash because he’s proven the rules and norms have value and it causes real problems when they get trashed.
Probably a mix of both, depending on which area we’re looking at. For instance, it would be a good thing if Americans got over their prurient hangups about their pollies’ sex lives, while also becoming less accepting of the powerful abusing their power for their sexual gratification. I’d be astonished if he doesn’t provoke a backlash round of rulemaking towards increased financial transparency and avoidance of financial conflicts of interest, and I can’t see any downside to that happening.
I’m hoping for more, but there’s a few areas that will come up post-Trump family trials.
I think there will be a vetting requirement to release tax affairs.
Also in vetting, if we can remember that Democrat VP Eagleton who failed to disclose mental health issues, I suspect full banking records will need releasing in vetting.
I’m looking to see whether the 1974 Supreme Court’s Nixon ruling on the tapes still overrides “executive privilege”. A general hard testing of executive privilege is coming up soon. General tests on privilege will get looked at.
The citizen-inreach of the intelligence community is going to get a smacking. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was an outgrowth of the committee’s investigations, and it created the special FISA court to authorize surveillance operations when driven by national security concerns.
Also a protocol that the intelligence community should STFU about Presidential Candidates three months out unless they have ball-clenching evidential proof of treachery.
Maybe something on further limiting paid lobbyists who also claim legal privilege. After Watergate, most law schools in the United States required courses about professional responsibility, and the American Bar Association rewrote its responsibility code.
There will be a legacy of language. Words and sayings from Watergate are part of the common language of America, from President Nixon’s famous “I am not a crook” statement to President Ford’s declaration that “our national nightmare is over.” But nothing has been more prevalent that the use of suffix “gate” to indicate a scandal.
If I were feeling adventurous, if he goes down in sufficient flames, we should see regulation of the Google and Facebook and Baidu networks, in just the same way that public US broadcasting was regulated in the early 1950s. Unregulated communications networks are killing democracy by degrading it, and none moreso than there in the US. Would need a united Senate and President to overcome First Amendment issues, but it has to be done, and arguably it’s the Trump Presidency that’s caused the need.
Goodnight, and Good Luck.
Excellent article by Alison Mau.
Looks at how we value lives differently.
“No-one is talking. Nothing can be reported. When, at the Auckland vigil for Grace Millane on Wednesday night, I stood on stage and read out the names of all the 2018 victims, I could only refer to her as “the unnamed woman killed in Flat Bush”
In contrast to the crowd, the waiata and the public sorrow for Grace, there were no candles, and no floral tributes laid in that South Auckland cul-de-sac.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/109365685/ali-mau-why-we-grieve-for-grace-millane-and-not-others
That has got to be the stupidest article I’ve seen in a long time.
Why on earth would Alison Mau expect every other case to get identical public profile as every other? Such a stupid case of ‘butwhatabout….’
No young woman in the last decade has forced as much national self-reflection as Grace. The Prime Minister had to defend us to the entire world media. It’s very likely judges will reflect hard about the average tariffs for this kind of case, because they must reflect society.
It is precisely because of this self-reflection that so many other cases will get stronger scrutiny, and the public debate will be raised higher. A great thing Alison surely?
Mau is a ghoulish ambulance-chaser going after yet another grisly death.
She should hold her breath for the trials.
Little writes pretty much the same…..
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12176421
Little is just as stupid as Mau – and one of them copy-pasted from the other.
Not all deaths will be treated BY THE MEDIA the same. They might want to hold up a hand mirror to themselves.
We’ve had multiple social media platforms that have got better over years and years of such stories:
– smoking
– domestic violence
– mental health
– child poverty
– drink driving
They work.
Just takes lots of sustained community effort that makes the likes of Mau and Little remember what they constantly forget.
Yeah blame mau and little – that will make change and things safer won’t it?
You seem very out of touch on this issue.
Poor Grace, it is her death that has woken Rip van Winkle (an old European fable) in NZ that has spent so much time asleep when it comes to deaths of women, and children also, and violence also against the vulnerable whoever they are.
Yes even the normal ignorers can’t ignore anymore because of that young woman’s death.
The putrid dressing has been noticed and needs changed before being ignored again.
I hope a catalyst for change is found and that change occurs.
Try reducing the hate buddy. You don’t get it – we hear you already.
Good article ed thanks.
Some are too far into their priviledge to see the truth from Mau – they never would anyway cos it disturbs their leafy suburb thinking.
Some are too far into their privilege to see the truth from Mau …
There’s truth in that statement. A double standard has been operating here and I’m as guilty of it as anyone. To be fair, part of the angst is because Grace Millane was a visitor to this country, but nevertheless we don’t mourn the loss of all the other women who have died as a result of sexual violence to anything like the same degree.
But if this particular death results in a change of direction in NZ, then something truly worthwhile will have been achieved. However the jury will be out on that one for some time to come.
How is her death going to change the direction of NZ?
The whole thing was a ghoulish media driven affair done purely for clicks, eyeballs and egos.
She’ll be forgotten within a couple of months once the media move onto their next cause célèbre.
I’d rate the NZ media as some of the worst in the world, no better than paparazzi.
And some of the commenters on news and views are pretty bad, but not good enough to be the worst in the world, though they will no doubt keep trying, and may yet succeed!
Boring Media fake news
Yes Anne.
We know that it’s not a competition – it is a tally of shame. Our violence is appalling towards women. We have to stop it. The terrible death of grace may help some see what is right in front of their face – in their living room or mirror – I bloody hope so.
Well I actually agree with Ad. Aside from which for whatever reason there was huge suppression around the south Auckland homicide, I have to ask myself why wasn’t Alison mau respecting that? It’s unusual, but I am sure the police/courts have their reasons.
Some stories just do resonate more with people. Look at the Thai boys trapped in the cave. Or the young woman on the Gold Coast who fell off the balcony (?maori). I am sure maus research on how some ethnicities receive less public sympathy is true. But for god sake bringing it up in the context of graces recent murder I find in poor taste.
Can’t we stick to the point, which is to use good research to figure out what might work in reducing homicide and violence towards all people
There are many terrible acts out there
We have to reluctantly accept that some acts will attract varying media attention depending what others captures the news and public sentiment.
It is what results follow these, better one captures the public than none. And all these deaths are a shock and we need to do better.
We can only hope that changes do arise from this.
And hopefully something similar from this 😢
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12176781
Driving the Mercedes was 19-year-old Rouxle Le Roux, who had drunk wine and smoked cannabis earlier in the day.
When Kraatskow crossed the intersection, riding a small bike and wearing headphones but no helmet, the Mercedes ploughed through the crossing, sending him across the bonnet and into the air. He landed some distance away and died at the scene.
Fun fact .
Obama built more Mexico wall than trump has to date .
Where is the source of that fact bwaghorn. I thought that no wall was built till Trump started it, and there had been no agreement to make the money available before him.
There have been bits and pieces of wall getting built for decades. I can even remember bits of wall at the border in the early 70s at Tijuana. So I wouldn’t find it in the slightest bit surprising if the rate of wall-building is higher under Obama than Adolf Twitler.
The difference is up till now the building has generally been in response to specific problem areas, whereas the Grab’em’fuhrer made a mindless throwaway comment at an early rally, liked the reaction so he kept repeating to get the same reaction, and now he feels like he needs to be seen to be doing something about it.
Thanks Andre
Like your inspired nicknames.
On sky news this am . Bush had the biggest amount of kms.
B Waghorm States building walls is not Obama building walls fake news their is 700km of wall on the border non of it built by Obama. Facts please.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/12/australia-says-west-jerusalem-is-israel-s-capital-following-the-us.html
Our Aussie friends say Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. “A step in the right direction “
In the right direction to what . ?
Did they say where the Palestinian capital is?
East Jerusalem.
Netanyahu just needs to be in jail.
James you don’t know why Morriston has done this!
Bennelong has the highest number of Jewish voters of any electorate in Australia the Liberal Party lost the by election now are pandering to get it back and play into the anti Muslim White supremacist vote at the same time.
On RadioNZ this morning
7.11 Meg De Ronde: the problem with ‘tough guy’ world leaders
Meg De Ronde, Campaigns Director for Amnesty International New Zealand
Amnesty International warns the actions of “tough guy” world leaders pushing misogynistic, xenophobic and homophobic policies has placed freedoms and rights that were won long ago in fresh jeopardy. Meg De Ronde, campaigns director for Amnesty International NZ, talks about the issue, raised in Amnesty’s Human Rights report for 2018.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018675805/meg-de-ronde-the-problem-with-tough-guy-world-leaders
We’ve forgotten what we had – so we have to lose some of it.
You’re right Ad so we need to be reminded of what we did have, and get highly motivated to save what we can from the remainder and work out methods to prevent it continuing or to limit its progress. Also we need to get powered up to organise systems to comfort and support those affected who have lost greatly at the hands of these apparently unstoppable forces.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve found myself agreeing with Mark Richardson and Bill Ralston.
(RNZ Media Watch on the media, name suppression and Grace Millane )
And I guess Martin Devlin and the other ZB talkback hacks must be really disappointed
Link: https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018675612/heart-breaking-news-and-suppression-frustration
A stopped clock is right once a day!
It’s okay, just know that they’re still prats.
Why is knowing this name so important – what possible reason do people want to know his name for – I just don’t get it.
In order to gloat, label and reaffirm their prejudices @ mm
Or as @ Wayne would have it, in the interests of “open and public” justice.
Being the exceptional ‘entrepreneur’ I am, I’m thinking of starting a business manufacturing stocks – they’re the shape of the future
The name tells 99.99% of the people who hear it absolutely nothing.
Well I’m not sure if you read this from OM the other day ( and the discussion that followed) :
but I’m now even more convinced that name suppression should be automatic until after a verdict is delivered. And if you listen to that Mediawatch thing, Martin Devlin had already jumped/hoped to a conclusion (as I say – In order to re-affirm, and even justify his prejudices).
And while we’re feigning outrage at Google for emailing the defendant’s name as it ‘trended’, Google algorithms would never have received the necessary ‘inputs’ had not Brit journalists on the ground published (in the NZ legal definition) the name.
Net result: Someone who is possibly guilty has a good argument as to the fairness or not of his trial.
So much for that ‘open and public’ justice @ Wayne speaks of.
But you know – yea/nah, next
I like ‘village’ detective stories. In these any crime is always attributed to an outsider, a visitor or a tramp; not one of us!
Oh, btw….. for a good many of them, it tells them what it’s not – specially if you’re a Devlin.
It’s not a Hiriwini, or Khan or a Singh or a Wong or a Kwese. PANIC – what is it? Can’t quite remember, it’s a Smith-Jones? no… it’s a Ferguson-Llewellyn (with a single ‘s’ doncha know)?, no…. ummmm I think it begins with a ‘K’ (and one of those English sounding names)
Thank Christ ‘D’ is nowhere near a ‘K’ in the alphabet eh?
Whoar that could have been a near miss
Are you planning a new sort of stock exchange? For petty crooks, con artists, fraudsters I have been thinking recently that a day in the stocks followed by a week in prison, rest of sentence suspended while a re-education class is attended would be a cheap and effective way of dealing with these minor predators.
Hadn’t thought of that @ grey but as a true entrpreneur, I’m always looking for ways to monetise an idea (it doesn’t necessarily have to be my own idea either).
I did have another idea though that I thought lprent could assist with (because he’s renown for his efficient programming skills – almost to the point of obsession) .
We develop an ‘app’/application. The Police (or other prosecutors) simply provide the various inputs, and it’s sent to some sort of social media platform.
We give it a week or so and count the number of ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ records received.
We then determine guilt or otherwise, and depending on a set criteria, we deliver judgment.
What’s not to like? We can do away with all that expense of a judiciary and the legal profession, and we get “open and public” justice. Very efficient and effective.
Of course, anyone charged is automatically placed on remand in the stocks in an open warehouse where the public can walk by and decide on a kind of pre-guilt or pre-innocence and choose what kind of food to throw
Rotten tomatoes to you OWT. But peddle the idea to the Insensitive Sentencing Untrustworthies, they’ll be onto you like a starving dog.
Having experienced my friend’s frustration dealing with a serial fraudster who plays the the law like a kid playing hopskotch, andI think it would add to our enjoyment of life in all its glory if we could see some of these non-violent scumbags face to face, at a distance of course, for their safety.
The group for this type of punishment would include roaming non-tradesmen skimming vulnerable people, and ones who sell themselves as worthy and are not (a relation has had an 8 week renovation job extend to 18 weeks and encountered rudeness and being patronised when she phones Mr High and Mighty lead tradesman, and has had to endure two rainstorms while the roof was being repaired and the tarpaulin blew away, soaking the rooms below). And I am sure others can top these.
This brings to mind a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song about who would not be missed. I’ll brighten my day and that of anyone who has a list and needs a lift. I’d love to go to the proms in London one day!
So that we know who it ISN’T marty.
It just seems like weird behaviour to me. I’ve seen it in a few things, this excessive compulsion to know – arrogant western thinking imo.
Shorten goes big on housing.
Take a bow Mr Twyford; they’re learning.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/labor-promises-a-6-6-billion-housing-boom-to-bring-down-rents-20181215-p50mi9.html
Like Tywford, Shorten wants to use taxpayer payer money to keep the property bubble inflated instead of letting the market correct itself.
No doubt the stupid will think it’s a great idea.
Haa ha market correct itself!!do you believe that shit .
Have a look at the Christchurch property market.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/107971093/is-christchurch-the-only-new-zealand-city-with-too-many-houses
Rents are still pretty high in CHC.
So the many many huge variables in the ch ch market due to the earthquakes had nothing to do with that ?
BM that’s because many people left moved out because of the earthquakes especially retired or those about to retire. Many moved to Wanaka now theirs a bubble their.
You do understand that the market is a means to restrict use of scarce resources right?
That when combined with the profit motive the first thing that the profiteers do is ensure low availability so as to drive the price up?
Leaving it to ‘the market’ will just make things worse.
It is the beginning of the end…
Another sparking NZr. Radionz 10am ish.
Award-winning Kiwi documentary maker Bryn Evans has been kidnapped twice, been caught in firefights, told the story of the Taliban’s cricket team, and introduced some hip-hop dancing pensioners to the world. Most recently he was the man behind the documentary about Scott Dixon, called Born Racer. He talks about the transition from photos to film and why he’s chosen Berlin as the place to hang out.
Fun and frolic from Paris early 1900s, you feel that you are there. It looks a good place to be – perhaps we should have stayed in the horse-drawn days.
Thanks Grey (10) … being an old francophile from way back, I thoroughly enjoyed it 🙂 Loved the mobile platform/people mover. No doubt that would have been state of the art technology way back then.
Certainly a lot has been done to improve the quality of the film. And the sound was pretty good too.
glad you liked it i thought it was a marvel – the sound is so good. did you notice that they used paired grey horses for the fire units? they were very showy and dramatic.
How about that mobile platform mover for Central Auckland to the Airport?
A great film grey! And how clever to adjust the frames per second to get such smooth action.
Why is Grace a Standout ?
Because she traveled safely through South America on her OE.
Grace got to Auckland, and within 2 days was Killed by some alleged cowardly Kiwi bastard. Just two days.
That Bastard will no doubt pull out every sore finger and every bit of family scrapping and every bit “of poor me” to kid the Judge and jury that he is a down trodden lovely, lonely victim and not a Murderer.
Whereas, the ONLY victim was Grace Millane (and her Family). They had no smarty Lawyer or dodgy Barrister. Or softy judge. Or tearful Jury – picked by the Barrister. None whatever. Grace had no one to save Her. No Lawyer. No Barrister.
The murderer, with nifty Lawyer and greasy Barrister who’s fees will be paid by the NZ Worker, will be searching under every leaf to declare “The alleged Murderer a poor very low intelligence person who enjoyed having a good time day and night. Especially when it came to that fullfilling game called Sex and Murder. A person who must not be named.”
Oh yes. And very likely not to be held to account. For such is the strange ease of getting free of any serious charge within New Zealand Law.
I am not sure about the “wonderful” other 18 +2 Femme Murders this year, but certainly a number of those who were murdered were known to the Victim.
The message is: Women should not trust any NZ male who knows them. Get well away from them. Go to any lengths to remove those men from your life.
NZ males adore violence and sex. Unlike other civilised places. The games they play are full of violence. They are also cowardly. To make matters worse, they are often drug and gang centered too. But they know how to Kill. Oh Yes. !
Hey Observer
Restrain yourself. You are sounding so law and order then you can come up with this:
Whereas, the ONLY victim was Grace Millane (and her Family). They had no smarty Lawyer or dodgy Barrister. Or softy judge. Or tearful Jury – picked by the Barrister. None whatever. Grace had no one to save Her. No Lawyer. No Barrister.
The murderer, with nifty Lawyer and greasy Barrister who’s fees will be paid by the NZ Worker,
The lawyers, the courts, the police are all paid for by us as part of a law-based society. That’s something to be cherished. Otherwise we get people like yourself all riled up and looking for someone to hang, at worst any likely person you can pin the crime on will do.
Our system at present has not been sufficient to bring up men with good standards of behaviour at all times, or discourage men who are through and through shits, but that is not the lawyers fault, it is the way that all of us allow society to proceed. And we get an example from the screen, films and television are laced with sex, crims and cunning and most find that enticing to watch. For instance, Godfather has been a great success as good cinema – all about the Mafia.
We enable drunkenness which is at the base of much of our criminality and enables men and women to become untrustworthy liars. So don’t vent your spleen on the justice system when bad results result from all this twisted-mind behaviour going from theory to practice. Even police have been affected by the dominant sexual ideas that swirl in many people’s heads. It is a virus in society that breaks out openly regularly, and always treated as a rare occurrence instead of a hidden chronic weakness.
Australia’s LNG export surge fuels domestic supply concerns
When local resources are exported then locals find that they can no longer afford to live.
We’ve seen this happen here as well.
Vlad getting on one – wonder why?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/109388425/president-vladimir-putin-says-rap-should-be-controlled-in-russia-not-banned
Maybe because it’s effective against fascist dictators
It’s got nothing to do with the cheap heroin that Putin’s oligarch mates are bringing into the country from central Asia, combine with 30 years of ‘reforms’ that have led to the highest rates of of intravenous drug abuse in the world.
fo’ shizzle, my pizzle. Pu-tan clan ain’t nuttin to fuck wi’
At the time of the election earlier this year I pointed out that it was a total fiasco and that the Minister responsible should take responsibility for the only real job he has.
He should have.
Arranged for a repeat of the Census.
Sacked the head of the Statistics Dept.
Sacked the person responsible for the Census.
Announced that “The buck stops here” and resigned as Minister.
Instead he, like a number of his apologists on this blog said that everything was sweet and that they could still produce accurate results.
Now, when it is too late to run it again we are seeing that my comments were accurate and that the integrity of all our statistics is at doubt and that even the election organisation will be suspect.
It isn’t really to late for you Shaw.
Resign. NOW.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109363944/election-2020-at-risk-of-being-compromised-due-to-census-delays
The public sacked the people responsible for this shambles in the 2017 general election.
I value your words Greywarshark
However, I am not enchanted with the way Murdered Victims are flung from the Court House.
Victims of Murder go without Lawyers, without Barristers and without Support of any kind. While the Murderer gets the blubber of scheming Lawyers and Precedents.
Personally, I would put Lawyers and Barristers on traffic offences and keep them out of the way of serious crime.
For is it not true that the Police and Forensics know what crime has taken place in matters of Murder. They have been on site. Not stuck in chambers.
All I can see is the Barrister playing cynically with a Corpse. And favouring yet another “nice boy” with a cozy detention of some limited kind.
Greywarshark, why are NZ men allowed so much support and leeway in their crimes ? Name suppression; Previous crimes suppressed; nil real Punishment. But Comfortable incarceration – if any at all .
You simplify things too much Observer. You no doubt are a very good guy? but even so, you are busy scheming how to get round a case being properly examined in a Court of law under the controlled conditions of it, the conventions of it, and the precedents of the past, all set down to avoid highs and lows in the treatment of crime so all are treated in the same way. The law can be an ass but it is better than the alternative. Also it has been said “Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law” Oliver Goldsmith, which seems to be fairly true to the poor, anyway most of the time. However not having law produces conditions that the song Strange Fruit laments.
We reap what we sow when it comes to murder. You are angry about the murders you hear about, and every one is sad to some extent usually, whether woman or man. But the punishment after being dealt with by the law is usually meted out properly. Your emotion against the law process does not make any woman or man safer after their death.
If you turned your concern into getting values and respect and self-respect taught in schools, and to parents, and how to be compassionate as well as righteous taught to everybody, crime would be reduced. And the better and more honestly respect is carried out and role-modelled by all adults, then the more good results would follow.
Billie Holliday sang about something that really happened; a rule by emotion-fired, immoral men posturing as moralistic. I despise that sort of attitude and I hope that you don’t encourage others to think in the way you have expressed; that is the start of a posse, a lynch mob.
Billie Holiday Lyrics
“Strange Fruit”
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop
Writer(s): LEWIS ALLAN
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/billieholiday/strangefruit.html
Hot contender for the stupidest climate denial argument of all time.
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Peter De Fazio? Old white man. Should be very wise at his age. Has been a career politician 1987-2018, over 30 years.
I’m against having politicians making a career of it. Three terms tops. They can work hard while they are there, and then make room for a new trier. If they don’t work hard they will only get two terms, maybe only one. It should be something to be proud of, serving and being honoured by your fellow citizens – not a gravy train.
Peter Anthony DeFazio is the U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 4th congressional district, serving since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes Eugene, Springfield, Roseburg, Coos Bay, Florence, and part of Corvallis. Wikipedia
Born: 27 May 1947 (age 71 years), Needham, Massachusetts, United States
It’s fun to laugh at Milloy’s idiocy, and then you realise that he was a science advisor to Trump’s EPA transition team.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-epa-air-pollution-cpac-dd95c2fbcd7b/
https://www.desmogblog.com/steve-milloy
More evidence our capitalist system is overshooting the planet’s environmental limits.
Now crayfish populations are collapsing.
We choose capitalism or a liveable planet.
Sadly the greedy rich want the former.
“A conservation group is calling for a total fishing ban for crayfish in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty as the population “collapses towards extinction”.
Forest & Bird is calling for the wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfishing area (known as CRA2) to be closed for three years to allow the species to start recovering.
“The wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfish population has undergone a significant decline,” Forest & Bird marine conservation advocate Katrina Goddard said.
“Without an urgent end to fishing pressure, crayfish could become functionally extinct throughout the entire area within a few years.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12177804
John Glaser makes a pertinent observation.
“US troops now control a third of Syria. They are there on an indefinite basis. I hate to be so annoyingly quaint, but Congress hasn’t authorized this. Permanent war has become normalized. Boring even.”
https://t.co/pKmYP7Wxbb?amp=1
So they should withdraw and leave the Kurds and their allies to Assad and Erdogan to do what they will?
The President should ask Congress for authority.
Otherwise, another illegal war, joe.
The Government, through the Presidencies of Bush, Obama and Trump have all taken action based on a 2001 resolution that allowed them to do almost anything.
It is argued whether the Syrian situation is covered but it was passed way back in the time just after 9/11 and it was as broad as hell.
Whether you think it is still valid and covers the present situation depends on your political views.
I’m sure you remember the old song
“You say potayto and I say potahto,
You say tomayto and I say tomahto”
Well that is about the way the debate on this goes.
What have we become?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109391875/nzs-longest-serving-inmate-will-do-some-more-time
Hi Greywarshark
Thanks for your advice. You are a good man.
I did actually know in advance that NZ Men do not like being told they should not Murder Women.
That is why very few men took any notice of the Murder of Grace Millane. She was after all, just a female. Women gathered together in huge numbers. Not men.
NZ men know that the Lawyers and Barristers will give the male muderer every possible consideration. There is no doubt about that.
But just for the record, I wish guys like you could say a good word for Women – now and then. Nothing dramatic Greywarshark.
I mean, there is every possibility that you may have had a woman as a mother.