That was an interesting article, thanks for the link saveNZ. And big ups to the person whom posted the news re ICIJ Pulitzer win earlier in the week on TS.
I guess anything that adds more weight to Hagars obvious credibility as an investigative journalist would be frowned upon by some mainstream media.
This is when Trump supporters, the alt-right, nazis, Proud Boys, militia, etc. pushed through and took downtown Berkeley. pic.twitter.com/21IPF3iBlW— Shane Bauer (@shane_bauer) April 15, 2017
A fascinating interview on Radio NZ – Wallace chapman with Susan Bordo – a Pulitzer Prize nominated US professor of Women’s Studies on a book she’s published called The Destruction of Hillary Clinton. I know a lot of people on this site are really critical of Clinton, but personally I see things through a similar lens to the one explored in this interview. Clinton wasn’t perfect (no-one is) , but she was a perfectly reasonable candidate caught up in and taken down by a firestorm fed at least in part by misogyny. Before firing off replies, I really urge people to listen to the interview. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201840530/susan-bordo-the-destruction-of-hillary-clinton
I made it thru the first 10 minutes, unmitigated, revisionist, crap. IMHO
Just for starters hillary did not lose because all the media were out to get her!
As wallice posits at the beginning (i paraphrase) Howcome she was seen as an agent of the establishment, dishonest, and an ineffective politicion, ? Indeed! Because that was certainly not the media line! Just maby americans worked that out for themselves.
I guess it depends on what media people were listening to, Xanthe. It was certainly the message spread by Fox and by those breathlessly reporting Trump’s atrocious Twitter tirade, day by day. And when you say that Americans worked that out, let’s remember that 3 million more of them voted for her than for Trump.
Anyway, if you only listened to 10 minutes, then I don’t think you gave that interview the attention it deserved. It wasn’t only about Clinton, it was about the misogyny that female politicians continue to face, and not just in America.
That 3 million were almost certainly in California. And that was the whole reason the founding fathers came up with the electoral college system. They didn’t want one large state controlling the outcome for all of the states.
Well i hope it’s positive policy to help NZ citizens not just punishment policy to make NZ citizens pay for the clean up of their failed privitisation policies and help large offshore polluters (aka oil) like National.
Labour is concentrating on 3 core areas this election: housing, education and health. That doesn’t mean there is no other policy; just that they’re trying to stick with a focused message.
Let’s remember that there was so much policy out last time that people didn’t digest it all and there was no clear picture. Also, when Labour releases policy early, National tend to water it down and release an “us too, but more slowly and much less meaningfully” version as a way to spike their guns.
There’s plenty of policy available from Labour (check the website). If you’re looking for fresh new policy, wait until the election campaign kicks off properly.
As for the argument that voters were unable to digest all of their policies last time, then shouldn’t they be putting them out now, giving voters time to digest them?
I think it was more a case of voters not liking them as opposed to not understanding them. Hence the limited approach taken now. It suggests they don’t want to scare voters off again.
National can decide to adopt Labour’s policy at any given time, thus the keeping their powder dry argument doesn’t wash with me.
Then if they fear the people after the election, they will do the right thing. If not, they will buckle to the donors, like every other political party on the planet.
If people become resistant to antibiotics by using them too often, it could result in a doomsday scenario, where one in three human being die, researchers say.
Sigh! It is so easy to get it right and it is so easy to get it wrong. It is the bugs that become resistant, not the people themselves. You know, super bugs.
I’m not sure if the ideological blinkers got in the way of some Guardian reporting today, but they are reporting on the evacuees buses outside Aleppo being bombed in these terms – The bomber targeted buses full of evacuees from government-held towns as they waited in a rebel-held area on the outskirts of Aleppo.
Now that might lead some to knee-jerk conclusion that the Syrian government was gratuitously killing Syrian citizens…y’know, ‘yesterday’ a chemical attack, today a bomb targeting those who wished to leave government controlled areas.. Maybe I’m being too cynical and it’s just a straightforward case of fucking woeful reporting, but regardless, simple and quick conclusions from ‘headlines’ or leading comments happen all of the time and are employed all of the time.
Anyway, the evacuees were from rebel held towns heading towards government controlled areas.
what’s the evidence they are lying? No real need to correct info that is already correct eh. from the offending article
About 7,000 people and fighters were being evacuated this weekend in a complex humanitarian deal that took months to agree.
Under it, 5,000 people were offered safe passage from the government-held towns of Foua and Kefriya, which are surrounded by rebels, and 2,000 left the rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus, which are besieged by government forces.
the deal was a swap, getting pro-govt people out of govt held towns currently besieged by rebels, and swapping them for rebels from rebel held towns currently besieged by govt forces.
looks like just maybe the ideological blinkers getting in the way of the actual story might by on the other head this time
I don’t believe there is any doubt that the Assad government has been gratuitously killing Syrian citizens for many years whether they did in this instance is unknown.
G’an away, bile yer heid and then make yourself whole again in this time of resurrection by breathing in the resultant stench – you porous and deluded sac of shit that attempts to pass for an expression of humanity. 🙂
“.. that might lead some to knee-jerk conclusion that the Syrian government was gratuitously killing Syrian citizens…y’know, ‘yesterday’ a chemical attack, today a bomb targeting those who wished to leave government controlled areas.. ”
I was pointing out that whether or not Assad and his government had anything to do with this violence , there is no doubt that he has been responsible for many outrages perpetuated against his own people over many years much as his father did.
It is all a very very great shame for the people of Syria.
Teresa Clark has watched three strangers die. She held her husband’s hand the first time, but after that the experience began to feel normal.
The couple, who run a chimney sweeping business in Waynesboro, Virginia, volunteer to watch executions. Teresa’s husband, Larry, 63, went to the first one alone.
“He was very curious. I dropped him off and I asked him all kinds of questions,” she says. “Afterwards he said, ‘You gotta see this’.
This is why HNZ should not be involved in “social housing” We need private organisations that are not riddled with PC crippled burocrats too scared to act in case of Human Rights or TOW “breaches” Community in fear as gang members move in to quiet Auckland street | Newshub
Edit linking failed I’m on my phone
Philosopher Slavoj Žižek settles the “Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” question once and for all
In other words, leftists should “go high?”
I remember when [Greek leftist party] Syriza was still competing for power in Greece. A representative of [far-right political party] Golden Dawn threw glasses full of water at his Syriza opponent at a TV round table. A couple of times, Syriza members of parliament were attacked in parliament, and so on. Today it’s these new alt-right people who are acting physically violent.
They represent the decay of common morality and decency. And I use here the the very precise term, Hegel calls it Sittlichkeit. It’s not simple morality, it’s a set of thick unwritten rules which makes our social life bearable. And, paradoxically, I think that progressives should become the voice of common decency, politeness, good manners and so on.
Nah, I like to pretend I am; I’m a fake which is one reason why I use this alias. I am not kidding!
That said, I do hope that some of what I write here has some merit some of the time; I do mean what I write and try to write what I mean, which is slightly more difficult 😉
Go on you can’t give it up – no way to go cold turkey and miss out on the latest revelations. Though of course there is Scoop and Bernard Hickey as shining venues along with other solid bloggers. But TS is like a thousand small torches shining on narrow footpaths in the dark which will hopefully keep us from falling into big holes.
I spent some time overseas recently and got withdrawal symptoms. Lurking made me already feel heaps better! OMG, what’s happening to me? The only thing that will cure me is to out myself.
Loved your Bertrand Russell quote; almost did a QFT but I resisted (the) temptation.
Need your help comrades! Was just on D Farrars nutcase site and posted this. Its been held up in “awaiting moderation?” For about 30 minutes so far.
Maybe you guys could tell me why?
This Pt England Development Enabling Bill of Nick Smiths’, allows the Crown to exercise its Executive Power(s) to Confiscate any local park, reserve,DoC managed land as well as National park land and private property too, to then onsell to the highest bidder!
This is what the Crown is doing with the negotiators from a interim PSGE, the Ngati Paoa iwi Trust Board(which has only 2 members as well as 2 other boards and associated Deeds & Mandates) & its interim negotiators Eugene & Antony as a private commercial deal masquerading as a Treaty Settlement of which it is not!
It is a precedent setting Bill! No one’s private property is or public property is safe from been confiscated throughout the whole of NZ in the “name” of “Housing!” It’s what you might call a “FireSale!”
Nick Smith & Chris Finlayson are in cahoots!
APRIL 16, 2017 4:58PM
The above Empowering Bill is disgraceful and must not be allowed to proceed.
Gnashional have no shame and no scruples or principles, just deal brokers for those who have wealth.
Where does terrifying incidents like this leave the argument for US backed ‘moderate’ rebels in Syria by commenters like Psycho Milt?
These savages just killed 100+ refugees in a suicide attack. If it were Israel, entire cities in the West Bank, Gaza, or Lebanon would be wiped off the map within a week with zero sanction, yet the elected Syrian government is for some reason not allowed to do the same?
Depends which group did the bombing doesn’t it. The ‘rebel’ forces in Syria range from ISIL to previous members of the Syrian government. Just as the ‘government’ forces range from the Russians to the arseholes running the Saydnaya prison who have killed thousands since 2011 (and before).
I’d note that no group has claimed responsibility, nor are there any particularly good suspects. But I’d also note that there are clearly suspicions about the involvement of the Syrian government. The local BBC correspondent for instance..
It happened when a vehicle loaded with food arrived and started distributing crisps, attracting many children, before exploding, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab said.
She said it was not clear how the vehicle could have reached the area without government permission.
But there is also no evidence that rebels were involved in the attack, as the government claims.
It would not be in the rebels’ interest, our correspondent says, as they were waiting for their own supporters to be evacuated from the other towns.
That last isn’t a particularly useful statement in this conflict as it has been rather overused by the Russians and Syrian government in the past.
However I’d point out a few basics that make me suspicious.
The Alawite sect running the government and the armed forces really aren’t much more sympathetic to Shiites (and in reverse) than they are to Sunnis. You don’t have to read too far into the accounts of their Syrian government’s population demographics to discover that. From the regime viewpoint, bombing few children probably wouldn’t be too extreme if it relieved some of the international pressure.
Exactly how a bomb vehicle got into a government controlled area to do this is a more than a little bit odd. It hasn’t exactly been common in this war simply because the conflict has been incredibly secterian and each area and even each neighbourhood runs extreme security on its edges, and the Syrians didn’t have to learn this the way that the Iraqis did. It was pretty obvious to everyone after some of the horrendous bombing that went on during the Lebanon civil war and the respective Israeli and Syrian occupations there.
Basically if you are a selective myopic and choose to ignore the reality of this kind of religious, tribal and sectarian civil war then you can fool yourself into believing anything you want to.
Personally I suspect that this war is entering a particularly ugly phase. The government has gained the military upper hand from the extensive Russian military help. However the group running the government have a problem. They somehow have to control the rebel held areas once they capture them, and they are clearly not interested in a diplomatic solution. So they can expect a long-running guerilla conflict in most of what are currently rebel held territories.
My gut feel is that they are trying to start a refugee exodus to do a religious cleansing to deprive the guerillas a support base. The characteristic of that from a government is that they start doing deniable atrocities.
But hey, if you want to be selectively myopic and not to bother to understand the conflict enough to sort propaganda from reality – then I won’t stop you being a fool.
I don’t understand this conflict much at all but I don’t think you do either. It is very complex and the details of it are violent, and inscrutable. The information is unreliable and contradictory too. And the players range from tortured Syrian child soldiers right up to Putin and the new kid on the block, reality TV star, Donald Trump.
As far as I understand the BBC and yourself are suggesting that no claim of responsibility in any non-military action in Syria (including this one) is evidence of government involvement. Certainly the position of the US and all its hangers-on is that all the violence is clearly the responsibility of the Syrian government and their proxies.
For my sins I take a wider view of the current state of the region and so can be accused of not being interested or informed on the details. Along these lines I wonder what the US particularly thinks it’s going to achieve by going back to the well again and again with direct intervention when clearly the policy has made life far worse for the citizens of those countries over the last 17 years.
Further, is it not apparent that US economic expansion in several places over the globe is causing tension? I get that the US isn’t concerned with actual territorial global hegemony but they certainly are interested in economic global hegemony. Their political and cultural push into Eastern Europe, and the military regime change policy in the Middle East is less about stability and security for the people of those countries than it is about the security of US business interests in those countries.
As for the refugee/militant swap being religious cleansing in this instance, well the deal was brokered internationally by Iran and Qatar and I’m struggling to think of a better way to peacefully move these warring peoples apart than by refugee exchanges.
But back to the most recent incident; the RNZ (BBC/Reuters) article I read said the targets were Shia evacuees from rebel held towns:
Syrian rescue workers said that they had carted away at least 100 bodies from the site of the blast, which hit buses carrying Shi’ite residents as they waited to cross from rebel into government territory in an evacuation deal between warring sides.
but your BBC article says the opposite, that the evacuees were from government held towns:
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 109 evacuees from government-held towns were killed, along with aid workers and rebel soldiers.
If you can tell me which is correct without calling me a fool I’d appreciate it.
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National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
The economy is not doing what it was supposed to when PM Christopher Luxon said in January it was ‘going for growth.’ Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short from our political economy on Tuesday, April 15:New Zealand’s economic recovery is stalling, according to business surveys, retail spending and ...
This is a guest post by Lewis Creed, managing editor of the University of Auckland student publication Craccum, which is currently running a campaign for a safer Symonds Street in the wake of a horrific recent crash.The post has two parts: 1) Craccum’s original call for safety (6 ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff has published an opinion piece which makes the case for a different approach to economic development, as proposed in the CTU’s Aotearoa Reimagined programme. The number of people studying to become teachers has jumped after several years of low enrolment. The coalition has directed Health New ...
The growth of China’s AI industry gives it great influence over emerging technologies. That creates security risks for countries using those technologies. So, Australia must foster its own domestic AI industry to protect its interests. ...
Unfortunately we have another National Party government in power at the moment, and as a consequence, another economic dumpster fire taking hold. Inflation’s hurting Kiwis, and instead of providing relief, National is fiddling while wallets burn.Prime Minister Chris Luxon's response is a tired remix of tax cuts for the rich ...
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girlsWho do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boysAlways should be someone you really loveSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Graham Leslie Coxon / Alexander Rowntree David / Alexander James Steven.Last month, I wrote about the Birds and Bees being ...
Australia needs to reevaluate its security priorities and establish a more dynamic regulatory framework for cybersecurity. To advance in this area, it can learn from Britain’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which presents a compelling ...
Deputy PM Winston Peters likes nothing more than to portray himself as the only wise old head while everyone else is losing theirs. Yet this time, his “old master” routine isn’t working. What global trade is experiencing is more than the usual swings and roundabouts of market sentiment. President Donald ...
President Trump’s hopes of ending the war in Ukraine seemed more driven by ego than realistic analysis. Professor Vladimir Brovkin’s latest video above highlights the internal conflicts within the USA, Russia, Europe, and Ukraine, which are currently hindering peace talks and clarity. Brovkin pointed out major contradictions within ...
In the cesspool that is often New Zealand’s online political discourse, few figures wield their influence as destructively as Ani O’Brien. Masquerading as a champion of free speech and women’s rights, O’Brien’s campaigns are a masterclass in bad faith, built on a foundation of lies, selective outrage, and a knack ...
The international challenge confronting Australia today is unparalleled, at least since the 1940s. It requires what the late Brendan Sargeant, a defence analyst, called strategic imagination. We need more than shrewd economic manoeuvring and a ...
This year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a fully hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from April 27 to May 2. This year, I'll join the event on site in Vienna for the full week and I've already picked several sessions I plan ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatchpresenter In 1979, Sam Neill appeared in an Australian comedy movie about hacks on a Sydney newspaper. The Journalist was billed as “a saucy, sexy, funny look at a man with a nose for scandal and a weakness for women”. That would probably not fly ...
The governments blueprint of how it will invest $12 billion over the next four years into the New Zealand Defence Force mentions climate change twice. ...
Protesters are occupying the site of a proposed fast-tracked coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, near Westport. The 70-strong group, organised by climate activism group 350Aotearoa, says this is just the first of a series of protest actions they are prepared to take against the mining company, Bathurst Resources Ltd., if ...
In an art world context, photography has evolved significantly over the years pushing boundaries in both technique and concept. No longer the poor cousin of painting, but still much more affordable thanks to photographs being sold in numbered editions, an art photograph doesn’t merely capture a moment—artists use the medium ...
Last year, 20,000 observations of Christchurch species were made during the annual City Nature Challenge, a way for anyone to get involved in biodiversity. It’s back again this month. Even in suburbia, even on grey autumn weekends, there is biodiversity. You just need the time to look for it: to ...
Asia Pacific Report Peaceful protesters in Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest city Auckland held an Easter prayer vigil honouring Palestinian political prisoners and the sacrifice of thousands of innocent lives as relentless Israeli bombing of displaced Gazans in tents killed at least 92 people in two days. Organisers of the rally ...
ANALYSIS:By Ben Bohane This week Cambodia marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh to the murderous Khmer Rouge, and Vietnam celebrates the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in April 1975. They are being commemorated very differently; after all, there’s nothing to celebrate in Cambodia. ...
By Gujari Singh in Washington The Trump administration has issued a new executive order opening up vast swathes of protected ocean to commercial exploitation, including areas within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. It allows commercial fishing in areas long considered off-limits due to their ecological significance — despite ...
New Zealand commemoration lead John McLeod said a small team, including members of the NZDF and the NZ Embassy, assisted in the covering up of remains that were exposed. ...
This Bill is a great opportunity to improve our system of government across all levels. Let’s make sure we get it right and give the public a say on a simple and enduring solution. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications, University of Sydney Tech giant Google has just suffered another legal blow in the United States, losing a landmark antitrust case. This follows on from the company’s loss in a similar case last ...
Paddy GowerAmanda Luxon. I mean what can you say. Easter is a good time to publish my latest reckons at Stuff because without exaggeration or making too much of things, Amanda Luxon walks among us like Jesus but probably with better shoes.Jesus healed. How good is that? It’s really good, ...
How can an afternoon be long when it starts at one o’clock and finishes at half past three? Beauden thought about that as he stood at the back of the classroom and looked through the large window to the upper grounds where his colleague Monty Spiers was taking a phys ed ...
Alex Casey delves into the enduring success of The Artist’s Way, a self-help book beloved by everyone from retirees to famous rappers. On the video call, my mum is gesticulating so wildly while recounting all her recent creative endeavours that she knocks her cup of tea over a work-in-progress jigsaw ...
Feijoa scholar Kate Evans reviews the dish everybody raves about at Metro’s 2024 restaurant of the year, Forest. People have been telling me I need to try the deep-fried feijoa dessert at Forest for about three years now. I’m embarrassed it took me this long, but it takes a lot ...
Chef, author and reality television judge Colin Fassnidge takes us through his life in television. Colin Fassnidge is a huge television fan. He watches every blockbuster TV series the moment it drops and scores every single show on his Instagram account. It’s a habit that recently caught the attention of ...
Why are shops on Parnell Road allowed to open on Easter Sunday? It’s all thanks to an obsolete rule from the 1970s that’s been ‘frozen in time’.Originally published in 2023.Under our current trading laws, most stores are required to stay closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday (along ...
Yael Shochat, chef-owner of Auckland restaurant Ima Cuisine, shares the recipe for her hot cross buns – regularly voted among the best in the city.Originally published in 2019.HOT CROSS BUNSMakes 12You may use equal weights of pre-ground spices, but you’ll get a much better flavour if ...
Gràinne Moss knows she can’t tackle the final leg of one of the world’s toughest swimming challenges alone.In her quest to complete the Oceans Seven marathon challenge, 38 years after she began, she’s enlisted the help of two remarkable women – one barely out of her teens, and the other ...
By Susana Leiataua, RNZ National presenter There are calls for greater transparency about what the HMNZS Manawanui was doing before it sank in Samoa last October — including whether the New Zealand warship was performing specific security for King Charles and Queen Camilla. The Manawanui grounded on the reef off ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Labor increased its lead again in a YouGov poll, but Freshwater put the party ahead by just 50.3–49.7. This article also covers ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 18, 2025. Labor’s poll surge continues in YouGov, but they’re barely ahead in FreshwaterSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) Haymitch’s Hunger Games. 2 Careless People: A ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Labor increased their lead again in a YouGov poll, but Freshwater put them ahead by just 50.3–49.7. This article also covers the ...
A new poem by Tusiata Avia. How to make a terrorist First make a whistling sound which is the sound of a bomb just before it lands on a house. Then make an exploding sound which is the sound of the bomb which kills a father, decapitates a mother, roasts ...
The top-rated Scrabble players in the country go head-to-head this Easter weekend. Watch games live from 9.30am on the stream below.How does it all work?The Masters is different to most Scrabble tournaments in that it’s invitational, open only to the top-rated players in the country. The ...
Books editor Claire Mabey appraises all the Austen-adapted films from 1990 onwards to separate the delightful from the duds.For the purists, read our ranking of Jane Austen’s novels here.It is a truth universally acknowledged that not everything is created equal. Since 1990 there have been 12 attempts to ...
To arrive through the heavy red door of Margot in Newtown is to be invited to the best dinner party in town, hosted by the best friends you haven’t yet made. Table Service is a column about food and hospitality in Wellington, written by Nick Iles.Hospitality is a term ...
NONFICTION1 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99)A free copy of the author’s new memoir was up for grabs in last week’s giveaway contest. Readers were asked to share their feelings about Mau, a former broadcaster and one of the most powerful figures in the New Zealand #metoo ...
Analysis: The announcement last week that Colossal Biosciences in the USA had “de-extincted” the dire wolf, which was last seen 13,000 years ago, was reported worldwide.The three wolf pups generated equal parts fascination and widespread scientific criticism. But is this actually de-extinction, and what are the implications for the potential ...
We recommend the best – and longest – television series to watch this holiday weekend. As the Easter holiday weekend descends and the weather turns a little grim, many of us will turn to the trusty old television for comfort and entertainment. If you’re lucky, you’ll have some time over ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 18 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Congratulations to the ICIJ who have won the Pultizer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their Panama Papers investigation.
Nicky Hagar is the only NZ member of the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigate Journalists).
“The Pulitzer Prize Board lauded the year-long investigation for “using a collaboration of more than 300 reporters on six continents to expose the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens.”
This news is five days old, but I’ve seen nada about it in NZ Media, has anyone else please?
I found out via this weeks episode of The Listening Post on Al Jazeera
+1 – someone posted a link on TS a few days ago, just shows you’re more up to date with news by reading blogs these days, than MSM in this country!
From Granny, we can all learn about
The science behind Married at First Sight,
Gone in 7min: Speed eater’s choc bunny
What a quality rag:)
Telling the truth instead of propaganda might be a ‘new’ vision to consider for the MSM.
How the BBC’s truth offensive beat Hitler’s propaganda machine
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/15/bbc-truth-offensive-beat-hitler-propaganda-machine
That was an interesting article, thanks for the link saveNZ. And big ups to the person whom posted the news re ICIJ Pulitzer win earlier in the week on TS.
I guess anything that adds more weight to Hagars obvious credibility as an investigative journalist would be frowned upon by some mainstream media.
Thuggery.
https://twitter.com/shane_bauer/status/853353232151609344
https://twitter.com/shane_bauer
A fascinating interview on Radio NZ – Wallace chapman with Susan Bordo – a Pulitzer Prize nominated US professor of Women’s Studies on a book she’s published called The Destruction of Hillary Clinton. I know a lot of people on this site are really critical of Clinton, but personally I see things through a similar lens to the one explored in this interview. Clinton wasn’t perfect (no-one is) , but she was a perfectly reasonable candidate caught up in and taken down by a firestorm fed at least in part by misogyny. Before firing off replies, I really urge people to listen to the interview.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201840530/susan-bordo-the-destruction-of-hillary-clinton
I made it thru the first 10 minutes, unmitigated, revisionist, crap. IMHO
Just for starters hillary did not lose because all the media were out to get her!
As wallice posits at the beginning (i paraphrase) Howcome she was seen as an agent of the establishment, dishonest, and an ineffective politicion, ? Indeed! Because that was certainly not the media line! Just maby americans worked that out for themselves.
I guess it depends on what media people were listening to, Xanthe. It was certainly the message spread by Fox and by those breathlessly reporting Trump’s atrocious Twitter tirade, day by day. And when you say that Americans worked that out, let’s remember that 3 million more of them voted for her than for Trump.
Anyway, if you only listened to 10 minutes, then I don’t think you gave that interview the attention it deserved. It wasn’t only about Clinton, it was about the misogyny that female politicians continue to face, and not just in America.
That 3 million were almost certainly in California. And that was the whole reason the founding fathers came up with the electoral college system. They didn’t want one large state controlling the outcome for all of the states.
Over in Higgins on National’s shit creek thread BM asked:
“Yet, Labour hasn’t even come up with clean water policy, really? do labour mps just turn up to parliament to eat lunch?”
Labour won two by-elections with limited policy announced, which has probably led them to believe they can also pull it off in a general election.
Well i hope it’s positive policy to help NZ citizens not just punishment policy to make NZ citizens pay for the clean up of their failed privitisation policies and help large offshore polluters (aka oil) like National.
Indeed.
Labour is concentrating on 3 core areas this election: housing, education and health. That doesn’t mean there is no other policy; just that they’re trying to stick with a focused message.
Let’s remember that there was so much policy out last time that people didn’t digest it all and there was no clear picture. Also, when Labour releases policy early, National tend to water it down and release an “us too, but more slowly and much less meaningfully” version as a way to spike their guns.
There’s plenty of policy available from Labour (check the website). If you’re looking for fresh new policy, wait until the election campaign kicks off properly.
Their policy page on their site is rather thin.
As for the argument that voters were unable to digest all of their policies last time, then shouldn’t they be putting them out now, giving voters time to digest them?
I think it was more a case of voters not liking them as opposed to not understanding them. Hence the limited approach taken now. It suggests they don’t want to scare voters off again.
National can decide to adopt Labour’s policy at any given time, thus the keeping their powder dry argument doesn’t wash with me.
No.
Elections are won on emotions not policies.
Jacinta’s smile and James’s hair will get more votes than 22 filing cabinets of paper.
It seems that’s what Labour are gaming on.
Then if they fear the people after the election, they will do the right thing. If not, they will buckle to the donors, like every other political party on the planet.
Labour? Donors?
The Greens raised almost as much last time.
And National won’t be beaten with meatpack raffles.
The point is money decides not people. And if we carry on down this path, people will never vote again.
That said, are you OK with taking money from corporations?
Don’t forget the Green’s ‘Charlies Angels.’
It appears both Labour and the Greens have decided that ‘young and pretty’ is going to get them across the line this year.
At what point did identity politics and minority issues get sidelined?
I assume this (link below) is what you are alluding too?
https://www.facebook.com/northandsouthnz/photos/a.147424491961388.22084.134062529964251/1298842633486229/?type=1&theater
Sigh! It is so easy to get it right and it is so easy to get it wrong. It is the bugs that become resistant, not the people themselves. You know, super bugs.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91449031/microbiologist-warns-of-preantibiotic-era-and-urges-action-on-resistance
and currently 100% of human beings die lol
Serious issue, not insurmountable, but cheapened by shit editing.
I’m not sure if the ideological blinkers got in the way of some Guardian reporting today, but they are reporting on the evacuees buses outside Aleppo being bombed in these terms – The bomber targeted buses full of evacuees from government-held towns as they waited in a rebel-held area on the outskirts of Aleppo.
Now that might lead some to knee-jerk conclusion that the Syrian government was gratuitously killing Syrian citizens…y’know, ‘yesterday’ a chemical attack, today a bomb targeting those who wished to leave government controlled areas.. Maybe I’m being too cynical and it’s just a straightforward case of fucking woeful reporting, but regardless, simple and quick conclusions from ‘headlines’ or leading comments happen all of the time and are employed all of the time.
Anyway, the evacuees were from rebel held towns heading towards government controlled areas.
Some reasonable reporting from ‘that’ news source. (Still can’t access their site which is beginning to piss me off…it’s been weeks and weeks.)
How can they be call themselves moderate when they chose to suicide bomb women and children.
No banner headlines expressing outrage. The Guardian article still not corrected.
Doesn’t fit the preferred narrative, innit? 👿
Peoples heads might explode if they think the corporate media is lying to them.
what’s the evidence they are lying? No real need to correct info that is already correct eh. from the offending article
About 7,000 people and fighters were being evacuated this weekend in a complex humanitarian deal that took months to agree.
Under it, 5,000 people were offered safe passage from the government-held towns of Foua and Kefriya, which are surrounded by rebels, and 2,000 left the rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus, which are besieged by government forces.
the deal was a swap, getting pro-govt people out of govt held towns currently besieged by rebels, and swapping them for rebels from rebel held towns currently besieged by govt forces.
looks like just maybe the ideological blinkers getting in the way of the actual story might by on the other head this time
I don’t believe there is any doubt that the Assad government has been gratuitously killing Syrian citizens for many years whether they did in this instance is unknown.
Written like the spoken word of a truly swivel eyed disciple there tinfoilhat…
Take a happy pill bill, cantankerous perpetual grumpy old man syndrome is not good for you😀
G’an away, bile yer heid and then make yourself whole again in this time of resurrection by breathing in the resultant stench – you porous and deluded sac of shit that attempts to pass for an expression of humanity. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks#/media/File:Ilja_Jefimowitsch_Repin_-_Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks_-_Yorck.jpg
A great example of my first point , happy Easter all the same, 😀
🙂
What does that have to do with this tinfoilhat, apart from trying to score points off dead people?
Bill made the comment ..
“.. that might lead some to knee-jerk conclusion that the Syrian government was gratuitously killing Syrian citizens…y’know, ‘yesterday’ a chemical attack, today a bomb targeting those who wished to leave government controlled areas.. ”
I was pointing out that whether or not Assad and his government had anything to do with this violence , there is no doubt that he has been responsible for many outrages perpetuated against his own people over many years much as his father did.
It is all a very very great shame for the people of Syria.
Still trying to score points I see.
What’s with claiming that you said “there is no doubt that he (Assad) has been responsible for many outrages” ?
When what you actually said (wrote) was “the Assad government has been gratuitously killing Syrian citizens for many years”
Big fucking difference there tinfoilhat. Big difference.
🙄
Meanwhile, off the Korean peninsula…..
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9TDZrwUwAITe6V.jpg
Judge Wendell Griffin is the Arkansas judge that stopped that state executing seven people.
Yesterday he took part in a protest, having himself strapped to a gurney like a person prepared for execution.
He’s getting grief for it.
Defying death: a perfect Easter story.
From a judge.
Tempering the ghastliness.
Teresa Clark has watched three strangers die. She held her husband’s hand the first time, but after that the experience began to feel normal.
The couple, who run a chimney sweeping business in Waynesboro, Virginia, volunteer to watch executions. Teresa’s husband, Larry, 63, went to the first one alone.
“He was very curious. I dropped him off and I asked him all kinds of questions,” she says. “Afterwards he said, ‘You gotta see this’.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39535957
http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local-news/state-needs-volunteers-to-watch-inmate-executions/678469644
This is why HNZ should not be involved in “social housing” We need private organisations that are not riddled with PC crippled burocrats too scared to act in case of Human Rights or TOW “breaches” Community in fear as gang members move in to quiet Auckland street | Newshub
Edit linking failed I’m on my phone
Just in case you are disabled, and play video games. Here is an interesting venture, getting disabled people into eSports.
https://techable.org.nz/disabled-esports/
Ouch.
https://twitter.com/Chelseashow/status/852633113519837184
French elections….’computer error’
Standard Operating Procedure
Ce la vie
Philosopher Slavoj Žižek settles the “Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” question once and for all
In other words, leftists should “go high?”
I remember when [Greek leftist party] Syriza was still competing for power in Greece. A representative of [far-right political party] Golden Dawn threw glasses full of water at his Syriza opponent at a TV round table. A couple of times, Syriza members of parliament were attacked in parliament, and so on. Today it’s these new alt-right people who are acting physically violent.
They represent the decay of common morality and decency. And I use here the the very precise term, Hegel calls it Sittlichkeit. It’s not simple morality, it’s a set of thick unwritten rules which makes our social life bearable. And, paradoxically, I think that progressives should become the voice of common decency, politeness, good manners and so on.
Here I see also the failure of political correctness, because political correctness is, for me, a desperate reaction to this disintegration. But they are doing it in a suicidal way, by precise regulations, saying this word is forbidden and so on. If it has to proceed like this, the left has already lost.
https://qz.com/896463/is-it-ok-to-punch-a-nazi-philosopher-slavoj-zizek-talks-richard-spencer-nazis-and-donald-trump/
Thank you for the link; it is provoking stuff.
Although I love paradoxes (because) they tend to challenge my thinking I’d also like to keep it simple:
C’est le ton qui fait la chanson
Incognito
You are so cultured.
Vraiment vous as ete’ cachant votre lumière sous un canon.
Nah, I like to pretend I am; I’m a fake which is one reason why I use this alias. I am not kidding!
That said, I do hope that some of what I write here has some merit some of the time; I do mean what I write and try to write what I mean, which is slightly more difficult 😉
That’s what I come to The Standard to read – what you said!
TS is my FB!
It is so addictive and therapeutic at the same time.
I might stick around till the general election at least.
Go on you can’t give it up – no way to go cold turkey and miss out on the latest revelations. Though of course there is Scoop and Bernard Hickey as shining venues along with other solid bloggers. But TS is like a thousand small torches shining on narrow footpaths in the dark which will hopefully keep us from falling into big holes.
I spent some time overseas recently and got withdrawal symptoms. Lurking made me already feel heaps better! OMG, what’s happening to me? The only thing that will cure me is to out myself.
Loved your Bertrand Russell quote; almost did a QFT but I resisted (the) temptation.
Need your help comrades! Was just on D Farrars nutcase site and posted this. Its been held up in “awaiting moderation?” For about 30 minutes so far.
Maybe you guys could tell me why?
This Pt England Development Enabling Bill of Nick Smiths’, allows the Crown to exercise its Executive Power(s) to Confiscate any local park, reserve,DoC managed land as well as National park land and private property too, to then onsell to the highest bidder!
This is what the Crown is doing with the negotiators from a interim PSGE, the Ngati Paoa iwi Trust Board(which has only 2 members as well as 2 other boards and associated Deeds & Mandates) & its interim negotiators Eugene & Antony as a private commercial deal masquerading as a Treaty Settlement of which it is not!
It is a precedent setting Bill! No one’s private property is or public property is safe from been confiscated throughout the whole of NZ in the “name” of “Housing!” It’s what you might call a “FireSale!”
Nick Smith & Chris Finlayson are in cahoots!
APRIL 16, 2017 4:58PM
Is it too real?
Looks alright to me. If they do premoderation over there I’d guess the delay is because it’s Easter Sunday.
The above Empowering Bill is disgraceful and must not be allowed to proceed.
Gnashional have no shame and no scruples or principles, just deal brokers for those who have wealth.
Where does terrifying incidents like this leave the argument for US backed ‘moderate’ rebels in Syria by commenters like Psycho Milt?
These savages just killed 100+ refugees in a suicide attack. If it were Israel, entire cities in the West Bank, Gaza, or Lebanon would be wiped off the map within a week with zero sanction, yet the elected Syrian government is for some reason not allowed to do the same?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/328887/death-toll-from-bomb-in-syria-rises-to-more-than-100
Depends which group did the bombing doesn’t it. The ‘rebel’ forces in Syria range from ISIL to previous members of the Syrian government. Just as the ‘government’ forces range from the Russians to the arseholes running the Saydnaya prison who have killed thousands since 2011 (and before).
I’d note that no group has claimed responsibility, nor are there any particularly good suspects. But I’d also note that there are clearly suspicions about the involvement of the Syrian government. The local BBC correspondent for instance..
That last isn’t a particularly useful statement in this conflict as it has been rather overused by the Russians and Syrian government in the past.
However I’d point out a few basics that make me suspicious.
The Alawite sect running the government and the armed forces really aren’t much more sympathetic to Shiites (and in reverse) than they are to Sunnis. You don’t have to read too far into the accounts of their Syrian government’s population demographics to discover that. From the regime viewpoint, bombing few children probably wouldn’t be too extreme if it relieved some of the international pressure.
Exactly how a bomb vehicle got into a government controlled area to do this is a more than a little bit odd. It hasn’t exactly been common in this war simply because the conflict has been incredibly secterian and each area and even each neighbourhood runs extreme security on its edges, and the Syrians didn’t have to learn this the way that the Iraqis did. It was pretty obvious to everyone after some of the horrendous bombing that went on during the Lebanon civil war and the respective Israeli and Syrian occupations there.
Basically if you are a selective myopic and choose to ignore the reality of this kind of religious, tribal and sectarian civil war then you can fool yourself into believing anything you want to.
Personally I suspect that this war is entering a particularly ugly phase. The government has gained the military upper hand from the extensive Russian military help. However the group running the government have a problem. They somehow have to control the rebel held areas once they capture them, and they are clearly not interested in a diplomatic solution. So they can expect a long-running guerilla conflict in most of what are currently rebel held territories.
My gut feel is that they are trying to start a refugee exodus to do a religious cleansing to deprive the guerillas a support base. The characteristic of that from a government is that they start doing deniable atrocities.
But hey, if you want to be selectively myopic and not to bother to understand the conflict enough to sort propaganda from reality – then I won’t stop you being a fool.
I don’t understand this conflict much at all but I don’t think you do either. It is very complex and the details of it are violent, and inscrutable. The information is unreliable and contradictory too. And the players range from tortured Syrian child soldiers right up to Putin and the new kid on the block, reality TV star, Donald Trump.
As far as I understand the BBC and yourself are suggesting that no claim of responsibility in any non-military action in Syria (including this one) is evidence of government involvement. Certainly the position of the US and all its hangers-on is that all the violence is clearly the responsibility of the Syrian government and their proxies.
For my sins I take a wider view of the current state of the region and so can be accused of not being interested or informed on the details. Along these lines I wonder what the US particularly thinks it’s going to achieve by going back to the well again and again with direct intervention when clearly the policy has made life far worse for the citizens of those countries over the last 17 years.
Further, is it not apparent that US economic expansion in several places over the globe is causing tension? I get that the US isn’t concerned with actual territorial global hegemony but they certainly are interested in economic global hegemony. Their political and cultural push into Eastern Europe, and the military regime change policy in the Middle East is less about stability and security for the people of those countries than it is about the security of US business interests in those countries.
As for the refugee/militant swap being religious cleansing in this instance, well the deal was brokered internationally by Iran and Qatar and I’m struggling to think of a better way to peacefully move these warring peoples apart than by refugee exchanges.
But back to the most recent incident; the RNZ (BBC/Reuters) article I read said the targets were Shia evacuees from rebel held towns:
but your BBC article says the opposite, that the evacuees were from government held towns:
If you can tell me which is correct without calling me a fool I’d appreciate it.
Mean while in aleppo.