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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Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and in your busy lives turning up to this meeting. Forty five years ago, in Howick, often described as racist, and where few Maori lived because it had been a ‘Fencible’ settlement at the time of the Anglo-Maori ...
The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying drivers of school performance. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges. Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment. “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
$2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we looked at how our top authors make a living writing books, the sky-high fares coming from independent taxi drivers, how the people of Muriwai are putting their lives back together post-Cyclone Gabrielle, why a Levin chocolate maker is ...
The popularity of stories about unhappy rich people says more about our need to view them that way than it does about how they experience their livesOpinion:Succession is returning to Aotearoa’s television screens. It joins other portrayals of the emotional traumas that come from having far, far too ...
The popularity of stories about unhappy rich people says more about our need to view them that way than it does about how they experience their livesOpinion:Succession is returning to Aotearoa’s television screens. It joins other portrayals of the emotional traumas that come from having far, far too ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's What's Up With ADHD?, written by Mirjam Guesgen and published in North & South's April 2023 issue. You can find the full article, with illustrations by Rachel Salazar, in this month’s issue of North & South. Once a condition ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's What's Up With ADHD?, written by Mirjam Guesgen and published in North & South's April 2023 issue. You can find the full article, with illustrations by Rachel Salazar, in this month’s issue of North & South. Once a condition ...
"He imagines the rattling windows of his bach": a sad seaside saga by Majella Cullinane Màiri watches him as he walks down the hill next to her house. The man appears gradually – first his head covered in a tweed cap and earphones, then the unkempt hair and beard, ...
"He imagines the rattling windows of his bach": a sad seaside saga by Majella Cullinane Màiri watches him as he walks down the hill next to her house. The man appears gradually – first his head covered in a tweed cap and earphones, then the unkempt hair and beard, ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we looked at how our top authors make a living writing books, the sky-high fares coming from independent taxi drivers, how the people of Muriwai are putting their lives back together post-Cyclone Gabrielle, why a Levin chocolate maker is ...
Not content with transforming KiwiSaver, Simplicity is now planning to out-build Kāinga Ora. Duncan Greive meets a pair of of unlikely revolutionaries trying to fix housing – a task which seems impossible, even for the state itself.In September of 2020, a builder named Shane Brealey sat down and typed ...
The Auckland Writers Festival has just launched its 23rd programme, the first since Covid to include its signature line-up of visiting international writers. With 160 events to choose from, here’s books editor Claire Mabey’s top 10 to help you navigate your way through the lit fest universe.Straight Up: Ruby ...
Taking her her young family around the world as she rows is a key factor in Emma Twigg's decision to defend her Olympic single sculls title at next year's Paris Olympics. And, Andy Hay writes, the next Emma Twigg could be waiting in the wings at the Maadi Cup next week. ...
The Fijian Drua will need to start and finish well, while Moana Pasifika’s coach wants to see a full 80-minute performance this weekend as the two regional teams continue their Super Rugby Pacific campaigns. The Drua tackle the Highlanders in Dunedin today and Pasifika face the Hurricanes at Mt Smart ...
By Todagia Kelola in Port Moresby A number of small contractors in Papua New Guinea are still waiting for positive feedback for money owed to them by government agencies after 12 years. A 2015 Post-Courier front page picture showed a man, David Goli, who chained himself at the then headquarters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beryl Exley, Professor, Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Griffith University Shutterstock Last August, the federal government set up an expert panel to look at the continuous improvement agenda in teacher education in Australia. The panel, led by ...
The New Zealand First leader took to the altar of an East Auckland church today to set out his 2023 election agenda. It was, as Stewart Sowman-Lund found out, pretty much what you’d expect. Winston Peters rolled into Howick today with a state of the nation speech that, he claimed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University Shutterstock Earlier this week, Australian retail giant Woolworths announced a move into health-care delivery via development of its subsidiary HealthyLife’s online portal. Through this portal, Australians can book a same-day ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters - eyeing a political comeback - has used a scene-setting speech in Auckland warning against a "conceited, conniving, cultural cabal". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Peterson, Adjunct Associate Professor, Auckland University of Technology The Sheep Song.Tim Standing/Daylight Breaks/Adelaide Festival Few Adelaideans remember a time before the Adelaide Festival. Formed in 1960 as a civic enterprise and financed against loss by prominent Adelaide businessmen, the ...
Analysis - The Greens lay down a challenge as the minor parties approach an election in which both National and Labour are going to need coalition partners to form a government, writes Peter Wilson. ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva Communications Fiji Ltd (CFL) chair William Parkinson has called for a repeal of Fiji’s Media Industry Development Act 2010 and more discussion on the proposed Media Ownership and Registration Bill 2023. He said this during a public consultation on the review of MIDA Act 2010 ...
High Court Justice David Gendall regretfully allows anti-trans activist to enter New Zealand, but warns the expression of her views may be harmful to our vulnerable rainbow community. Jonathan Milne does his best to be civil.Opinion: Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull calls herself Posie Parker. And that's what I'm going to call her. Because she is ...
It’s about time somebody made a wacky TV show about how bonkers spelling is. Enter comedian Guy Montgomery and his Guy Mont Spelling Bee. The three years since Covid-19 began have been pretty rocky, but one of the best things to come out of the chaos was Guy Montgomery’s Guy ...
Te Rōpū Mātai Hinengaro o Aotearoa, The New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) stands beside LGBTQIA+ and Takatāpui communities rallying against anti-trans rhetoric in light of the impending visit of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (Posie Parker). We are ...
Earlier this month, everybody’s favourite Monster of the Week series Married at First Sight Australia toppled 1News to become the highest rating television show for New Zealand viewers aged 25-54. The controversial reality series garnered an average audience of 137,000, or 6.7% audience share from March 5 until March 11. ...
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for feijoa lovers – here’s how to make the most of it.Fragrant and sweet, with a delicate jelly centre surrounded by gritty, tangy flesh, all encased in a green sour skin. My parents’ feijoa tree has just dropped its first fruit, ...
A new poem by poet and novelist Maggie Rainey-Smith. Bang a Drum We’ve hit Gentle Annie passed the pub at Okaramio and on the left, at Wakapuaka there’s Sunnybank where parents left their children An oddly named orphanage manned (ha) by Nuns childless women in black habits, scapula, cowls and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cathy Buntting, Director, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, University of Waikato Getty Images Less than a fortnight after teachers staged a national strike, education was back in the headlines with the National Party’s release of its curriculum policy – ...
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 Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)Number one in both ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision of the High Court to reject the application to overrule the decision of the Minister of Immigration to allow Kellie-Jay entry into New Zealand. This was the only right result for a nation that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fan Yang, Research Associate at RMIT and Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University Baidu’s ERNIE Bot was launched to considerable disappointment.Ng Han Guan / AP On March 16, Baidu unveiled China’s latest rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT – ERNIE Bot (short for “Enhanced ...
By Meri Radinibaravi in Suva Former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has told The Fiji Times to ask the Republic of Fiji Military Forces about claims that his bodyguards were allowed to take guns on to Fiji Link flights without proper authorisation. “I understand that there’s some enquiries going on regarding that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University Installation view of Troy Emery’s work Mountain climber 2022 on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August ...
National’s education policy reinforces an old-fashioned and hierarchical curriculum that does lasting harm to many students, writes educational specialist Dr Sarah Aiono. Announcing the National Party’s new education policy this week, leader Christopher Luxon cited a recent NCEA pilot in which two-thirds of students were unable to meet the minimum ...
Attempts by rainbow groups to stop an anti-trans campaigner entering the country have failed. The High Court has dismissed a judicial review application from Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōara and Auckland Pride, aimed at the immigration minister for allowing Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull into New Zealand. As part of the application, the ...
The High Court is this morning considering an interim order that would prevent an anti-trans campaigner from making it into New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is expected to arrive on our shores today ahead of two planned rallies in Auckland and Wellington over the weekend. After immigration officials deemed her safe ...
I was disappointed to see yesterday afternoon’s announcement that Auckland has chosen to leave Local Government NZ (LGNZ). Hamilton’s membership of LGNZ is one of collaboration and sharing. Being a member gives us important views from other ...
It’s the most talked about local opera production in years – but does it live up to the chatter?The lowdownYou’ve probably heard of the “unruly tourists”, the British family who created a media firestorm as they toured around the country leaving trash and turmoil in their wake. You’ve ...
As reported by Newsroom’s Marc Daalder this morning, correspondence released under the Official Information Act shows advice about puberty blockers was removed from the Ministry of Health website “in the hopes it creates fewer queries” from anti-trans campaigners. The line that was removed from the site said puberty blockers “are ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nuclear submarines The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The ...
Secondary teachers will strike again next week after an agreement on improved pay and working conditions was not reached. The strike will take place on Wednesday, less than two weeks after thousands of educators took to the streets across the country. “PPTA Te Wehengarua members have shown they are serious ...
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission is encouraging organisations and individuals to share their views on human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand for the government’s upcoming report to the United Nations. The report informs a process ...
Secondary and area school teachers around the country have voted overwhelmingly in favour of more industrial action, including a one day national strike next Wednesday, in support of their collective agreement negotiations. “PPTA Te Wehengarua members ...
At a time when our need for collective action is stronger than ever, Auckland Council has opted out to save each of its residents just 25c a year, writes former Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins.I grew up in rural Southland, in the shadows of the Cut The Cable movement. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Jakoboski, Oceanographic Data Scientist, Moana Project’s Te Tiro Moana Team Lead, MetService — Te Ratonga Tirorangi Moana project, CC BY-ND The world’s oceans are buffering us from the worst climate impacts by taking up more than 90% of the ...
Morning Report - RNZ and Newsroom's political editors consider National's education pitch, and the political responses to lobbying revelations and Posie Parker. ...
The Free Speech Union will be an intervener this morning as the High Court considers whether Immigration New Zealand's decision to allow Posie Parker (Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull) entry into New Zealand was legal, says Jonathan Ayling, Chief Executive of the Free ...
For over a decade, Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club has come under fire for denying entry to people wearing religious headwear. Despite the Human Rights Commission getting involved, it seems the rule remains unchanged.One of the definitions given by the Oxford dictionary for the word cosmopolitan is: “including people from many ...
Chris Hipkins’ dump of Ardern-era policy has potentially jeopardised a major part of the government’s climate change response. In this week’s episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks to climate policy expert Christina Hood from Climate Compass to find out why this month’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction failed and ...
The head of Local Government NZ, the group representing councils across the country, has hit back at claims made by Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. It was his casting vote that saw Auckland Council leave the representative group yesterday evening, with councillors divided on whether or not it was the right ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Al-Tamini Tapu, Geoscientist, The University of Queensland Warrumbungle national park.colinslack/Shutterstock Our new study published in Nature Geoscience on an ancient chain of Australian volcanoes is helping to change our understanding of “hotspot” volcanism. You may be surprised to learn eastern ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sussex, Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University There’s been a lot of recent shouting about Australia’s national security policy. It began with the Nine newspapers’ “Red Alert” extravaganza, spread over multiple articles. Featuring a graphic of warplanes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Goldlust, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University Shutterstock Earlier this month, regulators flagged electricity price rises in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Like many people, you’re probably wondering how you can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Veal, Adjunct Professor, Business School, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock A little more than a century ago, most people in industrialised countries worked 60 hours a week – six ten-hour days. A 40-hour work week of five eight-hour days ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xavier Ho, Lecturer in Interaction Design, Monash University Sony Entertainment Mainstream games are embracing openly queer characters – and so are many of their players and fans. The Last of Us, the prestige HBO adaptation of the critically lauded ...
The capital’s transport overhaul will have spent $130 million on consultant fees by the end of next year, Stuff reports. Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) expects to spend $60 million on outside experts in the coming year, after already spending $38.5m in the past three years and $35m this year. Greater ...
Chris Hipkins’ dump of Ardern-era policy has potentially jeopardised a major part of the government’s climate change response. Bernard Hickey talks to climate policy expert Christina Hood from Climate Compass to find out why this month’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction failed and how she feels cabinet have destroyed confidence in ...
Christopher Luxon says the policy is what’s needed to address serious issues with reading, writing and maths in primary schools. Others aren’t so sure, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Back ...
Although Auckland Council’s big cleanup following this year’s extreme weather events continues, “things are getting more difficult at this point”. Five weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle, some 7,000 Aucklanders remain impacted by the aftermath of the floods, slips and heavy winds that battered the region in January and February. Auckland Council’s ...
A traffic bypass stole 20,000 potential daily visitors from its main streets and local businesses. Three years on, how are the Waikato town’s 9,000 residents coping?The tourism centre is closed – “permanently”, says the sign. The cafe next door, once called River Haven, now with two missing letters making ...
After a 19-year-old was killed while riding his bike on a dangerous stretch of Auckland road, the tragedy became a rallying call to make the city safer for cyclists. Tommy de Silva looks at what’s been achieved in the 12 months since. On March 5, 2022, 19-year-old Levi James was ...
The now defunct ministry is the kind of agency needed to fix our current infrastructure disaster - not Civil Defence and independent sub-contracting and consulting firms. ...
Jorja Miller has quickly become one of the key players in the successful Black Ferns Sevens in her first season on the world series circuit, and it's a unique combination of sports that's helped her reach the top, Merryn Anderson discovers. Jorja Miller’s life has always been a balancing act between her ...
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There’s a very real possibility someone will be injured, or worse, during this year’s election campaign, warns Greens’ co-leader James Shaw Prime Minister Chris Hipkins hasn’t shied away from public walkabouts since taking over the leadership, but Green Party co-leader James Shaw says that doesn’t mean the risk to politicians ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Attenborough, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Bioanthropology, Australian National University Kevin Brown, Author provided Many astonishingly creative people have lived lives cut tragically short by illness. Johannes Vermeer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jane Austen, Franz Schubert and Emily Brontë are some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra At the end of the emotional news conference in which he unveiled the wording for the Voice referendum, Anthony Albanese touched on a central reason why a “yes” result is vital. Australia would be ...
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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
Tweets by 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?
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.