…..if you’re a single parent on DPB and want to improve your situation tand employment possibilities hrough study. Greens say the next budget should extend training allowances for such women:
The Greens want the allowance to be available to sickness beneficiaries and for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses.
Their plan would cost an extra $40 million on top of the present $19m cost. But Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the medium and long-term savings outweighed that.
“For just a very small investment, the same that we’re giving away to the America’s Cup, we can get 10,000 beneficiaries or more into gainful education.”
Ms Turei used the allowance while studying law as a single mother on a benefit.
“I was very surprised that Paula Bennett kicked the ladder out from under her. She knows exactly what it’s like to be a young woman having to care for a child on her own and be dependent on the state.”
….
The Greens also want the minimum wage raised to $15 an hour, a temporary Christchurch rebuilding levy and a capital gains tax.
A move supposed to save taxpayers money has instead seen a rise in the amount spent housing government ministers in Wellington.
Figures seen by the Star-Times show the total cost increased by more than $10,000 a quarter between January 2009 and 2011.
…
Labour’s Pete Hodgson said Key made it clear the changes were meant to save money, and they had failed.
“He has said, in general, that he wants his government to be more transparent… in the case of his own ministers there’s actually less transparency now, because an unknown amount of money is actually disappearing into ministers’ pockets because they are paid an amount of money for accommodation whether they use that amount or not.”
The extra costs include moving Joyce out of Premiere House so the Diplomatic Protection Squad can move in. The government reckons overall, and over time, there will be less admin costs, but it’s hard to tell because there’s less transparency. But there’s now money going to ministers for housing whether they need it or not, and then there’s the DPS to support, both adding extra costs.
Carol “I was very surprised that Paula Bennett kicked the ladder out from under her…
It is interesting about this human penchant. It goes against the idea of empathy and understanding through having experienced and, hopefully overcome, some difficulty. Unfortunately many find higher status and money in disdaining and tut-tutting about the lesser beings milling about below who don’t see a clear pathway to a living and happiness. Their future should be like the words below, but why should the ‘haves’ care.
This from lyrics007 : Bob Marley – I Can See Clearly Now
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day
Small point – “I Can See Clearly Now” was written and performed by Johnny Nash, not Marley. Some of the songs on the album of the same name were written by and with Marley, and the Wailers helped with backing.
I’m a little confused about the Head of IMF’s politics. He’s championed as a socialist politician in France, but I don’t see a lot of socialism in IMF’s policies. It’s not just men in high rolling positions. I learned long ago that some leftie men, who actively espouse socialist politics and practices, and even know all the right feminist arguments, can treat women badly in their personal relationships.
Not sure there was any mention of political philosophy in my question there Carol. These people are unfortunately, however, in positions of greatly influencing our lives and, worse still, often tell us how we should live ours.
logie97, I was commenting as much in relation to the IMF guy as to your comment. But, I think such things are done by people in power as well as less powerful people of all political affiliations.
Carol, I guess we are singing from the same song sheet. Indeed the initial general comment was as a result of current headlines, though I think we can also look closer to home perhaps … just an observation.
Perhaps calling such people “socialists” is about as accurate as referring to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and the rest of that hideous gang in Washington as “democrats”.
Frank Bananarama makes himself a fool again like so many before him. Takes action through the barrel of a gun and usurps Fijian sovereignty. Then complains when somone takes action against him through the barrel of a gun and usurps Fijian sovereignty. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha what a fool.
I thought the idea was that the top banana was upset because the guy slipped out from under in a covert way instead of staying on to face a trumped up charge. No guns just outmaneouvering the regime. But I have missed some newscasts today.
A Labour led coalition with Hone or Annette winning a seat would have 46.4%, while National –Act-Maori Party –United Future 44.9%.
Maori Party support shall be vital for Mr Key in the General Election. However the need for Act to get votes will impact on votes for the Maori Party, with Mana benefiting, and we may even more United Future voters flow as well.
Pita Sharples has indicated he would work with Brash, silly move now line can be run;
A vote for the Maori Party is a Vote for Act – not a good look for the Maori Party.
The leading candidate for the Maori Party now seems to be Pita Tipene Chairperson of the Ngati Hine Forestry Trust, he is from Ngati Hine.
At best any Maori Party candidate would end up at around10%. Kelvin from Labour at most would sit around 30%, while Hone and Mana would at least be around the 60% mark in the June 25 By Election.
The Maori Party is politically mortally wounded in the North, and shall become of no electoral relevance in the North.
When you stand Hone against Kelvin, Hone and Mana win hands down with the Maori Party candidate performing extremely badly.
The Northern Advocate Newspaper ran an online poll yesterday, it had120 votes.
Hone Mana Party 77%
Kelvin Labour Party 18%
Maori Party Candadiate 5%
The newspaper also under took a street poll through Northland. Mr Brown said “he had not voted in the 2008 general election, but had since grown to admire Mr Harawira”, Ms Mare 63 said she voted for the Maori Party in 2008 “because of Hone.”, “What he says he does,” pledging a switch to Mana. Grace Takimoana said “…I voted for Labour last time, but they haven’t got much hope with their new leader.”
In the last General Election Hone had a resounding 32% majority over Kelvin, Hone’s electorate vote grew about 10% in 2008, while the Maori Party vote decreased by 1.3%. Combine that with the Advocate poll result the trend is clear Hone has grown support while the Maori Party has lost support.
I heard there may have been around 16 at the Maori Party Waitangi hui, that should have been the story of the day. Further the president Pam Bird of the Maori Party dismisses Maori youth our future leaders. In a poll during the last election 70% of the voters in the electorate wanted the Maori Party to work with Labour, not National. Do not forget the New Zealand First backlash for going into government with National, the seats were basically wiped out.
Polling prior to the 2008 election from Maori Television poll had some interesting numbers;
Only 20.6% surveyed said Kelvin Davis could be trusted, 21.2% to deliver on his promises. When you move on to he knows the needs of local people Kevin performs badly again at 16.2%.When it comes to leadership Kevin only manages 19.2%. The survey about who has personality Kelvin scores 11.2%, while Hone scores 71.
Curiously the news headlines are all about Act’s poll improvement under Brash, and some alternative but negative focus on hone & Mana, ignoring how they’ve polled.
A cautionary tale from the NY Times about the role of private prisons in the American economy, that should give us pause as well, since we are second only to them, by most reports, in our incarceration rate. Even as there are moves to reduce the imprisonment rate (due to cost rather than justice) this will not be done on any scale because the prison is so deeply entrenched in the economy.
Two quotable quotes: “If our nation were to return to the rates of incarceration we had in the 1970s, we would have to release 4 out of 5 people behind bars. A million people employed by the criminal justice system could lose their jobs. Private prison companies would see their profits vanish. This system is now so deeply rooted in our social, political and economic structures that it is not going to fade away without a major shift in public consciousness.”
And from Martin Luther King’s 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail: “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice…”
This last, in my opinion can be applied to the lot of all who are poor and effectively disenfranchised.
Crime, corrections, jails, these areas of state control are a lotto win for private enterprise.. Police are supposed to fulfil a number of roles one being keeping order, but an important one is to assist ordinary citizens But that has been fudged in the government target for reduction of deaths. Hence all the road-blocks increasing police surveillance which interfere with ordinary citizens’ freedom of movement. Huge numbers stopped with 10 per cent or less failing the required standards. Also huge cost being put into catching offenders, and fining or charging them. That money should be going on working with the young, education and more positive measures to limit offences, not the reliance on punitive ones.
Reducing drug-drinking hours would limit the intake to more just ‘happy’ levels. Yet the police and citizens have to fight for fewer hours. And this co-ordinated approach with Australia is amazing. Our police have a big budget and their top people should have the expertise along with a forward-looking policy for reducing crime without looking to Oz, or the USA. One point which arose recently was that those under sentence for driving offences have often not received any mandatory driver education. Unbelievable one would think but apparently true.
John Minto is talking about standing in Epsom. Sounds completely insane to me. He should stand in Wigram, and he’d have a fair shot at winning (I’d vote for him). What better way to show that Mana isn’t a Hone vehicle if they go and win a general electorate seat?
The S.S. Trust an “advocate for victims of crime”? Is Kathryn Ryan joking?
Nine to Noon, National Radio, Monday 16 May 2011
Following the government’s malicious decision to remove Greenpeace’s charitable status because of its “political advocacy”, Kathryn Ryan asked a couple of people about just what exactly “political advocacy” means. “What about the Sensible Sentencing Trust? If Greenpeace is political”, she asked, “then what about an organisation that advocates for the victims of crime?”
W-W-W-W-WHA-A-A-A-AT?!???!!!?!?!? The S.S. Trust is a victims’ advocate organisation now? Then who the hell was it that championed Bruce Emery’s knife-killing of a boy on a Manurewa street in 2008? A quick check of the Chez Breen filing cabinet unearthed the following: “Bruce Emery is a different type of offender…I didn’t think he should have gone to jail….” The speaker is…. w-w-w-w-wait for it!…. Garth McVicar. Yes, that’s right: Garth McVicar, “the victims’ advocate”.
I sent a brief e-mail to Kathryn Ryan, questioning her judgement, or lack thereof….
You said: “What about organisations that advocate for the victims of crime?” You seem to be implying that the Sensible Sentencing Trust does that.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten that, following the knife-killing of 15-year-old Pihema Cameron on an Auckland street, the S.S. Trust’s Garth McVicar loudly supported the killer, and poured scorn and vitriol on the victim, and repeatedly defamed the boy’s mother and his extended family.
The S.S. Trust is an “advocate for victims of crime”? Tell that to Leanne Cameron
It’s not only her, unfortunately. Jim Mora continues to let McVicar comment on “law and order” issues, and he regularly has Barry Corbett and Stephen Franks as guests on The Panel. Both Corbett and Franks spoke out in support of the killing of that boy.
Errrr, not quite, Lanthanide. They have every right to praise and defend people who murder Maori teenagers. What I object to is when these people (Corbett, Franks, McVicar) call themselves “victim advocates”. They are anything but.
Your post at 7.1.1 didn’t make it clear that Corbett and Franks also called themselves “victim advocates”. Your response is certainly justified (and I agree).
I’m not sure if Corbett is an S.S. member, but he certainly made repeated statements in support of Bruce Emery’s killing of the boy. He later backtracked, after a storm of public revulsion.
Franks is the “legal adviser” to the S.S. Trust. He regularly pontificates about the way that “wicked” people are “indulged” by what he sneeringly calls “liberals.”
Franks is following in the dead baby identity stealing David Garrett’s illustrious footsteps then, in being “legal adviser” to the SST. Why are these people given any media time at all, they have zero credibility. Racists like Garth McVicar should pull their ugly little heads in. His neighbours tell me his pad is pretty flash, Serco must pay well.
Actually, Franks was a legal adviser to the S.S. Trust long before Garrett was exposed as a felon. A few years ago, Franks went on an infamous trip to the U.S. with McVicar, no doubt funded by money donated in good faith by well-meaning people to help victims of crime. There they met Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who gave them a guided tour of his prison camp.
At one point, Sheriff Joe asked them if New Zealand had many P addicts. There was a significant pause by both McVicar and Franks, and then they said, in unison: “HEAPS!”
Which makes them traitors to New Zealand, as well as liars.
I belive that the Cameron/Emery case is the beginning of a slippery slope that in only a few years will end up in lynching becoming commonplace in this country.
The knifing of Pihema Cameron was a lynching. The subsequent campaign of ridicule and character assassination of the dead boy, led by Emery’s lawyer Chris Comeskey, the S.S. Trust and some radio talkback hosts, was very similar in tone to what followed the killing of a Jew in Germany or a black man in Alabama in the 1930s.
I agree with you Morrissey. One can be fairly sure that if the boy had been killed in the same way, under the same circumstances, and for the same reasons, by a tattooed brown neighbour, with loose gang affiliations but no criminal record, the self same people would have used it as “evidence” to show what “they” are like. The mental attitude propagated by the SST should terrify everyone.
I think, for a start, people should ring up and complain every time a television or radio station either quotes or interviews McVicar or anyone from the S.S. Trust.
Something for our brave SAS troops to ponder
Next time one of our brave Kiwi boys is being bullied and browbeaten by an American thug to (illegally) hand over captives for possible torture and even murder, he might like to show him a copy of this article….
In my years in the anti-torture movement, one of the most moving experience has been getting to know military interrogators, military intelligence professionals, JAGS, and other military members who struggled to behave honorably, often at great personal cost, even when they served an administration that promoted torture and when the American public became convinced by politicians, pundits, and the media that torture was both right and necessary. Below is a recent statement by a veteran Army interrogator and interrogation instructor, 1LT(P) Marcus Lewis, who reminds his fellow interrogators of the folly of the torture promoters. Torture neither “works” nor is it moral, he reminds them.
Lewis is not alone among experienced interrogators. One of the sad facts is that when the Bush administration and the CIA were creating the torture program they ignored the opinions of experienced interrogators….
The dream team for social activists, those that believe in equality and tino rangatiratanga – Harawira, Sykes and Minto – that is why i have sent off my membership form to Mana – it is time to get off the fence and seize the opportunity of a generation, for the next generations.
In this issue of Parliament’s Wall of Shame, the Jackal dishes the dirt on David Garrett, Graham John Capill, Donna Awatere Huata, Trevor Rogers, Nick Smith and Roger McClay.
Sign up to a service? You should be able to post by registering to the site, it is not a service. You can read the privacy policy here. The Jackal was getting too many stupid and derogatory comments with anonymous posting. The #1 on the title denoted that this is the first in a series of Wall of Shame posts. Field is in the list I have drawn up. However I appreciate any further suggestions people might have.
Ruth Dyson
Taito Philip Field
Bob Clarkson
David Butcher
Phil Heatley
Pansy Yu Fong Wong
You don’t need any sort of account with anything to post on the standard. The only one of those that I have is google, and I’m not putting that on your site.
That’s something I’m grateful for Lanthanide. Your often ill conceived and factually incorrect posts will not be missed @ the Jackal. Perhaps you think that making such a childish complaint and comparing the Jackal to other websites will achieve something. Twerp!
I don’t think it’s “childish” to note that you used to allow open comments on your blog, and now don’t.
Calling my comments “factually incorrect” is a bit rich when you were saying the earthquakes in Christchurch were caused by secret American weapons testing and for evidence you linked to a news story from 2005 about a meteor that was seen over the city implying that it happened just days before the September 4th quake.
You’re holding this article up as “From reports people have stated hearing a loud sonic boom prior to the 21 Feb Christchurch earthquake.”
To which I replied: There were reports of sonic boom like noises prior to the 6.3 Magnitude Earthquake in Lyttleton/Christchurch.Here is one of them.
I did not say the Christchurch earthquakes were caused by secret American weapons, however I did provide information about the technology. So again you are being factually incorrect and showing yourself to be a twerp.
The Jackal still allows open comments, however it does not allow anonymous comments.
“I did not say the Christchurch earthquakes were caused by secret American weapons, however I did provide information about the technology.”
No, you didn’t outright say it, you just heavily implied it. If you were just providing “information about the technology”, you wouldn’t have mentioned the CHCH earthquake, or included the lines “Could returning low-frequency waves shift the Earth’s magma, thus moving tectonic plates to cause earthquakes? The mind boggles!”.
That’s exactly the sort of arguing by innuendo that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh dish out.
I gave the facts of the case as presented. People did hear a large sonic boom sound prior to the Christchurch earthquake, that’s why it was mentioned. Do you now accept that fact Lanthanide?
It’s for the reader to make up their own minds and hopefully look for further answers. I was thanked for the informative article as most readers have the cognitive ability to formulate their own conclusions. My article was especially helpful to those within the community of people trying to get HAARP recognized as a dangerous technology.
Was your comparison to Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh meant to be a joke? I am neither fat, ugly or a conservative you twerp! My article stuck to the facts, just as all of my blogs are formulated from relevant information. If you don’t like my writing style, don’t read it.
When people say they heard a sonic boom sound before the Earthquake, that is what I will report. You might note that there are over 400 words between the two paragraphs you cut and paste together to try and discredit the article, which is almost three months old. Your childish, ill conceived and factually incorrect argument is akin to a moron Lanthanide. Get over yourself and grow up twerp!
Here’s a little heads up for those who are wondering about the beatup job currently underway insofar as abortion counsellors and adolescent abortion access are concerned. I found out that counsellor Steve Taylor has strong fundamentalist Christian and male backlash/’fathers rights’ links, as can be seen from his resource section, and is headquartered in the fundamentalist Parents Inc parenting group. Clearly, he isn’t neutral on this subject and I question why no-one else has investigated his background:
So the guy who promise us all North of $50.00 tax cuts in the current term of his government, is now talking up the possibility that wages will rise higher than inflation in the next couple of years:
So the guy who promise us all North of $50.00 tax cuts in the current term of his government
Hmmmm Carol, don’t make the same mistake that everyone is has. When Key talked about tax cuts “North of $50” he was talking directly to National’s core constituency, not to anyone else. Everyone thought he was addressing the general public. Wrong. It was a dog whistle to his base.
And Key delivered on his promise, his base got tax cuts which were net $50/wk or more, even after GST and price increases.
Ah, I think the $39k is the average income, eg including benefits. Something like that, anyway.
“But i’m still confident that he was talking to his core constituency there.”
I think his careful (and since, oft-repeated) use of the term “average wage” is to make it seem like any old average joe in the street. When of course we know that the average is significantly above the median and maybe only 30% of the country earn the ‘average’ or above.
So yeah, I guess it’s a dog-whistle for their core constituency, dressed up like lamb for the average joe-blow who wants to believe that they earn the average wage because they earn the same as all their mates down the pub.
It would have been fair and balanced in they had also noted that John Key believed that the tax cuts would see us “roaring out of recession” last year.
Lee Atwater, in an anonymous interview in 1981, (his identity was revealed in the nineties, after his death):
Atwater: As to the whole Southern strategy that Harry S. Dent, Sr. and others put together in 1968, opposition to the Voting Rights Act would have been a central part of keeping the South. Now [the new Southern Strategy of Ronald Reagan] doesn’t have to do that. All you have to do to keep the South is for Reagan to run in place on the issues he’s campaigned on since 1964 and that’s fiscal conservatism, balancing the budget, cut taxes, you know, the whole cluster.
Questioner: But the fact is, isn’t it, that Reagan does get to the Wallace voter and to the racist side of the Wallace voter by doing away with legal services, by cutting down on food stamps?
Atwater: You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”
Newt Gingrich, this month, on the campaign stump in southern states:
I believe the gap between where the people in this room and the vast majority of the people of Georgia would take America and where President Obama would take America is so enormous that this will be the most consequential election since 1860.
You want to be a country that creates food stamps, in which case frankly Obama’s is an enormous success. The most successful food stamp president in American history. Or do you want to be a country that creates paychecks?
“You know, folks often talk about immigration. I always say that to become an American citizen, immigrants ought to have to learn American history. But maybe we should also have a voting standard that says to vote, as a native born American, you should have to learn American history.”
Oh he’s a card all right. Thing is though, as much as the Cons will cry about what the elite liberal media are going to unleash on this sorry sack of shit regarding his personal life, I don’t give a shit.
He was front and centre during the Clinton impeachment attempt, and eventually shut down the government because Clinton didn’t give the little snake oil salesman the respect he felt he deserved. His marks in the rube ridden south might have forgotten but DC is a village, and a company town. They went after Clinton because he was an outsider, and they feted Newt back then because he tried to take him down. But now he is damaged goods, too blatant, too stupid, and attacks the village. They will just slaughter him and I don’t think Fox will be enough to save him.
But to me it’s like there are a bunch of assclowns
that either haven’t read one damn thing about the drivers behind AQ,
or didn’t understand it if they did,
or if they did both read and understand
then are the most cynical hard out sons of bitches since the roman republic collapsed in an orgy of private empire building dressed up as giving a fuck.
At present Radionz announces that there will be a 23 minute interview from BBC Hard Talk programme with our pm Joky Hen aka John Key – if interested in how His Fairy Footsteps sounds to others.
It’s always worth the paper it’s written on. You just have to realise that the value isn’t in what Treasury put there but what it shows which is that Treasury is a bunch of ideological neo-liberal followers who wouldn’t know what the economy was doing if you paid them.
Is our Minister of Tourism writing for the Lonely Planet and did he give the nudge to someone on the Beeb to give us a bit more exposure down here. I can just see someone doing a side trip from The Mount to Stewart Island to sample the fish and chips. Who wrote this stuff? (New Zealand cuisine a gourmet’s delight???)
I can’t reply to the comments above directly, hence this comment here.
Todd, you are wrong. You haven’t posted any evidence that people heard a sonic boom. The actual quote, if I recall correctly, was we heard a sound like a sonic boom. Like. Not actually, but ‘like’. Not surprising to hear a sound ‘like’ a sonic boom during an earthquake, is it? After all, it’s an astonishingly large release of energy in waves across the physical sounding board that is this good earth.
Lanth is right to say you connected the CIA death boom ray and the earthquake. It’s the whole point of the post, eh. And it’s just as hyberbolic as the Brazillian Oil Co. ate my penguin post a few weeks back. If make preposterous juxtapositions like that, you will get called on it.
And, just as an aside, I agree with Lanth’s criticism of your otherwise well organised site. Anyone wanting to comment there has to identify themselves via a third party, yet you remain anonymous. I reckon that’s not an encouragement to engage in debate and might explain why an otherwise interesting blog gets bugger all responses from readers.
I’ve given up visiting your site, todd, because although much of what you write is thoughtful or provocative, some of your speculation is too wild and loose.
I never commented, for the same reasons that Lanthanide stopped commenting.
Your belligerence above does you no favours either.
I’d commend a more adult approach to you, unless your aim is not to be taken seriously.
I’d also like to be able to comment more easily on your blog. I don’t have a google account or OpenID. Blogger should allow you to add a name/URL option without adding the annoymous one.
Just wastng some time checking some posts and see this about sounds like sonic booms at the time of the Feb 22 earthquake….
Well, I have experienced countless quakes and/or aftershocks which have been booming sounds. Sometimes they have a shake with them and sometimes not. It makes total sense – when the earth cracks it must surely go BOOM. I have heard many many – usually very deep and low and not that loud (in fact very low quiet mostly). The shake follows. Without doubt the BOOMS of earthquakes.
Also, wandering one of the port hills last week got a very strong waft of sulphur smell. Also experienced by others with me. Always heard about that phenomenon and finally experienced it.
These earthquakes are quite something extraordinary…
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In the past there's been a few interesting data points about the New Zealand Intelligence Community's desire to covertly manipulate public opinion through media and academic mouthpieces. In 2015 the Council for Civil Liberties revealed the existence of an NZIC "Strategic Communications Group" tasked with persuading the public that spying ...
Inflation is through the roof, and "coincidentally" so is oil company profiteering. UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls it what it is: grotesque: The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has described the record profits of oil and gas companies as immoral and urged governments to introduce a windfall tax, using ...
What on earth is going on with the main opposition parties at the moment? Both National and ACT have been making numerous flip-flops and miscommunications, clearly indicating that they aren’t a viable alternative to the current Labour led Government.Of particular note is the duplicitous reasoning given for why they support ...
A ballot for two member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Housing Infrastructure (GST-sharing) Bill (Brooke van Velden) Prohibition on Seabed Mining Legislation Amendment Bill (Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) Ngarewa-Packer's bill looks likely to start a shitfight with Labour, and not just because the ...
As you might have noticed, I have an on-going interest in working my way through old and intellectually influential reading material. Occasionally I even share my thoughts on it, which allows me to take a break from my generally-dominant Tolkien analysis. Well, today I thought I would take a ...
Golriz Ghahraman's Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill will probably face its first reading today. And three months after it was introduced - pissing on the "as soon as practicable" requirement of Standing Order 269 - it has received a section 7 report from Attorney-General David Parker stating that its proposed ...
There's an interesting select committee report out today, from the Petitions Committee on the Petition of Conrad Petersen: The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA). The petitioner raises some concerns about the slowness of the IPCA process and its lack of oversight, and suggests some solutions. The committee doesn't seem keen ...
Today is a Member's Day, but likely to be a boring one. There's no general debate today, and instead the House will move right into the third reading of the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill, which will add unelected, inherently conflicted Ngai Tahu representatives to ECan. Then there's ...
That gormlessly glum picture of Christopher Luxon in Samoa graphically tells us what kind of image New Zealand would be projecting abroad if there’s a change of government next year. The glumness is understandable. For months, National and ACT had been dog whistling to the bigots who oppose the creation ...
There is no corruption in New Zealand. At least that’s what authorities want the public to believe. For decades now our system of political finance regulation has been portrayed as highly rigorous, ensuring our politicians cannot be bought. Unfortunately, that’s just not true. Although politicians and officials have claimed tight ...
Pundits have come out of the woodwork to defend the Greens co-leader, after he was stripped of his leadership last week by unhappy party members. The defences have all stuck to basically the same script: Shaw is a successful leader and minister who’s handed the party big victories in politics ...
Meghan Murphy talks with Batya Ungar-Sargon the author of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy. The book charts the trajectory of journalism in the US as it shifted from being a blue collar occupation producing the penny press for the masses, to a profession for Ivy League university ...
Co-Leaders? The uncomfortable truth is: not the Army, not the Police, not the Spooks, and not even a combination of all three, could defeat the scale and violence of White Supremacist and Māori Nationalist resistance which the imposition of radical decolonisation – or its racism-inspired defeat – would unleash upon ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson and Jeff Masters Torrents of rain that began before dawn on Tuesday, July 26, gave St. Louis, Missouri, its highest calendar-day total since records began in 1873. And the deadly event is just the latest example of a well-established trend ...
Completed reads for July: The Prince, by Niccolo MachiavelliFaust, Part I, by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheFaust, Part II, by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheParadise Lost, by John MiltonParadise Regained, by John MiltonThe NibelungenliedAgricola, by TacitusGermania, by TacitusDialogue on Orators, by TacitusThe Gods of Pegana, by Lord DunsanyTime and the Gods, ...
A couple of weeks ago the High Court exposed a loophole in our electoral donations law, enabling corrupt parties to take in unlimited amounts of secret money and explicitly sell policy to the rich. Pretty obviously, this is unacceptable in a country which wants to call itself a democracy, and ...
This morning, National’s deputy leader Nicola Willis managed to get top of the bulletin news coverage by pointing out that some Kiwis living abroad might receive the government’s cost of living payment. Quelle horreur. What is the problem here? Inflation is a global problem, and Kiwis living abroad may be ...
Beyond Fixing? The critical question confronting New Zealanders is whether we any longer have the resources to repair our physical and human infrastructure?WHO WILL MAKE the New Zealand of the next 50 years? We had better hope that, whoever they are, they make a better job of it than those ...
Today’s speech by Jacinda Ardern to the China Business Summit in Auckland was full of soothing words for Beijing. The headline-grabber was Ardern’s comment that ‘a few plans are afoot’ for New Zealand ministers to return to China – and that the Prime Minister herself hopes to return to the ...
Rule-Breaker? It is easy to see why poor James Shaw found himself brutally deposed as the Greens’ co-leader. By seeking the responsibilities of leadership – and exercising them – he violated the first rule of Green Party governance. Then, by accepting the limitations of the Green Party’s electoral mandate (7.8 ...
After the incredibly sad story about the deaths of over 50 Ukrainian POWs in a Ukrainian missile attack on the prison they were housed in (see Over 50 POWs killed. A military accident or a cynical war crime?)I came across the heartwarming story about another Ukrainian POW. It’s about a ...
British mercenary Aiden Aslin, now a prisoner in the Donetsk People’s Republic, expressed real concern that he may die from the Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk. He has experienced many missile attacks that came close to the prison.Is he still alive? Understandably, we are always shocked about the losses ...
Politics is largely reported as theatre: tragedy and comedy, thriller and farce. Andrea Vance captures it all very successfully in Blue Blood. But it is the politics of personality, not of policy – of the impact of government on the people’s wellbeing. Even so, we can see from the book ...
This year the government finally got its clean car feebate scheme into place. But there's a problem: it's been too successful: Transport Minister Michael Wood will shortly review the cost of the fees and rebates in the Government's "feebate" scheme after the runaway success of the policy has meant ...
Given how the pandemic has disrupted the sporting calendar, no-one would begrudge our elite athletes their chance to compete at international level. What with the war in Ukraine and the cost of living, there are also not many ‘good news” stories out there. So… I suppose the strenuous efforts the ...
Everybody Having A Say: Democracy commands us to look outward; it demands our trust; it tells us what is expected of our humanity; it elevates the collective above the self; it celebrates the things we have in common; it defines our morals and values; it calculates what we owe one ...
Even right-wing commentators have, over recent days, and jusrifiably enough, been taking the National leader, Christopher Luxon, to task. They have lambasted him over his soft-shoe shuffle over abortion, for bad-mouthing New Zealand business while he was overseas, and for pretending to be in Te Puke while he was actually ...
So, now we know for sure. The “protesters” who defiled the grounds of parliament and who (according to their own account) intended to create in three of our major cities “maximum disruption and inconvenience” to other citizens, are not interested in democracy – indeed, quite the contrary. Their objective, quite ...
The issue with Christopher Luxon’s social media post talking about his day in Te Puke when he was in Hawaii is it’s fake news. He has since apologised for the mistake. But this doesn’t negate its impact. This mistake, misstep, gaffe or whatever you like to call it, is about ...
Over the last couple of years there has been a disturbing trend of new legislation containing secrecy clauses, which effectively make it illegal for affected government bodies to disclose information under the Official Information Act. Some of these are re-enacting old legislation from the pre- or early-OIA era (in which ...
Allegations of political corruption are once again at the heart of a new High Court trial this week. The trial follows straight on from the “not guilty” verdict for those running the New Zealand First Foundation. And this latest trial is once again about whether wealthy businesspeople and political parties ...
Ukrainian operation to steal Russian military aircraft exposed [English edit] Representatives of the Ukrainian special services offered up to $2 million for hijacking Russian military aircraft, as well as European passports for the pilots and their families. In order to gain trust, Ukrainians shared information they were not allowed ...
Struck Down: As James Shaw saved the pure Greens from themselves in 2017, they resented him. As he secured the Climate Change portfolio for his party, they suspected him. As he achieved cross-party support for crucial climate change legislation, they condemned him. And, as he was white, and male, and ...
If nothing else, some of the media treatment of the Luxon lu’au has reeked of a double standard. If Jacinda Ardern – or any of her Cabinet Ministers – had been holidaying in Hawaii while their social media imagery was depicting them working hard on the public’s behalf in Te ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme is broken. Stuffed with free allocations and rigged with a "cost containment reserve" which floods the market any time prices get "too high" (for a definition of "too high" set in a different world), its basicly served as a machanism to subsidise the production of the ...
Think Big: A democratic-socialist government could remove GST from basic food items. It could re-nationalise and centralise the generation and distribution of electric power, and then retail it to citizens at an affordable price. A democratic-socialist government could nationalise the public transportation system and make it free for everyone. A democratic-socialist government ...
Pure Poison: It is when the fetid atmosphere created by the Right’s toxic accusations and denunciations is at its thickest, that comparisons with the Woke Left spring most easily to mind. If the level of emotion on display, and the strength of the invective used, is inversely related to the ...
New Zealand companies are using their oligopolistic market power to gouge mega profits, driving up inflation. Overseas, such actions have resulted in windfall taxes, which have been used both to drive down inflation, and ameliorate its impacts (while driving down emissions). With New Zealand petrol companies pocketing record margins and ...
Poll Axed: What happened to James Shaw on Saturday, 23 July 2022 exposed the Greens’ minoritarian political culture for all to see. Once voters grasp the enormity of 30 percent of Green delegates to the Green AGM being constitutionally empowered to overrule the wishes of the 70 percent of delegates ...
Now, that was strange. That was very strange. Having dropped an initial July teaser for The Rings of Power, Amazon put out a full two-minute trailer in the middle of the month. That one, I liked. Now, however, we have an additional three-minute trailer, released a couple of days ...
I have prepared the following (draft) submission on the Electoral (Māori Electoral Option) Legislation Bill, which you all have until Saturday to submit on. Happy to consider comments, or to fix typos: have I used the word whakapapa incorrectly, etc? Please let me know :-)======The Justice CommitteeElectoral (Māori Electoral Option) ...
The big news over the weekend was that Green party delegates at their AGM voted to re-open nominations for James Shaw's co-leadership position, effectively toppling him as co-leader. I'm not a member of the Greens, so its not really my place to have an opinion on who should lead them ...
James Shaw has lost his co-leadership position in the Green Party, and there’s a good chance he won’t be able to get it back. And he shouldn’t – it won’t be good for either him or his party. When delegates at the Green Party AGM voted on his position as ...
Climate change has gone from being one of those allegedly wacky Green ideas to wide mainstream acceptance. In their own ways, leaders like Jeanette Fitzsimons, Russel Norman and James Shaw each added to the increased credibility the Greens’ now have among the voting public. The decision not to re-endorse Shaw ...
So, now we know for sure. The “protesters” who defiled the grounds of parliament and who (according to their own account) intended to create in three of our major cities “maximum disruption and inconvenience” to other citizens, are not interested in democracy – indeed, quite the contrary. Their objective, quite ...
Don Franks was interviewed by Dr Toby Boraman in December 2013 about his time working in the militant Ford car plant in the 1970s. This is the fifth and final installment of that interview. The first installment is here, the second installment here, the third here and fourth installment here. (The interview has ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to overhaul the Recognised Seasonal Employers scheme in the wake of revelations of shocking human rights violations. ...
The Green Party is calling for a cross-party commitment to guaranteeing at least a living wage and safe working conditions to people seeking employment, instead of continuing benefit sanctions. ...
The Green Party is once again calling on the Government to announce its support for a moratorium on deep sea mining, and to support a member’s bill going to select committee. ...
The Government must take steps to ensure that the way we build our homes is helping to meet New Zealand’s climate change targets, the Green Party said. ...
The Government’s employment initiatives led by the Ministry of Social Development must guarantee liveable incomes and fair working conditions, the Green Party says. ...
New Zealanders deserve a health system that works for everyone, no matter who you are or where you live. Our Government has a plan to make this a reality, and we’re taking the next steps. We now have thousands more health professionals, such as doctors and nurses, working in New ...
During her time as Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has navigated New Zealand through unprecedented times. Through it all, she’s become known as someone who leads with kindness, compassion and strength, while keeping the wellbeing of Kiwis at the heart of her approach. To celebrate five years of Jacinda leading the ...
Since taking office in 2017, our Government has worked hard to lift wages and make life more affordable for New Zealanders, as we move forward with our plan to grow a secure economy for all. ...
The Government must use the opportunity of the Electoral Amendment Bill in Parliament to close the loophole in the political donations regime, the Green Party says. ...
Thanks to political pressure from the Green Party and the more than 900 personal stories of birth injury and trauma delivered to Minister Sepuloni, more injuries have been added to the ACC birth injuries bill. ...
Supporting New Zealanders is at the heart of our approach as a Government, and we’re working hard to tackle the big issues Kiwis are facing. While long term challenges like child poverty won’t be solved overnight, we’re putting in place policies that make a real difference for New Zealanders. Here ...
Delegates at the AGM of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have voted to retain Marama Davidson as Green Party co-leader and to re-open nominations for the other co-leader position. ...
Every New Zealander deserves a healthy, affordable place to call home. We have a comprehensive plan to make it happen, and we’re making good progress. Here's the latest on how we're supporting Kiwis into homes: ...
The Government is allowing wealthy individuals to ‘purchase’ residency while entrenching a system that keeps low-waged workers on a precarious and temporary status, the Green Party says. ...
The Election Access Fund established by a Green Party members’ bill opened for submissions this week, showing positive progress towards more accessible elections. ...
The relationship between Aotearoa New Zealand and Malaysia is to be elevated to the status of a Strategic Partnership, to open up opportunities for greater co-operation and connections in areas like regional security and economic development. Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta met her Malaysian counterpart Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah today during a ...
With additional trains operating across the network, powered by the Government’s investment in rail, there is need for a renewed focus on rail safety, Transport Minister Michael Wood emphasised at the launch of Rail Safety Week 2022. “Over the last five years the Government has invested significantly to improve level ...
The Foreign Minister has wrapped up a series of meetings with Indo-Pacific partners in Cambodia which reinforced the need for the region to work collectively to deal with security and economic challenges. Nanaia Mahuta travelled to Phnom Penh for a bilateral meeting between ASEAN foreign ministers and Aotearoa New Zealand, ...
Extension of Aotearoa Touring Programme supporting domestic musicians The Programme has supported more than 1,700 shows and over 250 artists New Zealand Music Commission estimates that around 200,000 Kiwis have been able to attend shows as a result of the programme The Government is hitting a high note, with ...
Minister of Defence Peeni Henare will depart tomorrow for Solomon Islands to attend events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal. While in Solomon Islands, Minister Henare will also meet with Solomon Islands Minister of National Security, Correctional Services and Police Anthony Veke to continue cooperation on security ...
The Government is partnering with Ngāi Tahu Farming Limited and Ngāi Tūāhuriri on a whole-farm scale study in North Canterbury to validate the science of regenerative farming, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. The programme aims to scientifically evaluate the financial, social and environmental differences between regenerative and conventional practices. ...
52.5% of people on public boards are women Greatest ever percentage of women Improved collection of ethnicity data “Women’s representation on public sector boards and committees is now 52.5 percent, the highest ever level. The facts prove that diverse boards bring a wider range of knowledge, expertise and skill. ...
I am honoured to support the 2022 Women in Governance Awards, celebrating governance leaders, directors, change-makers, and rising stars in the community, said Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. For the second consecutive year, MPP is proudly sponsoring the Pacific Governance Leader category, recognising Pacific women in governance and presented to ...
Today Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash turned the sod for the new Whakatāne Commercial Boat Harbour, cut the ribbon for the revitalised Whakatāne Wharf, and inspected work underway to develop the old Whakatāne Army Hall into a visitor centre, all of which are part of the $36.8 million ...
New Zealanders are not getting a fair deal on some key residential building supplies and while the Government has already driven improvements in the sector, a Commerce Commission review finds that changes are needed to make it more competitive. “New Zealand is facing the same global cost of living and ...
Mana in Mahi reaches a milestone surpassing 5,000 participants 75 per cent of participants who had been on a benefit for two or more years haven’t gone back onto a benefit 89 per cent who have a training pathway are working towards a qualification at NZQA level 3 or ...
The Government has invested $7.7 million in a research innovation hub which was officially opened today by Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Dr Ayesha Verrall. The new facility named Te Pā Harakeke Flexible Labs comprises 560 square metres of new laboratory space for research staff and is based at ...
Unemployment has remained near record lows thanks to the Government’s economic plan to support households and businesses through the challenging global environment, resulting in more people in work and wages rising. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in the June quarter, with 96,000 people classed out ...
Action to address the risks identified in the 2020 climate change risk assessment, protecting lives, livelihoods, homes, businesses and infrastructure A joined up approach that will support community-based adaptation with national policies and legislation Providing all New Zealanders with information about local climate risks via a new online data ...
Māori with mental health and addiction challenges have easier access to care thanks to twenty-nine Kaupapa Māori primary mental health and addiction services across Aotearoa, Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare says. “Labour is the first government to take mental health seriously for all New Zealanders. We know that Māori ...
A Bill which updates New Zealand’s statistics legislation for the 21st century has passed its third and final reading today, Minister of Statistics David Clark said. The Data and Statistics Act replaces the Statistics Act, which has been in effect since 1975. “In the last few decades, national data and ...
The Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament today, marking a significant milestone to improve the lives of disabled people. “The Bill aims to address accessibility barriers that prevent disabled people, tāngata whaikaha and their whānau, and others with accessibility needs from living independently,” said ...
Kia ora koutou, da jia hao It’s great to be back at this year’s China Business Summit. I would first like to acknowledge Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister Helen Clark, His Excellency Ambassador Wang Xiaolong, and parliamentary colleagues both current and former the Right Honourable Winston Peters, the ...
Narrowing the expenses considered by lenders Relaxing the assumptions that lenders were required to make about credit cards and buy-now pay-later schemes. Helping make debt refinancing or debt consolidation more accessible if appropriate for borrowers The Government is clarifying the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance (CCCFA) Regulations, to ensure ...
The Firearms Prohibition Order Legislation Bill will be passed through all remaining stages by the end of next week, Police Minister Chris Hipkins said. The Justice Select Committee has received public feedback and finalised its report more quickly than planned. It reported back to the House on Friday. “The Bill will ...
The Government has stepped up activity to protect kauri, with a National Pest Management Plan (NPMP) coming into effect today, Biosecurity Minister Damien O'Connor and Associate Environment Minister James Shaw said. “We have a duty to ensure this magnificent species endures for future generations and also for the health of ...
Prime Minister Ardern met with members of Samoa’s Cabinet in Apia, today, announcing the launch of a new climate change partnership and confirming support for the rebuild of the capital’s main market, on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between Aotearoa New ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for the Indo-Pacific region today for talks on security and economic issues at meetings of ASEAN and the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, and during bilateral engagements in Malaysia. “Engaging in person with our regional partners is a key part of our reconnecting strategy as ...
United Nations Headquarters, New York City Thank you, Mr President. Ngā mihi ki a koutou. I extend my warm congratulations to you and assure you of the full cooperation of the New Zealand delegation. I will get right to it. In spite of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the nuclear ...
A major milestone of 10,037 additional public homes has been achieved since Labour came into office, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods confirmed today. “It’s extremely satisfying and a testament to our commitment to providing a safety net for people who need public housing, that we have delivered these warm, ...
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta has announced further sanctions on the armed forces and military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. “President Putin and the Russian military are responsible for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which is a grave breach of fundamental international law,” Nanaia Mahuta ...
Easing the process for overseas nurses and provision of up to $10,000 in financial support for international nurses for NZ registration costs. Provide for the costs of reregistration for New Zealand nurses who want to return to work. Covering international doctors’ salaries during their six-week clinical induction courses and ...
A new future between Pacific Aotearoa and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is the essence of a Dawn Raids Apology anniversary event in Auckland this month, said Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. One year ago, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern formally apologised to Pacific communities impacted by the Dawn Raids in ...
Tēnā koutou katoa Tuia ngā waka, Tuia ngā wawata, Tuia ngā hou-kura Let us bind our connection, let us bind our vision, let us bind our shared aspiration for peace and prosperity. This year marks a significant milestone in the New Zealand – China relationship. Fifty years ago – 1972 – ...
It’s Cook Islands Language week and the Minister of Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio wants the community to focus on what it means to keep the language alive across the generations. “Our Cook Islands community in Aotearoa have decided to focus on the same theme as last years; ‘ Ātuitui’ia ...
From 1 August an estimated 2.1 million New Zealanders will be eligible to receive the first targeted Cost of Living Payment as part of the Government’s plan to help soften the impact of rising global inflationary pressures affecting New Zealanders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. The payments will see eligible ...
· New Zealand’s international border opens to all visitors, including from non-visa waiver countries, and international students from 11:59PM, 31 July 2022. · Cruise ships and recreational yachts able to arrive at New Zealand ports. This evening marks the final step in the Government’s reconnecting plan, with visitors from non-visa ...
New Action Plan to eliminate HIV transmission released for consultation today $18 million Budget 2022 boost Key measures to achieve elimination include increasing prevention and testing, improving access to care and treatment and addressing stigma The Government has today released its plan to eliminate the transmission of HIV in ...
A report released today shows Government support has lifted incomes for Beneficiaries by 40 percent over and above inflation since 2018. “This is the first time this data set has been collected, and it clearly shows Government action is having an impact,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “This Government made a commitment ...
Thirty new warm, safe and affordable apartments to be delivered by Tauhara North No 2 Trust in Tāmaki Makaurau Delivered through Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga programme, jointly delivered by Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Allocation of the apartments will be prioritised to support ...
Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Twyford will lead Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations in New York next week. “Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of advocating for a world free of nuclear weapons,” Phil Twyford said. “The NPT has ...
I am delighted to join you today for the launch of the Construction Sector Accord Transformation Plan 2022-2025. I would like to acknowledge my colleagues – the other Accord Ministers, the Accord governance and sector leadership, the CEOs of Government agencies, and leaders from the construction sector. The construction ...
Associate Minister of Transport Kieran McAnulty was joined this morning by the Mayors of Carterton and Masterton, local Iwi and members of the Wairarapa community to turn the first sod on a package of crucial safety improvements for State Highway 2 in Wairarapa. “The work to improve safety on this ...
The board to take the Milford Opportunities Project (MOP) forward has been announced by Minister of Conservation Poto Williams today. “The Milford Opportunities Project is a once in a generation chance to reshape the gateway to Milford Sound Piopiotahi and redesign our transport infrastructure to benefit locals, visitors, and our ...
A new three year plan to transform the construction industry into a high-performing sector with increased productivity, diversity and innovation has been unveiled by the Minister for Building and Construction Dr Megan Woods and Accord Steering group this morning. As lead minister for the Construction Sector Accord, Dr Woods told ...
In a submission to the select committee, Auditor-General John Ryan has urged the government to require auditing of the incoming Water Services Entities. ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Luxon’s “New National”Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Back in the 1990s, Tony Blair rebranded The British Labour Party as “New Labour”, to try and draw a line under past failures. It’s as if Christopher Luxon is attempting to follow suit, and launch “New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Handley, Associate Professor of Volcanology and Geoscience Communication, University of Twente and Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash University Marco Di Marco/AP The Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland began erupting again on Wednesday after eight months of slumber – so far without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Maguire, Associate Professor in Human Rights and International Law, University of Newcastle Israel launched multiple air strikes on Gaza on August 5, in another eruption of open warfare between Israel and Palestinian militants. The latest attacks come just over a year ...
National's newest MP has admitted he was kicked out of his boarding school as a teen for beating a younger student. The party knew of the incident during the candidate selection process for the Tauranga by-election. ...
“The Auditor-General’s comments on Labour’s divisive Three Waters should be the final nail in the coffin for the widely-rejected reforms,” says ACT’s Local Government spokesperson Simon Court. “The Auditor-General raised serious concerns ...
The Government must listen to the concerns of the Auditor General in his submission on the Water Services Entities Bill, Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says. "The concerns of the Auditor General echo those made by the more than ...
Buzz from the Beehive Safety and security were the common theme in the latest statements – just two – from The Beehive. The first – headed Call for New Zealanders to get on-board with rail safety – tells us this is Rail Safety Week. Transport Minister Michael Wood grabbed the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Shaw, Honorary Senior Fellow in Urban Geography and Planning, The University of Melbourne Author provided Australian cities are good at growing – for decades their states have relied on it. The need to house more people is used to justify ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Stevens, Lecturer in Arts and Cultural Management, The University of Melbourne AP Photo/Laurent Rebours Australia, and the world, has lost a unique voice with the passing last week of acclaimed director and writer Shirley Barrett. Barrett gained international ...
We have published our submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee on the Water Services Entities Bill. Because water services are critical to everyone, our focus is on how the public and Parliament are able to influence the performance of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Santosh Tadakamadla, Associate professor and Discipline Lead for Dentistry, La Trobe University Unsplash/Mieke Campbell, CC BY What is inside teeth? – Nicholas, age 5, Australian Capital Territory Great question, Nicholas. It is important for us to know ...
A gaping hole. That’s how the Federation of Primary Health Aotearoa New Zealand Executive Director is describing the lack of primary and community care funding in the current health reform programme. Angela Francis says the Federation board and ...
E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services are deeply concerned with recent policy announcements in regard to youth unemployment and benefits over the weekend. As an organisation that works with marginalised rangatahi every day, we are always concerned when we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stu Hayes, Lecturer, Tourism, University of Otago Spraying disinfectant on an Indonesian cattle farm infected with foot and mouth disease in July 22.Getty Images Recent warnings of a “doomsday” scenario if foot and mouth disease (FMD) arrived in New Zealand inevitably ...
Be. announce an exciting new Leadership Development Programme to foster a community of disabled and access leaders equipped with the skills for 21st century governance, and to embed accessibility at a strategic level in the board agenda. Over the past ...
Recommendations from the recent Charities Act Review could mean registered charities with operating expenses over $140,000 per year will be required to disclose information about the reserves they hold, and why they hold them, says Barry Baker, Partner and ...
The prime minister has criticised National's proposed welfare changes saying they prove the opposition party doesn't understand the incentives currently in place to help people into work. ...
Manaaki Rangatahi are concerned that punitive approaches to welfare, such as National's latest policy announcement, and current sanction policies for young people in need of financial support from MSD, run the risk of increasing harm for young people and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture, University of Waikato Shutterstock Given recent and often sensationalist media coverage of the issue, it’s easy to overlook the fact that transgender athletes have participated in elite sport for decades ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, leader of the Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, UNSW Sydney, and leader of the UNSW Node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Sonnemann, Principal Advisor Education, Grattan Institute www.shutterestock.com This Friday, state and federal education ministers will meet for the first time since the federal election. The stakes are high. Ministers meet as teacher shortages and workload pressures are dominating ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Crown Resorts’ striking new A$2 billion casino on Sydney’s Barangaroo Point opens its doors to gamblers for the first time this week. But only if they are “VIPs”. Its licence to operate remains conditional, ...
One of New Conservative’s core principles is a commitment to the sanctity of life. We believe human life is sacred, from conception to natural death. These principles are not held by the ruling Labour/Greens coalition; neither are they held by National ...
The magenta wash shot through the true blue National branding is one way Christopher Luxon is making his mark as party leader, and he'll be hoping this past weekend's party conference will be another, writes Jane Patterson. ...
New Zealand Defence Force personnel have remembered all those who served in Solomon Islands during World War II, as they attended commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal today. A group of personnel from the Royal New Zealand ...
Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni says there's no evidence National's welfare plan will work, while the Greens say it shows a "depressingly familiar side of the National Party". ...
Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni says there's no evidence National's welfare plan will work, while the Greens say it shows a "depressingly familiar side of the National Party". ...
The Greens are the only party with a comprehensive plan to support people on low incomes so everyone in and out of work has enough to make ends meet and provide for their families. “It is clearer today than ever before that thousands of families ...
Sylvia Wood has been elected President of the National Party by the Party’s board of directors at its annual conference in Christchurch. Ms Wood has been on the board since 2021 and will serve as National’s 18th President after the retirement of ...
PROFESSOR ELIZABETH RATAgave this address – ‘In Defence of Democracy’ – to the New Zealand ACT Party Annual Conference, in Wellington and Auckland, last month. Although the address was given at a political party event, she says she was a guest speaker and the ideas she presents are her ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Judith Durham, one of Australia’s most recognisable voices, has passed away at 79. An icon of the Australian music industry as lead singer for The Seekers and a solo artist, hers ...
RNZ News Protesters blocked roads in central Auckland this afternoon for the second time in two weeks, marching past the main entrance to the city’s hospital. The Auckland motorway onramp used by protesters two weeks ago was closed ahead of another rally at the Auckland Domain today. Aucklanders were warned ...
National Party outgoing president Peter Goodfellow has acknowledged mistakes in his final speech, but says he does not regret trying to move the party into the 21st century. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers were dishing out money to musicians and Māori farmers over the past day or so while also announcing awards for women and – in the case of our Minister of Defence – travel plans for a a trip to the Solomon Islands. The announcement of ...
RNZ Pacific The Solomon Islands government has prompted anger by ordering the censorship of the national broadcaster. The government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has forbidden it from publishing material critical of the government, which will vet all stories before broadcast. The Guardian reports that on Monday the government announced ...
PNG Pacific A former Papua New Guinea military commander who drew up a plan 17 years ago to try to end gun violence says the first thing he would do is ban the public from owning guns. Major-General Jerry Singirok compiled a gun control report in 2005. It included 244 ...
By Peter Korugl of the PNG Post-Courier “Shame on yous!” … these are the three powerful words Julie Soso, former governor and candidate for the Eastern Highlands regional seat, had to say for the newly elected members to Papua New Guinea’s Parliament — all men so far. Soso, Carol Mayo ...
National's deputy Nicola Willis has sought to extinguish any doubt over her tax plan, telling members the party will deliver as much relief as it "responsibly can". ...
PSNA is holding nationwide rallies on Saturday August 6th in solidarity with Palestinians resisting ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta, an area of the South Hebron hills which is home to over 1200 Palestinians living in 20 villages. “Many of these people ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. A couple of weeks ago I received a number of articles mainly about Covid19 deaths in the United States. (See below.) As I have noted in the past, it is important to address the reported facts, rather than to ignore them. As they stand, these articles ...
Former Labour Party leader Andrew Little and the Prime Minister's chief press secretary have appeared as witnesses in a trial about anonymous donations to the country's two biggest political parties. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has met with her Chinese counterpart face-to-face for the first time at the East Asia and ASEAN summits in Cambodia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Micah DJ Peters, Senior Research Fellow / Director – Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) National Policy Research Unit (Federal Office), University of South Australia Shutterstock Former Health Department Chief Martin Bowles has reportedly proposed “virtual nurses” could help address ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics. Michelle and Caroline discuss the first fortnight sitting of the new parliament, with the government’s ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics. Michelle and Caroline discuss the first fortnight sitting of the new parliament, with the government’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The question of what counts as professional dress for Australia’s politicians loomed large again this week. New Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather rose to speak in question time. He wore a neat navy suit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Glavovic, Professor in Natural Hazard Planning, Massey University Fiona Goodall/Getty Images New Zealand’s first climate adaptation plan, launched his week, provides a robust foundation for urgent nation-wide action. Its goals are utterly compelling: reduce vulnerability, build adaptive capacity ...
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Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui are this morning welcoming yesterday’s news that a members bill to ban seabed mining will finally enter the parliamentary process. “Ngāti Ruanui is thrilled to hear that Debbie Ngarewa-Packers bill to ban seabed mining ...
The Government’s meddling is driving up the cost of land and contributing to the ongoing housing crisis, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says. “The ‘huge upfront’ purchase of land at Ferncliffe Farms is setting off major ...
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By Murray Horton As I was having breakfast in my Christchurch suburban dining room on Monday morning, I heard a loud but indeterminate noise. I actually thought it was a quake, but as there was no shaking, I assumed it came from the noisy construction site two doors away. So, ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the censoring of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) as an “assault on press freedom” and an “unacceptable development” amid mounting concern over China’s influence on the media and security. “The censoring of the Solomon Island’s national ...
So NActs provide less money for you
…..if you’re a single parent on DPB and want to improve your situation tand employment possibilities hrough study. Greens say the next budget should extend training allowances for such women:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5006792/Greens-call-for-training-allowance-extension
The Greens want the allowance to be available to sickness beneficiaries and for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses.
Their plan would cost an extra $40 million on top of the present $19m cost. But Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the medium and long-term savings outweighed that.
“For just a very small investment, the same that we’re giving away to the America’s Cup, we can get 10,000 beneficiaries or more into gainful education.”
Ms Turei used the allowance while studying law as a single mother on a benefit.
“I was very surprised that Paula Bennett kicked the ladder out from under her. She knows exactly what it’s like to be a young woman having to care for a child on her own and be dependent on the state.”
….
The Greens also want the minimum wage raised to $15 an hour, a temporary Christchurch rebuilding levy and a capital gains tax.
And more for their housing
… if you’re a NAct government minister:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5006058/Housing-cutbacks-fail-to-save-cash
Carol “I was very surprised that Paula Bennett kicked the ladder out from under her…
It is interesting about this human penchant. It goes against the idea of empathy and understanding through having experienced and, hopefully overcome, some difficulty. Unfortunately many find higher status and money in disdaining and tut-tutting about the lesser beings milling about below who don’t see a clear pathway to a living and happiness. Their future should be like the words below, but why should the ‘haves’ care.
This from lyrics007 : Bob Marley – I Can See Clearly Now
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day
Small point – “I Can See Clearly Now” was written and performed by Johnny Nash, not Marley. Some of the songs on the album of the same name were written by and with Marley, and the Wailers helped with backing.
Ta Pete G – Being familiar with the song and knowing who wrote it don’t go together sometimes. It’s right to give credit where it’s due.
What is it with some high rolling people in positions of influence and their difficulty in managing their relationships?
I’m a little confused about the Head of IMF’s politics. He’s championed as a socialist politician in France, but I don’t see a lot of socialism in IMF’s policies. It’s not just men in high rolling positions. I learned long ago that some leftie men, who actively espouse socialist politics and practices, and even know all the right feminist arguments, can treat women badly in their personal relationships.
Not sure there was any mention of political philosophy in my question there Carol. These people are unfortunately, however, in positions of greatly influencing our lives and, worse still, often tell us how we should live ours.
logie97, I was commenting as much in relation to the IMF guy as to your comment. But, I think such things are done by people in power as well as less powerful people of all political affiliations.
Carol, I guess we are singing from the same song sheet. Indeed the initial general comment was as a result of current headlines, though I think we can also look closer to home perhaps … just an observation.
Could it happen or has it happened here?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/5008982/Sex-lies-and-the-reckless-choices-of-power
Perhaps calling such people “socialists” is about as accurate as referring to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and the rest of that hideous gang in Washington as “democrats”.
Frank Bananarama makes himself a fool again like so many before him. Takes action through the barrel of a gun and usurps Fijian sovereignty. Then complains when somone takes action against him through the barrel of a gun and usurps Fijian sovereignty. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha what a fool.
Live by the sword die by the sword.
I thought the idea was that the top banana was upset because the guy slipped out from under in a covert way instead of staying on to face a trumped up charge. No guns just outmaneouvering the regime. But I have missed some newscasts today.
Sedition isn’t usually grounds for extradition….though I don’t know what the details of any extradition treaty might be between Fiji and Tonga.
THE MANA PARTY IS HERE
The latest Horizon Poll shows Mana it has 2.3% party vote support nationwide, while the Maori Party is on 2.1%.
http://www.horizonpoll.co.nz/page/122/act-breaks-t
A Labour led coalition with Hone or Annette winning a seat would have 46.4%, while National –Act-Maori Party –United Future 44.9%.
Maori Party support shall be vital for Mr Key in the General Election. However the need for Act to get votes will impact on votes for the Maori Party, with Mana benefiting, and we may even more United Future voters flow as well.
Pita Sharples has indicated he would work with Brash, silly move now line can be run;
A vote for the Maori Party is a Vote for Act – not a good look for the Maori Party.
The leading candidate for the Maori Party now seems to be Pita Tipene Chairperson of the Ngati Hine Forestry Trust, he is from Ngati Hine.
At best any Maori Party candidate would end up at around10%. Kelvin from Labour at most would sit around 30%, while Hone and Mana would at least be around the 60% mark in the June 25 By Election.
The Maori Party is politically mortally wounded in the North, and shall become of no electoral relevance in the North.
When you stand Hone against Kelvin, Hone and Mana win hands down with the Maori Party candidate performing extremely badly.
The Northern Advocate Newspaper ran an online poll yesterday, it had120 votes.
Hone Mana Party 77%
Kelvin Labour Party 18%
Maori Party Candadiate 5%
The newspaper also under took a street poll through Northland. Mr Brown said “he had not voted in the 2008 general election, but had since grown to admire Mr Harawira”, Ms Mare 63 said she voted for the Maori Party in 2008 “because of Hone.”, “What he says he does,” pledging a switch to Mana. Grace Takimoana said “…I voted for Labour last time, but they haven’t got much hope with their new leader.”
In the last General Election Hone had a resounding 32% majority over Kelvin, Hone’s electorate vote grew about 10% in 2008, while the Maori Party vote decreased by 1.3%. Combine that with the Advocate poll result the trend is clear Hone has grown support while the Maori Party has lost support.
I heard there may have been around 16 at the Maori Party Waitangi hui, that should have been the story of the day. Further the president Pam Bird of the Maori Party dismisses Maori youth our future leaders. In a poll during the last election 70% of the voters in the electorate wanted the Maori Party to work with Labour, not National. Do not forget the New Zealand First backlash for going into government with National, the seats were basically wiped out.
Polling prior to the 2008 election from Maori Television poll had some interesting numbers;
Only 20.6% surveyed said Kelvin Davis could be trusted, 21.2% to deliver on his promises. When you move on to he knows the needs of local people Kevin performs badly again at 16.2%.When it comes to leadership Kevin only manages 19.2%. The survey about who has personality Kelvin scores 11.2%, while Hone scores 71.
Curiously the news headlines are all about Act’s poll improvement under Brash, and some alternative but negative focus on hone & Mana, ignoring how they’ve polled.
The MSM don’t want to give the new Mana Party air as it might upset their plans for a second term Nact government.
A cautionary tale from the NY Times about the role of private prisons in the American economy, that should give us pause as well, since we are second only to them, by most reports, in our incarceration rate. Even as there are moves to reduce the imprisonment rate (due to cost rather than justice) this will not be done on any scale because the prison is so deeply entrenched in the economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/opinion/15alexander.html?_r=2&src=rechp
Two quotable quotes: “If our nation were to return to the rates of incarceration we had in the 1970s, we would have to release 4 out of 5 people behind bars. A million people employed by the criminal justice system could lose their jobs. Private prison companies would see their profits vanish. This system is now so deeply rooted in our social, political and economic structures that it is not going to fade away without a major shift in public consciousness.”
And from Martin Luther King’s 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail: “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice…”
This last, in my opinion can be applied to the lot of all who are poor and effectively disenfranchised.
Crime, corrections, jails, these areas of state control are a lotto win for private enterprise.. Police are supposed to fulfil a number of roles one being keeping order, but an important one is to assist ordinary citizens But that has been fudged in the government target for reduction of deaths. Hence all the road-blocks increasing police surveillance which interfere with ordinary citizens’ freedom of movement. Huge numbers stopped with 10 per cent or less failing the required standards. Also huge cost being put into catching offenders, and fining or charging them. That money should be going on working with the young, education and more positive measures to limit offences, not the reliance on punitive ones.
Reducing drug-drinking hours would limit the intake to more just ‘happy’ levels. Yet the police and citizens have to fight for fewer hours. And this co-ordinated approach with Australia is amazing. Our police have a big budget and their top people should have the expertise along with a forward-looking policy for reducing crime without looking to Oz, or the USA. One point which arose recently was that those under sentence for driving offences have often not received any mandatory driver education. Unbelievable one would think but apparently true.
John Minto is talking about standing in Epsom. Sounds completely insane to me. He should stand in Wigram, and he’d have a fair shot at winning (I’d vote for him). What better way to show that Mana isn’t a Hone vehicle if they go and win a general electorate seat?
The S.S. Trust an “advocate for victims of crime”? Is Kathryn Ryan joking?
Nine to Noon, National Radio, Monday 16 May 2011
Following the government’s malicious decision to remove Greenpeace’s charitable status because of its “political advocacy”, Kathryn Ryan asked a couple of people about just what exactly “political advocacy” means. “What about the Sensible Sentencing Trust? If Greenpeace is political”, she asked, “then what about an organisation that advocates for the victims of crime?”
W-W-W-W-WHA-A-A-A-AT?!???!!!?!?!? The S.S. Trust is a victims’ advocate organisation now? Then who the hell was it that championed Bruce Emery’s knife-killing of a boy on a Manurewa street in 2008? A quick check of the Chez Breen filing cabinet unearthed the following: “Bruce Emery is a different type of offender…I didn’t think he should have gone to jail….” The speaker is…. w-w-w-w-wait for it!…. Garth McVicar. Yes, that’s right: Garth McVicar, “the victims’ advocate”.
I sent a brief e-mail to Kathryn Ryan, questioning her judgement, or lack thereof….
To: [email protected]
Dear Kathryn,
You said: “What about organisations that advocate for the victims of crime?” You seem to be implying that the Sensible Sentencing Trust does that.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten that, following the knife-killing of 15-year-old Pihema Cameron on an Auckland street, the S.S. Trust’s Garth McVicar loudly supported the killer, and poured scorn and vitriol on the victim, and repeatedly defamed the boy’s mother and his extended family.
The S.S. Trust is an “advocate for victims of crime”? Tell that to Leanne Cameron
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
Man that was stupid of her. Sometimes I wonder what Ryan is thinking most of the time.
It’s not only her, unfortunately. Jim Mora continues to let McVicar comment on “law and order” issues, and he regularly has Barry Corbett and Stephen Franks as guests on The Panel. Both Corbett and Franks spoke out in support of the killing of that boy.
You’re acting like Corbett and Franks aren’t allowed to have an opinion that differs to yours.
Errrr, not quite, Lanthanide. They have every right to praise and defend people who murder Maori teenagers. What I object to is when these people (Corbett, Franks, McVicar) call themselves “victim advocates”. They are anything but.
Your post at 7.1.1 didn’t make it clear that Corbett and Franks also called themselves “victim advocates”. Your response is certainly justified (and I agree).
I’m not sure if Corbett is an S.S. member, but he certainly made repeated statements in support of Bruce Emery’s killing of the boy. He later backtracked, after a storm of public revulsion.
Franks is the “legal adviser” to the S.S. Trust. He regularly pontificates about the way that “wicked” people are “indulged” by what he sneeringly calls “liberals.”
Franks is following in the dead baby identity stealing David Garrett’s illustrious footsteps then, in being “legal adviser” to the SST. Why are these people given any media time at all, they have zero credibility. Racists like Garth McVicar should pull their ugly little heads in. His neighbours tell me his pad is pretty flash, Serco must pay well.
http://www.serco.com/media/pressreleases/mounteden.asp
Actually, Franks was a legal adviser to the S.S. Trust long before Garrett was exposed as a felon. A few years ago, Franks went on an infamous trip to the U.S. with McVicar, no doubt funded by money donated in good faith by well-meaning people to help victims of crime. There they met Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who gave them a guided tour of his prison camp.
At one point, Sheriff Joe asked them if New Zealand had many P addicts. There was a significant pause by both McVicar and Franks, and then they said, in unison: “HEAPS!”
Which makes them traitors to New Zealand, as well as liars.
I belive that the Cameron/Emery case is the beginning of a slippery slope that in only a few years will end up in lynching becoming commonplace in this country.
The knifing of Pihema Cameron was a lynching. The subsequent campaign of ridicule and character assassination of the dead boy, led by Emery’s lawyer Chris Comeskey, the S.S. Trust and some radio talkback hosts, was very similar in tone to what followed the killing of a Jew in Germany or a black man in Alabama in the 1930s.
I agree with you Morrissey. One can be fairly sure that if the boy had been killed in the same way, under the same circumstances, and for the same reasons, by a tattooed brown neighbour, with loose gang affiliations but no criminal record, the self same people would have used it as “evidence” to show what “they” are like. The mental attitude propagated by the SST should terrify everyone.
I think, for a start, people should ring up and complain every time a television or radio station either quotes or interviews McVicar or anyone from the S.S. Trust.
Something for our brave SAS troops to ponder
Next time one of our brave Kiwi boys is being bullied and browbeaten by an American thug to (illegally) hand over captives for possible torture and even murder, he might like to show him a copy of this article….
May 10, 2011
Why It Doesn’t Work: Army Interrogators on Torture
by STEPHEN SOLDZ
http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz05102011.html
In my years in the anti-torture movement, one of the most moving experience has been getting to know military interrogators, military intelligence professionals, JAGS, and other military members who struggled to behave honorably, often at great personal cost, even when they served an administration that promoted torture and when the American public became convinced by politicians, pundits, and the media that torture was both right and necessary. Below is a recent statement by a veteran Army interrogator and interrogation instructor, 1LT(P) Marcus Lewis, who reminds his fellow interrogators of the folly of the torture promoters. Torture neither “works” nor is it moral, he reminds them.
Lewis is not alone among experienced interrogators. One of the sad facts is that when the Bush administration and the CIA were creating the torture program they ignored the opinions of experienced interrogators….
http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz05102011.html
The dream team for social activists, those that believe in equality and tino rangatiratanga – Harawira, Sykes and Minto – that is why i have sent off my membership form to Mana – it is time to get off the fence and seize the opportunity of a generation, for the next generations.
http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-many-heroes.html
In this issue of Parliament’s Wall of Shame, the Jackal dishes the dirt on David Garrett, Graham John Capill, Donna Awatere Huata, Trevor Rogers, Nick Smith and Roger McClay.
Not commenting on your site since you require to sign up to a service to do so.
Philip Field is conspicuous on his absence on your wall.
Sign up to a service? You should be able to post by registering to the site, it is not a service. You can read the privacy policy here. The Jackal was getting too many stupid and derogatory comments with anonymous posting. The #1 on the title denoted that this is the first in a series of Wall of Shame posts. Field is in the list I have drawn up. However I appreciate any further suggestions people might have.
Ruth Dyson
Taito Philip Field
Bob Clarkson
David Butcher
Phil Heatley
Pansy Yu Fong Wong
You have to use Google, OpenID, LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad or AIM to comment.
It would appear that you have a WordPress account Lanthanide, as you’ve posted here.
You don’t need any sort of account with anything to post on the standard. The only one of those that I have is google, and I’m not putting that on your site.
That’s fine by me Lanthanide. If you have a problem with the way the posting feature works, might I suggest you take it up with blogger.com.
Other blogs on blogger.com allow you to post with just a name and any email address you like, much as you can here on The Standard.
That option was also available on your blog for a while, which I availed myself of. Since you took it away, I haven’t bothered.
That’s something I’m grateful for Lanthanide. Your often ill conceived and factually incorrect posts will not be missed @ the Jackal. Perhaps you think that making such a childish complaint and comparing the Jackal to other websites will achieve something. Twerp!
I don’t think it’s “childish” to note that you used to allow open comments on your blog, and now don’t.
Calling my comments “factually incorrect” is a bit rich when you were saying the earthquakes in Christchurch were caused by secret American weapons testing and for evidence you linked to a news story from 2005 about a meteor that was seen over the city implying that it happened just days before the September 4th quake.
I presume you’re refering to the What are you all HAARPing on about article I wrote back on 2nd March, in which you comented:
You’re holding this article up as “From reports people have stated hearing a loud sonic boom prior to the 21 Feb Christchurch earthquake.”
To which I replied: There were reports of sonic boom like noises prior to the 6.3 Magnitude Earthquake in Lyttleton/Christchurch. Here is one of them.
I did not say the Christchurch earthquakes were caused by secret American weapons, however I did provide information about the technology. So again you are being factually incorrect and showing yourself to be a twerp.
The Jackal still allows open comments, however it does not allow anonymous comments.
“I did not say the Christchurch earthquakes were caused by secret American weapons, however I did provide information about the technology.”
No, you didn’t outright say it, you just heavily implied it. If you were just providing “information about the technology”, you wouldn’t have mentioned the CHCH earthquake, or included the lines “Could returning low-frequency waves shift the Earth’s magma, thus moving tectonic plates to cause earthquakes? The mind boggles!”.
That’s exactly the sort of arguing by innuendo that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh dish out.
I gave the facts of the case as presented. People did hear a large sonic boom sound prior to the Christchurch earthquake, that’s why it was mentioned. Do you now accept that fact Lanthanide?
It’s for the reader to make up their own minds and hopefully look for further answers. I was thanked for the informative article as most readers have the cognitive ability to formulate their own conclusions. My article was especially helpful to those within the community of people trying to get HAARP recognized as a dangerous technology.
Was your comparison to Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh meant to be a joke? I am neither fat, ugly or a conservative you twerp! My article stuck to the facts, just as all of my blogs are formulated from relevant information. If you don’t like my writing style, don’t read it.
“People did hear a large sonic boom sound prior to the Christchurch earthquake, that’s why it was mentioned.”
When you hear the sound of hoofbeats in the night, think first of horses, not of zebras.
When people say they heard a sonic boom sound before the Earthquake, that is what I will report. You might note that there are over 400 words between the two paragraphs you cut and paste together to try and discredit the article, which is almost three months old. Your childish, ill conceived and factually incorrect argument is akin to a moron Lanthanide. Get over yourself and grow up twerp!
Tau Henare, John Tamihere, Shane Jones, Dover Samuels – they are all morally inept.
Thanks Adele. Looking for past or present MPs with convictions. But I might broaden the scope of the name and shame blogs 🙂
Here’s a little heads up for those who are wondering about the beatup job currently underway insofar as abortion counsellors and adolescent abortion access are concerned. I found out that counsellor Steve Taylor has strong fundamentalist Christian and male backlash/’fathers rights’ links, as can be seen from his resource section, and is headquartered in the fundamentalist Parents Inc parenting group. Clearly, he isn’t neutral on this subject and I question why no-one else has investigated his background:
See: http://www.24-7.org.nz
So the guy who promise us all North of $50.00 tax cuts in the current term of his government, is now talking up the possibility that wages will rise higher than inflation in the next couple of years:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5010408/Wages-tipped-to-rise-Key-believes
Or maybe not:
But that didn’t stop Tracy Watkins making a headline saying:
Wages tipped to rise, Key believes
Hmmmm Carol, don’t make the same mistake that everyone is has. When Key talked about tax cuts “North of $50” he was talking directly to National’s core constituency, not to anyone else. Everyone thought he was addressing the general public. Wrong. It was a dog whistle to his base.
And Key delivered on his promise, his base got tax cuts which were net $50/wk or more, even after GST and price increases.
Well actually he said “north of $50” for those “earning the average wage”, which is about $39k or so. Not so much a dog-whistle as a blatant lie.
If he said average wage that is closer to $47K p.a. But i’m still confident that he was talking to his core constituency there.
Ah, I think the $39k is the average income, eg including benefits. Something like that, anyway.
“But i’m still confident that he was talking to his core constituency there.”
I think his careful (and since, oft-repeated) use of the term “average wage” is to make it seem like any old average joe in the street. When of course we know that the average is significantly above the median and maybe only 30% of the country earn the ‘average’ or above.
So yeah, I guess it’s a dog-whistle for their core constituency, dressed up like lamb for the average joe-blow who wants to believe that they earn the average wage because they earn the same as all their mates down the pub.
Yes, you’re referring to the median full time working income with that $39K pa figure.
Average income is higher than that, skewed upwards by the rich pricks.
So, when he is hopeful of higher wages in the next couple of years, is that really for the high earners too?
You’d be lucky if it was 25%.
Which means a lot of people earning **under** the average wage are voting National.
Yes, very bizarre little story, that.
It would have been fair and balanced in they had also noted that John Key believed that the tax cuts would see us “roaring out of recession” last year.
Just visited BBC home page and this was the HEADLINE photograph and link …
http://www.bbc.com/travel/gallery/20110513-the-maoris-of-new-zealand
Haven’t watched it and don’t know if it’s the full interview or just a clip:
John Key interviewed by The Economist.
http://video.economist.com/?fr_chl=1257fd4a3f457735719f845205531ed840915d9c
Its a full interview and Key says that we have LOW GOVERNMENT DEBT!
He said that in the hard talk one, too.
The Debt is mostly Private debt and 75% of that is Bank debt and not those spendthrift peasants – like me.
Journalism in the public interest.
http://www.propublica.org/investigations/
Lee Atwater, in an anonymous interview in 1981, (his identity was revealed in the nineties, after his death):
Newt Gingrich, this month, on the campaign stump in southern states:
Newt in his own words, 33 years of bomb throwing.
Oh he’s a card all right. Thing is though, as much as the Cons will cry about what the elite liberal media are going to unleash on this sorry sack of shit regarding his personal life, I don’t give a shit.
He was front and centre during the Clinton impeachment attempt, and eventually shut down the government because Clinton didn’t give the little snake oil salesman the respect he felt he deserved. His marks in the rube ridden south might have forgotten but DC is a village, and a company town. They went after Clinton because he was an outsider, and they feted Newt back then because he tried to take him down. But now he is damaged goods, too blatant, too stupid, and attacks the village. They will just slaughter him and I don’t think Fox will be enough to save him.
.
Also, candidate Ron Paul’s racism and a selection of his greatest hits.
Also, and too; holy fucking shit but this is stupid:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/world/middleeast/15prince.html?_r=2&hp
It’s like, well it’s like all sorts of things.
But to me it’s like there are a bunch of assclowns
that either haven’t read one damn thing about the drivers behind AQ,
or didn’t understand it if they did,
or if they did both read and understand
then are the most cynical hard out sons of bitches since the roman republic collapsed in an orgy of private empire building dressed up as giving a fuck.
Colombians too, they’ll be useful.
At present Radionz announces that there will be a 23 minute interview from BBC Hard Talk programme with our pm Joky Hen aka John Key – if interested in how His Fairy Footsteps sounds to others.
This hasn’t been advertised as much as it should have, but it’s now available on youtube:
Also you might want to watch this one from #14 above:
http://video.economist.com/?fr_chl=1257fd4a3f457735719f845205531ed840915d9c
Joky Hen is relying on Treasury forecasts for his latest “state of whatever” speech.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10726011
When was the last treasury forecast worth the paper it was written on?
It’s always worth the paper it’s written on. You just have to realise that the value isn’t in what Treasury put there but what it shows which is that Treasury is a bunch of ideological neo-liberal followers who wouldn’t know what the economy was doing if you paid them.
Q: Why isn’t Bill English proposing to sell off Treasury to help repay our foreign debt?
A: Because its worthless.
Is our Minister of Tourism writing for the Lonely Planet and did he give the nudge to someone on the Beeb to give us a bit more exposure down here. I can just see someone doing a side trip from The Mount to Stewart Island to sample the fish and chips. Who wrote this stuff? (New Zealand cuisine a gourmet’s delight???)
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20110513-new-zealands-finest-food-experiences
Todd and Lanthanide, above.
I can’t reply to the comments above directly, hence this comment here.
Todd, you are wrong. You haven’t posted any evidence that people heard a sonic boom. The actual quote, if I recall correctly, was we heard a sound like a sonic boom. Like. Not actually, but ‘like’. Not surprising to hear a sound ‘like’ a sonic boom during an earthquake, is it? After all, it’s an astonishingly large release of energy in waves across the physical sounding board that is this good earth.
Lanth is right to say you connected the CIA death boom ray and the earthquake. It’s the whole point of the post, eh. And it’s just as hyberbolic as the Brazillian Oil Co. ate my penguin post a few weeks back. If make preposterous juxtapositions like that, you will get called on it.
And, just as an aside, I agree with Lanth’s criticism of your otherwise well organised site. Anyone wanting to comment there has to identify themselves via a third party, yet you remain anonymous. I reckon that’s not an encouragement to engage in debate and might explain why an otherwise interesting blog gets bugger all responses from readers.
I’ve given up visiting your site, todd, because although much of what you write is thoughtful or provocative, some of your speculation is too wild and loose.
I never commented, for the same reasons that Lanthanide stopped commenting.
Your belligerence above does you no favours either.
I’d commend a more adult approach to you, unless your aim is not to be taken seriously.
I’d also like to be able to comment more easily on your blog. I don’t have a google account or OpenID. Blogger should allow you to add a name/URL option without adding the annoymous one.
Just wastng some time checking some posts and see this about sounds like sonic booms at the time of the Feb 22 earthquake….
Well, I have experienced countless quakes and/or aftershocks which have been booming sounds. Sometimes they have a shake with them and sometimes not. It makes total sense – when the earth cracks it must surely go BOOM. I have heard many many – usually very deep and low and not that loud (in fact very low quiet mostly). The shake follows. Without doubt the BOOMS of earthquakes.
Also, wandering one of the port hills last week got a very strong waft of sulphur smell. Also experienced by others with me. Always heard about that phenomenon and finally experienced it.
These earthquakes are quite something extraordinary…
2c