and the Herald….http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?
c_id=1&objectid=11856284
———————————–
“One of the first things the panel agreed on was that there should be a clear target for the country to move towards.
“We want the NZ public to take this seriously – we wanted to set a clear percentage goal on suicide prevention. So we decided to reduce suicide by 20 per cent over the next 10 years,” he said.
But the draft proposal has removed that target and is extremely vague in its aspirations, King says.
In a letter to Ministry of Health director of mental health Dr John Crawshaw, King resigned from the panel saying he is growing “increasingly concerned” about the plan.
“The plan has buried all new ideas in such impenetrable language they are beyond recognition and unlikely to ever see the light of day.
“It is a strategy that is so broad in its effort to please everyone it will eventually collapse under the weight of public expectation. This will please no one except you and the politicians you serve,” King wrote.
“It would be funny if people weren’t dying,” he added.
King says the draft plan ignores recommendations from the panel, continues to fund “failed experiments”, is an almost word-for-word repeat of the last strategy – and will further isolate vulnerable Kiwis.”
———————————————–
They use these high profile individuals to give credibility to these Expert Advisory Panels, Technical Advisory Groups and the like. More often than not it is a pantomime of discussion and consultation, and any Plan or Strategy produced has largely been writ by some petty minded bureaucrat without much if any reference to the work of the panel.
Its usually predetermined….and often as KIng points out…a copy and paste of previous documents.
Its about time someone called them out on this….these Advisory Groups are more often than not shams…its fraudulent, and borders on corrupt.
Respect to Mike King for not only refusing to take any further part in this but, for going public. If they are going to use his fame to validate their little performances, then its only right he uses his fame to expose their crap.
I could not believe it when Mike King on the AM Show this morning said that there were 570 accepted suicides in the past year but there were another 500 plus that were not in the official stats. People who were found at he bottom of cliffs, people who had any alcohol or drugs in their systems and had left a note/letter. obvious car crash deaths – all were not entered in the official stats. How can that be – if that is not fudging the statistics I don’t know what it is. Surely that is a kind of fraud.
Every day this Government shows utter contempt for their citizens – its getting worse by the minute. No wonder people are suffering from depression in untold numbers.
More often than not it is a pantomime of discussion and consultation, and any Plan or Strategy produced has largely been writ by some petty minded bureaucrat without much if any reference to the work of the panel.
By the sounds of things they’re not referencing back to the academic research available either.
Its about time someone called them out on this….these Advisory Groups are more often than not shams…its fraudulent, and borders on corrupt.
If there’s not change then it doesn’t border on corrupt but is corrupt. They’re there to prevent change rather than bring it about. A show of Doing Something while doing nothing.
When the Gummint decided not to take the ‘paid family carers’ to the Supreme Court back in 2012 the Miserly announced a Technical Advisory Group of ‘stakeholders’ had been set up to gather information and work on a plan. Upon closer scrutiny, every single member of that TAG had some kind of financial relationship with the Ministry or wider government. Every single bloody one of them.
We never saw a report from the group…and they were sworn to secrecy regarding discussions during their meetings.
I spent far too much time over the next few years periodically looking into various Advisory Groups, their members, terms of references, periodic reports (if any), draft plans/strategies and ultimate policy/law changes.
TBH…what I learned was just about enough to make one lose the will to live.
This shit totally undermines our government, our democratic system.
There is often a legislative requirement for ministries and department to ‘consult’…almost inevitably results in a pantomime.
Upon closer scrutiny, every single member of that TAG had some kind of financial relationship with the Ministry or wider government. Every single bloody one of them.
We never saw a report from the group…and they were sworn to secrecy regarding discussions during their meetings.
Which tells us that it was corruption from the get go and that every single person involved in it should be in jail.
This shit totally undermines our government, our democratic system.
And it’s been going on for a long time and needs addressing with some decent rules and laws against corruption.
And nothing ever fucking changes.
And that’s because the people are letting the corrupt arseholes at the top get away with it.
This shit needs to be reported and the people need to demand the changes needed.
“…and that every single person involved in it should be in jail.”
And every single one of them will protest that they were representative of some aspect of the disability/carer community…and hey…they had a job, a place on the committee/board of the advocacy group/NGO and they do know what they’re talking about. And besides, the system is set up that ONLY official DPOs (Disabled People’s Organisations) have an automatic seat at the table. Of course…the fact that these DPO’s and Carer organisations receive gummint $$$ adds to their credibility and impartiality.
There has just been a rewrite of the NZ Disability Strategy and two rounds of public workshops were held around the regions. Organised by the Office for Disability Issues. Partner and I went…’cos boy oh boy do we have issues regarding supports for those with very high and complex care needs. The person who took the lead at our table works for a provider and is also deeply involved in an official DPO. My partner…obviously the highest care needs person at the table (who unlike many in this category is capable of speaking for himself)… was effectively shut down and our extremely valid concerns never made to the whiteboard up the front. The same thing happened with others in our informal network at other regional meetings.
The Draft Strategy was aspirational garbage and not a patch on the original that had clearly defined Objectives. Partner refused to attend second meeting upon reading the crap in the draft. However, I did pop into the venue and have a wee chat with the top nob from the ODI. I told her that my partner would not be participating this time and why. Usual platitudes. I told her the Draft was rubbish, and failed to address any of the most significant issues…even the ones that the UN gave the Gummint a stern ticking off over. Ho hum. I suggested, as a parting shot, that when the participants were all assembled she asked for a show of hands of those paid for or associated with a government funded organisation.
Looked like I’d asked her to to swallow a rotting dead rat.
Now there is a “Systems Transformation” process underway involving selected ‘members of the disability community’. “This is sooo important we want to get it right!!!”
Yep…you guessed it…including the person who excluded my disabled partner’s concerns at the first meeting.
And bugger me if the same names don’t pop up over and over again on all manner of different advisory groups (and the honours lists)…and they wonder why we are still fighting the same battles we were a decade or so ago.
Bill English’s neoliberal dream.
A country where students should hungry.
“Tertiary institutions are being forced to feed many of their students, with a new survey finding that one in six students at one Auckland institute are going without food regularly because they can’t afford it.
Unitec, the country’s biggest campus-based polytechnic with 9100 fulltime-equivalent students, is asking its staff to donate food and linen to help students struggling to pay rising rents and other living costs.
A survey answered by almost 2000 of its students has found that 17 per cent agree that they “regularly go without food or other necessities because I can’t afford them”.”
In my first semester I had to borrow $1000 on my Student Loan to pay the bills. Did the dame for the second semester but the only reason I could do that was because my second semester was in a different year. Would have needed the money for the third semester as well but wouldn’t have had access to it as it’s only available once per year.
Instead a student deal from Kiwibank of a $2000 overdraft got me through. In my third year I won a $7000 scholarship which managed to pay off the overdraft and get me through this last semester – especially now that I’ve moved. If I hadn’t of moved I still wouldn’t have been able to pay off the overdraft and even before I moved I was on a good deal for Auckland.
Education is no longer about what’s good for the country but what makes a profit and the effect is to prevent people from learning the skills that a developing country needs and putting the people who do do the learning into deep hock – so deep in fact that they can’t really get out.
Bill English’s neoliberal dream.
A country where there is no plan for mental health.
“Mike King says a target of cutting suicides by 20 per cent in 10 years is “absolutely realistic”, as he berates the Government for its failure to include a measurable goal in its new draft suicide prevention strategy.
The comedian and television presenter stepped down from his post on New Zealand’s suicide-prevention panel today, claiming the Government’s recently released draft plan to prevent suicide is “deeply flawed” and self-serving.
The panel was established to help shape a strategy to reduce suicide over the next 10 years. Its Draft Suicide Prevention Plan was released to the public last month.
But key measures – including a 20 per cent reduction in suicides over 10 years – have been removed from the plan.
Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman did not answer a question from the Herald about why the target had been removed.”
Call me naïve (in the true sense not the Ngaro sense) – but I have been wondering about this scenario:
If I buy a house by raising a mortgage, then put a tenant in whose rent pays the mortgage (or a portion of it) why does the tenant then not legally ‘own’ that portion of the house they paid for? And why do they not get a commensurate share of any subsequent capital gain if it is sold?
I appreciate the logistical/administrative complexity of doing this – it’s more the principle of the thing.
i.e. why should I be able simply to cash-cow another human being like this?
Happy to be put straight by wiser heads on here.
I guess its that in most cases the rent received does not cover the mortgage, forget not also the insurance and rates and maintenance that you as the owner must pay. So the capital gain/loss is the risk portion that you have for holding the asset and so if there is a capital gain in the end then that is your compensation for risk.
Your example could work, where the rent is a portion of capital purchased, but you would have to increase rents substantially to cover costs. And then where is the incentive to purchase a property to lend?
So in effect rents are being “subsidised” by the prospects of future capital gains for the landlords.
I think in NZ we forget that house prices can and will fall and can fall quickly under the right conditions. It just has not happened for a long time so we are cognitively unaware of this possibility. Which leads to the inevitable “house prices never fall, its a safe investment” mentality which purports to push house prices up yet again. one day they will however come tumbling down.
I guess its that in most cases the rent received does not cover the mortgage, forget not also the insurance and rates and maintenance that you as the owner must pay.
At some point the rent will cover the mortgage, the insurance and the landlords living expenses.
So, why should the landlord get income from doing nothing?
It just has not happened for a long time so we are cognitively unaware of this possibility.
And that seems to be because the government has been working to ensure that they don’t and thus creating a huge bubble.
You are paying for the ‘use’ of something that does not belong to you.
Using your idea – the renter would also need to be responsible for maintenance, rent, insurance, and a share of the losses should the house value go down.
If you want what the model you mention – there is nothing stopping you from doing a ‘shared ownership’ model with friends.
“You are paying for the ‘use’ of something that does not belong to you.”
Not quite – you are actually paying someone else for the use of something that does not belong to them either. (Because they owe a mortgage on it). All they are really doing is passing the renter’s money on to the bank.
That was the point I think.
“If you want what the model you mention – there is nothing stopping you from doing a ‘shared ownership’ model with friends.”
It’s not what I want that I’m asking about and what I want is of no interest anyway. It’s why a right exists to cash cow other human beings in this way.
Not quite – you are actually paying someone else for the use of something that does not belong to them either. (Because they owe a mortgage on it).
It might look like that, but it’s deceiving. When you buy a house and take out a mortgage to pay for it, you own the house. It’s your house. Also, in a related but separate transaction, you’ve used your house as collateral on a loan.
You can rent out the house and use the rent received to pay back the loan you took out, but it remains your house and, more importantly, your loan, with all the risks and obligations that entails. That’s the whole point of renting: you aren’t responsible for the house and aren’t a debtor to the bank. If a renter wanted a share of ownership of the house and of any capital gain, they’d have to also take on a share of responsibility for the house and a share of the obligations arising from the debt – I wouldn’t fancy trying to negotiate that with a prospective landlord.
“james
8 March 2008 at 7:16 am
i want know from national if there going to bring back the employment contracts act keys statement proves to me there is a hidden agenda in national they just dont learn i heard this week english supports assets sales that party never learns.
if keys tried to get this reporter fired this is very very serious that is what dictators do john keys is same as vladamire putine.”
As they saying go James your living in Roberts head rent free, which is fine by DTB as he would not have you paying rent Alan however not so as you have no right to occupy Roberts head without paying rent
Bingo. Same james who has now strayed to the right somewhat? If so we’ve only got about 16 weeks to convince james to flee from the dark side back to his old home over here. It can be done. Every vote counts.Some old General once muttered some thing like “I shall return”; and return he did.
Also v similar to Turnbull’s budget. A Labour budget.
Although curiously Shorten is up on him by 6% despite the biggest tax-and-spend budget in decades.
Ad I thought Wilson article was great. He calls out English on his lies claiming credit for ensuring the care workers got their pay increase and he has clocked what their strategy is for this years election i.e. present themselves as the caring party who are doing great things for people.
The thing a bout Paula B showing a slide of a pair of blue shoes costing $950.00 is disgusting………………..I think this needs to be highlighted to show the greed and selfishnish of this party. Perhaps one of the clever Standard Writers could post the slide of the shoes on this site with a suitable caption…………..I can think of many myself.
Simon Wilson’s been trying hard to become Labour ever since Burma Road.
He never quite made it then so he probably has some expertise and experience “in this space”
Oops I did it again.
I must not comment on social media
I must not comment on social media
I must not comment on social media
I must not comment on social media
I must go and have a flat white on Ponsonby Road
A latte and smashed avocado on toast should calm you down and help get rid of inconvenient socialist thoughts. Watch the Lamborghinis cruise by and admire the success of capitalism!
(?) (sarc)
HI tim, I had always found Simon anti Labour and a little pro Tory. Just my take on it.
I liked his article, because I think any swing voters reading it would be exposed to the lies Nats are telling e.g taking credit for the increase in care workers wages. Wilson doesn’t mince words there.
I do. It fits his usual pattern of behaviour of boasting, risk taking, and boundary pushing. While these are amusing in a child, they are outright dangerous in his position.
In my view Trump is simply a uncontrolled dickhead in the wrong position. Fortunately, while he has strained the controls and limits on executive power, to date the other branches of government outside of the executive appear to be holding.
The real question for NZ is why we should get anywhere near this kind of stupidity of the American public.
The best thing about a Trump presidency is that I think it will eventually cause some serious clawing back of the power of the executive. You only have to look at the aftermath of the similar Andrew Jackson stupidity in the 19th century to see what kinds of factors are likely to come into play.
The way NZ operates, there really is only the executive council. Everything else is advisory.
The only reason that I think that it kind of works is because the country is so small, and while kiwis are not interested in politics, they tend to get irritated when the government stands on their friends and family and proceed to directly bend the ears of the idiots who think that they have the power.
I was thinking about that this morning. Trump can work because he can screw over a ton of people but there are plenty more waiting in the wings. In NZ there are only so many people and only so many degrees of separation between people … when someone gets hammered then there are people watching who stay silent at the time but are waiting for the wheel to turn to get their retribution.
Yeah. It is the bigger state provides more room. But conversely a bigger state also develops much stronger structural defenses as well.
Our court system isn’t bad as a defense on unbridled power. But it really doesn’t have the constitutional clout that the circuit courts have in the US.
And the evidence shows that it doesn’t. All those state assets were sold off against the wishes of the people and none of the political parties are keen to bring them back despite the fact that doing so would probably be quite popular.
We have a government which does what it thinks is best rather than what the people think is best and the result is ever increasing poverty and unsustainability.
NZ has attempted to mitigate the power of its elected dictatorship by switching to MMP but National has still managed to do plenty of underhanded shit by their campaign of PR, deception and intimidation.
I am thankful for our legal protections but they are not enough, we also need a strong independent MSM, better education in civics, compulsory voting in general elections, and more engagement with all sectors of society.
Since rogernomics our institutions have been captured by the 1% and redesigned to erode regulations, democracy, and accountability to the 99%
What does he admit to Marty? Giving Russia a heads up on a potential bomb plot? Can you cut and paste a source for what Trump admitted or, if it’s from the Washington Post article, cut and paste the direct quote please?
I’ve read the article. It was a tiresome exercise – like unraveling a tangled ball of string that you’re never going to use. Anyway, I repeated the exercise in an effort to identify any admission you might be referring to and came up blank.
I’m not even sure what the bullshit is that I’m meant to believe 🙂
Allegedly some info about ISIS planning to use laptops to bring down passenger airliners was shared with Russia. That’s bad, how?
Oh. And if that’s bad, then when why isn’t it bad that The Washington Post apparently has all the details of the supposed ISIS plot?
If Trump told the Russians stuff he shouldn’t have told them, then who told the Washington Post the stuff that they now know and that the Russians ought not to know? Did Trump lay a call into the Washington Post too?
It’s all headless chicken arm waving bullshit designed to get idiots in a lather about a President liberal media don’t like and spraying spittle of consternation over “Evil Russia” into the bargain.
I wouldn’t call it ‘fake news’ maui. It’s just another episode in the fairly popular, long running and badly written soap that US liberal msm are producing in lieu of informative news pieces. It’s called propaganda 😉
I’d presume that this is to do with the ban on laptops on aircraft from the Middle East that has been in place for quite a while (March?). The US initiated it. The ban was followed by the UK. The EU are due to discuss the intelligence and come to a decision.
It was clearly based on some kind of intelligence which I’d guess from the lack of squawking from the middle east, was shared there.
Perhaps you should read about it?
But in MY well-informed opinion, Trump is a just an dumb idiot, Russia’s intelligence community has been hacking systems for decades (just as the US and China and everyone else does). The difference is that Russia now has a long history of deliberately targeting the infrastructure of elections of other states and using a veneer of plausible deniability for the credulous fools who’d prefer not to look at it.
How or in what way is sharing info about a laptop ban bad?
If (as claimed) it’s more to do with the source of that info and all about how sensitive that source is and how crucial it is to keep that source ‘under wraps’, then how is it that the Washington Post is privy to all of it?
Is the Washington Post privy to all the information that Trump shared with Russia?
Because that seems to have been a leap you made. From what I can see, the laptop ban was the result of intelligence about a specific threat. Even if WaPo has all the details about the ISIS plot (doubtful), that doesn’t mean that they have all the details about how the plot was discovered. And that seems to be the bit that was classified.
From the article – The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardise important intelligence capabilities.
And just before that (and in spite of all the arm waving nonsense)
He (Trump) did not reveal the specific intelligence gathering method, but described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances.
Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the US intelligence partner detected the threat.
GIVING RUSSIA THE LOCATION THE MOST PROBLEMATIC
The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardise important intelligence capabilities.
Ok, so the Wapo sources also broke classification (although at least they have a public interest justification).
But there’s also this:
The officials declined to identify the ally, but said it is one that has previously voiced frustration with Washington’s inability to safeguard sensitive information related to Iraq and Syria.
So no, they did not give WaPo all the facts. And the problem is that Russia could well have been in a position to identify the ally and even source simply from the city, while it’s less likey for WaPo to be able to do that.
Unnamed officials who were not at the meeting didn’t share everything they didn’t know with the Washington Post while claiming that that if the alleged intelligence partner got wind of the very stuff they were telling the Washington Post about, then the intelligence relationship would be threatened and not only that, but ‘evil Russia’ might even be able to take steps to prevent that same source that’s located in a specific city from spying on Russia.
It’s like wee Johnny standing in front of teacher with cylon eyes and a dog turd in his hand breathlessly going on about how he’d been told that James hadn’t washed his hands after peeing before eating his school lunch and that he’d heard his mum say that James was known for spreading diseases.
The only intelligent reaction is a variation on the theme of “fuck off”.
I’m devastated by the incisiveness of that comment McFlock –
devastated I tells ye.
You sure you don’t want to throw a nyah, nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah on the end for good measure?
Go on! 😉
Then I’ll pass you a bicky from the plate of elevensies (even though it’s 4 O’Clock) and we can both pretend you haven’t slipped from that pin head you were dancing on and wound up with it piercing your arse.
Yeah, I got really bored when you got all cartesian to defend trump.
See, the thing is that the unnamed officials could either spill the beans that trump decided to give the russians shit that was specifically supposed to be secret, or they could either give Wapo enough information to verify the story and bring it to light. And apparently they leaked less to Wapo than trump leaked to the russians. Yes, this is highly irregular, but so is trump’s relationship with the russians. Desperate times, and all that.
You want to compare it to school kids? Fair enough. Johnny tells teacher that he heard from someone that james had a stash of drugs on the school grounds, and that he checked it and took one packet to give to teacher so teacher could verify it wasn’t bullshit.
I was criticising a newspaper’s supposed news piece because it was a pile of steaming crap. That’s not defending Trump.
The unnamed officials (both ex and current) – and none of them were actually at the meeting – didn’t have any beans to spill according to the only named and therefor challengeable source in the entire piece. Everything they allege is, at best, based on claims of hear-say, or completely unsubstantiated.
There was an obvious enough opportunity to build a story that would feed into the meme that Trump’s an undesirable clown who’s in the pocket of an evil Russia.
Now I like a good story. But when it come to news I want verifiable facts, or failing that, really quite convincing circumstantial evidence that stands up to all manner of scrutiny including, but not limited to a simple application of logic.
There’s what I’d call a Bush culture doing the rounds at the moment (‘You’re either with us or against us.’) that I’ve no time for at all because it’s dangerous in terms of demanding accountability.
So again. Regardless of what I do or don’t think of Trump, the Washington Post piece, which is front paging everywhere, is garbage.
If they want to offer up some evidence to back what they’re claiming, then fine. But until then, it can only be regarded as scurrilous rumour and ought to be called out on that basis.
On the school kid level, it’s making shit up to get someone in trouble. There is no wee packet of drugs getting handed to teacher in this instance.
Let’s say you’re a respected news agency that has an official who “was familiar with the exchange” telling you what happened, and a bunch of current or former officials (but who still have connections) back up the story and how serious it is.
How would you report it in a way that satisfied your standards of journalism?
“The difference is that Russia now has a long history of deliberately targeting the infrastructure of elections of other states” can you point me to this info, I genuinely am interested in this stuff and how its promoted by the press.
I’m working – so you should to. Google it. The most interesting ones have happened over the last 15 years or so.
The obvious one was the Ukrainian election before the Orange revolution and its aftermath in things like turning off gas supplies. But you will also find it in most periphery states around Russia like power into Georgia, targeted cyber-attacks in Estonia, and a number more. It has been a pattern of interference for decades. Incidentally it is also one of the strongest motivations for those periphery states to want to get into the EU and/or NATO
The only thing that has been of note recently is the export of the pattern to states further afield.
Ok i have googled cyber estonia and been to wikipedia
” As of January 2008, one ethnic-Russian Estonian national has been charged and convicted.[5]”
And
“The Estonian government was quick to blame the Kremlin, accusing it of being directly involved in the attacks. It was later revealed that the allegations were baseless when Estonia’s defense minister, Jaak Aaviksoo, admitted that he had no evidence linking the cyber-attacks to the Kremlin”
But thats just wikipedia , I guess we all just know the russians did it anyway
Me… i really not convinced.. not to say they didnt , i just developing a strong distust of this sort of allegation.
Will do more googling as suggested … but … ? What can be really trusted?
On what basis do you say it is wrong, apart from your own assertion.
When serious journalists write an article in such an emphatic way, it means that they have rock solid evidence of the truth of the events they are reporting.
As for your crap assertion that CNN is “fake news media” well, that says it all.
You are obviously a complete convert of the Trump propaganda machine, and no doubt think that Sean Spicer is the oracle of all truth.
Most journalism is. The difference is if the people making it are credible.
Generally The Washington Post are a pretty credible source when it comes to anything related to US federal politics. While you might disagree with their interpretation (as I usually do – they are as conservative as hell), their facts are seldom overturned or proven by history to be unreliable.
Just as RT are a rubbish when it comes to being credible about almost anything.
No Lynn. The newspaper cannot be seen as a source (not a primary one). It uses or supplies sources. That’s what builds its credibility as a news source.
What sources is the Washington Post using or supplying in this instance? What number of those can be in any way identified or verified? Same questions apply to the information the Washington Post is relaying.
In the absence of even one named source that second tranche of questions about the information itself has to be pursued. Except, the whole thing sinks in its own bullshit anyway.
Like I’ve pointed out. If this information (whatever it’s actually meant to be) was so top secret that neither Russia, US allies nor any number of officials were to be privy to it, then how in the name of fuck does it transpire that the Washington Post has all of it?
I’m not going through this bullshit ‘credibility Olympics’ again. All news-sources are suspect and should be subjected to measures of critical evaluation. Some less so and some more so depending on the issues being reported.
Come on Wayne, you think serious journalism is having unnamed officials leaking info from a private top level meeting? This is credible how? Particularly when the two targets Trump and Russia are the most despised things in US politics. Again alarm bells should be ringing by now.
Sorry I didn’t realise applying some critical thinking means I’m now part of the Trump propaganda machine.
Where the source has genuine reasons for anonymity, the information itself is then held up to deeper scrutiny. In this and many other instances of late there are no named sources and no verifiable information being provided.
Yep in NZ we have applied scrutiny to leakers like a rugby stripper and Nat MPs personal assistants, and there hasn’t been much reason to disbelieve their accounts. In the case of the reporting I’ve just seen on CNN there is no scrutiny of the trump leakers and there is just breathless innuendo of how bad this is for Trump. Not sure whether to laugh or cry really, more the latter really when so many people take CNN reports at face value.
As I am sure you know journalists have used unnamed sources as the basis of political and other stories for decades. That was the whole basis of breaking open Watergate.
Just because they are unnamed, does not mean they have no credibility. The journalists typically knows who they are, and the basis of their information. In this case I am certain the journalist is talking directly to senior intelligence officials. Either the source was in the room, or the source has the confidence of someone who was in the room.
The fact they are willing to talk to journalists speaks volumes of what they think of Trump, and his actions to date as President.
The denials by the Trump administration are very specific, saying sources and techniques were not discussed (and sources and techniques can be tightly defined). That means everything else was discussed, probably enough to give substantial knowledge of sources and techniques, even if they were not directly stated. For instance I am sure the President would not say, “we have a source inside ISIS HQ who says ISIS are planning laptop attacks”, but he could say “we have rock solid evidence from within ISIS that ISIS are planning laptop attacks”.
As for being part of the Trump propaganda machine that was based on you using his meme that CNN is “fake news.”
We might be talking about different versions of the media. The one I’m thinking of is part of a corrupt establishment, the one that feeds debate questions to a candidate prior to a live debate and who pulls unfavourable tv programming at the request of their political masters.
“When serious journalists write an article in such an emphatic way, it means that they have rock solid evidence of the truth of the events they are reporting.”
The serious journalists might even write a book or two…
In this case I am certain the journalist is talking directly to senior intelligence officials. Either the source was in the room, or the source has the confidence of someone who was in the room.
Yes. It’s obvious the sources were senior intelligence operatives – people with sufficient standing for the recipients to know it was credible material.
There is another possible source… a remote listening device. After the Comey dismissal, I’m sure the US intelligence community would have been on high alert. They may have decided that the circumstances existing around the time of the ambassadorial visit were sufficiently extraordinary to warrant an extraordinary response.
“When serious journalists write an article in such an emphatic way, it means that they have rock solid evidence of the truth of the events they are reporting.”
and pigs fly!
when serious journalists who are actually journalists have rock solid evidence they point to it!
34,000 -8,300 to be demolished = 2.6k new houses per year, half of them for sale.
Auckland alone is already 30-40,000 homes behind. Still, good to see this govt copying useful policies, in their usual half-arsed way.
Random thought of the moment: Trump certainly knows how to take his last bit of stupidity out of the news. By creating an even bigger stupidity to replace it. So how is he going to top this one? And what’s his team doing behind all the smoke?
Bill English’s neoliberal dream.
A country where polluting pays.
“The dairy industry’s year-three report on its commitment to mitigating the environmental impact of farming shows it has achieved six of 13 goals that were set out in 2013 but hasn’t yet made a dent in nitrogen loss, underlining the long-term nature of the task of improving waterways.
Nitrogen leaching in the 2015/16 year was a national average 39 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare per year, unchanged from the previous year. Of the 13 regions surveyed using the Overseer computer modelling system, seven actually had an increase in nutrient loss, the worst being Canterbury, which climbed to 64 kg/N/ha/year from a 50 kg N/ha/year rolling average for 2013/14 and 2014/15. Otago has the second-worst deterioration, with an increase to 39 kg N/ha/year from 33 kg N/ha/year.”
Climate change report indicates challenges for NZ agriculture
“Vivid presents three alternative scenarios, the first of which named Off
Track New Zealand exploits low-cost reduction technologies without
significantly cutting agricultural production and consequently does NOT
meet the zero emissions target. The other two scenarios, named Innovative
New Zealand and Resourceful New Zealand, both meet the target in different
ways; the first implies a 25-30% reduction in livestock numbers and a
shift away from pastoral to arable, horticulture and forestry, while the
second envisages an even greater transition to forestry with an additional
1.6 million hectares. The report notes apologetically this may entail a
difficult transition for rural economies.”
This is what happens when you let the private sector loose on education and don’t insist on qualified teachers/tutors which National has done in spades.
These so called education providers are falling over when finally scrutinised and I imagine now the blowtorch has been lit more will do so.
Not that education is the primary purpose of theses outfits. They are a cover for the current government’s immigration rort which allows their employer mates to keep wages down while getting fatter and fatter.
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
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Mike King quite rightly tells the Government and the Misery of Health just what they can do with their new happy clappy Draft Suicide Prevention Plan.
Good coverage from RNZ…http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201843931/government-plays-down-mike-king-quitting-suicide-advisory-panel
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201843892/prime-minister-not-surprised-by-mike-king's-resignation
and Stuff…http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/92586882/comedian-says-suicide-panel-would-be-funny-if-people-werent-dying
and the Herald….http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?
c_id=1&objectid=11856284
———————————–
“One of the first things the panel agreed on was that there should be a clear target for the country to move towards.
“We want the NZ public to take this seriously – we wanted to set a clear percentage goal on suicide prevention. So we decided to reduce suicide by 20 per cent over the next 10 years,” he said.
But the draft proposal has removed that target and is extremely vague in its aspirations, King says.
In a letter to Ministry of Health director of mental health Dr John Crawshaw, King resigned from the panel saying he is growing “increasingly concerned” about the plan.
“The plan has buried all new ideas in such impenetrable language they are beyond recognition and unlikely to ever see the light of day.
“It is a strategy that is so broad in its effort to please everyone it will eventually collapse under the weight of public expectation. This will please no one except you and the politicians you serve,” King wrote.
“It would be funny if people weren’t dying,” he added.
King says the draft plan ignores recommendations from the panel, continues to fund “failed experiments”, is an almost word-for-word repeat of the last strategy – and will further isolate vulnerable Kiwis.”
———————————————–
They use these high profile individuals to give credibility to these Expert Advisory Panels, Technical Advisory Groups and the like. More often than not it is a pantomime of discussion and consultation, and any Plan or Strategy produced has largely been writ by some petty minded bureaucrat without much if any reference to the work of the panel.
Its usually predetermined….and often as KIng points out…a copy and paste of previous documents.
Its about time someone called them out on this….these Advisory Groups are more often than not shams…its fraudulent, and borders on corrupt.
Respect to Mike King for not only refusing to take any further part in this but, for going public. If they are going to use his fame to validate their little performances, then its only right he uses his fame to expose their crap.
The interview with the Director of Mental Health was incredibly dense and non committal.
From 1:36.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201843938
I could not believe it when Mike King on the AM Show this morning said that there were 570 accepted suicides in the past year but there were another 500 plus that were not in the official stats. People who were found at he bottom of cliffs, people who had any alcohol or drugs in their systems and had left a note/letter. obvious car crash deaths – all were not entered in the official stats. How can that be – if that is not fudging the statistics I don’t know what it is. Surely that is a kind of fraud.
Every day this Government shows utter contempt for their citizens – its getting worse by the minute. No wonder people are suffering from depression in untold numbers.
They don’t have to fudge them Whispering Kate they just don’t bother collecting them
was the interview dense ianmac or the director or both
Both michelle. Many words but no content.
By the sounds of things they’re not referencing back to the academic research available either.
If there’s not change then it doesn’t border on corrupt but is corrupt. They’re there to prevent change rather than bring it about. A show of Doing Something while doing nothing.
The Misery of Health are the experts on this.
When the Gummint decided not to take the ‘paid family carers’ to the Supreme Court back in 2012 the Miserly announced a Technical Advisory Group of ‘stakeholders’ had been set up to gather information and work on a plan. Upon closer scrutiny, every single member of that TAG had some kind of financial relationship with the Ministry or wider government. Every single bloody one of them.
We never saw a report from the group…and they were sworn to secrecy regarding discussions during their meetings.
I spent far too much time over the next few years periodically looking into various Advisory Groups, their members, terms of references, periodic reports (if any), draft plans/strategies and ultimate policy/law changes.
TBH…what I learned was just about enough to make one lose the will to live.
This shit totally undermines our government, our democratic system.
There is often a legislative requirement for ministries and department to ‘consult’…almost inevitably results in a pantomime.
And nothing ever fucking changes.
Which tells us that it was corruption from the get go and that every single person involved in it should be in jail.
And it’s been going on for a long time and needs addressing with some decent rules and laws against corruption.
And that’s because the people are letting the corrupt arseholes at the top get away with it.
This shit needs to be reported and the people need to demand the changes needed.
“…and that every single person involved in it should be in jail.”
And every single one of them will protest that they were representative of some aspect of the disability/carer community…and hey…they had a job, a place on the committee/board of the advocacy group/NGO and they do know what they’re talking about. And besides, the system is set up that ONLY official DPOs (Disabled People’s Organisations) have an automatic seat at the table. Of course…the fact that these DPO’s and Carer organisations receive gummint $$$ adds to their credibility and impartiality.
There has just been a rewrite of the NZ Disability Strategy and two rounds of public workshops were held around the regions. Organised by the Office for Disability Issues. Partner and I went…’cos boy oh boy do we have issues regarding supports for those with very high and complex care needs. The person who took the lead at our table works for a provider and is also deeply involved in an official DPO. My partner…obviously the highest care needs person at the table (who unlike many in this category is capable of speaking for himself)… was effectively shut down and our extremely valid concerns never made to the whiteboard up the front. The same thing happened with others in our informal network at other regional meetings.
The Draft Strategy was aspirational garbage and not a patch on the original that had clearly defined Objectives. Partner refused to attend second meeting upon reading the crap in the draft. However, I did pop into the venue and have a wee chat with the top nob from the ODI. I told her that my partner would not be participating this time and why. Usual platitudes. I told her the Draft was rubbish, and failed to address any of the most significant issues…even the ones that the UN gave the Gummint a stern ticking off over. Ho hum. I suggested, as a parting shot, that when the participants were all assembled she asked for a show of hands of those paid for or associated with a government funded organisation.
Looked like I’d asked her to to swallow a rotting dead rat.
Now there is a “Systems Transformation” process underway involving selected ‘members of the disability community’. “This is sooo important we want to get it right!!!”
Yep…you guessed it…including the person who excluded my disabled partner’s concerns at the first meeting.
And bugger me if the same names don’t pop up over and over again on all manner of different advisory groups (and the honours lists)…and they wonder why we are still fighting the same battles we were a decade or so ago.
I’m going fishing. 🙂
Representative Democracy represents power and not the will or needs of the people and what you’ve just described shows that to a ‘T’.
Bill English’s neoliberal dream.
A country where students should hungry.
“Tertiary institutions are being forced to feed many of their students, with a new survey finding that one in six students at one Auckland institute are going without food regularly because they can’t afford it.
Unitec, the country’s biggest campus-based polytechnic with 9100 fulltime-equivalent students, is asking its staff to donate food and linen to help students struggling to pay rising rents and other living costs.
A survey answered by almost 2000 of its students has found that 17 per cent agree that they “regularly go without food or other necessities because I can’t afford them”.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11854811
In my first semester I had to borrow $1000 on my Student Loan to pay the bills. Did the dame for the second semester but the only reason I could do that was because my second semester was in a different year. Would have needed the money for the third semester as well but wouldn’t have had access to it as it’s only available once per year.
Instead a student deal from Kiwibank of a $2000 overdraft got me through. In my third year I won a $7000 scholarship which managed to pay off the overdraft and get me through this last semester – especially now that I’ve moved. If I hadn’t of moved I still wouldn’t have been able to pay off the overdraft and even before I moved I was on a good deal for Auckland.
Education is no longer about what’s good for the country but what makes a profit and the effect is to prevent people from learning the skills that a developing country needs and putting the people who do do the learning into deep hock – so deep in fact that they can’t really get out.
“Did the dame for the second semester…”
Please share DTB, we could all do with cheering up. 🙂
Heh
Bill English’s neoliberal dream.
A country where there is no plan for mental health.
“Mike King says a target of cutting suicides by 20 per cent in 10 years is “absolutely realistic”, as he berates the Government for its failure to include a measurable goal in its new draft suicide prevention strategy.
The comedian and television presenter stepped down from his post on New Zealand’s suicide-prevention panel today, claiming the Government’s recently released draft plan to prevent suicide is “deeply flawed” and self-serving.
The panel was established to help shape a strategy to reduce suicide over the next 10 years. Its Draft Suicide Prevention Plan was released to the public last month.
But key measures – including a 20 per cent reduction in suicides over 10 years – have been removed from the plan.
Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman did not answer a question from the Herald about why the target had been removed.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11856284
Call me naïve (in the true sense not the Ngaro sense) – but I have been wondering about this scenario:
If I buy a house by raising a mortgage, then put a tenant in whose rent pays the mortgage (or a portion of it) why does the tenant then not legally ‘own’ that portion of the house they paid for? And why do they not get a commensurate share of any subsequent capital gain if it is sold?
I appreciate the logistical/administrative complexity of doing this – it’s more the principle of the thing.
i.e. why should I be able simply to cash-cow another human being like this?
Happy to be put straight by wiser heads on here.
I guess its that in most cases the rent received does not cover the mortgage, forget not also the insurance and rates and maintenance that you as the owner must pay. So the capital gain/loss is the risk portion that you have for holding the asset and so if there is a capital gain in the end then that is your compensation for risk.
Your example could work, where the rent is a portion of capital purchased, but you would have to increase rents substantially to cover costs. And then where is the incentive to purchase a property to lend?
So in effect rents are being “subsidised” by the prospects of future capital gains for the landlords.
I think in NZ we forget that house prices can and will fall and can fall quickly under the right conditions. It just has not happened for a long time so we are cognitively unaware of this possibility. Which leads to the inevitable “house prices never fall, its a safe investment” mentality which purports to push house prices up yet again. one day they will however come tumbling down.
At some point the rent will cover the mortgage, the insurance and the landlords living expenses.
So, why should the landlord get income from doing nothing?
And that seems to be because the government has been working to ensure that they don’t and thus creating a huge bubble.
You understand the word “Rent” right?
You are paying for the ‘use’ of something that does not belong to you.
Using your idea – the renter would also need to be responsible for maintenance, rent, insurance, and a share of the losses should the house value go down.
If you want what the model you mention – there is nothing stopping you from doing a ‘shared ownership’ model with friends.
“You are paying for the ‘use’ of something that does not belong to you.”
Not quite – you are actually paying someone else for the use of something that does not belong to them either. (Because they owe a mortgage on it). All they are really doing is passing the renter’s money on to the bank.
That was the point I think.
“If you want what the model you mention – there is nothing stopping you from doing a ‘shared ownership’ model with friends.”
It’s not what I want that I’m asking about and what I want is of no interest anyway. It’s why a right exists to cash cow other human beings in this way.
Not quite – you are actually paying someone else for the use of something that does not belong to them either. (Because they owe a mortgage on it).
It might look like that, but it’s deceiving. When you buy a house and take out a mortgage to pay for it, you own the house. It’s your house. Also, in a related but separate transaction, you’ve used your house as collateral on a loan.
You can rent out the house and use the rent received to pay back the loan you took out, but it remains your house and, more importantly, your loan, with all the risks and obligations that entails. That’s the whole point of renting: you aren’t responsible for the house and aren’t a debtor to the bank. If a renter wanted a share of ownership of the house and of any capital gain, they’d have to also take on a share of responsibility for the house and a share of the obligations arising from the debt – I wouldn’t fancy trying to negotiate that with a prospective landlord.
Because that’s how capitalism works.
If we want to stop that then we need to get rid of capitalism.
no, the rent gives the the right to occupy, nothing else.
History question: is this our James???
“james
8 March 2008 at 7:16 am
i want know from national if there going to bring back the employment contracts act keys statement proves to me there is a hidden agenda in national they just dont learn i heard this week english supports assets sales that party never learns.
if keys tried to get this reporter fired this is very very serious that is what dictators do john keys is same as vladamire putine.”
https://thestandard.org.nz/did-key-try-to-get-wage-drop-journalist-sacked/#comment-1329934
i do not think so, our james has better spelling and grammer.
oops… haha, by the above i do mean grammar, obviously…
Nope – not me, but I appreciate your fixation on me that you go back searching for old post.
You need a better hobby.
As they saying go James your living in Roberts head rent free, which is fine by DTB as he would not have you paying rent Alan however not so as you have no right to occupy Roberts head without paying rent
james won’t be living in Roberts head much longer. Instead james hopes she/he will be living in one of nats new houses.
“As they saying go James your living…”
You’re doing my head in, Red.
Heh
Hope i am not ruining James home 😀
Well, I can tell you its old, damp and drafty in here. 😉
Heh
Bingo. Same james who has now strayed to the right somewhat? If so we’ve only got about 16 weeks to convince james to flee from the dark side back to his old home over here. It can be done. Every vote counts.Some old General once muttered some thing like “I shall return”; and return he did.
Simon Wilson notes how hard National are working to become Labour.
I think I’d made the point a little earlier,during the Labour conference.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/15-05-2017/national-is-cloning-labours-identity-and-other-lessons-from-its-weekend-conference/
Also v similar to Turnbull’s budget. A Labour budget.
Although curiously Shorten is up on him by 6% despite the biggest tax-and-spend budget in decades.
Ad I thought Wilson article was great. He calls out English on his lies claiming credit for ensuring the care workers got their pay increase and he has clocked what their strategy is for this years election i.e. present themselves as the caring party who are doing great things for people.
The thing a bout Paula B showing a slide of a pair of blue shoes costing $950.00 is disgusting………………..I think this needs to be highlighted to show the greed and selfishnish of this party. Perhaps one of the clever Standard Writers could post the slide of the shoes on this site with a suitable caption…………..I can think of many myself.
Simon Wilson’s been trying hard to become Labour ever since Burma Road.
He never quite made it then so he probably has some expertise and experience “in this space”
Oops I did it again.
I must not comment on social media
I must not comment on social media
I must not comment on social media
I must not comment on social media
I must go and have a flat white on Ponsonby Road
A latte and smashed avocado on toast should calm you down and help get rid of inconvenient socialist thoughts. Watch the Lamborghinis cruise by and admire the success of capitalism!
(?) (sarc)
HI tim, I had always found Simon anti Labour and a little pro Tory. Just my take on it.
I liked his article, because I think any swing voters reading it would be exposed to the lies Nats are telling e.g taking credit for the increase in care workers wages. Wilson doesn’t mince words there.
Who believes this bullshit! Of course unnamed officials who weren’t at a private meeting find the most important of secret vague information has been compromised and given to the most dangerous people in the world Russia. Peak bullshit and CNN is currently having a big cry that their fake news media wasnt allowed to take photos of the ruskies foreign minister.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/92620108/donald-trump-shared-highly-classified-information-with-russians-during-their-white-house-visit
I do. It fits his usual pattern of behaviour of boasting, risk taking, and boundary pushing. While these are amusing in a child, they are outright dangerous in his position.
In my view Trump is simply a uncontrolled dickhead in the wrong position. Fortunately, while he has strained the controls and limits on executive power, to date the other branches of government outside of the executive appear to be holding.
The real question for NZ is why we should get anywhere near this kind of stupidity of the American public.
The best thing about a Trump presidency is that I think it will eventually cause some serious clawing back of the power of the executive. You only have to look at the aftermath of the similar Andrew Jackson stupidity in the 19th century to see what kinds of factors are likely to come into play.
I’m kinda hoping that the same will happen here and that the power of our government will get reigned in.
Probably wishful thinking though.
The way NZ operates, there really is only the executive council. Everything else is advisory.
The only reason that I think that it kind of works is because the country is so small, and while kiwis are not interested in politics, they tend to get irritated when the government stands on their friends and family and proceed to directly bend the ears of the idiots who think that they have the power.
I was thinking about that this morning. Trump can work because he can screw over a ton of people but there are plenty more waiting in the wings. In NZ there are only so many people and only so many degrees of separation between people … when someone gets hammered then there are people watching who stay silent at the time but are waiting for the wheel to turn to get their retribution.
Yeah. It is the bigger state provides more room. But conversely a bigger state also develops much stronger structural defenses as well.
Our court system isn’t bad as a defense on unbridled power. But it really doesn’t have the constitutional clout that the circuit courts have in the US.
And the evidence shows that it doesn’t. All those state assets were sold off against the wishes of the people and none of the political parties are keen to bring them back despite the fact that doing so would probably be quite popular.
We have a government which does what it thinks is best rather than what the people think is best and the result is ever increasing poverty and unsustainability.
Then lets vote them out
That won’t stop them doing it again whereas some rules that they can be held accountable to will.
As I say, it’s not that the government can’t take your house off of you that stops them but the fact that there are rules for them to follow to do so.
NZ has attempted to mitigate the power of its elected dictatorship by switching to MMP but National has still managed to do plenty of underhanded shit by their campaign of PR, deception and intimidation.
I am thankful for our legal protections but they are not enough, we also need a strong independent MSM, better education in civics, compulsory voting in general elections, and more engagement with all sectors of society.
Since rogernomics our institutions have been captured by the 1% and redesigned to erode regulations, democracy, and accountability to the 99%
It’s true mate even your poster boy hero trump admits it. Jeeze did you read that? He admits it.
What does he admit to Marty? Giving Russia a heads up on a potential bomb plot? Can you cut and paste a source for what Trump admitted or, if it’s from the Washington Post article, cut and paste the direct quote please?
I’ve read the article. It was a tiresome exercise – like unraveling a tangled ball of string that you’re never going to use. Anyway, I repeated the exercise in an effort to identify any admission you might be referring to and came up blank.
That wasn’t what the story was about Bill.
Perhaps you should actually read it rather than interpreting what you think it says?
I’ve read it. It claims Trump is a security risk and uses vague references to info about laptops as the example.
It names not one source. It provides not one piece of verifiable information.
It’s just another piece of bullshit coming from msm that’s meant to lead people on.
Marty wrote that Trump admitted to something. I’m not sure what it is he’s meant to have admitted to and have asked Marty for clarification.
You are right bill. I withdraw and apologise for writing that he has admitted anything. Sorry not sure why I thought I had read it.
He’s admitted it now. Obviously that’s just another piece of bullshit that’s meant to lead people on or something 🙄
Yes I noticed he has admitted it – do you need the link bill or can you find it.
I’m not even sure what the bullshit is that I’m meant to believe 🙂
Allegedly some info about ISIS planning to use laptops to bring down passenger airliners was shared with Russia. That’s bad, how?
Oh. And if that’s bad, then when why isn’t it bad that The Washington Post apparently has all the details of the supposed ISIS plot?
If Trump told the Russians stuff he shouldn’t have told them, then who told the Washington Post the stuff that they now know and that the Russians ought not to know? Did Trump lay a call into the Washington Post too?
It’s all headless chicken arm waving bullshit designed to get idiots in a lather about a President liberal media don’t like and spraying spittle of consternation over “Evil Russia” into the bargain.
I wouldn’t call it ‘fake news’ maui. It’s just another episode in the fairly popular, long running and badly written soap that US liberal msm are producing in lieu of informative news pieces. It’s called propaganda 😉
I’d presume that this is to do with the ban on laptops on aircraft from the Middle East that has been in place for quite a while (March?). The US initiated it. The ban was followed by the UK. The EU are due to discuss the intelligence and come to a decision.
It was clearly based on some kind of intelligence which I’d guess from the lack of squawking from the middle east, was shared there.
Perhaps you should read about it?
But in MY well-informed opinion, Trump is a just an dumb idiot, Russia’s intelligence community has been hacking systems for decades (just as the US and China and everyone else does). The difference is that Russia now has a long history of deliberately targeting the infrastructure of elections of other states and using a veneer of plausible deniability for the credulous fools who’d prefer not to look at it.
How or in what way is sharing info about a laptop ban bad?
If (as claimed) it’s more to do with the source of that info and all about how sensitive that source is and how crucial it is to keep that source ‘under wraps’, then how is it that the Washington Post is privy to all of it?
Is the Washington Post privy to all the information that Trump shared with Russia?
Because that seems to have been a leap you made. From what I can see, the laptop ban was the result of intelligence about a specific threat. Even if WaPo has all the details about the ISIS plot (doubtful), that doesn’t mean that they have all the details about how the plot was discovered. And that seems to be the bit that was classified.
From the article – The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardise important intelligence capabilities.
And just before that (and in spite of all the arm waving nonsense)
He (Trump) did not reveal the specific intelligence gathering method, but described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances.
Ok, so the Wapo sources also broke classification (although at least they have a public interest justification).
But there’s also this:
So no, they did not give WaPo all the facts. And the problem is that Russia could well have been in a position to identify the ally and even source simply from the city, while it’s less likey for WaPo to be able to do that.
Unnamed officials who were not at the meeting didn’t share everything they didn’t know with the Washington Post while claiming that that if the alleged intelligence partner got wind of the very stuff they were telling the Washington Post about, then the intelligence relationship would be threatened and not only that, but ‘evil Russia’ might even be able to take steps to prevent that same source that’s located in a specific city from spying on Russia.
It’s like wee Johnny standing in front of teacher with cylon eyes and a dog turd in his hand breathlessly going on about how he’d been told that James hadn’t washed his hands after peeing before eating his school lunch and that he’d heard his mum say that James was known for spreading diseases.
The only intelligent reaction is a variation on the theme of “fuck off”.
Yeah, but at least their story is consistent.
Whereas you had to switch from Wapo knowing everything to not knowing everything.
I’m devastated by the incisiveness of that comment McFlock –
devastated I tells ye.
You sure you don’t want to throw a nyah, nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah on the end for good measure?
Go on! 😉
Then I’ll pass you a bicky from the plate of elevensies (even though it’s 4 O’Clock) and we can both pretend you haven’t slipped from that pin head you were dancing on and wound up with it piercing your arse.
lol
Yeah, I got really bored when you got all cartesian to defend trump.
See, the thing is that the unnamed officials could either spill the beans that trump decided to give the russians shit that was specifically supposed to be secret, or they could either give Wapo enough information to verify the story and bring it to light. And apparently they leaked less to Wapo than trump leaked to the russians. Yes, this is highly irregular, but so is trump’s relationship with the russians. Desperate times, and all that.
You want to compare it to school kids? Fair enough. Johnny tells teacher that he heard from someone that james had a stash of drugs on the school grounds, and that he checked it and took one packet to give to teacher so teacher could verify it wasn’t bullshit.
I was criticising a newspaper’s supposed news piece because it was a pile of steaming crap. That’s not defending Trump.
The unnamed officials (both ex and current) – and none of them were actually at the meeting – didn’t have any beans to spill according to the only named and therefor challengeable source in the entire piece. Everything they allege is, at best, based on claims of hear-say, or completely unsubstantiated.
There was an obvious enough opportunity to build a story that would feed into the meme that Trump’s an undesirable clown who’s in the pocket of an evil Russia.
Now I like a good story. But when it come to news I want verifiable facts, or failing that, really quite convincing circumstantial evidence that stands up to all manner of scrutiny including, but not limited to a simple application of logic.
There’s what I’d call a Bush culture doing the rounds at the moment (‘You’re either with us or against us.’) that I’ve no time for at all because it’s dangerous in terms of demanding accountability.
So again. Regardless of what I do or don’t think of Trump, the Washington Post piece, which is front paging everywhere, is garbage.
If they want to offer up some evidence to back what they’re claiming, then fine. But until then, it can only be regarded as scurrilous rumour and ought to be called out on that basis.
On the school kid level, it’s making shit up to get someone in trouble. There is no wee packet of drugs getting handed to teacher in this instance.
Ok, how would you report it?
Let’s say you’re a respected news agency that has an official who “was familiar with the exchange” telling you what happened, and a bunch of current or former officials (but who still have connections) back up the story and how serious it is.
How would you report it in a way that satisfied your standards of journalism?
“The difference is that Russia now has a long history of deliberately targeting the infrastructure of elections of other states” can you point me to this info, I genuinely am interested in this stuff and how its promoted by the press.
I’m working – so you should to. Google it. The most interesting ones have happened over the last 15 years or so.
The obvious one was the Ukrainian election before the Orange revolution and its aftermath in things like turning off gas supplies. But you will also find it in most periphery states around Russia like power into Georgia, targeted cyber-attacks in Estonia, and a number more. It has been a pattern of interference for decades. Incidentally it is also one of the strongest motivations for those periphery states to want to get into the EU and/or NATO
The only thing that has been of note recently is the export of the pattern to states further afield.
Ok i have googled cyber estonia and been to wikipedia
” As of January 2008, one ethnic-Russian Estonian national has been charged and convicted.[5]”
And
“The Estonian government was quick to blame the Kremlin, accusing it of being directly involved in the attacks. It was later revealed that the allegations were baseless when Estonia’s defense minister, Jaak Aaviksoo, admitted that he had no evidence linking the cyber-attacks to the Kremlin”
But thats just wikipedia , I guess we all just know the russians did it anyway
Me… i really not convinced.. not to say they didnt , i just developing a strong distust of this sort of allegation.
Will do more googling as suggested … but … ? What can be really trusted?
Maui,
On what basis do you say it is wrong, apart from your own assertion.
When serious journalists write an article in such an emphatic way, it means that they have rock solid evidence of the truth of the events they are reporting.
As for your crap assertion that CNN is “fake news media” well, that says it all.
You are obviously a complete convert of the Trump propaganda machine, and no doubt think that Sean Spicer is the oracle of all truth.
You want to supply just a single verifiable piece of info from that dogs breakfast of a Washington Post article Wayne?
It’s tittle-tattle. Gossip. Innuendo. Wide eyed loon, arm waving nonsense. And becoming far too commonplace
Most journalism is. The difference is if the people making it are credible.
Generally The Washington Post are a pretty credible source when it comes to anything related to US federal politics. While you might disagree with their interpretation (as I usually do – they are as conservative as hell), their facts are seldom overturned or proven by history to be unreliable.
Just as RT are a rubbish when it comes to being credible about almost anything.
No Lynn. The newspaper cannot be seen as a source (not a primary one). It uses or supplies sources. That’s what builds its credibility as a news source.
What sources is the Washington Post using or supplying in this instance? What number of those can be in any way identified or verified? Same questions apply to the information the Washington Post is relaying.
In the absence of even one named source that second tranche of questions about the information itself has to be pursued. Except, the whole thing sinks in its own bullshit anyway.
Like I’ve pointed out. If this information (whatever it’s actually meant to be) was so top secret that neither Russia, US allies nor any number of officials were to be privy to it, then how in the name of fuck does it transpire that the Washington Post has all of it?
I’m not going through this bullshit ‘credibility Olympics’ again. All news-sources are suspect and should be subjected to measures of critical evaluation. Some less so and some more so depending on the issues being reported.
Come on Wayne, you think serious journalism is having unnamed officials leaking info from a private top level meeting? This is credible how? Particularly when the two targets Trump and Russia are the most despised things in US politics. Again alarm bells should be ringing by now.
Sorry I didn’t realise applying some critical thinking means I’m now part of the Trump propaganda machine.
Sorry I didn’t realise applying some critical thinking means I’m now part of the Trump propaganda machine.
Heh – Yup. Probably makes you a Putin mole too…a Kremlin stooge…and all round ‘bad person’ 😉
Duh! How do you think that most political stories, there here and everywhere else happen?
Are you really that naive?
Where the source has genuine reasons for anonymity, the information itself is then held up to deeper scrutiny. In this and many other instances of late there are no named sources and no verifiable information being provided.
Yep in NZ we have applied scrutiny to leakers like a rugby stripper and Nat MPs personal assistants, and there hasn’t been much reason to disbelieve their accounts. In the case of the reporting I’ve just seen on CNN there is no scrutiny of the trump leakers and there is just breathless innuendo of how bad this is for Trump. Not sure whether to laugh or cry really, more the latter really when so many people take CNN reports at face value.
maui,
As I am sure you know journalists have used unnamed sources as the basis of political and other stories for decades. That was the whole basis of breaking open Watergate.
Just because they are unnamed, does not mean they have no credibility. The journalists typically knows who they are, and the basis of their information. In this case I am certain the journalist is talking directly to senior intelligence officials. Either the source was in the room, or the source has the confidence of someone who was in the room.
The fact they are willing to talk to journalists speaks volumes of what they think of Trump, and his actions to date as President.
The denials by the Trump administration are very specific, saying sources and techniques were not discussed (and sources and techniques can be tightly defined). That means everything else was discussed, probably enough to give substantial knowledge of sources and techniques, even if they were not directly stated. For instance I am sure the President would not say, “we have a source inside ISIS HQ who says ISIS are planning laptop attacks”, but he could say “we have rock solid evidence from within ISIS that ISIS are planning laptop attacks”.
As for being part of the Trump propaganda machine that was based on you using his meme that CNN is “fake news.”
We might be talking about different versions of the media. The one I’m thinking of is part of a corrupt establishment, the one that feeds debate questions to a candidate prior to a live debate and who pulls unfavourable tv programming at the request of their political masters.
“When serious journalists write an article in such an emphatic way, it means that they have rock solid evidence of the truth of the events they are reporting.”
The serious journalists might even write a book or two…
+111
😀
Yes. It’s obvious the sources were senior intelligence operatives – people with sufficient standing for the recipients to know it was credible material.
There is another possible source… a remote listening device. After the Comey dismissal, I’m sure the US intelligence community would have been on high alert. They may have decided that the circumstances existing around the time of the ambassadorial visit were sufficiently extraordinary to warrant an extraordinary response.
“…a remote listening device…”
Trump’s personal phone that he may still be using?
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/13/senators-question-whether-trumps-personal-phone-may-be-security-risk.html
“When serious journalists write an article in such an emphatic way, it means that they have rock solid evidence of the truth of the events they are reporting.”
and pigs fly!
when serious journalists who are actually journalists have rock solid evidence they point to it!
UN condemns latest N Korean missile test
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39931103
Strangely i missed the condemnation of the many other missile tests this year
e.g.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-nuclear-missile-tests-north-korea-range-reach-pyongyang-california-site-a7715331.html
There’s a bizarre and frightening guilty pleasure about watching the Repugs squirming about the Chump’s latest turd in the punchbowl.
http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/lawmakers-express-shock-and-concern-about-trump-disclosure-of-classified-information/ar-BBBb9GY?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=mailsignout
National’s Housing Come Back?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11857003
Too little, too late?
34,000 -8,300 to be demolished = 2.6k new houses per year, half of them for sale.
Auckland alone is already 30-40,000 homes behind. Still, good to see this govt copying useful policies, in their usual half-arsed way.
Random thought of the moment: Trump certainly knows how to take his last bit of stupidity out of the news. By creating an even bigger stupidity to replace it. So how is he going to top this one? And what’s his team doing behind all the smoke?
Bill English’s neoliberal dream.
A country where polluting pays.
“The dairy industry’s year-three report on its commitment to mitigating the environmental impact of farming shows it has achieved six of 13 goals that were set out in 2013 but hasn’t yet made a dent in nitrogen loss, underlining the long-term nature of the task of improving waterways.
Nitrogen leaching in the 2015/16 year was a national average 39 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare per year, unchanged from the previous year. Of the 13 regions surveyed using the Overseer computer modelling system, seven actually had an increase in nutrient loss, the worst being Canterbury, which climbed to 64 kg/N/ha/year from a 50 kg N/ha/year rolling average for 2013/14 and 2014/15. Otago has the second-worst deterioration, with an increase to 39 kg N/ha/year from 33 kg N/ha/year.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11856893
Climate change report indicates challenges for NZ agriculture
“Vivid presents three alternative scenarios, the first of which named Off
Track New Zealand exploits low-cost reduction technologies without
significantly cutting agricultural production and consequently does NOT
meet the zero emissions target. The other two scenarios, named Innovative
New Zealand and Resourceful New Zealand, both meet the target in different
ways; the first implies a 25-30% reduction in livestock numbers and a
shift away from pastoral to arable, horticulture and forestry, while the
second envisages an even greater transition to forestry with an additional
1.6 million hectares. The report notes apologetically this may entail a
difficult transition for rural economies.”
https://allanbarber.wordpress.com/2017/05/13/climate-change-report-indicates-challenges-for-nz-agriculture/
This is what happens when you let the private sector loose on education and don’t insist on qualified teachers/tutors which National has done in spades.
These so called education providers are falling over when finally scrutinised and I imagine now the blowtorch has been lit more will do so.
Not that education is the primary purpose of theses outfits. They are a cover for the current government’s immigration rort which allows their employer mates to keep wages down while getting fatter and fatter.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/330899/private-tertiary-institution-closed-after-widespread-plagiarism
lprent or mods – Seem to be getting a lot of DNS issues with thestandard.org.nz over the last few days.
Even happens when clicking on a link within the site (say from replies tab), get a dns error then loads.
Unusual behaviour – thought I would mention in case it indicates another problem….
Heh – some imaginative trolling going on here.
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/333546-emoluments-clause-projected-onto-trumps-dc-hotel