A business article turns into Max pashing his girlfriend. Hopefully this is the end days for the herald, distorted reality mirroring what’s happening in government and capitalism in general.
‘Responding to the bleak statistic that almost a quarter of all New Zealand families with children experience income poverty (2014 Child Poverty Monitor), Social Justice Week this year is focused on family poverty and what it would take for all Kiwi families to flourish.
An annual awareness-raising campaign, the week is set aside by the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand and runs from 13-19 September this year. The aim in 2015 is to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges struggling families face today in Aoteraoa New Zealand, while also inspiring people to take action.
This year Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has produced a short documentary – ‘Kiwi Families: It’s Our Story’ – featuring four community groups across the country and the families they support.’
Yes, the Herald sees this as less important than Max Key’s new ‘job’.
So long as Key and the nasty Nats remain in power we will have poverty.
Democracy has failed Aotearoa. The RWNJS control the media and use it dupe the masses.
I am not advoting violence but the only answer is a violent if necessary revolutionary coup to force change! Private property will then be banned, a Maori Upper House set up in according to Te Tiriti O Waitangi, all ties to the fascist state of Isreal destroyed, and everyone giving according to their ablities and getting according to their needs. All equality! No poverty!
no democracy has not failed Aotearoa. Democracy is an idea of participation in the political process. What has failed Aotearoa are the Men and Women that have voted for high house prices (yei! us too are rich!!) and nothing else, that have voted for beneficiary bashing as they are not yet beneficiaries, the ones that have voted for the dismantling of our school system, our health system, our public service sector because they will never need to use it again or at least don’t want to fund it, the ones that will vote for greed and themselves cause when history will judge them they are dead.
Greed, stupidity and short shortsightedness is failing Aotearoa, and if you only need to look at the current flag debacle / farce to see that it afflicts people of all stripes and political affiliation.
Those “Men and Women” are the wrongful majority. How can the rightful minority gain power in a democracy against a wrongful majority? For democracy to work the majority participating in it must at least have a brain!!!
the right full minority could have voted, all 1 million non voters of them, they could have worked together and forced their parties to vote together. But they did not. They voted for ‘their party’ ‘their candidate’ and sadly they are still arguing for ‘their party’ and ‘their candidate’ as if it were to make a difference. They don’t.
No National won, because 1 million people want to associate with them and have no issues with poor kids, poor parents, crap housing, high unemployment and under employments, crap work safety and so on and so on because it serves them well.
Then National won, because the opposition parties did not work together, they did not show spine and guts, they fiddled and sadly they are still fiddling, but hey, we got a new Labour Leader, and the Greens had the victory of a cycleway somewhere of national importance, and Winston won Northland, and Hone is retired.
Then National won, because 1 million people could not be asked to vote, a lot of them white middle aged men cause no one does anything for them. A lot of them women on a benefit, cause no one does anything for them too. A lot of the young ones that just got the right to vote, cause why bother we are screwed anyways.
The right full minority, needs to grow a spine, guts, and heart. They need to start working together, they need to start voting, not because someone will do something for them, but because the alternative is a government that will absolutly do nothing for them, be on record about not doing anything for them and be happy about it.
So there, National won, because 2 million people were to occupied to do a nothing, b. to occupied to find fault with the ones that could do something, but hey ….they are not my party.
was there no poverty under the Helen Clark lead Labour Governments from 1999-2008? Get real!!!!
I would prefer our current “failed democracy” to anything that you are advocating as our “failed democracy” has law and order – without violence – as its guiding principle.
You may not like our “failed democracy” but t me it seems better than your jungle bunny violence driven model.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) believes an increase in algorithmic trading would bolster liquidity and create a more efficient market in New Zealand.
I’m assuming that you are saying that’s the only answer because you know that will never be voted for by the good people of new Zealand. But nice to see some people on here think that a violent rise up again the wishes of the majority of the country is the way to go. And to think you call right wingers nut jobs.
I’m starting to look at an interesting line of conspiracy theories regarding the question of “Who owns the Federal Reserve?”
If you “Google” that question, one of the first statements to come up is from the U.S. Government itself; essentially it denies that the Fed is a privately owned operation. To which, a conspiracy theorist might reply “Well they would say that, wouldn’t they!”
Look a bit further down the list thrown up by Google and there’s an interesting article by Ellen Brown who argues that (quote) “The Fed is privately owned. Its shareholders are private banks”:
Brown is the author of eleven books; her article begins with this quote:
“Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders.”
The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1930s.
There are also several Youtube videos on the topic including this lengthy but fascinating 3 hour 20 minute effort, published in Oct 2014:
It is accompanied by a couple of quotes:
“We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.” ~ Rothschild
“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.” ~ Rothschild
There are also shorter versions available on Youtube.
Even if they are only half true, they give the citizens of the world an AWFUL lot to worry about!
And now, both Australia and NZ have prime ministers who formerly worked for the U.S. Banks! Am I getting paranoid in my old age???
No Murray Simmonds you are not. You are simply waking up to one of the most real realities of our world. More people are waking up to it.
Pre-interweb days it was easier to keep such things on the downlow, but today all information is out in the public arena so people are in fact waking up to the fact that;
One, the US Federal Reserve, which prints all US money, is privately owned.
Two, the printed money brings a return for the private owners equating to the interest rate (pretty good money for doing some printing……..).
Three, all loans by banks, including NZ banks, are created out of thin air – the loan money didn’t exist before it was lent, it is simply printed. . . and all interest paid on that printed loan goes to the bank (pretty good money for doing some printing).
Four, that this privately-owned money system requires economic growth so that the interest can be paid i.e. most all growth in our economies goes to banks, hence why the average Joe’s position is the same as it has always been despite economic growth (and the rich just are spectacularly rich)
Five, that John Key knows all of this full well, and knows that the people don’t know this.
Six, if you think about it, the entire system is a Ponzi scheme incapable of running forever. It is on its last legs imo.
“Pre-interweb days it was easier to keep such things on the downlow, but today all information is out in the public arena …”
And this is why they are seeking to undermine net neutrality, control and log everyones use and denial of anything considered a ‘national security’ issue which is a subjective judgement call left up to politicians.
I genuinely cannot believe that Key got away with this, there is no logical reason to be deleting texts in this day and age. Back in the late 1990s or early 2000s when phones only had memory measured in MBs, sure deleting texts would have been necessary but in this day and age with phones that have GBs worth of memory I cannot see any logical reason for it (aside from the obvious – keeping information out of public record).
This is a man who represents the entire country, a man who should be answerable to everyone, yet he gets to pick and choose which conversations are deletable and which are on public record? Give me a break.
I think someone in somebody’s office just read the news. A teacher got sacked and removed from the profession for sexual misconduct evidenced by 8,000 texts.
I received a post on my Facebook page from a conspiracy theorist that claims Hitler was right when he talked about a conspiracy and this is being proved at the present time. I have noticed before that some conspiracy theorists refer to the “Rothschilds” which seemed to have an anti-Jewish flavour. It seems now that some conspiracy theorists who previously have focused on 9/11 etc have now gone full circle in their attempt to save us all from the dangers of the “Illuminati” etc to the point that they are actually in the same camp as holocaust deniers and support the arch conspiracy theorist of all time – Hitler – who exterminated millions of people. Conspiracy theorists can make a useful contribution at times to analysing events and highlighting inconsistencies but recognising irony is not their strong suite. For instance, a good number are deniers of man-made climate change which puts them in the same camp as far right Republican politicians in the United States which they usually see being part of the evil forces they are trying to alert the world to. Going full circle to supporting Hitler’s conspiracy theories is taking irony to a whole other level.
Someone who has access to secret information told me last week that there is a conspiracy to brainwash the unenlightened masses into believing that Conspiracies are not real, and that the people who claim to know about them are nutters.
verb
make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act.
“they conspired against him”
synonyms: plot, hatch a plot, form a conspiracy, scheme, plan, lay plans, intrigue, collude, connive, collaborate, consort, machinate, manoeuvre, be/work hand in glove;
More
(of events or circumstances) seem to be working together to bring about a particular negative result.
“everything conspires to exacerbate the situation”
synonyms: act together, work together, combine, join, unite, ally, join forces, cooperate;
Thanks for the clarity Tracey but it was not necessary as a closer consideration of the examples provided will highlight the negative result required for the victim in each case, for conspiracy to exist …
You must have missed it in the haze fog which seems to envelope your eyes with each response to mine
Yes, human sociality is built on shifting alliances and the gossip and network of conversations that individuals and groups of individuals have with each other.
But as Tracy points out, the word ‘conspire’ (when applied to people rather than events) is usually used when the aim is to harm. (The Red Cross doesn’t ‘conspire’ to help in disaster situations, for example.)
I’d actually call conversations involving how best to ‘spin’ a political event as ‘conspiring’ since I believe that attempting to generate a partial and limited understanding of events in the mind of the public is to do harm to the public, whose interest is to know the whole truth and consequences of an event.
The way in which the Tories are currently misrepresenting Corbyn’s words in their video, for example, is a classic, conspiratorial act in my books. They know they are misrepresenting him – but they wish to do that to give the public a false impression of him.
Given that so many thousands of people today make their livings out of these kinds of conversations and spinning efforts I suppose it wouldn’t be ‘good form’ to call them ‘conspiracies’ – more like ‘business’ perhaps? (Reminiscent of Adam Smith’s comment about business people gathered in a room always conspiring against the public.)
When does the employment relations amendment act come into effect? There was to be a new provision included that would go some way to protect workers against zero hours contracts.
However I keep reading job ads that still appear to expecting the prospective employee to be on call 7 days a week:
Here’s one example, see what you make of the requirements:
“have full availability across all retail hours – must be able to work 12-3pm weekdays and weekends”
These are shitty hours and this employer must know they are using desperation as a lever
Which is why they will vote National – they know that National will attack beneficiaries and make life far more difficult for the poor so that it will be easier to exploit them.
Revealing Freudian slip from Gower this morning on Paul Henry (paraphrasing):
Paul: “You could be a political strategist Paddy!”
Gower: “I don’t think Lab… I don’t think anyone would want me, Paul!”
[r0b: Please stick with this name / email from now on, It’s a pain for moderators when you change your name all the time because the first comment from every new name gets held for moderation. One name / email – or I’m just going to delete them from now on.]
Did anyone see Henry this morning? The reason I asked, I normally don’t go down that sewer but when I switched the TV on it was tuned to TV3 and I could not avoid hearing Henry as the inspection cover to the sewer was off. Before a managed to change channels I heard that prat say something about Andrew Little should be more respectful to Key or something as it gives a bad impression overseas or something and he will never become a PM or something. What the fuck was that dick on about?
He was pushing the same line a few of the rw muppets where pushing here about Little not being statesman like with his comment about pitying Australia if the new leader wants to be like key.
He’s got to earn his money some how.
““FARCE” barely describes the process by which New Zealand is deciding whether or not it needs a new flag. John Key, the prime minister, caught everyone by surprise during last year’s general-election campaign when he floated the idea of changing it. He wanted to get rid of the present one, which incorporates Britain’s Union Jack as well as the stars of the Southern Cross, to one that, as he put it to The Economist, “screams New Zealandness”. The immediate reaction was that this was at best an irrelevance, at worst a cynical diversion from the difficult stuff of politics.“
“”Oh, I thought Henry may have been referring to Little playing hard to get on the flag referendum, Red Peak, etc..”
It is a long show so you are possible right I’m sure henry takes any chance available to attack labour.
Not all of them James, In fact occasionally we do get one who comes on here with a
very valid argument. Although one may not agree with it, one can see the logic of their point of view.
But that is extremely rare.
Hey Puckish I say this in jest. As us lefties are all for spending our dollar and banking others dollars, according to a good right wing myth. Please,don’t thank us, buy us something
An example is David Farrar. We know he is a National Party fan boy and his blogsite is indicative of that, but on the rare occasion he has come here to debate something he is polite and respectful, and he receives politeness and respect in return.
Farrar is a fool, and a liar, and his opinions are nasty. However, his amiable persona means he can get away with a lot. Other lightweight commentators like Jordan Williams could learn a lot from him.
That “amiable” personality only appears if you’re a man. Women to him are slabs of meat. Other RW commentators have indeed learned a lot from him at his “Princess Parties.”
A friend on Facebook posted a clip of Jeremy Corbyn and said “We are behind you”. I fully support the sentiment but commented that it is better to say “We are beside you”. I think people expect too much of the people they want to be their champions. We can’t expect another individual to take all the heat while we stand behind them. I think this has been a problem for Labour for quite a few years. It votes in another leader and then that person is expected to engage the opposition on their own. Phil Goff seemed to be fighting all by himself in 2011 and there didn’t seem to be much back up support from the rest of the party, especially cabinet members for David Cunliffe. Things seem to be a little bit better for Andrew Little but he still seems to be doing all the heavy lifting by himself. The same principle applies to all progressive parties and organisations. Bob Dylan was right – “don’t follow leaders” – see them as part of a chain that you also are part of as well.
Three hours of Hosking and Henry every morning.
Could New Zealand’s media get any more dismal? The Mike Hosking Breakfast, NewstalkZB and PAUL HENRY, TV3
Wednesday 16 September 2015
vacuousadj.1. lacking in ideas or intelligence: a vacuous mind.2. expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid: a vacuous show.
Just before the 8 o’clock news, Sky City and National Party booster Mike Hosking said: “I thought what Andrew Little said yesterday about the new Australian prime minister was CHURLISH.”
After the news, it was time for the weekly “Wednesday Politics” feature…..
MIKE HOSKING: What are your thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn? STEVEN JOYCE: It’s going to cause them a lot of trouble. ANNETTE KING: I think it’s a case of wait and see. He’s certainly popular. JOYCE: Yeah THAT’S true. HOSKING: Hmmm…. But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you? KING: I didn’t say that. HOSKING: He’ll be printing money! Will he even BE there for the next general election? KING: He’ll be there. HOSKING: And they’ll LOSE! JOYCE: He’ll be gone. They’ll wake up and see what they’ve done.
…ad nauseam…
Half an hour later, another Sky City ambassador was winding up his show. Apparently Dame Helen Mirren must have said something that offended Paul “Kill them ALL” Henry, because he snarled about “silly old Helen Mirren” to his guest, then right at the end of the program, he said this:
I’d like to dedicate this program to Dame Helen Mirren, because no matter how hard she tries, she’ll never be Dame Judy Dench.”
His slaves Jim Kayes and Hillary Barry looked unimpressed, and frowned in a troubled manner.
Attitudes like this from Labour merely reinforces the perception that being left is some how bad. Giving their media (clowns like Hosking) and political opponents a larger stick to bash them with.
To be fair to the woman, she was being asked (and hence NZ Labour) to effectively, out of the blue, carte blanche endorse Corbyn’s entire position. I’m glad she didn’t. Hosking’s show is hardly the place for nuance.
Any astute Labour MP should have seen this coming. They are well aware of what has taken place in the UK, thus the repercussions that would be reflected on them.
Moreover, Corbyn’ s monumental victory presented a prime opportunity for Labour here to cement a new position.
She should have stood tall and proud and hammered him with the facts (all the good things) Corbyn stands for.
She coward like a little girl and fell straight into his stratagem.
Everyone has some policy or other that might sound nutty, if only to someone on the other side of the planet.
Hosking, being a nat fanboi, could well have one of those policies or a statement from Corbyn in reserve just in case King did categorically endorse Corbyn – probably a longer rant of the “Hell be printing money” line that he used before he flipped to speculation as to how long Corbyn will last (if morrissey’s ).
I note that when hoaxing asked whether corbyn will see the next election, King said “He’ll be there”. So not blanket about policy specifics, but firm on the stability of UK Labour under Corbyn.
She could have simply said she largely supports his position, highlighting a number of strong points, giving further weight to her last remark, while leaving scope to counter any further challenge from Hosking.
Indeed.
But live broadcasts, can only handle nuanced responses if the interviewer isn’t an active opponent.
King makes complex response, hosking “simplifies” it, joyce tagteams with mockery of the straw man hosking just raised, King has to debate what she actually meant and so looks defensive.
Interviews with hostile media are holding actions, not advances.
The response I suggested to you was far from complex. Moreover, a well seasoned MP like King knows what to expect and how to counter in kind. As I do with you, McFlock.
Interviews with the media, regardless if they’re deemed hostile (which most are to the left) is where the fight for voters is largely fought. It’s where the larger audience are.
Not too complex for text, where you get to write all you want, whenever you want, are guaranteed to be uninterrupted if it looks like you’re making a good point, and existing for future reference when it’s misinterpreted.
But no good for an interview on mediaworks. Short answers, clear, not being drawn in to rash commitments – that’s what she needed, and that’s what she gave.
As you say, she’s experienced and “well seasoned” enough to know how to deal with different media environments. I suspect that you are not.
An example that relied on a single bullshit assertion and a complete lack of interruption in delivery of said bullshit. EG:
TC: Rubbish. The spoken word is faster than the written word, thus you-
McF [voice raised in laughter]: on what planet? If you’re going to start making stuff up, at least make it plausible!
hammered Hosking with a few quick points which he’d never let her finish without interruption – the technique used to defeat the gish gallop. swiftly shutdown any contention from Joyce because nact ministers are famous for accepting opposition points without protest, regardless of the points’ merit?
The result of your tactical plan is simply to end up in a shouting match that makes men look strong and women look pushy and alienates the public, adding to the missing million.
Feel free to keep asserting. I can still read faster than most people talk, especially if they wish to be understood.
And how will you interrupt me? Sure, you can glance over sentences, but there is no way for you to derail or distract me from composing this paragraph as I write it. My full message is guaranteed to be delivered (moderators permitting 🙂 ).
You talk about taking control of an interview as if it is a passive thing. Two other people were attempting to take control of that conversation, too. All three highly experienced at dealing with the medium. Yes, Winston is exceptionally good at it, and even he has his bad days.
We were discussing the speed of the spoken word compared to the written.
Therefore, you are now resorting to presenting strawmans. Clearly you have no credible counter.
I don’t need to interrupt you, not that I can online. My counters stand solid, regardless what fictitious crap you write.
There are numerous ways to take control of the spoken medium. Below are several examples.
By being on point. Ensuring the delivery is hard hitting and presented swiftly, robbing opponents of the opportunity to interrupt. This is the quick jab approach.
Highlight the question was put to you. Thus, highlighting their rudeness, thereby getting the audience on your side while gaining back the floor.
Stating excuse me sharply, stunning opponents into silence, thus presenting the opportunity to regain the floor.
Shame and embarrass them for asking a question (or speaking out of turn) and not giving you the opportunity. Again, winning the audience over to your side.
Getting the audience on side in a debate/interview, puts one in the winning position.
Yes, we all have our bad days from time to time, thus the use of the word ‘generally’ above.
Are you now going to conveniently excuse this as one of Annette’s bad days?
You seem to making a lot of excuses for her. She could have performed better and we both know it.
Ah, so the spoken word is “faster” than the written word, but the written word doesn’t need to be read.
“By being on point. Ensuring the delivery is hard hitting and presented swiftly,” She did that. Corrected hosking when he attributed comments to her that she didn’t make, and said firmly that corbyn will be the labour leaderin the next election. You’re just pissed because she didn’t carte blanch attribute to NZ Labour all the policies of UK Labour and every single personal belief of Corbyn.
“Highlight the question was put to you. Thus, highlighting their rudeness, ” – yadda yadda, all joyce does then is explain how you’re wrong when you’ve barely started answering, then you get into an argument that simply adds to the missing million.
“stunning opponents into silence” – lol yeah, right. Got any clips of that happening to joyce or hosking, ever?
“Shame and embarrass them” – they have no fucking shame. They’re tories. Try another one.
Basically, the only “excuse” I’ve made is to point out that king was in the real world, not in whatever fantasy land you’re picturing.
No. I’m disappointed she was quick to distance herself from his left wing stance. And in doing so fell straight into Hosking’s stratagem,
reinforcing the perception that being left is some how bad.
Not off hand (re clips). Moreover, it was merely a general example – not a specific one.
Have you got any clips to prove it hasn’t worked on them?
To shame and embarrass them to win over the audience. How they feel is of no concern.
And no, you are full of excuses – see your posts above.
I’m disappointed she was quick to distance herself from his left wing stance.
cite, pls. Or did you want her to “endorse his positions”, as hosking put it?
You’ve made the assertion that she could have stunned hosking and/or joyce into silence. You’re welcome to provide evidence that that has ever happened.
To shame and embarrass them to win over the audience. How they feel is of no concern.
lol so basically your advice is for king to get the audience on her side. People who tune in to specifically watch hosking. Slight audience bias, there, easily covered by the bluster and confidence joyce and hosking exude.
Oh, sorry, that was a refernce to the real world again, so you’ll probably call it another “excuse”.
Of course not (as Hosking put it) That was most likely also part his stratagem. However, she could have handled far better, as I’ve already explained to you above.
The way she handled it also fell into his stratagem, handing him a larger stick to bash the left.
Therefore, you are now going over covered ground. Clearly, you’ve got nothing new to add
And again, it was a general example – not a specific one. As we also already covered.
You’re the one that specifically named Joyce and Hosking, implying its never worked on them, thus I called you out.
Now your speculating on who tunes in, hence I’m now also calling you on that too.
No, that was an example of you’re amateurish spin, which I just unspun and served back to you.
You’ve outlined alternative ways she could have handled it. They were not ways she could have handled it “better”, for reasons I have already explained to you above.
Yes, I specifically named joyce and hosking, for the simple reason that they were the people she was facing. In order for her to deal with something “better” in that situation, it needs to work on them, not just “generally”. Again, a reference to the real world rather than an excuse.
Saying that people who tune in to watch hosking’s programme are tuning in to watch hosking’s programme is not speculation. It’s a statement of the obvious: the “audience” you wanted king to win over choose to tune in to hosking. Hosking is a rabid national party propagandist and I believe a former national party candidate, as well as a fuckwit. You wanted king to appeal to people who choose to tune in to watch that type of person. My speculation is that singing the internationale wasn’t going to do the job.
Here’s the thing: you reckon she could have done better against hosking and joyce in that conversation. Not some general hypothetical debate, you reckon she should have done better in that specific, precise circumstance.
So maybe you could demonstrate how your suggestions would be “better” in that precise, specific incident against those specific people, rather than pretending that naming the specific people in that specific situation is somehow a dirty trick to “call me out on”.
You talked about how she should have won the audience over in that specific conversation. The nature of that specific audience is therefore a reasonable factor to consider. You watched it. so did morrissey. Big deal. Surely it’s a reasonable assumption to assume the bulk of the audience were fans of the host, rather than frustrated lefties more eager to score points against Labour than the tories?
The one time she followed “your” strategem, you didn’t like the result. There’s no pleasing some people, I guess.
Indeed. We both know she could have done better. And how has been demonstrated/outlined above. She even used an approach I gave as an example. Which you went on to concede worked. However, her execution was flawed.
But this, is once again, all covered ground.
I didn’t say or pretend naming them was a dirty trick. That’s more of your lies and spin
I was calling you out on your claim that another of my examples wouldn’t have (because you implied it never has). Thus I called you on it.
Claiming I’m not in the real world or spinning it proves nothing. You’ re just wasting my time.
How about you cut the crap, front up and substantiate your claim. Or own that you’re wrong
The make up of the mindset of the bulk of the audience is anybodies guess. People may have tuned in because she was airing. Moreover,you went further than just assuming, thus I’m calling you on your claim.
You may be happy with a poor performance and making the left look bad. I know she is cable of better, thus expected better.
Do you work for her? You seem overly keen to defend her.
You want evidence that you live in a fantasy land? How about your repeated claims of what I do and do not know. Not only are those claims without basis, they frequently run contrary to everything I’ve said.
You want to know why I give a shit? I’m not employed by labour, anyone in labour, and I’m not employed to comment here. I give a shit because I think that the eternal bitching by self-loathing labourites is the haemorrhoids on the arsehole of the left. They profess genuine concern and a goodwilled desire for caucus to “improve”, but really they’re just throwing their toys out of the cot. Leadership and caucus can be huge puss-filled pimples on the face of Labour and the left, but some of the tories’ best allies are self-proclaimed lefties who whinge obsessively. In my opinion, anyway.
Well, considering I countered all your points thus far (and you even conceded to a couple) you should very well know. Therefore, your evidence doesn’t really stack up.
As for the rest of your post, it’s merely your opinion. And you know what they say about opinions? They are like assholes, everybody has one. And I just kicked yours.
[lprent: Claiming victory around here is dangerous. I like to exhibit it too. But I have more toolkit and I really don’t care about do the debating bit. I jump to you losing.
If you use anything like a pwned/owned strategy, I will happily demonstrate who always wins. It is the sysop, who has had to clean up too many flamewars caused by jumped up gits playing stupid debating games. Read the policy on flamewars. This is your only warning. Let me know when you have read this. It will be in auto-moderation. ]
You wanted me to engage more, thus I was. Countering points being made (debating).
Nevertheless, it takes two to participate in a so-called flame war. I don’t see McFlock being warned for his participation.
Furthermore, when ones opponent resorts to strawmans, spin and lies to points made, clearly they have no credible counter, thus are losing the debate. Hence, I wasn’t claiming victory, merely stating fact. Which surely isn’t against this site’s policy?
Therefore, now that this has been made clear, I would expect you (if you are balanced and reasonable) to reconsider and revoke the warning made.
[lprent: Don’t try to use strawman arguments on me! Read the warning. Nothing you said here has ANYTHING to do with that warning. I wasn’t talking about the conversation you were having. That was fine. You can argue that all you want.
What I warned you about was using pwned/owned arguments. That is a specific flamewar starter that I look for, and stomp on hard. You may have noticed that others don’t use it? There is a reason for that.
If you can’t read clear warnings, I will take what I consider is the appropriate action. ]
Additionally, people like me are beneficial to Labour. it allows them to covertly test voter support of their position (or newly considered policy) while gauging potential counters to positions being considered.
Allowing them to better counter things or improve them, before going public.
Q. – But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?
Answer: “Why not?”
The questioner then (I think) has no option but to list/rant various ‘outrageous positions’ .
Points can be agreed with, repudiated or ignored and at the end something like “So, we know you certainly don’t endorse him Mike…but that’s no surprise to anyone”, can be thrown in.
Take away confidence, insert fear or uncertainty (a constant state of affairs for the NZ Labour Party, it seems) – and you get something along the lines of what happened.
Jerry Seinfeld, Andrew Dice Clay and Sasha Baron Cohen eat your hearts out:
Here’s another insane right wing “comedian”.
Wayne Rogers used to play the part of Trapper John in the hit television show M*A*S*H. Trapper John was a funny, witty, nice guy. Wayne Rogers, on the other hand, is neither funny nor witty nor nice….
Isn’t it clear that farming has ruined this lake in just the last recent years? Yet he wants to intensify further?
Do these guys have rocks in their heads or something?…. Listen to what the planet and people are telling you mr farmer….stop acting like a child …. stop and listen to what you are being told …..
… the land cannot be irrigated as it is way too sensitive. Stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Ffs.
… when will farmers learn to farm within the confines of their farm and their climate? If it is a dry place then farm as a dry place.
ffs, farmers attitudes and approaches drive me nuts with their square-peg-round-hole demands.
edit: whats the bet that the previous owners of this station always used to claim “blah blah we are custodians of the land and want to leave it better for the next generation blah blah”. All farmers do. Yet the evidence shows that farmers have NEVER left the land in a better condition for the future. Never. It is a lie. Proved by their own actions and results.
Yeah that one makes me see red too. I wonder how much is a result of 30 years of neoliberalism socialising people into an overdevelopped sense of entitlement. Adding that to the culture of importance within some farming sectors, plus the banks and farm advisors encouraging all their clients to see the environement in terms of profit, it’s a bad mix.
If you’ve done everything you can to protect the environment and you’re still polluting it, then you just have to stop farming.
edit: whats the bet that the previous owners of this station always used to claim “blah blah we are custodians of the land and want to leave it better for the next generation blah blah”. All farmers do. Yet the evidence shows that farmers have NEVER left the land in a better condition for the future. Never. It is a lie. Proved by their own actions and results.
There are whole systems of farming that address this, broadly called regenerative agriculture and holistic land management. Biodynamics and some organic farms too. The underlying ethos is that all practices have to build health in the land not deplete it ie there is a net increase. There are farmers in NZ already doing this, and there is no reason that we couldn’t be doing this en masse, apart from greed, ignorance, and the control that the banks and Fed Farmers have.
There are farmers in NZ already doing this, and there is no reason that we couldn’t be doing this en masse, apart from greed, ignorance, and the control that the banks and Fed Farmers have.
True and the only way that we will get the farmers doing sustainable farming is to legislate for it. The farmers will whinge for awhile but I think that they’d all come around eventually.
I also think we need to limit farming to ~15% of the land mass of the country and to suitable locations.
But haven’t reports cited low benefit payments as a contributing factor adding to social, health, and poverty problems? Therefore, isn’t more money needed?
Debt ratios have reached extreme levels across all major regions of the global economy, leaving the financial system acutely vulnerable to monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, the world’s top financial watchdog has warned.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said the wild market ructions of recent weeks and capital outflows from China are warning signs that the massive build-up in credit is coming back to haunt, compounded by worries that policymakers may be struggling to control events.
“We are not seeing isolated tremors, but the release of pressure that has gradually accumulated over the years along major fault lines,” said Claudio Borio, the bank’s chief economist.
….So, if at all possible people, lower your mortgage, keep your cash savings high, and buckle in for the next really tough ride.
😉
Of course he wont, like the Vietnam war all the fat cats made sure their kids were at College or somewhere to make sure they dodged the draft and did not have to attend that shit.
NZ Herald did a poll on Medical Cannabis, 70% support access to Medical Cannabis under strict conditions. I would take that as a win. Class B drugs by definition are strict anyway…..
About bloody time. OK let me add more having now read article. What planet is the Minister on? Evidence, bloody nora, has he not heard of google, or indeed “The American Journal of the Medical Sciences”? What does a minister have to read? It seems not a lot these days.
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
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Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
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Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
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The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
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Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
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Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
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Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
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Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
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Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
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Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
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The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
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ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Corporate bludgers.
Serco doesn’t pay its fines.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72068231/Serco-let-off-100k-razor-fines
That needs an inquiry into it as it stinks of corruption.
Beneficiary bludger.
Harry Windsor costs NZ over 4 million dollars for 9 day paid holiday.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/72000007/prince-harrys-visit-cost-nz-taxpayers-426000
well, change the flag and to a republic at the same time then.
except we’re not doing that.
You mean 0.4 million dollars, right?
Yes that was a mistake
Paul, you are such a hater and you are wrong.
“Prince Harry’s visit cost NZ taxpayers $426,000”
I don’t respect wealthy bludgers.
You do.
I don’t respect any bludgers
Are you going to acknowledge that you are wrong about the cost of Harry’s visit?
he already did – you had almost an hour to read two comments up (2.2.1).
Or did you misread that?
The real threat to security in the UK.
Not Jeremy Corbyn .
Arms traders.
The creators of refugees.
And best mates with Cameron’s Etonian clique.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-more-appalling-the-human-rights-record-the-better-the-customer-at-londons-arms-fair-today-10500389.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/14/dsei-weapons-fair-authoritarian-regimes-descend-on-london
The Herald is obsessed with the trivia surrounding the Key family.
Journalists? What a miserable excuse for the 4th estate this rag has become.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11513568
A business article turns into Max pashing his girlfriend. Hopefully this is the end days for the herald, distorted reality mirroring what’s happening in government and capitalism in general.
A quarter of kids in poverty.
‘Responding to the bleak statistic that almost a quarter of all New Zealand families with children experience income poverty (2014 Child Poverty Monitor), Social Justice Week this year is focused on family poverty and what it would take for all Kiwi families to flourish.
An annual awareness-raising campaign, the week is set aside by the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand and runs from 13-19 September this year. The aim in 2015 is to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges struggling families face today in Aoteraoa New Zealand, while also inspiring people to take action.
This year Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has produced a short documentary – ‘Kiwi Families: It’s Our Story’ – featuring four community groups across the country and the families they support.’
Yes, the Herald sees this as less important than Max Key’s new ‘job’.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00126/social-justice-week-addresses-family-poverty-in-new-zealand.htm
So long as Key and the nasty Nats remain in power we will have poverty.
Democracy has failed Aotearoa. The RWNJS control the media and use it dupe the masses.
I am not advoting violence but the only answer is a violent if necessary revolutionary coup to force change! Private property will then be banned, a Maori Upper House set up in according to Te Tiriti O Waitangi, all ties to the fascist state of Isreal destroyed, and everyone giving according to their ablities and getting according to their needs. All equality! No poverty!
no democracy has not failed Aotearoa. Democracy is an idea of participation in the political process. What has failed Aotearoa are the Men and Women that have voted for high house prices (yei! us too are rich!!) and nothing else, that have voted for beneficiary bashing as they are not yet beneficiaries, the ones that have voted for the dismantling of our school system, our health system, our public service sector because they will never need to use it again or at least don’t want to fund it, the ones that will vote for greed and themselves cause when history will judge them they are dead.
Greed, stupidity and short shortsightedness is failing Aotearoa, and if you only need to look at the current flag debacle / farce to see that it afflicts people of all stripes and political affiliation.
Those “Men and Women” are the wrongful majority. How can the rightful minority gain power in a democracy against a wrongful majority? For democracy to work the majority participating in it must at least have a brain!!!
the right full minority could have voted, all 1 million non voters of them, they could have worked together and forced their parties to vote together. But they did not. They voted for ‘their party’ ‘their candidate’ and sadly they are still arguing for ‘their party’ and ‘their candidate’ as if it were to make a difference. They don’t.
No National won, because 1 million people want to associate with them and have no issues with poor kids, poor parents, crap housing, high unemployment and under employments, crap work safety and so on and so on because it serves them well.
Then National won, because the opposition parties did not work together, they did not show spine and guts, they fiddled and sadly they are still fiddling, but hey, we got a new Labour Leader, and the Greens had the victory of a cycleway somewhere of national importance, and Winston won Northland, and Hone is retired.
Then National won, because 1 million people could not be asked to vote, a lot of them white middle aged men cause no one does anything for them. A lot of them women on a benefit, cause no one does anything for them too. A lot of the young ones that just got the right to vote, cause why bother we are screwed anyways.
The right full minority, needs to grow a spine, guts, and heart. They need to start working together, they need to start voting, not because someone will do something for them, but because the alternative is a government that will absolutly do nothing for them, be on record about not doing anything for them and be happy about it.
So there, National won, because 2 million people were to occupied to do a nothing, b. to occupied to find fault with the ones that could do something, but hey ….they are not my party.
I don’t recall a Māori upper house being mentioned in Te Tiriti.
Keep Left,
was there no poverty under the Helen Clark lead Labour Governments from 1999-2008? Get real!!!!
I would prefer our current “failed democracy” to anything that you are advocating as our “failed democracy” has law and order – without violence – as its guiding principle.
You may not like our “failed democracy” but t me it seems better than your jungle bunny violence driven model.
Woah!!!
Take a breathe, make yourself a cup of tea and have a sit down.
Hysterical ranting doesn’t do anyone any good. Least of all yourself.
I thought this did a good job explaining it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqRge4iiuRQ
If you haven’t already viewed this, you’ll find it extremely interesting.
https://youtu.be/M6e2FL-o1zs
And to think, Labour wanted to make Kiwisaver compulsory, ha.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) believes an increase in algorithmic trading would bolster liquidity and create a more efficient market in New Zealand.
http://www.legalbusinessonline.com/news/nz-regulator-push-more-algorithmic-trading/62165
High-Frequency Trader Indicted for Manipulating Commodities Futures Markets in First Federal Prosecution for Spoofing
https://www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2014/high-frequency-trader-indicted-for-manipulating-commodities-futures-markets-in-first-federal-prosecution-for-spoofing
I’m assuming that you are saying that’s the only answer because you know that will never be voted for by the good people of new Zealand. But nice to see some people on here think that a violent rise up again the wishes of the majority of the country is the way to go. And to think you call right wingers nut jobs.
Pretty sure that one twit (that could even be a right-winger pretending, for troll purposes) doesn’t represent all left wing people.
Ultimately fascism is never put back in its box before there is a certain amount of skirmishing. The last one was called World War Two.
CHANGE OF TOPIC:
I’m starting to look at an interesting line of conspiracy theories regarding the question of “Who owns the Federal Reserve?”
If you “Google” that question, one of the first statements to come up is from the U.S. Government itself; essentially it denies that the Fed is a privately owned operation. To which, a conspiracy theorist might reply “Well they would say that, wouldn’t they!”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_14986.htm
Look a bit further down the list thrown up by Google and there’s an interesting article by Ellen Brown who argues that (quote) “The Fed is privately owned. Its shareholders are private banks”:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/who-owns-the-federal-reserve/10489
Brown is the author of eleven books; her article begins with this quote:
“Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders.”
The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1930s.
There are also several Youtube videos on the topic including this lengthy but fascinating 3 hour 20 minute effort, published in Oct 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiOEpOnqtI
It is accompanied by a couple of quotes:
“We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.” ~ Rothschild
“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.” ~ Rothschild
There are also shorter versions available on Youtube.
Even if they are only half true, they give the citizens of the world an AWFUL lot to worry about!
And now, both Australia and NZ have prime ministers who formerly worked for the U.S. Banks! Am I getting paranoid in my old age???
+100…thanks…interesting
“Am I getting paranoid in my old age???”
No Murray Simmonds you are not. You are simply waking up to one of the most real realities of our world. More people are waking up to it.
Pre-interweb days it was easier to keep such things on the downlow, but today all information is out in the public arena so people are in fact waking up to the fact that;
One, the US Federal Reserve, which prints all US money, is privately owned.
Two, the printed money brings a return for the private owners equating to the interest rate (pretty good money for doing some printing……..).
Three, all loans by banks, including NZ banks, are created out of thin air – the loan money didn’t exist before it was lent, it is simply printed. . . and all interest paid on that printed loan goes to the bank (pretty good money for doing some printing).
Four, that this privately-owned money system requires economic growth so that the interest can be paid i.e. most all growth in our economies goes to banks, hence why the average Joe’s position is the same as it has always been despite economic growth (and the rich just are spectacularly rich)
Five, that John Key knows all of this full well, and knows that the people don’t know this.
Six, if you think about it, the entire system is a Ponzi scheme incapable of running forever. It is on its last legs imo.
“Pre-interweb days it was easier to keep such things on the downlow, but today all information is out in the public arena …”
And this is why they are seeking to undermine net neutrality, control and log everyones use and denial of anything considered a ‘national security’ issue which is a subjective judgement call left up to politicians.
…and this is why they perceive Dotcom as such a threat
‘Meganet’: Kim Dotcom plans crowdfunded replacement to internet (Ft. Max Keiser) @start_coin’
http://www.maxkeiser.com/2015/06/meganet-kim-dotcom-plans-crowdfunded-replacement-to-internet-ft-max-keiser-start_coin/
I see the Prime Minister gets to decide when he can delete his texts – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11513398
Are we paying for his phone and all those personal/party texts?
I genuinely cannot believe that Key got away with this, there is no logical reason to be deleting texts in this day and age. Back in the late 1990s or early 2000s when phones only had memory measured in MBs, sure deleting texts would have been necessary but in this day and age with phones that have GBs worth of memory I cannot see any logical reason for it (aside from the obvious – keeping information out of public record).
This is a man who represents the entire country, a man who should be answerable to everyone, yet he gets to pick and choose which conversations are deletable and which are on public record? Give me a break.
Of course there’s a logical reason – when you don’t want people finding out what you said because it’d send you to jail.
I think someone in somebody’s office just read the news. A teacher got sacked and removed from the profession for sexual misconduct evidenced by 8,000 texts.
Just a thought on conspiracy theorists
I received a post on my Facebook page from a conspiracy theorist that claims Hitler was right when he talked about a conspiracy and this is being proved at the present time. I have noticed before that some conspiracy theorists refer to the “Rothschilds” which seemed to have an anti-Jewish flavour. It seems now that some conspiracy theorists who previously have focused on 9/11 etc have now gone full circle in their attempt to save us all from the dangers of the “Illuminati” etc to the point that they are actually in the same camp as holocaust deniers and support the arch conspiracy theorist of all time – Hitler – who exterminated millions of people. Conspiracy theorists can make a useful contribution at times to analysing events and highlighting inconsistencies but recognising irony is not their strong suite. For instance, a good number are deniers of man-made climate change which puts them in the same camp as far right Republican politicians in the United States which they usually see being part of the evil forces they are trying to alert the world to. Going full circle to supporting Hitler’s conspiracy theories is taking irony to a whole other level.
Someone who has access to secret information told me last week that there is a conspiracy to brainwash the unenlightened masses into believing that Conspiracies are not real, and that the people who claim to know about them are nutters.
Perhaps we should adopt the term “lose alliance” to help spot the difference.
dude, what did I just accidentally download?
Simon Lusk’s indiscretions from a few years back… complete with a misspelling of “loose”.
sweet – I generally try to avoid pdfs from strange places – it’s a much more adaptable format than people give it credit for.
Must remember to not click on links before looking 😉
Conspiring is one of the most core attributes of human behaviour. People conspire all day every day – it is human nature…
Footy players conspire to beat the opposing footy team
Hunters conspire to kill antelope
Wife conspires to get husband to mow lawns
Business people conspire to get a deal
Children conspire to get lollies
Armies conspire to kill huge swathes of humanity
Politicians … well no, politicians never conspire …………
…
to conspire is to be human
for clarity
verb
make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act.
“they conspired against him”
synonyms: plot, hatch a plot, form a conspiracy, scheme, plan, lay plans, intrigue, collude, connive, collaborate, consort, machinate, manoeuvre, be/work hand in glove;
More
(of events or circumstances) seem to be working together to bring about a particular negative result.
“everything conspires to exacerbate the situation”
synonyms: act together, work together, combine, join, unite, ally, join forces, cooperate;
Also- ‘ working together to bring about a particular result, typically to someone’s detriment’
DETRIMENT is a key concept
Thanks for the clarity Tracey but it was not necessary as a closer consideration of the examples provided will highlight the negative result required for the victim in each case, for conspiracy to exist …
You must have missed it in the haze fog which seems to envelope your eyes with each response to mine
Yes, human sociality is built on shifting alliances and the gossip and network of conversations that individuals and groups of individuals have with each other.
But as Tracy points out, the word ‘conspire’ (when applied to people rather than events) is usually used when the aim is to harm. (The Red Cross doesn’t ‘conspire’ to help in disaster situations, for example.)
I’d actually call conversations involving how best to ‘spin’ a political event as ‘conspiring’ since I believe that attempting to generate a partial and limited understanding of events in the mind of the public is to do harm to the public, whose interest is to know the whole truth and consequences of an event.
The way in which the Tories are currently misrepresenting Corbyn’s words in their video, for example, is a classic, conspiratorial act in my books. They know they are misrepresenting him – but they wish to do that to give the public a false impression of him.
Given that so many thousands of people today make their livings out of these kinds of conversations and spinning efforts I suppose it wouldn’t be ‘good form’ to call them ‘conspiracies’ – more like ‘business’ perhaps? (Reminiscent of Adam Smith’s comment about business people gathered in a room always conspiring against the public.)
Exactly Puddleglum, but no everyday spin merchants should be called out on what they are – conspiracists, conspiring to negative ends…
… on which, you may notice (seems Tracey missed it) that each of my examples involve the ‘negative outcome’ required for a conspiracy…
When does the employment relations amendment act come into effect? There was to be a new provision included that would go some way to protect workers against zero hours contracts.
However I keep reading job ads that still appear to expecting the prospective employee to be on call 7 days a week:
Here’s one example, see what you make of the requirements:
“have full availability across all retail hours – must be able to work 12-3pm weekdays and weekends”
http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=949998029
I read that as you are rostered on for 7 days, 3 hours per day, for 21 hours of work, but then you must be available across “all retail hours”
If I’ve read this correctly you are working 7 days a week and then still expected to be on call when ever they need you at other times. 21 hours + ?
These are shitty hours and this employer must know they are using desperation as a lever
Which is why they will vote National – they know that National will attack beneficiaries and make life far more difficult for the poor so that it will be easier to exploit them.
Revealing Freudian slip from Gower this morning on Paul Henry (paraphrasing):
Paul: “You could be a political strategist Paddy!”
Gower: “I don’t think Lab… I don’t think anyone would want me, Paul!”
[r0b: Please stick with this name / email from now on, It’s a pain for moderators when you change your name all the time because the first comment from every new name gets held for moderation. One name / email – or I’m just going to delete them from now on.]
Did anyone see Henry this morning? The reason I asked, I normally don’t go down that sewer but when I switched the TV on it was tuned to TV3 and I could not avoid hearing Henry as the inspection cover to the sewer was off. Before a managed to change channels I heard that prat say something about Andrew Little should be more respectful to Key or something as it gives a bad impression overseas or something and he will never become a PM or something. What the fuck was that dick on about?
Ensuring he gets his sycophant quota filled whatever way he can.
He was pushing the same line a few of the rw muppets where pushing here about Little not being statesman like with his comment about pitying Australia if the new leader wants to be like key.
He’s got to earn his money some how.
Oh, I thought Henry may have been referring to Little playing hard to get on the flag referendum, Red Peak, etc..
Speaking of giving ‘a bad impression of Key overseas’ it seems Key is managing that all by himself.
Here’s The Economist on the flag debate:
““FARCE” barely describes the process by which New Zealand is deciding whether or not it needs a new flag. John Key, the prime minister, caught everyone by surprise during last year’s general-election campaign when he floated the idea of changing it. He wanted to get rid of the present one, which incorporates Britain’s Union Jack as well as the stars of the Southern Cross, to one that, as he put it to The Economist, “screams New Zealandness”. The immediate reaction was that this was at best an irrelevance, at worst a cynical diversion from the difficult stuff of politics.“
“”Oh, I thought Henry may have been referring to Little playing hard to get on the flag referendum, Red Peak, etc..”
It is a long show so you are possible right I’m sure henry takes any chance available to attack labour.
I was just going on half crown’s comment – I have no idea what Henry said as I have never listened to him.
So you’re first hand account is the one I’d go with.
Sounds like Henry has no sense of humour when it comes to his main man 🙂
James said @ #7 7.52 am
“And to think you call right wingers nut jobs.”
Not all of them James, In fact occasionally we do get one who comes on here with a
very valid argument. Although one may not agree with it, one can see the logic of their point of view.
But that is extremely rare.
Most of the non-nutjob righties have better manners than to come here to stir up trouble.
Thank you
Hey Puckish I say this in jest. As us lefties are all for spending our dollar and banking others dollars, according to a good right wing myth. Please,don’t thank us, buy us something
Regards
An example is David Farrar. We know he is a National Party fan boy and his blogsite is indicative of that, but on the rare occasion he has come here to debate something he is polite and respectful, and he receives politeness and respect in return.
Farrar is a fool, and a liar, and his opinions are nasty. However, his amiable persona means he can get away with a lot. Other lightweight commentators like Jordan Williams could learn a lot from him.
That “amiable” personality only appears if you’re a man. Women to him are slabs of meat. Other RW commentators have indeed learned a lot from him at his “Princess Parties.”
Ooops a daisy! Thank-you Morrissey and rhinocrates for enlightening me. 😯
A friend on Facebook posted a clip of Jeremy Corbyn and said “We are behind you”. I fully support the sentiment but commented that it is better to say “We are beside you”. I think people expect too much of the people they want to be their champions. We can’t expect another individual to take all the heat while we stand behind them. I think this has been a problem for Labour for quite a few years. It votes in another leader and then that person is expected to engage the opposition on their own. Phil Goff seemed to be fighting all by himself in 2011 and there didn’t seem to be much back up support from the rest of the party, especially cabinet members for David Cunliffe. Things seem to be a little bit better for Andrew Little but he still seems to be doing all the heavy lifting by himself. The same principle applies to all progressive parties and organisations. Bob Dylan was right – “don’t follow leaders” – see them as part of a chain that you also are part of as well.
Three hours of Hosking and Henry every morning.
Could New Zealand’s media get any more dismal?
The Mike Hosking Breakfast, NewstalkZB and PAUL HENRY, TV3
Wednesday 16 September 2015
vacuous adj. 1. lacking in ideas or intelligence: a vacuous mind. 2. expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid: a vacuous show.
Just before the 8 o’clock news, Sky City and National Party booster Mike Hosking said: “I thought what Andrew Little said yesterday about the new Australian prime minister was CHURLISH.”
After the news, it was time for the weekly “Wednesday Politics” feature…..
MIKE HOSKING: What are your thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn?
STEVEN JOYCE: It’s going to cause them a lot of trouble.
ANNETTE KING: I think it’s a case of wait and see. He’s certainly popular.
JOYCE: Yeah THAT’S true.
HOSKING: Hmmm…. But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?
KING: I didn’t say that.
HOSKING: He’ll be printing money! Will he even BE there for the next general election?
KING: He’ll be there.
HOSKING: And they’ll LOSE!
JOYCE: He’ll be gone. They’ll wake up and see what they’ve done.
…ad nauseam…
Half an hour later, another Sky City ambassador was winding up his show. Apparently Dame Helen Mirren must have said something that offended Paul “Kill them ALL” Henry, because he snarled about “silly old Helen Mirren” to his guest, then right at the end of the program, he said this:
His slaves Jim Kayes and Hillary Barry looked unimpressed, and frowned in a troubled manner.
The only way this could be better is if Michael Laws is brought in as well
Compared to Hosking and Henry, Michael Laws is a voice of reason and moderation.
“But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?
KING: I didn’t say that”
Another one from Labour distancing themselves Corbyn’s left wing position.
Why is the Labour Party so afraid of being left?
Apart from members, is there anybody in the Labour Party actually left-wing?
People like Annette King and Josie Pagani are the reason that Labour is at such a low ebb.
I totally agree, Morrissey.
Attitudes like this from Labour merely reinforces the perception that being left is some how bad. Giving their media (clowns like Hosking) and political opponents a larger stick to bash them with.
To be fair to the woman, she was being asked (and hence NZ Labour) to effectively, out of the blue, carte blanche endorse Corbyn’s entire position. I’m glad she didn’t. Hosking’s show is hardly the place for nuance.
I totally disagree, Alethios
Any astute Labour MP should have seen this coming. They are well aware of what has taken place in the UK, thus the repercussions that would be reflected on them.
Moreover, Corbyn’ s monumental victory presented a prime opportunity for Labour here to cement a new position.
She should have stood tall and proud and hammered him with the facts (all the good things) Corbyn stands for.
She coward like a little girl and fell straight into his stratagem.
Labour needs to badly up their political game.
If the need assistance, I can help with that.
Maybe you’re right, but surely she’d need a mandate from, at the very least, caucus first – before personally realigning NZ Labour?
She could have answered from a personal position.
Moreover, an astute Party would have prepared for the possibility.
I agree Alethios.
Everyone has some policy or other that might sound nutty, if only to someone on the other side of the planet.
Hosking, being a nat fanboi, could well have one of those policies or a statement from Corbyn in reserve just in case King did categorically endorse Corbyn – probably a longer rant of the “Hell be printing money” line that he used before he flipped to speculation as to how long Corbyn will last (if morrissey’s ).
I note that when hoaxing asked whether corbyn will see the next election, King said “He’ll be there”. So not blanket about policy specifics, but firm on the stability of UK Labour under Corbyn.
She could have simply said she largely supports his position, highlighting a number of strong points, giving further weight to her last remark, while leaving scope to counter any further challenge from Hosking.
Three commas and a “while” does not “simply” make, not on radio with two opponents and no friends in the discussion.
We all know Annette can handle herself, McFlock.
Indeed.
But live broadcasts, can only handle nuanced responses if the interviewer isn’t an active opponent.
King makes complex response, hosking “simplifies” it, joyce tagteams with mockery of the straw man hosking just raised, King has to debate what she actually meant and so looks defensive.
Interviews with hostile media are holding actions, not advances.
The response I suggested to you was far from complex. Moreover, a well seasoned MP like King knows what to expect and how to counter in kind. As I do with you, McFlock.
Interviews with the media, regardless if they’re deemed hostile (which most are to the left) is where the fight for voters is largely fought. It’s where the larger audience are.
Not too complex for text, where you get to write all you want, whenever you want, are guaranteed to be uninterrupted if it looks like you’re making a good point, and existing for future reference when it’s misinterpreted.
But no good for an interview on mediaworks. Short answers, clear, not being drawn in to rash commitments – that’s what she needed, and that’s what she gave.
As you say, she’s experienced and “well seasoned” enough to know how to deal with different media environments. I suspect that you are not.
Rubbish.
The spoken word is faster than the written word, thus you’re clutching, McFlock.
And that was an example of how one can quickly shutdown a fictitious contention.
She could have hammered Hosking with a few quick points and then swiftly shutdown any contention from Joyce, irrespective of the media setting.
An example that relied on a single bullshit assertion and a complete lack of interruption in delivery of said bullshit. EG:
hammered Hosking with a few quick points which he’d never let her finish without interruption – the technique used to defeat the gish gallop.
swiftly shutdown any contention from Joyce because nact ministers are famous for accepting opposition points without protest, regardless of the points’ merit?
The result of your tactical plan is simply to end up in a shouting match that makes men look strong and women look pushy and alienates the public, adding to the missing million.
A single bullshit assertion? Nonsense. It’s a fact and you know it. The spoken word is faster than the written word.
Clearly, you don’t know how to take control of an interview. One simply shuts down any attempted interruption.
Winston often shows how it’s done, thus generally dominates the debate.
Feel free to keep asserting. I can still read faster than most people talk, especially if they wish to be understood.
And how will you interrupt me? Sure, you can glance over sentences, but there is no way for you to derail or distract me from composing this paragraph as I write it. My full message is guaranteed to be delivered (moderators permitting 🙂 ).
You talk about taking control of an interview as if it is a passive thing. Two other people were attempting to take control of that conversation, too. All three highly experienced at dealing with the medium. Yes, Winston is exceptionally good at it, and even he has his bad days.
“One simply shuts down any attempted interruption.” Lol. One does not simply shut down any attempted interruption. That’s why even Winston only “generally” dominates the debate.
Read faster?
Now where did I assert that?
We were discussing the speed of the spoken word compared to the written.
Therefore, you are now resorting to presenting strawmans. Clearly you have no credible counter.
I don’t need to interrupt you, not that I can online. My counters stand solid, regardless what fictitious crap you write.
There are numerous ways to take control of the spoken medium. Below are several examples.
By being on point. Ensuring the delivery is hard hitting and presented swiftly, robbing opponents of the opportunity to interrupt. This is the quick jab approach.
Highlight the question was put to you. Thus, highlighting their rudeness, thereby getting the audience on your side while gaining back the floor.
Stating excuse me sharply, stunning opponents into silence, thus presenting the opportunity to regain the floor.
Shame and embarrass them for asking a question (or speaking out of turn) and not giving you the opportunity. Again, winning the audience over to your side.
Getting the audience on side in a debate/interview, puts one in the winning position.
Yes, we all have our bad days from time to time, thus the use of the word ‘generally’ above.
Are you now going to conveniently excuse this as one of Annette’s bad days?
You seem to making a lot of excuses for her. She could have performed better and we both know it.
Ah, so the spoken word is “faster” than the written word, but the written word doesn’t need to be read.
“By being on point. Ensuring the delivery is hard hitting and presented swiftly,” She did that. Corrected hosking when he attributed comments to her that she didn’t make, and said firmly that corbyn will be the labour leaderin the next election. You’re just pissed because she didn’t carte blanch attribute to NZ Labour all the policies of UK Labour and every single personal belief of Corbyn.
“Highlight the question was put to you. Thus, highlighting their rudeness, ” – yadda yadda, all joyce does then is explain how you’re wrong when you’ve barely started answering, then you get into an argument that simply adds to the missing million.
“stunning opponents into silence” – lol yeah, right. Got any clips of that happening to joyce or hosking, ever?
“Shame and embarrass them” – they have no fucking shame. They’re tories. Try another one.
Basically, the only “excuse” I’ve made is to point out that king was in the real world, not in whatever fantasy land you’re picturing.
No. I’m disappointed she was quick to distance herself from his left wing stance. And in doing so fell straight into Hosking’s stratagem,
reinforcing the perception that being left is some how bad.
Not off hand (re clips). Moreover, it was merely a general example – not a specific one.
Have you got any clips to prove it hasn’t worked on them?
To shame and embarrass them to win over the audience. How they feel is of no concern.
And no, you are full of excuses – see your posts above.
What else you got?
cite, pls. Or did you want her to “endorse his positions”, as hosking put it?
You’ve made the assertion that she could have stunned hosking and/or joyce into silence. You’re welcome to provide evidence that that has ever happened.
lol so basically your advice is for king to get the audience on her side. People who tune in to specifically watch hosking. Slight audience bias, there, easily covered by the bluster and confidence joyce and hosking exude.
Oh, sorry, that was a refernce to the real world again, so you’ll probably call it another “excuse”.
Of course not (as Hosking put it) That was most likely also part his stratagem. However, she could have handled far better, as I’ve already explained to you above.
The way she handled it also fell into his stratagem, handing him a larger stick to bash the left.
Therefore, you are now going over covered ground. Clearly, you’ve got nothing new to add
And again, it was a general example – not a specific one. As we also already covered.
You’re the one that specifically named Joyce and Hosking, implying its never worked on them, thus I called you out.
Now your speculating on who tunes in, hence I’m now also calling you on that too.
No, that was an example of you’re amateurish spin, which I just unspun and served back to you.
Too easy. Up your game.
You’ve outlined alternative ways she could have handled it. They were not ways she could have handled it “better”, for reasons I have already explained to you above.
Yes, I specifically named joyce and hosking, for the simple reason that they were the people she was facing. In order for her to deal with something “better” in that situation, it needs to work on them, not just “generally”. Again, a reference to the real world rather than an excuse.
Saying that people who tune in to watch hosking’s programme are tuning in to watch hosking’s programme is not speculation. It’s a statement of the obvious: the “audience” you wanted king to win over choose to tune in to hosking. Hosking is a rabid national party propagandist and I believe a former national party candidate, as well as a fuckwit. You wanted king to appeal to people who choose to tune in to watch that type of person. My speculation is that singing the internationale wasn’t going to do the job.
Yes. I did outline how. And explained why it was an improvement. Moreover, I fully countered your flawed reasoning on every point.
I know you named them. Hence, I called you out on it.
And you still haven’t shown that it wouldn’t have worked on them.
I also gave an example (the quick jab approach) which you conceded has worked on them. King just didn’t apply it well, thus fell into his stratagem.
Therefore, it’s time for you to front up.
You were speculating on the mindset of who tunes in – not the obvious, they’re tuning in to Hosking’s show, as you just spun.
Not everybody that tunes in has the same mindset as you incorrectly implied. I don’t support Hosking, but I tune in.
I wanted King to up her game and not fall into his stratagem, making the left look bad.
Here’s the thing: you reckon she could have done better against hosking and joyce in that conversation. Not some general hypothetical debate, you reckon she should have done better in that specific, precise circumstance.
So maybe you could demonstrate how your suggestions would be “better” in that precise, specific incident against those specific people, rather than pretending that naming the specific people in that specific situation is somehow a dirty trick to “call me out on”.
You talked about how she should have won the audience over in that specific conversation. The nature of that specific audience is therefore a reasonable factor to consider. You watched it. so did morrissey. Big deal. Surely it’s a reasonable assumption to assume the bulk of the audience were fans of the host, rather than frustrated lefties more eager to score points against Labour than the tories?
The one time she followed “your” strategem, you didn’t like the result. There’s no pleasing some people, I guess.
Indeed. We both know she could have done better. And how has been demonstrated/outlined above. She even used an approach I gave as an example. Which you went on to concede worked. However, her execution was flawed.
But this, is once again, all covered ground.
I didn’t say or pretend naming them was a dirty trick. That’s more of your lies and spin
I was calling you out on your claim that another of my examples wouldn’t have (because you implied it never has). Thus I called you on it.
Claiming I’m not in the real world or spinning it proves nothing. You’ re just wasting my time.
How about you cut the crap, front up and substantiate your claim. Or own that you’re wrong
The make up of the mindset of the bulk of the audience is anybodies guess. People may have tuned in because she was airing. Moreover,you went further than just assuming, thus I’m calling you on your claim.
You may be happy with a poor performance and making the left look bad. I know she is cable of better, thus expected better.
Do you work for her? You seem overly keen to defend her.
You want evidence that you live in a fantasy land? How about your repeated claims of what I do and do not know. Not only are those claims without basis, they frequently run contrary to everything I’ve said.
You want to know why I give a shit? I’m not employed by labour, anyone in labour, and I’m not employed to comment here. I give a shit because I think that the eternal bitching by self-loathing labourites is the haemorrhoids on the arsehole of the left. They profess genuine concern and a goodwilled desire for caucus to “improve”, but really they’re just throwing their toys out of the cot. Leadership and caucus can be huge puss-filled pimples on the face of Labour and the left, but some of the tories’ best allies are self-proclaimed lefties who whinge obsessively. In my opinion, anyway.
Well, considering I countered all your points thus far (and you even conceded to a couple) you should very well know. Therefore, your evidence doesn’t really stack up.
As for the rest of your post, it’s merely your opinion. And you know what they say about opinions? They are like assholes, everybody has one. And I just kicked yours.
[lprent: Claiming victory around here is dangerous. I like to exhibit it too. But I have more toolkit and I really don’t care about do the debating bit. I jump to you losing.
If you use anything like a pwned/owned strategy, I will happily demonstrate who always wins. It is the sysop, who has had to clean up too many flamewars caused by jumped up gits playing stupid debating games. Read the policy on flamewars. This is your only warning. Let me know when you have read this. It will be in auto-moderation. ]
OK.
By the way, I posted in a couple of other threads before reading this. Will they now be released? Or will I have to re-post them?
[r0b: released the commments, left automod on for lprent to decide.]
lprent
The OK was in reference to reading your warning.
Here’ my perspective.
You wanted me to engage more, thus I was. Countering points being made (debating).
Nevertheless, it takes two to participate in a so-called flame war. I don’t see McFlock being warned for his participation.
Furthermore, when ones opponent resorts to strawmans, spin and lies to points made, clearly they have no credible counter, thus are losing the debate. Hence, I wasn’t claiming victory, merely stating fact. Which surely isn’t against this site’s policy?
Therefore, now that this has been made clear, I would expect you (if you are balanced and reasonable) to reconsider and revoke the warning made.
[lprent: Don’t try to use strawman arguments on me! Read the warning. Nothing you said here has ANYTHING to do with that warning. I wasn’t talking about the conversation you were having. That was fine. You can argue that all you want.
What I warned you about was using pwned/owned arguments. That is a specific flamewar starter that I look for, and stomp on hard. You may have noticed that others don’t use it? There is a reason for that.
If you can’t read clear warnings, I will take what I consider is the appropriate action. ]
Additionally, people like me are beneficial to Labour. it allows them to covertly test voter support of their position (or newly considered policy) while gauging potential counters to positions being considered.
Allowing them to better counter things or improve them, before going public.
well, all that was your opinion, I guess.
Do you want to keep monday-morning-refereeing two short comments King made in a panel discussion, or are we done here?
Additionally, Annette is one that is capable of dishing it out. Unfortunately, she decided not too.
yup… when the left quietly aquiecse to the notion that left = bad… what hope?
What hope indeed.
Her response helped seal the perception Hosking was attempting to paint.
And we know Annette (a well seasoned MP) is more capable than that.
Q. – But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?
Answer: “Why not?”
The questioner then (I think) has no option but to list/rant various ‘outrageous positions’ .
Points can be agreed with, repudiated or ignored and at the end something like “So, we know you certainly don’t endorse him Mike…but that’s no surprise to anyone”, can be thrown in.
Take away confidence, insert fear or uncertainty (a constant state of affairs for the NZ Labour Party, it seems) – and you get something along the lines of what happened.
Jerry Seinfeld, Andrew Dice Clay and Sasha Baron Cohen eat your hearts out:
Here’s another insane right wing “comedian”.
Wayne Rogers used to play the part of Trapper John in the hit television show M*A*S*H. Trapper John was a funny, witty, nice guy. Wayne Rogers, on the other hand, is neither funny nor witty nor nice….
Fox Guest EXPLODES: Will You SHUP UP? You’re a MORON https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZH4xm8_SPw
Just when are farmers going to stop demanding to eat the environment?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/72042704/grasmere-station-owners-doing-everything-humanly-possible-to-limit-lake-pollution
Isn’t it clear that farming has ruined this lake in just the last recent years? Yet he wants to intensify further?
Do these guys have rocks in their heads or something?…. Listen to what the planet and people are telling you mr farmer….stop acting like a child …. stop and listen to what you are being told …..
… the land cannot be irrigated as it is way too sensitive. Stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Ffs.
… when will farmers learn to farm within the confines of their farm and their climate? If it is a dry place then farm as a dry place.
ffs, farmers attitudes and approaches drive me nuts with their square-peg-round-hole demands.
edit: whats the bet that the previous owners of this station always used to claim “blah blah we are custodians of the land and want to leave it better for the next generation blah blah”. All farmers do. Yet the evidence shows that farmers have NEVER left the land in a better condition for the future. Never. It is a lie. Proved by their own actions and results.
Yeah that one makes me see red too. I wonder how much is a result of 30 years of neoliberalism socialising people into an overdevelopped sense of entitlement. Adding that to the culture of importance within some farming sectors, plus the banks and farm advisors encouraging all their clients to see the environement in terms of profit, it’s a bad mix.
If you’ve done everything you can to protect the environment and you’re still polluting it, then you just have to stop farming.
edit: whats the bet that the previous owners of this station always used to claim “blah blah we are custodians of the land and want to leave it better for the next generation blah blah”. All farmers do. Yet the evidence shows that farmers have NEVER left the land in a better condition for the future. Never. It is a lie. Proved by their own actions and results.
There are whole systems of farming that address this, broadly called regenerative agriculture and holistic land management. Biodynamics and some organic farms too. The underlying ethos is that all practices have to build health in the land not deplete it ie there is a net increase. There are farmers in NZ already doing this, and there is no reason that we couldn’t be doing this en masse, apart from greed, ignorance, and the control that the banks and Fed Farmers have.
True and the only way that we will get the farmers doing sustainable farming is to legislate for it. The farmers will whinge for awhile but I think that they’d all come around eventually.
I also think we need to limit farming to ~15% of the land mass of the country and to suitable locations.
From the Conservatives youtube channel this morning…
https://youtu.be/_hgJokgNJHo
Ah, so the typical lies as can be expected from RWNJs.
An alternative view https://theintercept.com/2015/09/12/accusations-anti-semitism-jeremy-corbyn-nothing-anti-semitism/
a communist nazi saluting anti semite… someones must be quite scared
David Seymour tells students with anxiety and depression to harden up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/72050421/act-leader-david-seymours-harden-up-line-stuns-wellington-students
For a man who owes his job to the charity of the National party, he shows precious little charity of his own.
he has only just realised that he and his friends had advantages growing up… so one step at a time
The vulnerable are missing out.
Paula Bennett said more money would be pumped into social services if it was needed but she didn’t think funding was the issue.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72055569/government-needs-to-do-more-than-just-tinker-with-social-services–report
But haven’t reports cited low benefit payments as a contributing factor adding to social, health, and poverty problems? Therefore, isn’t more money needed?
Thoughts?
More money is needed but that means that the rich will have to pay more in taxes and wages and National won’t support that.
Not necessarily, the long-term savings in health and other related areas can offset an increase.
Moreover, there was little public outcry when National recently increase some benefits.
Labour should take note.
funding isn’t the issue if you cut off claims at the pass
National have openly stated they plan to reduce benefit numbers.
A Guardian short address on post capitalism by Paul Mason Journalist and very erudite and experienced observer.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/aug/12/paul-mason-capitalism-failing-time-to-panic-video
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mason_%28journalist%29
(Not the worlds previous fattest man!)
One on Jeremy Corbyn. Everyone knows who he is.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2015/sep/15/jeremy-corbyn-attacks-tory-welfare-bill-during-tuc-conference-video
Please sir Mr Lprent the side bar is only showing the feeds and no comments or replies.
Testing something to fix the feeds. Works in test site. Doesn’t work in actual site….
Ummmm…
From the US Federal Reserve today:
Debt ratios have reached extreme levels across all major regions of the global economy, leaving the financial system acutely vulnerable to monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, the world’s top financial watchdog has warned.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said the wild market ructions of recent weeks and capital outflows from China are warning signs that the massive build-up in credit is coming back to haunt, compounded by worries that policymakers may be struggling to control events.
“We are not seeing isolated tremors, but the release of pressure that has gradually accumulated over the years along major fault lines,” said Claudio Borio, the bank’s chief economist.
….So, if at all possible people, lower your mortgage, keep your cash savings high, and buckle in for the next really tough ride.
😉
BIS were v concerned right before the GFC hit in late 2007
Mission creep?
More troops to be sent to Iraq?
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/mp-more-troops-to-be-sent-to-iraq-2015091517#axzz3liP9e8pv
Will Max Key be signing on?
Of course he wont, like the Vietnam war all the fat cats made sure their kids were at College or somewhere to make sure they dodged the draft and did not have to attend that shit.
or John?
He still has contacts in Green, so at the very least, there is some out of schedule training going on similar to Predeployment training.
NZ Herald did a poll on Medical Cannabis, 70% support access to Medical Cannabis under strict conditions. I would take that as a win. Class B drugs by definition are strict anyway…..
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11512929
About bloody time. OK let me add more having now read article. What planet is the Minister on? Evidence, bloody nora, has he not heard of google, or indeed “The American Journal of the Medical Sciences”? What does a minister have to read? It seems not a lot these days.
Australia conducted their first air strikes in Syria.
Australians learned about the first strike via the American military.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/72102727/australia-bombs-islamic-state-in-syria
john keys style of transparency has arrived in oz. good luck cobbers…