WW3 on the horizon Hillary and the US military are itching to have a go at Russia and to try out their new toys, looks like Jill Stein is the only viable alternative?
Yes, but same as in NZ, not enough people are ready to vote that way yet. Stein won’t be president this time round, so as I understand it, people are safe to vote for her if not in marginal states, but if they are in marginal states they risk splitting the vote and giving the presidency to Trump. Which would be worse than Clinton. Whatever things we want to see changed in the world will be so much harder to achieve under a Trump presidency than a Clinton one.
thats just sad weka . your advice is dont vote for what you believe in so you acknowlege that there is no democracy and vote for statis quo, you are deluded if you think “what we want to see changed” is down that road
Yes, there is bugger all democracy in the US. I’m a pragmatic voter, and I vote in accordance with my ethics. If that means voting Clinton in order to further the Green Party and allied values, so be it. I’ve been in two minds about the whole thing and whether a protest vote and a Trump presidency was worth the risk, but I now believe that a Trump presidency will do so much damage to the culture that it will take years to undo and we simply don’t have that time.
At least with Clinton there will be room to be an activists and progress the most urgent issues. Under Trump I expect that to be actively oppressed. I suppose at that point one could argue that it’s better to let things get very bad in the short term in the hope that people will wake up, but I don’t believe people will wake up that way. The other argument is to let the US degenerate into a defacto civil war and maybe that will bring the empire down. Pretty risky strategy, but I’d be interested in hearing the argument.
Thanks weka thats a fair and reasoned argument. Interesting to hear jill stein views that voting for the lesser evil has been a “race to the bottom” . In my case i am not in any way promoting the idea that we should let thigs get worse to “wake people up”. But rather in clinton I see a guarantee of business as usual which I believe will destroy us. I am not supporting trump in any sense but what i do think is that he is unlikely to just do what he is told and I also believe that he owes a lot less “favours” (and that hillary is totally compromised on that front). So all of that is enough to make me really unsure what would be the best choice (if it was mine to make)
One of the first things the incoming National govt did in 1990 was cut funding to community groups (and ‘restructure’ what was left). I haven’t looked this up but I seem to remember that for instance they cut the Ministry of Women’s Affairs grants, which meant that the organisations doing the work on the fringes (where all good change arises) were screwed.
This isn’t a lesser of evils argument. This is a ‘we’re going to lose this vital aspect of our ability to effect change’ argument. And it’s not just funding. The activists I follow in the US are afraid that with Trump the lives of people already on the margins is going to get much much worse, and those are the communities that hold the activist heart.
Likewise in NZ, in 1990, it wasn’t just the cuts to funding, but it was cuts to benefits, so the people that were doing that activist work suddenly found their backs to the wall in their personal lives as well and unable to keep up with the work they were doing in the same way. I don’t think that was planned by National so much as a desirable side effect of their policies. With Trump it will be intentional.
You perhaps forget that it was the lessor of evil fourth labour government in 1984 that dismantled NZ government and established neoliberal corporate greed in its place ?
The fundimentals of all that you describe above were enacted by the fourth labour government and as NZ voters have chosen one or the other lessor evil for the last three decades. In each case the government has continued on that path
I’ve never voted Labour, always to the left. I’m not sure why you would think I forget about Labour in the 80s.
“The fundimentals of all that you describe above were enacted by the fourth labour government”
Actually, no. My point is that even under the worst that the neoliberal left does they still don’t directly try and suppress activism (although I’m sure someone will now be able to provide some examples). But now we are back to the lesser of evils argument. Given we can’t change the past, for where we are at now, in my politics protecting the people that are working for change is a very high priority. Otherwise we’re going down a deep dark hole worse than what is happening now.
It’s not that the things we want to change will be harder, it’s that change will happen in the wrong direction. Meaning there will be a lot of lost ground to make up when (if) things swing back to being able to move in a good direction.
I don’t have that much respect for Pilger these days. He quite obviously doesn’t understand rape culture and/or thinks it is unimportant (that’s based on his approach to the Assange situation).
Then I read things like this,
As presidential election day draws near, Clinton will be hailed as the first female president, regardless of her crimes and lies – just as Barack Obama was lauded as the first black president and liberals swallowed his nonsense about “hope”. And the drool goes on.
It’s just boring, superficial, ‘the liberals are useless’ type commentary. All he is doing there is exactly what pro-Trump or anti-Clinton people are accusing liberals of doing, creating divisions from the old mentality that if you want to change something you have to bash it (pretty much the kaupapa at the standard most of the time).
And this,
In the US, Bernie Sanders has promised to support Clinton if or when she’s nominated. He, too, has voted for America’s use of violence against countries when he thinks it’s “right”. He says Obama has done “a great job”.
FFS, Sanders was running for president, of course he is going to say Obama did a great job. If he came out and said that Obama is a war monger, he’d not get the nomination. Any person who becomes the president of the US is going to be a war monger, so now we are just back at the lesser of evils argument.
“Where are those who will shatter the silence? Or do we wait until the first nuclear missile is fired?”
In the age of the internet there is no silence. Silence is not the problem at this point.
I understand the issues that are behind some of the anti-Clinton arguments, and the pro-Trump ones. One of the things that has happened on ts is that the main person criticising Clinton has also been promoting Trump. That’s always going to be a problem on a left wing site. But worse, he’s done this in the context of a long history of trying to poison the well of his once natural allies. Lots of people here can’t stand the incessant hatred and I think that’s a big part of why the anti-Clinton argument gets combatted so strongly.
There are definitely moderate lefties here who will argue a pragmatic vote for Clinton line, and the ones I respect like McFlock and Lanth are a boon. If we had a different culture here, the conversation would have been going quite differently, and instead of the Trump-esque being forwarded, we would have learned some things and actually talked about what the issues are for Trump voters in the US and why they vote Trump.
We would also be having the conversation that Bill suggests, which is that lefties should be gearing up to put as much pressure on Clinton as possible assuming that she wins. Unfortunately I think what we can look forward to is more Trump-esque culture being pushed, and so expect people to react to that.
tl;dr, I understand the arguments you aand others are putting forward and I still disagree with you that voting Trump is a good thing to do. Further, I doubt that you understand why I think Trump would be more dangerous. Because of the current debate culture we haven’t really gotten to those conversations. Pity.
If you have gone off Pilger and Stein because they have done dilIgence on the Assange case then you need to do the same. Sorry i cant help you with that on this forum i dont intend to discuss that matter further with you until you have done so. For you to voice further uninformed prejudice will only further injustice. All i ask is that when you have become properly informed on Assange that you re-evaluate your opinions of Pilger and Stein
If you have gone off Pilger and Stein because they have done dilIgence on the Assange case then you need to do the same. Sorry i cant help you with that on this forum i dont intend to discuss that matter further with you until you have done so. For you to voice further uninformed prejudice will only further injustice. All i ask is that when you have become properly informed on Assange that you re-evaluate your opinions of Pilger and Stein
I haven’t gone off Stein due to the Assange case, in fact I haven’t gone off Stein at all. Please don’t misrepresent my views. And if you think me having some criticisms of some of the things Stein does = ‘gone off’ then you really are not listening to what I am saying.
I’ve engaged in good faith with you, but I note that you’ve come into this subthread, asked me to read something you recommended, and when I do and respond to that, in depth, you basically ignore my points and instead make out I am uniformed and prejudiced without backing that up. I’m well informed on the Assange case, having been debating about that on ts for years, and I don’t take kindly to people telling me that I’m ignorant just because I disagree with their position or politics.
(and, I seriously doubt that you have an analysis of rape culture and where Pilger fits into that, so don’t start lecturing me about being informed).
Argue the damn points, or by all means stop talking to me, because I’m sick of the whole trolly nature of people saying if you just read/watch what I do you will think like I do, instead of people being willing to debate their actual views.
Also, if you are going to accuse me of being uninformed or prejudiced then make a case for that. Otherwise it’s just an ad hom that wastes everyone’s time.
“I’m sick of the whole trolly nature of people saying if you just read/watch what I do you will think like I do, instead of people being willing to debate their actual views”.
+ 100 and something Paul should note he is also a pilger RT tragic
Ok i give it a go
1 loss of respect for pilger because he “dosnt understand rape culture based on his stance on assange” …… You have not availed yourself of the facts !
2 You reject identity politics and dont understand that it is just a kinder more caring left form of prejudice. … ok i think it is prejudice and agree with pilger that it is a significant part of the problem
3 agreed sanders as a democratic candidate had to follow party line
4 ad hominum rant … not going to engage with that
5 i would suggest that there is ample blame to share for the failure of this forum to have reasoned discussion of the likely outcome of trump or clinton victory and agree that a reasoned discussion of how we like minded (sort of) people might best respond in either case could be more encouraged
Ok i give it a go
1 loss of respect for pilger because he “dosnt understand rape culture based on his stance on assange” …… You have not availed yourself of the facts !
Yes, I have. I’ve had many many conversations here about Assange, and some of those have included people running rape apology lines quoting Pilger. So I followed their links and did the reading to see what was going on, and sadly Pilger was doing the same shit. Please note that I am not making a statement about the guilt or not of Assange, I am talking about the behaviour and politics of left wing people.
You can disagree with my conclusions about Pilger but you cannot claim that I am uninformed.
2 You reject identity politics and dont understand that it is just a kinder more caring left form of prejudice. … ok i think it is prejudice and agree with pilger that it is a significant part of the problem
If Pilger is against identity politics that’s another good reason to not respect him now. We will have to agree to disagree on the value of identity politics, but I will point out that I think it’s the underlying basis of the bad blood on ts at the moment. I don’t hold out much hope for CV, but there are others, yourself included, where we might find some common ground or at least some better understanding.
5 i would suggest that there is ample blame to share for the failure of this forum to have reasoned discussion of the likely outcome of trump or clinton victory and agree that a reasoned discussion of how we like minded (sort of) people might best respond in either case could be more encouraged
Nice 🙂
“whats tl;dr ?”
too long; didn’t read. It’s usually just a summation of what someone was trying to get across.
Once upon a time before i ever engaged with this forum i found myself in the position of having to take a stance or not on the Assange case. I did what was required of me which was due diligence i sought out as many original source documents as i could find, not media reports of, but actual source and you will be suprised as i was just how many actual reliable first hand documents there are on this matter. On the basis of this information i formed an opinion. Now i am not going to argue this with you but I can catagorically state that in my informed opinion you weka based on your statements posted on this site are not in posession of the information availiable. i simply do not believe you have done diligence on this. Take it or leave it but that is my informed opinion.
Do you get that I don’t have a position on the Assange case, and that all my comments in reference to the Assange case are about rape culture and the behaviour of lefties. What do you think that means?
Nonsense….. if “Pilger does not understand rape culture on the basis of his stance on the Assange case” then you are making an uninformed judgment on Assange. Thats just misdirection ,…. and prejudice
A correct conclusion reached via an invalid path can still draw criticism for that path. If you ask me “what’s two plus two” and I say “my car has four wheels, so four”, wouldn’t you criticise my methodology even though the answer is correct?
Weka’s comment was on the path the pilger has taken to try to persuade people that Assange is a victim. Regardless of whether Assange is actually innocent, pilger’s comments (which I haven’t read recently so won’t comment on) apparently struck Weka as being typical rape apology lines.
“giving the presidency to Trump. Which would be worse than Clinton”
It appears Ms Stein does not agree with your analysis, at least in respect of who is likely the more dangerous war-mongerer of the two. She clearly sees Trump as the safer option. From 2.10 in the clip…
Haven’t watched the whole thing, but basically she is saying vote for her. She’s not saying if you don’t vote for me vote for Trump, which is what my comment was about.
Obviously she has to say vote for her, but if people in marginal states vote for her and as a result the presidency goes to Trump, my points above about activism, including peace movement, anti-nuclear etc will get harder.
It still gobsmacks me that people trust what Trump says about his foreign policy intentions.
(and Stein is not without her blindspots in areas either).
Stein’s comments about right-wing extremism growing out of the policies of the Clintons is very relevant to your observations about what the nats did in the 1990s. Either silence and even at times support from the opposition gave the right a heck of a head start when it comes to how culture has changed in NZ.
Yes, that is of course self-evident, but I was referring more to the tag-team they’ve both become since then. That’s how the culture has shifted so dramatically and what has no doubt played such a large part in the rise of Key as a phenomenon.
@Paul – it’s being spinned various ways as being pro immigration as well as curbing immigration in the media. Like Labour and the TPPA, think it is a middle of the road policy that might not appeal to either. (Too far or not far enough).
With the lack of jobs and lack of job conditions and the burden on our health and social welfare system, feel that 1% or approx 45,000 new migrants per year is still too much immigration.
Also concerned at the amount of political donations being given to pro immigration policy. AKA the Nats and Phil Goff for his Mayoral run.
We need a radical rethink of the NZ economy. Are we just going to be a giant house building and milk and log economy being asset stripped, or can a political party think bigger than that and have a vision of the new local and sustainable economy?
Personally think Labour and Greens are so busy focusing on point issues on a day to week basis they are failing to unite under a bigger vision of a change of direction for New Zealand.
It is a vision that will get people to the polls (even if that vision is just Change the government).
My view is the best Green campaign was the one with the Kids next to the forests and in nature.
Can’t even think of the last good Labour campaign… But I do think the Helen Clark approach of having a killer policy (Interest free student loans etc) has been mimicked by the Natz (Tax Cuts, more tax cuts, oh did I say Tax cuts?). So Labour will not win on that, they need to unite people against National with an alternate vision for New Zealand. (p.S Work longer and harder and have more taxes for middle NZ was not a Vote Positive, last election).
Personally think Labour and Greens are so busy focusing on point issues on a day to week basis they are failing to unite under a bigger vision of a change of direction for New Zealand.
I don’t think either of them see a real need for a real change.
Labour has always been a pro-capitalist party and probably always will be.
The Greens see a need to protect the environment, make life better for the majority even if that costs the rich but they still seem to be hanging on to capitalism and even consumerism (ie, promoting electric cars).
Labour need a plan otherwise they are just looked as a light weight version of National or as Ron Marks NZF states Red and Blue, just like Pepsi and Coke there is no difference?
I think NZF will get 15-20% of the vote unless MSM do another snow job/dirty tricks job on Winston like the Nats have done at previous elections, at least he knows what he is talking about and isn’t a show pony like our current PM?
Well he does understand quite a lot about how corruption and injustice is carried forward in NZ. He has had a heck of a immersive education on this over the last five years. his involvement would be a (desperately needed) boost for democracy
Even if he wins the extradition case he still won’t cause the nats any trouble. It’d be great if he did but he’s got no idea about strategy – the way he personally fronted the Internet/Mana campaign for example, and doesn’t seem to deliver on anything big that he promises. I’ve got nothing against the guy and hope he deals to the US government, and I know the media went to town on him as soon as the image of folklore hero wore off, but as far as politics goes he just ain’t got it.
I have to agree. The fact that he tweets that he is going to do something but won’t tell us what it is suggests he didn’t learn what a huge fuck up the moment of truth was (we still haven’t had an explanation afaik). Whatever goodwill or interest that was on the left I think is largely gone. I also hope he doesn’t get extradited and fuck the US prosecutors, but this looks like another ego trip and self-serving. He’s live in NZ long enough to know that money can’t buy everything, but here he goes again.
If you close down the discussion about immigration citing racism, you are suppressing the issues or making them simplistic. Immigration and Globalism are linked and Globalism is being used to drive 21st century society, but is it the right direction or is it propping up neoliberalism which would fail without globalism?
i.e. Is immigration being used as a vehicle to cannibalise people into commodity by plussing and misusing more people into and out of countries?
The other interesting thing about immigration is that New Zealand has one in four of its population born in another country while one in four people born in New Zealand (who are still alive) live abroad.
Why do one in four New Zealanders live abroad? Are our most educated forced to live elsewhere and grow other countries economies because our short sighted anti science, anti arts, anti intellectuctual government policies and poor wages and conditions mean that they can’t work in this country?
Is it a problem, we replace them with chefs and Kiwi fruit pickers who need government subsidy for the employer low wages and then wonder why we have poor productivity?
Are we so busy trying to make a profit from university education for foreign students we fail to concentrate on NZ students quality education and enabling them to stay in the country with a decent job and prospects?
Very few good jobs in NZ for qualified people we do not have the critical mass here, most of our NZ owned companies have collapsed or have been taken over by multi nationals. The current Government would rather companies import cheap overseas third world product ie railway wagons from China rather than manufacture here in NZ.
Very few good jobs in NZ for qualified people we do not have the critical mass here
That’s the myth that used to stop us developing our economy but it is just that – a myth. If we have the productivity available so that all other necessary products are available with spare labour and resources left over then we can do it.
And we do have that productivity and those resources available.
Once you start looking at the economy in physical terms then whole new vistas open up and we find that we’re not as constrained as the capitalists would like us to believe.
So, why do the capitalists want us to believe that we’re constrained, that we’re poor when we’re not?
IMO, it’s because that artificial constraint allows them to be rich in the first place.
Personally think the ‘we don’t have the critical mass’ here to create well paid jobs is a croc….
It’s not about quantity it is about quality.
We can never compete with China and India for a low wage economy, even if we keep up record immigration. We need to ditch the low wage economy and go high tech, high creativity, high wage economy.
Nowadays we don’t even need physical products, books can be down loaded, IP can be down loaded, and so forth.
I’m against the TPPA for many reasons, but it also will discriminate against Kiwis for IP and enable the giants to gain monopolies. It will kill the new economy.
Are our most educated forced to live elsewhere and grow other countries economies because our short sighted anti science, anti intellectuctual government policies and poor wages and conditions mean that they can’t work in this country?
Pretty much.
There was a lot of hope in the 1960s and even 1970s about manufacturing high tech stuff and not just being a farm. That hope got lost in the 1980s. It seems to be coming back slowly now but it’s pretty much along the lines that if you want to do anything that even mildly challenging then you have to leave the country as our ‘leaders’ keep doing the cheap stuff rather than the pushing the hard investment to build our economy.
Lets face it, we cannot rely upon the private sector to provide anything without taking us to the cleaners. And even then we may not get it.
“The regions need jobs to boost their economies”
What type of jobs?
Just moving the government out there isn’t really going to cut it. What we should be looking at is R&D and manufacturing hubs. Look to extraction and processing of the resources we have in NZ as well. And, no, don’t sell them. Extract silicon, turn it into silicon chips and then sell it. This is what the government should be doing.
The government funds the R&D and builds the factories to produce electronics here. We do not sell those factories. Instead, we allow anyone to produce whatever they design in them for a small fee. Same way that China and Taiwan produce electronics under license.
Having them here and owned by the government does two things:
1. It forces us to do R&D to keep them current
2. It provides access for NZ electronics innovators to produce next generation stuff without having to sell out to offshore companies just to get their stuff made. Which means the profits stay here as well.
Do that across many, if not all, industries and we’ll start to see our economy develop. After thirty years of privatisation we know that leaving it to the private sector won’t do that.
It is a lot easier to just lease out your fishing quotas which were gifted by the Government rather than do the fishing and processing yourselves, and it is a lot easier to sell whole logs rather than processing here in NZ, likewise easier selling whole carcasses of meat rather than further processing. Selling whole milk powder is a lot easier than further processing into wholesale or value added products.
NZ Government and businessmen are not interested in producing value added product, New Zealand has never had a long term growth strategy apart from selling State Assets and borrowing from the US Bankers and the Federal Reserve?
Look what happened to the Railways and the BNZ when they got into private hands, the BNZ was a gold plated business which was virtually stripped overnight by the Merchant Bankers. The Rural Bank was virtually given away by the Government-mindless stuff?
I would force corporations who do not
pay their taxes
pay living wages
compensate for the damage (their externalities) they cause to society.
to exit New Zealand.
Lets see how long you stay in government after you force Google, Facebook, Apple, etc to leave New Zealand.
Given that they pay taxes on their NZ PROFITS (not revenue that is so often quoted) how can you bitch about their taxes – without looking ill informed (hint – you didnt). Where are all the profits on the southern cross cable? – are they all in NZ? – oops – lets stop that as well.
Oil companies pay alot of their tax overseas also – so lets close down those pesky petrol stations.
Pay living wages – really? You are going to force that on multinationals ignoring NZ companies (like some owned by posters on here who cannot pay a “working wage”?
Part of me says thank God you arnt in government – the other part of me wishes you were because National would be in power for a generation.
Well jimbo, you change the law to prevent the exportation of preprofit revenue. So ‘licensing fees’ and ‘loan repayments’ are sourced from profits rather than being used to lower profits.
“If you close down the discussion about immigration citing racism, you are suppressing the issues or making them simplistic.”
I’m not suggesting that save. I’m saying that we can (theoretically at least) have a discussion about immigration that avoids racism. That was an invitation to have a discussion about immigration that avoids racism, and inherent in that is that we need to be more careful about how we say things and look at our own prejudices.
I have not owned a car for six years – although this is an easier decision for me than for others due to excellent public transport where I live.
Given the ever increasing demand for oil, diesel and petrol in NZ, is it enough to rely on environmentally concerned people to stop driving cars?
If we have to rely on people’s choice there has to be a massive change in current thinking. I see a focus on public transport from the Greens, but nothing much more from across the political spectrum about how we curtail demand.
I definitely don’t think it is enough on its own (see my posts on climate change for other ideas), and I didn’t suggest stopping driving cars. But I do think that at some point those of us calling for change have to make the connection between that and our own behaviour.
It reminds me of all the protests around industry when I was younger e.g. people not wanting wood processing plants in their neighbourhood. But very few people were making the connection between that and them living in houses made of processed timber. When we start making those connections and acting on them, then we will see faster change than replying on the government to sort it out. They’re trailing, we’re leading, and they will follow when we get it right.
How many of the people here in these conversations who want urgent action on CC are limiting how much they drive? I think a fair few are, and I think there are also people who want to keep their lifestyles and have other people make the changes for them. We don’t have time for that.
People using Park and Ride have been pinged for more than $1 million in fines in the past five years.
(Just another way to encourage people to use public transport sarc. Great spot to target the poor for fines as well!)
Apparently P&R are often full by 7am. One would think this would mean AT would try to make more space so that they can get more commuters on public transport.. I guess if commuters find there is no space they just drive into work and don’t use the public transport or park illegally and have to pay the fine.
AT are actually doing quite a bit to make public transport in Auckland better – but it’s going to take time after decades of there not being enough investment to even maintain it never mind to actually expand it.
Of course, they still need to flip from focussing on cars to focussing on public transport but that has a lot to do with the governments and how they dictate how money will be spent.
AT being in the news for their corrupt culture and targeting WOF checks at P&R (for the working poor who can’t afford a warrant) isn’t really the way to go. As is chopping down the Pohutakawa six and prosecuting people for road vege and plants, not a good look.
Oh and there is the lack of public transport – not sure how long AT has been going but there is probably better public transport in practically every other city in the world. Even third world countries have better public transport than we have. Yes its government, but it is also local government’s fault.
I didn’t say that they were perfect, just that they had been working hard to improve public transport in the city but it will take time after decades of neglect.
(Interesting article about Ken Loach and his life, including how he was bought up a Tory, never questioned it until going to university, had many of his films banned at one point and was in middle class poverty, made a commercial for McDonalds and the death of his son and his views on the UK Labour party).
Thanks for that. Perhaps you’ve seen this classic clip of Ken Loach at his brilliant best, reducing one of Thatcher’s former henchmen to gibbering, incoherent fury….
Why I have trouble believing Andrew Little on child poverty
by Janet McAllister, The Spinoff, October 12, 2016
When it comes to cutting the granite rock of child poverty, it takes a lot more than a plastic pair of pinking snips. These are the reasons that Andrew Little hasn’t (yet) convinced me he’s serious about ensuring poor kids can eat and stuff.
He didn’t mention money
Families are poor because they don’t have enough money. It’s not because somehow, randomly, this generation is more financially feckless than any other. The gaps between rich and poor are growing so fast even the OECD, not the most rabidly pinko outfit, is telling us we need to redistribute more wealth.
One reason families don’t have enough money is because family welfare hasn’t kept pace with other sources of income. For example, here’s a graph from the Ministry of Social Development, showing average household earnings rising on a lovely steady slope for the past 30 years while sole parent support (the benefit formerly known as the DPB) and other benefits got cut in Ruth Richardson’s “Mother of All Budgets” era and have mostly been flatlining since then.
Being sceptical about Andrew Little does not imply one is a supporter of the National Party, just as detesting that war-monger Hillary Clinton does not make one a Trump supporter.
Although the writer makes a point, why beat up Andrew Little instead of National, The Maori Party and UNF for poverty?
My point is that there seems to be an agenda there by Spinoff writers. They are the youth Herald luring them in just like Slater lures in the punters with pro smoking and bike type stories and plants his ideas…
They are getting them in with younger graphics but it’s pretty similar shit to Granny under the covers. RHOA, anti Green while pretending to be Green, and solving poverty by more development, more blame and immigration.
The worst thing that could happen to Labour is that they destabilise the leader… so articles that doing that are helping National the most.
If MSM had not destabilised and smeared David Cunliffe last election Labour might have won. Apparently there was only about 10,000 votes in it. And 1 million people were put off voting.
Hear, Hear, Save nz. David was the only one Labour has with the nous and acumen to beat Key. He was destroyed by Dirty Politics and Labours ABC club of neolibs and, as you say , our pathetic media.
There’s no mystery. The article is a reply to a column published at the Spinoff by Andrew Little about child poverty.
A lot is being made about the Spinoff endorsing Bill Ralston over Mike Lee, but they explained themselves very clearly: they were endorsing candidates based on their support for the Unitary Plan.
They also endorsed Phil Goff and semi-endorsed Chloe Swarbrick, City Vision’s Cathy Casey, the Greens’ Julie Zhu and Richard Leckinger, Labour’s Efeso Collins, Alf Filipaina and Ross Clow, Penny Hulse, and semi-endorsed our own Greg Presland.
One of the reason’s that Labour are losing so many votes is that they excuse and work with the enablers…
And there was an interesting analysis done on how the balance of council power would have been right if Ralston had got in. Development focus and endorsements and supporting a National loving right wing politically connected MSM candidate than supporting a left wing, public servant shows the political and focus of the Spinoff.
BTW – the unitary plan has not helped poverty and the homeless. Affordable housing was removed from the unitary plan.
Maybe you love the Spinoff – but left wing politically it is not. And there are better things to read like http://werewolf.co.nz
Mike Lee has done some good things during his long council career. However, the way he behaved over the Unitary Plan has really blotted his copybook with focused groups like Generation Zero. That is all The Spinoff’s associated coverage reflected: on urban planning and transport, Lee’s recent stances resulted in low scores. He wasn’t being assessed as a ‘left-wing public servant’.
The Unitary Plan (held up in court by coastal nimbys) can’t fix poverty – for that, we need to change the government. And for that, we need smarter analysis than has been offered up by too many on the left for the last 9 years.
Yep and we have Ralston to the rescue – sorry not buying that today.
No ones saying Lee is perfect, but Ralston to the rescue… Spinoff and their supporters showed where they stand. As long as Auckland gets developed and their mates make money, they will back any political figure. It’s not about poverty, it’s not about affordability, it is about development and less regulation for that development.
That’s the success of Nat Lite policy. You have Act, you have the Natz, on the right wing MSM and to make sure they surround the marketing messages you have Spinoff trying to get Labour and the Greens all singing from the same song sheet on issues with very small differences so there is not much alternative.
As for generation zero, anyone can put up a website and claim to want to reduce carbon admissions… maybe half of them are there of the right reasons, but what is the end result they are advocating? Are they just mimicking right policy with greenwashing?
The National government claim to be green and supporting the poor all the time. Gen Zero claim to support youth, and its so handy that they are a group supporting the developers and working with PPP’s too! That way MSM can do their interviews with lobby groups that ‘appear’ to support a broad range of ages and views.
Go cycling. Go PPP’s. Go unitary plan!
After all that where are we on climate change? Any closer, sorry need a more radical plan than that and there needs to be real support for the environment not a bunch of marketing saavy young lobbyists talking to other lobbyists and pretending to support younger people through development.
Also did not see anything about increased solar panels in the unitary plan… one of the apparent missions of generation zero is independence from fossil fuels. Bit of glaring oversight.. and could easily have been put in. Just like affordable housing.
So the rampant lobbyists for climate change seem to politically pushing through legalisation but does not really seem to helping climate change…
Plenty of scope for candidates to talk about solar energy in their survey. Not as if GenZero were the ones writing the Unitary Plan. Picking the right targets is another thing the left needs to get way better at.
Even a cursory glance shows a huge gap between what Gen Zero are doing and RW CC policy in NZ. I think you are conflating RW with neoliberal. Gen Zero generation are the children of Rogernomics. They’ve adapted. I have some problems with what they do, but they are the progressive people of privilege who are actually doing something about CC other than demanding that something be done. Yes, they will use neoliberal tools, not least because the left doesn’t offer them anything to work with.
Weka they are a lobby group. But I agree they are a few of the children of Rogernomics who are adapting. Maybe they are well meaning.
But the planet is lost if Gen zero is considered the standard for how youth to see Green issues only as something like putting in SkyPath that it is a PPP and charges cyclists and walkers.
In that way, I think they are dangerous to the Green movement as they want so little and what little they want is compromised. And because they are so Green Lite they are celebrated by the MSM and council as looking like they are addressing issues, that they are not.
I wouldn’t say GZ are the standard, so much as they are the more visible ones because of their privilege.
Can you link to the pay for cycle path thing?
I would probably agree with you their danger to the Green movement, except NZ had a long time to get behind the Greens in parliament and it’s only since the Greens have become more mainstream that they’ve made more headway. In other words, I think GZ are a reflection of where we are as a society, and the consequences of neoliberalism.
I also think that place like ts are not going to appeal to GZ (or many Greens) because the culture here is pretty toxic, so in that sense we can’t collaborate and cross-pollinate. If we want to make change we have to work together and I think that means not writing off groups because they have a different culture.
Making Skypath user-pays is not Gen Zero’s idea. It’s a result of council and govt agencies refusing to pay fairly for all modes. And you’re being ridiculous to claim GenZero is only focused on the North Shore or the inner isthmus.
Gen Zero is actually taking youth votes away from the Green party, because they are really supporting National party policy but through a Green washed Lens. One way to reduce Green messages is to flood the market so that everything is Green, climate change becomes something that a paid cycleway can fix.
The reply button to you is not working but here is the link to Gen Zero who are lobbying for the PPP Skypath.
I think a pathway is a great idea. I just don’t agree with the funding of it as why should cyclists and walkers pay? How is that helping fossil fuel reduction and is that fair?
+1 I agree with your assessment people of privilege … likewise their campaigns for cycle tracks end at Pt Chev and their focus on transport is the North Shore.
They want congestion charging because they don’t live past zone 2 and not sure what happens out on the far reaches of the super city.. not hipster people like them.
I don’t know Auckland very well, so always good to have things like that pointed out. Yes, middle class and liberal is how I would describe it, and I do think they are well meaning. I come out of a solid upper middle class, liberal family and one of the core characteristics is the disconnect from what life is like for people that don’t have that privilege. Even though I was quite political, I didn’t start to understand until my early 20s when I was working with working class women. Big learning curve, but even now decades later, and an adulthood of stepping in and out of the underclass myself, I can see there is still so much I don’t get simply due to lack of experience and exposure. For the people I know that have never had to step out of their privilege I think for the most part they just don’t get it.
I don’t know what to do about that, other than push the politics of identity, because that is where people tend to wake up.
No it’s more subtle than that. They are just using the Green issues for their own purposes but not in a community way in a lobbyist way to promote themselves and get sponsorship deals and give media interviews and MSM are picking them up as ‘the green voice of youth’. It’s just social facilitation and fabrication. We saw that in the unitary plan, where all media was about implementing the unitary plan and there was zero space given to putting in real green issues and alternatives. I mean National’s big thing when they got elected was the National cycleway but that does not make them a carbon friend of the environment.
” No it’s more subtle than that. They are just using the Green issues for their own purposes but not in a community way in a lobbyist way to promote themselves ”
That would be a fair descrption of the green party
The unitary plan is more of the same anti-democratic rubbish we are getting from all form of government these days. Show me in the plan where people are actually listened too? Oh you can’t, because once again its more of the top down we know better – lies and shrill we get feed all the time.
I for one, am sick and tired of technocratic know it all’s. Society run this way is an abject failure. No wait – some wingnut will come and say it’s all good, and I’m just complaining. Or worse, someone who is supposedly on the left will…
“Janet McAllister is happily semi-retired without the assets. She writes theatre reviews for NZ Herald and Cultural Baggage columns for Metro magazine.”
“Harvard University just got a $10 million grant to study Black poverty in Boston area. The dining hall staff are on strike for living wages.” tweet from Bill Humphrey.
+1 Gangnam Style – our brave new world, the elite are fighting poverty so hard… just keep writing those 8 figure checks, eventually they will find a way to ‘afford’ to pay living wages…
What confuses me is that I come to The Standard for left wing analysis and comment and am confronted with a right wing rape apologist as a contributor.
I mean, if CV had just shown up yesterday would his rhetoric be tolerated in this fashion?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[putting my moderator hat on, that comment did step over the bounds in terms of attacking an author on their own post. As I say below, if you want to talk about left wing debate on ts in general, better to do it in OM, and please bear in mind that there are very good reasons for not attacking authors – weka]
IMO no. But authors are highly valued on principle (the site wouldn’t exist without them) and so there is a general rule against attacking them. Better to just have a go at the arguments, including where they are disingenuous and misleading as in this case.
The other option is to put our energy into supporting the posts that we like. Tell the authors that you enjoy that you like their posts, and why, and encourage them to write more. Comment on their posts more than you do on these ones.
I share your frustration though.
edit, if you want to talk about the general state of left wing debate on ts, please take it to Open Mike.
It can be a fine line sometimes, but I think calling an author a rape apologist under a post where there is nothing about rape apology (haven’t read the post, am guessing) steps over the line (despite him running rape apology lines elsewhere). If there was rape apology in the post, then point that out and make comment on it first. Likewise any other politics going on e.g. right wing. That’s how I see it, other moderators/authors might see it differently.
I think what CV is doing is damaging the community, but there are limits to what can be done about that I’m afraid. The commentariat does have some power in this though too.
I also think that the value of the site is being undermined by the amount of rape apology and subsequent arguing going on, but ts doesn’t have a very good reputation on that score anyway, and it’s part of a much bigger problem here.
Micky is solidly left wing and has a post up today. Just saying 😉
I understand and apologies if I overstepped the mark.
If I were so inclined could I at some time in the future submit a piece? If I found the time of course
Definitely! Make the time*, we need some new blood 🙂 Once you have something ready, drop a comment in front of me or one of the other authors and we will work from there (emailing the main contribution email doesn’t always work). Feel free to do a draft and ask for feedback on that too, there are some editorial type boundaries to consider. cheers.
*what I find is that if I stop commenting for a while time magically appears 😉 Often what I am writing in comments can be made into a post anyway.
I would like to read something from you if you do find the time.
I share your frustration with the way CV has started to dominate so much dialogue on the Standard. There have always been right wingers commenting here but there used to be a lot more left wing voices to counter their views. Quite a few of the people I enjoyed reading seem to have given up. Their reasons for doing so will be varied, I suspect.
I gave up engaging with CV a long time ago – I treat him the same as the more rabid right wingers (don’t feed the troll). Occasionally I will respond to one of his acolytes but it isn’t really worth the bother. I never read his posts, and I don’t bother even scrolling through the comments if I see by the side bar that he is dominating the conversation on anybody else’s posts.
Nearly everybody else who writes a post here puts up something worth reading so I do still look at the Standard a couple of times a day. There is no doubt , however, that CV devalued this site for me.
+100 CV…if you are pushed off this site i will happily go with you ( I waste too much of my valuable time here)
…you are one of the reasons I come here ( and imo you are more Left and more genuinely for women’s rights to speak out , than many here ie you are more of a Feminist imo)
…I also suspect the bullying attacks on you from some quarters are one reason people are staying away…some who don’t generally contribute have come out and defended you
…and why these personal attacks …???….imo because you are very effective, well read, articulate and intelligent
…as yu know i dont always agree with you on certain issues, but we can disagree vigorously and generally I can learn from your point of view
…and you are certainly never bullying or abusive when in disagreement…so I am never intimidated as I am with some here
Please do. What I have seen of your blogs, you would make a very good contributor. I possibly will disagree with you, but I am sure any post by you will be of a high standard. As Weka said “we need new blood”
Good points Karen – it’s the blatant dishonesty that irks me the most. I just can’t take anything cv says seriously – too far gone imo and puffed up with pride in the infallibility of his views. Still it takes all sorts so we just get on with it.
That’s not really a very fair characterisation though. If for the sake of argument CV wasn’t here, there would still be a wide variety of opinion from the regulars. Just because many of us are fucked off with CV’s behaviour doesn’t mean we all think alike or say the same stuff.
CV used to have some valid points on many issues. Now he’s a sloganeer on some pretty fucked up politics and the good stuff he says in amongst that gets drowned out by the bullshit. The degree to which he now mirrors the values and behaviours of Trump is pretty disturbing. I don’t mean he is like Trump as a person (he’s not), but that the misleading and disingenuous stuff alongside the slogans just looks creepy when it’s in the context of promoting Trump.
At a point people chose whether to listen or not. We each have our own point. If I want rwnj arguments I can go to those sites. I don’t, that is why I’m here
Myself I’d call him alt-right rather than RW. And he’s definitely running lines against the left and it’s range of politics, which is what I think marty meant.
I’m going to call bullshit on this talk of CV being right wing.
I think he, like many of us, are fed up with the Labour caucus. Since 1984 we’ve been waiting for the Labour Party to apologise for Rogernomics and to amend it’s ways. To hell with trying to please the middle ground – that just leaves us with the wafflers we’ve got now.
I think CV’s stand against the current Labour crowd is totally justified and he is probably the most competent writer on this site.
This world is changing faster than ever before and needs new enlightened approaches, not a bunch of National lite drivel to placate the ‘middle’.
But there are so many other tension points and divisions in politics than only with the alt-right (CV), and the dumb-right (BM), and that’s the problem. The debate has become pretty narrow here at the Standard and for that reason I can understand people’s frustration.
I appreciate it when you make comments like this Karen, because I too think people are leaving for at least in part those reasons. If you have posts/topics you’d like to see, please say. Can’t guarantee they will happen, but it’s good to know what people want to read. Otherwise we’re just judging off where the commenters go and that’s not necessarily a useful thing to do.
I’d call CV hard left. And I’d call AD centre right. And in my view if Labour placed itself between CV and AD in it’s policies (and I think both used or currently volunteer for Labour, but may be wrong) they would be a lot more appealing to the missing voters.
It’s people like james who are more a waste for me as they would never vote left in a million years, so why post here.
I think CV is proposing to vote NZF. If he was in the US it’d be Trump. Those aren’t the votes of someone on the hard left. CV himself says he’s not left wing.
Pretty sure Ad votes on the left, so calling him centre right only makes sense if you shift the Overton window and don’t take into consideration the last 30 years 😉 Which might be a valid thing to do but it’s not conducive to good communication.
CV does not identify as left. He has reiterated that recently so he is a long long way from hard left. This is just the way it is. I accept his own description of himself – good on him for being honest about that I say.
When did CV say he might vote Green? I know he has voted Mana in the past but he’s said to me repeatedly he wouldn’t vote Green because it’s not s good cultural fit. Voting Green seemed the best political fit for him until this year.
CV hard left? You must be joking.
I can see how someone could have thought CV was left wing a year ago but for quite some time now I would have to say Weka’s assessment as alt-right is spot on.
Funny you should mention Stein, because one of the things that makes him more alt right is his views on gender and other identity politics. I’d agree with you that historically many of the policies he supports are left, but in recent times that seems outweighed by the fact that Trump is a better cultural fit.
why post here – sorry if you like an echo chamber of only people who go “key bad” “left good”. But I come on here to engage with a few post and to laugh at stupid comments some make.
It was a dull troll post the first time it was first put up.
James a man happy to defend a government responsibility a surge in homelessness, declining workers rights and poverty.
What do you stand for?
If you try to reply to the post as opposed to deflecting and asking me questions, it will probably get you better replies.
Whats trolling about it – Kim Dotcom is saying that hes back with another election plan.
Im just saying it worked so well last time – and now he’s even less popular. It can only be good for National. Personally I hope he joins up with Mana again.
Your extreme right wing politics suggest you are a fool, but if you can’t see that commenting on Kim Dotcom is trolling, there is little hope.
I have no intention of discussing distraction topic points of a rwnj, when there are clearly more important issues to discuss.
And you know that.
Hmm i am not so sure….. if lab/grn continue to believe that dotcom is a bigger threat to them then nats then James is probably correct, however it they come to their senses maby not
” trolling
Being a prick on the internet because you can. Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent by-stander, because it’s the internet and, hey, you can. ”
“Being a prick on the internet because you can. Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent by-stander, because it’s the internet and, hey, you can. ”
You mean like OAB the other day telling Dr Wayne Mapp that he can “Fuck off”..?
Don’t bother, I’ve found the original file and as usual, a selectively quoted lie.
It’s symbolic and it’s not going to go away. They’re all hanging on to it. So you know Bernie Sanders is getting lots of support from the most radical environmentalists because he’s out there every day bashing the Keystone pipeline. And, you know, I’m not into it for that. I’ve been– my view is I want to defend natural gas. I want to defend repairing and building the pipe lines we need to fuel our economy. I want to defend fracking under the right circumstances. I want to defend, you know, new, modern [inaudible]. I want to defend this stuff. And you know, I’m already at odds with the most organized and wildest. They come to my rallies and they yell at me and, you know, all the rest of it. They say, ‘Will you promise never to take any fossil fuels out of the earth ever again?’ No. I won’t promise that. Get a life, you know. So I want to get the right balance and that’s what I’m [inaudible] about– getting all the stakeholders together. Everybody’s not going to get everything they want, that’s not the way it’s supposed to work in a democracy, but everybody needs to listen to each other.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
“Since May 2015, the Step Up Taranaki Trust has been touring the region, capturing scenes of people dancing to the Patea Maori Club’s hit song Poi E.”
Nothing like a bit of cultural colonisation to sell NZ to the world. Mr Key features in it, can’t get to Waitangi this year, but happy for the video cameo.
Must be the kind of charities Key is thanking, since they have their funding cut some of these services will have to go back to volunteering their services.
A third of all budget advisory services to get their funding cut.
“Christian Assist manager Ken Ogden said his trust would probably give up its current office in Avondale and revert to the way it started in 1991 as a volunteer-based agency operating from a local church.”
The thing about the WikiLeaks emails: they're releasing innocuous stuff to build their credibility. https://t.co/Gc8nEKwHwP— IG Admin Audit (@OnTacticsBook) October 15, 2016
Then, once you're primed to believe them, they'll release a fabricated bombshell. This is old school Russian agitprop.— IG Admin Audit (@OnTacticsBook) October 15, 2016
The Clinton Campaign knows this, and they're trying to short circuit it with this essay.— IG Admin Audit (@OnTacticsBook) October 15, 2016
4,723,900 people in New Zealand. Quite a change from 2014. Thousands who voted in 2014 have died. Thousands have come on the voting roll and thousands of immigrants have become permanent residents or citizens and thus able to vote. They are aspirational for a brighter future and given the booming economy I wonder how likely it is that they will vote for more tax and less freedom.
I would love to see a debate between Paul Moon and Norman Finkelstein on the blockade issue. No place for Mike Hoskings in that, but maybe he could provide some luxury snacks from Nosh.
We could invite our very own Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Though given Sir Geoffs connection to Álvaro Uribe I guess you would have to be very careful not to cause offence. Uribes and his brother are not exactly the type to turn the other cheek.
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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 ...
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Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
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 ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
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. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
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. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
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 ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
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 ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
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 ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
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 ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
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 ...
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NZ journalist suggests Trump’s endgame may be setting up a lucrative and influential cable channel to the right of Fox: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/315682/will-trump-outfox-the-right
Trump is breaking the traditional (and obsolete) right-left paradigm.
Lolz, that’s right, he wants to replace it with fascism 🙄
Sunday morning and you’re reduced to sloganeering already CV? Give us a break eh?
WW3 on the horizon Hillary and the US military are itching to have a go at Russia and to try out their new toys, looks like Jill Stein is the only viable alternative?
Yes, but same as in NZ, not enough people are ready to vote that way yet. Stein won’t be president this time round, so as I understand it, people are safe to vote for her if not in marginal states, but if they are in marginal states they risk splitting the vote and giving the presidency to Trump. Which would be worse than Clinton. Whatever things we want to see changed in the world will be so much harder to achieve under a Trump presidency than a Clinton one.
thats just sad weka . your advice is dont vote for what you believe in so you acknowlege that there is no democracy and vote for statis quo, you are deluded if you think “what we want to see changed” is down that road
Yes, there is bugger all democracy in the US. I’m a pragmatic voter, and I vote in accordance with my ethics. If that means voting Clinton in order to further the Green Party and allied values, so be it. I’ve been in two minds about the whole thing and whether a protest vote and a Trump presidency was worth the risk, but I now believe that a Trump presidency will do so much damage to the culture that it will take years to undo and we simply don’t have that time.
At least with Clinton there will be room to be an activists and progress the most urgent issues. Under Trump I expect that to be actively oppressed. I suppose at that point one could argue that it’s better to let things get very bad in the short term in the hope that people will wake up, but I don’t believe people will wake up that way. The other argument is to let the US degenerate into a defacto civil war and maybe that will bring the empire down. Pretty risky strategy, but I’d be interested in hearing the argument.
Thanks weka thats a fair and reasoned argument. Interesting to hear jill stein views that voting for the lesser evil has been a “race to the bottom” . In my case i am not in any way promoting the idea that we should let thigs get worse to “wake people up”. But rather in clinton I see a guarantee of business as usual which I believe will destroy us. I am not supporting trump in any sense but what i do think is that he is unlikely to just do what he is told and I also believe that he owes a lot less “favours” (and that hillary is totally compromised on that front). So all of that is enough to make me really unsure what would be the best choice (if it was mine to make)
That’s the lesser of evils argument right?
One of the first things the incoming National govt did in 1990 was cut funding to community groups (and ‘restructure’ what was left). I haven’t looked this up but I seem to remember that for instance they cut the Ministry of Women’s Affairs grants, which meant that the organisations doing the work on the fringes (where all good change arises) were screwed.
This isn’t a lesser of evils argument. This is a ‘we’re going to lose this vital aspect of our ability to effect change’ argument. And it’s not just funding. The activists I follow in the US are afraid that with Trump the lives of people already on the margins is going to get much much worse, and those are the communities that hold the activist heart.
Likewise in NZ, in 1990, it wasn’t just the cuts to funding, but it was cuts to benefits, so the people that were doing that activist work suddenly found their backs to the wall in their personal lives as well and unable to keep up with the work they were doing in the same way. I don’t think that was planned by National so much as a desirable side effect of their policies. With Trump it will be intentional.
You perhaps forget that it was the lessor of evil fourth labour government in 1984 that dismantled NZ government and established neoliberal corporate greed in its place ?
The fundimentals of all that you describe above were enacted by the fourth labour government and as NZ voters have chosen one or the other lessor evil for the last three decades. In each case the government has continued on that path
I’ve never voted Labour, always to the left. I’m not sure why you would think I forget about Labour in the 80s.
“The fundimentals of all that you describe above were enacted by the fourth labour government”
Actually, no. My point is that even under the worst that the neoliberal left does they still don’t directly try and suppress activism (although I’m sure someone will now be able to provide some examples). But now we are back to the lesser of evils argument. Given we can’t change the past, for where we are at now, in my politics protecting the people that are working for change is a very high priority. Otherwise we’re going down a deep dark hole worse than what is happening now.
It’s not that the things we want to change will be harder, it’s that change will happen in the wrong direction. Meaning there will be a lot of lost ground to make up when (if) things swing back to being able to move in a good direction.
I think Trump would actively suppress activism, so yeah, I think it would be harder.
please pleas weka read this…. all of it. At the vey least you will learn where some of us are comeing from!
https://newmatilda.com/2016/03/23/john-pilger-why-hillary-clinton-is-more-dangerous-than-donald-trump/
I don’t have that much respect for Pilger these days. He quite obviously doesn’t understand rape culture and/or thinks it is unimportant (that’s based on his approach to the Assange situation).
Then I read things like this,
As presidential election day draws near, Clinton will be hailed as the first female president, regardless of her crimes and lies – just as Barack Obama was lauded as the first black president and liberals swallowed his nonsense about “hope”. And the drool goes on.
It’s just boring, superficial, ‘the liberals are useless’ type commentary. All he is doing there is exactly what pro-Trump or anti-Clinton people are accusing liberals of doing, creating divisions from the old mentality that if you want to change something you have to bash it (pretty much the kaupapa at the standard most of the time).
And this,
In the US, Bernie Sanders has promised to support Clinton if or when she’s nominated. He, too, has voted for America’s use of violence against countries when he thinks it’s “right”. He says Obama has done “a great job”.
FFS, Sanders was running for president, of course he is going to say Obama did a great job. If he came out and said that Obama is a war monger, he’d not get the nomination. Any person who becomes the president of the US is going to be a war monger, so now we are just back at the lesser of evils argument.
“Where are those who will shatter the silence? Or do we wait until the first nuclear missile is fired?”
In the age of the internet there is no silence. Silence is not the problem at this point.
I understand the issues that are behind some of the anti-Clinton arguments, and the pro-Trump ones. One of the things that has happened on ts is that the main person criticising Clinton has also been promoting Trump. That’s always going to be a problem on a left wing site. But worse, he’s done this in the context of a long history of trying to poison the well of his once natural allies. Lots of people here can’t stand the incessant hatred and I think that’s a big part of why the anti-Clinton argument gets combatted so strongly.
There are definitely moderate lefties here who will argue a pragmatic vote for Clinton line, and the ones I respect like McFlock and Lanth are a boon. If we had a different culture here, the conversation would have been going quite differently, and instead of the Trump-esque being forwarded, we would have learned some things and actually talked about what the issues are for Trump voters in the US and why they vote Trump.
We would also be having the conversation that Bill suggests, which is that lefties should be gearing up to put as much pressure on Clinton as possible assuming that she wins. Unfortunately I think what we can look forward to is more Trump-esque culture being pushed, and so expect people to react to that.
tl;dr, I understand the arguments you aand others are putting forward and I still disagree with you that voting Trump is a good thing to do. Further, I doubt that you understand why I think Trump would be more dangerous. Because of the current debate culture we haven’t really gotten to those conversations. Pity.
If you have gone off Pilger and Stein because they have done dilIgence on the Assange case then you need to do the same. Sorry i cant help you with that on this forum i dont intend to discuss that matter further with you until you have done so. For you to voice further uninformed prejudice will only further injustice. All i ask is that when you have become properly informed on Assange that you re-evaluate your opinions of Pilger and Stein
If you have gone off Pilger and Stein because they have done dilIgence on the Assange case then you need to do the same. Sorry i cant help you with that on this forum i dont intend to discuss that matter further with you until you have done so. For you to voice further uninformed prejudice will only further injustice. All i ask is that when you have become properly informed on Assange that you re-evaluate your opinions of Pilger and Stein
I haven’t gone off Stein due to the Assange case, in fact I haven’t gone off Stein at all. Please don’t misrepresent my views. And if you think me having some criticisms of some of the things Stein does = ‘gone off’ then you really are not listening to what I am saying.
I’ve engaged in good faith with you, but I note that you’ve come into this subthread, asked me to read something you recommended, and when I do and respond to that, in depth, you basically ignore my points and instead make out I am uniformed and prejudiced without backing that up. I’m well informed on the Assange case, having been debating about that on ts for years, and I don’t take kindly to people telling me that I’m ignorant just because I disagree with their position or politics.
(and, I seriously doubt that you have an analysis of rape culture and where Pilger fits into that, so don’t start lecturing me about being informed).
Argue the damn points, or by all means stop talking to me, because I’m sick of the whole trolly nature of people saying if you just read/watch what I do you will think like I do, instead of people being willing to debate their actual views.
Also, if you are going to accuse me of being uninformed or prejudiced then make a case for that. Otherwise it’s just an ad hom that wastes everyone’s time.
“I’m sick of the whole trolly nature of people saying if you just read/watch what I do you will think like I do, instead of people being willing to debate their actual views”.
+ 100 and something Paul should note he is also a pilger RT tragic
Ok i give it a go
1 loss of respect for pilger because he “dosnt understand rape culture based on his stance on assange” …… You have not availed yourself of the facts !
2 You reject identity politics and dont understand that it is just a kinder more caring left form of prejudice. … ok i think it is prejudice and agree with pilger that it is a significant part of the problem
3 agreed sanders as a democratic candidate had to follow party line
4 ad hominum rant … not going to engage with that
5 i would suggest that there is ample blame to share for the failure of this forum to have reasoned discussion of the likely outcome of trump or clinton victory and agree that a reasoned discussion of how we like minded (sort of) people might best respond in either case could be more encouraged
whats tl;dr ?
Ok i give it a go
1 loss of respect for pilger because he “dosnt understand rape culture based on his stance on assange” …… You have not availed yourself of the facts !
Yes, I have. I’ve had many many conversations here about Assange, and some of those have included people running rape apology lines quoting Pilger. So I followed their links and did the reading to see what was going on, and sadly Pilger was doing the same shit. Please note that I am not making a statement about the guilt or not of Assange, I am talking about the behaviour and politics of left wing people.
You can disagree with my conclusions about Pilger but you cannot claim that I am uninformed.
2 You reject identity politics and dont understand that it is just a kinder more caring left form of prejudice. … ok i think it is prejudice and agree with pilger that it is a significant part of the problem
If Pilger is against identity politics that’s another good reason to not respect him now. We will have to agree to disagree on the value of identity politics, but I will point out that I think it’s the underlying basis of the bad blood on ts at the moment. I don’t hold out much hope for CV, but there are others, yourself included, where we might find some common ground or at least some better understanding.
5 i would suggest that there is ample blame to share for the failure of this forum to have reasoned discussion of the likely outcome of trump or clinton victory and agree that a reasoned discussion of how we like minded (sort of) people might best respond in either case could be more encouraged
Nice 🙂
“whats tl;dr ?”
too long; didn’t read. It’s usually just a summation of what someone was trying to get across.
Once upon a time before i ever engaged with this forum i found myself in the position of having to take a stance or not on the Assange case. I did what was required of me which was due diligence i sought out as many original source documents as i could find, not media reports of, but actual source and you will be suprised as i was just how many actual reliable first hand documents there are on this matter. On the basis of this information i formed an opinion. Now i am not going to argue this with you but I can catagorically state that in my informed opinion you weka based on your statements posted on this site are not in posession of the information availiable. i simply do not believe you have done diligence on this. Take it or leave it but that is my informed opinion.
Do you get that I don’t have a position on the Assange case, and that all my comments in reference to the Assange case are about rape culture and the behaviour of lefties. What do you think that means?
I did due diligence on that.
Nonsense….. if “Pilger does not understand rape culture on the basis of his stance on the Assange case” then you are making an uninformed judgment on Assange. Thats just misdirection ,…. and prejudice
No.
A correct conclusion reached via an invalid path can still draw criticism for that path. If you ask me “what’s two plus two” and I say “my car has four wheels, so four”, wouldn’t you criticise my methodology even though the answer is correct?
Weka’s comment was on the path the pilger has taken to try to persuade people that Assange is a victim. Regardless of whether Assange is actually innocent, pilger’s comments (which I haven’t read recently so won’t comment on) apparently struck Weka as being typical rape apology lines.
“giving the presidency to Trump. Which would be worse than Clinton”
It appears Ms Stein does not agree with your analysis, at least in respect of who is likely the more dangerous war-mongerer of the two. She clearly sees Trump as the safer option. From 2.10 in the clip…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8lD-RQ2AhQ
Haven’t watched the whole thing, but basically she is saying vote for her. She’s not saying if you don’t vote for me vote for Trump, which is what my comment was about.
Obviously she has to say vote for her, but if people in marginal states vote for her and as a result the presidency goes to Trump, my points above about activism, including peace movement, anti-nuclear etc will get harder.
It still gobsmacks me that people trust what Trump says about his foreign policy intentions.
(and Stein is not without her blindspots in areas either).
“(and Stein is not without her blindspots in areas either).”
Yep – I seriously think the only adult left in the US political system is Bernie (and probably Warren)
Pretty sure Sanders has blindspots too, doesn’t everyone? 🙂
Yep !
Stein’s comments about right-wing extremism growing out of the policies of the Clintons is very relevant to your observations about what the nats did in the 1990s. Either silence and even at times support from the opposition gave the right a heck of a head start when it comes to how culture has changed in NZ.
Do you mean that Key’s NACT have grown from the fertiliser of Labour being neutral or supportive of RW policy?
Or that the 90s National grew out of the 80s Labour? (that’s self evident I think).
Yes, that is of course self-evident, but I was referring more to the tag-team they’ve both become since then. That’s how the culture has shifted so dramatically and what has no doubt played such a large part in the rise of Key as a phenomenon.
Trump ain’t right wing nor is he a conservative
raving marxist
Greens change tack on immigration
At last.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/greens-govt-immigration-curbs-not-enough-2016101512
@Paul – it’s being spinned various ways as being pro immigration as well as curbing immigration in the media. Like Labour and the TPPA, think it is a middle of the road policy that might not appeal to either. (Too far or not far enough).
With the lack of jobs and lack of job conditions and the burden on our health and social welfare system, feel that 1% or approx 45,000 new migrants per year is still too much immigration.
Also concerned at the amount of political donations being given to pro immigration policy. AKA the Nats and Phil Goff for his Mayoral run.
We need a radical rethink of the NZ economy. Are we just going to be a giant house building and milk and log economy being asset stripped, or can a political party think bigger than that and have a vision of the new local and sustainable economy?
Thinking logically and future economic planning is not part of the equation, it is about getting re-elected?
Personally think Labour and Greens are so busy focusing on point issues on a day to week basis they are failing to unite under a bigger vision of a change of direction for New Zealand.
It is a vision that will get people to the polls (even if that vision is just Change the government).
My view is the best Green campaign was the one with the Kids next to the forests and in nature.
Can’t even think of the last good Labour campaign… But I do think the Helen Clark approach of having a killer policy (Interest free student loans etc) has been mimicked by the Natz (Tax Cuts, more tax cuts, oh did I say Tax cuts?). So Labour will not win on that, they need to unite people against National with an alternate vision for New Zealand. (p.S Work longer and harder and have more taxes for middle NZ was not a Vote Positive, last election).
I don’t think either of them see a real need for a real change.
Labour has always been a pro-capitalist party and probably always will be.
The Greens see a need to protect the environment, make life better for the majority even if that costs the rich but they still seem to be hanging on to capitalism and even consumerism (ie, promoting electric cars).
Labour need a plan otherwise they are just looked as a light weight version of National or as Ron Marks NZF states Red and Blue, just like Pepsi and Coke there is no difference?
Unless Labour and the Greens act decisively here, New Zealand First are going to be the big winners.
I think NZF will get 15-20% of the vote unless MSM do another snow job/dirty tricks job on Winston like the Nats have done at previous elections, at least he knows what he is talking about and isn’t a show pony like our current PM?
That would be the internet party
Yay for Kim Dotcom – he has announced hes coming back for this election.
god no please tell me your joking
Well he does understand quite a lot about how corruption and injustice is carried forward in NZ. He has had a heck of a immersive education on this over the last five years. his involvement would be a (desperately needed) boost for democracy
Nope. He tweeted it the other day.
your barstard mates are paying him to come back, i know it.!!! (joke )
But he’s also full of shit so nothing will come of it.
That will depend somewhat on the outcome of his high court appeal due shortly
Even if he wins the extradition case he still won’t cause the nats any trouble. It’d be great if he did but he’s got no idea about strategy – the way he personally fronted the Internet/Mana campaign for example, and doesn’t seem to deliver on anything big that he promises. I’ve got nothing against the guy and hope he deals to the US government, and I know the media went to town on him as soon as the image of folklore hero wore off, but as far as politics goes he just ain’t got it.
Its a new world !
I have to agree. The fact that he tweets that he is going to do something but won’t tell us what it is suggests he didn’t learn what a huge fuck up the moment of truth was (we still haven’t had an explanation afaik). Whatever goodwill or interest that was on the left I think is largely gone. I also hope he doesn’t get extradited and fuck the US prosecutors, but this looks like another ego trip and self-serving. He’s live in NZ long enough to know that money can’t buy everything, but here he goes again.
+100 save nz
Watch Susan Devoy doesn’t get involved you are racist if you discuss immigration here in NZ.
Probably because too often immigration discussions include racism. They don’t have to, so I guess we have a choice here today.
If you close down the discussion about immigration citing racism, you are suppressing the issues or making them simplistic. Immigration and Globalism are linked and Globalism is being used to drive 21st century society, but is it the right direction or is it propping up neoliberalism which would fail without globalism?
i.e. Is immigration being used as a vehicle to cannibalise people into commodity by plussing and misusing more people into and out of countries?
The issue is exploitation by multinational corporations.
But the corporations are only able to do that by buying the politicians ears with Lobbyists and cash. Making that illegal would be a good start.
The other interesting thing about immigration is that New Zealand has one in four of its population born in another country while one in four people born in New Zealand (who are still alive) live abroad.
Why do one in four New Zealanders live abroad? Are our most educated forced to live elsewhere and grow other countries economies because our short sighted anti science, anti arts, anti intellectuctual government policies and poor wages and conditions mean that they can’t work in this country?
Is it a problem, we replace them with chefs and Kiwi fruit pickers who need government subsidy for the employer low wages and then wonder why we have poor productivity?
Are we so busy trying to make a profit from university education for foreign students we fail to concentrate on NZ students quality education and enabling them to stay in the country with a decent job and prospects?
Very few good jobs in NZ for qualified people we do not have the critical mass here, most of our NZ owned companies have collapsed or have been taken over by multi nationals. The current Government would rather companies import cheap overseas third world product ie railway wagons from China rather than manufacture here in NZ.
That’s the myth that used to stop us developing our economy but it is just that – a myth. If we have the productivity available so that all other necessary products are available with spare labour and resources left over then we can do it.
And we do have that productivity and those resources available.
Once you start looking at the economy in physical terms then whole new vistas open up and we find that we’re not as constrained as the capitalists would like us to believe.
So, why do the capitalists want us to believe that we’re constrained, that we’re poor when we’re not?
IMO, it’s because that artificial constraint allows them to be rich in the first place.
Personally think the ‘we don’t have the critical mass’ here to create well paid jobs is a croc….
It’s not about quantity it is about quality.
We can never compete with China and India for a low wage economy, even if we keep up record immigration. We need to ditch the low wage economy and go high tech, high creativity, high wage economy.
Nowadays we don’t even need physical products, books can be down loaded, IP can be down loaded, and so forth.
I’m against the TPPA for many reasons, but it also will discriminate against Kiwis for IP and enable the giants to gain monopolies. It will kill the new economy.
Pretty much.
There was a lot of hope in the 1960s and even 1970s about manufacturing high tech stuff and not just being a farm. That hope got lost in the 1980s. It seems to be coming back slowly now but it’s pretty much along the lines that if you want to do anything that even mildly challenging then you have to leave the country as our ‘leaders’ keep doing the cheap stuff rather than the pushing the hard investment to build our economy.
Or as I put it on Facebook:
It is a lot easier to just lease out your fishing quotas which were gifted by the Government rather than do the fishing and processing yourselves, and it is a lot easier to sell whole logs rather than processing here in NZ, likewise easier selling whole carcasses of meat rather than further processing. Selling whole milk powder is a lot easier than further processing into wholesale or value added products.
NZ Government and businessmen are not interested in producing value added product, New Zealand has never had a long term growth strategy apart from selling State Assets and borrowing from the US Bankers and the Federal Reserve?
And that is the point of different that Labour needs to fight for.
Value ADDl Get rid of low wage economy.
gifted by the Government
Compensation for the mass confiscation of land and resources isn’t a “gift”.
Look what happened to the Railways and the BNZ when they got into private hands, the BNZ was a gold plated business which was virtually stripped overnight by the Merchant Bankers. The Rural Bank was virtually given away by the Government-mindless stuff?
Are you an MP Draco? I would never have guessed
Sorry – for some reason I thought you were the original poster!
I would force corporations who do not
pay their taxes
pay living wages
compensate for the damage (their externalities) they cause to society.
to exit New Zealand.
Goodbye Uber.
Goodbye McDonalds.
Goodbye Allied Domecq
Really?
How the hell would you do this?
Lets see how long you stay in government after you force Google, Facebook, Apple, etc to leave New Zealand.
Given that they pay taxes on their NZ PROFITS (not revenue that is so often quoted) how can you bitch about their taxes – without looking ill informed (hint – you didnt). Where are all the profits on the southern cross cable? – are they all in NZ? – oops – lets stop that as well.
Oil companies pay alot of their tax overseas also – so lets close down those pesky petrol stations.
Pay living wages – really? You are going to force that on multinationals ignoring NZ companies (like some owned by posters on here who cannot pay a “working wage”?
Part of me says thank God you arnt in government – the other part of me wishes you were because National would be in power for a generation.
Well jimbo, you change the law to prevent the exportation of preprofit revenue. So ‘licensing fees’ and ‘loan repayments’ are sourced from profits rather than being used to lower profits.
Who do not pay tax and only pay minimum wages and undercut local producers and distributors=new world order which our PM JK subscribes to?
“If you close down the discussion about immigration citing racism, you are suppressing the issues or making them simplistic.”
I’m not suggesting that save. I’m saying that we can (theoretically at least) have a discussion about immigration that avoids racism. That was an invitation to have a discussion about immigration that avoids racism, and inherent in that is that we need to be more careful about how we say things and look at our own prejudices.
+100 save nz
Dependency on oil? How do we stop using oil… prevent supply, or restrict demand?
The daily volumes of oil and petrol imported into New Zealand. Figures are from 2012, but are increasing annually:
110,000 barrels of crude oil daily
25,000 barrels of gasoline
http://www.indexmundi.com/energy/?country=nz&product=gasoline&graph=imports
15 to 20 supertankers bring oil monthly to the Marsden Point refinery – each one with up to 750,000 barrels capacity of oil in their cargo tanks
159 litres in one barrel of oil
Citizens can also make the connection between their own lives and oil production. We can choose to use less.
I have not owned a car for six years – although this is an easier decision for me than for others due to excellent public transport where I live.
Given the ever increasing demand for oil, diesel and petrol in NZ, is it enough to rely on environmentally concerned people to stop driving cars?
If we have to rely on people’s choice there has to be a massive change in current thinking. I see a focus on public transport from the Greens, but nothing much more from across the political spectrum about how we curtail demand.
I definitely don’t think it is enough on its own (see my posts on climate change for other ideas), and I didn’t suggest stopping driving cars. But I do think that at some point those of us calling for change have to make the connection between that and our own behaviour.
It reminds me of all the protests around industry when I was younger e.g. people not wanting wood processing plants in their neighbourhood. But very few people were making the connection between that and them living in houses made of processed timber. When we start making those connections and acting on them, then we will see faster change than replying on the government to sort it out. They’re trailing, we’re leading, and they will follow when we get it right.
How many of the people here in these conversations who want urgent action on CC are limiting how much they drive? I think a fair few are, and I think there are also people who want to keep their lifestyles and have other people make the changes for them. We don’t have time for that.
No it’s not. We have to make it so that even owning a car is simply too expensive. Which, as climate change now proves, it actually is.
People using Park and Ride have been pinged for more than $1 million in fines in the past five years.
(Just another way to encourage people to use public transport sarc. Great spot to target the poor for fines as well!)
Apparently P&R are often full by 7am. One would think this would mean AT would try to make more space so that they can get more commuters on public transport.. I guess if commuters find there is no space they just drive into work and don’t use the public transport or park illegally and have to pay the fine.
AT are actually doing quite a bit to make public transport in Auckland better – but it’s going to take time after decades of there not being enough investment to even maintain it never mind to actually expand it.
Of course, they still need to flip from focussing on cars to focussing on public transport but that has a lot to do with the governments and how they dictate how money will be spent.
AT being in the news for their corrupt culture and targeting WOF checks at P&R (for the working poor who can’t afford a warrant) isn’t really the way to go. As is chopping down the Pohutakawa six and prosecuting people for road vege and plants, not a good look.
Oh and there is the lack of public transport – not sure how long AT has been going but there is probably better public transport in practically every other city in the world. Even third world countries have better public transport than we have. Yes its government, but it is also local government’s fault.
I didn’t say that they were perfect, just that they had been working hard to improve public transport in the city but it will take time after decades of neglect.
Ken Loach: ‘If you’re not angry, what kind of person are you?’
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/15/ken-laoch-film-i-daniel-blake-kes-cathy-come-home-interview-simon-hattenstone
(Interesting article about Ken Loach and his life, including how he was bought up a Tory, never questioned it until going to university, had many of his films banned at one point and was in middle class poverty, made a commercial for McDonalds and the death of his son and his views on the UK Labour party).
Thanks for that. Perhaps you’ve seen this classic clip of Ken Loach at his brilliant best, reducing one of Thatcher’s former henchmen to gibbering, incoherent fury….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2nvaTLVQKk
Why I have trouble believing Andrew Little on child poverty
by Janet McAllister, The Spinoff, October 12, 2016
When it comes to cutting the granite rock of child poverty, it takes a lot more than a plastic pair of pinking snips. These are the reasons that Andrew Little hasn’t (yet) convinced me he’s serious about ensuring poor kids can eat and stuff.
He didn’t mention money
Families are poor because they don’t have enough money. It’s not because somehow, randomly, this generation is more financially feckless than any other. The gaps between rich and poor are growing so fast even the OECD, not the most rabidly pinko outfit, is telling us we need to redistribute more wealth.
One reason families don’t have enough money is because family welfare hasn’t kept pace with other sources of income. For example, here’s a graph from the Ministry of Social Development, showing average household earnings rising on a lovely steady slope for the past 30 years while sole parent support (the benefit formerly known as the DPB) and other benefits got cut in Ruth Richardson’s “Mother of All Budgets” era and have mostly been flatlining since then.
Read more…
http://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/12-10-2016/andrew-little-says-hes-determined-to-slash-child-poverty-heres-why-im-not-convinced/
More beat up of Andrew Little, by Bill Ralston for Council supporters, the Spinoff.
What is their agenda?
How many anti National articles are in the Spinoff? The way the media tells it, Labour is more at fault than National for the nations ills…
Being sceptical about Andrew Little does not imply one is a supporter of the National Party, just as detesting that war-monger Hillary Clinton does not make one a Trump supporter.
Although the writer makes a point, why beat up Andrew Little instead of National, The Maori Party and UNF for poverty?
My point is that there seems to be an agenda there by Spinoff writers. They are the youth Herald luring them in just like Slater lures in the punters with pro smoking and bike type stories and plants his ideas…
They are getting them in with younger graphics but it’s pretty similar shit to Granny under the covers. RHOA, anti Green while pretending to be Green, and solving poverty by more development, more blame and immigration.
The worst thing that could happen to Labour is that they destabilise the leader… so articles that doing that are helping National the most.
All very good points, my friend.
If MSM had not destabilised and smeared David Cunliffe last election Labour might have won. Apparently there was only about 10,000 votes in it. And 1 million people were put off voting.
I call bullshit on your comments again.
There are a ton of reasons people didnt vote – nothing at all to point that a million were put off because of the media.
I know you like to make stuff up to fit what you are trying to say – but it just aint so.
Hear, Hear, Save nz. David was the only one Labour has with the nous and acumen to beat Key. He was destroyed by Dirty Politics and Labours ABC club of neolibs and, as you say , our pathetic media.
Don’t blame the media it only happened/worked because his ‘colleagues’ undermined him…
The media are a big part of the problem
They serve the agenda of big business.
Exactly savenz-the Spinoff has an agenda here.
Its a moot point anyway-the mob in power have proved don’t give a toss about child poverty so there really is no alternative to voting Lab/Gr bloc.
Child poverty is collateral damage from neoliberalism and globalisation.
There’s no mystery. The article is a reply to a column published at the Spinoff by Andrew Little about child poverty.
A lot is being made about the Spinoff endorsing Bill Ralston over Mike Lee, but they explained themselves very clearly: they were endorsing candidates based on their support for the Unitary Plan.
They also endorsed Phil Goff and semi-endorsed Chloe Swarbrick, City Vision’s Cathy Casey, the Greens’ Julie Zhu and Richard Leckinger, Labour’s Efeso Collins, Alf Filipaina and Ross Clow, Penny Hulse, and semi-endorsed our own Greg Presland.
I get that other “leftwing” bloggers have been making a huge deal out of The Spinoff being some massive rightwing conspiracy, but right now the headline story in their Politics section interviews people like Tame Iti, Coco Solid, Marianne Elliott and David Farrier about Five Eyes and government surveillance.
http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/15-10-2016/acutely-aware-of-the-reality-of-state-surveillance-tame-iti-and-other-nz-artists-on-the-chilling-effect/
So … yeah. Not the Terrible Media Beat-Up you’re looking for.
One of the reason’s that Labour are losing so many votes is that they excuse and work with the enablers…
And there was an interesting analysis done on how the balance of council power would have been right if Ralston had got in. Development focus and endorsements and supporting a National loving right wing politically connected MSM candidate than supporting a left wing, public servant shows the political and focus of the Spinoff.
BTW – the unitary plan has not helped poverty and the homeless. Affordable housing was removed from the unitary plan.
Maybe you love the Spinoff – but left wing politically it is not. And there are better things to read like http://werewolf.co.nz
Mike Lee has done some good things during his long council career. However, the way he behaved over the Unitary Plan has really blotted his copybook with focused groups like Generation Zero. That is all The Spinoff’s associated coverage reflected: on urban planning and transport, Lee’s recent stances resulted in low scores. He wasn’t being assessed as a ‘left-wing public servant’.
The Unitary Plan (held up in court by coastal nimbys) can’t fix poverty – for that, we need to change the government. And for that, we need smarter analysis than has been offered up by too many on the left for the last 9 years.
Yep and we have Ralston to the rescue – sorry not buying that today.
No ones saying Lee is perfect, but Ralston to the rescue… Spinoff and their supporters showed where they stand. As long as Auckland gets developed and their mates make money, they will back any political figure. It’s not about poverty, it’s not about affordability, it is about development and less regulation for that development.
That’s the success of Nat Lite policy. You have Act, you have the Natz, on the right wing MSM and to make sure they surround the marketing messages you have Spinoff trying to get Labour and the Greens all singing from the same song sheet on issues with very small differences so there is not much alternative.
As for generation zero, anyone can put up a website and claim to want to reduce carbon admissions… maybe half of them are there of the right reasons, but what is the end result they are advocating? Are they just mimicking right policy with greenwashing?
The National government claim to be green and supporting the poor all the time. Gen Zero claim to support youth, and its so handy that they are a group supporting the developers and working with PPP’s too! That way MSM can do their interviews with lobby groups that ‘appear’ to support a broad range of ages and views.
Go cycling. Go PPP’s. Go unitary plan!
After all that where are we on climate change? Any closer, sorry need a more radical plan than that and there needs to be real support for the environment not a bunch of marketing saavy young lobbyists talking to other lobbyists and pretending to support younger people through development.
Also did not see anything about increased solar panels in the unitary plan… one of the apparent missions of generation zero is independence from fossil fuels. Bit of glaring oversight.. and could easily have been put in. Just like affordable housing.
So the rampant lobbyists for climate change seem to politically pushing through legalisation but does not really seem to helping climate change…
http://details.aucklandelections.nz/criteria
Plenty of scope for candidates to talk about solar energy in their survey. Not as if GenZero were the ones writing the Unitary Plan. Picking the right targets is another thing the left needs to get way better at.
Even a cursory glance shows a huge gap between what Gen Zero are doing and RW CC policy in NZ. I think you are conflating RW with neoliberal. Gen Zero generation are the children of Rogernomics. They’ve adapted. I have some problems with what they do, but they are the progressive people of privilege who are actually doing something about CC other than demanding that something be done. Yes, they will use neoliberal tools, not least because the left doesn’t offer them anything to work with.
Weka they are a lobby group. But I agree they are a few of the children of Rogernomics who are adapting. Maybe they are well meaning.
But the planet is lost if Gen zero is considered the standard for how youth to see Green issues only as something like putting in SkyPath that it is a PPP and charges cyclists and walkers.
In that way, I think they are dangerous to the Green movement as they want so little and what little they want is compromised. And because they are so Green Lite they are celebrated by the MSM and council as looking like they are addressing issues, that they are not.
I wouldn’t say GZ are the standard, so much as they are the more visible ones because of their privilege.
Can you link to the pay for cycle path thing?
I would probably agree with you their danger to the Green movement, except NZ had a long time to get behind the Greens in parliament and it’s only since the Greens have become more mainstream that they’ve made more headway. In other words, I think GZ are a reflection of where we are as a society, and the consequences of neoliberalism.
I also think that place like ts are not going to appeal to GZ (or many Greens) because the culture here is pretty toxic, so in that sense we can’t collaborate and cross-pollinate. If we want to make change we have to work together and I think that means not writing off groups because they have a different culture.
Skypath information.
http://www.partnershipsbulletin.com/news/view/90301
Sorry, I meant Gen Zero’s involvement in the path thing.
Making Skypath user-pays is not Gen Zero’s idea. It’s a result of council and govt agencies refusing to pay fairly for all modes. And you’re being ridiculous to claim GenZero is only focused on the North Shore or the inner isthmus.
For detailed background, check Transportblog’s many posts about Skypath:
http://transportblog.co.nz/?s=skypath&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
Thanks Sacha.
Gen Zero is actually taking youth votes away from the Green party, because they are really supporting National party policy but through a Green washed Lens. One way to reduce Green messages is to flood the market so that everything is Green, climate change becomes something that a paid cycleway can fix.
The real messages do not get through.
How are they taking Green youth votes? Do you mean they tell people to vote National?
The reply button to you is not working but here is the link to Gen Zero who are lobbying for the PPP Skypath.
I think a pathway is a great idea. I just don’t agree with the funding of it as why should cyclists and walkers pay? How is that helping fossil fuel reduction and is that fair?
http://www.generationzero.org/seapath
+1 I agree with your assessment people of privilege … likewise their campaigns for cycle tracks end at Pt Chev and their focus on transport is the North Shore.
They want congestion charging because they don’t live past zone 2 and not sure what happens out on the far reaches of the super city.. not hipster people like them.
I don’t know Auckland very well, so always good to have things like that pointed out. Yes, middle class and liberal is how I would describe it, and I do think they are well meaning. I come out of a solid upper middle class, liberal family and one of the core characteristics is the disconnect from what life is like for people that don’t have that privilege. Even though I was quite political, I didn’t start to understand until my early 20s when I was working with working class women. Big learning curve, but even now decades later, and an adulthood of stepping in and out of the underclass myself, I can see there is still so much I don’t get simply due to lack of experience and exposure. For the people I know that have never had to step out of their privilege I think for the most part they just don’t get it.
I don’t know what to do about that, other than push the politics of identity, because that is where people tend to wake up.
No it’s more subtle than that. They are just using the Green issues for their own purposes but not in a community way in a lobbyist way to promote themselves and get sponsorship deals and give media interviews and MSM are picking them up as ‘the green voice of youth’. It’s just social facilitation and fabrication. We saw that in the unitary plan, where all media was about implementing the unitary plan and there was zero space given to putting in real green issues and alternatives. I mean National’s big thing when they got elected was the National cycleway but that does not make them a carbon friend of the environment.
” No it’s more subtle than that. They are just using the Green issues for their own purposes but not in a community way in a lobbyist way to promote themselves ”
That would be a fair descrption of the green party
The unitary plan is more of the same anti-democratic rubbish we are getting from all form of government these days. Show me in the plan where people are actually listened too? Oh you can’t, because once again its more of the top down we know better – lies and shrill we get feed all the time.
I for one, am sick and tired of technocratic know it all’s. Society run this way is an abject failure. No wait – some wingnut will come and say it’s all good, and I’m just complaining. Or worse, someone who is supposedly on the left will…
The Unitary Plan is just a spatial planning document. It’s not the council’s overarching Plan including how they engage citizens. That’s here: http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/plansstrategies/theaucklandplan/Pages/theaucklandplan.aspx
Nobody is arguing they are currently doing a good job of working with Aucklanders. Satisfaction rating reflects that.
“Janet McAllister is happily semi-retired without the assets. She writes theatre reviews for NZ Herald and Cultural Baggage columns for Metro magazine.”
Meet the reality behind that cuddly audience member Ken Bone
Jono and Ben called this idiot “cute” on Friday night. In fact, he’s anything but…
http://gizmodo.com/ken-bone-forgot-to-delete-his-porn-comments-1787780939
“Harvard University just got a $10 million grant to study Black poverty in Boston area. The dining hall staff are on strike for living wages.” tweet from Bill Humphrey.
+1 Gangnam Style – our brave new world, the elite are fighting poverty so hard… just keep writing those 8 figure checks, eventually they will find a way to ‘afford’ to pay living wages…
What confuses me is that I come to The Standard for left wing analysis and comment and am confronted with a right wing rape apologist as a contributor.
I mean, if CV had just shown up yesterday would his rhetoric be tolerated in this fashion?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[putting my moderator hat on, that comment did step over the bounds in terms of attacking an author on their own post. As I say below, if you want to talk about left wing debate on ts in general, better to do it in OM, and please bear in mind that there are very good reasons for not attacking authors – weka]
IMO no. But authors are highly valued on principle (the site wouldn’t exist without them) and so there is a general rule against attacking them. Better to just have a go at the arguments, including where they are disingenuous and misleading as in this case.
The other option is to put our energy into supporting the posts that we like. Tell the authors that you enjoy that you like their posts, and why, and encourage them to write more. Comment on their posts more than you do on these ones.
I share your frustration though.
edit, if you want to talk about the general state of left wing debate on ts, please take it to Open Mike.
I certainly do not mean to attack an author or The Standard policy. Just expressing a frustration and confusion
It can be a fine line sometimes, but I think calling an author a rape apologist under a post where there is nothing about rape apology (haven’t read the post, am guessing) steps over the line (despite him running rape apology lines elsewhere). If there was rape apology in the post, then point that out and make comment on it first. Likewise any other politics going on e.g. right wing. That’s how I see it, other moderators/authors might see it differently.
I think what CV is doing is damaging the community, but there are limits to what can be done about that I’m afraid. The commentariat does have some power in this though too.
I also think that the value of the site is being undermined by the amount of rape apology and subsequent arguing going on, but ts doesn’t have a very good reputation on that score anyway, and it’s part of a much bigger problem here.
Micky is solidly left wing and has a post up today. Just saying 😉
I understand and apologies if I overstepped the mark.
If I were so inclined could I at some time in the future submit a piece? If I found the time of course
Definitely! Make the time*, we need some new blood 🙂 Once you have something ready, drop a comment in front of me or one of the other authors and we will work from there (emailing the main contribution email doesn’t always work). Feel free to do a draft and ask for feedback on that too, there are some editorial type boundaries to consider. cheers.
*what I find is that if I stop commenting for a while time magically appears 😉 Often what I am writing in comments can be made into a post anyway.
I would like to read something from you if you do find the time.
I share your frustration with the way CV has started to dominate so much dialogue on the Standard. There have always been right wingers commenting here but there used to be a lot more left wing voices to counter their views. Quite a few of the people I enjoyed reading seem to have given up. Their reasons for doing so will be varied, I suspect.
I gave up engaging with CV a long time ago – I treat him the same as the more rabid right wingers (don’t feed the troll). Occasionally I will respond to one of his acolytes but it isn’t really worth the bother. I never read his posts, and I don’t bother even scrolling through the comments if I see by the side bar that he is dominating the conversation on anybody else’s posts.
Nearly everybody else who writes a post here puts up something worth reading so I do still look at the Standard a couple of times a day. There is no doubt , however, that CV devalued this site for me.
Learn to live outside your echo chamber and broaden your horizons, is my recommendation.
+100 CV…if you are pushed off this site i will happily go with you ( I waste too much of my valuable time here)
…you are one of the reasons I come here ( and imo you are more Left and more genuinely for women’s rights to speak out , than many here ie you are more of a Feminist imo)
…I also suspect the bullying attacks on you from some quarters are one reason people are staying away…some who don’t generally contribute have come out and defended you
…and why these personal attacks …???….imo because you are very effective, well read, articulate and intelligent
…as yu know i dont always agree with you on certain issues, but we can disagree vigorously and generally I can learn from your point of view
…and you are certainly never bullying or abusive when in disagreement…so I am never intimidated as I am with some here
+1 Chooky
Well said Chooky, I think the Colonial has some very valid points at times.
Well I might just do it
Please do. What I have seen of your blogs, you would make a very good contributor. I possibly will disagree with you, but I am sure any post by you will be of a high standard. As Weka said “we need new blood”
Good points Karen – it’s the blatant dishonesty that irks me the most. I just can’t take anything cv says seriously – too far gone imo and puffed up with pride in the infallibility of his views. Still it takes all sorts so we just get on with it.
I think CV’s got some valid points on many issues.
If the site gets too clicky and everyone says the same stuff, what is the point of reading it?
That’s not really a very fair characterisation though. If for the sake of argument CV wasn’t here, there would still be a wide variety of opinion from the regulars. Just because many of us are fucked off with CV’s behaviour doesn’t mean we all think alike or say the same stuff.
CV used to have some valid points on many issues. Now he’s a sloganeer on some pretty fucked up politics and the good stuff he says in amongst that gets drowned out by the bullshit. The degree to which he now mirrors the values and behaviours of Trump is pretty disturbing. I don’t mean he is like Trump as a person (he’s not), but that the misleading and disingenuous stuff alongside the slogans just looks creepy when it’s in the context of promoting Trump.
At a point people chose whether to listen or not. We each have our own point. If I want rwnj arguments I can go to those sites. I don’t, that is why I’m here
You can call CV many things but RWNJ – I don’t think so.
I’m not sure what the extremist is even on about. Is he describing Julian Assange?
Myself I’d call him alt-right rather than RW. And he’s definitely running lines against the left and it’s range of politics, which is what I think marty meant.
That’s often the logic here. If you’re not a mainstream lovin’ centrist leftie you must be a rwnj.
I think nut job was too harsh cos there is a method in the madness so sorry cv for that.
Yes weka has it correct – and chris just my view, and I’m hard left fyi, no need to taint others
I’m going to call bullshit on this talk of CV being right wing.
I think he, like many of us, are fed up with the Labour caucus. Since 1984 we’ve been waiting for the Labour Party to apologise for Rogernomics and to amend it’s ways. To hell with trying to please the middle ground – that just leaves us with the wafflers we’ve got now.
I think CV’s stand against the current Labour crowd is totally justified and he is probably the most competent writer on this site.
This world is changing faster than ever before and needs new enlightened approaches, not a bunch of National lite drivel to placate the ‘middle’.
But there are so many other tension points and divisions in politics than only with the alt-right (CV), and the dumb-right (BM), and that’s the problem. The debate has become pretty narrow here at the Standard and for that reason I can understand people’s frustration.
I appreciate it when you make comments like this Karen, because I too think people are leaving for at least in part those reasons. If you have posts/topics you’d like to see, please say. Can’t guarantee they will happen, but it’s good to know what people want to read. Otherwise we’re just judging off where the commenters go and that’s not necessarily a useful thing to do.
I’d call CV hard left. And I’d call AD centre right. And in my view if Labour placed itself between CV and AD in it’s policies (and I think both used or currently volunteer for Labour, but may be wrong) they would be a lot more appealing to the missing voters.
It’s people like james who are more a waste for me as they would never vote left in a million years, so why post here.
I think CV is proposing to vote NZF. If he was in the US it’d be Trump. Those aren’t the votes of someone on the hard left. CV himself says he’s not left wing.
Pretty sure Ad votes on the left, so calling him centre right only makes sense if you shift the Overton window and don’t take into consideration the last 30 years 😉 Which might be a valid thing to do but it’s not conducive to good communication.
Nope CV has said he is considering voting Green too or Mana.
CV does not identify as left. He has reiterated that recently so he is a long long way from hard left. This is just the way it is. I accept his own description of himself – good on him for being honest about that I say.
When did CV say he might vote Green? I know he has voted Mana in the past but he’s said to me repeatedly he wouldn’t vote Green because it’s not s good cultural fit. Voting Green seemed the best political fit for him until this year.
CV hard left? You must be joking.
I can see how someone could have thought CV was left wing a year ago but for quite some time now I would have to say Weka’s assessment as alt-right is spot on.
I’m just going on policies he’s advocating as being hard left. What policies does he talk about that see him as right? Supporting Jill Stein? sarc.
Funny you should mention Stein, because one of the things that makes him more alt right is his views on gender and other identity politics. I’d agree with you that historically many of the policies he supports are left, but in recent times that seems outweighed by the fact that Trump is a better cultural fit.
Good to see this cul-de-sac getting a lot of mileage again.
why post here – sorry if you like an echo chamber of only people who go “key bad” “left good”. But I come on here to engage with a few post and to laugh at stupid comments some make.
I thought I posted this before – but perhaps there was a post error.
I see Kim Dotcom is back with plans to change the government again:
https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/786436817092382720
“I’m getting ready for 2017 NZ election. This time I’ll spend far less, corrupt media won’t stop me, will change Govt with brilliant plan!”
I wonder if this brilliant plan will involve Mana again.
This can only be good news for John Key and a National 4th term….
[it’s still where you put it, in yesterday’s OM – weka]
Ahh – sorry weka – I posted in the wrong thread and hadnt refreshed.
Doh!
It was a dull troll post the first time it was first put up.
James a man happy to defend a government responsibility a surge in homelessness, declining workers rights and poverty.
What do you stand for?
If you try to reply to the post as opposed to deflecting and asking me questions, it will probably get you better replies.
Whats trolling about it – Kim Dotcom is saying that hes back with another election plan.
Im just saying it worked so well last time – and now he’s even less popular. It can only be good for National. Personally I hope he joins up with Mana again.
Even better if he gets Bradbury back on board.
Your extreme right wing politics suggest you are a fool, but if you can’t see that commenting on Kim Dotcom is trolling, there is little hope.
I have no intention of discussing distraction topic points of a rwnj, when there are clearly more important issues to discuss.
And you know that.
Hmm i am not so sure….. if lab/grn continue to believe that dotcom is a bigger threat to them then nats then James is probably correct, however it they come to their senses maby not
Look James, if you argue with their way of thinking or don’t agree with what they are saying…..You are a troll !
btw, this is Open Mike !!
” trolling
Being a prick on the internet because you can. Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent by-stander, because it’s the internet and, hey, you can. ”
Urban dictionary.
“Being a prick on the internet because you can. Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent by-stander, because it’s the internet and, hey, you can. ”
You mean like OAB the other day telling Dr Wayne Mapp that he can “Fuck off”..?
Wayne is hardly innocent.
Hillary Clinton: “I want to defend fracking.” Climate change environmentalists should “Get a life,” #PodestaEmails8
https://mobile.twitter.com/wikileaks/status/787355043821416448
I am sure that Hillary’s “public position” on the issue is nicer than this.
lol…wikileaks is such a pestilence…
Could you link to the original email. Ta in advance.
Don’t bother, I’ve found the original file and as usual, a selectively quoted lie.
It’s symbolic and it’s not going to go away. They’re all hanging on to it. So you know Bernie Sanders is getting lots of support from the most radical environmentalists because he’s out there every day bashing the Keystone pipeline. And, you know, I’m not into it for that. I’ve been– my view is I want to defend natural gas. I want to defend repairing and building the pipe lines we need to fuel our economy. I want to defend fracking under the right circumstances. I want to defend, you know, new, modern [inaudible]. I want to defend this stuff. And you know, I’m already at odds with the most organized and wildest. They come to my rallies and they yell at me and, you know, all the rest of it. They say, ‘Will you promise never to take any fossil fuels out of the earth ever again?’ No. I won’t promise that. Get a life, you know. So I want to get the right balance and that’s what I’m [inaudible] about– getting all the stakeholders together. Everybody’s not going to get everything they want, that’s not the way it’s supposed to work in a democracy, but everybody needs to listen to each other.
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails//fileid/9617/2478
Oh, and because balance –
Thanks joe i knew it had been twisted because 99% of the trumpties proclamations are.
I love the massive US fracking and shale oil bubble which has almost made the US “energy independent” (for now).
Remind me who was in charge of the White House. Paris agreement signing Obama wasn’t it?
Wrong election again – it is 2016 today
Yeah CV that was 2012 . Dont you get that fracking is no longer an issue in 2016? Get with the times man!
This is sickening. Key thanking charity workers for trying to make a “kinder New Zealand”. Lying, greedy, hypocritical piece of fucking trash.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/85386421/final-scenes-captured-for-poi-e-dance-video-project
Good on key. Cannot imaging them inviting Andrew little to be part of it.
“Since May 2015, the Step Up Taranaki Trust has been touring the region, capturing scenes of people dancing to the Patea Maori Club’s hit song Poi E.”
Nothing like a bit of cultural colonisation to sell NZ to the world. Mr Key features in it, can’t get to Waitangi this year, but happy for the video cameo.
Must be the kind of charities Key is thanking, since they have their funding cut some of these services will have to go back to volunteering their services.
A third of all budget advisory services to get their funding cut.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11730011
“Christian Assist manager Ken Ogden said his trust would probably give up its current office in Avondale and revert to the way it started in 1991 as a volunteer-based agency operating from a local church.”
When you list the alleged incidents Trump does appear to be worse than a pig.
Allegation of rape in 1989, made public in 1993
[…]
Allegation of sexual assault in 1992 and 1993, made in a court filing in 1997
[…]
Allegation of rape in 1994, made public in a court filing in April 2016
[…]
Allegation of unwanted kissing in 1997, made public in May 2016
[..]
Allegations of groping in 2013, made public in June 2016
[…]
Allegation of a hostile work environment between 2004 and 2015, published October 3, 2016
[…]
Allegations of walking in on young pageant contestants changing in 1997 and 2001, made public October 11 and 12, 2016
[…]
Two allegations of sexual assault in early 1980s and 2005, reported October 12, 2016
[…]
Allegation of groping in 2003, reported October 12, 2016
[…]
Allegation of sexual assault in December 2005, reported October 12, 2016
[…]
Allegation of sexual assault in early 1990s, reported October 14, 2016
[…]
Allegation of sexual assault in 2007, reported October 14, 2016
[…]
Allegation of of grabbing and unwanted kissing attempt in late 90s, reported October 15, 2016
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/allegations-women-have-made-against-donald-trump-n665731?cid=sm_tw
The SNL second debate. Not one of their best, but still good for a few snorts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5bj0G4o9i8
Allegedly how (some of?) the Dem e-mail accounts were hacked.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/russian-hackers-faked-gmail-password-form-to-invade-dnc-emai?utm_term=.vag800pQnO#.vukb33eA6Y
Old school.
https://twitter.com/OnTacticsBook/status/787441395946622976
Impossible. Wikileaks is a hero to the left. Julian should be hailed as such – there is no way they would ever fabricate anything.
That’s dirty politics and only the right do that right ?
4,723,900 people in New Zealand. Quite a change from 2014. Thousands who voted in 2014 have died. Thousands have come on the voting roll and thousands of immigrants have become permanent residents or citizens and thus able to vote. They are aspirational for a brighter future and given the booming economy I wonder how likely it is that they will vote for more tax and less freedom.
Desperate trolling.
fisiani seems thrilled thousands of people have died. Typical individualism.
Fisiani takes no pleasure in any death. A beloved friend died last week. You should apologise.
If you don’t think somthing is wrong with our media.
Check out this piece.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85075657/paul-moon-david-cumin-and-juliet-moses-flotilla-became-ship-of-fools
I know its from a few days ago, but it’s worth reflecting on.
Because you add this…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/85381134/perfect-mike-hosking-on-luxury-items-and-sexuallycharged-shopping-trips-with-john-key
And we really are in lala land…
I would love to see a debate between Paul Moon and Norman Finkelstein on the blockade issue. No place for Mike Hoskings in that, but maybe he could provide some luxury snacks from Nosh.
We could invite our very own Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Though given Sir Geoffs connection to Álvaro Uribe I guess you would have to be very careful not to cause offence. Uribes and his brother are not exactly the type to turn the other cheek.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlLm1Ym3Pbc
A hard rain’s gonna fall, friend.