Thanks, James – Sunday’s a great day to be reminded of gluttony, especially for the flesh of farmed animals and reveling in the killing and consumption of domesticated animals somehow says “Christmas” to me, in a way that even plastic “Toy World” junk fails to do. While you’re chawing down on that juicy Home kill and gnawing on the bones of the cow you slaughtered a few weeks back, spare a thought for those who find your need to boast and broadcast your privileged lifestyle, unappetizing.
On a brighter note Robert, my Pachystegia rufa is covered in its typical, rusty-coloured, furry buds and it’s about to flower.
Anyone who can grow this, should. It’s one of our most spectacular native flowering plants and quite rare now in Marlborough.
They’re wonderful, aren’t they, Scott! You’re fortunate to be in the zone they prefer; they struggle a bit down here, especially in my shady garden. Has your weather been as hot and rain-free as Southland’s has of late? Our soil is powder-dry, though rain is promised for later today and tomorrow. This heat and dry is unprecedented.
It’s been very dry Robert. And though I have plentiful water I have limited watering to the pots and vegetables. Everything else has just had to manage.
Metservice has rain forecast today and it would be great if actually happened for a change.
James knows that there are people here who find his glorification of flesh-eating offensive, Grey Area, he just enjoys rubbing their noses in it. I expect he’ll come back all offended and in full justification mode. Mostly though, he likes to see his name written by others.
Thanks Robert. I do sense his purpose but like others here I raise to the bait so to speak even though I know I shouldn’t. I remain hopeful that even James might become a sentient being and consider others. For now he is an irritant that you can’t help scratching.
I found James’s comment obnoxious on several levels too .
He glories in the killing of innocent sentient animals.
He brags about his wealth.
He celebrates the eating of domesticated animals and the massive carbon footprint such a diet cause.
James is a very selfish person, so the only way he may change his habits is for health reasons.
A meat eating diet is carcinogenic and causes heart diseases.
Funny, a bloke comments on anticipating a summer bbq and somehow he’s the devil?
Is there no sense of enjoyment in leftie land?
Must you always sit around like bitter old shrews scolding anyone with half a smile?
I would have thought that leftie inc would be in great cheer this Christmas – an un likely election win, and a finance minister throwing out goodies like a long banned lollie scramble.
But no we have to add bbqs to the list of ‘things we must not enjoy’ and mutter and moan about the msm and Nation.
I don’t think it has sunk in yet – the left won you are allowed to smile.
“Funny, a bloke comments on anticipating a summer bbq and somehow he’s the devil?”
The devil? More limp imp, James.
“Is there no sense of enjoyment in leftie land?”
Well, I for one enjoyed parsing James’ indelicate comments and I know others got a lift from handing him his ar*e ( or is that rump?)
“Must you always sit around like bitter old shrews scolding anyone with half a smile?”
From what I know of shrews, they never sit around – they’re driven constantly, at high speed, eating, insects mainly, in a frantic effort to keep themselves alive. And James’ wasn’t a half-smile, it was a smarmy leer (known here as a “Jami-Lee Ross).
Rightly or Wrongly (usually the latter) – I saw James as saying blissfully, like a certain guy in a certain movie: “Ah, there is nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning.”
And he deliberately dumped his crap on a website where he knew there were many pacifists.
A shitty comment – not a celebration of happiness, and it takes a mind of similar quality to defend it.
Go and cleanse yourself.
And that is coming from a meat-eater.
Are a bit bit giddy from the thinness of the atmosphere up there on your high horse Robert? Honestly, your comment falls under the category of “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
I’d like to think your churlish outburt is the result of an excess of gorse beer last night than a generally uncharitable disposition in this beautiful weather and season of goodwill.
Also, there is nothing wrong in eating a cow that has had a life where it felt the sun on it’s back, chewed on sweet grass in green and peaceful pastures, and was able to moo lustily and generally express itself as a cow before it was slaughtered.
“Also, there is nothing wrong in eating a cow that has had a life where it felt the sun on it’s back, chewed on sweet grass in green and peaceful pastures, and was able to moo lustily and generally express itself as a cow before it was slaughtered.”
That’s your opinion whereas I would say that is still wrong. It doesn’t matter how “nice” a life an animal has lived if in the end it still has to be needlessly slaughtered simply so some humans who can afford to can eat animal flesh.
In the future facing us a species killing animals so humans can continue to eat animal flesh is unsustainable.
It is much more effective to use available land to produce plant-based protein rather than have animals convert it into second-hand protein that we have to kill them to access.
The problem isn’t too many domestic animals, it is too many humans. Logically, we’d all turn to vegetarianism to simply stave off the fateful day when Malthus is finally proved right.
If we were to limit meat production to what could be raised properly (as in the animal being able to exhibit it’s natural behaviour) the price of meat would soon turn most of us into vegetarians simply because there would more people than meat and it would be a luxury item.
Thanks Ed. It’s not about ethical farming of animals is it? We simply shouldn’t be killing animals to eat their flesh when we don’t have to.
I became a vegetarian around 40 years ago when I read a book that challenged me to consider that humans should be evolving and we have the choice! We don’t have to cause pain and suffering to other sentient beings simply for the pleasure of cooking and then chewing and swallowing their flesh.
And now add to that the unsustainability of animal agriculture in a world with diminishing food resources and climate change upon us!
@Sanctuary
“when Malthus is finally proved right ”
Are you perchance a fan of our current Government?
Malthus certainly wouldn’t have been No WFF for that gentleman.
“Malthus argued that population growth doomed any efforts to improve the lot of the poor. Extra money would allow the poor to have more children, only hastening the nation’s appointment with famine” https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_07
Miserable old bastard he was..
“Are a bit bit giddy from the thinness of the atmosphere up there on your high horse Robert? Honestly, your comment falls under the category of “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.””
Without pointing out the obvious, Sanctuary, did you geddit?
As to:
” a cow that has had a life where it felt the sun on it’s back, chewed on sweet grass in green and peaceful pastures, and was able to moo lustily and generally express itself as a cow ” – you’ve a Pollyanna-ish/Glad game view of farming, Sanctuary, it has to be said, even “chewed on sweet grass” misses the reality of cows forced to eat urea-pumped, all-but-toxicly-over-nitrated ryegrasses that cause the animal to pee excessively in order to rid themselves of a substance that would make them very sick indeed (dead). But hey, sheeps in the meadow, cowz in the corn, little boy blue etc…
Well I don’t know about your grass, but mine isn’t most definitely not over-nitrated and my beef steers (all three of them) seem very happy chappies. As are my free range porkers (population: 4) and my small mob of sheep (got 32 of them, good lambing season this year from my ewes) and those three very annoying goats who have all the hours of the day to work out how to beat the electric fence. And the horses doesn’t seem to be excessively put out that I will sit on one of them every now and again and ride around in a large circle for no particular reason.
We don’t eat the hens, on account of my sister’s excessive fondness for them and anyway IMHO it seems a bit rum to bump them off after they give us all those lovely eggs.
At the end of the day I am not half as bothered at you being vegetarian as you appear to be, so I’d really just ask you to mind your own P’s and Q’s and look to your manners when passing judgement on others who are rather fond of a BBQ’d chop or three and procure said chops from happy animals in a sustainably farmed environment.
And yes, my little corner of paradise is just that. A huge garden full of flowers and beautiful trees to look at from the porch on a summer evening, a vege patch bursting with bounty, and animals going about their business in a pastoral idyll fit for a J.S. Bach concerto.
” I’d really just ask you to mind your own P’s and Q’s and look to your manners when passing judgement on others who are rather fond of a BBQ’d chop or three”
But Sanctuary, I’ve no issue at all with those fond of eating meat, being a meat-eater myself and enjoying the principle of freedom of speech, t’sonly when some dill-pickle such as James chooses to start the day on a blog he trolls regularly with an unnecessarily provocative/gratuitous comment he knows will annoy the regulars, that I rise to the occasion. If it weren’t meat, it’d be rugby, or yachting or anything else that amuses him because it annoys others. Perhaps you feel he doesn’t do that, I don’t know.
“…Perhaps you feel he doesn’t do that, I don’t know…”
I never read his comments, I discovered some time ago they were not worth the time of day.
It is a bit like my astonishment that people continue to engage with Pete George. Time has long since past that I worked out he was an idiot who can’t be reasoned with, so now I just poke fun at him.
Just a centrist with little relevance to those on the right or left and their debates/issues. Like all centrists, not just above the fray but a little self-righteous as a neutral commentator about the left and right.
It is not so much that he cannot be reasoned with, but that he is not someone who is going to be swayed to a leftist or rightist point of view, his pride is in being independent of both.
Robert Guyton
May your cares waft away and your view be of happy faces and lots of affection and being with people who love other people and want the country to be a happy place where people’s needs are worked through with them, not authoritatively judged and allowed or declined on someone else’s perceived virtue.
I’m very disappointed that you have not invited any Standardistas; if we’re good enough to read and comment on your comments surely we qualify as your “friends”. The least you can do is share a few selfies with us 😉
Anyway has been a fantastic day. Lots of happy people enjoying themselves while some of you festered in bitterness.
Might come as a shock – but there are a lot of Kiwis love a good bbq. But hey – you guys enjoy your sanctimonious salad. I’ll raise a lamb chop in your honour next weekend
Shoulder chops? The cheap meat. We never use to cut shops off the shoulder because they were so inferior to the rib. Damn all meat, mostly fat and bone.
Of course they’re ‘oh so fashionable’ now.
Perfectly fit for the idiot ignorant nouveau riche neo liberal.
Another ignoramus.
Not interested in learning about the ethics, environmental and health issues surrounding meat eating.
I’m alright Jack sums up your thinking.
You don’t know what the issues are.
And you don’t care to find about them.
Your own selfish needs outweigh anything else.
I wonder if you would have made sacrifices for the war effort between 1939 and 1945?
Or has neoliberalism poisoned all sense of community spirit in you?
Is that needed, you are just wanting to disrupt us all.
Try civility or be a little more human will you.
Just because we dont think like you you dont need to dump on us as we are fellow beings and have our thoughts to present on this social media platform.
Are you having difficulty handling life now under a labour lead government?
We suffered for nine years under your preferred political party and now its our turn to live in our political Party limelight.
James come on, brags about killing an animal, and eating it with his affluent friends and family.
People respond with disdain at such boastfulness and get abused.
It’s not the bbq @James – it’s you.
WE (i.e. I I I and my my my overwhelming number of friends that fawn all over me, and my family possessions – the kuds and the grandkuds) had a bbq today. We just didn’t wank ourselves silly over it. But then you’re probably considerably richer than me.
It says what many of us already knew, but in detail – our welfare system is failing beneficiaries, and ultimately we-the-society. And there has been an incremental tightening of the screws since 2008 that has been devastating.
The welfare state has been undermined so much that it was failing families or individuals that fell on hard times, said Ms St John.
“We’ve had a whole raft of policy changes during those nine years and cumulatively it’s been a bit like a frog in a beaker of warming water and something perhaps people haven’t been aware of, or not aware of the whole picture.”
She hoped the new government would “urgently” review the welfare system.
“The magnitude of the task ahead to stitch up the safety net after such an onslaught must not be underestimated.”
While these changes were moderated under Prime Minister Lange, they paved the way for more neoliberal reforms to come.
The Clark government brought in measures that alleviated things for some, but,
Thus while WFF reduced child poverty rates overall, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) acknowledged that the lack of access to this tax credit meant WFF did not reduce poverty rates in the poorest families:
So now we need government action that does much more than make some incrementally small changes, or that merely tinkers at the edges.
AB,,,,,,,you have James in one and a half lines. ‘I’m alright Jack……’
Imagine the cackling this afternoon when James reports this morning’s exchange …….leaving it open that James is nine parts a boastful, self-satisfied dupe.
Forget the ethical issues.
Forget the environmental impact.
Forget the health issues.
I sense you don’t know what the issues are.
And you don’t care to find about them.
Your own selfish needs outweigh anything else.
I wonder if you would have made sacrifices for the war effort between 1939 and 1945?
Or has neoliberalism poisoned all sense of community spirit in you?
You beat me to the post Carolyn. Very sobering and sickening reading isn’t it?
But the CPAG report excellently explains how we got to where we are. Mandatory reading.
It was the lead story on RNZ radio @ 7-8am. Funnily enough I can’t see any mention of said report on Stuff or Herald…
Gotta love the wording. ‘starting’ to unravel. There’s only a few stitches to go.
I can’t see this Govt achieving much. A big boost in housing should at least bring rents down but that will take years and by then the Govt will most probably have run out of money.
Simple answer is for ‘them’ (Labour coalition) to just increase taxes on the rich as National did for nine years while taxing the poor and using a slow “Austerity” regime.
Is that o/k for labour to pay back the poor and repeat what national did to bankroll the rich?
It needs more than that cleangreen. The most precious possession that was stolen from many people by successive Governments was a future. You can throw as much cash at people as you want, it won’t solve anything until you give them back a good reason to get out of bed in the morning.
DH, yes we need ‘progressive policies. We hope the working tax forum will come up with some policies around restarting our own re-investment in NZ.
That is why we are so puzzled as to why the right wing media was down so hard on Winston as his policies were the very best, if you did foollow the election interviews he had with Corrin Dann and others he laid out the oplans there which to us seemed so “common sense” in restoring our power to take NZ back as we had during the 50’s and 60’s.
Co-operatives are the future for smaller countries like ours not selling all our assets. Selling our assets just bleeds our country dry again as the capital in profits just goes off shore and we wind up with less power and control then slowly we will come to a halt.
Increasing the Superfund contibution is a good move as my son while 11yrs in Germany contibuted to their massive wealthfund that is now buying up choice NZ farmland so we need to fund our base to re-invest in NZ bussiness not the offshore companys and countries.
National dropped the ball here and Winston wants to resart us buying into our country again and sharing in it not selling it off.
Savage’s government of reform shaped the economic and social direction of New Zealand for decades to come creating in the process not only one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but also one of the fairest. 40 years after Savage’s historic victory, NZ had the distinction of having the most equitable distribution of wealth in the world.
Despite their differences Lee and Savage helped transform the nature of the society they had inherited. Dispensing with the social and economic traditions inherited from Britain, they and their contemporaries set NZ on a new course of economic self-determination that made humanitarian concerns the central factor of economic policy and the process redefining the nature of nationhood and the purpose of society.
Try this ‘real’ (good news article) it is good for the “real true soul” not james poisonous tortured soul.
Subject: NZ privacy commissioner fights against US order to release NZ citizens bank records to US government. 17-12-17.
Today 17th December 2017.
NZ Privacy Commissioner John Edwards fights back today against US Government order to release NZ Citizens bank records to US Government.
17/12/17
Radio NZ today reports this while in conversation with NZ Privacy Commissioner John Edwards at 7.15 am this morning 17/12/17 with Wallace Chapman.
John Edwards: taking a stand for privacy in the US Supreme Court
A landmark US Supreme Court case against a US citizen accused of drug trafficking has caught the eye of New Zealand’ privacy commissioner, and prompted him to take a stand against the United States. The citizen has private data stored in an Irish data centre owned by Microsoft, and rather than ask Ireland to voluntarily hand over the information , the US wants to seize it under US search warrant laws.
US government lawyers made a request in the US Court of Appeal, were knocked back, and they’ve now appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
The New Zealand privacy commissioner, John Edwards is worried about the global implications of such a case, and he’s made a voluntary submission on to the US Supreme Court.
I understand the government is rolling out Nationals previously announced “increase” to the accommodation supplement I ask that people who receive this go to the accommodation supplement calculator
It seems my increase is actually a $1 cut lol….I suspect the “increase” is at the rent threshold maximum so as to reduce the Temporary Emergency Assistance Payments.
Can others please check to see how the change affects them – I doubt I am unique in having a reduction.
Did the St Johns wort work?
Recall this?
cleangreen: Comment:Daily Review 21/09/2017
Date published: 7:49 pm, September 21st, 2017
… herb St Johns wart barfly its cheaply available at most …
Barfly- it seems I’ll be a whole $5/week better off with AC, the catch being that TAS will be decreased, surprise surprise, and while I don’t yet have the numbers from years of experience this act of kindness is going to leave loads of us worse off.
You gotta love the shamelessness of the media. having relentlessly slagged Labour since the election and engaging with the opposition in a petulant exercise in denial and arrogance Bazza’s squeeze is now professing amazement that in her opinion the honeymoon is over for Labour.
We need to kick arse and get the ‘new promised public media chanel’ up and running with ‘real investigative journalists’ digging for the ‘real other side aof the story.’
Not relying on this broken corrupted so call media.
To date as of yesterday 17/12/17 we still have no RNZ reporter to cover HB/Gisborne, so the new Broadcasting Minister Claire Curran has now recieved a letter of complaint from us to provide us with a reporter!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, I perceive Curran is an inept and incompetent politician who owes her lofty post to gender politics rather than talent, and whose first days as minister have done nothing to change that perception.
I’m hoping she’s smart enough to take the advice of the likes of Peter Thompson and CBB – even though I maintain their hopes are/haven’t been ambitious enough.
(There’s no reason for example that alongside RNZ Nat and Concert, we couldn’t have a youth network – or perhaps The Wireless on a radio network, and also a Kids TV)
I went to church every Sunday when my Mama was a live there is a lot of good thing that came from going to church we had christening it teaches our mokos to be good people but I don’t no which one is right as there are so many we are angerclian.
You think that ECO would not here from his 2 eldest granddaughters that you have been to there school and traumatising my mokos asking inappropriate questions. They are 10 7 years old you_________ well looks like eco is going to sue the education department to Ana to kai. I told YOU DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME.
What a coincidence after my post about my son in law in Auckland having his case chucked out and they still made him do home detention and PD on Sundays WTF.
ON the Tuesday they told him he had the bracelet on for 3 weeks to long and wiped his PD and the farcical part is all of a sudden they can’t find his probation officer. No you see people they will try and use all the states departments to hammer the poor people into submission they let there officers abuse there power an just cover it up this is the sort of culture all OUR state departments display.
And they say they don’t no why there are so many Maori in jail Maori live life thinking the the state is going to treat US fairly and humanely YEA RIGHT. And this is why I’m calling for those old farts who run our state department to retire so there dum ass culture will be retired with them so the culture will change to a accountable reliable humane state services YES these people are payed to serve US not there EGOS and the wealth Yes the wealth get good service or the state will get there ass sued off
the state knows this and they provide a good service to the wealthy because of this fact. I will advercate for the right off the vulnerable with this Mana they are giving me look at Stuff website
The article Under fire and on the herald website there is a article about some ladies from the defence forces who went to court to get there name suppression lifted to help hilight there case against Our defence forces on covering up of sex violation against 3 separate Lady’s there will be many more so Many thanks to these ladies for standing up to these old farts and making sure there stories are heard loud and clear. I get pissed of at all the articles about crime beening reported buy MSM crime is
A minamil part of OUR society at a guess 3 persent and all you _________ see in MSM is crime is this phenomenon just fate NO ITS NOT the police have a major influence on our MSM so they push for crime articles to be published to justify there calls for more staff and to justify there behaviour and to paint a farcical picture of a perfect justice system YEA RIGHT us poor are just numbers to OUR state services and its the wealth that get Impunity. Ana to kai
It is hard to be full of cheer when the media is contsantly running down the new Government, and things appear not to be changing yet as the new government has promised “real change” in their pre-election speeches. “Lets do this”
But we need to hold on to hope, – and perhaps give them some months ahead in time to make those promised changes they pledged to us in countless emails sent us all and press releases.
Our whanau wishes your whanau a gentle caring peaceful xmas and new year, as we all join together to make all our lives better for our collective future.
Went to the Sally Army carol service this morning and was impressed by the young people there and mix of ethnicities and ages.
So if you want to help bolster the workings for good in NZ I suggest you attend church occasionally that works with the community, (don’t have to be dedicated faithful) and encourage the people who are trying to maintain some love and care for each other in the community.
We need to switch from thinking about gold for ourselves to God and the Jesus messages which were generally reported as caring and positive. We can find some spare gold to give to those working with ordinary people who are not getting much help because they haven’t some emotionally appealing problem, just the same old trying-to-find their place, make sense of the world, life problem.
“One does have to ask: SHOULD they get support to keep farming here?” Country Life, RNZ National, Friday 15 December 2017
In the wake of years of revelations of the environmental damage inflicted by out of control farming, New Zealanders are now inflicted with millions of dollars worth of farming industry propaganda, designed to persuade us that farmers work harder than anyone else, get up earlier than anyone else, and that they actually care for the environment, in spite of evidence to the contrary. Television commercial breaks regularly feature Richie “Offside” McCaw’s Fonterra-paid elegies to early rising, and actual programs such as Country Calendar are often nothing more than P.R. exercises for Big (read “Dirty”) Dairying.
RNZ National’s Country Life program, which is now twenty years old, is well produced and always interesting. It plays on Friday evenings, and is repeated on Saturday mornings. It’s covered all kinds of farming operations and related activities, from beekeeping, to cheese-making, to the growth of farmers’ markets. It also gives more than a fair amount of space to dairy farmers.
On Friday’s edition of Country Life, Edgecumbe dairy farmers affected by the Rangitaiki River flooding in April talk about how they are coping. They are introduced sympathetically….
SUSAN MURRAY: G’day, g’day, good to have you with us for the Country Life hour. I’m Susan Murray in Hamilton, and Duncan Smith’s in Wellington.
DUNCAN SMITH: Hi there. Coming up in a moment we’ll hear which lucky areas had rain in the North Island, and in the South Island the rain that DID fall in Canterbury’s almost been too little too late, and most places are getting very CRISP.
SUSAN MURRAY: We’re joining a traveling nun in Australia, smelling the roses near Christchurch, and meeting some farmers who are still having a VERY TOUGH TIME following the Eastern Bay of Plenty FLOODS back in April. We hear quite a bit about the Edgecumbe TOWN people, but NOT much about the poor farmers. So that soon.
DUNCAN SMITH: Without further ado, let’s z-z-z-zip around the country. In Northland, it’s been HOT….
One of the Edgecumbe farmers complains about being “pinged with fines” for effluent breaches in the past. Then he praises farmers for their “resilience”. However, this is not allowed to become a totally one-sided public relations exercise: at the end of this segment, the interviewer, Susan Murray, reminds the farmer of just why his land was flooded….
FARMER: Yeah we just GRIND ON, and it doesn’t matter WHERE you’re living or WHERE you’re farming in New Zealand, ahhhhhmm, there’s positives and negatives to wherever. …. Yeah, and I think, ahhhhmmm, oh we’ve probably commented before, you’ve just got to break your issues down, ahhhhmmm, you know, don’t try and tackle the whole thing in one hit, break it down, and yeah it may have affected your life in a great way but, um, you know, there’s still a lot to be thankful for in New Zealand, um, you know. There’s lots of options out there, but, yeah, it’s a reason to get up in the morning I suppose, that’s farming, we all enjoy it.
SUSAN MURRAY: And you’ll keep doing it on a flood plain! [chuckle]
FARMER: Yeah, yeah. Have to.
COUNTRY LIFE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
FARMER:[grimly, awkwardly] Heh, heh, heh, heh!
A little later there is a very uncomfortable moment, after Farmer No. 1 has a brain fade and accidentally speaks the truth….
COUNTRY LIFE: And do you feel a little bit abandoned, that you’ve sort of had, I think someone said, B-all help?
FARMER No. 1: Yep. I, I, I think a lot of farmers, ahhh, were disappointed at how much, ah how LITTLE help we received. But, you know, we’re a resilient lot and we just, ah, roll up our sleeves and get stuck in, but ahhhm, you know, Edgecumbe, they’ve got a LOT of help, but the water went THROUGH the town and out on to the farms, and um, you know, we’ve, the farmers have had to deal with that and it’s sort of been in the background and has had very little coverage really.
FARMER No. 2: It’s all part of the joys and challenge of farming though! It’s—ha ha!—you know—-
FARMER No. 1: Well you’re battling Mother Nature a little bit here. I mean, it was all swamp that was drained. Mother Nature wants to take it back one day probably but we’ll keep fighting!
….Stunned silence…
COUNTRY LIFE: Hearing THAT, one does have to ask: SHOULD they get support to keep farming here?
FARMER No. 1:[scrambling] Ahhhhmmm, this is, you know, very productive dairy land. We must produce a LOT for the region, not to mention, you know, the NATIONAL economy, so um, as far as cost-benefit goes, I would say the government would be making a GOOD INVESTMENT putting money into the scheme…. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife
To quote Leighton Smith, Larry Williams and Mike Hosking: “Who the F**K is Mike Joy?”
JOHN KEY: Well that might be Mike Joy’s view, but I don’t share that view.
STEPHEN SACKUR: But he is very well qualified, isn’t he? He’s looked, for example, at the number of species threatened with extinction in New Zealand, he’s looked at the fact that half your lakes, 90% of your lowland rivers, are now classed as polluted.
KEY: Look, I’d hate to get into a flaming row with one of our academics, but he’s offering his view. I think any person that goes down to New Zealand …
SACKUR: Yeah but he’s a scientist, it’s based on research, it’s not an opinion he’s plucked from the air.
KEY: He’s one academic, and like lawyers, I can provide you with another one that will give you a counterview. Anybody who goes down to New Zealand and looks at our environmental credentials, and looks at New Zealand, then I think for the most part, in comparison with the rest of the world, we are 100% pure – in other words, our air quality is very high, our water quality is very high.
Can I Really Get Enough Calcium Eating Just Plants?
‘Like iron, magnesium, and copper, calcium is a mineral. It is found in the soil, where it is absorbed into the roots of plants. Animals get their calcium by consuming these calcium-rich plants. So even though we are all conditioned to believe that calcium comes from milk and dairy products, the real source of calcium richness is the earth. No wonder that a whole-food, plant-based diet has plenty of calcium.
A varied diet of starches, vegetables, and fruits (without dairy) has sufficient calcium to meet our needs. If you eat a relatively low-calcium diet, your body will adjust. Studies show that when fed a relatively low-calcium diet (415 mg/day), our intestines become more efficient at absorbing calcium, and our kidneys conserve it better. Equally, when overfed with calcium (1,740 mg/day) our bodies adjust as well: our intestines block the calcium absorption, while our kidneys eliminate more. This is an example of how our bodies protect us: if not eliminated, the excess calcium would get deposited in our soft tissues (heart, kidneys, muscles, and skin), making us vulnerable to illness and even death … a true testament to how smart our bodies really are!’
Go easy on James, Ed, he’s suffering Meat-eaters Headache. A blueberry smoothy and a plate of kiwifruit slices would cure it, but he’ll not deign to eat anything from the fruit department. His bowels must be knots of gristle and undigested sausage skin 🙂
Ha ha Robert he is a simple soul that represents “the hollow men”
He has that trait eh?
Anyway he doesnt answer the question we asked before which was on 1.7.1.3.1.1
“If you was so happy in life why do you spend hours comming here to make all those ‘snide’ remarks all the time?
If thats what ‘rocks your boat’ then that is your ‘fantasy’, – do you get that?”
Hi Robert Guyton – on a different tangent – last year some time I mentioned trying to make a small forest garden with fruit trees, and asked you how you dealt with kikuyu (which you didn’t know). Well – I think I’ve found the answer via your forest garden methods. I mulched quite an area around the trees, put in the comfrey, lavendar, marigold etc, threw on a pile of palm frond chippings, and left it. Election campaigning took up all the rest of my time for almost the whole year, and with that over, I looked at a pile of weeds including kikuyu just about smothering my little trees. BUT …. it was incredibly easy to pull them out, and underneath the trees were flowering (and now fruiting).
So that’s what you do with kikuyu – mulch it heavily, and then pull it out easily !
That’s really good to hear, Jenny and thanks for letting me know of your success. I expect most if not all “pest plant” challenges are solvable by means such as you describe – provided there’s a human/gardener on hand to administer and maintain the solution. Congratulations on your fruit crops and enjoy your coming harvest!
At some point in the next 12 months there is supposed to be a referendum in Kanaky/New Caledonia on self-determination.
Whether the referendum will go ahead or not actually remains a bit of an open question.
In either case, the French seem determined to hold on to their island colonies/possessions in the Pacific and Caribbean.
Because of the smallness of indigenous populations in Kanaky/New Caledonia and ‘French Polynesia’, successive French governments have been able to send out enough settlers to ensure an ongoing majority in favour of continuing French rule.
It’s important that progressive-minded people in NZ support the populations seeking independence and emancipation.
As far as I could make out when I went there a few years ago, it’s one of the retirement options for wealthy French citizens. They live like kings amongst the poverty of the locals
“Soon, even the notion that Israel is democratic for Jews will be gone.”
Gideon Levy at Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, Dominion Road
Sunday 3 December 2017, 3 p.m. (Part 2 of 2)
Questions from the floor.
Question No. 1: The international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel: is it working?
GIDEON LEVY: Boycott is a legitimate strategy. Israel is forever pressing countries to boycott Iran and Hamas. People boycott butchers, and refuse to buy goods made in sweatshops. No one can claim that boycott is wrong. Many people won’t buy stolen goods—and anything made in the Occupied Territories is a stolen product. Boycott and sanction were very effective strategies against the South African apartheid state. The aggression towards BDS by the Jewish establishment convinces me that it’s the right tool. Psychologically, it’s having an increasing impact. There have been bills to criminalize BDS in the United States and Europe. This is unacceptable. It shows how weak the Israeli argument is if they have to prosecute people of conscience who want to boycott Israel. By the way, I am violating Israeli law right now—it’s going to be seven years’ jail for expressing support for BDS. We need to make Israel, and every Israeli, accountable.
Question No. 2: Are you tired and defeated in your attitude to the two-state solution?
GIDEON LEVY: You need to prove that the two-state solution is viable, and show how to evacuate the 700,000 settlers. Soon that number will be one million. Whenever I mention President Trump, people start to laugh—(LAUGHTER). Trump said, “I don’t mind whether it’s one state or two states.” I don’t think he knew what he was talking about.
Question No. 3: New Zealand is in the throes of privatization brought about by social engineering. The incarceration rate in New Zealand—-
(At this point the questioner was cut off, for allegedly being off topic. I think Gideon was going to answer him, but the organisers insisted on moving things along to the next question.)
Question No. 4: How can we learn from the Maori?
GIDEON LEVY: I visited South Africa three times, and tremendous things happened there. This inspires me: the one state solution can be implemented. If New Zealanders can live together, we can live together with the Palestinians. —(APPLAUSE)— There will still be struggles about rights, et cetera, but it can be done.
Question No. 5: Gideon, you’ve been called “the most hated man in Israel.” Do you suffer from Shin Bet surveillance, in the way that Donald Woods was spied on in South Africa?
GIDEON LEVY: It was the Independent that called me the most hated man in Israel. However, I am not the story. Yes, there have been some physical attacks. But we are still a liberal democracy for Jewish citizens. I was arrested once for entering the West Bank. My car was shot once, and we counted nine bullet marks. It was an armor-plated car, however. The Israeli regime is aiming now at NGOs and the Supreme Court. Their next target will be the media.
Question No. 6: What can you tell us about the Knesset bill to ban the police filing corruption charges against any government officials?
GIDEON LEVY: There are many cracks in Israel’s democracy, in particular that bill. There are many anti-democratic bills in the Israeli parliament now. Soon, even the notion that Israel is democratic for Jews will be gone. However, it still survives for the moment, and I enjoy full freedom to speak and write.
Question No. 7: What are the common or distinctive values in the Jewish and Palestinian cultures?
GIDEON LEVY: There is no “Jewish morality”, there are universal values. Very clearly, most of us are secular. I don’t know what it means to follow Jewish values. I do know what it means to follow ethics and morality, which are universal.
Question No. 8: Israel, like New Zealand, is a settler state. The natives have been stripped of possession of the land. Maori attitudes to land are very different to english values. How can we have equal rights?
GIDEON LEVY: In New Zealand you discuss the past. In Israel, bringing up the past is tantamount to treason. The nakba was a war crime; I could live at peace with it if it had stopped there. But it never stopped. The same attitudes, the same tools, have continued. We should expect Israel to admit, and compensate, the crimes of 1948. But we don’t let it be discussed. We don’t let the Palestinians put up a sign for one of the more than four hundred villages destroyed. The first step is to ADMIT the crime of 1948.
Question No. 9: You say you do what you do because you care about Israel. Should we change the name of Israel? What about the right of return of the expelled Palestinians?
GIDEON LEVY: I care about Israel having a different regime from the present one, which is not a democracy. Let’s be quite clear about this: I stand for a tiny minority in Israel. The right of return? Sure. A democratic country would let those people in. No right of return is a racist law.
Question No. 10: Who are the main enemies of Israel?
GIDEON LEVY: Those who support the occupation, who keep it strong, and who pay for it. Of course I’m talking about the United States here. The U.S. could stop this masquerade in a matter of months. The U.S. routinely condemns the illegal settlements and scolds Israel, but it does nothing. The European Union: nothing but lip service. India, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E.—they all buy Israeli weapons.
Question No. 11: What about the liberal opposition in Israel?
GIDEON LEVY: Nothing is more misleading than the belief that Netanyahu is the only problem. Labour is the founding father of the settlements. I would rather have the right wingers in power, because at least they are honest. If Labour gets into power, it will meet with Abbas. The world will applaud. Negotiations in special committees will go on for one and a half years. The negotiations will go nowhere. Like Oslo. Everyone will support Israel—“what a peaceful state!” At least with Netanyahu, what you see is what you get.
Question No. 12: Are you optimistic about the peace and justice movements in Israel?
GIDEON LEVY: Yes, there are indeed groups like Breaking the Silence, B’tselem, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and Physicians for Human Rights. But they face a fatal problem: delegitimization by the government and the media. The government is fighting Breaking the Silence like hell. When it began, I thought Breaking the Silence would be a game-changer. These were Israeli soldiers witnessing and testifying about what they had done in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. There were more than one thousand testimonies. I thought that Israeli society would not be able to continue to deny. But immediately the political establishment and the media collaborated to crush them. Their influence and credibility in Israel is zero. They have been made into criminals in public opinion. The machinery of the Israeli state crushed them. Most young Israelis are much more nationalistic and right wing than their parents. And social media has made the most extreme racism socially acceptable.
Question No. 13: What about the “Christian Zionists”?
GIDEON LEVY: In terms of brainwashing and ignorance they are even worse. They turn very easily into anti-Semites. Right now they support Israel blindly and automatically; they are the biggest enemies of Israel.
————-
This melancholy yet inspirational and uplifting question time finished with a representative from the Unite union delivering the parting words of thanks to Gideon, and reminding all present of the need to press our new Labour government to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. An Irishmen, he recounted how in 1880, County Mayo residents refused to cooperate in any way with the local agent of the absentee Lord Erne. They withdrew their labour completely and refused to talk to him or engage with him in any way, resulting in his leaving Ireland in December 1880. The agent’s name: Captain Charles Boycott.
‘Thirty dangerous rural roads around the country will get rumble strips, safety barriers and more safety signs as the Government steps in to contain a road toll that is the highest since 2010.
This morning Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced the Boost Safety programme – $22.5 million to improve the safety of hotspots on rural highways across Northland, Taranaki, Manawatu-Whanganui, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
The road toll this year to December 15 was 359 deaths – the most since 2010, including a tragic accident in October near Taupo that killed four people and shook a community.
The announcement follows a crisis meeting Genter called last month with transport officials and police to discuss ways to improve road safety, including shifting existing funds away from State Highways.
The $22.5m has been reallocated from the State Highways budget and will include rumble strips, signage, safety barriers, and targeted speed limit changes on 30 hotspots that are flagged as a real risk of death and serious injuries.’
Hopefully there’ll be a few more directional arrows painted on the roads too.
If you’ve ever been confronted by an oncoming vehicle on the wrong side of the road, you’ll know what I mean.
A bit of paint is actually a very cheap option, especially alongside a rumble strip – even if they’re busy not looking in a rear vision mirror, rather at a cell phone buried in their lap waiting for a reply to their previous txt.
There should aslo be maore signs telling trucks not to travel fasterthan 90 kms on our windy narrow highway 2 all the way down the east coast as trucks are often clocked at over 100kms and tailgate other vehicles very often now since the rail carries no freight or less freight .
So signs and police presence on our narrow winding regional roads may help here as the trucks are breaking all the rules now.
An xtian loon who makes his living dispatching killers for hire around the globe is implicated in ilicit arms trading and extrajudicial executions.
Who woulda thunk it?
/
The two declarations are each five pages long and contain a series of devastating allegations concerning Erik Prince and his network of companies, which now operate under the banner of Xe Services LLC. Among those leveled by Doe #2 is that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe”:
To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.
Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince’s executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to “lay Hajiis out on cardboard.” Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince’s employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as “ragheads” or “hajiis.”
Gosh what about not pecking each other to the stage where we need bandages.
STFU about meat eating and vegetarianism. There are emotional and practical reasons involved in thinking and stances on each side of this complex issue on which we are all benighted.
Let’s have Christmas without these waspish attacks. Now wasps are a problem, turn away I implore you, and look at what can be done to kill and limit wasps.
Hey, Grey! Here’s something you’ll enjoy – shortly after advising you to leave wasps be, I uncovered a nest of the blighters and now wear a single sting to my forearm! I’ve invited myself back for a chat this evening, when they’re all at home 🙂
But they still allow in-shore local fishing with dragnets between two trawlers as we have seen them operating off of Napier & Gisborne.
They should be banned too.
So this is not overseas commercial factory ships we are talking about here.
Anyway we need to eat less meat and we do only use two 440 oz cans of canadian salmon between two of us a week, and these salmon are ‘farmed’ fish only too.
This is a dystopian novel, which interprets the American South by way of the Middle East, challenging Americans to imagine what it might be like to die for, but also kill, their fellow citizens.
The Second Civil War begins in 2074. Climate change has changed the continent, submerging the banks of Louisiana and the near entirety of Florida, save for an island enclave or two, one of which eventually houses the notorious Sugarloaf Detention Facility for Northern prisoners of war.
In the early 2070s, the federal government, by then based in Columbus, moved to outlaw fossil fuels. Southerners resented this and other impositions from the richer, prosperous Northern states. Fervor for secession began to build. The nature of Southern “culture” was rich, but also somewhat vague and constructed, like all cultural identities are. It was enough, though, to moor a movement that would lead to the deaths of millions. A Southern suicide bomber assassinated the president in 2073, plunging the country into violence.
Might be worth a few days over Christmas grinding through the Deep South with a climate change+Middle East wars lens.
Many thanks to Sir Paul Macartney for backing Maori Culture Ka pai.
I’m getting a TV set top box I know some people know what my search history is and what channel I’m watching I figure that out a while ago. Ya the mokos have gone home Im exsorsed and this is one of the reasons I say we owe Lady’s equality it’s a lot of effort to raise children I have a lot of other reasons for equality for Lady’s to all the girls in OUR family the future of our mother earth many more.
See how low down these national people will go there actions never cease to amaze me well there dum ass attacks on Jacinda Mana will just fail to get any traction and will fall into tomorrow un heard of like all the bullshit they try and chuck at her. Kia kaha
Settle in, politikids. You’re going to enjoy this… I’ve read the full letter Trump transition team attorneys sent to legislators re: Mueller obtaining their emails. It has a delicious reveal. 1/https://t.co/gHZPrX3CVn— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) December 17, 2017
Settle in, politikids.
You're going to enjoy this…
I've read the full letter Trump transition team attorneys sent to legislators re: Mueller obtaining their emails.
.@chrisgeidner spoke to a senior GSA lawyer, who said of the Trump transition team: “In using our devices," transition team members were informed that materials "would not be held back in any law enforcement" actions."Therefore, no expectation of privacy can be assumed." pic.twitter.com/D0uqNtgR9S— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 17, 2017
.@chrisgeidner spoke to a senior GSA lawyer, who said of the Trump transition team: “In using our devices," transition team members were informed that materials "would not be held back in any law enforcement" actions. "Therefore, no expectation of privacy can be assumed." pic.twitter.com/D0uqNtgR9S
I know lol nothing matters, but, just for the record, it should be noted that the Trump campaign staked out a firmly "pro" position on the release of https://t.co/c5dZ5bgnJu e-mails. pic.twitter.com/j0b1sOELzF
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Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki is getting a new harbour, which will create 1,850 new jobs in the region, in a new round of regional services funding announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones. Ōpōtiki's harbour is currently unusable by most ships, but it will receive ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First Law and Order spokesman Darroch Ball has submitted the ‘Sentencing (Priority of Interests in Sentencing) Amendment Bill’ – a Members Bill which introduces a new overarching ‘priority and weighting provision’ that courts must follow when sentencing ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas has welcomed today’s announcement from regional economic development minister Shane Jones outlining $5.87m of funding for the re-development of the Taupō Airport. The bulk of the investment ($5 million) will come from the Provincial Growth Fund, while the rest will be from the New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended multi-million dollar provincial growth fund money for Northland water storage. The New Zealand First leader, along with Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, were recently in Dargaville to announce up to $12.745 million PGF funding top-up for water storage initiatives in the ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
It’s my pleasure to be in Sydney today for our annual meeting, Prime Minister. It’s fair to say that since we last met, tragedy and disaster have befallen our two countries. They say that in moments of that nature, the true character of an individual comes to the fore. I ...
Travel restrictions introduced for Iran from today No exemptions for students from China to enter the country Increased health staff presence at international airports The Government has announced a suite of new actions as it steps up its response to the rapidly changing global spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Waikato and South Auckland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support for farmers and growers. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on ...
The Crown accounts are in a strong position to weather any economic uncertainty as a result of coronavirus, with the books in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the seven months to January. The operating balance before ...
Supporting New Zealand to make most of digital and data driven technologies will be the focus of a new Digital Council that begins its work today. Minister for Government Digital Services, Kris Faafoi, and Minister of Statistics, James Shaw, have confirmed the group of experts chosen to advise the Government ...
Safety and climate change resilience are behind South Island regional roading projects that are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I’m pleased to ...
Digital and air connectivity in Fiordland are getting a big boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced in January, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities, to be administered by the Provincial Development Unit. “I’m pleased ...
West Coast ports and roads will benefit from an investment of $18.6 million to improve safety and resilience and enable future economic growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced last month allocated $300 million for regional investment opportunities, to be administered ...
Regional roading projects that will improve safety and resilience are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I spend a lot of time in ...
The Eastern Bay of Plenty will finally get the harbour development it has wanted for decades, thanks to a $79.4 million central Government investment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. This game-changing project will revitalise the township of Ōpōtiki and the wider Eastern Bay of Plenty, creating hundreds ...
Regional New Zealand will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare for climate change and help grow our economy. As part of the $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced by the Government last ...
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, have welcomed a new cyber security qualification as a step towards countering cyber threats and keeping New Zealanders safe. Attending the launch of the new Level 6 Diploma of Cyber Security at Auckland’s Unitec Institute ...
Government Ministers today celebrated 20 years of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/ Ko te Pataka kai o Tikapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi, and recognise there is much to celebrate and so much more to do to give nature a helping hand. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said “New Zealanders care deeply about nature.I want to ...
Prepared remarks on coronavirus by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Massey University. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, The topic of this speech is the Budget 2020 priorities. But, given the considerable interest that I imagine is in the room about COVID-19 coronavirus, I do ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ni sa bula vinaka. Namaste Thank you Shamima, Hon. Minister Vuniwaqa, community leaders and Women’s Crisis Centre staff for your warm welcome. It’s an honour and privilege to officially ...
The Government has released a comprehensive response to ensuring New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump. This follows the Commerce Commission fuel market study which found motorists were paying more than they should for petrol and includes: Fuel Market Bill drafting, to pass mid-year Industry consultation in ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma Tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula vinaka As-salaam alaikum It is a privilege to be here today. Thank you for welcoming us to your house of prayer. Thank you for your warmth. Thank you for greeting ...
Taupō Airport is to be upgraded and expanded through a $5.9 million Government funding boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Taupō Airport is the gateway to the Central North Island. It is essential for both keeping local people and businesses connected, but also to bring more people ...
The Minister of Housing Megan Woods has confirmed the Government is working with Rotorua Lakes District Council and Te Arawa for the second place-based assessment to better understand the housing and urban issues affecting the city. “Every New Zealander has a right to a warm, safe and secure place to ...
19 new community homes (in addition to 14 opened in December) delivered in Takanini, Auckland 500 people housed by CORT Housing Trust by end of March 2,290 new public housing homes delivered in Auckland (November 2017 – December 2019). Another nineteen new public housing homes are being delivered in Auckland, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen ties between New Zealand and India. “India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. We share common democratic traditions, growing two-way trade, extensive people-to-people links, ...
Speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Delhi, India Wednesday 26 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] The Indo-Pacific: from principles to partnerships Distinguished guests, good afternoon and thank you for your invitation. It is good to be here at a time where New Zealand needs less of an introduction than ...
Tihei mauri ora Te Whare e tu nei Te Papa e takoto Tēnā korua No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula Vinaka It is a real pleasure to be here today, and to have the honour of addressing you all. If you’ll indulge me I’m ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
The Lake Ōkaro lakebed has transferred to Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis joined Te Arawa at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua to celebrate the reinstatement of Te Arawa Lakes Trust as a key decision maker over the bed ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Yesterday New Zealand confirmed the first known case of Covid-19 in the country. As the virus approaches global pandemic status, what progress is being made in developing a vaccine? Siouxsie Wiles explains where we’re at, and how the vaccines work.The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is under way, ...
By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed today that a suspected case of Covid-19 coronavirus has tested positive in New Zealand. Ardern said the person was in their 60s, and was a citizen of New Zealand who had recently travelled from Iran via Bali. The person had previously ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Happy February 29! It doesn’t come round very often, so make sure you enjoy it. But why do we have these extra days? Well, if we didn’t, the seasons would gradually move around the ...
New Zealand Pompe Network Allyson Lock, MNZM An open letter to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern “Know us by our deeds”. This was the headline next to your picture on the cover of Time Magazine, for all the world to see. I saw it. I’m ...
Analysis: The government faces economic strife and uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread, four men charged in National's donations case plead not guilty, and more revelations about NZ First's "slush fund". ...
New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 has just been confirmed. Here’s what we know so far.What’s the latest?Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. New Zealand is the 48th country to have a confirmed case of the virus. What do we know about the patient?The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University Review: Leviathan, directed by Yaron Lifschitz. Circa in collaboration with Co:3 Australia, MAXIMA Circus and CircusWA for Perth Festival. As the audience takes their seats, two feet poke out from beneath the curtain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Bailey, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland If you’re hot and sticky even before your daily commute, you might ask why you sweat so much. Sweating is usually the body’s way of stopping you overheating. But for some people, sweating becomes ...
At a tense press conference in Sydney, the New Zealand prime minister has just issued a stark challenge to Australia over its treatment of NZ citizens. Here’s what she said. We appreciate that many Kiwis have taken up the opportunity to live and work in Australia – many more than has ...
New Zealand has widened, not narrowed, its coronavirus travel ban despite universities pleading for an exemption for international students The Government has extended its coronavirus-related travel restrictions to include Iran, while resisting calls from universities to provide an exemption for international students from China. Health officials will also monitor an ...
The Serious Fraud Office has today received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Phil Goff’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
The series, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, kicks off with a discussion on politics and the media. As all right thinking people know, there are a mere 204 days until the general election. To get in the mood, we’re launching a new series of live events. And not ...
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 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador, $20)What are you even up to, Auckland.2 Eleanor ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson insists NZ is in a strong position to weather the fallout from coronavirus, even though Australia has declared it a pandemic. He underlines the Crown accounts are buoyant, the fundamentals of the economy are strong and careful management has seen the economy continue to grow in ...
On the heels of the arrival of The Outsider on NEON, Jean Sergent explores how screen adaptations of Stephen King’s work are able to take on a life of their own. Stephen King, the 72 year old horror author from Portland, has a better work ethic than you or I and ...
Iwi are too reliant on investments in property and primary industries, restricting returns for their members, according to a new report. The annual Iwi Investment Report by consulting firm TDB Advisory, showed the country's eight largest iwi with a collective $9 billion worth of assets, had weak growth in the ...
Announcing a package of regional capital projects worth about $190 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mentioned climate change. He said Regional New Zealand “will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare ...
The people of India have been holding mass protests all over India ever since the anti Muslim and anti working class Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted into law on 12 December 2019. The state has made many attempts to suppress the rising ...
New Zealand consumer confidence remains high, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index. The index was down just one point on last month to 122. "Consumers are feeling pretty happy with their lot at the moment - the lifting housing market is making homeowners feel richer, job opportunities are ...
Jacinda Ardern has described difficult conversations with Australia as being "gnarly'' - but says the trans-Tasman relationship is strong enough to get through them. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Transparency International warns need for political funding reform is urgent Gordon Campbell: On where the ...
Continued strong demand for chicken, burgers and tacos has resulted in another strong year for Restaurant Brands. The fast food operator's net profit for the year ended December fell nearly 16 percent to $30.1m, but that was for a 44-week period, versus the year earlier's 52-week period. That company changed ...
The New Zealand share market opened lower on Friday, following a sixth day of world market losses as investors respond to the economic threat of coronavirus. The NZX benchmark top 50 index opened down 1.5 percent, after last night's 0.9 percent fall. The benchmark top 50 Index has fallen more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Tonkin, Senior Lecturer, English and Creative Writing, University of Adelaide Review: Dance Nation, directed by Imara Savage. State Theatre Company South Australia and Belvoir for the Adelaide Festival Dance is at the heart of playwright Clare Barron’s Dance Nation, from the ...
The Government’s response to new revelations that one of the country’s biggest fishing companies, Talley’s, and its managing director has donated tens of thousands of undisclosed dollars to the New Zealand First Foundation is unacceptable. “The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Michelle Grattan talks with Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher about the week in politics, including the implementation of an emergency plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus, the major parties’ policies on climate change, national security ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University On Churchill Island, southeast of Melbourne, small cone-shaped, shallow holes (digs) puncture the grass. They’re widespread, and reveal moist soil below ...
The University of Auckland's Tim Dare examines what SkyCity's 'de-platforming' of controversial speaker Peter Singer might mean for free speech In work first appearing in the late 1970s, Princeton Philosophy Professor Peter Singer argued that in a limited range of circumstances parents ought to be able to ask doctors to end ...
By Stefan Armbruster of SBS News in Brisbane Thousands of New Zealanders who are denied disability support are hoping Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take the issue up with her counterpart Scott Morrison when they meet today. Despite paying taxes and the NDIS levy, New Zealanders who have come ...
The Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Australian counterpart have met in Sydney and formally agreed to share ideas on how to better support each country's indegineous people ...
Apparently you have a vacancy on your programme after Kanoa Lloyd decided she didn’t “need to see a homophobic Pasodoble or a xenophobic Cha Cha.” Now, we have to admit we don’t know what a Pasodoble is. But we do know xenophobia when we see ...
Public services are increasingly migrating to the internet, but as the government prioritises digital interaction many of the people who need those services the most are left behind, according to a new report. Pita, an elderly gentleman, received a letter from the IRD that claimed he hadn’t paid his tax obligations ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Philippines Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has dismissed comments by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go that “politics” is behind the filing of a proposed concurrent resolution calling on regulators to temporarily allow television giant ABS-CBN to operate as Congress deliberates on its ...
The Serious Fraud Office has received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Lianne Dalziel’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
Employers are encouraged to sign up for Road Safety Week 2020 (4-10 May), and join hundreds of communities, schools and organisations running activities to raise awareness of road safety issues. Brake, the road safety charity, which coordinates the event, ...
A poem by US National Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson.i woke up and the day caught me in its mouth like a strand of yarni am usefulthe motivation for a scarf, maybe some stitch started to be finishedi will make up someone’sheat i will be a fireso intricate it can be worn i ...
The euthanasia debate took an unusual turn this week when Vision NZ, the political party associated with the Destiny Church, made an unexpected policy announcement. It appeared that Vision NZ supported voluntary euthanasia, but just for one person, co-host of TV3’s The Project, Kanoa Lloyd. The now former campaign manager ...
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the findings of an inquiry into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury. The inquiry, led by Ms Jenn Bestwick, was launched by the Commission at the request of the Treasury ...
A scathing report into the accidental release of sensitive Budget 2019 information by the Treasury has found poor procurement processes and governance failures by senior leadership were to blame for security flaws in its website not being identified earlier The inquiry into the accidental release of Budget 2019 information prior ...
The Port of Tauranga's first half result is flat, despite a drop in cargo handled through the country's biggest port. The port company's net profit dropped 1.4 percent to $48.3 million in the six months to December, but was otherwise flat after accounting for a tax adjustment of $0.6m. Revenue ...
For those mothers who gave birth by non-elective Caesarean section, feelings of sadness – even of failure – can be overwhelming, writes Janice Sharan.I’m sitting next to my 15-month-old. He’s sleeping peacefully, his mop of dark hair damp with sweat, lips pursed and his chest rising and falling as he ...
Today is the last day Kiwibank will accept cheques, and its customers will no longer be able to make a payment by cheque. Inland Revenue and ACC will also follow suit on 1 March. The number of cheques has been going down by about 20 percent year-on-year and last year ...
Television New Zealand has reported a strong increase in first half profit, driven up by an increase in advertising revenue. The state-owned broadcaster made a net profit of $15.8 million in the six months to December, beating the year earlier by $5m or 47 percent. "Strong ratings performance for our ...
Air New Zealand has launched its latest safety video that moves away from celebrity appearances to push an environmental message on New Zealand's endangered native birds. The video A Journey to Safety takes a different approach from the widely criticised video of two years ago - called a 'weird mish-mash' ...
A report into how sensitive documents were accessed by the National Party before last year's Budget has found Treasury governance, oversight and risk management processes fell short. ...
In the lead up to Children’s Day in New Zealand on Sunday 1 March, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Aotearoa NZ President Dr Jeff Brown says the wellbeing of children and their whānau must remain a priority for all of society, not only ...
A Kiwi firm is trialling a mobile device and app that could test for Covid-19 in hospitals, schools, factories and homes anywhere in the world within 40 minutes No-one wishes harm on anyone, but sometimes a crisis is also an opportunity to quickly develop new technologies and systems to solve ...
Ahead of the forthcoming public meeting on Monday 2 March regarding the Newlands Volunteer Fire Brigade former Ohariu MP Hon Peter Dunne is extending his best wishes to all those involved in the current campaign to keep the station open. "Although ...
Sure, the new wave of RTDs might have cool labels and no carbs or whatever, but for Sam Brooks, none come close to the perfection held within that little yellow can.RTDs are coming back, if they were ever really gone. I remember the halcyon days of getting drunk off Purple ...
The ongoing strike by NorthTec tutors steps up a notch today with a public rally. For two weeks the members of Te Hautū Kahurangi | New Zealand Tertiary Education Union have been on strike. The action has meant not completing attendance registers; ...
The cut price fuel retailer, Waitomo says the Government’s proposed changes to the fuel market will mean customers will be able to see if they are getting fleeced. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will use today’s meeting with counterpart Scott Morrison in Sydney to tell him his Government is deporting Australian criminals to New Zealand. ...
Coronavirus: Finance Minister Grant Robertson - NZ in shadow of the biggest economic uncertainty in recent times; and A2 Milk result: Net profit leaps 21% on China sales. ...
Thousands of Kiwis are expected to attend the March for Life in Auckland this Saturday (29 February). With Parliament just days away from voting on a Bill to liberalise abortion-up-to-birth in New Zealand those marching will be making a public stand ...
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Beautiful day today.
Doing a large BBQ for friends and family. Ribs, pork belly, and using some of the cow we had slaughtered a few weeks back.
The Home kill guy made some seriously good sausages – food always seems to taste better when it’s Home kill
Anyway – enjoy your Sunday.
Thanks, James – Sunday’s a great day to be reminded of gluttony, especially for the flesh of farmed animals and reveling in the killing and consumption of domesticated animals somehow says “Christmas” to me, in a way that even plastic “Toy World” junk fails to do. While you’re chawing down on that juicy Home kill and gnawing on the bones of the cow you slaughtered a few weeks back, spare a thought for those who find your need to boast and broadcast your privileged lifestyle, unappetizing.
On a brighter note Robert, my Pachystegia rufa is covered in its typical, rusty-coloured, furry buds and it’s about to flower.
Anyone who can grow this, should. It’s one of our most spectacular native flowering plants and quite rare now in Marlborough.
They’re wonderful, aren’t they, Scott! You’re fortunate to be in the zone they prefer; they struggle a bit down here, especially in my shady garden. Has your weather been as hot and rain-free as Southland’s has of late? Our soil is powder-dry, though rain is promised for later today and tomorrow. This heat and dry is unprecedented.
It’s been very dry Robert. And though I have plentiful water I have limited watering to the pots and vegetables. Everything else has just had to manage.
Metservice has rain forecast today and it would be great if actually happened for a change.
+1. Have to say as a 40-year vegetarian I found all this talk of eating dead animals wasn’t the best start for my Sunday.
James knows that there are people here who find his glorification of flesh-eating offensive, Grey Area, he just enjoys rubbing their noses in it. I expect he’ll come back all offended and in full justification mode. Mostly though, he likes to see his name written by others.
Thanks Robert. I do sense his purpose but like others here I raise to the bait so to speak even though I know I shouldn’t. I remain hopeful that even James might become a sentient being and consider others. For now he is an irritant that you can’t help scratching.
I found James’s comment obnoxious on several levels too .
He glories in the killing of innocent sentient animals.
He brags about his wealth.
He celebrates the eating of domesticated animals and the massive carbon footprint such a diet cause.
James is a very selfish person, so the only way he may change his habits is for health reasons.
A meat eating diet is carcinogenic and causes heart diseases.
James charicature seems to play the pure randian role.
Funny, a bloke comments on anticipating a summer bbq and somehow he’s the devil?
Is there no sense of enjoyment in leftie land?
Must you always sit around like bitter old shrews scolding anyone with half a smile?
I would have thought that leftie inc would be in great cheer this Christmas – an un likely election win, and a finance minister throwing out goodies like a long banned lollie scramble.
But no we have to add bbqs to the list of ‘things we must not enjoy’ and mutter and moan about the msm and Nation.
I don’t think it has sunk in yet – the left won you are allowed to smile.
“Funny, a bloke comments on anticipating a summer bbq and somehow he’s the devil?”
The devil? More limp imp, James.
“Is there no sense of enjoyment in leftie land?”
Well, I for one enjoyed parsing James’ indelicate comments and I know others got a lift from handing him his ar*e ( or is that rump?)
“Must you always sit around like bitter old shrews scolding anyone with half a smile?”
From what I know of shrews, they never sit around – they’re driven constantly, at high speed, eating, insects mainly, in a frantic effort to keep themselves alive. And James’ wasn’t a half-smile, it was a smarmy leer (known here as a “Jami-Lee Ross).
Rightly or Wrongly (usually the latter) – I saw James as saying blissfully, like a certain guy in a certain movie: “Ah, there is nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning.”
And he deliberately dumped his crap on a website where he knew there were many pacifists.
A shitty comment – not a celebration of happiness, and it takes a mind of similar quality to defend it.
Go and cleanse yourself.
And that is coming from a meat-eater.
Among the gobbets, a kernel!
This was not a comment about the left/right paradigm.
It was about animal agriculture, the environment, cruelty and health.
Are a bit bit giddy from the thinness of the atmosphere up there on your high horse Robert? Honestly, your comment falls under the category of “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
I’d like to think your churlish outburt is the result of an excess of gorse beer last night than a generally uncharitable disposition in this beautiful weather and season of goodwill.
Also, there is nothing wrong in eating a cow that has had a life where it felt the sun on it’s back, chewed on sweet grass in green and peaceful pastures, and was able to moo lustily and generally express itself as a cow before it was slaughtered.
‘before it was slaughtered’
I’m predicting you have never watched ‘Earthlings.’
“Also, there is nothing wrong in eating a cow that has had a life where it felt the sun on it’s back, chewed on sweet grass in green and peaceful pastures, and was able to moo lustily and generally express itself as a cow before it was slaughtered.”
That’s your opinion whereas I would say that is still wrong. It doesn’t matter how “nice” a life an animal has lived if in the end it still has to be needlessly slaughtered simply so some humans who can afford to can eat animal flesh.
In the future facing us a species killing animals so humans can continue to eat animal flesh is unsustainable.
It is much more effective to use available land to produce plant-based protein rather than have animals convert it into second-hand protein that we have to kill them to access.
The problem isn’t too many domestic animals, it is too many humans. Logically, we’d all turn to vegetarianism to simply stave off the fateful day when Malthus is finally proved right.
If we were to limit meat production to what could be raised properly (as in the animal being able to exhibit it’s natural behaviour) the price of meat would soon turn most of us into vegetarians simply because there would more people than meat and it would be a luxury item.
You clearly have not researched the topic.
I am always surprised by how many Standardistas are so closed mind about this subject.
Watch Eating Our Way To Extinction .
Thanks Ed. It’s not about ethical farming of animals is it? We simply shouldn’t be killing animals to eat their flesh when we don’t have to.
I became a vegetarian around 40 years ago when I read a book that challenged me to consider that humans should be evolving and we have the choice! We don’t have to cause pain and suffering to other sentient beings simply for the pleasure of cooking and then chewing and swallowing their flesh.
And now add to that the unsustainability of animal agriculture in a world with diminishing food resources and climate change upon us!
@Sanctuary
“when Malthus is finally proved right ”
Are you perchance a fan of our current Government?
Malthus certainly wouldn’t have been No WFF for that gentleman.
“Malthus argued that population growth doomed any efforts to improve the lot of the poor. Extra money would allow the poor to have more children, only hastening the nation’s appointment with famine”
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_07
Miserable old bastard he was..
when Malthus is finally proved right.
Malthus was full of shit.
There are some things we agree on, I see.
😀
You and me and Henry Wilt.
“Are a bit bit giddy from the thinness of the atmosphere up there on your high horse Robert? Honestly, your comment falls under the category of “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.””
Without pointing out the obvious, Sanctuary, did you geddit?
As to:
” a cow that has had a life where it felt the sun on it’s back, chewed on sweet grass in green and peaceful pastures, and was able to moo lustily and generally express itself as a cow ” – you’ve a Pollyanna-ish/Glad game view of farming, Sanctuary, it has to be said, even “chewed on sweet grass” misses the reality of cows forced to eat urea-pumped, all-but-toxicly-over-nitrated ryegrasses that cause the animal to pee excessively in order to rid themselves of a substance that would make them very sick indeed (dead). But hey, sheeps in the meadow, cowz in the corn, little boy blue etc…
Well I don’t know about your grass, but mine isn’t most definitely not over-nitrated and my beef steers (all three of them) seem very happy chappies. As are my free range porkers (population: 4) and my small mob of sheep (got 32 of them, good lambing season this year from my ewes) and those three very annoying goats who have all the hours of the day to work out how to beat the electric fence. And the horses doesn’t seem to be excessively put out that I will sit on one of them every now and again and ride around in a large circle for no particular reason.
We don’t eat the hens, on account of my sister’s excessive fondness for them and anyway IMHO it seems a bit rum to bump them off after they give us all those lovely eggs.
At the end of the day I am not half as bothered at you being vegetarian as you appear to be, so I’d really just ask you to mind your own P’s and Q’s and look to your manners when passing judgement on others who are rather fond of a BBQ’d chop or three and procure said chops from happy animals in a sustainably farmed environment.
And yes, my little corner of paradise is just that. A huge garden full of flowers and beautiful trees to look at from the porch on a summer evening, a vege patch bursting with bounty, and animals going about their business in a pastoral idyll fit for a J.S. Bach concerto.
” I’d really just ask you to mind your own P’s and Q’s and look to your manners when passing judgement on others who are rather fond of a BBQ’d chop or three”
But Sanctuary, I’ve no issue at all with those fond of eating meat, being a meat-eater myself and enjoying the principle of freedom of speech, t’sonly when some dill-pickle such as James chooses to start the day on a blog he trolls regularly with an unnecessarily provocative/gratuitous comment he knows will annoy the regulars, that I rise to the occasion. If it weren’t meat, it’d be rugby, or yachting or anything else that amuses him because it annoys others. Perhaps you feel he doesn’t do that, I don’t know.
“…Perhaps you feel he doesn’t do that, I don’t know…”
I never read his comments, I discovered some time ago they were not worth the time of day.
It is a bit like my astonishment that people continue to engage with Pete George. Time has long since past that I worked out he was an idiot who can’t be reasoned with, so now I just poke fun at him.
As I do James. Q.E.D.
Not an idiot.
Just a centrist with little relevance to those on the right or left and their debates/issues. Like all centrists, not just above the fray but a little self-righteous as a neutral commentator about the left and right.
It is not so much that he cannot be reasoned with, but that he is not someone who is going to be swayed to a leftist or rightist point of view, his pride is in being independent of both.
Hah. Thanks for that. I was just about to respond to the Beige One so you’ve saved me the wasted time and effort.
Ah, we now realise why you are so closed minded on this issue.
Yep – James, shallow and privileged loves his superiority, his domination.
Robert Guyton
May your cares waft away and your view be of happy faces and lots of affection and being with people who love other people and want the country to be a happy place where people’s needs are worked through with them, not authoritatively judged and allowed or declined on someone else’s perceived virtue.
Did you say a ‘large’ BBQ for family and friends!Surely you jest.
Perhaps Sir John Key has got an invite.
J:
To Daisy, good utu. And this is for you:
Your name works better backwards. So,
Semaj-the-Perverse, botulism is a curse.
For you James.
Recommended viewing.
I’m very disappointed that you have not invited any Standardistas; if we’re good enough to read and comment on your comments surely we qualify as your “friends”. The least you can do is share a few selfies with us 😉
Ha ha ha, incognito,
If could be risky as he may poison us with botulism or something.
He seems wild as a pig gave some botulism last week.
best to stay clear to ‘fight another day’.
Did you serve any little weiner parts with the the pork belly?
I’m hungry.
Wow so many people so precious over a bbq.
Anyway has been a fantastic day. Lots of happy people enjoying themselves while some of you festered in bitterness.
Might come as a shock – but there are a lot of Kiwis love a good bbq. But hey – you guys enjoy your sanctimonious salad. I’ll raise a lamb chop in your honour next weekend
blah blah q.
Fify.
Delicious bbq lamb shoulder chops.
Had a piece of inch thick aged rump on the barbie last night, sensational.
Shoulder chops? The cheap meat. We never use to cut shops off the shoulder because they were so inferior to the rib. Damn all meat, mostly fat and bone.
Of course they’re ‘oh so fashionable’ now.
Perfectly fit for the idiot ignorant nouveau riche neo liberal.
BBQ Shoulder chops and roasted lamb knuckles are still some of my favourites bits of meat.
You have to be a bit selective with shoulder chops you don’t just grab the first packet you see.
Another ignoramus.
Not interested in learning about the ethics, environmental and health issues surrounding meat eating.
I’m alright Jack sums up your thinking.
Go fuck yourself, you boring pious vegan wanker.
So you aren’t aware of the issues.
So can’t debate them.
Instead you resort to verbal abuse.
Typical right wing bully boy.
Here’s a start for your learning.
I couldn’t give a shit about “the issues”, I like eating meat, I will always eat meat.
Especially BBQ lamb shoulder chops.
You don’t know what the issues are.
And you don’t care to find about them.
Your own selfish needs outweigh anything else.
I wonder if you would have made sacrifices for the war effort between 1939 and 1945?
Or has neoliberalism poisoned all sense of community spirit in you?
What sort of person are you? BM,
Christ you dont need to act so aggressive do you?
Is that needed, you are just wanting to disrupt us all.
Try civility or be a little more human will you.
Just because we dont think like you you dont need to dump on us as we are fellow beings and have our thoughts to present on this social media platform.
Are you having difficulty handling life now under a labour lead government?
We suffered for nine years under your preferred political party and now its our turn to live in our political Party limelight.
This is called “democracy.”
James come on, brags about killing an animal, and eating it with his affluent friends and family.
People respond with disdain at such boastfulness and get abused.
It amazes me how close minded some people are.
“I couldn’t give a shit about “the issues”, I like eating meat, I will always eat meat.”
Imagine this 250 years ago.
“I couldn’t give a shit about “the issues”, I like having slaves, I will always have slaves.”
Imagine this 150 years ago.
“I couldn’t give a shit about “the issues”, I like only men having the vote, I will always vote for just men to have the vote.”
Meat eating is one ofour society’s big blind spots.
In years to come, people will wonder how we tortured and killed 10s of billions of animals a year.
In the meantime, boofheads like James and a surprising number of other standardistas seem unwilling to look at the evidence in front of their eyes.
You seem a little uppity on this subject. Perhaps you need more iron in your diet ?
Maybe you need to do some research on the subject.
I would pose the same challenge to you I did to BM.
I couldn’t give a hoot about it to be honest. I like to bbq. I like eating meat.
And absolutely don’t care about the (perceived by those crazy vegans) impacts.
James are you just ‘taking the mickey again’.
Did you go to a concert or something?
You are acting strange.
hey james did you go to a concert last night?
We see you are still living in your fantasy world still eh.
Thats cool, as you fit well inside planet Key/&co.
Nope no concert for me – not my style of mucis.
Says a lot about you that you think a bbq with friends and family is a fantasy world. All I can say is that life for you must be pretty grim.
No you are twisting words again james,
I didnt ‘infer a barbeque was a fantasy, rather it was the words you coutched arouund your glee at having all happy people around you.
If you was so happy in life why do you spend hours comming here to make all those ‘snide’ remarks all the time?
If thats what ‘rocks your boat’ then that is your ‘fantasy’, – do you get that?
It’s nice to have happy friends and family around. I feel sorry for you if it’s something you don’t experience.
It’s not glee – it’s something we do most weekends (at out place or friends) – it’s normal life seeing people.
Wallow in your ignorance
It’s not the bbq @James – it’s you.
WE (i.e. I I I and my my my overwhelming number of friends that fawn all over me, and my family possessions – the kuds and the grandkuds) had a bbq today. We just didn’t wank ourselves silly over it. But then you’re probably considerably richer than me.
James also brags after All Black victories, as if he had a part in it.
As someone who goes to a lot of their games to cheer them on – I think I do.
Positive cheering etc.
Honestly it’s not that bigger deal having friends and family over for a gathering. It didn’t even have to cost $ (everyone can bring a dish to share).
It’s summer – it’s fun and you should try it. My help you with the “oh poor me” attitude.
RNZ reports on a report from the Child Poverty Action Group.
It says what many of us already knew, but in detail – our welfare system is failing beneficiaries, and ultimately we-the-society. And there has been an incremental tightening of the screws since 2008 that has been devastating.
The full report recaps changes since the 1980s.
The Clark government brought in measures that alleviated things for some, but,
So now we need government action that does much more than make some incrementally small changes, or that merely tinkers at the edges.
But James (like all those other James’s throughout the country) is having pork belly on the barbecue, so all is right with the world.
AB,,,,,,,you have James in one and a half lines. ‘I’m alright Jack……’
Imagine the cackling this afternoon when James reports this morning’s exchange …….leaving it open that James is nine parts a boastful, self-satisfied dupe.
https://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/22/2b/f8/222bf839c565fd128714f3eb286bf651–liberal-politics-political-satire.jpg&imgrefurl=https:est.com/obama4me2/tea-party-haters/&h=499&w=650&tbnid=jrtjJF7s1utkmM&tbnh=197&tbnw=256&usg=__gOtxuJfRLdU6U4pz5Vr4bLoQBlA=&docid=rIjA8LirixNewM
Christmas prezzie for you James……
https://www.quora.com/Was-John-Galbraith-correct-that-The-modern-conservative-is-engaged-in-one-of-mans-oldest-exercises-in-moral-philosophy-that-is-the-search-for-a-superior-moral-justification-for-selfishness
Thanks North. Happy Xmas to you as well.
Pork belly,sausages and the rest of a dead cow.
Not an entire cow – we kill one a year and it last a long time – there is a ton of meat on one of thease beauties. We also give a lot away to friends.
“I’m alright Jack” sums up your world view James.
Forget the ethical issues.
Forget the environmental impact.
Forget the health issues.
I sense you don’t know what the issues are.
And you don’t care to find about them.
Your own selfish needs outweigh anything else.
I wonder if you would have made sacrifices for the war effort between 1939 and 1945?
Or has neoliberalism poisoned all sense of community spirit in you?
talk about jumping the shark. A guy has a bbq with friends and family and a vegan ask “I wonder what you would have done in WW2”
That’s one of the funniest post you have made.
You beat me to the post Carolyn. Very sobering and sickening reading isn’t it?
But the CPAG report excellently explains how we got to where we are. Mandatory reading.
It was the lead story on RNZ radio @ 7-8am. Funnily enough I can’t see any mention of said report on Stuff or Herald…
Gotta love the wording. ‘starting’ to unravel. There’s only a few stitches to go.
I can’t see this Govt achieving much. A big boost in housing should at least bring rents down but that will take years and by then the Govt will most probably have run out of money.
DH,
Simple answer is for ‘them’ (Labour coalition) to just increase taxes on the rich as National did for nine years while taxing the poor and using a slow “Austerity” regime.
Is that o/k for labour to pay back the poor and repeat what national did to bankroll the rich?
We see this as ‘progressive’.
It needs more than that cleangreen. The most precious possession that was stolen from many people by successive Governments was a future. You can throw as much cash at people as you want, it won’t solve anything until you give them back a good reason to get out of bed in the morning.
DH, yes we need ‘progressive policies. We hope the working tax forum will come up with some policies around restarting our own re-investment in NZ.
That is why we are so puzzled as to why the right wing media was down so hard on Winston as his policies were the very best, if you did foollow the election interviews he had with Corrin Dann and others he laid out the oplans there which to us seemed so “common sense” in restoring our power to take NZ back as we had during the 50’s and 60’s.
Co-operatives are the future for smaller countries like ours not selling all our assets. Selling our assets just bleeds our country dry again as the capital in profits just goes off shore and we wind up with less power and control then slowly we will come to a halt.
Increasing the Superfund contibution is a good move as my son while 11yrs in Germany contibuted to their massive wealthfund that is now buying up choice NZ farmland so we need to fund our base to re-invest in NZ bussiness not the offshore companys and countries.
National dropped the ball here and Winston wants to resart us buying into our country again and sharing in it not selling it off.
A government, being the issuer of the currency, can’t actually run out of money.
True that is Draco,
We think labour needs to look back to it’s founding PM Michael Joseph Savage to see how he saved our country in 1937 and grow some balls now also eh?
https://anjohnstonescommunity.wordpress.com/tag/michael-joseph-savage/
Reform Within Capitalism
Savage’s government of reform shaped the economic and social direction of New Zealand for decades to come creating in the process not only one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but also one of the fairest. 40 years after Savage’s historic victory, NZ had the distinction of having the most equitable distribution of wealth in the world.
Despite their differences Lee and Savage helped transform the nature of the society they had inherited. Dispensing with the social and economic traditions inherited from Britain, they and their contemporaries set NZ on a new course of economic self-determination that made humanitarian concerns the central factor of economic policy and the process redefining the nature of nationhood and the purpose of society.
Yes James
Sunday is a time for reflection on family, sharing and caring. James … James…
James is just taking the piss as usual.
Igore him he is irrelevant.
Try this ‘real’ (good news article) it is good for the “real true soul” not james poisonous tortured soul.
Subject: NZ privacy commissioner fights against US order to release NZ citizens bank records to US government. 17-12-17.
Today 17th December 2017.
NZ Privacy Commissioner John Edwards fights back today against US Government order to release NZ Citizens bank records to US Government.
In a recent US Government order to an Irish bank request to release records of NZ citizen to the US Government again hits a road block as NZ Privacy Commissioner rejects this second request, as he ruled this earlier this year in another ruling last April 2017; http://insitemagazine.co.nz/2017/04/06/privacy-commissioner-rejects-plans-to-collect-clients-data/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/14/microsoft-emails-court-ruling-us-government
17/12/17
Radio NZ today reports this while in conversation with NZ Privacy Commissioner John Edwards at 7.15 am this morning 17/12/17 with Wallace Chapman.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
(audio not yet added. (wait 3 hours) from 9am.
Quote;
John Edwards: taking a stand for privacy in the US Supreme Court
A landmark US Supreme Court case against a US citizen accused of drug trafficking has caught the eye of New Zealand’ privacy commissioner, and prompted him to take a stand against the United States. The citizen has private data stored in an Irish data centre owned by Microsoft, and rather than ask Ireland to voluntarily hand over the information , the US wants to seize it under US search warrant laws.
US government lawyers made a request in the US Court of Appeal, were knocked back, and they’ve now appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
The New Zealand privacy commissioner, John Edwards is worried about the global implications of such a case, and he’s made a voluntary submission on to the US Supreme Court.
I understand the government is rolling out Nationals previously announced “increase” to the accommodation supplement I ask that people who receive this go to the accommodation supplement calculator
https://www.workingforfamilies.govt.nz/calculator/filter.jsp
It seems my increase is actually a $1 cut lol….I suspect the “increase” is at the rent threshold maximum so as to reduce the Temporary Emergency Assistance Payments.
Can others please check to see how the change affects them – I doubt I am unique in having a reduction.
Hi Barfly,
Did the St Johns wort work?
Recall this?
cleangreen: Comment:Daily Review 21/09/2017
Date published: 7:49 pm, September 21st, 2017
… herb St Johns wart barfly its cheaply available at most …
Barfly- it seems I’ll be a whole $5/week better off with AC, the catch being that TAS will be decreased, surprise surprise, and while I don’t yet have the numbers from years of experience this act of kindness is going to leave loads of us worse off.
You gotta love the shamelessness of the media. having relentlessly slagged Labour since the election and engaging with the opposition in a petulant exercise in denial and arrogance Bazza’s squeeze is now professing amazement that in her opinion the honeymoon is over for Labour.
True that is sanctuary,
We need to kick arse and get the ‘new promised public media chanel’ up and running with ‘real investigative journalists’ digging for the ‘real other side aof the story.’
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/12/11/67225/clare-curran-is-planning-a-few-shake-ups
Not relying on this broken corrupted so call media.
To date as of yesterday 17/12/17 we still have no RNZ reporter to cover HB/Gisborne, so the new Broadcasting Minister Claire Curran has now recieved a letter of complaint from us to provide us with a reporter!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, I perceive Curran is an inept and incompetent politician who owes her lofty post to gender politics rather than talent, and whose first days as minister have done nothing to change that perception.
Still, early days yet so I live in hope.
I’m hoping she’s smart enough to take the advice of the likes of Peter Thompson and CBB – even though I maintain their hopes are/haven’t been ambitious enough.
(There’s no reason for example that alongside RNZ Nat and Concert, we couldn’t have a youth network – or perhaps The Wireless on a radio network, and also a Kids TV)
This goes back to the sale of RNZ’s commercial stations back in 1996. RNZ lost a lot of infrastructure and staffing right there and then.
I went to church every Sunday when my Mama was a live there is a lot of good thing that came from going to church we had christening it teaches our mokos to be good people but I don’t no which one is right as there are so many we are angerclian.
You think that ECO would not here from his 2 eldest granddaughters that you have been to there school and traumatising my mokos asking inappropriate questions. They are 10 7 years old you_________ well looks like eco is going to sue the education department to Ana to kai. I told YOU DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME.
What a coincidence after my post about my son in law in Auckland having his case chucked out and they still made him do home detention and PD on Sundays WTF.
ON the Tuesday they told him he had the bracelet on for 3 weeks to long and wiped his PD and the farcical part is all of a sudden they can’t find his probation officer. No you see people they will try and use all the states departments to hammer the poor people into submission they let there officers abuse there power an just cover it up this is the sort of culture all OUR state departments display.
And they say they don’t no why there are so many Maori in jail Maori live life thinking the the state is going to treat US fairly and humanely YEA RIGHT. And this is why I’m calling for those old farts who run our state department to retire so there dum ass culture will be retired with them so the culture will change to a accountable reliable humane state services YES these people are payed to serve US not there EGOS and the wealth Yes the wealth get good service or the state will get there ass sued off
the state knows this and they provide a good service to the wealthy because of this fact. I will advercate for the right off the vulnerable with this Mana they are giving me look at Stuff website
The article Under fire and on the herald website there is a article about some ladies from the defence forces who went to court to get there name suppression lifted to help hilight there case against Our defence forces on covering up of sex violation against 3 separate Lady’s there will be many more so Many thanks to these ladies for standing up to these old farts and making sure there stories are heard loud and clear. I get pissed of at all the articles about crime beening reported buy MSM crime is
A minamil part of OUR society at a guess 3 persent and all you _________ see in MSM is crime is this phenomenon just fate NO ITS NOT the police have a major influence on our MSM so they push for crime articles to be published to justify there calls for more staff and to justify there behaviour and to paint a farcical picture of a perfect justice system YEA RIGHT us poor are just numbers to OUR state services and its the wealth that get Impunity. Ana to kai
True words Eco Maori,
It is hard to be full of cheer when the media is contsantly running down the new Government, and things appear not to be changing yet as the new government has promised “real change” in their pre-election speeches. “Lets do this”
But we need to hold on to hope, – and perhaps give them some months ahead in time to make those promised changes they pledged to us in countless emails sent us all and press releases.
Our whanau wishes your whanau a gentle caring peaceful xmas and new year, as we all join together to make all our lives better for our collective future.
Nga mihi na.
Went to the Sally Army carol service this morning and was impressed by the young people there and mix of ethnicities and ages.
So if you want to help bolster the workings for good in NZ I suggest you attend church occasionally that works with the community, (don’t have to be dedicated faithful) and encourage the people who are trying to maintain some love and care for each other in the community.
We need to switch from thinking about gold for ourselves to God and the Jesus messages which were generally reported as caring and positive. We can find some spare gold to give to those working with ordinary people who are not getting much help because they haven’t some emotionally appealing problem, just the same old trying-to-find their place, make sense of the world, life problem.
“One does have to ask: SHOULD they get support to keep farming here?”
Country Life, RNZ National, Friday 15 December 2017
In the wake of years of revelations of the environmental damage inflicted by out of control farming, New Zealanders are now inflicted with millions of dollars worth of farming industry propaganda, designed to persuade us that farmers work harder than anyone else, get up earlier than anyone else, and that they actually care for the environment, in spite of evidence to the contrary. Television commercial breaks regularly feature Richie “Offside” McCaw’s Fonterra-paid elegies to early rising, and actual programs such as Country Calendar are often nothing more than P.R. exercises for Big (read “Dirty”) Dairying.
RNZ National’s Country Life program, which is now twenty years old, is well produced and always interesting. It plays on Friday evenings, and is repeated on Saturday mornings. It’s covered all kinds of farming operations and related activities, from beekeeping, to cheese-making, to the growth of farmers’ markets. It also gives more than a fair amount of space to dairy farmers.
On Friday’s edition of Country Life, Edgecumbe dairy farmers affected by the Rangitaiki River flooding in April talk about how they are coping. They are introduced sympathetically….
One of the Edgecumbe farmers complains about being “pinged with fines” for effluent breaches in the past. Then he praises farmers for their “resilience”. However, this is not allowed to become a totally one-sided public relations exercise: at the end of this segment, the interviewer, Susan Murray, reminds the farmer of just why his land was flooded….
A little later there is a very uncomfortable moment, after Farmer No. 1 has a brain fade and accidentally speaks the truth….
McCaw.
What a sell out.
Can you sell out if you’ve never bought in, Ed?
Humble Richie McCaw who didn’t want to be a sir but was quite happy to take our highest honour.
It should have gone like this:
Government figure (probably FJK): “Richie we’d like to offer you a knighthood like Meads, Whineray, Lochore etc.”
Richie: “I’m not comfortable becoming Sir Richie.”
Government figure: “Okay, that’s cool. Enjoy your retirement”.
Agreed there. Ed,
Mc Crawl was always buddying up to the greasy Johnny key wasn’t he.
“A all black Leopard never changes spots.”
A rebuttal to McCaw.
‘Fonterra are passionate abut the land.’
To quote Leighton Smith, Larry Williams and Mike Hosking: “Who the F**K is Mike Joy?”
JOHN KEY: Well that might be Mike Joy’s view, but I don’t share that view.
STEPHEN SACKUR: But he is very well qualified, isn’t he? He’s looked, for example, at the number of species threatened with extinction in New Zealand, he’s looked at the fact that half your lakes, 90% of your lowland rivers, are now classed as polluted.
KEY: Look, I’d hate to get into a flaming row with one of our academics, but he’s offering his view. I think any person that goes down to New Zealand …
SACKUR: Yeah but he’s a scientist, it’s based on research, it’s not an opinion he’s plucked from the air.
KEY: He’s one academic, and like lawyers, I can provide you with another one that will give you a counterview. Anybody who goes down to New Zealand and looks at our environmental credentials, and looks at New Zealand, then I think for the most part, in comparison with the rest of the world, we are 100% pure – in other words, our air quality is very high, our water quality is very high.
http://www.noted.co.nz/archive/listener-nz-2011/john-keys-unhappy-week-at-the-bbc/
A rebuttal to McCaw
Can I Really Get Enough Calcium Eating Just Plants?
‘Like iron, magnesium, and copper, calcium is a mineral. It is found in the soil, where it is absorbed into the roots of plants. Animals get their calcium by consuming these calcium-rich plants. So even though we are all conditioned to believe that calcium comes from milk and dairy products, the real source of calcium richness is the earth. No wonder that a whole-food, plant-based diet has plenty of calcium.
A varied diet of starches, vegetables, and fruits (without dairy) has sufficient calcium to meet our needs. If you eat a relatively low-calcium diet, your body will adjust. Studies show that when fed a relatively low-calcium diet (415 mg/day), our intestines become more efficient at absorbing calcium, and our kidneys conserve it better. Equally, when overfed with calcium (1,740 mg/day) our bodies adjust as well: our intestines block the calcium absorption, while our kidneys eliminate more. This is an example of how our bodies protect us: if not eliminated, the excess calcium would get deposited in our soft tissues (heart, kidneys, muscles, and skin), making us vulnerable to illness and even death … a true testament to how smart our bodies really are!’
https://www.forksoverknives.com/milk-myth-why-you-dont-need-dairy-for-calcium/#gs.9gSmh_c
Ed
That is mind shattering for most of us in the extent of the points it makes. Thanks.
The 22 Best Vegan Documentaries to Inspire You
https://nutriciously.com/best-vegan-documentaries/#tab-con-30
Here is one that changed my viewpoint.
Nah it’s all propaganda put out by the fruit department of new world.
Of course you haven’t bothered to research the topic.
Smart arsed comments is about all you are up to.
Go easy on James, Ed, he’s suffering Meat-eaters Headache. A blueberry smoothy and a plate of kiwifruit slices would cure it, but he’ll not deign to eat anything from the fruit department. His bowels must be knots of gristle and undigested sausage skin 🙂
Ha ha Robert he is a simple soul that represents “the hollow men”
He has that trait eh?
Anyway he doesnt answer the question we asked before which was on 1.7.1.3.1.1
“If you was so happy in life why do you spend hours comming here to make all those ‘snide’ remarks all the time?
If thats what ‘rocks your boat’ then that is your ‘fantasy’, – do you get that?”
He didn’t anwer that and we wonder why not?
Hi Robert Guyton – on a different tangent – last year some time I mentioned trying to make a small forest garden with fruit trees, and asked you how you dealt with kikuyu (which you didn’t know). Well – I think I’ve found the answer via your forest garden methods. I mulched quite an area around the trees, put in the comfrey, lavendar, marigold etc, threw on a pile of palm frond chippings, and left it. Election campaigning took up all the rest of my time for almost the whole year, and with that over, I looked at a pile of weeds including kikuyu just about smothering my little trees. BUT …. it was incredibly easy to pull them out, and underneath the trees were flowering (and now fruiting).
So that’s what you do with kikuyu – mulch it heavily, and then pull it out easily !
That’s really good to hear, Jenny and thanks for letting me know of your success. I expect most if not all “pest plant” challenges are solvable by means such as you describe – provided there’s a human/gardener on hand to administer and maintain the solution. Congratulations on your fruit crops and enjoy your coming harvest!
At some point in the next 12 months there is supposed to be a referendum in Kanaky/New Caledonia on self-determination.
Whether the referendum will go ahead or not actually remains a bit of an open question.
In either case, the French seem determined to hold on to their island colonies/possessions in the Pacific and Caribbean.
Because of the smallness of indigenous populations in Kanaky/New Caledonia and ‘French Polynesia’, successive French governments have been able to send out enough settlers to ensure an ongoing majority in favour of continuing French rule.
It’s important that progressive-minded people in NZ support the populations seeking independence and emancipation.
Freedom for kanaky/New Caledonia:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/12/10/freedom-for-kanaky-new-caledonia/
As far as I could make out when I went there a few years ago, it’s one of the retirement options for wealthy French citizens. They live like kings amongst the poverty of the locals
Probably why France still wants to ‘own’ it.
“Soon, even the notion that Israel is democratic for Jews will be gone.”
Gideon Levy at Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, Dominion Road
Sunday 3 December 2017, 3 p.m. (Part 2 of 2)
Questions from the floor.
Question No. 1: The international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel: is it working?
GIDEON LEVY: Boycott is a legitimate strategy. Israel is forever pressing countries to boycott Iran and Hamas. People boycott butchers, and refuse to buy goods made in sweatshops. No one can claim that boycott is wrong. Many people won’t buy stolen goods—and anything made in the Occupied Territories is a stolen product. Boycott and sanction were very effective strategies against the South African apartheid state. The aggression towards BDS by the Jewish establishment convinces me that it’s the right tool. Psychologically, it’s having an increasing impact. There have been bills to criminalize BDS in the United States and Europe. This is unacceptable. It shows how weak the Israeli argument is if they have to prosecute people of conscience who want to boycott Israel. By the way, I am violating Israeli law right now—it’s going to be seven years’ jail for expressing support for BDS. We need to make Israel, and every Israeli, accountable.
Question No. 2: Are you tired and defeated in your attitude to the two-state solution?
GIDEON LEVY: You need to prove that the two-state solution is viable, and show how to evacuate the 700,000 settlers. Soon that number will be one million. Whenever I mention President Trump, people start to laugh—(LAUGHTER). Trump said, “I don’t mind whether it’s one state or two states.” I don’t think he knew what he was talking about.
Question No. 3: New Zealand is in the throes of privatization brought about by social engineering. The incarceration rate in New Zealand—-
(At this point the questioner was cut off, for allegedly being off topic. I think Gideon was going to answer him, but the organisers insisted on moving things along to the next question.)
Question No. 4: How can we learn from the Maori?
GIDEON LEVY: I visited South Africa three times, and tremendous things happened there. This inspires me: the one state solution can be implemented. If New Zealanders can live together, we can live together with the Palestinians. —(APPLAUSE)— There will still be struggles about rights, et cetera, but it can be done.
Question No. 5: Gideon, you’ve been called “the most hated man in Israel.” Do you suffer from Shin Bet surveillance, in the way that Donald Woods was spied on in South Africa?
GIDEON LEVY: It was the Independent that called me the most hated man in Israel. However, I am not the story. Yes, there have been some physical attacks. But we are still a liberal democracy for Jewish citizens. I was arrested once for entering the West Bank. My car was shot once, and we counted nine bullet marks. It was an armor-plated car, however. The Israeli regime is aiming now at NGOs and the Supreme Court. Their next target will be the media.
Question No. 6: What can you tell us about the Knesset bill to ban the police filing corruption charges against any government officials?
GIDEON LEVY: There are many cracks in Israel’s democracy, in particular that bill. There are many anti-democratic bills in the Israeli parliament now. Soon, even the notion that Israel is democratic for Jews will be gone. However, it still survives for the moment, and I enjoy full freedom to speak and write.
Question No. 7: What are the common or distinctive values in the Jewish and Palestinian cultures?
GIDEON LEVY: There is no “Jewish morality”, there are universal values. Very clearly, most of us are secular. I don’t know what it means to follow Jewish values. I do know what it means to follow ethics and morality, which are universal.
Question No. 8: Israel, like New Zealand, is a settler state. The natives have been stripped of possession of the land. Maori attitudes to land are very different to english values. How can we have equal rights?
GIDEON LEVY: In New Zealand you discuss the past. In Israel, bringing up the past is tantamount to treason. The nakba was a war crime; I could live at peace with it if it had stopped there. But it never stopped. The same attitudes, the same tools, have continued. We should expect Israel to admit, and compensate, the crimes of 1948. But we don’t let it be discussed. We don’t let the Palestinians put up a sign for one of the more than four hundred villages destroyed. The first step is to ADMIT the crime of 1948.
Question No. 9: You say you do what you do because you care about Israel. Should we change the name of Israel? What about the right of return of the expelled Palestinians?
GIDEON LEVY: I care about Israel having a different regime from the present one, which is not a democracy. Let’s be quite clear about this: I stand for a tiny minority in Israel. The right of return? Sure. A democratic country would let those people in. No right of return is a racist law.
Question No. 10: Who are the main enemies of Israel?
GIDEON LEVY: Those who support the occupation, who keep it strong, and who pay for it. Of course I’m talking about the United States here. The U.S. could stop this masquerade in a matter of months. The U.S. routinely condemns the illegal settlements and scolds Israel, but it does nothing. The European Union: nothing but lip service. India, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E.—they all buy Israeli weapons.
Question No. 11: What about the liberal opposition in Israel?
GIDEON LEVY: Nothing is more misleading than the belief that Netanyahu is the only problem. Labour is the founding father of the settlements. I would rather have the right wingers in power, because at least they are honest. If Labour gets into power, it will meet with Abbas. The world will applaud. Negotiations in special committees will go on for one and a half years. The negotiations will go nowhere. Like Oslo. Everyone will support Israel—“what a peaceful state!” At least with Netanyahu, what you see is what you get.
Question No. 12: Are you optimistic about the peace and justice movements in Israel?
GIDEON LEVY: Yes, there are indeed groups like Breaking the Silence, B’tselem, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and Physicians for Human Rights. But they face a fatal problem: delegitimization by the government and the media. The government is fighting Breaking the Silence like hell. When it began, I thought Breaking the Silence would be a game-changer. These were Israeli soldiers witnessing and testifying about what they had done in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. There were more than one thousand testimonies. I thought that Israeli society would not be able to continue to deny. But immediately the political establishment and the media collaborated to crush them. Their influence and credibility in Israel is zero. They have been made into criminals in public opinion. The machinery of the Israeli state crushed them. Most young Israelis are much more nationalistic and right wing than their parents. And social media has made the most extreme racism socially acceptable.
Question No. 13: What about the “Christian Zionists”?
GIDEON LEVY: In terms of brainwashing and ignorance they are even worse. They turn very easily into anti-Semites. Right now they support Israel blindly and automatically; they are the biggest enemies of Israel.
————-
This melancholy yet inspirational and uplifting question time finished with a representative from the Unite union delivering the parting words of thanks to Gideon, and reminding all present of the need to press our new Labour government to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. An Irishmen, he recounted how in 1880, County Mayo residents refused to cooperate in any way with the local agent of the absentee Lord Erne. They withdrew their labour completely and refused to talk to him or engage with him in any way, resulting in his leaving Ireland in December 1880. The agent’s name: Captain Charles Boycott.
Another day, another good policy announced by this coalition government.
‘Rumble strips, safety barriers coming for 30 targeted dangerous rural roads.’
‘Thirty dangerous rural roads around the country will get rumble strips, safety barriers and more safety signs as the Government steps in to contain a road toll that is the highest since 2010.
This morning Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced the Boost Safety programme – $22.5 million to improve the safety of hotspots on rural highways across Northland, Taranaki, Manawatu-Whanganui, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
The road toll this year to December 15 was 359 deaths – the most since 2010, including a tragic accident in October near Taupo that killed four people and shook a community.
The announcement follows a crisis meeting Genter called last month with transport officials and police to discuss ways to improve road safety, including shifting existing funds away from State Highways.
The $22.5m has been reallocated from the State Highways budget and will include rumble strips, signage, safety barriers, and targeted speed limit changes on 30 hotspots that are flagged as a real risk of death and serious injuries.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11961338
Hopefully there’ll be a few more directional arrows painted on the roads too.
If you’ve ever been confronted by an oncoming vehicle on the wrong side of the road, you’ll know what I mean.
A bit of paint is actually a very cheap option, especially alongside a rumble strip – even if they’re busy not looking in a rear vision mirror, rather at a cell phone buried in their lap waiting for a reply to their previous txt.
Yes Once was tim,
There should aslo be maore signs telling trucks not to travel fasterthan 90 kms on our windy narrow highway 2 all the way down the east coast as trucks are often clocked at over 100kms and tailgate other vehicles very often now since the rail carries no freight or less freight .
So signs and police presence on our narrow winding regional roads may help here as the trucks are breaking all the rules now.
RIP Michael Prophet
Have a read of one of our stalwarts returned home.
http://www.bryangould.com/a-merry-pohutukawa-christmas/
Yet another study showing that the maga morans were motivated by racial anxiety.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/12/15/16781222/trump-racism-economic-anxiety-study
Who would have thought so many major stories just stayed out of/or were a very low profile in the press.
25 to be exact – Thank you Project censored.
http://projectcensored.org/category/the-top-25-censored-stories-of-2016-2017/
An xtian loon who makes his living dispatching killers for hire around the globe is implicated in ilicit arms trading and extrajudicial executions.
Who woulda thunk it?
/
The two declarations are each five pages long and contain a series of devastating allegations concerning Erik Prince and his network of companies, which now operate under the banner of Xe Services LLC. Among those leveled by Doe #2 is that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe”:
https://www.thenation.com/article/blackwater-founder-implicated-murder/
Gosh what about not pecking each other to the stage where we need bandages.
STFU about meat eating and vegetarianism. There are emotional and practical reasons involved in thinking and stances on each side of this complex issue on which we are all benighted.
Let’s have Christmas without these waspish attacks. Now wasps are a problem, turn away I implore you, and look at what can be done to kill and limit wasps.
Wasps are meat-eaters, greywarshark – let them be 🙂
Cheers Robert – Keep up the humour, we need it after the election!
Hey, Grey! Here’s something you’ll enjoy – shortly after advising you to leave wasps be, I uncovered a nest of the blighters and now wear a single sting to my forearm! I’ve invited myself back for a chat this evening, when they’re all at home 🙂
Shit graywarshhark,
I’d be so happy just eating fish but we got a bloody shock last week going into the gisborne supermarket to see the cost of fish now?????
Meat is third the price in a lot of instances now.
$30+ dollars a kilo and meat around $10 to $14 = no fish so I am buying Canadian canned salmon for a meal now!!!!!!!
Bloody awful cost of fish now highway robbery.
The reason fish is expensive.
Don’t eat fish.
For the planet.
And the fish.
And us.
‘Overfishing is as big a threat to humanity as it is to our oceans’
‘One is industrial fishing, which, all over the blue planet, is now causing systemic ecological collapse.’
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/16/overfishing-is-as-big-a-threat-to-humanity-as-it-is-to-our-oceans
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/09/nine-of-worlds-biggest-fishing-firms-sign-up-to-protect-oceans
Yes bI realise that Ed,
But they still allow in-shore local fishing with dragnets between two trawlers as we have seen them operating off of Napier & Gisborne.
They should be banned too.
So this is not overseas commercial factory ships we are talking about here.
Anyway we need to eat less meat and we do only use two 440 oz cans of canadian salmon between two of us a week, and these salmon are ‘farmed’ fish only too.
Thanks for that bit it is in my library.
Omar El Akkad’s “American War”
This is a dystopian novel, which interprets the American South by way of the Middle East, challenging Americans to imagine what it might be like to die for, but also kill, their fellow citizens.
The Second Civil War begins in 2074. Climate change has changed the continent, submerging the banks of Louisiana and the near entirety of Florida, save for an island enclave or two, one of which eventually houses the notorious Sugarloaf Detention Facility for Northern prisoners of war.
In the early 2070s, the federal government, by then based in Columbus, moved to outlaw fossil fuels. Southerners resented this and other impositions from the richer, prosperous Northern states. Fervor for secession began to build. The nature of Southern “culture” was rich, but also somewhat vague and constructed, like all cultural identities are. It was enough, though, to moor a movement that would lead to the deaths of millions. A Southern suicide bomber assassinated the president in 2073, plunging the country into violence.
Might be worth a few days over Christmas grinding through the Deep South with a climate change+Middle East wars lens.
Sounds a distinct possibility after seeing 50 years plus of international and local politics and maneouvring of players.
WARNING! An unwelcome blast from the past
A particularly nasty and dishonest former colleague of Dr. Don Brash has had a go at Gideon Levy over on Kiwiblog. ….
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_17_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2101437
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_17_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2101481
There are words to describe Brash.
Oh, Wayne Mapp. I thought you were talking about someone important.
Morrisey it looks like ‘dirty politics 2’ has well and truly arrived on Kiwiblog eh!!!
Trying to ‘slur’ Jacinda as having a mental issue,!!!
These national clingons are thugs and are so low and out of moral character, they should be fined for character assassination.!!!!!!!!
Remember, never ever piss off an Italian cyclist.
Many thanks to Sir Paul Macartney for backing Maori Culture Ka pai.
I’m getting a TV set top box I know some people know what my search history is and what channel I’m watching I figure that out a while ago. Ya the mokos have gone home Im exsorsed and this is one of the reasons I say we owe Lady’s equality it’s a lot of effort to raise children I have a lot of other reasons for equality for Lady’s to all the girls in OUR family the future of our mother earth many more.
See how low down these national people will go there actions never cease to amaze me well there dum ass attacks on Jacinda Mana will just fail to get any traction and will fall into tomorrow un heard of like all the bullshit they try and chuck at her. Kia kaha
Oh dear.
(1/11)
Oh Dear!! How SAD
hehehe
never mind Faux news will say its all FAKE NEWS! and it will all go away.
Of course they’re crying 4th amendment.