Wearable technology – be it heart-rate monitors or skin response sensors – can give this underlying influence more visibility, says Coates. “You need to figure out whether you should be trading or whether you should go home. If you are trading, should you double up your position because you’re in the zone?”
A technology enhanced financial crash coming to a world near you – soon.
Really, it’s bad enough listening to these psychopaths already without getting them to do more of it faster.
Bank of America used Humanyze’s technology within its call centers to find out what made employees most productive in terms of numbers of completed calls. Yet it found that the biggest predictor of productivity was how staff spoke to their colleagues. Those with the closest ties to others in their group were more productive and less likely to quit than those who worked alone. The bank added a 15-minute shared coffee break to daily routines: productivity increased by 10 per cent and staff turnover dropped by 70 per cent.
Kinda screws the idea that high staff turnover (90 day trials and such like) or no tea breaks improve productivity. Business as sport. What horseshit. Someone having a heart attack or stroke would show up in their data as “highly productive”. I can’t believe we allow these fools to walk around freely and define our futures. I’d attach the “heartbeat” device to my cock and get a bonus every month. haw haw haw.
Just read online by someone that his mother, who is in Greece has just heard monkey being interviewed by CNBC? about the tppa. Where is he and why the secrecy? Didn’t see him rushing onto the paddock to drink from the Bledisoe Cup before anyone else.8
The neo-liberal capitalist system is destroying the earth.
“After seeing the impact of rare earth mining myself, it’s impossible to view the gadgets I use every day in the same way,” he writes. “As I watched Apple announce their smart watch recently, a thought crossed my mind: once we made watches with minerals mined from the Earth and treated them like precious heirlooms; now we use even rarer minerals and we’ll want to update them yearly. ”
Yep, the problem with capitalism is that it does not take into account all the requirements of people and the planet.
Capitalism has a very limited use. Unfortunately the trinkets that it has brought to many has blinded them into thinking that capitalism can be used for all sorts of things…. blinded by bling …..
You forget that Communism has been tried only in poor countries with despotic traditions in government. Russia is still a relatively poor country, and Stalin has been called the most recent of its succession of great but very cruel Tsars.. (A miracle that it got to be a super-power.)
Name one heavily industrialised that has tried Socialism, let alone Communism. You cannot. So there was never an even contest between Capitalism and Communism in the first place.
Easy to set up silly demands, is it not?
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
Draco was quite specific. “Communism, expansion, maintenance, capitalism, death.” he said. Pretty much all societies have followed this course, he reckons. I’m just asking him to name one. Hardly unreasonable.
I think that by communism, Draco was not conjuring up Stalin or Mao. He meant ‘primitive’ communities living without as yet notions of private property and profit-gouging..
The word Communism is a red rag to a bull for some people, who go viral over it without thinking about what the basic meaning actually is.
Your challenge is at loggerheads with what Draco intended.
Enough misfires for a while, I think.
I got his book of images of large scale industrial impact when it first came out.
IMHO he is better on some levels than Salgado, but with less of a human touch.
“To reduce the national flag to a brand has to be the most banal, vacuous attempt by Corporate NZ to take over our identity. It shows no respect for who we are, what our national identity is, it’s crass commercialisation, nothing more. He even has the gall to boast of the “billions” we’ll make if we Coca Colarise ourselves.”
and
“The Union Jack is a clever compilation of the crosses of three members, the Stars & Stripes tells how 50 states emerged from the original 13, while the Rainbow Nation acknowledges the plethora of tribes that built South Africa. Now compare those to the Canadian maple leaf – it’s very pretty and instantly recognisable much as many corporate logos are. But what an opportunity lost – there is no underlying story, no mention of where those folk came from, who they are, where they’re going. It’s nothing more than a brand.”
yes we could tell our story, I hope we do, the real story, but somehow I think we will waste this and sell out to a corporate logo – that will fit in with the sellout of this country by TPPA and the rest of the mangey pack of dogs key is running with.
“To reduce the national flag to a brand has to be the most banal, vacuous attempt by Corporate NZ to take over our identity. It shows no respect for who we are, what our national identity is, it’s crass commercialisation, nothing more. He even has the gall to boast of the “billions” we’ll make if we Coca Colarise ourselves.”
I’m guessing he’s referring to the PM’s pushing of the silver fern and Morgan is right. The problem is, amongst others. the silver fern has become a logo.
When I see the silver fern I think All Blacks and our Netball team. It’s become a logo and also has the disadvantage of being difficult to draw. At least the maple leaf has the advantage of being symmetrical.
I quite like the stars but they need to be placed with careful consideration otherwise we end up with a third world country flag.
“Well, we’re not going to put the union jack on stuff are we?”
Well why did Key bring back British honours then? Do you not see the inconsistency? A bloke running the most cravenly sycophantic foreign policy in years pretending to strike a blow for our independent identity by changing the flag?
Hypocritical twerp.
If Morgan wants to keep the flag, he better vote in the referendum.
Key put out this vid on his face book page explaining his view on the flag, got to hand it to the man, he’s brilliant at getting people to see something his way.
yep agreed – he is good at that and we are all the poorer because of it. Often substance is more important than appearances but many in this land are just too foolish to get it – key knows this and plays on it, takes advantage of it – a small town preacher with the gift of the glib and everynight the men (and women) come around and lay their money down…
We’re trying to help you infused – though as a dyed-in-the-wool righty you present pretty strong evidence for the ‘rightwing are chumps’ hypothesis.
The Gnats tend instead to present evidence that the rightwing are crooks. Their rightwingery is secondary to their interest in stealing public property.
“…Now compare those to the Canadian maple leaf – it’s very pretty and instantly recognisable much as many corporate logos are…”
He thinks it’s about the manufacture of maple syrup? Ok so it’s stuff.co.nz opinion, and Gareth Morgan is either willfully misleading people, or doesn’t have Google, but the Canadian maple leaf has been associated with Canadian heraldry as a symbol of Canada for a hundred or so years before 1965, or whenever it was the red/white maple flag was installed.
If he wants to argue that the silver fern isn’t traditionally a NZ heraldic symbol then he might have a point, but NZ doesn’t have much heraldic history yet – people create that with their flag/coat of arms-making. Anyone looking at the Canadian flag now knows what it represents because the Canadian people have presented their actions and attitudes under that banner. Is he saying they have no national identity, no standing? Is he either insulting, stupid or condescending? Sheesh. Why be so sloppy about it if it weren’t just a propagation of lies just because he doesn’t want a new flag. Any flag starts out relatively meaningless, as simply a symbol of ideals, aspirations or values. Meaning is applied to it by people’s memories after the fact.
This was in the comments on Morgans Facebook post today I would be interested to know if this guys onto something.??
“”Hey, don’t mean to to freak y’all out (actually, yes I do!) but there’s a lot more to this NZ flag change malarkey than most people realise…
I was open to changing the current NZ flag, but I also didn’t understand (like most people) the LEGAL significance of doing so…
Why not change the flag?
Here’s why not – its called ‘Due Authority’
DUE AUTHORITY in a nation like NZ is represented on the NZ flag by the Union Jack and signifies that we are a constitutional monarchy.
A change of flag means not only that we have taken a major step to removing the DUE AUTHORITY of the crown. It also means we take away the very power which enforces both the 1981 Bill of Rights Act (the closest thing NZ has to an entrenched Constitution) and the founding plank upon which the Treaty of Waitangi has meaning.
It does not matter if you’re pro or anti monarchy but if you take away the DUE AUTHORITY of law (which includes our flag) you then open the gates of hell, or to be precise the means in which John Key can legally sign the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement). Currently if the matter was taken to court it would undoubtedly end up at the Supreme Court.
The Privy Council is our former chief court and unlike the new US-styled NZ supreme Court, has its legal interpretation interpreted by Judges that are picked by the Law Lords of the Common Wealth.
In the new system those Judges are picked by parliament – uh oh.
At the moment it is likely that a legal challenge could be mounted against the TPPA, even if John does sign it, even with the Supreme Court Change, in that it breaches the 1981 Bill of Rights and the Crowns obligation to Iwi as set out in the Treaty of Waitangi.
However, if the DUE AUTHORITY of the State can be removed then the TPPA can not only be signed but it then means that once signed the DUE AUTHORITY of the TPPA would supersede the power of any NZ laws already in place. Such as the 1981 Bill of Rights etc.””
Please feel free to copy & paste or share… A lot of people don’t seek education but will take it when offered!
Yes just goggled “due authority” and it came up with a couple of fringe looking sites one called misty mountain , basically saying the same as the above, someone causing mischief and leading a few astray .
‘Just on half the country’s directors aren’t happy about their pay as workload piles up and more face the axe for poor performance.
Directors Institute chief executive Simon Arcus said while there had been a “moderate” 4 per cent increase in the past year, workloads had almost doubled, reflecting an environment where boards are facing more scrutiny and regulation than ever before.
Survey data shows only 50.6 per cent are satisfied with their remuneration. Median fees for private listed companies were $78,570, up 22 per cent over the past four years.’
G,Bradley…NZH…..
doesn’t your heart just bleed for these…unfortunates!
you are the one without a clue….there are many professional directors who warm seats on many boards.80hrs a week…what crap…as for fucking up…lets take a look at a few recent cases…Shipley/Mainzeal…now Genesis chair,Withers /Feltex,now at MRP….so you really are quite ignorant ,illinformed or delusional.
“………… your work week is pretty much 80 hours every week. You fuck up and it’s the end of your career. Same with ceos.”
Oh diddums my hearts bleeds for them,
That will be the day I have seen fuck ups by so called “managers” where the remaining staff has to clean up the shit afterwards and nine times out of ten they walk away with a big golden handshake, later to emerge in a top position in another organisation.,
Try running your own business as a small operator see how many hours you then work, or doing two jobs to make ends meet on very low money.
Of course if it is too much for them, they can always find a job with a zero hour contract.
Yeah man, all sympathy to you, I only work about 50 hours a week, in a physically demanding job, must be hard sittin’ on your arse for 80s hours a week!@
Sorry to hear infused but it sounds like you’re not in the ‘Club’ if you work 80+hrs and get shafted.
btw it’s not a club you get asked to join, you’re born into it or you can aspire to it but never be part of it.
Hotchin thought he was in the club like Muir, Watson etc are but he gets to hold the can in public like a good south akl boy while others skate away from the hanover/elders collapse.
Thinking about what we need to be able to manage our world better. It seems that we are at a crucial point in time. We have had two big wars that have taken us near to the highest point of modern day barbarism, have improved on that with acceptance of torture in fact and spirit, and introduced depleted uranium and agent orange. Our destructiveness and drift from afraid or vengeful human beings to callous, murderous behaviour regarded as a norm is frightening.
I think some persistent group has to introduce and carry over the years, a Day of Examination of our Souls where we meet and look at all the things that we humans have done in the past year, and find a way how we can collectively and individually do something about that for the next year. That would include approaching others, talking about how we can do something personally and collectively.
This would be a day for a person’s serious thinking, and not in churches. This is something that needs to come from the heart of people themselves – not diddling around from religions with incense and ritual and asking for forgiveness from the Great Spirit. It’s too late for that. It has happened and we have not been able to stop it. So we need to think, and gather strength from each other, and act on positive ideas put forward.
(About religion, every year the churches go out and intone the same stuff on Anzac Day. They should include something different each year – a reading of some anti-war poetry, some personal anecdote from a returned service survivor. But hey why fix something while its working smoothly. Stick with the status quo. It gives people confidence.)
I have the horrible feeling that we have reached the high point in our human time on earth and passed it. But it would be good to be wrong. There are so many wonderful people, lots of ordinary people with good traits, and some very cold, pathological people that we need to look out for and corral. If we look at our politicians and aspirational money and power people who are driven by profit to put life at risk, they are very visible. Less visible are the fellow travellers in our midst, and the weaknesses in our own hearts and minds.
While we can all criticise others, all of us need to have a strong understanding of ourselves that involves our strengths and our humbling faults. Also, then a workable ideal for how things should be, ready for when the old diseased system breaks down. Dreamers then are not much use, the people who know human weaknesses and how to avoid, manage and survive them in the kindest and fairest ways are the stalwarts, along with those with practical skills plus community spirit.
Personally I think the main thing we need is diversity: political, cultural, gender, sexual identity… as much as possible of everything.
Not as a pc platitude, the simple fact is that diversity inhibits groupthink. I was involved in the governance of a reasonable-sized organisation, and one of the most valuable roles was filled by a guy whose job seemed to largely consist of “nope: not possible/legal to do that”. So we’d work our way around the issues until we had a more robust way of actually doing what we wanted. But too many people like that guy would have restricted the variety of ideas we came up with, and we would have been stuck in that narrow “can’t do that” focus, even if the impulse had occurred to us. Different backgrounds mean different skillsets and different ideas.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think lots of people who disagree with me are dicks, but even dicks have a constructive role to play sometimes 🙂
Interesting that National would support leverage and buying businesses with the intention of stripping its assets and scraping it down to bones to get the money to pay back the lender for the purchase price. Yet they make ACC have money in hand for prophesied costs of the present injured and damaged far into the future. One law for the cowboys and another for the poorer Indians.
Key yet again rides the coat tails of the ABs win over the weekend, engineering himself closer to McCaw’s “brand” with a second knighthood offer and by saying he’d make a good prime minister.
It’s called utilitarianism. The problem with it is that the worst off end up being even worse off because the government doesn’t have to be concerned about them.
From the link:
“The Greatest Happiness principle in general is good, but it has many flaws as any ethical systems does. Due to our inability to perfectly predict the future according to our actions (assuming he future is capable of being altered with our actions), the results we desire are capable of, and often do, fall short of what was intended. If unforeseen parameters caused all of our actions to backfire, even though we were attempting to act in accordance with Utilitarianism, we would all be considered immoral as our results only caused pain. If this happened to everyone in the entire world, then no man could be considered moral. The Greatest Happiness principle also allows for us to cause pain to others as long as a majority of the people become happier. We could essentially just steal resources from smaller foreign countries and drive them to poverty as long as more people benefit than lose. Things such as slavery, bullying, rape, racism, and murder could be justified under Utilitarianism as long as the majority prefers it. Murderers could justify their action by simply killing all of those who opposed them. Once their numbers became the majority, murdering became justifiable as moral. Lastly, the Greatest Happiness principle eliminates the usage of the laws provided by our government. As long as the person’s actions increase general utility, then it does not matter how many laws are broken in the process. We could all go speeding down roads and ignoring traffic signals/signs to our full enjoyment despite there being speed limits as long as few people cared and most people would be having a blast.”
Question is what strategies do you use against a utilitarian government?
Paul Henry embarrassed by young caller this morning;
His mood was not improved by the raucous laughter at his expense. Paul Henry, TV3, Monday 17 August 2015, 8:10 a.m.
Paul Henry is a shameless National Party partisan as well as being John Key’s chief cheerleader. He is a control freak, who demands total obedience from his underlings. Neither his newsreader Hillary Barry nor his dim sports guy Jim Kayes has the ability or the gumption to challenge most of the offensive or ignorant things Henry regularly unloads. Occasionally, as we shall see, they will register their disapproval by falling silent or, as happened with the following phone call from a young viewer, join in with the subversive laughter of the technicians and producers. Henry is all too aware when his authority is undermined like this, and he takes it out on Jim Kayes above all.
But first, let’s see how a simple phone call derailed him this morning….
PAUL HENRY: We have Zakaiah from Pahiatua on the phone. How old are you, Zakaiah?
ZAKARAIAH: I’m eleven.
PAUL HENRY: All right, Zakaiah, do you think Richie McCaw would make a good prime minister?
ZAKARAIAH: Yeah, better than John Key!
EVERYONE IN THE STUDIO EXCEPT HENRY: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
….Awkward silence…..
PAUL HENRY:[grinning awkwardly, like a raccoon eating shit off a wire brush] Oooohhhh.
ZAKARAIAH: And he doesn’t need to change the flag.
…..Awkward silence…..
PAUL HENRY: Well I agree with you there, Zakaiah! But not the bit about John Key; I think he’s doing a good job.
…..Awkward silence…..
A little later, Henry reads out the nominations for the New Zealander of the Year award, with his slaves obediently providing the sound effects…
HENRY: Most of them are shite. Professor Jane Kelsey. HILLARY BARRY: Urggghhh! HENRY: Nicky Hager. JIM KAYES: Groan. HILLARY BARRY: Urrrggghh! HENRY: Helen Kelly.
……Silence. Even these two slaves know that it’s not permissible to slag off the very ill Helen Kelly, even if she is one of those despised creatures, a union activist.
HENRY: Tim Finn. JIM KAYES: Why have they nominated Tim Finn and not Neil? HENRY:[suddenly irritated] Oh I don’t know! I’m not up with the minutiae of these things. But the thing is, most of these people are shite. If
Richie was nominated, they would fall off the list. I’m going to nominate Richie McCaw for New Zealander of the Year.
….Awkward pause…..
JIM KAYES: Have you got a man crush on Richie McCaw?
….Awkward pause….
PAUL HENRY:[speaking evenly and slowly, with an angry edge to his voice] No, I haven’t. But I notice that most of the women removed their wedding rings when he came into the studio. Hillary did. HILLARY BARRY: My husband’s watching this….
Voters in rural nz are ripe for the plucking and Winston knows it.
In today’s farmers weekly there is three new listing, short notice auctions ,if kiwi farmers see a flood of land ownership go off shore look out national.
A question for any who may know and who listen to Nine to Noon on RNZ.
Why is Mike Williams unwilling or unable to dispute the propaganda espoused by Matthew Hooton re TPP , particularly noticeable these past 2 weeks. It was left to Kathryn Ryan to bring some semblance of balance and rationale to the topic today…Mr Williams may as well have been absent.
Believe it or not, Williams was there, actually: he backed up Kathryn Ryan by saying “Exactly!” in an emphatic tone of voice after she firmly contradicted one of Hooton’s rants.
At one other point, he actually had the guts to say: “I think Matt’s also been somewhat unfair to Professor Jane Kelsey.”
Otherwise it was a typical Mike Williams performance, including: “I’ve got a lot of time for Tim Groser” and (pathetically) “As Matt put it so eloquently…”
I’d have a lot of time for Groser too, to make sure the garlic, stakes, silver and holy water had taken effect. A pity Williams didn’t mean it that way though. “Useless” doesn’t begin to describe him, and I haven’t the energy to finish.
If he lived in Syria, Grant Smithies would be praising President Assad’s taste in music Morning Report, Radio NZ National, 7:56 a.m., Monday 17 August 2015
adulationn., excessive devotion to someone; servile flattery
SUSIE FERGUSON: President Obama’s Spotify account includes the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Coldplay—Guyon’s favorite band!—and Al Green. To discuss this, welcome to music critic Grant Smithies. Well, what do you reckon about the President’s taste in music?
GRANT SMITHIES: I reckon I’d go around to his place for a beer! It sounds like it’s a genuine list, and not one made up to impress the electorate, unlike, say, Gordon Brown, who proclaimed his “deep love” for the Arctic Monkeys a few years ago. It’s a pretty interesting selection, although I am concerned about the presence of Coldplay on the list. But to be fair, he’s had things to do. He’s been busy!
SUSIE FERGUSON: Ha ha ha ha ha!
GRANT SMITHIES: I wonder what sort of list George W. Bush would have made. Probably from the cheesiest end of the country spectrum, plus some triumphalist rock tunes. It would be the stuff of nightmares!
Listening to Guyon and Susie on Radionz early, I have noticed the odd banter being dropped in which makes me shudder. I am particularly sensitive to this as I have grown to hate the crap on television between partner-faces presenting there. Although there are things that I criticise about RadioNZ, I treasure them, and I also tell them so from time to time. They do a good job, and anyone who wants a reliable, truthful, well run public radio station, must listen to it and give feedback about it and its coverage, support it and ensure that it continues. We don’t want it killed by a thousand poison arrows, weak acid weakening its structure, and termites cutting through its supports!
It already is not being maintained properly as it has a decreasing budget. We don’t want government doing a HousingNZ on our radio, and the whole government house-of-cards decline policy.
I don’t want to hear on Radio details of what goes through presenters’ minds being broadcast to try connecting with the tiny minds in the youthful community. I fear RadioNZ being dumbed down to satisfy the butterfly minds of the masses and the ‘superior but limited’ interests of our chattering classes. I remember Guy and Sus bantering about fave James Bonds. This morning it was whether Cold Play was good. STFU. For sure, keep a bit of lightness in from the news or some recent event in NZ that deserves comment.
I can see the extent of the attacks which RadioNZ suffers from the eternal carping of the RW barbarians firing shots in all directions. I found an example in the July 2008 Listener item from Bill Ralston’s Life. I can’t give you a link because the Listener doesn’t put up content it just lists the headings of items.
His thoughts:’We are currently being served an insipid menu of stewed apple and bananas, admirably suited to the rest home RNZ National has become.” “I am convinced these days RNZ National is broadcasting almost solely to itself and the few dozen people who control its funding.”
Ralston flicks off RNZ to Auckland Maori Mai FM, a hip-hop station. “Aside from developing a taste for the new R&B, I have no idea why I’ve done so except for the fact the hosts sound as if they still live, breathe and have fun.
Actually, it does not matter if commercial radio is good or bad: you can simply change stations. It doesn’t cost you a cent. If public radio is bad, it costs you well north of $25 million a year, whether you listen or not.
The dreadfully smug, hand-wringing liberal contortions of RNZ could originate only from its home in Wellington…” and he has a go at politically-correct politicians. “RNZ National is the voice of Helen Clark’s [NZ]: smug, self-righteous and desperately dull.”
Strange that, to me, the same comments apply directly to his own output. He and his opinion are irrelevant to a well-functioning society. I feel his spite though, and his complaints about cost to the taxpayer echo those used to get rid of our national television service. A mother was used as a bellwether, complaining that her son needed his tv for other purposes than watching programmes, but being registered as owner, had to pay $60? for the privilege. So of course we had to get rid of taxpayer direct charging from the rest of us, despite many of us not getting much value from our general taxes.
There was a good comment by Russell Brown on Ralston’s diatribe even touching on his liberal tribe. Brown makes the point that there was at one time a tendency to resist change and need for more youth input, but that no longer applied. http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/radio-times/
+100… I agree Greywarshark….’Morning Report’ is increasingly nauseating ‘entertainment’ infotainment advertorials for the John Key Nactional Party
…I find Espiner’s ‘interviews’ with John Key ( invitation to spin and slime on and on… ) to be servile ( an interview lie down PR opportunity for John Key) …and Espiner’s questioning of Professor Jane Kelsey to be personal attacking, repetitive and shallow…only she added depth to the non-interview
At least Kathryn Ryan tackled Matthew Hooton’s spin and attacks on Jane Kelsey…rather than discussing the substantive issues at hand ….of the downside of the TPPA…and the extent of New Zealanders opposition to it…with its disadvantages to New Zealand re IT industry , copyright, medicines, sovereignty etc…
Mora in the afternoons is freakin bad too. Either deliberately nieve, plain stupid or weak, probably all of those, he will not hold anyone to account the best he’s got is a forced cold flanelling, something Key probably got from his mother when he was under the age of 10. He says things like, but they wouldn’t sign the TPPA if they knew it was going to be bad would they?
It is to my mind criminal that the marketing industry now rules our media because they fund it, and that even affects State-Owned Enterprises like TVNZ, whose current CEO is a guy from the marketing industry, not from broadcasting.
So we now have, as you say, the team of two announcers introducing their personal views onto what should be impartially-presented news, where one person is quite enough.
To make it worse, we now have regular advertising on Radio NZ. After each news-on-the-hour, RNZ advertise their own programmes, with increasingly commercial techniques.
God in heaven – I take refuge in the National Programme to get away from the vile commercial cacklemush of ads on commercial radio. And what do I find? Radio NZ National is now mimicking its inferiors. (Actually, it should still be called National Radio.)
Somebody needs to throw the money-changers out of the temple again – the best thing Christ ever supposedly did.
Are they making RNZ so close to commercial so that nobody will miss it when they finally sell it off?
@In Vino
Your opinions are what I feel. I am not absolutist about presentation, it doesn’t have to be totally dry, but I fear that the boffins at the top are hell-bent on matching targets rather than adopting a balanced viewpoint to change of presentation and introducing some ‘lighter’ news. Where is the line in the sand I wonder? And of course such lines can be washed away.
I fear that they want to dilute the hard NZ news, with world news from a narrow base, and exaggerating the importance of hard news from overseas, ie interviews with officials in the USA about their latest disaster or outrage which then gets repeated in short form every news hour during the day. That fits the mindset of politicians following ‘overseas’ practices when considering new policies, which implies worldwide, but is limited to the 5-Eyes countries only., being the dominant comet USA, trailing in its tail – UK, Canada, Australia and ….panting along, NZ.
I fear too they wish to bring magazine-type weekend listening into the Kim Hill/Wallace Chapman slot with art, leisure, food and wine, style, with middle class women and men dominating. They represent those on household incomes higher than most, and can consider such pleasant things and fob off concerns that should have time for serious discussion in these slots.
Yesterday I gave Bill Ralston’s deriding take on the RadioNZ, in 2008. I suggest that now he would come up with a similar cant, except with different targets. No changes would appease his wonky viewpoint. And aligning with him are people like Hosking, whose very expression in today’s post displays a mixture of derisive attitudes.
Personally, I do know about presentation of content from long interest in consuming it, and some efforts at presentation of facts and discussion of ideas, so when I like something on radio or not, it isn’t some random whim.
Heard that but IMO Kathryn needs to be a lot tougher on Hooton he is constantly interrupting and boring us with his right wing rubbish.
Mike also should crunch Hooton more often.
Take a leaf out of WC Fields book.
“Never give a sucker a second break”
The object I think is to draw out the right and left approach without dissecting it or boning it for the fillets! It is interesting as stats for employment are interesting – they remain committed to a method, and the differences then show up as attention grabbing and indicative.
& right at the end, when discussing the flag, Hooton checks his cards
and plays a ‘do this or the terrorists win!’
“The only issue against the black flag of course is ISIS.
The funny thing is are we going to allow ISIS because it happens to have a black flag, determine that we shouldn’t?” *Dubya & Cheney wipe away a tear*
“The point is that Mike Hosking is extremely influential because of his involvement with Newstalk ZB, TVNZ and the Herald.”
Shaw said the whole media industry was going through a period of “huge turmoil” and the result was a move away from reporting towards editorialising.
“Mike is symptomatic of a broader trend.”
Psychobabble theory says people see the world as containing more of their self-affirming beliefs than it actually does. Shaw has an interest in people being scared by various things, so he’s the opposite of the phenomena, but do people really adjust their lives to suit a Hosking/Herald/radio opinion? I regularly test the absurdity of my opinions by opening my mouth, and no one else holds my views, but what Shaw claims is that a large number – we’re talking millions – slavishly adhere to Hoskings implied commands. None them have preferences, or can choose anything of their own accord. It isn’t a very convincing claim. I’d expect people to be driving off bridges or walking in circles for hours at the supermarket if they were that lost for what to think or do. Hosking is an expression of the environment he works in, and co-incidentally, people would like to own his car. Not sure that is the same as them arriving at the conclusion that thinking like Mike Hosking will get them a Maserati. They could just steal his one, for instance, or go all hopelessly surly and scratch it, out of spite.
I bet keys thinking about leaving again now things ain’t going so good .
I just had a vision of you and hoskings hugging his leg and pleading for him not to leave yous behind as he jets off to foreign shores for good.
So, you remember when the Problem Gambling Foundation lost it’s government contract and all the RWNJs, including Peter Dunne, said it was all done above board? Yeah, about that:
So, to summarise, the High Court has just told us that the PGF lost its government contract after being very vocally critical of government policy through a process that;
1. Changed the ground-rules as to how the contracts would be awarded after organisations had bid for them;
2. So wrongly assessed the PGF’s application that the apparent result couldn’t be trusted; and
3. Used people to assess who should get the contract who were at least apparently biased in favour of some applicants over others.
“We believe a CITS would lift the standards of the cleaning industry leading to greater economic productivity, but equally important, provide a sea change in the attitudes and behaviours of cleaners as training provides them with greater skills and opportunities,” Grant says.
So, I wonder how many RWNJs are going to continue to claim that cleaners don’t have any skills or don’t take any risks.
I can’t stand this certification and having industry standards for literally everything. If you are a good cleaner then you can obviously clean well. Why should a piece of paper represent how good you are at the said skill. Say in IT, I could have all the experience in the world and not be certified, while someone could have zero experience but be certified and be looked at as the better candidate because they’re done a two day training course or something. There’s a whole lot of bullshit going around in our business world.
While I agree with you to a large extent my point was that the RWNJS always come out with the idea that cleaners and other under paid people don’t have any skills so a professional body saying that we need to recognise the skill set should put paid to that.
China’s policy shift to support exporters and stem the deepest economic slowdown since 1990 heightens the risk of competitive currency devaluations as global demand wanes.
See, this is why you don’t have FTAs that lock you into trading with a country that acts like this.
Prof. Al Gillespie: “To a degree we have to trust the government.”
Why did Jim Mora ask this fellow to talk about the TPPA? The Panel, Radio NZ National, Monday 17 August 2015
Jim Mora, Joe Bennett, Susan Guthrie, Noelle McCarthy
Jim Mora’s producers try to impart the appearance of credibility to this light chat show by going to a regular stable of academics, to get their thoughts on various issues. This can be a useful and enlightening exercise, but all too often it is neither, as anyone unfortunate enough to have listened to such academic guests as Tim Dare, Robert Patman, Jacqueline Rowarth, or Michael Bassett will testify.
Today’s big topic was the undemocratic and highly secretive TPPA talks that our government is engaged in. The token academic chosen to comment on it was Professor Al Gillespie from Waikato University. Long time Mora-sufferers will be familiar with Prof. Gillespie, who seems to have earned a doctorate in How To Say Nothing Meaningful. Unlike the formidably intelligent and forthright Jane Kelsey, Professor Gillespie is all wide-eyed optimism: “I think they will learn from this ,” he states in a tone of high seriousness, “and negotiations will not be as secretive in the future.”
A few minutes later he advises, again in the most scholarly manner he can muster: “To a degree we have to trust the government.”
Why did their producers go to this mealy-mouthed drip, instead of asking someone who actually knows something about the issue?
At 4:42 p.m. the host made what was quite possibly the most cynical and ignorant statement of the year so far—even on this dog of a programme. After Susan Guthrie, in her “Soapbox” contribution, had expressed her delight at the popularity of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, he posed the following question, in the loftiest tone he could muster….
JIM MORA: It’s one thing to say Jeremy Corbyn’s lovely and pure, but it’s another thing to make him Prime Minister, isn’t it?
If it doesn’t restore your faith in humanity, you would be one of the more than one thousand dolts—give or take a few comedians with a very dark sense of irony—-who clicked on the “He’s an outstanding journalist” option in the Hosking poll over on Stuff.
I see the Fucking Spiv and his pack of crooks are now clamping down on items bought overseas on the internet, and these items are going to be subject to GST. Excellent, first class, as it will “level” the playing field for the struggling retailers. The Fucking Spiv said it will “collect” the millions that is not being paid in GST. When do you think we can expect a similiar “clamp down” on the millions of tax not paid by his spiv mates through tax avoidance and tax evasion
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
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Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
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The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
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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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
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Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
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Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
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Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
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Why your boss wants to track your heartbeat
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/71168837/why-your-boss-wants-to-track-your-heartbeat
A technology enhanced financial crash coming to a world near you – soon.
Really, it’s bad enough listening to these psychopaths already without getting them to do more of it faster.
Kinda screws the idea that high staff turnover (90 day trials and such like) or no tea breaks improve productivity. Business as sport. What horseshit. Someone having a heart attack or stroke would show up in their data as “highly productive”. I can’t believe we allow these fools to walk around freely and define our futures. I’d attach the “heartbeat” device to my cock and get a bonus every month. haw haw haw.
Just read online by someone that his mother, who is in Greece has just heard monkey being interviewed by CNBC? about the tppa. Where is he and why the secrecy? Didn’t see him rushing onto the paddock to drink from the Bledisoe Cup before anyone else.8
He was one TV one this morn will be on delay about 8:15 belittling protesters and saying labour did it to so snafu
The neo-liberal capitalist system is destroying the earth.
“After seeing the impact of rare earth mining myself, it’s impossible to view the gadgets I use every day in the same way,” he writes. “As I watched Apple announce their smart watch recently, a thought crossed my mind: once we made watches with minerals mined from the Earth and treated them like precious heirlooms; now we use even rarer minerals and we’ll want to update them yearly. ”
More here
http://inhabitat.com/chinas-massive-toxic-lake-will-make-you-question-buying-another-electronic-device/
Trotter had an article on that up on The Daily Blog yesterday. I left a comment:
That latter is actually the problem, the prime cause of the destruction caused by capitalism.
Yep, the problem with capitalism is that it does not take into account all the requirements of people and the planet.
Capitalism has a very limited use. Unfortunately the trinkets that it has brought to many has blinded them into thinking that capitalism can be used for all sorts of things…. blinded by bling …..
After reading history I’ve come to the conclusion that capitalism is what societies go into before they die. Like people get to old age and then die.
Life of a person goes: Born, youth, middle age, old age, death.
Life of a society goes: Communism, expansion, maintenance, capitalism, death.
Got an example of a society that has followed this cycle?
Pretty much all of them.
Pick one at random. Show how what it started with was communism. Define “death” as you have used it in this context.
You forget that Communism has been tried only in poor countries with despotic traditions in government. Russia is still a relatively poor country, and Stalin has been called the most recent of its succession of great but very cruel Tsars.. (A miracle that it got to be a super-power.)
Name one heavily industrialised that has tried Socialism, let alone Communism. You cannot. So there was never an even contest between Capitalism and Communism in the first place.
Easy to set up silly demands, is it not?
Draco was quite specific. “Communism, expansion, maintenance, capitalism, death.” he said. Pretty much all societies have followed this course, he reckons. I’m just asking him to name one. Hardly unreasonable.
I think that by communism, Draco was not conjuring up Stalin or Mao. He meant ‘primitive’ communities living without as yet notions of private property and profit-gouging..
The word Communism is a red rag to a bull for some people, who go viral over it without thinking about what the basic meaning actually is.
Your challenge is at loggerheads with what Draco intended.
Enough misfires for a while, I think.
I don’t think any of your previous history teachers would be very impressed DTB.
I suspect that consensus democracy is the early stage of societies – band cultures usually have one.
Yeah, that’s what I said.
You people will probably also enjoy this guy:
http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/
I got his book of images of large scale industrial impact when it first came out.
IMHO he is better on some levels than Salgado, but with less of a human touch.
morgan is on the money
“To reduce the national flag to a brand has to be the most banal, vacuous attempt by Corporate NZ to take over our identity. It shows no respect for who we are, what our national identity is, it’s crass commercialisation, nothing more. He even has the gall to boast of the “billions” we’ll make if we Coca Colarise ourselves.”
and
“The Union Jack is a clever compilation of the crosses of three members, the Stars & Stripes tells how 50 states emerged from the original 13, while the Rainbow Nation acknowledges the plethora of tribes that built South Africa. Now compare those to the Canadian maple leaf – it’s very pretty and instantly recognisable much as many corporate logos are. But what an opportunity lost – there is no underlying story, no mention of where those folk came from, who they are, where they’re going. It’s nothing more than a brand.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/71124585/the-new-zealand-flag-should-be-more-than-a-brand
yes we could tell our story, I hope we do, the real story, but somehow I think we will waste this and sell out to a corporate logo – that will fit in with the sellout of this country by TPPA and the rest of the mangey pack of dogs key is running with.
“To reduce the national flag to a brand has to be the most banal, vacuous attempt by Corporate NZ to take over our identity. It shows no respect for who we are, what our national identity is, it’s crass commercialisation, nothing more. He even has the gall to boast of the “billions” we’ll make if we Coca Colarise ourselves.”
I’m guessing he’s referring to the PM’s pushing of the silver fern and Morgan is right. The problem is, amongst others. the silver fern has become a logo.
Well, we’re not going to put the union jack on stuff are we?
Maybe the Kiwi with the taiaha, but it’s a bit aggressive.
The stars are a bit nondescript
Which leaves the silver fern.
When I see the silver fern I think All Blacks and our Netball team. It’s become a logo and also has the disadvantage of being difficult to draw. At least the maple leaf has the advantage of being symmetrical.
I quite like the stars but they need to be placed with careful consideration otherwise we end up with a third world country flag.
The kiwi emblem I associate with our military.
You are repeating the line you are told to like a good lapdog. Some people just can’t think for themselves.
no, BM has honestly held that belief ever since he read the talking points for the day.
I liked the one the other day – the one with the fish hook on it. I feel that it represents NZ well.
“Well, we’re not going to put the union jack on stuff are we?”
Well why did Key bring back British honours then? Do you not see the inconsistency? A bloke running the most cravenly sycophantic foreign policy in years pretending to strike a blow for our independent identity by changing the flag?
Hypocritical twerp.
+1
‘Twerp’. Now I haven’t heard that word for years..but AB You’re so right. It’s a perfect descriptor.
If Morgan wants to keep the flag, he better vote in the referendum.
Key put out this vid on his face book page explaining his view on the flag, got to hand it to the man, he’s brilliant at getting people to see something his way.
https://www.facebook.com/pmjohnkey/videos/vb.12635800428/10153534317450429/?type=2&theater
Already got 563,493 Views.
yep agreed – he is good at that and we are all the poorer because of it. Often substance is more important than appearances but many in this land are just too foolish to get it – key knows this and plays on it, takes advantage of it – a small town preacher with the gift of the glib and everynight the men (and women) come around and lay their money down…
The Left- Telling everyone they are stupid since ages ago.
foolish is not stupid but you are
No. Just pointing out the snake oil salesman.
Have you never seen anyone taken advantage of by a snake oil merchant infused?
No infused, just keeping smug arrogant wankers like yourself in line.
We’re trying to help you infused – though as a dyed-in-the-wool righty you present pretty strong evidence for the ‘rightwing are chumps’ hypothesis.
The Gnats tend instead to present evidence that the rightwing are crooks. Their rightwingery is secondary to their interest in stealing public property.
Morgan is simply exercising his right to an opinion, just like John Key is in his Facebook clip.
Don’t tell me you advocate the silencing of voices like Morgan’s and others.
Not at all.
Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one.
Morgan likes the current flag and wants to keep it, which is hardly surprising because he’s an old boy.
Myself, I want the flag changed because its naff and unrepresentative of modern NZ.
Tell the truth BM. You want to change the flag to a fern because that’s what John Key has told you you want.
So transparent.
“Morgan likes the current flag and wants to keep it”
which is why he ran a competition for ideas on a new flag…
I doubt there are half a million people who care about the flag debate enough to watch. Clearly fake view count.
Do you not under stand the power of the like button.?
Sums up BM’s world.
You do know how elections work right? It tends to help if the majority of the voting public like what you have to say
Do you not understand the power of scripts?
“…Now compare those to the Canadian maple leaf – it’s very pretty and instantly recognisable much as many corporate logos are…”
He thinks it’s about the manufacture of maple syrup? Ok so it’s stuff.co.nz opinion, and Gareth Morgan is either willfully misleading people, or doesn’t have Google, but the Canadian maple leaf has been associated with Canadian heraldry as a symbol of Canada for a hundred or so years before 1965, or whenever it was the red/white maple flag was installed.
If he wants to argue that the silver fern isn’t traditionally a NZ heraldic symbol then he might have a point, but NZ doesn’t have much heraldic history yet – people create that with their flag/coat of arms-making. Anyone looking at the Canadian flag now knows what it represents because the Canadian people have presented their actions and attitudes under that banner. Is he saying they have no national identity, no standing? Is he either insulting, stupid or condescending? Sheesh. Why be so sloppy about it if it weren’t just a propagation of lies just because he doesn’t want a new flag. Any flag starts out relatively meaningless, as simply a symbol of ideals, aspirations or values. Meaning is applied to it by people’s memories after the fact.
This was in the comments on Morgans Facebook post today I would be interested to know if this guys onto something.??
“”Hey, don’t mean to to freak y’all out (actually, yes I do!) but there’s a lot more to this NZ flag change malarkey than most people realise…
I was open to changing the current NZ flag, but I also didn’t understand (like most people) the LEGAL significance of doing so…
Why not change the flag?
Here’s why not – its called ‘Due Authority’
DUE AUTHORITY in a nation like NZ is represented on the NZ flag by the Union Jack and signifies that we are a constitutional monarchy.
A change of flag means not only that we have taken a major step to removing the DUE AUTHORITY of the crown. It also means we take away the very power which enforces both the 1981 Bill of Rights Act (the closest thing NZ has to an entrenched Constitution) and the founding plank upon which the Treaty of Waitangi has meaning.
It does not matter if you’re pro or anti monarchy but if you take away the DUE AUTHORITY of law (which includes our flag) you then open the gates of hell, or to be precise the means in which John Key can legally sign the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement). Currently if the matter was taken to court it would undoubtedly end up at the Supreme Court.
The Privy Council is our former chief court and unlike the new US-styled NZ supreme Court, has its legal interpretation interpreted by Judges that are picked by the Law Lords of the Common Wealth.
In the new system those Judges are picked by parliament – uh oh.
At the moment it is likely that a legal challenge could be mounted against the TPPA, even if John does sign it, even with the Supreme Court Change, in that it breaches the 1981 Bill of Rights and the Crowns obligation to Iwi as set out in the Treaty of Waitangi.
However, if the DUE AUTHORITY of the State can be removed then the TPPA can not only be signed but it then means that once signed the DUE AUTHORITY of the TPPA would supersede the power of any NZ laws already in place. Such as the 1981 Bill of Rights etc.””
Please feel free to copy & paste or share… A lot of people don’t seek education but will take it when offered!
Given that we only got the flag in 1902, it looks like bollocks to me.
It reminds me of the militia-types in the US who get in a tizz because the flag in the courtroom has gold trim.
Yes just goggled “due authority” and it came up with a couple of fringe looking sites one called misty mountain , basically saying the same as the above, someone causing mischief and leading a few astray .
Dunno about causing mischief, at least intentionally.
It’s the standard internet drill: too much overthinking, not enough understanding.
‘Just on half the country’s directors aren’t happy about their pay as workload piles up and more face the axe for poor performance.
Directors Institute chief executive Simon Arcus said while there had been a “moderate” 4 per cent increase in the past year, workloads had almost doubled, reflecting an environment where boards are facing more scrutiny and regulation than ever before.
Survey data shows only 50.6 per cent are satisfied with their remuneration. Median fees for private listed companies were $78,570, up 22 per cent over the past four years.’
G,Bradley…NZH…..
doesn’t your heart just bleed for these…unfortunates!
Just shows you don’t have a clue.
As one of these people, your work week is pretty much 80 hours every week. You fuck up and it’s the end of your career. Same with ceos.
Jaysus. You work 80 hours/week and still find the time to clog the internet bitching and moaning about the Labour Party.
Depending on whom infused works for, the two aren’t completely exclusive 🙂
The other option is that the effort infused puts in to their “work” is as half-arsed as the effort they put into their thoughts here.
Poor infused, working 80 hours a week to barely achieve what others do in 40…
you are the one without a clue….there are many professional directors who warm seats on many boards.80hrs a week…what crap…as for fucking up…lets take a look at a few recent cases…Shipley/Mainzeal…now Genesis chair,Withers /Feltex,now at MRP….so you really are quite ignorant ,illinformed or delusional.
Really? So why is it that so many bank CEOs, directors and other sundries are still in control of our economies after they crashed it?
“………… your work week is pretty much 80 hours every week. You fuck up and it’s the end of your career. Same with ceos.”
Oh diddums my hearts bleeds for them,
That will be the day I have seen fuck ups by so called “managers” where the remaining staff has to clean up the shit afterwards and nine times out of ten they walk away with a big golden handshake, later to emerge in a top position in another organisation.,
Try running your own business as a small operator see how many hours you then work, or doing two jobs to make ends meet on very low money.
Of course if it is too much for them, they can always find a job with a zero hour contract.
Yeah man, all sympathy to you, I only work about 50 hours a week, in a physically demanding job, must be hard sittin’ on your arse for 80s hours a week!@
Sorry to hear infused but it sounds like you’re not in the ‘Club’ if you work 80+hrs and get shafted.
btw it’s not a club you get asked to join, you’re born into it or you can aspire to it but never be part of it.
Hotchin thought he was in the club like Muir, Watson etc are but he gets to hold the can in public like a good south akl boy while others skate away from the hanover/elders collapse.
“As one of these people, your work week is pretty much 80 hours every week. ”
Umm….. directors wouldn’t even do 8hrs per week. It’s not a full time job.
LOL who ya kidding
We need progressives to be on Boards.
And they will have to train and qualify with experience for it, like everyone else.
Thinking about what we need to be able to manage our world better. It seems that we are at a crucial point in time. We have had two big wars that have taken us near to the highest point of modern day barbarism, have improved on that with acceptance of torture in fact and spirit, and introduced depleted uranium and agent orange. Our destructiveness and drift from afraid or vengeful human beings to callous, murderous behaviour regarded as a norm is frightening.
I think some persistent group has to introduce and carry over the years, a Day of Examination of our Souls where we meet and look at all the things that we humans have done in the past year, and find a way how we can collectively and individually do something about that for the next year. That would include approaching others, talking about how we can do something personally and collectively.
This would be a day for a person’s serious thinking, and not in churches. This is something that needs to come from the heart of people themselves – not diddling around from religions with incense and ritual and asking for forgiveness from the Great Spirit. It’s too late for that. It has happened and we have not been able to stop it. So we need to think, and gather strength from each other, and act on positive ideas put forward.
(About religion, every year the churches go out and intone the same stuff on Anzac Day. They should include something different each year – a reading of some anti-war poetry, some personal anecdote from a returned service survivor. But hey why fix something while its working smoothly. Stick with the status quo. It gives people confidence.)
I have the horrible feeling that we have reached the high point in our human time on earth and passed it. But it would be good to be wrong. There are so many wonderful people, lots of ordinary people with good traits, and some very cold, pathological people that we need to look out for and corral. If we look at our politicians and aspirational money and power people who are driven by profit to put life at risk, they are very visible. Less visible are the fellow travellers in our midst, and the weaknesses in our own hearts and minds.
While we can all criticise others, all of us need to have a strong understanding of ourselves that involves our strengths and our humbling faults. Also, then a workable ideal for how things should be, ready for when the old diseased system breaks down. Dreamers then are not much use, the people who know human weaknesses and how to avoid, manage and survive them in the kindest and fairest ways are the stalwarts, along with those with practical skills plus community spirit.
Personally I think the main thing we need is diversity: political, cultural, gender, sexual identity… as much as possible of everything.
Not as a pc platitude, the simple fact is that diversity inhibits groupthink. I was involved in the governance of a reasonable-sized organisation, and one of the most valuable roles was filled by a guy whose job seemed to largely consist of “nope: not possible/legal to do that”. So we’d work our way around the issues until we had a more robust way of actually doing what we wanted. But too many people like that guy would have restricted the variety of ideas we came up with, and we would have been stuck in that narrow “can’t do that” focus, even if the impulse had occurred to us. Different backgrounds mean different skillsets and different ideas.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think lots of people who disagree with me are dicks, but even dicks have a constructive role to play sometimes 🙂
The damage of inflating one asset class using low cost credit
http://www.mybudget360.com/the-average-net-worth-by-age-real-estate-boost-housing-net-worth/
Interesting that National would support leverage and buying businesses with the intention of stripping its assets and scraping it down to bones to get the money to pay back the lender for the purchase price. Yet they make ACC have money in hand for prophesied costs of the present injured and damaged far into the future. One law for the cowboys and another for the poorer Indians.
Key yet again rides the coat tails of the ABs win over the weekend, engineering himself closer to McCaw’s “brand” with a second knighthood offer and by saying he’d make a good prime minister.
Disgraceful highjacking of the National team.
Key is becoming a parody of himself with these displays and nice to see the true intent of knighthoods being put out there by Te kaihokohoko
Why National keeps winning.
Note: Opinion.
Because they’ve figured out you don’t have to make everyone happy, you only have to make the majority happy.
http://parenethical.com/phil140win11/tag/greatest-happiness-principle/
It’s called utilitarianism. The problem with it is that the worst off end up being even worse off because the government doesn’t have to be concerned about them.
From the link:
“The Greatest Happiness principle in general is good, but it has many flaws as any ethical systems does. Due to our inability to perfectly predict the future according to our actions (assuming he future is capable of being altered with our actions), the results we desire are capable of, and often do, fall short of what was intended. If unforeseen parameters caused all of our actions to backfire, even though we were attempting to act in accordance with Utilitarianism, we would all be considered immoral as our results only caused pain. If this happened to everyone in the entire world, then no man could be considered moral. The Greatest Happiness principle also allows for us to cause pain to others as long as a majority of the people become happier. We could essentially just steal resources from smaller foreign countries and drive them to poverty as long as more people benefit than lose. Things such as slavery, bullying, rape, racism, and murder could be justified under Utilitarianism as long as the majority prefers it. Murderers could justify their action by simply killing all of those who opposed them. Once their numbers became the majority, murdering became justifiable as moral. Lastly, the Greatest Happiness principle eliminates the usage of the laws provided by our government. As long as the person’s actions increase general utility, then it does not matter how many laws are broken in the process. We could all go speeding down roads and ignoring traffic signals/signs to our full enjoyment despite there being speed limits as long as few people cared and most people would be having a blast.”
Question is what strategies do you use against a utilitarian government?
National aren’t making the majority happy – they’re only making the rich happy by helping them fuck everybody else over.
Even if that’s true people are still voting for them.
Yes, it’s truly amazing how many people will vote against their own self-interest.
Lies, damned lies, and oh look a flag!
Yep. He has spilt society and set us against one another.
An example this morning was when he trivialised the TPPA protests and compartmentalised the protesters into a box of people who don’t vote for him.
Paul Henry embarrassed by young caller this morning;
His mood was not improved by the raucous laughter at his expense.
Paul Henry, TV3, Monday 17 August 2015, 8:10 a.m.
Paul Henry is a shameless National Party partisan as well as being John Key’s chief cheerleader. He is a control freak, who demands total obedience from his underlings. Neither his newsreader Hillary Barry nor his dim sports guy Jim Kayes has the ability or the gumption to challenge most of the offensive or ignorant things Henry regularly unloads. Occasionally, as we shall see, they will register their disapproval by falling silent or, as happened with the following phone call from a young viewer, join in with the subversive laughter of the technicians and producers. Henry is all too aware when his authority is undermined like this, and he takes it out on Jim Kayes above all.
But first, let’s see how a simple phone call derailed him this morning….
PAUL HENRY: We have Zakaiah from Pahiatua on the phone. How old are you, Zakaiah?
ZAKARAIAH: I’m eleven.
PAUL HENRY: All right, Zakaiah, do you think Richie McCaw would make a good prime minister?
ZAKARAIAH: Yeah, better than John Key!
EVERYONE IN THE STUDIO EXCEPT HENRY: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
….Awkward silence…..
PAUL HENRY: [grinning awkwardly, like a raccoon eating shit off a wire brush] Oooohhhh.
ZAKARAIAH: And he doesn’t need to change the flag.
…..Awkward silence…..
PAUL HENRY: Well I agree with you there, Zakaiah! But not the bit about John Key; I think he’s doing a good job.
…..Awkward silence…..
A little later, Henry reads out the nominations for the New Zealander of the Year award, with his slaves obediently providing the sound effects…
HENRY: Most of them are shite. Professor Jane Kelsey.
HILLARY BARRY: Urggghhh!
HENRY: Nicky Hager.
JIM KAYES: Groan.
HILLARY BARRY: Urrrggghh!
HENRY: Helen Kelly.
……Silence. Even these two slaves know that it’s not permissible to slag off the very ill Helen Kelly, even if she is one of those despised creatures, a union activist.
HENRY: Tim Finn.
JIM KAYES: Why have they nominated Tim Finn and not Neil?
HENRY: [suddenly irritated] Oh I don’t know! I’m not up with the minutiae of these things. But the thing is, most of these people are shite. If
Richie was nominated, they would fall off the list. I’m going to nominate Richie McCaw for New Zealander of the Year.
….Awkward pause…..
JIM KAYES: Have you got a man crush on Richie McCaw?
….Awkward pause….
PAUL HENRY: [speaking evenly and slowly, with an angry edge to his voice] No, I haven’t. But I notice that most of the women removed their wedding rings when he came into the studio. Hillary did.
HILLARY BARRY: My husband’s watching this….
+1
+2
“PAUL HENRY: [grinning awkwardly, like a raccoon eating shit off a wire brush] Oooohhhh. ”
I like it, That must be the quote of the year
“……..eating shit off a wire brush” – the best !
Winston has been reading the standard.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11498424
Excellent piece but Winston had better be prepared for his column to be discontinued for criticising the government.
Voters in rural nz are ripe for the plucking and Winston knows it.
In today’s farmers weekly there is three new listing, short notice auctions ,if kiwi farmers see a flood of land ownership go off shore look out national.
It’s already happening. Not just Asian investors either – the whole world knows our country is ripe for the plucking..
In the US farms are generally only owned by big companies – they control everything – farming are monocultures and collect they collect the subsidies.
NZ are not selling the milk in these free trade deals they are selling the farms.
We are giving free access to buy us up, not trade with us.
QFT
Does read like it…
A question for any who may know and who listen to Nine to Noon on RNZ.
Why is Mike Williams unwilling or unable to dispute the propaganda espoused by Matthew Hooton re TPP , particularly noticeable these past 2 weeks. It was left to Kathryn Ryan to bring some semblance of balance and rationale to the topic today…Mr Williams may as well have been absent.
Believe it or not, Williams was there, actually: he backed up Kathryn Ryan by saying “Exactly!” in an emphatic tone of voice after she firmly contradicted one of Hooton’s rants.
At one other point, he actually had the guts to say: “I think Matt’s also been somewhat unfair to Professor Jane Kelsey.”
Otherwise it was a typical Mike Williams performance, including: “I’ve got a lot of time for Tim Groser” and (pathetically) “As Matt put it so eloquently…”
I’d have a lot of time for Groser too, to make sure the garlic, stakes, silver and holy water had taken effect. A pity Williams didn’t mean it that way though. “Useless” doesn’t begin to describe him, and I haven’t the energy to finish.
If he lived in Syria, Grant Smithies would be praising President Assad’s taste in music
Morning Report, Radio NZ National, 7:56 a.m., Monday 17 August 2015
adulation n., excessive devotion to someone; servile flattery
SUSIE FERGUSON: President Obama’s Spotify account includes the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Coldplay—Guyon’s favorite band!—and Al Green. To discuss this, welcome to music critic Grant Smithies. Well, what do you reckon about the President’s taste in music?
GRANT SMITHIES: I reckon I’d go around to his place for a beer! It sounds like it’s a genuine list, and not one made up to impress the electorate, unlike, say, Gordon Brown, who proclaimed his “deep love” for the Arctic Monkeys a few years ago. It’s a pretty interesting selection, although I am concerned about the presence of Coldplay on the list. But to be fair, he’s had things to do. He’s been busy!
SUSIE FERGUSON: Ha ha ha ha ha!
GRANT SMITHIES: I wonder what sort of list George W. Bush would have made. Probably from the cheesiest end of the country spectrum, plus some triumphalist rock tunes. It would be the stuff of nightmares!
SUSIE FERGUSON: Ha ha ha ha ha!
For the benefit of people like Grant Smithies, THIS is the stuff of nightmares…..
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/24/-sp-us-drone-strikes-kill-1147
Listening to Guyon and Susie on Radionz early, I have noticed the odd banter being dropped in which makes me shudder. I am particularly sensitive to this as I have grown to hate the crap on television between partner-faces presenting there. Although there are things that I criticise about RadioNZ, I treasure them, and I also tell them so from time to time. They do a good job, and anyone who wants a reliable, truthful, well run public radio station, must listen to it and give feedback about it and its coverage, support it and ensure that it continues. We don’t want it killed by a thousand poison arrows, weak acid weakening its structure, and termites cutting through its supports!
It already is not being maintained properly as it has a decreasing budget. We don’t want government doing a HousingNZ on our radio, and the whole government house-of-cards decline policy.
I don’t want to hear on Radio details of what goes through presenters’ minds being broadcast to try connecting with the tiny minds in the youthful community. I fear RadioNZ being dumbed down to satisfy the butterfly minds of the masses and the ‘superior but limited’ interests of our chattering classes. I remember Guy and Sus bantering about fave James Bonds. This morning it was whether Cold Play was good. STFU. For sure, keep a bit of lightness in from the news or some recent event in NZ that deserves comment.
I can see the extent of the attacks which RadioNZ suffers from the eternal carping of the RW barbarians firing shots in all directions. I found an example in the July 2008 Listener item from Bill Ralston’s Life. I can’t give you a link because the Listener doesn’t put up content it just lists the headings of items.
His thoughts:’We are currently being served an insipid menu of stewed apple and bananas, admirably suited to the rest home RNZ National has become.” “I am convinced these days RNZ National is broadcasting almost solely to itself and the few dozen people who control its funding.”
Ralston flicks off RNZ to Auckland Maori Mai FM, a hip-hop station. “Aside from developing a taste for the new R&B, I have no idea why I’ve done so except for the fact the hosts sound as if they still live, breathe and have fun.
Actually, it does not matter if commercial radio is good or bad: you can simply change stations. It doesn’t cost you a cent. If public radio is bad, it costs you well north of $25 million a year, whether you listen or not.
The dreadfully smug, hand-wringing liberal contortions of RNZ could originate only from its home in Wellington…” and he has a go at politically-correct politicians. “RNZ National is the voice of Helen Clark’s [NZ]: smug, self-righteous and desperately dull.”
Strange that, to me, the same comments apply directly to his own output. He and his opinion are irrelevant to a well-functioning society. I feel his spite though, and his complaints about cost to the taxpayer echo those used to get rid of our national television service. A mother was used as a bellwether, complaining that her son needed his tv for other purposes than watching programmes, but being registered as owner, had to pay $60? for the privilege. So of course we had to get rid of taxpayer direct charging from the rest of us, despite many of us not getting much value from our general taxes.
There was a good comment by Russell Brown on Ralston’s diatribe even touching on his liberal tribe. Brown makes the point that there was at one time a tendency to resist change and need for more youth input, but that no longer applied.
http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/radio-times/
+100… I agree Greywarshark….’Morning Report’ is increasingly nauseating ‘entertainment’ infotainment advertorials for the John Key Nactional Party
…I find Espiner’s ‘interviews’ with John Key ( invitation to spin and slime on and on… ) to be servile ( an interview lie down PR opportunity for John Key) …and Espiner’s questioning of Professor Jane Kelsey to be personal attacking, repetitive and shallow…only she added depth to the non-interview
At least Kathryn Ryan tackled Matthew Hooton’s spin and attacks on Jane Kelsey…rather than discussing the substantive issues at hand ….of the downside of the TPPA…and the extent of New Zealanders opposition to it…with its disadvantages to New Zealand re IT industry , copyright, medicines, sovereignty etc…
Mora in the afternoons is freakin bad too. Either deliberately nieve, plain stupid or weak, probably all of those, he will not hold anyone to account the best he’s got is a forced cold flanelling, something Key probably got from his mother when he was under the age of 10. He says things like, but they wouldn’t sign the TPPA if they knew it was going to be bad would they?
Great post, greywarshark.
It is to my mind criminal that the marketing industry now rules our media because they fund it, and that even affects State-Owned Enterprises like TVNZ, whose current CEO is a guy from the marketing industry, not from broadcasting.
So we now have, as you say, the team of two announcers introducing their personal views onto what should be impartially-presented news, where one person is quite enough.
To make it worse, we now have regular advertising on Radio NZ. After each news-on-the-hour, RNZ advertise their own programmes, with increasingly commercial techniques.
God in heaven – I take refuge in the National Programme to get away from the vile commercial cacklemush of ads on commercial radio. And what do I find? Radio NZ National is now mimicking its inferiors. (Actually, it should still be called National Radio.)
Somebody needs to throw the money-changers out of the temple again – the best thing Christ ever supposedly did.
Are they making RNZ so close to commercial so that nobody will miss it when they finally sell it off?
@In Vino
Your opinions are what I feel. I am not absolutist about presentation, it doesn’t have to be totally dry, but I fear that the boffins at the top are hell-bent on matching targets rather than adopting a balanced viewpoint to change of presentation and introducing some ‘lighter’ news. Where is the line in the sand I wonder? And of course such lines can be washed away.
I fear that they want to dilute the hard NZ news, with world news from a narrow base, and exaggerating the importance of hard news from overseas, ie interviews with officials in the USA about their latest disaster or outrage which then gets repeated in short form every news hour during the day. That fits the mindset of politicians following ‘overseas’ practices when considering new policies, which implies worldwide, but is limited to the 5-Eyes countries only., being the dominant comet USA, trailing in its tail – UK, Canada, Australia and ….panting along, NZ.
I fear too they wish to bring magazine-type weekend listening into the Kim Hill/Wallace Chapman slot with art, leisure, food and wine, style, with middle class women and men dominating. They represent those on household incomes higher than most, and can consider such pleasant things and fob off concerns that should have time for serious discussion in these slots.
Yesterday I gave Bill Ralston’s deriding take on the RadioNZ, in 2008. I suggest that now he would come up with a similar cant, except with different targets. No changes would appease his wonky viewpoint. And aligning with him are people like Hosking, whose very expression in today’s post displays a mixture of derisive attitudes.
Personally, I do know about presentation of content from long interest in consuming it, and some efforts at presentation of facts and discussion of ideas, so when I like something on radio or not, it isn’t some random whim.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201766766/political-commentators-mike-williams-and-matthew-hooton
Kathryn Ryan gets rather stroppy at old Matt Hoots…onya Kathryn.
Heard that but IMO Kathryn needs to be a lot tougher on Hooton he is constantly interrupting and boring us with his right wing rubbish.
Mike also should crunch Hooton more often.
Take a leaf out of WC Fields book.
“Never give a sucker a second break”
The object I think is to draw out the right and left approach without dissecting it or boning it for the fillets! It is interesting as stats for employment are interesting – they remain committed to a method, and the differences then show up as attention grabbing and indicative.
& right at the end, when discussing the flag, Hooton checks his cards
and plays a ‘do this or the terrorists win!’
“The only issue against the black flag of course is ISIS.
The funny thing is are we going to allow ISIS because it happens to have a black flag, determine that we shouldn’t?”
*Dubya & Cheney wipe away a tear*
http://upriser.com/posts/you-grow-up-wanting-to-be-luke-skywalker-then-realize-you-ve-become-a-stormtrooper-for-the-empire
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/71179822/opposition-political-leaders-accusing-mike-hosking-of-political-bias
Theres no arguement now that Winston Peters is the leader of the opposition
Psychobabble theory says people see the world as containing more of their self-affirming beliefs than it actually does. Shaw has an interest in people being scared by various things, so he’s the opposite of the phenomena, but do people really adjust their lives to suit a Hosking/Herald/radio opinion? I regularly test the absurdity of my opinions by opening my mouth, and no one else holds my views, but what Shaw claims is that a large number – we’re talking millions – slavishly adhere to Hoskings implied commands. None them have preferences, or can choose anything of their own accord. It isn’t a very convincing claim. I’d expect people to be driving off bridges or walking in circles for hours at the supermarket if they were that lost for what to think or do. Hosking is an expression of the environment he works in, and co-incidentally, people would like to own his car. Not sure that is the same as them arriving at the conclusion that thinking like Mike Hosking will get them a Maserati. They could just steal his one, for instance, or go all hopelessly surly and scratch it, out of spite.
No, no there isn’t.
If you want to make that assertion, there might be. What with the seating plan in the House, party votes, and suchlike.
But then you’re just shitting yourself because the opposition parties are fighting the government rather than each other.
Far too early in the election cycle to be worried about anything
I bet keys thinking about leaving again now things ain’t going so good .
I just had a vision of you and hoskings hugging his leg and pleading for him not to leave yous behind as he jets off to foreign shores for good.
This is good, now we can openly talk about media bias. Maybe we can see if any parts of the corporate sellout media don’t show a National bias.
So, you remember when the Problem Gambling Foundation lost it’s government contract and all the RWNJs, including Peter Dunne, said it was all done above board? Yeah, about that:
Totally corrupt in other words.
Federated Farmers complaining about proposed water quality standards in Southland –
http://www.fedfarm.org.nz/publications/media-releases/article.asp?id=2461#.VdFW_bKqpHw
This one is so ironic, it is actually quite funny. I recommend checking out Federated Farmer’s Facebook page to keep abreast of its latest musings.
Federated Farmers wants government to fast track dairy irrigation projects to help communities hit by the falling price of milk – http://www.fedfarm.org.nz/publications/media-releases/article.asp?id=2455#.VdFYw7KqpHx
CrestClean calls for Cleaning Industry Training Standards
So, I wonder how many RWNJs are going to continue to claim that cleaners don’t have any skills or don’t take any risks.
I can’t stand this certification and having industry standards for literally everything. If you are a good cleaner then you can obviously clean well. Why should a piece of paper represent how good you are at the said skill. Say in IT, I could have all the experience in the world and not be certified, while someone could have zero experience but be certified and be looked at as the better candidate because they’re done a two day training course or something. There’s a whole lot of bullshit going around in our business world.
While I agree with you to a large extent my point was that the RWNJS always come out with the idea that cleaners and other under paid people don’t have any skills so a professional body saying that we need to recognise the skill set should put paid to that.
China’s yuan move could reignite Asian currency wars
See, this is why you don’t have FTAs that lock you into trading with a country that acts like this.
So, RadiolLive had this poll, right, where people voted four their preferred flags, right?
This person combined them. (Warning for possible damage to sight and mind.)
Kyle Lockwood will be knighted next year for services to the National Party.
Prof. Al Gillespie: “To a degree we have to trust the government.”
Why did Jim Mora ask this fellow to talk about the TPPA?
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Monday 17 August 2015
Jim Mora, Joe Bennett, Susan Guthrie, Noelle McCarthy
Jim Mora’s producers try to impart the appearance of credibility to this light chat show by going to a regular stable of academics, to get their thoughts on various issues. This can be a useful and enlightening exercise, but all too often it is neither, as anyone unfortunate enough to have listened to such academic guests as Tim Dare, Robert Patman, Jacqueline Rowarth, or Michael Bassett will testify.
Today’s big topic was the undemocratic and highly secretive TPPA talks that our government is engaged in. The token academic chosen to comment on it was Professor Al Gillespie from Waikato University. Long time Mora-sufferers will be familiar with Prof. Gillespie, who seems to have earned a doctorate in How To Say Nothing Meaningful. Unlike the formidably intelligent and forthright Jane Kelsey, Professor Gillespie is all wide-eyed optimism: “I think they will learn from this ,” he states in a tone of high seriousness, “and negotiations will not be as secretive in the future.”
A few minutes later he advises, again in the most scholarly manner he can muster: “To a degree we have to trust the government.”
Why did their producers go to this mealy-mouthed drip, instead of asking someone who actually knows something about the issue?
At 4:42 p.m. the host made what was quite possibly the most cynical and ignorant statement of the year so far—even on this dog of a programme. After Susan Guthrie, in her “Soapbox” contribution, had expressed her delight at the popularity of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, he posed the following question, in the loftiest tone he could muster….
JIM MORA: It’s one thing to say Jeremy Corbyn’s lovely and pure, but it’s another thing to make him Prime Minister, isn’t it?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
On the few occasions there HAVE been decent and rigorous academics on the programme, they are likely to be subjected to ridicule by “comedians” like Gary McCormick….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11032011/#comment-306974
‘Had enough of Mike Hosking?’ – seventy percent voted to say, yes, he is clearly politically biased.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/71189005/had-enough-of-mike-hosking
For what it was worth, I registered my vote along with others who felt the same way.
Voted
At time of voting: 72% consider Hosking biased
And over 8,000 votes for the 72%.
Can anyone provide me a link to a UK based blog similar to The Standard? By similar I mean left leaning with a level of intelligent debate?
I’m keen to see how the Corbyn debate is going.
Go immediately to this site….
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/
If it doesn’t restore your faith in humanity, you would be one of the more than one thousand dolts—give or take a few comedians with a very dark sense of irony—-who clicked on the “He’s an outstanding journalist” option in the Hosking poll over on Stuff.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/14/fda-approves-oxycontin-kids/31711929/
Expanding the oversupply of powerful opiate based drugs to children now
Whatever could possibly go wrong….
http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/overdose.html
Perhaps the expectation is by expanding the market, the number of opiate over-dose deaths may fall
You’re right, pain relief is for adults only, children should suffer….
//
Perhaps you left the sarcasm tag off, or perhaps you are just a bit thick
Nothing to note about the powerful painkillers already available to all and sundry
How about the >16,000 opiate over-doses every year in the USA alone
I wonder how many orders of magnitude it is for lives ruined / impacted through the addictions and suffering caused by these drugs
Oh, but the pain Joe, think of all the pain that has been prevented by the drugs…./sarc
Yes, people, and particularly children, should suffer with dignity and die in agony because drugs ….
//
@joe90 DNFTT
I suspect that DNFTT only works on trools, not nutbars.
Jesus Christ you actually are an idiot
Apologies, I thought you were joking
@northshoredic
Having been called out by Bill a few days back it seems you dont learn
I appreciate you have a career of endorsing protocols which are collapsing around you, that’s not an easy thing to deal with.
Either make a comment about the links and comments or take a fucken hike
Let me guess, you’re a seventh dilution woo-believer?.
Projection Deflection and Transference
These are the tactics of cowards
Run along Joe, you’re not up to it
I see the Fucking Spiv and his pack of crooks are now clamping down on items bought overseas on the internet, and these items are going to be subject to GST. Excellent, first class, as it will “level” the playing field for the struggling retailers. The Fucking Spiv said it will “collect” the millions that is not being paid in GST. When do you think we can expect a similiar “clamp down” on the millions of tax not paid by his spiv mates through tax avoidance and tax evasion
America.
julia cravenVerified account
@CurlyCrayy
Very bad call by NYT. Horrid, actually.
https://twitter.com/CurlyCrayy/status/633077080037687296
Storm clouds are gathering
“Doomsday clock for global market crash strikes one minute to midnight as central banks lose control
China currency devaluation signals endgame leaving equity markets free to collapse under the weight of impossible expectations”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11805523/Doomsday-clock-for-global-market-crash-strikes-one-minute-to-midnight-as-central-banks-lose-control.html