Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike…
Meanwhile, the real news is that ShonKey doesnt see any conflict of interest in keeping Banks in Parliament for that crucial one vote on the SkyCity bill:
“The woman at the centre of the Len Brown sex scandal says she felt pressured to reveal the affair by a member of his right-wing rival John Palino’s election team – and is now sorry she went public.”
The way this has been manipulated by members of Palino’s group does not make this a good look for such low life who use people to benefit their own political position.
So John Palino’s henchman Luigi Wewege is revealed as a common, lowly coward and a dishonorable cad who doesn’t even have the guts to admit his relationship with Bevan Chuang.
It is funny how suddenly the two Johns – Slater and Palino – have no knowledge of the sex life of Bevan Chuang when it suits them. We’ve seen this sort of right wing selective memory just yesterday with another John – John Banks – in the Auckland High Court and we now know what the judicial system thinks of that.
I think we can take these examples of the cavalier wide-boy approach to the memory and the truth as symptomatic of the poisonous cess pit that is the political culture of the right in Auckland. The Slaters. John Banks. John Palino. Luigi Wewege. Cameron Brewer. Denise Krum. Sounds like Halloween has come early this year in Auckland. What a vile and appalling bunch!
But I am inclined to think that Auckland mayor Len Brown has a strong case if he wants to sue Cameron Slater, Stephen Cook, and perhaps even Bevan Chuang, for invasion of his privacy in their reporting about his affair with Chuang.
I’m not saying that he should sue, or that he’s likely to. Just that the elements of a claim are probably made out.
“Baby I have everything set up people are just waiting for you.”
People ?
Wonder whom ?
The Mad Right really are filth are they not ?
Particularly SlaterPorn. Whose facility to fuck around is a matter of public knowledge – judgment of Judge David Harvey in the Harrassment Act appplication made against Sperling – former connection of Mad Michael Laws.
Hey…….ShonKey Python…….sure love the “higher standards” in your Flying Circus.
Very disturbed. Lenny Boy runs Auckland very well for them, so I’m not surprised. What Brown basically does is keep a lid on the left, while actually helping them with the wharf and GI.
Len is the cad – he is the one who has had an affair. Do not forget that. If his political opponents seek to take advantage of that, they cannot be criticised for making the most of the ammunition that Len has given them. He knew before the election that his affair was about to be exposed. He knew that he could not be sure that people would vote for him if they were aware of his affair. He decision to say nothing was dishonourable and political suicide.
Len is the cad – he is the one who has had an affair. Do not forget that. If his political opponents seek to take advantage of that, they cannot be criticised for making the most of the ammunition that Len has given them.
Hey John.
Did you just say that we should hold Len publicly accountable for actions he took in his private life, but the people now attacking Len with sleazy political ammunition, we should give the attackers a complete pass, free of criticism?
1.Brown cheated on his wife
2.Brown instigated this affair
3.This woman is a total bunny boiler and Brown demonstrated that he thinks with his dick not his head.
4. Of course they’d want her to come out, Brown the good Christian man was rooting around behind his wifes back while trading on a happy family, good Christian morals platform.
If this had come out before the election, Brown would have been fucked.
Can we just park the usual tendency to misogyny at least on this site please?
It looks like she’s been ruthlessly exploited by the right, and her opinion of Len Brown according to Cameron Slater is a tissue of lies. Just when I thought my opinion of Cameron Slater could not possibly go lower, it does.
Now as Russell Brown says follow the money – who paid Stephen Cook to write the story?
Ruthlessly exploited, yeah right
Oh that poor simple woman, how could those mean men be so nasty.
She knew what she was doing, she’s only decided to flip flop around because she isn’t liking the way it’s all gone and has got cold feet.
Too late for that, she let all the gory details out in that signed affidavit, did she honestly think it was going to blow over in a day or two and then it’s back to normal, maybe even a job in the media trading on that new found fame.
Just when I thought my opinion of Cameron Slater could not possibly go lower, it does.
Why so surprised? Whale (to quote James Stewart in Shenandoah) “is the only person I know who started at the bottom and went downhill”.
follow the money – who paid Stephen Cook to write the story. True but who made the whole story possible? Why Len of course. If he was silly enough to hang his balls out on the block some passing cetacean was bound to cut the off. Silly prick (quite literally).
So to Len, a safe pair of hands for the “Left”? If he could keep his own hands around his own privates maybe.
Lolz, BM, and the involvement, proved in today’s Herald, of the Palino camp in the belated outing of this affair between Brown and Chuang, plus the ongoing pressure put on Chuang to out the affair befor the election will do what for any future Palino challenge,
Lover boy Luigi’s denial of ever having shared the bed with Chuang, ‘He hardly in His words knew the woman’, does what to Palino’s denial of knowing anything of what was being attempted to drop Len in His own mess right in the middle of the campaign,
For any damage done to Len Brown by the exposure of what is essentially His private life, you can expect, as the real story continues to unfold, an equal, if not greater amount of damage to be inflicted upon the Citizens and Ratpayers ticket….
As hard as you lefties try to shoot the messenger, Brown is fucked, once this term is over he’s gone.
And in the mean time, he’s a dead duck, he won’t achieve anything, all those great lefty dreams for Auckland, down the toilet where they belong.
Lolz BM, your latest is what i term dragging defeat out of the jaws of victory, it’s a long long road to the next Council elections and it will be my pleasure to read your whinging, whining and wailing about this issue for the next 3 years,
Hate to further burst your bubble, but, you seem to forget that we have a General Election next year, right now i would say it’s 60/40 that after that, unless Lolz, National can score 50% of the vote, David Cunliffe will be the next Prime Minister of the first Labour/Green Government,
While that little scenario obviously fills ‘wing-nuts’ like you with terror it simply adds laughter to what you say about Len Brown being unable to achieve ‘anything’ in His current term as Mayor,
i would say that the incoming Labour/Green Government will be only to happy to either fund Brown’s Auckland transport plans OR through Legislation, provide Browns Council with the tools necessary to gather the necessary capital to have such capital works well under way,
Suck it up BM, across the political spectrum ‘the right’ have lost all traction, Losers in other words, a descriptive, on the odd occasion i have cause to think about you, which is easily able to be fitted to your dog collar…
What the fuck is a bunny boiler? And what does it have to do with the price of fish?
Among the people who have a right to comment on Len’s peccadilloes are his family. Some of them have come out to support him, so you and the rest of the fake moralistic right should just get back to your porn and shut up.
What is happening at NBR. I have heard a rumour from an impeccable source that long time reporter Jock Anderson has been fired for writing a pro Len Brown editorial.
Hmm I was getting an access denied message and now I get a 404 page not found message. Someone must have hit the delete button. Wonder what they are trying to hide?
Come on Matthew. If this is true then an issue arises as to the independence of the fourth estate. Surely it is in the public interest for there to be disclosure of what has happened and discussion on this?
Do opinion writers with the NBR have a degree of freedom around the line they take, or is it quite locked down in your contracts to stick to the editorial lines of the publisher? Or are they freelance articles that the NBR can take or leave?
Auckland, like all cities around the globe is tightly controlled.
From time to time, we get to see into the filth that allows the criminal elements to control the resources, and in NZ we are really scraping the bottom levels.
Wewege and Chuang are from a “future leaders” style of group, which brings into question what exactly that group is designed for!
Cameron Brewer has slipped off rader for the time being, very quiet cameron – fill his inbox people, his council email is public record, do is the contact via his blog site.
Chuang, the Dragon Baby Mamma, is calculating and conniving, just like those she is involved with!
how sad and how terrible to think that just exposing someone to advance their own career is the right moved. Especially that person is your own girlfriend. let this be the lesson to him, and how sad, because this guy, Luigi Wewege will never learned and found true love. He was even regard as the future leader, serious, what the exposure and creating a future leader turn up to creating a future monster….disguising. By the way, you are still young, and one day when you have your own daughter, seriously……best luck….
Well, at least some good news today with the climate change skeptics bailing on their appeal against NIWA. Seems they don’t even understand their own court case.
The dispute centred on readings from the seven-station series – stations in Auckland, Masterton, Wellington, Nelson, Hokitika, Lincoln and Dunedin – used by Niwa for temperature records.
The trust claimed unscientific methods used created an unrealistic indication of climate warming.
But last year, High Court Justice Geoffrey Venning ruled against the group and ordered it to repay court costs. The group decided to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeal, but this week withdrew the appeal.
Barry Brill, who acted as solicitor for the trust, said his clients could not see a way forward after coming upon a procedural issue. The judges had noted two scientists involved in the reports were not cross-examined – something his clients were unaware could be done during the earlier court process.
Congratulations to Eleanor Catton on her Man Booker win – must read the book, covering a topic of close personal interest, history and locale.
However, her comments on nat radio yesterday were a little disturbing in trying to use gold in pakeha society and pounamu in maori society as metaphors for their respective features. Seriously lacking imo. So many New Zealanders have lost a sense of their history and cultural and societal mores from pre-WWII. There is little understanding of many parts of society from before that time. Perhaps she should stick to writing. But then, maybe I should read the book first (which most certainly will) and then re-assess what she was trying to say yesterday.
Drones, the Media and Malala’s Message
by PETER HART, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, 15 October 2013
Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai’s visit to the United States was widely covered in the media, including interviews with ABC’s Diane Sawyer (10/11/13), CNN’s Christiane Amanpour (10/14/13) and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show (10/8/13). She was selected as ABC’s “Person of the Week” on October 11, and was considered a serious contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.
And for good reason; just one year ago, Malala was attacked by the Taliban for her outspoken advocacy on behalf of educational equality, surviving a an attack where she was shot in the head.
But one part of her message didn’t seem to penetrate the corporate media.
During her October 11 visit to the White House, Yousafzai told Barack Obama that his administration’s drone strikes were fueling terrorism. As McClatchy’s Lesley Clark (10/11/13) reported:
In a statement released after the meeting, Malala said she was honored to meet with Obama, but that she told him she’s worried about the effect of US drone strikes. (The White House statement didn’t mention that part.) “I thanked President Obama for the United States’ work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees,” she said in the statement. “I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education, it will make a big impact.”
This exchange, for some reason, didn’t register ….
On another matter the all whites now face mexico home and away to reach WC 2014.
This will not be easy as mexico are going for 6 straight WC’s and have been hot/cold through their qualification so lets hope we get the cold ‘El Tri’ as the hot one is a class above us.
Yes CONCACAF is alot tougher than facing an asian team. This team boasts Rafael Marquez (ex barca centre half), Manyoo’s hernandez up front and technically gifted players that can do the unexpected
We may find out the hard way what an awesome on field leader and defender the retired Ryan Nelson was. Hope we don’t but 2 WC’s in a row is long odds for us now.
Qatar is getting interesting with the major clubs (via the leagues/associations) waking up to the fact they’ll be shipping their employees off to the oven for that summer.
Maggots, despite our current cultural view on them, play a vital role in the cycle of life. Can’t say the same about Slater. I think the cartoon is an insult to insects everywhere and is inherently accurate. The cartoonist implies that despite our abhorrence for Slater, we really need him. He’s wrong.
Interesting interview with local entrepreneur Selwyn Pellet on Nights on National Radio last night (Wednesday 16 Oct) – purportedly about “How curiosity helps to build better business” but in fact more interesting in the way Selwyn talks through experience about how well New Zealand IT businesses do under the present environment. Particularly interesting is how he says the IT industry has in the short term the ability to actually provide greater net wealth for New Zealand than the dairying industry, but our reliance on the commodity market (especially dairy) actually influences interest rates and the value of the New Zealand dollar to the detriment of our IT exports
Well I’m thinking they might have opened themselves up to questioning, which I sincerely hope they don’t. Keep the humour going with Two minute noodle Len as long as possible but the kids shouldn’t be involved…
Journalists can ask anyone questions. It’s what they do. Can’t see what questions his kids would have to answer, and I doubt any serious journalist would either.
Your sick boy mate whose lines you keep trotting out is having a crack at them, but that’s cause he’s a fuckwit, not cause he’s a journalist.
I guess thats why hes got a popular website, gets interviewed on radio and TV more then anyone else on here put together
But who cares about getting your message across to the widest audience eh 🙂
[lprent: Perhaps you should reread the about. We’re unconcerned with getting the widest audience. Basically we’re also not a narcissistic egotistical failures like Cameron Slater who appears to have failed at everything in his life apart from titillating the lowest common denominator on the net.
The reason that we don’t get interviewed is mostly because we don’t want to be talking heads. It isn’t what we do for a living. For instance I’m a c++ programmer working on our exporting bleeding edges. r0b is a professor at a major university. Mike Smith is semi-retired, but used to run the Labour party. The people under pseudonyms past and present are pretty damn successful at whatever they can do. This is one of the reasons why many of the authors here write using a pseudonym – we don’t want the shallowness of the media to interfere with what we really value.
Personally, I’ve turned down all except one or two of the dozens of interview requests I’ve had over the last six years including those from the left media like Bomber. Generally I only get a couple per year these days. You also can’t find images of me on the net.
Offhand I think that the only other person from here who has been on the media was Clinton Smith before he went to work for politicians, and Jenny has been on The Nation once when she was working on Cunliffe’s election team. Currently we have no-one volunteering to be a talking head.
Basically your comment reveals far more about your lack of knowledge about this site than it does about us. However if you wish to continue in this vein, then I will be happy handing out a long ban in accordance with our policies on people trying to tell us how we should run this site.
You have a weeks ban now so you have time to read these links. ]
His puppeteers (like Daddy, Lusk, Collins etc.) must have been successful in getting that Tea Party money to fund their backfiring engine, pity (judging by the abode he was filmed in on Tuesday) he’s not getting any ‘trickledown’.
But it’s great he’s happy floating around with turds.
Sam writes beautifully: I have been critical but she hit us right between the eyes with the “first stone”. Thanks Sam, over and out, no more comments. So some wisdom from Francis (abridged):
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be understood, as to understand;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
New allegations are that Len Brown wrote references for Bevan Chaung for a job she was applying for.
How is that different from John Key giving a GCSB job to his mate? Who says they haven’t been having sex?
Chuang has also said brown was one of 5 referees on her CV for the job, and she didn’t think he got the job because of Brown. Although, I guess she wants to show she got the job fairly.
Just a reminder about a lecture on a topic close to our hearts- for Wednesday 30th.
2013 Bruce Jesson Lecture:
Sir Edmund Thomas –
Reducing Inequality: A Strategy for a Cause
The speaker, a Distinguished Fellow at the Law School at The University of Auckland, argues that the gross inequality in income and wealth which besets New Zealand is the outcome of the neo-liberal economic measures of the mid-1980s and early 1990s and the culture of liberal individualism and unfettered free market ideology which it spawned.
A breakdown in social cohesion and a sense of community is the result. Reforms to counter this inequality are widely mooted. But increasing focus and discussion on the topic is confronted by a plethora of mantras and myths purveyed by the rich and powerful. The stimulus for change is deadened.
The speaker advances a strategy designed to provide a coherent impetus to reduce the rank inequality that now prevails. The Rt Hon Sir Edmund Thomas will deliver the 2013 lecture on Wednesday 30 October, 6.30pm, at the Maidment Theatre (bar opens at 5.30pm).
I’ll try to remember to publicise it during the weekend by which time there may be some room left on the site for something other than scurrilous gossip.
To fix the issues facing New Zealand’s economy, the public sector needs to call on the expertise of the private financial sector, Finance Minister Bill English says.
The private financial sector caused the GFC, The Great Depression, increasing poverty and looks to be increasingly corrupt. About the only thing we should be doing is telling them to fuck off while jailing a large proportion of them.
IPCA says the cops can’t even investigate themselves properly
Party broken up, allegations of excessive force, complaints laid, a three year internal investigation that exonerates all officers involved, and – guess what? The IPCA says the investigation took too long, reached the wrong conclusions, and the only reason individual officers haven’t been charged is that the ones who swung the batons couldn’t be identified (gotta love the riot gear and tiny badge numbers – if they haven’t been removed).
Who knows, RT. For instance, the worst case scenario, a re-election, might actually favour the left now Palino’s and Brewer’s team have been shown to be somewhat murky as well.
personally, while this whole drama is regrettable, and sad, I’m not for pressuring the man out, however, he’s chosen a hard road to hoe, (and with a little benefit-of-hindsight, not an unexpected one). Some of these ‘powerful’ folks appear to get a little carried away with themselves, and foolishness follows.
ironically, this proverb, or one similar, was on WOBH one day (in the not-too-distant past)
“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;” 1:20
later, (in the same book)
“For the lips of an adulteress (-er) drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword…” 5:3, and plenty more follows in the same vein. Another day perhaps, anyway, the St Francis prayer that Ennui notes covers all the Remedy (Black Crows circling, yet they keep the Vultures at bay).
Whilst lesser “lites” like Len and Whale have been centre stage here on our biggest (and perhaps the worlds smallest) stage…other things of greater import have been happening out in the big wide world.
Tucked in the side columns of todays Dom……In Rome Pope Francis has dismissed Cardinal Bertone, the man who acted as Richelieu for Pope Benedict. During his watch the scandals involving children went unanswered, there were Papal bank fraud issues go unchallenged, and the appointment of a Holocaust denying British bishop. Vatileaks scandal followed.
The Pope thanked Bertone for confronting his setbacks with courage and patience. “There were so many,” he added, damning him with faint praise. Francis appears to be the real deal.
LOL at Blinglish in attempting to attack the Greens during the debate on Banks right now, claims Cunliffe is getting some of their support and doing better than his predecessor…. then changes tack realising he’s praising Labour too much for improving it’s support!
Another scoop from whale: he’s caught out some Herald staff blatantly colluding together in a plan to write a ‘series’ of ‘stories’ in their ‘newspaper’.
No uptick for Key either which you might have expected while he was gallivanting around on the world stage. That must be a concern for National. Dunne and UFP have dropped to 0%, Banks and ACT can’t be far behind.
Oh dear Labour and the Greens still going UP, this time the bump is in the Green Party vote, Better start composing my dear John note for Slippery,
In all honesty at the 2008 election i would have picked Slippery to lead National to 3 terms, hasn’t ‘the fall from grace’ been hard and fast tho, and, i wonder when Collins will make Her move, has to be soon, if She goes into the 2014 election not being the Prime Minister the best She can hope for is a couple of terms as Opposition Leader befor they rid themselves of Her,
Yes i am being mischievous, whichever way it’s looked at there’s another 9 in the sin bin coming for National, perhaps Collins sees a point in letting Bill from Dipton lead the team in the first 3 years of Opposition and then rolling Him a year out from the second term ending…
Watched a bit of the TICS committee stage 4. Government ministers not standing to defend it. Curran, Goff & Robertson say there’s not enough checks and balances to protect people’s rights, and the Human Rights Commission have criticisms that the government should heed.
Lucky for some, other families in NZ only have the green-fee figure to survive on every week. But he will fix that….one of these years…..just vote for him….and guarantee your seat on the brighter future train….
Not good timing for an article that shows the stark contrast between Key and the majority of NZ.
Mr Key said he avoided the new Nevis bungy jump… He said his political staff did not think an image of him “diving off a bridge screaming” would be great footage in case he ever had a big dip in the polls.
Queenstown and Omaha – full of average Kiwis, sure. Good places for him to be quarantined with his diplomatic protection squad and leave the rest of the country for the rest of us.
A senior National Business Review journalist has lost his job in the wake of the Len Brown sex scandal.
National Business Review publisher Todd Scott in a brief statement today said: “We do not comment on internal employment issues but I can confirm Mr Jock Anderson was dismissed yesterday for failing to comply with specific instructions to treat coverage of the Len Brown affair in an impartial and unbiased manner.”
Mr Anderson had filed copy on NBR ONLINE yesterday morning purporting to be the NBR’s stance on the controversy. His copy was headed “Editorial” and called for Mr Brown to stay on as mayor. His copy was removed shortly after it was posted.
Mr Scott said NBR’s news coverage of the ongoing scandal would remain strictly neutral. There would be no restriction on NBR’s regular columnists to analyse events as they unfolded.
Don’t the NBR do ‘warnings’ or was Jock Anderson’s filing of ‘copy on NBR ONLINE yesterday morning purporting to be the NBR’s stance on the controversy. (his copy was headed “Editorial” and called for Mr Brown to stay on as mayor)’ – SERIOUS MISCONDUCT?
Who remembers Dove Myer Robinson’s trysts – he was apparently quite legendary and it didn’t harm his mayoral job at all. Mostly heard it from my parents and their friends – I was a bit too young to really take it in, but my partner heard it resurface on the radio today.
I knew a bit about other mayors as well, but I’m not even going to name them. It had nothing to do with how they ran or misran the city.
I heard a lot of stories about Banks which had nothing to do with sex, but can’t produce evidence. I’m just ecstatic that he might finally be crashing and burning.
I made the mistake of watching Citizen A tonight with guests Colin Craig and Matthew Hooton. So Hoots reckons if we had a better police force, Helen Clark would have been prosecuted for her many criminal activities (election spending etc), and would never have lasted 3 terms.
David Cunliffe is further left than any social democrat country int he world (or is it Europe) – he’s gone VERY far left. People in the National Party thought Simon Brudges was excellent on Campbell Live and he’s a potential leader of Nats.
I watched Citizen A too and was commenting out loud how restrained Matthew Hooten was, but then he let fly at the end about the Police and their lack of prosecutions re Helen Clark and how terrible it will be if we elect a Mana/Green/Labour [his order], he then said Labour/Green/Mana. I also wanted to wreck our TV when he carried on about Simon Bridges on Campbell Live – sheesh a potential leader of the Nats, spare me. I suppose he was being serious, but he had that bloody smirk on his dial which tells me he’s just stirring. Oh, and for David Cunliffe and Labour espousing far left policies – yep he’s just stirring.
a switcheroo from the “once he’s in he’ll drag the party to the centre / right” narrative the tory scribes and talking heads ran with following his election as party leader; Yes , you, RW lurkers, are so transparent it’s a wonder you spend as much time grooming as you do.
The best thing about 3D printing in high density materials is that it’s going to be very cheap to set up which means that any country will be able to manufacture anything they choose and with that you can kiss goodbye to long distance trade.
We (NZ) really, really, really need to get on the R&D with this and that means government funding. We will not get it any other way.
The real inefficiency in foundries is energy, excluding materials the loss of other inputs is particularly high – casting sand losses were at 20% and more, being around half of total losses.
…everything is recycled and reused in any decent foundry.
Apart from a bit of skim with the burnt off refractories, oxides and the like. Even those are usually blocked and sent back to the scrap metal people..
I can’t find the reply button, but I feel terribly slighted*:
“r0b is a professor at a major university. Mike Smith is semi-retired, but used to run the Labour party. The people under pseudonyms past and present are pretty damn successful at whatever they can do. This is one of the reasons why many of the authors here write using a pseudonym – we don’t want the shallowness of the media to interfere with what we really value.”
I’m a senior research fellow at the university rated 90th in the world. I received an Outstanding Referee Award from the American Physical Society. I saw one metric that put me in the top 4% of active physicists in the world. I think that’s reasonably successful. I’m all over google. Not bad for someone who has been accused of not understanding Newton’s Laws 🙂
I don’t use a pseudonym because I’m terminally ill and don’t give a fuck. What can anyone do to me that I haven’t done to myself? I make no judgement either way about people who do.
“Offhand I think that the only other person from here who has been on the media was Clinton Smith before he went to work for politicians, and Jenny has been on The Nation once when she was working on Cunliffe’s election team. Currently we have no-one volunteering to be a talking head.”
I’ve been interviewed by New Scientist Magazine, newspapers in Australia, and radio stations on both sides of the Tasman. I am not volunteering to be a talking head.
*Not actually slighted at all, just saying this to ram down the illiterate right wingers’ throats that there’s more talent to be found around here than in all the RWNJ hate blogs of the world combined.
[lprent: The reply button disappears when the comments are indented 10.
I was just confining it to some of the outed authors. Even then I forgot a lawyer (hi Mickey!), Jenny – PR, and probably many others..
Don’t get me started on the commenters who seem to range over everything… ]
Watching Joyce speak in the house reminds me of the penguin in Batman movies. Left hand thrusting up and down like an energy charged banker..or something rhyming. They are so ridiculous. I despair at where my taxes are going.
So Eleanor Catton, Man Booker prize winner (well done), says on the one hand …” I don’t see that my age has anything to do with what is between the covers of my book, any more than the fact that I am right-handed. It’s a fact of my biography, but it’s uninteresting.”
And then with a straight face and the other hand claims some of her reviewers are themselves driven by factors of gender and age…
“People whose negative reaction has been most vehement have all been men over about 45.”
.
Sheesh, some people.
Will have to hunt down a few more of her gems for daytime giggles (like the one she punched out yesterday about gold and pounamu, maori and pakeha).
It seems age is a major determinant in her verbal ravings, given the level of naivety shown.
“People whose negative reaction has been most vehement have all been men over about 45” is a fact about their biographies. It’s uninteresting. Where does she say they’re driven by factors of gender and age?
no defence whatsoever weka, you can do better than that.
Not having a dig at her talents or good works, merely highlighting a common trait in some highly talented and well know people who think their talents extend beyond what they are recognised for. Other examples include Sam Neil and Bono.
Seems strange that National don’t want to drug-test the police, nor does the police association despite often calling for a gun on every hip. They should have tested the overly angry officer who broke the neck of Jakob Christie with a batton in 2009, and be thankful he wasn’t carrying the much lauded gun on every hip.
Police and poaka are both words that start with P. Funny that, because it drives people into uncontrollable rages as well. In São Paulo, a lot of the police sell and/or use cocaine, especially right in the centre of the city. It does wonders for their emotional stability and they are heavily armed. People die.
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Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
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Well well well, the plot thickens:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141316
Meanwhile, the real news is that ShonKey doesnt see any conflict of interest in keeping Banks in Parliament for that crucial one vote on the SkyCity bill:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-sure-of-numbers-despite-Banks-blow/tabid/1607/articleID/317532/Default.aspx
Which bring us to a conclusion that it is absolutely vital to vote the fuckers out.
The Plot Stews
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141735
(looking further into the Onion, the Gristle, Peas and Q’s)
From the Herald today
“The woman at the centre of the Len Brown sex scandal says she felt pressured to reveal the affair by a member of his right-wing rival John Palino’s election team – and is now sorry she went public.”
The way this has been manipulated by members of Palino’s group does not make this a good look for such low life who use people to benefit their own political position.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141316
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141316
So John Palino’s henchman Luigi Wewege is revealed as a common, lowly coward and a dishonorable cad who doesn’t even have the guts to admit his relationship with Bevan Chuang.
It is funny how suddenly the two Johns – Slater and Palino – have no knowledge of the sex life of Bevan Chuang when it suits them. We’ve seen this sort of right wing selective memory just yesterday with another John – John Banks – in the Auckland High Court and we now know what the judicial system thinks of that.
I think we can take these examples of the cavalier wide-boy approach to the memory and the truth as symptomatic of the poisonous cess pit that is the political culture of the right in Auckland. The Slaters. John Banks. John Palino. Luigi Wewege. Cameron Brewer. Denise Krum. Sounds like Halloween has come early this year in Auckland. What a vile and appalling bunch!
Yep.
Whale is a piece of shit who will say or do anything, and the fact that people work with him is a scandal in and of itself.
Can Len Brown sue for invasion of privacy?
I’m of the opinion that he should.
Probably won;t for the same reasons you don’t sue Wishart. It’s expensive, very public, and there’s little to gain.
Probably but I think it’s important as it would help set boundaries.
Oh I know, isn’t it exciting! Wonder what the next plot twist will be…like cheap john grisham knock-off 🙂
Who says local body politics is boring 🙂
Text message Wewege to Chuang 31/8/13 –
“Baby I have everything set up people are just waiting for you.”
People ?
Wonder whom ?
The Mad Right really are filth are they not ?
Particularly SlaterPorn. Whose facility to fuck around is a matter of public knowledge – judgment of Judge David Harvey in the Harrassment Act appplication made against Sperling – former connection of Mad Michael Laws.
Hey…….ShonKey Python…….sure love the “higher standards” in your Flying Circus.
is anyone else mildly disturbed how the likes of key/lee-ross have so swung in behind their ‘len’..?
..just saying..!
phillip ure..
Very disturbed. Lenny Boy runs Auckland very well for them, so I’m not surprised. What Brown basically does is keep a lid on the left, while actually helping them with the wharf and GI.
Len is the cad – he is the one who has had an affair. Do not forget that. If his political opponents seek to take advantage of that, they cannot be criticised for making the most of the ammunition that Len has given them. He knew before the election that his affair was about to be exposed. He knew that he could not be sure that people would vote for him if they were aware of his affair. He decision to say nothing was dishonourable and political suicide.
I reckon they can be criticised for apparently bullying someone into revealing intimate details which were then pasted all over the internet.
Especially when one of them should know better, having already lost one job over similar behaviour..
Hey John.
Did you just say that we should hold Len publicly accountable for actions he took in his private life, but the people now attacking Len with sleazy political ammunition, we should give the attackers a complete pass, free of criticism?
The facts of the matter are still.
1.Brown cheated on his wife
2.Brown instigated this affair
3.This woman is a total bunny boiler and Brown demonstrated that he thinks with his dick not his head.
4. Of course they’d want her to come out, Brown the good Christian man was rooting around behind his wifes back while trading on a happy family, good Christian morals platform.
If this had come out before the election, Brown would have been fucked.
“…This woman is a total bunny boiler…”
Can we just park the usual tendency to misogyny at least on this site please?
It looks like she’s been ruthlessly exploited by the right, and her opinion of Len Brown according to Cameron Slater is a tissue of lies. Just when I thought my opinion of Cameron Slater could not possibly go lower, it does.
Now as Russell Brown says follow the money – who paid Stephen Cook to write the story?
Ruthlessly exploited, yeah right
Oh that poor simple woman, how could those mean men be so nasty.
She knew what she was doing, she’s only decided to flip flop around because she isn’t liking the way it’s all gone and has got cold feet.
Too late for that, she let all the gory details out in that signed affidavit, did she honestly think it was going to blow over in a day or two and then it’s back to normal, maybe even a job in the media trading on that new found fame.
Just when I thought my opinion of Cameron Slater could not possibly go lower, it does.
Why so surprised? Whale (to quote James Stewart in Shenandoah) “is the only person I know who started at the bottom and went downhill”.
follow the money – who paid Stephen Cook to write the story. True but who made the whole story possible? Why Len of course. If he was silly enough to hang his balls out on the block some passing cetacean was bound to cut the off. Silly prick (quite literally).
So to Len, a safe pair of hands for the “Left”? If he could keep his own hands around his own privates maybe.
1. None of your business.
2. None of your business.
3. Oh look, right-wing mysogynist scum are turning on their own.
4. And yet you chose to release the info after the election.
1. She used him as a reference
2. He hasn’t ruled out other affairs
3. Theres still the issue of the threatening text
4. I can’t wait for the next bombshell
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAS4CSLAiyY
5. See Felix’s 3.
Take it back to the sewer, will you?
Hi Chris.
My bullet points were each a direct response to BM’s bullet points. I have no idea what yours are.
(except an attempt to discredit this site by spreading sexist, misogynist shit all over it)
ps you mean the “threatening texts” that Slater sent from a burner phone?
re: 4: pull your pants up, your tumescent anticipation wouldn’t intimidate a gnat.
There is no way known to science to tell if a right winger is stricken by priapism.
Kiaora Murray
There is no way known to science to tell if a right winger is stricken by priapism.
Science may not provide an answer but common sense says ‘they leak to the right’
Lolz, BM, and the involvement, proved in today’s Herald, of the Palino camp in the belated outing of this affair between Brown and Chuang, plus the ongoing pressure put on Chuang to out the affair befor the election will do what for any future Palino challenge,
Lover boy Luigi’s denial of ever having shared the bed with Chuang, ‘He hardly in His words knew the woman’, does what to Palino’s denial of knowing anything of what was being attempted to drop Len in His own mess right in the middle of the campaign,
For any damage done to Len Brown by the exposure of what is essentially His private life, you can expect, as the real story continues to unfold, an equal, if not greater amount of damage to be inflicted upon the Citizens and Ratpayers ticket….
Not a chance.
As hard as you lefties try to shoot the messenger, Brown is fucked, once this term is over he’s gone.
And in the mean time, he’s a dead duck, he won’t achieve anything, all those great lefty dreams for Auckland, down the toilet where they belong.
😈 😈 😈
Weird, I thought your concerns were for the sanctity of marriage and public office.
Quelle surprise.
whenever a tory expresses concern or moral outrage, always do a quick check to see if there’s a tent in their pants
Lolz BM, your latest is what i term dragging defeat out of the jaws of victory, it’s a long long road to the next Council elections and it will be my pleasure to read your whinging, whining and wailing about this issue for the next 3 years,
Hate to further burst your bubble, but, you seem to forget that we have a General Election next year, right now i would say it’s 60/40 that after that, unless Lolz, National can score 50% of the vote, David Cunliffe will be the next Prime Minister of the first Labour/Green Government,
While that little scenario obviously fills ‘wing-nuts’ like you with terror it simply adds laughter to what you say about Len Brown being unable to achieve ‘anything’ in His current term as Mayor,
i would say that the incoming Labour/Green Government will be only to happy to either fund Brown’s Auckland transport plans OR through Legislation, provide Browns Council with the tools necessary to gather the necessary capital to have such capital works well under way,
Suck it up BM, across the political spectrum ‘the right’ have lost all traction, Losers in other words, a descriptive, on the odd occasion i have cause to think about you, which is easily able to be fitted to your dog collar…
Lolz, after the latest Roy Morgan out today i wish to change my odds of the next Government being a Labour/Green one to 70/30 in favor…
Palino doesn’t look set to have much of a future, nor does anyone who WO supports.
WO should be made to wear a sign around his neck that says, “Trust me at your Peril!”
What the fuck is a bunny boiler? And what does it have to do with the price of fish?
Among the people who have a right to comment on Len’s peccadilloes are his family. Some of them have come out to support him, so you and the rest of the fake moralistic right should just get back to your porn and shut up.
A Close Up Fatal
Attraction
Wewege, palino, chuang.
Welcome to nz, thanks for your contribution to making it better for everyone!
To say nothing of the local handlers!
Who are all these people, really!
You forgot Norman 😉
exactly what are you trying to say?
im sure its some moronic barb about him being an commie or something, but do please put in the extra effort to actually make sense
Not so much the commie bit (not that it helps) but being another foreigner coming over and making the country all the worse for it
What is happening at NBR. I have heard a rumour from an impeccable source that long time reporter Jock Anderson has been fired for writing a pro Len Brown editorial.
The page is still there at http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/editorial-len-brown-needs-stay-job-ja-p-147196 but access has been denied. Someone with greater skill with Google Cache may be able to retrieve it.
Can this be true? And if so what happened to freedom of the press? Perhaps regular contributor Matthew Hooton would like to comment.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Awww.nbr.co.nz%2Farticle%2Feditorial-len-brown-needs-stay-job-ja-p-147196
Behind the paywall.
Not sure what the point is of inviting Hooten to lie about it though.
Hmm I was getting an access denied message and now I get a 404 page not found message. Someone must have hit the delete button. Wonder what they are trying to hide?
Not anymore it isn’t, anyone got a cached version they can publish here? Ah! Thanks!
Where Sanctuary?
No comment.
Come on Matthew. If this is true then an issue arises as to the independence of the fourth estate. Surely it is in the public interest for there to be disclosure of what has happened and discussion on this?
No comment.
Can you confirm Matthew that the editorial was initially hidden but then deleted?
No comment.
The man with an opinion on everything suddenly has nothing to say.
NZ Power didn’t crash the share-market, it’s sHootons voice-box that’s crashed…
Do opinion writers with the NBR have a degree of freedom around the line they take, or is it quite locked down in your contracts to stick to the editorial lines of the publisher? Or are they freelance articles that the NBR can take or leave?
Nobody at NBR or Metro has ever told me what to write, or what angle to take.
As if they’d ever have to.
What about telling Jock Anderson what to write or disciplining him for something he wrote?
From Martyn Bradbury:
And that’s the Right Wing control of the MSM and all its journos in action, as a warning to all.
Time for the CEO to explain the NBRs anti-journalistic practices.
Herald 4:33 apparently confirms it …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141779
Question is whether we’ll hear his ramblings on “The Panel” – what say you now Gentleman Jim?
Distant Drums calling, He’ll Have To Go
eww fat slug Slater is on breakfast….
Hell I heaved my brekkie n then some
fat slug is rattling on about morals
Are they asking him about his own affairs?
Nope
Not a word
Rawdumb was nearly salivating..
Slater Seniors actual nickname – “Slug”.
Auckland, like all cities around the globe is tightly controlled.
From time to time, we get to see into the filth that allows the criminal elements to control the resources, and in NZ we are really scraping the bottom levels.
Wewege and Chuang are from a “future leaders” style of group, which brings into question what exactly that group is designed for!
Cameron Brewer has slipped off rader for the time being, very quiet cameron – fill his inbox people, his council email is public record, do is the contact via his blog site.
Chuang, the Dragon Baby Mamma, is calculating and conniving, just like those she is involved with!
Future leaders, piffle!
(can i just note that/how questiontime has become a total farce/abrogation of democracy..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/john-armstrong-a-question-of-when-an-answer-is-really-an-answer-comment-as-one-who-does-commentaries-on-questiontime-i-totally-agree-with-the-concerns-voiced-by-armstrong-essentially/
phillip ure..
how sad and how terrible to think that just exposing someone to advance their own career is the right moved. Especially that person is your own girlfriend. let this be the lesson to him, and how sad, because this guy, Luigi Wewege will never learned and found true love. He was even regard as the future leader, serious, what the exposure and creating a future leader turn up to creating a future monster….disguising. By the way, you are still young, and one day when you have your own daughter, seriously……best luck….
Well, at least some good news today with the climate change skeptics bailing on their appeal against NIWA. Seems they don’t even understand their own court case.
They were always going to lose this one.
Isn’t that something their solicitor should have told them about at the time?
Maybe they just decided “withdrawing on a technicality” is better for their snake oil sales than “arses handed to them on a plate”
Yep
Congratulations to Eleanor Catton on her Man Booker win – must read the book, covering a topic of close personal interest, history and locale.
However, her comments on nat radio yesterday were a little disturbing in trying to use gold in pakeha society and pounamu in maori society as metaphors for their respective features. Seriously lacking imo. So many New Zealanders have lost a sense of their history and cultural and societal mores from pre-WWII. There is little understanding of many parts of society from before that time. Perhaps she should stick to writing. But then, maybe I should read the book first (which most certainly will) and then re-assess what she was trying to say yesterday.
Bit rich of Slater to be so moralistic is it not?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10813552
It’s absurd. Only the truly delusional can exist in such a position.
Drones, the Media and Malala’s Message
by PETER HART, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, 15 October 2013
Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai’s visit to the United States was widely covered in the media, including interviews with ABC’s Diane Sawyer (10/11/13), CNN’s Christiane Amanpour (10/14/13) and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show (10/8/13). She was selected as ABC’s “Person of the Week” on October 11, and was considered a serious contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.
And for good reason; just one year ago, Malala was attacked by the Taliban for her outspoken advocacy on behalf of educational equality, surviving a an attack where she was shot in the head.
But one part of her message didn’t seem to penetrate the corporate media.
During her October 11 visit to the White House, Yousafzai told Barack Obama that his administration’s drone strikes were fueling terrorism. As McClatchy’s Lesley Clark (10/11/13) reported:
In a statement released after the meeting, Malala said she was honored to meet with Obama, but that she told him she’s worried about the effect of US drone strikes. (The White House statement didn’t mention that part.) “I thanked President Obama for the United States’ work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees,” she said in the statement. “I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education, it will make a big impact.”
This exchange, for some reason, didn’t register ….
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/10/15/drones-the-media-and-malalas-message/
Are you really surprised? The US and it’s empire doesn’t allow criticism.
She’s probably a Taliban – Al’Qaeda – Iranian – Wahabi plant, you see.
On another matter the all whites now face mexico home and away to reach WC 2014.
This will not be easy as mexico are going for 6 straight WC’s and have been hot/cold through their qualification so lets hope we get the cold ‘El Tri’ as the hot one is a class above us.
New Zealand 4, Mexico 0.
Wednesday July 20, 1980.
We might as well not bother showing up now. Mexico will take us apart. Its like Argentina playing the All Blacks.
Yes CONCACAF is alot tougher than facing an asian team. This team boasts Rafael Marquez (ex barca centre half), Manyoo’s hernandez up front and technically gifted players that can do the unexpected
We may find out the hard way what an awesome on field leader and defender the retired Ryan Nelson was. Hope we don’t but 2 WC’s in a row is long odds for us now.
Mexico soccer commentator cheers for the usa, after they score the equalizer, thus keeping Mexico in the world cup.
For the good of the game here, NZ should follow Australia into the Asian confederation.
Can someone please tell Qatar to stop stadium workers from being over worked and dying.
And fifa from awarding competitions dependant on the size of the backhanders on offer.
Agree Allen on going through Asia.
Qatar is getting interesting with the major clubs (via the leagues/associations) waking up to the fact they’ll be shipping their employees off to the oven for that summer.
The bill payers V those who get their bills paid.
the allen
But if that happens though, our age groups teams would never qualify for their world cups.
Auckland mayor leading the way.
A bit harsh on Whaleoil don’t you think?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11141285
Ummmm…. thinking ….. No.
Maggots, despite our current cultural view on them, play a vital role in the cycle of life. Can’t say the same about Slater. I think the cartoon is an insult to insects everywhere and is inherently accurate. The cartoonist implies that despite our abhorrence for Slater, we really need him. He’s wrong.
Hell no!
Not harsh at all. Flattering in my opinion.
Interesting interview with local entrepreneur Selwyn Pellet on Nights on National Radio last night (Wednesday 16 Oct) – purportedly about “How curiosity helps to build better business” but in fact more interesting in the way Selwyn talks through experience about how well New Zealand IT businesses do under the present environment. Particularly interesting is how he says the IT industry has in the short term the ability to actually provide greater net wealth for New Zealand than the dairying industry, but our reliance on the commodity market (especially dairy) actually influences interest rates and the value of the New Zealand dollar to the detriment of our IT exports
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/2573058
yey hey well all very groovy dude.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141320
– I don’t think thats a good idea, they’ve brought themselves into the spotlight…but then 4/10 Len does need to keep up the family man image I suppose
Written on behalf of Sam, Olivia and Victoria
How nasty is that, did they even know about this article?
Dragging his family back into this turd heap to try and save his job, what a weasel.
Fuck. you’re dense, BM. It was written by Sam on behalf of all three. The words at the top of the article kinda give that away:
By Sam Brown, daughter of Auckland mayor Len Brown.
Well I’m thinking they might have opened themselves up to questioning, which I sincerely hope they don’t. Keep the humour going with Two minute noodle Len as long as possible but the kids shouldn’t be involved…
How does it “open them up to questioning”?
Is this more of the trade marked right wing personal responsibility theory that says whatever right wingers do, it’s the fault of those they do it to?
Naah more like they’ve stated some opinions so now some journalists could now ask them some questions…
Journalists can ask anyone questions. It’s what they do. Can’t see what questions his kids would have to answer, and I doubt any serious journalist would either.
Your sick boy mate whose lines you keep trotting out is having a crack at them, but that’s cause he’s a fuckwit, not cause he’s a journalist.
He never said hes a journalist
nor did I.
Fuck racism, PR. You can do better than that. Probably.
Hows thats racist?
I take back the ‘probably’. You obviously can’t do better than that.
LOL
Hey BM and Puckish Rogue….look at your leader!
No such thing as bad publicity 🙂
He’s got to be happy with that.
Go the Whale.
I’m sure aspiring National party candidates will be lining up around the block to pay for Lusk’s thoughts on how to run political campaigns yep.
Glad you are honest and don’t deny he’s your leader.
When the bad publicity can’t get any worse, beggars can’t be choosers eh 😀
I guess thats why hes got a popular website, gets interviewed on radio and TV more then anyone else on here put together
But who cares about getting your message across to the widest audience eh 🙂
[lprent: Perhaps you should reread the about. We’re unconcerned with getting the widest audience. Basically we’re also not a narcissistic egotistical failures like Cameron Slater who appears to have failed at everything in his life apart from titillating the lowest common denominator on the net.
The reason that we don’t get interviewed is mostly because we don’t want to be talking heads. It isn’t what we do for a living. For instance I’m a c++ programmer working on our exporting bleeding edges. r0b is a professor at a major university. Mike Smith is semi-retired, but used to run the Labour party. The people under pseudonyms past and present are pretty damn successful at whatever they can do. This is one of the reasons why many of the authors here write using a pseudonym – we don’t want the shallowness of the media to interfere with what we really value.
Personally, I’ve turned down all except one or two of the dozens of interview requests I’ve had over the last six years including those from the left media like Bomber. Generally I only get a couple per year these days. You also can’t find images of me on the net.
Offhand I think that the only other person from here who has been on the media was Clinton Smith before he went to work for politicians, and Jenny has been on The Nation once when she was working on Cunliffe’s election team. Currently we have no-one volunteering to be a talking head.
Basically your comment reveals far more about your lack of knowledge about this site than it does about us. However if you wish to continue in this vein, then I will be happy handing out a long ban in accordance with our policies on people trying to tell us how we should run this site.
You have a weeks ban now so you have time to read these links. ]
His puppeteers (like Daddy, Lusk, Collins etc.) must have been successful in getting that Tea Party money to fund their backfiring engine, pity (judging by the abode he was filmed in on Tuesday) he’s not getting any ‘trickledown’.
But it’s great he’s happy floating around with turds.
Sorry LPrent but you do have a ‘wise’ audience, but I know you meant ‘widest’ 😀
[lprent: typo fixed…. Thx. ]
Sam writes beautifully: I have been critical but she hit us right between the eyes with the “first stone”. Thanks Sam, over and out, no more comments. So some wisdom from Francis (abridged):
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be understood, as to understand;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
LOOKING AT POLL RESULTS IT LOOKS LIKE NO ONE IS FOOLED BY FISH OILS PLOY:
http://www.seek.co.nz/job/25325726
You looking for a job?
the question is was she a good r**t or was it just a sporting f*ck?
Stick to gardening or seafaring hook.
How would you know in 2 minutes?
New allegations are that Len Brown wrote references for Bevan Chaung for a job she was applying for.
How is that different from John Key giving a GCSB job to his mate? Who says they haven’t been having sex?
Of course, Brown was a referee and not the employer, which makes it rather less messy than Key giving his dinner buddy our top spy job…
amirite, it’s different because Len wasn’t in a position to appoint anyone and didn’t appoint anyone.
Are you being serial?
Chuang has also said brown was one of 5 referees on her CV for the job, and she didn’t think he got the job because of Brown. Although, I guess she wants to show she got the job fairly.
Having thought about this, I should add to what I wrote above that I agree that he shouldn’t have provided a reference for her.
It’s a far cry from what amirite compares it to, but it’s still wrong.
Please! I do not want to picture Key having sex. Brown is bad enough!
C’mon we had to endure the image of Rortney so you should be immune by now.
Even that immunity is challenged by the equivalent image of SlaterPorn. Yuk !
Just a reminder about a lecture on a topic close to our hearts- for Wednesday 30th.
2013 Bruce Jesson Lecture:
Sir Edmund Thomas –
Reducing Inequality: A Strategy for a Cause
The speaker, a Distinguished Fellow at the Law School at The University of Auckland, argues that the gross inequality in income and wealth which besets New Zealand is the outcome of the neo-liberal economic measures of the mid-1980s and early 1990s and the culture of liberal individualism and unfettered free market ideology which it spawned.
A breakdown in social cohesion and a sense of community is the result. Reforms to counter this inequality are widely mooted. But increasing focus and discussion on the topic is confronted by a plethora of mantras and myths purveyed by the rich and powerful. The stimulus for change is deadened.
The speaker advances a strategy designed to provide a coherent impetus to reduce the rank inequality that now prevails.
The Rt Hon Sir Edmund Thomas will deliver the 2013 lecture on Wednesday 30 October, 6.30pm, at the Maidment Theatre (bar opens at 5.30pm).
I’ll try to remember to publicise it during the weekend by which time there may be some room left on the site for something other than scurrilous gossip.
“We Need A Plan” from Dipshit
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9294007/NZ-must-stick-to-economic-plan-English
FML
The private financial sector caused the GFC, The Great Depression, increasing poverty and looks to be increasingly corrupt. About the only thing we should be doing is telling them to fuck off while jailing a large proportion of them.
ha ha, exactly DtB. Fancy calling on the biggest leaches in our system as if they somehow know anything other than self-enrichment by any means.
English is a sick joke in suggesting this.
Amazing amount of good satire around at the moment.
IPCA says the cops can’t even investigate themselves properly
Party broken up, allegations of excessive force, complaints laid, a three year internal investigation that exonerates all officers involved, and – guess what? The IPCA says the investigation took too long, reached the wrong conclusions, and the only reason individual officers haven’t been charged is that the ones who swung the batons couldn’t be identified (gotta love the riot gear and tiny badge numbers – if they haven’t been removed).
What a crock.
Police are as scary as the military and not to be trusted in these types of common circumstances
oooh, Doug McKay to announce a Brown inquiry
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11141735
(still not ending well, breakin’ up is so hard to do). 😀
Who knows, RT. For instance, the worst case scenario, a re-election, might actually favour the left now Palino’s and Brewer’s team have been shown to be somewhat murky as well.
personally, while this whole drama is regrettable, and sad, I’m not for pressuring the man out, however, he’s chosen a hard road to hoe, (and with a little benefit-of-hindsight, not an unexpected one). Some of these ‘powerful’ folks appear to get a little carried away with themselves, and foolishness follows.
ironically, this proverb, or one similar, was on WOBH one day (in the not-too-distant past)
“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;” 1:20
later, (in the same book)
“For the lips of an adulteress (-er) drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword…” 5:3, and plenty more follows in the same vein. Another day perhaps, anyway, the St Francis prayer that Ennui notes covers all the Remedy (Black Crows circling, yet they keep the Vultures at bay).
First Campbell, then Rudman. Now for the heavy guns…..
Whilst lesser “lites” like Len and Whale have been centre stage here on our biggest (and perhaps the worlds smallest) stage…other things of greater import have been happening out in the big wide world.
Tucked in the side columns of todays Dom……In Rome Pope Francis has dismissed Cardinal Bertone, the man who acted as Richelieu for Pope Benedict. During his watch the scandals involving children went unanswered, there were Papal bank fraud issues go unchallenged, and the appointment of a Holocaust denying British bishop. Vatileaks scandal followed.
The Pope thanked Bertone for confronting his setbacks with courage and patience. “There were so many,” he added, damning him with faint praise. Francis appears to be the real deal.
“(Parata’s) faux consultation narrative and her inherent inability to listen to the community were always going to end in tears” (also)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502981&objectid=11138222
Why are the Right getting ever nastier? What on earth could have caused this lurch to the desperate and dirty? Here’s a clue …
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5243-new-zealand-voting-intention-october-17-2013-201310170151
That’s half a dozen polls in over a month, all telling the same story.
Tick tock, tick tock …
They will start lashing out like cornered feral cats now, not caring who they damage in their fear and anger.
+1
They really don’t like it when they’re out of power or heading that way.
LOL at Blinglish in attempting to attack the Greens during the debate on Banks right now, claims Cunliffe is getting some of their support and doing better than his predecessor…. then changes tack realising he’s praising Labour too much for improving it’s support!
Spilt Milk (powder) cost Danone 500M
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11141683
-which they are seeking to recover
Suck On This!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11141262
suggests the government’s NZ Trade and Enterprise
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11141262
Another scoop from whale: he’s caught out some Herald staff blatantly colluding together in a plan to write a ‘series’ of ‘stories’ in their ‘newspaper’.
as True as an Aesop Fable , Frogs Who Desire a King.
Morgan, all.
‘Piers to have faltered at the third hand-made rail.
+8
I quite like the headline in the latest Roy Morgan: A Labour/Green alliance would easily win election.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5243-new-zealand-voting-intention-october-17-2013-201310170151
ps Confidence dropping like a stone.
No uptick for Key either which you might have expected while he was gallivanting around on the world stage. That must be a concern for National. Dunne and UFP have dropped to 0%, Banks and ACT can’t be far behind.
Oh dear Labour and the Greens still going UP, this time the bump is in the Green Party vote, Better start composing my dear John note for Slippery,
In all honesty at the 2008 election i would have picked Slippery to lead National to 3 terms, hasn’t ‘the fall from grace’ been hard and fast tho, and, i wonder when Collins will make Her move, has to be soon, if She goes into the 2014 election not being the Prime Minister the best She can hope for is a couple of terms as Opposition Leader befor they rid themselves of Her,
Yes i am being mischievous, whichever way it’s looked at there’s another 9 in the sin bin coming for National, perhaps Collins sees a point in letting Bill from Dipton lead the team in the first 3 years of Opposition and then rolling Him a year out from the second term ending…
Watched a bit of the TICS committee stage 4. Government ministers not standing to defend it. Curran, Goff & Robertson say there’s not enough checks and balances to protect people’s rights, and the Human Rights Commission have criticisms that the government should heed.
Slater has just been grilled by Mary Wilson on Checkpoint. She made him squirm. He tried to blame other people.
Apparently Jock Anderson has been fired from the NBR for publishing an editorial supporting Len Brown,.
Bizarre or what?
John key – just an average Kiwi guy – like one you’d meet at the local pub or BBQ.
Lucky for some, other families in NZ only have the green-fee figure to survive on every week. But he will fix that….one of these years…..just vote for him….and guarantee your seat on the brighter future train….
Not good timing for an article that shows the stark contrast between Key and the majority of NZ.
Queenstown and Omaha – full of average Kiwis, sure. Good places for him to be quarantined with his diplomatic protection squad and leave the rest of the country for the rest of us.
Jock Anderson dismissed from NBR over ‘Lengate’!
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nbr-journalist-dismissed-147312
NBR journalist dismissed
NBR Staff | Thursday October 17, 2013
A senior National Business Review journalist has lost his job in the wake of the Len Brown sex scandal.
National Business Review publisher Todd Scott in a brief statement today said: “We do not comment on internal employment issues but I can confirm Mr Jock Anderson was dismissed yesterday for failing to comply with specific instructions to treat coverage of the Len Brown affair in an impartial and unbiased manner.”
Mr Anderson had filed copy on NBR ONLINE yesterday morning purporting to be the NBR’s stance on the controversy. His copy was headed “Editorial” and called for Mr Brown to stay on as mayor. His copy was removed shortly after it was posted.
Mr Scott said NBR’s news coverage of the ongoing scandal would remain strictly neutral. There would be no restriction on NBR’s regular columnists to analyse events as they unfolded.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Far out!
Sounds a bit harsh?
Don’t the NBR do ‘warnings’ or was Jock Anderson’s filing of ‘copy on NBR ONLINE yesterday morning purporting to be the NBR’s stance on the controversy. (his copy was headed “Editorial” and called for Mr Brown to stay on as mayor)’ – SERIOUS MISCONDUCT?
What do others think?
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
Who remembers Dove Myer Robinson’s trysts – he was apparently quite legendary and it didn’t harm his mayoral job at all. Mostly heard it from my parents and their friends – I was a bit too young to really take it in, but my partner heard it resurface on the radio today.
I knew a bit about other mayors as well, but I’m not even going to name them. It had nothing to do with how they ran or misran the city.
I heard a lot of stories about Banks which had nothing to do with sex, but can’t produce evidence. I’m just ecstatic that he might finally be crashing and burning.
I made the mistake of watching Citizen A tonight with guests Colin Craig and Matthew Hooton. So Hoots reckons if we had a better police force, Helen Clark would have been prosecuted for her many criminal activities (election spending etc), and would never have lasted 3 terms.
David Cunliffe is further left than any social democrat country int he world (or is it Europe) – he’s gone VERY far left. People in the National Party thought Simon Brudges was excellent on Campbell Live and he’s a potential leader of Nats.
Alternative universe really.
I watched Citizen A too and was commenting out loud how restrained Matthew Hooten was, but then he let fly at the end about the Police and their lack of prosecutions re Helen Clark and how terrible it will be if we elect a Mana/Green/Labour [his order], he then said Labour/Green/Mana. I also wanted to wreck our TV when he carried on about Simon Bridges on Campbell Live – sheesh a potential leader of the Nats, spare me. I suppose he was being serious, but he had that bloody smirk on his dial which tells me he’s just stirring. Oh, and for David Cunliffe and Labour espousing far left policies – yep he’s just stirring.
“David Cunliffe is further left than any social democrat country int he world (or is it Europe)”
No. He’s not.
In Hooten and Colin Craig’s little universe he is.
That’ll be where Planet Key is then
a switcheroo from the “once he’s in he’ll drag the party to the centre / right” narrative the tory scribes and talking heads ran with following his election as party leader; Yes , you, RW lurkers, are so transparent it’s a wonder you spend as much time grooming as you do.
it’s a Marvel universe karol
3D printophiles rejoice.
Amaze is a loose acronym for Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste and Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products.
[…]
Amaze researchers have already begun printing metal jet engine parts and aeroplane wing sections up to 2m in size.
These high-strength components are typically built from expensive, exotic metals such as titanium, tantalum and vanadium.
Using traditional casting techniques often wastes precious source material.
Additive manufacturing – building parts up layer-on-layer from 3D digital data – produces almost “zero waste”.
“To produce one kilo of metal, you use one kilo of metal – not 20 kilos,” says Esa’s Franco Ongaro.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24528306
The best thing about 3D printing in high density materials is that it’s going to be very cheap to set up which means that any country will be able to manufacture anything they choose and with that you can kiss goodbye to long distance trade.
We (NZ) really, really, really need to get on the R&D with this and that means government funding. We will not get it any other way.
Which is BS of course – everything is recycled and reused in any decent foundry.
Not in the one I worked in CV where barring spills and mishaps a materials loss at 3.0% to 10% was tolerable because of the inefficiency of recovery.
Fair nuff
The real inefficiency in foundries is energy, excluding materials the loss of other inputs is particularly high – casting sand losses were at 20% and more, being around half of total losses.
Apart from a bit of skim with the burnt off refractories, oxides and the like. Even those are usually blocked and sent back to the scrap metal people..
I can’t find the reply button, but I feel terribly slighted*:
“r0b is a professor at a major university. Mike Smith is semi-retired, but used to run the Labour party. The people under pseudonyms past and present are pretty damn successful at whatever they can do. This is one of the reasons why many of the authors here write using a pseudonym – we don’t want the shallowness of the media to interfere with what we really value.”
I’m a senior research fellow at the university rated 90th in the world. I received an Outstanding Referee Award from the American Physical Society. I saw one metric that put me in the top 4% of active physicists in the world. I think that’s reasonably successful. I’m all over google. Not bad for someone who has been accused of not understanding Newton’s Laws 🙂
I don’t use a pseudonym because I’m terminally ill and don’t give a fuck. What can anyone do to me that I haven’t done to myself? I make no judgement either way about people who do.
“Offhand I think that the only other person from here who has been on the media was Clinton Smith before he went to work for politicians, and Jenny has been on The Nation once when she was working on Cunliffe’s election team. Currently we have no-one volunteering to be a talking head.”
I’ve been interviewed by New Scientist Magazine, newspapers in Australia, and radio stations on both sides of the Tasman. I am not volunteering to be a talking head.
*Not actually slighted at all, just saying this to ram down the illiterate right wingers’ throats that there’s more talent to be found around here than in all the RWNJ hate blogs of the world combined.
[lprent: The reply button disappears when the comments are indented 10.
I was just confining it to some of the outed authors. Even then I forgot a lawyer (hi Mickey!), Jenny – PR, and probably many others..
Don’t get me started on the commenters who seem to range over everything… ]
Wow, Murray, and it’s an honour to be engaging with your wit.
PR, you say Lynn…
Watching Joyce speak in the house reminds me of the penguin in Batman movies. Left hand thrusting up and down like an energy charged banker..or something rhyming. They are so ridiculous. I despair at where my taxes are going.
So Eleanor Catton, Man Booker prize winner (well done), says on the one hand …” I don’t see that my age has anything to do with what is between the covers of my book, any more than the fact that I am right-handed. It’s a fact of my biography, but it’s uninteresting.”
And then with a straight face and the other hand claims some of her reviewers are themselves driven by factors of gender and age…
“People whose negative reaction has been most vehement have all been men over about 45.”
.
Sheesh, some people.
Will have to hunt down a few more of her gems for daytime giggles (like the one she punched out yesterday about gold and pounamu, maori and pakeha).
It seems age is a major determinant in her verbal ravings, given the level of naivety shown.
“People whose negative reaction has been most vehement have all been men over about 45” is a fact about their biographies. It’s uninteresting. Where does she say they’re driven by factors of gender and age?
why mention gender or age?
Because everyone else was?
no defence whatsoever weka, you can do better than that.
Not having a dig at her talents or good works, merely highlighting a common trait in some highly talented and well know people who think their talents extend beyond what they are recognised for. Other examples include Sam Neil and Bono.
Seems strange that National don’t want to drug-test the police, nor does the police association despite often calling for a gun on every hip. They should have tested the overly angry officer who broke the neck of Jakob Christie with a batton in 2009, and be thankful he wasn’t carrying the much lauded gun on every hip.
Police and poaka are both words that start with P. Funny that, because it drives people into uncontrollable rages as well. In São Paulo, a lot of the police sell and/or use cocaine, especially right in the centre of the city. It does wonders for their emotional stability and they are heavily armed. People die.