Key takes the election result as a mandate for another term of it as the sheeple say so assisted by a labour party with past their use by dates MPs and strategists
I saw an MP had posted on facebook a photo of the Labour caucus class of 2015 on the steps of parliament yesterday. Plenty of 50 something’s shades of grey. It was depressing some of the same old faces still clipping the ticket. Others must have been thinking the same as there were few likes.
By the way where is Nicky Hager these days? Haven’t heard anything of him for a while!
Is he under house arrest?
Been gagged?
Prevented from speaking publicly?
Any news about the outcome of police removing his personal effects from his home to be investigated?
We need a journalist of Hager’s intelligence, calibre and integrity to investigate John Key’s involvement re the time frame of having been informed of the Mike Sabin affair!
Another point is it’s interesting that today, msm (Fairfax and NZH) is carrying the story about Andrew Little’s past “non payment” of an invoice, (after it was raised in Parliament yesterday by the loathsome Steven Joyce), focusing on the time frame of the actual payment (yesterday)!
So I ask, where is msm focus on slimy PM Key and his grubby ministers, digging deep about when they first became aware of the Sabin investigation?
Pity more media enthusiasm and attention isn’t focused on this issue, where it should be.
The media give corporate shills like Mary Beard a voice, not real journalists like Hager publicity.
Remember they want more for themselves and less for the rest of us.
So being on a salesperson for the TPP rather than an advocate for democracy, transparency and solidarity.
Labour Party PR is abysmal. How can any efficient system drop their leader into the mess that Andrew finds himself in? The Shearer “fish in Parliament” debacle, lack of penetrating secondary questions and dredging up petty and inconsequential points. Andrew needs a decent “minder” that would never have allowed the likes of Joyce to crucify him over an unpaid bill. It’s all over the media today and Key’s back off the ropes.
Pay some real money and buy a minder that’s got his/her finger on the pulse. Another with the political nous of Heather Simpson – – – there’ll be someone out there.
Not a single reference to it on Stuff’s front page in fact. I guess people who are impressed by ‘gotcha’ politics will clutch their pearls a bit. Meanwhile, Bill English’s toxic ACC rort is getting as least as much attention, and that will still be news tomorrow, as will National Party Sabinism and the Skysore.
Getting plenty of airtime on Morning Report. The complainant (who just happens to be an NBR freelancer) is suggesting there was no intention to pay. But you’re right this will be old news tomorrow. Labour just need to get their shit together and stop being their own worst enemy.
Given that Shearer’s fish debacle is brought up at every available opportunity (and in this column today!!) I reckon that Andrew Little’s unpaid bill (and no need to put it in inverted commas ‘cos it was exactly that, it appears) will continue to haunt him in just the same way. It was a damn silly oversight on Andrew’s part and his minders need to be much more on the ball.
Sure is a pretty dumb own-goal but given the debacle of last week and the ease with which Little has owned Key on SkyCity I guess some sort of retaliation was to be expected. No surprise then that the Nats have reverted to the tried-and-true methods that have served them well in the past. It will be interesting how Little and Labour respond. Probably best just to suck it up, take responsibility and try and push through. And, since we’re dealing the dark art of politics, some added fuel thrown on Winston’s claims of insider trading at SkyCity would be useful.
The timing of SkyCity announcement of wanting a taxpayer handout pushed their share price up which was smart Morrison. However the ‘no penalty’ for the convention centre size reduction looks dodgy as hell.
Key and his cronies tie up with that very sketchy outfit the NZX is fishy in my opinion. By the NZX moving into being a fund manager and recently increasing their holdings bears looking into.
Gosman the National Party shrill will come on here with his twisted opinion shortly.
I believe the fish idea was entirely Shearer’s, and no one else in caucus knew about it until he did it. He bought the fish from an Auckland supermarket and flew to Wellington with him in his carry-on…
“Mr Shearer’s fish, which he had brought down from Auckland in his carry-on luggage, were placed back in a bag and ushered out of the debating chamber by deputy leader Grant Robertson.”
“Show me will they? Hehehe, my and my little ‘friends’ here will sink the National government. Sink? That’s a good pun. Must work that in. Also something about sleeping with the fishes. Ho ho ho – that’s a good one”
And so forth.
Also, what the fuck did the guys screening his bag think?
That was a great example of the emperor has no clothes on. I remember thinking
oh dear god this mug has lost the plot. To think he didn’t fall on his sword and not seek re election sums up the problem with Labour. All the previous leaders bar DC should have not stood again.
I bet a few people would like to have a Super Minister discuss their unpaid bills in parliament, and then get the harpie Gower into it to. Perhaps they could get onto the tax evaders for the country while they are onto it
A caliphate established by radical Muslims that supports genocide and appears intent on precipitating World War 3 with an aim of engineering the Apocalypse – “that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.”
Doing nothing to try and minimise this would seem to be unwise.
ISIS is a threat to a bunch of people over there who would do stuff about it.
Obviously the Shia blocs who are the current primary target of ISIS. So they are already stepping up in the alliance between Iran/Iraq and Syria. That would continue. They have their own agenda of forming a fairly solid shia ruled area. They’d probably achieve that.
Secondly, the Gulf states like Saudi A, UAE etc are threatened by ISIS to a small degree. Insofar that they are bad PR for the anti Shia movement that they care about, they will step up. They have problems in that if they step up too hard against IS then their own populations get a bit angsty, not because of direct IS support (which is small) but because of IS being an Anti-shia force. It’s a tricky spot for them, so they’d probably clamp down hard on ISIS when it raises it’s head in a Sunni state, (same as they do with AQ and the Bortherhood).
The Sunni states probably enjoy watching Iran bleed against ISIS so they may be tempted to quietly fund them to prolong it, and they will not be happy about the Shia states getting their solid bloc, but I doubt they could stop it, and fundamentally, they’d rather have someone who wasn;t as insane as ISIS to be their proxy.
So, I reckon if we butted out, the Shia would fuck ISIS over the next year or two, the Sunni states would say ‘that’s annoying’ and start funding some other wee group.
Pretty much the same as what will happen if we do interfere, with the difference being that we won’t be getting in the way.
lol
Uncharacteristically considerate of brownlee to have a hummer.
Some people might not immediately recognise him and therefore know he is a twat, but driving a hummer is like a huge neon sign labelling him as such.
A stated before PG… How about the “West” stop training, funding and arming ISIS before “we” worry about putting military personnel there – in ANY form?
No arms, no cash and no capability would tend to weaken them quite a bit don’t ya think?
Nobel Peace Laureates Slam Human Rights Watch’s
Refusal to Cut Ties to U.S. Government AlterNet, July 8, 2014
Human Rights Watch’s affiliation with ex-CIA and NATO officials generates perverse incentives and undermine its reputation for independence.
In a May 12 letter published on AlterNet, two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and over 100 scholars, journalists and human rights activists called on Human Rights Watch to close its revolving door to the U.S. government. On June 3, HRW published a response from executive director Kenneth Roth on its website, arguing that their “concern is misplaced.” In a June 11 debate on Democracy Now!, HRW Counsel and Spokesman Reed Brody similarly rejected their recommendations.
Now, Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel join fellow signatories Richard Falk (United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories from 2008-14) and Hans von Sponeck (UN Assistant Secretary General from 1998-2000) in demanding that their proposals be taken seriously, and additionally, that HRW remove former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana from its Board of Directors.
Dear Kenneth Roth,
While we welcome your stated commitment to Human Rights Watch’s independence and credibility, we are dismayed by your rejection of our common-sense suggestion for strengthening them: bar those who have crafted or executed U.S. foreign policy from serving as HRW staff, advisors or board members—or, at a bare minimum, mandate lengthy “cooling-off” periods before and after any associate moves between HRW and the foreign-policy divisions of the U.S. government.
Before addressing your letter’s objections to the three instances of HRW’s advocacy that suggest a conflict of interest, we would like to reiterate that they were “limited to only recent history,” and that other cases could have been raised as well. One obvious example of HRW’s failure to appropriately criticize U.S. crimes occurred after the 2004 coup d’état against the democratically elected government of Haiti. The U.S. government essentially kidnapped Haiti’s president; thousands of people were killed under the ensuing coup regime; and deposed officials of the constitutional government were jailed.
In the face of what were likely the worst human rights abuses of any country in the Western hemisphere at the time, HRW barely lifted a finger. HRW never hosted a press conference criticizing the coup or post-coup atrocities. In contrast to HRW’s appeals to the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Democratic Charter for Venezuela and Cuba, HRW never publicly invoked the Charter in the case of Haiti, even as Articles 20 and 21 afforded multilateral measures “in the event of an unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime.” HRW never placed an op-ed about the overthrow in a prominent newspaper. (In 2004 The New York Times alone published at least five HRW opinion pieces and four HRW letters on other subjects.) It is reasonable for outside observers to question whether this lack of response from HRW to such large-scale human rights violations had anything to do with U.S. foreign-policy priorities.
The very existence of such questions regarding HRW’s advocacy should be reason enough to impose sharp restrictions on HRW’s close ties to the U.S. government. ….
Yes but they are quality losers who know no other life, you wouldnt want to see them down the local cafe down to their last million wearing last years pradas would you.
“..I feel shameful walking past rough sleepers – how must the politicians responsible feel?..” (+ comment:..and how do our politicians feel when they see their handiwork in the flesh..?..do they shift at all uneasily in their (comfortable/well-padded/heated) seats..?..especially those labour politicians..eh..?..’cos of all of them..they should really know better..eh..?..but they don’t..)
“.. An evening walk down the Strand in London brings to painful life official figures –
– that show a sharp rise in rough sleeping..”
(cont..)
(ed:..i have asked myself that question..
..especially of labour mp’s/politicians..
..and our labour/green mayors of auckland..
..both of whom when first campaigning to be mayors..
..put their hands on their hearts..
..and vowed/promised to help the homeless..
..since then..yeah..nah..eh..?
..but especially those neo-liberal/rightwing labour mp’s..
..those who won the argument within the labour party pre-’14 election..
..that saw labour ’14 election-policy offering absolutely nothing for the poorest..
..cunnliffe said that benefit-levels wd increase ‘by the rate of inflation..
..which is what national does..
..and here’s the funny story..!
..those rightwing/neo-liberal labour people are still wondering why those poorest..(the missing million..)..
..why they didn’t rush to the polling booths..
..sobbing in/with gratitude on their way..
..to tick the box for labour..
..as i say in the headline..eh..?..’they should really know better’..eh..?..)
Analysts had expected prices to firm in response to lower supply brought on by drought conditions on the east coasts of both the North and South Islands.
See, droughts are good news.
The auction will give farmers some confidence that Fonterra will meet its $4.70 a kg milk price forecast for the current season after prices slumped by 50 per cent in 2014.
However, farm investment company MyFarm estimates the current forecast is well below its estimated average cost of production of $5.03 kg.
I’m not an expert, but that looks like a loss-making enterprise to me.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 7
And if you read like that, I have good grounds to conclude you are incapable of writing anything other than erroneous pedantry. Concentrate on adam’s criticism; a brief summary of why we should click on the link would be helpful, because the number of readers who are going to just on your say so is minimal.
Something like: ‘Frankie Boyle skewers the false outrage of the media’ or ‘comedian rips into media hypocrisy’. It’s not hard.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
More reading difficulty, gormless? That fact that I was able to provide a couple of short summaries strongly suggests I did read Boyle’s piece. Try and avoid arguments based on pedantry in the future, you’re not much good at them.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
You’ll like this from Frankie Boyle, Ole – given that you’re such a good Tory…
On Mock the Week after Thatcher’s demise:
How much do you think the funeral is going to cost ?
Frankie Boyle: “3 million. For 3 million, they could give everyone in Scotland a shovel and we would dig a hole so deep that we could hand her over to Satan personally.”
Who suggested Andrew Little commission anything from David Cohen? He is a very right wing journalist and a great friend of Bill English. It was before Andrew Little was leader so hopefully he is getting better advice these days about who to talk to.
The fact that National have to reach further down into the barrel to ping him for a ubiquitous human error – forgetting to pay a bill – is an indication that they aren’t getting many hits in debate.
Not only that but the NBR has the story saying that the go-between (one Chris Matthews) was also slaggng off other Labour MPs to the journalist. Who is he and what position does he hold?
Since the working class was defeated, indeed pretty much smashed, under the fourth Labour government and the following National government, class consciousness in this country is at an all-time low. The left, defeated on the economic front, managed to win some victories on the cultural front. That was good, but we do need to get back to class: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/class-class-consciousness-and-left-political-practice/
Reading about the Euro debt-mongers problems with their unsustainable business model in Greece would be tragic and hilarious if it wasn’t so hilarious and tragic.
The entire western financial system is hilarious and tragic.
It is up to its use-by date and Greece is a canary in the mine.
More debt in the world than there is money to repay it ……………. thinking thinking thinking
This is quite similar to what Bill wrote here the other day. Indeed if the only option for war with ISIS, is war with ISIS – I think we should do the right thing and help the people at war with ISIS – rather than send our own troops over there.
Just another reason, why we should not send troops into the middle east. This is just stupid on the part of the commanders who ordered this to happen – stupid.
And if you think privatising health care is a winner – or if Obama care is any go. Think again. Insurance companies are in the business to make money – sick people don’t make money = hence the USA and it’s SNAFU approach to health care.
At Public Integrity – you should look up health – and see all the nasty, vicious, and down right evil things the health insurance industry does to make a buck.
…..”But for Arabs, there is a clear message in all these alliances. Washington has an American-trained general in charge of the Libyan air force, an American-trained former field marshal and president in charge of Egypt, an American-educated and British-trained king in Jordan and two wealthy emirates with huge US investments – one of them headquarters to the US fleet in the Gulf – in the battle. Only that well-known dictator who has been fighting Isis for longer than any of them – Bashar al-Assad of Syria – is left out. For now.”
( spot the ironies)
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 12
There is a Wisconsin version of FJK, Scott Walker. There are many similarities in their methods. Given the nature of the US and A, Walker may actually end up in legal trouble if things filter up to the federal level. Meanwhile, FJK’s smile and wave is increasingly being replaced by scowl and lie.
Winston is a lot more useful than Labour these days ( since Helen Clark) ….Labour is a liability…didnt Labour MPs …(the Labour Party boys)…accept SKYCITY hospitality along with the Nacts?…and what about that Auckland Labour Mayor’s role in helping along SkyCity ?…say no more….
….it was the Greens who have always had form on fighting the SkyCity deal …and Winston…and Mana ….this is the real Left Opposition in New Zealand
David Cameron is demanding that obese/overweight people *accept help* (For example the outdated dietary advice that includes eating wheat and a little sugar? That the obese or overweight should learn to hate the appearance of their bodies like the government apparently does? To be taught that human rights law is for “real” disabilities? Hmmm….) or lose benefits.
Cameron really knows how to bene bash huh? At least this reporter has the good sense to make this comment:
“But here is the alternative theory. What if the intention is not to make people slimmer, but to make the obese reconcile themselves with the fact that they are worthless human beings, and hence unworthy of receiving any financial support from anyone? If that is the case, then the initiative may work very well indeed.”
Ask them, if you know who they are. When the English Tories start on obese people as part of their attack on our brothers and sisters in England, I think it’s perfectly OK to suggest they start on Brownlee.
I don’t know what the forms are like currently in NZ, but back in the day when you applied for a benefit for medical reasons part of the form you signed said something like how you could be declined a benefit if you refused medical treatment for the condition. I’m surprised Bennett and co haven’t gone down that track already tbh.
Each foreign government’s request will be examined on a case-by-case basis, and they must agree to “proper use” principles created by Washington that stipulate the drones must obey international law.
Oh, would that be like US drones indiscriminately killing civilians?
I’d say that it’d be better for any country to build their own drones. That way they could guarantee that there wouldn’t be any back doors into the control systems.
Apparently Ports of Auckland have settled with Maritime Union & new Collective contract agreed.
Neither Herald nor Stuff have any details so its going to be interesting to see who ‘won’ after all.
Tont Gibson won as the maritime union has less members and less money then it did before and with the rival port union on the scene they have less influence
Of course they could have accepted the arbitrators decision a couple of years ago and been in a stronger position but thems the breaks
Heres where I’d usually sling some stuff KLittles way over this except that hes doing the exact thing I’d advise him to do, keeping the Greens out of anything that matters is what most voters want since the Greens only got 10% of the vote which is pretty shoddy when you consider how many people didn’t vote
Little is taking Labour to the center which is what he needs to do and it looks like hes distancing Labour away from the Greens to set up a deal with Winston for the next election ala Labour back when they were last in power
Labour doesn’t need to offer the Greens anything because theres nowhere else for the Greens to go and if its a choice between Labour/Winston and the Greens or National/Act/MP then of course the Greens will be Labours doormap
So, unfortuantely (as I want another term for Key) , this is smart politics from Little
Never said anything about going to the right instead I applaud him for:
going to the center
learning from Helen Clark
and yes Little needs to do whatever he needs to so he can get into power then he can make the changes, the problem with Labour supporters in general is that they don’t quite seem to get it that you need to get the power first before you make the changes
Fortunately, for Labour supporters, Little realises that
As you say briefly and then people realised he was all mouth and no trousers, had he gone to the center he probably would have won
Which is why John Key is merely tinkering around the edges of what the right wing want ie
partial privitisation as opposed to full sell offs,
keeping union membership voluntary instead of abolishing unions,
90 day employment bill instead of firing any time any place,
increasing benefit payments instead of cutting back,
tinkering with the RMA instead of abolishing ot and writing a new one
all this because Keys knows (as did Clark) its the center that decides who governs
“Coming up in a few minutes, The Panel with Jim Mora and Noelle McCarthy. I don’t know who their two guests are today, but whoever they are, quality broadcasting will ensue….”
Paddy Gower has taken a $900 unpaid debt to new heights.
By making it his most important event today he has nailed Little. Announcing the honeymoon is over… Almost sounded like he was making a very pointed comment to Little directly.
As in most contests when one side is getting flogged the ref will attempt to even things up a bit by making a “no fuss no foul” trivial call.
Gower is out of his league and should be reporting the Mid-week news in a small community based provincial newspaper.
Cohen is well known to the likes of aunty Audrey & uncle Vernon when they were principled unionists with the journalists union.
From another Open Mike, but it didnt get answered:
I was wondering if an employer that pays minimum wage, after the minimum wage goes up, is required to negotiate in good faith, or can just say ‘im paying minimum wage, deal with it’
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Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...
Holly Lawford-Smith is a senior lecturer in political philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She’s currently writing a book about radical feminism. This article appeared on Feminist Current Academics should be standing together in defence of universities’ fundamental values: the ...
The Otago Daily Times has an in-depth article about the future of wind energy in New Zealand, and it is looking bright:The news that wind will play the leading role in New Zealand’s energy future was put up in lights ...
If the sight of schoolkids striking for a future has been filling you with hope, good news: they want you to join them on September 27:Students will take to the streets again demanding action on climate change, and this time ...
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...
To express concern about foreign ownership and control in New Zealand is often to invite accusations of xenophobia and economic illiteracy. It is worthwhile, therefore, to rehearse the grounds for that concern, and to explore the various forms it can ...
It must be a day ending in Y because the Guardian - remember when it used to be a good paper1 - is running another spurious story about Corbyn's leadership being threatened over anti-Semitism.The headline the Guardian runs is: "MPs tell ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 23 through Sat, June 29, 2019 Editor's Pick When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
July 19 (BusinessDesk) - The government is looking to tighten control and impose harsher penalties after the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak revealed cracks in the country's stock management system. ...
Kia Anga Mua Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi (KAM) has reached a pivotal milestone following a hui yesterday at Waitangi with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Government spent $133,530 on producing its ‘Wellbeing Budget’ document, a cost blowout largely driven by spending on graphic design and photography. The $133,530 price tag compares to $86,268 ...
Kahungunu Māori Language Awards. Nominations closed on 5 July 2019, and were judged by the Senior Management Team of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. The judges wish to acknowledge the very high calibre of all nominations received making it a very ...
High Court of Australia Judge, Justice Stephen Gageler, will address recent criticism of court judgment delays in Australia, at the University of Canterbury (UC) on 23 July at 6.15pm. ...
This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Please find attached embargoed copies of two media statements from the Interim Climate Change Committee http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1907/Embargoed_Interim_Climate_Change_Committee_Accelerated_electrification_MEDIA_STATEMENT.pdf ...
Greenpeace Executive Director, Dr Russel Norman, has reacted with disbelief that the Government’s latest climate proposal includes an option for dairy to voluntarily deal with their emissions over the next six years. ...
This week’s “Youth Parliament” is an expensive waste of time that promotes taxpayer-funded junketeering, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . “We shouldn’t be training kids on the joys of the trough,” says Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones admitted on Q+A tonight that the state of New Zealand’s infrastructure planning is “dismal” and the government needs to get on with building “rather than writing more reports about it.” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher: Children and Technology, Western Sydney University Instagram is running a social media experiment in Australia and elsewhere to see what happens when it hides the number of likes on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...
A poem by Miramar poet Geoff Cochrane.Channel HoppingStupa or Stuka?Weet-Bix or Welsh rabbit?Galactic aerodrome or Matchbox truck?*I’m young in my dreams, still young.*Beautiful Keanu’s wearing shades—antique shades with iodine-coloured lenses.*I’m young in my dreams, still young,and I still have some ...
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury, $35)Fucking ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Griebsch, Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine, University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Sydney, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Recently reported cases of the often fatal bacterial infection ...
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...
Finance companies say they shouldn’t have to be ‘fit and proper’ even though in some cases they charge more than the planned clampdown on high cost lending. A group of finance companies that charges well over the government’s proposed cap on ...
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign Affairs and trade Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The new, ...
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIRO The role Australia played in relaying the first television images of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the Moon 50 years ago this July features in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndal Sleep, Research Fellow, Griffith University In Australia’s social security laws, the “couple rule” is used to determine if a person is in a relationship, tying access to Centrelink payments to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Walker, Lecturer (Management), Victoria University of Wellington We live in a society obsessed with performance. For both young and old, competitions, awards and rankings are an inescapable feature of life. How ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsty Volz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Of all the mantras for modernism, the one I think most befitting for Australian mid-century modern houses is L’esprit Nouveau – The New Spirit. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future, vaccination rates fall alarmingly, and construction industry encouraged to lower emissions.Snowmaking has saved the ski industry from disaster this year, after the weather ...
Joel Rindelaub explains why it's so important for those weighing on climate science to be transparent about their funding sources and conflicts of interest. ...
Neil Armstrong may have been the first man on the moon, but if we define the ‘space race’ as spaceflight capability, the Soviets won it hands down, writes Jennifer Frost. ...
Our government and leaders are (still) divided on the question of compulsory te reo Māori. Who’s for it, who’s against it, and who’s flip flopping around in the middle?Under article two of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the government pledges to ...
When teenagers today are being called upon to solve the problems of tomorrow, why aren’t they given the right to participate in democracy? Fourteen-year-old Oli Morphew makes the case for lowering the voting age. If you’re going to deprive someone of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University Australia’s relations with China will be further complicated by the news that Australian citizen Yang Hengjun is set to be charged with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Kyne, Senior Research Fellow in conservation biology, Charles Darwin University More than 28,000 species around the world are threatened, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics, Centre For Applied Philosophy & Public Ethics (CAPPE), Charles Sturt University Two Australian universities, University of Technology Sydney and Curtin University, are conducting internal reviews of ...
Open mike 18/02/2015 
Open mike is your post. 
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...3 hours ago
This week, in the wake of National's opposition to even talking about reducing agricultural emissions and Simon Bridges' refusal to recognise that there is a climate emergency, I've been saying that National is unfit to govern. And it looks like ...5 hours ago
Something I missed: not only did Youth MPs declare a climate emergency; they also launched a campaign to lower the voting age to 16:Youth Parliament week in Parliament has seen the establishment of Make it 16, a campaign to ...8 hours ago
I have been reading and listening to the aftermath of Trump’s comments about the four female first term Democratic representatives, all of whom are “people of color.” I found the US coverage interesting both as evidence of partisanship and the ...1 day ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...2 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...2 days ago
2 days ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...3 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...3 days ago
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...5 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...1 week ago
1 week ago
2 weeks ago
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...2 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...2 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...3 weeks ago
Image Credit: Blog Writing Tips. I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the ... 3 weeks ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 23 through Sat, June 29, 2019 Editor's Pick When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious' Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and ...3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...3 days ago
July 19 (BusinessDesk) - The government is looking to tighten control and impose harsher penalties after the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak revealed cracks in the country's stock management system. ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...1 hour ago
The Air Force's Boeing 757 has broken down in Melbourne, stranding media and forcing the Prime Minister on to last minute commercial flights. ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cherie Hugo, Teaching Fellow, Nutrition & Dietetics, Bond University The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety this week turned its attention to food and nutrition. The testimony of maggots in ...4 hours ago
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...4 hours ago
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...6 hours ago
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...6 hours ago
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...6 hours ago
A poem by Miramar poet Geoff Cochrane. Channel Hopping Stupa or Stuka?Weet-Bix or Welsh rabbit?Galactic aerodrome or Matchbox truck?*I’m young in my dreams, still young.*Beautiful Keanu’s wearing shades—antique shades with iodine-coloured lenses.*I’m young in my dreams, still young,and I still have some ...7 hours ago
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...7 hours ago
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...8 hours ago
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...8 hours ago
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...8 hours ago
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...8 hours ago
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...9 hours ago
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...9 hours ago
John Banks' former lives, vegetable-based insults in Auckland's mayoral race and metaphorical cabbage - James Elliott has it all. ...9 hours ago
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...10 hours ago
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...11 hours ago
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...13 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsty Volz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Of all the mantras for modernism, the one I think most befitting for Australian mid-century modern houses is L’esprit Nouveau – The New Spirit. ...13 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future, vaccination rates fall alarmingly, and construction industry encouraged to lower emissions.Snowmaking has saved the ski industry from disaster this year, after the weather ...14 hours ago
A former MP and shock jock says Queenstown council’s making excuses in seeking a 35-year approval for sewer overflows. ...15 hours ago
Joel Rindelaub explains why it's so important for those weighing on climate science to be transparent about their funding sources and conflicts of interest. ...15 hours ago
Emma Espiner takes a look at a deadly inequity happening in our poorest communities. ...15 hours ago
Rebecca Mahoney is about to make rugby history as the first woman to referee a Ranfurly Shield challenge. ...15 hours ago
Neil Armstrong may have been the first man on the moon, but if we define the ‘space race’ as spaceflight capability, the Soviets won it hands down, writes Jennifer Frost. ...15 hours ago
At three weeks in, how is New Zealand coping with the plastic bag ban? ...16 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Kyne, Senior Research Fellow in conservation biology, Charles Darwin University More than 28,000 species around the world are threatened, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International ...23 hours ago
Better late than never, isn’t it?
http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/labour-leader-outed-over-unpaid-bill/ar-BBhEQBy?ocid=mailsignoutmd
Despite Hager’s book, Dirty Politics alive and kicking under Key’s sleazy government.
TPP?
Sky City?
Sabin?
Key takes the election result as a mandate for another term of it as the sheeple say so assisted by a labour party with past their use by dates MPs and strategists
I saw an MP had posted on facebook a photo of the Labour caucus class of 2015 on the steps of parliament yesterday. Plenty of 50 something’s shades of grey. It was depressing some of the same old faces still clipping the ticket. Others must have been thinking the same as there were few likes.
is there a down-tick option..?
Yes democracy rapidly becoming a sham in the land of the great white sheeple.
@ Paul. Agree.
By the way where is Nicky Hager these days? Haven’t heard anything of him for a while!
Is he under house arrest?
Been gagged?
Prevented from speaking publicly?
Any news about the outcome of police removing his personal effects from his home to be investigated?
We need a journalist of Hager’s intelligence, calibre and integrity to investigate John Key’s involvement re the time frame of having been informed of the Mike Sabin affair!
Another point is it’s interesting that today, msm (Fairfax and NZH) is carrying the story about Andrew Little’s past “non payment” of an invoice, (after it was raised in Parliament yesterday by the loathsome Steven Joyce), focusing on the time frame of the actual payment (yesterday)!
So I ask, where is msm focus on slimy PM Key and his grubby ministers, digging deep about when they first became aware of the Sabin investigation?
Pity more media enthusiasm and attention isn’t focused on this issue, where it should be.
A good rejoinder to Joyce would be to ask how many Teachers have not been paid correctly this year.
@ dv – BINGO!
The media give corporate shills like Mary Beard a voice, not real journalists like Hager publicity.
Remember they want more for themselves and less for the rest of us.
So being on a salesperson for the TPP rather than an advocate for democracy, transparency and solidarity.
Labour Party PR is abysmal. How can any efficient system drop their leader into the mess that Andrew finds himself in? The Shearer “fish in Parliament” debacle, lack of penetrating secondary questions and dredging up petty and inconsequential points. Andrew needs a decent “minder” that would never have allowed the likes of Joyce to crucify him over an unpaid bill. It’s all over the media today and Key’s back off the ropes.
Pay some real money and buy a minder that’s got his/her finger on the pulse. Another with the political nous of Heather Simpson – – – there’ll be someone out there.
“It’s all over the media”.
Not a single reference to it on Stuff’s front page in fact. I guess people who are impressed by ‘gotcha’ politics will clutch their pearls a bit. Meanwhile, Bill English’s toxic ACC rort is getting as least as much attention, and that will still be news tomorrow, as will National Party Sabinism and the Skysore.
Wot’s this then ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/66310310/andrew-little-coughs-up-months-overdue-bill
On the front page? English comprehension 101. Reading is a skill.
Why do you have to be so offensive ? You brought up the ‘front page’ issue, not I.
I repeat “it is all over the media”.
I think you’re exaggerating the significance of a story that will be gone by tomorrow.
i don’t..it’s an impression that will stick..
Getting plenty of airtime on Morning Report. The complainant (who just happens to be an NBR freelancer) is suggesting there was no intention to pay. But you’re right this will be old news tomorrow. Labour just need to get their shit together and stop being their own worst enemy.
Is John Armstrong frothing at the mouth screaming “resign!” again? After all, a late payment is at least as serious as an eleven-year-old form letter.
I’m sure Armstrong is whipping up an online column as we speak…
Along the lines of “When will National pay its $100 billion bill, Bill?”
Stop trying to resurrect that dead horse.
That isn’t a very nice thing to say about Mr. Armstrong.
Little will be taking the blame for some staff cock-up either in his office or Labour HQ.
Given that Shearer’s fish debacle is brought up at every available opportunity (and in this column today!!) I reckon that Andrew Little’s unpaid bill (and no need to put it in inverted commas ‘cos it was exactly that, it appears) will continue to haunt him in just the same way. It was a damn silly oversight on Andrew’s part and his minders need to be much more on the ball.
Your concern is touching. Truly.
No, wait, this just in: fuck off.
Silly but minor. It will be forgotten within a week.
Sure is a pretty dumb own-goal but given the debacle of last week and the ease with which Little has owned Key on SkyCity I guess some sort of retaliation was to be expected. No surprise then that the Nats have reverted to the tried-and-true methods that have served them well in the past. It will be interesting how Little and Labour respond. Probably best just to suck it up, take responsibility and try and push through. And, since we’re dealing the dark art of politics, some added fuel thrown on Winston’s claims of insider trading at SkyCity would be useful.
The timing of SkyCity announcement of wanting a taxpayer handout pushed their share price up which was smart Morrison. However the ‘no penalty’ for the convention centre size reduction looks dodgy as hell.
Key and his cronies tie up with that very sketchy outfit the NZX is fishy in my opinion. By the NZX moving into being a fund manager and recently increasing their holdings bears looking into.
Gosman the National Party shrill will come on here with his twisted opinion shortly.
“..The Shearer “fish in Parliament” debacle..”
wasn’t that stuart nash shearers’ chief-adviser then..?
..was the fish his idea..?
..or did shearer brain-fart that one out all on his own..?..
I believe the fish idea was entirely Shearer’s, and no one else in caucus knew about it until he did it. He bought the fish from an Auckland supermarket and flew to Wellington with him in his carry-on…
“He bought the fish from an Auckland supermarket and flew to Wellington with him in his carry-on…”
Wow, really? That’s a special kind of retarded.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11111726
“Mr Shearer’s fish, which he had brought down from Auckland in his carry-on luggage, were placed back in a bag and ushered out of the debating chamber by deputy leader Grant Robertson.”
Wow…
And just imagine him on the plane with his secret cargo, all pleased with himself, smug little smirk on his fishy little face.
Underestimate my scaly powers, will they?
Wow indeed.
Heh, indeed. I can see the inner dialogue
“Show me will they? Hehehe, my and my little ‘friends’ here will sink the National government. Sink? That’s a good pun. Must work that in. Also something about sleeping with the fishes. Ho ho ho – that’s a good one”
And so forth.
Also, what the fuck did the guys screening his bag think?
Maybe he still keeps a diplomatic bag…
It’s probably a catch bag
Maybe he pulled the old bait and switch
He might have said “It’s my lunch” and airport security would have bought it hook, line and sinker
That was a great example of the emperor has no clothes on. I remember thinking
oh dear god this mug has lost the plot. To think he didn’t fall on his sword and not seek re election sums up the problem with Labour. All the previous leaders bar DC should have not stood again.
“..All the previous leaders bar DC should have not stood again..”
+ 1..
funny story..!
..shearer now feels he is qualified to work in ‘intelligence’..
..(just keep him away from the fish..!..)
New temporary boss of GCSB was the ex lawyer for the ministry of Fisheries Maybe take some loaves and he is in!
there ya go..!..
q.e.d..
there is a definite pattern there..
..i feel a venn-diagram coming on..
..let the overlaps fall where they may..!
I bet a few people would like to have a Super Minister discuss their unpaid bills in parliament, and then get the harpie Gower into it to. Perhaps they could get onto the tax evaders for the country while they are onto it
A caliphate established by radical Muslims that supports genocide and appears intent on precipitating World War 3 with an aim of engineering the Apocalypse – “that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.”
Doing nothing to try and minimise this would seem to be unwise.
ISIS – apostles of the Apocalypse
Long version (Graeme Wood at The Atlantic): What ISIS Really Wants
Invading Iraq in 2003 really worked, didn’t it?
Guess you advocated for NZ’s involvement then as well.
No, you shouldn’t make baseless assumptions. I opposed the invasion of Iraq.
This is now very different situation. ISIS is not a State. Iraq has asked us to assist them in opposing ISIS.
Have you read The Atlantic article? Or have you leapt straight to diversion?
Nah, this is about you telling lies again. Citation needed for people who suggest we do nothing. Put up or shut up, racist.
That’s more garbled than usual from you OAB.
Of course I’m a much more dangerous enemy than ISIS. ‘Must defeat enemy’. You should wake up properly first though.
Who are the people who say we should do nothing? Put up or shut up, racist.
Me. I say we should do nothing. It would work if we did nothing – why don’t people actually think through these things?
No humanitarian aid then. No help for the Kurds. No restriction on arms dealers?
Nothing military.
For a large number of reasons, all of which have been thrashed around here plenty.
What do you think would happen if we did nothing militarily?
Just making sure that Racist George hasn’t found his citation – “nothing military” ≠ “nothing”.
little said that the iraqi politician who visited asked for humanitarian-aid..
..why the fuck don’t we just do that..?
..instead of being mercenaries/spear-carriers for the fucken americans..
..with our soldiers having to be given diplomatic passports..
..so they can kill at will..?
..’cos the iraqi govt won’t give them the legal rights to kill their people..
..the australian soldiers are already killing using diplomatic passports..’cos they were also refused that right by the iraqi govt..
..how the fuck does all of this mesh with the bullshit being spun by key..?
..that we aren’t just mercenaries/spear-carriers for the americans..
..we are going to war ‘to help’ the iraqis..
..that they ‘want us there’..
..as little was told..what they want is humanitarian aid..
..not just more fucken soldiers throwing lead around..
No prob oab.
But – what would happen over there if we did nothing militarily?
Anyone?
We’d have to stop helping spy on them first – unless that doesn’t count as “something military”.
Ok then, if the spying and any other military activity stops.
What would happen if we did nothing militarily over there?
Anyone?
(why do I get the feeling the question is being avoided…
I think the result would be much the same, because the plan is rubbish and we lack sufficient influence to change it.
I’ll have a crack VTO.
ISIS is a threat to a bunch of people over there who would do stuff about it.
Obviously the Shia blocs who are the current primary target of ISIS. So they are already stepping up in the alliance between Iran/Iraq and Syria. That would continue. They have their own agenda of forming a fairly solid shia ruled area. They’d probably achieve that.
Secondly, the Gulf states like Saudi A, UAE etc are threatened by ISIS to a small degree. Insofar that they are bad PR for the anti Shia movement that they care about, they will step up. They have problems in that if they step up too hard against IS then their own populations get a bit angsty, not because of direct IS support (which is small) but because of IS being an Anti-shia force. It’s a tricky spot for them, so they’d probably clamp down hard on ISIS when it raises it’s head in a Sunni state, (same as they do with AQ and the Bortherhood).
The Sunni states probably enjoy watching Iran bleed against ISIS so they may be tempted to quietly fund them to prolong it, and they will not be happy about the Shia states getting their solid bloc, but I doubt they could stop it, and fundamentally, they’d rather have someone who wasn;t as insane as ISIS to be their proxy.
So, I reckon if we butted out, the Shia would fuck ISIS over the next year or two, the Sunni states would say ‘that’s annoying’ and start funding some other wee group.
Pretty much the same as what will happen if we do interfere, with the difference being that we won’t be getting in the way.
interesting and correct although I meant “we” being “NZ”. In other words the US and its dirty cronies like Australia carry on without us.
Same result – no difference…
Sounds like an endorsement for war with shoot to kill being approved by the PM and the troops becoming honorary diplomat’s.
Expecting something else from captain beige ? content generation is best done with such inferences.
I hear Feild Marshal Brownlee has been kitted out with a dapper taylor made safari outfit.
our very own colonel blimp..
brownlee clearly need a swagger-stick..
..so he can stand there and whack his thighs with it..
..to emphasise his points..
..(and for a touch of self-inflicted bdsm..?..
..gerry’s been a naughty boy..?..)
He has been seen roaring around the streets of Christchurch in a Hummer. Must be some special powers Key has invoked since we are at war.
is it a camo-hummer..?
has it got one of those disabled-access lift things..?
..to get him in and out..?
..are there emergency-procedures set up for when he gets stuck..?
lol
Uncharacteristically considerate of brownlee to have a hummer.
Some people might not immediately recognise him and therefore know he is a twat, but driving a hummer is like a huge neon sign labelling him as such.
How many tents did it take?
just one marquee…
Sounds like you haven’t tried to read it.
I’m a strong supporter of peace and non-violence generally.
But when you already have a war with major intent then doing nothing doesn’t reduce or stop the violence, it allows it to grow.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent – Edmund Burke
Citation needed for people who suggest we do nothing, Racist George.
A stated before PG… How about the “West” stop training, funding and arming ISIS before “we” worry about putting military personnel there – in ANY form?
No arms, no cash and no capability would tend to weaken them quite a bit don’t ya think?
Stop sipping the kool-aid.
Handwringing pearl clutching racist has nothing of value to offer. Again.
Well that will just fit in perfectly with those Christians who also want to bring on the Apocalypse.
http://www.christianity.com/theology/end-times/
Pity we cant limit the war to Apocalypse believers only on some unoccupied area of wasteland and leave them to it.
They’re not the only ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Age#Judaism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Age#Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_al-Mahdi#Reappearance
readership down a bit, that you need to clickbait?
Nobel Peace Laureates Slam Human Rights Watch’s
Refusal to Cut Ties to U.S. Government
AlterNet, July 8, 2014
Human Rights Watch’s affiliation with ex-CIA and NATO officials generates perverse incentives and undermine its reputation for independence.
In a May 12 letter published on AlterNet, two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and over 100 scholars, journalists and human rights activists called on Human Rights Watch to close its revolving door to the U.S. government. On June 3, HRW published a response from executive director Kenneth Roth on its website, arguing that their “concern is misplaced.” In a June 11 debate on Democracy Now!, HRW Counsel and Spokesman Reed Brody similarly rejected their recommendations.
Now, Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel join fellow signatories Richard Falk (United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories from 2008-14) and Hans von Sponeck (UN Assistant Secretary General from 1998-2000) in demanding that their proposals be taken seriously, and additionally, that HRW remove former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana from its Board of Directors.
Dear Kenneth Roth,
While we welcome your stated commitment to Human Rights Watch’s independence and credibility, we are dismayed by your rejection of our common-sense suggestion for strengthening them: bar those who have crafted or executed U.S. foreign policy from serving as HRW staff, advisors or board members—or, at a bare minimum, mandate lengthy “cooling-off” periods before and after any associate moves between HRW and the foreign-policy divisions of the U.S. government.
Before addressing your letter’s objections to the three instances of HRW’s advocacy that suggest a conflict of interest, we would like to reiterate that they were “limited to only recent history,” and that other cases could have been raised as well. One obvious example of HRW’s failure to appropriately criticize U.S. crimes occurred after the 2004 coup d’état against the democratically elected government of Haiti. The U.S. government essentially kidnapped Haiti’s president; thousands of people were killed under the ensuing coup regime; and deposed officials of the constitutional government were jailed.
In the face of what were likely the worst human rights abuses of any country in the Western hemisphere at the time, HRW barely lifted a finger. HRW never hosted a press conference criticizing the coup or post-coup atrocities. In contrast to HRW’s appeals to the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Democratic Charter for Venezuela and Cuba, HRW never publicly invoked the Charter in the case of Haiti, even as Articles 20 and 21 afforded multilateral measures “in the event of an unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime.” HRW never placed an op-ed about the overthrow in a prominent newspaper. (In 2004 The New York Times alone published at least five HRW opinion pieces and four HRW letters on other subjects.) It is reasonable for outside observers to question whether this lack of response from HRW to such large-scale human rights violations had anything to do with U.S. foreign-policy priorities.
The very existence of such questions regarding HRW’s advocacy should be reason enough to impose sharp restrictions on HRW’s close ties to the U.S. government. ….
Read more….
http://www.alternet.org/world/nobel-peace-laureates-slam-human-rights-watchs-refusal-cut-ties-us-government
I knew something sneaky was hiding behind the SkyCity funding kerfuffle. The Govt has been softening us for (at least) $6M funding of a bunch of wealthy losers: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11403588
Government of the rich, for the rich, by the rich.
Yes but they are quality losers who know no other life, you wouldnt want to see them down the local cafe down to their last million wearing last years pradas would you.
$millions$ given to rich yachties (and they are very rich)
$hundredsthousands$ taken from school children libraries.
………
$millions$ for casinos
$homes$ sold from under the poor
-and a measely $30 thousand couldn’t be found to fund Christchurch’s only Rape Crisis Support Line
“..I feel shameful walking past rough sleepers – how must the politicians responsible feel?..” (+ comment:..and how do our politicians feel when they see their handiwork in the flesh..?..do they shift at all uneasily in their (comfortable/well-padded/heated) seats..?..especially those labour politicians..eh..?..’cos of all of them..they should really know better..eh..?..but they don’t..)
“.. An evening walk down the Strand in London brings to painful life official figures –
– that show a sharp rise in rough sleeping..”
(cont..)
(ed:..i have asked myself that question..
..especially of labour mp’s/politicians..
..and our labour/green mayors of auckland..
..both of whom when first campaigning to be mayors..
..put their hands on their hearts..
..and vowed/promised to help the homeless..
..since then..yeah..nah..eh..?
..but especially those neo-liberal/rightwing labour mp’s..
..those who won the argument within the labour party pre-’14 election..
..that saw labour ’14 election-policy offering absolutely nothing for the poorest..
..cunnliffe said that benefit-levels wd increase ‘by the rate of inflation..
..which is what national does..
..and here’s the funny story..!
..those rightwing/neo-liberal labour people are still wondering why those poorest..(the missing million..)..
..why they didn’t rush to the polling booths..
..sobbing in/with gratitude on their way..
..to tick the box for labour..
..as i say in the headline..eh..?..’they should really know better’..eh..?..)
(cont..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2015/i-feel-shameful-walking-past-rough-sleepers-%E2%80%93-how-must-the-politicians-responsible-feel-comment-and-how-do-our-politicians-feel-when-they-see-their-handiwork-in-the-flesh-do/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11403351
Not so much down and gloom on dairy prices anymore
When it gets back up to the average price in 2011, be sure to let us know.
See, droughts are good news.
I’m not an expert, but that looks like a loss-making enterprise to me.
This:
http://www.frankieboyle.com/frankie/free-speech.html
I’m not going to follow the link gormless – as your to bloody lazy to write a description.
Are you just click baiting?
It’s “you’re”. It is a contraction of “you are”. Maybe reading is not your thing.
adam was writing, not reading, gormless. Pot, kettle, etc.
If he writes like that, I have good grounds to conclude he is incapable of reading.
And if you read like that, I have good grounds to conclude you are incapable of writing anything other than erroneous pedantry. Concentrate on adam’s criticism; a brief summary of why we should click on the link would be helpful, because the number of readers who are going to just on your say so is minimal.
Something like: ‘Frankie Boyle skewers the false outrage of the media’ or ‘comedian rips into media hypocrisy’. It’s not hard.
You could have read it by now. Or not. Suit yourself. I will try to struggle on regardless.
More reading difficulty, gormless? That fact that I was able to provide a couple of short summaries strongly suggests I did read Boyle’s piece. Try and avoid arguments based on pedantry in the future, you’re not much good at them.
Noted.
You’ll like this from Frankie Boyle, Ole – given that you’re such a good Tory…
On Mock the Week after Thatcher’s demise:
How much do you think the funeral is going to cost ?
Frankie Boyle: “3 million. For 3 million, they could give everyone in Scotland a shovel and we would dig a hole so deep that we could hand her over to Satan personally.”
Who suggested Andrew Little commission anything from David Cohen? He is a very right wing journalist and a great friend of Bill English. It was before Andrew Little was leader so hopefully he is getting better advice these days about who to talk to.
Yeah, for goodness sakes don’t make any effort to find out how the Right will spin the things you say 🙄
he was hired to coalesce/define/translate..
..the thoughts of chairman little..
..i wonder how all of that worked out..?
..if it was value for money..?
Knowing what your adversary will say about you before they say it can be an advantage, if the information is used wisely.
I think Little’s doing ok on the presentation front.
“..Knowing what your adversary will say about you before they say it can be an advantage, if the information is used wisely. .”
to a point..i s’pose..
..and cohen was the only one who cd make those calls..?
..who cd lay out those hypothetical-scenarios..?
..and so now we have a rightwinger..who has looked inside littles’ head..
..any hypothetical bad-scenarios you can see around that..?
..and little was ‘doing ok’..
..not so much lately..
Other than you, who says Cohen was the only one?
The fact that National have to reach further down into the barrel to ping him for a ubiquitous human error – forgetting to pay a bill – is an indication that they aren’t getting many hits in debate.
What happened to ‘angry Andy’? 😆
nobbled by neo-liberalism..?
(and..)
“..Other than you, who says Cohen was the only one?..”
..was there a whole team on it..?
..the ‘little-brain team’..?..
..’here come the l.b.t.’s..!’..
..did they have a uniform..?..
..or at the very least..an insignia..?
..a motto..?
“..– is an indication that they aren’t getting many hits in debate..”
going on the commentary i did on q-time yesterday..
..little was the one not ‘getting many hits’..
..and i mean..there is hardly a lack of ammunition to hand..?
..is there..?
Not only that but the NBR has the story saying that the go-between (one Chris Matthews) was also slaggng off other Labour MPs to the journalist. Who is he and what position does he hold?
Since the working class was defeated, indeed pretty much smashed, under the fourth Labour government and the following National government, class consciousness in this country is at an all-time low. The left, defeated on the economic front, managed to win some victories on the cultural front. That was good, but we do need to get back to class: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/class-class-consciousness-and-left-political-practice/
Yet another excellent article, Philip. Redline is a great read.
Reading about the Euro debt-mongers problems with their unsustainable business model in Greece would be tragic and hilarious if it wasn’t so hilarious and tragic.
The entire western financial system is hilarious and tragic.
It is up to its use-by date and Greece is a canary in the mine.
More debt in the world than there is money to repay it ……………. thinking thinking thinking
Hilarious
Tragic
This is quite similar to what Bill wrote here the other day. Indeed if the only option for war with ISIS, is war with ISIS – I think we should do the right thing and help the people at war with ISIS – rather than send our own troops over there.
http://libcom.org/news/kurdistan-gilles-dauv%C3%A9-17022015
Sorry about the long links in advance.
Just another reason, why we should not send troops into the middle east. This is just stupid on the part of the commanders who ordered this to happen – stupid.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/02/12/16751/us-troops-burned-waste-hazardous-open-pits-while-safer-incinerators-sat-idle?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=watchdog&utm_medium=publici-email&goal=0_ffd1d0160d-3b6faff816-100020097&mc_cid=3b6faff816&mc_eid=c346e018f7
And if you think privatising health care is a winner – or if Obama care is any go. Think again. Insurance companies are in the business to make money – sick people don’t make money = hence the USA and it’s SNAFU approach to health care.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/02/16/16766/elimination-public-option-threw-consumers-insurance-wolves?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=watchdog&utm_medium=publici-email&goal=0_ffd1d0160d-3b6faff816-100020097&mc_cid=3b6faff816&mc_eid=c346e018f7
At Public Integrity – you should look up health – and see all the nasty, vicious, and down right evil things the health insurance industry does to make a buck.
Robert Fisk’s latest on ISIS
‘Isis has provoked an Arab alliance to bomb the West’s enemies’
http://www.independent.co.uk/biography/robert-fisk
…..”But for Arabs, there is a clear message in all these alliances. Washington has an American-trained general in charge of the Libyan air force, an American-trained former field marshal and president in charge of Egypt, an American-educated and British-trained king in Jordan and two wealthy emirates with huge US investments – one of them headquarters to the US fleet in the Gulf – in the battle. Only that well-known dictator who has been fighting Isis for longer than any of them – Bashar al-Assad of Syria – is left out. For now.”
( spot the ironies)
And this:
https://dimpost.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/same-as-it-ever-was/
There is a Wisconsin version of FJK, Scott Walker. There are many similarities in their methods. Given the nature of the US and A, Walker may actually end up in legal trouble if things filter up to the federal level. Meanwhile, FJK’s smile and wave is increasingly being replaced by scowl and lie.
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/4-things-you-should-know-about-presidential-candidate-scott-walker-its-too-late
Daily Telegraph political commentator quits in protest at deteriorating journalistic standards
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-17/honesty-shocker-telegraphs-political-commentator-quits-over-hsbc-coverage-accuses-pa
Go Winston .. let’s see if the FMA have either teeth or guts ….
Winston Peters: ‘Huge volume’ of SkyCity shares trading must be investigated:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11403839
I’m glad Winnie has raised that. He’s still useful on some issues.
Winston is a lot more useful than Labour these days ( since Helen Clark) ….Labour is a liability…didnt Labour MPs …(the Labour Party boys)…accept SKYCITY hospitality along with the Nacts?…and what about that Auckland Labour Mayor’s role in helping along SkyCity ?…say no more….
….it was the Greens who have always had form on fighting the SkyCity deal …and Winston…and Mana ….this is the real Left Opposition in New Zealand
The book Dirty Politics gains a win for the port workers with the Maritime Union members ratifying a collective agreement this morning.
Well done comrades and excellent job brother Gary Parsloe. My you enjoy many years of retirement!
David Cameron is demanding that obese/overweight people *accept help* (For example the outdated dietary advice that includes eating wheat and a little sugar? That the obese or overweight should learn to hate the appearance of their bodies like the government apparently does? To be taught that human rights law is for “real” disabilities? Hmmm….) or lose benefits.
Cameron really knows how to bene bash huh? At least this reporter has the good sense to make this comment:
“But here is the alternative theory. What if the intention is not to make people slimmer, but to make the obese reconcile themselves with the fact that they are worthless human beings, and hence unworthy of receiving any financial support from anyone? If that is the case, then the initiative may work very well indeed.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/16/david-cameron-obese-big-society-benefits
The plan should be trialled on Gerry Brownlee. He certainly doesn’t deserve any financial support from anyone.
hi murray, where are the obesist police?
i would have expected you to be taken to task for that comment.
perhaps double standards much?
i think i detect a touch of afflunentist (?) in yr comment too. 😉
Ask them, if you know who they are. When the English Tories start on obese people as part of their attack on our brothers and sisters in England, I think it’s perfectly OK to suggest they start on Brownlee.
I don’t know what the forms are like currently in NZ, but back in the day when you applied for a benefit for medical reasons part of the form you signed said something like how you could be declined a benefit if you refused medical treatment for the condition. I’m surprised Bennett and co haven’t gone down that track already tbh.
What could possibly go wrong ?
US lets allies buy killer drones … oh yes, this should end well.
07-866 6851www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/02/17/u-s-to-let-allies-buy-killer-drones.html?via=newsletter&source=CSPMedition
MORONS.
With the US having them, it’s already ended badly. This is just a continuation.
Hi Murray .. hope your trip to Tai Tokerau tomorrow bears some fruit if you are in the right place at the right time .. travel well …
Quoting article:
Oh, would that be like US drones indiscriminately killing civilians?
I’d say that it’d be better for any country to build their own drones. That way they could guarantee that there wouldn’t be any back doors into the control systems.
Apparently Ports of Auckland have settled with Maritime Union & new Collective contract agreed.
Neither Herald nor Stuff have any details so its going to be interesting to see who ‘won’ after all.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/years-long-ports-auckland-union-dispute-tipped-end-morning-sources-ng-168805?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NBR%2520Heads%2520Up
Tont Gibson won as the maritime union has less members and less money then it did before and with the rival port union on the scene they have less influence
Of course they could have accepted the arbitrators decision a couple of years ago and been in a stronger position but thems the breaks
andrew little under-impressed..again..
..and kennedy ‘death-stare’ graham got performer-of-the-day..
..but all in all..it was a bit of a drag..
(but key did tell us that he ‘has a vision’..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2015/new-zealand-parliament-list-of-questions-for-oral-answer-wednesday-18-february-2015/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/66323975/editorial-andrew-little-plays-into-pms-hands-on-spying
Heres where I’d usually sling some stuff KLittles way over this except that hes doing the exact thing I’d advise him to do, keeping the Greens out of anything that matters is what most voters want since the Greens only got 10% of the vote which is pretty shoddy when you consider how many people didn’t vote
Little is taking Labour to the center which is what he needs to do and it looks like hes distancing Labour away from the Greens to set up a deal with Winston for the next election ala Labour back when they were last in power
Labour doesn’t need to offer the Greens anything because theres nowhere else for the Greens to go and if its a choice between Labour/Winston and the Greens or National/Act/MP then of course the Greens will be Labours doormap
So, unfortuantely (as I want another term for Key) , this is smart politics from Little
good advice there pucky..!
..move more to the right you reckon..?
..even when that didn’t work that well last time..eh..?
..that missing-million couldn’t be stirred to vote for the promise of s.f.a. for them..
..silly poor..!..eh..?..they should be grateful for crumbs..!..even for no crumbs..!.
..yep..!..that worked out really well..
..little-labour should try really hard to be more like key-national..eh..?
..well..they have made a good start..eh..?..on the spooking-front..
..taking five minutes to agree to extending the powers of the spooks..
..and freezing turei/the greens out of the spooks-‘club’..eh..?
Never said anything about going to the right instead I applaud him for:
going to the center
learning from Helen Clark
and yes Little needs to do whatever he needs to so he can get into power then he can make the changes, the problem with Labour supporters in general is that they don’t quite seem to get it that you need to get the power first before you make the changes
Fortunately, for Labour supporters, Little realises that
and labour polled their highest when exactly…?
..wasn’t it when cunnliffe had his (however brief) ‘workers’ flag is deepest red’ moment..?
..what wd u take from that..?
As you say briefly and then people realised he was all mouth and no trousers, had he gone to the center he probably would have won
Which is why John Key is merely tinkering around the edges of what the right wing want ie
partial privitisation as opposed to full sell offs,
keeping union membership voluntary instead of abolishing unions,
90 day employment bill instead of firing any time any place,
increasing benefit payments instead of cutting back,
tinkering with the RMA instead of abolishing ot and writing a new one
all this because Keys knows (as did Clark) its the center that decides who governs
Thanks Chris for owning up to what the right really intend to do to our society.
Do you really think they should abolish the unions PR? You’re saying the government should legislate away the right to free association?
Of course he wants workers’ rights dismantled.
They get in the way of his masters’ profits.
” Never said anything about going to the right”
FFS chris73. In which direction do you move to get from the left to the centre?
LOL
Liars of Our Time
No. 47: SIMON MERCEP
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Coming up in a few minutes, The Panel with Jim Mora and Noelle McCarthy. I don’t know who their two guests are today, but whoever they are, quality broadcasting will ensue….”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—SIMON MERCEP, Radio NZ National, 3:35 p.m., Wednesday 18 February 2015
Liar No. 46 Julia Gillard: “I have got a lot of respect for people who whistle-blow, ummm….”
Liar No. 45 Zara Potts: “Sir Bob Geldof has assembled the best of modern musicians for this year’s record, including Ed Sheeran and One Direction.”
More liars HERE….
A liar.
Or a deluded fool?
I think there was a bit of tongue in his cheek as he said it, actually.
Hipkins managed to get this out of the Min of Ed Secretary today:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/66349800/novopay-botchups-cost-45m-to-fix
That’s an extra 45 million on top of the countless sums already spent.
But Scott, Little didnt pay a $900 debt, you must know THAT is more worthy of being shared with TV3’s news audience tonight?
Paddy Gower has taken a $900 unpaid debt to new heights.
By making it his most important event today he has nailed Little. Announcing the honeymoon is over… Almost sounded like he was making a very pointed comment to Little directly.
I think Gower’s piece tonight smacked of overreach actually. For all that though hopefully Andrew Little is practicing the media shut-down right now.
It was Gower’s version of
na-na-na-na-na
I think it reflected more on he than little in the end
Paddy was so thrilled to be able to “nail” Andrew. “It seems that -(pause) the Honeymoon is over!” Poor deficient Paddy.
You get the feeling that Gower (and probably TV3) had hoped to lead with this story (exclusive emails etc) but events have rather overtaken them.
As in most contests when one side is getting flogged the ref will attempt to even things up a bit by making a “no fuss no foul” trivial call.
Gower is out of his league and should be reporting the Mid-week news in a small community based provincial newspaper.
Cohen is well known to the likes of aunty Audrey & uncle Vernon when they were principled unionists with the journalists union.
From another Open Mike, but it didnt get answered:
I was wondering if an employer that pays minimum wage, after the minimum wage goes up, is required to negotiate in good faith, or can just say ‘im paying minimum wage, deal with it’