Just reading in granny about Waikato rugby and some financial issues that show they just think they are special then there’s that naki iwi who’ve lost millions run by a former Nat candidate.
Is this a theme here with former Nat pollys and nat backer in finance companies, iwi, rugby or just coincidence. If it is a theme it’s no wonder they can’t manage an economy as all they seem to understand is plunder without planning.
SkyCity’s deal over pokies in exchange for a national convention centre comes after three failed court attempts to expand its casino business.
It repeatedly challenged the Gambling Commission over its restrictions – so much that ministers overseeing gambling regulation have been warned about direct lobbying by the casino company.
SkyCity has not filed a court challenge since the National Government came to power in 2008.
Legislation to allow more cashless pokies aimed at working and benefit poor people (the ones who fill up the place on the Weds and Fridays Sky Say shows they are at capacity) looks like an increasingly dirty deal for the government
John Key’s confirmed from Indonesia that he made the offer to Sky City to install more pokie machines, if it built a new convention centre in the city.
+1.
More and more of our democracy is being whittled away. Lian Dalziel was on TV this morning talking about new government moves taking power away from Christchurch’s elected councillors.
In reaction to the Council declaring themselves Frack Free no doubt. They also encouraged other councils around New Zealand to do the same, Which National would be livid about. They will make every other excuse in the world, but it’s because Christchurch threatens their mine it, drill it and wreck it for a few dollars policy that the heat is on.
Jared – you are right – it is difficult to accept that there is not considerable damage from pokies outside Sky City.
Close all outside pokies – particularly in Auckland south and centralise them where they can be controlled like those in Sky City.
Major Sky City money movements are not through the pokies but the tables.
Quite amazing how one guy almost doubled the previous number of people shot & killed by a single shooter, all before the police got to him, and amazingly never shot him dead – WOW!
No inconsistancies in the stories either…And of course there was the obligatory “terrorist” exercises by Oslo Police a couple of days before hand….Just like London and NYC before that…
If you hear anything about terror drills, it would seem the pudent advise would be to head in another direction. – I don’t include the attempted manufacturing of the Uruwera in that, which was so clearly a contrived local beat up!
I’m sure its all just coincidental though – Send him to the Hague, where it is highly likely he will die waiting for a trial – Prediction, he will be dead one way or another soon enough!
I have friends from Noway in Oslo and Stavanger, they are asking questions too, want the truth, and feel they are being lied to!
The situation was an absolute tragedy, but like the case of French shooter, who in fact on an american no fly list, raises more questions than answers than are being drilled into.
Questions you again avoid, and in another uncontrolled fit, your massive ego initiates yet another attack…
Shame on you, to insist on dragging this tragedy down to your self-aggrandising narrative.
The fact that there are other paranoiacs out there, and that you are in contact with them, does not surprise me.
The problem with your “questions” is that you clearly think you know the answers to them – which makes them assertions, not questions. We can easily cut through your rhetoric though: state exactly what you are talking about – put your allegations on the table – put up or shut up. Come on, I’m far too ego-centric and confused to make sense of your witless melange, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to spell it out for me.
but like the case of French shooter, who in fact on an american no fly list, raises more questions than answers than are being drilled into.
I have had serious questions and doubts about the French shooter! The story around him changed every day… to start with, he was an unknown right-winger after shooting three Muslim soldiers, and then, after the shooting at the Jewish school, suddenly he was an Islamist…
How repugnant that you exploit this disgusting act to promote a conspiracy theory.
The issue is that one man with an automatic weapon, lots of ammo, after untrained civilian targets…it was going to be a massive tragedy from the start.
The island was a perfect place to do this – law enforcement was slow and constrained as to how they could get out there.
If they could have got police on the ground within 10 minutes of the shootings starting many lives could have been saved, but not even our AOS can respond that quickly to an incident down the road.
It’s a sad and sordid tale of a fearful mind being whipped into a murderous rage by paranoid extremist rhetoric. Breivik’s conspiracy theories aren’t exactly rare.
There are whole networks of people like this in Europe that he was tied into, online mostly I understand. And now he gets an international platform for his ideas. Dangerous to the extreme.
Now that those “nasty arabs” have been dealt with, and AQ being used to overthrow countries, re Lybia, the focus was turned onto the “crazy white, lone wolf scenario”
Terror groups of “fanatical brown people”, conveniently, and on que becomes, lone wolf terrorist pacts of “crazy white people”..
Who in this world can possibly be trusted then, if both the brown and white faces have given over to terrorism, as groups, and as individuals?
“What a waaanker you are Muzza, fantasising about secret conspiracies. Were you having your wet dreams while children were still being shot?”
– Again, no attempt to address the real questions, no research, no understading – MASSIVE ego
– More insults, illustrating fabulous arrogance, resplendent with key buzzwords, “fantasy, secret, conspiracy”.
– Actually parroting my use of the term ‘wet dream”, from a few days ago – Oh dear, originality lacking! – I am flattered however đ
Just stop with the insults, and see if you can get a grip on your ego, try asking, then have a crack at answering some quesions. Maybe if you get adventurous, try some research!
What “questions”? Reality check: you haven’t posed any – you’ve asserted that there are “inconsistencies” (don’t ever become a trial lawyer – you might discover that even eye witness accounts can be “inconsistent”!) you’ve expressed amazement (while revealing your ignorance) that Breivik wasn’t shot. You’ve suggested the fact of a “terror drill” is somehow connected to this crime.
Get a clue, Muzza, there will always be “questions” that “must be answered” in an event like this. Have you never heard of “the fog of war”? (No, I’m not saying Norway is at war, I’m making an analogy).
While you’re at it look up pattern recognition.
But please, if you have a substantial allegation to make, make it. Anything but this relentless procession of winks and nudges. It’s good that you invented the phrase “wet dream” though – congratulations.
Inconsistencies would be where questions generally stem from, unless you’re happy to swallow Bloke – It seems you are a swallower!
“While youâre at it look up pattern recognition”
– Yes I recognize patterns; they are dead easy to feel once you understand yourself, and the world around you. Clearly, pattern recognition is obviously a problem for you, as you can’t seem to see the patterns in the “terror drills” I referred to that were run prior to Oklahoma City, NYC, London and Oslo, as a start, nor even bother to check out those patterns!
“But please, if you have a substantial allegation to make, make it. Anything but this relentless procession of winks and nudges. Itâs good that you invented the phrase âwet dreamâ though â congratulations.”
– No Bloke, you parroted my use it, trying to deflect with nonsense such as “invention” , only serves to make you’re ego look silly!
– Go looking for it yourself bro, don’t be lazy and expect anyone to walk you through life, or make demands of others, whose understanding might threaten your self belief system (ego)
So just like a couple of days ago, I will leave it to you to get the last word in, and I’ll await the next insult fit from you eagerly…
Edit:
PS – research does not equal reading websites – LOL, nah of course not, was that meant to be information, or a regurgitation of the stuff you swallow!
Your response to my remark about pattern recognition is the funniest thing I’ve read in a while. Do yourself a favour and actually look it up and actually think about the implications of the information you find.
Apart from that, since the rest of your comment amounts to a big nothing – not one substantive word in seven paragraphs – there’s nothing to respond to. Love the cute projection though.
You’ve got to wonder why the Police uncuffed the bastard so he could give the Nazi salute. I thought they weren’t going to give him a platform to promote fascism? This just makes Norway look bad.
“… all before the police got to him, and amazingly never shot him dead”.
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He rang the cops twice to arrange his surrender after he couldn’t find any more kids to kill. He then disarmed himself and waited for them to get to the island.
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Have to agree with KTH; your whole comment is pathetic muzza, and you should be ashamed for not thinking it through before posting.
Muz, if my grandmother could get the whole National Party caucus on Somes Island using the same artillery Brevik had the cops would not get there in time. AAnd she could quite easily park the car (complete with time bomb) outside some government office on the Terrace and walk to the ferry to Somes.
I had a look at the “inconsistencies”, the one thing conspiracy theorist seem to regularly do is ascribe “intelligence” to Intelligence organisations. That is a big leap of faith. No conspiracies here, just a failure to prevent.
The asset sale 49% ownership loophole is unresolved.
John Key has said “trust us”. I trusted him last term, he kept his word on asset sales. But if National include an allowance in the MOM bill for greater than 49% stakeholding through non-voting shares I can’t see it being anything other than a breach of agreement.
Peter Dunne has emphasised to me the importance of government retaining control through majority voting rights – I agree with this. But it’s not enough, it ignores campaign and C&S commitments.
John Key’s word, National’s written agreement, and United Future’s pledges, need to be reflected in the legislation. Or I have a major problem with it.
Good on you Pete, go hard. Most NZers understand this as being 51% ownership, not just 51% control.
Whenever someone says “trust me” you have to watch out. They should never have put themselves in a position where that has to be said. It indicates creaking failures in the particular system.
Pete George, you’re like the waterbuffalo who comfortably enters inside National’s cottage, except you suddenly find that your tail can’t quite fit through the door. Fucking laughable.
Yeah, right. One has to either back an imperfect government – I’ve backed both National and Labour led governments – or you’re pissing in the desert.
This is a relatively minor issue for National, they could proceed and still keep their word this term – if it wasn’t for the C&S, which I think is a big issue and important principle.
Key’s not going to try convincing you until the privatisation goes through Pete. Then he will listen to whether you like it or not… yeah right! 70% against MOM privatisation, who cares. Just like the opinion of scientists and judges, Key can find another public opinion that suits him. Selling more than 51% to your rich mates, priceless!
Well done P2. Key seems hell bent on achieving a surplus by 2014, no matter what the consequence. It is becomming apparent that there is a limited plan to progress NZ, when we need money just allow a few more pokkies to pay for it.
Breaking news: Japan gets roped in (thank you very much for the $60 billion … oh hello, IMF, and what are you wearing today, beautiful Christine Lagarde?). Spain is ok for now. Markets overnight were smiling. (New Zealand dollar up.)
Next stop, errrr … Italy? And who to rope in to get a bail out? Ummm, China? The poor Chinese. You remember the Opium Wars? Well, they have been repackaged and will be sold to you as Debt Wars (against you and peoples of the world).
“Governments are cutting spending and raising taxes in Europe, the United States and Japan, dragging on growth, the report said. And banks are also reducing their debts, particularly in Europe. That’s reducing lending and also slowing growth”
– Lol banks are reducing their debt – No mention of how this is happening, no mention of why they can’t lend because they are insolvment. No, its just the fact that the banks are actually insolvent, and being bailed out by “sovereign nations” and via the IMF loans to Greece for example, currency swaps with the FED, and the like…
This is all the slowest moving and most gigantic train wreck the world has seen. Until people realise that the point of no return has already been passed – then it will be all on and extremely rapid.
It is a wonder people can even see in Europe and the US such is the proliferation of smoke and mirrors.
Don’t leave your money in one of them multi-national banks is all I can say.
Iceland, the elephant in the room that undermines the narrative. Do you see how they addressed the “point of no return” in a “gigantic trainwreck” and yet the sky inexplicably failed to fall on their heads despite the fact that it was “all on and extremely rapid”?
The IMF is citing them as a case study – is the “truth” a little more complex than will fit into conceited soundbites? Does that collapse the conspiracist waveform much?
“New Zealand consumer confidence lifted in April, suggesting a pick-up in the local economy as households feel more optimistic about their financial well-being”
– I wonder what might happen if the truth was reported all those years ago!
One day roses, another day rats, and then roses again, but quickly followed by rats ~ ad infinitum.
Volatility is the name of the latest money game.
Money traders and speculators make more money, more quickly with yoyo-ing market sentiments.
And after a bit of cheer yesterday, here is a bit of gloom today from the IMF:
“European banks remain under pressure from weak growth and high debt repayments and need to strengthen their balance sheets by reducing assets and increasing their capital to regain investor confidence, the IMF said in its latest Global Financial Stability Report.”
More than 80 Israeli soldiers and reservists have signed a petition of support for a military commander who was filmed assaulting a Danish pro-Palestinian activist.
Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner was suspended after the video emerged showing him hitting Andreas Ias in the face with an M16 rifle as he tried to disperse a demonstration.
The incident happened on Saturday when a group of foreign and Palestinian cyclists attempted to block a main road near Jericho to protest against Israelâs occupation of the West Bank.
Lt Col Eisner told military investigators that two of his fingers had been broken in an attack by the Danish campaigner before he retaliated with his weapon.
Mr Ias, an activist with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, responded that any claims that he had used violence were a âcomplete lieâ.
The Palestinian cameraman who filmed the incident also insisted that the activists had been conducting an entirely peaceful protest. Several other activists were reported to have been injured in scuffles with Israeli troops.
In a letter to the Chief of Staff of Israelâs military, Lt General Benny Gantz, 83 soldiers, officers and reservists who have served under Lt Col Eisner said that he was a âmoral and ethicalâ commander.
They called for his years of military service, upholding Israelâs âvaluesâ, to be taken into account.
The Israeli Defence Forces have removed Lt Col Eisner from his position as deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Territorial brigade while the investigation continues.
Denmarkâs ambassador to Israel has called for the Israeli military to provide clarification following the incident.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the officerâs actions saying: âSuch behaviour has no place in the Israeli defence forces or in the state of Israel.â
President Shimon Peres has expressed his âshockâ at the attack.
Seems Yahweh is alive and active with the “Chosen People”. And if you believe this nonsense you can declare your enemies unfavoured by your God and smite them with impunity. They can be labelled “unter-menchen”, “infidel”, etc, anything to make them lesser mortals in the eye of your faith / ethos. Its been going on for a thousand years, this is just the latest Crusader state and it will go the same way as the rest of them, just a matter of time.
Unfortunately as we wait these latter day Nazis will cause a lot of pain and grief for all.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the officerâs actions saying: âSuch behaviour has no place in the Israeli defence forces or in the state of Israel.â
“President Shimon Peres has expressed his âshockâ at the attack”
– Two of the worlds worst war criminals feigning shock !
Hi All
Here’s a brilliant little video only 2 minutes long demonstrating that modern Extreme Weather events are Climate Change in action as the hydrological cycle continues to become more extreme.
Thanks for the link Johnm
Quite fitting it is being held on May 5th, also International Midwives Day. Birth, life, families and a healthy planet all share a common link. đ
The Siberian Permafrost continues to melt producing lakes which absorb heat more effectively and releasing increasing amounts of methane formerly frozen and trapped.
In some ways the biggest News Stories of our time: The Mega Mega Scoops of the Century are:
1. Climate Change is real and increasing.
2. Peak Oil and the end now of the exponential growth Oil Age.
The risk to New Zealand’s horticultural industry from slack GE trial controls cannot be overemphasized. In 2009, New Zealand had exports and domestic sales of $6 billion, making horticulture a top performer and crucial for our economic stability…
Protest tonight at GI Auckland, assemble 5.30pm at Public Library Line Rd, march to GI Police station. Trains run from Britomart to GI.
Nasty bash ups by cops last night including John Minto and the usual banning orders being issued as left activists and local resident activists protest at state house removals. Joe Carolan has been forbidden to associate with John Bernard Minto which could be awkward given they work for the same union!
Not absolutely sure yet Reo, though part of Carolanâs bail terms forbid him âto enter the Glenn Innes area or be found within the Glen Innes areaâ.
URGENT!! SEEN THIS?
(Forwarded in the public interest by Penny Bright – Sue Henry doesn’t have a computer)
PRESS RELEASE: TAMAKI HOUSING GROUP
“Brutality used to enforce Housing Minister Phil Heatley’s Northern Glen Innes land grab.”
“It’s an appalling state of affairs when a large contingency of Police are used to enforce a Government policy to privatise State Housing stock,” says Tamaki Housing Group Media Spokesperson Sue Henry.
“There were a number of serious casualities at the disgusting fiasco at the Silverton Ave address in Glen Innes North last night. There have been accounts of serious injuries to onlookers including the hospitalisation of a female State Housing tenant.”
The Tamaki Housing Group want an immediate moratorium on any further demolition or removals of State Housing stock.
“Where is the mandate and upon what lawful basis are any of these state housing assets being removed?” asks Sue Henry.
“Tonight an urgent meeting of the community has been called at 5.30pm, outside the Glen Innes Public Library (108 Line Rd Glen Innes) to help save our Housing State assets, and defend our basic human rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.”
Is John Howard the most dishonest Australian prime minister ever?
You might have to reconsider…
“This is a war with a purpose. This is a war with an end.”
—Julia Gillard, on the Afghanistan occupation
National Radio News, 12:30 p.m., Wednesday 18.4.12
Well Gillard got into her current role by lying and backstabbing, which removes wiggle room post coup!
The continued path is the only option you have available after being put into such a position.
Gillard is one of the most horrid globalist puppets doing the rounds, they just seem to get worse and worse…
Wonder when we will actually lose the right to a vote, can’t be too far away….probably be a slightly more honest system if it was just admitted we already live under dictatorships!
Good on you Tony P, I had noticed via the net Levon doing quite a lot over the last several years. I watch the âLast Waltzâ at least once a year and it is amazing the youngâuns that enjoy it too. Like most of the Band except Robbie, he can sing too! A life most of us can only imagine having lived.
Very sad, great feel player (as opposed to being a technical by the numbers player) with a great voice alongside other similiarly gifted musos like robbie robertson.
Checkout Scorsese’s ‘The last waltz’, captures him and many other fine musicians in flight.
One of the marks of a great drummer is playing the song, not just the beat. Levon is one of those for sure, you could listen to the drum tracks of something like “The Weight” in isolation with no other instruments and still follow and enjoy the song fully.
And as others have noted, a great singer too. A class act all round.
Fantastic day to day for all NZ workers to hear that two large mulintationals (Heinz Wattie being one) are closing plants in Australia,and bringing the production to NZ tocreate more jobs. The primary cause was because the Labor regulations in Australia were far to restrictive making the production costs to high. Just goes to show what happens when you build plants in places like Melbourne where costs are so high to manufacture because of their Labor laws, and lack of productivity.
It also shows how important the employment law reforms were that National put in place to make our country more attractive to investment, not to mention the 90 day bill which has also helped. Im sure all of you on this blog will be supporting this move ,and the increase of jobs for New Zealanders.
jobs are jobs, that is a good thing and there can be no doubt about that.
yup the ongoing aspirations of NZrs will be sustained by the crapshoot opportunity to can fruit for 90 days. Now if only we could get some toothpick sanding contracts we would really be showing the world a thing or two.
Becoming the Mexico of Australasia is a sign that NZ is going in the right direction. National’s “Brighter Future” will have arrived when CCF advertises that for a single dollar a day Australians can sponsor a poor NZ child. /sarc
riiiiiight.
  Â
I pity them in Victoria, what with their higher wages and lower unemployment rate. It’s a dystopian vision of what New Zealand might become /sarcÂ
There are people out there Kotahi that dont get paid by union dues every week ,and want jobs. They want to work this is a great opportunity for them to work. Whilst I am on Union delegates what sort of hours do they work. I work for myself if I dont work I dont get paid. My understanding was that the delgates work for their providers the workers.
There is one particular EMPMU delegate not to far from me who is always home at 9.00am , and back again by 2.30 pm
Are their hours and work ethics very similar to that public service comedy show we use to have on TV here called gliding on?
Trust you to celebrate the loss of workers jobs James. Where is the much vaunted private sector wealth creation? All I see is a corporate ripping wealth out of one Australian community, putting a little bit back in another NZ community, and pocketing the difference for their investors.
What kind of “wealth creation” is this? Wealth for the 1% or the 0.1% perhaps.
So corporates playing countries off against each other, making workers on one side lose big while another side get a few crumbs while they pocket the rest makes it a sunny day?
Of course – for the top 1% who pocket the dividends.
Glad the jobs are coming to NZ Viper does anything make you happy?
Not at the cost of Australian workers. This is not “wealth creation” this is a race to the bottom of the barrel.
I’m with Felix on this one. Jim Jim is lying. But even he weren’t, can I just point out that the EMA employs HR consultants who work from home using laptops, data cards and smartphones, what with this being 2012 ‘n all. The non existent neighbour is probably just juggling work and life like most of us do and working wherever she and her laptop happen to be. Welcome to the world of wired work, James.
I am all for freedom of speech and the protection of political discourse and the ability of holders of minority views to be allowed space to state those views publicly.
But James 111 is an illiterate troll and a waste of bandwidth. Â He does not have the decency to even address the points of view put to him. Â Pete George at least engages and holds to his views, even though we think those views are ill founded.
James 111’s comment about Glen Riddell the other day was the last straw. Â I reckon he should be banned …
[lprent: Hasn’t done anything that I’d notice as a moderator. As a commentator, I’d have to say that he makes trolls look intelligent. He appears to be too stupid to recognize any argument more subtle than an anal probe. Please aliens – take him away…. Mind you. He is a perfect candidate for Irish.. Anyone have a book open? ]
Just in case you wanted to read the article other companies are Woolworths, Imperial Tobaco. They love the lower rate of unionisation in NZ compared with Australia, and the fact that penalty rates are much less.
Just goes to show if try to force to much in a hourly rate out of an employer they will move or change the way they operate. They have to in order to stay competitive very similar to POA compared to POT you cant be paying $65 per hour for actual hours worked just doesnt add up
According to James 111’s logic all wages should be halved and safety requirements done away with. Â After that everyone will have jobs! Â But no one will want to live here …
Prism that was the figures released by the company for actual hours worked as they had to pay for them to be on stand by im sure I can find the info again for you if you want was very revealing
It appears that ”the brighter future” is about to arrive in spades,the announced dairy pay-outs to the farmers will come in about a dollar a kilo lower next year,
Translated that equals about a billion dollars less of economic activity in the New Zealand economy as well as a further hole in the Governments revenue from taxes,
It would appear that ”our competitors” are fast catching up in terms of dairy production with demand from places such as China softening as their ”economic growth” falls to 6% or so,
The current recession will obviously continue well into the future and its easy to see why Slippery and the entourage are wandering round the near east with the begging bowl out,
For Labour and the Greens we would suggest that the tax policy of both party,s be thrashed out now rather than at a point where they become the elected Government,
Our suggestion being that GST either be lowered back to 12.5% or be done away with altogether and a stringent ”no holes” financial transaction tax be implemented…
Yeaa right and capital gains tax on everything that moves!! and pension age will move to 70 that will be a winner.
Tax Tax and more Tax is there another economic model that the left might have? As I said the problem with socialism is what happens when you out of spending other peoples money you have nothing left ,and no plan
Mcflock
Absolutely agree with you and Labour was going to borrow another 2.7 billion than National in election year promises, and have added another 1.8 billion since then, the party of borrowers
Oh great we have the homophobic, EPMU delegate stalking dropkick back.
Was hoping you would be too embarressed to return, but no sadly we have to be tortured by this fool some more.
CV sell your best assets off so you can borrow more so you can sell the rest of your assets!
Jturd your figures are wrong just an out and out lie up there with gosman.
Labour leader shearer cans first $5,000 tax free policy
Borrowing Bills English is $ 3 billion short on predictions lower tax take due to tax cuts and weak economy.
Jturd is that why all the economies that are growing are taxing and spending and the economies that are in recession or depression are retrenching and giving tax cuts to the few wealthy.
Jturd show me a right wing economy that is growing come on easy question ,
Jturd the answer is there is none not one.
mike e said “right wing economy” james 111, which encompasses a countries tax system.
Switzerlands economy is dependent on a steady tide of foreign investment. As other countries experience instability, people are looking for a secure haven to keep their money. Switzerland has experienced GDP growth of 2.7%. They do have problems with hot money schemes though and there are a number of new rules being implemented to toughen up the system with things like information sharing agreements with other countries.
Switzerland is a republic confederation of 26 cantons (states), which all have varying degrees of taxation. About the only thing you can say is right wing is that they don’t have a CGT. Their constitution is devised from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
So you decry the Slippery National Government its borrowing of billions of dollars of ”other peoples money”???,
Seems to fall well within your ”spending of other peoples money” as does selling off 49% of profitable assets which National are hell bent on accomplishing this term,
So what happens when Slippery,s ‘international Monetarism’ has sold off the very profit making assets used as the basis upon which it borrows all of ”this other peoples money”???,
Its relatively simple,Slippery swans off to the island hide-away to congratulate himself for an ugly little financial mess He has made of the country,s economy leaving Labour and the Greens with a economy perched upon the edge of the chasm, a daramticly falling Government revenue from taxation limiting any ability to borrow more and creeping up to the point of not being able to service Slippery and National,s debt for tax cuts loading,
At 2014 with such a debt loading, an unequal tax burden on the lower income earners, a dollar trading far too high and falling export receipts there will need be in place a new Government of the left’s means to stabilize the economy and promote internal growth,
A Financial Transaction Tax,the dramatic cutting of the GST tax and a State Housing program financed by the use of Quantitative Easing in such a case will not be a ‘wish list’, such will become a necessity…
The Police have used excessive force to disband a peaceful protest, obviously singling out and arresting John Minto because of his activism and seriously injuring an elderly lady who had to go to hospital…
Maybe John Key is going for some popular score as well. I wonder if he’s using the Secret service to help score a win here or just letting the Indonesian ‘we don’t care about human rights’ police to install some happy good times justice for John Key there.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
âTheyâre here already! Youâre next! Youâre next! Youâre next!âWHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: âTheyâre here already! Youâre next! Youâre next! Youâre next!âOstensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dĂ»r. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhowerâs inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been âleaders of the free worldâ. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to âdrain the swampâ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the cityâs available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story â read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trumpâs behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. Itâs a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about todayâs global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind â the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONALâS Bill English who accurately described New Zealandâs prisons as âfiscal and moral failuresâ. On the same subject, Labourâs Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. Weâd studied Shakespeareâs King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President respectively for the US 2020 Election, may have dispensed with the erstwhile nemesis, Trump the candidate – but there are numerous critical openings through which much, much worse many out there may yet see fit to ...
I donât know TaupĆ well. Even though I stop off there from time to time, Iâm always on the way to somewhere else. Usually TaupĆ means making a hot water puddle in the gritty sand followed by a swim in the lake, noticing with bemusement and resignation the traffic, the ...
Frances Williams, King’s College LondonFor most people, infection with SARS-CoV-2 â the virus that causes COVID-19 â leads to mild, short-term symptoms, acute respiratory illness, or possibly no symptoms at all. But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection â this has been dubbed âlong COVIDâ. Scientists are ...
Last night, a British court ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US. Unfortunately, its not because all he is "guilty" of is journalism, or because the offence the US wants to charge him with - espionage - is of an inherently political nature; instead the judge accepted ...
Is the Gender Identity Movement a movement for human liberation, or is it a regressive movement which undermines women’s liberation and promotes sexist stereotypes? Should biological males be allowed to play in women’s sport, use women-only spaces (public toilets, changing rooms, other facilities), be able to have access to everything ...
Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK â following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi.  A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititiâs successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. Thereâs a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, hereâs a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. âFollowing confirmation of the Cook Islandsâ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. âOur top priority continues ...
Todayâs deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. âThe deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. âABAC helps ensure that APECâs work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Governmentâs prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealandâs local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. âGiven the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, itâs clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. âThe Battle at Te Ruapekapeka PÄ, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. âThe new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. âThe past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Yearâs Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. âWe are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Yearâs Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Governmentâs investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. âCOVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
Dairy prices increased by 3.9% across the board at the latest Fonterra global auction. The lift followed rises of 1.3% and 4.3% in the December auctions which took dairy prices to their highest level in 11 months, defying those analysts who believed Covid-19 had disrupted dairy markets. In the latest ...
America's Cup team American Magic has spoken publicly after their boat Patriot capsized when on its way to their first win of the Challenger Selection Series yesterday. Patriot dramatically capsized yesterday, becoming temporarily airborne before crashing back into the water and tipping. The boat, helmed by New Zealander Dean Barker, could not be ...
It’s a seemingly age old question: why do Auckland’s beaches become unswimmable after every single downpour? Stewart Sowman-Lund investigates.Ah, the beach. A staple of the New Zealand summer. Unless, of course, you’re based in Auckland and it’s raining. The start of 2021 has been a lot like every other New ...
We have opened a book, among members of the Point of Order team, on how long it will be before the PM offers to sort out the land dispute at Wellingtonâs Shelly Bay and (to win the double) how much the settlement will cost taxpayers. Just a few weeks ago ...
Breakfast TV news is back for 2021, and Tara Ward got up early to watch. “Thank god it’s almost Christmas,” John Campbell said during the opening minutes of Breakfast’s premiere episode of the year. “2021’s been rough so far. I’m buggered”. We’re all buggered, to be fair, but I’m worried that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Pearson, Professor of Journalism and Social Media, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Griffith University The blame for the recent assault on the US Capitol and President Donald Trumpâs broader dismantling of democratic institutions and norms can be ...
Despite a popular and unifying leader of the governing party, divisions both in policy and culture will test the progressive movement, writes Peter McKenzie.‘I think we’re confused.” Marlon Drake is an organiser for the Living Wage Movement. His job takes him all over Wellington, trying to convince businesses to increase ...
Covid-19 Recovery Minister Chris Hipkins says vaccinations should be available to the public by the middle of the year, but other countries are prioritised. ...
It’s as true now as it ever has been: nowhere else offers an education experience like that of Dunedin. But rather than resting on their laurels, the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic have plans to make the city an even more inspiring place for students.From high in the summit ...
Haggis, neeps and tatties and whisky may not be a traditional spread for a summer gathering in NZ, but trust Auckland city councillor and Kiwi-Scot Cathy Casey on this one. Gie it laldy! Rule one: Hold it on (or near) January 25Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759. Since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University It could be argued artificial intelligence (AI) is already the indispensable tool of the 21st century. From helping doctors diagnose and treat patients to rapidly advancing new drug discoveries, itâs our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Through recent natural disasters, global upheavals and a pandemic, Australiaâs political centre has largely held. Australians may have disagreed at times, but they have also kept faith with governmental norms, eschewing the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Seale, Associate professor, UNSW Health workers are at higher risk of COVID infection and illness. They can also act as extremely efficient transmitters of viruses to others in medical and aged care facilities. Thatâs why health workers have been prioritised to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Orchard, Adjunct Lecturer, Monash University Last week, somewhat overshadowed by the events in Washington, the Democrats took control of the US Senate. The Democrats now hold a small majority in both the House and the Senate until 2022, giving President-elect Joe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Heatwaves, floods, bushfires: disaster season is upon us again. We canât prevent hazards or climate change-related extreme weather events but we can prepare for them â not just as individuals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Starting school is an important event for children and a positive experience can set the tone for the rest of their school experience. Some children are excited to attend school for the first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Spark, Postdoctoral research fellow, Queensland University of Technology Leadership is a human universal. It can even be seen in other species, which suggests it may be an evolutionarily ancient process. A common personality trait of ânaturalâ leaders is a higher than ...
Some families in emergency housing are reporting their children are becoming emotionally distressed because of their living conditions. Demand for emergency accommodation has escalated this past year with the number of emergency housing grants increasing by half. Data showed nearly 10,000 people were given an Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant between ...
Summer reissue: Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden are back for a second season of On the Rag, and where better to start than with the mysterious, exhausting world of wellness?First published June 23, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
With few Covid-19 infections and negiligible natural immunity, New Zealand faces being a victim of its own success when it is left till last to get the vaccines, argues Dr Parmjeet Parmar. ...
Steve Braunias reports on a literary cancelling. The Corrections department has refused to allow Jared Savage's best-selling book Gangland inside prison on the grounds that it "promotes violence and drug use". An inmate at Otago Corrections Facility in Dunedin was sent a copy of the book â but it was ...
New data from the CTUâs annual work life survey shows a snapshot of working peopleâs experiences and outlook heading out of 2020 and into the new year. Concerningly 42% of respondents cite workplace bullying as an issue in their workplace - a number ...
An international player, selector and self-confessed cricket stats nerd, Penny Kinsella has now played a hand in recording the rich history of the women's game in New Zealand. Penny Kinsellaâs cricketing career was perched on the cusp of change for the White Ferns. âMy first tour to Australia, we ...
The dramatic capsize of American Magic brought out the best in the America's Cup sailing fraternity. But, Suzanne McFadden asks, what does it mean to the crippled New York Yacht Club campaign and to the Prada Cup? It was a scene as unreal as it was calamitous. Right at the moment the ...
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of ...
The experience in the Brazilian city of Manaus reveals how mistaken, and dangerous, the herd-immunity-by-infection theory really is. As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop ...
As New Zealand gears up to fight climate change, experts warn that we need to actually reduce emissions, not just plant trees to offset our greenhouse gases. ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. âThe recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
âLast year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at IhumÄtao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didnât think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bayâ says ACT Leader David Seymour. âThe prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago â some 124 days â since MÄâohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planetâs lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governorâs apology and claim he will âown the issueâ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayersâ Union said: âItâs been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools â from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing â have transformed the way we work. In many respects theyâve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. âWe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on Englandâs Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called âfounding fathersâ of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country â this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. âIt is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealandâs Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, itâs not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authorityâs Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If youâve ...
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.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
âWe may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. âIt is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka â Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as âdeath ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his âbaseâ, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Just reading in granny about Waikato rugby and some financial issues that show they just think they are special then there’s that naki iwi who’ve lost millions run by a former Nat candidate.
Is this a theme here with former Nat pollys and nat backer in finance companies, iwi, rugby or just coincidence. If it is a theme it’s no wonder they can’t manage an economy as all they seem to understand is plunder without planning.
Well well well….
SkyCity wooed new Govt after failures in court
What is happening to our beloved country.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10799633
SkyCity’s deal over pokies in exchange for a national convention centre comes after three failed court attempts to expand its casino business.
It repeatedly challenged the Gambling Commission over its restrictions – so much that ministers overseeing gambling regulation have been warned about direct lobbying by the casino company.
SkyCity has not filed a court challenge since the National Government came to power in 2008.
and the Herald editorialists, who have a strong moral sense about this, are not being convinced by this BS either:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10799574
Legislation to allow more cashless pokies aimed at working and benefit poor people (the ones who fill up the place on the Weds and Fridays Sky Say shows they are at capacity) looks like an increasingly dirty deal for the government
Hmmm….
http://t.co/B4N8pUwR
The Herald has also now picked up on this being a Key offer
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10799699
+1.
More and more of our democracy is being whittled away. Lian Dalziel was on TV this morning talking about new government moves taking power away from Christchurch’s elected councillors.
In reaction to the Council declaring themselves Frack Free no doubt. They also encouraged other councils around New Zealand to do the same, Which National would be livid about. They will make every other excuse in the world, but it’s because Christchurch threatens their mine it, drill it and wreck it for a few dollars policy that the heat is on.
No doubt
Id much rather pokies in pubs and clubs around auckland are moved to Sky City than the issue of Sky City installing more.
Jared – you are right – it is difficult to accept that there is not considerable damage from pokies outside Sky City.
Close all outside pokies – particularly in Auckland south and centralise them where they can be controlled like those in Sky City.
Major Sky City money movements are not through the pokies but the tables.
If Brevik continues to claim he is at war.
Maybe he should be tried as a war criminal.
Quite amazing how one guy almost doubled the previous number of people shot & killed by a single shooter, all before the police got to him, and amazingly never shot him dead – WOW!
No inconsistancies in the stories either…And of course there was the obligatory “terrorist” exercises by Oslo Police a couple of days before hand….Just like London and NYC before that…
If you hear anything about terror drills, it would seem the pudent advise would be to head in another direction. – I don’t include the attempted manufacturing of the Uruwera in that, which was so clearly a contrived local beat up!
I’m sure its all just coincidental though – Send him to the Hague, where it is highly likely he will die waiting for a trial – Prediction, he will be dead one way or another soon enough!
How repugnant that you exploit this disgusting act to promote a conspiracy theory.
Shame.
Opinion = exploiting now does it!
Perhaps you might have a crack at the queries raised then!
I have obviously got under your skin, and your ego just can’t handle it.
Perhaps you might have a crack at feeling thoroughly ashamed of yourself.
I have friends from Noway in Oslo and Stavanger, they are asking questions too, want the truth, and feel they are being lied to!
The situation was an absolute tragedy, but like the case of French shooter, who in fact on an american no fly list, raises more questions than answers than are being drilled into.
Questions you again avoid, and in another uncontrolled fit, your massive ego initiates yet another attack…
Shame on you, to insist on dragging this tragedy down to your self-aggrandising narrative.
The fact that there are other paranoiacs out there, and that you are in contact with them, does not surprise me.
The problem with your “questions” is that you clearly think you know the answers to them – which makes them assertions, not questions. We can easily cut through your rhetoric though: state exactly what you are talking about – put your allegations on the table – put up or shut up. Come on, I’m far too ego-centric and confused to make sense of your witless melange, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to spell it out for me.
I have had serious questions and doubts about the French shooter! The story around him changed every day… to start with, he was an unknown right-winger after shooting three Muslim soldiers, and then, after the shooting at the Jewish school, suddenly he was an Islamist…
Perhaps the story changed as more information became available – and in fact the early versions were merely speculative?
The issue is that one man with an automatic weapon, lots of ammo, after untrained civilian targets…it was going to be a massive tragedy from the start.
The island was a perfect place to do this – law enforcement was slow and constrained as to how they could get out there.
If they could have got police on the ground within 10 minutes of the shootings starting many lives could have been saved, but not even our AOS can respond that quickly to an incident down the road.
It’s a sad and sordid tale of a fearful mind being whipped into a murderous rage by paranoid extremist rhetoric. Breivik’s conspiracy theories aren’t exactly rare.
There are whole networks of people like this in Europe that he was tied into, online mostly I understand. And now he gets an international platform for his ideas. Dangerous to the extreme.
Three are whole networks, according to Breivik. I suspect he may have overestimated the commitment of the other “members”.
The “online”, “lone wolf” community, hmmm…
Now that those “nasty arabs” have been dealt with, and AQ being used to overthrow countries, re Lybia, the focus was turned onto the “crazy white, lone wolf scenario”
Terror groups of “fanatical brown people”, conveniently, and on que becomes, lone wolf terrorist pacts of “crazy white people”..
Who in this world can possibly be trusted then, if both the brown and white faces have given over to terrorism, as groups, and as individuals?
– Trust your government, seems the only message!
What a wanker you are Muzza, fantasising about secret conspiracies. Were you having your wet dreams while children were still being shot?
“What a waaanker you are Muzza, fantasising about secret conspiracies. Were you having your wet dreams while children were still being shot?”
– Again, no attempt to address the real questions, no research, no understading – MASSIVE ego
– More insults, illustrating fabulous arrogance, resplendent with key buzzwords, “fantasy, secret, conspiracy”.
– Actually parroting my use of the term ‘wet dream”, from a few days ago – Oh dear, originality lacking! – I am flattered however đ
Just stop with the insults, and see if you can get a grip on your ego, try asking, then have a crack at answering some quesions. Maybe if you get adventurous, try some research!
What “questions”? Reality check: you haven’t posed any – you’ve asserted that there are “inconsistencies” (don’t ever become a trial lawyer – you might discover that even eye witness accounts can be “inconsistent”!) you’ve expressed amazement (while revealing your ignorance) that Breivik wasn’t shot. You’ve suggested the fact of a “terror drill” is somehow connected to this crime.
Get a clue, Muzza, there will always be “questions” that “must be answered” in an event like this. Have you never heard of “the fog of war”? (No, I’m not saying Norway is at war, I’m making an analogy).
While you’re at it look up pattern recognition.
But please, if you have a substantial allegation to make, make it. Anything but this relentless procession of winks and nudges. It’s good that you invented the phrase “wet dream” though – congratulations.
PS: research â reading websites
Inconsistencies would be where questions generally stem from, unless you’re happy to swallow Bloke – It seems you are a swallower!
“While youâre at it look up pattern recognition”
– Yes I recognize patterns; they are dead easy to feel once you understand yourself, and the world around you. Clearly, pattern recognition is obviously a problem for you, as you can’t seem to see the patterns in the “terror drills” I referred to that were run prior to Oklahoma City, NYC, London and Oslo, as a start, nor even bother to check out those patterns!
“But please, if you have a substantial allegation to make, make it. Anything but this relentless procession of winks and nudges. Itâs good that you invented the phrase âwet dreamâ though â congratulations.”
– No Bloke, you parroted my use it, trying to deflect with nonsense such as “invention” , only serves to make you’re ego look silly!
– Go looking for it yourself bro, don’t be lazy and expect anyone to walk you through life, or make demands of others, whose understanding might threaten your self belief system (ego)
So just like a couple of days ago, I will leave it to you to get the last word in, and I’ll await the next insult fit from you eagerly…
Edit:
PS – research does not equal reading websites – LOL, nah of course not, was that meant to be information, or a regurgitation of the stuff you swallow!
Your response to my remark about pattern recognition is the funniest thing I’ve read in a while. Do yourself a favour and actually look it up and actually think about the implications of the information you find.
Apart from that, since the rest of your comment amounts to a big nothing – not one substantive word in seven paragraphs – there’s nothing to respond to. Love the cute projection though.
KTH, shame on you. Your insult is egotistical, mean-minded and unwarranted.
Perhaps. It is a reflection of my feelings about conspiracy theories.
Youre onto it muzza!
You’ve got to wonder why the Police uncuffed the bastard so he could give the Nazi salute. I thought they weren’t going to give him a platform to promote fascism? This just makes Norway look bad.
AND the prosecuting lawyer shook hands with him
“… all before the police got to him, and amazingly never shot him dead”.
Â
He rang the cops twice to arrange his surrender after he couldn’t find any more kids to kill. He then disarmed himself and waited for them to get to the island.
Â
Have to agree with KTH; your whole comment is pathetic muzza, and you should be ashamed for not thinking it through before posting.
Muz, if my grandmother could get the whole National Party caucus on Somes Island using the same artillery Brevik had the cops would not get there in time. AAnd she could quite easily park the car (complete with time bomb) outside some government office on the Terrace and walk to the ferry to Somes.
I had a look at the “inconsistencies”, the one thing conspiracy theorist seem to regularly do is ascribe “intelligence” to Intelligence organisations. That is a big leap of faith. No conspiracies here, just a failure to prevent.
+1
http://nomoremister.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/breivik-still-citing-his-pal-pam-geller.html
jenny agreed first he should be sent to guantanamo
“If Brevik continues to claim he is at war. Maybe he should be tried as a war criminal.”
That’s exactly what he asked for. I’m pleased the justice system turned him down. He’s either insane or a criminal – definitely not a soldier.
An illegal combatant, then. Ask the US to extradite him to the Sudan.
The asset sale 49% ownership loophole is unresolved.
John Key has said “trust us”. I trusted him last term, he kept his word on asset sales. But if National include an allowance in the MOM bill for greater than 49% stakeholding through non-voting shares I can’t see it being anything other than a breach of agreement.
Peter Dunne has emphasised to me the importance of government retaining control through majority voting rights – I agree with this. But it’s not enough, it ignores campaign and C&S commitments.
John Key’s word, National’s written agreement, and United Future’s pledges, need to be reflected in the legislation. Or I have a major problem with it.
http://yournz.org/2012/04/18/asset-sales-49-ownership-at-risk/
Good on you Pete, go hard. Most NZers understand this as being 51% ownership, not just 51% control.
Whenever someone says “trust me” you have to watch out. They should never have put themselves in a position where that has to be said. It indicates creaking failures in the particular system.
Well done Pete. Â Be staunch …
Pete George, you’re like the waterbuffalo who comfortably enters inside National’s cottage, except you suddenly find that your tail can’t quite fit through the door. Fucking laughable.
Yeah, right. One has to either back an imperfect government – I’ve backed both National and Labour led governments – or you’re pissing in the desert.
This is a relatively minor issue for National, they could proceed and still keep their word this term – if it wasn’t for the C&S, which I think is a big issue and important principle.
“They could proceed and still keep their word this term”
Key’s not going to try convincing you until the privatisation goes through Pete. Then he will listen to whether you like it or not… yeah right! 70% against MOM privatisation, who cares. Just like the opinion of scientists and judges, Key can find another public opinion that suits him. Selling more than 51% to your rich mates, priceless!
Keep up the pressure Pete.
When John Key opens his mouth you know he is lying. When John Key says ‘trust us’ you know he’s going to shaft you.
And – only believe something if he denies it ?
If he is the only source of the information that would be a pretty good starting premise, yes.
Well done P2. Key seems hell bent on achieving a surplus by 2014, no matter what the consequence. It is becomming apparent that there is a limited plan to progress NZ, when we need money just allow a few more pokkies to pay for it.
The surplus is merely a convenient theoretical cover for the 1%’s appropriation of NZ wealth.
Surplus could be achieved within 12 months should we wish to design a taxation policy for the top 5% to achieve it.
Big day in Christchurch.
Our wise and magnificent leaders are about to tell us what we must do.
But, as shown by Doug Graham’s pathetic showings recently, these people who make these decisions are bloody average so don’t expect much.
Dairy prices fall 9.9% overnight; dairy index down 17% since end of last year
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10799688
Well, there is some pain headed this way now.
What I especially love from the “business desk” is the lack of explanation…you could be forgiven for thinking that things in Europe are about….to….turn….around
Who brought the Spanish debt, it did not say…
Why are the equities markets up, again it didn’t say…
These are questions which , if the article does not answer, the article is worthless!
People read this dross, and believe all is well!
Well and truly into the era where nation-states (and their citizens) are on their knees and being held captive or blackmailed.
“We are in this all together”:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/apr/17/eurozone-crisis-japan-firewall-imf
Breaking news: Japan gets roped in (thank you very much for the $60 billion … oh hello, IMF, and what are you wearing today, beautiful Christine Lagarde?). Spain is ok for now. Markets overnight were smiling. (New Zealand dollar up.)
Next stop, errrr … Italy? And who to rope in to get a bail out? Ummm, China? The poor Chinese. You remember the Opium Wars? Well, they have been repackaged and will be sold to you as Debt Wars (against you and peoples of the world).
Followed up with this cut and paste from the AP desk!
“Governments are cutting spending and raising taxes in Europe, the United States and Japan, dragging on growth, the report said. And banks are also reducing their debts, particularly in Europe. That’s reducing lending and also slowing growth”
– Lol banks are reducing their debt – No mention of how this is happening, no mention of why they can’t lend because they are insolvment. No, its just the fact that the banks are actually insolvent, and being bailed out by “sovereign nations” and via the IMF loans to Greece for example, currency swaps with the FED, and the like…
Carry on!
This is all the slowest moving and most gigantic train wreck the world has seen. Until people realise that the point of no return has already been passed – then it will be all on and extremely rapid.
It is a wonder people can even see in Europe and the US such is the proliferation of smoke and mirrors.
Don’t leave your money in one of them multi-national banks is all I can say.
Iceland, the elephant in the room that undermines the narrative. Do you see how they addressed the “point of no return” in a “gigantic trainwreck” and yet the sky inexplicably failed to fall on their heads despite the fact that it was “all on and extremely rapid”?
The IMF is citing them as a case study – is the “truth” a little more complex than will fit into conceited soundbites? Does that collapse the conspiracist waveform much?
Its as if they have these stories on standby, just waiting to roll them out on queue
“New Zealand consumer confidence lifted in April, suggesting a pick-up in the local economy as households feel more optimistic about their financial well-being”
– I wonder what might happen if the truth was reported all those years ago!
One day roses, another day rats, and then roses again, but quickly followed by rats ~ ad infinitum.
Volatility is the name of the latest money game.
Money traders and speculators make more money, more quickly with yoyo-ing market sentiments.
And after a bit of cheer yesterday, here is a bit of gloom today from the IMF:
“European banks remain under pressure from weak growth and high debt repayments and need to strengthen their balance sheets by reducing assets and increasing their capital to regain investor confidence, the IMF said in its latest Global Financial Stability Report.”
“Investor”? Who is that?
“The most moral army in the world”
IDF Soldiers Support Officer Over Activist Attack
More than 80 Israeli soldiers and reservists have signed a petition of support for a military commander who was filmed assaulting a Danish pro-Palestinian activist.
Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner was suspended after the video emerged showing him hitting Andreas Ias in the face with an M16 rifle as he tried to disperse a demonstration.
The incident happened on Saturday when a group of foreign and Palestinian cyclists attempted to block a main road near Jericho to protest against Israelâs occupation of the West Bank.
Lt Col Eisner told military investigators that two of his fingers had been broken in an attack by the Danish campaigner before he retaliated with his weapon.
Mr Ias, an activist with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, responded that any claims that he had used violence were a âcomplete lieâ.
The Palestinian cameraman who filmed the incident also insisted that the activists had been conducting an entirely peaceful protest. Several other activists were reported to have been injured in scuffles with Israeli troops.
In a letter to the Chief of Staff of Israelâs military, Lt General Benny Gantz, 83 soldiers, officers and reservists who have served under Lt Col Eisner said that he was a âmoral and ethicalâ commander.
They called for his years of military service, upholding Israelâs âvaluesâ, to be taken into account.
The Israeli Defence Forces have removed Lt Col Eisner from his position as deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Territorial brigade while the investigation continues.
Denmarkâs ambassador to Israel has called for the Israeli military to provide clarification following the incident.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the officerâs actions saying: âSuch behaviour has no place in the Israeli defence forces or in the state of Israel.â
President Shimon Peres has expressed his âshockâ at the attack.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/soldiers-support-officer-over-activist-attack-125819750.html
Of course, after all it is highly moral to smash your enemies in the face, and immoral not to do so.
Seems Yahweh is alive and active with the “Chosen People”. And if you believe this nonsense you can declare your enemies unfavoured by your God and smite them with impunity. They can be labelled “unter-menchen”, “infidel”, etc, anything to make them lesser mortals in the eye of your faith / ethos. Its been going on for a thousand years, this is just the latest Crusader state and it will go the same way as the rest of them, just a matter of time.
Unfortunately as we wait these latter day Nazis will cause a lot of pain and grief for all.
I have been reading about that on the Guardian and here:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/israel-and-palestine/120416/danish-government-seeks-information-be
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the officerâs actions saying: âSuch behaviour has no place in the Israeli defence forces or in the state of Israel.â
“President Shimon Peres has expressed his âshockâ at the attack”
– Two of the worlds worst war criminals feigning shock !
Hi All
Here’s a brilliant little video only 2 minutes long demonstrating that modern Extreme Weather events are Climate Change in action as the hydrological cycle continues to become more extreme.
Link:http://www.commondreams.org/video/2012/04/17-0
Thanks for the link Johnm
Quite fitting it is being held on May 5th, also International Midwives Day. Birth, life, families and a healthy planet all share a common link. đ
Climate Change:
The Siberian Permafrost continues to melt producing lakes which absorb heat more effectively and releasing increasing amounts of methane formerly frozen and trapped.
In some ways the biggest News Stories of our time: The Mega Mega Scoops of the Century are:
1. Climate Change is real and increasing.
2. Peak Oil and the end now of the exponential growth Oil Age.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRbi9CfEjbc&feature=related
These realities are it seems just too big for us to cope with so we just deny them and continue with BAU- not that really we have a choice.
Farrars engineered accusations
The risk to New Zealand’s horticultural industry from slack GE trial controls cannot be overemphasized. In 2009, New Zealand had exports and domestic sales of $6 billion, making horticulture a top performer and crucial for our economic stability…
Protest tonight at GI Auckland, assemble 5.30pm at Public Library Line Rd, march to GI Police station. Trains run from Britomart to GI.
Nasty bash ups by cops last night including John Minto and the usual banning orders being issued as left activists and local resident activists protest at state house removals. Joe Carolan has been forbidden to associate with John Bernard Minto which could be awkward given they work for the same union!
Anyone that can make it should.
http://news.tangatawhenua.com/archives/17284
https://www.facebook.com/ManaParty
Minto Barred?
Not absolutely sure yet Reo, though part of Carolanâs bail terms forbid him âto enter the Glenn Innes area or be found within the Glen Innes areaâ.
the bloody tories just cant keep their grubby little fingers off anything that belongs to someone else.
URGENT!! SEEN THIS?
(Forwarded in the public interest by Penny Bright – Sue Henry doesn’t have a computer)
PRESS RELEASE: TAMAKI HOUSING GROUP
“Brutality used to enforce Housing Minister Phil Heatley’s Northern Glen Innes land grab.”
“It’s an appalling state of affairs when a large contingency of Police are used to enforce a Government policy to privatise State Housing stock,” says Tamaki Housing Group Media Spokesperson Sue Henry.
“There were a number of serious casualities at the disgusting fiasco at the Silverton Ave address in Glen Innes North last night. There have been accounts of serious injuries to onlookers including the hospitalisation of a female State Housing tenant.”
The Tamaki Housing Group want an immediate moratorium on any further demolition or removals of State Housing stock.
“Where is the mandate and upon what lawful basis are any of these state housing assets being removed?” asks Sue Henry.
“Tonight an urgent meeting of the community has been called at 5.30pm, outside the Glen Innes Public Library (108 Line Rd Glen Innes) to help save our Housing State assets, and defend our basic human rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.”
http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/aboutthelibraries/locationsandhours/gleninnes.aspx
Contact: Sue Henry
Ph (09) 575 634
_______________________________________________________________
Is John Howard the most dishonest Australian prime minister ever?
You might have to reconsider…
“This is a war with a purpose. This is a war with an end.”
—Julia Gillard, on the Afghanistan occupation
National Radio News, 12:30 p.m., Wednesday 18.4.12
Well Gillard got into her current role by lying and backstabbing, which removes wiggle room post coup!
The continued path is the only option you have available after being put into such a position.
Gillard is one of the most horrid globalist puppets doing the rounds, they just seem to get worse and worse…
Wonder when we will actually lose the right to a vote, can’t be too far away….probably be a slightly more honest system if it was just admitted we already live under dictatorships!
With the Glen Innes protest we are seeing a return to the dark ages of New Zealand Policing:
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/police-image-tarnished-again.html
This may not mean much to some people but to me it’s sad. The great drummer Levon Helm of The Band is in the last stages of his life.
Good on you Tony P, I had noticed via the net Levon doing quite a lot over the last several years. I watch the âLast Waltzâ at least once a year and it is amazing the youngâuns that enjoy it too. Like most of the Band except Robbie, he can sing too! A life most of us can only imagine having lived.
Very sad, great feel player (as opposed to being a technical by the numbers player) with a great voice alongside other similiarly gifted musos like robbie robertson.
Checkout Scorsese’s ‘The last waltz’, captures him and many other fine musicians in flight.
I agree tc “The last Waltz” is one of the great rock movies and Levon was one of the stars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VShpcqd3zE
One of the marks of a great drummer is playing the song, not just the beat. Levon is one of those for sure, you could listen to the drum tracks of something like “The Weight” in isolation with no other instruments and still follow and enjoy the song fully.
And as others have noted, a great singer too. A class act all round.
Fantastic day to day for all NZ workers to hear that two large mulintationals (Heinz Wattie being one) are closing plants in Australia,and bringing the production to NZ tocreate more jobs. The primary cause was because the Labor regulations in Australia were far to restrictive making the production costs to high. Just goes to show what happens when you build plants in places like Melbourne where costs are so high to manufacture because of their Labor laws, and lack of productivity.
It also shows how important the employment law reforms were that National put in place to make our country more attractive to investment, not to mention the 90 day bill which has also helped. Im sure all of you on this blog will be supporting this move ,and the increase of jobs for New Zealanders.
jobs are jobs, that is a good thing and there can be no doubt about that.
yup the ongoing aspirations of NZrs will be sustained by the crapshoot opportunity to can fruit for 90 days. Now if only we could get some toothpick sanding contracts we would really be showing the world a thing or two.
Becoming the Mexico of Australasia is a sign that NZ is going in the right direction. National’s “Brighter Future” will have arrived when CCF advertises that for a single dollar a day Australians can sponsor a poor NZ child. /sarc
Well Victoria might become the Bangladesh of Australia unless they get their Labour rates down, and the unions tow the line.
riiiiiight.
  Â
I pity them in Victoria, what with their higher wages and lower unemployment rate. It’s a dystopian vision of what New Zealand might become /sarcÂ
Reminds me of that Herald story saying that Australian businesses were sick of Gillard and envious of Key’s better economic policies.
What a frakking larf.
lol James3 you are celebrating the fact that we are one of what you would call “third world” countries that jobs get outsourced to.
Yay! We can compete because we’ve got cheap labour! Are you awake?
There are people out there Kotahi that dont get paid by union dues every week ,and want jobs. They want to work this is a great opportunity for them to work. Whilst I am on Union delegates what sort of hours do they work. I work for myself if I dont work I dont get paid. My understanding was that the delgates work for their providers the workers.
There is one particular EMPMU delegate not to far from me who is always home at 9.00am , and back again by 2.30 pm
Are their hours and work ethics very similar to that public service comedy show we use to have on TV here called gliding on?
Trust you to celebrate the loss of workers jobs James. Where is the much vaunted private sector wealth creation? All I see is a corporate ripping wealth out of one Australian community, putting a little bit back in another NZ community, and pocketing the difference for their investors.
What kind of “wealth creation” is this? Wealth for the 1% or the 0.1% perhaps.
Glad the jobs are coming to NZ Viper does anything make you happy? Smile its a beautiful day out there
So corporates playing countries off against each other, making workers on one side lose big while another side get a few crumbs while they pocket the rest makes it a sunny day?
Of course – for the top 1% who pocket the dividends.
Not at the cost of Australian workers. This is not “wealth creation” this is a race to the bottom of the barrel.
How do you know? Do you spy on her? đ
Cant miss it car is always parked on main road
Yuck, you are an anti-unionist and you stalk a delegate.
Mr Plod needs to investigate your activity sick boy.
no twisted again i just drive past it each day noting its inactivity, but hwy should that surprise me I guess
Kerb-crawling on K road, probably…
“i just drive past it each day noting its inactivity”
Â
Yep, stalker. Unemployed stalker, apparently.
Â
Dude has never heard of car pooling, obviously. Or maybe even walking.
or even working from home – i hear with that new interweb thingy its quite possible
“There is one particular EMPMU delegate not to far from me who is always home at 9.00am , and back again by 2.30 pm”
So s/he works part-time then. Has kids too? Sounds like school hours, I didn’t take you as a person to be against flexible work hours, jimmy3.
“So s/he works part-time then. Has kids too?”
Yep, if s/he existed. Which s/he doesn’t.
I’m with Felix on this one. Jim Jim is lying. But even he weren’t, can I just point out that the EMA employs HR consultants who work from home using laptops, data cards and smartphones, what with this being 2012 ‘n all. The non existent neighbour is probably just juggling work and life like most of us do and working wherever she and her laptop happen to be. Welcome to the world of wired work, James.
More to the point, what does our little failed Scottish king do for a living, that he can spend all day sitting outside someone’s home đ
He shoots …. he scores!!! Nice one McFlock!
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Mrs Smith spends most of her day standing by her kitchen window. We know because we watch her from behind our kitchen curtains.
I am all for freedom of speech and the protection of political discourse and the ability of holders of minority views to be allowed space to state those views publicly.
But James 111 is an illiterate troll and a waste of bandwidth. Â He does not have the decency to even address the points of view put to him. Â Pete George at least engages and holds to his views, even though we think those views are ill founded.
James 111’s comment about Glen Riddell the other day was the last straw. Â I reckon he should be banned …
[lprent: Hasn’t done anything that I’d notice as a moderator. As a commentator, I’d have to say that he makes trolls look intelligent. He appears to be too stupid to recognize any argument more subtle than an anal probe. Please aliens – take him away…. Mind you. He is a perfect candidate for Irish.. Anyone have a book open? ]
I was surprised he didn’t cop a ban for this little gem the other day.
Ah, a RWNJ celebrating the race to the bottom that his favoured policies bring about.
Just in case you wanted to read the article other companies are Woolworths, Imperial Tobaco. They love the lower rate of unionisation in NZ compared with Australia, and the fact that penalty rates are much less.
Just goes to show if try to force to much in a hourly rate out of an employer they will move or change the way they operate. They have to in order to stay competitive very similar to POA compared to POT you cant be paying $65 per hour for actual hours worked just doesnt add up
http://www.pina.com.fj/index.php?p=pacnews&m=read&o=12245329364f8e1daee6fd5310417c
According to James 111’s logic all wages should be halved and safety requirements done away with. Â After that everyone will have jobs! Â But no one will want to live here …
james 3 Don’t inflate the figures in your argument. $65 per hour isn’t part of the wage structure under discussion.
Prism that was the figures released by the company for actual hours worked as they had to pay for them to be on stand by im sure I can find the info again for you if you want was very revealing
You mean the figures that didn’t add up?
It appears that ”the brighter future” is about to arrive in spades,the announced dairy pay-outs to the farmers will come in about a dollar a kilo lower next year,
Translated that equals about a billion dollars less of economic activity in the New Zealand economy as well as a further hole in the Governments revenue from taxes,
It would appear that ”our competitors” are fast catching up in terms of dairy production with demand from places such as China softening as their ”economic growth” falls to 6% or so,
The current recession will obviously continue well into the future and its easy to see why Slippery and the entourage are wandering round the near east with the begging bowl out,
For Labour and the Greens we would suggest that the tax policy of both party,s be thrashed out now rather than at a point where they become the elected Government,
Our suggestion being that GST either be lowered back to 12.5% or be done away with altogether and a stringent ”no holes” financial transaction tax be implemented…
Yeaa right and capital gains tax on everything that moves!! and pension age will move to 70 that will be a winner.
Tax Tax and more Tax is there another economic model that the left might have? As I said the problem with socialism is what happens when you out of spending other peoples money you have nothing left ,and no plan
The problem with neoliberalism is what happens when you guzzle at the trough and pay for it by borrowing with other people’s money.
Mcflock
Absolutely agree with you and Labour was going to borrow another 2.7 billion than National in election year promises, and have added another 1.8 billion since then, the party of borrowers
james, it’s NACT that are borrowing hand over fist to give our wealth to their rich mates.
FIFY
Oh great we have the homophobic, EPMU delegate stalking dropkick back.
Was hoping you would be too embarressed to return, but no sadly we have to be tortured by this fool some more.
James, you are out of your depth. You need to read a few books.
Well, maybe you prefer the Bill English road of borrow, borrow, and more borrowing?
CV sell your best assets off so you can borrow more so you can sell the rest of your assets!
Jturd your figures are wrong just an out and out lie up there with gosman.
Labour leader shearer cans first $5,000 tax free policy
Borrowing Bills English is $ 3 billion short on predictions lower tax take due to tax cuts and weak economy.
I really disagree with getting rid of that tax free threshold. More Labour Party centrism.
me too CV Labour with shearer is boring and predictable.
Cunliffe should have been leader.
Jturd is that why all the economies that are growing are taxing and spending and the economies that are in recession or depression are retrenching and giving tax cuts to the few wealthy.
Jturd show me a right wing economy that is growing come on easy question ,
Jturd the answer is there is none not one.
How about Switzerland?
And Switzerland’s tax policies?
Micky he said right wing they are very right wing nothing about tax policies I rest my case
James 111 I do not trust you. Â Links please. Â Switzerland is actually quite community focussed and therefore left wing …
“I rest my case”
I rest my empty head on the keyboard and when I woke up my old sock was stuck to the side of my face.
FIFY
mike e said “right wing economy” james 111, which encompasses a countries tax system.
Switzerlands economy is dependent on a steady tide of foreign investment. As other countries experience instability, people are looking for a secure haven to keep their money. Switzerland has experienced GDP growth of 2.7%. They do have problems with hot money schemes though and there are a number of new rules being implemented to toughen up the system with things like information sharing agreements with other countries.
Switzerland is a republic confederation of 26 cantons (states), which all have varying degrees of taxation. About the only thing you can say is right wing is that they don’t have a CGT. Their constitution is devised from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
And here’s me thinking that jimmy3 defines Labour as left-wing because it is apparently a ‘tax and spend’ government.
So you decry the Slippery National Government its borrowing of billions of dollars of ”other peoples money”???,
Seems to fall well within your ”spending of other peoples money” as does selling off 49% of profitable assets which National are hell bent on accomplishing this term,
So what happens when Slippery,s ‘international Monetarism’ has sold off the very profit making assets used as the basis upon which it borrows all of ”this other peoples money”???,
Its relatively simple,Slippery swans off to the island hide-away to congratulate himself for an ugly little financial mess He has made of the country,s economy leaving Labour and the Greens with a economy perched upon the edge of the chasm, a daramticly falling Government revenue from taxation limiting any ability to borrow more and creeping up to the point of not being able to service Slippery and National,s debt for tax cuts loading,
At 2014 with such a debt loading, an unequal tax burden on the lower income earners, a dollar trading far too high and falling export receipts there will need be in place a new Government of the left’s means to stabilize the economy and promote internal growth,
A Financial Transaction Tax,the dramatic cutting of the GST tax and a State Housing program financed by the use of Quantitative Easing in such a case will not be a ‘wish list’, such will become a necessity…
Yeah great,……..working in a tobacco factory………brighter future…………what a great future for my kids……………..
Police brutality in Glenn Innes
The Police have used excessive force to disband a peaceful protest, obviously singling out and arresting John Minto because of his activism and seriously injuring an elderly lady who had to go to hospital…
A National PM using the NZ Police to violently attack and assault ordinary kiwis in order to get his policies enacted?
Crikey, it’s just like, um, every fucking National PM before him.
John Key and the NZ Police. What a bunch of dicks.
I see John Key is going for popular hero points in Indonesia, http://www.3news.co.nz/Default.aspx?TabId=1607&articleID=250856&ce17407
It made that Kiwi Diplomat in Algeria a popular hero when he got involved in a so called kidnapping/custody battle. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6522078/Kiwi-who-faced-gunmen-has-position-axed-Labour-says
Maybe John Key is going for some popular score as well. I wonder if he’s using the Secret service to help score a win here or just letting the Indonesian ‘we don’t care about human rights’ police to install some happy good times justice for John Key there.
SMBC: Reserve Currency