Just been scared of the implications of a Bill rushed through Parliament yesterday regarding the Payment of Families caring for Severely Handicapped Act. (Paraphrased)
Andrew Geddis on Pundit explains it well:
You simply tell the Human Rights Review Tribunal and the courts that they are not allowed to look at the policy and decide whether or not it is unlawfully discriminatory. That’s just what the Government is seeking to get Parliament to do under section 70E(2):
[When this law kicks in], no complaint based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be made to the Human Rights Commission, and no proceedings based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be commenced or continued in any court or tribunal.
Yeah it’s crazy. It’s the same bullying, cartel-loving psychology, that Torys are so comfortable with,
which we keep seeing in this 2nd term over and over again. Same with the GCSB law changes. Same with the reaction to NZPower. Same with offshore mining protest laws, etc.
You ain’t seen nothing yet, they’ve got their media mates onside and their chosen leader out front of labour so they will go from strength the strength with every move emboldening them for the next one.
A hitch appears to be how unhinged Shonkey gets all too easily, he wouldn’t know what serious pressure was and buckles under the power puff efforts the nz MSM toss in his direction.
I see this as another foot on the neck of advocacy for better government support of people struggling with getting fair resources. The government wants to silence the ordinary people from asking for more, because it distracts them and diverts money away from ..dah dah ‘the job and wealth creators’.
This is a piece that David Farrar put up about advocacy groups being put out of the Charities Act. (Recently applied to SST I think, and probably similar to the cases in the USA where the IRS was scrutinising the loony Right too much for gaining unfair tax advantages.)
Greens support lobby groups being charities
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am by David Farrar
On the one hand the Greens rail against lobbyists, yet on the other hand they say they should be able to be tax free charities. I guess the difference is whether or not they agree with them.
Green MP Denise Roche blogs::
Community organisations already spend much of their time advocating. They shouldn’t be excluded from getting charitable status (and tax exemption) because of this. Organisations of long standing repute including the National Council of Women have been denied charitable status on the basis that advocacy is their primary purpose. Advocacy is not currently deemed a ‘charitable purpose’ under the Act, and therefore they are denied tax exemption for donations.
And this is how it should be. Lobby groups should not be escaping tax. The National Council of Women is one of the most prolific lobby groups in New Zealand. It puts in a submission on almost every single bill before Parliament. Now good on them for being politically active, but allowing them to be a registered charity would be allowing any organisation to be a charity. Would we accept Business NZ being a registered charity?
On the back of the government’s announcement I have drafted a simple Private Member’s Bill to write advocacy into the definition of charitable purpose in the Charities Act as an ancillary purpose. I’ve been holding off for ages because I kept hearing that there would be a review and this would be the main focus of it.
That will make it open slater for every political lobby group in New Zealand to gain charitable tax status.
So government cannot discriminate for those wanting consideration for the strugglers, but no doubt has it’s door wide open to the robber barons and the fatnecks.
The Act comes into force in October. The use of urgency is an absolute affront. And it is that bad that Finlayson actually certified it breached the NZBOR.
Where is Farrar and Slater? I thought they were concerned about unconstitutional behaviour. The issues they jumped up and down about were minor in comparison.
Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information.
Something you can’t get much of in Russia. If the powers that be don’t like your reportage of them they take over your television station or exile you. One such exile went to Britain was found hanged in March this year apparently. The guy who was given radioactive polonium was a failure of that assassination project. He didn’t die quickly enough and lived for a week, which gave the boffins time to check all known possibilities. They found out the cause on his last day. Poor bloke! Society in Russia has been broken down so much over so many years that it is hard for better human standards to come to the fore then prevail.
I guess that’s the modern way. In Britain Margaret Thatcher was announcing a goal as a present reality when she said that there is no such thing as society.
Something you can’t get much of in Russia. If the powers that be don’t like your reportage of them they take over your television station or exile you.
Indeed, in the USA the Justice Dept simply takes journalists’ phone records and tracks down media informants and sources.
btw opposition political party views, coverage of protests and criticisms of Putin’s govt is common on Russian media. As long as you don’t go too far 🙂
Already banned in St Petersburg. And Pussy Riot etc etc So it would appear “too far” isn’t very far at all. Nor am I aware of the US making a habit of assassinating exiled dissidents (if they even have such a thing) with Polonium 210.
interesting review of a biography of Putin on RNZ this morning; “he picks ‘brawls’, withdraws, then starts the fight again at a later time”, was the interesting characterization.
No, Obama uses drones for individuals he doesn’t like, or military coups for governments that try the wrong sort of democracy. In the case of Bradley Manning, I’m sure he’d love to be exiled.
Matt
The USA is a different country, but their methods are not too dissimilar to those of Russia, and have been deteriorating I think since Russia threw out its form of communism. Now the USA doesn’t have to have better standards than the communists – the slogan is Let’s go for maxing the money, who cares what we do. Same in Britain.
When Washington stars taking over TV stations and exiling dissidents, you might have a point, but nah. Certainly the US is nowhere as free as its propaganda would have the world believe, but it’s considerably less violent and oppressive of its citizens than Russia is.
It’s a moot point that USA is less violent than Russia. It just has a different way of doing things. They thought up extraordinary rendition themselves. Declaring war on others. Driving citizens into criminals with harsh drug laws. Accepting prison rape as regular behaviour, kidnapping girls, shooting too many people. I don’t know how the stats mount up compared to other advanced, civilised countries.
So for all those champions of the U-S-A. Keep chanting, if it makes you feel better
Appeared to work in Boston, while the city was being used to test the reaction of deliberate overkill, via the military complex take-over on the streets!
“Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information”
She did – then some vacuous silly bitch called Nancy popped up and tried (unsuccessfully) to derail her – asking Kim to provide her with the giblets she wanted to hear (from a nuZull spektiv).
(Kim persevered with the email – as listener-feedback. I’m afraid it was all about Nancy)
Nancy only wants to hear things that DIRECTLY affect her from a Nu Zull spektiv). Thankfully Natrad has apparently lost Nancy’s undivided attention – she’ll probably have to slum it on talk-back radio.
Natrad is Natrad – except between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
I’m picking Nancy will find solace with the utterly exceptional, EVERY person’s best friend: Jim MORA – and probably, of geatest interest: The Panel, or perhaps that lady with isss yoos – whatshername?…. dear old Keth – ladyskin of the Parliamentary 4th Estate Gallery, who we can trust to represent our best interests.
Not much left on the MSM aye! (Bee!). Thank Christ for weekends, and nights on Natrad.
.
Tim
Yeah Kim is a feisty thing. I love her even when there is something I don’t. A lot of people have never heard or thought about what a good interview is, and how they are done so they are all interesting and not just a list of questions with ten second replies – and which is your favourite whatever?
And it is funny and sad to hear the various moaning minnies and vicious vernons who want to cut her off at the knees. Nancy wasn’t my fancy. Silly woman was talking about wanting information of importance to NZs! Who make our money from selling goods – Overseas, so we can buy just about everything we use from- Overseas. I heard that when you travelled through international airports you had your shoes checked and you couldn’t carry liquids more than 100ml after the terrorist attacks by people from Overseas. Yes, Nancy there are all sorts of reasons to think that Overseas matters from non-fashionable countries are worth noting by us.
Tim don’t be too hard on 9to Noon, some good stuff there. And don’t forget Checkpoint after work. Just turn on at 10 to five and suffer the last of Jim Mora’s panel of beauts, and there may be a gem if you look hard enough, and then the lemonade goes away and the hard stuff gets served.
I attended a couple of Govt “consultation” meetings recentlyabout their proposed changes to the RMA – and these changes are BIG, prominent on economic growth and allowing business (, developers, mining ?) a much easier pathway through the resource consent process, and dismissive of environmental or social/community concerns. This is a hugely important issue for everyone who cares about the environment and what this Govt intends to do in the future to our lovely land.
Please pass on the details of these RMA information meetings being organised by the Green Party, and their Climate Change conference in Wellington, to anyone you know living in these areas.
Stand up for the Environment: RMA meetings
The Government’s proposed changes to the Resource Management Act undermine local democracy and environmental sustainability.
Join Green MP Eugenie Sage and guest speakers for a panel discussion on changes to the RMA and what they mean for local democracy in your community and New Zealand’s environment.
Hamilton When: Monday, May 20, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:15pm Where: Richardson Room at Child Matters, 480 Anglesea Street Hamilton
Nelson When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Trafalgar Park Pavillion, 30 Trafalgar Street Nelson
Invercargill When: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Central Library, 50 Dee Street (Northern side entrance) Invercargill
Palmerston North When: Thursday, May 30, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where: Globe Theatre, 312 Main St. Palmerston North
Whanganui When: Thursday, June 6, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm, Email Eugenie Sage at Parliament for address details
Climate change conference When: Friday, June 7, 2013 – 9:00am – 4.30pm
Where: Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament
Kennedy Graham hosts a one-day climate change conference in Parliament on 7th June, with the aim of fostering cross-party and public dialogue on climate change. The conference will feature leading scientists, policy analysts, civil society, and private sector representatives, and will finish with a cross-party political panel. The conference is open to all who wish to attend. Registration is now open via the following link: http://meetingthechallenge.eventbrite.co.nz/#
from the debate on the Crown Minerals Amendment Act, Amendment Bill, Committee Stage Pt,1;
Chris Hipkins- “Simon Bridges stuffed up”, then “the Labour Party does support exploration”.
(Jacinda appeared intoxicated, not, intoxicating).
Sue Moroney- “an applicant who does not have “expertise” will be granted.
Little- amendment “splits Health and Safety, Environmental, from the Prospecting application stage, with applicants only needing to demonstrate that they are “likely” to have technical and financial capability, onus on the applicant”;effectively permits foot-in-the-door, rig on the ground.
Street- 37,000 submissions, 32,000 on provided forms, 5000 unique submissions, ALL NOT CONSIDERED; “Bridges afraid of public opinion”.
Hughes-“no Select Committee Stage”.
Robertson- effectively “it is now up to the Minister to determine if Health and Safety, Environmental requirements are met by new (unknown) players.
Likely to be a bureaucratic oversight, but be assured that the Chinese are playing this for every advantage. After all, it would be a shame for Chinese authorities to have to order the dumping of $2M worth of NZ red meat outside the harbour due to bad paperwork?
Dv
I noted one of the fast changing government entities on the Budget Roundup the other night. The truth about this Chinese matter is no doubt the old saw that constant restructuring loses efficiency and effectiveness as senior positions go, and institutional methods disappear.
The entry for beehive.govt.nz of 1/6/2010 set out the situation for Wayne Mapp who was the Minister of the Department through its changing monikers. (He is now in Russia, up to what?)
The Minister of Science and Innovation on 1/6/2010 has become –
the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, and from 1 July 2012
this will be the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The government workers can’t provide quality of work and effectiveness when they are being downsized in numbers and re-arranged like pieces in a kaleidoscope.
The trouble is that the political approach has grown to regard the country as a toy, or a potent cocktail that is to be both shaken and stirred. Unfortunately that is dragging up toxic ingredients from the sludge at the bottom of the hourglass.
There was a sugestion one of the reports that the chinese were using the “stuff up” to protect their own markets.
That idea would seem to have some currency as why are the nacts so quiet, guy has not returned any calls, and if it was a ‘simple stuff up,why would it take month to sort?
Dv
Yes that what I thought. The day after they heard about it the gummint trouble shooter for exports to Asia should have had tickets and accommodation for two nights booked and do something to help us sell our things – what we have to do and do and do. F..ks sake thinking she’ll be right and why don’t they read the docs and I’ve explained it over the phone to Mr Li or whoever and he says he understands but then I get another call. It isn’t enough. Some extra effort needed. Go with urgency like the government is using in the House.
Zespri, far from being an innocent party as it has claimed, knew its system for invoicing kiwifruit shipments to China was likely illegal the Star-Times has discovered.
Documents show the Mt Maunganui-based company was worried New Zealand Customs would discover what it was doing and alert its China counterparts.
Sources have revealed that staff tried to warn management that the dual invoicing was a big risk, but were ignored.
Maybe the chinese are now very suspicious ofdocumentation from NZ and that is why the sorting out is slow.
I really wish politicians on the left would put paid to this endless bullshit about taxpayers. Brian Gaynor is another repeating the lies about the top taxpayers;
“The top end of the employment market is strong and this benefits the Crown’s tax take as individuals on $80,000 or more account for 49 per cent of total income tax even though they represent only 11 per cent of the total work force by number”
He likely would have gotten his info from this source;
Those ‘taxpayers’ look to be every individual with an IRD number. It clearly includes all welfare beneficiaries; OAPs, DPB, Dole, Invalids etc. Even a quick glance shows a further 260,000 people with zero income and rather obviously not paying any tax yet these people keep including them all in this so-called ‘workforce’ of 3.375 million.
The true workforce is only around 2million which would make those on $80,000+ around 18% of the workforce by number.
The inclusion of beneficiaries in tax statistics is seriously skewing the numbers because they’ll nearly all appear in the lower income groups and distort the real facts about who pays tax.
Fat Cop
all these Fast-Food workers coming forward confirming how Police accept free fast-food “backhanders” for free security, while the Policeman arrested on P work for the Head Hunters delivered drugs in uniform, in his police-car; his wife a DHB clinician, knowingly spending the proceeds. Bad Boys!
Schools employ Hollywood movies to assist kids to (passively) read. Imagine Dragons ; Radioactive
for example, avoiding paying your student loan can lead to your grades going from 40K to over 100K
(where the bloody hell are ya)
got them High Hopes?
Research finds residential sales, 8% to foreign buyers but “it will grow”.
In Auckland, to address housing, 1/2 of suburbs permitted to be in-filled with buildings of Three Stories (Mixed-Housing Zone) and buildings can exceed 4, 5 and 6 stories in Terraced and Apartment Zones; non-notified, restricted discretionary (regulatory) activity.
Liked this from David Shearer, (National), “full of big-noters, show-boaters and no-hopers”
From Russell Norman- (The Budget) “is a debt train-wreck”!!!
for The Al1en /s (“Cumberbitches”, now there is a generous man) Interestingly, ST, Into Darkness portrays a Shadowplay between the two main protagonists…
Swings and roundabouts; Key knows we’re heading for the bottom, and he’s riding us, yes he’s riding us; The Camptown ladies sing this song Do dah, Do dah. Screaming Trees, “calling me back to my skin”. Isn’t it funny how we dance along the edge of the Pro-lab Dune like Matchstick Men. Thanks for the Trim. Silence is Golden listening to the current On The Radio; Pictures of Lilly, lilly eli Lilly. the Cider House rules, for now Paint the whole world with a Rainbow, Satellite Above. Grease is the word is the word that you heard, it’s got meaning I was walking in the park just the other night Baby (it’s You) , whatta ya think I saw (I’ll leave the light on, easier to feel the fine tolerances), Here, have a banana.
(1)11 is a joke, ring the po-leece and get burgled, double-up, while they come to buy, flavouring the flow, there’s not a minute to spare. Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Swedish House Mafia will “Save The World”, “it’s time that you stop being so important”, We are Scientists, after all, Stylo, is this love electronic? No Problem /s to report on any of the major interchanges, a million miles away you signal in the distance to whom it may concern, learning to walk again, learning to talk again. Those Flaming Lips sing it, yeah, yeah, yeah, Check yo’self ‘fore you wreck yourself, cos shotgun bullets are bad for your health.
-just a little Logo nTherapy, now, Lets Talk About trevor. without Warning, The Wizard walks by, casting his shadow, weaving his spell, funny clothes, tinkling bell. Sleep Comes Down (the Devilskin, never see the light). These are the tells, of love, and loss, and love; love based on a true story, all I do is keep the beat and the Bad Company. Chelsea Princess, Repetition.
-“the world is not a miserable prison; a playground for a non-stop tournament between stupidity and imagination”.
-James Broughton
Show (them) How to Live.
Moby said “we are all made of stars”, and I agree.
ST – The way socialists should want the world to turn out like… After we finish saving it, that is.
Social justice and equality that bypasses nations for the common good.
Why does the future have to taste of dystopia?
cos’ it’s in the ‘scriptures’ and that is what is ingrained in the cultural-historically derived psyches of the collective; “be a good (capitalist, follower of the authorities, individualist, make the Right choices, work hard, gain the credentials, solve the angst of the childless couple with IVF, eat your weeties, fence off those ‘others’ etc) and you will, literally, go to heaven, or damn the lot of you. Nietzsche, the most influential Western philosopher read it before it all unfolded, Confucius and Lao Tzu prescribed what would be necessary, Ellul (amongst others, like Huxley) prophecied what would unfold, Philip K. Dick wrote the story, J.J Abrams directed the film, Jesus Christ offered to set us free (The Kingdom of heaven is within you) and John (alongside others, Greer et al;) watched.
well, the only MPs who appear to have the integrity to stand up to “big corporate” globalization are Green and on the back-burners of Labour; the Right are certainly putting the screws on though, unprecedented High Stakes; wait until the next “Act of God”, environmental disaster “act of man” occurs, then there will be some panic.
Hold all the balls in your mind at once and you can see the Dark Art at work.
I recall hearing a few snippets on the news a few weeks ago re Key suggesting that the government may be willing to finance or part finance a new conference centre in Queenstown. At the time, it seemed weird as there was also indications that the money to build the centre was already sorted. Sorry, don’t have time to find a link right now.
From this latest news item, it seems that “Sky City already owns another casino in Queenstown and is in a consortium which is the preferred group to build a convention centre there.”
So, is the Queenstown situation tied in with the Government’s deal for Auckland?
And they boast about having a bit of a casino monopoly
Entertainment is our core business. SKYCITY has a strong and enviable collection of assets, including some of the most significant urban monopoly casino licences in New Zealand and Australia.
tc
You are right about the eyesore in Christchurch. To get an attractive building in Auckland the citizens up there will have to be in control of the design or it might look like a prison, the one in Christchurch was sterile on the outside.
Nice one Russel Norman. Just referred to Gerry as ‘The Colossus of Roads”. It’s interesting about that petrol tax to be raised. The infrastructure that it should be spent on is public rail and Gisborne line. It’s important that good transport is available to all the regions.
It has been obvious that some people live in a different world than the rest of us.
One where Chicago school economics work! One where you save the village by blowing it up! One where global warming can be stopped, Canute-like, by legislation. One where dropping wages and giving everything to bloated financiers, makes us better off! One where removing money from an economy makes it work better. One where every country is going to get rich by out exporting every other country. One where enabling greater inequality than the dark ages, works!
The one with the trickle down fairy. “Give us the money and we will pee on you”.
The market fairy. “Leave it to the market and we will cut your wages,impoverish your children, and tell you it is a brighter future”.
The Austerity fairy. “We will become better off by becoming poorer”.
The catching-up-with-Australia fairy. “We will catch up with Australia by doing almost the opposite of everything they have done”.
The Democracy fairy. “We will let you vote, to change the names in Government, or on a few social issues which do not affect our making money off you, but not to make any meaningful changes to the way the country is run”.
The privatisation fairy. “We will ensure that the NZ current account is forever in deficit, by selling all the income earning assets”
The debt fairy. “We will cut debt by borrowing $300mill a week, to pay for unaffordable tax cuts, to pay for our Hawaii holidays”.
The Job fairy. ” We will increase the number of jobs by putting thousands out of work, and cutting the unemployment benefit”.
The “We support business” fairy. While ensuring New Zealanders have no money to buy from local businesses, and increasing small businesses costs.
The better future fairy. “We will give you a better future by paying you less, charging you more and cutting services”.
It is pretty obvious which side of the political spectrum is on another planet. Planet Key!
I watched last night, as the government forced through its outrageous anti-protest legislation, formally and preposterously entitled The Crown Minerals Act Amendment Bill 2013 Amendment Bill. Labour and the Greens put up a string of serious, well prepared speakers: Gareth Hughes, Andrew Little, Grant Robertson, Moana Mackey, Chris Hipkins and Maryan Street. After insultingly brief and inadequate speeches by two of its lesser lights, Sam Lotu-Liga and Mark Mitchell, National just sat it out; as well as having no arguments, they had nobody capable of mounting any coherent defence of this assault on our democracy.
The man responsible for this disastrous legislation, Simon Bridges, was in the house, and was asked by every speaker to get up and answer for himself; he was obviously just not up to it. A couple of times the cameras cut to him, furtively shuffling (but not reading) papers, with a perplexed and pained expression.
Mozza, I very much doubt Simon Bridges is responsible for anything, other than bending over on request, being a sock-puppet, a traitor and a coward, who is the servant to the masters…
The masters are not likely to be onshore in NZ, and I would doubt that the core protagonists in the house, see themselves as NZ’ers!
Yeah…….wee Simon’s a puppy who yaps and drools on demand. Not an ounce of balls in him. Former Crown prosecutor you see……it’s all about “winning” and putting people behind bars, deservedly or not, as a reflex. No broad morality. He just follows orders.
Heaps of regard to the perks and the travel and the handsome stipend and the pension however. Prick. Not a gram of principle in him. Lacking balls and principle. Interested only in being a “darling”.
I agree that Bridges is the stooge rather than the instigator; however he is the minister responsible for this, even if it is really Steven Joyce and Peter Goodfellow pulling his strings. If Bridges had an ounce of integrity, he would have resigned by now, but he has stayed on to front this terrible legislation. He will bear the full blame for it eventually, and he doesn’t deserve any sympathy.
And some comments, like “all I can see now are a pair of rubber tits”.
Words fail me. Looking at Roughan’s column, I asked myself, “What kind of animal writes this shit?” and then I read the comments to get the answer: the sort who… never mind, I don’t want to articulate my answer fully.
Roughan…….big fish little pond fuckwit. Intrusiveness is his right…….because he’s big fish little pond fuckwit Roughan with a platform alongside equally egocentric fools. New Zealand is so sick in that regard.
I took it to be largely tongue in cheek. You might remember Clare Curran was thrown out because she wore a football jersey (or some such garment) about a year ago. I thought there might have been a bit of tit for tat going on. Agree though… it was rather stupid.
Andrew Little’s point of order appeared to be quite serious. And for that, ridiculous. The guy needs to get a life. If he wanted to comment on dress, he should have congratulated Gareth Hughes from the Greens who looked particularly fetching (seriously) in his grey suit and black tie, and his speech was impressive too 🙂
Re Little.I was interested that TV3 (I think) picked up on that and costed out the amount that the time taken to deal with the jersey issue would have cost the taxpayer.Can’t remember what it came to, but I don’t understand why the same attention is never given to key when he nuts off on one of his kindy tantrums.Must be costing us a lot more money for the time he wastes.
I wonder why, if Little was gonna raise a point of order about dress at all, he didn’t have a go at Tony-Ryall-Neighbour-Of-Susan.
Note I’m not saying Tones wears a dress. I’m saying that recidivistly he daily commits fashion crime, what with his pinstripes up against checked tablecloth shirts. You gotta go for the real criminals Little.
Not Auchinvole or Sockinhole or whatever his name is. He seemed to love the attention anyway. Compared to Tones he was sartorial inoffensiveness defined.
Re why TV3 made a point of it ? Maybe Mr Bean’s Cuzzy Power (Trip) Gower is personally, darkly, “really angry” about the carry-on in the House and will next cost out the time consumed by ShonKey Python’s rhubarbs, can’t recalls, throat slitting gestures and risible expressions and non-expressions of confidence in Botox Banks.
Oh, Poor Paddy, it’s such a burden being part of the story with the weight of the nation upon him, Gilmore “lying to ME”, Steven Joyce calling HIM aside – “Look PADDY, it’s like this……..”, having to LICK ShonKey’s arse.
Lewis examines a number of hypotheses, from rising incomes to growing female literacy. Those are all moderately correlated with the decline in birthrates and could help explain the shift. But, curiously enough, nothing seems to match up with the trends as neatly as the growth in TV ownership and media exposure.
Television in developing countries is also correlated with:
– reduced acceptability of domestic violence
– reduced son preference
– increased female autonomy
The study thinks it might be more than rising incomes, but television is actually changing cultural norms. (Now there’s a debate that’s been a first world problem for awhile). I wonder if these developing countries have Snookie and ‘The Only Way is Essex’ 😉
Unlike Dave Dobbin, who doesn’t listen to other peoples songs when he’s writing, I will if it’s asked of me 😉
That’s a very spinal tap looking vid. Cut and blow dries for all 😆
The tv series the history of rock (was on prime ages ago at least twice) has an interview with one of the kinks, saying how he used to cut up his speaker cones to get them to distort.
I’d hate to guess what I’d have to slit to get a decent vocal sound.
Thank goodness for software.
“I’m not a number; Ooh, that’s why I’m easy, I’m easy like a Sunday morning.
I’ve paid my dues to make it
I’m not happy when I try to fake it, no
I wanna be free to know
The things I do are right”.
(been some investment)
“Haven’t changed, haven’t much to ‘say’
Plenty of unused thoughts to give away,
Hardly ever Blue, is a greeting from a friend.”
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Former National Minister - Wayne MappYou could tell that the Hit and Run book by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson was right on the money by the way former National Party Minister of Defence, Wayne Mapp, reacted to its now largely vindicated claims.Even though the recent inquiry into ...
So, the Hit and Run inquiry has reported back, and found some appalling shit at NZDF and NZSIS. And while they quibble a few of the details - the name of a dead child - they basicly uphold Hager and Stephenson's version of events. The SAS went to those villages. ...
We are failing to think though the interdependencies in an economy. We miss economist Bryan Philpott (1921-2000). I miss him personally – we used to have such great discussions – but this column is about how the nation misses his economic experience and wisdom. We tend to ...
Michelle Boag - LeakerThe Heron report (PDF) was released yesterday, and it was a bit disappointing to say the least. It correctly found that former National Party president Michelle Boag and National Party MP Hamish Walker were politically motivated in leaking peoples private medical information, but didn’t look further into ...
On different trajectories and from different ends of the political spectrum, last night’s One News/Colmar Brunton poll has the Green Party and ACT converging around the five percent mark. And, as odd as it may sound, they head into the election campaign with a lot in common.Putting the Greens and ...
Truth In Advertising: Labour, it would seem, is the party that knows nothing about running the economy right up until the moment that it does. HOW DID LABOUR acquire its reputation for being a poor economic manager? As with most things political and historical, it’s a long story.In the beginning, the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Government rulemakers looking to decide how much money to spend to avoid adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere need a good estimate of what a warming climate will cost in social damages, for example through more extreme weather events. That point makes ...
Fact Check: New Zealand’s own relationship with China might, however, be salvageable if our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was willing to equip its minister, Winston Peters, with a few facts. Legislating for the protection of national security – the very action our Foreign Minister is decrying – ...
I hope we can all agree that charging only certain returning expats for isolation costs is the right call. Instead of a blanket fee, which may have resulted in a small number of Kiwis deciding not to return home because of financial reasons, the Government has chosen to implement a ...
Back at the beginning of this government, the Greens made a foolish decision to support the Electoral Integrity Act - demanded by Winston Peters to keep his own backbench in line as part of his coalition deal with Labour - as an act of good faith within the coalition. It ...
SATURDAY AUGUST 1Artefact (Prime, 7.30pm). The series presented by Dame Anne Salmond screened on Māori Television, but is totally worth revisiting if you saw it the first time. Dame Anne tells the stories of taonga that highlight the history of Aotearoa. Further reading: this 2013 interview with Dame Anne by the lovely ...
Have unions and the Government sold workers short with their attempt at fixing the so-called “Hobbit Law”? Unionist Ian Powell argues that the union movement has been outmanoeuvered, and the Government has agreed to a new piece of anti-worker legislation that retains the principles of the previous National Government’s hated ...
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source:Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ...
An article in the EETimes suggests that advances in autonomous vehicles are not moving as quickly as expected because those working on them have confused complicated problems with complex ones. Engineering can only take you so far in complex worlds. Complicated systems tend to have fairly predictable inputs, processes and outputs. Complex systems (like ...
Last week, after Judith Collins announced that National would be cruel and vicious to kiwis caught overseas by the pandemic, and rob them at the border if they returned home, Labour looked like it was falling all over itself to cry "me too". But now, it looks like kindness has ...
If entry into New Zealand from abroad is safe, it should be allowed. People arriving from places that are Covid-free, or no more risky than New Zealand, and who get here on flights that do not intersect with risky places, should return to normal travel arrangements. Currently, the Cook ...
Liz SlootenScientists from the University of Otago, working with colleagues from around the world, have found that New Zealand right whales are doing much better than right whales in other parts of the world. The research was published as the feature article in the journal Marine Ecology Progress ...
Back in 2019, the government asked for a comprehensive, independent review of the Resource Management Act and associated legislation. That review has now reported back and recommended a complete repeal and re-enactment. Despite the headlines, this is not a "scrapping" - we're still going to have a resource management law, ...
By Associate Professor Mik Black, Department of Biochemistry, University of OtagoThe increased availability of complex biological data sets means that analysis and computation are becoming critically important skills for New Zealand’s future scientists. Because of this, we need to be doing everything we can to help our students develop ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIs humanity doomed? If in 2030 we have not reduced ...
Britain's spy agencies are supposedly overseen by various watchdogs, including the investigatory powers tribunal. But it turns out that MI6 at least has contempt for those watchdogs, and attempted to interfere with the operations of the tribunal by concealing evidence from its judges: MI6 has been accused of “inappropriate interference” ...
Daphna Whitmore So far this year over 7.4 million people have died from preventable communicable diseases. There were 4.3 million children who died under the age of five. Nearly one million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the past six months. A similar number of people have died from malaria ...
Four weeks ago I wrote about the last time a sizable asteroid hit our planet – the ‘Tunguska Event’ of 1908, when an object about 50 metres across exploded above the Siberian taiga – but smaller cosmic rocks shoot close by Earth fairly frequently. In the past 42 hours ...
Last month, China imposed a new "national security law" on Hong Kong. The law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment for secession, subversion, and "colluding with foreign forces" - which basicly means peacefully advocating for democracy or independence. It has been used to crush peaceful protests and interpreted by the ...
Powerful Connection: Neoliberalism is the antithesis of everything that has traditionally been associated with the feminine aspects of human nature. Kindness and compassion, nurturance and inclusiveness: such qualities have no place in the neoliberal order. When Jacinda proclaimed her determination to practice the “politics of kindness”, she was, wittingly or ...
The bad news: Jacinda Ardern still wants to bill exiled kiwis for returning home. The good news: it would require a law change, which the Greens won't back, so she'll need to go grovelling to National. The other good news: she's running out of time to do it. This ...
. . For the mainstream media, today (22 July) was even a better day than yesterday. More Sex. More Politics. More Sex AND Politics. Yesterday, the msm dealt with Andrew Falloon. The obscure backbench MP had been found to have sent pornographic images to at least four women. The woman’s ...
If you want to understand what is happening in this year’s election campaign, it’s worth looking to the past for guidance. Colin James delves into recent contests and finds some interesting parallels. July 28 is 53 days before the 2020 election. Just 53 days before the 2017 election ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Wildfires burned much less acreage in the U.S. than average during the first half of the year, but with hot and dry conditions expected over much of the nation in the coming months, fire activity is likely to ramp up. ...
Today a full bench of the High Court is hearing Andrew Borrowdale's challenge to the legality of the COVID-19 lockdown. That lockdown ended two months ago, so the point seems moot - but it was never about ending it. Instead, as Andrew Geddis points out, its about a key principle ...
So far, this has been a relatively policy-free election campaign. The government has been trying to keep a low profile, on the basis that anything they say will only piss someone off, so better to say as little as possible. When its not knifing its leader, National has promised roads, ...
I hardly ever comment on polls, because horse-race politics is superficial and boring and most changes are statistically meaningless and so unworthy of attention (let alone the excitement they provoke amongst mathematically illiterate political journalists desperate to fill airtime). But we've now had two polls in a row showing Labour ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on its inquiry into the operation of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020. As you'd expect, they find that the law was "necessary and appropriate", but would like to see a permanent replacement providing for health emergency powers as the Health ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... John Cook in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Major new climate study rules out less severe global warming scenariosAn analysis finds the most ...
It hasn’t taken long for the advent of Judith Collins as National party leader to change the tone of the political debate. After several days of headlines and airwaves dominated by reports of a National MP sending pornographic images to young women, the National leader had had enough of that ...
Don Franks An already fired up general election looks like getting even edgier. When final votes have been counted, a rather unlikely coalition government now seems possible As National and Labour implode with sexual proclivities while New Zealand First fling their last toys from the cot, others show more maturity. ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 19 through Sat, July 25, 2020Editor's ChoiceThe Climate Expert Who Delivered News No One Wanted to Hear From 2009: How a scientist known as the “father of global ...
There’s ultimately two key narratives overall that are seeking to take front row in order to reshape the world as a whole going forward from the COVID pandemic. The first is a very desperate attempt to reimpose “a return” to what is perceived as “the old normal”, quite impossible. ...
Henry Anderson-Elliott, University of CambridgeOn the morning of August 31 2017, I didn’t meet a remarkable polar bear. It was my third week of fieldwork-based out of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, studying the conservation of the bears on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Having spent a few days transcribing interviews in ...
SUNDAY JULY 26Country Calendar (TVNZ 1, 7.00pm). Tonight, kiwifruit growing in the King Country. Crazy!Normal People (TVNZ 1, 10.30pm). Holy cow, if you thought it was slow on a binge-watch, imagine what it's like in weekly doses. Nevertheless, it's like Richard Linklater's Boyhood – you don't really see the scope of ...
. . “The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly. All over the world, their machines began to stop ...
In October 2018, Sealord's fishing boat Ocean Dawn repeatedly bottom-trawled in a Benthic Protection Area on the Chatham Rise. It was a crime which devastated a pristine marine environment. And today, they've been properly punished for it: Sealord has today been ordered to forfeit a $24 million fishing vessel for ...
Jovan Byford, The Open UniversityWith prospects of a COVID-19 vaccine looking up, attention is also turning to the problem of anti-vax ideas. According to a recent survey, one in six Britons would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Although vaccine hesitancy is a complex problem with ...
Paula Koelemeijer, Royal Holloway and Stephen Hicks, Imperial College LondonSeismic activity doesn’t just come from earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. Everyday human activity also gives rise to vibrations that travel through the ground as seismic waves, something we call “anthropogenic noise”. When pandemic lockdown measures brought daily life to a ...
Last night, the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 was passed unanimously by Parliament. The Act updates the 1972 Equal Pay Act to create a bargaining framework for equal pay claims and hopefully avoid the need to take them to court. It doesn't go far enough - there's no pay transparency ...
The New Zealand government has done the right thing and granted journalist Behrouz Boochani refugee status: Eight months after arriving in New Zealand, acclaimed author Behrouz Boochani has been granted refugee status. The Kurdish-Iranian writer joins a small group of successful applicants – with almost two thirds of asylum ...
Carve-Up: 120 years after the Eight-Power Intervention of 1900 the racist assumptions of the Western powers vis-à-vis China have hardly changed at all. They still arrogate to themselves the right to dispose of the future of the Chinese people as they see fit. There remains the same racist assumption that ...
Both Labour and National are talking about requiring people arriving in New Zealand to pay $3,000 of the cost of the mandatory managed isolation/quarantine period. The policy has been criticised as “shameful”. There are petitions against it. I have some concerns about the politics behind the proposal, but I’m neither ...
Auckland Philippines Solidarity and Migrante Aotearoa are jointly holding a rally to speak up for human rights in the Philippines. The human rights situation in the Philippines has deteriorated significantly since President Duterte came to power in 2016. As many as 27,000 people have been killed in police operations during ...
Just where in the economic spectrum does the current National Party stand? In government, a political party is so busy it rarely has time to have a political ideology (neoliberals and communists excepted). Most policy is driven by necessity, instinct (which, I suppose, is a kind of ideology) ...
Together, Not Apart: In political terms, 2020 represents the exact reverse of 1984. Then, the tide was running with the challengers. Now, it is running with the incumbents. If Labour and the Greens can plausibly guarantee to keep us working and keep us safe, then traditional demographic voting patterns will ...
Hosted by Selwyn Manning and EveningReport.nz, ” A View from Afar” is a podcast series dedicated to exploring current affairs, international relations, political events and military-security issues from somewhat uncommon angles. In this first episode we continue the coverage of the Portland protests first offered on these pages. The conversation ...
A ballot for five Member's Bills was held today and the following bills were drawn: Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Shane Reti) Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Bill (Louisa Wall) Lawyers and Conveyancers (Employed Lawyers Providing Free Legal Services) Amendment Bill ...
A farmer in Te Anau has slashed and burned 800 hectares of native forest: A Te Anau farmer accused of slashing and burning down 800 hectares of native forest in two years has been served with an interim court order to stop. Southland District Council says Peter Chartres caused ...
WELLINGTON – Thursday July 23, 2020 Good morning everybody. I’m the latest leader of the National Party. It’s me! Judith Collins. There has been a lot said over the past week month few months years about the culture within the National Party. Today I would like to clear a few ...
Last night, the New Plymouth District Council approved the creation of a Māori ward to ensure that Māori would have a voice in their local government. Its the second time they've tried to do this - an earlier attempt in 2015 was overturned by a racist referendum. And predictably, there ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says.Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has ridiculed the National Party "circus", with the politician saying it was in "chaos" after the resignation of another MP.Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon announced on Monday he would retire from politics after he allegedly sent inappropriate pornographic images to a young woman. Following a ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today outlined what he saw as the requirements to re-open New Zealand's borders for tourists and travellers. If New Zealand was dealing solely with an Australian state such as Tasmania, we wouldn't need a vaccine, said Mr Peters, but these moves were complicated by the ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters appears to have prompted last-minute alterations to proposed legislation for commercial landlords and their tenants. Mr Peters told reporters on Wednesday said that he was making sure the proposed bill was in step with what the parties had actually agreed to. He said he ...
Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprise and New Zealand First List MP Shane Jones attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new NZ Post "super depot" in Wellington. The state-owned postal service, which got $280 million from the Coalition Government last month, is expanding its operations to handle surging parcel volumes. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYIntroduction Good afternoon. Welcome to you all here today and party supporters watching from around the country. We appreciate your hard work keeping New Zealand First strong; thank you for keeping the faith. Sixty-three days out from Election Day, ...
The diversity of conservation boards around Aotearoa is increasing with 47 appointments to 14 of the 15 conservation boards across New Zealand announced today by the Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party is honoured to be remembering former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today at a public memorial service in the heart of Wellington at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s. Following her passing in March, this celebration of her life brings together her friends, family and colleagues to honour her life ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a $2.5 million boost for South Westland to help a regional alliance of local businesses and government agencies provide nature based jobs. ...
Investing in infrastructure is one major way we can create jobs, stimulate the economy, and keep New Zealand moving post COVID-19. That's why this week we rolled out a massive number of infrastructure announcements - in Tairāwhiti, Wairarapa, Otago, Southland and more! ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says the National Party’s Auckland Transport announcement today is a breath-taking plan on the never never. While it is promising to see that National all of a sudden has rediscovered railways in Auckland, including trains ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP A range of projects announced by the Hon Shane Jones in Southland and Otago will build communities and create jobs, according to New Zealand First List MP Mark Patterson. The town of Gore received funding to build a new public library and ...
News that Rio Tinto has announced that it is planning to wind-down operations at the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter could not have a come at a worse time for the people of Southland. While it has been clear that Rio Tinto was never going to support Southlanders over the long haul, ...
Whenua/land, roto/lakes and awa/rivers in the central North Island will benefit from increased habitat protection with new biosecurity investment across iwi and Crown-managed lands and lakes announced Conservation and Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage in Rotorua today. ...
As part of a broader plan to reduce the increasing amount of rubbish ending up in New Zealand’s landfills, the Government is to fund new recycling infrastructure and expand the national waste levy scheme.$124 million Government investment in recycling infrastructurePlans confirmed to increase and expand the waste ...
The Government is providing an investment totalling more than $100 million for regions to protect against and mitigate the effects of climate change, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones have announced. Six regions will receive funding from the $3 billion allocated to infrastructure projects from the ...
Three major local projects at Te Kuiti and Otorohanga have been given the money to get moving after the impact of Covid 19, says the Minister of Māori Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta. The projects range from a Sports Centre for Te Kuiti, a redevelopment of the Otorohanga Kiwi House and ...
The Coalition Government has extended three New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa by two years, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “These deployments promote peace in the Middle East and Africa by protecting civilians and countering the spread of ...
The release of the National Climate Change Risk Assessment shows that the progress this Government has made to solve the climate crisis is essential to creating cleaner and safer communities across New Zealand. “Because of this report, we can see clearer than ever that the action our Government is taking ...
The second round of the Community Resilience Fund is now open for applications for sport and recreation organisations experiencing financial hardship between 1 July and 30 September 2020. “The fund opens today for five weeks – closing on September 6. The amount awarded will be decided on a case-by-case basis ...
Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today declared Rakitū Island, off the coast of Aotea/Great Barrier Island, predator free. “I’m delighted to announce that with rats now gone, Rakitū is officially predator free. This is a major milestone because Rakitū is the last DOC administered island in the Hauraki Gulf Marine ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.75 million to restore significant historic sites at Ōhaeawai in the Far North, upgrade marae and fund fencing and riparian planting. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcements following a service at the historic St Michael’s Anglican Church at Ōhaeawai today. Just ...
The Chatham Islands will receive close to $40 million for projects that will improve its infrastructure, add to its attraction as a visitor destination, and create jobs through a planned aquaculture venture, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the islands, first ...
The Government is delivering more initiatives to reduce energy hardship and to give small electricity consumers a voice, Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods said today. “In addition to the initiatives we have already delivered to support New Zealand families, we are responding to the Electricity Price Review with further ...
Government, iwi, NGOs and rehabilitation groups are working together to turn around the fortunes of the nationally endangered hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin following a series of terrible breeding seasons. The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage helped launch the Five Year Action Plan at the annual Yellow-Eyed Penguin symposium in Dunedin today. “I ...
The membership of the Tourism Futures Taskforce has now been confirmed, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced at an event at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua today. “The main purpose of the independent Tourism Futures Taskforce is to lead the thinking on the future of tourism in New Zealand,” Kelvin Davis said. Joining ...
More than $300 million in funding has been approved to protect strategic tourism businesses, drive domestic tourism through regional events and lift digital capability in the tourism industry, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. A $400 million Tourism Recovery Package was announced at Budget 2020, and with today’s announcements is ...
From 2021 permits will be required for New Zealanders wanting to export hard-to-recycle plastic waste. The Associate Minister for the Environment, Eugenie Sage, today announced the requirements as part of New Zealand’s commitments to the Basel Convention, an international agreement of more than 180 countries which was amended in May ...
The building and construction sector is still showing strong growth, with the number of new dwellings consented up more than 8 per cent compared to last year, reflecting a welcome confidence in the Government’s COVID-19 response package, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. “While it is still too ...
Government investment of $23 million for Bay of Plenty flood protection will allow local communities to address long-standing flood risks and provide jobs, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced in Rotorua today. These projects are being funded by the Infrastructure Reference Group’s (IRG) shovel ...
Investment for projects that will create hundreds of jobs in Rotorua were announced today by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. These projects will provide opportunities for economic development in a region that has been hard hit by COVID-19,” Winston Peters said. Fletcher ...
For the first time, primary schools will have access to funding for counsellors for their students, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. “A major investment of $75.8 million will provide greater access to guidance counsellors to help primary and secondary school students deal with mental health and wellbeing issues,” ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark today welcomed the release of the Report of the Government Inquiry into Operation Burnham and related matters, and the Government response. “I thank the Inquiry for their thorough and detailed report, on a highly complex issue. I accept the recommendations of the report, and fully support ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones has announced $6 million of One Billion Trees funding for seven regional initiatives to create jobs and provide long-lasting environmental and economic benefits. The projects range from improving one of the poorest-quality water catchments in Otago to restoring 52km of waterways around Hokianga Harbour. Six of the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today announced $5.5 million in funding from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) for two Kawerau projects and says this is a significant boost for the people of Kawerau. “These projects will bring much-needed investment and will create up to 60 jobs for locals,” Mr Peters ...
Kaingaroa Village in the Bay of Plenty is to get $5 million to help fund a comprehensive upgrade of its infrastructure, facilities and housing, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. Mr Tabuteau travelled to the remote village to make the announcement, telling Kaingaroa residents how the funding ...
The Rangiuru Business Park project near Te Puke is getting $18 million from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This is all about unlocking the potential of this region. When it’s finished, the Rangiuru Business Park will be the Bay of Plenty’s ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has today announced that a $26 million investment in Ōpōtiki will see important public amenities upgraded and further progress made on new aquaculture opportunities. “The people of Ōpōtiki have been waiting decades for real investment in key infrastructure, and support for the incredible aquaculture opportunities ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio wishes to congratulate the Cook Islands community throughout Aotearoa for the 9th year of Te ‘Epetoma o Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani, the Cook Islands Language Week. “This is a proud milestone that reflects on the huge effort made by the Cook ...
Aucklanders in the Eastern Suburbs will soon have more ways to get around, with Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter kicking off construction on Section 2 of Te Ara Ki Uta Ki Tai, the Glen Innes to Tāmaki Drive Shared Path today. The Glen Innes ...
The Government is stepping up the fight against measles and protecting hundreds of thousands more young adults by investing up to $40 million for a year-long measles-catch-up campaign and $23 million to fully fund and develop the National Immunisation Solution, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced at Mangere ...
Attorney-General David Parker has today released the findings of the Government inquiry held into Operation Burnham and related events. The operation took place on 21-22 August 2010 in Tirgiran Valley, Afghanistan, and was carried out by NZSAS troops and other nations’ forces operating as part of the International Security Assistance ...
From tomorrow, community groups around New Zealand can apply to a $36 million fund established to encourage locally-led solutions as communities rebuild and recover from COVID-19, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Community and Voluntary Sector Poto Williams. “The Community Capability and Resilience Fund (CCRF) builds ...
The Government has committed to improving Māori health and wellbeing over the next five years. The Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health) today released Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2025 which sets the pathway towards achieving healthy futures for all Māori. “As kaitiaki of the system, the Ministry of Health ...
New environmental standards will make the re-consenting of existing marine farms more consistent across the country. The new regulations for the National Environmental Standards for Marine Aquaculture (NES-MA) will come into effect on 1 December, Environment Minister David Parker and Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash said. “The NES-MA removes complexities and ...
Today marks a milestone as the Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta co-sign an Addendum – with the Iwi Chairs of Te Rarawa, Ngāi Takoto and Te Aupōuri – to the Te Hiku o Te Ika Iwi-Crown Social Development and Wellbeing Accord (the ...
The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill (No 2) passed its third reading today and will become law, announced Minister for Veterans Ron Mark. This amends the Veterans’ Support Act 2014 in response to recommendations from the 2018 review of the operation of the Act by Professor Ron Paterson. “Veterans have been ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters says race courses can improve safety with this year’s first round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. The Racing Safety Development Fund makes available $990,000 for distribution over two funding rounds for the 2020/21 financial year. “The racing industry is integral to the ...
The Government’s commitment to increase primary sector jobs and opportunities has been further boosted today with the re-opening of the Taratahi Agriculture Centre, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The Wairarapa-based training centre is reopening its doors after two years to deliver industry taster and familiarisation courses, to help workers displaced ...
New Zealanders are being invited to help recognise the work of the many “unsung heroes” in our ethnic communities during COVID-19. “Aotearoa New Zealand is home to 920,000 people who identify their ethnicity as Middle Eastern, Latin American, African, Asian, and Continental European. During the extraordinary time of the COVID-19 ...
The Government is allocating $40 million to assist with the cost of mediation and arbitration for New Zealand businesses and landlords to resolve issues about adjusting rent as they face the economic impacts of COVID-19, Justice Minister Andrew Little said. The Government had previously announced funding to improve access to ...
The Government has announced details of a planned new law to give Police the power to conduct random roadside drug testing of drivers, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter and Minister of Police Stuart Nash announced today. The Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill was introduced to the house today ...
More warmer, drier homes and a big building boost for regional centres across New Zealand are two of the major benefits from a $500 million investment in the upgrade and renewal of state homes. Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi has confirmed the multi-million dollar expansion of the Kāinga Ora – ...
The Government will provide $8 million towards the revitalisation of the Paihia waterfront in the iconic Bay of Islands, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Bay of Islands is the cornerstone of Northland tourism and Paihia the hub for maritime-based tourism and recreation in the area. “Weather and economic ...
Health Minister Chris Hipkins welcomes confirmation of Canterbury DHB’s move into state-of-the-art Christchurch Hospital Hagley building which will serve the community well for decades to come. The Ministry of Health is on track to hand over the facility on 10 August 2020. Sterile Services is due to be operational on ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Timor-Leste’s Journalist Association (AJTL) and journalism students marched through the streets of the capital Dili today calling on the government to scrap plans to change the law to make defamation a criminal offence. Under the proposed law journalists could face jail sentences. Opponents of the proposed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute The announcement of stage 4 restrictions in Victoria marks a new, and depressing, stage in Australia’s response to COVID-19. The new measures will close non-essential retailers and most child-care centres across Melbourne, and impose ...
China said on Monday it will suspend its extradition agreement with New Zealand in response to Wellington suspending its existing extradition treaty with Hong Kong, Reuters reports. ...
China said on Monday it will suspend its extradition agreement with New Zealand in response to Wellington suspending its existing extradition treaty with Hong Kong, Reuters reports. ...
On Saturday the man behind Game of Thrones hosted the ceremony for the prestigious Hugo Awards. Sam Brooks recaps. In a blog post just over a year ago, American writer George R.R. Martin said that New Zealand had “formal written permission” to jail him if he didn’t have The Winds of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Wood, Chief executive officer, Grattan Institute How do you occupy a child for long enough to get any work done? This will be the question confronting more than 150,000 Melbourne families for at least the next six weeks. The Stage 4 ...
China said on Monday it will suspend its extradition agreement with New Zealand in response to Wellington suspending its existing extradition treaty with Hong Kong, Reuters reports. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Non-essential retailers across Melbourne will be shut except for “click and collect” and delivery sales, and industries including meatworks and construction will be drastically scaled back, under Victoria’s unprecedented lockdown. The business shutdown details came ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Russo, Associate Professor, Director Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash University Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced sweeping changes to businesses across metropolitan Melbourne, including closure of retail stores and restrictions on some industries, including construction. The new constraints ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University In what seems to be a common occurrence, Chinese video-sharing app TikTok is once again in the headlines. After months of speculation about national security risks and users’ data being harvested by ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Controversial Papua New Guinea citizen Joe Chan has been arrested in Malaysia – this time under the name Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra. And also this time as an Indonesian, a wanted and convicted fugitive and graft convict, reports the PNG Post-Courier. He has been on the run ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Can we trust New Zealand’s military? There must now be serious doubt, given the landmark report released on Friday concluding the investigation into allegations made in the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson about a ...
We need to crack on with building the systems and infrastructure necessary to be able to safely accommodate far more travellers than the system can currently handle. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature, University of Melbourne In our series Art for Trying Times, authors nominate a work they turn to for solace or perspective during this pandemic. The Greeks are at the gates, and the city ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are plans to increase testing of staff at airports and isolation facilities and to equip GPs to ramp up testing. ...
What happens when New Zealand’s queen of K-Pop rallies a room full of kids to become homegrown popstars? You get TVNZ On Demand’s K-Pop Academy.Korean pop music – or “K-pop” – is, arguably, the biggest musical genre on the planet. BTS is its most famous name, but South Korea is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University Creative destruction “is the essential fact about capitalism”, wrote the great Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942. New technologies and processes continuously revolutionise the economic structure from within, “incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is condemning Kaikoura District Council and Tararua District Council for failing to identify earthquake-prone buildings , as required by law. Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says, “These Councils broke the law ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has welcomed today’s release of the first National Climate Change Risk Assessment , but say that unless it’s paired up with a framework that enables councils to act on the assessments, communities will be ...
With women leading both major parties and the highest number of female MPs (38%) since women were first allowed to stand for Parliament in 1919, it’s time that proper attention was paid to one of the most fatal of women’s cancers. ...
Taxpayer handouts to electric car buyers will not save the planet, says the car review website dogandlemon.com . Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who has studied electric cars for over a decade, says: “The lobby group Drive Electric , which wants the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, UNSW With Victorians heading into a new round of even harsher lockdown measures, there will again be a focus on how people will cope — the ...
Respected business journalist Rod Oram visits the Nelson region next week to give two talks on the opportunities that Covid-19 presents for New Zealand to tackle climate change, poverty and what he calls “other deeply systemic failures”. Oram has ...
Transparency and clear disclosure of actions and policies have been key to the COVID-19 response, Reserve Bank Head of Financial System Policy and Analysis Toby Fiennes said delivering a speech in Wellington today. Market discipline is one of the three ...
Latest from the Beehive- The tourist industry is the biggest beneficiary of government funding distributed as loans or grants from an array of programmes and pots in the past few days. The $311 million of funding involved has resulted in the $400 million Tourism Recovery Package being fully allocated. Invitations, ...
As Victoria locks down again over a second wave of Covid-19, Andrew Geddis looks at how New Zealand might respond should community transmission be again detected here Melbourne’s adoption of “stage 4” restrictions to combat its Covid-19 outbreak - stay-at-home orders, limited exercise time, a night-time curfew - are a timely warning to us here ...
A major new report has outlined the biggest and most pressing risks New Zealand faces from climate change, and they go well beyond the science of changing weather patterns. What’s all this then?One of the most dangerous and concerning aspects of climate change is the unpredictability of it all. Some ...
The country's first national climate change risk assessment has identified 10 significant areas that need to be urgently addressed by the government in the next six years. ...
The first ever National Climate Change Risk Assessment has found 'New Zealand’s climate is warming, sea levels are rising, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe', Marc Daalder reports Over the next 70 years, wildfires and extreme storms will become more common in New Zealand, vast swathes ...
Time is running out to make voting easy in the 2020 General Election and referendums. About 500,000 eligible New Zealanders still haven’t enrolled to vote and half of them are under the age of 30. “Make voting easy this year by getting your enrolment ...
By Bryan Kramer, Papua New Guinea’s Minister of Police Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) staged a press conference to announce the arrest of five members of an Australian drug syndicate connected to the recent drug bust in PNG. This was a multi-agency operation that had ...
Announcing eight new episodes coming soon to The Spinoff and RNZ.Good news for people who love Bad News – Alice Snedden’s docu-comedy series tackling some of Aotearoa’s most contentious social and political issues is back for a second season.Like the first, which saw Alice go head-to-head with Don Brash in ...
One of the puzzling aspects of the global Coronavirus pandemic has been the absence of an international accord to grapple with the greatest challenge since the Second World War. After the global financial crisis of 2008-9, world leaders agreed to devise solutions – US presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama, ...
The Crazy Rich Asians author creates froth that may in fact be genius, says Sam Brooks. Kevin Kwan’s first novel Crazy Rich Asians had the kind of success every populist author dreams of. It became a beloved bestseller, which turned into a slightly less beloved trilogy, which then turned into ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Labour's economic plan is to focus on Covid recovery with investment in training and jobs, and that National's plan to reduce debt would mean $80 billion in cuts. ...
heTruly making a difference to New Zealanders’ mental health means addressing factors that go far beyond the health system’s remit. There’s a plan ready to go, writes Shaun Robinson of the Mental Health Foundation, and the next government must put it into action. “I need help.” That’s how many of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Celia Harris, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, Western Sydney University We are all living through a major historical event, a once-in-a-century pandemic that has radically changed how we work, learn, travel, socialise and spend our free time. But for many of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Howard Manns, Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University Things are really jeffed up for Karens right now. The Miley (“coronavirus”) did a Melba (“made yet another a comeback”), and Joe and Jane Bloggs are being drongos. In the process, “Karen” has become the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn Moore, Social Researcher, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania In his book Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe writes that settler Australians wilfully misunderstood, hid and destroyed evidence of Aboriginal Australians’ farming practices. My analysis of secondary school textbooks shows this behaviour ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carl Grodach, Professor and Director of Urban Planning & Design, Monash University COVID-19 and the growing recession concentrated in the services sector will not just increase social inequality, but accelerate the growing spatial divide in our cities. As our new research report ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Glennda Scully, Professor, Curtin University The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a surge of calls to domestic violence support services, as survivors of violence spend more time at home with their abusers due to lockdowns and other restrictions. Many feel they can’t leave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carly Osborn, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide In our series Art for Trying Times, authors nominate a work they turn to for solace or perspective during this pandemic. There is a genre of novel that I have relied upon for many ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 3, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.45am: PM defends limited border chargesJacinda Ardern has defended the government’s decision to only charge Kiwis returning back into ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Exploring the rapid rise of Billy TK’s NZ Public Party, report finds senior military officers misled ministers over Operation Burnham, and Lake Taupō water monitoring to be led by iwi.Within the space of a few months, Billy Te Kahika Jr ...
There are four big decisions to get ready to make in this year's elections. As well as picking a preferred party and candidate, voters will vote on the End of Life Choice Bill and whether they support a bill which would legalise cannabis. Here are the basics on the Cannabis Legalisation and ...
The Health Ministry ticked off the aged care sector for restricting visitors to rest homes before the national lockdown. David Williams reports On March 17, the coronavirus outbreak was seemingly in its infancy – yet it was closer to pushing politicians into drastic action than many thought. Ministry of Health ...
As the cannabis referendum draws nearer, Finlay Macdonald takes note of a new book about New Zealand's attitude towards marijuana Like any number of New Zealanders, I have a rich store of anecdote about my personal relationship with weed. Youthful adventure, horticultural experimentation, bad cabbage, Thai sticks and close shaves ...
We are more comfortable than ever telling stories about intimate experiences in public, so why is miscarriage still such a taboo subject? I recall my mother telling me a story, many years ago, about losing a baby to miscarriage. She had experienced bleeding and been told by her doctor to go home, put ...
Whether in the boardroom, or behind the lens, Angela Ruske has played a crucial part in the Otago Nuggets' golden NBL basketball season. As the Otago Nuggets were on their way to grasping their first men's NBL title, Angela Ruske was trying to stay calm courtside by focusing through her camera lens. ...
When do we get a prime minister who looks like New Zealand, asks Laura O’Connell Rapira.I want a Māori prime minister. I want a trans Samoan deputy prime minister and I want a former refugee as speaker of the house.I want a Muslim mayor. I want a disabled deputy mayor ...
People like me already don’t know when we will see ‘home’ again, thanks to the forthcoming border fees, writes Jai Breitnauer. We don’t need to be judged for it too.About eight weeks ago we got a message we had been dreading – my father-in-law was in hospital having been in ...
New Zealanders are about to vote on two of the most polarising social issues of our time - how much do you know about the cannabis and end of life referendums? In less than five weeks, New Zealanders will vote on two polarising issues in referendums, held at the same ...
What's in the diary for this week? Newsroom Pro collates the newsworthy events you need to know about. Today | 6 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds Tuesday | 7 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds Wednesday | 8 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds Thursday | 9 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds ...
Social Credit has prevailed in the first round of its High Court challenge to the Overseas Investment Office decision to grant Chinese owned company Hong Kong Jingang permission to take over New Zealand’s second largest milk processing company, Westland ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As Melbourne moved to an extraordinary 8pm to 5am daily curfew and Stage 4 restrictions, and Victoria declared a “state of disaster”, Scott Morrison took to social media with a message for the embattled residents. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney James Murdoch is not the most obvious candidate for editorial heroism. His route to resigning from the News Corp board because of “disagreements over certain editorial content” has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney A “state of disaster” has been declared for the whole of Victoria from 6pm, Sunday August 2, for a month. How is this different from the existing “state of emergency” and what powers ...
As the state of Victoria continues to record shocking new Covid-19 numbers – 671 cases today – a strict new stage 4 lockdown is being imposed. Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist at the University of South Australia explains what the means.Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that metropolitan Melbourne will move ...
Jacinda Ardern’s “kind” government rather unkindly wants to push through under urgency this week amendments to residential rental tenancy law that are both unworkable and vicious, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. If the Residential Tenancies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that metropolitan Melbourne will move to “stage 4” restrictions from 6pm Sunday, as new cases of COVID-19 continue to rise. The state recorded another 671 cases and ...
“We welcome the protest letter signed by European Ambassadors against Israel's plans to commence construction in the illegal settlement of "Givat Hamatos" and possibly the so-called E1 Area on the outskirts of occupied Jerusalem. However, ...
By RNZ Pacific Nineteen more cases of covid-19 have been confirmed in Papua New Guinea, taking the total number so far in the country to 91. The Pandemic Response Controller, David Manning, announced the new cases in the capital Port Moresby where almost 80 of PNG’s cases had been confirmed ...
Open mike 18/05/2013 
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In New Zealand, we've just had the report of the Hit and Run inquiry, which found that a New Zealand led raid had accidentally killed civilians, including a child. meanwhile, around the same time, the British SAS was conducting its own raids in Afghanistan, and theirs were a hell of ...8 hours ago
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Read article here ...2 weeks ago
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Just been scared of the implications of a Bill rushed through Parliament yesterday regarding the Payment of Families caring for Severely Handicapped Act. (Paraphrased)
Andrew Geddis on Pundit explains it well:
You simply tell the Human Rights Review Tribunal and the courts that they are not allowed to look at the policy and decide whether or not it is unlawfully discriminatory. That’s just what the Government is seeking to get Parliament to do under section 70E(2):
[When this law kicks in], no complaint based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be made to the Human Rights Commission, and no proceedings based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be commenced or continued in any court or tribunal.
What! No HRC or Court can examine the legality of this!(Same power as given Brownlie?)
Aren’t you a little bit frightened at this???
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/i-think-national-just-broke-our-constitution#comment-35209
Yeah it’s crazy. It’s the same bullying, cartel-loving psychology, that Torys are so comfortable with,
which we keep seeing in this 2nd term over and over again. Same with the GCSB law changes. Same with the reaction to NZPower. Same with offshore mining protest laws, etc.
You ain’t seen nothing yet, they’ve got their media mates onside and their chosen leader out front of labour so they will go from strength the strength with every move emboldening them for the next one.
A hitch appears to be how unhinged Shonkey gets all too easily, he wouldn’t know what serious pressure was and buckles under the power puff efforts the nz MSM toss in his direction.
I see this as another foot on the neck of advocacy for better government support of people struggling with getting fair resources. The government wants to silence the ordinary people from asking for more, because it distracts them and diverts money away from ..dah dah ‘the job and wealth creators’.
This is a piece that David Farrar put up about advocacy groups being put out of the Charities Act. (Recently applied to SST I think, and probably similar to the cases in the USA where the IRS was scrutinising the loony Right too much for gaining unfair tax advantages.)
Greens support lobby groups being charities
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am by David Farrar
On the one hand the Greens rail against lobbyists, yet on the other hand they say they should be able to be tax free charities. I guess the difference is whether or not they agree with them.
Green MP Denise Roche blogs::
Community organisations already spend much of their time advocating. They shouldn’t be excluded from getting charitable status (and tax exemption) because of this. Organisations of long standing repute including the National Council of Women have been denied charitable status on the basis that advocacy is their primary purpose. Advocacy is not currently deemed a ‘charitable purpose’ under the Act, and therefore they are denied tax exemption for donations.
And this is how it should be. Lobby groups should not be escaping tax. The National Council of Women is one of the most prolific lobby groups in New Zealand. It puts in a submission on almost every single bill before Parliament. Now good on them for being politically active, but allowing them to be a registered charity would be allowing any organisation to be a charity. Would we accept Business NZ being a registered charity?
On the back of the government’s announcement I have drafted a simple Private Member’s Bill to write advocacy into the definition of charitable purpose in the Charities Act as an ancillary purpose. I’ve been holding off for ages because I kept hearing that there would be a review and this would be the main focus of it.
That will make it open slater for every political lobby group in New Zealand to gain charitable tax status.
So government cannot discriminate for those wanting consideration for the strugglers, but no doubt has it’s door wide open to the robber barons and the fatnecks.
The Act comes into force in October. The use of urgency is an absolute affront. And it is that bad that Finlayson actually certified it breached the NZBOR.
Where is Farrar and Slater? I thought they were concerned about unconstitutional behaviour. The issues they jumped up and down about were minor in comparison.
Base server out at 0745 right while I was moving to a new server (damnit) that doesn’t crap out so often. Back (finally) at 1155.
Resuming the move. There will be a period later in the afternoon or evening when the server goes off for a short period to effect the change over.
Thanks lprent Hope all goes smoothly.
Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information.
Something you can’t get much of in Russia. If the powers that be don’t like your reportage of them they take over your television station or exile you. One such exile went to Britain was found hanged in March this year apparently. The guy who was given radioactive polonium was a failure of that assassination project. He didn’t die quickly enough and lived for a week, which gave the boffins time to check all known possibilities. They found out the cause on his last day. Poor bloke! Society in Russia has been broken down so much over so many years that it is hard for better human standards to come to the fore then prevail.
I guess that’s the modern way. In Britain Margaret Thatcher was announcing a goal as a present reality when she said that there is no such thing as society.
Indeed, in the USA the Justice Dept simply takes journalists’ phone records and tracks down media informants and sources.
btw opposition political party views, coverage of protests and criticisms of Putin’s govt is common on Russian media. As long as you don’t go too far 🙂
they are about to ban “gay propaganda”.
Already banned in St Petersburg. And Pussy Riot etc etc So it would appear “too far” isn’t very far at all. Nor am I aware of the US making a habit of assassinating exiled dissidents (if they even have such a thing) with Polonium 210.
interesting review of a biography of Putin on RNZ this morning; “he picks ‘brawls’, withdraws, then starts the fight again at a later time”, was the interesting characterization.
Sort of like the musical chairs he plays with Prime Minister rand President.
Meh, Pussy Riot tried to garner western media and popular support, and that alone went down very poorly with the Russian public.
So the fuck what? What kind of fucking populist Nazi argument is that?
An unforced self Godwin. Hilarious.
Poppy, stand up, take a bow son!
Whatever, you’re still a disgusting hypocrite pissing on human rights in Russia
No, Obama uses drones for individuals he doesn’t like, or military coups for governments that try the wrong sort of democracy. In the case of Bradley Manning, I’m sure he’d love to be exiled.
Well I’m sure he could have defected while he was comitting treason
He hasn’t been charged with treason, let alone convicted of it.
“Indeed, in the USA the Justice Dept simply takes journalists’ phone records and tracks down media informants and sources.”
And then takes over your TV station or exiles or assassinates you! Oh.
Matt
The USA is a different country, but their methods are not too dissimilar to those of Russia, and have been deteriorating I think since Russia threw out its form of communism. Now the USA doesn’t have to have better standards than the communists – the slogan is Let’s go for maxing the money, who cares what we do. Same in Britain.
When Washington stars taking over TV stations and exiling dissidents, you might have a point, but nah. Certainly the US is nowhere as free as its propaganda would have the world believe, but it’s considerably less violent and oppressive of its citizens than Russia is.
US government doesn’t need to use violence to intimidate its citizens. Its citizens are too busy intimidating each other.
It’s a moot point that USA is less violent than Russia. It just has a different way of doing things. They thought up extraordinary rendition themselves. Declaring war on others. Driving citizens into criminals with harsh drug laws. Accepting prison rape as regular behaviour, kidnapping girls, shooting too many people. I don’t know how the stats mount up compared to other advanced, civilised countries.
Yes exactly. Please accept my slight edit. When you count how many foreign persons the USA kills weekly, the picture is quite different.
Also, I believe that USA prison and prison labour camps contain far more citizens than Russian ones.
So for all those champions of the U-S-A. Keep chanting, if it makes you feel better.
Appeared to work in Boston, while the city was being used to test the reaction of deliberate overkill, via the military complex take-over on the streets!
USA-USA-USA
That’s kind of ironic coming from someone who claims to be a nationalist
“Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information”
She did – then some vacuous silly bitch called Nancy popped up and tried (unsuccessfully) to derail her – asking Kim to provide her with the giblets she wanted to hear (from a nuZull spektiv).
(Kim persevered with the email – as listener-feedback. I’m afraid it was all about Nancy)
Nancy only wants to hear things that DIRECTLY affect her from a Nu Zull spektiv). Thankfully Natrad has apparently lost Nancy’s undivided attention – she’ll probably have to slum it on talk-back radio.
Natrad is Natrad – except between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
I’m picking Nancy will find solace with the utterly exceptional, EVERY person’s best friend: Jim MORA – and probably, of geatest interest: The Panel, or perhaps that lady with isss yoos – whatshername?…. dear old Keth – ladyskin of the Parliamentary 4th Estate Gallery, who we can trust to represent our best interests.
Not much left on the MSM aye! (Bee!). Thank Christ for weekends, and nights on Natrad.
.
Tim
Yeah Kim is a feisty thing. I love her even when there is something I don’t. A lot of people have never heard or thought about what a good interview is, and how they are done so they are all interesting and not just a list of questions with ten second replies – and which is your favourite whatever?
And it is funny and sad to hear the various moaning minnies and vicious vernons who want to cut her off at the knees. Nancy wasn’t my fancy. Silly woman was talking about wanting information of importance to NZs! Who make our money from selling goods – Overseas, so we can buy just about everything we use from- Overseas. I heard that when you travelled through international airports you had your shoes checked and you couldn’t carry liquids more than 100ml after the terrorist attacks by people from Overseas. Yes, Nancy there are all sorts of reasons to think that Overseas matters from non-fashionable countries are worth noting by us.
Tim don’t be too hard on 9to Noon, some good stuff there. And don’t forget Checkpoint after work. Just turn on at 10 to five and suffer the last of Jim Mora’s panel of beauts, and there may be a gem if you look hard enough, and then the lemonade goes away and the hard stuff gets served.
Is my ban over yet?
[lprent: 12th of June according to the ban notes. ]
I attended a couple of Govt “consultation” meetings recentlyabout their proposed changes to the RMA – and these changes are BIG, prominent on economic growth and allowing business (, developers, mining ?) a much easier pathway through the resource consent process, and dismissive of environmental or social/community concerns. This is a hugely important issue for everyone who cares about the environment and what this Govt intends to do in the future to our lovely land.
Please pass on the details of these RMA information meetings being organised by the Green Party, and their Climate Change conference in Wellington, to anyone you know living in these areas.
Stand up for the Environment: RMA meetings
The Government’s proposed changes to the Resource Management Act undermine local democracy and environmental sustainability.
Join Green MP Eugenie Sage and guest speakers for a panel discussion on changes to the RMA and what they mean for local democracy in your community and New Zealand’s environment.
Hamilton When: Monday, May 20, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:15pm Where: Richardson Room at Child Matters, 480 Anglesea Street Hamilton
Nelson When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Trafalgar Park Pavillion, 30 Trafalgar Street Nelson
Invercargill When: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Central Library, 50 Dee Street (Northern side entrance) Invercargill
Palmerston North When: Thursday, May 30, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where: Globe Theatre, 312 Main St. Palmerston North
Whanganui When: Thursday, June 6, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm, Email Eugenie Sage at Parliament for address details
Climate change conference When: Friday, June 7, 2013 – 9:00am – 4.30pm
Where: Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament
Kennedy Graham hosts a one-day climate change conference in Parliament on 7th June, with the aim of fostering cross-party and public dialogue on climate change. The conference will feature leading scientists, policy analysts, civil society, and private sector representatives, and will finish with a cross-party political panel. The conference is open to all who wish to attend. Registration is now open via the following link: http://meetingthechallenge.eventbrite.co.nz/#
from the debate on the Crown Minerals Amendment Act, Amendment Bill, Committee Stage Pt,1;
Chris Hipkins- “Simon Bridges stuffed up”, then “the Labour Party does support exploration”.
(Jacinda appeared intoxicated, not, intoxicating).
Sue Moroney- “an applicant who does not have “expertise” will be granted.
Little- amendment “splits Health and Safety, Environmental, from the Prospecting application stage, with applicants only needing to demonstrate that they are “likely” to have technical and financial capability, onus on the applicant”;effectively permits foot-in-the-door, rig on the ground.
Street- 37,000 submissions, 32,000 on provided forms, 5000 unique submissions, ALL NOT CONSIDERED; “Bridges afraid of public opinion”.
Hughes-“no Select Committee Stage”.
Robertson- effectively “it is now up to the Minister to determine if Health and Safety, Environmental requirements are met by new (unknown) players.
3 News had an interesting item last where lamb shipments are being held at the chinese boarder.
Also on dompost, but not on line.
Apparently it is because the paperwork is not correct after the import certification was changed when the Ministry of Primary Industries was formed.
The Nats have known about it for a month, but have been very quiet.
Is there more to this?, or is it just an ‘oversight’?
Likely to be a bureaucratic oversight, but be assured that the Chinese are playing this for every advantage. After all, it would be a shame for Chinese authorities to have to order the dumping of $2M worth of NZ red meat outside the harbour due to bad paperwork?
Dv
I noted one of the fast changing government entities on the Budget Roundup the other night. The truth about this Chinese matter is no doubt the old saw that constant restructuring loses efficiency and effectiveness as senior positions go, and institutional methods disappear.
The entry for beehive.govt.nz of 1/6/2010 set out the situation for Wayne Mapp who was the Minister of the Department through its changing monikers. (He is now in Russia, up to what?)
The Minister of Science and Innovation on 1/6/2010 has become –
the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, and from 1 July 2012
this will be the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The government workers can’t provide quality of work and effectiveness when they are being downsized in numbers and re-arranged like pieces in a kaleidoscope.
The trouble is that the political approach has grown to regard the country as a toy, or a potent cocktail that is to be both shaken and stirred. Unfortunately that is dragging up toxic ingredients from the sludge at the bottom of the hourglass.
Cv and prism
There was a sugestion one of the reports that the chinese were using the “stuff up” to protect their own markets.
That idea would seem to have some currency as why are the nacts so quiet, guy has not returned any calls, and if it was a ‘simple stuff up,why would it take month to sort?
Dv
Yes that what I thought. The day after they heard about it the gummint trouble shooter for exports to Asia should have had tickets and accommodation for two nights booked and do something to help us sell our things – what we have to do and do and do. F..ks sake thinking she’ll be right and why don’t they read the docs and I’ve explained it over the phone to Mr Li or whoever and he says he understands but then I get another call. It isn’t enough. Some extra effort needed. Go with urgency like the government is using in the House.
The delay may be related to the kiwifruit/zespri scam
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/8690353/Suitcases-of-cash-in-kiwifruit-scandal
Zespri, far from being an innocent party as it has claimed, knew its system for invoicing kiwifruit shipments to China was likely illegal the Star-Times has discovered.
Documents show the Mt Maunganui-based company was worried New Zealand Customs would discover what it was doing and alert its China counterparts.
Sources have revealed that staff tried to warn management that the dual invoicing was a big risk, but were ignored.
Maybe the chinese are now very suspicious ofdocumentation from NZ and that is why the sorting out is slow.
RNZ National has covered this in most news over the last 24 hours. This is their latest
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/135469/farmers-confident-about-stranded-meat
I really wish politicians on the left would put paid to this endless bullshit about taxpayers. Brian Gaynor is another repeating the lies about the top taxpayers;
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10884402
To quote;
“The top end of the employment market is strong and this benefits the Crown’s tax take as individuals on $80,000 or more account for 49 per cent of total income tax even though they represent only 11 per cent of the total work force by number”
He likely would have gotten his info from this source;
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2013/taxpayers/b13-taxpayers.pdf
Those ‘taxpayers’ look to be every individual with an IRD number. It clearly includes all welfare beneficiaries; OAPs, DPB, Dole, Invalids etc. Even a quick glance shows a further 260,000 people with zero income and rather obviously not paying any tax yet these people keep including them all in this so-called ‘workforce’ of 3.375 million.
The true workforce is only around 2million which would make those on $80,000+ around 18% of the workforce by number.
The inclusion of beneficiaries in tax statistics is seriously skewing the numbers because they’ll nearly all appear in the lower income groups and distort the real facts about who pays tax.
Fat Cop
all these Fast-Food workers coming forward confirming how Police accept free fast-food “backhanders” for free security, while the Policeman arrested on P work for the Head Hunters delivered drugs in uniform, in his police-car; his wife a DHB clinician, knowingly spending the proceeds.
Bad Boys!
Schools employ Hollywood movies to assist kids to (passively) read.
Imagine Dragons ; Radioactive
for example, avoiding paying your student loan can lead to your grades going from 40K to over 100K
(where the bloody hell are ya)
got them High Hopes?
Research finds residential sales, 8% to foreign buyers but “it will grow”.
In Auckland, to address housing, 1/2 of suburbs permitted to be in-filled with buildings of Three Stories (Mixed-Housing Zone) and buildings can exceed 4, 5 and 6 stories in Terraced and Apartment Zones; non-notified, restricted discretionary (regulatory) activity.
Liked this from David Shearer, (National), “full of big-noters, show-boaters and no-hopers”
From Russell Norman- (The Budget) “is a debt train-wreck”!!!
Jack , free from 21 😀
Institutions, not only the police, are heavily involved in NZ narcotics *market*, along with some very high profile *professionals*!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8689407/Police-officer-accused-of-working-with-gang
an award winning one at that!
Is anyone else on here NOT surprised?
Tip of the iceberg!
Another low level operator, takes the wrap, as if operating in silo, without any *support*!
Muldoon, was *friendly* with the gangs, this goes back a very long way, and it goes to the top!
for The Al1en /s (“Cumberbitches”, now there is a generous man) Interestingly, ST, Into Darkness portrays a Shadowplay between the two main protagonists…
Swings and roundabouts; Key knows we’re heading for the bottom, and he’s riding us, yes he’s riding us; The Camptown ladies sing this song Do dah, Do dah. Screaming Trees, “calling me back to my skin”. Isn’t it funny how we dance along the edge of the Pro-lab Dune like Matchstick Men. Thanks for the Trim. Silence is Golden listening to the current On The Radio; Pictures of Lilly, lilly eli Lilly. the Cider House rules, for now Paint the whole world with a Rainbow, Satellite Above. Grease is the word is the word that you heard, it’s got meaning I was walking in the park just the other night Baby (it’s You) , whatta ya think I saw (I’ll leave the light on, easier to feel the fine tolerances), Here, have a banana.
(1)11 is a joke, ring the po-leece and get burgled, double-up, while they come to buy, flavouring the flow, there’s not a minute to spare. Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Swedish House Mafia will “Save The World”, “it’s time that you stop being so important”, We are Scientists, after all, Stylo, is this love electronic? No Problem /s to report on any of the major interchanges, a million miles away you signal in the distance to whom it may concern, learning to walk again, learning to talk again. Those Flaming Lips sing it, yeah, yeah, yeah, Check yo’self ‘fore you wreck yourself, cos shotgun bullets are bad for your health.
-just a little Logo nTherapy, now, Lets Talk About trevor. without Warning, The Wizard walks by, casting his shadow, weaving his spell, funny clothes, tinkling bell. Sleep Comes Down (the Devilskin, never see the light). These are the tells, of love, and loss, and love; love based on a true story, all I do is keep the beat and the Bad Company. Chelsea Princess, Repetition.
-“the world is not a miserable prison; a playground for a non-stop tournament between stupidity and imagination”.
-James Broughton
Show (them) How to Live.
“for The Al1en /s”
Moby said “we are all made of stars”, and I agree.
ST – The way socialists should want the world to turn out like… After we finish saving it, that is.
Social justice and equality that bypasses nations for the common good.
Why does the future have to taste of dystopia?
cos’ it’s in the ‘scriptures’ and that is what is ingrained in the cultural-historically derived psyches of the collective; “be a good (capitalist, follower of the authorities, individualist, make the Right choices, work hard, gain the credentials, solve the angst of the childless couple with IVF, eat your weeties, fence off those ‘others’ etc) and you will, literally, go to heaven, or damn the lot of you. Nietzsche, the most influential Western philosopher read it before it all unfolded, Confucius and Lao Tzu prescribed what would be necessary, Ellul (amongst others, like Huxley) prophecied what would unfold, Philip K. Dick wrote the story, J.J Abrams directed the film, Jesus Christ offered to set us free (The Kingdom of heaven is within you) and John (alongside others, Greer et al;) watched.
There’s no point in having two ends to a candle if you’re not going to burn them, we just got to work harder and smarter to make sure we win.
Old red green eyes is back in town.
well, the only MPs who appear to have the integrity to stand up to “big corporate” globalization are Green and on the back-burners of Labour; the Right are certainly putting the screws on though, unprecedented High Stakes; wait until the next “Act of God”, environmental disaster “act of man” occurs, then there will be some panic.
Hold all the balls in your mind at once and you can see the Dark Art at work.
Whitechapel to follow.
Control the cue ball and you control the game.
In amerika, they call spin English, don’t you know?
distortion ist wunderbar; Ramm it home Bass.
Just found this on the RNZ website
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/135436/casino-in-queenstown-bought-by-sky-city
I recall hearing a few snippets on the news a few weeks ago re Key suggesting that the government may be willing to finance or part finance a new conference centre in Queenstown. At the time, it seemed weird as there was also indications that the money to build the centre was already sorted. Sorry, don’t have time to find a link right now.
From this latest news item, it seems that “Sky City already owns another casino in Queenstown and is in a consortium which is the preferred group to build a convention centre there.”
So, is the Queenstown situation tied in with the Government’s deal for Auckland?
So with this, hamilton, the eyesore in akl and chch do they now have a monopoly or is chch owned by another.
Also Adelaide and Darwin.
And they boast about having a bit of a casino monopoly
It’s all a board game really!
Government granted licence to print money at the expense of the poor and struggling.
tc
You are right about the eyesore in Christchurch. To get an attractive building in Auckland the citizens up there will have to be in control of the design or it might look like a prison, the one in Christchurch was sterile on the outside.
Nice one Russel Norman. Just referred to Gerry as ‘The Colossus of Roads”. It’s interesting about that petrol tax to be raised. The infrastructure that it should be spent on is public rail and Gisborne line. It’s important that good transport is available to all the regions.
The magical world of New Zealand’s Neo-Liberal right wing
by KJT
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/
It has been obvious that some people live in a different world than the rest of us.
One where Chicago school economics work! One where you save the village by blowing it up! One where global warming can be stopped, Canute-like, by legislation. One where dropping wages and giving everything to bloated financiers, makes us better off! One where removing money from an economy makes it work better. One where every country is going to get rich by out exporting every other country. One where enabling greater inequality than the dark ages, works!
The one with the trickle down fairy. “Give us the money and we will pee on you”.
The market fairy. “Leave it to the market and we will cut your wages,impoverish your children, and tell you it is a brighter future”.
The Austerity fairy. “We will become better off by becoming poorer”.
The catching-up-with-Australia fairy. “We will catch up with Australia by doing almost the opposite of everything they have done”.
The Democracy fairy. “We will let you vote, to change the names in Government, or on a few social issues which do not affect our making money off you, but not to make any meaningful changes to the way the country is run”.
The privatisation fairy. “We will ensure that the NZ current account is forever in deficit, by selling all the income earning assets”
The debt fairy. “We will cut debt by borrowing $300mill a week, to pay for unaffordable tax cuts, to pay for our Hawaii holidays”.
The Job fairy. ” We will increase the number of jobs by putting thousands out of work, and cutting the unemployment benefit”.
The “We support business” fairy. While ensuring New Zealanders have no money to buy from local businesses, and increasing small businesses costs.
The better future fairy. “We will give you a better future by paying you less, charging you more and cutting services”.
It is pretty obvious which side of the political spectrum is on another planet. Planet Key!
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/
Excellent.
“The DoC will run better fairy, by cutting it’s budgets and sacking all it’s experienced and specialist staff'”
Hi Morrissey
100% bang on right mate. If our current leaders had another brain and heart both would be lonely the soulless ideological scumbags!
Thank you john, but all the credit goes to KJT. I simply reprinted that from his excellent blog.
Pretty good filibuster in the house this avo. Anyone else been following?
Starting up again at 7.
What’s the bill?
Petrol tax blah blah amendment something?
OK Thanks.
I watched last night, as the government forced through its outrageous anti-protest legislation, formally and preposterously entitled The Crown Minerals Act Amendment Bill 2013 Amendment Bill. Labour and the Greens put up a string of serious, well prepared speakers: Gareth Hughes, Andrew Little, Grant Robertson, Moana Mackey, Chris Hipkins and Maryan Street. After insultingly brief and inadequate speeches by two of its lesser lights, Sam Lotu-Liga and Mark Mitchell, National just sat it out; as well as having no arguments, they had nobody capable of mounting any coherent defence of this assault on our democracy.
The man responsible for this disastrous legislation, Simon Bridges, was in the house, and was asked by every speaker to get up and answer for himself; he was obviously just not up to it. A couple of times the cameras cut to him, furtively shuffling (but not reading) papers, with a perplexed and pained expression.
This bill is proceeding under the cover of post-budget urgency???!!!
Mozza, I very much doubt Simon Bridges is responsible for anything, other than bending over on request, being a sock-puppet, a traitor and a coward, who is the servant to the masters…
The masters are not likely to be onshore in NZ, and I would doubt that the core protagonists in the house, see themselves as NZ’ers!
Yeah…….wee Simon’s a puppy who yaps and drools on demand. Not an ounce of balls in him. Former Crown prosecutor you see……it’s all about “winning” and putting people behind bars, deservedly or not, as a reflex. No broad morality. He just follows orders.
Heaps of regard to the perks and the travel and the handsome stipend and the pension however. Prick. Not a gram of principle in him. Lacking balls and principle. Interested only in being a “darling”.
I agree that Bridges is the stooge rather than the instigator; however he is the minister responsible for this, even if it is really Steven Joyce and Peter Goodfellow pulling his strings. If Bridges had an ounce of integrity, he would have resigned by now, but he has stayed on to front this terrible legislation. He will bear the full blame for it eventually, and he doesn’t deserve any sympathy.
Agree with that Moz – Was not looking to relieve the coward of responsibility, in any way.
No sympathy, here, for any of them!
There you go, some thing that unites us all.
Who’d have thought it would be simon bridges, minister for himself.
Keep fighting M and M 😉
Lotu-Liga…….another up-himself shithead little lawyer. Helping Shonkey Python to shit on his own people. Great guy……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10884359
Ew. That’s just disgusting.
And some comments, like “all I can see now are a pair of rubber tits”.
Words fail me. Looking at Roughan’s column, I asked myself, “What kind of animal writes this shit?” and then I read the comments to get the answer: the sort who… never mind, I don’t want to articulate my answer fully.
Roughan…….big fish little pond fuckwit. Intrusiveness is his right…….because he’s big fish little pond fuckwit Roughan with a platform alongside equally egocentric fools. New Zealand is so sick in that regard.
Get your nose out of others’ business, dog !
Can someone explain why Andrew Little made a stupid complaint about clothing in Parliament?
If one ever had any doubts about whether Little is a dick, they were laid to rest today.
He appears to have his hang-ups.
I took it to be largely tongue in cheek. You might remember Clare Curran was thrown out because she wore a football jersey (or some such garment) about a year ago. I thought there might have been a bit of tit for tat going on. Agree though… it was rather stupid.
Andrew Little’s point of order appeared to be quite serious. And for that, ridiculous. The guy needs to get a life. If he wanted to comment on dress, he should have congratulated Gareth Hughes from the Greens who looked particularly fetching (seriously) in his grey suit and black tie, and his speech was impressive too 🙂
More interested why TV3 made such a fuss about it… Like we didn’t know.
More likely, Andrew Little is looking for any way to get himself some publicity. Looks like he succeeded.
Re Little.I was interested that TV3 (I think) picked up on that and costed out the amount that the time taken to deal with the jersey issue would have cost the taxpayer.Can’t remember what it came to, but I don’t understand why the same attention is never given to key when he nuts off on one of his kindy tantrums.Must be costing us a lot more money for the time he wastes.
I wonder why, if Little was gonna raise a point of order about dress at all, he didn’t have a go at Tony-Ryall-Neighbour-Of-Susan.
Note I’m not saying Tones wears a dress. I’m saying that recidivistly he daily commits fashion crime, what with his pinstripes up against checked tablecloth shirts. You gotta go for the real criminals Little.
Not Auchinvole or Sockinhole or whatever his name is. He seemed to love the attention anyway. Compared to Tones he was sartorial inoffensiveness defined.
Re why TV3 made a point of it ? Maybe Mr Bean’s Cuzzy Power (Trip) Gower is personally, darkly, “really angry” about the carry-on in the House and will next cost out the time consumed by ShonKey Python’s rhubarbs, can’t recalls, throat slitting gestures and risible expressions and non-expressions of confidence in Botox Banks.
Oh, Poor Paddy, it’s such a burden being part of the story with the weight of the nation upon him, Gilmore “lying to ME”, Steven Joyce calling HIM aside – “Look PADDY, it’s like this……..”, having to LICK ShonKey’s arse.
A bit of a freako-demographics moment?
Why are birthrates falling around the world? Blame television
Television in developing countries is also correlated with:
– reduced acceptability of domestic violence
– reduced son preference
– increased female autonomy
The study thinks it might be more than rising incomes, but television is actually changing cultural norms. (Now there’s a debate that’s been a first world problem for awhile). I wonder if these developing countries have Snookie and ‘The Only Way is Essex’ 😉
I’ve been there, trust me, the only Essex you’ll ever want is David, and only then when he wants to make you a star.
Hah! I had a picture of him on my wall way back when I was about 12 – him and Marc Bolan who doesn’t want to fool the kids.
Yeah its tv’s fault /sarc!
I call those Waterloo sunset moments
I am in paradise 🙂
Eruption; “I’m ya Ice-cream man, stop me when I’m passing by”. 😉
Unlike Dave Dobbin, who doesn’t listen to other peoples songs when he’s writing, I will if it’s asked of me 😉
That’s a very spinal tap looking vid. Cut and blow dries for all 😆
The tv series the history of rock (was on prime ages ago at least twice) has an interview with one of the kinks, saying how he used to cut up his speaker cones to get them to distort.
I’d hate to guess what I’d have to slit to get a decent vocal sound.
Thank goodness for software.
I like the second-to-bottom line.
One out of seven, that’s nearly more popular than Labour 😆
+1 nice 🙂
“I’m not a number; Ooh, that’s why I’m easy, I’m easy like a Sunday morning.
I’ve paid my dues to make it
I’m not happy when I try to fake it, no
I wanna be free to know
The things I do are right”.
(been some investment)
“Haven’t changed, haven’t much to ‘say’
Plenty of unused thoughts to give away,
Hardly ever Blue, is a greeting from a friend.”
Ah ! A Kinks fan 🙂