Open Mike 18/10/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 18th, 2016 - 161 comments
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161 comments on “Open Mike 18/10/2016 ”

  1. weka 1

    [Please note, we are trialling something new for Open Mike and Daily Review.

    In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.

    If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift posts from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted.

    Have fun folks – weka]

  2. miravox 2

    Really?

    Prime Minister John Key has joined with a new ally – after saying he supports the Ngaruawahia gang Tribal Huk’s efforts to address the methamphetamine crisis.

    The Waikato town’s gang gave P dealers until 6:30pm on Friday to leave or they would be run out of town – with president Jamie Pink saying violence would be used if necessary.

    Tribal Huk’s 24-hour warning to Ngaruawahia meth dealers expires Ngaruawahia silent as meth-dealing deadline passes It’s a move Mr Key says he welcomes.

    “Obviously we welcome any support to do something like that so long as it’s legal of course,” he said on Monday.

    I thought the war on P was going so well, but vigilantes do it better than the law?

  3. gsays 3

    hi all,
    i am thinking of having a chat to some young teenage boys about consent.
    i am wanting to pick brains of fellow standardistas for ideas/analagies.
    i have heard the cup of tea analogy, and would like to see if that can be fleshed out, added to, or another way of discussing this altogether.

    personally the idea of acting against someones wishes is abhorent to me.

    i contrast my upbringing: loving parents, decent solid father, pornography was a well leafed magazine in a mates brothers bedroom, alcohol was something that was consumed responsibly.

    fully 3/4s of these young men lack a father in the house and a significant number of them, the male is a figure of conflict. (custody battles, communication etc)
    as for pornography, there is no comparison to yesty year.

    thanks in advance.

    • weka 3.1

      gsays, great to hear you doing this, all power to you. I hope you get some genuine replies.

    • vto 3.2

      Sounds like those boys need more men in their lives, not less, as seems to have been advocated by many in that other post on being a bitch

      [I haven’t seen anyone on that thread say that. Another moderator has set your comments to go into moderation for approval, so maybe be a bit more careful – weka]

      • vto 3.2.1

        You can always tell when dealing with bullies – they hate their own medicine

        There are many posts in there on how the world might be a better place without men i.e. no wars.

        [I have enough on my plate today without having to moderate you telling lies. Take the day off – weka]

    • McFlock 3.3

      I suppose it depends on the context (and make sure you run it by the parents/caregivers first, otherwise you risk just being a weirdo talking about sex to teens 🙂 ).

      Thinking back on myself at that age, and what seems to work for my younger relatives, maybe the mind/body duality thing? Not to get carried away by anger/love/whatever, but to stop and say “am I being smart about this?”. That and “look at all blacks – being dumb off the field can still fuck up your career and life”.

      Oh, and the difference between love and infatuation: love is when you know everything about the other person, infatuation is when you know nothing about them but assume they fit your desires.

      • gsays 3.3.1

        cheers for your consideration mcf,
        i am anticipating keeping away from sex and focus on what values consent includes, respect, empathy, boundaries.

        reinforce the importance of consent as a foundation of character.

  4. Muttonbird 4

    According to The New Zealand Initiative there is no rise in income inequality. That is if you conveniently ignore that a rise in the value of houses is income for home-owners.

    It’s odd to me anyway that a rise in net worth is not classed as a rise in income according to the New Zealand Initiative.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11730940

    • Wayne 4.1

      I appreciate that you have acknowledged that there is a distinction between capital and income. In my view they are not the same, a capital gain is not simply income in another form.

      Income usually produces an actual cash amount each week, month or quarter.

      A capital gain is not realisable until the capital asset is sold. Even then it may be illusory. For instance most NZ’ers have the bulk of their capital in their house. Selling and buying on the same market simply means a different house, not any cash. However, I do appreciate that the large increase in Auckland property prices has given people to opportunity to buy cheaper elsewhere and release quite a large amount of cash.

      As far as I understand the data, there has been no real change in income distribution in New Zealand over the last twenty year. By that I mean wages, salaries, business income and interest and dividends.

      What has occurred, largely as a result of land inflation and stock market increases in the last five years, is an increase in wealth disparity. Around 30% of people rent rather than own, and by and large they have less wealth as proportion of the national wealth than 15 years ago.

      I also suspect that some suburbs in Auckland, typically wealthy ones, have had a larger percentage value increase than some less wealthy suburbs. And there is no doubt people have used their increased equity to support investment expenditure, even it is often home improvements, and also helping their children buy a house/apartment. Going around Devonport or Herne Bay, virtually every house has been expensively refurbished in the last fifteen years, and these suburbs have become $2 million average house price suburbs.

      • mauī 4.1.1

        As far as I understand the data, there has been no real change in income distribution in New Zealand over the last twenty year. By that I mean wages, salaries, business income and interest and dividends.

        Well that’s nice. I guess we just tell the increasing numbers of people begging on the streets that it’s always been like this. Same goes for those school kids who don’t have any lunch or are lucky enough to have a charity come to school and feed them. It’s ok kids it’s always been like this. And those growing encampments of “motorhomes” on the streets, yeah they’ve been there since like the mid 90s. No worries mate.

  5. Muttonbird 5

    Is John Key simply lying about meth use in this country? He claims it is dropping but everyone else says it is rising.

    Given Key’s track record on lying about crime stats I tend to believe everyone else on this one.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/315882/drug-clinics-reject-govt-claims-p-use-is-dropping

    • tc 5.1

      Risen as predicted by senior narcs officers due to their dispropportinate focus on that evil weed which saw a few leave in frustration.

      BS as usual from the liar in chief with his convenient crime stats….collins grin widens.

    • save nz 7.1

      +1 – Yep Kindness one of most under rated attributes.

    • Manuka AOR 7.2

      Thank you Anne. Invaluable.

      “Kindness is not only the key to our happiness and success as a species but to our very survival as well.”

  6. Colonial Viper 8

    the Empire Strikes Back: RT (UK) bank accounts to be all shut down – no reason given, no discussions to be entered into

    https://www.rt.com/news/363013-rt-uk-accounts-blocked/

    At the same time they have cut Julian Assange’s internet connection in the Ecuadorean Embassy (UK) to the outside world.

    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/wikileaks-assange-internet-severed-state-actor-161017101111181.html

    And lastly, a senior and very respected leader of the rebel military forces in the Donbass has been assassinated by an IED at his family home.

    Expect things to turn very nasty in Ukraine very shortly.

    http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/10/assassination-of-motorola-last-straw.html

    • save nz 8.1

      +1 CV Shocking Journalistic censorship.

    • save nz 8.2

      And this is pretty shocking too…

      It recently emerged that Hillary Clinton reportedly wanted to “drone” Assange when she was the US secretary of state.

      Hillary Clinton on Assange “Can’t we just drone this guy” — report https://t.co/S7tPrl2QCZ pic.twitter.com/qy2EQBa48y

      — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 3, 2016

      • Psycho Milt 8.2.1

        That’s gold. If I was US Secretary of State, every problem would get an initial “Can’t we just drone this guy?” Also, maybe some quotes from Archer.

    • At the same time they have cut Julian Assange’s internet connection in the Ecuadorean Embassy (UK) to the outside world.

      NatWest bank is in charge of internet connections to the Ecuadorean embassy? That’s pretty awesome diversification.

      And lastly, a senior and very respected leader of the rebel military forces in the Donbass has been assassinated by an IED at his family home.

      Or to put it another way, a local warlord well known for killing prisoners annoyed one person too many and got his beans. The guy was a Russian who got his combat experience in the suppression of colonial uprisings in Chechnya and went to the Ukraine so he could kill Ukrainians, quite likely at the behest of the Russian government. I thought you were against foreign fighters and mercenaries attacking sovereign countries?

    • joe90 8.4

      And lastly, a senior and very respected leader of the rebel military forces in the Donbass has been assassinated by an IED at his family home.

      War criminal gets his.

      Motorola and his battalion are also accused of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers. After Ukrainian soldier Ihor Branovytsky had been captured near Donetsk and was in custody of Pavlov’s group, Pavlov is alleged to have deliberately killed the prisoner on 21 January 2015 with two headshots

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsen_Pavlov

      https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TN2y62U9b3kJ:https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR5016832015ENGLISH.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=firefox-b

    • weka 9.1

      good read. And that’s just in the Americas.

      That photo of the man whose village has just been burnt is very moving.

    • weka 11.1

      I don’t have too much of a problem with that last article, on the face of it at least. If people from that community can deal with the problem when the police and justice system can’t, then that seems an appropriate interim measure. If we lived in a sane society, local authorities and NGOs would start working with the gang to support them in their more social justice work e.g. the feeding kids thing.

      Comments under that article are interesting too.

      • pat 11.1.1

        it is not a giant stride from Tribal Huk to Duterte …

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/85201396/Skeletal-remains-found-in-gang-member-search-area

        …and Im not sure who decides what is appropriate mourning…. or by extension religion,sexuality, work ethic or even race.
        Would you have much of a problem had the target had been a bottle store owner?….or any other person that offends some other/s?

        • weka 11.1.1.1

          It’s not about offence. If the bottle store owner was going out and pushing spirits onto teens in a way that actively contributed towards alcoholism and degeneration of the community and the police were not able to stop that, then I probably wouldn’t have too much of a problem with locals stepping up and taking action (within limits).

          I don’t understand the relevance of the link. Are you saying that all gangs are the same degree of badness? No gangs should be given credit for the good things they do?

          • pat 11.1.1.1.1

            Surprised you wish to conflate the posts with gangs (although it is mob mentality)
            The original post was headed “vigilantism and intolerance on the rise”…and with it extreme behaviours….I wonder if you would have been as accepting had the target been someone other than an alleged drug dealer….i note that it has been reported Duterte’s extrajudicial killings have been used as cover for other motives.

            • weka 11.1.1.1.1.1

              What I’m arguing is that what is vigilantism in one situation might be useful community action in another. I think you want to condemn all of them on principle, is that right? Because people shouldn’t take the law into their own hands? Whereas I think look at each situation and decide if there is more good than evil being done. That’s why I chose to focus on the gangs, because I’ve been finding the situation with Tribal Huk interesting.

              The ‘intolerance’ shown by Tribal Huk for P dealer who are selling drugs to teenagers seems appropriate to me.

              • pat

                Alleged P dealer

                • pat

                  I seem to recall similar actions against alleged homosexuals not too long ago due to the “threat to the children”…were you equally accepting of that?

                  • weka

                    Obviously not. I’ve already told you I think I think context is important.

                    • pat

                      Im sure those dealing to gays thought their context was fine as well

                    • weka

                      Of course, and we stood up against that and changed it.

                      You seem to be arguing a principle, which is laudable, I just don’t think IS, Nazis and active homophobes are going to take any notice of it so it’s a bit moot.

              • Bill

                Unless it’s the entire community that’s affected that has come up with a plan of action, then nah.

                Me and my mates think P dealers ought to go? Big hurrahs.

                Me and my mates also reckon corner dairies shouldn’t sell alcohol? Big hurrahs.

                And so on, gaining kudos or whatever, before it it slides into me and my mates calling the shots.

                • weka

                  “Unless it’s the entire community that’s affected that has come up with a plan of action, then nah.”

                  hmm, I think when we’ve had conversations around community in the past you’ve said it’s on the people who are affected by something.

                  “Me and my mates think P dealers ought to go? Big hurrahs.

                  Me and my mates also reckon corner dairies shouldn’t sell alcohol? Big hurrahs.”

                  Me and my mates think that the P dealers who are selling P to teenagers are a problem and we’re going to do something about it more like. Are corner dairies selling alcohol causing the same kinds or degree of problems?

                  • Bill

                    Everyone that’s affected must be included, ie, given a genuine opportunity and encouragement to participate in whatever decision and/or course of action meaningfully – yes.

                    otherwise…

                    me and my mates reckon corner dairies shouldn’t sell alcohol and if you ain’t agreeing with that, then maybe you’re a part of the problem….

                    • weka

                      Everyone that’s affected must be included, ie, given a genuine opportunity and encouragement to participate in whatever decision and/or course of action meaningfully – yes.

                      That’s the ideal, and it would be interesting to consider how that could happen e.g. a meeting where the P dealers could speak publicly, or where people would the people scared of the gangs could be in a room with the gangs. Meanwhile, in Ngaruawahia they don’t have that capacity.

                    • Bill

                      I have absolutely no idea what the organisational capacity of the community is. But whatever its limits may or may not be, vigilantism is not ever community action and always comes with the same toxic side effects/risks. (I’ve outlined those – the rise of an illegitimate and unaccountable (usually) moral authority)

                    • weka

                      I’m pretty sure we can rule out P dealers being able to attend public meetings, for obvious legal reasons.

                      “But whatever its limits may or may not be, vigilantism is not ever community action and always comes with the same toxic side effects/risks.”

                      And what if the community says go for it?

                      btw, the Breakfast video in one the links is probably a more convincing argument for not supporting the Tribal Huk’s action. Gross.

                    • Bill

                      Not seeing what legal reason there is that would prevent a P dealer from attending a public meeting.

                      If a community has decided on a course of action, then it isn’t vigilantism.

                    • weka

                      if they want to talk about dealing P and there are also police in the room, then I suspect that’s a problem.

          • Bill 11.1.1.1.2

            Did anyone ask the P addicts what they wanted done? Did they have any say in anything at all? What happens to them and their need for a fix ‘today’? Any support in place for them or are they just being left to twist in the breeze?

            Whoop. No P dealers….in this street/this neighbourhood/this town. Chased out they were. Now what? Chase out ‘the bloody kids’ who want to take the stuff?

            Agree Pat, that it’s the same social mentality (a part of the same sliding scale) that’s fueling and excusing wide-scale killings in the Philippines. And y’know, I dare say Duterte does some ‘lunch sandwich’ stuff too that’s welcome and appreciated.

            It’s all fucking fucked.

            • adam 11.1.1.1.2.1

              Gang A is just pissed, gang B moved in on their turf.

              Don’t worry though, gang A will sell them another drug, because profit is the real motivation here!

              When drugs are illegal, it’s all about the gangsters.

              Who cares if it’s a health issue when there is a buck to be made…

            • weka 11.1.1.1.2.2

              I agree re the users’ needs, but I tend to think the solution there is to support users not argue against reducing P dealing to teens.

              • Bill

                I’ve not argued against reducing P dealing to teens.

                • weka

                  Likewise I haven’t argued for leaving P users to their fate or free for all vigilantism against alcohol selling dairies.

                  • Bill

                    When you endorsed the vigilantism of “Huk” as appropriate, – “The ‘intolerance’ shown by Tribal Huk for P dealer who are selling drugs to teenagers seems appropriate to me.” – where were the addicts?

                    Draw whatever line you prefer between supposedly acceptable vigilantism and unacceptable vigilantism. You don’t think it’s dairies? Choose something else. Though it’s the vigilantes, having been empowered through endorsement that actually get to choose (that was my point when referencing dairies).

                    The downward slope heads out in a precise direction and ends in an unsavoury place.

                    • weka

                      When you endorsed the vigilantism of “Huk” as appropriate, – “The ‘intolerance’ shown by Tribal Huk for P dealer who are selling drugs to teenagers seems appropriate to me.” – where were the addicts?

                      Probably the same place as the teenagers being targeted by P dealers when you categorically opposed what Tribal Huk did.

                      Draw whatever line you prefer between supposedly acceptable vigilantism and unacceptable vigilantism. You don’t think it’s dairies? Choose something else. Though it’s the vigilantes, having been empowered through endorsement that actually get to choose (that was my point when referencing dairies).

                      The downward slope heads out in a precise direction and ends in an unsavoury place.

                      That sounds right if we were saying living in a society based on anarchism. But I think there are enough natural limits in NZ due to the state, the police force and the justice system for it to not go down that slope.

                      Pat is arguing the principle, you are arguing the ideal (“Everyone that’s affected must be included, ie, given a genuine opportunity and encouragement to participate in whatever decision and/or course of action meaningfully – yes.”), I’m arguing the pragmatics of what can happen in that community right now. I guess Pat wants it left up to the state. I’m not sure what you want (but I assume not leaving it to the state). I’m saying that on the face of it, I don’t have too much of a problem with it. That’s not actually an endorsement of vigilantism in the way you are suggesting.

                      Another example might be friends and relatives getting together and putting a stop to a rapist where there is no chance of that happening via the legal system. It happens, it’s not without risk (in a number of ways to various people), I don’t endorse it but I don’t have too much of a problem when it happens where there are few other meaningful choices.

                      edited.

                    • Bill

                      To be clear. I’ve agreed that an unaccountable sub-group within a community making unilateral decisions based only on their own notions of right and wrong and following through on their own notions of appropriate action with no thought for wider repercussions within the community, just can’t clear any reasonable bar of justification and so therefor can’t be condoned.

                      Odd that you argue any downward slope leading off from that could only happen in a society basing itself on anarchist principles when vigilantism flies so directly in the face of anarchist principles of democracy and democratic accountability .

                      The Philippines (occupying a space further along the spectrum or down the slope) definitely isn’t a society that embraces anarchist principles. Neither is India (the other example from the original list of links I opened).

                    • weka

                      I’ve agreed that an unaccountable sub-group within a community making unilateral decisions based only on their own notions of right and wrong and following through on their own notions of appropriate action with no thought for wider repercussions within the community, just can’t clear any reasonable bar of justification and so therefor can’t be condoned.

                      I’m not sure that Tribal Huk are unaccountable in that absolute way. They went to a public meeting, they appear to have some support in the community. I’m wondering if they have levels of accountability within the hapū and iwi structures locally. This is why I said on the face of it, we don’t really know what happens there.

                      Odd that you argue any downward slope leading off from that could only happen in a society basing itself on anarchist principles when vigilantism flies so directly in the face of anarchist principles of democracy and democratic accountability .

                      I didn’t use the word only. Nor did I imply inevitability. I gave that as a counterpoint to my point that the State structure in NZ would stop the slippery slope.

                      (and as an aside, I’ve yet to hear the explanation about how anarchist societies do or would manage people who behaved in other ways, e.g. via vigilantism. But that’s an old argument).

                      The Philippines (occupying a space further along the spectrum or down the slope) definitely isn’t a society that embraces anarchist principles. Neither is India (the other example from the original list of links I opened).

                      That doesn’t have anything to do with my points though. I’m not saying that vigilantism is good, never a problem, or never a slippery slope. I haven’t looked at the other links.

            • pat 11.1.1.1.2.3

              First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
              Because I was not a Socialist.

              Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
              Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

              Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
              Because I was not a Jew.

              Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

              Martin Niemoller

              • weka

                Then they came for P dealers who were selling addictive drugs to kids.

                Doesn’t have the same ring to it. I don’t know the original context for Niemoller’s quote but I don’t think he was arguing what you are arguing (feel free to clarify what you mean though).

                • pat

                  I think Niemoller was arguing exactly what I am….and if you don’t know the original context, thats a massive assumption on your part…

                  first they came for the (alleged) drug pushers….and i did not speak out because I was not a drug dealer

                  then they came for the pedophiles…and I did not speak out because I was not a pedophile

                  then they came for the misogynists…and i did not speak out because I was not a misogynist

                  then they came for the morally superior….

                  • McFlock

                    Well, no, Martin Niemöller was not arguing that criminals should not be punished. Just that we should speak out when the innocent are punished, even if we ourselves are not targets or don’t even particularly like the targets. It’s about the community protecting each other from unjustified persecution to protect themselves from the same.

                    Frankly, applying that to pedophiles and p dealers is a travesty, in my opinion.

                    • pat

                      and who decides the innocent?…in Nazi Germany all those named by Niemoller were considered criminals, just as less than three decades ago homosexuals here were considered criminal and were run out of town just like our alleged P pushers…when you allow insanity to prevail no-one is safe nor immune…..not even those passing judgement.

                    • McFlock

                      Are you really saying that you can see no fundamental difference between a trade unionist and a pedophile?

                    • pat

                      the point is those making the judgement may not…..ISIS consider anyone not adhering to their version of Islam fair game, just as many appear to think dispensing vigilante justice to alleged drug dealers think they are justified…just because you rate trade unionists highly don’t believe there are not many who would like to see trade unions a part of a distant past….by any means.

                    • weka

                      “and who decides the innocent?”

                      In NZ the State does. And the state takes action against people, including violent action, as it sees fit, even against the values of its citizens at times. Someone is deciding where it is ok to intervene.

                      McFlock, thanks for the comment re Niemoller, that’s how I’ve always understood that quote.

                    • McFlock

                      But that wasn’t what I asked.
                      P dealers and pedophiles have victims. Trade unionists, Jews and homosexuals do not. I’m astonished that this had to be spelled out for you.

                      Niemöller wasn’t arguing what sort of process should be used by society to enforce its rules – Nazi detentions and murders often took place under the cloak of legislative legitimacy, not mob rule. What he was saying is that we should speak out against manifest injustices in our society.

                      When it comes to p dealers and pedophiles, the threshold for “manifest injustice” is raised a lot higher than for victimless beliefs or even victimless characteristics.

                    • pat

                      “t’s about the community protecting each other from unjustified persecution to protect themselves from the same.”
                      ….and as far as the German government of the day were concerned the persecution was justified, whether you accept that or not.

                      “Niemöller wasn’t arguing what sort of process should be used by society to enforce its rules – Nazi detentions and murders often took place under the cloak of legislative legitimacy, not mob rule. What he was saying is that we should speak out against manifest injustices in our society.”

                      Nazi detentions and murders happened under both mob rule and legal cloak…you state those illegal groups had no victims yet that was not the position of the government nor many of the population who blamed all the mentioned groups for all sorts of social ills and crimes.

                      I further note that the similarity to actions against homosexuals in our recent past has been neatly ignored.

                      Who decides the innocent….”In NZ the State does”
                      No ,the Judiciary do…through due process…not mob rule.

                      “I’m astonished that this had to be spelled out for you.”

                      Ditto

                    • McFlock

                      So the judiciary decides it, even though in the government that Niemöller was talking about the judiciary made that judgement in a manifestly unjust manner and that’s what Niemöller was saying he should have worked harder at opposing.

                      Niemöller wasn’t talking about the manner in which unjust rulings were made, he was talking about what our reactions should be to manifestly unjust rulings. Not whether it was done by courts or mobs, just whether it was unjust. And if it’s unjust, we should stand against it.

                      How is kicking out p dealers manifestly unjust?

                    • weka

                      “Who decides the innocent….”In NZ the State does”
                      No ,the Judiciary do…through due process…not mob rule.”

                      Yes, and the State rewrites the laws that they act within.

                      “not mob rule”

                      And yet if you are a woman who has been raped or a young Māori man who’s broken the law you will get a different kind of justice than if you are not. So this idea that we’re getting to now, that the State has a good process but people taking justice into their owns hands don’t is flawed. Hence my original comment about not having too much of a problem with what Tribal Huk did on the face of it.

                    • pat

                      “How is kicking out p dealers manifestly unjust?”

                      this is not about P dealers (alleged) per se…..it is about the rise of vigilantism and intolerance, and the increasingly extreme behaviours associated with that

                    • McFlock

                      this is not about P dealers (alleged) per se…..it is about the rise of vigilantism and intolerance, and the increasingly extreme behaviours associated with that

                      Whoa there, vigilantism and intolerance are two different things.

                      Vigilantism is what happens when people perceive the legal system as inadequate, and there are good arguments against it. In some circumstances, such as the degradation of society, it might be necessary, however.

                      Some things should not be tolerated. At all. You brought up pedophilia, for example.

                      Other things that don’t victimise other people, such as being Jewish or gay, should be tolerated and defended.

                      If your problem is with vigilantism, you chose a reference that doesn’t actually address it at all. “To Kill a Mockingbird”, or even the old Peter Lorre movie “M” would be applicable. Hell, even Eastwood’s “Hang ‘Em High”. Not Niemöller.

                      If you think we should “tolerate” p dealers, I do not agree at all.

                  • Stuart Munro

                    You might question whether the Huks actually came for the P dealers. Or did they merely frighten them away. Sure intimidation is not beautiful, but neither is selling the more destructive drugs into a community. Of the possible outcomes this one seems relatively benign.

                • pat

                  lol…ah i don’t often agree with CV (less and less these days) but he is right …you are very adroit at ducking and weaving but never quite well enough to hide the hypocrisy

                  • McFlock

                    I’ve kept to a pretty simple point: Niemöller’s comment was about our reaction to injustice, not about the manner in which the injustice was arrived at. And where p dealers and pedophiles are concerned, it’s a bit more difficult to react to their behaviour in an unjust manner than in response to victimless things like “being Jewish”. Any response purely based on the last is unjust. People tend to be more equivocal about how far you can go with a pedophile before it’s an injustice.

                    • pat

                      and in return Ill keep it simple…..we have developed a legal system for a reason, and if your lucky enough to live in a country where the Judiciary is removed from the Government then we should use it as intended…..otherwise we may as well have mob rule.

                      There is no halfway house.

                      And as the Niemoller quote illustrates no one wins then….not even those who think they are right.

                    • weka

                      and what about when the justice system isn’t being used as intended, or where it is but that doesn’t serve the people?

                    • McFlock

                      ok, two points:

                      firstly, that’s not what Niemöller’s poem illustrates at all, if only because the Nazi judicial system was not always mob rule, and also happened under legal cloak. Niemöller was talking about his behaviour and inactivity in that environment, so if anything it’s about the consequences of political apathy.

                      secondly, a legal system that fails to address endemic social harms and crimes leaves a vacuum, a void between everything that should be enforced and that which actually is enforced. When that gap gets too large, that’s when vigilantism and mob justice occurs. This doesn’t mean that an injustice occurs (although it increases the likelihood). It just means that the formal legal system is failing to do its job (usually because it’s become alienated from sectors of the community).

                    • pat

                      “firstly, that’s not what Niemöller’s poem illustrates at all,”

                      No?….he used that quote on many occasions over the years , more often than not outside of the Nazi context, but id be delighted to hear your deconstruction.

                      “secondly, a legal system that fails to address endemic social harms and crimes leaves a vacuum,”

                      and filling that vacuum with mob rule leads to what?

                    • McFlock

                      “firstly, that’s not what Niemöller’s poem illustrates at all,”

                      No?….he used that quote on many occasions over the years , more often than not outside of the Nazi context, but id be delighted to hear your deconstruction.

                      @pat Political apathy. Not speaking out about injustice. How many times did he use it in the context of a mob, as opposed to general injustice?

                      “secondly, a legal system that fails to address endemic social harms and crimes leaves a vacuum,”

                      and filling that vacuum with mob rule leads to what?

                      Complete decay of a system that’s alienated from the population.
                      Nobody here, as far as I can tell, is saying that it’s a good thing that the police are so ineffectual in this matter that they’ve been sidelined. Just that the gang’s threat is a normal and, in the absence of formal effective law enforcement, a legitimate response to a serious social harm.

                  • weka

                    I can’t tell which comment you are referring to, so it’s hard to know what you are on about. By all means have a go and point out the hypocrisy.

                    • pat

                      “I further note that the similarity to actions against homosexuals in our recent past has been neatly ignored.”

                    • weka

                      pat, can you please start using @McFlock, @weka etc. It’s impossible to know who you are talking to or what you mean.

                      “I further note that the similarity to actions against homosexuals in our recent past has been neatly ignored.”

                      That appears to be a reply to my saying point out my hypocrisy. Yet it’s a comment from you to McFlock, which I didn’t respond to. What?

                  • McFlock

                    “I further note that the similarity to actions against homosexuals in our recent past has been neatly ignored.”

                    Not ignored. Exactly as victimless as being Jewish or a unionist. Illegal in NZ until thirty years ago – until enough people started saying things against that injustice. And same-sex marriage was illegal until very recently, and many of the people who spoke out against that injustice weren’t intending to marry people of the same sex.

                    Funny how when enough people say something, the world improves slightly. And if we all say nothing, the world gets worse until finally there’s nobody around to say something for us.

          • reason 11.1.1.1.3

            Steinlager All blacks and Alco pops weka ……………….$200 million per year in marketing/pushing ….

            Pro-Alcohol laws passed under urgency ……….

  7. save nz 12

    Just been reading this blogpost (link below) which popped up on TS feed section. Agree with many of his ideas – but but not his conclusion – and he makes the mistake of thinking just because we have low density in NZ, we should automatically fill it up with people and immigration is a great idea.

    looking at the density argument. If we have the amazon rain forest, should we just start building there because it is a ‘low density opportunity in South America? Nope – time we start to value the environment and actually try to preserve some Green spaces left in the world (including countries that for whatever reason are not filled up with people, cars and houses).

    How the hell can we keep biodiversity, natural environment with that sort of thinking? Wow there’s a free green space, (Actually probably a thriving ecosystem) but in the eyes of some, Yay lets utilise it by importing someone from he other side of the world to live there.

    Sorry I think the way forward with climate change is to actually embrace what little green (and water) space we have got left, live with less consumerism and move trade into a more electronic format but food production more local, make taxes fair, and try not to repopulate every last centimetre of the world with people.

    I get many people are migrants here, or forced to be migrants else where by government conditions, but moving people around is not solving the problems it is enabling neoliberalism and the resulting problems to dominate and mask that economically it is not working.

    http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2016/10/on-need-for-sustainable-immigration.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BatBeanBeam-AWeblogOnMemoryAndTechnology+(Bat,+Bean,+Beam+-+A+Weblog+on+Memory+and+Technology)

    • weka 12.1

      As someone who has often lived in sparsely populated areas that part of his argument made me cringe. He lives in Wellington, so good on him if he wants high density there, but fuck a policy that says everywhere else should be filled up. Empty spaces have value for many reasons, and I don’t see too much difference between his attitude there and colonisation ethics that thought that because the land wasn’t ploughed it wasn’t being used (or was empty).

      I haven’t read the GP policy change yet, but I too would hope we could look at what a steady state might be, and then use our relative wealth to support other places to do the same. We should of course be taking far more refugees.

      • mauī 12.1.1

        I got the impression the writer was saying we need to allow more immigration because refugees are in huge danger and need a home, not because he particularly wants to ruin our countryside. It’s a strong moral argument and I find it difficult to argue against.

        Many of the countries where the refugees are coming from are going to take a long time to repair to become habitable again, and some may not be habitable again. That’s the “nice” solution most people want I guess. Look we’ll fix up your home so you can go back and then we hopefully don’t have to deal with you again.

        • save nz 12.1.1.1

          Our current refugee quota is pitiful. I’m all for increasing the refugee quota. But doubling, tripling of refugee quota is nothing, compared to the current 69,000 migrants and 166,000 work visas being given out by the government. Economic migration of people with 10 million to spend or the skills category providing low paid Chef’s for SkyCity and fruit pickers for industry, is completely different to Refugees.

    • Bill 12.2

      At one fifteenth the population density of the UK and given that the UK has screeds of open spaces, I’m not buying this nonsense that immigration will suddenly see NZ turned into some kind of endless concrete jungle.

      Refugees need the support of other refugees – a sense of continuity and community. Larger numbers, not a few placed here and a few placed there, are required to ensure that. Taking only a few and dispersing them, ensures that a bogus argument about ‘lack of resources’ gains traction. It’s a manufactured scenario designed to excuse turning our backs on refugees and ensure that we’ll always have that excuse as a fall back.

      On general immigration, well…we need to overhaul our infrastructure as a matter of urgency given the path we’re on with CC. We’re not doing it (hell mend us), but could quite easily get onto it, alongside any necessary expansion of those infrastructures, if we had, besides the political will and intelligence, the numbers of people required to do it.

      Wouldn’t it make sense if, instead of asking about how many millions a person can invest (by way of fast tracking), we looked at how much of a real world contribution to NZ preparedness they could make by way of fast tracking? A lot of what needs done isn’t particularly skilled – but it will take numbers.

      There will be an optimum number with regards immigrants. I’ve no idea what that might be. Maybe some academic papers that take into account NZs actual real world requirements has been published? No – of course not.

  8. Puckish Rogue 13

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11730968

    I’m tempted to say something negative but…well…anyone that produces a one-two combo of Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going gets to put out as many albums as they like

    and I don’t care what anyone else thinks dammit 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yM7Xe3HrT8

  9. joe90 14

    And we’re off!
    /

    A United Nations signatory, ToddandClare.com, has published a report on the official UN website asking the UN to stop Julian Assange from using the UN’s name to dismiss a European Arrest Warrant, following a Royal Bahamas Police Force Investigation into child sex offenses involving Mr Assange and ToddandClare.com.

    http://www.prweb.com/releases/united-nations-report/julian-assange-wikileaks/prweb13750603.htm

    • xanthe 14.1

      ahh toddandclare.com…. upstanding UN signatories…. a good bit of background perspective would be to go here
      https://www.toddandclare.com

    • joe90 14.2

      [lprent: See my comments at the end of this. Content hidden. ]

      Assange is alleged to have had video chats with the 8-year-old sister of a 22-year-old woman using an online dating site, toddandclare.com.

      During those chats, he allegedly performed sexual acts on camera and persuaded the 8-year-old to perform other acts on camera. Her parents reported this to the Royal Bahamas Police.

      THE ROYAL BAHAMAS POLICE INVESTIGATION (RBPF) AGAINST
      JULIAN ASSANGE: WHAT WE KNOW TO DATE

      1
      As a UN Global Compact member, ToddandClare.com is duty bound by
      United Nations regulations to bring the criminal child sex offenses investigation of
      the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF Reference: Sgt Ferguson 1705 RBPF
      Thompson Boulevard) involving our business and Mr Julian Assange, to the UN’s
      attention.

      2.
      On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, ToddandClare.com’s Trust & Safety
      team was contacted by the father of an 8-year-old juvenile regarding a criminal
      investigation by the Royal Bahamas Police Force that contexts serious child sex
      offenses against the man’s young daughter. The juvenile is the younger sister of a
      22-year-old adult female ToddandClare.com user.

      3.
      Our understanding is that the RBPF Investigation (RBPF Reference: Sgt
      Ferguson 1705 RBPF Thompson Boulevard) is being handled by a specialist child
      protection unit of the Bahamas police authorities and relates to the child exploitation
      of an 8-year-old juvenile in Nassau, Bahamas using electronic/internet methods;
      prohibited use of an electronic communication system to procure a minor; child
      pornography production; and the luring of a minor online for sex, by Mr Julian
      Assange, who we understand has been identified from chatlogs.

      4.
      We understand the family involved are Canadian nationals, who were on
      a month long yachting vacation through the Bahamas, and residing as guests of Mrs.
      Mavis Darling-Hill, at the Darling-Hill’s poolside residence in the Blair Estates area
      of Nassau, New Providence.

      5.
      The investigation specifically pertains to Mr Assange’s remote use of our
      dating site, ToddandClare.com

      6.
      We understand the father was advised to contact Sgt Darrington Sands at
      the local Fox Hill police station. We understand initial contact with law enforcement
      was subsequently made with Sgt Symonatt for the Blair Estates area, at 10am, on
      September 28, 2016, in which the father reported the pedophile crimes against his 8- year-old daughter.

      7.
      We understand the Fox Hill duty officer subsequently transferred the
      family to urgently contact the Central Detective Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police
      Force on Thompson Boulevard in Nassau.

      8.
      We understand the family proceeded to make a formal complaint to
      Sergeant Ferguson at Thompson Boulevard on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at
      12.40pm, that their 8-year-old juvenile daughter was sexually molested online by
      Julian Assange, through ToddandClare.com, and that Assange had been accessing
      the site from London, UK.

      9.
      We understand Julian Assange was clearly photo- and video- identified in
      the chatlogs by both the parents of the juvenile, and Mrs Darling-Hill, who is the
      Bahamas Social Services worker involved.

      10. We understand the chatlogs evidenced the 8-year-old juvenile was
      unlawfully made the subject of “internet grooming” by Mr Assange, which included
      propositioning the 8-year-old juvenile “to perform oral and anal sex acts”.

      11. We understand the family reported to the Bahamas authorities that Mr
      Assange sent the 8-year-old juvenile (i) unlawful, indecent images and video media
      of himself performing lewd acts on a mobile camera device, and (ii) unlawful
      obscenity materials of a child pornographic nature.

      12. Neither the 22 year old female nor the 8-year old juvenile had physically
      met offline with Mr Assange at any time.

      13. The family has no connection to Sweden, the UK, or the United States,
      and no connection with Julian Assange whatsoever. The family has made clear, at
      this extraordinarily sensitive time, their only priority is their 8-year-old’s wellbeing.

      14. These Royal Bahamas Police Force circumstances led to the immediate
      termination of the agreement between ToddandClare.com and Julian Assange, and
      forthwith, cancellation of all plans to film a video production for the KATIA Project
      with Mr Assange, who both we and the KATIA Project have completely
      disassociated from.

      15. No other users of ToddandClare.com are involved

      [lprent: Content removed ]

      https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ruXBSKQHQtYJ:https://www.unglobalcompact.org/system/attachments/cop_2016/322211/original/ToddandClare.com_United_Nations_GC_Member_Report_COP_1042016.pdf%3F1475591336+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

      [lprent: There is a reason that this content has a link that is a google cache. The “member” has been delisted a few days after this document was created and uploaded as an attachment.

      In my opinion, this particular document and the organisation is likely to be a false flag operation and if probably both false and defamatory. If you don’t think that it is, then email me. Otherwise anyone repeating is likely to receive an immediate permanent ban. ]

      • Puckish Rogue 14.2.1

        Damn…

      • McFlock 14.2.2

        Wow.
        Did not suspect/expect that at all.

      • weka 14.2.3

        Thanks joe, that’s much clearer.

        There’s more there about how they were working with Assange on their anti-rape message. Hard read. Pretty serious mistake them entering into an endorsement contract with Assange in the first place, but all kudos to them for now so meticulously documenting what happened.

        • Puckish Rogue 14.2.3.1

          Puts those Swedish allegation sin new light…if whats being said is true of course

          • weka 14.2.3.1.1

            I haven’t quite gotten my head around it all yet (e.g. what is meant by the UN support for Assange and why T&C fell out with the UN over that?), but mostly I’m just thinking here we go again, with all that entails.

            It’s strange that the media haven’t picked this up given the first press release was Oct 11.

          • Bill 14.2.3.1.2

            Mrs Darling-Hill is both the host of the family and the Bahama’s social services worker who’s involved, yes?

            Chatlogs…those are historical, right?

            Assuming the “we understand” in the documentation is all true and correct, I’m somewhat curious as to when and how any contact between Assange and the other website user (the 22 year old daughter) became chats and/or what not between Assange and her 8 year old sister.

            • Puckish Rogue 14.2.3.1.2.1

              Indeed, best not to rush into judgement until more facts are known

            • weka 14.2.3.1.2.2

              8 year old has sister’s password? Older sister leaves the computer on and doesn’t log out?

              I’m curious as to, assuming the documentation is true, Assange could do something so stupid given his tech expertise (and by stupid I’m not referring to the sexual abuse, that’s something else entirely. I’m referring to his use of ICT).

            • xanthe 14.2.3.1.2.3

              Yes i also followed up on Darling- hill she is the deputy director of social services in the bahamas govt. As well as the social worker involved as well as the host of the 8 year old (as well a patron of some local charities)

              Question how does an 8 year old get access to adult only account of 22 year old? and who bears responsibility for that ?

              Question did assange believe he was communicating with a 22 year old consenting female ?

              One thing is sure this is serious abuse of the 8 year old girl but by whom?

              I really do have an open mind but it looks just a bit too cute

              In any case i can see why the Equadorians took his internet access away.. fair enough. What a dumb thing to do

              • weka

                “Question how does an 8 year old get access to adult only account of 22 year old? and who bears responsibility for that ?”

                I think that’s a separate issue than Assange’s involvement or not in child abuse. Open internet is pretty ubiquitous, not for all children, but for enough.

                I agree the question of whether Assange knew he was interacting with a child is important.

            • joe90 14.2.3.1.2.4

              As clear as mud.

              ( from the Kos article below)

              BY FAX

              Rt Hon Justin Trudeau
              Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
              80 Wellington Street
              Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
              Date: 10.17.2016

              Sir,

              We’re writing on behalf of ToddandClare.com, a dating site in Houston with a legal obligation to our female members. We are officially requesting your offices to intervene on behalf of a vulnerable Canadian family who are distraught and frightened. The family attended 2 police stations in Nassau, Bahamas, on September 28, 2016, to report to the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) that their 8 year old daughter had been abused by Julian Assange using our dating service.

              The subsequent mishandling of the initial stages of the child sex investigation by the Royal Bahamas Police Force, and the way the RBPF have passed information ‘off the record’ to the UK tabloids, is of grave concern.

              The family say that they experienced anti-Caucasian racism in Nassau.

              They have told us they received unfavorable treatment by the RBPF on account of being white. They say that the Bahamas authorities were more interested in protecting the reputation of their island, and closing the case, than properly investigating their allegations of internet child abuse by Julian Assange, against a Canadian minor.

              The family left the Bahamas, because they did not wish to subject their 8 year old to a continued nightmare and anti-white, racist abuse by Bahamian police. In addition to the clear racial problem, this investigation is particularly sensitive. The way the facts of the case pertain to the family’s eldest daughter, a 22 year old college woman who is the elder sister of the 8 year old child, and who Assange contacted the minor through, could have wider legal implications for the young woman.

              continues – https://www.facebook.com/toddandclare/posts/1191392577583146

              http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/17/1583749/-Julian-Assange-investigated-for-online-grooming-of-8-year-old-girl

              • weka

                hmm, ok, so the British tabloids have this? I can’t find anything online so far.

                • joe90

                  Sub judice?.

                  • Colonial Viper

                    Not only is Assange a rapist, that so many people are absolutely sure of after swallowing the Deep State smear campaign against him holus bolus, but now he’s been found a pedo too, which I reckon the same people have always suspected deep inside would be totally the case for an over-geeky internet type like Assange.

                    Talk about lefties swimming in an ocean of confirmation bias.

    • weka 14.3

      Daily Kos has picked it up, and notes,

      The Ecuador Embassy in London where Julian Assange has been living since June 2012 has cut his internet access (as reported by Wikileaks).

      There’s something about the social worker in there too, and why they fell out with the UN

      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/17/1583749/-Julian-Assange-investigated-for-online-grooming-of-8-year-old-girl

      The web cache link seems pretty clear, but some of the other tellings of the story (T&C’s website, the DK story) are a bit ramble. DK is raising some initial questions.

      • lprent 14.3.1

        Shows all the signs of being a spoof. From the protestations of the “organisation” to the way that it was associated to a “official” report pulled out of a cache for a deleted account.

        Certainly defamatory if it is just a spoof.

  10. Adrian Thornton 15

    Here is an interesting puzzle…. I have been emailing various RNZ presenters over the last 6 months with the following simple question…

    Would asking Jonathon Colman whether he has Public or Private health care be considered an ad hominem question?

    I had been in email exchanges with a couple of RNZ presenters prior to asking this question, then as soon as I asked the question I was completely closed down, very strange, not one response.

  11. Puckish Rogue 16

    How exactly does a teacher become a principal, everything about this guy suggests hes got no idea about…well anything

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11730576

  12. Muttonbird 17

    John Key’s ‘brighter future’…

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/suicide-rates-highest-since-records-began-2016101811

    Bear in mind his explanation for an increase in violent crime…

    Prime Minister John Key said the higher prisoner numbers reflected the changing nature of crime. “It’s a bit of an international trend: you saw overall crime rates falling internationally for a while and we were consistent with that, and they continue to fall in total numbers, but as I say, that hardened end [is] definitely going up a bit.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/85448143/government-to-spend-1b-to-sleep-1800-more-prisoners

    Perhaps he’ll try to spin the rise in suicide numbers not being a result of more desperate and suicidal people, but because they are more effective?

  13. Siobhan 18

    “A shop-bought helium balloon kit was taken from 76-year-old Nelson woman Patsy McGrath, who has long campaigned for euthanasia, on Friday, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society says.”

    So, was she turned in by a relative or friend determined to intervene in her plans, or are the Police using public profiles in a open legal process ie submission to the health committee, to make criminals of people who wish to control their own destinies.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11730905

    • Chooky 18.1

      disgraceful Siobhan…it is her business and NO business of the police!

    • Chooky 18.2

      surely the police have better things to do with their time than harrass a 76 year old woman?…are the Police being politicised?…in which case we have a Police State

  14. fisiani 20

    Who has Labour chosen to lose to Chris Bishop in Lower Hutt?

  15. james 21

    Julian from Wikileaks has had his internet privileges removed.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-wikileaks-idUSKBN12H2E9

    Its going to get bloody boring being holed up like that moving forward…

    Perhaps this will give him motivation to move out.

  16. Chooky 22

    Watch out for ‘Smash and Grab Banks’ like the Royal Bank of Scotland( are the banksters waiting in the shadows of a bank near you?)

    …the banksters are after your life savings and assets… a mad Scotsman speaks out and gives his story

    (once upon a time it was highway men …now it is banksters)

    Commoners Watch Out!

    https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/362856-episode-max-keiser-980/

    “Max and Stacy are joined by Joel Benjamin, local authority debt audit campaigner with Debt Resistance UK, and Nigel Henderson, who lost his hotel business to RBS’s restructuring division, to talk of the ‘stunned commoners’ in awe (at the brazenness) of the Royal… Bank of Scotland.

    Nigel recounts his own encounter with RBS’s smash and grab unit which saw him lose his hotel in Scotland.

    They discuss the tens of billions in fines the bank, taxpayer-owned RBS, faces from US authorities for the bank’s role in the mortgage backed securities fraud and whether or not there will be anything left for compensation of the thousands of small and medium sized enterprises destroyed in the UK.”

    …and in retribution to RT? (banksters fight back)

    ‘Cancellation of RT UK’s bank account ‘crude British state propaganda’ – Galloway (VIDEO)’

    https://www.rt.com/uk/363068-galloway-rt-nat-west/

    ‘Oliver Stone on RT bank account closure: ‘It’s a media war and UK sees you as a threat’ ‘

    https://www.rt.com/news/363093-media-war-stone-rt-bank/

    ‘Backtracking from ‘no discussion’? UK bank says it will review closure of RT accounts’

    https://www.rt.com/news/363086-uk-bank-rt-review-closure/

    • Peter Swift 22.1

      Link to five anti Putin/Russia stories aired on RT, the state controlled news org.

      • Colonial Viper 22.1.1

        Fuck off, you first. Link to three pro Putin stories in the state controlled Washington Post in the last 3 years.

        That will say something about how Putin is being used as the new scapegoat for every US imperial failure in the world.

        • Peter Swift 22.1.1.1

          One will do, Putin’s state sponsored, apologist pussy cat. I’ll wait. lol

          • Colonial Viper 22.1.1.1.1

            RT frequently mentions criticisms of Putin, but does not make allegations against him.

            Now, show me 3 recent Washington Post articles which are pro-putin.

            • McFlock 22.1.1.1.1.1

              lol
              no link? You’re probably looking for one of those “frequent” articles, right now…

              • Peter Swift

                So not one link to an anti Putin post on the RT network.
                Thanks for that, comradeski. lol
                Your propaganda source is duly and cruelly noted.

      • Chooky 22.1.2

        @ Peter Swift …how about address the content of this?..it is a British story

        …these are two Brits and two Americans, all well qualified, having a discussion about the practices of the ‘Royal Bank of Scotland’ which has destroyed thousands of small and medium sized enterprises in the UK

        …do you these people are telling fibs ?…I don’t think so

  17. Bill 23

    I sometimes struggled and sometimes guffawed my way through that diatribe before hitting this clanger or alarm bell or whatever you might want to call it towards the very end.

    Like the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s misguided support for a fugitive rapist,

    • joe90 23.1

      Yup, a clanger.
      /

      A United Nations panel has decided that Julian Assange’s three-and-a-half years in the Ecuadorian embassy amount to “arbitrary detention”, leading his lawyers to call for the Swedish extradition request to be dropped immediately.

      A Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the UN panel, due to publish its findings on Friday, had concluded that Assange was “arbitrarily detained”.

      The WikiLeaks founder sought asylum from Ecuador in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations, which he denies.

      The panel’s findings were disclosed to the Swedish and British governments on 22 January, and will be published on Friday morning. Their judgment is not legally binding but can be used to apply pressure on states in human rights cases.

      https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/04/julian-assange-wikileaks-arrest-friday-un-investigation

  18. weka 24

    [In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.

    If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift posts from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted – weka]

    • Incognito 24.1

      Please don’t tell us who won!

      [now you know the moderators’ super powers, ha ha. (trying to keep this comment highlighted at the bottom so people coming in off the comments list see it) – weka]

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    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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