One has to admire Novara's ability to find clever, thoughtful people as commentators. Here Shon Faye (a transwoman) does a take on the word "woke". She says that woke was never meant to be a "substantive concept", instead it is a deliberate "ellipsis" a "vacuum" into which you can pour or project anything. The resulting contradictions do not matter to the people using or hearing it – because it serves the purpose of appealing to emotions. She says the nearest parallel would be word "zeitgeist" as used by fascists (to convey horror, fear and disgust).
There is of course a left use of the word "woke" – which criticises the liberal tendency to prioritise identity over class. It might be a good idea to find a substitute word for this phenomenon – given the contamination of "woke" by the right.
Fourscore and three years ago, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter—a self-titled “musicianer” who was heralded as a “Bad Nigger” who “makes good minstrel” by Life magazine—explained how he came to create one of the first racism* carols. Named after nine young Black men who had been falsely accused of raping two white women, “Scottsboro Boys” was a protest and a warning to Black people about the evil that awaited anyone who dared traverse the borders of Alabama. At the end of the song, he told the story of meeting two of the wrongly convicted men and—just before the recording faded into silence—the legendary singer coined a phrase that would become a clarion call to Black America until white people discovered it eight decades later.
“I advise everybody to be a little careful when they go down through there,” Lead Belly said of Alabama. “Just stay woke. Keep your eyes open.”
Sure, a different way of seeing the world (being woke, after the dream about how a democratic people could remake the world to how it could be), than that of an existing conservative order, was seen as threatening to those loyal to it.
In the 1930's German Weimar Republic liberalism and various groups (Christian) conservative and fascist were (zeitgeist) moral reactionary forces in resistance. The idea of empowered (democratic) humanity with social economic and political equality in citizenship, was against the concept of some divine moral or conservative regime national order that humanity had to be (remain) in obedience to.
Some have since categorised it as idealism vs world reality when rejecting gender identity.
And since then some communitarian anarchists (such as Russell Brand) have aligned with libertarians against modern nation state government (basically joined the Tea Party movement).
‘Why England Slept” by JFK about the slowness of England to respond to the threat posed by fascist Germany (one about the USA would have been too controversial) and of course his speech in Berlin about resistance to communism.
The right’s co-opting of the word “woke” and the way it uses it to distort debate and camouflage bigotry is nothing new. Conservatives have always been very good at wringing words dry of their meaning and repurposing them strategically. “The elite”, for example, now means anyone with an education and not billionaires like Donald Trump. “Pro-life” means forcing women to give birth. Teaching kids about slavery has been rebranded as “critical race theory”. Far too often liberals don’t push back on these phrases and start using them themselves. Gray’s interaction with Mandel shows that simply asking conservatives to be clear about what on earth they’re talking about can be surprisingly effective.
"No objective evidence exists that “gender identity” exists outside of a person’s mind. Transition “medicine” relies on self-reported feelings for diagnosis and satisfaction with appearance for measuring results. Ka-ching, profit!
“Gender identity” does not even have something like the E-meter that can pretend to detect or measure it. As a practical matter, there is more actual science for the ‘body thetans’ of L. Ron Hubbard than for ‘gender identity’ as a coherent material phenomenon."
I never use the word 'woke' and I don't expect to see it in more serious discussion. If it had a meaning, it does not now and it is used as a pejorative now. I liken it to the phrase 'PC' when it was used in the 1990s.
I also don't think the left should be concerned only with class, that has always seemed inherently limiting, (shriek, shock, horror).
I don't really mind how issues are raised and I don't really care if an issue is raised from a liberal mindset. I am not about to criticise how it is raised if I agree that the issue raised has merit.
PC hid much anti women, pro racism 'stuff'. It was a shorthand for I don't want to modify anything I do even if it sexist or racist.
So issues based concerns have merit, we don't need to find some sort of shorthand pejorative to describe them. We certainly do not need to push concerns aside by saying they don't fit a class narrative.
Thinking deeply now about how the left is missing in action when talking about issues of genital males being in women's only spaces, rape crisis centres, counselling, lesbian places. How does fit a class narrative?
Jane Clare Jones is a good read for a left wing, feminist perspective on the three classes (sex, socioeconomic, race). When we treat sex as a class of oppression, we have an analysis for understanding women's rights as something that cannot be dismissed as identity politics.
Thanks Weka. I was aware of how it started. Will brush up on class aspect.
I admit I have come at the left from a different starting point, from feminism, anti racism and equal opportunities for all, then a view of where on the political spectrum these are best progressed.
From there my analysis says that Govt has to lead, so legislation as a backstop at the very least. and with the need for legislation to be actively administered the cries of 'small govt' have no place.
I liked the concept Shon that woke is a kind of bucket into which all sorts of 'scary' things are placed. I also like the view that attacking the word/concept is difficult. How do you counter it? It is about as difficult as tackling the issues such as anti vaxx views. particularly the ones about magnets, world domination etc as opposed to concerns about health efficacy.
With PC Human Rights supporters found that a basis had to be in legislation.
Legislation is always either an backstop or an important step forward in progress. This is why, in my view, we need to maintain the Christchurch Call, work on Hate Speech etc. We need to work on multiple fronts and keep our legislation up to date and pointy.
It is also why on the left we are best to be explicit in framing the issues that the RW-ers are throwing into the 'woke' bucket. Finding another word to replace woke does not work for me.
You are aware that medical errors are considered the third leading category of death in the US? In the order of 250,000 in 2013 alone? Why do you not condemn this? Or call out all doctors "despicable cretins"?
Or that overdosing on commonplace OTC medicines happens far too often? We ingest stupid drugs like alcohol, and our diets are full of dangerous sugars and refined oils that cause a myriad of illnesses and shorten our lives. People do stupid things all the time.
And even with good intentions there is literally nothing good that someone will not take to an extreme and turn into something harmful as in this case. Yet Ivermectin is a drug that has perhaps the safest profile of anything we have discovered. Literally billions of human doses have been administered over decades – with an astonishingly low rate of harm. The fact of these desperate parents grossly overdosing their daughter, probably by several orders of magnitude – yet remarkably she is still alive – is a powerful testament to how safe ivermectin actually is, even when absurdly abused.
And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest.
Our collective understanding of how life works, of why so many ailments and diseases occur and how best to manage them is still very much in it's early stages. There remains so much we do not know and some humility in the light of that fact would go a long way to lowering the fevered temperature of so much of these debates.
My concern is that misguided people are administering an OTC medicine to children until their children have blurred vision and keep doing so until this clears at about a 'couple of months'.
Reading down the article it seems that this is being used on children with autism. An anti worm medicine is being used on children with behavioural problems, it reminds me of exorcisms etc.
"And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest"….+1
RL, haven't you noticed (I am sure you must have) that Joe90 just regurgitates, pretty much verbatim, all Western Liberal MSM talking points, no matter how outrageous…this is merely one more slimy lump in that endless steaming rotting stream of propaganda….shit this guy would probably still defend the Trump/Russia collusion conspiracy today, given half the chance….a filthy hoax I might add, that helped in no small way, lay the ground work that has led to 100,000 dead Ukraine lives and at least as many Russian, in the Russia/US proxy war that we are all sadly, impotently watching unfold before us today.
[Your thirst for taking shots at others, be it journalists, media outlets or other commenters, has no bounds. You have been warned about this so many times and last time you were banned for one month. Yet, here we are again with you taking a shot at another commenter that shows zero respect, lacks any redeeming political comment or opinion, and is off-topic. Ban doubled to two months – Incognito]
The very short article you link to was woefully bereft of proper analysis.
In their study, the researchers examined four separate studies that analyzed medical death rate data from 2000 to 2008. Then, using hospital admission rates from 2013, they extrapolated that based on a total of 35,416,020 hospitalizations, 251,454 deaths stemmed from a medical error, which the researchers say now translates to 9.5 percent of all deaths each year in the U.S.
How? It doesn't say.
In the absence of a proper report it must be assumed this is yet another conspiracy theory promoted by people suspicious of the medical profession ie, anti-vaxxers.
Ivermectin damaging children after being prescribed by their lunatic parents only happens because unqualified cranks continue to promote its benefits (to horses) online.
The researchers caution that most medical errors aren't due to inherently bad doctors, and that reporting these errors shouldn't be addressed by punishment or legal action. Rather, they say, most errors represent systemic problems, including poorly coordinated care, fragmented insurance networks, the absence or underuse of safety nets, and other protocols, in addition to unwarranted variation in physician practice patterns that lack accountability.
Fragmented insurance networks – people without insurance, lack of early intervention …
Medical error, appears to mean a failure of the health system to operate effectively.
All good, but is it factored in that the people presenting to hospital are already at serious risk by dint of presenting to hospital?
We don't know because John Hopkins didn't say in detail how they arrived at their conclusion.
At least we don't know from the very scant of information article Redlogix based his argument on. That did not stop RL presenting it as fact in his defence of veterinary medicine, Ivermectin.
Sure, the article does not explain the modelling used.
Those presenting without insurance may not receive the best care, and there may be an influence from pharma on care offered/practice etc.
One can note atm, post pandemic lockdown and vaccination, a number of countries have higher than normal death rates. There is speculation as to the why and a range of answers are tentatively suggested.
(warning RL will respond to calling ivermectin a veterinary medicine when it has been prescribed for use to millions of humans and when used in that way has been quite safe)
Children need to be protected from some parents. Taking Ivermectin off prescription for an illness that Ivermectin cannot treat sounds like cruelty to me.
(warning RL will respond to calling ivermectin a veterinary medicine when it has been prescribed for use to millions of humans and when used in that way has been quite safe)
Yes of course for the correctly diagnosed problems not for the 'treatment' of autism or any other long term use that involves taking it through side effects such as blurry sight.
Ivermectin has been used extensively as part of the World Health Organisation's Onchocerciasis Eradication Program. It has FDA approval for the treatment of strongyloides and onchocerciasis in the United States, other use is termed ‘off label’.
In treatment of scabies its use may be appropriate in selected cases where topical therapy is impractical or has failed and is particularly useful in cases of crusted scabies (also called ‘Norwegian’ scabies).
Ivermectin can also be used to control demodicosis. Ivermectin cream has been shown to reduce papulopustular rosacea, which is thought to be due to its effects on demodex mites and its anti-inflammatory action.
A 2021 Cochrane Review has not found sufficient evidence to support the use of ivermectin for preventing or treating COVID-19.'
While it used as an anti-parasitic, it has anti-viral properties. And because of that and its safe user profile (right dosage at least) some resorted to it out of hope (pre vaccine) and because some of the developed anti-virals do not have as safe a user profile.
Ivermecticin is no longer an effective wormer, it has become resistive to parasitic worms, don't you think the manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank having found fools to buy their product.
You can literally call their choice of ivermectin deworming medicine. The majority of people choosing to overdose themselves and their children are using vetinary-grade anti-parasite doses formulated for horses or for other large animals, not formulated for humans, or at human-sized doses.
In the Greens State of the Planet 2023 speech they lay down the gauntlet:
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today.
“Make no mistake: 2023 will be a climate election. Only the Green Party will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands and take action to build an Aotearoa that works for everyone,” co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw said.
“I am proud of what we have achieved with the governments we have been given. I am proud that over the last five years we have taken more action on climate change than the past 30 years of Governments combined.
“But it’s not enough. I do not want another generation to have to bear the burden of slow progress.
“To any political party that wants the Green Party’s support to form a government after the election, let us put it as simply as we can: the Green Party will not accept anything less than the strongest possible climate action. The stakes are too high, the consequences of failure too great.
From the speech; the starkness of the choice is made clear:
Labour and National may be duking it out over the so-called ‘political centre’.
But this October, New Zealand will either…
Elect the most progressive, climate-focused government we have ever had…
A government that will not rest until we lift every family out of poverty…
A government that will place nature at the heart of everything we do…
A government that is guided by te Tiriti o Waitangi…
A government that confronts climate change with the urgency and the scale that it demands…
A government that has a strong Green heart beating at its centre…
Or… Hand the keys to the most reactionary race-baiting right-wing government we have seen in decades…
A government for the wealthy few, at the expense of many, not just in this generation but also those to come…
A government of climate inaction and delay.
And that is because there is one thing we know for sure:
No one party can win a majority on their own this election.
Just like Labour will need our support, the only way that Christopher Luxon can become Prime Minister is with the support of David Seymour and the ACT party.
An ACT party that has pledged to restart oil drilling in Maui dolphin habitats, ditch our climate targets, tear up te Tiriti o Waitangi, and cut taxes for the wealthiest few.
An ACT party which said of climate change only a few years ago, that the threat of more extreme weather events was, quote, “unproven conjectures."
Tell that to the people of Tai Tokerau and Auckland and Coromandel and Tairawhiti and Hawke’s Bay.
Even in the wake of these climate disasters, they dare to suggest that we should dismantle the entire framework that we have built, with bi-partisan support, to guide this country to a zero-emission, climate-resilient future.
The worst possible outcome that I can imagine from this year’s election is a National-ACT alliance in government.
It would be an alliance between parties addicted to fossil fuels and helping the wealthiest and the most powerful.
Families will be left struggling to make ends meet…
Schools and hospitals will be run into the ground…
Our natural world will be further eroded away…
The Crown’s obligations to Māori under te Tiriti will be dishonoured…
And our communities will be at more risk from more supercharged floods, storms, droughts, and fires.
Over the course of this election campaign, we can expect both National and ACT to promise simple fixes to complex problems.
To resort to fear.
To appeal to ‘ordinary working mums and dads’, only to turn their backs on them as they roll out policies to cater to the wealthiest and the most powerful.
I ask you to look carefully at who will make up the Cabinet in a National-ACT alliance and ask yourselves this:
Who do you want making those decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love?
Only with more Greens in parliament can we achieve our climate targets, the dangers of delaying are unavoidable:
Chris Hipkins won media plaudits for his political strategy after scrapping or deferring some of Labour's policy in his latest policy bonfire, including ones to reduce emissions. But a poll released just hours after his announcement showed voters want more climate action, not less.
It’s not just the government prioritising the concerns of a median voter. Despite regular proclamations on the urgency of addressing climate change, it’s often the media as well.
There are some good intentions at the root of the bias toward bread and butter policy. It's nourishing, especially during a cost of living crisis.
But it may be hard to fully enjoy the meal if the world is slowly turning into something resembling a bonfire – and not the sort that’s made of policy.
Aren’t the Greens caught in a bit of a cleft stick here?
The green wing of the part rightly decries the Govt’s slowing down of it’s climate change policies. That wing of the part that focuses on poverty and the cost of living issues must be delighted that Labour is concentrating there.
Selling the rights for home test matches to Spark Sport means that unless I want to pay for yet another streaming service, I don’t get to watch my country’s team, even when they’re playing at home.
The anti-siphoning list is a list of events, the televising of which should, in the opinion of the relevant Minister, be available free to the general public.[1] To effect this 'freedom', the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 includes a licence condition on pay TV providers that prohibits them from acquiring anti-siphoning events unless a national broadcaster or a network of commercial television broadcasters have the right to televise the events.
While it says the National Anthem was sung this was only the first (English) verse and most participants turned their backs on the protestors and sat back down.
So the Great Commission has a belief not in religious diversity but in the opposite
Converting others to Christianity raises a fundamental question about whether religious diversity is a reality to be celebrated or an obstacle to be overcome.
The connection of the two causes does suggest a western "civilisation" centric approach. The far north also produced John Banks, John Carter, Wayne Brown (term as Mayor ended by John Carter) and Matt King.
Former Kaipara Mayor, Matakohe farmer and cousin of former MP Sir Lockwood Smith KNZM, Dr Jason Smith, 51 and Felicity Foy of Te Rarawa were the two alternatives.
The Greens would like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull banned from New Zealand.
The Green Party says the Government should stop a British anti-transgender activist from visiting New Zealand.
Supporters of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, were seen to be giving Nazi salutes and abusing LGBT counter-protesters at her event in Melbourne yesterday.
Speak Up for Women had their meetings about gender self ID shut down, rather than being listened to. They wanted the law about changing your sex on your birth certificate to stay as it was i.e a process through the family court. Pretty reasonable really.
They also believe that biological sex is real, not a social construct (as claimmed by the likes of Judith Butler). They want protection for women in prisons, sports, awards, refuges etc.
They are against the affirmation model for kids with gender dysphoria.
Its quite simple really. But we have been shut down smeared and vilified.
Kellie Jean pulls no punches. She states things like women don’t have penises. The Trans lobby smears people and cancels them. That is their modus operandi.
Let women speak needs to go ahead.
When a bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Antifa" decides to disrupt a group of women defending their rights to protect themselves as a sex class, and a similar bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Nazis" decides to take the opportunity to have a go – the main thing they have in common is their commitment to male privilege and male aggression.
Everyone is resisting looking at how/why giving human/civil rights to one group is taking them from another.
In real words do not be in a rush to give everyone who wants to don a frock the moniker of woman.
Women need safe spaces and safe spaces do not include being in confined spaces (Toilets) or spaces with children (mothers with children in changing rooms) or receiving counselling for rape and other sexual assaults, or in women's prisons with men who have not transitioned. Men with intact genitalia should be restricted from female spaces.
Many females agree with giving rights to trans people, but these rights should not be at the expense of the rights of women.
This pure and simple is what KJKM is talking about. Smearing her is just one way of making sure that this message does not get through.
I don't think any woman who has been following this is surprised at the shock horror of there being neo nazis around.
Perhaps take time to read the Greens statement. Posey Parker is anti-Muslim and has hung out with Proud Boys in the US. She doesn't just advocate a pro-women position, but also advocates virulently against trans people. Links in the Greens statement include UK feminist organisations who dissociated themselves from her because of these anti views.
I've seen a couple of nauseating clips from her podcast that immediately struck down her credibility. Be careful who you climb in bed with.
Just looked at the first two reasons given on that list, calling for women who identify as trans men to be "sterilised" and saying that women who oppose the cause will be “annihilated” – it is classic "force and power" language.
It reminds one of Stopes and Sanger, both womens rights on access to contraception, but also into "eugenics" to sell it to others as "population" management. That also led to them getting connections to the right.
I've not seen the evidence that the Nazis are KJK supporters. Incredibly biased reporting. The Nazis marched between LWS and the gender activists, they faced the activists and did the salute. The activists had previously been engaged with the police, apparently punching the horses bellies to try and break the line. Policy told the organisers and women speakers of LWS to be prepared to run if the lines broke. Two lots of militant men facing off.
Has anyone explained yet why the police let them go there?
KJK causes a lot of grief by not making a statement distancing herself from the Nazis. A number of women involved have objected to having to make statements because they think it's a distraction. Fortunately GC women in NZ have made statements against Nazis.
Neo Nazis, 'shock horror' will yet again put off having to deal with the points that women have been making………
I have no truck with Nazis.
The women who are concerned about the reach of the trans rights activism need to be respected. There are many of us from the mildest to the most forthright.
This is one of the songs of the 70s. I am Woman, Helen Reddy with the focus on the words
Can we at least talk about the reasons for the visit, the views and reflect on the point that in giving rights to one group should not mean that the rights of another should be lessened.
The Nazis focus is an unpleasant smokescreen diverting people from dealing with the real issues.
The Greens would like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull banned from New Zealand.
The Rainbow Greens at least. Thankfully the Greens seem to understand that now is not the time to poke at the culture wars. There's nothing on their main twitter and didn't see anything on their FB either. This time and when the original PR was done.
yeah, that's fair, I had mistakenly read that as those three MPs being part of the RGs. My point stands. The GP twitter and FB accounts haven't shared this, it's not in their news feed, and that letter isn't easy to find on the GP front page (when I looked last week at least).
I found it a credible argument for at least serious monitoring of her in NZ, if not shutting her out. The case was well supported with examples that she is a provocateur, weka. I'm a little disappointed with the tarring of so-called tarrers, who weren't. She looks right up Counterspin’s alley.
The only credible argument I can see if her populist conservative position on trans rights alongside her refusal to condemn the Nazis in Melbourne (because she vehemently rejects guilt by association) somehow encourages Nazis in NZ to violence or hate speech. Seems a long bow to draw though.
Also, the RGs call Woman's Place UK extreme anti-trans. If they're going to use hyperbole like that it makes their whole argument suspect.
An interesting tack, of course their room to operate after the election is limited by the lack of alternative to a Labour led government for Greens to work with.
Four days before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said this at an industry conference in Washington: pic.twitter.com/gsuMxyNFLu
The good news about this issue is that banks are generally in a strong financial condition, and have not been forced to realize losses by selling depreciated securities. On the other hand, unrealized losses weaken a bank’s future ability to meet unexpected liquidity needs. That is because the securities will generate less cash when sold than was originally anticipated, and because the sale often causes a reduction of regulatory capital.
On Sunday morning, ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden said if the Green Party's done one thing during their five years in Government, it's "proving how ineffective they are".
The ACT Party and the Greens have begun their pre-election campaign tussles after launching attacks at each other.
It's a bit one-sided
Van Veldon confuses the lack of oil and gas exploration with the current need to import coal (exploration would only have an impact on the future availability of local oil or gas – by which time there was no expectation of any need to import coal).
Van Velden continued her attack on the Greens, saying one of Shaw's flagship policies was banning oil and gas exploration. "Global coal exporters have been the biggest benefactor of the Green Party's climate policies. According to figures from MBIE, coal use for electricity generation was up 29.5 percent in 2022. There is no environmental benefit to this policy if Indonesian coal is imported instead," van Velden said. "If New Zealand wants to avoid burning millions of tonnes of foreign coal in future, the Government needs to re-evaluate its oil and gas ban."
Note the attempt to sell the nationalism of local carbon use being better to Greens.
An easy differentation is then made
"An ACT Party that has pledged to restart oil drilling in Māui dolphin habitats, that has pledged to ditch our climate targets, that has pledged to tear up Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and that has pledged to cut taxes for the wealthiest few.
"An ACT Party that said of climate change, only a few years ago, that the threat of extreme weather events was 'unproven conjectures'."
Shaw said in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, the ACT Party "dares to suggest" the framework on building a zero-emission climate-resilient future for New Zealand should be dismantled.
"The worst possible outcome that I can imagine from this year's election is a National-ACT alliance in Government. It would be an alliance addicted to fossil fuels and to helping the wealthiest and the most powerful," Shaw said.
"Families will be left struggling to make ends meet, schools and hospitals will be run into the ground, our natural world will be further eroded away, the Crown's obligations to Māori under Te Tiriti will be dishonoured, and our communities will be more at risk from supercharged floods and fires and droughts and storms."
"Over the next seven months, the Green Party will set out a plan for Aotearoa to cut climate pollution and improve our communities," Shaw said.
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After yesterday's news that Stuart Nash deliberately and knowingly breached the OIA to cover up his corrupt disclosure of Cabinet information to his donors, the media now is focusing on the wider point: Nash's behaviour isn't isolated, but a symptom of the rot which has eaten away at transparency under ...
There was great disappointment following the just released poverty figures for the year ended to June 2022. Whatever your take, we are not facing up to the real child poverty problems.Some say the poverty figures show no significant change, some say there was a small improvement. Some say that the ...
Quiz1. Which is the most pleasing comment so far regarding this man’s indictment?a. He finally won a popular vote! b. “You can’t indicate me, I quit”c. Is this joy? It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything.2. “The boxset scandal that is Stuart Nash.”Who wrote this fine description? a. ...
It’s truly astonishing the way that the Government has been able to suppress evidence of business donors gaining special access to Cabinet information. Now that Stuart Nash has been fired from Cabinet for leaking sensitive information to individuals who funded his election campaign, the focus has shifted to why this ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Have you noticed the media’s propensity to label people and groups in a way that shows negative bias? People speaking up for women’s right to their own spaces and fairness in sport aren’t feminists or women’s rights activists, they’re anti-trans or transphobic. The Taxpayers’ Union is often prefaced with the label right ...
Photo by Magdalena Kula Manchee on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour (I’ll be online for an hour from 12.30 so pile them up), including:The Government’s latest climate back-tracks on diesel cars and ...
All of the Government’s five options for improving Auckland’s links include or prioritise tunnels and bridges for cars, double-cab utes and trucks ahead of walking, cycling and rail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government has brought forward plans to start building and/or drilling a second Waitematā harbour ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes: Green’s co-leader Marama Davidson just keeps digging the hole she is in deeper. First she showed her bitter antipathy towards white CIS (same gender as birth) men. Then she walked it back to all men. On Tuesday night on TV1 News she said, “…overwhelmingly it ...
as Auckland’s cantankerous mayor stumbles from one crisis to the next, the hope is not that Wayne Brown will learn on the job – that’s almost certainly a lost cause – but that Aucklanders will manage to come together and limit the damage that he threatens to inflict on the ...
Wow, it’s the end of March already. Here are a few of the smaller items that caught our attention over the last week. We need better trucks Newsroom reported on a Ministry of Transport report showing just how dirty our current truck fleet is. A heavy diesel truck costs ...
Listening to RNZ yesterday, I heard that the government was making a major announcement about a second crossing of the Waitematā. I was fairly surprised.I’d have thought with it being election year the last thing the government would want to be talking about was a massive Auckland transport project. Especially ...
I cracked open a fortune cookie with a family group after dinner. My loved ones got warm, inspiring messages such as my son’s: ‘You will be successful in business and society’. Nice. I got this one: “Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.” By coincidence, I had already drafted a ...
THOMAS CRANWELL: When ideology turns violent – the political and media backing behind the Posie Parker mob Thomas Cranwell writes – ——————————– Similar to other countries, the transgender movement in New Zealand is not a grassroots organisation but instead is an increasingly ...
It is a lovely autumn morning.The sun is shining. The birds in Kōwhai park are twittering.There is music playing on Today FM.You can hardly tell that the children at Kia Kaha primary school are being greenhouse gassed.It is not just happening at Kia Kaha Primary School.It is happening to all ...
Poor old Mike Hosking! In today’s Herald, such is his visceral antipathy to our current government, that he is reduced to wrestling with himself in trying to understand how it is that despite its many failings – in his eyes at least – the Labour government is somehow ahead in ...
Air pollution kills, and dirty diesel vehicles are a major source of it. Cleaning them up has enormous social benefits in avoided deaths and hospitalisations. How much? Billions of dollars: A report quietly released by the Ministry of Transport in July shows tighter regulation of vehicle imports for air ...
Via one of my lovely Twitter sources, the sardonic and interesting @johubris … the following ‘poll question’ has been recently distributed: “Thinking about your life and your country now, what is the most important issue that you want to see the New Zealand Government addressing?” This qualifies as push-polling, which ...
On Tuesday night, former Forestry Minister Stuart Nash was sacked for corruption, after the Prime Minister discovered he had disclosed confidential cabinet discussions to his donors. Its since emerged that Jacinda Ardern's office knew of this disclosure, but didn't act on the obvious breach of the Cabinet manual, and didn't ...
Buzz from the Beehive Whoa, there – we can’t keep up! Suddenly, the PM’s ministerial team has unleashed a slew of press statements. Sixteen announcements have been posted on the Beehive website since our last check. This burst of activity (we wondered) might be the result of them responding positively ...
Big transport news today with the government beginning public engagement on options for the Waitemata Harbour Connections project. This project has had an incredibly long history, with previous versions somehow managing to be incredibly expensive, detrimental to most of the transport outcomes we are trying to achieve in Auckland, and ...
If ever there was an example of complacency about corruption and integrity in New Zealand politics it’s the fact that the Prime Minister’s Office knew back in 2021 that Cabinet Minister Stuart Nash was feeding privileged Cabinet information to business donors but did nothing about it. This is one of ...
Open access notables "Despite the potential for positive methane–climate feedbacks from global wetlands, most Earth System Models (ESMs) and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) that informed the last Assessment Report of the IPCC do not directly incorporate this process."Publishing in Nature Climate Change, Zheng et al. unpack the implications of this ...
Among its ‘go slow’ on climate measures, the Government chose to delay tighter regulation of vehicle imports for air pollution for six years because it would have increased vehicle purchase costs. Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government continues to backtrack on moves to reduce emissions, with three news items ...
Stuart Nash’s downfall appears to have had its beginnings with one of the players from the “Dirty Politics” scandals of 2014. Simon Lusk, a close associate of Cameron “Whaleoil” Slater, one of the key figures in Nicky Hagar’s “Dirty Politics” expose, has been associated with Stuart Nash. Lusk has ...
Worried if this election will be shellacked by “the culture war”? That arrived ages ago. And, one side is definitely in panic mode, even if that’s not being admitted right now. Because of that, they’re reverting yet again to straight up… culture wars. Yes, fellow traveler, the Party who ...
All About Climate is a Youtube channel dedicated to communicating climate science and combating misinformation about global warming. It is run by Roshan Salgado D'Arcy - or 'Rosh' for short. He is a geology graduate with an MSc in climate change and is currently reading for a PhD in the communication of ...
ChatGPT is an interesting little beastie. I have only really started experimenting with it recently – not because I have any interest in using it for my own writing projects, but because I enjoy pushing and prodding the AI in strange directions. I have spent an inordinate amount of ...
The science of climate change is clear: we need to stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and we cannot burn even a fraction of those already discovered. So naturally, Labour is offering oil companies more exploration permits: The Government is offering companies another opportunity to search for ...
There are two keyboards in my office. I hammer at one a lot more than the other.But some days — today, for instance, after a few days of steeping myself in toxicity —that other keyboard can really come into its own.I learned to play the piano as a kid, went ...
Is the government imploding? Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has had to sack one of his more effective (and likeable) ministers, while another (from the Green Party) has insulted many of the adult population. For his part, Hipkins had appeared to be shaping up well since he took over the ...
Mobbed! As Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s (Posie Parker’s) opponents surged forward, her only protecters were a handful of burly security guards who surrounded their client and began forcing a path through what was now a howling mob. At least one video recording shows the diminutive Keen-Minshull, a terrified rag-doll, eyes dulled by ...
Buzz from the Beehive It looks like Marama Davidson must revile white sis males – or some other group of our population – three more times before she gets the heave-ho as one of Chris Hipkins’ ministers. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from the PM’s treatment of Stuart Nash, ...
For a serial offender like Stuart Nash, it was inevitable that another skeleton would emerge from his closet, and end his ministerial career. This one though, was a whopper. Previously, Nash had tried to tell the Police how to do their job. He had also tried to tell the courts ...
Cabinet Minister Stuart Nash was sacked last night for violating Cabinet Collective Responsibility rules, when it was revealed he disclosed sensitive Government information to business supporters who had donated money to him. The breach of the Cabinet Manual was enough to land him in trouble, but the fact that it ...
Some good news last week with the Council confirming that Te Hā Noa – Victoria St Linear Park will go ahead and with construction starting on 11 April – though with a few fishhooks. Te Hā Noa, a renewed Victoria Street, is the next big project in Auckland Council’s Midtown ...
Stuart Nash’s assurances to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins that there were no further examples of him breaching the Cabinet Manual became meaningless with the release of emails from Nash sharing Cabinet discussions with business people. The Prime Minister had no choice but to sack Nash as a Minister with immediate ...
Hi,Just a quick online-only update after yesterday’s newsletter, How Michael Organ Weaponised the Family Court... and Sean Plunket. First up — wow. Thanks for all the support, and to all those who shared their own personal stories in the comments. And welcome to any new Webworm readers.I just wanted ...
Let that sink in for a moment - Christopher Luxon, who has spent the last year demonising Māori, wants Marama Davidson to apologise to white men.You will likely have seen the video, or read about it. Marama Davidson rushing along Princes St on Saturday evening, the road that runs between ...
Stuart Nash, the great-grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Walter Nash, has lost his political career. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Stuart Nash was sacked for telling donors what happened in Cabinet. Wellington’s City and Regional Councils are going cold on light rail plans. Wayne Brown is under ...
NZ First Leader Winston Peters is sympathising with Stuart Nash and defending him but dodging questions on whether he would be welcome in New Zealand First. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins last night sacked Nash from the Cabinet after an email he had sent to two of his campaign donors ...
So, after interfering with the police, and then interfering with immigration decisions, Stuart Nash has finally been sacked: Stuart Nash has been sacked as a minister, after Stuff revealed he had emailed business figures, including donors, detailing private Cabinet discussions. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the people Nash emailed ...
Nearly 25% of mortgages in Auckland are deemed at risk in a 1-in-100 year flood event. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Once a year, every year, from now on, in our not-so-slow-cooking climate crisis, there will be a moment when the most important number in Aotearoa’s own personal, national ...
Item One: About a confected crisis Please bear with me for a moment, readers outside Auckland, I wish to sound the klaxon. Auckland, we have until 11pm today to have our say. About what? About this, as copied and pasted from Pippa Coom’s Facebook page:The "austerity" budget is built on ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet again, the statement we were looking for could not be found on the Beehive website. Nor was it on the Scoop or Green Party websites. But – come to think of it – we are probably wasting our time by searching. Our quest is for the ...
The following is from a speech given by Arundhati Roy at the Swedish Academy on March 22, 2023, at a conference called Thought and Truth Under Pressure and reprinted from Literary Hub. I thank the Swedish Academy for inviting me to speak at this conference and for affording me the privilege ...
After almost two decades of racism, Australia is finally getting off its "stop the boats" bullshit. But don't worry, racists - Michael Wood has your back!The Government wants to increase the time it can detain without a warrant people seeking asylum en masse from four days to 28 ...
Last year, the Education and Workforce Committee recommended that the government legislate for pay transparency to prevent employers from secretly discriminating. This ought to be a bread and butter issue for Labour - discrimination sees women (and particularly Māori and Pasifika women) paid significantly less than men. But since then ...
Thomas Cranmer writes – ———— An unruly mob in Albert Park has catapulted New Zealand into the global headlines with ugly images that may become iconic in the debate about the dangers of transgenderism. ———— Bravo Kellie-Jay Keen. She did the job that needed to be done. For all the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global warming is melting the Arctic ice cap, and that’s having unforeseen effects on the world’s weather — even thousands of miles away from the North Pole. Some climate scientists have begun to link increasingly common heat waves in Europe to what is ...
Hot on the heels of the demotion of former police Minister Stuart Nash for breaching the Cabinet Manual, Radio New Zealand has revealed the close links between lobbyists and politicians- an area of New Zealand politics that is completely unregulated. The evidence in Guyon Espiner’s series Mate, Comrade, Brother, the ...
At the Auckland Transport board meeting today a series of papers really highlight the cost of sprawl. For the last few years, the Supporting Growth work has been looking at designing the strategic transport networks for future greenfield areas in the South, Northwest, North (around Dairy flat) and in Warkworth. ...
Over a million New Zealanders will receive a little extra to help with the cost of living as a result of our 1 April changes. Around the world, inflation is causing costs to rise and we’re feeling it here at home. In tough times, we need to support those who ...
With benefit changes coming into effect tomorrow, the Green Party is calling on the Government to lift benefits to liveable levels to make sure everyone has what they need to thrive. ...
Following decades of work by the Green Party alongside the organics sector, people will finally be able to be confident that products labelled organic have met standards. ...
The Green Party supports immediate Government action to close the pay gap as called for in an open letter released today by the Human Rights Commission and 50 other organisations. ...
The Green Party is today welcoming the release of the Government’s waste strategy, but says it has a big gap without action on the container return scheme for beverage containers. ...
The Government’s decision to introduce ‘mass arrivals’ legislation goes against the values we all share of Aotearoa as a place where all people are treated fairly, the Green Party says. ...
MINISTER DAVIDSON MUST RESIGN AFTER 'VIOLENCE' COMMENTS Marama Davidson should stand down as ‘Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence’ for the clear and outrageous statement she made at the Posie Parker protest that ‘white straight men’ are the cause of violence. Her offensive, racist, and sexist remarks ...
In response to Newshub and Amelia Wade’s obvious and ham-fisted attempt at a typical and predicted political hit job. As any politically aware reporter would know, any Cabinet subcommittee has a duty and obligation as a part of any government to respond to any UN declaration, in this case ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and in your busy lives turning up to this meeting. Forty five years ago, in Howick, often described as racist, and where few Maori lived because it had been a ‘Fencible’ settlement at the time of the Anglo-Maori ...
The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying drivers of school performance. ...
“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
A secure facility that will house protected information for a broad range of government agencies is being constructed at RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai), Public Service, Defence and GCSB Minister Andrew Little says. The facility will consolidate and expand the government’s current secure storage capacity and capability for at least another ...
From today, 1.8 million flu vaccines are available to help protect New Zealanders from winter illness, Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall has announced. “Vaccination against flu is safe and will be a first line of defence against severe illness this winter,” Dr Verrall said. “We can all play a part ...
Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Willow-Jean Prime has congratulated Professor Rangi Mātāmua (Ngāi Tūhoe) who was last night named the prestigious Te Pou Whakarae o Aotearoa New Zealander of the Year. Professor Mātāmua, who is the government's Chief Adviser Mātauranga Matariki, was the winner of the New Zealander ...
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta has announced further sanctions on political and military figures from Russia and Belarus as part of the ongoing response to the war in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova ...
A new public housing development planned for Whangārei will provide 95 warm and dry, modern homes for people in need, Housing Minister Megan Woods says. The Kauika Road development will replace a motel complex in the Avenues with 89 three-level walk up apartments, alongside six homes. “Whangārei has a rapidly ...
New Zealand welcomes the substantial conclusion of negotiations on the United Kingdom’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Continuing to grow our export returns is a priority for the Government and part of our plan to ...
Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown initial Taranaki Maunga collective redress deed Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown have today initialled the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Deed, named Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little says. “I am pleased to be here for this ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Barbara Edmonds has announced the 2023 Pacific Language week series, highlighting the need to revitalise and sustain languages for future generations. “Pacific languages are a cornerstone of our health, wellbeing and identity as Pacific peoples. When our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated, our communities thrive,” ...
880,000 pensioners to get a boost to Super, including 5000 veterans 52,000 students to see a bump in allowance or loan living costs Approximately 223,000 workers to receive a wage rise as a result of the minimum wage increasing to $22.70 8,000 community nurses to receive pay increase of up ...
Over 8000 community nurses will start receiving well-deserved pay rises of up to 15 percent over the next month as a Government initiative worth $200 million a year kicks in, says Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. “The Government is committed to ensuring nurses are paid fairly and will receive ...
Tākiri mai ana te ata Ki runga o ngākau mārohirohi Kōrihi ana te manu kaupapa Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea Tihei mauri ora Let the dawn break On the hearts and minds of those who stand resolute As the bird of action sings, it welcomes the dawn of a ...
The Government is introducing a scheme which will lift incomes for artists, support them beyond the current spike in cost of living and ensure they are properly recognised for their contribution to New Zealand’s economy and culture. “In line with New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreement with the UK, last ...
New Zealand is welcoming a decision by the United Nations General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice to consider countries’ international legal obligations on climate change. The United Nations has voted unanimously to adopt a resolution led by Vanuatu to ask the ICJ for an advisory opinion on ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 59 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. “The graduation for recruit wing 364 was my first since becoming Police Minister last week,” Ginny Andersen said. “It was a real honour. I want to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta met with Vanuatu Foreign Minister Jotham Napat in Port Vila, today, signing a new Statement of Partnership — Aotearoa New Zealand’s first with Vanuatu. “The Mauri Statement of Partnership is a joint expression of the values, priorities and principles that will guide the Aotearoa New Zealand–Vanuatu relationship into ...
The Government has passed new legislation amending the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) levy regime, ensuring the best balance between a fair and cost effective funding model. The Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill makes changes to the existing law to: charge the levy on contracts of ...
The Government has passed the Organic Products and Production Bill through its third reading today in Parliament helping New Zealand’s organic sector to grow and lift export revenue. “The Organic Products and Production Bill will introduce robust and practical regulation to give businesses the certainty they need to continue to ...
The Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Bill, which will make it easier for New Zealanders to safely prove who they are digitally has passed its third and final reading today. “We know New Zealanders want control over their identity information and how it’s used by the companies and services they ...
The full Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Taskforce has met formally for the first time as work continues to help the regions recover and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle. The Taskforce, which includes representatives from business, local government, iwi and unions, covers all regions affected by the January and February floods and cyclone. ...
Changes have been made to legislation to give subcontractors the confidence they will be paid the retention money they are owed should the head contractor’s business fail, Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods announced today. “These changes passed in the Construction Contracts (Retention Money) Amendment Act safeguard subcontractors who ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has unveiled five scenarios for one of the most significant city-shaping projects for Tāmaki Makaurau in coming decades, the additional Waitematā Harbour crossing. “Aucklanders and businesses have made it clear that the biggest barriers to the success of Auckland is persistent congestion and after years of ...
The Government has passed new legislation that ensures New Zealand’s civil aviation rules are fit for purpose in the 21st century, Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan says. The Civil Aviation Bill repeals and replaces the Civil Aviation Act 1990 and the Airport Authorities Act 1966 with a single modern law ...
A Bill aimed at helping to reduce delays in the coronial jurisdiction passed its third reading today. The Coroners Amendment Bill, amongst other things, will establish new coronial positions, known as Associate Coroners, who will be able to perform most of the functions, powers, and duties of Coroners. The new ...
The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to conduct a review into communications between Stuart Nash and his donors. The review will take place over the next two months. The review will look at whether there have been any other breaches of cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality, or whether ...
The new Recovery Visa to help bring in additional migrant workers to support cyclone and flooding recovery has attracted over 600 successful applicants within its first month. “The Government is moving quickly to support businesses bring in the workers needed to recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods,” Michael ...
Bills to ensure non-teaching employees and contractors at schools, and unlicensed childcare services like mall crèches are vetted by police, and provide safeguards for school board appointments have passed their first reading today. The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No. 3) and the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill have now ...
Wānanga will gain increased flexibility and autonomy that recognises the unique role they fill in the tertiary education sector, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced. The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No.3), that had its first reading today, proposes a new Wānanga enabling framework for the three current ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Vanuatu today, announcing that Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further relief and recovery assistance there, following the recent destruction caused by Cyclones Judy and Kevin. While in Vanuatu, Minister Mahuta will meet with Vanuatu Acting Prime Minister Sato Kilman, Foreign Minister Jotham ...
The Government is backing Police and making communities safer with the roll-out of state-of-the-art tools and training to frontline staff, Police Minister Ginny Andersen said today. “Frontline staff face high-risk situations daily as they increasingly respond to sophisticated organised crime, gang-violence and the availability of illegal firearms,” Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government has provided Police with more tools to crack down on gang offending with the passing of new legislation today which will further improve public safety, Justice Minister Kiri Allan says. The Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill amends existing law to: create new targeted warrant and additional search powers ...
The Government today announced far-reaching changes to the way we make, use, recycle and dispose of waste, ushering in a new era for New Zealand’s waste system. The changes will ensure that where waste is recycled, for instance by households at the kerbside, it is less likely to be contaminated ...
New legislation passed by the Government today will make it harder for gangs and their leaders to benefit financially from crime that causes considerable harm in our communities, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan says. Since the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 came into effect police have been highly successful in ...
This evening I have advised the Governor-General to dismiss Stuart Nash from all his ministerial portfolios. Late this afternoon I was made aware by a news outlet of an email Stuart Nash sent in March 2020 to two contacts regarding a commercial rent relief package that Cabinet had considered. In ...
Legislation to enable more build-to-rent developments has passed its third reading in Parliament, so this type of rental will be able to claim interest deductibility in perpetuity where it meets the requirements. Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods, says the changes will help unlock the potential of the build-to-rent sector and ...
A law passed by Parliament today exempts employers from paying fringe benefit tax on certain low emission commuting options they provide or subsidise for their staff. “Many employers already subsidise the commuting costs of their staff, for instance by providing car parks,” Environment Minister David Parker said. “This move supports ...
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations (CER), our gold standard free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia. “CER was a world-leading agreement in 1983, is still world-renowned today and is emblematic of both our countries’ commitment to free trade. The WTO has called it the world’s ...
The Government is making procedural changes to the Immigration Act to ensure that 2013 amendments operate as Parliament intended. The Government is also introducing a new community management approach for asylum seekers. “While it’s unlikely we’ll experience a mass arrival due to our remote positioning, there is no doubt New ...
The Government welcomes progress on public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) agreements, and the release of the updated public service pay guidance by the Public Service Commission today, Minister for the Public Service Andrew Little says. “More than a dozen collective agreements are now settled in the public service, Crown Agents, ...
The Government has introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill to further support the recovery and rebuild from the recent severe weather events in the North Island. “We know from our experiences following the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes that it will take some time before we completely understand the ...
Further assistance is now available to businesses impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, with Customs able to offer payment plans and to remit late-payments, Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri has announced. “This is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to assist economic recovery in the regions,” Meka Whaitiri said. “Cabinet has approved the ...
Tea drinkers of Aotearoa, your new favourite dunking bikkie is here. There are several things I love about this recipe. The first is that they make a delicious dunking biscuit, the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea shared with friends. The second is that the recipe is ...
Part two of writer Marty Smith’s reporting from her flood-damaged home.Read part one here. Sunday 12 March, 21 days after the floods.Google Maps shows a pale blue line for the flat-lined bridge between Taradale and Waiohiki and sends you instead over the Expressway to Merge Like A Zip, ...
Bard Billot on the booted out broadcasterSpartans, prepare for glory! The hardy army of Today FM Spartans Camps out on the harsh lands of talk radio. The long months of the campaign Have worn down their resolve, For though they have loyally broadcast Their snappy banter and hot ...
The danger of National's policy is that it undoes much of an informal pact with Labour to depoliticise education at a time of real struggleOpinion: The National Party’s recently released education policy narrowly channels nearly every tired and cliched right-wing approach to schooling. If you have been in education for ...
A refurbished, expanded and more earthquake-proof building is a still few years away. Can it live up to the impeccable postmodernist vibes of its predecessor?A long time ago, my non-Wellington then-boyfriend was visiting the windy city and asked the barber what he recommended in town. “Dunno mate,” the barber ...
Doing the cryptic crossword isn’t simply a hobby. It’s a way of life, a love affair – even a full-blown obsession. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Illustrations by Asia Martusia King. Clue: Mafia boss consumed first dish free of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The rout of the Liberals in Aston is a disaster for Peter Dutton. The party has defied history – in the worst possible way. This is the first time in more than a century ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Morgan Hancock/AAP With 44% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Aston federal byelection, the ABC has Labor expected to win ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Morgan Hancock/AAP With 44% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Aston federal byelection, the ABC has Labor expected to win ...
Analysis - When is a cabinet minister not a cabinet minister? The faulty logic of Stuart Nash has landed him and Labour in a heap of trouble but opened the door to serious reform of the Official Information Act, Tim Watkin writes. ...
Jubi News in Jayapura Indonesia’s Papua police chief Inspector-General Mathius D Fakhiri has called for action to ensure that “security disturbances” in the Puncak Jaya highlands do not widen in the face of escalating attacks by pro-independence militants. “For Puncak, we will take immediate action,” he said. According to General ...
What are you going to be watching this month? We round up everything coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ+. The biggies Party Down (all seasons on TVNZ+ from April 1) Thirteen years is a long time between drinks and ...
Ginny Andersen has landed a hot-potato portfolio and has been in Cabinet less than two months - the opposition will be eager to test her mettle this election year. ...
The executive producer of Modern Family has issued an incendiary claim about New Zealanders cheering and clapping in public. Hayden Donnell gets to the bottom of things.The sitcom Modern Family is remembered as a “warm-hearted story about the unbreakable bonds of family”; a tale of radically different people overcoming ...
As rain kept falling across January, February and into March, all band members cold do was sit at home cancelling festivals and posting sad Facebook messages to fans. The first post landed on January 3. As wild weather began hitting the country, campers around Northland packed up their tents ...
Because pro-social behaviour emerges so often after disaster, community empowerment should be central to disaster mitigation and recoveryOpinion: Cyclone Gabrielle caused major damage across the North Island. This unprecedented climate event created great uncertainty. People are wondering if, or when, they can return to their homes, the extent to ...
"We, women, loving you; you, men, finding new women to love": a Francophile love story in NZ Louis woke up and found out Marine was not lying next to him in bed. He checked his phone – 5:30am. The aurora shone a bright gold on the windows of the detached ...
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One has to admire Novara's ability to find clever, thoughtful people as commentators. Here Shon Faye (a transwoman) does a take on the word "woke". She says that woke was never meant to be a "substantive concept", instead it is a deliberate "ellipsis" a "vacuum" into which you can pour or project anything. The resulting contradictions do not matter to the people using or hearing it – because it serves the purpose of appealing to emotions. She says the nearest parallel would be word "zeitgeist" as used by fascists (to convey horror, fear and disgust).
There is of course a left use of the word "woke" – which criticises the liberal tendency to prioritise identity over class. It might be a good idea to find a substitute word for this phenomenon – given the contamination of "woke" by the right.
A watchword from 30's 'Murica.
Fourscore and three years ago, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter—a self-titled “musicianer” who was heralded as a “Bad Nigger” who “makes good minstrel” by Life magazine—explained how he came to create one of the first racism* carols. Named after nine young Black men who had been falsely accused of raping two white women, “Scottsboro Boys” was a protest and a warning to Black people about the evil that awaited anyone who dared traverse the borders of Alabama. At the end of the song, he told the story of meeting two of the wrongly convicted men and—just before the recording faded into silence—the legendary singer coined a phrase that would become a clarion call to Black America until white people discovered it eight decades later.
“I advise everybody to be a little careful when they go down through there,” Lead Belly said of Alabama. “Just stay woke. Keep your eyes open.”
https://www.theroot.com/weaponizing-woke-an-brief-history-of-white-definitions-1848031729
Leadbelly using that word with the only meaning it has, that I will recognise.
Sure, a different way of seeing the world (being woke, after the dream about how a democratic people could remake the world to how it could be), than that of an existing conservative order, was seen as threatening to those loyal to it.
In the 1930's German Weimar Republic liberalism and various groups (Christian) conservative and fascist were (zeitgeist) moral reactionary forces in resistance. The idea of empowered (democratic) humanity with social economic and political equality in citizenship, was against the concept of some divine moral or conservative regime national order that humanity had to be (remain) in obedience to.
Some have since categorised it as idealism vs world reality when rejecting gender identity.
And since then some communitarian anarchists (such as Russell Brand) have aligned with libertarians against modern nation state government (basically joined the Tea Party movement).
Their language is based on the title of a book
‘Why England Slept” by JFK about the slowness of England to respond to the threat posed by fascist Germany (one about the USA would have been too controversial) and of course his speech in Berlin about resistance to communism.
PS And for black Americans
There was an excellent Opinion piece on the Guardian a couple of days back on this very topic
The right’s co-opting of the word “woke” and the way it uses it to distort debate and camouflage bigotry is nothing new. Conservatives have always been very good at wringing words dry of their meaning and repurposing them strategically. “The elite”, for example, now means anyone with an education and not billionaires like Donald Trump. “Pro-life” means forcing women to give birth. Teaching kids about slavery has been rebranded as “critical race theory”. Far too often liberals don’t push back on these phrases and start using them themselves. Gray’s interaction with Mandel shows that simply asking conservatives to be clear about what on earth they’re talking about can be surprisingly effective.
Just to get you started!
"No objective evidence exists that “gender identity” exists outside of a person’s mind. Transition “medicine” relies on self-reported feelings for diagnosis and satisfaction with appearance for measuring results. Ka-ching, profit!
“Gender identity” does not even have something like the E-meter that can pretend to detect or measure it. As a practical matter, there is more actual science for the ‘body thetans’ of L. Ron Hubbard than for ‘gender identity’ as a coherent material phenomenon."
https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/10000000-challenge-build-a-machine?fbclid=IwAR0ZRAhaJ_YLhRGhJGkDb2IPCbf_FrynTZ6OvxccGABQ1dYVjIRd8w5fQUk
I never use the word 'woke' and I don't expect to see it in more serious discussion. If it had a meaning, it does not now and it is used as a pejorative now. I liken it to the phrase 'PC' when it was used in the 1990s.
I also don't think the left should be concerned only with class, that has always seemed inherently limiting, (shriek, shock, horror).
I don't really mind how issues are raised and I don't really care if an issue is raised from a liberal mindset. I am not about to criticise how it is raised if I agree that the issue raised has merit.
PC hid much anti women, pro racism 'stuff'. It was a shorthand for I don't want to modify anything I do even if it sexist or racist.
So issues based concerns have merit, we don't need to find some sort of shorthand pejorative to describe them. We certainly do not need to push concerns aside by saying they don't fit a class narrative.
Thinking deeply now about how the left is missing in action when talking about issues of genital males being in women's only spaces, rape crisis centres, counselling, lesbian places. How does fit a class narrative?
Jane Clare Jones is a good read for a left wing, feminist perspective on the three classes (sex, socioeconomic, race). When we treat sex as a class of oppression, we have an analysis for understanding women's rights as something that cannot be dismissed as identity politics.
Woke was originally a term used by Black Americans to describe political consciousness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke
Thanks Weka. I was aware of how it started. Will brush up on class aspect.
I admit I have come at the left from a different starting point, from feminism, anti racism and equal opportunities for all, then a view of where on the political spectrum these are best progressed.
From there my analysis says that Govt has to lead, so legislation as a backstop at the very least. and with the need for legislation to be actively administered the cries of 'small govt' have no place.
I liked the concept Shon that woke is a kind of bucket into which all sorts of 'scary' things are placed. I also like the view that attacking the word/concept is difficult. How do you counter it? It is about as difficult as tackling the issues such as anti vaxx views. particularly the ones about magnets, world domination etc as opposed to concerns about health efficacy.
With PC Human Rights supporters found that a basis had to be in legislation.
Legislation is always either an backstop or an important step forward in progress. This is why, in my view, we need to maintain the Christchurch Call, work on Hate Speech etc. We need to work on multiple fronts and keep our legislation up to date and pointy.
It is also why on the left we are best to be explicit in framing the issues that the RW-ers are throwing into the 'woke' bucket. Finding another word to replace woke does not work for me.
Despicable cretins.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkayeg/ivermectin-kids-autism
Blurred vision for two months? OMG. For autism OMG.
Poor kids.
You are aware that medical errors are considered the third leading category of death in the US? In the order of 250,000 in 2013 alone? Why do you not condemn this? Or call out all doctors "despicable cretins"?
Or that overdosing on commonplace OTC medicines happens far too often? We ingest stupid drugs like alcohol, and our diets are full of dangerous sugars and refined oils that cause a myriad of illnesses and shorten our lives. People do stupid things all the time.
And even with good intentions there is literally nothing good that someone will not take to an extreme and turn into something harmful as in this case. Yet Ivermectin is a drug that has perhaps the safest profile of anything we have discovered. Literally billions of human doses have been administered over decades – with an astonishingly low rate of harm. The fact of these desperate parents grossly overdosing their daughter, probably by several orders of magnitude – yet remarkably she is still alive – is a powerful testament to how safe ivermectin actually is, even when absurdly abused.
And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest.
Our collective understanding of how life works, of why so many ailments and diseases occur and how best to manage them is still very much in it's early stages. There remains so much we do not know and some humility in the light of that fact would go a long way to lowering the fevered temperature of so much of these debates.
My concern is that misguided people are administering an OTC medicine to children until their children have blurred vision and keep doing so until this clears at about a 'couple of months'.
Reading down the article it seems that this is being used on children with autism. An anti worm medicine is being used on children with behavioural problems, it reminds me of exorcisms etc.
"And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest"….+1
RL, haven't you noticed (I am sure you must have) that Joe90 just regurgitates, pretty much verbatim, all Western Liberal MSM talking points, no matter how outrageous…this is merely one more slimy lump in that endless steaming rotting stream of propaganda….shit this guy would probably still defend the Trump/Russia collusion conspiracy today, given half the chance….a filthy hoax I might add, that helped in no small way, lay the ground work that has led to 100,000 dead Ukraine lives and at least as many Russian, in the Russia/US proxy war that we are all sadly, impotently watching unfold before us today.
[Your thirst for taking shots at others, be it journalists, media outlets or other commenters, has no bounds. You have been warned about this so many times and last time you were banned for one month. Yet, here we are again with you taking a shot at another commenter that shows zero respect, lacks any redeeming political comment or opinion, and is off-topic. Ban doubled to two months – Incognito]
Classy comment, on topic, about the issue.
Mod note
The need to improve medical practices is relevant to idiots harming their kids?
Red Logix
So pleased to again be reading your well written , logical and fair comments
In a sea of dim bulb comments i can only agree Francesca
The very short article you link to was woefully bereft of proper analysis.
How? It doesn't say.
In the absence of a proper report it must be assumed this is yet another conspiracy theory promoted by people suspicious of the medical profession ie, anti-vaxxers.
Ivermectin damaging children after being prescribed by their lunatic parents only happens because unqualified cranks continue to promote its benefits (to horses) online.
It's by John Hopkins, is quite serious work
Fragmented insurance networks – people without insurance, lack of early intervention …
Medical error, appears to mean a failure of the health system to operate effectively.
All good, but is it factored in that the people presenting to hospital are already at serious risk by dint of presenting to hospital?
We don't know because John Hopkins didn't say in detail how they arrived at their conclusion.
At least we don't know from the very scant of information article Redlogix based his argument on. That did not stop RL presenting it as fact in his defence of veterinary medicine, Ivermectin.
Sure, the article does not explain the modelling used.
Those presenting without insurance may not receive the best care, and there may be an influence from pharma on care offered/practice etc.
One can note atm, post pandemic lockdown and vaccination, a number of countries have higher than normal death rates. There is speculation as to the why and a range of answers are tentatively suggested.
(warning RL will respond to calling ivermectin a veterinary medicine when it has been prescribed for use to millions of humans and when used in that way has been quite safe)
It is the self prescription which is the issue, isn't it? Few medicines are happily self prescribed without heavy online encouragement.
Best leave it to trained doctors, eh.
Ha ha yes right.
Children need to be protected from some parents. Taking Ivermectin off prescription for an illness that Ivermectin cannot treat sounds like cruelty to me.
Yes of course for the correctly diagnosed problems not for the 'treatment' of autism or any other long term use that involves taking it through side effects such as blurry sight.
From Dermnetnz
https://dermnetnz.org/topics/ivermectin
While it used as an anti-parasitic, it has anti-viral properties. And because of that and its safe user profile (right dosage at least) some resorted to it out of hope (pre vaccine) and because some of the developed anti-virals do not have as safe a user profile.
This early
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41429-020-0336-z
And more recently
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9135450/
Ivermecticin is no longer an effective wormer, it has become resistive to parasitic worms, don't you think the manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank having found fools to buy their product.
Merck would rather sell its anti-viral – ivermectin is cheap to produce and low cost (often given away in the third world).
You can literally call their choice of ivermectin deworming medicine. The majority of people choosing to overdose themselves and their children are using vetinary-grade anti-parasite doses formulated for horses or for other large animals, not formulated for humans, or at human-sized doses.
'herxing'? They have no idea what that is obviously, but it's a pretty cool sounding word.
They're all batshit crazy.
Poor bloody kids
An inflammatory response to a therapy, usually an antibiotic. Not to be confused with being floxed.
In the Greens State of the Planet 2023 speech they lay down the gauntlet:
https://www.greens.org.nz/enough_slow_progress_2023_is_a_fight_for_our_future
From the speech; the starkness of the choice is made clear:
https://www.greens.org.nz/green_party_co_leader_james_shaw_s_state_of_the_planet_speech_2023
Only with more Greens in parliament can we achieve our climate targets, the dangers of delaying are unavoidable:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018882198/climate-policies-burn-on-the-bread-and-butter-bonfire
2023 really must be the climate election.
Aren’t the Greens caught in a bit of a cleft stick here?
The green wing of the part rightly decries the Govt’s slowing down of it’s climate change policies. That wing of the part that focuses on poverty and the cost of living issues must be delighted that Labour is concentrating there.
There isn't really a dichotomy between 'wings' such that you describe:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/486276/greens-lay-down-climate-change-election-challenge-to-other-parties
I am seriously f…ed off with New Zealand Cricket.
Selling the rights for home test matches to Spark Sport means that unless I want to pay for yet another streaming service, I don’t get to watch my country’s team, even when they’re playing at home.
https://hd.crichdplayer.xyz/bt-sport-2-live-streaming-hd-uk-39
Thank you!
If you publish stream details like that they will soon be blocked.
This is one area that the Aussies have got right with their anti-siphoning legislation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_laws_in_Australia
Agree Stephen….I can't even get an audio commentary online…which is sometimes superior to visual access.
Apparently it's available via the rova app. My 2 year old device is outdated so best of luck.
https://www.rova.nz/home.html
https://www.todayfm.co.nz/home/sport/2022/09/today-fm-cricket-frequencies.html
On Today fm radio.
And while we sleep this is happening across NZ.
Julian Batchelor.
He is one scary dude/demagogue
Kaipara
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/03/police-step-in-at-anti-co-governance-event-after-crowd-clashes-with-organiser.html
Orewa
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/anti-co-governance-roadshow-orewa-protesters-clash-with-attendees/VZQOUBFFUFG65CAGXGLS35BDCI/?utm_campaign=nzh_tw&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=nzh_tw#Echobox=1679183353-1
While it says the National Anthem was sung this was only the first (English) verse and most participants turned their backs on the protestors and sat back down.
Julian Batchelor is the founder of Evangelism Strategies
https://www.nzwao.com/company?utm_source=evangelism-strategies-international-limited
but far from welcoming all this
‘This organisation mobilises and motivates churches for the Great Commission’
https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-great-commission-and-why-is-it-so-controversial-111138#:~:text=Briefly%2C%20the%20Great%20Commission%20is,%E2%80%9D%20and%20%E2%80%9Cbaptize%E2%80%9D%20them.
So the Great Commission has a belief not in religious diversity but in the opposite
From The Conversation link above.
The connection of the two causes does suggest a western "civilisation" centric approach. The far north also produced John Banks, John Carter, Wayne Brown (term as Mayor ended by John Carter) and Matt King.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nationals-northland-election-candidate-announced/KXQSAKT5KVEXFG6O434RJYOKZA/
Former Kaipara Mayor, Matakohe farmer and cousin of former MP Sir Lockwood Smith KNZM, Dr Jason Smith, 51 and Felicity Foy of Te Rarawa were the two alternatives.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/felicity-foy-puts-up-hand-to-be-northlands-national-candidate/WGWLSEJT5G7XR3BWN6KXTQKL2U/
The Greens would like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull banned from New Zealand.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rainbow-greens-urge-government-to-ban-anti-transgender-activist-from-new-zealand/6SZZCW4LBRGWXBQ63PSH7QHM4Q/
Another really horrible image from Melbourne. The “paedo freaks” they are wanting to exterminate are simply transgender people. 1930s Germany, anyone?
These men who appeared in masks doing the sieg hail are nothing to do with Let Women Speak.
Think about it. The gender critical movement is about women, many of whom are feminists speaking up about the rights of biological women.
I have just listened to a video by Kellie, describing what happened. These people are nothing to do with her.
Kellie is being completely smeared.
The problem is wherever KJKM goes there is militant controversy. We do not need this Nazi saluting stuff in New Zealand.
I think we need to Let Women Speak.
Speak Up for Women had their meetings about gender self ID shut down, rather than being listened to. They wanted the law about changing your sex on your birth certificate to stay as it was i.e a process through the family court. Pretty reasonable really.
They also believe that biological sex is real, not a social construct (as claimmed by the likes of Judith Butler). They want protection for women in prisons, sports, awards, refuges etc.
They are against the affirmation model for kids with gender dysphoria.
Its quite simple really. But we have been shut down smeared and vilified.
Kellie Jean pulls no punches. She states things like women don’t have penises. The Trans lobby smears people and cancels them. That is their modus operandi.
Let women speak needs to go ahead.
When a bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Antifa" decides to disrupt a group of women defending their rights to protect themselves as a sex class, and a similar bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Nazis" decides to take the opportunity to have a go – the main thing they have in common is their commitment to male privilege and male aggression.
Was the other group all male and identify as Antifa?
What does that mean?
Then the argument would be that we should not give entry visas to the Nazis that were doing the saluting.
I agree Anker.
Everyone is resisting looking at how/why giving human/civil rights to one group is taking them from another.
In real words do not be in a rush to give everyone who wants to don a frock the moniker of woman.
Women need safe spaces and safe spaces do not include being in confined spaces (Toilets) or spaces with children (mothers with children in changing rooms) or receiving counselling for rape and other sexual assaults, or in women's prisons with men who have not transitioned. Men with intact genitalia should be restricted from female spaces.
Many females agree with giving rights to trans people, but these rights should not be at the expense of the rights of women.
This pure and simple is what KJKM is talking about. Smearing her is just one way of making sure that this message does not get through.
I don't think any woman who has been following this is surprised at the shock horror of there being neo nazis around.
it's true she is being smeared. It's also true that she has refused to condemn the Nazis or distance herself from them. That's a problem.
Perhaps take time to read the Greens statement. Posey Parker is anti-Muslim and has hung out with Proud Boys in the US. She doesn't just advocate a pro-women position, but also advocates virulently against trans people. Links in the Greens statement include UK feminist organisations who dissociated themselves from her because of these anti views.
I've seen a couple of nauseating clips from her podcast that immediately struck down her credibility. Be careful who you climb in bed with.
https://www.greens.org.nz/kellie_jay_keen_minshull
Just looked at the first two reasons given on that list, calling for women who identify as trans men to be "sterilised" and saying that women who oppose the cause will be “annihilated” – it is classic "force and power" language.
It reminds one of Stopes and Sanger, both womens rights on access to contraception, but also into "eugenics" to sell it to others as "population" management. That also led to them getting connections to the right.
I've not seen the evidence that the Nazis are KJK supporters. Incredibly biased reporting. The Nazis marched between LWS and the gender activists, they faced the activists and did the salute. The activists had previously been engaged with the police, apparently punching the horses bellies to try and break the line. Policy told the organisers and women speakers of LWS to be prepared to run if the lines broke. Two lots of militant men facing off.
Has anyone explained yet why the police let them go there?
KJK causes a lot of grief by not making a statement distancing herself from the Nazis. A number of women involved have objected to having to make statements because they think it's a distraction. Fortunately GC women in NZ have made statements against Nazis.
Agree with the biased reporting.
Neo Nazis, 'shock horror' will yet again put off having to deal with the points that women have been making………
I have no truck with Nazis.
The women who are concerned about the reach of the trans rights activism need to be respected. There are many of us from the mildest to the most forthright.
This is one of the songs of the 70s. I am Woman, Helen Reddy with the focus on the words
Can we at least talk about the reasons for the visit, the views and reflect on the point that in giving rights to one group should not mean that the rights of another should be lessened.
The Nazis focus is an unpleasant smokescreen diverting people from dealing with the real issues.
Amy Sargeant is also manipulating the narrative. What evidence is there that the Nazis were protecting KJK?
The Rainbow Greens at least. Thankfully the Greens seem to understand that now is not the time to poke at the culture wars. There's nothing on their main twitter and didn't see anything on their FB either. This time and when the original PR was done.
See link above to the official Greens statement. The Rainbow Greens are not the only signers.
yeah, that's fair, I had mistakenly read that as those three MPs being part of the RGs. My point stands. The GP twitter and FB accounts haven't shared this, it's not in their news feed, and that letter isn't easy to find on the GP front page (when I looked last week at least).
I found it a credible argument for at least serious monitoring of her in NZ, if not shutting her out. The case was well supported with examples that she is a provocateur, weka. I'm a little disappointed with the tarring of so-called tarrers, who weren't. She looks right up Counterspin’s alley.
The only credible argument I can see if her populist conservative position on trans rights alongside her refusal to condemn the Nazis in Melbourne (because she vehemently rejects guilt by association) somehow encourages Nazis in NZ to violence or hate speech. Seems a long bow to draw though.
Also, the RGs call Woman's Place UK extreme anti-trans. If they're going to use hyperbole like that it makes their whole argument suspect.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/03/co-leader-james-shaw-marama-davidson-call-for-stronger-climate-action-at-greens-state-of-the-planet-speech.html
An interesting tack, of course their room to operate after the election is limited by the lack of alternative to a Labour led government for Greens to work with.
Another bank in trouble. Why is it when financial gurus fail when gaming their own system, everyone else has to pay?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/486301/credit-suisse-bank-ubs-said-to-be-in-takeover-talks-with-troubled-rival
For example, I have put $1300 into my KiwiSaver over the last 12 months and my balance has barely shifted.
Guillotine for the thieves not far away, surely.
"For example, I have put $1300 into my KiwiSaver over the last 12 months and my balance has barely shifted."
Some have put 10s of thousands into property purchases in the last couple of years and are watching it disappear.
Because property in NZ is vastly overvalued when compared with international values.
A bank-run away from catastrophe.
[…]
The good news about this issue is that banks are generally in a strong financial condition, and have not been forced to realize losses by selling depreciated securities. On the other hand, unrealized losses weaken a bank’s future ability to meet unexpected liquidity needs. That is because the securities will generate less cash when sold than was originally anticipated, and because the sale often causes a reduction of regulatory capital.
https://www.fdic.gov/news/speeches/2023/spmar0623.html
There seems to be a push to try to redeem the term 'woke' at present.
I consider it ill-advised, it having been misused to the point of losing meaning.
The Critical Drinker has some explanations about woke issues in movies.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/03/election-2023-act-greens-launch-attacks-over-ineffectiveness-reactionary-race-baiting-politics.html
This is inept, the Greens have never been in a coalition government, not in the last 5 years, or any other time.
1999-2002 Labour-Alliance (Greens c and s)
2002 2005 Labour-Progressive (United c and s)
2005-2008 Labour-Progressive (United and NZF c and s)
2017-2020 Labour-NZF (Greens c and s)
2020 Labour (co-operation agreement with Greens).
Does no one fact check speeches before they are made, ones hope their party media comms vet this sort of stuff in election year …
It's a bit one-sided
Van Veldon confuses the lack of oil and gas exploration with the current need to import coal (exploration would only have an impact on the future availability of local oil or gas – by which time there was no expectation of any need to import coal).
Note the attempt to sell the nationalism of local carbon use being better to Greens.
An easy differentation is then made