Will we have. to have similiar rallies here before our law makers start taking climate change seriously?
:“I hope that Americans are fed up with being ignored and with having Congress controlled by the big polluting industries and that they have decided that they are simply not going to stop until their voices are heard.”
Did anyone just hear our beloved leader on Radio New Zealand this morning? He sounded well under the weather and as if he had a hard night the night before.
Anyone else detecting signs Key has developed a drinking problem?
He was slurring at the RWC opening, something politely overlooked by the media – but hey, he a Kiwi guy just like us and who would deny the man a drink?
John Key “fainted” in a Christchurch restaurant, and no real suitable explaination was given. it was immediately after his holiday, so fatigue could hardly be the reason.
Audrey Young sent out a not so subtle hint Key was suffering a hangover recently in Queenstown:
“…During a wreath-laying ceremony, Key appeared to have difficulty keeping his eyes open for a couple of minutes. He kept rubbing his eyes, but no sooner had he opened them than they would shut. He said later, through a spokeswoman, that the problem was because of the glare on the war memorial, which made his eyes water…”
Muldoon famously announced an election drunk as a skunk, and our media studiously avoided mentioning that.
Alcohol abuse is probably endemic in parliament, like hospo I would imagine it is an occupational hazard linked to ready access, long hours and work pressure. But would our media have the courage to expose a drunkard PM?
I worked in Parliament for about 3 years and never saw any of this binge drinking you mention. And as a heavy drinker myself I would have loved to have joined in but alas – it doesn’t really exist.
And if John Key had a drinking problem then the opposition would be all over it. How better to win an election than to portray your opponent as a drunk?
It could be any number of things.
Hell, he might have brain cancer, hence the desire to finish his bucket list.
Whatever it is, it might be getting worse – hopefully for him it’ll clear up when he leaves office. Less stress and all that. I don’t think anyone can fuck up a country this badly without it having a corrosive effect on their soul.
I didn’t think it sounded like him,maybe he has a speech double.He sounded like he either had a hangover or had taken meds for something or other. Probably something to “relax” him.
Increasingly looking like, despite Labour’s best efforts, it’s status quo for the next few years.
We’re on our people.
Look after your mums, your neighbours and by the grace of dog, we’ll all make it through.
God forbid that women should decline to take contraception that has risks and side effects. Why is the govt not free funding other kinds of contraception?
God forbid the media ask why men aren’t sharing responsibility for contraception. I say we offer free vasectomies along with all types of contraception.
This poll was on TV1 breakfast news yesterday. Extract from today’s Herald
The poll also had good news for National, with a 5 percentage point jump in support taking them to 49 per cent. Labour was on 33 per cent and the Greens 11 per cent.
Mr Key also gained five points, according to the preferred prime minister measure, giving him 44 per cent, with Labour leader David Shearer on 15 per cent.
“TheDailyBlog.co.nz will bring together 30 of the best left-wing bloggers and progressive opinion shapers in NZ all onto one site to critique the news, the media, and politics to provide the other side of the story.”
“Launching March 1st TheDailyBlog.co.nz will feature: Chris Trotter, Selwyn Manning, Professor Jane Kelsey, Keith Locke, Sue Bradford, John Minto, David Slack, Morgan Godfery, Gareth Renowden, Coley Tangerina, Phoebe Fletcher, Dr Wayne Hope, Queen of Thorns, Burnt out Teacher, Steve Grey, Aaron Hawkins, Marama Davidson, Tim Selwyn, James Ritchie, Efeso Collins, Robert Winter, Lynn Prentice, Frank MacsKasy, Matt McCarten, Wayne Butson, Chris Flatt, Allan Alach, TheDailyBlog Reposts and The Liberal Agenda.”
I am just scared about what happens when you put that many self satisfied, know it alls in the same place. The mix of with pathetic whinging and misplaced sense of entitlement could blow up the internet.
“The Daily Blog” sounds like a sterling idea with a big enough roster to pace people or let them quietly slide off if the pace is too much. BUT it had better have like buttons, moderation and one off registration not the the google account login nightmare Tumeke is, if this daily blogger is going to use it.
Yeah that’s what pissed my off about Tumeke as well. I didnt want to log in under my real name to post. I would very much prefer to post under “millsy”, the post name I have had for the past 13 years…
Bloody awesome. Sounds bloody good. A powerhouse of good decent left wingers who belive in things like taxing the rich to pay for schools and hospitals and locking up all DOC land from mining forever.
Ill definitely be going there on my daily web trawls.
This is what is needed! Combining voices and forces, using the power of synergy, to establish a resolute opposition to what we get served up by incompetent, indifferent or even damned biased, misinforming, manipulating and increasingly disgusting privately controlled, commercial mainstream media.
I look forward to this blog.
Just one worry I have, I hope it does not come with the features and technical hiccups that Tumeke has caused. Just trying to open that website once again, it instantly made my browser collapse.
Also I hope it will allow pseudonyms and fair, open debate, similar to what we have here on TS.
“Also I hope it will allow pseudonyms and fair, open debate, similar to what we have here on TS.”
As do I. No point in haven’t a big blog with numerous editors if you are just going to shut off dissenting POV’s which unfortunately seems to be the case at Tumeke
Now that’s a really good leftie line-up, including many people whose posts I usually read.
When Bomber dropped his teasers, I was hoping for something with an audio component (like radio) rather than print based. Maybe a left radio/TV station is still something waiting for it’s time to come.
However, hopefully it’s a line-up that will gain critical mass, and widespread significant mainstream attention. Also, Bomber will likely include some of his bloggers (if not all) as guests on Citizen A.
Hmm… some of us can’t listen to the radio at work. But, I agree a leftie radio station would be an excellent innovation – could be done online. Could be listened to while traveling/commuting.
Is this legal?
The insurance industry does not know much about it.
Insurance Council insurance manager John Lucas had never heard of such a charge.
“From discussions I’ve had with insurers, it would appear to be a new practice.”
And if it is legal, can accident victims recover costs if the road is not up to standard?
Jeeze, is there no such thing as an accident any more? Wouldn’t NZTA have to prove that the ‘accident’ was the fault of the car owner, if that’s who they are billing?
Generally people take out insurance to cover their mistakes. The only people who might go bankrupt from this are the selfish who expect everyone else to pick up the tab for their fuck ups.
It’s called “being a prick to people who have better things to worry about than your 0.03% increase in budget expenditure”.
The issue seems to be that the fuel levy and other incomes no longer fund our roads, so regional cost centres are forced to be fuckwits to worried or grieving relatives.
Because the chances are the insurance won’t pay for it. The NZTA has determined that the driver was at fault and such a determination will let the insurance companies off. It’d be the same as not having a WoF on your car even though the car was up to standard.
As this would seem to be part of the cost of an accident, guess who will be paying for this piece of stupidity, and i am talking about the billing of this person for these costs as the stupidity,
The arms of the State shuffling paperwork in an idiots dance will result by the time all the shuffling is done in the costs being double what the original bill was…
depends under what circumstances. Were they billing families of hospitalised drivers ten years ago? I reckon they were probably billing people for vandalism or diesel on the roads for donuts, and it’s encroached from there into full fuckwitted behaviours.
I can confirm charging of some kind has been going on for some years. A nephew of mine took out a guardrail in the Cromwell Gorge ’bout 2007 and got billed for it.
This is shocking stuff. Assistance to citizens should be part of the national support of road users. If it is a commercial vehicle being used for business then it could be argued that this be done.
How can it be that daft bu..s go off to sea or on tramping trips with no proper equipment, or tourists hit their emergency beacon for a helicopter and I don’t think there is a charge for this.
Yachties floating around on the sea, wanting to be rescued of course, if their lifestyle or sport goes badly wrong. Do they pay the ships diverted to help them?
Some things are just unreasonable – like tenants being asked to pay for a house they were renting if it burns down. How can ordinary people have to shoulder these extra costs which should be borne elsewhere?
Coastguard does not charge for rescuing people, only if you want them to save your boat as well. Even this is free if you have paid the, modest, membership fee.
Same with shipping companies. I have never heard of a shipping company charging for rescueing people after a Mayday. There is a fund available to reimburse rescuers. I don’t think it has ever been claimed.
Loss of income, or damage, from having to divert for a mayday is, however, covered in marine insurance.
Which means we can come and rescue you without worrying being sued for risking the owners ship, so long as you have made it a “Mayday”.
If you want a commercial vessel to go to the time, trouble and expanse of picking up your boat as well, though, expect to pay. In most cases this risks the ships insurance cover as well as extra delays and costs. At 50k plus a day they add up quick.
We’re all very highly critical of the government, but I think we should applaud Cabinet’s decision to go ahead with plain packaging on cigarette packets. I think it will remove the cachet some brands have – like Marlboro, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Camel. I don’t think it will deter those who stick with more downmarket brands, but it will take some of the glamour away for those who might take up smoking. A positive move, in my opinion.
Lolz, i don’t think it will have the slightest effect on those who take up smoking, having been a smoker during the limited amount of time i spent at college and also having had the displeasure of watching the same (mis)behavior from my nieces during their incarceration at the same institution i can assure you that for the young smoker ‘brand’ isn’t a consideration,
These days cigarettes aren’t shared as freely as they were when i was a young smoker, but, the size of the school of smokers that gather in those out of the way places on the college campus for a quick puff befor class looks to be remarkably the same in number as it was during my stint in the corridors of such august edifices of learning,
These days in the ‘smoking school’ one person usually has found the cash with which to buy a packet of filtered cigarettes and the other smokers in the ‘school’ usually have a dollar each to buy a smoke,
Bit like a ‘drunks school’ or a ‘druggies school’ it’s the addiction what brings them together as they know that the numbers mean at least one of them on any given occasion will have the means to supply the group with whatever the addiction is…
As far as applauding the Government on this issue i fell that you are viewing the whole issue very simplistically through the lens of the manipulation of your mind,
With at least a billion dollars of tobacco tax being collected from users being over and above the actual cost to society of the use of tobacco products the Health budget could now be said to be being propped up by that taxation on tobacco products,
Should the use of the products decrease radically from Government taxation and other ‘moves’ against the product Government would have to ‘find’ that extra billion dollars from somewhere else or cut that money from the Health or other budgets,
The Government tho knows that very few users will actually quit the product and within 6 months most of those who quit have taken to using the product again,
The chairman of the Quit program admitted in its annual report 2011 that ‘they’ only reach 2% of smokers and a study by a university Professor, (both of which i have provided links to befor on open mike),says that only 1.9% of smokers who try end up actually quitting the addiction,
Meanwhile there is an unknown number of young people who take up the habit and become addicted constantly replacing the small % of users who have managed to kick their addiction,
The only means of actually reducing the number of addicts to this product would be to declare tobacco a prescription poison only available via Doctor’s prescription and register all the present cohort of addicts with their Doctors,
Within a year of such a registration program tobacco could then be made only available to registered addicts thus dramatically curtailing access to the product for anyone not a registered addict…
lol
whatever, pete.
Now I’m not allowed to see what they have to sell me, they’re not allowed to tell me, and I can’t see what they sold me. The absurdity of zealotry.
If it weren’t for the inevitable organised crime, I’d outlaw tobacco entirely. If you’re buying it, I’d question your wisdom to make rational purchasing decisions in the first place.
Luckily for me, my personal habits are none of your business.
Maybe I looked at the relative odds and decided it’s better to live life and have fun than to live in fear. My level of smoking is probably about as harmful to me as your sanctimonious attitude is to you. Each to their own, I guess.
On what point?
That what I do in my own home is none of your business?
Or that stress is a major cause of early mortality, on a par with <3 cigarette equivalents per day?
As the largest cohort of the 20 odd % of the population who do indulge in the product are in the lowest income brackets ‘health issues’ are merely a smokescreen for Government revenue farming off of those who are addicted,
There is one ‘thing’ that will kill a person faster than will the tobacco addiction and that is ‘poor diet’ and extremely poor diet will speedily result in a number of health issues becoming apparent in those that suffer from that poor diet,
So, constant revenue farming of tobacco products by Governments simply leaves those addicted and suffering low and extremely low incomes then have a ‘choice’, kick the addiction or face a severely restricted diet as the food spend is in most cases for the poor the only area of expense where cuts can be made,
As i point out above, the chairman of the quit program admitted in the annual report,(first sentence), that the program is accessed by barely 2% of smokers, the further study i allude to above,(which i have previously posted a link to) shows that barely 2% of those who try actually manage to quit the addiction,
What then going forward will be the health results for the other 98% of tobacco addicts unable to quit their addictions and being forced to exist on an increasingly severe poor diet,
i wont argue here about the rationality of purchasing the product except to say what addict do you know of that makes an entirely rational decision to support such an addiction, it is however given the facts, totally irrational for governments to attempt to stop addicts accessing the product at the center of their addiction by continuously raising the price of that product thus putting the health of those addicted in as much if not more danger from another causative than the original addiction,
All of that tho is only relevant if you believe the raising of such taxation is based upon rational health decisions by that Government…
A new website has been set up by someone, to offer a forum for those that have suffered bad, unfair treatment, wrong decisions and whatever else at the hands of NZ’s largest government department/agency:
I am not sure who is behind this, and “fascist” may be over the top for some, but it seems, that the increasing harrassment, denial of rights and entitlements, off-loading from some benefits and shifting of claimants and applicants onto other, lower rated ones (e.g. from sickness to UB or invalid’s benefit to SB), is leading to increasing anger and people seeing a need to let off steam.
Bennett is creating a lot of adversaries with the policies she and her government are introducing, now forcing not only sole parents, but also increasingly sick, and soon even disabled, into some kinds of work, same as the Department of Work and Pensions have been doing in the UK for years, using private assessor ATOS and bizarre work capability tests, that led to over 1,100 deaths from Jan. to August 2011 alone:
See also Bennett’s speech that is considered to be a “game changer” in the way seriously, longer term sick and disabled will be put under pressure in future:
She is clearly a fan of those assessments and test that are used in the UK, and she was already consulted and lobbied by the man who saw to it, that the tests (designed in principle by highly controversion US insurance giant Unum) were implemeted by governments in Britain.
So lots to be worried about, that is on top of what WINZ and MSD throw at beneficiaries already now, to make life a misery.
Perhaps use this website to vent your anger, WINZ dependent, disentitled and disowned NZers?
Hah, Kathryn Ryan on RadioNZ nine to noon trying to twist what Economics and Business commentator Rob Oram was saying about ‘the living wage’ into some right wing political framing,
Oram told that tool that He was talking economics not politics, that shut Her up…
Needing some ideas….friend of mine is only 19 with a 10 week old baby, yes she is a solo mum, currently back at school and working part time also. She currently lives in the redzone and has until May to leave. She like so many others is having a hell time finding a rental. Her rental payments are guaranteed, thanks to Paula B – her landlord is happy to be a referee….I have been sending out emails for housing rentals and the tone of the reply is all about her being a young solo mum, and then declining her. She has good credit, no previous rental issues…can anyone suggest a way to get past the stigma of being a young solo mum. 🙂
Tell her to meet with the agents/landlord with a grown up (preferably one in a suit) and then state her case ie she is studying and working and will always meet the rent payments. This is what I did in the same situation and got a rental when they were in short supply.
Also tell them you are happy to have inspections more frequently. Don’t take baby (but of course tell them about baby) and make sure she is dressed well.
Lolz, if there is no specifics in the ad for the places your mate is trying to rent about babies DON’T TELL THEM, there is nothing in any legislation that would require Her to do so,
Suggest you also tell them that your friend is a ‘student’ who works part-time and can pay the rent through the help of the accommodation supplement, might have to stretch the ‘student’ one to include the field of study,
The only other suggestion which probably is a non starter is that your friend shift to a city/town that doesn’t have the accommodation problems currently being experienced there which are probably going to get worse as the re-build ramps up…
Hi Anakereiti. There is nothing about your friend that would indicate that landlords should be wary of her. In fact, she has things in favour as a tenant, regular guaranteed rent payments, a referal, part time work and is in education. So I would say its the landlords that have the problem and doesn’t their response sound like discrimination?
I wonder what the tenancy act would have to say about declining a reliable prospective tenant on the grounds of solo parenting?
Sorry not that helpful but maybe call the DBH on 0800 83 62 62 to clarify her rights
Don’t think the tenancy law says anything about a landlord discriminating against anyone, if anyone wanted to buy into a fight, a long one, with landlords appearing to discriminate the Human Rights Commissioner would be the place to start,
Wouldn’t tho solve the immediacy of the housing problem…
Hi bad12. I think its wise to always be aware of your rights, not necesssarily in the event that you will take issue with another party and take it up at a formal level – its just something that may help at an informal level and maybe can be used in an opportunistic way. Nothing like a subtle mention of the other parties legal obligations/or your rights to get things moving.
Sometimes works. Sometimes doesn’t.
We have had the experience on two occasions of being selected as tenants due to our child free status and have been chosen over couples with children. I’ve found this out later once via the landlord herself and once via a friend of the landlord. Great to get a flat but sucks to be partly responsible for an outcome in that discriminates against children. It happens, landlords are excluding children from their right to housing. This is happening in Anakereiti’s friends’ instance.
I think if Anakereiti is receiving regular responses that refer to the prospective tenant being a “solo Mum” then it wouldn’t hurt to look into her rights as parent seeking accomodation. No it won’t solve the immediate problem (and it is a major one especially if she’s settled into study). Its not for the tenant to carry stigma and work out ways around that to get into a flat, its up to the landlord to put their prejudice aside. Easier said than done I know, but I wish her well for finding a good place to live soon.
True, the one answer i forgot to put to AnaKereiti was her friend could apply to the State for housing as, (i assume),Her friend is on a low income and a single parent,
Unfortunately the friend also appears to live in Christchurch where accommodation is becoming scarcer,
Other than suffer renting a wreck of a house which i have seen highlighted on the TV i cannot think of any other good advice,
Yes the problem with ‘our rights’ is that while many of us know them,(or know discrimination when we are subject to it), in most cases we are left to fight such battles on our own behalf which can be one hell of a battle for those without the skills,
This is the uneven playing field of the past 30 years of deregulation, instead of having a relevant Government department to complain to which then investigates such complaints and prosecutes in the case of wrong-doings being found we all have been left having to investigate and prosecute on our own behalves,
Such ‘thinking’ which presupposes the honesty and integrity of those in ‘higher’ positions in society is obviously failed ideology and we need return to a system where alleged breaches of rules and laws across all facets of society are investigated and ,(if warranted), prosecuted by the relevant Government Department which deals with that legislation…
I agree with you there TRP. But Charles performed quite a specialised and important role. Carol is and will be good because she is staunch and understands the party and the trade union movement very well.
In CB we have a good union presence in Parliament. I think you have to go back to the 30’s to see the same amount of union bod in parliamentary Labour.
(Matthew Hooton will be crying in his beer tonight, he has been worrying about this for a while)
I’m really curious to see what will happen in Ohariu now. We desparately need to get rid of Peter Dunne in this area for the sake of the electorate but most importantly for the sake of the country. (I know I’m repeating myself) Looking at previous election results, it could be done.
He is pretty much embedded in there really I am afraid. I think he is the reason why the 5th Labour government drifted to the right back from 02-08.
Hopefully Labour and the Greens will win enough seats to render him irrelevant in the post election horse trading, and he will spend 3 years in the wilderness.
Kiwibank, Radio New Zealand and the water supply should be ruled out of any future asset sales programmes, UnitedFuture Leader Peter Dunne said today.
Speaking to the Auckland Rotary Club, he said that given that National has a manifesto that includes asset sales, New Zealanders need to start a proper debate on the future limits of those sales.
“To this point there has not been a proper national debate beyond National saying yes and Labour saying no.
“We need a conversation that is more detailed and drills down into what New Zealanders really think are acceptable bottom lines,” he said.
“New Zealanders, I believe, are not definitively pro-asset sales, but under certain conditions, it is no longer the bogeyman issue that Labour would have you believe.”
Mr Dunne said UnitedFuture’s role as a support partner is not just to contribute its own policies, but to help keep a government to a reasonable, centrist path.
……….. ”
In my considered opinion – the voting public of Ohariu were thus effectively misled by United Future and Peter Dunne on the issue of support for the ‘Mixed Ownership Model’ for State-Owned electricity assets and Air New Zealand.
In my considered opinion, United Future and Peter Dunne SOLD OUT the voting public of Ohariu by voting in support of the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership) Amendment Act 2012.
Had Peter Dunne kept faith with the voting public of Ohariu – the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill should have BEEN DEFEATED 60 – 61.
I thus believe that I am absolutely correct in my statement that THERE IS NO MANDATE FOR ASSET SALES – given that this minority National Government (which DID campaign on asset sales) has only 59 out of 121 MPs.
ACT did not specifically campaign on asset sales – but their support for privatisation is hardly a secret.
However –
” UF did not specifically campaign for the ‘mixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealand’ because it was not UF policy”
National said what they were going to do if they won, they won so now they’re trying to do what they said they were going to do, I’m not surprised the left arn’t keen on this but National are in power because the majority of voters wanted them in power
Don’t want this to happen? Then make sure Labour get the majority, quite simple really
National did not get a majority, Chris. That’s why they are in a coalition. They rely on John Banks and the vote of Peter Dunne to get the sales passed and Dunne didn’t even campaign on the issue, preferring to stay silent to fool the electors of Ohariu into trusting that he wouldn’t do it.
War memorials may be chattels of nationhood, built of the lives lost in endless blood they are also mausoleums for the freedoms sold long afore their sacrifice, but this embroiders every campaign badge with shame
Dom-on T.V; risk of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood increases approx 30% with every hour (?) children and teens spend watching T.V on an average weeknight.-Professor Bob Hancox, Otago Uni.
conclusion: a strong association
“We read all our mail. We welcome leaks, news-tips, feedback, and suggestions for content. Please feel free to email us: thestandardnz@gmail.com. One or more of the editors look at this during the day.”
Yeah right!
Does anyone really read the emails that get sent to the Standard or is that line from the contact page a joke? I don’t want to get sniffy about it, but for the second time, I’ve sent through a guest post and not heard diddly back. Fine if you’re not going to publish it, that’s your call, but I’m confused as to why I’m not at least worth the courtesy of a reply.
Cheers.
TRP
[yeah, it’s not easy finding good help when you’re offering no pay and lots of hours. Your post is already in the queue for tomorrow. Eddie]
[lprent: I looked at this (again) this morning. But after staggering home at or after 2000 after a hard days coding, cooking, blobbing in front of the TV before bed, and then heading to work at 0630 the following day for the last few weeks…. Well the last few bugs are all that stands between me and a life. The time required to set up a guest post is a bit too long. But the guest posts have been a bit neglected over the last month or so. I think we’re all a bit busy. ]
Cheers, my blue skinned friend. And thanks to LP, and all the other authors and mods. It’s easy to forget that TS is volunteer run; its just looks a million bucks because of the efforts of some pretty cool people.
What point are you actually trying to make here???, if you are attempting to pillory Hone for the actions of His nephews you would also have to pillory Nick Smith over His brother being prosecuted by the Canterbury Regional Council…
Carry on with your defamation, i hope Hone reads that and drags you through the courts to ransack every last cent you possess from what can only be described as a sorry sack of you what…
What get’s me is that there’s no “valour” or “exceptionalism” involved – what counts as exceptional drone flying? It’s basically down to logged hours and maybe attributed deaths.
I don’t think they’re too far from going back to “citizen-soldiers”, but someone comes home from work, logs on, plays a computer game for a couple of hours, and gets experience points that count towards a medal.
The only change from today is that people on the other side of the planet die.
It’s a bad thing to be able to do it too easily, with little or no effort. Becomes easier than thinking about a long term solution – or at least that’s one point the General quoted in the article made.
And of course, it’s all very well being able to blow shit up and then bounce the rubble around, but the acid test is whether your guy can walk down the street in broad daylight. But then that particular debate goes back to Douhet.
It’s a bad thing to be able to do it too easily, with little or no effort.
– Depends if you’re the one sitting safely at HQ or the one at the pointy end I guess…
The risk is in the degrees of control which these methods lead to. Are drones patrolling skies in war zones and out, really something which is going to take humanity in a positive direction!
If you’re a parent, or going to be, I hope for your families sake that your comments are not reflective of your actual views!
I’m thinking of the poor grunt at the sharp end that has to implement the policies of whatever government of the day is running…hes the one that has to go and do the dirty work.
Someones son, brother, nephew, father, cousin, uncle, friend has to go and do it and if theres a safer way for that guy to do the job then I’m all for it.
There ia always a choice, nobody has to do the dirty work, they chose to, situational or not, you’re talking about taking lives by remote control, based on it being safer for someone else, this is madness.
Scope creep, mission creep etc, your words are supporting it!
You can tell your family and friends that your position lead to NZ skies being droned, because thats where its headed!
Correct, they chose to do a job…kill the enemy without (preferably) being killed yourself. They have the technology to do the job safer then ever so it would be morally wrong to deny them the opportunity to do so.
You want the killing stopped then look at the governments not the soldiers, its not the soldiers (at least in western democratic countries) that decide to go to war its the politicians and the people that elect (or keep electing them)
its the politicians and the people that elect (or keep electing them)
Actually its nothing to do with the politicians deciding anything, The decisions to go to war run far deeper than any front facing political entity, which is not elected!
That’s why its even more important that people do not buy into this system, and as such the choice being made to wage war using remote control, is trite!
True. But that’s the difference between political leadership and soldiers. The leader needs to not just take the easy course, but to find a long term solution to the situation.
Because if drone strikes happen in perpetuity, what are the odds of people responding to that constant terror putting a bomb in the pilot’s local shopping mall? Or the areas involved shift geopolitically to China or Russia to preserve their internal stability, so the US loses some regional influence, and fifty years down the line the drone pilots’ grandkids end up on the pointy end of ww3? And what happens when opponents get the hang of evading detection/slipping through the surveillance filters – classic assymetric problem. If you kill the chaps as soon as you think you’ve found them, you don’t find out who their friends are or what they’re doing.
sooo, the Ozzie “manufacturing confidence” index is in the low 40’s (N0rty)
Cosgrove-“significant losses of sub-contractors due to Mainzeal flattening may have an effect on the entire construction industry…
Williamson up against the wall
Excellent work by Eugenie Sage nailing and hoeing into Tremain (HBRC debt to increase in excess of 500% by 2021; don’t we love spending other peoples money!)
Spirituality is In The House, thanks to Winning some tutae 🙂
If I may briefly slip into my professional field – the Overseas parliamentary news has this fascinating snippet about archiving of email for Danish MPs (it’s about half way down the page).
MPs will be able to select emails for preservation by the State Archives as part of their day to day email management. Members’ correspondence held in the Archives is generally accessible to the public after 75 years.
I will be fascinated to see how it will actually work in practice (in my experience recordkeeping is not one of the strengths of most politicians).
Interesting in light of the recent responses to the Law Commission’s recommendation to extend our OIA to cover Parliament.
Pssst, when you get time to look Lprent, the edit function has thrown a spaz, i can access it but none of the comment that needs editing is showing up…
Seriously, the amount of mistakes I make, the edit function was the second thing I looked for after the ‘self publicise’ button.
Never found either, even if I only really need the one.
I run music studio software without breaking (many) synapses, and I’m getting really envious when I read posts with *edit in them. :grrr: 😆
I’m on Chrome, with pop ups blocked and that’s about it. No edit button.
Seriously, i mean hell pull the other one,leg that is, it plays Jesus my Lord come unto me, that’s with the backing of the full NZ Symphony orchestra as well,
The edit function appears next to the delete function on the bottom of your posted comment, Yeee-essss, i feel so computer literacerially superior after having said that,
And even more so with my coining of a brand new word, wonder if i can patent it…
I can only say how saddened i am for your loss as i eagerly await seeing both functions appear as my comment comes up on the page,
i also now have the sudden urge to deliberately make a large number of errors, both spelling and grammatical, in this latest comment just so i may avail myself of such functions others are not in possession of,
i will tho resist such an egotistical aberration in character as the aforementioned function tonight only leads to the production of a blank page which in turn leads me to thoughts that perhaps this is the true value of my posted comments…
The edit function has not been working for me for a couple of hours; javascript is turned on in my browser and I don’t believe that i have made any system changes.
Is David Shearer still the leader of the Labour Party?
And is the Labour Party still the major opposition party?
There’s been so much going on and it seems that neither David Shearer or anyone else in the Labour party have anything to say. About anything…
Aw god not another one, next you will be telling us all your a disgruntled member and, ”shrill voice” you wont be voting for them again with that Shearer there….
Apart from female dogs is there an actual point here that you are trying to get across to me, i fear that if there is my attempts to de-cypher this point,limited i must admit, have failed…
Well I was unclear whether you were being sarky in your first comment, so chose to hedge my bets and be sarky in response.
I am commenting on this trend of criticizing people’s views that express concern about Labour’s or Mr Shearer’s effectiveness, and how it is seeming kind of arse about face in a democracy.
Despite apparently living in a democracy there appears to be an increasing message that we have to “be nice” and not express dissent to the sham that is going on on both sides of the parliamentary house.
I mean if everyone just shut up and voted for Labour, it stands to reason they would win. Guess that is how the logic goes.
I understand that people are paid good money to play the role of political strategist and if any ordinary person not in parliament did their job as badly, as both this government and the Labour party strategists over the last 5 years we would have our arses fired; so a wee bit of negative feedback here and there, really is a very small price to pay, and if listened to, would improve their game.
In answer to that, how many comments have you seen the commenter i was replying to make on the Standard,
There ‘seems’ to be a trend developing here, and i highlight the word ‘seems’ as this is only a personal observation, that when the ‘i hate Dave S’ crew quiets down it’s criticism of Him up will pop a few ‘names’ here and there who will poke the anti-Shearer fire for signs of life, or to get it raging again,
These odd commenters who seem like strangers to me could be genuine in their concern about Shearer and having found this site cannot but help unloading such concerns into whatever post they have ‘landed in’ so to speak be that open mike or a specific post on a topic,
Because of this i give far more ‘weight’ to comments from ‘names’ i recognize as having commented on the site befor and tend to view comments such as the one we are discussing above as just as likely to be posted into the site by those with the specific goal of attempting to destabilize the current Labour leadership for reasons other than concern for that Party…
If you like any article please help promote it (and the blog). Link to it on facebook and other social media, write about it anywhere or re-blog it. We’re very happy to have other people re-blog our material, all we ask is that you mention the original source and put ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women John Fenaughty is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. In a recent column Fenaughty suggested that school teachers should use students’ “correct names and pronouns (e.g., he, him, they, them, she, her, etc.)” ...
Heard this on Radio NZ this afternoon. Perfectly captures how I'm feeling just now.It's always good to find new music, though it would be nice to be hearing something celebratory. Even "Things Can Only Get Better" would be welcome, if it was accompanied by a thumping Labour victory. ...
by Don Franks Like New Zealand, Britain is officially a country of equal opportunity under the rule of law, with increasing hardship for those at the bottom. When there’s an election, and the party most obviously callous towards poor people wins, decent folks are dismayed and bewildered. “What the hell ...
UKanians went to the polls yesterday in early elections aimed at resolving the Brexit impasse. And they certainly have, delivering a huge majority to the Tories, and (barring internal rebellions of the sort which delayed Brexit) giving them the power to do whatever they want. And thanks to the UK's ...
by Karim Pourhamzavi Mass protests are occurring across Iran, taking place in over 100 cities. The protests have been sparked by the government’s cutting of fuel subsidies, a measure which caused fuel prices to double overnight. Mass protests are hardly new in Iran, but there is an important difference ...
What other song could we play as the UK's political rule book gets torn up and thrown away?Video courtesy of YouTubeThis post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Legendary in my own mind, I mean. All times are NZ, which is an hour10.00am (NZ) There's about an hour to go until the exit poll is released. At that point, half of the British voting public will devastated, and the other half celebrating wildly. Unless everyone is simply confused.Turnout seems ...
Forlorn Hope: When the call came down to make Corbyn unelectable, the Establishment's journalists and columnists rose to the challenge. Antisemitism was only the most imaginative of the charges levelled against the old democratic-socialist. There were many more and, sadly, they appear to have worked. Boris Johnson may not be much ...
"Rendezvous" by David Low, September 1939.DUNEDIN IS THE BIRTHPLACE of, for my money, the world’s greatest cartoonist, David Low. At the height of his powers, in 1930s London, Low’s cartoons represented the visual conscience of the civilised world. His most famous cartoon, “Rendezvous”, penned a few weeks into the Second ...
If you want to study propagandist techniques, you are typically told to study Dictatorships. Not unfair, but what’s always been more interesting to me is so-called “democratic” countries and their broader information systems.Why? Because people opt for it, even as they decry “totalitarian regimes!”.. It’s quite an eye ...
Introducing legislation which shits on the public's right to know seems to have become a daily occurrence for this government. Today's example is the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The bill establishes a framework for the establishment of "special purpose vehicles" (SPVs) to hide debt from local government balance sheets ...
Below is the longlist of words and phrases generated in the korero phase of Public Address Word of the Year 2019, with some editorial moderation. Now it's time to vote. As you'll doubtless be able to see, you get three ranked choices. Use your power wisely. Or frivolously, whatever.As usual, ...
The University of Waikato and New Zealand Law Foundation have released a report today on the law around encryption in New Zealand. There's stuff in there about principles and values, and how proposed government policies to provide for "lawful access" by creating backdoors would destroy the trust which makes encryption ...
A ballot for two Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance (Prompt Settlement of Claims for Uninhabitable Residential Property) Bill (Stuart Smith) Social Security (Exemption for Ex Gratia and Compensation Payments) Amendment Bill (Willow-Jean Prime) Neither bill seems likely to be particularly controversial. This is ...
Earlier in the month, Bougainvilleans went to the polls in a landmark referendum to decide on whether they would remain part of Papua New Guinea or become independent. Yesterday, the results came in, with over 97% support for independence. The referendum wasn't binding - instead it means negotiations with the ...
by Daphna Whitmore This week 800 unionised bus drivers in Auckland were suspended from work after they refused to collect fares as part of a campaign of industrial action. Drivers working for Auckland’s largest bus company NZ Bus are asking for more pay and better working conditions after being offered ...
As details emerge about what unfolded on Whakaari / White Island two days ago, my thoughts go out to all the families affected by this terrible event. My thoughts are also with the first responders who worked in perilous circumstances to assist and protect those affected. Both local and ...
BMG research have unleashed their final poll of the 2019 campaign:Westminster voting intention: CON: 41% (-)LAB: 32% (-)LDEM: 14% (-)GRN: 4% (-)BREX: 3% (-1)via @BMGResearch , 06 - 11 Dec Chgs. w/ 06 Dec That's a bit of a "Dunno why we bothered" sort of poll. "Phillip, I'm afraid I've been a ...
Grant Keeps On Trucking: Out of the $12 billion Robertson has announced for infrastructure investment, $8 billion will be allocated to specific projects, with the balance of $4 billion held in reserve. What does it say about this Government's "transformational" ambitions that 85 percent of that $8 billion is to ...
I am not making this up.First few lines of the Dail Mail write up:Boris Johnson's exasperated media minder swore on live TV today as the PM refused to speak to Good Morning Britain before trotting into a fridge as he started an early milkround in Yorkshire. Piers Morgan was visibly ...
In previous elections pollsters have bemoaned the 'shy Tory' - the respondent who is so fearful of being judged as a cruel and heartless bastard by an anonymous pollster, or their spouses, workmates and friends, that they lie about their intention of voting Conservative, skewing the poll figures in Labour's ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI was in Switzerland recently and discovered that they haven’t ...
So, You Gov's MRP poll - the weird one that tries to reflect what will happen at a constituency level and which pretty much nailed the hung parliament in 2017 - is not looking too good for Labour:
We've known about climate change for over forty years now,and it has been a major political issue for twenty. And yet fossil fuel companies have kept polluting with impunity, while government have looked the other way and twiddled their thumbs and refused to do anything because "the economy", or just ...
Sheer Loopiness: Many of those expressing bemusement at the antics of these #turnardern effacers, were convinced that they were yet another expression of the National Party’s increasingly spiteful anti-government propaganda campaign. They marvelled at the oddness of the perpetrators’ mindset and questioned the common-sense of allowing the rest of New Zealand ...
Brad Scott, GNS Science VolcanologistThis post was originally published by GeoNet.Following the 9 December devastating eruption at Whakaari/White Island we have put together some information about the island. New Zealand’s most active volcano Whakaari/White Island is currently New Zealand’s most active volcano, it has been since an eruptive episode ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on its Inquiry into the 2017 General Election and 2016 Local Elections, with a host of recommendations about how to improve our electoral systems. Some of their recommendations are already incorporate din the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before Parliament, but there's also a recommendation ...
Back in 2017, in order to make themselves "electable" in the eyes of rich people who oppose everything they stand for, the Greens signed up for NeoLiberalism, adopting a restrictive set of "Budget Responsibility Rules" which basicly prevented them from using government to make things better. Now, they're finally abandoning ...
Since invading in 2001, the US has consistently claimed that their war in Afghanistan has been going well, even when it continued year after year after year. Of course, they were lying, and thanks to the Washington Post and the US Freedom of Information Act, we get to see just ...
How should we think about artificial intelligence and the implications that it has for our work and leisure? There are many articles on artificial intelligence and its potential impacts on jobs, and the ethics of applications. These are important topics, but I want to focus on some less discussed aspects, ...
I love data. It’s amazing the sort of “discoveries” I can make given a data set and computer statistical package. It’s just so easy to search for relationships and test their statistical significance. Maybe relationships which ...
The other big story concerning Leeds Hospital is Boris Johnson's bizzare behaviour at Leeds Hospital, where he was confronted by a journalist and challenged about a four year old boy with suspected pneumonia who was left sleeping on the floor, rather than getting abed like a sick kid would in ...
So, for a brief period of history, it was alleged that a protester had punched Matt Hancock's SPAD (not a euphemism; special adviser) when Hancock visited Leeds Hospital.This was reported by the likes of Robert Peston and Laura Keunssberg, as well as the less credible Guido Fawkes. It also quickly ...
by Daphna Whitmore Last week France passed a law that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It is based on a definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel such as: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist ...
Over the past year we've seen major bus problems in Hamilton and Wellington, as drivers have sought better wages and an end to the bullshit of split shifts, which basicly see them "married to the job". And now its Auckland's turn. When NZBus's drivers planned low-level strike action of not ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. But those targets are insufficient. Meanwhile, Denmark is showing us how its done:Denmark’s parliament adopted a new climate law on Friday, committing to reach 70% below its 1990 emissions in ...
Another day, another piece of legislation with a secrecy clause. This time its the innocuous-seeming Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill, which (after establishing a new body and making it subject to the OIA in three different ways) includes the rapidly-becoming-standard clauses enabling it to request information from other public ...
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...
On 27 September, Greta Thunberg addressed a crowd of 500,000 at the School Strike for Climate in Montreal, saying: “You are a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And Sweden is also a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And in both cases, it means absolutely nothing. Because ...
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...
Michael SchulsonWhen Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...
Rubbish In, Rubbish Out: Put all this together, and it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that anyone who responds positively to a pollster’s request to “answer a few questions” is just ever-so-slightly weird. Desperately lonely? Some sort of psephological train-spotter? Political party member primed to skew the poll for or against ...
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...
Samuel Becher, Victoria University of Wellington and Jessica C Lai, Victoria University of WellingtonEarlier this year, the New Zealand-based pizza chain Hell Pizza offered a limited-edition “Burger Pizza”. Its customers weren’t told that the “meat” was plant-based. Some customers complained to the Commerce Commission, which enforces consumer law in ...
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. Meanwhile, Climate Action Tracker has the shameful reality: those targets are insufficient:While New Zealand is showing leadership by having passed the world’s second-ever Zero Carbon Act in November 2019, under ...
The government introduced a Racing Industry Bill today. As an urban who horse racing as pointless-to-cruel, and gambling as a tax on stupidity and/or hope, this isn't normally a bill which would interest me in the slightest, beyond grumpiness at more government money for a dying industry. But there is ...
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he ...
Before The Birth: Israel’s most fervent supporters set their clocks ticking in Biblical times. They cite the kingdoms of David and Solomon as proof that, in the words of the Exodus movie’s theme-song: “This land is mine.” The majority of Israel’s backers, however, start their clocks in 1933 – the year Adolf ...
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...
When it was revealed that NZ First had tried to enrich itself from public office via the Provoncial Growth Fund, the Prime Minister assured us that everything was OK as Shane Jones, the Minister responsible for the fund, had recused himself. Except it seems that that recusal came very late ...
Today is a Member's Day, and probably the last one of the year. After the marathon of the End of Life Choice Act, most of the bills up for debate today are uncontentious. First up is the second reading of Chlöe Swarbrick's Election Access Fund Bill. This will be followed ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has reported back on the government's odious and tyrannical control orders bill. As expected, the fraudulent select committee process has made no significant changes (partly because they couldn't agree, but mostly because it was a stitch-up from the start, with no intention of ...
Yesterday, the government released its draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, which will be put to a non-binding referendum at the next election. I'm not a drug policy expert, but Russell Brown is, and he thinks its pretty good. And pretty obviously, it will be a massive improvement on the ...
As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
Paramedics have reiterated their support for New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball's bill to impose mandatory prison sentences on those who assault our first responders and prison officers. There are more than 50 cases of abuse and assault against New Zealand paramedics each week. The figure has remained largely unchanged ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has revealed the Party’s stance on a proposed single public broadcaster. He said it had been the NZ First policy to support and strengthen public sector media. "For this reason, we welcome the initiative of Minister Faafoi to progress work in this area. Both ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Introduction Good morning, and thank you for your attendance here today. Let us start by acknowledging the work of all the media outlets and reporters, particularly the regional reporters, who have been covering this week’s tragedy at Whakaari White Island. It ...
New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball’s bill introducing a six-month minimum sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its first reading in Parliament. Mr Ball said the new offence of "injuring a first responder or prison officer with intent" would target people who attacked paramedics, police, firefighters, and corrections ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave his final interview for 2019 on The Country to tell farmers they have never had it better under the current coalition Government. “Here you've got these record returns [for farmers]. These returns would be nothing like a record if the currency under the ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that New Zealand's Cook Islands High Commissioner, Tessa Temata, has died over the weekend. Ms Temata, 52, died in Palmerston North and had returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. She was the first New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands of Cook Island ...
A new defence report has mapped out how New Zealand's soldiers will navigate rising seas, and a year after the Defence Force announced its need to prepare for climate change. In the “Responding to the Climate Crisis” report, the Force restates its operational plan and sets goals to tackle climate ...
We're rebuilding New Zealand - our transport network, our hospitals, our schools and more... After nine years of neglect there's a lot to fix - but we're getting on with the job. ...
We're rebuilding New Zealand - our transport network, our hospitals, our schools and more... After nine years of neglect there's a lot to fix - but we're getting on with the job. ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development A $261,000 loan from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has helped a family-run business in Manawatū to scale up manufacturing capacity, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced at its opening today. Ashhurst-based skin-care business The Herb Farm is on track to ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Regional Freight Hub near Palmerston North has taken a step forward with the completion of the master plan, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said. Shane Jones unveiled the high-level design of the new Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) backed rail-road hub ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of DefenceTērā te haeata takiri ana mai i runga o Pukaha!Ara tai uru, whai uru, whai uru!Ara whai ato, whai ato, whai ato!Ara rā tini, ara rā tini, ara ri!The rays of the morning sun strike a new dawn upon Pukaha ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentThe Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $772,000 in opportunities for growth in Manawatū-Whanganui, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.NZ Bio-Forestry Limited will receive a $380,000 boost for game-changing research which could unlock significant growth in the wood processing sector, ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today the appointment of diplomat Sarah Lee as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to South Africa. She will be the first female Head of Mission to represent New Zealand in Africa. “New Zealand’s relationship with South ...
Sustained high growth in primary industry exports looks set to continue over the next two years with strong prices predicted for farmers, fishers, growers and rural communities. Minister of Agriculture and Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor today released the latest Situation and Outlook report for ...
Auckland’s growing screen sector is the catalyst for a new partnership between the Ministry of Social Development and Auckland’s economic development agency Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED). The launch today at FilmFX in Henderson, is to celebrate the partnership which looks to capitalise on the social and economic development opportunities ...
A minute’s silence will be observed at 2.11pm on Monday 16 December in honour of the victims of the Whakaari White Island eruption, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed. “Wherever you are in New Zealand, or around the world, this is a moment we can stand alongside those who have ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$1 million of funding towards the joint United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) Pacific Regional Action Plan for Measles. “Prevention through vaccination is the most effective way of avoiding illness and a costly health emergency. ...
New Zealand is today remembering one of our true sporting heroes, triple Olympic gold medal winner Sir Peter Snell. “He was a legend, here and around the world,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “Our thoughts are with Sir Peter’s wife Miki and their family.” “Sir Peter is recognised as New ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his election victory. “New Zealand and the United Kingdom are close friends and despite our distance we are strongly connected by our history and people,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I look forward to continuing to work with Prime ...
The Government has released its long term vision for a sustainable 21st Century rail network that gets our cities moving, connects our regions and gets more freight off the roads. Deputy Prime Minister and State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters said the Government is committed to rebuilding New Zealand’s ...
I want to start by acknowledging the families who have experienced such grief and such loss since the extraordinary tragedy on Monday. Today was all about reuniting them with their loved ones. We've just come from the airport where many of them were gathered and in amongst what you can ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further support for Samoa’s longer term needs as it continues to respond to a devastating measles epidemic. “Samoa’s health system has experienced massive strain in the wake of the measles epidemic. The volume of patients needing care during this outbreak, and the number of ...
Discounted electric bikes will be offered up to public sector staff across the country as part of the Government’s work to reduce transport emissions and support healthier transport options. Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter officially launched the new initiative at Wellington Hospital today. “The Government has negotiated bulk-purchase ...
The Australian and New Zealand Governments today launch an historic joint bid to bring the FIFA Women’s World Cup to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. Australian Minister for Youth and Sport, Richard Colbeck and New Zealand Minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson will announce the bold campaign, ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has approved a $15 million loan to help re-establish a gold mining operation at Blackwater Gold Mine, near Reefton, Rural Communities Minister and local MP Damien O’Connor announced at an event on the West Coast today. “This is great news for the Coast that could ...
Papakāinga model inspires whānau well-being A housing project by Kohupātiki whānau in Hastings is an outstanding example of a Māori-led housing initiative that can reduce financial pressure and reconnect whānau to their whakapapa says the Minister for Māori Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta. Minister Mahuta officially opened the Aroha Te Rangi ...
Restoration efforts for a significant wetland in the Hawke’s Bay are getting more support announced Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage. “Wetlands are vital to healthy landscapes and ecosystems. They function as nature’s ‘kidneys’, filtering and protecting water quality, acting as nature’s sponges after rain and are home to ...
Nelson has today seen the launch of Housing First Nelson Tasman. Today’s launch marks the expansion of the Government’s homelessness programme, Housing First, to the top of the South Island. “Housing First is a proven programme that puts people who are experiencing homelessness and multiple, high and complex needs into ...
New Government funding announced today will help communities make a difference in tackling environmental issues Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage announced in Hawkes Bay today. The Ministry for the Environment’s Community Environment Fund is dedicating $243,101 to growing the capacity and capability of the Environment Hubs Aotearoa’s (EHA) ...
The days of vulnerable consumers falling victim to loan sharks, truck shops and other predatory lenders are numbered, following the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill passing its third reading tonight. “Too many Kiwis are being given loans that are unaffordable and unsuitable, trapping them in debt and leaving their families ...
A Bill that prevents terrorism and supports the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas has passed its third reading, Justice Minister Andrew Little says. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill is a carefully targeted response to manage the risk posed by a small number of New Zealanders who have ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Samoa on Friday, where New Zealand medical teams are helping Samoa respond to an outbreak of measles. “New Zealand has been working closely with the Government of Samoa and offering our assistance from the ...
The Government has changed the law to improve student safety and welfare in university halls of residence and other student accommodation. The Education (Pastoral Care) Amendment Bill passed its third reading this afternoon and details of an interim Code of Practice setting out the Government’s expectations of tertiary providers have also been released. ...
A new tool to help councils fund and finance infrastructure could mean some housing developments happen a decade earlier than currently planned, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. “This new tool, developed by the Government in partnership with industry and high-growth councils, will allow councils to access private debt ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has welcomed the release of a bold new vision for the country’s vital food and fibre sector. “I’m delighted that New Zealand’s major farmer and grower organisations are today supporting the Primary Sector Council’s vision – Fit for a Better World,” he said. “The international consumers ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has congratulated the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government for completing a well-conducted referendum on the future political status of Bougainville. “New Zealand supported the referendum process by providing technical advice through the New Zealand Electoral Commission and leading a Regional Police ...
In light of Cabinet’s position that freight operations on prime land in downtown Auckland are no longer viable, the Government will now embark on a short work programme to enable decision-making in the first half of next year, Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones is today releasing the ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter has received the report back from a surgical mesh restorative justice process undertaken by Victoria University. The process heard stories, either in person or online submission, from more than 600 people affected by surgical mesh. “The report made for heart-breaking and confronting reading,” says ...
The Water Services Regulator Bill – Taumata Arowai , introduced to Parliament today, is a milestone for drinking water safety in New Zealand and will help improve environmental outcomes for urban waterways, rivers and lakes. “This is a breakthrough for New Zealanders in terms of providing safe drinking water throughout ...
Kia ora koutouE ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā matā wakaTēnā koutou katoaHaere ngā, moe maiKoutou ma ngā Rangatira Ko Anaru ahauKo au te Minita mo ngā TureHe Honore tino nui kei roto I ahau No reira tena koutou katoa Today, we are releasing two reports that are the ...
The Government is looking to turn around the long-term challenges of criminal justice by taking a new approach to break the cycle of offending to ensure there are fewer victims of crime. Justice Minister Andrew Little released two reports today, Turuki! Turuki! from Te Uepū Hāpai I te Ora, and ...
New Zealand firms expanding beyond the start-up phase are set for more support after today’s passage of the Venture Capital Fund Bill, Associate Finance Minister David Parker said. The Bill, which establishes a $300 million Venture Capital Fund, puts in place a key initiative of the Wellbeing Budget’s economic package. ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira mā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Señora Presidenta, Excellencies, Delegates. International action A common thread that runs through the Paris Agreement is the commitment we have made to each other to do what we can to ...
The Government is lifting capital investment to the highest level in more than 20 years as it takes the next step to future-proof New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced $12 billion of new investment, with $8 billion for specific capital projects and $4 billion to be added to ...
The Government is forecast to run $12 billion worth of surpluses across the four years to 2023/24 as the economy continues to grow. The surpluses will help fund day-to-day capital requirements each year. These include fixing leaky hospitals, building new classrooms to cover population growth and take pressure off class ...
Budget 2020 will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also investing to future-proof the economy. When the Government took office in 2017 it was left with crumbling infrastructure, severe underinvestment in public services, degraded rivers and lakes, a housing crisis and rising ...
The Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (te Takutai Moana Act 2011), Andrew Little has welcomed the launch of an online geospatial tool that provides data-rich, dynamic coastline maps that will significantly boost research and evidence-gathering under the Act. Te Kete Kōrero a Te ...
The Chief Victims Advisor to Government Dr Kim McGregor, QSO, has been reappointed in her role for a further two years. Dr McGregor has held the role since it was established in November 2015. She provides independent advice to government on how to improve the criminal justice system for victims. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare have today announced the deployment of a network of DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoys. “New Zealand and the Pacific region are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. It is vital we have adequate warning systems in place,” ...
DART Buoys Announcement Aotea Wharf, 9.30am 11 December 2019 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to Minister for Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare also here today. White Island It is with regret that this event shadows the tragic natural disaster two days ago. The volcanic eruptions on White Island have claimed 5 lives, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Racing Industry Bill in parliament today. This is the second of two Bills that have been introduced this year to revitalise New Zealand’s racing industry. “Our domestic racing industry has been in serious decline. The Government is committed to ...
Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, is pleased to announce that $291,321 is to be awarded to national and local community initiatives to maintain and promote the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). “New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where Sign Language is an ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has announced today the Coalition Government’s initial response to work completed by the independent statutory body, the Veterans’ Advisory Board. “When Professor Ron Paterson completed his review of the Veterans’ Support Act in 2018, he made a number of recommendations, including one which I referred ...
The Provincial Growth Fund giving $13 million to a gold mining project under DOC land on the West Coast is a disgraceful waste of public money says Coromandel Watchdog, a group fighting gold mining in Hauraki. ...
CEAC reviewed the NZTA National Land Transport Programme “2021–24 NLTP development” plan to see the support for rail funding was there, and NZTA is now seen as ‘anti-rail’ in their NLTP plans, contrary to Government policy to use rail - heads must roll. ...
Kiwi startup founder Jenene Crossan has spent two years enduring jetlag and heinous London Airbnb prices as she builds her latest business.Jenene Crossan, co-founder and CEO of beauty booking service Flossie, has spent most of the past two years sitting in airport lounges and living out of suitcases in a bid ...
From New Zealand’s biggest band selling out Western Springs to a landmark moment for Pasifika women onstage, these are the live events that shaped New Zealand this decade.An anchor in the middle of the deep blue sea: Daffodils, 2014 Todd Emerson and Colleen Davis in Daffodils, on stage at the Traverse ...
Is there something to be learned from TVNZ’s Wild West-meets-WWE-meets-19th-century-New Zealand web series? After all, writes Sharon Mazer, colonisation, like professional wrestling, is a fixed match.The premise underlying TVNZ’s new web series Colonial Combat is anachronistic and preposterous, even by WWE standards. It’s also fascinating.Transported from American popular culture to ...
For a lot of people, there’s not much joy to be found at Christmas. Emily Writes spoke to Dr Sarah Bell-Booth and Gwendoline Smith about how to deal with the hard stuff in the face of all that relentless holiday cheer.Despite my anxiety, I generally enjoy Christmas now that I ...
This contained incorrect information regarding the remuneration of Alexandra Allan. The item has now been deleted and Scoop unreservedly apologises to Ms Allan for the distress caused due to this publication. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At the December 12 UK election, the Conservatives won 365 of the 650 House of Commons seats (up 48 since the 2017 election), Labour 202 (down 60), the Scottish National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Tormey, Professor of Politics, University of Bristol So for all the talk of narrowing polls, tactical voting, and possible shocks leading to a hung parliament, Boris Johnson achieved a crushing victory over Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party in the UK’s ...
Sir Peter Snell has died, aged 80, at his home in Dallas, Texas. James McOnie remembers arguably New Zealand’s greatest ever athlete.Sir Peter Snell was so great that small towns still engage in custody battles over the legendary runner.His birthplace Opunake (where he spent his first 11 years) claims him, ...
Māori Injustice Issues Will Have More Visibility Thanks to New Panel Advising Ombudsman A prominent Māori leader, Lady Tureiti Moxon believes Māori injustice issues will be seen much more now thanks to Pūhara Mana Tangata, a first-time Māori panel appointed ...
“It was right there in the waiting room that Jack first told me he was finding it hard to separate his fingers”: a parent’s nightmare, by Dunedin writer Emma Neale. ...
We started picking a top 10 ourselves and puttered out at about #3, sick of the sound of our own voice. Bugger it, we thought, and sent for assistance. It’s been like Christmas ever since, an inbox flowing over with gorgeous, sincere little gifts. Here’s the nonfiction selection, in no ...
The leadership shown by tangata whenua at every national disaster and tragedy should be recognised and honoured by all of us, writes Catherine Delahunty.I do appreciate having a prime minister who is capable of expressing decent, human emotions when tragedies descend on us. It’s a sadly low bar that she ...
From the pockmarked rugby paddock of Apiti, to the smooth, iridescent-blue turf of Albany, Black Sticks defender Steph Dickins' hockey journey has come a long way. ...
If you want to shock and amaze your friends and family this Christmas, look no further than the deep recesses of $1 reserve Trade Me. Folks, I’m going to let you in on a huge Christmas secret here: you can get all your presents for $1 if you know where to ...
To celebrate the 50th birthday of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, Walters Prize-winning artist Ruth Buchanan has rehung their collection, bringing previously unseen works and skeletons out of the closet. Her new exhibition The scene in which I find myself/Or, where does my body belong examines ...
It is hard to remember a year in which New Zealand was so repeatedly in global headlines, writes Kamahl Santamaria, a Kiwi journalist based in Doha.Time zones are a strange thing. You go to sleep, and then for eight hours or so, you miss out on everything happening on the ...
Napoleon demanded that his generals be lucky. Conservative PM Boris Johnson, as he surveys a thumping victory in the British general election, would meet that criterion.His luck bears a resemblance to that of Margaret Thatcher. Like her, he has made a decisive break with orthodox establishment thinking. That presents ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has rejected or sidelined a number of recommendations from the long-awaited Thodey review of the public service that might have constrained his and his government’s power. Not surprisingly, a proposal to ensure changes ...
Analysis - The "do nothing" government announces a big spend-up on infrastructure, moving the Port of Auckland, and Winston Peters throws his weight behind NZME's bid to buy Stuff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]For their last video for the year, University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini and Michelle Grattan look backwards to the big issues which have shaped political discourse. They discuss the surprise election results, and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged Ngāti Awa for their role as tangata whenua (people of the land) in leading and caring for affected whānau (family members), following the Whakaari / White Island eruption and recovery operation earlier today. ...
The Environment Committee has opened for public submissions on the Urban Development Bill. The bill follows on from the Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities bill, which disestablished Housing New Zealand and set up a Crown entity in the same name. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Loader, Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Murdoch University, Murdoch University This article is part of our Gender and Christianity series. To understand contemporary Christian ideas about gender, and specifically masculinity, we need to go all the way back to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Gissing, General Manager, Risk Frontiers, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University Calls are growing for a national bushfire plan, including from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who says they are an issue of national security and the federal government must provide hands-on leadership. ...
Pro-democracy lobby group Democracy Action welcome New Zealand First’s commitment to hold firm rejecting the Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene’s bill to entrench the Māori seats. The Bill, which would require any changes to the seats to require the ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.Sometimes you are just doing a podcast as usual and then Colin Mathura-Jeffree gives you a call and throws your world off its axis. In a very special edition of Colin’s Cranny: Live, ...
We get a handle on the artists and artworks that shaped this decade in Aotearoa.As 2019 draws to a close, the four nominees for this year’s Turner Prize subverted the competition – they asked to receive the award as a collective. Meanwhile, at Art Basel Miami Beach, a banana taped ...
The second and final report of Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora, the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group, contains nothing we didn’t know 30 years ago. Yet generations of politicians have ignored the same advice, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira.Between the 1950s and 1990s, New Zealand experienced seismic social, economic ...
Fuel company Z Energy has cut its earnings forecast for the year by 10 percent because of tougher competition and falling margins, and is forecasting a big cut in dividends. ...
Liquidators of the hacked cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia have travelled to the United States, to retrieve customers' information and certain crypto-assets. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Popular commentary on dating apps often associates their use with “risky” sex, harassment and poor mental health. But anyone who has used a dating app ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Grimmer, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania Australian shoppers are set to spend $52.7 billion this Christmas. In the words of the retail industry, we are “stampeding” to empty our wallets, both online and ...
NZ Herald and many other media outlets ran a story on a man whose farts could repel mosquitos, despite the story coming from a satire news site and not being verified in any way, writes Dan Satherly for Newshub.“Man’s farts so deadly he kills mosquitoes in a 6m radius” is ...
Timing right to borrow our way to a stronger economy in 2020 The Government’s announcement of its intent to invest significantly in the county’s infrastructure could turbo charge an economic recovery that was already showing positive signs for ...
A poem by writer, journalist, and former Manus Island refugee Behrouz Boochani.Forgive me my loveTranslated by Moones Mansoubi, Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, 2018 Forgive me my bird as I am not able to embrace you.But here,in this corner,I know some migrating birds that I smile to at dawn.I embrace them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Powles, Senior Lecturer in Security Studies, Massey University The Autonomous Region of Bougainville, a chain of islands that lie 959 kilometres northwest of Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, has voted unequivocally for independence. The referendum saw 85% voter turnout during ...
Fisheries New Zealand starts consultation today on proposed changes to catch settings for rock lobster and scallops for the new fishing year beginning 1 April 2020. ...
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. This was the declaration of the pigs who control the government in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm– a tart comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but gives power and privileges ...
SPCA has been working flat out to desex more than 80 animals a day over the last year, which is the most desexing SPCA has done since recording the figures. ...
“The fact so many families are struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table must be addressed urgently if we’re to provide the foundations for a good life for the next generation of New Zealanders,” says Scott Figenshow, Chief Executive ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton, $40)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize.2The Body: ...
This holiday season Te Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs wants to offer parents and caregivers some advice on how to help keep your family safe online. ...
A report released by the Chief Victims advisor Kim McGregor advising there needs to be an Independent Victims body is being welcomed by Victim Rights lobby group Sensible Sentencing Trust. National spokesperson Jess McVicar says the trust have ...
For the third time in five years, the United Kingdom has gone to the polls today. From the summer islands of New Zealand, join The Spinoff as we follow the results rolling in.9.30am: So, with polls about 90 minutes away from closing, the top line is this – we’ve got ...
Winston Peters will back an NZME proposal to buy Stuff with a 'Kiwishare' guarantee the merged news company will keep regional news and separate websites for at least two years. ...
The Executive Director of Dapaanz (Addiction Practitioners’ Association Aotearoa New Zealand), Sue Paton says the announcement that Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment court would become permanent immediately, following successful pilots in Auckland ...
Online marketplace Sidekicker is taking advantage of people who have little choice but to juggle multiple low-paying jobs to make ends meet, writes artist and freelancer Ben Markley.After graduating early this year with one of the least vocational degrees, I didn’t expect the largest array of job prospects. Nevertheless, I ...
National is vowing to bring back and expand health sector targets dropped by the current Government and mulling whether to scrap elected District Health Boards. ...
More than 10,000 people have signed a petition launched a week ago, calling for better support and funding for community midwives. The 10k figure was reached after the first four days. Chief executive of the College of Midwives, Alison Eddy, said last ...
Information obtained by animal rights organisation SAFE has revealed rodeo organisers are refusing to halt calf-roping events in rodeo, despite the Government’s animal welfare advisors’ recommendation that they do so. ...
Subject; Deputy PM said quote; “New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has challenged his Cabinet colleagues for the delay over a Northport decision, criticising it as "paralysis by analysis". https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/405385/paralysis-by-analysis-winston-peters-assessment-of-the-delay-over-northport ...
If the Productivity Commission's report on local government funding, released yesterday, had been relied on by NASA as the basis for getting astronauts to the moon, its greatest achievement by now would have been launching a $2 skyrocket 40 feet into the air ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Mayne, Molecular biologist and bioinformatician, CSIRO Humans have a “natural” lifespan of around 38 years, according to a new method we have developed for estimating the lifespans of different species by analysing their DNA. Extrapolating from genetic studies of species with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Evans, Professor of Governance and Director of Democracy 2025 – bridging the trust divide at Old Parliament House, University of Canberra A new, ongoing survey on how young Australians understand and imagine their democracy is already challenging long-held stereotypes. The survey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesco Paolucci, Associate Professor; Head of Health Policy Program, Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs, University of Newcastle Private health insurance has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, as it becomes clear health insurers are failing to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland This is the second of two essays exploring key theories – cognitive load theory and constructivism – underlying teaching ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW On Monday the Australian government will release the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). This will – as required by the Charter of Budget Honesty – provide an update on the key assumptions made in this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia It seems like every time we switch on the idiot box we are confronted with news footage of another disaster. Bushfires in Australia. A hurricane in North America. A tsunami ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Andrew Little indicates justice system changes after reports, Auckland buses back on the road, and National release health proposals. Two significant reports for the justice sector were released yesterday. The first was Turuki! Turuki! Transforming our Criminal Justice System from the Chester Borrows-led Safe and ...
Open mike 19/02/2013 
If you like any article please help promote it (and the blog). Link to it on facebook and other social media, write about it anywhere or re-blog it. We’re very happy to have other people re-blog our material, all we ask is that you mention the original source and put ...20 hours ago
by The Council of Disobedient Women John Fenaughty is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. In a recent column Fenaughty suggested that school teachers should use students’ “correct names and pronouns (e.g., he, him, they, them, she, her, etc.)” ...21 hours ago
Heard this on Radio NZ this afternoon. Perfectly captures how I'm feeling just now.It's always good to find new music, though it would be nice to be hearing something celebratory. Even "Things Can Only Get Better" would be welcome, if it was accompanied by a thumping Labour victory. ...1 day ago
by Don Franks Like New Zealand, Britain is officially a country of equal opportunity under the rule of law, with increasing hardship for those at the bottom. When there’s an election, and the party most obviously callous towards poor people wins, decent folks are dismayed and bewildered. “What the hell ...1 day ago
UKanians went to the polls yesterday in early elections aimed at resolving the Brexit impasse. And they certainly have, delivering a huge majority to the Tories, and (barring internal rebellions of the sort which delayed Brexit) giving them the power to do whatever they want. And thanks to the UK's ...1 day ago
What other song could we play as the UK's political rule book gets torn up and thrown away?Video courtesy of YouTubeThis post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...2 days ago
If you want to study propagandist techniques, you are typically told to study Dictatorships. Not unfair, but what’s always been more interesting to me is so-called “democratic” countries and their broader information systems. Why? Because people opt for it, even as they decry “totalitarian regimes!”.. It’s quite an eye ...3 days ago
Below is the longlist of words and phrases generated in the korero phase of Public Address Word of the Year 2019, with some editorial moderation. Now it's time to vote. As you'll doubtless be able to see, you get three ranked choices. Use your power wisely. Or frivolously, whatever.As usual, ...3 days ago
As details emerge about what unfolded on Whakaari / White Island two days ago, my thoughts go out to all the families affected by this terrible event. My thoughts are also with the first responders who worked in perilous circumstances to assist and protect those affected. Both local and ...3 days ago
I love data. It’s amazing the sort of “discoveries” I can make given a data set and computer statistical package. It’s just so easy to search for relationships and test their statistical significance. Maybe relationships which ... 5 days ago
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...1 week ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...1 week ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...1 week ago
Paramedics have reiterated their support for New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball's bill to impose mandatory prison sentences on those who assault our first responders and prison officers. There are more than 50 cases of abuse and assault against New Zealand paramedics each week. The figure has remained largely unchanged ...2 days ago
Just after 2pm on Monday this week, Whakaari / White Island erupted. Read the Prime Minister's statement here, and watch her statement to the House below. ...2 days ago
Sustained high growth in primary industry exports looks set to continue over the next two years with strong prices predicted for farmers, fishers, growers and rural communities. Minister of Agriculture and Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor today released the latest Situation and Outlook report for ...8 hours ago
COLFO Confirms Number of Banned Firearms in New Zealand at Upper End of Police Estimates SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER 2019 ...2 hours ago
Kiwi startup founder Jenene Crossan has spent two years enduring jetlag and heinous London Airbnb prices as she builds her latest business.Jenene Crossan, co-founder and CEO of beauty booking service Flossie, has spent most of the past two years sitting in airport lounges and living out of suitcases in a bid ...9 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias. ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At the December 12 UK election, the Conservatives won 365 of the 650 House of Commons seats (up 48 since the 2017 election), Labour 202 (down 60), the Scottish National ...1 day ago
The government is moving to fast-track billions in funding for rail investments in a change that is being hailed as historic. ...1 day ago
“It was right there in the waiting room that Jack first told me he was finding it hard to separate his fingers”: a parent’s nightmare, by Dunedin writer Emma Neale. ...1 day ago
From the pockmarked rugby paddock of Apiti, to the smooth, iridescent-blue turf of Albany, Black Sticks defender Steph Dickins' hockey journey has come a long way. ...2 days ago
Napoleon demanded that his generals be lucky. Conservative PM Boris Johnson, as he surveys a thumping victory in the British general election, would meet that criterion. His luck bears a resemblance to that of Margaret Thatcher. Like her, he has made a decisive break with orthodox establishment thinking. That presents ...2 days ago
The ACT leader says his arguments haven't changed - but the circumstances that make them relevant have. ...2 days ago
Three Otago institutions are teaming up to improve the future of rural health care. ...2 days ago
Fuel company Z Energy has cut its earnings forecast for the year by 10 percent because of tougher competition and falling margins, and is forecasting a big cut in dividends. ...2 days ago
House prices are on the rise again with record increases in 10 regions, but with fewer sales overall. ...2 days ago
Liquidators of the hacked cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia have travelled to the United States, to retrieve customers' information and certain crypto-assets. ...2 days ago
The Government’s homelessness program ‘ Housing First’ has expanded to the top of the South Island. ...2 days ago
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. This was the declaration of the pigs who control the government in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm – a tart comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but gives power and privileges ...2 days ago
Winston Peters will back an NZME proposal to buy Stuff with a 'Kiwishare' guarantee the merged news company will keep regional news and separate websites for at least two years. ...2 days ago
National wants all Kiwi kids running for 15 minutes a day; and Auckland Council stops issuing urgent property reports until the New Year. ...2 days ago
National is vowing to bring back and expand health sector targets dropped by the current Government and mulling whether to scrap elected District Health Boards. ...2 days ago
ACC admits it has fallen short in the way it has dealt with surgical mesh patients as a report into their experiences is released. ...2 days ago
A high-risk mission to recover the bodies left behind after Monday's deadly eruption on Whakaari-White Island is now underway. ...2 days ago
‘
“The biggest climate change rally in US history”
Will we have. to have similiar rallies here before our law makers start taking climate change seriously?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/17/keystone-xl-pipeline-protest-dc
Did anyone just hear our beloved leader on Radio New Zealand this morning? He sounded well under the weather and as if he had a hard night the night before.
Audio is at http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2546817/pm-confident-report-will-clear-way-for-convention-centre.asx
Anyone else detecting signs Key has developed a drinking problem?
He was slurring at the RWC opening, something politely overlooked by the media – but hey, he a Kiwi guy just like us and who would deny the man a drink?
John Key “fainted” in a Christchurch restaurant, and no real suitable explaination was given. it was immediately after his holiday, so fatigue could hardly be the reason.
Audrey Young sent out a not so subtle hint Key was suffering a hangover recently in Queenstown:
“…During a wreath-laying ceremony, Key appeared to have difficulty keeping his eyes open for a couple of minutes. He kept rubbing his eyes, but no sooner had he opened them than they would shut. He said later, through a spokeswoman, that the problem was because of the glare on the war memorial, which made his eyes water…”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10864459
Muldoon famously announced an election drunk as a skunk, and our media studiously avoided mentioning that.
Alcohol abuse is probably endemic in parliament, like hospo I would imagine it is an occupational hazard linked to ready access, long hours and work pressure. But would our media have the courage to expose a drunkard PM?
Well, who do you think he is drinking with half of the time?
And yes, binge drinking is endemic in Parliament. MPs, staffers, advisors, what have you.
I worked in Parliament for about 3 years and never saw any of this binge drinking you mention. And as a heavy drinker myself I would have loved to have joined in but alas – it doesn’t really exist.
And if John Key had a drinking problem then the opposition would be all over it. How better to win an election than to portray your opponent as a drunk?
*cough* Maybe no one liked you *cough*
🙂
“well dressed and all that”
Surely the Armani would have made a difference.
And you know this because alot of MP’s and Parliamentary staffers carry out this binge drinking in your back bedroom in Dunedin?
KK. Parliament has not been in Dunedin for a very long time.
“Anyone else detecting signs Key has developed a drinking problem?”
It’s hard to tell – he has such lazy speech. As mother used to say….. ‘Lazy speech, lazy thinking, lazy mind’
It’s why he has to rely on an ideology learned parrot-fashion – and a failed one at that!
I thought it was a speech impediment he had as a child. Read it somewhere though can’t find any reference for it.
It could be any number of things.
Hell, he might have brain cancer, hence the desire to finish his bucket list.
Whatever it is, it might be getting worse – hopefully for him it’ll clear up when he leaves office. Less stress and all that. I don’t think anyone can fuck up a country this badly without it having a corrosive effect on their soul.
Yep, it’s a speech impediment.
Oddly enough it only seems to surface when he’s on the piss.
Sound’s like he’s still half shickered. must have been a big nite last nite.
That was a mean all-nighter !
I didn’t think it sounded like him,maybe he has a speech double.He sounded like he either had a hangover or had taken meds for something or other. Probably something to “relax” him.
More on the horror of ATOS in the U$K. Coming here if Johnny Keyshine can only work up the nerve:
Oh look that Shearer person is a really tolerant fellow. He says there is room in the Labour Party for MPs with homophobic views.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/02/shearer_on_homophobes_and_labour.html#comments
Hardly breaking news since two Labour MPs met an anti-marriage equality petition on Parliament’s steps. And they’re still MPs. New diversion thanks.
Increasingly looking like, despite Labour’s best efforts, it’s status quo for the next few years.
We’re on our people.
Look after your mums, your neighbours and by the grace of dog, we’ll all make it through.
35 women are saved from having more babies while they are on a benefit or low income. Victory!
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/01/free_contraception_uptake.html
God forbid people actually pay for their own kids instead of lumping them on to everyone else.
God forbid we create an extra 150,000 jobs so that everyone who wants a family can have a working income.
God forbid that women should decline to take contraception that has risks and side effects. Why is the govt not free funding other kinds of contraception?
God forbid the media ask why men aren’t sharing responsibility for contraception. I say we offer free vasectomies along with all types of contraception.
That’s not a bad idea. Problem is, Bennett wants teenagers to stop having babies, and I doubt many young men want to get the snip.
Virtually all forms of contraception are majority funded by the state in NZ.
available to the middle class as well as the rich, then.
So, in your view, what is the purpose of the economy?
This poll was on TV1 breakfast news yesterday. Extract from today’s Herald
The poll also had good news for National, with a 5 percentage point jump in support taking them to 49 per cent. Labour was on 33 per cent and the Greens 11 per cent.
Mr Key also gained five points, according to the preferred prime minister measure, giving him 44 per cent, with Labour leader David Shearer on 15 per cent.
Bomber’s media announcement is up
http://www.tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/announcing-my-new-media-project.html
“TheDailyBlog.co.nz will bring together 30 of the best left-wing bloggers and progressive opinion shapers in NZ all onto one site to critique the news, the media, and politics to provide the other side of the story.”
“Launching March 1st TheDailyBlog.co.nz will feature: Chris Trotter, Selwyn Manning, Professor Jane Kelsey, Keith Locke, Sue Bradford, John Minto, David Slack, Morgan Godfery, Gareth Renowden, Coley Tangerina, Phoebe Fletcher, Dr Wayne Hope, Queen of Thorns, Burnt out Teacher, Steve Grey, Aaron Hawkins, Marama Davidson, Tim Selwyn, James Ritchie, Efeso Collins, Robert Winter, Lynn Prentice, Frank MacsKasy, Matt McCarten, Wayne Butson, Chris Flatt, Allan Alach, TheDailyBlog Reposts and The Liberal Agenda.”
It’s a strong line up. I assume Bomber hisself will also be posting, but maybe not.
Best of luck to them (you) all.
I am just scared about what happens when you put that many self satisfied, know it alls in the same place. The mix of with pathetic whinging and misplaced sense of entitlement could blow up the internet.
Bankers, financiers and the 0.1% are the ones with the grand sense of self-entitlement.
Kiwiblog and other similar sites haven’t blown up the internet yet and they’ve got heaps of whingers full of self-entitlement and other RWNJs.
I saw that list and on about half of them I either said “who” or “why” .
One just hopes that like Kiwiblog and The Standard (and unlike Tumeke) that commentary is free and moderated sparingly.
With Bradbury at the helm though I am not very optimistic of this.
You just hate him because you are a hard-core rightwinger who wants to close schools and hospitals, to pay for tax cuts.
“The Daily Blog” sounds like a sterling idea with a big enough roster to pace people or let them quietly slide off if the pace is too much. BUT it had better have like buttons, moderation and one off registration not the the google account login nightmare Tumeke is, if this daily blogger is going to use it.
Yeah that’s what pissed my off about Tumeke as well. I didnt want to log in under my real name to post. I would very much prefer to post under “millsy”, the post name I have had for the past 13 years…
Wow – nice non-sequiter, Millsy.
Sounds like it came from a quote generator.
Bloody awesome. Sounds bloody good. A powerhouse of good decent left wingers who belive in things like taxing the rich to pay for schools and hospitals and locking up all DOC land from mining forever.
Ill definitely be going there on my daily web trawls.
Great!
This is what is needed! Combining voices and forces, using the power of synergy, to establish a resolute opposition to what we get served up by incompetent, indifferent or even damned biased, misinforming, manipulating and increasingly disgusting privately controlled, commercial mainstream media.
I look forward to this blog.
Just one worry I have, I hope it does not come with the features and technical hiccups that Tumeke has caused. Just trying to open that website once again, it instantly made my browser collapse.
Also I hope it will allow pseudonyms and fair, open debate, similar to what we have here on TS.
“Also I hope it will allow pseudonyms and fair, open debate, similar to what we have here on TS.”
As do I. No point in haven’t a big blog with numerous editors if you are just going to shut off dissenting POV’s which unfortunately seems to be the case at Tumeke
sadly, not enough rogues.
Now that’s a really good leftie line-up, including many people whose posts I usually read.
When Bomber dropped his teasers, I was hoping for something with an audio component (like radio) rather than print based. Maybe a left radio/TV station is still something waiting for it’s time to come.
However, hopefully it’s a line-up that will gain critical mass, and widespread significant mainstream attention. Also, Bomber will likely include some of his bloggers (if not all) as guests on Citizen A.
I hope it’s an extremely successful blog.
I think a leftie radio network would be more effective than a tv station. Most people can’t watch telly at work.
Hmm… some of us can’t listen to the radio at work. But, I agree a leftie radio station would be an excellent innovation – could be done online. Could be listened to while traveling/commuting.
NZTA bills crash victim $1300
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8320507/NZTA-bills-crash-victim-1300
The mother of a teenager nearly killed in a car crash has been billed by the New Zealand Transport Agency for the cost of closing the road while she was cut free.
Is this legal?
The insurance industry does not know much about it.
Insurance Council insurance manager John Lucas had never heard of such a charge.
“From discussions I’ve had with insurers, it would appear to be a new practice.”
And if it is legal, can accident victims recover costs if the road is not up to standard?
OMG
welcome to America
I damaged my car on a pothole last month. Invoicing NZTA as we speak…
I damaged my car on a pothole last month. Invoicing NZTA as we speak…
Jeeze, is there no such thing as an accident any more? Wouldn’t NZTA have to prove that the ‘accident’ was the fault of the car owner, if that’s who they are billing?
Innocent bystanders to be billed next.
I guess the NZTA need this money for more valuable highways?
There is NO such thing as an Accident. They are all just Incidents, with differing degree’s of fault, and or blame.
If we all had to pay through the nose for the mistakes we made, then there would be huge queues at the bankruptcy courts.
Quite frankly I think this charge is BS, and it sets a worrying precedent.
But the generous souls will not be invoicing dead people. They are so kind???
Not quite.
‘would not ORDINARILY be invoiced’!!!!
I note the rednecks on the stuff site think its OK. Nothing turns a redneck on like bankrupting someone because they made a mistake.
Generally people take out insurance to cover their mistakes. The only people who might go bankrupt from this are the selfish who expect everyone else to pick up the tab for their fuck ups.
So you think its OK to financially cripple this woman? I bet you would have everything taken from her and her out on the street.
All because you want a tax cut.
She has got insurance so they should pay it. What is wrong with that?
It’s called “being a prick to people who have better things to worry about than your 0.03% increase in budget expenditure”.
The issue seems to be that the fuel levy and other incomes no longer fund our roads, so regional cost centres are forced to be fuckwits to worried or grieving relatives.
Because the chances are the insurance won’t pay for it. The NZTA has determined that the driver was at fault and such a determination will let the insurance companies off. It’d be the same as not having a WoF on your car even though the car was up to standard.
As this would seem to be part of the cost of an accident, guess who will be paying for this piece of stupidity, and i am talking about the billing of this person for these costs as the stupidity,
The arms of the State shuffling paperwork in an idiots dance will result by the time all the shuffling is done in the costs being double what the original bill was…
Are you saying that this goes on all the time?
That NZTA regularly bills people in accidents for closing the road, but we never heard about it until now because it’s usually covered by insurance?
Highly unlikely KK. I hardly think our insurance companies would be paying out such fees and not telling us.
According to NZTA they have been doing it for years. Obviously you know better.
depends under what circumstances. Were they billing families of hospitalised drivers ten years ago? I reckon they were probably billing people for vandalism or diesel on the roads for donuts, and it’s encroached from there into full fuckwitted behaviours.
And yet it seems to be the first time that the insurance companies have heard of it.
Obviously King Kong knows better…
I can confirm charging of some kind has been going on for some years. A nephew of mine took out a guardrail in the Cromwell Gorge ’bout 2007 and got billed for it.
I once ordered a cheesecake and I had to pay for that too, but so what?
And the most efficient and cheapest insurance is living in a community which is something we all do and, in fact, have to do.
This is shocking stuff. Assistance to citizens should be part of the national support of road users. If it is a commercial vehicle being used for business then it could be argued that this be done.
How can it be that daft bu..s go off to sea or on tramping trips with no proper equipment, or tourists hit their emergency beacon for a helicopter and I don’t think there is a charge for this.
Yachties floating around on the sea, wanting to be rescued of course, if their lifestyle or sport goes badly wrong. Do they pay the ships diverted to help them?
Some things are just unreasonable – like tenants being asked to pay for a house they were renting if it burns down. How can ordinary people have to shoulder these extra costs which should be borne elsewhere?
Call the Coast Guard and you will be charged. Of course, the Coast Guard is a volunteer organisation and not (or minimally) government funded.
Coastguard does not charge for rescuing people, only if you want them to save your boat as well. Even this is free if you have paid the, modest, membership fee.
Same with shipping companies. I have never heard of a shipping company charging for rescueing people after a Mayday. There is a fund available to reimburse rescuers. I don’t think it has ever been claimed.
Loss of income, or damage, from having to divert for a mayday is, however, covered in marine insurance.
Which means we can come and rescue you without worrying being sued for risking the owners ship, so long as you have made it a “Mayday”.
If you want a commercial vessel to go to the time, trouble and expanse of picking up your boat as well, though, expect to pay. In most cases this risks the ships insurance cover as well as extra delays and costs. At 50k plus a day they add up quick.
I think ambulances have a charge that’s more commonly applied now, too.
Everyone gets short of public funds, everyone finds incremental revenue.
National’s “brighter future”.
Yup!
cereally though, cobber, there is always “The Sunbird” or “Ancient Evenings” (Smith and Mailer) 🙂
We’re all very highly critical of the government, but I think we should applaud Cabinet’s decision to go ahead with plain packaging on cigarette packets. I think it will remove the cachet some brands have – like Marlboro, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Camel. I don’t think it will deter those who stick with more downmarket brands, but it will take some of the glamour away for those who might take up smoking. A positive move, in my opinion.
Lolz, i don’t think it will have the slightest effect on those who take up smoking, having been a smoker during the limited amount of time i spent at college and also having had the displeasure of watching the same (mis)behavior from my nieces during their incarceration at the same institution i can assure you that for the young smoker ‘brand’ isn’t a consideration,
These days cigarettes aren’t shared as freely as they were when i was a young smoker, but, the size of the school of smokers that gather in those out of the way places on the college campus for a quick puff befor class looks to be remarkably the same in number as it was during my stint in the corridors of such august edifices of learning,
These days in the ‘smoking school’ one person usually has found the cash with which to buy a packet of filtered cigarettes and the other smokers in the ‘school’ usually have a dollar each to buy a smoke,
Bit like a ‘drunks school’ or a ‘druggies school’ it’s the addiction what brings them together as they know that the numbers mean at least one of them on any given occasion will have the means to supply the group with whatever the addiction is…
As far as applauding the Government on this issue i fell that you are viewing the whole issue very simplistically through the lens of the manipulation of your mind,
With at least a billion dollars of tobacco tax being collected from users being over and above the actual cost to society of the use of tobacco products the Health budget could now be said to be being propped up by that taxation on tobacco products,
Should the use of the products decrease radically from Government taxation and other ‘moves’ against the product Government would have to ‘find’ that extra billion dollars from somewhere else or cut that money from the Health or other budgets,
The Government tho knows that very few users will actually quit the product and within 6 months most of those who quit have taken to using the product again,
The chairman of the Quit program admitted in its annual report 2011 that ‘they’ only reach 2% of smokers and a study by a university Professor, (both of which i have provided links to befor on open mike),says that only 1.9% of smokers who try end up actually quitting the addiction,
Meanwhile there is an unknown number of young people who take up the habit and become addicted constantly replacing the small % of users who have managed to kick their addiction,
The only means of actually reducing the number of addicts to this product would be to declare tobacco a prescription poison only available via Doctor’s prescription and register all the present cohort of addicts with their Doctors,
Within a year of such a registration program tobacco could then be made only available to registered addicts thus dramatically curtailing access to the product for anyone not a registered addict…
lol
whatever, pete.
Now I’m not allowed to see what they have to sell me, they’re not allowed to tell me, and I can’t see what they sold me. The absurdity of zealotry.
If it weren’t for the inevitable organised crime, I’d outlaw tobacco entirely. If you’re buying it, I’d question your wisdom to make rational purchasing decisions in the first place.
Luckily for me, my personal habits are none of your business.
Maybe I looked at the relative odds and decided it’s better to live life and have fun than to live in fear. My level of smoking is probably about as harmful to me as your sanctimonious attitude is to you. Each to their own, I guess.
same
We’ll agree to disagree.
On what point?
That what I do in my own home is none of your business?
Or that stress is a major cause of early mortality, on a par with <3 cigarette equivalents per day?
“you don’t send me flowers, anymore.” 🙂
As the largest cohort of the 20 odd % of the population who do indulge in the product are in the lowest income brackets ‘health issues’ are merely a smokescreen for Government revenue farming off of those who are addicted,
There is one ‘thing’ that will kill a person faster than will the tobacco addiction and that is ‘poor diet’ and extremely poor diet will speedily result in a number of health issues becoming apparent in those that suffer from that poor diet,
So, constant revenue farming of tobacco products by Governments simply leaves those addicted and suffering low and extremely low incomes then have a ‘choice’, kick the addiction or face a severely restricted diet as the food spend is in most cases for the poor the only area of expense where cuts can be made,
As i point out above, the chairman of the quit program admitted in the annual report,(first sentence), that the program is accessed by barely 2% of smokers, the further study i allude to above,(which i have previously posted a link to) shows that barely 2% of those who try actually manage to quit the addiction,
What then going forward will be the health results for the other 98% of tobacco addicts unable to quit their addictions and being forced to exist on an increasingly severe poor diet,
i wont argue here about the rationality of purchasing the product except to say what addict do you know of that makes an entirely rational decision to support such an addiction, it is however given the facts, totally irrational for governments to attempt to stop addicts accessing the product at the center of their addiction by continuously raising the price of that product thus putting the health of those addicted in as much if not more danger from another causative than the original addiction,
All of that tho is only relevant if you believe the raising of such taxation is based upon rational health decisions by that Government…
Pete – next thing to do: all alcohol advertising, packaging and labelling to be in black and white only.
only Scotch
The only winners here are the manufacturers of branded cigarette tins.
And the minimalists…
true
Fascist Work and Income NZ –
A new website has been set up by someone, to offer a forum for those that have suffered bad, unfair treatment, wrong decisions and whatever else at the hands of NZ’s largest government department/agency:
http://workandincomerfascis.wix.com/fascistworkandincome#!name-n-shame/c1qno
I am not sure who is behind this, and “fascist” may be over the top for some, but it seems, that the increasing harrassment, denial of rights and entitlements, off-loading from some benefits and shifting of claimants and applicants onto other, lower rated ones (e.g. from sickness to UB or invalid’s benefit to SB), is leading to increasing anger and people seeing a need to let off steam.
Bennett is creating a lot of adversaries with the policies she and her government are introducing, now forcing not only sole parents, but also increasingly sick, and soon even disabled, into some kinds of work, same as the Department of Work and Pensions have been doing in the UK for years, using private assessor ATOS and bizarre work capability tests, that led to over 1,100 deaths from Jan. to August 2011 alone:
http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/10/31/government-use-might-of-american-insurance-giant-to-destroy-uk-safety-net-by-mo-stewart-update/
http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/05/31/a-tale-of-two-models-disabled-people-vs-unum-atos-government-and-disability-charities-by-debbie-jolly-dpac/
See also Bennett’s speech that is considered to be a “game changer” in the way seriously, longer term sick and disabled will be put under pressure in future:
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/speech-medical-professionals
She is clearly a fan of those assessments and test that are used in the UK, and she was already consulted and lobbied by the man who saw to it, that the tests (designed in principle by highly controversion US insurance giant Unum) were implemeted by governments in Britain.
So lots to be worried about, that is on top of what WINZ and MSD throw at beneficiaries already now, to make life a misery.
Perhaps use this website to vent your anger, WINZ dependent, disentitled and disowned NZers?
Hah, Kathryn Ryan on RadioNZ nine to noon trying to twist what Economics and Business commentator Rob Oram was saying about ‘the living wage’ into some right wing political framing,
Oram told that tool that He was talking economics not politics, that shut Her up…
Poor John, he had a busy night at Antoine’s on Parnell Rise. He was very well looked after.
That genius Tony A never disappoints.
Good thing John lives around the corner!
Needing some ideas….friend of mine is only 19 with a 10 week old baby, yes she is a solo mum, currently back at school and working part time also. She currently lives in the redzone and has until May to leave. She like so many others is having a hell time finding a rental. Her rental payments are guaranteed, thanks to Paula B – her landlord is happy to be a referee….I have been sending out emails for housing rentals and the tone of the reply is all about her being a young solo mum, and then declining her. She has good credit, no previous rental issues…can anyone suggest a way to get past the stigma of being a young solo mum. 🙂
Tell her to meet with the agents/landlord with a grown up (preferably one in a suit) and then state her case ie she is studying and working and will always meet the rent payments. This is what I did in the same situation and got a rental when they were in short supply.
Also tell them you are happy to have inspections more frequently. Don’t take baby (but of course tell them about baby) and make sure she is dressed well.
Lolz, if there is no specifics in the ad for the places your mate is trying to rent about babies DON’T TELL THEM, there is nothing in any legislation that would require Her to do so,
Suggest you also tell them that your friend is a ‘student’ who works part-time and can pay the rent through the help of the accommodation supplement, might have to stretch the ‘student’ one to include the field of study,
The only other suggestion which probably is a non starter is that your friend shift to a city/town that doesn’t have the accommodation problems currently being experienced there which are probably going to get worse as the re-build ramps up…
Hi Anakereiti. There is nothing about your friend that would indicate that landlords should be wary of her. In fact, she has things in favour as a tenant, regular guaranteed rent payments, a referal, part time work and is in education. So I would say its the landlords that have the problem and doesn’t their response sound like discrimination?
I wonder what the tenancy act would have to say about declining a reliable prospective tenant on the grounds of solo parenting?
Sorry not that helpful but maybe call the DBH on 0800 83 62 62 to clarify her rights
http://www.dbh.govt.nz/tenancy-index
Thanks to all, for your help. Il try a couple of different ways ….see which one gets her in first lol. Thanks
Don’t think the tenancy law says anything about a landlord discriminating against anyone, if anyone wanted to buy into a fight, a long one, with landlords appearing to discriminate the Human Rights Commissioner would be the place to start,
Wouldn’t tho solve the immediacy of the housing problem…
Hi bad12. I think its wise to always be aware of your rights, not necesssarily in the event that you will take issue with another party and take it up at a formal level – its just something that may help at an informal level and maybe can be used in an opportunistic way. Nothing like a subtle mention of the other parties legal obligations/or your rights to get things moving.
Sometimes works. Sometimes doesn’t.
We have had the experience on two occasions of being selected as tenants due to our child free status and have been chosen over couples with children. I’ve found this out later once via the landlord herself and once via a friend of the landlord. Great to get a flat but sucks to be partly responsible for an outcome in that discriminates against children. It happens, landlords are excluding children from their right to housing. This is happening in Anakereiti’s friends’ instance.
I think if Anakereiti is receiving regular responses that refer to the prospective tenant being a “solo Mum” then it wouldn’t hurt to look into her rights as parent seeking accomodation. No it won’t solve the immediate problem (and it is a major one especially if she’s settled into study). Its not for the tenant to carry stigma and work out ways around that to get into a flat, its up to the landlord to put their prejudice aside. Easier said than done I know, but I wish her well for finding a good place to live soon.
True, the one answer i forgot to put to AnaKereiti was her friend could apply to the State for housing as, (i assume),Her friend is on a low income and a single parent,
Unfortunately the friend also appears to live in Christchurch where accommodation is becoming scarcer,
Other than suffer renting a wreck of a house which i have seen highlighted on the TV i cannot think of any other good advice,
Yes the problem with ‘our rights’ is that while many of us know them,(or know discrimination when we are subject to it), in most cases we are left to fight such battles on our own behalf which can be one hell of a battle for those without the skills,
This is the uneven playing field of the past 30 years of deregulation, instead of having a relevant Government department to complain to which then investigates such complaints and prosecutes in the case of wrong-doings being found we all have been left having to investigate and prosecute on our own behalves,
Such ‘thinking’ which presupposes the honesty and integrity of those in ‘higher’ positions in society is obviously failed ideology and we need return to a system where alleged breaches of rules and laws across all facets of society are investigated and ,(if warranted), prosecuted by the relevant Government Department which deals with that legislation…
In breaking news Charles Chauvel has resigned as a list MP to take up a job at the UN.
Bugger, he was once of the best performing Labour MPs …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10866354
And an pretty damn good left MP comes in, Carol Beaumont.
I agree with you there TRP. But Charles performed quite a specialised and important role. Carol is and will be good because she is staunch and understands the party and the trade union movement very well.
That is a bugger.
Why cant Trevor get a job with the UN (anywhere else for that matter).
Would you hire him?
😈
In CB we have a good union presence in Parliament. I think you have to go back to the 30’s to see the same amount of union bod in parliamentary Labour.
(Matthew Hooton will be crying in his beer tonight, he has been worrying about this for a while)
Excellent observation. And what an imcomparably Left Wing party that has created under their watch.
You beat me to it MS! Just read it on Scoop
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1302/S00258/charles-chauvel-announces-resignation.htm
I’m really curious to see what will happen in Ohariu now. We desparately need to get rid of Peter Dunne in this area for the sake of the electorate but most importantly for the sake of the country. (I know I’m repeating myself) Looking at previous election results, it could be done.
He is pretty much embedded in there really I am afraid. I think he is the reason why the 5th Labour government drifted to the right back from 02-08.
Hopefully Labour and the Greens will win enough seats to render him irrelevant in the post election horse trading, and he will spend 3 years in the wilderness.
WHAT ‘mandate’ for asset sales?
DEBUNKING THIS ‘URBAN (AND RURAL?) MYTH’!
Do the maths!!!!!
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/cabinet-holds-back-pushing-asset-sales-waits-supreme-court-bd-136063#comment-607156
The final vote on the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012, was 61 – 60
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/8/e/50HansD_20120626_00000012-State-Owned-Enterprises-Amendment-Bill-Public.htm
A party vote was called for on the question, That the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.
Ayes 61
New Zealand National 59; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.
Noes 60
New Zealand Labour 34; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 8; Māori Party 3; Mana 1.
__________________________________________________________
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/02/a_lie.html/comment-page-1#comment-1097573
[ Pete(r) George – Dunedin North candidate – United Future )
(16,292) Says: February 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm]
” UF did not specifically campaign for the ‘mixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealand’ because it was not UF policy”
WHAT UNITED FUTURE DID CAMPAIGN ON: RE ASSET SALES:
http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz/asset-sales-policy-announcement/
Asset Sales Policy Announcement
10 October 2011
Kiwibank, Radio New Zealand and the water supply should be ruled out of any future asset sales programmes, UnitedFuture Leader Peter Dunne said today.
Speaking to the Auckland Rotary Club, he said that given that National has a manifesto that includes asset sales, New Zealanders need to start a proper debate on the future limits of those sales.
“To this point there has not been a proper national debate beyond National saying yes and Labour saying no.
“We need a conversation that is more detailed and drills down into what New Zealanders really think are acceptable bottom lines,” he said.
“New Zealanders, I believe, are not definitively pro-asset sales, but under certain conditions, it is no longer the bogeyman issue that Labour would have you believe.”
Mr Dunne said UnitedFuture’s role as a support partner is not just to contribute its own policies, but to help keep a government to a reasonable, centrist path.
……….. ”
In my considered opinion – the voting public of Ohariu were thus effectively misled by United Future and Peter Dunne on the issue of support for the ‘Mixed Ownership Model’ for State-Owned electricity assets and Air New Zealand.
In my considered opinion, United Future and Peter Dunne SOLD OUT the voting public of Ohariu by voting in support of the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership) Amendment Act 2012.
Had Peter Dunne kept faith with the voting public of Ohariu – the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill should have BEEN DEFEATED 60 – 61.
I thus believe that I am absolutely correct in my statement that THERE IS NO MANDATE FOR ASSET SALES – given that this minority National Government (which DID campaign on asset sales) has only 59 out of 121 MPs.
ACT did not specifically campaign on asset sales – but their support for privatisation is hardly a secret.
However –
” UF did not specifically campaign for the ‘mixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealand’ because it was not UF policy”
THEREFORE! NO MAJORITY – NO MANDATE!
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
Auckland Mayoral Candidate 2013
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
National said what they were going to do if they won, they won so now they’re trying to do what they said they were going to do, I’m not surprised the left arn’t keen on this but National are in power because the majority of voters wanted them in power
Don’t want this to happen? Then make sure Labour get the majority, quite simple really
National did not get a majority, Chris. That’s why they are in a coalition. They rely on John Banks and the vote of Peter Dunne to get the sales passed and Dunne didn’t even campaign on the issue, preferring to stay silent to fool the electors of Ohariu into trusting that he wouldn’t do it.
War memorials may be chattels of nationhood, built of the lives lost in endless blood they are also mausoleums for the freedoms sold long afore their sacrifice, but this embroiders every campaign badge with shame
http://rt.com/news/sandhurst-mons-rename-bahrain-457/
I for one would be very interested in what our Prime Minister, who has so often spoken of his respect for the fallen, has to say on this deal.
Dom-on T.V; risk of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood increases approx 30% with every hour (?) children and teens spend watching T.V on an average weeknight.-Professor Bob Hancox, Otago Uni.
conclusion: a strong association
“We read all our mail. We welcome leaks, news-tips, feedback, and suggestions for content. Please feel free to email us: thestandardnz@gmail.com. One or more of the editors look at this during the day.”
Yeah right!
Does anyone really read the emails that get sent to the Standard or is that line from the contact page a joke? I don’t want to get sniffy about it, but for the second time, I’ve sent through a guest post and not heard diddly back. Fine if you’re not going to publish it, that’s your call, but I’m confused as to why I’m not at least worth the courtesy of a reply.
Cheers.
TRP
[yeah, it’s not easy finding good help when you’re offering no pay and lots of hours. Your post is already in the queue for tomorrow. Eddie]
[lprent: I looked at this (again) this morning. But after staggering home at or after 2000 after a hard days coding, cooking, blobbing in front of the TV before bed, and then heading to work at 0630 the following day for the last few weeks…. Well the last few bugs are all that stands between me and a life. The time required to set up a guest post is a bit too long. But the guest posts have been a bit neglected over the last month or so. I think we’re all a bit busy. ]
Cheers, Eddie, much appreciated. As is everything about TS really …
Big Ups TRP (i never bought that “bukkake” line neither)
Cheers, my blue skinned friend. And thanks to LP, and all the other authors and mods. It’s easy to forget that TS is volunteer run; its just looks a million bucks because of the efforts of some pretty cool people.
ya been peeking at my stash you hound
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15nmydh&s=4
Gotta few of the eighties originals stashed away myself. Good times.
I’m very sorry to se Chalres Chauvel leaving Parliament. I really am.
I’m very sorry to see Charles Chauvel leaving Parliament. I really am.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Harawira-nephews-in-alleged-assault/tabid/423/articleID/287287/Default.aspx
Sound like nice guys…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10866356
– Wait its ok, Hones offering to help settle this
First time I’ve heard violent assault and home invasion being described as a dispute…
What point are you actually trying to make here???, if you are attempting to pillory Hone for the actions of His nephews you would also have to pillory Nick Smith over His brother being prosecuted by the Canterbury Regional Council…
The point is they’re drop kick losers who should be in jail but they probably won’t because an mp will use their influence to effect the out come
Carry on with your defamation, i hope Hone reads that and drags you through the courts to ransack every last cent you possess from what can only be described as a sorry sack of you what…
Sorry my mistake…alleged drop kick losers
Charming.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/articles/20130218.aspx
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/13/new-medal-for-drone-pilots/1917735/
you psychic marionette you
Yep.
What get’s me is that there’s no “valour” or “exceptionalism” involved – what counts as exceptional drone flying? It’s basically down to logged hours and maybe attributed deaths.
I don’t think they’re too far from going back to “citizen-soldiers”, but someone comes home from work, logs on, plays a computer game for a couple of hours, and gets experience points that count towards a medal.
The only change from today is that people on the other side of the planet die.
Quintessential alienation.
On the other hand its actually a good thing if you can kill the enemy without any of your own side dying…kinda makes it easier for your side
Ahh – channelling Paton:
“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.”
Patton obviously!
Its a good quote
It’s a bad thing to be able to do it too easily, with little or no effort. Becomes easier than thinking about a long term solution – or at least that’s one point the General quoted in the article made.
And of course, it’s all very well being able to blow shit up and then bounce the rubble around, but the acid test is whether your guy can walk down the street in broad daylight. But then that particular debate goes back to Douhet.
It’s a bad thing to be able to do it too easily, with little or no effort.
– Depends if you’re the one sitting safely at HQ or the one at the pointy end I guess…
Moronic attitude C73.
The risk is in the degrees of control which these methods lead to. Are drones patrolling skies in war zones and out, really something which is going to take humanity in a positive direction!
If you’re a parent, or going to be, I hope for your families sake that your comments are not reflective of your actual views!
Come on man, think a little deeper eh!
I’m thinking of the poor grunt at the sharp end that has to implement the policies of whatever government of the day is running…hes the one that has to go and do the dirty work.
Someones son, brother, nephew, father, cousin, uncle, friend has to go and do it and if theres a safer way for that guy to do the job then I’m all for it.
There ia always a choice, nobody has to do the dirty work, they chose to, situational or not, you’re talking about taking lives by remote control, based on it being safer for someone else, this is madness.
Scope creep, mission creep etc, your words are supporting it!
You can tell your family and friends that your position lead to NZ skies being droned, because thats where its headed!
Correct, they chose to do a job…kill the enemy without (preferably) being killed yourself. They have the technology to do the job safer then ever so it would be morally wrong to deny them the opportunity to do so.
You want the killing stopped then look at the governments not the soldiers, its not the soldiers (at least in western democratic countries) that decide to go to war its the politicians and the people that elect (or keep electing them)
Actually its nothing to do with the politicians deciding anything, The decisions to go to war run far deeper than any front facing political entity, which is not elected!
That’s why its even more important that people do not buy into this system, and as such the choice being made to wage war using remote control, is trite!
True. But that’s the difference between political leadership and soldiers. The leader needs to not just take the easy course, but to find a long term solution to the situation.
Because if drone strikes happen in perpetuity, what are the odds of people responding to that constant terror putting a bomb in the pilot’s local shopping mall? Or the areas involved shift geopolitically to China or Russia to preserve their internal stability, so the US loses some regional influence, and fifty years down the line the drone pilots’ grandkids end up on the pointy end of ww3? And what happens when opponents get the hang of evading detection/slipping through the surveillance filters – classic assymetric problem. If you kill the chaps as soon as you think you’ve found them, you don’t find out who their friends are or what they’re doing.
Short term “solutions” can be long term mistakes.
Shades of “Ender’s Game”.
From couple of years ago, Barbara Ehrenreich: War Without Humans and a ted talk, The Robots of War, by P W Singer, the author of Wired for War and Corporate Warriors:The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry.
This too.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/hubris-rachel-maddow-documentary-iraq-war-david-corn
Here’s the documentary.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#50852099
sooo, the Ozzie “manufacturing confidence” index is in the low 40’s (N0rty)
Cosgrove-“significant losses of sub-contractors due to Mainzeal flattening may have an effect on the entire construction industry…
Williamson up against the wall
Excellent work by Eugenie Sage nailing and hoeing into Tremain (HBRC debt to increase in excess of 500% by 2021; don’t we love spending other peoples money!)
Spirituality is In The House, thanks to Winning some tutae 🙂
If I may briefly slip into my professional field – the Overseas parliamentary news has this fascinating snippet about archiving of email for Danish MPs (it’s about half way down the page).
MPs will be able to select emails for preservation by the State Archives as part of their day to day email management. Members’ correspondence held in the Archives is generally accessible to the public after 75 years.
I will be fascinated to see how it will actually work in practice (in my experience recordkeeping is not one of the strengths of most politicians).
Interesting in light of the recent responses to the Law Commission’s recommendation to extend our OIA to cover Parliament.
Pssst, when you get time to look Lprent, the edit function has thrown a spaz, i can access it but none of the comment that needs editing is showing up…
A breath of fresh air – well almost.
I can’t even see how to edit in the first place, you must have a bourgeoisie pc. 🙂
Lolz and i thought i was the only computer illiterate round here…
Seriously, the amount of mistakes I make, the edit function was the second thing I looked for after the ‘self publicise’ button.
Never found either, even if I only really need the one.
I run music studio software without breaking (many) synapses, and I’m getting really envious when I read posts with *edit in them. :grrr: 😆
I’m on Chrome, with pop ups blocked and that’s about it. No edit button.
Seriously, i mean hell pull the other one,leg that is, it plays Jesus my Lord come unto me, that’s with the backing of the full NZ Symphony orchestra as well,
The edit function appears next to the delete function on the bottom of your posted comment, Yeee-essss, i feel so computer literacerially superior after having said that,
And even more so with my coining of a brand new word, wonder if i can patent it…
There’s a delete button? Now I’m really getting pissed off 😆
All I see is ‘reply’, and that’s it, even when logged in.
If you’re making up words – Is the site being al1enistic by denying me buttons others have?
I’d write to my mp if it wasn’t macindope.
I can only say how saddened i am for your loss as i eagerly await seeing both functions appear as my comment comes up on the page,
i also now have the sudden urge to deliberately make a large number of errors, both spelling and grammatical, in this latest comment just so i may avail myself of such functions others are not in possession of,
i will tho resist such an egotistical aberration in character as the aforementioned function tonight only leads to the production of a blank page which in turn leads me to thoughts that perhaps this is the true value of my posted comments…
Do you have JavaScript enabled? Doesn’t work without it.
i better look at that on my computer, i haven’t disabled it, but you never know with my machine,
no hurries it will make me spell things properly first time round…
The edit function has not been working for me for a couple of hours; javascript is turned on in my browser and I don’t believe that i have made any system changes.
Same here.
Test…
I see what you mean…
Pops up ok, but fails to get the comment loaded. There was no plugin update.
Ummm. I’d guess a cache problem? Clearing..
Nope.. Definitely a morning job.
Ok. In the morning….
Tah much…
Is David Shearer still the leader of the Labour Party?
And is the Labour Party still the major opposition party?
There’s been so much going on and it seems that neither David Shearer or anyone else in the Labour party have anything to say. About anything…
Aw god not another one, next you will be telling us all your a disgruntled member and, ”shrill voice” you wont be voting for them again with that Shearer there….
@bad12
Yeah what a bitch that the punters don’t respond the way the Labours strategists (if they have any) think they should.
Shame on the New Zealand public for being so disobedient!
Bad New Zealanders!
(…and take care not criticisze the strategists, its not as though its their job to predict correctly how people will respond…./sarc)
Apart from female dogs is there an actual point here that you are trying to get across to me, i fear that if there is my attempts to de-cypher this point,limited i must admit, have failed…
Well I was unclear whether you were being sarky in your first comment, so chose to hedge my bets and be sarky in response.
I am commenting on this trend of criticizing people’s views that express concern about Labour’s or Mr Shearer’s effectiveness, and how it is seeming kind of arse about face in a democracy.
Despite apparently living in a democracy there appears to be an increasing message that we have to “be nice” and not express dissent to the sham that is going on on both sides of the parliamentary house.
I mean if everyone just shut up and voted for Labour, it stands to reason they would win. Guess that is how the logic goes.
I understand that people are paid good money to play the role of political strategist and if any ordinary person not in parliament did their job as badly, as both this government and the Labour party strategists over the last 5 years we would have our arses fired; so a wee bit of negative feedback here and there, really is a very small price to pay, and if listened to, would improve their game.
In answer to that, how many comments have you seen the commenter i was replying to make on the Standard,
There ‘seems’ to be a trend developing here, and i highlight the word ‘seems’ as this is only a personal observation, that when the ‘i hate Dave S’ crew quiets down it’s criticism of Him up will pop a few ‘names’ here and there who will poke the anti-Shearer fire for signs of life, or to get it raging again,
These odd commenters who seem like strangers to me could be genuine in their concern about Shearer and having found this site cannot but help unloading such concerns into whatever post they have ‘landed in’ so to speak be that open mike or a specific post on a topic,
Because of this i give far more ‘weight’ to comments from ‘names’ i recognize as having commented on the site befor and tend to view comments such as the one we are discussing above as just as likely to be posted into the site by those with the specific goal of attempting to destabilize the current Labour leadership for reasons other than concern for that Party…