I don’t think so. They died because we were dragged into a war because of a complicated system of alliances between Queen Victoria’s relatives meant that when a Serbian nationalist shot an Austrian Prince, a lot of strutting and posturing and “my cannon is bigger than your cannon” lead to a totally un-necessary conflict which affected most of the world.
And the men who died specifically at Gallipoli did so because no one bothered to update the strategy after the Turks were kicked out of Russia. Most pointless invasion ever.
those conscripted went cos the choice was death or prison
those who volunteered believed the propaganda that it would be quick… painless and adventurous
they did not get killed, maimed or mentally scarred so that 100 years later politicians could exploit their memories for their own ends
the auckland war memorial museum has poignant interviews with people who went and their reasons for going. many talk about being pacifists afterwards. i honour their words more than roflcopters propandic judgments.
i had 2 great uncles die in france in ww1. one in action. one as a result of wounds sustained at the somme. they were cannon fodder for colonels and generals who valued livestock higher than their men.
blackadder goes 4th is practically a documentary in its depiction of british command.
“those conscripted went cos the choice was death or prison”.
None of the New Zealand soldiers who went to Gallipoli were conscripts Tracey. They were all volunteers.
After all, the landings at Gallipoli were in 1915 and New Zealand did not introduce conscription until 1916.
The reasons men went to war in 1914- 18 was many and varied and changed over time – those that volunteered early thinking it would be a bit of adventure and be over by Xmas may have different reasons than those who were conscripted later and did have some idea of the slaughter that was going on.
So reasons could be a sense of adventure, social or peer pressure, a response to propaganda, a feeling that it was the ” right thing ” to do or one’s duty , to get a paying job, to defend Belgian neutrality, hatred of Germans , a Christian duty, and no doubt many other reasons.
I took your statement to be referring to Gallipoli, and not that it was a general statement about the war, because it is a reply to a comment by Stephanie Rodgers who said, at the very beginning of her comment.
“And the men who died specifically at Gallipoli”
I thought that when you were replying to a comment that said that that you were also talking about Gallipoli. A perfectly reasonable assumption I would have thought.
I wouldn’t have been mislead about your meaning if you had made your comment a reply to Rolfcopter, rather than to someone else.
What a load of BS. Chances are that even if the West had lost WWI or WWII we’d still be able to post on the internet. Oppressive regimes tend not to last too long.
Hard to say the internet would have been invented, developed and evolved as it has.
It’s actually quite amazing that the internet managed to be released to the public with so little in the way of regulation and oversight. It seems to be too late to put the genie back in the bottle now.
Hard to say the internet would have been invented, developed and evolved as it has.
IMO, as soon as we had computers the internet was inevitable. Sure, it’s development may have taken longer and a different direction but we still would have got it.
We had BBS. It’s entirely possible that TCP / IP could have been kept as a DARPA / military-only technology, and we would have had an ad-hoc linkage of BBSes together. Really the fact that private ISPs were allowed to get IP addresses and connect to the network is what enabled the spread; it is very easy to imagine a world where private ISPs like that simply weren’t allowed to join the ‘military’ network.
Also it’s very easy to slip into thinking that ‘the world-wide web’ is ‘the internet’. Of course the internet didn’t gain broad popular appeal until the web was created; before that it was gopher, usenet and other clunky text-based systems.
But sure, some system of wide networking probably would have been invented eventually, but again it’s easy to imagine a system that was very heavily controlled by a state (or states), and required such things as real-name identification online, strict controls around porn and other ‘dubious’ content etc.
From my understanding, the explosive growth of the worldwide web was fueled in the very early days by pornography. An ideal way to share pornographic pictures worldwide anonymously.
So in other words, the worldwide web was impervious to state control from the very beginning.
Its war propaganda instead of remembrance. So many people died and for what? The way we should remember them is to ask the question whether we want to see their great great great great etc children experience the same. It would open a debate that is about a better world and safe place for humanity.
I belief that would at least make sure their death was not in vain.
Yes maybe. However VTO has some valid points and as an ex National Serviceman I agree with him. It is all bullshit. it is glorifying war so the next generation can expect to be cannon fodder for the right wing aresoles.
If I hear the last post played one more time I will go up the fucking wall.
You only have to read about butcher Haig and his class (O golly gosh we have lost 20 00 men, never mind send over another 20.000 peasants) My interpretation of those aresoles.
Spike Milligan summed it up once when he said about the upper crust duchesses, “must knit something for our poor lads at the front,” but when the surviving “poor lads” came back to “a land fit for heroes” these same upper crust duchesses could not give a shit about the conditions and slums they lived in with kids undernourished getting sick with diseases like TB and Rickets.
I can’t see any difference today, Key can attend the bullshit but does not give a shit about the child poverty that is increasing in NZ.
I for one does not need the bullshit to remember family members who fought in both wars. My dear old dad, stretcher bearer on the Somme. My lovely eldest brother doing his bit at Imphal stopping the Japanese invading India, my other lovely brother working all hours servicing transport aircraft on the Berlin Airlift and school mates who did National Service,(we had no choice had to do it,) ending up in places like Aden, Cyprus, Malaya, Kenya, and Suez, and the follow on generations who the the right wing prats sent to places like Vietnam, Falklands, The Gulf, and the on going Afghanistan, Iraq.
It is annoying every man and his corporate dog jumps on the ANZAC bandwagon in an attempt to craft a buck. Key tried it on with an Anzac theme to send our troops off to the Middle East. Disgraceful.
Thanks for that Skinny. I can tell many a tale about my family and my dear lovely mother who was devastated when her first born lovely son was sent off to Burma and how determine she was to keep me and my other brother well fed and safe under extreme circumstances during the war. I feel the mothers and wives left behind were also hero’s but do not get the recognition they deserved. Anzac day should also acknowledge them. My wife says I should write my history as a kid in the east end during the war, but who will read read it? Not the right wing fuckwits who are brain dead, They are only interested in how much they can sell their overvalued house for and the next brain numbing episode of Master Chef on the television.
Vto posted that because they died. They died because British strategists considered that Johnny Turk was too deficient in manly qualities to stand up to British Imperial steel. They died so Vickers could make a fortune. They died for nothing that made any sense.
If they had not died at Gallipoli, at Al Alamein, at Monte Cassino, at a rice growing hamlet in Viet Nam, at thousands of miles from home in Afghanistan, we’d still be able to post whatever we like, maybe more than we’re allowed today. Militarism and worship of military adventure has been used to curtail our rights, not to defend them.
No, they died because they were sent to bail out the bloody Belgians.
Sure, Belgium today is a joke country (cobbled together out of the Dutch that Holland doesn’t want, and the French that Paris doesn’t want), but the Belgians of a hundred years ago were the Khmer Rouge of their day – estimates of the total killed in the “Congo Free State” range from 2½ to 5 times the number killed by Pol Pot.
And, because of an overdose of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ type thinking, they got sent to interfere in a Middle Eastern situation that nobody in command had a clue about. A hundred years later, our government is still sending our youngsters out to die in the Middle East, in a situation that nobody in command has a clue about, and ignoring all the times that the “West” has interfered in the Middle East and made matters worse for everyone. (“Yay, we got rid of Mossadegh! Oh shit, here comes the Ayatollah! Let’s give Saddam shitloads of money and set him up against the Ayatollah! Oh shit, what’s he doing in Kuwait! Yay, we got rid of Saddam! Oh shit, here comes Daesh!” etc. etc. etc.)
I sympathise with you vto. At the moment the media is full of maudlin’ gushing which goes on and on and on… Its the usual over-kill the media love to wallow in whilst the news of the day is almost entirely ignored. Expect more draconian government measures to be announced this week that will go largely unreported.
Its a time to remember one’s own family and the trials and tribulations they endured – not this vulgar, blustering jingoism that means very little and achieves even less.
Here’s an interesting “Insight” interview with SIS Director, Rebecca Kitteridge this morning.
For once (just this once 😉 ), Key may have got something right. I was impressed. A woman Director untainted by the Cold War rhetoric and paranoia of yesteryear is a welcome improvement.
Agee wholeheartedly Anne. I am also a little disturbed by what rather looks like a WW1 theme park created by jackson (my son of 25 gave it this description). Is it helpful for young people or does it detract from the honour and respect I have always given our wonderful heroes that gave their lives for us. I still hear the solitary gun that went off at 11 am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month as I was growing up. Man woman and child would be silent for two minutes in memory of our lost. And the poppies.
I liked the memorials in Wellington and London. I thought they added to the stature our lost ones deserved.
I used to do the dawn service thing, but stopped when it seemed that most people there didn’t know the meaning between “commemoration” and “celebration” – literally, people would say it was a celebration of our war dead.
Sigh.
Our media are still referring to it, Anzac day, as a celebration. Mind you, today our PM referred to the Police as “retailers” when advising parents concerned what to do if fearful their child is being pulled toward terrorism. he meant vis a vis…. GCSB? or something. But it shows you how he thinks, everything is measured against a market type interpretation or reference point. Money baby.
I went to an Armistice Day memorial at the London Cenotaph forty plus years ago. It was the most moving event I have ever witnessed. London fell silent. Not a sound. I swear there were a million plus people present – all standing quietly in rows. At the 11th hour of the 11th day… the bugle played loud and clear. The only sound was the the odd person who broke into sobbing. The memories were still very deep and painful.
That day changed me forever. I abhor the way it is now being celebrated as a false glorification of war. Most of those who were present n that occasion, I am sure would be horrified at the way it has been cheapened.
+1 vto. Sums it up for me. As mentioned earlier this week, the thing that tipped me over in my response to the morbid sensationalism around the centenary of Gallipoli was the sight of chocolates in the shape of WW1 tin helmets, for sale at New World. Just crass.
+1 to all replies after that except for Roflcopter.
Anne is right about the maudlin gushing of the media, its meaningless. Remembering our own families roles in war and the consequences for them I agree with.
If anything those memories should strip away the faux collective military flavoured grief. That just leaves you with the reality of what those memories mean for the family and the disappointment of what nations haven’t learnt.
For us, those reflections are for our Grandfather who was lucky enough to have his leg blown off by friendly fire on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, who went on to live a good and full life, and for our Aunts husband who on returning from WW2 was sent to another part of the country for work, far away from his iwi, and not coping with the adjustment to civilian life and the racism he encountered, suicided.
A post war casualty.
Link to good podcast on Gallipoli as the Australian nation-builder by Peter Fitzsimons, Australian author, journalist, ex-Wallaby who wrote a recent book on Gallipoli and is currently writing on the Western Front. About 20 minutes. Very down to earth take on it – he notes that one of the reasons Aussies went to war was that they were the best-paid soldiers on 6 shillings a day (Brits on 1shilling). Hence they were very popular with the ladies in Cairo and had a massive reputation as drinkers and larrikins. Quel surprise!
Good point – they don’t give flying about climate change and the effects on people, communities, and the environment and have no plan/solution – but they do care about growing ‘our’ economy – ffs I hope (not really tbh) they can drink or eat dollar notes
Hmm. Thinking she misses the mark there. By a wide margin. Take away the bubble and we’re back to reality TV of late 70s/early 80s that covered starvation and back to… ‘More Whitewashing’
And if you send a little money you can sleep tonight
Or starve in sympathy on a Limmits Diet
And you know that charity cures malnutrition
And hunger put the sparkle back in television
Hunger put the sparkle back in television
Hunger put the sparkle back in television
Auckland-based Rocket Lab has unveiled what it says is the world’s first battery-powered rocket engine.
The engine on its Electron rocket will do away with expensive and complex gas generators and instead use small high-performance electric motors and lithium polymer batteries to drive its turbo pumps. The engine will also incorporate parts made by 3D printers to cut costs and speed up the manufacturing process.
So that shows that we can keep up with the firms in the US and elsewhere as far as tech goes.
Rocket Lab is a privately funded company with its major investors including Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 and United States firms Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Lockheed.
Unfortunately, I figure that soon after it achieves success it and it’s technology will be bought out and shifted to the US. And before anyone goes on about private owners being allowed to do that:
The company has developed and launched a number of smaller rockets and received up to $25 million of New Zealand government funding over five years.
Commercial success via government funding with the ones who will benefit not being NZ.
Now think of what we could do with dedicated government funding that can’t be bought out and shifted offshore by foreigners.
Interesting that quite a few people, including – from memory – some on these pages, have been resistant to the idea that so-called terrorists have been nothing more than poor suckers set up by self appointed defenders of our freedoms.
An aside – I noted yesterday that the Australians seem to be targeting kids now.
Four teenagers who had knives and, allegedly, some half baked scheme to stab cops at ANZAC memorial services. Now, even if true, stabbing cops is not terrorism. That the Australians are now apparently planning to be flooding memorial services with cops is risible all things considered.
It’ll all be pushed by field agents chasing promotion, and managers wanting more power. They employ unscrupulous criminal types and off they go. I wouldn’t be surprised if 100% of the convictions were fabricated.
Our ngati poaka, especially the drug squads, have a long history of similar stuff and will happily transfer their skills to manufactured threats. With their infiltration into animal rights groups, they already have. They don’t protect us. They look for new ways to control us.
“16-year-old Amandla Stenberg played Rue in “Hunger Games,” but her career as an actor and activist is just getting started. The evidence is on her Tumblr, where she posted a video she and a classmate made for their history class. Titled, “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows,” the video shows Stenberg explaining the appropriation of black culture. ”
How is THIS not a major and potentially corrupt ‘conflict of interest’ in the U$A?
Where former corporate lobbyists lead the Office of the United States Trade Representative, responsible for negotiating the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) and TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), from which the main beneficiaries will arguably be those same corporations?
The Office of the United States Trade Representative, the agency responsible for negotiating two massive upcoming trade deals, is being led by former lobbyists for corporations that stand to benefit from the deals, according to disclosure forms obtained by The Intercept.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed free trade accord between the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries; the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a similar agreement between the U.S. and the E.U.
The Obama administration is pushing hard to complete both deals, which it says will increase U.S. trade opportunities. Critics say the deals will provide corporate interests with sweeping powers to challenge banking and environmental regulations.
Here is information on three major figures in the Trade Representative’s office, gleaned from their disclosure forms:
— Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, the assistant U.S. trade representative for agricultural affairs, recently lobbied for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group for biotech companies. Lauritsen’s financial disclosure form shows she made $320,193 working to influence “state, federal and international governments” on biotech patent and intellectual property issues. She worked for BIO as an executive vice president through April of 2011, before joining the Trade Representative office.
— Christopher Wilson, the deputy chief of mission to the World Trade Organization, recently worked for C&M International, a trade consulting group, where he represented Chevron, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, British American Tobacco, General Electric, Apple and other corporate interests. Wilson’s financial disclosure shows he made $250,000 a year, in addition to an $80,000 bonus in 2013, before he joined the Obama administration. Wilson left C&M International in February of 2014 and later joined the Trade Representative’s office. C&M Internationalreportedly lobbied Malaysia, urging it to oppose tobacco regulations in Australia.
— Robert Holleyman, the deputy United States trade representative, previously worked as the president of the Business Software Alliance, a lobbying group that represents IBM, Microsoft, Adobe, Apple and other technology companies seeking to strengthen copyright law. Holleyman earned $1,141,228 at BSA before his appointment. Holleyman was nominated for his current position in February of last year.
These disclosures about the revolving door at the trade agency come after U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman received scrutiny over a special bonus paid to him in 2009 after he left Citigroup to join the Obama administration as deputy assistant to the president. Froman received more than $7.4 million from Citi in the year prior to joining the administration.
Critics note that under the TPP, corporations will be empowered to file lawsuits against governments to block laws that could impair future profits. The lawsuits would fall under special tribunals set up by the World Bank.
Many of the former clients of the trade officials now negotiating these agreements stand to gain immensely.
but good form to have your name 3 times – I can’t understand that – your name is on top of the comment you don’t need to sign off with your name again, and Penny if you put your website in when you put the comment in you will get a blue name where people can connect directly to your website.
wasn’t michael froman one of the main players in the global financial meltdown who unbelievably ended up with obama. saw it on a full length documentary / film about six months ago but can’t remember the name of it. ( it was about the money men and the global bank collapse.)
sorry to post from Daily Mail, but it seems they provide the answer on who/what Key really is … the clear likeness is wonderful, even to the hair line !! a ray of light in a dark day anyway … lol .. and just like Key, it can “can react to facial expressions, engage in conversation and even make eye contact”.
The nurses who served in the First World War were not allowed to march or participate in ANZAC days when they returned – took several decades for the women’s contribution to be acknowledged. Even in the 1970s the women victims of war were not allowed to be mentioned on Anzac days. So there is a lot of sexism in the war commemorations. Only one woman in the Te Papa exhibition.
Looking forward to attending a Union gathering in Auckland on the 28th April where we
be honouring the dead and fighting for the living. Its World Workers Memorial day, tragically far too many workers leave for work and never come home. Hoping to catch up with some of you Auckland unionists from here.
Yeah there wasnt a ‘none of the above’ option either. I think people who voted for the toll option failed to take into account the volume of traffic that will leave/avoid the motorways and move through residential streets where ever possible.
Why should the public subsidise what we no longer own or operate?
How much Auckland citizen and ratepayer public monies could be saved by ‘cutting out’ the privately-owned passenger transport services and returning them ‘in-house’, under the ‘public service’ model?
Are NZ Prime Minister (ex-Wall Street banker) John Key, and his pro-corporate mate U$A President Barak Obama ‘cruising for a bruising’ with TPPA
‘FAST TRACK’?
Too much FIGHTBACK against FAST TRACK?
“Obama’s Fast Track Bill a last-ditch move to rescue TPPA”, says Professor Jane Kelsey …..
Press Release: Professor Jane Kelsey
Obama’s Fast Track Bill a last-ditch move to rescue TPPA
‘With less than two months until the window is likely to close for President Obama to get a deal in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) under his watch, the administration has put a bill before Congress to grant him “fast track” authority’, according to Professor Jane Kelsey who monitors the negotiations.
The controversial process of Fast Track, euphemistically called Trade Promotion Authority, would require Congress to vote yes or not to a final text and it time limits the debate to prevent filibustering.
According to Professor Kelsey a number of governments at the TPPA table have recently said they won’t reach a final deal unless Obama has Fast Track, including New Zealand.
‘Doing something this week was really do or die for the President, even though he doesn’t have the votes to get the bill through, especially in the House of Representatives’, Kelsey said.
The 110-page Bill is a generalised wish list of what the US wants from the TPPA, while protecting its domestic interests. Although the content has been heavily negotiated before being introduced, the negotiating objectives can be ignored.
So I bike down Pt Chevalier Rd towards Unitec instead, carefully threading the needle between the stop-start traffic on my right and the parked cars on my left. The other night, between Meola Rd and the traffic lights, a distance of 1km, I passed 43 cars crawling along.
Anyway, I sidled through the traffic jam, revved up Carrington Rd, and made it to my destination in exactly ten minutes. As I tied my iron pony to the railings and headed into class, I realised I’d seen the future… and it sure as heck wasn’t self-driving cars.
I just use a standard bicycle on my commute but slowly passing the parked cars in rush hour traffic is highly amusing and I find that I enjoy riding far more than I ever enjoyed driving.
And, of course, this. Can’t just have bicycle lanes – we need good public transport as well.
Have you noticed ianmac there has been virtually no political news since the byelection? The MSM has gone dead quiet. To my knowledge Andrew Little has only been ‘allowed’ one spot on the 6pm TV news since that time. Nobody from the Greens have had a look in.. to anything.
“Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again.
Here. Here’s American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up. Go back to bed, America. Here is American Gladiators. Here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom. Here you go, America! You are free to do what we tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!”
Don’t forget that National is the main RW Tory party with no other real RW party for support under MMP, where as the opposition to National has three main parties : Labour, Greens and NZF.
National= 49%
Labour 31+Greens 9+NZF 7= 47%
Not too far off.
And, the general election was only a few months ago. There are still about
2.5 years to go. That is a long time in politics.
However, in the mean time, do enjoy that poll for now.
One of the most touching, enlightening, thought provoking and lovely articles I have read:
A Colorado teacher who posted notes from her third grade class online and started a social media whirlwind under the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew said the assignment had been a revelation for her.
Kyle Schwartz, 26, asked the 8- and 9-year-olds at her Denver inner city school to write down something they wished she knew about them, partly as a writing exercise, and partly as a way for her to learn about her pupils.
After she went into a home, diabetic David turned to the state for help while he looked for work.
But under the Coalition’s callous new benefits rules he had his £71.70 a week Jobseeker’s Allowance axed – merely because he missed an appointment with an adviser.
Stripped of his income, the 59-year-old could not afford food or electricity and died starving, penniless and alone at his home.
His grieving sister Gill Thompson has called for the Government to review the way that benefits are “sanctioned” in the wake of the tragedy.
But a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister has brushed off calls for change.
Asked if it was right that a diabetic man had had his benefits taken away she said: “Judgments that are made around benefits are based on individuals circumstances relevant to their looking to find work, their various conditions.
“Even when someone is sanctioned then they can still get financial support through the Hardship Fund.
“And before people have their benefit sanctioned there will be a series of efforts to contact people by letter and by phone if they fail to attend an appointment.”
These Tory governments find a shitload of hapless Adolf Eichmanns to work for them. They have the mentality of clerks, where only ticked boxes on a list are real. Life and death don’t enter into it. How have so many either lost, or never had, any basic humanity?
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
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This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
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Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
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anzacs
war
defence forces
john key and American wars
militarism
honour
patriotism
gallipoli
all piled up together in some hell-stink pile of shit
Anzac day is about the men who died imo, nothing else, and especially not the fucking military who caused them all to die.
this twisted mixed-up pile will exaggerate itself this week with all manner of crap wrapped around the deaths of these 2,500 men…
I remember my family and the men that were killed.
Nothing else.
They died so you could post that.
I don’t think so. They died because we were dragged into a war because of a complicated system of alliances between Queen Victoria’s relatives meant that when a Serbian nationalist shot an Austrian Prince, a lot of strutting and posturing and “my cannon is bigger than your cannon” lead to a totally un-necessary conflict which affected most of the world.
And the men who died specifically at Gallipoli did so because no one bothered to update the strategy after the Turks were kicked out of Russia. Most pointless invasion ever.
those conscripted went cos the choice was death or prison
those who volunteered believed the propaganda that it would be quick… painless and adventurous
they did not get killed, maimed or mentally scarred so that 100 years later politicians could exploit their memories for their own ends
the auckland war memorial museum has poignant interviews with people who went and their reasons for going. many talk about being pacifists afterwards. i honour their words more than roflcopters propandic judgments.
i had 2 great uncles die in france in ww1. one in action. one as a result of wounds sustained at the somme. they were cannon fodder for colonels and generals who valued livestock higher than their men.
blackadder goes 4th is practically a documentary in its depiction of british command.
“those conscripted went cos the choice was death or prison”.
None of the New Zealand soldiers who went to Gallipoli were conscripts Tracey. They were all volunteers.
After all, the landings at Gallipoli were in 1915 and New Zealand did not introduce conscription until 1916.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/conscription-conscientious-objection-and-pacifism/page-1
The reasons men went to war in 1914- 18 was many and varied and changed over time – those that volunteered early thinking it would be a bit of adventure and be over by Xmas may have different reasons than those who were conscripted later and did have some idea of the slaughter that was going on.
So reasons could be a sense of adventure, social or peer pressure, a response to propaganda, a feeling that it was the ” right thing ” to do or one’s duty , to get a paying job, to defend Belgian neutrality, hatred of Germans , a Christian duty, and no doubt many other reasons.
It is easy , but quite wrong, to generalise .
agree. that is why i expanded roflcopters jingoistic generalisation.
when did wwi come to only include gallipoli alwyn… or even anzac day
I took your statement to be referring to Gallipoli, and not that it was a general statement about the war, because it is a reply to a comment by Stephanie Rodgers who said, at the very beginning of her comment.
“And the men who died specifically at Gallipoli”
I thought that when you were replying to a comment that said that that you were also talking about Gallipoli. A perfectly reasonable assumption I would have thought.
I wouldn’t have been mislead about your meaning if you had made your comment a reply to Rolfcopter, rather than to someone else.
🙄
Well, you obviously thought all that without bothering to read Tracey’s comment, particuarly when she refers to relatives dying in France in WW1.
Don’t blame other people for your comprehension fail.
Fair enough but I thought the references to other than Gallipoli and WWI would be enough. Sorry.
you will need to expand on that to be understood
They died due to incompetent and misguided political/military leadership.
In essence, they died so that we would remember that.
What a load of BS. Chances are that even if the West had lost WWI or WWII we’d still be able to post on the internet. Oppressive regimes tend not to last too long.
Hard to say the internet would have been invented, developed and evolved as it has.
It’s actually quite amazing that the internet managed to be released to the public with so little in the way of regulation and oversight. It seems to be too late to put the genie back in the bottle now.
IMO, as soon as we had computers the internet was inevitable. Sure, it’s development may have taken longer and a different direction but we still would have got it.
We had BBS. It’s entirely possible that TCP / IP could have been kept as a DARPA / military-only technology, and we would have had an ad-hoc linkage of BBSes together. Really the fact that private ISPs were allowed to get IP addresses and connect to the network is what enabled the spread; it is very easy to imagine a world where private ISPs like that simply weren’t allowed to join the ‘military’ network.
Also it’s very easy to slip into thinking that ‘the world-wide web’ is ‘the internet’. Of course the internet didn’t gain broad popular appeal until the web was created; before that it was gopher, usenet and other clunky text-based systems.
But sure, some system of wide networking probably would have been invented eventually, but again it’s easy to imagine a system that was very heavily controlled by a state (or states), and required such things as real-name identification online, strict controls around porn and other ‘dubious’ content etc.
Kiaora,
From my understanding, the explosive growth of the worldwide web was fueled in the very early days by pornography. An ideal way to share pornographic pictures worldwide anonymously.
So in other words, the worldwide web was impervious to state control from the very beginning.
Which pretty much proves that you don’t have any understanding at all.
Kiaora Draco T Egg
Oh but I do
They died at the behest of the same controllers still waging war around the globe today
really? Who are the “controllers”?
Its war propaganda instead of remembrance. So many people died and for what? The way we should remember them is to ask the question whether we want to see their great great great great etc children experience the same. It would open a debate that is about a better world and safe place for humanity.
I belief that would at least make sure their death was not in vain.
Sounds a bit Anzacary there cobbah!
“They died so you could post that.”
Yes maybe. However VTO has some valid points and as an ex National Serviceman I agree with him. It is all bullshit. it is glorifying war so the next generation can expect to be cannon fodder for the right wing aresoles.
If I hear the last post played one more time I will go up the fucking wall.
You only have to read about butcher Haig and his class (O golly gosh we have lost 20 00 men, never mind send over another 20.000 peasants) My interpretation of those aresoles.
Spike Milligan summed it up once when he said about the upper crust duchesses, “must knit something for our poor lads at the front,” but when the surviving “poor lads” came back to “a land fit for heroes” these same upper crust duchesses could not give a shit about the conditions and slums they lived in with kids undernourished getting sick with diseases like TB and Rickets.
I can’t see any difference today, Key can attend the bullshit but does not give a shit about the child poverty that is increasing in NZ.
I for one does not need the bullshit to remember family members who fought in both wars. My dear old dad, stretcher bearer on the Somme. My lovely eldest brother doing his bit at Imphal stopping the Japanese invading India, my other lovely brother working all hours servicing transport aircraft on the Berlin Airlift and school mates who did National Service,(we had no choice had to do it,) ending up in places like Aden, Cyprus, Malaya, Kenya, and Suez, and the follow on generations who the the right wing prats sent to places like Vietnam, Falklands, The Gulf, and the on going Afghanistan, Iraq.
Good call there cobbah halfcrown.
It is annoying every man and his corporate dog jumps on the ANZAC bandwagon in an attempt to craft a buck. Key tried it on with an Anzac theme to send our troops off to the Middle East. Disgraceful.
Thanks for that Skinny. I can tell many a tale about my family and my dear lovely mother who was devastated when her first born lovely son was sent off to Burma and how determine she was to keep me and my other brother well fed and safe under extreme circumstances during the war. I feel the mothers and wives left behind were also hero’s but do not get the recognition they deserved. Anzac day should also acknowledge them. My wife says I should write my history as a kid in the east end during the war, but who will read read it? Not the right wing fuckwits who are brain dead, They are only interested in how much they can sell their overvalued house for and the next brain numbing episode of Master Chef on the television.
Vto posted that because they died. They died because British strategists considered that Johnny Turk was too deficient in manly qualities to stand up to British Imperial steel. They died so Vickers could make a fortune. They died for nothing that made any sense.
If they had not died at Gallipoli, at Al Alamein, at Monte Cassino, at a rice growing hamlet in Viet Nam, at thousands of miles from home in Afghanistan, we’d still be able to post whatever we like, maybe more than we’re allowed today. Militarism and worship of military adventure has been used to curtail our rights, not to defend them.
No, they died because they were sent to bail out the bloody Belgians.
Sure, Belgium today is a joke country (cobbled together out of the Dutch that Holland doesn’t want, and the French that Paris doesn’t want), but the Belgians of a hundred years ago were the Khmer Rouge of their day – estimates of the total killed in the “Congo Free State” range from 2½ to 5 times the number killed by Pol Pot.
And, because of an overdose of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ type thinking, they got sent to interfere in a Middle Eastern situation that nobody in command had a clue about. A hundred years later, our government is still sending our youngsters out to die in the Middle East, in a situation that nobody in command has a clue about, and ignoring all the times that the “West” has interfered in the Middle East and made matters worse for everyone. (“Yay, we got rid of Mossadegh! Oh shit, here comes the Ayatollah! Let’s give Saddam shitloads of money and set him up against the Ayatollah! Oh shit, what’s he doing in Kuwait! Yay, we got rid of Saddam! Oh shit, here comes Daesh!” etc. etc. etc.)
I sympathise with you vto. At the moment the media is full of maudlin’ gushing which goes on and on and on… Its the usual over-kill the media love to wallow in whilst the news of the day is almost entirely ignored. Expect more draconian government measures to be announced this week that will go largely unreported.
Its a time to remember one’s own family and the trials and tribulations they endured – not this vulgar, blustering jingoism that means very little and achieves even less.
And on a related issue:
Here’s an interesting “Insight” interview with SIS Director, Rebecca Kitteridge this morning.
For once (just this once 😉 ), Key may have got something right. I was impressed. A woman Director untainted by the Cold War rhetoric and paranoia of yesteryear is a welcome improvement.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/20175123/insight-for-19-april-2015-how-real-terrorism-threats-in-nz
edit: the whole programme is well worth listening to.
Agee wholeheartedly Anne. I am also a little disturbed by what rather looks like a WW1 theme park created by jackson (my son of 25 gave it this description). Is it helpful for young people or does it detract from the honour and respect I have always given our wonderful heroes that gave their lives for us. I still hear the solitary gun that went off at 11 am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month as I was growing up. Man woman and child would be silent for two minutes in memory of our lost. And the poppies.
I liked the memorials in Wellington and London. I thought they added to the stature our lost ones deserved.
I used to do the dawn service thing, but stopped when it seemed that most people there didn’t know the meaning between “commemoration” and “celebration” – literally, people would say it was a celebration of our war dead.
Sigh.
Our media are still referring to it, Anzac day, as a celebration. Mind you, today our PM referred to the Police as “retailers” when advising parents concerned what to do if fearful their child is being pulled toward terrorism. he meant vis a vis…. GCSB? or something. But it shows you how he thinks, everything is measured against a market type interpretation or reference point. Money baby.
I went to an Armistice Day memorial at the London Cenotaph forty plus years ago. It was the most moving event I have ever witnessed. London fell silent. Not a sound. I swear there were a million plus people present – all standing quietly in rows. At the 11th hour of the 11th day… the bugle played loud and clear. The only sound was the the odd person who broke into sobbing. The memories were still very deep and painful.
That day changed me forever. I abhor the way it is now being celebrated as a false glorification of war. Most of those who were present n that occasion, I am sure would be horrified at the way it has been cheapened.
+1
+2
and women who died. who were injured. who nursed.
Well said Tracey, there is not enough reconition to what the women did during these terrible times, and are still doing in places like Gaza.
+1 vto. Sums it up for me. As mentioned earlier this week, the thing that tipped me over in my response to the morbid sensationalism around the centenary of Gallipoli was the sight of chocolates in the shape of WW1 tin helmets, for sale at New World. Just crass.
+1 to all replies after that except for Roflcopter.
Anne is right about the maudlin gushing of the media, its meaningless. Remembering our own families roles in war and the consequences for them I agree with.
If anything those memories should strip away the faux collective military flavoured grief. That just leaves you with the reality of what those memories mean for the family and the disappointment of what nations haven’t learnt.
For us, those reflections are for our Grandfather who was lucky enough to have his leg blown off by friendly fire on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, who went on to live a good and full life, and for our Aunts husband who on returning from WW2 was sent to another part of the country for work, far away from his iwi, and not coping with the adjustment to civilian life and the racism he encountered, suicided.
A post war casualty.
Lest we forget…
Link to good podcast on Gallipoli as the Australian nation-builder by Peter Fitzsimons, Australian author, journalist, ex-Wallaby who wrote a recent book on Gallipoli and is currently writing on the Western Front. About 20 minutes. Very down to earth take on it – he notes that one of the reasons Aussies went to war was that they were the best-paid soldiers on 6 shillings a day (Brits on 1shilling). Hence they were very popular with the ladies in Cairo and had a massive reputation as drinkers and larrikins. Quel surprise!
Peter Fitzsimons
Record world temperatures again.
Groser, Bridges and Key’s solution.
Put their heads in the sand and drill for more oil.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-04-17/this-has-been-the-hottest-start-to-a-year-on-record
To fair, that is not their “solution” to climate change at all.
That’s their solution to growing our economy.
Good point – they don’t give flying about climate change and the effects on people, communities, and the environment and have no plan/solution – but they do care about growing ‘our’ economy – ffs I hope (not really tbh) they can drink or eat dollar notes
Brilliant cartoon by Sharon Murdoch in the Sunday StarTimes today
Can’t find a link to it.
It summarises in one picture how goddam awful our media ( Christie – Rawden and Julie), Weldon, Hosking, Henry, Williams, ….) are.
Brilliant.
She usually posts them on twitter https://twitter.com/domesticanimal
Not up yet, but there is one about CGT,
https://twitter.com/domesticanimal/status/589212302584324096
Thank you.
Have you seen today’s cartoon?
It is superb.
No newspapers here 😉
In my defence , it was a rare random purchase!
And other than the cartoon and an interesting article any Rod Oram, a waste of money and paper.
It’s on twitter now,
https://twitter.com/domesticanimal/status/589539108180996097
Hmm. Thinking she misses the mark there. By a wide margin. Take away the bubble and we’re back to reality TV of late 70s/early 80s that covered starvation and back to… ‘More Whitewashing’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjqHVB3OJcw
lol – rodney defending henry by telling off blue – ‘You don’t know what feminism is, you’re not a male’
ffs has rodney hide EVER done anything that could slightly be respected – nah, didn’t think so
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11434877
The very definition of mansplaining from Hide.
hide is a necessary caricature of some folks in nz.
Rocket Lab unveils world’s first battery rocket engine
So that shows that we can keep up with the firms in the US and elsewhere as far as tech goes.
Unfortunately, I figure that soon after it achieves success it and it’s technology will be bought out and shifted to the US. And before anyone goes on about private owners being allowed to do that:
Commercial success via government funding with the ones who will benefit not being NZ.
Now think of what we could do with dedicated government funding that can’t be bought out and shifted offshore by foreigners.
but how would usa companies get their risk subsidised your way dtb? we owe it to them.
The Intercept: new movie describes how FBI sets up innocents as “terror suspects” using a network of 15,000 informants
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/15/fbi-informant-stung-fbi/
Interesting that quite a few people, including – from memory – some on these pages, have been resistant to the idea that so-called terrorists have been nothing more than poor suckers set up by self appointed defenders of our freedoms.
An aside – I noted yesterday that the Australians seem to be targeting kids now.
Four teenagers who had knives and, allegedly, some half baked scheme to stab cops at ANZAC memorial services. Now, even if true, stabbing cops is not terrorism. That the Australians are now apparently planning to be flooding memorial services with cops is risible all things considered.
Transition to a surveillance and security state, on the flimsiests of pretexts.
It’ll all be pushed by field agents chasing promotion, and managers wanting more power. They employ unscrupulous criminal types and off they go. I wouldn’t be surprised if 100% of the convictions were fabricated.
Our ngati poaka, especially the drug squads, have a long history of similar stuff and will happily transfer their skills to manufactured threats. With their infiltration into animal rights groups, they already have. They don’t protect us. They look for new ways to control us.
Dumb and Dumber
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11434895
I highly recommend this – inspiring
“16-year-old Amandla Stenberg played Rue in “Hunger Games,” but her career as an actor and activist is just getting started. The evidence is on her Tumblr, where she posted a video she and a classmate made for their history class. Titled, “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows,” the video shows Stenberg explaining the appropriation of black culture. ”
http://www.makers.com/blog/%E2%80%9Chunger-games%E2%80%9D-star-perfectly-explains-cultural-appropriation
thanks, that was very enlightening.
“Bill, you look AWFUL. What the hell happened?”
“Glenn Greenwald happened.”
Bill Maher Gets Owned by Glenn Greenwald Over Benghazi and Interventionism – May 10, 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB-itn_LJuM
See also….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28032015/#comment-992272
How The US Government Legally Stole Millions From Kim Dotcom.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150326/18041530458/how-us-government-legally-stole-millions-kim-dotcom.shtml
How is THIS not a major and potentially corrupt ‘conflict of interest’ in the U$A?
Where former corporate lobbyists lead the Office of the United States Trade Representative, responsible for negotiating the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) and TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), from which the main beneficiaries will arguably be those same corporations?
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/16/tpp-revolving-door/
The Office of the United States Trade Representative, the agency responsible for negotiating two massive upcoming trade deals, is being led by former lobbyists for corporations that stand to benefit from the deals, according to disclosure forms obtained by The Intercept.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed free trade accord between the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries; the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a similar agreement between the U.S. and the E.U.
The Obama administration is pushing hard to complete both deals, which it says will increase U.S. trade opportunities. Critics say the deals will provide corporate interests with sweeping powers to challenge banking and environmental regulations.
Here is information on three major figures in the Trade Representative’s office, gleaned from their disclosure forms:
— Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, the assistant U.S. trade representative for agricultural affairs, recently lobbied for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group for biotech companies. Lauritsen’s financial disclosure form shows she made $320,193 working to influence “state, federal and international governments” on biotech patent and intellectual property issues. She worked for BIO as an executive vice president through April of 2011, before joining the Trade Representative office.
— Christopher Wilson, the deputy chief of mission to the World Trade Organization, recently worked for C&M International, a trade consulting group, where he represented Chevron, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, British American Tobacco, General Electric, Apple and other corporate interests. Wilson’s financial disclosure shows he made $250,000 a year, in addition to an $80,000 bonus in 2013, before he joined the Obama administration. Wilson left C&M International in February of 2014 and later joined the Trade Representative’s office. C&M Internationalreportedly lobbied Malaysia, urging it to oppose tobacco regulations in Australia.
— Robert Holleyman, the deputy United States trade representative, previously worked as the president of the Business Software Alliance, a lobbying group that represents IBM, Microsoft, Adobe, Apple and other technology companies seeking to strengthen copyright law. Holleyman earned $1,141,228 at BSA before his appointment. Holleyman was nominated for his current position in February of last year.
These disclosures about the revolving door at the trade agency come after U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman received scrutiny over a special bonus paid to him in 2009 after he left Citigroup to join the Obama administration as deputy assistant to the president. Froman received more than $7.4 million from Citi in the year prior to joining the administration.
Critics note that under the TPP, corporations will be empowered to file lawsuits against governments to block laws that could impair future profits. The lawsuits would fall under special tribunals set up by the World Bank.
Many of the former clients of the trade officials now negotiating these agreements stand to gain immensely.
…….
_______________________________________________
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Copying and pasting an entire article is poor form, as is not acknowledging that the words are not yours.
but good form to have your name 3 times – I can’t understand that – your name is on top of the comment you don’t need to sign off with your name again, and Penny if you put your website in when you put the comment in you will get a blue name where people can connect directly to your website.
Q. How much do you contribute in the ‘activist space’ Sacha ?
Both your comments and martys are asinine
Whatever.
wasn’t michael froman one of the main players in the global financial meltdown who unbelievably ended up with obama. saw it on a full length documentary / film about six months ago but can’t remember the name of it. ( it was about the money men and the global bank collapse.)
And thanks Penny,very informative.
‘inside job’ ?
That’s the one. Cheers idlegus.
sorry to post from Daily Mail, but it seems they provide the answer on who/what Key really is … the clear likeness is wonderful, even to the hair line !! a ray of light in a dark day anyway … lol .. and just like Key, it can “can react to facial expressions, engage in conversation and even make eye contact”.
And, and … it’s even known as Ham 😀
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3044955/Aye-robot-Amazingly-lifelike-humanoid-incredible-range-facial-expressions.html
My goodness – the profile shot is just like him …. down to the pinochino nose !
I know !! hope everyone has a look … made me laugh !!
The nurses who served in the First World War were not allowed to march or participate in ANZAC days when they returned – took several decades for the women’s contribution to be acknowledged. Even in the 1970s the women victims of war were not allowed to be mentioned on Anzac days. So there is a lot of sexism in the war commemorations. Only one woman in the Te Papa exhibition.
thanks Sirenia.
Looking forward to attending a Union gathering in Auckland on the 28th April where we
be honouring the dead and fighting for the living. Its World Workers Memorial day, tragically far too many workers leave for work and never come home. Hoping to catch up with some of you Auckland unionists from here.
Looks like a one sided survey. I don’t believe toll roads is the answer a regional fuel tax would be far cheaper and would cover public transport funding too.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/aucklanders-want-road-tolls-to-fund-transport-network-2015041715#ixzz3Xb25pDsm
Yeah there wasnt a ‘none of the above’ option either. I think people who voted for the toll option failed to take into account the volume of traffic that will leave/avoid the motorways and move through residential streets where ever possible.
Why should the public subsidise what we no longer own or operate?
How much Auckland citizen and ratepayer public monies could be saved by ‘cutting out’ the privately-owned passenger transport services and returning them ‘in-house’, under the ‘public service’ model?
Same applies to the trains.
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Are NZ Prime Minister (ex-Wall Street banker) John Key, and his pro-corporate mate U$A President Barak Obama ‘cruising for a bruising’ with TPPA
‘FAST TRACK’?
Too much FIGHTBACK against FAST TRACK?
“Obama’s Fast Track Bill a last-ditch move to rescue TPPA”, says Professor Jane Kelsey …..
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1504/S00149/obamas-fast-track-bill-a-last-ditch-move-to-rescue-tppa.htm
Friday, 17 April 2015, 11:41 am
Press Release: Professor Jane Kelsey
Obama’s Fast Track Bill a last-ditch move to rescue TPPA
‘With less than two months until the window is likely to close for President Obama to get a deal in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) under his watch, the administration has put a bill before Congress to grant him “fast track” authority’, according to Professor Jane Kelsey who monitors the negotiations.
The controversial process of Fast Track, euphemistically called Trade Promotion Authority, would require Congress to vote yes or not to a final text and it time limits the debate to prevent filibustering.
According to Professor Kelsey a number of governments at the TPPA table have recently said they won’t reach a final deal unless Obama has Fast Track, including New Zealand.
‘Doing something this week was really do or die for the President, even though he doesn’t have the votes to get the bill through, especially in the House of Representatives’, Kelsey said.
The 110-page Bill is a generalised wish list of what the US wants from the TPPA, while protecting its domestic interests. Although the content has been heavily negotiated before being introduced, the negotiating objectives can be ignored.
…… ”
__________________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
7 Ways E-Bikes May Surprise You
I just use a standard bicycle on my commute but slowly passing the parked cars in rush hour traffic is highly amusing and I find that I enjoy riding far more than I ever enjoyed driving.
And, of course, this. Can’t just have bicycle lanes – we need good public transport as well.
Big game hunter crushed to death by elephant he was hunting today:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/professional-big-game-hunter-ian-gibson-crushed-to-death-by-elephant-during-hunt-10186864.html
Would you like a cockroach with that?
Woman chomps on cockroach in Big Mac.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/67862922/woman-chomps-on-cockroach-in-big-mac
Oops. TV1 Poll.
49 % National
31 % Labour
42 % Key
11 % Little
10 % Peters
Have you noticed ianmac there has been virtually no political news since the byelection? The MSM has gone dead quiet. To my knowledge Andrew Little has only been ‘allowed’ one spot on the 6pm TV news since that time. Nobody from the Greens have had a look in.. to anything.
Out of sight and out of mind? I think so.
So NZ is still sound asleep.
Unbelievable.
They are now in a politically comatose state – as planned.
I wonder what will happen when the housing bubble bursts?
Or when the collapse of the milk prices affects them?
You really do wonder how disconnected from reality people are.
“Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again.
Here. Here’s American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up. Go back to bed, America. Here is American Gladiators. Here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom. Here you go, America! You are free to do what we tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR3KwODDzeY
Oh Dear What can the matter be
Nae drop in in the poll of the T V
Little’s tae chicken to sit on the highest tree
He kens he’s gonna get beat
Andrew little is no match for John key .john key just uses his awesomeness knock blows to all opponents and john key has more money knows the game
Stephanie’s reference to Poe’s Law ?
Don’t forget that National is the main RW Tory party with no other real RW party for support under MMP, where as the opposition to National has three main parties : Labour, Greens and NZF.
National= 49%
Labour 31+Greens 9+NZF 7= 47%
Not too far off.
And, the general election was only a few months ago. There are still about
2.5 years to go. That is a long time in politics.
However, in the mean time, do enjoy that poll for now.
One of the most touching, enlightening, thought provoking and lovely articles I have read:
A Colorado teacher who posted notes from her third grade class online and started a social media whirlwind under the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew said the assignment had been a revelation for her.
Kyle Schwartz, 26, asked the 8- and 9-year-olds at her Denver inner city school to write down something they wished she knew about them, partly as a writing exercise, and partly as a way for her to learn about her pupils.
Read about some of the moving responses:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/67864071/i-wish-my-teacher-knew-third-grade-assignment-gets-heartbreaking-response
This is the Brighter Future National is delivering to us:
David Cameron slammed for ‘brushing off’ death of starving soldier killed by benefit cuts
Pretty much amounts to state sanctioned murder.
the difference between the propaganda and the reality
These Tory governments find a shitload of hapless Adolf Eichmanns to work for them. They have the mentality of clerks, where only ticked boxes on a list are real. Life and death don’t enter into it. How have so many either lost, or never had, any basic humanity?