The Far Right have issued death threats against the organisers of the Syria Speaks Hui, (which have been passed on to the police in the interests of attendees safety).
Syrians in New Zealand speak about the uprising against the Assad government, the violence that has followed, the role of foreign governments in the conflict, and what New Zealanders can do to help…..
Syrians in New Zealand speak about the uprising against the Assad government, the violence that has followed, the role of foreign governments in the conflict, and what New Zealanders can do to help.
An informational meeting supported by Fightback and by Organise Aotearoa (views of speakers do not necessarily represent OA). The new edition of Fightback magazine, “Syria: Revolution and Counter-Revolution”, in English and Arabic, will be available.
(NOTE: this meeting was originally scheduled for March 15, [the anniversary of the start of the popular revolt against Assad]*, but was postponed after the massacre that day of 50 worshippers at Christchurch mosques, some of whom were Syrian refugees).
Speakers:
ALI AKIL came from Syria as a teenager and has lived here for two decades. His father was an activist against the Assad regime who was imprisoned, tortured and narrowly escaped execution. Ali was the founder of Syrian Solidarity NZ, which was established in 2011 in response to the dignity uprising in Syria.
MIREAM SALAMEH (by Skype from Melbourne) was born in Homs, Syria in 1983. When the Syrian Revolution broke out in 2011, Salameh was persecuted both as a revolutionary and visual artist. Miream, with her friends, founded a magazine called (Justice) in which they documented Assad abuses in the city of Homs. Due to her involvement in anti-government activism, she was forced to leave her homeland after regime forces made threats of rape, arrest and murder against her, looting and destroying most of her artwork. With her three remaining artworks, she fled her homeland to Lebanon in 2012 and came to Australia in 2013 as a refugee. Miream’s artwork addresses issues of social justice, freedom and the suffering of the Syrian people, who are being violently oppressed for resisting dictatorship.
Trouble with Syria is that the U.S., Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and France have diplomatically and militarily supported Al Qaeda, ISIL, and al-Nusra.
To true morrissey …. although I should thank jenny for leading me down the road to learn a lot about the christchurch sub-uber racist killer.
Which she tried to blame on Assad … in a sickness on top of sickness kind of way.
Here's some real info from a little internet digging
****************************************
Reading NZ papers on wikileaks I learnt John Key was in Obamas company , giving a speech , immediately after Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, killed 77 people in 2011.
Key took the opportunity to call for more resources and surveillance to counter and stop future terrorist attacks … Cynically.
The budget for spooks and security went from $56 Million in 2011 … up to over $ 150 million now.
But apparently while 'making us safe', they were not looking at people like Anders Behring Breivik … who our killer admired in posts on known ‘extreme’ chat rooms … and he wanted to achieve a similar kind of racist immortality. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-12/GCSBandNZSIS.PDF
In the days and hours ahead of his deadly killing spree at a New Zealand mosque on Friday, the alleged shooter left a trail of digital evidence
His followers knew to tune in because he had advertised the shooting—and the fact that he would stream it live—on the message board site 8chan,
Here’s your UN compact! … was one of the many twink scrawled message written on one of the assault rifles in Christchurch … a message that ricochet back at the tRumps … and our Nacts… who effectively gave ammo to a sick mind.
Vote buying and stoking a toxic minority … Invaders!
To lift the topic ,,,,,,I’ll finish with a bloody good powerful Aussie rock song about Aussie racism and exploitation …
The Far Right have issued death threats against the organisers of the Syria Speaks Hui, (which have been passed on to the police in the interests of attendees safety).
Just the regular necessary reminder that most of the economics profession is dedicated to pushing ideas that are flat-out wrong, but happen to benefit wealthy people and screw the not-wealthy. Hence their symbiotic relationship with the "conservative" part of the political spectrum.
A truly silly column by Fran O'Sullivan in the Herald where she offers the opine that the PM should not have annoyed the hosts by making representations over the deportations of Kiwis, but instead raise the matter of New Zealand banking rules.
The thing is the PM is now in the position to quote their words back at them when they representations on behalf of their banks.
And to have raised the matter of banking with the Oz government would have been to undermine the sovereignty of our regime in this matter.
Fran O'Sullivan discards herself as a piece of rubbish. She does not understand the horrendous, indeed Attrocius destruction of Human Life that Australians have carried out on their Country – and continue to carry out.
Concerning Australian Strong arm Deportation
Contrary to little Fran,
I do not see that we need to accept any deportation attempted by the Australian Government.
As far I know, New Zealand has never undertaken to off load citizens from an unfriendly nation.
Any attempt to fly any aircraft or sail any ships into our waters without permission will be deemed a violation.
Any attempt to fly any aircraft or sail any ships into our waters without permission will be deemed a violation
How about an 18 ton spacestation that went down yesterday.
The time has come, however, for Tiangong-2 to be deorbited and, naturally, destroyed in the process. The China National Space Administration indicated that the 18-meter-wide station and solar panels will mostly burn up during reentry, but that a small amount of debris may fall “in a safe area in the South Pacific,” specifying a rather large area that does technically include quite a bit of New Zealand (160-190°W long by 30-45°S lat).
To what extent do you think excusing non-Western imperialism actually manifests a form of racism?
The first time this struck me was when the Arab uprisings started, and I noticed that a section of the Left lumped together the attack on Iraq by U.S.-U.K. imperialism with the uprisings in Libya and Syria, falsely claiming that the uprisings were simply examples of imperialist intervention. This happened despite the fact that we saw huge crowds on television chanting, “The people want the downfall of the regime!” But to this section of the Left, apparently, the peoples of these countries are too backward to fight against an oppressive dictatorship or to want democracy, and those massive crowds simply showed that they were fools being manipulated by Western imperialism and Islamist fundamentalism…..
It seems that this support for authoritarianism leads to a blurring of the line between Left and Right. Do you think this is the case? Is there reason to see this as part of a left-wing authoritarianism that finds affinities with the Right on the issue of imperialism?
Look at the people and parties that admire Bashar al-Assad or have visited him: former KKK leader David Duke, the white supremacists demonstrating at Charlottesville, British National Party leader Nick Griffin, Greek fascists of Golden Dawn, the French National Front, the Belgian Vlaams Belang—all of them are neo-fascists who see their own politics reflected in Assad’s ruthless totalitarian regime. Yet at the same time you find people who are seen to be on the Left, figures like Seymour Hersh, Robert Fisk, David North and Alex Lantier of the World Socialist Web Site, and Max Blumenthal supporting Assad by spreading his propaganda. You find the same convergence between the extreme Right and people seen to be on the Left like John Pilger supporting Putin’s imperialist annexation of Crimea…..
And those supporting Israel's annexation of the Golan heights and East Jerusalem … also supporting the removal of Assad (but failing) …
The right wing white race nationalists only prefer Assad to Islamists. The secular left wingers prefer a secular dictatorship to one based around Islamist theocracy. Compaining about that is in service to the former – the White House and its UK poodle and Israel.
Israel and the USA do not care for ME democracy – being onside with Sisi and the Riyadh Crown Prince and the censorship of al Jazeera.
While the Centre Left still, even now, courts racism and fascism, Leftist webcaster, Democracy Now, offers a different perspective.
“For Sama”
…..And regarding the lies, I think the propaganda has led the conflict to be between al-Assad and the Russians against terrorist groups, ISIS, al-Nusra. And like through all the years, like in 2015, nobody was saying anything about a revolution, about like civilians who are protesting, what happened to those people. All the focus of the media was about beheading people, the ISIS, and the Russians and the Syrians fighting those people.
I think that was the most depressing part for me as a Syrian, to be like ignored from all the Western media, and not mentioning anything about me…..
…..Hamza, you were working as a doctor in Aleppo in 2016 when there was reportedly a chlorine gas attack. There are clips in the film where you see children and adults wearing gas masks. Now, there was some uncertainty about whether there was in fact a gas attack at that time and who was responsible for it. What do you know of what happened?
DR. HAMZA AL-KATEAB: We heard that there was an attack in a near neighborhood. And then, when the casualties, the people started to rush into the hospital, you immediately can tell by the weird smell of the people’s clothes. And it was just like the—it was just chlorine. And we started immediately to get rid of the people’s clothes, wash them, and then start to just examine their respiratory system and try to give them oxygen. This is the only thing that we could do. And the most, like, frustrating thing that the [inaudible] WHO or the U.N. or Security Council, they’re always like uncertain about who does this. Like, when Al Quds Hospital was attacked in April 2016, and it was like obviously attacked by an aircraft, all the reports and the statements by WHO, by the U.N., by the Security Council was the hospital was attacked. Like, they are not sure who attacked it. And there are only like aircrafts there by they can tell exactly what aircrafts were flying at that day…..
SPC to keep things simple, and to avoid the running into the pitfalls of Godwin's Law. I reserve accusations of racism and fascism to;
1/ Those like Philip Arps who openly self identify as fascists, racists/white supremacists/anti-semites/Islamophobes etc.
2/ Those like David Irving who cover up or excuse genocide.
3/ Those like Bashar Assad who commit genocide
As for the governments of the US and Israel
A war of choice launched by the US against Iran, (which would be a genocidal war), in my opinion, would elevate Donald Trump from xenophobic racist to fascist.
I think that it can be reasonably argued, and it has been, that Benjamin Netanyahu is guilty of committing genocide against the people of Gaza. Which by my definition would also qualify Netanyahu as a 'fascist'.
The term ‘fascist’ might well have been around for a hundred years* But in the age of the internet Godwyn’s law rightly warns against the devaluation of the designation of 'fascist' to anyone who disagrees with you.
Godwyn himself has since said that this should not be used to avoid using this description where it is apt and justified.
This obviously makes necessary to define the term in a concise manner where it is accurate.
You might disagree with me that my determination that those who commit or excuse genocide fit this designation. personally I think it is accurate.
*The term fascist has been around for over 2,000 years referring to fasci or sticks carried by Roman Senators which when bound together could not be broken. The symbol of which was adopted by the modern fascists.
It might pay to remember that the ancient Roman Empire which the modern fascists so admire was a brutal slave society.
Jenny, the problem you run into when you use words that already have well-established meanings to mean different things is that nobody then has any chance of figuring out WTF you're on about.
In this particular case, genocide and fascism are separate things. Some genocides were carried out by fascist governments, some were not. Some fascist governments have been genocidal, some have not.
Instead of re-defining a word or language to suit one’s narrative one should re-phrase and re-frame one’s narrative to avoid ambiguity and confusion as much as possible. That is a golden rule in and of communication, especially on a blog site. The problem is that not all people have an equally good grasp of language, which on its own is not a major issue and can be ‘corrected’, but when they dig in and refuse to accept their ‘lingual faux pas’, it can become a major one.
It seems to me that some commenters here are only interested in writing their own comments but not in taking on-board comments by others. In fact, they often become defensive and aggressive or evasive when challenged …
The most notable aspect of fascism is the use of genocide.
At the very least genocide could be called a sub-set of fascism.
I have termed (at various times), the Assad regime as "a fascist style regime" because of its of genocidal air campaign against its own citizens.
Another notable feature of fascist style regimes is the maintenance and operation of mass detention and death camps.
Of which the Assad regime has several, the most notable of these being Saydnaya on the outskirts of Damascus.
You say that I am redefining the meaning of the word fascist. Well one thing I know for sure, a fascist is no longer an ancient stick bearing slave owning Roman Senator.
Next you will be telling me that I would be wrong to label General Pinochet of Chile a fascist. Or General Franco of Spain a fascist. Because they don't meet your Hollywood characterisation of German fascists.
You say that I shouldn't define fascists as people who commit genocide.
Why don't you do some research on the term "fascism" while putting aside the genocide thing for a while? Learn what the term means and then come back. Even just reading the wiki page would be help you heaps.
Next you will be telling me that I would be wrong to label General Pinochet of Chile a fascist. Or General Franco of Spain a fascist.
While Pinochet certainly displayed some elements of fascism, fascist really isn't a good descriptor for Pinochet's flavour of pseudo-populist ultra-nationalist despotism. Furthermore, while Pinochet had a weak spot for mass-murder of his opponents, the fact that it was his political opponents he was murdering rather than attempting to eliminate a particular ethnic/cultural group makes genocide an inaccurate descriptor for Pinochet's murders.
Fascism certainly is a good descriptor for Franco's particular nasty flavour of ideology. However, like Pinochet, genocide is a poor descriptor for Franco's mass murderous activities since it was targeted at political opponents rather than elimination of ethnic/cultural groups.
You say that I shouldn't define fascists as people who commit genocide.
What would you call people who commit genocide?
Genocidal is a pretty good descriptor for those who commit genocide. Rwanda is an example of genocide without fascism.
Indeed. Even though the Japanese Empire, did not explicitly share the Italian and German fascist icongraphy and language, (harking back to the glories of the Western Imperial slave society of ancient Rome). Following the Rape of Nanking, the Japanese imperialists (rightly in my opinion) were termed fascists.
In its brutality and carnage on the same scale as the destruction of Homs by the Assad regime.
One of many main problems jenny … is who are you asking to win your war….. surely not the people commiting genocide in Yemen ??
And even if we were to believe your good war / we must kill more and add more deaths …. to stop a genocide logic.
Lets look at the 'care' towards civilians you are asking for …. a recent war crime shows a good example …of your good war, being nothing but a uncaring death and refugee machine.
So who are you calling on to kill more ?? Turkey is your best option for dragging it out at the moment.
In their campaign against Isis the US has slaughtered civilians also identified by the Assad regime as enemies.
I have never denied Reason, that the US has committed massive crimes against the people of Syria in fact I have written about them long before you. As soon as the Amnesty report came out. I wrote on these pages about this crime.
The US is in Syria for its own reasons. The US has never unleashed the same fury against the Assad regime that it has unleashed against perceived enemies of the US. In the two air strikes against regime resources the US gave the Assad regime, (through its Russian ally), advanced notice of both attacks. And notably, no regime forces were ever killed or wounded in these two attacks. The US didn't exercise such niceties toward the civilian population of Raqqa.
The West and particularly the US has a fetish against anyone (but themselves of course) having weapons of mass destruction, WMDs. As horrible as these weapons are, most of the regime's slaughter of civilians has been conducted with so called "conventional weapons" which the US has raised no real objection to, and has certainly not acted to stop.
You are not anti-war, if you are not anti-Assad's war.
….So who are you calling on to kill more ?? Turkey is your best option for dragging it out at the moment.
reason
It is actually you reason, who is calling to kill more.
In your comment above you are of course alluding to Idlib.
Idlib had previously with Turkish support been declared a deconfliction zone.
Lately the Turkish government of Erdogan has made its peace with the Assad regime and their Russian ally, giving the green light for the regime and Russia to continue their genocidal campaign against the Syrian people into Idlib.
Completing the encirclement Erdogan has ordered the closing of the border to civilians fleeing the impending slaughter, leaving them no where else to go.
Reason you are cheering on this slaughter to begin.
And even when the regime conquers Idlib, the killing will not stop. This is a regime that is currently rounding up and "disappearing" thousands of civilians in the areas it has already retaken.
A year after “reconciliation”: Arrests and disappearances abound in southern Syria
……Among those arrested was Rateb al-Jabawi, the former head of Jasim local council during the opposition rule. In September 2018, al-Jabawi was taken from his home and arrested by a security service patrol in the city of Jasim. “[His arrest] is one of the most important violations of the settlement deal,” said the former military commander.”
Security and military patrols have also been conducting raids and searches on houses of civilians in the town of Rasm al-Halabi, a village in the countryside of al-Quneitra, and have specifically targeted former members of the Civil Defense (The White Helmets). They have recently arrested two brothers who formerly worked with the White Helmets, Bilal and Ala’a Shubat.
A week before the arrest of the Shubat brothers, three former members of the Civil Defense from the village of Saidah al-Joulan, near the Golan Heights, were kidnapped while traveling between the city of al-Sheikh Maskin and Nawa in the Daraa governorate. Local media outlets accused the Syrian government security forces of being behind the kidnappings.
Mohammad al-Ahmad (a pseudonym), a member of the Civil Defense who was displaced from al-Quneitra to Idlib, said that he had nine Civil Defense colleagues working in al-Quneitra.
“Some of them have disguised themselves, as they’re still wanted by the regime. Other [members] are paying money to officers in the regime to ensure that they are not pursued and that they’re protected from arrest.”
Al-Ahmad’s house was raided after he was relocated to Idlib. His brother was at the house at the time and was arrested and taken to an unknown location, while his family was evicted from the home. Security forces also confiscated his cars, farmland, and family possessions.
Al-Ahmad is not the only member of the White Helmets that has faced arrest, expropriation and the detainment of family members at the hands of security services, who have repeatedly accused the group of working with terrorists. He has heard similar stories of White Helmet members and their families being pursued by security services.
Though many members of the group fled the south before the government retook the area, others were unable to make it to the specified spot in time to be “evacuated”.
In July 2018, 400 members of the White Helmets and their families crossed through the Occupied Golan Heights to reach Jordan, after which they were granted refuge in Britain, Germany, and Canada.
After the completion of the evacuation operations, the government campaign against the White Helmets intensified. The Syrian government accused them not only of working with terrorists but also of being Israeli agents.’ The remaining members became wanted by the government, especially in al-Quneitra.
Jenny , you just cant stop your bullshitting your one sided propaganda can you ?? …
Things like your wild conspiracy theories about the Christchurch racist mass murderer … or the murder of British Labour MP Jo Cox … both being caused by Assad / Syria ….
Leave you with sub-zero credibility…. You've proven you'll write any shit.
your comment above you are of course alluding to Idlib.
My comment was about a 100 mile deep strip running the length of the border with Syria ….
Perhaps Turkey was promised it … and Israel the Golan Heights too… in a pre-arranged divy up upon the destruction / balkinization break up of Syria …. which was all on course and following the script of Libya ,,,
before the Isis / al nusra tide was repelled.
Regarding Idlib and ignoring your asshat blather ….The problem with Idib is all the foreign fighters / mercenaries, ,,,which their home countries do not want them to returning too.
New Zealand had 1 ,,,,, and there was a big fuss about him …. Britian and France have hundreds,
“He was part of the al-Muhajiroun network. They were Anjem Choudary’s boys. When the Syrian war first broke out, these guys were organising a lot of people to go there and fight. They did it under humanitarian cover, pretending they were going to give aid and stuff.”
Both the brits and frogs have previously stated they would rather have their radicalized citizens killed than returned … do your own internet search.
So I imagine the best result for the sponsors of your peaceful bloodbath would be to block their return … yet pretend moral outrage when they lose their last Jihad battles.
Personally I believe quite a few could be de-radicalised ,,,,,, so unlike you I'm not into more war / killing….
And I heard that you stayed with people …. like the fine ones in this video … during your time in syria ;(
The video link about Raqqa very specificly disproves one of your
Assad is not a racist (anti-Zionist maybe), and whether a one party (not based on race, ethnicity or religion) tyranny posing as socialist qualifies as fascist is debatable (a matter of technical definition). Resorting to methods (bombing in civilian areas and economic blockade) used by the Allies during WW2 is not genocide, though war crimes are/were involved. Each would claim they did it to defeat a fascist threat (and Islamo-fascism was ultimately the alternative posed to the regime, not a democracy).
I would also argue that Netanyahu has not committed genocide, albeit collective punishment and war crimes. An ethnic state asserting its will by force is racist and fascist.
As for Trump, his white race nation, "the will of our God and our nation be done" assertion of economic and military power (including sanctions against those nations that refuse to enforce sanctions against targeted states) is fascist in its belligerent exercise of power.
SPC you object to me identifying the Assad regime "fascist" as inaccurate and a redefinition of the word. Yet you have no hesitation of identifying Assad's opponents as "Islamofascists".
The crimes of Isis are dire and extreme, but don’t reach by numbers anywhere near the sheer scale of the crimes committed by the Assad regime.
You criticise me for redefining the word fascist and then make your own redefinition, fascism is the "beligerant exercise of power".
In my opinion your definition is too tame and too broad.
Fascism is something much worse than this.
In my opinion you have fallen into the Godwyn trap.
But even using your definition Assad is a fascist.
Er no, I disagree whether the term fascist is accurate for Syria's Baath regime and explained why (I did not discuss redefintion of the word fascist but mentioned the technical use of the term, as distinct from the colloquial use which both of us are doing). Many have called Moslem terrorists intent on imposition of their rule Islamo-fascists. And not just Islamic State, but also al Nusra.
And I did not redefine fascism as "belligerent exercise of power" but noted that such was practiced by fascist regimes – fascist in its "belligerent use of power" (either domestically and externally).
Yes the Assad regime did exercise "belligerent use of power", but not until it was subject to a conspiracy to depose the regime (its earlier use of gunfire to intimidate democratic protesters in Damascus was commonplace tyranny).
What I find notable SPC is that in his recent extended interview on Democracy Now in which Noam Chomsky covered a wide range of issues, imperialism, the rise of fascism in the ’30s, the campaign against nuclear weapons in the ’80s the Iraq war, the war in Yemen. the war in Libya. But during this extended interview where he was given the complete floor to say whatever he wanted Noam Chomsky never mentioned, (apart from a mention of Israel annexing the Golan Heights). Chomsky never mentioned, not even once, the war in Syria.
This could represent one of two things;
1/ That Chomsky is changing from his previous held position of endorsing the US regime change conspiracy theory spread by the Assad regime and its supporters.
2/ That Chomsky has not changed from his previous position, but knows that it is indefensible, and that Democracy Now will challenge him on it.
I would like to believe that it is the first case not the second.
Thanks for that learned theory about Chomsky's "indefensible" position on Syria. Do you think he should come out in support of Al Qaeda and the Al Nusra Front?
Don't you think it worthy noting SPC that a learned scholar like Noam Chomsky did not feel confidant enough to make a comment on Syria before people who he knew would challenge him on it?
Chomsky is not some cowardly politician. And he has never supported a “regime change conspiracy theory.”
Morrissey
How Noam Chomsky Betrayed the Syrian People
……While those who support Chomsky’s position on Syria may label supporters of the revolution, like myself, as “neoconservatives” or “pro-imperialists,” they are, in fact, more deserving of these epithets themselves.
The Contours of Chomsky’s Views
During his September 2015 Harvard lecture, Chomsky was asked whether Russia’s deployment to Syria was imperialistic. In response, Chomsky repeated the capricious claim that the entire Syrian opposition is either part of ISIS or some variant of al-Qaeda.
As even the most casual observer of the Syrian conflict knows, however, this claim is false. A major contingent of Syria’s rebel forces is not “jihadist” in any sense. Even among those who are Islamist, many support a democratic government, in some form, and are more similar to Hamas than ISIS or al-Qaeda.
Instead of reckoning with these and other realities of the Syrian revolution, Chomsky has tacitly endorsed the logic of the “war on terror,” accepting the view that allying with dictatorships in order to defeat terrorism is perfectly ok…..
…….In 2014, during the height of ISIS’s expansion, Assad and his allies attacked the group only 6 percent of the time, while 64 percent of ISIS attacks were against the Syrian rebels. There have also been numerous cases in which ISIS and Assad’s forces have effectively been allied, with Russian airstrikes often aiding, instead of hindering, the group.
Clearly, the Syrian regime’s sectarian slaughter, backed by Iran and its proxy militias, has generated unprecedented support for ISIS, making Chomsky’s support for an anti-ISIS alignment with Assad ironic at best and unsupportable at worst…..
…..In an interview with Jacobin, Chomsky provides a glimpse into the deeper reasons behind his views on Syria. In response to a question asking for his thoughts on the West’s bombing efforts against ISIS, Chomsky noted that the “sectarian conflicts that are tearing the region to shreds are substantially a consequence of the Iraq invasion.”
For Chomsky, as well as much of the left, the United States’s perceived proximity to the conflict (or the pathological belief that the United States is responsible for the devastating war) has alternatively shaped indifference to and hostility toward the Syrian revolution. In other words, because the United States is against the Assad regime, the left feels compelled to either ignore the revolution all together, or oppose the regime’s enemies.
In his case, Chomsky has expressed ideological disdain for revolutionary forces by supporting their complete annihilation. In the same interview with Jacobin, Chomsky said the outcome in Syria could be “just as bad [as an ISIS victory] if the jihadi elements supported by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the victors.” His statement amounted to tacit approval for the brutal war being waged against these so-called “jihadi elements” by Russia, Iran and Assad…..
…..Though Chomsky and the wider left might not appreciate this, the part they are playing in Syria’s counter-revolution is discrediting leftism. In this way, their actions are comparable to those “socialists” who destroyed the left for generations because of a blind loyalty to the nightmare of Stalinism.
Sadly, the conservative, orientalist, and incoherent stance on Syria expressed by Chomsky and his supporters is symptomatic of a leftism that has no reason to exist beyond the narrow parameters of its own subculture.
Quoting wacky blogs does nothing for your argument, Jenny. The ridiculous sight of a lightweight like “analyst Sam Hammad” calling Noam Chomsky, of all people, “conservative, orientalist, and incoherent” is almost as ridiculous as the shrieking charge that he “betrayed” anyone.
When I read Manufacturing Consent as a teenager, in the summer of 2002 to be precise, at the beginning of War on Terror fever, I never thought that one day its most esteemed author, Noam Chomsky, would accuse me of supporting al-Qaeda. In the following exchange, he does exactly that, as well as accusing me of supporting Daesh. That makes it three times, by my count, that he’s issued this most scurrilous and ironic smear, with his initial accusation of my support for Daesh coming in a response he gave to a friend who had sent an article I wrote criticising his stance on Syria for Muftah……
"And even if it is an immediate disaster, visible on day one, there are few guarantees that leavers would admit their error and seek once more the embrace of Brussels. As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform puts it, “Just because babies are dying, does that mean they’ll say we were better off in the EU?” Aren’t they just as likely to blame the beastly Europeans for inflicting such a hellscape on an innocent nation? After all, even Boris Johnson once thought Britain could leave the EU and keep its seat on the European council of ministers. The Brexiters will cry, “How we were to know that leaving the EU meant leaving the EU?” And if they don’t blame Brussels, they’ll blame someone else: foreigners, minorities, anyone but themselves."
he looks like he is in for (another) hard life lesson – most of which are of his own doing and could have been resolved years ago if he was reasonable.
Massey University’s Dr Andy Towers, from the School of Public Health, wants minimum pricing for alcohol as part of a campaign to make it socially unacceptable for poor people to drink – saying “Sub-groups” who continue to smoke, even though it’s socially unacceptable and expensive, they’re addicted. The same would happen with alcohol if minimum unit pricing came in”
Mimimum pricing would of course have no impact on the craft beers and wines drunk by the well to do, for whom drinking would presumably remain socially acceptable in more upmarket locations and more exclusive private clubs (a bit like in Teheran behind the walls of the well to do).
The Panopticon Society rears its head via Public Health policy academics, their cohorts in criminology presumably justify targeting of the underclass without religion with fear and obey policing intimidation.
The enemies of equality and freedom come out in public like this because they have no shame.
If Andy Tower stuck his head out the window he would realise poor people can barely pay for their rent, pay off their tertiary loan and save a deposit to buy a home and this is why less young people drink. We have the highest rent to house value in the world and the second most expensive property to wages in the world.
Using "price to signal that drinking is unacceptable" (and reserving it as a privilege for those whose drinks prices will remain unchanged) is of an alliance between the haves and those who want to control the behaviour and lives of the common folk. His agenda to describe poor people who drink as addicts is telling.
There is an article linked to the story on Stuff the about a study by Andy Towers himself coming to the same conclusion that the increase in drinking is by those is by those over 50 – so he should know minimum pricing would have no impact on that.
Using "price to signal that drinking is unacceptable"…
Unacceptable to whom? Seriously, apart from devout Muslims, who wants to "signal that drinking is unacceptable?" Some technocrats in government departments in universities, maybe? I was at a pub last night and drinking seemed pretty acceptable to everyone present.
ISTR a low minimum pricing/quantity deters kids when there's not age restriction (e.g. single cigarette sales I think were banned before tobacco became R18). Keeps it just outside the reach of their pocket money.
But I suspect that as the price of alcohol goes up, the more people bring homebrew to parties for their friends. Maybe with a nod and a wink, maybe gratis. None of my business.
Foreigners' unpaid medical debts revealed. And this is just for the Auckland region.
More than $35 million in unpaid debts by foreigners treated for healthcare in Auckland has been written off in the past three years.
Acting Health Minister Julie Anne Genter and the DHBs declined to comment. But in Counties Manukau's OIA response, it stated significant resource goes into determining a patient's eligibility status, and then seeking payment.
Here's a possible solution. Require them to have insurance when entering the country, making it available for those that don't already have cover. No insurance, no entry.
Yesterday I heard a worker at the Maori agency [sorry forget its name] say the problem with Maori babies being taken is that the department will not build/get more housing so Mother AND child can be helped away from their bad life situation.
Such a simple solution to the problem … it must be correct and so beyond the comprehension of beaurocrats
The links are to the NZ Centre for Political Research, which despite it's institutional name is a right-wing political think tank.
I tried to read the second link but could only get through the introduction by Muriel Newman, and the first page before deciding to skim for any nuggets of information. The report by a retired Canadian judge is indicative of the further harm that can be caused by those in authority. His mention of the residential schools being a 'dumping ground' for children of abusive alcoholic parents, ignores the reality that many were taken from intact and loving environments, and put into these abusive institutions.
His reference to FASD is without context for the conditions in which alcohol is used as a release from despair for whole indigenous communities.
I don't think he adds anything new to the conversation, except provide evidence of the level of assumptions that must be made in order to continue to justify the status quo and the harm that occurs.
This refusal to consider perpetual harm and the long-term consequences of government and societal actions on the indigenous community is obstructive to effective solutions.
In Australia they spend more on seizing children … due largely to poverty of their homes / parents …… than would be needed to just lift them out of poverty.
Families are paying a toll for the settings of society …. any civilized evolving society should adapt to overcome serious problems … like affordable housing for all its citizens.
I could well believe market ideology is the main impediment to fixing the failures harming NZ society.
Thimerosal is a mercury-containing compound that has been widely used as an antimicrobial agent in vaccines for over 60 years.
Human exposure tomercury may have potentially significant health con-sequences.
By mid-1999, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had discovered that children could be exposed to an amount of mercury from vaccines that exceeded 1 of 3 existing federal safety thresholds.
After this realization, the organized medical and public health communities in the United States became involved in a series of urgent and intense discussions to determine an appropriate response to the issue.
Not sure how may of the vaccines on the NZ schedule contain thiomersal as formulations and preservatives are constantly evolving but as ever it’s disappointing that Philu is still spreading his antivac. drivel….
First, there is no mercury in vaccines, and never was. And thiomersal is not banned, anywhere.
Let’s start with the beginning. Thiomersal is a powerful antiseptic, that, even in tiny doses, (nanogram levels) blocks the growth of bacteria. Up until the anti-vaccination movement invented some tropes about thiomersal, we had less expensive, multi use vials for many drugs, including vaccines. Thiomersal prevented bacterial growth, which is much more dangerous than the imagined danger of thiomersal.
The claim that it is mercury is silly and shows of an ignorance of chemistry. Thiomersal is not a fancy name for “mercury” it is the proper chemical term for ethyl mercury, an organic compound attached to the mercury molecule. They do not disassociate in the body, and is quickly eliminated through the kidneys.
Table salt is sodium bonded to chlorine. Elemental sodiums is explosive. And elemental chlorine, a gas, is deadly. Yet when they are combined, they became a stable salt. And it does disassociate (unlike thiomersal), although the ionic forms of the sodium and chlorine are not dangerous.
Reducing chemistry to the basic elements is not how biochemistry works. It’s the whole molecule that matters, not the individual parts. So thiomersal does not add to the mercury burden of a human being, unless you have some nobel prize winning research that shows that somehow the mercury atom cleaves from the organic molecule in water. And we have no evidence of that.
Moreover, there simply is no research whatsoever that has established a link between thiomersal or anything, up to and including autism.
What’s next on your list Phil…fluoride in the water ? or is it back to the 5G ?
I could very well be missing something here Higherstandard, and everyone else in the world knows the source of your quoted text, but help me out here and provide a link.
Dr. Baskin: Baylor School of Medicine Neurologist “
There is more data, more and more data on ethylmercury. The cells that I showed you dying in cell culture are dying from ethylmercury. Those are human frontal brain cells. You know, there has been a debate about . . . ethyl versus methyl. But from a chemical point of view, most chemical compounds that are ethyl penetrate into cells better than methyl.
Cells have a membrane on them, and the membrane is made of lipids, fats. And ethyl as a chemical compound pierces fat and penetrates fat much better than methyl. And so, you know, when I began to work with some of the Ph.D.s in my laboratory and discuss this everyone said, `oh gosh, you know, we've got to adjust for ethyl because it's going to be worse; the levels are going to be much higher in the cells
' So . . . I think at best they're equal, but it's probably highly likely that they are worse. And some of the results that we are seeing in cell culture would support that.''
Dr. Baskin explained that according to scientific research in humans and animals, brain tissue absorbs five times more mercury than other tissues in the body.
The vaccine industry plays games suggesting that 10 times the EPA, FDA and WHO maximum ingestion of mercury is safe.
That is not only untrue, but deceptive as oral exposure is very poorly absorbed, whereas injected exposure is 100% absorbed
The culmination of the research that examines the effects of Thimerosal in humans indicates that it is a poison at minute levels with a plethora of deleterious consequences, even at the levels currently administered in vaccines.
It may all be rather pointless discussion though ….. as I said above I not sure if any vaccines in the NZ schedule use thimerosal as a preservative anymore. If philu wants to tell us whether they do he can search it up on the Medsafe website.
Had a wee look.A bunch of different credible sites say thimerosal has not been in any New Zealand childhood vaccines since 2000, and is not currently in any vaccines of any kind in New Zealand (although flu vaccines overseas are commonly cited as still possibly containing thimerosal). Haven't spotted anything that gives a date on when the last vaccines containing thimerosal were phased out in New Zealand.
There's an odd absence of triumphant articles claiming reductions in illnesses previously attributed to thimerosal due to the removal of it, however.
The culmination of the research that examines the effects of Thimerosal in humans indicates that it is a poison at minute levels with a plethora of deleterious consequences, even at the levels currently administered in vaccines.
If you read the linked material… you should have managed to figure out that I had forgotten to used the <blockquote> on 11.1.1.3
The present study showed that Thimerosal-induced cellular damage among in vitro human neuronal and fetal model systems in a concentration- and time-dependent fashion.
Thimerosal at low nanomolar concentrations was able to induce significant cellular toxicity in human neuron and fetal cells.
Thimerosal-induced cellular cytotoxicity similar to that observed in pathophysiological studies of patients diagnosed with ADs. Namely, in both cases, there was evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced cellular oxidative–reduction activity, cell death, and cell degeneration.
The present study also revealed that Thimerosal is significantly more toxic than several other well-established neurodevelopmental toxins.
Finally, future studies should be conducted to further evaluate additional mechanisms for Thimerosal-induced cellular damage and to further assess potential co-exposures that may work to ameliorate or enhance its toxicity.
Vaccines are prophylactics used as the first line of intervention to prevent, control and eradicate infectious diseases.
Young children (before the age of six months) are the demographic group most exposed to recommended/mandatory vaccines preserved with Thimerosal and its metabolite ethylmercury (EtHg).
Particularly in the less-developed countries, newborns, neonates, and young children are exposed to EtHg because it is still in several of their pediatric vaccines and mothers are often immunized with Thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs) during pregnancy.
While the immunogenic component of the product has undergone more rigorous testing, Thimerosal, known to have neurotoxic effects even at low doses, has not been scrutinized for the limit of tolerance alone or in combination with adjuvant-Al during immaturity or developmental periods (pregnant women, newborns, infants, and young children).
Scientific evidence has shown the potential hazards of Thimerosal in experiments that modeled vaccine-EtHg concentrations. Observational population studies have revealed uncertainties related to neurological effects.
However, consistently, they showed a link of EtHg with risk of certain neurodevelopment disorders, such as tic disorder, while clearly revealing the benefits of removing Thimerosal from children's vaccines (associated with immunological reactions) in developed countries.
So far, only rich countries have benefited from withdrawing the risk of exposing young children to EtHg. Regarding Thimerosal administered to the very young, we have sufficient studies that characterize a state of uncertainty:
The collective evidence strongly suggests that Thimerosal exposure is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.
It is claimed that the continued use of Thimerosal in the less-developed countries is due to the cost to change to another preservative, such as 2-phenoxyethanol.
However, the estimated cost increase per child in the first year of life is lower than estimated lifetime cost of caring for a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder, such tic disorder.
The evidence indicates that Thimerosal-free vaccine options should be made available in developing countries.
That concludes the background detail around the toxins which triggered US governmental intervention more than 20 years ago, leading toward so called ‘settled science’…
I’ll be posting about closed door sessions held by the IOM who were hired by the CDC to provide desired outcomes…which the CDC had paid service fees to receive.
Leading to reports (including 2004) which were based on inconclusive studies which can’t ever show ‘safety’…the 2004 report also essentially removed any required for future necessary lab research.
The handful of studies are cited globally including in NZ as ‘settled science’….
16000 more beneficiaries since Labour won the treasury benches, and hardship grant's up from 270,000 which were a disgrace under National to 490,000 per year now. Jeez this politics of kindness is great isn't it, and all the while the neoliberal machine keeps thundering along…
Don't be so mean. Everything is absolutely wonderful. Beloved leader says so so it must be true.
On the other hand she said that her meeting with the Australian PM had been a great success. Perhaps she was talking about her future career after she get bounced from her current role next year.
I heard a suggestion that she and Clarke were going to become stand up comedians. She was practicing for that and her prepared patter at the meeting certainly seemed to cause much hilarity for the Australians didn't it? Scott Morrison and his colleagues were openly laughing at her complaints about the deportations.
Like the Key government, and the Clark government before it, it's going to take over 2 parliamentary terms for the shine to come off this one, no matter the actual results.
The shine WON'T come off inside two terms no matter the actual results – and the shine WILL come off after two terms no matter the actual results. Which points at an electorate detached from, and maybe unaware of, actual results. Depressing really. It results in an excellent government killed off by fear of low-energy light bulbs, and a terrible government surviving fiscally unnecessary public sector austerity.
Cream at the top for public sector chief executives
Public sector salaries are once again under the spotlight after the announcement that Christchurch City Council's new chief executive will earn almost $500,000. But are they really that bad? DOMINIC HARRIS investigates.
I would dispute Todd Muller's disapproval of old cars as at 87 I have been driving for over sixty years, all sorts of vehicles from Trucks to 50cc motorcycles with few problems. Most of which were old and now have a 14yo WV which looks like new to me when washed and waxed, an import. Careful driving and responsible attention to road and conditions rather than arbitary rules.
Driving experience is important and I am sure this started for me as my grand dad drive our 1937 Morris 8 with me beside him sitting on Nan's lap …. not that I would reccomend that 🙂 [no seat-belts in those days]
Plus cycling to school in the easy days before the roads were littered with cars during WWII.
Then there are JAG's speed changes. A good driver slows when the road suggest it and driving in America it was a constant worry looking out for endless speed restriction signs … apart from motorways which are a delight to drive on often above the limi when safe as no cars around and long distances to be covered.
It seems silly to reduce speed limits when all new imported cars are capable and safe at well over the limits.
Western Elites Spruik Media Freedom While Torturing Julian Assange In Belmarsh Supermax.
Jim Mora, Chris Knox, Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Graham Bell, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and other such worthies are amused no end by Assange’s persecution and suffering, but serious people, like the Australian psychologist Dr Lissa Johnson don’t see the funny side….
The state-sanctioned mobbing of Julian Assange, the likes of which Professor Melzer has not seen in his 20 years investigating torture, has involved abuse of both legal and political process to pursue, harass and defame the Wikileaks founder. This sustained assault has been augmented by a vicious and baseless smear campaign, conducted through the media, to alienate public support and to hound, humiliate and intimidate Julian Assange, including multiple calls for his assassination.
Treatment such as this, Melzer warns, “aims straight at the destruction of your innermost self, albeit without leaving a physical trace… Through relentless over-stimulation, confusion and stress, it eventually causes total exhaustion, cardiovascular failure and nervous collapse”.
So much for the UK Foreign Office commitment to the safety and protection of journalists.
Thanks Morrissey, interesting ‘perspective’, but Prof. Nils Melzer is just "one academic, and like lawyers, I can provide you with another one that will give you a counterview."
Deeper look at some of the aspects of the simple question – worthwhile read imo
The simple question “where are you from?” becomes, again, regardless of the intent of the questioner, a declaration: “I am entitled, because of my white European-ness, to ask you where are you from.” The pathology becomes most apparent when the person being asked the question is Indigenous. Because of the sense of entitlement that oozes out of it – and that is what is often hard, but not impossible, for others to understand – the question becomes threatening: a person of non-white European ancestry can immediately discern in the power to ask “where do you come from?” the residual power to say: “go back to where you came from”.
yet you refuse to accept the truth – when will you front up moonbreen
A pregnant African American lawmaker in Georgia said she was verbally attacked in a supermarket Friday by a middle-aged white man who used profanity, called her vulgar names and told her to “go back where you came from” as her nine-year-old daughter looked on.
Erica Thomas, a Democrat and Georgia state representative from Austell, said the man was irate that she was in an express line with too many items. Thomas said she was in a line for customers with 10 items or less because she cannot stand for long periods of time.
“And this white man comes up to me and says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch,”’ Thomas said, sobbing as she described the confrontation in a Facebook video. “He says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch; you need to go back where you came from.”’
And yet, and I can't stress this enough, that particular link to the Guardian was incredibly pertinent to the times we live in, the rise of fascism from the dustbin of history. Or so we thought – maybe we just hadn't wanted to notice that the lid wasn't shuit on the dustbin.
You want to bitch about the Guardian not meeting your approval. That's your thing. Ok. I'm fucking worried about if there's anything I can do to stop these bastards, because they will end up killing us all quicker than climate change ever would. Physics doesn't care if we live or die. Fascists actively want to kill all non-fascists. Not just over there, over here, too.
We need to maximise inclusion. That means learning new things about how our behaviour excludes or intimidates groups of people, even if innocently intended.
Putting up with the paradox of tolerance meaning that we have to exclude people with whom there is no compromise on exclusion isn't enough. That's the pointy bit of the pyramid. But the wider bit, about avoiding unintended exclusion, That's what the pointy bit sits on.
So what are your specific thoughts on the Guardian article? Given that you know that the article was quite interesting, what are your thoughts on the topic?
To get really mad about something to the point of yelling or fighting. To go out of one's mind because of the gravity of the seriousness of the situation. To lose it or flip out. Reference to Captain Kirk from Star Trek and the way he used to sign off the com speaker “Kirk out” when he was upset.
National Party embedded journalist, Stacey Kirk, kirks out of journalism. This is yet another example of a right wing media person throwing their toys and quitting because the National Party are in opposition.
True to form, her letter of resignation is nothing more than a John Key puff piece, mentioning him, oh, a dozen or so times.
I read that as her imagining she's been doing public service work thus far, and is embarking on what she imagines is new public service work, ie press secretary for the National Party.
One of the comments after her piece on John Key suggested she left because she didn't get the political editor job after her mate Tracy Watkins left.
Here's who did:
A born and bred Cantabrian, (Luke Malpass) had also worked as a general reporter at the Sydney Morning Herald and previously helped set up the NZ Initiative's operations.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not halt a pesticide linked with brain damage from being sprayed on crops, the agency said Thursday in response to a lawsuit.
Chlorpyrifos, known on the market as Lorsban, is used on a wide variety of crops, including corn and cranberries, and farmers often call it a last line of defense against certain insects.
A federal appeals court in April gave the EPA 90 days to decide how to deal with the pesticide.
Environmental groups have long contended it’s dangerous and have spent years suing the EPA to end its agricultural use. Studies have linked chlorpyrifos to learning and memory issues and prolonged nerve and muscle stimulation.
Won't be much trouble getting new planes for the NZDF now that the Prime Minister and journalists got stranded in Melbourne when their official RNZAF 757 broke down with a computer malfunction.
Bet the PM ditches our own military service next time and just goes commercial.
If the Prime Minister was really serious about improving wellbeing she would accept the recommendations from her own Welfare Experts Advisory Group to increase benefits by $5.2b/yr now..
Instead of raising benefits, the Minister of Finance would do better to bully and force seasonal employers to put their wages up, because that is where the workers are needed.
Instead we open the doors to foreigners with temporary visas just to get the apples and grapes in. So unemployed NEETS don't see enough attraction to work in season areas.
With Brexit, the US-China trade crisis pulling Chinese economic demand down, and now Iran heating up, and having one of the top two most exposed housing markets in the OECD, I see plenty of reason for the Minister of Finance to keep plenty of debt capacity in reserve.
Agree, wages for seasonal workers need to increase. However, a number of seasonal workers end up back on the benefit when the season is over. Additionally, higher benefits puts upward pressure on wages.
There is scope for loosening the purse strings a little and the extra expenditure will result in savings re improvements in social ills along with increased tax revenue via the economic stimulus due to the increased benefit spend. Nevertheless, loosening the purse strings is merely one option. Cuts could be made elsewhere.
Seems Grant has a blank cheque to tackle Mycoplasma bovis.
There's also a lot of expensive stuff that comes with it – injector pens, needles, blood glucose monitor, test strips etc. I pay a small fraction of what all that costs, thanks to what US right-wingers contemptuously dismiss as "socialised medicine." They'd much rather have ideological purity, readily available at the low, low cost of lots of dead poor people.
Playing footsie with the murderous Assad wasn't such a good idea.
As she runs for the Democratic nominee for president, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) also faces a primary challenge for her seat in the House. But if recent filings made by her political team are any indication, she’s not sweating.
Gabbard raised just $11 in the second quarter of 2019. That number does not factor in a $31 contribution refund, which means her campaign committee ended in the red during that three month period.
The committee spent just $8,828.59 during the quarter—almost all of which was on financial compliance—leaving it with just over $30,000 cash on hand.
The absence of any fundraising or spending on her House race has left political observers with the impression that Gabbard may not return to Congress at all if her White House bid falls short. By contrast, during this quarter in the 2018 election cycle, Gabbard brought in more than $225,000 in net contributions, per federal filings.
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic and ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 29, 2023 thru Sat, Feb 4, 2023. Story of the Week Social change more important than physical tipping points1.5-degree Goal not plausible Photo: CLICCS / Universität Hamburg Limiting global ...
So Long - And Thanks For All The Fish: In the two-and-a-bit years since Jacinda Ardern’s electoral triumph of 2020, virtually every decision she made had gone politically awry. In the minds of many thousands of voters a chilling metamorphosis had taken place. The Faerie Queen had become the Wicked ...
Look at us here on our beautiful islands in the South Pacific at the start of 2023, we have come so far.Ten days ago we saw a Māori Governor General swearing in our new PM and our first Pasifika Deputy PM, ahead of this year’s parliament where they will be ...
The Herald’s headline writers are at it again! A sensible and balanced piece by Liam Dann on the battle against inflation carries a headline that suggests that NZ is doing worse than the rest of the world. Check it out and see for yourself if I am right. Is this ...
Photo by Anna Demianenko on UnsplashTLDR: Here’s my longer reads and listens for the weekend for sharing with The Kaka’s paying subscribers. I’ve opened this one up for all to give everyone a taste of the sorts of extras you get as a full paying subscriber.Subscribe nowDeeper reads and listens ...
Hello from the middle of a long weekend where I’m letting the last few days unspool, not ready, not yet, to give words to the hardest of what we heard.Instead, today, here are some good words from other people.Mother CourageWhen I wrote last year about Mum and Dad’s move to ...
Workers Now is a new slate of candidates contesting this year’s general election. James Robb and Don Franks are the people behind this initiative and they are hoping to put the spotlight on working people’s interests. Both are seasoned activists who have campaigned for workers’ rights over many decades. Here is ...
Buzz from the Beehive Politicians keen to curry favour with Māori tribal leaders have headed north for Waitangi weekend. More than a few million dollars of public funding are headed north, too. Not all of this money is being trumpeted on the Beehive website, the Government’s official website. ...
Insurers face claims of over $500 million for cars, homes and property damaged in the floods. They are already putting up premiums and pulling insurance from properties deemed at high risk of flooding. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: This week in the podcast of our weekly hoon webinar for paying subscribers, ...
Our Cranky Uncle Game can already be played in eight languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. About 15 more languages are in the works at various stages of completion or have been offered to be done. To kick off the new year, we checked with how ...
The (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding.Co-governance cannot be derived from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not use the word. It refers to ‘government’ on ...
It’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump on this link for our chat about the week’s news with special guests Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and Auckland City Councillor Julie Fairey, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which ...
In March last year, in a panic over rising petrol prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government made a poor decision, "temporarily" cutting fuel excise tax by 25 cents a litre. Of course, it turned out not to be temporary at all, having been extended in May, July, ...
This month’s open thread for climate related topics. Please be constructive, polite, and succinct. The post Unforced variations: Feb 2023 first appeared on RealClimate. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two fresh press releases had been posted when we checked the Beehive website at noon, both of them posted yesterday. In one statement, in the runup to Waitangi Day, Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis drew attention to happenings on a Northland battle site in 1845. ...
It’s that time of the week again when I’m on the site for an hour for a chat in an Ask Me Anything with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump in for a chat on anything, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which are set to cost insurers and the Government well over ...
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters When early settlers came to the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers before the California Gold Rush, Indigenous people warned them that the Sacramento Valley could become an inland sea when great winter rains came. The storytellers described water filling the ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins has changed everything, and Labour is back ...
Over the last few years, it’s seemed like city after city around the world has become subject to extreme flooding events that have been made worse by impacts from climate change. We’ve highlighted many of them in our Weekly Roundup series. Sadly, over the last few days it’s been Auckland’s ...
And so the first month of the year draws to a close. It rained in Auckland on 21 out of the 31 days in January. Feels like summer never really happened this year. It’s actually hard to believe there were 10 days that it didn’t rain. Was it any better where ...
A ‘small target’ strategy is not going to cut it anymore if National want to win the upcoming election. The game has changed and the game plan needs to change as well. Jacinda Ardern’s abrupt departure from the 9th floor has the potential to derail what looked to be an ...
When Grant Robertson talks about how the economy might change post-covid, one of the things he talks about is what he calls an unsung but interesting white paper on science. “It’s really important,” he says. The Minister in charge of the White Paper — Te Ara Paerangi, Future Pathways ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The news media were at one ceremony by the looks of things. The Governor-General, the Prime Minister and his deputy were at another. The news media were at a swearing-in ceremony. The country’s leaders were at an appointment ceremony. The New Zealand Gazette record of what transpired says: Appointment of ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
Paul Diamond’s book about the 1920s scandal that shocked Whanganui is on the longlist for the Ockhams (in the hotly contested General Non-Fiction category). Victor Rodger reviews. A closeted mayor with huge ambitions. A handsome, young, returned soldier with ambiguous motivations.A scandalous shooting that leads to a spectacular ...
An easy, low sugar jam that tastes even better than the sickly-sweet stuff. Often jam recipes call for much more sugar that I think is necessary, resulting in a cloyingly sweet jam whose flavour sadly becomes lost. Where some recipes will call for equal measures of fruit and sugar, this ...
Professor John Morgan offers a 'lesson plan' for Auckland children returning to school to help them understand what's going on in their city after the floods When Auckland schools go back, there’s a case to be made that geography teachers take over lessons for a day or two. Auckland’s ‘state of emergency’ ...
An acoustic 'harassment' device won’t be used to keep dolphins from high-speed boats, reports David Williams. Organisers of a super-fast boat race have scrapped plans to use an underwater noise device to scare dolphins in a marine mammal sanctuary. SailGP’s consultants, Enviser, lodged an application with the Department of Conservation (DoC) ...
Two reports on racism in New Zealand released by the Human Rights Commission land at a time when political rhetoric around racism is escalating again. Aaron Smale reports. The Human Rights Commission has released two reports that make a number of significant recommendations for confronting white supremacy and institutional racism. But ...
Flooding and land slides at her home in Titirangi have Zoe Hawkins sleeping in her running gear in case she has to flee. She shares her concern for others even more affected - and questions what the future brings. A week ago we lived on the edge of paradise. Our forever home ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Enshrining a constitutional Voice to parliament will bring better practical outcomes and give the best chance for Closing the Gap, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will say in a major address on the referendum on Sunday. ...
By Jamie Tahana, RNZ News Te Ao Māori journalist at Waitangi, and Russell Palmer, digital political journalist Iwi leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand have accused opposition parties National and ACT of “fanning the flames of racism”, urging the prime minister to be brave and not walk away from partnership on Three ...
By Phoebe Gwangilo in Port Moresby Higher Education Minister Don Polye has condemned a decision by the administration of the University of Papua New Guinea to treat a PNG-born and bred grade 12 school leaver as an “international” student. Roselyn Alog, 19, whose parents are Filipinos, was born and raised ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s former Elections Supervisor Mohammed Saneem is under investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agency for alleged abuse of office and has been stopped from fleeing the country. The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) said Saneem was alleged to have “on numerous occasions . . . unlawfully authorised payments of ...
Labour's position has alternated over the past few days: first Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would speak, then he wouldn't, and then he would again. ...
Te Pāti Māori Co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer are announcing a transformative defence and foreign affairs policy which asserts the Mana Māori Motuhake and Tino Rangatiratanga of tangata whenua in Aotearoa at their Party’s ...
The Prime Minister once again has a speaking slot at the pōwhiri in Waitangi after earlier on Saturday saying he would respect the wishes of the trust organisers by not doing so The Waitangi National Trust has given the green light for Chris Hipkins and other political leaders to speak ...
The Prime Minister will no longer speak at Waitangi commemorations after the organising trust moved the political leaders to a panel away from the main event The Waitangi National Trust wrote to political parties last month saying they didn’t want political leaders to speak at the pōwhiri held on the eve ...
It’s been exactly a decade since Seven Sharp first appeared on our screens. Remember the first episode? We’ve unearthed the tapes. On this day in 2013, a bombshell was thrown into the New Zealand television landscape. “Time for us to make way, because you’re here to see what everyone’s talking ...
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris has fronted endless media requests and live crosses this week. Is he getting it right? Lewis Ferris is trying to find his weather map. “This week’s been so insane” he mutters as he closes multiple tabs on the three screens across his Wellington desk. He’s ...
After four years, executive director Max Tweedie has stepped down from Auckland Pride. He tells Sam Brooks about shepherding the festival through a tumultuous few years, and where he’s going from here.This year’s Auckland Pride Festival is set to be the biggest one yet. Over the course of more ...
A flailing mayor was only the public face of a multifaceted flooding communications failure. Duncan Greive examines the mess, and asks what can be done to improve it.It’s a chilling timeline. Stuff’s Kelly Dennett catalogued, beat-by-beat, the 12 hours in which Auckland was pummelled by a catastrophic deluge, interspersing ...
The Dunedin branch of the Green Party has selected Francisco Hernandez as its candidate for the Dunedin electorate in this year’s general election. Francisco Hernandez was the Otago University Students Association President in 2013. He has held a number ...
Waitangi organisers are trying to push political leaders to the side at Sunday's pōwhiri, but Labour's deputy leader says it's not for them to decide who speaks. Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour’s deputy leader, Kelvin Davis, says the Prime Minister will speak at Sunday’s pōwhiri at Waitangi, in defiance of local ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we spoke to an aid worker who had made the trip to the war zone in Ukraine, looked at why Carmel Sepuloni was picked to be the new deputy prime minister, visited the flood-torn streets of Titirangi in West ...
Schools play an integral but often unrecognised and unacknowledged role in helping communities respond to and recover from disastersOpinion: Schools in Auckland and other flood-affected areas are about to re-open after a delayed start to the new school year. Students will return to school having experienced wide-ranging impacts. While some ...
A very short story for Waitangi weekend The pā is a lonely place nowadays. Gorse has marched on it like the British troops of old, consuming the hills and leaving the marae looking a bald patch on the head of the earth mother herself. Even the roads have worn thin, ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend. This week, it's The School Away From School written by Bill Morris and published in NZ Geographic's January/February 2023 issue. You can find the entire article, with photos from Lottie Hedley, on the NZ Geographic website. One hundred years since its ...
COMMENTARY:By Kayt Davies in Perth I wasn’t good at French in my final year of high school. My classmates had five years of language studies behind them. I had three. As a result of my woeful grip on the language, I wrote a terribly bad essay in my final ...
RNZ Pacific Journalist Victor Mambor, who is the chief editor of the West Papuan newspaper and websiteJubi, has received the Oktovianus Pogau Award from the Indonesian-based Pantau Foundation for courage in journalism. The foundation’s Andreas Harsono said Mambor’s decision to return to his father’s homeland and defend the rights ...
RNZ News Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick is brushing off concerns a temporary rent freeze in flood-hit Auckland would just see landlords hike rents even more when the controls were lifted — arguing they should stay permanently. More than 20 organisations have signed a letter urging Minister for Auckland Michael ...
Iwi leaders have accused National and ACT of "fanning the flames of racism", urging the prime minister to be brave and not walk away from partnership on three waters. ...
About this time last week it had become apparent that Auckland was in for a bit more than just a wet Friday. While the state of emergency remains in place for another seven days, it appears the worst should now be behind us. Last night, Niwa shared a fascinating thread ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra ShutterstockIndigenous Australians are respectfully advised that the following includes the names and images of some people who are now deceased. The Reserve Bank of Australia ...
The government has confirmed the money will be spent in Northland, including unlocking greenfields land and transport upgrades like a new bridge in Kamo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that sometime between August and November this year, the Australian people will go to a referendum for the first time since 1999. We’ll be asked whether we support ...
Viewers across the United States were today shown a slice of New Zealand, with a reporter for Good Morning America broadcasting live from Rotorua. Robin Roberts, a co-anchor for the popular morning TV show, has been touring the country this week. During her visit to Rotorua’s Te Puia centre, she ...
They can be environmentally unsound and are a symbol used to shame millennials, but everyone still loves an avo. I love avocados, always have, always will. The buttery golden-green flesh from a perfectly ripe avocado is a culinary blessing. Today I’d love to simply wax poetic about twisting open a ...
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.AUCKLAND1The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (Penguin Press, $50) The beautiful ...
A new poem by Robin Peace. To the kahikatea I see from my bed Thinking inside the square, the ellipse, the round of what life is, I only see the trees. Not only as if that were the only thing I see, but only as if the tree matters more. ...
A week ago, Elton John’s first Auckland show was called off at the last minute. What was it like getting there, being there, and trying to return home afterwards?Elton John has long been a blessing for our ears, but in recent years his Auckland shows have been cursed. His ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
Ours Not Mines is cautiously excited about reporting that the Government is drafting legislation to ban new mines on conservation land. The anti-mining group's spokesperson, Morgan Donoghue says: "The Government has been promising us some action for ...
People who enjoy the outdoors for recreation, fishing and hunting will lose rights under the Natural and Built Environments Bill. Fish & Game New Zealand chief executive Corina Jordan says the proposed replacement for the Resource Management ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has conceded he “dropped the ball” during last Friday’s major flooding event. The state of emergency in the super city has today been extended for a further seven days, though Brown said he expects it will be lifted early. After a week of defensiveness over his ...
As the reality TV juggernaut returns for a new season, Tara Ward steps into the minds of the show’s relationship experts to assess the compatibility of this year’s brides and grooms. Married at First Sight: Australia returns on Monday night, and by season ten, you’d think the show’s relationship experts ...
Auckland’s state of emergency is expected to be extended for another seven days, according to the Herald. It was due to expire overnight after being declared a week ago, the day of the worst flooding in the super city. While weather conditions have improved, the city is continuing to experience ...
Proposed pay equity claim settlements for school librarians and science technicians have been reached between the Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa, Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted and NZEI Te Riu Roa president, Mark Potter, announced ...
Members of NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating on behalf of school librarians, library assistants and science technicians are excited to announce that proposed pay equity settlements are ready to be voted on by their colleagues. They include pay increases of up to ...
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) is calling for Michael Wood, the Minister of Transport, and now Auckland, to cancel the light rail project immediately. Auckland Light Rail was never going to happen, as our group has repeatedly said dozens of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has been asked to intervene following confirmation today that the Government plans to implement a ban on all extractive sector activities on the conservation estate. Wayne Scott, CEO of the Aggregate and Quarry Association, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images The heated (and often confused) debate about “co-governance” in Aotearoa New Zealand inevitably leads back to its source, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. But, as its long-contested meanings demonstrate, very little ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jodie Hutchinson/Red StitchReview: Wittenoom, directed by Susie Dee, Red Stitch Deep in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, the town of Wittenoom lies empty, desolate … and contaminated. Wittenoom ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Bown, Postdoctoral fellow, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock The past few years have seen an explosion in applications of artificial intelligence to creative fields. A new generation of image and text generators is delivering impressiveresults. Now AI has also found ...
New Zealand’s egg shortage is hitting cruise ships too – forcing the crew of one vessel to hatch a poaching plan. This story was first published on Stuff. On the hunt for eggs, a crew from a luxury cruise ship got cracking and hatched a cunning plan. Earlier this week, Stuff ...
Now demolished, the First Church of Christ Scientist was a masterclass of architectural imagination. Kate Linzey visits the site on which it once stood, to learn more. The object is delicate and small. Small enough to sit in the palm of my hand and weighing less than 300 grams. It ...
When your food parcel arrives before the emergency alert, you know something’s not working properly.This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. I’ve spent the last week desperately and at times fruitlessly attempting to drain and then sweep my whānau home of knee-deep water, pull up ...
Drongo-gate continues for another day with the Herald reporting that Auckland’s mayor has been caught out using the slang term for a second time. It comes this time from a former minor mayoral candidate, Mike Kampkes, who said he received a message from Brown in response to a media release ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how venture capitalists are funding Aotearoa’s fastest growing, least-polluting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Guastella, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Sydney Shutterstock With childcare and schools starting the new year, parents might be anxiously wondering how their child will adapt in a new ...
I am delighted to announce the appointment of John Price ONZM as the new Director Civil Defence Emergency Management and Deputy Chief Executive Emergency Management for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). John has been a member of the ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki are calling on the new Prime Minister and new Minister of Conservation Willow Jean Prime to immediately implement the 2017 promise to ban new mining activity on conservation lands. “ The mining industry group Straterra ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how ...
There’s a fear that highlighting menopause will undermine women, especially at work. But what have centuries of secrecy achieved for us? Are you sick of hearing about menopause? Kim Hill is. The living legend of Aotearoa broadcasting told actor Robyn Malcolm (also a legend) on her Saturday Morning show on RNZ ...
Dunedin city council has reached an agreement to save Foulden Maar from commercial mining. The maar is the site of a crater lake from 23 million years ago with the diatomite of the lake preserving fossils and a climate record covering 100,000 years from that period. It is fantastic news for Otago University ...
Some are speculating whether the Auckland Mayor's leadership is circling the drain. James Elliott hopes they're right. There’s never been a week quite like it. It was the week when the rains came. All of them. Even the rain from Spain that was supposed to fall mainly on the plain, came. ...
The Bus and Coach Association supports the Government’s decision to continue half-price fares on public transport services. The fare reduction was set to expire on 31 March 2023, but will now continue to 30 June 2023. “Half-price fares have cost ten-times ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshufflePolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Chris Hipkins hires a lobbyist to run the BeehiveNew Zealand Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, speaking when Minister of Education, at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of the New Zealand Parliament, 15th August 2018. Image; Wiki Commons. New Zealand is ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayCO-GOVERNANCE, WAITANGI, THREE WATERS Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Blowing Off The Froth: Why Chris Hipkins Must Ditch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Tweed, Senior lecturer, Massey University Shutterstock/Renata Apanaviciene As we approach another Waitangi Day, we should be thinking again about what Te Tiriti o Waitangi means. As the late Moana Jackson commented, the meaning of Te Tiriti will be ...
Even prime ministers get caught in bad weather. It’s a week on from the devastating flooding that hit Auckland and Northland and Chris Hipkins has been forced to drive north for the start of Waitangi weekend commemorations after his plan was turned away from Kerikeri airport (twice). Today will see ...
Less than a year ago, co-governance had a future, at least as potentially accepted terminology. Now some iwi leaders want the label removed and replaced, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Not to be missed event, The 'Syria Speaks Hui'
The Leftist Daily Blog gives solidarity to the "Syria Speaks' Hui
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/19/the-liberal-agenda-syria-speaks/
The Centrist Standard) only posts pro Assad opinion.
https://thestandard.org.nz/category/international/war/syria-war/
The Far Right have issued death threats against the organisers of the Syria Speaks Hui, (which have been passed on to the police in the interests of attendees safety).
*My edit. J.
Trouble with Syria is that the U.S., Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and France have diplomatically and militarily supported Al Qaeda, ISIL, and al-Nusra.
To true morrissey …. although I should thank jenny for leading me down the road to learn a lot about the christchurch sub-uber racist killer.
Which she tried to blame on Assad … in a sickness on top of sickness kind of way.
Here's some real info from a little internet digging
****************************************
Reading NZ papers on wikileaks I learnt John Key was in Obamas company , giving a speech , immediately after Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, killed 77 people in 2011.
Key took the opportunity to call for more resources and surveillance to counter and stop future terrorist attacks … Cynically.
The budget for spooks and security went from $56 Million in 2011 … up to over $ 150 million now.
They brag about how they have made us safe https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-12/GCSB%20and%20NZSIS.PDF page 39 …
But apparently while 'making us safe', they were not looking at people like Anders Behring Breivik … who our killer admired in posts on known ‘extreme’ chat rooms … and he wanted to achieve a similar kind of racist immortality.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-12/GCSBandNZSIS.PDF
Here’s your UN compact! … was one of the many twink scrawled message written on one of the assault rifles in Christchurch … a message that ricochet back at the tRumps … and our Nacts… who effectively gave ammo to a sick mind.
Vote buying and stoking a toxic minority … Invaders!
To lift the topic ,,,,,,I’ll finish with a bloody good powerful Aussie rock song about Aussie racism and exploitation …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0OPPUGJAj4
Jenny – How to Get there?
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
20 July 2019 at 7:25 am
Not to be missed event, The 'Syria Speaks Hui'
The Leftist Daily Blog gives solidarity to the "Syria Speaks' Hui
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/19/the-liberal-agenda-syria-speaks/
The Centrist Standard) only posts pro Assad opinion.
/category/international/war/syria-war/
The Far Right have issued death threats against the organisers of the Syria Speaks Hui, (which have been passed on to the police in the interests of attendees safety).
That does tend to happen when you include nine live links and an email address, yes.
Just the regular necessary reminder that most of the economics profession is dedicated to pushing ideas that are flat-out wrong, but happen to benefit wealthy people and screw the not-wealthy. Hence their symbiotic relationship with the "conservative" part of the political spectrum.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/19/20699366/interest-rates-unemployment-globalization-minimum-wage-deficit
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/07/four-economic-myths-plus-one/
A truly silly column by Fran O'Sullivan in the Herald where she offers the opine that the PM should not have annoyed the hosts by making representations over the deportations of Kiwis, but instead raise the matter of New Zealand banking rules.
The thing is the PM is now in the position to quote their words back at them when they representations on behalf of their banks.
And to have raised the matter of banking with the Oz government would have been to undermine the sovereignty of our regime in this matter.
Fran O'Sullivan discards herself as a piece of rubbish. She does not understand the horrendous, indeed Attrocius destruction of Human Life that Australians have carried out on their Country – and continue to carry out.
Concerning Australian Strong arm Deportation
Contrary to little Fran,
I do not see that we need to accept any deportation attempted by the Australian Government.
As far I know, New Zealand has never undertaken to off load citizens from an unfriendly nation.
Any attempt to fly any aircraft or sail any ships into our waters without permission will be deemed a violation.
Any attempt to fly any aircraft or sail any ships into our waters without permission will be deemed a violation
How about an 18 ton spacestation that went down yesterday.
The time has come, however, for Tiangong-2 to be deorbited and, naturally, destroyed in the process. The China National Space Administration indicated that the 18-meter-wide station and solar panels will mostly burn up during reentry, but that a small amount of debris may fall “in a safe area in the South Pacific,” specifying a rather large area that does technically include quite a bit of New Zealand (160-190°W long by 30-45°S lat).
https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/18/chinese-space-station-tiangong-2-is-about-to-burn-up-over-the-pacific/
Glad we live in safe area in the SP
Feeding Racism.
How the (Centre) Left's support for the Assad regime has helped feed and spread the growth of fascism beyond Syria's borders.
And those supporting Israel's annexation of the Golan heights and East Jerusalem … also supporting the removal of Assad (but failing) …
The right wing white race nationalists only prefer Assad to Islamists. The secular left wingers prefer a secular dictatorship to one based around Islamist theocracy. Compaining about that is in service to the former – the White House and its UK poodle and Israel.
Israel and the USA do not care for ME democracy – being onside with Sisi and the Riyadh Crown Prince and the censorship of al Jazeera.
‘
While the Centre Left still, even now, courts racism and fascism, Leftist webcaster, Democracy Now, offers a different perspective.
“For Sama”
Racism and fascism is a good description of the governments in Israel and the USA at the moment.
SPC to keep things simple, and to avoid the running into the pitfalls of Godwin's Law. I reserve accusations of racism and fascism to;
1/ Those like Philip Arps who openly self identify as fascists, racists/white supremacists/anti-semites/Islamophobes etc.
2/ Those like David Irving who cover up or excuse genocide.
3/ Those like Bashar Assad who commit genocide
As for the governments of the US and Israel
A war of choice launched by the US against Iran, (which would be a genocidal war), in my opinion, would elevate Donald Trump from xenophobic racist to fascist.
I think that it can be reasonably argued, and it has been, that Benjamin Netanyahu is guilty of committing genocide against the people of Gaza. Which by my definition would also qualify Netanyahu as a 'fascist'.
Given that the term "fascist" has been around for a hundred years it seems silly to try and re-invent the meaning of it now.
Trying to impose order on a chaotic world can seem soothing to some, I guess.
The term ‘fascist’ might well have been around for a hundred years* But in the age of the internet Godwyn’s law rightly warns against the devaluation of the designation of 'fascist' to anyone who disagrees with you.
Godwyn himself has since said that this should not be used to avoid using this description where it is apt and justified.
This obviously makes necessary to define the term in a concise manner where it is accurate.
You might disagree with me that my determination that those who commit or excuse genocide fit this designation. personally I think it is accurate.
*The term fascist has been around for over 2,000 years referring to fasci or sticks carried by Roman Senators which when bound together could not be broken. The symbol of which was adopted by the modern fascists.
It might pay to remember that the ancient Roman Empire which the modern fascists so admire was a brutal slave society.
Fascism is a form of political and social organisation. It is not primarily about genocide.
Godwyn himself has since said that this should not be used to avoid using this description where it is apt and justified.
Exactly. So why don't you do that?
Jenny, the problem you run into when you use words that already have well-established meanings to mean different things is that nobody then has any chance of figuring out WTF you're on about.
In this particular case, genocide and fascism are separate things. Some genocides were carried out by fascist governments, some were not. Some fascist governments have been genocidal, some have not.
Instead of re-defining a word or language to suit one’s narrative one should re-phrase and re-frame one’s narrative to avoid ambiguity and confusion as much as possible. That is a golden rule in and of communication, especially on a blog site. The problem is that not all people have an equally good grasp of language, which on its own is not a major issue and can be ‘corrected’, but when they dig in and refuse to accept their ‘lingual faux pas’, it can become a major one.
It seems to me that some commenters here are only interested in writing their own comments but not in taking on-board comments by others. In fact, they often become defensive and aggressive or evasive when challenged …
Genocide and fascism are two different things?
The most notable aspect of fascism is the use of genocide.
At the very least genocide could be called a sub-set of fascism.
I have termed (at various times), the Assad regime as "a fascist style regime" because of its of genocidal air campaign against its own citizens.
Another notable feature of fascist style regimes is the maintenance and operation of mass detention and death camps.
Of which the Assad regime has several, the most notable of these being Saydnaya on the outskirts of Damascus.
You say that I am redefining the meaning of the word fascist. Well one thing I know for sure, a fascist is no longer an ancient stick bearing slave owning Roman Senator.
Next you will be telling me that I would be wrong to label General Pinochet of Chile a fascist. Or General Franco of Spain a fascist. Because they don't meet your Hollywood characterisation of German fascists.
You say that I shouldn't define fascists as people who commit genocide.
What would you call people who commit genocide?
Why don't you do some research on the term "fascism" while putting aside the genocide thing for a while? Learn what the term means and then come back. Even just reading the wiki page would be help you heaps.
Next you will be telling me that I would be wrong to label General Pinochet of Chile a fascist. Or General Franco of Spain a fascist.
While Pinochet certainly displayed some elements of fascism, fascist really isn't a good descriptor for Pinochet's flavour of pseudo-populist ultra-nationalist despotism. Furthermore, while Pinochet had a weak spot for mass-murder of his opponents, the fact that it was his political opponents he was murdering rather than attempting to eliminate a particular ethnic/cultural group makes genocide an inaccurate descriptor for Pinochet's murders.
Fascism certainly is a good descriptor for Franco's particular nasty flavour of ideology. However, like Pinochet, genocide is a poor descriptor for Franco's mass murderous activities since it was targeted at political opponents rather than elimination of ethnic/cultural groups.
You say that I shouldn't define fascists as people who commit genocide.
What would you call people who commit genocide?
Genocidal is a pretty good descriptor for those who commit genocide. Rwanda is an example of genocide without fascism.
Andre, You say that the word "fascist" has a well-established meaning. (which I have got wrong).
If the 'meaning' of the word fascist is, 'well-established' then you would have no trouble telling us what it is.
I await your reply.
Which of course you won’t give, despite it being so “well-established”.
FFS, check a dictionary or the wikipedia link I gave you above.
https://wikidiff.com/genocide/fascism
A couple more for you Jenny-Armenian genocide by Turkey and the Rape of Nanking by Japan.
Indeed. Even though the Japanese Empire, did not explicitly share the Italian and German fascist icongraphy and language, (harking back to the glories of the Western Imperial slave society of ancient Rome). Following the Rape of Nanking, the Japanese imperialists (rightly in my opinion) were termed fascists.
In its brutality and carnage on the same scale as the destruction of Homs by the Assad regime.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/feb/04/drone-footage-homs-syria-utter-devastation-video
One of many main problems jenny … is who are you asking to win your war….. surely not the people commiting genocide in Yemen ??
And even if we were to believe your good war / we must kill more and add more deaths …. to stop a genocide logic.
Lets look at the 'care' towards civilians you are asking for …. a recent war crime shows a good example …of your good war, being nothing but a uncaring death and refugee machine.
So who are you calling on to kill more ?? Turkey is your best option for dragging it out at the moment.
In their campaign against Isis the US has slaughtered civilians also identified by the Assad regime as enemies.
I have never denied Reason, that the US has committed massive crimes against the people of Syria in fact I have written about them long before you. As soon as the Amnesty report came out. I wrote on these pages about this crime.
The US is in Syria for its own reasons. The US has never unleashed the same fury against the Assad regime that it has unleashed against perceived enemies of the US. In the two air strikes against regime resources the US gave the Assad regime, (through its Russian ally), advanced notice of both attacks. And notably, no regime forces were ever killed or wounded in these two attacks. The US didn't exercise such niceties toward the civilian population of Raqqa.
The West and particularly the US has a fetish against anyone (but themselves of course) having weapons of mass destruction, WMDs. As horrible as these weapons are, most of the regime's slaughter of civilians has been conducted with so called "conventional weapons" which the US has raised no real objection to, and has certainly not acted to stop.
You are not anti-war, if you are not anti-Assad's war.
It is actually you reason, who is calling to kill more.
In your comment above you are of course alluding to Idlib.
Idlib had previously with Turkish support been declared a deconfliction zone.
Lately the Turkish government of Erdogan has made its peace with the Assad regime and their Russian ally, giving the green light for the regime and Russia to continue their genocidal campaign against the Syrian people into Idlib.
Completing the encirclement Erdogan has ordered the closing of the border to civilians fleeing the impending slaughter, leaving them no where else to go.
Reason you are cheering on this slaughter to begin.
And even when the regime conquers Idlib, the killing will not stop. This is a regime that is currently rounding up and "disappearing" thousands of civilians in the areas it has already retaken.
‘
Don't support fascism. (It really shouldn't have to be said).
Jenny , you just cant stop your bullshitting your one sided propaganda can you ?? …
Things like your wild conspiracy theories about the Christchurch racist mass murderer … or the murder of British Labour MP Jo Cox … both being caused by Assad / Syria ….
Leave you with sub-zero credibility…. You've proven you'll write any shit.
My comment was about a 100 mile deep strip running the length of the border with Syria ….
Perhaps Turkey was promised it … and Israel the Golan Heights too… in a pre-arranged divy up upon the destruction / balkinization break up of Syria …. which was all on course and following the script of Libya ,,,
before the Isis / al nusra tide was repelled.
Regarding Idlib and ignoring your asshat blather ….The problem with Idib is all the foreign fighters / mercenaries, ,,,which their home countries do not want them to returning too.
New Zealand had 1 ,,,,, and there was a big fuss about him …. Britian and France have hundreds,
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/isis-recruiter-who-radicalised-london-bridge-attackers-was-protected-by-mi5-232998ab6421
Both the brits and frogs have previously stated they would rather have their radicalized citizens killed than returned … do your own internet search.
So I imagine the best result for the sponsors of your peaceful bloodbath would be to block their return … yet pretend moral outrage when they lose their last Jihad battles.
Personally I believe quite a few could be de-radicalised ,,,,,, so unlike you I'm not into more war / killing….
And I heard that you stayed with people …. like the fine ones in this video … during your time in syria ;(
The video link about Raqqa very specificly disproves one of your
Assad is not a racist (anti-Zionist maybe), and whether a one party (not based on race, ethnicity or religion) tyranny posing as socialist qualifies as fascist is debatable (a matter of technical definition). Resorting to methods (bombing in civilian areas and economic blockade) used by the Allies during WW2 is not genocide, though war crimes are/were involved. Each would claim they did it to defeat a fascist threat (and Islamo-fascism was ultimately the alternative posed to the regime, not a democracy).
I would also argue that Netanyahu has not committed genocide, albeit collective punishment and war crimes. An ethnic state asserting its will by force is racist and fascist.
As for Trump, his white race nation, "the will of our God and our nation be done" assertion of economic and military power (including sanctions against those nations that refuse to enforce sanctions against targeted states) is fascist in its belligerent exercise of power.
SPC you object to me identifying the Assad regime "fascist" as inaccurate and a redefinition of the word. Yet you have no hesitation of identifying Assad's opponents as "Islamofascists".
The crimes of Isis are dire and extreme, but don’t reach by numbers anywhere near the sheer scale of the crimes committed by the Assad regime.
You criticise me for redefining the word fascist and then make your own redefinition, fascism is the "beligerant exercise of power".
In my opinion your definition is too tame and too broad.
Fascism is something much worse than this.
In my opinion you have fallen into the Godwyn trap.
But even using your definition Assad is a fascist.
Er no, I disagree whether the term fascist is accurate for Syria's Baath regime and explained why (I did not discuss redefintion of the word fascist but mentioned the technical use of the term, as distinct from the colloquial use which both of us are doing). Many have called Moslem terrorists intent on imposition of their rule Islamo-fascists. And not just Islamic State, but also al Nusra.
And I did not redefine fascism as "belligerent exercise of power" but noted that such was practiced by fascist regimes – fascist in its "belligerent use of power" (either domestically and externally).
Yes the Assad regime did exercise "belligerent use of power", but not until it was subject to a conspiracy to depose the regime (its earlier use of gunfire to intimidate democratic protesters in Damascus was commonplace tyranny).
What I find notable SPC is that in his recent extended interview on Democracy Now in which Noam Chomsky covered a wide range of issues, imperialism, the rise of fascism in the ’30s, the campaign against nuclear weapons in the ’80s the Iraq war, the war in Yemen. the war in Libya. But during this extended interview where he was given the complete floor to say whatever he wanted Noam Chomsky never mentioned, (apart from a mention of Israel annexing the Golan Heights). Chomsky never mentioned, not even once, the war in Syria.
This could represent one of two things;
1/ That Chomsky is changing from his previous held position of endorsing the US regime change conspiracy theory spread by the Assad regime and its supporters.
2/ That Chomsky has not changed from his previous position, but knows that it is indefensible, and that Democracy Now will challenge him on it.
I would like to believe that it is the first case not the second.
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/5/an_hour_with_noam_chomsky_on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNIHZZ6qlgI
Thanks for that learned theory about Chomsky's "indefensible" position on Syria. Do you think he should come out in support of Al Qaeda and the Al Nusra Front?
Don't you think it worthy noting SPC that a learned scholar like Noam Chomsky did not feel confidant enough to make a comment on Syria before people who he knew would challenge him on it?
Chomsky did not feel confidant [sic] enough....
???????
Chomsky is not some cowardly politician. And he has never supported a "regime change conspiracy theory."
Chomsky is not some cowardly politician. And he has never supported a “regime change conspiracy theory.”
Morrissey
https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2016/04/14/how-noam-chomsky-betrayed-the-syrian-people
Quoting wacky blogs does nothing for your argument, Jenny. The ridiculous sight of a lightweight like “analyst Sam Hammad” calling Noam Chomsky, of all people, “conservative, orientalist, and incoherent” is almost as ridiculous as the shrieking charge that he “betrayed” anyone.
Sam Hammad is a 'lightweight'
Ironic then that the most common go to source, for Assad apologists on this site, is 9/11 Truther and comedian Jimmy Dore
YOU WANT THE TRUTH? A CORRESPONDENCE WITH NOAM CHOMSKY ON SYRIA
Posted on April 30, 2017 by Sam Hamad
When I read Manufacturing Consent as a teenager, in the summer of 2002 to be precise, at the beginning of War on Terror fever, I never thought that one day its most esteemed author, Noam Chomsky, would accuse me of supporting al-Qaeda. In the following exchange, he does exactly that, as well as accusing me of supporting Daesh. That makes it three times, by my count, that he’s issued this most scurrilous and ironic smear, with his initial accusation of my support for Daesh coming in a response he gave to a friend who had sent an article I wrote criticising his stance on Syria for Muftah……
https://herecomesthetumbleweed.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/you-want-the-truth-a-correspondence-with-noam-chomsky/
Sam Hammad is a 'lightweight'
Agreed.
The difficulties presented by polarisation
"And even if it is an immediate disaster, visible on day one, there are few guarantees that leavers would admit their error and seek once more the embrace of Brussels. As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform puts it, “Just because babies are dying, does that mean they’ll say we were better off in the EU?” Aren’t they just as likely to blame the beastly Europeans for inflicting such a hellscape on an innocent nation? After all, even Boris Johnson once thought Britain could leave the EU and keep its seat on the European council of ministers. The Brexiters will cry, “How we were to know that leaving the EU meant leaving the EU?” And if they don’t blame Brussels, they’ll blame someone else: foreigners, minorities, anyone but themselves."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/19/upside-no-deal-crashing-out-country-brexit
Exchange Brexit for climate emergency …..the same process is in play
Whaleoik's lawyer begs to be allowed off the case but judge refusing his client's illness or bankruptcy as further delaying tactics. Sheds light on how the slob has been gaming the court system for years. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/18/687813/lawyer-let-me-off-whaleoil-case
he looks like he is in for (another) hard life lesson – most of which are of his own doing and could have been resolved years ago if he was reasonable.
No sympathy for his current legal predicament.
I feel for his children, but that's it.
Massey University’s Dr Andy Towers, from the School of Public Health, wants minimum pricing for alcohol as part of a campaign to make it socially unacceptable for poor people to drink – saying “Sub-groups” who continue to smoke, even though it’s socially unacceptable and expensive, they’re addicted. The same would happen with alcohol if minimum unit pricing came in”
Mimimum pricing would of course have no impact on the craft beers and wines drunk by the well to do, for whom drinking would presumably remain socially acceptable in more upmarket locations and more exclusive private clubs (a bit like in Teheran behind the walls of the well to do).
The Panopticon Society rears its head via Public Health policy academics, their cohorts in criminology presumably justify targeting of the underclass without religion with fear and obey policing intimidation.
The enemies of equality and freedom come out in public like this because they have no shame.
If Andy Tower stuck his head out the window he would realise poor people can barely pay for their rent, pay off their tertiary loan and save a deposit to buy a home and this is why less young people drink. We have the highest rent to house value in the world and the second most expensive property to wages in the world.
Using "price to signal that drinking is unacceptable" (and reserving it as a privilege for those whose drinks prices will remain unchanged) is of an alliance between the haves and those who want to control the behaviour and lives of the common folk. His agenda to describe poor people who drink as addicts is telling.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114298788/a-change-to-minimum-unit-pricing-of-alcohol-will-reduce-harm-says-researcher#comments
If this study was accurate it would appear that the people who drink to much are the old rich ones.
Manual workers apparently drink much less than wealthy professionals. Price increase aren't therefore likely to have any effect.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/01/wealthy-professionals-most-likely-to-drink-alcohol-regularly-figures-show
There is an article linked to the story on Stuff the about a study by Andy Towers himself coming to the same conclusion that the increase in drinking is by those is by those over 50 – so he should know minimum pricing would have no impact on that.
Using "price to signal that drinking is unacceptable"…
Unacceptable to whom? Seriously, apart from devout Muslims, who wants to "signal that drinking is unacceptable?" Some technocrats in government departments in universities, maybe? I was at a pub last night and drinking seemed pretty acceptable to everyone present.
ISTR a low minimum pricing/quantity deters kids when there's not age restriction (e.g. single cigarette sales I think were banned before tobacco became R18). Keeps it just outside the reach of their pocket money.
But I suspect that as the price of alcohol goes up, the more people bring homebrew to parties for their friends. Maybe with a nod and a wink, maybe gratis. None of my business.
Foreigners' unpaid medical debts revealed. And this is just for the Auckland region.
More than $35 million in unpaid debts by foreigners treated for healthcare in Auckland has been written off in the past three years.
Acting Health Minister Julie Anne Genter and the DHBs declined to comment. But in Counties Manukau's OIA response, it stated significant resource goes into determining a patient's eligibility status, and then seeking payment.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/foreigners-unpaid-medical-debts-revealed.html
Here's a possible solution. Require them to have insurance when entering the country, making it available for those that don't already have cover. No insurance, no entry.
Yesterday I heard a worker at the Maori agency [sorry forget its name] say the problem with Maori babies being taken is that the department will not build/get more housing so Mother AND child can be helped away from their bad life situation.
Such a simple solution to the problem … it must be correct and so beyond the comprehension of beaurocrats
While being one solution, the problem is more complex than that.
You are correct as I now know if I had not already realised from reading the article listed below
Add this (link below) to your reading list, John.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114346832/mori-four-times-more-likely-to-have-children-removed-study
On the other hand. Rather than removing mother and child(ren) from the family home how about removing the abusive partner?
Set them all up in say one of these….https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses/114172252/adult-dorms-a-look-inside-aucklands-newest-coliving-arrangement …and let 'em slug it out.
Sorry Rosemary .. a great idea but hamstrung I am sure by eager lawyers to proect the rights of those abusers.
"lets them slug it out" is not a solution IMO but compounding on the problem.
Here's one organisation doing that: https://gandhinivas.nz/our-houses/
Since writing the above I have been to the following ,,,,
https://www.nzcpr.com/new-zealands-maori-child-welfare-problem/#more-29704
or you could check this if you prefer ….
https://www.nzcpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Research-Paper-Child-Abuse-Brian-Giesbrecht.pdf
It is related to a counry on the other side of the world but I think as I read it often applying to here.
Rather long but full of background for somebody who only has seen two very small parts of that country …. Vancouver and Niagra Falls…. as a tourist 🙁
The links are to the NZ Centre for Political Research, which despite it's institutional name is a right-wing political think tank.
I tried to read the second link but could only get through the introduction by Muriel Newman, and the first page before deciding to skim for any nuggets of information. The report by a retired Canadian judge is indicative of the further harm that can be caused by those in authority. His mention of the residential schools being a 'dumping ground' for children of abusive alcoholic parents, ignores the reality that many were taken from intact and loving environments, and put into these abusive institutions.
His reference to FASD is without context for the conditions in which alcohol is used as a release from despair for whole indigenous communities.
I don't think he adds anything new to the conversation, except provide evidence of the level of assumptions that must be made in order to continue to justify the status quo and the harm that occurs.
This refusal to consider perpetual harm and the long-term consequences of government and societal actions on the indigenous community is obstructive to effective solutions.
Of course it is….
/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114118908/man-charged-with-murder-of-10monthold-baby
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113881098/breaking-homicide-investigation-launched-into-toddlers-death
https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/215384-name-suppression-toddler-murder-accused.html
In Australia they spend more on seizing children … due largely to poverty of their homes / parents …… than would be needed to just lift them out of poverty.
Families are paying a toll for the settings of society …. any civilized evolving society should adapt to overcome serious problems … like affordable housing for all its citizens.
I could well believe market ideology is the main impediment to fixing the failures harming NZ society.
Joint Statement of The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service (FDA & CDC), July 7, 1999
The Process of Public Policy Formulation: The Case of Thimerosal in Vaccines
EMERGENCE OF THIMEROSAL AS A CONCERN
Not sure how may of the vaccines on the NZ schedule contain thiomersal as formulations and preservatives are constantly evolving but as ever it’s disappointing that Philu is still spreading his antivac. drivel….
First, there is no mercury in vaccines, and never was. And thiomersal is not banned, anywhere.
Let’s start with the beginning. Thiomersal is a powerful antiseptic, that, even in tiny doses, (nanogram levels) blocks the growth of bacteria. Up until the anti-vaccination movement invented some tropes about thiomersal, we had less expensive, multi use vials for many drugs, including vaccines. Thiomersal prevented bacterial growth, which is much more dangerous than the imagined danger of thiomersal.
The claim that it is mercury is silly and shows of an ignorance of chemistry. Thiomersal is not a fancy name for “mercury” it is the proper chemical term for ethyl mercury, an organic compound attached to the mercury molecule. They do not disassociate in the body, and is quickly eliminated through the kidneys.
Table salt is sodium bonded to chlorine. Elemental sodiums is explosive. And elemental chlorine, a gas, is deadly. Yet when they are combined, they became a stable salt. And it does disassociate (unlike thiomersal), although the ionic forms of the sodium and chlorine are not dangerous.
Reducing chemistry to the basic elements is not how biochemistry works. It’s the whole molecule that matters, not the individual parts. So thiomersal does not add to the mercury burden of a human being, unless you have some nobel prize winning research that shows that somehow the mercury atom cleaves from the organic molecule in water. And we have no evidence of that.
Moreover, there simply is no research whatsoever that has established a link between thiomersal or anything, up to and including autism.
What’s next on your list Phil…fluoride in the water ? or is it back to the 5G ?
I could very well be missing something here Higherstandard, and everyone else in the world knows the source of your quoted text, but help me out here and provide a link.
Please?
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=thiomersal&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Sorry Higherstandard, that simply takes me to generic search page…which particular paper are you quoting from?
Thimerosal: clinical, epidemiologic and biochemical studies.
CONCLUSION:
The culmination of the research that examines the effects of Thimerosal in humans indicates that it is a poison at minute levels with a plethora of deleterious consequences, even at the levels currently administered in vaccines.
One Two do you have any medical qualifications to make that claim to us?
One Two do you have any medical qualifications to make that claim to us?
Not unless he's been holding out on us this chap below does have some medical knowledge though…
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/why-the-latest-geier-geier-paper-is-not-evidence-that-mercury-in-vaccines-causes-autism/
It may all be rather pointless discussion though ….. as I said above I not sure if any vaccines in the NZ schedule use thimerosal as a preservative anymore. If philu wants to tell us whether they do he can search it up on the Medsafe website.
Had a wee look.A bunch of different credible sites say thimerosal has not been in any New Zealand childhood vaccines since 2000, and is not currently in any vaccines of any kind in New Zealand (although flu vaccines overseas are commonly cited as still possibly containing thimerosal). Haven't spotted anything that gives a date on when the last vaccines containing thimerosal were phased out in New Zealand.
There's an odd absence of triumphant articles claiming reductions in illnesses previously attributed to thimerosal due to the removal of it, however.
The chemtrails took over where the evil vaccines left off. Stay in your caves, comrades!
Also, the links in that SBM piece all appear to be dead. But searching for Geier debunked brings up plenty of relevant info.
As if it wasn't blindingly obvious how you manage to maintain yourself at such a stunted level of ignorance.
To the point where you openly…and seemingly without a sense of shame or awareness… share your base level technique…
Andre keyword search:
[subject matter] | [persons name] | [debunk]
Bravo. Shameless.
I can't believe anybody still references that guy. But there it is before my eyes. Stunning.
Ooooh, sounds like this time it's going to need more than a hug and a kiss and a make-up sesh.
CONCLUSION:
If you read the linked material… you should have managed to figure out that I had forgotten to used the <blockquote> on 11.1.1.3
Mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired oxidative-reduction activity, degeneration, and death in human neuronal and fetal cells induced by low-level exposure to thimerosal and other metal compounds
Conclusion
Low-dose Thimerosal in pediatric vaccines: Adverse effects in perspective
That concludes the background detail around the toxins which triggered US governmental intervention more than 20 years ago, leading toward so called ‘settled science’…
I’ll be posting about closed door sessions held by the IOM who were hired by the CDC to provide desired outcomes…which the CDC had paid service fees to receive.
Leading to reports (including 2004) which were based on inconclusive studies which can’t ever show ‘safety’…the 2004 report also essentially removed any required for future necessary lab research.
The handful of studies are cited globally including in NZ as ‘settled science’….
16000 more beneficiaries since Labour won the treasury benches, and hardship grant's up from 270,000 which were a disgrace under National to 490,000 per year now. Jeez this politics of kindness is great isn't it, and all the while the neoliberal machine keeps thundering along…
Don't be so mean. Everything is absolutely wonderful. Beloved leader says so so it must be true.
On the other hand she said that her meeting with the Australian PM had been a great success. Perhaps she was talking about her future career after she get bounced from her current role next year.
I heard a suggestion that she and Clarke were going to become stand up comedians. She was practicing for that and her prepared patter at the meeting certainly seemed to cause much hilarity for the Australians didn't it? Scott Morrison and his colleagues were openly laughing at her complaints about the deportations.
ha – at least you're not trying to bully the baby anymore you sad sack of doggy doos
I don't believe I ever attempted to bully Jacinda Ardern.
What on earth are you dribbling on about, you sad little git?
yeah you’re real ignorant alright – make your idol t.rump look genius level
There are some details at
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/latest-quarterly-results/all-main-benefits.html
The main increase is in job seeker support and it would be interesting to know why given that many employers are struggling to find staff.
Like the Key government, and the Clark government before it, it's going to take over 2 parliamentary terms for the shine to come off this one, no matter the actual results.
And it goes both ways:
The shine WON'T come off inside two terms no matter the actual results – and the shine WILL come off after two terms no matter the actual results. Which points at an electorate detached from, and maybe unaware of, actual results. Depressing really. It results in an excellent government killed off by fear of low-energy light bulbs, and a terrible government surviving fiscally unnecessary public sector austerity.
The Ardern-Robertson Budget accountability framework will at least show the annual results on poverty alleviation to hold them to.
I have a sneaky feeling the media will warm to that task.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the pay scale
Cream at the top for public sector chief executives
Public sector salaries are once again under the spotlight after the announcement that Christchurch City Council's new chief executive will earn almost $500,000. But are they really that bad? DOMINIC HARRIS investigates.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114345078/cream-at-the-top-for-public-sector-chief-executives
A good read.
National MP and climate change spokesperson Todd Muller, supports the government's low emission vehicle rebate policy.
Simon Bridges and the National Party oppose it.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2019/07/the-pitch-national-s-climate-spokesperson-supports-govt-electric-vehicle-policy-despite-party-opposition.html
I would dispute Todd Muller's disapproval of old cars as at 87 I have been driving for over sixty years, all sorts of vehicles from Trucks to 50cc motorcycles with few problems. Most of which were old and now have a 14yo WV which looks like new to me when washed and waxed, an import. Careful driving and responsible attention to road and conditions rather than arbitary rules.
Driving experience is important and I am sure this started for me as my grand dad drive our 1937 Morris 8 with me beside him sitting on Nan's lap …. not that I would reccomend that 🙂 [no seat-belts in those days]
Plus cycling to school in the easy days before the roads were littered with cars during WWII.
Then there are JAG's speed changes. A good driver slows when the road suggest it and driving in America it was a constant worry looking out for endless speed restriction signs … apart from motorways which are a delight to drive on often above the limi when safe as no cars around and long distances to be covered.
It seems silly to reduce speed limits when all new imported cars are capable and safe at well over the limits.
Regrettably there are too few responsible drivers and car owners like yourself.
Fresh regulation occurs when the system overall is failing. (usually 😉 )
With the road toll and urban air pollution as it is, we need new regulation.
Western Elites Spruik Media Freedom While Torturing Julian Assange In Belmarsh Supermax.
Jim Mora, Chris Knox, Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Graham Bell, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and other such worthies are amused no end by Assange’s persecution and suffering, but serious people, like the Australian psychologist Dr Lissa Johnson don’t see the funny side….
Thanks Morrissey, interesting ‘perspective’, but Prof. Nils Melzer is just "one academic, and like lawyers, I can provide you with another one that will give you a counterview."
Hold. Hold. Wait for it…
Ha, ha, ha, Mr. Kram. Thanks for spoiling this lovely afternoon with that repellent flashback.
Deeper look at some of the aspects of the simple question – worthwhile read imo
The Grauniad?!?!?!?!?
WTF, marty?
http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2019/894-dump-the-guardian.html
Or you could read the article Marty linked to. It was quite interesting.
Yes, I know that. Just be careful, that’s all. The Grauniad is dodgy, to say the least.
http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2019/894-dump-the-guardian.html
yet you refuse to accept the truth – when will you front up moonbreen
And yet, and I can't stress this enough, that particular link to the Guardian was incredibly pertinent to the times we live in, the rise of fascism from the dustbin of history. Or so we thought – maybe we just hadn't wanted to notice that the lid wasn't shuit on the dustbin.
You want to bitch about the Guardian not meeting your approval. That's your thing. Ok. I'm fucking worried about if there's anything I can do to stop these bastards, because they will end up killing us all quicker than climate change ever would. Physics doesn't care if we live or die. Fascists actively want to kill all non-fascists. Not just over there, over here, too.
We need to maximise inclusion. That means learning new things about how our behaviour excludes or intimidates groups of people, even if innocently intended.
Putting up with the paradox of tolerance meaning that we have to exclude people with whom there is no compromise on exclusion isn't enough. That's the pointy bit of the pyramid. But the wider bit, about avoiding unintended exclusion, That's what the pointy bit sits on.
So what are your specific thoughts on the Guardian article? Given that you know that the article was quite interesting, what are your thoughts on the topic?
Kirk out
verb
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Kirk%20out
National Party embedded journalist, Stacey Kirk, kirks out of journalism. This is yet another example of a right wing media person throwing their toys and quitting because the National Party are in opposition.
True to form, her letter of resignation is nothing more than a John Key puff piece, mentioning him, oh, a dozen or so times.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114165092/conflict-scandal-eventually-progress–its-a-hard-road-making-a-difference-but-thats-politics
It's the ones who make no attempt to stay neutral who don't last. Bye Stacey, your partisan scribblings will not be missed.
Watch now for the announcement she has joined the National Party press team. She will have returned home.
Great news. Though it says she's going to "a new public service career".
I read that as her imagining she's been doing public service work thus far, and is embarking on what she imagines is new public service work, ie press secretary for the National Party.
One of the comments after her piece on John Key suggested she left because she didn't get the political editor job after her mate Tracy Watkins left.
Here's who did:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114251734/stuff-appoints-new-political-editor-to-lead-parliamentary-team
Another RWNJ.
Notice that the puff piece from Kirk used a bold photo of Key and English and a small one showing mostly Jacinda's hair.
Sad that a replacement will probably be a Trump trained mouth.
Love how she frames her whole departure as if she's rilly smart and getting out on top just like that John guy whose loafers she tongued for so long.
Heh heh, Ozzies passing themselves off as the 4th Island of NZ again…
http://www.dailyviewsonline.com/cultura/Nuova-Zelanda-leader-dice-che-CI-manca-di-interesse-in-Asia-Pacifico-h16263.html
Interesting. US govt working to get someone out of Swedish jail.. https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/114384085/trump-weighs-in-on-rapper-asap-rocky-we-hope-to-get-him-home-soon
The things a million dollar inaugural gift to tRump can buy.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not halt a pesticide linked with brain damage from being sprayed on crops, the agency said Thursday in response to a lawsuit.
Chlorpyrifos, known on the market as Lorsban, is used on a wide variety of crops, including corn and cranberries, and farmers often call it a last line of defense against certain insects.
A federal appeals court in April gave the EPA 90 days to decide how to deal with the pesticide.
Environmental groups have long contended it’s dangerous and have spent years suing the EPA to end its agricultural use. Studies have linked chlorpyrifos to learning and memory issues and prolonged nerve and muscle stimulation.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/453777-epa-allows-continued-use-of-pesticide-linked-with-brain-damage
Bolton invokes Hague Invasion act.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Protection_Act
Whilst lawful under US legislation, is it ethical?
Nothings changed except for the removal of a cloak of respectability
Won't be much trouble getting new planes for the NZDF now that the Prime Minister and journalists got stranded in Melbourne when their official RNZAF 757 broke down with a computer malfunction.
Bet the PM ditches our own military service next time and just goes commercial.
Get it together RNZAF!
Here's Jacinda (about 7 mins in on the clip in the link below) talking about the planes
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-won-t-compare-climate-change-to-world-war-ii.html
Bernard Hickey calls out Jacinda
Tweets by bernardchickey
Instead of raising benefits, the Minister of Finance would do better to bully and force seasonal employers to put their wages up, because that is where the workers are needed.
Instead we open the doors to foreigners with temporary visas just to get the apples and grapes in. So unemployed NEETS don't see enough attraction to work in season areas.
With Brexit, the US-China trade crisis pulling Chinese economic demand down, and now Iran heating up, and having one of the top two most exposed housing markets in the OECD, I see plenty of reason for the Minister of Finance to keep plenty of debt capacity in reserve.
Agree, wages for seasonal workers need to increase. However, a number of seasonal workers end up back on the benefit when the season is over. Additionally, higher benefits puts upward pressure on wages.
There is scope for loosening the purse strings a little and the extra expenditure will result in savings re improvements in social ills along with increased tax revenue via the economic stimulus due to the increased benefit spend. Nevertheless, loosening the purse strings is merely one option. Cuts could be made elsewhere.
Seems Grant has a blank cheque to tackle Mycoplasma bovis.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/06/grant-robertson-signs-blank-cheque-to-tackle-mycoplasma-bovis.html
And of course, there is that massive military spend.
Alternatively, they could look at taxing this lot (in the link below) a bit more
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114345078/cream-at-the-top-for-public-sector-chief-executives
Cool.
Justin Pemberton talks to Kim Hill this morning about the film Capital In The Twenty-First
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018705001/justin-pemberton-capital-in-the-twenty-first-century
this is heartbreaking
https://twitter.com/hashtag/insulin4all?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Ehashtag
Insulin manufacturers have basically done a Shkreli. Incrementally, rather than in one hit, so it didn't quite get the attention.
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/3/18293950/why-is-insulin-so-expensive
There's also a lot of expensive stuff that comes with it – injector pens, needles, blood glucose monitor, test strips etc. I pay a small fraction of what all that costs, thanks to what US right-wingers contemptuously dismiss as "socialised medicine." They'd much rather have ideological purity, readily available at the low, low cost of lots of dead poor people.
Playing footsie with the murderous Assad wasn't such a good idea.
As she runs for the Democratic nominee for president, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) also faces a primary challenge for her seat in the House. But if recent filings made by her political team are any indication, she’s not sweating.
Gabbard raised just $11 in the second quarter of 2019. That number does not factor in a $31 contribution refund, which means her campaign committee ended in the red during that three month period.
The committee spent just $8,828.59 during the quarter—almost all of which was on financial compliance—leaving it with just over $30,000 cash on hand.
The absence of any fundraising or spending on her House race has left political observers with the impression that Gabbard may not return to Congress at all if her White House bid falls short. By contrast, during this quarter in the 2018 election cycle, Gabbard brought in more than $225,000 in net contributions, per federal filings.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/tulsi-gabbard-raised-negative-dollar20-for-her-house-campaign?
Fuckers are lining up their ducks.