James a UK immigrant to NZ ,,, and resident troll here …. supports and participates in the the breaking of NZ laws … and such is his pride he brags about it at left wing blogs.
Uber a tax dodging law flouting corporation came into New Zealand ….. and under the last National Government were allowed to operate …. despite, but yet typically under the last Nact Government, they were at least 80% non-compliant to the Land Transport Passenger Service regulations … under which they are lawfully and legally required to operate.
It makes you wonder what other laws and regulations James thinks should be ignored …. food?, ignoring all those burdensome hygine and food safty regulations… a james bbq with pink chicken would make a uber fine food provider.
Uber doctors? …. where maybe they don’t actually have a legit doctors certificate … but they can fill your prescritions cheap of the internet… what a uber bargin that would be.
anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
###############################
The Pike River Mine / deathtrap was run like a corner cutting and regulation ignoring Uber outfit.
I highly recommend this Pike River documentary …
Watching it left me vastly better informed of the criminal disregard for workers safety .. red line after red line were crossed and ignored …non compliance with the regulations and ignoring laws pertaining to explosive gasses …all leading to the inevitable but preventable deaths for the 29 West Coast workers.
And for me it really highlighted our dishonest grave dancer Alwyn … and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.
I need to get my mojo back is what it is, the current set up in National is not motivating enough, I need inspiration, I need National not Labour-lite, I need something to believe in, I need a hero, I need…
Well for someone who was only doing what you suggest as being “His job was to administer the organisation,” he certainly had a lot to say about the details of the operation.
Did you bother to read that link and see exactly what Little did say? They are direct quotes you know.
I’ve read it many times. In fact, pretty much every time some git makes the same mistake about Little’s role. Pike River were anti-union, and incentivised their staff to breach health and safety rules and kept the true situation in the mine secret. Andrew Little is a clever guy, but he doesn’t possess ESP.
“Little was the head of the union.”
And in that capacity he defended PRC management on their safety record, and led a union that failed to act on specific concerns raised prior to the accident.
“His job was to administer the organisation…”
Are you seriously arguing he isn’t responsible for his own comments about PRC? That as head of the union he bears no responsibility for the safety of the union’s members? What was he paid to do exactly?
“…not personally visit every worksite to check for issues.”
But he is responsible for what he says. Particularly when what he says reflects precisely on those safety issues. And he was ultimately responsible for the union and it’s members. He failed.
Again, bullshit. His comments were based on what information he had at the time. As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union. To use the National party’s excuse du jour, it was an operational matter. Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth. He could only report what he was told, becuase he had no direct involvement.
be good to see Andrew Little make some sort of definitive statement on this, one mad Trot offshoot newsletter, is what the various Nattys keep quoting
as I understand it Mr Whitall ran an anti union/union busting culture that saw the organiser reduced to riding the workers bus to try and get access to the site! Rebecca McFie’s “Tragedy at Pike River Mine” lays it out how marginalised the Union was there, requests from Mr Rockhouse to include the EPMU in training exercises were met with dismissive emails from Whitall–“the Union and Pike are not to be mentioned in the same sentence”…etc.
the attacks on Little are rather transparent given Solid Energy’s “seal it up” plan being derailed, and the Pike River Recovery Agency charging ahead with reentry
You do realise, I hope, that all Andrew’s statements were made AFTER the explosion that almost certainly killed the workers.
The explosion was on 19 November. Little’s statements were made to the Herald, and Close Up on 22 November.
If he hadn’t found out what was going on by then he damn well should have. Both he, and the MP for the area, O’Connor had by then been to the mine and still they defended the company and said that everything was fine and there were no concerns by the Union about safety.
“His comments were based on what information he had at the time.”
Which were ill-informed, and ignored concerns of others from within the business and the industry.
“As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union.”
And Little enabled them.
“Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth.”
That’s a terrific cop-out. Andrew Little was with the EPMU/Engineers Union since before 1997. He was National Secretary from 2000. In summary, at the time of Pike he had been with the union for more than 13 years, 10 as National Secretary. For you to argue his position was simply as “an administrator based in Wellington” is pure nonsense.
I must say this is a shock. James is not even a real Kiwi even though he pretends he is.
Immigration management in this country in the last 20 years has been terrible. There has been zero work done on the ability of social infrastructure to cope with the flood of toff-nosed poms washing onto our shores.
James claims to be about 48 years old and has sent three kids through Kristin at 25K per annum each. The eldest of these kids owns and runs their own business now and is approximately late 20s.
I’m left wondering when it was that James actually entered New Zealand as an immigrant with his British family?
James himself might like to shed some light on this…
…. anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
Did ya james ? … do tell.
it will also distract you from your unhealthy obsession with Ed … otherwise known as trolling.
James is an opinionated ignoramus. A classic case of “opening mouth before engaging brain”. I recently posted about the demise of CanTeen’s AYA regional cancer service, only to receive an uninformed, abusive response from this idiot.
Surprisingly little reaction from other Standardistas to what is an avoidable calamity for young cancer patients in New Zealand. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/12/19/370303/the-fight-to-save-cash-strapped-canteen
“CanTeen, which relies on community support and donations, helps youngsters aged between 13 and 24 dealing with cancer. It provides someone to talk to, connects peers, runs activities and workshops, helps people with their grief. The website says: “CanTeen takes care of things like topping up your phone, getting you to appointments or the food situation in your cupboard so you don’t need to stress.””
Such great work supporting very vulnerable people. My niece is younger, with her third cancerous growth returning, at age 12. Such a tough area to be able to support people. I hope finding can come – a vital, underrated service.
As for James he’s just another weakling rwnj. A loser pretender who is probably the saddest of all of us here truth be told.
Ignoring your garbled syntax, “that you obviously have issues” is not a question wee James, it’s a statement. Stalking? Pot, kettle, black?
Are you really so conceited that you can’t appreciate your own immaturity. Back in the UK you’d be rightly termed a prat.
Leading war-mongers are dismayed. “Trump’s own national security adviser, John Bolton, is adamantly opposed to the decision”. “Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican senator who is a Trump loyalist on most issues, denounced the decision. “If these media reports are true, it will be an Obama-like mistake made by the Trump administration,” Graham said in a statement. “While American patience in confronting radical Islam may wane, the radical Islamists’ passion to kill Americans and our allies never wavers.”
Trump wants a Nobel peace prize? He didn’t actually tweet that he had made peace in Syria – yet. But Obama got one without making peace. Perhaps Trump is considering calling the Nobel committee bluff. Would look good on the cv. He could send his Secretary of State to meet Assad with terms: you declare peace, thank Trump for creating it, we’ll give you foreign aid to grind up all them random bits of concrete everywhere, for recycling.
His cabinet ministers calling him a moron, his hired help getting sent to prison, you might think prospects of impeachment had increased since Democrats started promoting them, eh? Well, Gordon Campbell assessed those prospects a week ago and concluded “Trump’s destiny is to be a winner, not a loser.” http://werewolf.co.nz/2018/12/gordon-campbell-on-whether-trump-is-likely-to-be-impeached/
I still feel the same, and doubt Mueller has any rabbit in his hat. Doesn’t matter how much the US media trumpets Trump’s influence-buying, voters know that’s all just American politics as usual – the only way it could harm him is if there was a positive alternative they could anticipate. No sign of that.
Erdogan will be pleased, he can now go ahead and butcher those of the most effective force fighting Islamic State in Syria (which Turkey itself never did).
This might well also enable the settlement of Islamists backed by Turkey in their failed attempt to depose the government of Syria in “Kurdish” areas on their border.
The withdrawal otherwise means the US has no leverage in the future of Syria, but Turkey’s hand will be stronger.
I think its probably also an acknowledgement that the Astana process for a peace settlement and a new constitution in Syria is the only game in town, and the US is not part of it. When you’ve lost the war and are not part of the peace(and the spoils)why waste any more cash
I predict a fresh “outrage” chemical or otherwise,clearly perpetrated by the Syrian govt, to pull the US back in .
Trump attempted this withdrawal once before, Khan Sheikhoun was the result.
I guess Assad just doesn’t want the Yanks to leave (eye- rolling -tongue -in- cheek)
Surely the Kurds knew the US would betray them in the end?
Maybe now they’ll consider the offers of increased autonomy from the Syrian govt
Probably a little late, but there’s surely no chance now of a purely Kurdish state at this point
Sure the smart move for the Kurds would be to do a deal with Damascus and get Syrian government troops in before the Turks can act.
The complication might be the presence of some of the Syrian Arabs who fought IS alongside them, some of whom left the battle against the Syrian government once Islamists began to dominate rebel held areas – they might well now be in the refugee category.
Erdogan will be pleased, he can now go ahead and butcher those of the most effective force fighting Islamic State in Syria (which Turkey itself never did).
That does seem to be the case.
The withdrawal otherwise means the US has no leverage in the future of Syria, but Turkey’s hand will be stronger.
True about the US but I’m sure that Turkey won’t have any say either. This is going to fall to Syria, Russia and Iran to fix. Assad would do bloody well stepping up to support the Kurds.
Since Trump and Erdogan talked last Friday the US has cleared the sale of Patriot missiles to Turkey, ordered State Department personnel in Syria to be evacuated from the country within 24 hours, declared victory over ISIS, and Turkey’s request to extradite Fethullah Gülen is to be looked at.
“President Putin, speaking at a meeting with his top military brass in Moscow, singled out his new Kinzhal hypersonic missile and the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, saying they have significantly bolstered Russia’s military capability, reports news.com.au.
“No one has hypersonic weapons yet, but we have it,” he said.”
ummm vlad I think you mean no one ELSE has them
Also overnight, the US government admitted it is powerless to defend against these ‘game changer’ hypersonic weapons. The Government Accountability Office says their speed, altitude and maneuverability simply make them too difficult to stop.
The report states: “There are no existing countermeasures.”
“Putin has said about a dozen countries were producing missiles of the type banned by the INF treaty.” Well okay, but if Russian intelligence agencies have indeed discovered this and reported it to him, why doesn’t he identify them? If those countries have signed the INF treaty, wouldn’t it expose them to ridicule and condemnation?
Not to mention discrediting the entire notion of arms reduction treaties. And their usage in international law. And, consequently, the viability of international law as a method of peace-keeping. So now we await deployment by those countries, and the reassurance that such proliferation will provide its own deterrent effect on usage.
“Which countries are developing hypersonic weapons? “The U.S., Russia and China are ahead of other nations in developing hypersonic weapons,” Richard Speier, adjunct staff with Rand, told CNBC. Speier, who worked to initiate the Pentagon’s Office of Counter-Proliferation Policy, added that France, India, and Australia are also developing military uses of hypersonic technology.” https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/21/hypersonic-weapons-what-they-are-and-why-us-cant-defend-against-them.html
I think you will find Russia’s missiles are more of a defensive mechanism than an offensive weapon. Useful against western propaganda at least. For instance without the Russian S-400 we would have seen much more destruction in the Middle East.
You do understand that there’s nothing that they can do right?
Climate change is happening. This will result in mass migration. The target countries for that mass migration can’t support the migrants. This means that those target countries have to stop those migrants. Some of those migrants are going to be bloody well armed and so the target countries will also need to be well armed. There will be some well armed other countries trying to force the target countries to take the migrants despite knowing that they can’t afford them.
Countries have the right and the responsibility to defend themselves.
Just accepting reality an the simple fact that, when climate change truly bites, it’s going to leave a lot of people (measured in the billions) either facing death or looking to migrate an that the places that they can migrate to can’t afford them.
The UN really should have looked at curbing population growth back in the 1970s. They didn’t and most governments of the world still think that increasing population is the Bees Knees and so still won’t do it and so out younger generations are still fucked.
Yep. I especially liked one comment:
“Stuart Ward BREAKING NEWS !!!
The ‘national’ party has welcomed the news that they no longer have to worry about what their M.Ps and SUPPORTERS will use for brains if KFC needs the cabbages for coleslaw.
A new product on the hair care market, Control GX “the shampoo with brains” will provide a satisfactory alternative.
Consideration is being given to replacing Simon Bridges with either a “complimentary hotel bottle” of the shampoo, or his nearest contender, an adolescent tiger slug by the name of Slimey Norman”
Meanwhile here in NZ, trying to find out some information through an 0800 number about CourierPost’s processes, I have been taken through 4 options that don’t apply and left with 5 which seemed mostly related to NZPost, where shops are etc and tried that in the absence of other options. I got a repeat of the options from 1-5 again.
So NZPost apparently doesn’t know what it is doing, and proposes to keep customers on a loop running after their tails, while they decide.
Really a small example of the route the country has gone.
I find that true of many businesses and not just in NZ. Their attempt to get the customer to the right person via an automated system almost invariably ends up confusing the customer.
Some have called for New Zealand to be more involved in peace-making and arbitration, as per Norway and Sweden.
Neither of them (Norway is in NATO and Sweden is in the EU) have been involved in the matter of Ukraine. And we have our stalled FTA with Russia to consider. So this is one which we might well take up.
The issues are well known, Russia does not like former territories of the USSR joining NATO or the EU. It uses the presence of ethnic Russians in these territories as an excuse and economic dependence on gas as a means to intefere in their nations affairs politically.
The central issue is the tension that occurs when loyalty to nation state and ethnic identity patriotism (over the future of the Ukraine in the EU and NATO) is divided.
There are obvious paths to resolution, but the question is whether NATO and Russia would prefer the impasse to continue rather than realise one. So the first question that we would have to ask each party (before offering to mediate), do they want the matter resolved?
Does the EU actually want Ukraine?
Particularly now that Its economy has dive bombed. And its adherence to European “values”is seriously in question with the current Poroshenko govt at least
Tymoshenko won’t be much better
Of course Russia doesn’t want NATO on its doorstep, any more than the US would have accepted the Warsaw pact in Mexico
Ukraine can’t be in NATO while there is the war in Eastern Ukraine
Russia would need very strong assurances from NATO (and would they be worth the paper they’re written on) to withdraw their support for Donetsk and Lugansk
And what about the wishes of the people who live in those areas?
Very early on in Putin’s rule , he wanted to join NATO
Maybe this should be looked at again
Sure back in mid 2001 there was the option of a European security co-operation on the one hand and a united defence force for world peace-keeping at UN direction. Russia in NATO. But the later military intervention in the ME (choice of response to 9/11 soon ended the trust required for that).
At the moment the momentum is towards a EU defence force (ironically made possible by the US request for 2% GDP defence spending in the region), with independent relationships with both Russia and (possibly via a continuing NATO) the USA (and maybe UK depending on where that is headed).
The medium term issues – the nature of the EU and Russian gas supply agreements while sanctions continue and whether Russian pressure on Ukraine has any impact on its domestic politics.
Germany’s economic and industrial well being depends on Nord Stream2 ;any alternatives are too expensive. US imposed sanctions are only going to reshape how Europe does business, to the detriment of US control.
US gas, reliant on fracking, is never going to be cost effective against Russian gas, which doesn’t involve fracking, let alone the difficulties of transport.
Germany and Russia together…the horror!
After all NATO was to keep Russia out, to keep America in, and to keep Germany down
Does the EU actually want Ukraine?
Particularly now that Its economy has dive bombed.
Probably not any more. The Ukraine’s economy wasn’t all that good to start with which is why the USSR’s leadership gave it Crimea. Now that Crimean has left it’s back to being a basket case.
And what about the wishes of the people who live in those areas?
According to the US’s overturning of democratic governments – they can be ignored.
Afraid so. This could be even worse than the circumstances that led to the termination of his contract at that Swiss finishing school. More details when they become available.
Earth to Morrissey, are you reading?
Nice to have you back old bean. Squadron Leader and I were seriously, seriously concerned about your time in the brig.
Pip pip. Chin up, let bygones be bygones and we’ll all move forward what?
The country’s first crime and victims survey suggests almost two million crimes were committed last year, about seven times the number reported to police.
I don’t think they got everyone. S.S. trust wrongly exposed a criminal, and so frustrated the he’ll out of everyone who wants to know who these peolle are, it’s a crime surely to distract and misinfirm. Geez how can I be sure that anything the Sen.Sen.Tru. say!
Perhaps the Coalition of Losers will try and take New Zealand back to the situation in the late 1930’s.
Radio news broadcasts were written in the Prime Minister’s office and had to be read out on New Zealand radio stations exactly as they were written.
I’m sure that Tsar Winnie and his off-sider [Jacinda] would love to bring that back.
Then we wouldn’t get stories on the TV news about how they are going to halve the number of children in poverty, but not for at least a decade, book-ended by a story about the number of people needing food parcels from the City Mission having doubled during their first year in office and another story about how the number of homeless people and of drug users on Queen St having also risen greatly in the last year and how people working in shops are routinely assaulted these days.
I’m afraid that this current Government is offering only the promises that were described so well in the Union rallying song of 1911.
As the International Workers of the World put it.
“Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.”
“do Facebook”?
Wash your mouth out. I looked at the way Facebook was designed to operate when it started. I decided that I would never, ever go on that crazy system.
Never have and never will.
Obviously I looked at how it would work with a great deal more care than those of you who rushed into it like lemmings running over a cliff and are now regretting it.
“I’ve never been on Facebook”.
I have obviously misjudged you in my assumption.
You are very sensible. I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
On the other hand I don’t really see how it can be safely “regulated” as you put it. That just puts someone else in a position of power over what people are allowed to see. I think I still prefer the glorious anarchy that was the original internet. The only regulation I would accept is that people should legally own their own data and they, and they alone, should have the ability to allow, or disallow, companies like Facebook from using it.
I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
Not quite, Facebook is now for Mums and Grandmothers.
All the younger people have bolted to Instagram , snap chat, twitter, what’s app etc.
I had heard that was happening but I didn’t realise that the decline started so long ago.
Those numbers are for the US I suppose. I wonder when it dived here?
Long-haired preachers come out every night
To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
But when asked how about something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
That’s a lie
And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
‘Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum:
You’re gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
Dirty lie
What the PM told us has been achieved so far by this coalition government when she spoke yesterday in the adjournment debate.
“…… I could just say this about the last 12 months: 3.9 percent unemployment, a Budget surplus, 73,000 more jobs, 2.7 percent GDP growth including 1 percent in the June 2018 quarter alone, 111 Provincial Growth Fund projects, 60 million trees planted, $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund after almost a decade of nothing, 384,000 families better of with the Families Package, 774,000 New Zealanders now receiving a winter energy payment, 4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract, 1,200 new public housing places, more than 200 new or rebuilt classrooms, 1,500 new teachers, 600 new learning support coordinators, 600,000 New Zealanders with access to cheaper GP visits, and hundreds of new police officers already.”
” $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund”.
That is a bit like saying that you contributed $100 to the TAB.
In October the return on the fund was -4.84%. That’s right it dropped in value by a couple of billion dollars. I suspect the same thing happened in November and will probably also happen this month. https://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz/sites/default/files/documents-sys/October%202018%20Monthly%20Report.pdf
“4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract,”.
Really. It is rather more significant that they can’t even get offers on the houses that Twyford is buying, and that the sort of place that they are calling “homes” are studio apartments. Subsidies are now being made available to anyone who will buy a place.
Those places were meant to be for families who were locked out of the market. Instead they have sold to people like the Doctor/Marketing Manager couple we were told about.
Other stories tell us that the lottery winners who are offered the property refuse to buy them and that they are then sold on the open market for whatever they can get for them.
“Yes, I’m extremely proud of the actions we have taken this year as the Government, some of which include extending paid parental leave, stopping foreign purchasing of Kiwi homes, making the first year of tertiary study free, stopping the State house sell-off, building that first KiwiBuild home, restarting super fund contributions, increasing the minimum wage, passing the Child Poverty Reduction Bill in my name, implementing the Families Package, making GP visits cheaper for many New Zealanders, investing in fixing hospitals and schools, funding more teachers, beginning to plant one billion trees, investing in the regions through the Provincial Growth Fund, beginning to recruit 1,800 more police—”
I am trying to suppress the smugness, about 6 or 7 years ago a colleague made the observation that ‘ with Facebook, you are not the customer, you are the product’.
I wish I had thought of that wording. It very accurately, and succinctly, sums up what I thought when I first looked at the scheme.
I suppose I should also follow your example and try and suppress the smugness about never having gone near it.
I finally managed to get out of Facebook (it was like the bloody Hotel California …you can check in but never leave) but still had concerns about my profile being up , so thats a great piece of info there. Thanks for that Joe
Jim Mora apparently believes substandard content is acceptable as long
as he occasionally “balances” it with “the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic.”
On Friday 30 November this writer, and no doubt many other people, listened with disbelief and horror as Jim Mora abandoned all pretence to be running any sort of intelligent or reasoned discussion on his RNZ light chat show. The first two guests seemed designed to insult and provoke anyone who cared about anything. At 4:28 p.m. I sent the following email….
Kiwiblog?!!?? Bob McCoskrie?!! WTF?
Dear Jim,
You first quoted the extreme right wing Kiwiblog, then in the very next breath you quoted the even more extreme Bob McCoskrie. Ali Jones reacted the way that any sensible listener would have: “What a load of RUBBISH!”
What’s next? Are you going to approvingly quote the complacent right wing New York Times opinionist David Brooks, or some mad article from the Daily Telegraph, or the so-called “Sensible Sentencing Trust”, as you so often do?
Have you thought of quoting someone who actually writes in a thoughtful and balanced manner? Gordon Campbell perhaps?
You have a duty, surely, to assemble a credible and serious hour of broadcasting. Kiwiblog and Family First are anything but credible and serious.
Yours in concern at the standard of your program,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
At 5:10 p.m. Jim Mora replied:
I also quoted The Standard yesterday, Morrissey, I regularly quote the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic. Jim
And that is the core of the problem with Mora and his show: this spurious hypothesis that quoting something relatively sane makes up for treating the likes of Bob McCoskrie as a serious commentator.
Yesterday (Wednesday December 19th) Mora—or his producer Julie Moffett—was back at it. To discuss the planned Hamilton-Auckland rail link, they once again wheeled on the worst possible person. I sent off another email pronto…
Gary Mallett???!!!
Dec 19, 2018, 4:37 PM
Dear Jim,
A lot of people and organizations have spent a great deal of time and effort considering the pros and cons of the Hamilton to Auckland rail link. However, instead of bringing on someone who knew what he/she was talking about, you—or your producer—chose the extreme right wing Hamilton councillor Gary Mallett. He’s an ACT Party member notorious for, amongst other things, his unhinged attacks on Māori. His language in your interview this afternoon reflected his simplistic thinking: “absolutely pathetic….pathetic…absolutely no impact in reducing congestion…. costing mega-millions… this is people’s hard-earned money…I’m completely agnostic as to how we travel…”
Both Penny Ashton and Mike Rehu expressed their disapproval, but you joked that “Gary’s supporting some interesting arguments though!”
That’s five minutes of airtime wasted.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
So far, Jim Mora has not replied to that remonstration.
What is it with these husband and wife media “duos” you would expect they would have common interests but some impartiality surely goes with the job?
In a double dose today his wife, somebody Lambie, was “doing” the afternoon show on a “competing” station and doing her best to absolve the “Sensible Sentencing ‘Trust'” for their appalling and derelict behaviour. The result was her interviewing the (?) McVicar who immediately somehow to turn it round inextricably to the “trust” being the victim in all this.
Why are these tag teams insulting the people of NZ – that pair, Hosking etc, Soper etc it’s getting beyond tedious they’re everywhere like pack of “Stepford” wives”.
It’s as they say “all about the business” and by the look of it cases of not “what you know” but “who”, do they get two for the price of one?
I find it quite off-putting being harangued, I like something a bit topical or “newsy” while driving but this level of “opinion” will see me turn to the music stations. I’m still trying to work out how Lambie framed McVicar as the “victim” but she did with very little mention of what they had posted and how serious that was – it was found out about last March so that was kept quiet for a long time while donations were still being sought publicly.
Makes my head spin sometimes, but I can believe it – I live in Tauranga and while in lots of ways it is great, the divide in the way we think between me and some family members/aquaintances is sometimes surprising and I am hard pressed to understand how we can see things so differently.
Then I read this https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12180474 and conclude that there are some people in the world who are going quite mad.
Who is this “we” being referred to very often? I believe in the “village” much of the time but not one rigid mindset.
Is he one of these increasingly crazy people who think the public needs saving from itself and only he/we/they “peddle” the truth? It’s becoming quite bizzare.
That fool was nominally “in charge” of the NZRFU in 1999; most infamously, he allowed advertising lout Kevin Roberts to have an Air New Zealand jet “decorated” with a hideous distorted picture of the All Black front row on it. The players were mortified and embarrassed, and pleaded for them not to do it, but Moffett and Roberts didn’t care and the monstrosity was forced through.
Jacinda Ardern is not the first person to be dismissed rancorously by David Moffett. His harebrained “traitors” remark is just the latest in a long line of stupid insults. When he was NZRFU head creep, he angered Rugby League supporters by (accurately) scoffing at the sport as “five tackles and kick”. Later, the hypocrite took a job as CEO of the National Rugby League.
Another Australian whacko, Peter Scutts, was the CEO of the Auckland Blues while Moffett was running his ignorant mouth. Scutts, to show how “professional” the Auckland Rugby Union was, took it on himself to ban the Wellington Supporters Club from running onto the hallowed turf of Eden Park with their Leo the Lion mascot, something that they’d done for about a hundred years. Even worse than that little piece of meanness, in 1997 Scutts refused to change the playing strip of the Blues for the Super 12 final against the ACT Brumbies; both teams had almost identical strips. Scutts cited “the heritage of the Auckland Blues”—-the team was less than two years old. In the event, the final was a shambles, with two almost identically dressed teams on the field, and the game of rugby football reduced to a laughing stock.
I like Mr Farrar, and I appreciate the light hand he wields on his site. However, to pretend that anyone with his stridently anti-union and wildly pro-Israel views—he came back from a (guided) tour of the Occupied Territories a few years back and solemnly informed Jim Mora that he had seen nothing going on there—is not extremely right wing would be less than honest.
He’s certainly more civilized and personable than Cameron Slater, but there’s not a great deal of difference in their politics.
There are many Jewish (and wider related group of relatives) centrists blinded by nationalism and or religion into a pro Zionist position, this does not make them right wing, let alone extreme right wing. DPF would be in the former cateogry (though he is right wing all the same).
There are many Christian Adventists (Slater is one) whose support for Zionism is religious and part of some concept of a Judeo-Christian nationalism where Israel is a western Christendom colonial pet project.
This is right wing in that this Christian dominionism (American) uses the idea of end time Advent ending human self government/democracy to justify lack of human action on social justice (and climate change) in the USA or the wider world. It serves to enable the GOP to serve 1% mammon with their votes.
Tempting to file him in the `useful idiot’ category of rightists, but probably a tad unfair and I was inclining toward your more generous view when I realised a reality-check is probably a good idea. So I googled his political alignment and found this on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farrar_(blogger)
“Farrar professes a classical liberal approach to politics, that is often compromised by his party affiliation with the liberal conservative National Party (for instance over state security powers vs individual rights) and identifies as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum. He was a co-chair of National’s Classical Liberal Policy Advisory Group at its formation in 2004. He supported the legalisation of prostitution and of civil unions in New Zealand. Farrar supports a New Zealand republic, and is on the National Council of the New Zealand Republican Movement. Economically his views are more in keeping with those of parties to the right of the National Party, such as the market fundamentalism of the minority ACT party.”
So socially liberal, economically dry, but the quote implies he self-identifies “as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum.” As a Republican, he seems progressive rather than conservative to us (but the contrary to Americans due to their early departure from monarchy).
Extreme right and extreme left is quite rare, so I would agree.
He is a liberal, but a right wing one, certainly no centrist.
The debate point is between centre right or simply right. I’d go with the latter – some confuse his being liberal with being centre right. No so for mine. Sure there is common cause between right wing and centrist and centre-left liberals from time to time but his vehemently anti-Green posts do not come from a centrist position, but a right wing one. The same with his involvment with the Taxpayers Union.
Like most of the right wing of the National Party they tend to hide in plain sight and manouvre to achieve the right wing change by both stealth and by increment.
I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.
After watching this 45 minute documentary from the UK.
It is not for the faint-hearted.
I condemn thee for the sin of hubris, nay even the of crime against all humanity in seeking us to forsake our own Judith-given right to the flesh, the delicious flesh, of farmed animals, to give up out culture, our beliefs, there is only one sentence:
Nope. I’ve already stated that the best path for NZ would be to make all sheep, beef, pork and chicken (and any other type of animal I’ve missed) farming free range
Whilst I have no issues with people choosing to follow a vegan lifestyle (usually this is done when a person has had a chance to challenge all the information put before them), I’m against people trying to force others to follow it as if there is no other dietary choice. The reality is that this world does not need overlords – especially vegan ones.
I’m not trying to force you to follow a plant based diet.
However I am asking that you actually look at what 21st century industrial farming looks like.
But all of you critics are too scared to confront the reality of what factory farming looks like.
Why lead with this then? “I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.” Should you have lead with, “I challenge anyone to support factory farming, after watching this.”
Just because he is pro Israel does not make him extreme right.
I would agree he is right rather than centre right. But if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges. But maybe that is what you think.
“if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges.”
Simon Bridges is far right, so is the current lot of all National MP’s, and i would include Bill English, the double dipper from Dipton in that lot too.
There is not one current man or women in the National Party that would not put themselves and Party above Country, Duty and Honor. A bit like the republican lot in the US.
The National party are extreme because their beliefs do no match up with reality.
Me, I’m all for living within the physical limits of the world. Which means to say that I’m not extreme in anyway, shape or form.
The problem that you, like many, is that you think that trying to live within those limits is extreme. And yet, the whole point of the market was actually to bring about living within those limits.
I don’t actually think how you think I do and we have more in common that you might realise. Particularly around how finite our resources are and how they need to be utilised.
But you can’t just say “National are extreme right” based upon your own metrics because it doesn’t work that way. They aren’t extreme right by any real political, economic or social methodology that is in common parlance or study. It’s no different to someone on Kiwiblog saying labour are extreme left because they are so far right themselves.
When you or the kiwi blogger say “extreme right/left” what I hear is “I don’t know what words mean”
I don’t actually think how you think I do and we have more in common that you might realise. Particularly around how finite our resources are and how they need to be utilised.
I have, occasionally, considered that we may be talking past each other.
But you can’t just say “National are extreme right” based upon your own metrics because it doesn’t work that way.
Reality isn’t my metric – it just is. It has physical constraints that we need to live within and we’re not doing that.
And compared to reality Labour is also extreme right-wing as they’re still following the same failed economics that National follow.
The question I have is: Why do so many econ students (or anyone else for that matter) not learn about the physical resources that the economy is based upon?
Given the greatly amplified role of professional economists at every level of policy making, the extent to which economics is disconnected from reality is becoming more alarming.
This is most telling point about modern economics that needs to said and repeated:
Modern economics is simply not connected to reality.
This article misses a bit though that may even be far more important than the fact that economics ignores actual human motivations. Modern economics misses the fact that economics is about the availability and distribution of scarce resources.
How much land do we have?
How much of that land can be used to support humanity?
How much is needed to maintain a healthy environment?
These are questions (and others of a similar bent) that modern economics not only doesn’t answer – it doesn’t ask. And so we have nations converting every square in of land to farms and the extinction rate increasing tilting the environment further to outright collapse. We’ve fished up so much fish that the ocean ecology is also close to collapse.
We do this for profit because its supposed to bring about the best outcome and yet all the evidence shows that the profit motive is bringing about the worst possible outcomes. Climate change and ecological collapse has been brought about by the drive for profit and the need to have a growing economy to feed that profit. A growing economy can only come about with a growing population.
All the evidence is that the carrying capacity of the Earth as far as humans go is about two billion. We’re presently at seven and climbing.
Economics, the stuff that the economists and politicians ignore, tells us that we need to live within physical constraints but we’ve gone way past those constraints chasing profit.
Labour is centrist, and the Green Party’s agreement with them to spend no more than 30% GDP declared their coalition government would be centrist. This is why they could and did include NZ First. They had to in any case to get a majority and that need gives them an excuse for their moderation – which is given again and again to their party members and all those in society who wanted more.
It’s not getting worse under them, it’s going to get better … slowly.
Or they will not go further right, but they will not cross any centre lines moving back to the left at such a slow pace.
Dang !!! That’s a lot of expensive bureaucratic paperwork.
Has been suggested to give out credit cards, which would absolutely cut back processing costs for expenses.
I thought they would already have ministerial credit cards, then I remembered paula bennet, her staff member misused the office credit card.
Can someone clear up my confusion please, as it appears ministerial credit cards are not a new thing, were they scrapped at some stage? Or did they never exist?
Government Ministers still have credit cards, Cinny. They have not been scraped.
I don’t have time to go into detail as due out, but here are a couple of links re these Ministerial credit cards. All expenses etc relating to Ministers of the Crown are handled by Ministerial Services, part of the Dept of Internal Affairs.
I actually found that Newshub article confusing and questionable, but don’t have time etc at present to go into detail but MPs who are not Ministers also can claim expenses etc but this is done through Parliamentary Service – not Ministerial Services in DIA.
Up north the land of stupid people end their year will all the class one would expect of them.
May the great prevaricator, who takes procrastination to another level, has apparently reduced Corbyn, the great communicator, to whispering to himself “stupid woman” (no recording of this exists, he claims he said “stupid people”).
After recent attempts to pose a vote of no confidence in the PM, but not yet her government, this does not seem credible (the argument that either stupid woman and stupid people were statements of fact is a strong one, and one leads to the other, as these were the people that kept her on as leader of their party).
Apparently because May is a woman, noting that she is stupid while being a woman is seen as a sexist attack, or misogny. This is taking identity politics micro aggression to the next level, and given this is the Tory Party, it is obviously an attempt trying to divert attention from their own reality – May has chosen to delay the vote on her Brexit plan and leave it to the media to run a Brexit with no deal scare campaign over the holiday break to soften up the MP’s before the vote.
All ones eggs in one basket (she has said their will be not be another referendum to over-ride a parliamentary impasse).
So should the deal not get parliamentary approval, Corbyn will propose a vote of no confidence in the government over it facing a no deal Brexit (the media scare campaign will help him in this).
So will posing Corbyn as an anti-semite, and now as a misogynist, save the Tory Party from their own Brexit divisions. May needs the so called “Blairites” (while moderates and the May deal is the middle course between a no deal Brexit and staying in the EU, they mostly prefer going back to a referendum) to vote for the deal for fear of a no deal Brexit if they vote no. Thus the hard-line refusal to go to a referendum is to influence them.
Stupid people are playing chicken on the highway called Brexit in the UK parliament because they claim giving the people another say, is not respecting what they decided last time they were asked. This is a brain dead parliament that reigns as a tyrant for 5 years and treats it subjects for this period of incarceration as fools. Stupid people.
On the face to it, Corbyn has shown himself completely incompetent during the Brexit debates. His standing will have gone down (including among his moderate MP’s), though perhaps not enough to stop him becoming PM at the next election.
However, nothing he has done has either bought an election forward, or will result in a second referendum. He should have been able to achieve one of those.
Instead he has made it more likely May’s deal will get through. Maybe that is what he wants, hence his tactics to date. So an election, whenever it happens, can be fought in clear air.
His policy is to have the May deal fail in parliament.
A sort of alliance between the hard Brexit Tories and those who want a referendum facilitated by having a position based standards for a deal they would support not being met (maybe not possible).
If he is successful, May might resign rather than preside over a no deal Brexit – after all parliament could easily deny consent to a no deal Brexit government being in office.
Corbyn could however choose to play white knight – entice Tories against a no deal Brexit into supporting a parliamentary move to suspend Brexit and call for a new referendum, rather than a new election.
With a May deal, the government takes responsibility – most now favour remain in polls – and the Tory Party divisions (there are as many for a hard Brexit and remain as in favour in their caucus and party membership) are going nowhere. Nor is the Northern Ireland, Scotland and the LD (where will the pro remain Tories and anti Corbyn Blairites go?).
There is no way the Tories can win this game, whatever happens, Corbyn’s Labour has the advantage/all the cards.
101 stuff that UK labour or Corbyn haven’t found an answer to. The distraction that sticks
Parliament descended into chaos on Wednesday as angry Tory MPs accused Jeremy Corbyn of calling Theresa May a “stupid woman”, which the Labour leader vehemently denied.
I liked this bit: “While May was still in the house, the former Tory chair Patrick McLoughlin asked Bercow to censure Corbyn. “He muttered words which were quite clearly visible, accusing the prime minister of being a ‘stupid woman’,” he said, as MPs shouted “Shame!” and “Disgrace!””
Since the former Tory chair confirms that the words were clearly visible, they will show up on any video recording of Corbyn uttering them, so their inaudibility is no real problem. Sceptics just need to watch the recording to see those words hanging there in the air just after emerging from his mouth…
What he should have said was “I realise honourable members are looking for ways to take offence, and I now wonder whether they’d have preferred it if I’d said – Silly Lady boy, and “I’m offended you are offended just as you will be offended I am offended by you’re being offended”
Well it looks like Hummer’s an arsehole but not a workplace bully christy, and being an arsehole is pretty much de rigueur for high placed smootharse bureaucrats.
A new report (on the Funded Family Care system) commissioned by the Government points to a host of failings, but makes no recommendation for change.
A disability advocate says the report is a waste of time and the Government should simply get on with changes everyone knows are overdue.
There is concern the report will allow the Government to procrastinate.
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter said she expected the government would announce its plans to overhaul the Funded Family Care system in less than a year, but she wouldn’t commit to a specific time-frame nor give away any details. However, she acknowledged affected families have been waiting a long time for justice.
@Anne and Denis, and probably a few others:
You might be interested in this (as in when the PS started to go tits up with corporatisation): https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46608818
Kia ora Newshub One has to expect more accidents with all the exra cars and people in Aotearoa of late and not much investment in the road network in the last few years.
Those are huge hailstones in Australia hope not to many people have been hurt what a mess we have to get use to weather like that.
We need to pay a return on waste to save our wild life and enviroment that poor seal nearly lost its life paying a return on all waste is way cheaper than have to try and pull plastic waste out of the sea the size of the Pacific waste .
Ka pai Mark with your song we built this city on sausagerolls hitting number one in Britain lol
One must be real carefull when working in construction I have heard of some shocking accidents
Rob that’s the way Wellington showing you the aroha for being Maori santa . People in Aotearoa have expect maori are going to show there pride of being a tangata whenua.
Kate Wreck it Ralph will keep the mokopunas happy for a while.
ka kite ano P.S I have to use a new search ap and it has not got spell check loaded yet some one crashed the old one
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This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Cave à Vin founder Zane Kelsall says he has been in ‘intense therapy’ following sexual misconduct claims in Halifax.Last week, The Spinoff published a story about Cave à Vin, a new wine bar on Auckland’s North Shore. The story hailed ...
Hundreds of artefacts connected with the lesbian community in New Zealand are displayed in a small volunteer-run museum in West Auckland.Charmaine always had crushes on girls. When she was head girl of Auckland Girls’ Grammar, she fell in love with ...
From a school for budding beekeepers to a street-side garden growing produce for locals, Auckland’s abuzz with projects making the city safer for pollinators.Auckland’s a hive of activity aimed at helping our pollinators and it’s all a part of For ...
After watching a mind-bending film about a dying magician that reminded him of Tickled, David Farrier interviewed the director, only to have his interview disappear.This has never happened before. I’ve never lost audio from an interview, and it’s the most ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk New Zealand’s unprecedented “internet-native mass shooting” attack on two mosques, the New Caledonia independence referendum, Fiji’s general election and news media responses are featured in the latest Pacific Journalism Review being published next week. Analysis ...
Aldous Harding is coming back to New Zealand. In the lead-up to her shows, she spoke to The Spinoff about live TV, maturity, and the weirder interpretations of her songs.Aldous Harding is calling from her home in Wales. Only a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of Technology This weekend marks 50 years exactly since humans first walked on the Moon. It also marks Australia’s small but significant role in enabling NASA ...
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag.First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag.Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned ...
Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogsat the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ a close friend had said. ‘Then you’ll be able to tell if it is going to lead anywhere’: a short story by New Plymouth author Elizabeth Smither. Photography by Peter Black. ...
Opinion - The leadership visits are more interesting in that they serve as a spotlight on the two countries - politically, and on policy issues, writes Brigette Morten. ...
Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher: Children and Technology, Western Sydney University Instagram is running a social media experiment in Australia and elsewhere to see what happens when it hides the number of likes on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...
A poem by Miramar poet Geoff Cochrane.Channel HoppingStupa or Stuka?Weet-Bix or Welsh rabbit?Galactic aerodrome or Matchbox truck?*I’m young in my dreams, still young.*Beautiful Keanu’s wearing shades—antique shades with iodine-coloured lenses.*I’m young in my dreams, still young,and I still have some ...
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury, $35)Fucking ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Griebsch, Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine, University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Sydney, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Recently reported cases of the often fatal bacterial infection ...
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...
Finance companies say they shouldn’t have to be ‘fit and proper’ even though in some cases they charge more than the planned clampdown on high cost lending. A group of finance companies that charges well over the government’s proposed cap on ...
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign Affairs and trade Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The new, ...
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIRO The role Australia played in relaying the first television images of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the Moon 50 years ago this July features in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndal Sleep, Research Fellow, Griffith University In Australia’s social security laws, the “couple rule” is used to determine if a person is in a relationship, tying access to Centrelink payments to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Walker, Lecturer (Management), Victoria University of Wellington We live in a society obsessed with performance. For both young and old, competitions, awards and rankings are an inescapable feature of life. How ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...
Open mike 20/12/2018 
39 mins ago
Much like Tuvalu, the manmade climate change Cult love to tell people the Maldives is almost totally underwater. In fact the dishonest Maldives Govt d on the same bandwagon, believing they would receive billions of dollars aid from other Countries ...12 hours ago
As the entry on Wikipedia shows (and no, one doesn’t necessarily have to regard Wikipedia as the be-all and end-all of truth, because it isn’t on a great many things, to agree with the following): “…a fallacious argument that concludes ...15 hours ago
by Daphna Whitmore The story of how the world awoke to a big injustice is starting to be told. The Pacific Games held this month in Samoa is another chapter. On the podium was Laurel Hubbard, the giant transgender weightlifter, ...23 hours ago
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...2 days ago
This week, in the wake of National's opposition to even talking about reducing agricultural emissions and Simon Bridges' refusal to recognise that there is a climate emergency, I've been saying that National is unfit to govern. And it looks like ...2 days ago
Something I missed: not only did Youth MPs declare a climate emergency; they also launched a campaign to lower the voting age to 16:Youth Parliament week in Parliament has seen the establishment of Make it 16, a campaign to ...2 days ago
I have been reading and listening to the aftermath of Trump’s comments about the four female first term Democratic representatives, all of whom are “people of color.” I found the US coverage interesting both as evidence of partisanship and the ...3 days ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...3 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...4 days ago
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On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...5 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...5 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...1 week ago
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Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...3 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...3 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...5 days ago
A new website has launched in response to recent RNZ reporting about Police in Dunedin unlawfully entering people’s homes and breath-testing them. “I was disgusted when I saw what they cops were doing in Dunedin. Their behaviour undermines all of ...22 hours ago
Cave à Vin founder Zane Kelsall says he has been in ‘intense therapy’ following sexual misconduct claims in Halifax.Last week, The Spinoff published a story about Cave à Vin, a new wine bar on Auckland’s North Shore. The story hailed ...2 hours ago
Hundreds of artefacts connected with the lesbian community in New Zealand are displayed in a small volunteer-run museum in West Auckland.Charmaine always had crushes on girls. When she was head girl of Auckland Girls’ Grammar, she fell in love with ...3 hours ago
From a school for budding beekeepers to a street-side garden growing produce for locals, Auckland’s abuzz with projects making the city safer for pollinators.Auckland’s a hive of activity aimed at helping our pollinators and it’s all a part of For ...3 hours ago
After watching a mind-bending film about a dying magician that reminded him of Tickled, David Farrier interviewed the director, only to have his interview disappear.This has never happened before. I’ve never lost audio from an interview, and it’s the most ...4 hours ago
The Government is ramping up policy and research work in the countdown to next year’s referendum on cannabis legalisation. ...13 hours ago
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Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogs at the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...1 day ago
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Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...1 day ago
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cherie Hugo, Teaching Fellow, Nutrition & Dietetics, Bond University The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety this week turned its attention to food and nutrition. The testimony of maggots in ...2 days ago
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...2 days ago
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...2 days ago
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...2 days ago
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By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...2 days ago
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John Banks' former lives, vegetable-based insults in Auckland's mayoral race and metaphorical cabbage - James Elliott has it all. ...2 days ago
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...2 days ago
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...2 days ago
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...2 days ago
Uber Pike
James a UK immigrant to NZ ,,, and resident troll here …. supports and participates in the the breaking of NZ laws … and such is his pride he brags about it at left wing blogs.
Uber a tax dodging law flouting corporation came into New Zealand ….. and under the last National Government were allowed to operate …. despite, but yet typically under the last Nact Government, they were at least 80% non-compliant to the Land Transport Passenger Service regulations … under which they are lawfully and legally required to operate.
It makes you wonder what other laws and regulations James thinks should be ignored …. food?, ignoring all those burdensome hygine and food safty regulations… a james bbq with pink chicken would make a uber fine food provider.
Uber doctors? …. where maybe they don’t actually have a legit doctors certificate … but they can fill your prescritions cheap of the internet… what a uber bargin that would be.
anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
###############################
The Pike River Mine / deathtrap was run like a corner cutting and regulation ignoring Uber outfit.
I highly recommend this Pike River documentary …
Watching it left me vastly better informed of the criminal disregard for workers safety .. red line after red line were crossed and ignored …non compliance with the regulations and ignoring laws pertaining to explosive gasses …all leading to the inevitable but preventable deaths for the 29 West Coast workers.
And for me it really highlighted our dishonest grave dancer Alwyn … and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.
Wow you really do have an unhealthy obsession with me.
Nice to see I’m in that little head of yours so early in the morning.
“And for me it really highlighted our dishonest grave dancer Alwyn … and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.”
My, you really woke up with a hangover this morning, didn’t you.
I’m feeling a tad left out, don’t I even rate a mention?
You’re fully assimilated now, Pucky. Perhaps we should have said…a small ceremony, perhaps, maybe a badge…sorry!
I need to get my mojo back is what it is, the current set up in National is not motivating enough, I need inspiration, I need National not Labour-lite, I need something to believe in, I need a hero, I need…
https://i1.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1478989_561528227258268_120535684_n.jpg
There it is 🙂
I’m afraid you have gone over to the dark side.
Anakin Skywalker, better known as Darth Vader, seems to be more appropriate for you nowadays.
Well thats just mean 🙁
🙂
That’s not a documentary, it’s a dressed up presentation of opinions.
“and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.”
I’m not aware of what James has said about Andrew Little and Pike River, but if it relates to Little’s time with the EPMU, then he may well have been referring to this http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-andrew-little-failed-pike-river.html.
Andrew Little was asleep at the wheel.
Bullshit. Little was the head of the union. His job was to administer the organisation, not personally visit every worksite to check for issues.
Well for someone who was only doing what you suggest as being “His job was to administer the organisation,” he certainly had a lot to say about the details of the operation.
Did you bother to read that link and see exactly what Little did say? They are direct quotes you know.
I’ve read it many times. In fact, pretty much every time some git makes the same mistake about Little’s role. Pike River were anti-union, and incentivised their staff to breach health and safety rules and kept the true situation in the mine secret. Andrew Little is a clever guy, but he doesn’t possess ESP.
“Little was the head of the union.”
And in that capacity he defended PRC management on their safety record, and led a union that failed to act on specific concerns raised prior to the accident.
“His job was to administer the organisation…”
Are you seriously arguing he isn’t responsible for his own comments about PRC? That as head of the union he bears no responsibility for the safety of the union’s members? What was he paid to do exactly?
“…not personally visit every worksite to check for issues.”
But he is responsible for what he says. Particularly when what he says reflects precisely on those safety issues. And he was ultimately responsible for the union and it’s members. He failed.
Again, bullshit. His comments were based on what information he had at the time. As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union. To use the National party’s excuse du jour, it was an operational matter. Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth. He could only report what he was told, becuase he had no direct involvement.
be good to see Andrew Little make some sort of definitive statement on this, one mad Trot offshoot newsletter, is what the various Nattys keep quoting
as I understand it Mr Whitall ran an anti union/union busting culture that saw the organiser reduced to riding the workers bus to try and get access to the site! Rebecca McFie’s “Tragedy at Pike River Mine” lays it out how marginalised the Union was there, requests from Mr Rockhouse to include the EPMU in training exercises were met with dismissive emails from Whitall–“the Union and Pike are not to be mentioned in the same sentence”…etc.
the attacks on Little are rather transparent given Solid Energy’s “seal it up” plan being derailed, and the Pike River Recovery Agency charging ahead with reentry
Hi Tiger.
The claims regarding Little’s involvement with Pike stem from his own comments and his own inaction. The material in the post (http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-andrew-little-failed-pike-river.html) is damning.
You do realise, I hope, that all Andrew’s statements were made AFTER the explosion that almost certainly killed the workers.
The explosion was on 19 November. Little’s statements were made to the Herald, and Close Up on 22 November.
If he hadn’t found out what was going on by then he damn well should have. Both he, and the MP for the area, O’Connor had by then been to the mine and still they defended the company and said that everything was fine and there were no concerns by the Union about safety.
Of course it’s conceivable he was lied to wally.
“His comments were based on what information he had at the time.”
Which were ill-informed, and ignored concerns of others from within the business and the industry.
“As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union.”
And Little enabled them.
“Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth.”
That’s a terrific cop-out. Andrew Little was with the EPMU/Engineers Union since before 1997. He was National Secretary from 2000. In summary, at the time of Pike he had been with the union for more than 13 years, 10 as National Secretary. For you to argue his position was simply as “an administrator based in Wellington” is pure nonsense.
I must say this is a shock. James is not even a real Kiwi even though he pretends he is.
Immigration management in this country in the last 20 years has been terrible. There has been zero work done on the ability of social infrastructure to cope with the flood of toff-nosed poms washing onto our shores.
James claims to be about 48 years old and has sent three kids through Kristin at 25K per annum each. The eldest of these kids owns and runs their own business now and is approximately late 20s.
I’m left wondering when it was that James actually entered New Zealand as an immigrant with his British family?
James himself might like to shed some light on this…
More fun to leave you wondering and obsessing.
There are honest commenters on this forum, and then there is you.
There are morons – then there is you who will never raise to that level of intellect.
…. anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
Did ya james ? … do tell.
it will also distract you from your unhealthy obsession with Ed … otherwise known as trolling.
Spill your 10 pound pom uber guts ….
Resin – if James trolls you, you are doing something right.
Remember Roosevelt’s words.
“I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”
And are reasons statements true James?
Reason seems to think so. But then again he/she seems to have issues.
So you don’t deny them then.
Interesting to know.
I note that reason hasn’t denied having an unhealthy obsession with me – interesting to know.
So james. I will have to believe what Reason has written about you.
Sayonna
James is an opinionated ignoramus. A classic case of “opening mouth before engaging brain”. I recently posted about the demise of CanTeen’s AYA regional cancer service, only to receive an uninformed, abusive response from this idiot.
Surprisingly little reaction from other Standardistas to what is an avoidable calamity for young cancer patients in New Zealand.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/12/19/370303/the-fight-to-save-cash-strapped-canteen
I missed your post thanks for reposting.
“CanTeen, which relies on community support and donations, helps youngsters aged between 13 and 24 dealing with cancer. It provides someone to talk to, connects peers, runs activities and workshops, helps people with their grief. The website says: “CanTeen takes care of things like topping up your phone, getting you to appointments or the food situation in your cupboard so you don’t need to stress.””
Such great work supporting very vulnerable people. My niece is younger, with her third cancerous growth returning, at age 12. Such a tough area to be able to support people. I hope finding can come – a vital, underrated service.
As for James he’s just another weakling rwnj. A loser pretender who is probably the saddest of all of us here truth be told.
Your comments beg the question that you obviously have issues.
Do you stalk women on the internet publishing what you think you know about them?
Are you one of those creepy internet stalkers ?
Ignoring your garbled syntax, “that you obviously have issues” is not a question wee James, it’s a statement. Stalking? Pot, kettle, black?
Are you really so conceited that you can’t appreciate your own immaturity. Back in the UK you’d be rightly termed a prat.
I note that reason hasn’t denied staking women on the internet- interesting to know.
You stalk goats don’t you or is it just sheep? Come on geezer fess up.
You’re getting James confused with Bwaghorn.
He’s the sheep botherer.
Deleted.
I never bothered a sheep that didn’t deserve it.
You guys just dropped down too Kiwiblog speak.
Only the good looking goats.
And the occasional opossum.
Onya
So you live in the Americas to enjoy opossums, James?
We have possums in NZ, phalangeridae, the bushy-tailed phalanger.
Opossums are Amurrican.
This fact makes me doubt your assertion.
I import them.
You’re now worse than the Hawkes Bay slave trader, James……. I’d quit while you’re still out of jail!
About the only crime not committed here is treason, so I’d leave the corgis well out of it.
Trump tweeted that Isis is defeated in Syria: “Trump is reported to have ordered a full, rapid withdrawal of the 2,000 US troops in Syria, declaring victory over the Islamic State, and taking allies and his own advisers by surprise.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/19/us-troops-syria-withdrawal-trump
Leading war-mongers are dismayed. “Trump’s own national security adviser, John Bolton, is adamantly opposed to the decision”. “Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican senator who is a Trump loyalist on most issues, denounced the decision. “If these media reports are true, it will be an Obama-like mistake made by the Trump administration,” Graham said in a statement. “While American patience in confronting radical Islam may wane, the radical Islamists’ passion to kill Americans and our allies never wavers.”
Trump wants a Nobel peace prize? He didn’t actually tweet that he had made peace in Syria – yet. But Obama got one without making peace. Perhaps Trump is considering calling the Nobel committee bluff. Would look good on the cv. He could send his Secretary of State to meet Assad with terms: you declare peace, thank Trump for creating it, we’ll give you foreign aid to grind up all them random bits of concrete everywhere, for recycling.
His cabinet ministers calling him a moron, his hired help getting sent to prison, you might think prospects of impeachment had increased since Democrats started promoting them, eh? Well, Gordon Campbell assessed those prospects a week ago and concluded “Trump’s destiny is to be a winner, not a loser.” http://werewolf.co.nz/2018/12/gordon-campbell-on-whether-trump-is-likely-to-be-impeached/
I still feel the same, and doubt Mueller has any rabbit in his hat. Doesn’t matter how much the US media trumpets Trump’s influence-buying, voters know that’s all just American politics as usual – the only way it could harm him is if there was a positive alternative they could anticipate. No sign of that.
Erdogan will be pleased, he can now go ahead and butcher those of the most effective force fighting Islamic State in Syria (which Turkey itself never did).
This might well also enable the settlement of Islamists backed by Turkey in their failed attempt to depose the government of Syria in “Kurdish” areas on their border.
The withdrawal otherwise means the US has no leverage in the future of Syria, but Turkey’s hand will be stronger.
I think its probably also an acknowledgement that the Astana process for a peace settlement and a new constitution in Syria is the only game in town, and the US is not part of it. When you’ve lost the war and are not part of the peace(and the spoils)why waste any more cash
I predict a fresh “outrage” chemical or otherwise,clearly perpetrated by the Syrian govt, to pull the US back in .
Trump attempted this withdrawal once before, Khan Sheikhoun was the result.
I guess Assad just doesn’t want the Yanks to leave (eye- rolling -tongue -in- cheek)
Surely the Kurds knew the US would betray them in the end?
Maybe now they’ll consider the offers of increased autonomy from the Syrian govt
Probably a little late, but there’s surely no chance now of a purely Kurdish state at this point
Sure the smart move for the Kurds would be to do a deal with Damascus and get Syrian government troops in before the Turks can act.
The complication might be the presence of some of the Syrian Arabs who fought IS alongside them, some of whom left the battle against the Syrian government once Islamists began to dominate rebel held areas – they might well now be in the refugee category.
Next comprehensive Kurd massacre coming up.
That does seem to be the case.
True about the US but I’m sure that Turkey won’t have any say either. This is going to fall to Syria, Russia and Iran to fix. Assad would do bloody well stepping up to support the Kurds.
Since Trump and Erdogan talked last Friday the US has cleared the sale of Patriot missiles to Turkey, ordered State Department personnel in Syria to be evacuated from the country within 24 hours, declared victory over ISIS, and Turkey’s request to extradite Fethullah Gülen is to be looked at.
That’s one helluva phone call.
/
ummm vlad I think you mean no one ELSE has them
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12179868
Okay now I see a problem – facing a humanity wide crisis of climate change you toolboxes decide to build more deadly weapons – I curse you all.
“Putin has said about a dozen countries were producing missiles of the type banned by the INF treaty.” Well okay, but if Russian intelligence agencies have indeed discovered this and reported it to him, why doesn’t he identify them? If those countries have signed the INF treaty, wouldn’t it expose them to ridicule and condemnation?
Not to mention discrediting the entire notion of arms reduction treaties. And their usage in international law. And, consequently, the viability of international law as a method of peace-keeping. So now we await deployment by those countries, and the reassurance that such proliferation will provide its own deterrent effect on usage.
“Which countries are developing hypersonic weapons? “The U.S., Russia and China are ahead of other nations in developing hypersonic weapons,” Richard Speier, adjunct staff with Rand, told CNBC. Speier, who worked to initiate the Pentagon’s Office of Counter-Proliferation Policy, added that France, India, and Australia are also developing military uses of hypersonic technology.” https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/21/hypersonic-weapons-what-they-are-and-why-us-cant-defend-against-them.html
Mutually assured destruction, I remark cheerfully! What an oxymoron.
I think you will find Russia’s missiles are more of a defensive mechanism than an offensive weapon. Useful against western propaganda at least. For instance without the Russian S-400 we would have seen much more destruction in the Middle East.
Yeah nah.
We agree, great.
It’s most likely a bad translation.
Climate change is going to cause mass migration and resource wars. Given this fact responsible governments are gearing up to repel the invaders.
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/14/16589878/global-climate-change-conflict-environment
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/once-again-climate-change-cited-as-trigger-for-war/
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377634/defence-force-sets-its-sights-on-climate-change
People in danger of dying tend to act in ways to protect their life.
Responsible governments wasting billions on stuff that won’t work while the things they could do go undone. That is irresponsible imo.
You do understand that there’s nothing that they can do right?
Climate change is happening. This will result in mass migration. The target countries for that mass migration can’t support the migrants. This means that those target countries have to stop those migrants. Some of those migrants are going to be bloody well armed and so the target countries will also need to be well armed. There will be some well armed other countries trying to force the target countries to take the migrants despite knowing that they can’t afford them.
Countries have the right and the responsibility to defend themselves.
Yeah you’re a real gunfight on the titanic type of guy – I’m not.
Just accepting reality an the simple fact that, when climate change truly bites, it’s going to leave a lot of people (measured in the billions) either facing death or looking to migrate an that the places that they can migrate to can’t afford them.
The UN really should have looked at curbing population growth back in the 1970s. They didn’t and most governments of the world still think that increasing population is the Bees Knees and so still won’t do it and so out younger generations are still fucked.
NZfirsts facebook page makes for interesting reading today
https://www.facebook.com/NZFirst/?ref=br_rs
They’re a pretty selfish vindictive bunch aren’t they puckers. Forget pulling up the ladder, just set that sucker on fire.
I agree, I’ve never voted for NZFirst and I never will
Yep. I especially liked one comment:
“Stuart Ward BREAKING NEWS !!!
The ‘national’ party has welcomed the news that they no longer have to worry about what their M.Ps and SUPPORTERS will use for brains if KFC needs the cabbages for coleslaw.
A new product on the hair care market, Control GX “the shampoo with brains” will provide a satisfactory alternative.
Consideration is being given to replacing Simon Bridges with either a “complimentary hotel bottle” of the shampoo, or his nearest contender, an adolescent tiger slug by the name of Slimey Norman”
Well you won’t have to worry about Simon Bridges because it”ll be JC sorting NZ out when shes elected PM 🙂
Thanks, PR, for the peek into the abyss.
I probably should have added a warning to the comment 🙂
Do I sense another ode coming on.
There is something I’ve been working on but its not quite the right time yet 🙂
I do enjoy your odes.
“Shaken but not Stirred” An ode to the Collins
I took a look in th’ abyss,
Just a look, a little peek,
And what I saw will never miss
Down in the pits where she doth tryst-
Worse than the seven levels of Hades,
Where Tantalus strove in the Greek,
The Ban Sí in Eire’s green glades
Or the fell dwellings of the Shades-
The horror of her Gorgon gaze,
Too close e’en from the peaks
Of Darian- ‘mid the Centaur’s maze-
Where Judith eyes her prizéd preys.
Appropriate 🙂
Conservatives proving, yet again, just how bloody ignorant and stupid they are.
Add wilfully to the word ignorant.
And add selfish and greedy.
/agreed
Meanwhile here in NZ, trying to find out some information through an 0800 number about CourierPost’s processes, I have been taken through 4 options that don’t apply and left with 5 which seemed mostly related to NZPost, where shops are etc and tried that in the absence of other options. I got a repeat of the options from 1-5 again.
So NZPost apparently doesn’t know what it is doing, and proposes to keep customers on a loop running after their tails, while they decide.
Really a small example of the route the country has gone.
Try Spark.
They take the biscuit in this.
I find that true of many businesses and not just in NZ. Their attempt to get the customer to the right person via an automated system almost invariably ends up confusing the customer.
If you keep button mashing they machine gets fed up and you’l get a person. That’s what I have always found with the IRD at least. And ANZ
Some have called for New Zealand to be more involved in peace-making and arbitration, as per Norway and Sweden.
Neither of them (Norway is in NATO and Sweden is in the EU) have been involved in the matter of Ukraine. And we have our stalled FTA with Russia to consider. So this is one which we might well take up.
The issues are well known, Russia does not like former territories of the USSR joining NATO or the EU. It uses the presence of ethnic Russians in these territories as an excuse and economic dependence on gas as a means to intefere in their nations affairs politically.
The central issue is the tension that occurs when loyalty to nation state and ethnic identity patriotism (over the future of the Ukraine in the EU and NATO) is divided.
There are obvious paths to resolution, but the question is whether NATO and Russia would prefer the impasse to continue rather than realise one. So the first question that we would have to ask each party (before offering to mediate), do they want the matter resolved?
Does the EU actually want Ukraine?
Particularly now that Its economy has dive bombed. And its adherence to European “values”is seriously in question with the current Poroshenko govt at least
Tymoshenko won’t be much better
Of course Russia doesn’t want NATO on its doorstep, any more than the US would have accepted the Warsaw pact in Mexico
Ukraine can’t be in NATO while there is the war in Eastern Ukraine
Russia would need very strong assurances from NATO (and would they be worth the paper they’re written on) to withdraw their support for Donetsk and Lugansk
And what about the wishes of the people who live in those areas?
Very early on in Putin’s rule , he wanted to join NATO
Maybe this should be looked at again
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/853851/Putin-wants-NATO-to-let-Russia-join.html
I think he had a point
I would love NZ to be involved in mediation etc, but it would not be possible without serious “arm twisting” from our “special friend”over the ocean
Sure back in mid 2001 there was the option of a European security co-operation on the one hand and a united defence force for world peace-keeping at UN direction. Russia in NATO. But the later military intervention in the ME (choice of response to 9/11 soon ended the trust required for that).
At the moment the momentum is towards a EU defence force (ironically made possible by the US request for 2% GDP defence spending in the region), with independent relationships with both Russia and (possibly via a continuing NATO) the USA (and maybe UK depending on where that is headed).
The medium term issues – the nature of the EU and Russian gas supply agreements while sanctions continue and whether Russian pressure on Ukraine has any impact on its domestic politics.
Germany’s economic and industrial well being depends on Nord Stream2 ;any alternatives are too expensive. US imposed sanctions are only going to reshape how Europe does business, to the detriment of US control.
US gas, reliant on fracking, is never going to be cost effective against Russian gas, which doesn’t involve fracking, let alone the difficulties of transport.
Germany and Russia together…the horror!
After all NATO was to keep Russia out, to keep America in, and to keep Germany down
Probably not any more. The Ukraine’s economy wasn’t all that good to start with which is why the USSR’s leadership gave it Crimea. Now that Crimean has left it’s back to being a basket case.
According to the US’s overturning of democratic governments – they can be ignored.
I’m baa-a-a-a-a-aaackkk!
Eight days suspended, and I’m back.
Hopefully.
Testing….
Welcome back, cobber. I trust your loins are fully girded and you have a weeks worth of pent up commentary with which to handsomely entertain us.
PS, good on your former professor for staying away in solidarity 😉
The Professor is on “garden leave” at the moment, Te Reo.
Good Lord! Has he been accused of some impropriety?
Afraid so. This could be even worse than the circumstances that led to the termination of his contract at that Swiss finishing school. More details when they become available.
Great news.
Earth to Morrissey, are you reading?
Nice to have you back old bean. Squadron Leader and I were seriously, seriously concerned about your time in the brig.
Pip pip. Chin up, let bygones be bygones and we’ll all move forward what?
The country’s first crime and victims survey suggests almost two million crimes were committed last year, about seven times the number reported to police.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378680/survey-reveals-volume-and-nature-of-crimes-committed-in-new-zealand-last-year
I don’t think they got everyone. S.S. trust wrongly exposed a criminal, and so frustrated the he’ll out of everyone who wants to know who these peolle are, it’s a crime surely to distract and misinfirm. Geez how can I be sure that anything the Sen.Sen.Tru. say!
Washington DC is sueing Facebook over Cambridge Analytica.
I’m hoping 2019 is the year all open societies legislate and regulate Facebook et al, as radio was in the 1920s and tv was in the 1950s.
Its corroding global democracy and must be controlled.
For those who want to join the stampede; a couple of tutorials on grabbing your data and deleting your account.
#DeleteFacebook
https://deletefacebook.com/
https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/how-to-delete-your-facebook-account-really-update/
I ‘ve thought it easier to just keep posting pics of nipples and tits till they delete it , seems easier.
Sorry FCC formed 1930s.
Hopefully if Trump gets angry enough with tv news he’ll reform the Act.
Perhaps the Coalition of Losers will try and take New Zealand back to the situation in the late 1930’s.
Radio news broadcasts were written in the Prime Minister’s office and had to be read out on New Zealand radio stations exactly as they were written.
I’m sure that Tsar Winnie and his off-sider [Jacinda] would love to bring that back.
Then we wouldn’t get stories on the TV news about how they are going to halve the number of children in poverty, but not for at least a decade, book-ended by a story about the number of people needing food parcels from the City Mission having doubled during their first year in office and another story about how the number of homeless people and of drug users on Queen St having also risen greatly in the last year and how people working in shops are routinely assaulted these days.
I’m afraid that this current Government is offering only the promises that were described so well in the Union rallying song of 1911.
As the International Workers of the World put it.
“Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.”
[Don’t use belittling language, ta. TRP]
Radio and tv and advertising are already regulated.
Alwyn do you do Facebook on a Remington?
“do Facebook”?
Wash your mouth out. I looked at the way Facebook was designed to operate when it started. I decided that I would never, ever go on that crazy system.
Never have and never will.
Obviously I looked at how it would work with a great deal more care than those of you who rushed into it like lemmings running over a cliff and are now regretting it.
I’ve never been on Facebook and never will.
I can see from your clear comments you agree to the necessity of regulating Facebook and similar companies.
“I’ve never been on Facebook”.
I have obviously misjudged you in my assumption.
You are very sensible. I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
On the other hand I don’t really see how it can be safely “regulated” as you put it. That just puts someone else in a position of power over what people are allowed to see. I think I still prefer the glorious anarchy that was the original internet. The only regulation I would accept is that people should legally own their own data and they, and they alone, should have the ability to allow, or disallow, companies like Facebook from using it.
No other part of our information or broadcasting is unregulated.
The Washington v Facebook re Cambridge Analytica case I pointed to is exactly the kind of regulation you are seeking.
I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
Not quite, Facebook is now for Mums and Grandmothers.
All the younger people have bolted to Instagram , snap chat, twitter, what’s app etc.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/250172/social-network-usage-of-us-teens-and-young-adults/
Which is hardly surprising, you don’t want your mother/grandmother reading about all the bad shit you’ve been up to.
I had heard that was happening but I didn’t realise that the decline started so long ago.
Those numbers are for the US I suppose. I wonder when it dived here?
Context.
Long-haired preachers come out every night
To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
But when asked how about something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
That’s a lie
And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
‘Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum:
You’re gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
Dirty lie
What the PM told us has been achieved so far by this coalition government when she spoke yesterday in the adjournment debate.
“…… I could just say this about the last 12 months: 3.9 percent unemployment, a Budget surplus, 73,000 more jobs, 2.7 percent GDP growth including 1 percent in the June 2018 quarter alone, 111 Provincial Growth Fund projects, 60 million trees planted, $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund after almost a decade of nothing, 384,000 families better of with the Families Package, 774,000 New Zealanders now receiving a winter energy payment, 4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract, 1,200 new public housing places, more than 200 new or rebuilt classrooms, 1,500 new teachers, 600 new learning support coordinators, 600,000 New Zealanders with access to cheaper GP visits, and hundreds of new police officers already.”
Good eating, that. Gourmet. Tasty. Healthy.
“including 1 percent in the June 2018 quarter alone”.
Well that didn’t last very long did it?
Latest quarter was 0.3%, the lowest number for 5 years.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz//business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12180129&ref=clavis
” $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund”.
That is a bit like saying that you contributed $100 to the TAB.
In October the return on the fund was -4.84%. That’s right it dropped in value by a couple of billion dollars. I suspect the same thing happened in November and will probably also happen this month.
https://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz/sites/default/files/documents-sys/October%202018%20Monthly%20Report.pdf
“4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract,”.
Really. It is rather more significant that they can’t even get offers on the houses that Twyford is buying, and that the sort of place that they are calling “homes” are studio apartments. Subsidies are now being made available to anyone who will buy a place.
Those places were meant to be for families who were locked out of the market. Instead they have sold to people like the Doctor/Marketing Manager couple we were told about.
Other stories tell us that the lottery winners who are offered the property refuse to buy them and that they are then sold on the open market for whatever they can get for them.
Try this one.
“Yes, I’m extremely proud of the actions we have taken this year as the Government, some of which include extending paid parental leave, stopping foreign purchasing of Kiwi homes, making the first year of tertiary study free, stopping the State house sell-off, building that first KiwiBuild home, restarting super fund contributions, increasing the minimum wage, passing the Child Poverty Reduction Bill in my name, implementing the Families Package, making GP visits cheaper for many New Zealanders, investing in fixing hospitals and schools, funding more teachers, beginning to plant one billion trees, investing in the regions through the Provincial Growth Fund, beginning to recruit 1,800 more police—”
PM Ardern Q 1 18 December 2018 to Simon Bridges
I am trying to suppress the smugness, about 6 or 7 years ago a colleague made the observation that ‘ with Facebook, you are not the customer, you are the product’.
Seems to be spot on.
I wish I had thought of that wording. It very accurately, and succinctly, sums up what I thought when I first looked at the scheme.
I suppose I should also follow your example and try and suppress the smugness about never having gone near it.
A variation of if it’s free, you’re the product.
I finally managed to get out of Facebook (it was like the bloody Hotel California …you can check in but never leave) but still had concerns about my profile being up , so thats a great piece of info there. Thanks for that Joe
Jim Mora apparently believes substandard content is acceptable as long
as he occasionally “balances” it with “the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic.”
On Friday 30 November this writer, and no doubt many other people, listened with disbelief and horror as Jim Mora abandoned all pretence to be running any sort of intelligent or reasoned discussion on his RNZ light chat show. The first two guests seemed designed to insult and provoke anyone who cared about anything. At 4:28 p.m. I sent the following email….
What is it with these husband and wife media “duos” you would expect they would have common interests but some impartiality surely goes with the job?
In a double dose today his wife, somebody Lambie, was “doing” the afternoon show on a “competing” station and doing her best to absolve the “Sensible Sentencing ‘Trust'” for their appalling and derelict behaviour. The result was her interviewing the (?) McVicar who immediately somehow to turn it round inextricably to the “trust” being the victim in all this.
Why are these tag teams insulting the people of NZ – that pair, Hosking etc, Soper etc it’s getting beyond tedious they’re everywhere like pack of “Stepford” wives”.
Mora introduced an ex-S.S. trooper this afternoon as “victims’ advocate Ruth Money.”
Another horrible media husband and wife team, by the way, is Bill Ralston and Janet Wilson. It’s not always plain sailing between them, obviously….
It’s as they say “all about the business” and by the look of it cases of not “what you know” but “who”, do they get two for the price of one?
I find it quite off-putting being harangued, I like something a bit topical or “newsy” while driving but this level of “opinion” will see me turn to the music stations. I’m still trying to work out how Lambie framed McVicar as the “victim” but she did with very little mention of what they had posted and how serious that was – it was found out about last March so that was kept quiet for a long time while donations were still being sought publicly.
She presented McSticker as a victim as smoothly and casually as she and her husband call him and his cronies “victims’ advocates.”
The dishonesty has its limits, however. In 2011 Noelle McCarthy was forced to interview McSticker. She could not hide her revulsion….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/noelle-mccarthy-swallowed-vomit-for-15.html
Makes my head spin sometimes, but I can believe it – I live in Tauranga and while in lots of ways it is great, the divide in the way we think between me and some family members/aquaintances is sometimes surprising and I am hard pressed to understand how we can see things so differently.
Then I read this https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12180474 and conclude that there are some people in the world who are going quite mad.
Who is this “we” being referred to very often? I believe in the “village” much of the time but not one rigid mindset.
Is he one of these increasingly crazy people who think the public needs saving from itself and only he/we/they “peddle” the truth? It’s becoming quite bizzare.
That fool was nominally “in charge” of the NZRFU in 1999; most infamously, he allowed advertising lout Kevin Roberts to have an Air New Zealand jet “decorated” with a hideous distorted picture of the All Black front row on it. The players were mortified and embarrassed, and pleaded for them not to do it, but Moffett and Roberts didn’t care and the monstrosity was forced through.
Jacinda Ardern is not the first person to be dismissed rancorously by David Moffett. His harebrained “traitors” remark is just the latest in a long line of stupid insults. When he was NZRFU head creep, he angered Rugby League supporters by (accurately) scoffing at the sport as “five tackles and kick”. Later, the hypocrite took a job as CEO of the National Rugby League.
Another Australian whacko, Peter Scutts, was the CEO of the Auckland Blues while Moffett was running his ignorant mouth. Scutts, to show how “professional” the Auckland Rugby Union was, took it on himself to ban the Wellington Supporters Club from running onto the hallowed turf of Eden Park with their Leo the Lion mascot, something that they’d done for about a hundred years. Even worse than that little piece of meanness, in 1997 Scutts refused to change the playing strip of the Blues for the Super 12 final against the ACT Brumbies; both teams had almost identical strips. Scutts cited “the heritage of the Auckland Blues”—-the team was less than two years old. In the event, the final was a shambles, with two almost identically dressed teams on the field, and the game of rugby football reduced to a laughing stock.
Morrissey,
David Farrar, who writes all the primary items on Kiwiblog (it is his blog), is not extreme right. You have confused him with Cam Slater.
I would agree that some of the commenters on Kiwiblog are extreme right. But not David.
Just as I would say that The Standard is not extreme left, though I certainly think a number of the commenters are.
I like Mr Farrar, and I appreciate the light hand he wields on his site. However, to pretend that anyone with his stridently anti-union and wildly pro-Israel views—he came back from a (guided) tour of the Occupied Territories a few years back and solemnly informed Jim Mora that he had seen nothing going on there—is not extremely right wing would be less than honest.
He’s certainly more civilized and personable than Cameron Slater, but there’s not a great deal of difference in their politics.
There are many Jewish (and wider related group of relatives) centrists blinded by nationalism and or religion into a pro Zionist position, this does not make them right wing, let alone extreme right wing. DPF would be in the former cateogry (though he is right wing all the same).
There are many Christian Adventists (Slater is one) whose support for Zionism is religious and part of some concept of a Judeo-Christian nationalism where Israel is a western Christendom colonial pet project.
This is right wing in that this Christian dominionism (American) uses the idea of end time Advent ending human self government/democracy to justify lack of human action on social justice (and climate change) in the USA or the wider world. It serves to enable the GOP to serve 1% mammon with their votes.
Tempting to file him in the `useful idiot’ category of rightists, but probably a tad unfair and I was inclining toward your more generous view when I realised a reality-check is probably a good idea. So I googled his political alignment and found this on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farrar_(blogger)
“Farrar professes a classical liberal approach to politics, that is often compromised by his party affiliation with the liberal conservative National Party (for instance over state security powers vs individual rights) and identifies as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum. He was a co-chair of National’s Classical Liberal Policy Advisory Group at its formation in 2004. He supported the legalisation of prostitution and of civil unions in New Zealand. Farrar supports a New Zealand republic, and is on the National Council of the New Zealand Republican Movement. Economically his views are more in keeping with those of parties to the right of the National Party, such as the market fundamentalism of the minority ACT party.”
So socially liberal, economically dry, but the quote implies he self-identifies “as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum.” As a Republican, he seems progressive rather than conservative to us (but the contrary to Americans due to their early departure from monarchy).
He uses being liberal/progressive to assist with mainstreaming his right wing cause. The rich get richer, the state doing less …
Extreme right and extreme left is quite rare, so I would agree.
He is a liberal, but a right wing one, certainly no centrist.
The debate point is between centre right or simply right. I’d go with the latter – some confuse his being liberal with being centre right. No so for mine. Sure there is common cause between right wing and centrist and centre-left liberals from time to time but his vehemently anti-Green posts do not come from a centrist position, but a right wing one. The same with his involvment with the Taxpayers Union.
Like most of the right wing of the National Party they tend to hide in plain sight and manouvre to achieve the right wing change by both stealth and by increment.
I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.
After watching this 45 minute documentary from the UK.
It is not for the faint-hearted.
https://www.kinderworld.org/videos/animal-rights-documentaries/land-of-hope-and-glory/
Challenge accepted:
http://time.com/4252373/meat-eating-veganism-evolution/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131124231817.htm
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/30/why-humans-started-eating-meat-critical-diet/
I condemn thee for the sin of hubris, nay even the of crime against all humanity in seeking us to forsake our own Judith-given right to the flesh, the delicious flesh, of farmed animals, to give up out culture, our beliefs, there is only one sentence:
Please don’t have a video duel. ffs
I recon a Naked and Afraid video of a starving urban vegetarian when a normal omnivore person catches a rat, priceless.
Did you watch the video?
Nope. I’ve already stated that the best path for NZ would be to make all sheep, beef, pork and chicken (and any other type of animal I’ve missed) farming free range
That would be a massive step forward.
Of course free range must mean free range.
Outdoors.
Veganism causes mental retardation:
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2018/12/veganism-causes-mental-retardation-in-kids-top-danish-doctor-claims.amp.html
You did not watch the film about the animal farming industry.
Until you have the courage to look at it – your opinion is simply shrill and desperate.
Did you read the study about veganism causing mental retardation?
Unless you do you are a biased uninformed leaf eating shrill.
Stalking me again.
Creepy.
This is a discussion forum, Ed. Replying to comments is not stalking and if you don’t want to engage with other commenters, you do not have to.
Equally, you have no right to try to stop them commenting whenever they feel fit. If you post a comment, then folk have the right to reply.
Has all the fat in your arteries cut off the oxygen from your brain jimby?
The film Forks over Knives explains the health benefits of a plant based diet.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/sick-toddlers-parents-charged-for-her-strict-vegan-diet/news-story/65e2d8943184e1f3e798c848ce4d1edf
Whilst I have no issues with people choosing to follow a vegan lifestyle (usually this is done when a person has had a chance to challenge all the information put before them), I’m against people trying to force others to follow it as if there is no other dietary choice. The reality is that this world does not need overlords – especially vegan ones.
I’m not trying to force you to follow a plant based diet.
However I am asking that you actually look at what 21st century industrial farming looks like.
But all of you critics are too scared to confront the reality of what factory farming looks like.
Why lead with this then? “I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.” Should you have lead with, “I challenge anyone to support factory farming, after watching this.”
“I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.
After watching this 45 minute documentary from the UK.”
Just because he is pro Israel does not make him extreme right.
I would agree he is right rather than centre right. But if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges. But maybe that is what you think.
you finally typed something that is correct
“if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges.”
Simon Bridges is far right, so is the current lot of all National MP’s, and i would include Bill English, the double dipper from Dipton in that lot too.
There is not one current man or women in the National Party that would not put themselves and Party above Country, Duty and Honor. A bit like the republican lot in the US.
/agreed
The National Party is extreme right-wing.
Bullshit Draco. Extreme right is what we see in the US republicans.
Extreme right are starting to build in Europe also. National is NOT extreme right.
They only seem extreme to you because you are so far left that you’re not even left anymore. Just some weird authoritarian collectivist.
The National party are extreme because their beliefs do no match up with reality.
Me, I’m all for living within the physical limits of the world. Which means to say that I’m not extreme in anyway, shape or form.
The problem that you, like many, is that you think that trying to live within those limits is extreme. And yet, the whole point of the market was actually to bring about living within those limits.
The market is there to restrict use of resources.
I don’t actually think how you think I do and we have more in common that you might realise. Particularly around how finite our resources are and how they need to be utilised.
But you can’t just say “National are extreme right” based upon your own metrics because it doesn’t work that way. They aren’t extreme right by any real political, economic or social methodology that is in common parlance or study. It’s no different to someone on Kiwiblog saying labour are extreme left because they are so far right themselves.
When you or the kiwi blogger say “extreme right/left” what I hear is “I don’t know what words mean”
I have, occasionally, considered that we may be talking past each other.
Reality isn’t my metric – it just is. It has physical constraints that we need to live within and we’re not doing that.
And compared to reality Labour is also extreme right-wing as they’re still following the same failed economics that National follow.
That’s what that article you posted is about. It’s a good article and shows up some of the failings of the economists.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DucIFuBU8AAAsIn.jpg
On a totally different topic but replying here to get your attention…
This might be of interest to you:
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/12/why-do-econ-classes-barely-mention-behavioral-economics/578092/
The question I have is: Why do so many econ students (or anyone else for that matter) not learn about the physical resources that the economy is based upon?
This is most telling point about modern economics that needs to said and repeated:
Modern economics is simply not connected to reality.
This article misses a bit though that may even be far more important than the fact that economics ignores actual human motivations. Modern economics misses the fact that economics is about the availability and distribution of scarce resources.
How much land do we have?
How much of that land can be used to support humanity?
How much is needed to maintain a healthy environment?
These are questions (and others of a similar bent) that modern economics not only doesn’t answer – it doesn’t ask. And so we have nations converting every square in of land to farms and the extinction rate increasing tilting the environment further to outright collapse. We’ve fished up so much fish that the ocean ecology is also close to collapse.
We do this for profit because its supposed to bring about the best outcome and yet all the evidence shows that the profit motive is bringing about the worst possible outcomes. Climate change and ecological collapse has been brought about by the drive for profit and the need to have a growing economy to feed that profit. A growing economy can only come about with a growing population.
All the evidence is that the carrying capacity of the Earth as far as humans go is about two billion. We’re presently at seven and climbing.
Economics, the stuff that the economists and politicians ignore, tells us that we need to live within physical constraints but we’ve gone way past those constraints chasing profit.
hear hear…well expressed
excellent article…well spotted
Somehow that got posted in the wrong place. It was about David Farrar, though I assume most people know that.
As for the comments, well if you think National is extreme far right, then I guess that makes Labour centre right or right.
Labour are Centre right.
National is right wing.
Labour is centrist, and the Green Party’s agreement with them to spend no more than 30% GDP declared their coalition government would be centrist. This is why they could and did include NZ First. They had to in any case to get a majority and that need gives them an excuse for their moderation – which is given again and again to their party members and all those in society who wanted more.
It’s not getting worse under them, it’s going to get better … slowly.
Or they will not go further right, but they will not cross any centre lines moving back to the left at such a slow pace.
How long have I been saying that the Labour Party is right-wing?
Parliamentary expenses and receipts.
Dang !!! That’s a lot of expensive bureaucratic paperwork.
Has been suggested to give out credit cards, which would absolutely cut back processing costs for expenses.
I thought they would already have ministerial credit cards, then I remembered paula bennet, her staff member misused the office credit card.
Can someone clear up my confusion please, as it appears ministerial credit cards are not a new thing, were they scrapped at some stage? Or did they never exist?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/66-50-for-coffee-and-eggs-the-huge-cost-of-processing-mps-receipts-revealed.html
Think Shane Jones choice of movies
Government Ministers still have credit cards, Cinny. They have not been scraped.
I don’t have time to go into detail as due out, but here are a couple of links re these Ministerial credit cards. All expenses etc relating to Ministers of the Crown are handled by Ministerial Services, part of the Dept of Internal Affairs.
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Ministers-expense-releases
Actual monthly reports are here –
https://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/wpg_MCCE!OpenView
I actually found that Newshub article confusing and questionable, but don’t have time etc at present to go into detail but MPs who are not Ministers also can claim expenses etc but this is done through Parliamentary Service – not Ministerial Services in DIA.
Parliamentary Service is part of Parliament –
https://www.parliament.nz/en/footer/jobs/parliamentary-service/
https://www.parliament.nz/en/footer/about-us/parliamentary-service/about/who-we-are/
I know there is lots more on how MPs claim expenses etc through Parliamentary Services but must race out. Will try to get back to this later today.
Thanks so very much VV for the links, will have a good read and get my head around it. Much appreciated 🙂
Up north the land of stupid people end their year will all the class one would expect of them.
May the great prevaricator, who takes procrastination to another level, has apparently reduced Corbyn, the great communicator, to whispering to himself “stupid woman” (no recording of this exists, he claims he said “stupid people”).
After recent attempts to pose a vote of no confidence in the PM, but not yet her government, this does not seem credible (the argument that either stupid woman and stupid people were statements of fact is a strong one, and one leads to the other, as these were the people that kept her on as leader of their party).
Apparently because May is a woman, noting that she is stupid while being a woman is seen as a sexist attack, or misogny. This is taking identity politics micro aggression to the next level, and given this is the Tory Party, it is obviously an attempt trying to divert attention from their own reality – May has chosen to delay the vote on her Brexit plan and leave it to the media to run a Brexit with no deal scare campaign over the holiday break to soften up the MP’s before the vote.
All ones eggs in one basket (she has said their will be not be another referendum to over-ride a parliamentary impasse).
So should the deal not get parliamentary approval, Corbyn will propose a vote of no confidence in the government over it facing a no deal Brexit (the media scare campaign will help him in this).
So will posing Corbyn as an anti-semite, and now as a misogynist, save the Tory Party from their own Brexit divisions. May needs the so called “Blairites” (while moderates and the May deal is the middle course between a no deal Brexit and staying in the EU, they mostly prefer going back to a referendum) to vote for the deal for fear of a no deal Brexit if they vote no. Thus the hard-line refusal to go to a referendum is to influence them.
Stupid people are playing chicken on the highway called Brexit in the UK parliament because they claim giving the people another say, is not respecting what they decided last time they were asked. This is a brain dead parliament that reigns as a tyrant for 5 years and treats it subjects for this period of incarceration as fools. Stupid people.
I hope he did it in a cod French accent.
On the face to it, Corbyn has shown himself completely incompetent during the Brexit debates. His standing will have gone down (including among his moderate MP’s), though perhaps not enough to stop him becoming PM at the next election.
However, nothing he has done has either bought an election forward, or will result in a second referendum. He should have been able to achieve one of those.
Instead he has made it more likely May’s deal will get through. Maybe that is what he wants, hence his tactics to date. So an election, whenever it happens, can be fought in clear air.
His policy is to have the May deal fail in parliament.
A sort of alliance between the hard Brexit Tories and those who want a referendum facilitated by having a position based standards for a deal they would support not being met (maybe not possible).
If he is successful, May might resign rather than preside over a no deal Brexit – after all parliament could easily deny consent to a no deal Brexit government being in office.
Corbyn could however choose to play white knight – entice Tories against a no deal Brexit into supporting a parliamentary move to suspend Brexit and call for a new referendum, rather than a new election.
With a May deal, the government takes responsibility – most now favour remain in polls – and the Tory Party divisions (there are as many for a hard Brexit and remain as in favour in their caucus and party membership) are going nowhere. Nor is the Northern Ireland, Scotland and the LD (where will the pro remain Tories and anti Corbyn Blairites go?).
There is no way the Tories can win this game, whatever happens, Corbyn’s Labour has the advantage/all the cards.
While no expert on UK politics, I can’t help think that there is little to gain by acting too forthrightly currently.
Akin to being leader of the opposition.
101 stuff that UK labour or Corbyn haven’t found an answer to. The distraction that sticks
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/19/jeremy-corbyn-accused-of-calling-theresa-may-a-stupid-woman
It may have been better to say yep I said it and here’s why…
I liked this bit: “While May was still in the house, the former Tory chair Patrick McLoughlin asked Bercow to censure Corbyn. “He muttered words which were quite clearly visible, accusing the prime minister of being a ‘stupid woman’,” he said, as MPs shouted “Shame!” and “Disgrace!””
Since the former Tory chair confirms that the words were clearly visible, they will show up on any video recording of Corbyn uttering them, so their inaudibility is no real problem. Sceptics just need to watch the recording to see those words hanging there in the air just after emerging from his mouth…
Guilty of being seen as having a thought crime – which is apparently calling a stupid person, a woman.
Stupid old white man would’ve been fine.
Everyone in the Commons would have looked at each other – the comment could have applied to themselves or the first other man they looked at.
Bercow’s a silly moo.
What he should have said was “I realise honourable members are looking for ways to take offence, and I now wonder whether they’d have preferred it if I’d said – Silly Lady boy, and “I’m offended you are offended just as you will be offended I am offended by you’re being offended”
A concerned school teacher provides a critical take on the issue of transgender children and medical intervention: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/12/20/death-by-puberty/
Thanks Philip, an interesting and informative read.
Surprised no one has brought up the Haumaha report.
Would be interesting to hear justification for Ardern not sacking him.
To piss off Chris Basher Bishop christy.
She doesn’t consider the report serious to the point of using it to annoy someone?
Interesting
Well it looks like Hummer’s an arsehole but not a workplace bully christy, and being an arsehole is pretty much de rigueur for high placed smootharse bureaucrats.
A new report (on the Funded Family Care system) commissioned by the Government points to a host of failings, but makes no recommendation for change.
A disability advocate says the report is a waste of time and the Government should simply get on with changes everyone knows are overdue.
There is concern the report will allow the Government to procrastinate.
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter said she expected the government would announce its plans to overhaul the Funded Family Care system in less than a year, but she wouldn’t commit to a specific time-frame nor give away any details. However, she acknowledged affected families have been waiting a long time for justice.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378613/report-highlights-discriminatory-disabled-care-system
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018676219/disability-advocate-says-new-report-treats-people-as-fools
Lets hope the Government gets their A into G on this one and comes up with a balanced overhaul that will appease concerns.
@Anne and Denis, and probably a few others:
You might be interested in this (as in when the PS started to go tits up with corporatisation):
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46608818
For those of you with hair and wanting a new image, to present a new younger you what about this:
https://www.dufp.co.nz/headlines
Manus Island – too small and vulnerable to cope as a dumping ground for problems too big for Australia to cope with.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/378215/manus-island-s-social-fabric-broken
Kia ora Newshub One has to expect more accidents with all the exra cars and people in Aotearoa of late and not much investment in the road network in the last few years.
Those are huge hailstones in Australia hope not to many people have been hurt what a mess we have to get use to weather like that.
We need to pay a return on waste to save our wild life and enviroment that poor seal nearly lost its life paying a return on all waste is way cheaper than have to try and pull plastic waste out of the sea the size of the Pacific waste .
Ka pai Mark with your song we built this city on sausagerolls hitting number one in Britain lol
One must be real carefull when working in construction I have heard of some shocking accidents
Rob that’s the way Wellington showing you the aroha for being Maori santa . People in Aotearoa have expect maori are going to show there pride of being a tangata whenua.
Kate Wreck it Ralph will keep the mokopunas happy for a while.
ka kite ano P.S I have to use a new search ap and it has not got spell check loaded yet some one crashed the old one
Eco Maori video for the minute