Granny’s found a psychology lecturer to put Shonkeys latest brain fade in Antarctica possibly down to fainting then listed some other major memory lapses but not them all as that’d probably take up too much room and remind folk how often and conveniently it occurs.
Bending over backwards to help as always granny, trying to play the health card on his behalf, how about some medical opinions not behavioural ones.
While in Antarctica, Key spoke of how he was affected by news of the Air New Zealand flight which crashed into the side of Mt Erebus.
Flight TE901 was destroyed on impact, killing all 257 passengers and crew.
“I know I was starting School C at around that time – it’s a memory that’s lasted with me till now,” Key said this week.
John Key was born on August 9, 1961, and the Erebus disaster was on November 28, 1979 – meaning he would have been 18 at the time. Students usually sat School Certificate examinations about the age of 15….
Brain fades
• Key sat through a briefing on the Kim Dotcom case weeks after a high-profile police raid on the internet mogul’s property in Key’s Helensville electorate. He said he completely forgot about it.
• Last October, Key told reporters he had voted for the drinking age to be raised to 20 but Key had voted for it to remain at 18.
• During an election debate in 2008, Key said he could not remember how he felt about the 1981 Springbok rugby tour. At the time of the contentious tour, Key was attending Canterbury University – a hotbed of protests. Pressed for an answer Key said he was “probably mildly pro-tour”.
• Also in 2008, when questioned about sham foreign exchange deals, Key said he was not working at Elders when the deals were made. Labour proved Key was still at Elders at the time.
If a B-Com takes three years and he graduated in 1981 then he left School in 78, no?. Which means he was at University when Erebus occured. How can he not remember if he was at University or High School at the time of that disaster
More pathetic Journalism. No fact checking, not even bothering to do basic arithmetic
+1, spot-on, my belief is that Slippery is a compulsive one as well, it’s a gambler, Psycho/sociopath thing with that one as far as i can see,
Compulsive’s, liars that is, have to keep testing the boundaries of what ‘they’ can get people to believe,
The way i see it is He is heading for a major stress related coronary partly brought about by the ‘will they believe this one’ anxiety inherent in the ‘gamble’ of continually talking s**t…
If was was born in 61, when he would have been sitting School Cert in 77 (he could have got Erebus mixed with Tenerife – that happened in 77 and killed 500+ people — A KLM jet collided with a Pam Am jet). He would be sitting Bursary in 79.
Perhaps Slippery’s suitcase of intellectual rigor is as empty as what it would seem to be and He had to sit the school cert year a number of times, before in exasperation, ‘they’ just gave up and gave it to the little failure…
Or perhaps this is just more spin to make him appear more like the common man than the actual conniving and calculating prick he is.
Playing the sympathy card at the same time to make people concerned for his health would seem a masterstroke. Three doctors couldn’t explain Key’s fainting? Please!
The question should be: do we want either a deluded and bumbling fool with a potential health condition that makes him faint and forget things or a master right wing manipulator and compulsive liar as Prime Minister?
What a laughable, twisted old blow-hard is Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
His out-of-left-field prognostications that gay marriage will increase crime confirms that his prescription for a decent society invokes selectively applied inequality, discrimination, exclusion, bullying. Such morals !
McVicar is a notorious, over-indulged, redneck clown perfectly suited to the bigotry of US tea party politics where any old shit is true the second some dinosaur zealot chooses to say it is.
Pray that the cruddy old people-hater sells up and relocates to the wilds of Wyoming where to his heart’s content he can run periodically passing aged-hippies, gays, profile-meeting blacks and other dangerous types out of the county on the end of a shotgun. And otherwise batten down against the world.
Like all marriage, Gay marriage is an act of Love. The stuid McVicar (who is best ignored, except that The MSM hang on his every word), is in effect spouting forth that “loving marriage, ipso facto, is likely to end up in criminality”. That is the extent of this pathetic soul’s logic.
Never trust a man prepared to whore out someone else’s grief for a sound bite on the news.
McFlock, Felix, QoT – As self appointed sentinels of the, who is offended, by what, and how, security assessment services, what’s your positon on the above reference to, *whore out* ?
Verb
whore out (third-person singular simple present whores out, present participle whoring out, simple past and past participle whored out)
(informal, transitive) To prostitute, take advantage of, exploit, show off; to hire out or provide to others like a whore
TA – I would suggest you await the security (hate speech assessment services) team, to deliver their judgement – I’ve highlighted the possible threat, to one of the members!
I’m surprised at the tardiness of response today, perhaps its because only one of them appears to be around currently, and is unable to deliver a unilateral response!
TA – Even though this is the virtual space, it is important that should handles feel it appropriate to throw around the serious accusations of bigotry and so on, that accusers are evaluating regulary, and without bias, hyocracy or other, the basis for their accusations, as they are a serious impediment to societal healing.
Highlighting your choice of words, is, in my opinion necessary, as I would like to understand if there is consistancy, should there be a response from those I named. No response, will speak visibly for itself, on their behalf!
Apologies to have to involve you (handle) under these conditions, I mean you no ill.
What muzza’s alluding to is that he was called out for uncritically copy-pasting an article title using the phrase “rent boy”.
As with the phrase “whore out”, this is problematic because it uses sex work as shorthand for immorality or exploitation, per the definition you quoted below.
McVicar is out of control and must be stopped. He will stop at nothing into imposing a return to the 1950’s and all the associated misery the era has inflicted on people for a crime free utopia, especially for those who were packed off Lake Alice and had 500 volts put through them because they couldnt spell ‘cat’ properly.
les Amis de l’ABC (the Friends of the ABC), a group of students dedicated to making political changes in France. In the original French, the name of the group is a pun on Les Amis de l’abaissé, the friends of the debased, “that is to say, the people”,
From les mis. The irony that we have our own red clique. Perhaps history will repeat itself and throw together various left wing idealist that hear the drum beat and bring about change.
Yep. NZ Labour Party ABC’s have their own group of vehement Young Labour student supporters which fit under this name. Many in Young Labour spoke and voted against the 40% threshold during Conference.
More likely they are looking for a career in a Labour minister’s office (after 2014) and then a possible further career move to the Labour Party caucus some time after that. In the meantime they must butter-up said ministers’ political egos.
Lets face it, they took most of the principles out of politics back in the 1980s…
Good comment – it appears from this blog that there are two Labour wings firstly the real Labour Party, and secondly the Parliamentary Labour wing.
Are these getting further apart – looks like it possibly ?
Yes Fortran that is what is happening and I find it very sad. There are good people on both sides of the leadership fence, but a small group inside the caucus seem intent on fostering disunity for the sake of their own personal egos – at least I suppose that is the basic reason. Their attitude (as demonstrated immediately after the Conference late last year) is an insult to many members because it showed what they really think of us. We are useful fodder during election campaigns – letter box stuffers, canvassers, meeting arrangers, money donators and that’s about all.
As far as I can see, the only person who can change it now is David Shearer. The olive
branch must be extended to David Cunliffe preferably by way of a return to the Front Bench. What happens after that we will have to wait and see…
Spot on, Anne. I think principled young left activists these days are more likely to head towards Mana/Greens or even some of the non-parliamentary movements. The activism exists, but why would they look to participate in Labour when senior figures such as Mallard see them as potential customers for any spare tickets he has lying around? I think those looking for paid positions inside the machine will gravitate towards Young Labour, and this will become even worse as the slightest hint of radicalism continues to be purged from caucus.
The uninformed criticisms of Young Labour here are just staggering. Are these commentators even involved in the Labour Party – certainly not the one that I am a proud member of.
Young Labour activists are some of the most principled, hard-working, intelligent members of this party. We are integral to so many campaigns around the country, we organise events where the big ideas within the party are discussed (Campaign School, Summer School, Winter School etc.), we push for the most progressive policies at conference and usually do well at getting support, we actually do stuff to help the party instead of writing whinging comments on political blogs.
The members I know in Young Labour are not in it for themselves but for the progressive ideals that we get to push for. Why don’t you come help us?
Even more likely is that they realised that 50% plus one is the norm in most democratic elections, Anne. The 60% level is a wank. It appears it was pushed by those hoping DC could use it to his short term advantage in forcing a leadership contest.
But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.
“But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.”
The 60% + 1 threshold only applies for the constitutionally mandated leaders vote at the start of the year immediately following the election, eg once every 3 years. If DC wins the leadership and loses the next election, he’s gone-burger anyway (just as DS will/would be) so it doesn’t really matter.
TRP….You may want to consider what is currently the threshold in other Labour Parties overseas. My understanding is that something like 60% is the norm.
You may be right, RL, but the NZLP has current and historical links to the union movement. There, the norm is 50% plus one. The 60% pass rate seems arbitrary at best and, as I say above, probably intended for DC’s short term gain. (ie its the figure his numbers pre-conference could muster).
The UK Labour Party has far stronger and longer ties to the union movement than the NZLP (affiliates there have long had a real vote in choosing the UK Labour Leader).
A UK Labour MP leadership contender can initiate a leadership challenge with just 20% initial backing of the Labour caucus. The decision then goes to the wider membership.
The NZLP has a long, long way left to go in democratising its Leadership and candidate selection processes.
And yet the UKLP is regarded as being anti-democratic and top down and, in Government, the caucus has the legal right to ignore the party. And, as I said, 50% is the norm in unions in both countries. So what’s your point?
CV, I have a terrible feeling you think democracy means ‘the one I want wins’.
You appear to know little about unions, CV. No reason you should, I suppose, but it leaves your ‘meme’ comment knackered. A simple majority is the norm in the union movement.
When was the last time the UKLP caucus used the trigger, CV?
Answering directly to the party members. This is the kind of thing that many associated with Labour seem deathly afraid of in 2013. And which TRP you seem to consider “anti democratic”.
When was the last time the UKLP caucus used the trigger, CV?
Quite some time ago I think; it may be that the UKLP 20% is actually too high a threshold.
TRP unions have internal votes only. They do not have to participate in decision making where three different sectors of an organisation have to decide on something. Besides the vote is only a trigger for a contest and does not decide the contest.
CV: The point I was making is that the trigger has not been used, as far as I know. It’s meaningless in the UK and arbitrary at best here.
MS: Unions participate in multi-faceted decision making all the time. Unions are represented on all sorts of organisations, including ITO’s, community groups and boards. And many negotiations are multi party, either more than one union or more than one boss.
The tendency for schools to have exclusive stationery deals with single supplier is disturbing, and another reason why Tomorrow’s Schools should be reviewed.
Parents should be able to source stationery for their children through whatever source they see fit. Whether it be calculators through trademe, compasses and protractors from the $2 shop, or books from the Warehouse. Forcing financially burdened parents to go through one supplier is totally wrong.
I would actually stick my neck out and say that school kids have too much stationery. It would be better to have the MoE supply pre printed curriculum workbooks for specialist subjects, and just have the parents buy refill, pens and rulers.
I’m not sure how the schools can prevent you from buying stationary from elsewhere? What are they gonna do, kick your kid out?
I’m sure nothing like this happened when I went to school. They did have stationary that you could buy from the school, presumably they partnered up with a retail chain to offer this. But they always gave you the price list so you could choose to go elsewhere.
Following on from the, “unexpected arrest”, the youth allegedly involved in the Sina Solomona murder as now been denied bail, “in spite of the “legislative bias” in favour of granting bail to young people.”
The arrest was reported on 20/12/12, court appearance 14/1/13, and prosecution given until 25/2/13 (5.5 weeks extension), when prosecutor Andrew McRae “sought an extension of three or four weeks for the filing of police evidence”. He sought extra time because of the extensive investigation and forensic analysis that was still being done.
1: Why was the additional time granted, over and above what the prosecutor had sought?
2: If the prosecution are sure enough the youth is the perpetrator to keep him on remand, then why is the extended investigation necessary? (surely if there is such a “powerful public interest”, resources would have been working this case since mid December when it happened, around the clock)
3: How long do forensic investigations of a single individual take to match to a victim and place at a crime scene?
4: Why in Christchuch, just weeks earlier (to the youths appearance for alleged murder) was a “convicted paedophile given bail after appearing in court accused of abusing dozens of young boys, and in Northland, a man accused of sex crimes against children was bailed to an Auckland address despite police opposition”
5: Why is it that repeat paedophile gets home detention for molesting a 7 year old girl (based on poor health (apparently), into the community he is from, and the victim’s mother is devastated and says “she is concerned about the safety of the Tauranga community” ?.
6: Why are health concerns seemingly more a factor, over the obvious safety/health concerns of a young teen on remand for many months, at risk of potential mental, and physical harm!
I don’t care about your issues with QoT and McFlock, although I agree with both of them, but why are you continuing to use this case to push your meme? I’ve read your questions and they are leading – to whatever conclusion you have reached – just say it. Is this sort of stuff part of the social experiment you claim you are conducting – the last person that did that was pete george if I remember correctly. You do remind me of him in a weird way.
Oh and please spare me the usual “don’t shoot the messenger” stuff or use americanisms like “cool your jets”. I used to think you were onto the real issues muzza – I feel quite disappointed in you to tell you the truth. Sorry to personalise it but we aren’t bots are we.
Hi Marty, perhaps have a look inside if you feel let down bro, search as to why you associate the emotion to my comments. What meme exactly do you believe I’m pushing Marty, you have yet to make any concrete comments, instead just waffling around.
If you believe the questions to be leading, then point out which ones, and why, tell me what you believe to be better questions to ask, or answer some of the questions, a combo is good. Again you have fed back nothing, just jumped in and expressed your bias, which seems to have been triggered by my letting you down in some way, come on bro, you can do better than that!
Perhaps I should have asked the question – Who is more dangerous to society/bigger flight risk etc, a previously convicted , elderly white paedophile, who we know has a passport, the means to travel, a network of sorts (salvation army), with some health problems or a young brown kid, unknown previous, unknown passport holder, or means to travel, or what, if any his connections are, who is under suspicion of murder!
FYI – I have reached no conclusion at this stage, however there is to me some rather poor reporting of this situation going on, hence I have some questions, because it feel off to me!
Don’t apologise if you actually mean what you say Marty, I’m picking there is more to it than that!
yes I have thought about why your comment triggered me. My conclusion is that this case was first raised by you for no good reason, which I mentioned at the time, and on the other occasions when you have bought it up the use of the case has shifted so that it now has become a “poor brown boy” story, which it wasn’t when you originally mentioned it. That implies to me that the story is useful to you because it helps you promote your ideas and I am not okay when innocent victims are used to score points for any viewpoint. If I come across that type of behavior I normally ignore those postings but I had unrealistic expectations of the stuff you post and therefore began to comment then, and now. Some commenters I engage with for a while until I realise that it is a waste of time for me – vto is one and mate I’m putting you in the same bucket. I don’t wish either of you ill it’s just that I’m more interested in making changes in society and communities and going over 101 areas is just so boring – I’m sure you feel the same.
I hope you leave the defenseless alone and go after those with defenses – they are worth the trouble – kia ora.
As information about this sad situation progresses, and is reported on, is it not probable that questions will develop around the pregressing information releases. Surely this is not shifting, it is commenting on the developments via the media, as I interpret the details, from what I’m reading.
It’s unfortunate that you’re unable to fathom, that my posts, are actually aimed at those with the defenses you refer. The posts were/are intended, to get generate thinking about what the MSM has been reporting, and how the low quality of reporting begs questions about its innaccuracies and gaps, and how those gaps will shape the views of readers who absorb it!
My focus is firmly on the establishments, and those with the ability to deliver/create/protect injustice, because not only are individuals corrupted, but the systems they operate inside of are systematically broken. Those same systems, seek only to protect themselves, no matter the collateral damage to the rest of us, who they pretend to serve and protect!
The reality is Marty, that the changes you (and I), are looking to be invovled with, can’t begin to happen, until what is keeping the changes from gaining traction, (because it must subvert reality in such ways, to keep control), are clearly understood for the barriers, and the theats that the establishment system are.
Take another look Marty, and if you are able to do so without predjudice, you should be able to tell where my intentions lie!
yes granted that situations change and perceptions of those situations change. The initial post from you on that case was well before much had come out – it was ghoulish, disrespectful and unnecessary – but that was then…
maybe you are trying to be too tricky – just a thought because your middle three paragraphs above are pretty coherent – perhaps if you wacked out those then your evidence/questions it might flow better, for me anyway.
Are you a believer of the “to save a family/town/country a person/family/town can be sacrificed” mode of thinking?
See for me using a recently deceased innocent victim of a terrible crime as a flail against mine enemies within the fray is just not on. You may consider me over sensitive and too pc but for my sensibilities I’d rather use the recently pulled out appendage of the enemy to slot them around the head. But hey we are all different and my lines are my lines, as are yours.
I hope you go all neo on the owners of the foot across most of our throats 🙂
Are you a believer of the “to save a family/town/country a person/family/town can be sacrificed” mode of thinking?
Quintessentially, no, however its not that simple in reality. If you apply that premise 100%, then justice would be very difficult to see done. Jimmy Saville for example, there are many victims alive, should people ignore what was done, and what will be the fallout from his evil, because the victims are innocent? You can apply the same measure to almost any situation where there are victims, and there would be few perpetrators punished for crimes!
See for me using a recently deceased innocent victim of a terrible crime as a flail against mine enemies within the fray is just not on.
Marty, that’s ok, I accept your view, and understand your position, but mine is that I was not using the deceased victim. I spend alot of time reading through articles, and it felt like there was more to this one, so I went about finding, reading, cross referencing as many write ups as I could, and then posted my thoughts/views. Whats not on for me, is the pathetic so called reporting around such terrible events, and the fact questions are not asked, and that people do not think, because it allows injustice to flourish!
You may consider me over sensitive and too pc but for my sensibilities I’d rather use the recently pulled out appendage of the enemy to slot them around the head. But hey we are all different and my lines are my lines, as are yours.
It takes all types of approach to get messages out there Marty, as you and I show, that we have different ways to express ourselves, so there are different ways that people receiving (hearing) those messages, might be swayed, or jolted into thinking more deeply.
IMO, the more varied the message delivery we can get, but with the constant intent to promote positive , the higher chance of reaching, even more minds.
Hide’s dishonest piece on state housing is just part of a broader effort which fetishes ownership and aims to further curtail tenancy rights. If he and his acolytes get their way, Housing Corp will end up managing emergency night shelters with a maximum of one week stay. Or maybe contracting out the management of these to a private provider?
Utterly predictable. But this from a man who has openly admitted that the 1840’s were a much better time because it was without all that ‘government interference’.
Mega upload. Have I got this right? New rules a year or so ago meant that if an “authority” believed that a person was downloading illegally the the internet provider was contacted, the downloader warned, and ex-communicated if she persisted. This was how Kim Dotcom cooperated with the “authorities” who then shat all over him in spite of cooperation.
So now Mega is launched with 100,000 registrations in the first hour. Wow!
Found a copy of the infamous Picot Report in the local library today. Which was good, as before I had an OIA request for it turned down by the min of ed.
A few interesting points:
All support services for schools, that were provided by the old Department of Education, or the local education boards, were chopped, and school boards given extra cash to ‘purchase their own services’.
The education advisers employed by the above effectively became consultants/independent contractors, selling their services to schools.
The education service centres that were to replace the education boards are/were basically privatised versions of the latter, some of them set up by old Education Board staff.
It was intended that community education forums would be set up and help so the local community can have a say in the running of the education system. This measure, not implemented, could have made a difference to Mallard’s school closing frenzy 10 years ago, the Parata’s school restructuring in Christchurch.
This is not really what I agree with and like, but I came across it, and I think it is important to remind ourselves of what historic events once happened.
We are busy, sometimes with perhaps trivial political stories, but the history of fascism, and what it led to is something that must never be forgotten.
Rommel was not a fascist as such himself, Hitler even hated him in the end, but he was an instrument, just like many in modern NZ society are instruments also in introducing and implementing “reforms” of a welfare kind, that have elements of fascism in them. Few get the message, I am afraid.
Maybe lucky to get away alive. The history of human kind (vermin like kind) is full of hatred, war, destruction and exploitation, some try to put a nice gloss on it. So where do we go from here???
Yet another, more friendly perspective. “Die Prinzen”, one of the more favourite bands from there, I know of. Always witty, a bit cynical and critical but always measured and sound.
So where do we get this here? I love Mr Bean also, good old UK humour, and there is some good program on TV3 on Fridays now, but hey, get a bit into the global sphere, there is so much more, and worth listening to, even if you may (at first) not understand the language.
NZ is needing to climb up the learning curve a bit more. Get onto it, and you cannot lose.
Why is The Standard not sufficiently promoting socialist or social democratic ideas, as it proclaims it is. We must move further to take a stand, I sadly see a too weak and mellowed down approach. Remember your bloody heritage, PLUS what the international development has shown.
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The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
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Granny’s found a psychology lecturer to put Shonkeys latest brain fade in Antarctica possibly down to fainting then listed some other major memory lapses but not them all as that’d probably take up too much room and remind folk how often and conveniently it occurs.
Bending over backwards to help as always granny, trying to play the health card on his behalf, how about some medical opinions not behavioural ones.
Although, the brain fades the article does mention are pretty significant:
If a B-Com takes three years and he graduated in 1981 then he left School in 78, no?. Which means he was at University when Erebus occured. How can he not remember if he was at University or High School at the time of that disaster
More pathetic Journalism. No fact checking, not even bothering to do basic arithmetic
To be fair to the PM, the four events listed aren’t “brain fades”.
It’s a little unfair to blame his failing health for what are really just out and out lies told by Mr Key.
+1, spot-on, my belief is that Slippery is a compulsive one as well, it’s a gambler, Psycho/sociopath thing with that one as far as i can see,
Compulsive’s, liars that is, have to keep testing the boundaries of what ‘they’ can get people to believe,
The way i see it is He is heading for a major stress related coronary partly brought about by the ‘will they believe this one’ anxiety inherent in the ‘gamble’ of continually talking s**t…
That’s weird.
If was was born in 61, when he would have been sitting School Cert in 77 (he could have got Erebus mixed with Tenerife – that happened in 77 and killed 500+ people — A KLM jet collided with a Pam Am jet). He would be sitting Bursary in 79.
Perhaps Slippery’s suitcase of intellectual rigor is as empty as what it would seem to be and He had to sit the school cert year a number of times, before in exasperation, ‘they’ just gave up and gave it to the little failure…
Or perhaps this is just more spin to make him appear more like the common man than the actual conniving and calculating prick he is.
Playing the sympathy card at the same time to make people concerned for his health would seem a masterstroke. Three doctors couldn’t explain Key’s fainting? Please!
The question should be: do we want either a deluded and bumbling fool with a potential health condition that makes him faint and forget things or a master right wing manipulator and compulsive liar as Prime Minister?
My answer in both cases would have to be no!
He was most likely accredited from sixth form
in order to be at Uni in ’79 in order to graduate in ’81
What a laughable, twisted old blow-hard is Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
His out-of-left-field prognostications that gay marriage will increase crime confirms that his prescription for a decent society invokes selectively applied inequality, discrimination, exclusion, bullying. Such morals !
McVicar is a notorious, over-indulged, redneck clown perfectly suited to the bigotry of US tea party politics where any old shit is true the second some dinosaur zealot chooses to say it is.
Pray that the cruddy old people-hater sells up and relocates to the wilds of Wyoming where to his heart’s content he can run periodically passing aged-hippies, gays, profile-meeting blacks and other dangerous types out of the county on the end of a shotgun. And otherwise batten down against the world.
Here’s the link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8199943/Lobbyist-links-gay-marriage-to-crime-rise-in-NZ
You beat me to the post and thanks for your lovely writing .. what a hate-filled message he sends. Horrible.
Like all marriage, Gay marriage is an act of Love. The stuid McVicar (who is best ignored, except that The MSM hang on his every word), is in effect spouting forth that “loving marriage, ipso facto, is likely to end up in criminality”. That is the extent of this pathetic soul’s logic.
Never trust a man prepared to whore out someone else’s grief for a sound bite on the news.
[IrishBill: you were banned for a week for calling an author a liar. See you next Saturday]
McFlock, Felix, QoT – As self appointed sentinels of the, who is offended, by what, and how, security assessment services, what’s your positon on the above reference to, *whore out* ?
Is there a problem with what I’ve written?
Form wiki
Verb
whore out (third-person singular simple present whores out, present participle whoring out, simple past and past participle whored out)
(informal, transitive) To prostitute, take advantage of, exploit, show off; to hire out or provide to others like a whore
TA – I would suggest you await the security (hate speech assessment services) team, to deliver their judgement – I’ve highlighted the possible threat, to one of the members!
I’m surprised at the tardiness of response today, perhaps its because only one of them appears to be around currently, and is unable to deliver a unilateral response!
No offence, but if it’s all about an e-peen fight, I don’t want anything to do with it.
I’d rather I wasn’t quoted to make point scoring bombs.
As a weapon of massively good looking distraction, I’m strictly handle with care. 😆
TA – Even though this is the virtual space, it is important that should handles feel it appropriate to throw around the serious accusations of bigotry and so on, that accusers are evaluating regulary, and without bias, hyocracy or other, the basis for their accusations, as they are a serious impediment to societal healing.
Highlighting your choice of words, is, in my opinion necessary, as I would like to understand if there is consistancy, should there be a response from those I named. No response, will speak visibly for itself, on their behalf!
Apologies to have to involve you (handle) under these conditions, I mean you no ill.
“Apologies to have to involve you (handle) under these conditions, I mean you no ill.”
No worries. No offence taken.
fucktard, I’ve only just turned on the computer, and you already know the fucking answer.
Funnily enough, while you might be “surprised” at the “tardiness”, my life doesn’t revolve around your fantasies.
Nothing wrong at all, Al1en. Muzza is just trying to reinforce his No1 tool status.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19012013/#comment-575492
Still waiting for that genius in your explanation! – Was my helpful hint not enough to get you statred?
Yeah, we get it … you have comprehension difficulties, muz. All the best with the therapy.
What muzza’s alluding to is that he was called out for uncritically copy-pasting an article title using the phrase “rent boy”.
As with the phrase “whore out”, this is problematic because it uses sex work as shorthand for immorality or exploitation, per the definition you quoted below.
Someone should point out to him what het marriages leads to –
http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/opinion/cartoons/michael-leunig-20090711-dgl6.html?selectedImage=43
Gay marriage on the other hand –
http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/opinion/cartoons/michael-leunig-20090711-dgl6.html?selectedImage=34
Excellent Colonial 🙂
McVicar is out of control and must be stopped. He will stop at nothing into imposing a return to the 1950’s and all the associated misery the era has inflicted on people for a crime free utopia, especially for those who were packed off Lake Alice and had 500 volts put through them because they couldnt spell ‘cat’ properly.
Tac you mean???…
les Amis de l’ABC (the Friends of the ABC), a group of students dedicated to making political changes in France. In the original French, the name of the group is a pun on Les Amis de l’abaissé, the friends of the debased, “that is to say, the people”,
From les mis. The irony that we have our own red clique. Perhaps history will repeat itself and throw together various left wing idealist that hear the drum beat and bring about change.
Yep. NZ Labour Party ABC’s have their own group of vehement Young Labour student supporters which fit under this name. Many in Young Labour spoke and voted against the 40% threshold during Conference.
+1CV
That was one of the most shocking aspects of the Conference, seeing the Youth fight against democracy and membership power.
Sad.
Youth wings are normally the instigators of change and radicalism, not the backers of conservative power players.
Their “leaders” must have been got “confused”.
I’m sure clarity will prevail at the Summer School.
More likely they are looking for a career in a Labour minister’s office (after 2014) and then a possible further career move to the Labour Party caucus some time after that. In the meantime they must butter-up said ministers’ political egos.
Lets face it, they took most of the principles out of politics back in the 1980s…
Anne
Good comment – it appears from this blog that there are two Labour wings firstly the real Labour Party, and secondly the Parliamentary Labour wing.
Are these getting further apart – looks like it possibly ?
Yes Fortran that is what is happening and I find it very sad. There are good people on both sides of the leadership fence, but a small group inside the caucus seem intent on fostering disunity for the sake of their own personal egos – at least I suppose that is the basic reason. Their attitude (as demonstrated immediately after the Conference late last year) is an insult to many members because it showed what they really think of us. We are useful fodder during election campaigns – letter box stuffers, canvassers, meeting arrangers, money donators and that’s about all.
As far as I can see, the only person who can change it now is David Shearer. The olive
branch must be extended to David Cunliffe preferably by way of a return to the Front Bench. What happens after that we will have to wait and see…
Spot on, Anne. I think principled young left activists these days are more likely to head towards Mana/Greens or even some of the non-parliamentary movements. The activism exists, but why would they look to participate in Labour when senior figures such as Mallard see them as potential customers for any spare tickets he has lying around? I think those looking for paid positions inside the machine will gravitate towards Young Labour, and this will become even worse as the slightest hint of radicalism continues to be purged from caucus.
The uninformed criticisms of Young Labour here are just staggering. Are these commentators even involved in the Labour Party – certainly not the one that I am a proud member of.
Young Labour activists are some of the most principled, hard-working, intelligent members of this party. We are integral to so many campaigns around the country, we organise events where the big ideas within the party are discussed (Campaign School, Summer School, Winter School etc.), we push for the most progressive policies at conference and usually do well at getting support, we actually do stuff to help the party instead of writing whinging comments on political blogs.
The members I know in Young Labour are not in it for themselves but for the progressive ideals that we get to push for. Why don’t you come help us?
Even more likely is that they realised that 50% plus one is the norm in most democratic elections, Anne. The 60% level is a wank. It appears it was pushed by those hoping DC could use it to his short term advantage in forcing a leadership contest.
But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.
“But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.”
The 60% + 1 threshold only applies for the constitutionally mandated leaders vote at the start of the year immediately following the election, eg once every 3 years. If DC wins the leadership and loses the next election, he’s gone-burger anyway (just as DS will/would be) so it doesn’t really matter.
.
And who came up with that one TRP? Someone from the ABC camp perchance?
TRP….You may want to consider what is currently the threshold in other Labour Parties overseas. My understanding is that something like 60% is the norm.
You may be right, RL, but the NZLP has current and historical links to the union movement. There, the norm is 50% plus one. The 60% pass rate seems arbitrary at best and, as I say above, probably intended for DC’s short term gain. (ie its the figure his numbers pre-conference could muster).
Which sounds like tripe to me, TRP.
The UK Labour Party has far stronger and longer ties to the union movement than the NZLP (affiliates there have long had a real vote in choosing the UK Labour Leader).
A UK Labour MP leadership contender can initiate a leadership challenge with just 20% initial backing of the Labour caucus. The decision then goes to the wider membership.
The NZLP has a long, long way left to go in democratising its Leadership and candidate selection processes.
And yet the UKLP is regarded as being anti-democratic and top down and, in Government, the caucus has the legal right to ignore the party. And, as I said, 50% is the norm in unions in both countries. So what’s your point?
CV, I have a terrible feeling you think democracy means ‘the one I want wins’.
They are however far more democratic than the NZLP, including using a far lower leadership trigger threshold.
And it looks like your “union 50% + 1” meme is false, as demonstrated by the UKLP 20% threshold (which the unions over there support).
I suggest just one basic tennet for democracy: all Labour Party members get a say about the Leadership, not just 34 of them.
If the wider party backs Shearer in a leaderhip vote than he is my man through to 2014. But will we even be given that chance by the 34.
What exactly is your problem with that?
You appear to know little about unions, CV. No reason you should, I suppose, but it leaves your ‘meme’ comment knackered. A simple majority is the norm in the union movement.
When was the last time the UKLP caucus used the trigger, CV?
UK Labour leadership candidate hustings 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a128paHGoEs
Answering directly to the party members. This is the kind of thing that many associated with Labour seem deathly afraid of in 2013. And which TRP you seem to consider “anti democratic”.
Quite some time ago I think; it may be that the UKLP 20% is actually too high a threshold.
TRP unions have internal votes only. They do not have to participate in decision making where three different sectors of an organisation have to decide on something. Besides the vote is only a trigger for a contest and does not decide the contest.
CV: The point I was making is that the trigger has not been used, as far as I know. It’s meaningless in the UK and arbitrary at best here.
MS: Unions participate in multi-faceted decision making all the time. Unions are represented on all sorts of organisations, including ITO’s, community groups and boards. And many negotiations are multi party, either more than one union or more than one boss.
The tendency for schools to have exclusive stationery deals with single supplier is disturbing, and another reason why Tomorrow’s Schools should be reviewed.
Parents should be able to source stationery for their children through whatever source they see fit. Whether it be calculators through trademe, compasses and protractors from the $2 shop, or books from the Warehouse. Forcing financially burdened parents to go through one supplier is totally wrong.
I would actually stick my neck out and say that school kids have too much stationery. It would be better to have the MoE supply pre printed curriculum workbooks for specialist subjects, and just have the parents buy refill, pens and rulers.
I’m not sure how the schools can prevent you from buying stationary from elsewhere? What are they gonna do, kick your kid out?
I’m sure nothing like this happened when I went to school. They did have stationary that you could buy from the school, presumably they partnered up with a retail chain to offer this. But they always gave you the price list so you could choose to go elsewhere.
Teen refused bail on murder charge
Following on from the, “unexpected arrest”, the youth allegedly involved in the Sina Solomona murder as now been denied bail, “in spite of the “legislative bias” in favour of granting bail to young people.”
The arrest was reported on 20/12/12, court appearance 14/1/13, and prosecution given until 25/2/13 (5.5 weeks extension), when prosecutor Andrew McRae “sought an extension of three or four weeks for the filing of police evidence”. He sought extra time because of the extensive investigation and forensic analysis that was still being done.
1: Why was the additional time granted, over and above what the prosecutor had sought?
2: If the prosecution are sure enough the youth is the perpetrator to keep him on remand, then why is the extended investigation necessary? (surely if there is such a “powerful public interest”, resources would have been working this case since mid December when it happened, around the clock)
3: How long do forensic investigations of a single individual take to match to a victim and place at a crime scene?
4: Why in Christchuch, just weeks earlier (to the youths appearance for alleged murder) was a “convicted paedophile given bail after appearing in court accused of abusing dozens of young boys, and in Northland, a man accused of sex crimes against children was bailed to an Auckland address despite police opposition”
5: Why is it that repeat paedophile gets home detention for molesting a 7 year old girl (based on poor health (apparently), into the community he is from, and the victim’s mother is devastated and says “she is concerned about the safety of the Tauranga community” ?.
6: Why are health concerns seemingly more a factor, over the obvious safety/health concerns of a young teen on remand for many months, at risk of potential mental, and physical harm!
I don’t care about your issues with QoT and McFlock, although I agree with both of them, but why are you continuing to use this case to push your meme? I’ve read your questions and they are leading – to whatever conclusion you have reached – just say it. Is this sort of stuff part of the social experiment you claim you are conducting – the last person that did that was pete george if I remember correctly. You do remind me of him in a weird way.
Oh and please spare me the usual “don’t shoot the messenger” stuff or use americanisms like “cool your jets”. I used to think you were onto the real issues muzza – I feel quite disappointed in you to tell you the truth. Sorry to personalise it but we aren’t bots are we.
Hi Marty, perhaps have a look inside if you feel let down bro, search as to why you associate the emotion to my comments. What meme exactly do you believe I’m pushing Marty, you have yet to make any concrete comments, instead just waffling around.
If you believe the questions to be leading, then point out which ones, and why, tell me what you believe to be better questions to ask, or answer some of the questions, a combo is good. Again you have fed back nothing, just jumped in and expressed your bias, which seems to have been triggered by my letting you down in some way, come on bro, you can do better than that!
Perhaps I should have asked the question – Who is more dangerous to society/bigger flight risk etc, a previously convicted , elderly white paedophile, who we know has a passport, the means to travel, a network of sorts (salvation army), with some health problems or a young brown kid, unknown previous, unknown passport holder, or means to travel, or what, if any his connections are, who is under suspicion of murder!
FYI – I have reached no conclusion at this stage, however there is to me some rather poor reporting of this situation going on, hence I have some questions, because it feel off to me!
Don’t apologise if you actually mean what you say Marty, I’m picking there is more to it than that!
Ta muzza
yes I have thought about why your comment triggered me. My conclusion is that this case was first raised by you for no good reason, which I mentioned at the time, and on the other occasions when you have bought it up the use of the case has shifted so that it now has become a “poor brown boy” story, which it wasn’t when you originally mentioned it. That implies to me that the story is useful to you because it helps you promote your ideas and I am not okay when innocent victims are used to score points for any viewpoint. If I come across that type of behavior I normally ignore those postings but I had unrealistic expectations of the stuff you post and therefore began to comment then, and now. Some commenters I engage with for a while until I realise that it is a waste of time for me – vto is one and mate I’m putting you in the same bucket. I don’t wish either of you ill it’s just that I’m more interested in making changes in society and communities and going over 101 areas is just so boring – I’m sure you feel the same.
I hope you leave the defenseless alone and go after those with defenses – they are worth the trouble – kia ora.
Hi Marty,
As information about this sad situation progresses, and is reported on, is it not probable that questions will develop around the pregressing information releases. Surely this is not shifting, it is commenting on the developments via the media, as I interpret the details, from what I’m reading.
It’s unfortunate that you’re unable to fathom, that my posts, are actually aimed at those with the defenses you refer. The posts were/are intended, to get generate thinking about what the MSM has been reporting, and how the low quality of reporting begs questions about its innaccuracies and gaps, and how those gaps will shape the views of readers who absorb it!
My focus is firmly on the establishments, and those with the ability to deliver/create/protect injustice, because not only are individuals corrupted, but the systems they operate inside of are systematically broken. Those same systems, seek only to protect themselves, no matter the collateral damage to the rest of us, who they pretend to serve and protect!
The reality is Marty, that the changes you (and I), are looking to be invovled with, can’t begin to happen, until what is keeping the changes from gaining traction, (because it must subvert reality in such ways, to keep control), are clearly understood for the barriers, and the theats that the establishment system are.
Take another look Marty, and if you are able to do so without predjudice, you should be able to tell where my intentions lie!
Hey muzza
yes granted that situations change and perceptions of those situations change. The initial post from you on that case was well before much had come out – it was ghoulish, disrespectful and unnecessary – but that was then…
maybe you are trying to be too tricky – just a thought because your middle three paragraphs above are pretty coherent – perhaps if you wacked out those then your evidence/questions it might flow better, for me anyway.
Are you a believer of the “to save a family/town/country a person/family/town can be sacrificed” mode of thinking?
See for me using a recently deceased innocent victim of a terrible crime as a flail against mine enemies within the fray is just not on. You may consider me over sensitive and too pc but for my sensibilities I’d rather use the recently pulled out appendage of the enemy to slot them around the head. But hey we are all different and my lines are my lines, as are yours.
I hope you go all neo on the owners of the foot across most of our throats 🙂
Quintessentially, no, however its not that simple in reality. If you apply that premise 100%, then justice would be very difficult to see done. Jimmy Saville for example, there are many victims alive, should people ignore what was done, and what will be the fallout from his evil, because the victims are innocent? You can apply the same measure to almost any situation where there are victims, and there would be few perpetrators punished for crimes!
Marty, that’s ok, I accept your view, and understand your position, but mine is that I was not using the deceased victim. I spend alot of time reading through articles, and it felt like there was more to this one, so I went about finding, reading, cross referencing as many write ups as I could, and then posted my thoughts/views. Whats not on for me, is the pathetic so called reporting around such terrible events, and the fact questions are not asked, and that people do not think, because it allows injustice to flourish!
It takes all types of approach to get messages out there Marty, as you and I show, that we have different ways to express ourselves, so there are different ways that people receiving (hearing) those messages, might be swayed, or jolted into thinking more deeply.
IMO, the more varied the message delivery we can get, but with the constant intent to promote positive , the higher chance of reaching, even more minds.
And the Orwell prize for neo-liberal bullshit goes today to… Rodney Hide!
“State house policy must free tenants from rentals”
That’s right, the poor in tin and tar paper shanties without power or sanitation are free! FREE I TELL YOU!!!
he also manages to tell a nasty little lie in an attempt to smear Michael Joseph Savage, a man who he clearly very, very jealous of.
PS I am not linking to his nasty little piece of shit because the HoS shouldn’t be encouraged by the site hits.
Hide’s dishonest piece on state housing is just part of a broader effort which fetishes ownership and aims to further curtail tenancy rights. If he and his acolytes get their way, Housing Corp will end up managing emergency night shelters with a maximum of one week stay. Or maybe contracting out the management of these to a private provider?
Utterly predictable. But this from a man who has openly admitted that the 1840’s were a much better time because it was without all that ‘government interference’.
Mega upload. Have I got this right? New rules a year or so ago meant that if an “authority” believed that a person was downloading illegally the the internet provider was contacted, the downloader warned, and ex-communicated if she persisted. This was how Kim Dotcom cooperated with the “authorities” who then shat all over him in spite of cooperation.
So now Mega is launched with 100,000 registrations in the first hour. Wow!
But the new Mega has no open-ness to any authority not even to Mega itself.
Is this huge, very huge, given the wish for USA (and National) want to to control the internet?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10860260
So will people use the mega site to file share, pretty much as they used Megaupload, or does it’s set-up open it up to different sorts of uses?
Well I’m interested in backups…
Rock and Roll ‘aint Noise Pollution
(to me it makes good good sense) 🙂
Muwahahahahahahaha:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/292910_FACTA–Ireland_and_Caymens_on_
Found a copy of the infamous Picot Report in the local library today. Which was good, as before I had an OIA request for it turned down by the min of ed.
A few interesting points:
All support services for schools, that were provided by the old Department of Education, or the local education boards, were chopped, and school boards given extra cash to ‘purchase their own services’.
The education advisers employed by the above effectively became consultants/independent contractors, selling their services to schools.
The education service centres that were to replace the education boards are/were basically privatised versions of the latter, some of them set up by old Education Board staff.
It was intended that community education forums would be set up and help so the local community can have a say in the running of the education system. This measure, not implemented, could have made a difference to Mallard’s school closing frenzy 10 years ago, the Parata’s school restructuring in Christchurch.
This is not really what I agree with and like, but I came across it, and I think it is important to remind ourselves of what historic events once happened.
We are busy, sometimes with perhaps trivial political stories, but the history of fascism, and what it led to is something that must never be forgotten.
Rommel was not a fascist as such himself, Hitler even hated him in the end, but he was an instrument, just like many in modern NZ society are instruments also in introducing and implementing “reforms” of a welfare kind, that have elements of fascism in them. Few get the message, I am afraid.
They killed the Jews, and this is what some of them got in return:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=YpxX4cg9JqY
Maybe lucky to get away alive. The history of human kind (vermin like kind) is full of hatred, war, destruction and exploitation, some try to put a nice gloss on it. So where do we go from here???
Free “western” NZ, UK, USA ???
Yet another, more friendly perspective. “Die Prinzen”, one of the more favourite bands from there, I know of. Always witty, a bit cynical and critical but always measured and sound.
So where do we get this here? I love Mr Bean also, good old UK humour, and there is some good program on TV3 on Fridays now, but hey, get a bit into the global sphere, there is so much more, and worth listening to, even if you may (at first) not understand the language.
NZ is needing to climb up the learning curve a bit more. Get onto it, and you cannot lose.
We want revolutionary spirit, nothing else, so please enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY9K8CjXHkM
(over 1 million downloads is impressive)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=el+pueblo+unido+jamas+sera+vencido&oq=el+pueblo&gs_l=youtube-reduced.1.1.0l4.121108.125107.0.128120.9.5.0.3.3.0.1174.2030.1j1j1j1j7-1.5.0…0.0…1ac.1.3lKKd_8s9Jc
(for search options)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWlkWPXfvXc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWlkWPXfvXc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mOjijV4jA0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSRVtlTwFs8
Why is The Standard not sufficiently promoting socialist or social democratic ideas, as it proclaims it is. We must move further to take a stand, I sadly see a too weak and mellowed down approach. Remember your bloody heritage, PLUS what the international development has shown.
Viva el pueble, viva la revolution.
THE TRUTH or El Veridad –
This is a MUST view documentary, before anybody goes about adopting biased and anti social comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=6QfuOOJzByg
El Che was MURDERED by CIA, so also in Chile we had Pinochet establish later a fascist dictatorship, supported and created by USA!!!