America’s banal and insincere Consoler-in-Chief
President Obama comes to Boston
by BILL VAN AUKEN, 19 April 2013
Three days after the bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 170 at the Boston Marathon, President Barack Obama flew to Boston to deliver a speech at an interfaith service for the victims and survivors.
This marks the fifth time that Obama has delivered such an address following a mass killing, beginning with Fort Hood, Texas in November of 2009 and including Tucson, Arizona in January 2011, Aurora, Colorado in July 2012 and Newtown, Connecticut last December.
The corporate media, which have cynically dubbed Obama the “consoler-in-chief,” hailed his latest speech as “inspiring”, “powerful” and “moving.” It was all they wanted to hear and in no way conflicted with their efforts to frame the events in Boston within the reactionary narrative of the “war on terrorism,” turning them into another justification for war abroad and attacks on democratic rights at home.
In reality, it was painfully evident that Obama was working off of a template, engaged in a national ritual that is utterly routine, banal and insincere.
Almost invariably, he begins these speeches by invoking “scripture.”
“Scripture tells us,” were the first words out of Obama’s mouth after he rose to address the crowd from the pulpit of Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
“Scripture tells us, ‘Do not lose heart,’” he began his remarks to a prayer vigil for the 26 victims of the Newtown school massacre.
“Scripture says that ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and….
No, we’ll just call your little tantrum typical laziness on your part, and move on.
The article was not criticizing Obama’s anodyne words; he is defintely the go-to guy when it comes to sonorous and content-free oratory. He’s unimprovable, in fact.
The article criticizes the role the media plays in his sentimentalizing and politicizing of these tragedies.
“The article criticizes the role the media plays in his sentimentalizing and politicizing of these tragedies.
You would realize that if you actually read it.”
Or you could simply have introduced your comment with that one sentence explanation of what you thought was important about the article.
I find many of the links without commentary interesting, but it’s not laziness that stops me from reading all of them. I mostly come here for the interaction with other people and to hear their views on current events, politics etc.
Fair point, weka and Al1en. I try not to post too often without some kind of preliminary comment; 1.) I don’t want to bomb people with excess articles, and 2.) I don’t want another one-month ban.
What the article shows is the Obama is a cynical bastard using biblical quotes explain away the cause of ‘terror’ as ‘evil’. What he doesn’t do is what Lincoln did i.e. draw the conclusion that that ‘evil’ is an answer to ‘evil’. In Lincoln’s case slavery was the evil and the civil war the answer.
What should Obama have said? Nothing different since today the US President has to justify the ‘war on terror’ for the very survival of US imperialism. But assuming that freed from this requirement, and that Obama had Lincoln’s grasp on reality, he would recognise that the ‘terror’ that the US visits on the world in the name of ‘freedom’ is imperialism – the modern equivalent evil of slavery – and that the ‘counter-terror’ that causes all these acts of mass murder, is part of the answer.
Of course coming from the Socialist Equality Party, the author stops short of spelling out what would be necessary to answer imperialism fully i.e. not the mayhem of individual mass shootings which are disorganised and counter-productive (eg citizens of Boston wildly cheering the police for dealing to the biblical ‘evil’) but the organised working class forming a popular militia and overthrowing the imperialist state.
In one of the more cynical moments of Obama’s speech, he invoked a widely circulated image of the youngest of those killed in the Boston bombings, eight-year-old Martin Richard, holding a poster upon which he had written, “No more hurting people. Peace.” Obama repeated the phrase twice.
The day before he came to Boston, US drones fired missiles into a Pakistani village leveling a house and killing five people inside. Seven others were wounded. On the same day, a drone strike in Yemen demolished a car, killing its five occupants. As is well known, Obama personally selects assassination victims and has arrogated to himself the power to order the deaths of American citizens without charges or trials. The young boy’s plea reads like an indictment of the US president himself.
Thanks M! I read an analysis of O’s speeches when he first was elected tying the format of the speeches to psychological tactics to disengage critical thinking. Fascinating stuff.
From memory the scripture part of it wasn’t incorporated in his earlier speeches (at least not as a key feature right at the start of the speech).
A Contender for Dumbest Statement Ever by Amnesty USA?
by JOE EMERSBERGER at Apr 19, 2013
Amnesty USA has called on the Venezuelan government to eliminate post-election violence. The small matter that the violence has been directed at government supporters was comically evaded.
Showing off its command of the obvious, Amnesty USA stated: “Violent incidents around Venezuela following last Sunday’s presidential elections are only likely to increase unless the authorities carry out prompt, effective investigations and bring those responsible to justice”
That recent deaths strongly implicate opposition supporters should have been impossible to miss, even for Amnesty USA, given statements put out by Henrique Capriles, the candidate who lost the presidential election to Maduro. Reuters reported that Capriles said: “To all my followers … this is a peaceful quarrel. Whoever is involved in violence is not part of this project, is not with me,…. It is doing me harm.”
Capriles cancelled a march on the National Electoral Council (CNE) alleging that the government would “infiltrate” it with violent saboteurs.
HRW put out a similarly fatuous statement condemning Maduro for saying he would forbid the opposition march that Capriles ended up cancelling.
When it suits them, the human rights industry pretends that governments the USA dislikes are omnipotent – that they exert complete control of opponents and supporters alike and can “guarantee” security for all without the slightest infringement of civil liberties. Weeks prior to the US perpetrated coup in Haiti in 2004, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, put out statements demanding that Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was just about to be kidnaped by US troops, guarantee the security of his opponents – including people financing terrorists to overthrow him.
Amnesty USA refuses to make obvious demands of its own government – demands like “disclose who you are funding and working with”, and “stop trying to overthrow democratically elected governments”. That would actually be useful to promoting human rights rather than US-backed coups. That is expecting too much of Amnesty when it cannot even recognize Bradley Manning as a Prisoner of Conscience, or acknowledge that Saudi armed rebels in Syria will inevitably commit atrocities.
Stupidity is not actually the problem as Chris Hedges made clear when he resigned from PEN after Suzanne Nossel, recently head of Amnesty USA, was appointed to run that group: “Nossel’s relentless championing of preemptive war—which under international law is illegal—as a State Department official along with her callous disregard for Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians and her refusal as a government official to denounce the use of torture and use of extra-judicial killings, makes her utterly unfit to lead any human rights organization, especially one that has global concerns.”
It should not be up to Chris Hedges alone to denounce the “hijacking of human rights organizations to promote imperial projects”.
When she has a moment to spare from her humane work, that great humanitarian Suzanne Nossel might reflect, in the small hours of the morning, that the word AMNESTY anagramizes into NASTY ME.
Amnesty has had a pretty damaged brand for a long time now. Their insistence that the oppressed remain pacifists and refusal to take on many cases have ended up with them supporting the oppressor, as in Venezuela today. I haven’t had much time for them since they refused to support Marx Jones in 1981.
Interesting article in the Guardian regarding the many internet wannabee CSIers who got it so badly wrong trying to parse the various photos of the Boston bombing:
Yet you know the *authorities* loved the fact they were able to see this happen, by that I mean, getting the masses all bagging on eachother while searching for, *the enemy*
Obamas citizen security force he called for, seems to be rolling out, no dounbt helped by *friendly establishment* agencies all playing their role!
That and the resultant , marshall law in place in Boston!
Oh, and don’t forget to look into the regions history/present where the two (soon to be both dead, conveniently, yet again), *accused* are from, and what else is happening is that part of the world.
Great result for the establishments propgation of fear, violence, troops on the street, unwarranted searched of houses et al!
Strange question! I’m part of the NWO conspiracy, muzza. But, hey, you know that already, so it’s weird that you ask, given we’re both in the same black ops unit. If you’ve blown our cover, Obama is going to be well pissed.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
Kim Hill pronounces Michael Burleigh “balanced”
National Radio, Saturday 20 April 2013
Kim Hill is a very smart and well read person. I was concerned, therefore, to hear her speak positively, a few minutes ago during an interview with Professor John Carson Lennox, of a book by the notoriously unhinged Michael Burleigh. She gave the impression that Burleigh was “balanced”. Any sane person who has managed to struggle through some of his insane books or articles would dispute that.
While it is clear that she reads a great many books, comments like that about someone as notorious as Michael Burleigh lead one to wonder if she really does read all of them thoroughly.
Anyway the discussion with Prof Lennox was a fascinating in-depth one. Interesting that the Prof believes that the Resurrection is proof of God. Without the Resurrection presumably the God would become god. But of course there is only the Bible to offer “proof.”
“John Carson Lennox is a British mathematician and philosopher of science who is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. He is the author of a number of books, including and God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (Lion Books, ISBN: 978-0-82547-912-0) and Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are Missing the Target (Lion Books, ISBN: 978-0745953229).”
Not up yet for replay.
Michelle Hewitson on Susan “Yeah I am” / “No I [ain’t]!” Devoy this morning
She is patently aggrieved that people have made up their minds about her and that they think all she is is “someone who wriggles around a little racket” and “the assumption is that I’m white and that I’m right wing.” Well, she is, isn’t she? “Yeah, I am. But I’m not so right wing and I’m not so conservative.” She says she’s worked with disadvantaged people and done a lot of work for Maori organisations. “And they say you’re as Maori as you feel.” But it just sounds daft when she says it. Does she think she’s Maori? “No I don’t!”
It dawned on us during our Friday evening dinner that when Natz talk about jobs, they are really talking about their own jobs and their cronies’ . . . . .
A large part of the population, believe they have an idea about issues, the drivers, and hence in their wisdom, decide to vote, in a system which will strangling them, and removing any future for their children etc.
Most people are clueless, which is what happens when lies are the SOP over extended period of time, the lies in turn dumb them down, and what you have is what we are seeing played out in front of us!
She is patently aggrieved that people have made up their minds about her and that they think all she is is “someone who wriggles around a little racket” and “the assumption is that I’m white and that I’m right wing.” Well, she is, isn’t she?
Susan Devoy is a patently stupid woman. Helen Kelly’s assessment is spot on: Devoy’s appointment is part of a deliberate strategy by the government, i.e. Steven Joyce, to denigrate and lessen the authority of the Race Relations Commission.
Someone asked me if I wanted a dog on Thursday. Lovely mid sized cutie, fully trained and good with kids and came with all it’s doggie stuff.
The thing is I really do want a dog that needs a forever home <3
The home or the dog
But….I have learned there are people in the world who can have dogs, and those who can’t and I most definitely can not own a dog unless I own a house to go with it. There is no way that I can afford to further disadvantage myself in the cray-cray Wellington rental market by having a dog (the cat I took in from a friend who moved is bad enough).
Landlords don’t like dogs or their owners and will pick an animal free tenant whenever they can so it would be cruel to take in the dog and eventually end up having to make the choice between re-homing my new furry baby or becoming homeless myself.
I wish someone had explained all this to me when I was younger.
Don’t have much time for dogs in cities. Or rather, not much time for their owners handling of their dogs. So much dog shit on the street, barking dogs in our hood BOWOO BOWOWOWOWO waking everyone up, New Zealanders are bloody boofheads when it comes to dog responsibility around others. Neanderthals (actually, I bet neanderthals never put up with such shit from dog owners).
Quick work by the US authorities. Seems like the bad guys were total amateur hour. Did they not have an out after the op? They just stayed in the neighbourhood? What were they going to do, just turn back up to classes as normal next week?
And from Kyrzygstan…this is going to be interesting.
All I know is that the dorm mates of one suspect say he was an ordinary guy they hung out with, ate with, and played sport with.
Apparently the suspect turned up to classes as normal after the bombing and even went to a party, even as he must have known that FBI CCTV footage was appearing on air. This is frakking weird.
The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities – the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.
well, according to the nice policeman on Campbell Live, the arrogance of motorists cutting into queues is growing…
Blessed are the merciful
for they will be shown mercy
not likely to be the wisest, or the richest, yet
a man who has not the wherewithal to be bountiful or liberal
may be truly merciful.
partake of the afflictions of our brethren
have compassion on the souls of others
pity the ignorant and instruct them,
the careless, and warn them
snatch the lost as brands out of a burning forge
for doing good is one of the most purest and refined delights
it is more blessed to give than receive
for with the merciful God will show himself merciful
the most charitable and merciful cannot pretend to merit
Fuck’s sake, CV, he’s 19 and we have no fucking idea why the bombings took place. It’s a bit early in the piece to be getting all smug about how un-hardcore a suspect is, don’t you think?
You know, your professions of concern for that little boy would carry some weight if you were not on record applauding the killing of hundreds of little boys and girls in Gaza.
We need to carefully consider a couple of pertinent questions: 1.) Why is there a TANK on the scene? 2.) Who is in the wrong: the soldier inside the tank or the peasants trying to repel the tank?
Are you saying that 19 year old soldiers who don’t die ‘lose their nerve’?
Frankly, I don’t give a shit. David Frum, George Bush’s speech writer who coined the axis of evil phrase made the same point you made. So that’s the company you’re in.
I think you might be reading far too much into CV’s comments there, but there is no equivalence between a nineteen year old soldier and a nineteen year old terrorist.
oooo, a few anarchist threats in there joe; Excellent link. I heard recently from the Sky that the Feds see the Earth Liberation Front (The Elves) as their number 1 targets of attention. btw, do you think that there has been an a-typical frequency of large earthquakes just recently; off Japan, now China…
The following clarification needs to be read by listeners to NewstalkZB, the hosts of NewstalkZB, Stephen Franks, Jordan Williams, Neville “Breivik” Gibson, Garth “Gaga” George, Christine “Spankin'” Rankin, Brett Dale and any other bewildered souls out there….
Statement of the Ambassador of the Czech Republic on the Boston terrorist attack
19.04.2013 / 21:27
As many I was deeply shocked by the tragedy that occurred in Boston earlier this month. It was a stark reminder of the fact that any of us could be a victim of senseless violence anywhere at any moment.
As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities – the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.
As the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman noted in his message to President Obama, the Czech Republic is an active and reliable partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.
Nice one, Viper. You are now on the Christmas card list.
By the way, what do you think the Czech ambassador means when he insists that his country is an “active and reliable” partner of the United States? Does that just mean they support the U.S. in its anti-democracy shenanigans at the U.N.? I was also amused by the tag at the end of the following assurance: “We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.” That sounds extremely like the “don’t you worry about that” phrase used by Sir Les Patterson.
now, being the critic of the medico-technical complex that I am, I didn’t want to link to this Horrific Burns
yet, I am personally aquainted with a wee young lassie, about 2 months of age, who has had
-an MRI
-an EEG
-CSF tapped
-anti-viral course
and been seen by two eye specialists and yet they are still unable to determine why she is unable to see more than contrast. a big sigh indeed; where are all these “tele-medicine” benefits we learn of in the MSM propaganda? likely she will have to go to Starship next, while Tony’s royally shafting the health consumer.
hey, you’re from outer space where they have all those teccy shape-shifter doo dads; can you, or Draco, or RedLogix, or Lynn, or the Viper, or anybody with some experience in these matters advise some-one back from the other side of minimum specs
-processor speed
-Hard drive storage
-RAM
-Vid cards
to run a couple of programs simultaneously, switch effortlessly between say 5 open tabs, maximise fibre potential, optimise viewing of streamed audio / visual and to interface with freeview / satellite tv.
(just looking for an un-vested opinion)
Response will be greatly appreciated and chocolate fish (slightly melted) will be apportioned 😀
thanx felix; i realise it was a fairly lame query; was just a little overwhelmed and did not want to waste what little income I have; seems 2.8Ghz, 2GB RAM, 500GB HD a few drops in the ocean to start with?
Get more RAM, it’s probably the best “bang for buck” upgrade you can do in most cases.
Just remember to check whether your running a 32bit or 64bit operating system; a 32bit system will only make use of 3GB of RAM no matter how much you put in.
Dude. Yeah the problem is the “Windows” tax where you have to pay good money to get the basic operating system.
The one to get, if you have to buy a copy, is Windows 7 Home 64bit, someone with a student ID may be able to get you an academic price on it, and sometimes the “OEM” price is cheap too. Avoid that frakking loser Windows 8 “let’s pretend your desktop PC is an Android Tablet” shite whatever you do.
You have a mate who can screw the thing together for you?
If so this is my suggestion (check for latest prices with pricespy.co.nz):
AMD “Trinity” processor A8 5600K: budget level quad core with good built in graphics ability. ~$150 This quad core is definitely slower than the Intel quad cores but its pretty fast, cheaper than the Intels and its graphics are also much faster…for casual 3D gaming haha
ASRock FM2A75M-DGS micro-ATX form factor motherboard ~$98
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866MHz ~$120 total (in this case, for better performance you want 2 x 4GB RAM chips as they give you twin lane communication speed, not 1 x 8GB chip which gives you the same amount of RAM but just at single lane communication speed)
IN WIN EM020 Black uATX USB3.0 Mini Tower Case with 400W Power Supply built in (insufficient for heavy duty gaming if you want to include a big discrete gaming video card but certainly fine otherwise) ~$115 I think the case will fit in a 2nd and 3rd HDD if you need more storage room (you’ll have to check if the PSU has the cables to power them up but it should do)
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 ~$100 If you’re going to store a lot (a lot) of video, photos etc then a second 2TB WD Caviar Green internal HDD would be a go. If you’re going to store relatively little, but want very fast performance, forget the traditional HDD and go an Intel 335 SSD (180 GB capacity) for ~$230 is the go.
A front case fan for about $15 would be useful if the room you run the PC in gets warm, otherwise I wouldn’t bother unless you are planning to run the machine full tilt fairly often.
Uh no idea about the Freeview stuff (I presume you get an add in tuner card for it???), but this 3.6 GHz quad core box with 8GB RAM will run nice and fast for all home uses. $600 in parts will give you a box faster than most $900 boxes you get from the main street retailers. Oh yeah you still have to add the windows tax on top of that.
Also do double check that all the parts make sense, I sorta did this in a rush, but should be good.
I’m not a technical, though I did spec, source and build my own desktop unit a year and a half ago.
I’ve had no issues with my quad core i7 2600 using onboard graphics (no vid card) and stock fan, 8gb ram and 500gb hard drive.
Using my processor hungry music software, it handles all I throw at it and never at more than 20% cpu usage.
An i5 would be the minimum I’d suggest, but I’m like Mel.
thnx. u hav restored my faith in extra-terrestrials; an i5 was recommended as a start, guess i’ll go for more ram and dual-core if drachmas permit (what is the speed of your processor?)
If you don’t need/want a 64bit operating system, don’t waste money on lots of ram. 32 bit systems can’t access over 3. something of it, so more than 4gb (2×2) is a waste.
I believe i7s are quad core with hyperthreading (8 cores), i5s are quad core with no HT and i3s are dual core.
My chip runs at 3.4, which most of the range seems to run at, or around.
thanx. see i learned somethings elses important.all ya gotta do is ask the right OP 😉
(reasons i put it out there were, a) gotta fire old gertie up and go into town see a man abouta doo-dad, and then b) he’s a gonna try’n upgrade me to some fancy veehickle I don’t rightly need). Now, ise canna find me one on that new-fangled Trades-whatsa-me-callit, where they done try and sell yoo all sorts of purty trimmins.
Window shop online and take the sales sharks out of the equation and then when you’ve found what you want at your price, take the magical mystery tour.
Win patrol which is a nice tidy program that warns you if start page is being high jacked or things are being added to start menu. Also allows you to easily view and control what is in your start menu, what’s running now etc.
I’ve likely got a copy of Office 97 sitting in the garage somewhere if you are interested in it for free. It just might take a bit of finding and I’m away for the next few weeks but happy to dig it out.
Yep. Most of the actual benefit is in the memory addressing. I also notice a difference between 32 bit and 64 bit when you get more cores.
And to actually get that benefit – use linux. Windows just keeps putting more junk on board until it is effectively the same speed as a old pentium. I just compiled a Qt4/boost program on 32bit windows MSVC2008 on windows7, and it took about 4x as long as g++ did on a 32bit ubuntu 12.04. And I’m not going to even mention the time it took to startup and shut the system down. I’m tempted to pop VC2005 on that system because I’d swear that was faster?
But seriously look at putting in even a 32-64GB SSD as a boot. Now those things seriously kickarse for boot and accessing system programs. Too expensive for terabyte storage, but ok for planting the OS.
About the only thing that windows is useful for these days is games. I’m too serious for games… 0ad starts…
In terms of RAM, you’re going to want a minimum of 4gb. If you’re not planning on playing games, then 4gb is probably fine for your purposes. RAM is pretty cheap though so getting more isn’t a huge imposition.
cool link Lanth. I will be well armed with that. Thanks. much appreciated. puts components in perspective. sigh. such a learning curve. oh well, coulda stayed out-of-it 🙂 you guys, wotta ya like aye, wotta ya like. Excellent thinkers, thats what you are like (kinds and all that)
There’s a black cop I remember from a few years back who won’t be cheering either. His two white colleagues beat the shit out of him while he was undercover.
Then there’s the Boston cops who were dealing in drugs……
And you somehow think that Boston cops are respected more than ours.
Yeah we have some crap with our cops as well but it ain’t nothing like the Boston people have to put up with.
You keep trying to tell us how great the US is and how shit we are. I don’t know who you are trying to convince or why you bother but you are not convincing me.
“Yeah we have some crap with our cops as well but it ain’t nothing like the Boston people have to put up with.”
You might be right Ssssmith, but Rickards and co, as well as some of the stories that have come out of places like Dunedin are pretty damning indictments of the NZ police.
And it’s not like the cops here aren’t being used to spy on Maori, activists etc.
It’s not just that we have some crap cops (and some good ones). It’s that the police force culture is very corrupt in some ways (Rickards etc) and highly unethical in others (Tuhoe raids)
I certainly wasn’t suggesting our cops are all sweet and sugar coated – clearly there are issues from time to time and no question there has been a degree of racism amongst some police for ever.
I’m always cautious in including Rickards in that group due to the testimony that he had a broken leg in plaster at the time of the particular incident most refer to. It was something that was quite provable and he has always maintained he wasn’t there.
The others no question about their abysmal behaviour and abuse of power.
The abuse of power is of course sometimes political as was seen with the use of Maori police at Bastion Point. There’s times when you (generic) need to look beyond the individual police or the police culture.
“Inland Revenue is not ruling out the possibility of a cyber-attack after it wrongly sent emails to 47 people yesterday.
The error has prompted the department to shut down all inbound emails while it investigates whether it is the latest Government agency to be hit with a privacy breach.”
I have a very wide screen and truly magnificent lunar travel thanks Marty. But just who were those folk down by the 3rd crater from the right who were waving white flags?
I’m not sure if this John Armstrong opinion piece in the Herald got linked to here or not, but I found the first 10 comments interesting.
Armstrong discusses the sloppiness of John Key’s having given four different answers to the question “How did you get Ian Fletcher’s number?” and the ammunition it gave to the opposition.
“Politicians – certainly not Prime Ministers – are not supposed to behave in this fashion. They are supposed to have one story and stick to it come hell or high water.”
It’s not the failure to be truthful that disappoints Armstrong, but the failure to simply stick to one story. He concludes with a “but who really cares how he got the number anyway,” line.
Of the first ten comments, two agreed with the ‘who gives a toss’ line, one bemoaned who embarrasing our political stories were in general, one lamented Armstrongs propensity to claim that he knows how ‘most people’ feel about a given issue, and the other six pointed out that the issue is not how he got the number, it’s the lying about it – the chronic and consistent failure of credibility.
What interested me was the relative ‘for and against’ likes in the comments. The two comments agreeing that they couldn’t give a toss got a total of 174 likes, the six comments disagreeing and calling out Key as a liar got a total of 1,947 likes.
This has given me hope that John Key has indeed jumped the shark.
It’s important to remember that he most likely doesn’t care beyond some in the moment ego bruising. He’s done the job he was sent in to do, and he can still do alot of damage on the way out.
Absolutely, I’ve been saying here for a while that as soon as his asset sales job is done, Key is off to his next corporate money making scheme with an “Ackshully New Zilund, I’ve been great.”
I’m just glad the tide is finally turning on his public perception. Once you see the tranzrail eyes, you realise that that’s all there is. He’s not a leader with our best interests at heart, he’s a corporate manager, tasked with making sure the sleepy hobbits don’t blink while he smiles and waves and sells our country to the highest bidder.
Reinforces the separation of government and the courts as being absolutely essential.
Now if we could just ensure that the separation of government and parliament was more defined so that select committees weren’t a sham and urgency wasn’t abused.
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Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
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 Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
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 ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
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 ...
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America’s banal and insincere Consoler-in-Chief
President Obama comes to Boston
by BILL VAN AUKEN, 19 April 2013
Three days after the bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 170 at the Boston Marathon, President Barack Obama flew to Boston to deliver a speech at an interfaith service for the victims and survivors.
This marks the fifth time that Obama has delivered such an address following a mass killing, beginning with Fort Hood, Texas in November of 2009 and including Tucson, Arizona in January 2011, Aurora, Colorado in July 2012 and Newtown, Connecticut last December.
The corporate media, which have cynically dubbed Obama the “consoler-in-chief,” hailed his latest speech as “inspiring”, “powerful” and “moving.” It was all they wanted to hear and in no way conflicted with their efforts to frame the events in Boston within the reactionary narrative of the “war on terrorism,” turning them into another justification for war abroad and attacks on democratic rights at home.
In reality, it was painfully evident that Obama was working off of a template, engaged in a national ritual that is utterly routine, banal and insincere.
Almost invariably, he begins these speeches by invoking “scripture.”
“Scripture tells us,” were the first words out of Obama’s mouth after he rose to address the crowd from the pulpit of Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
“Scripture tells us, ‘Do not lose heart,’” he began his remarks to a prayer vigil for the 26 victims of the Newtown school massacre.
“Scripture says that ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and….
Read more…
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/19/pers-a19.html
So what should Obama have said?
Post up your own speech for comparison.
Otherwise it’s just looks like rage.
Read the article. Carefully.
If you can’t post what OB should have said, we’ll just call it morning rage and move on.
No, we’ll just call your little tantrum typical laziness on your part, and move on.
The article was not criticizing Obama’s anodyne words; he is defintely the go-to guy when it comes to sonorous and content-free oratory. He’s unimprovable, in fact.
The article criticizes the role the media plays in his sentimentalizing and politicizing of these tragedies.
You would realize that if you actually read it.
“No, we’ll just call your little tantrum”
There is no hint of tantrum in any of my posts, unlike your last one. I’m way too accomplished for that.
“You would realize that if you actually read it.”
Best way one can make a point, and it’s really easily, is if you actually post it in the first instance.
“typical laziness on your part”
We’ll find out if that cap fits, when some one fetches it for me.
For some reason I can’t edit “and it’s really easily” to read ‘and it’s really easy’
Alien, you have to read the article very carefully. On mushrooms.
“The article criticizes the role the media plays in his sentimentalizing and politicizing of these tragedies.
You would realize that if you actually read it.”
Or you could simply have introduced your comment with that one sentence explanation of what you thought was important about the article.
I find many of the links without commentary interesting, but it’s not laziness that stops me from reading all of them. I mostly come here for the interaction with other people and to hear their views on current events, politics etc.
Fair point, weka and Al1en. I try not to post too often without some kind of preliminary comment; 1.) I don’t want to bomb people with excess articles, and 2.) I don’t want another one-month ban.
“I don’t want to bomb people with articles.”
I renamed my music pc’s recycle bin ‘The hurt locker’ and it retaliated by changing my login to ‘V for vendetta’ 😆
What the article shows is the Obama is a cynical bastard using biblical quotes explain away the cause of ‘terror’ as ‘evil’. What he doesn’t do is what Lincoln did i.e. draw the conclusion that that ‘evil’ is an answer to ‘evil’. In Lincoln’s case slavery was the evil and the civil war the answer.
What should Obama have said? Nothing different since today the US President has to justify the ‘war on terror’ for the very survival of US imperialism. But assuming that freed from this requirement, and that Obama had Lincoln’s grasp on reality, he would recognise that the ‘terror’ that the US visits on the world in the name of ‘freedom’ is imperialism – the modern equivalent evil of slavery – and that the ‘counter-terror’ that causes all these acts of mass murder, is part of the answer.
Of course coming from the Socialist Equality Party, the author stops short of spelling out what would be necessary to answer imperialism fully i.e. not the mayhem of individual mass shootings which are disorganised and counter-productive (eg citizens of Boston wildly cheering the police for dealing to the biblical ‘evil’) but the organised working class forming a popular militia and overthrowing the imperialist state.
In one of the more cynical moments of Obama’s speech, he invoked a widely circulated image of the youngest of those killed in the Boston bombings, eight-year-old Martin Richard, holding a poster upon which he had written, “No more hurting people. Peace.” Obama repeated the phrase twice.
The day before he came to Boston, US drones fired missiles into a Pakistani village leveling a house and killing five people inside. Seven others were wounded. On the same day, a drone strike in Yemen demolished a car, killing its five occupants. As is well known, Obama personally selects assassination victims and has arrogated to himself the power to order the deaths of American citizens without charges or trials. The young boy’s plea reads like an indictment of the US president himself.
Thanks M! I read an analysis of O’s speeches when he first was elected tying the format of the speeches to psychological tactics to disengage critical thinking. Fascinating stuff.
From memory the scripture part of it wasn’t incorporated in his earlier speeches (at least not as a key feature right at the start of the speech).
A Contender for Dumbest Statement Ever by Amnesty USA?
by JOE EMERSBERGER at Apr 19, 2013
Amnesty USA has called on the Venezuelan government to eliminate post-election violence. The small matter that the violence has been directed at government supporters was comically evaded.
Showing off its command of the obvious, Amnesty USA stated: “Violent incidents around Venezuela following last Sunday’s presidential elections are only likely to increase unless the authorities carry out prompt, effective investigations and bring those responsible to justice”
That recent deaths strongly implicate opposition supporters should have been impossible to miss, even for Amnesty USA, given statements put out by Henrique Capriles, the candidate who lost the presidential election to Maduro. Reuters reported that Capriles said: “To all my followers … this is a peaceful quarrel. Whoever is involved in violence is not part of this project, is not with me,…. It is doing me harm.”
Capriles cancelled a march on the National Electoral Council (CNE) alleging that the government would “infiltrate” it with violent saboteurs.
HRW put out a similarly fatuous statement condemning Maduro for saying he would forbid the opposition march that Capriles ended up cancelling.
When it suits them, the human rights industry pretends that governments the USA dislikes are omnipotent – that they exert complete control of opponents and supporters alike and can “guarantee” security for all without the slightest infringement of civil liberties. Weeks prior to the US perpetrated coup in Haiti in 2004, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, put out statements demanding that Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was just about to be kidnaped by US troops, guarantee the security of his opponents – including people financing terrorists to overthrow him.
Amnesty USA refuses to make obvious demands of its own government – demands like “disclose who you are funding and working with”, and “stop trying to overthrow democratically elected governments”. That would actually be useful to promoting human rights rather than US-backed coups. That is expecting too much of Amnesty when it cannot even recognize Bradley Manning as a Prisoner of Conscience, or acknowledge that Saudi armed rebels in Syria will inevitably commit atrocities.
Stupidity is not actually the problem as Chris Hedges made clear when he resigned from PEN after Suzanne Nossel, recently head of Amnesty USA, was appointed to run that group: “Nossel’s relentless championing of preemptive war—which under international law is illegal—as a State Department official along with her callous disregard for Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians and her refusal as a government official to denounce the use of torture and use of extra-judicial killings, makes her utterly unfit to lead any human rights organization, especially one that has global concerns.”
It should not be up to Chris Hedges alone to denounce the “hijacking of human rights organizations to promote imperial projects”.
http://www.zcommunications.org/a-contender-for-dumbest-statement-ever-by-amnesty-usa-by-joe-emersberger
It is a shame to see Amnesty International damaging their brand like this.
When she has a moment to spare from her humane work, that great humanitarian Suzanne Nossel might reflect, in the small hours of the morning, that the word AMNESTY anagramizes into NASTY ME.
Amnesty has had a pretty damaged brand for a long time now. Their insistence that the oppressed remain pacifists and refusal to take on many cases have ended up with them supporting the oppressor, as in Venezuela today. I haven’t had much time for them since they refused to support Marx Jones in 1981.
Interesting article in the Guardian regarding the many internet wannabee CSIers who got it so badly wrong trying to parse the various photos of the Boston bombing:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/19/boston-bombing-suspects-reddit-social-media
Wonder if these basement CSIers were as studiously grim and unsmiling as those fantasy CSI “experts” on those hopelessly dull network shows….
http://www.dnatestingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gtl_csi_effect.jpg
Yet you know the *authorities* loved the fact they were able to see this happen, by that I mean, getting the masses all bagging on eachother while searching for, *the enemy*
Obamas citizen security force he called for, seems to be rolling out, no dounbt helped by *friendly establishment* agencies all playing their role!
That and the resultant , marshall law in place in Boston!
Oh, and don’t forget to look into the regions history/present where the two (soon to be both dead, conveniently, yet again), *accused* are from, and what else is happening is that part of the world.
Great result for the establishments propgation of fear, violence, troops on the street, unwarranted searched of houses et al!
Freedom costs a buck O five!
Yeah, we all hate it when social experiments go wrong.
Who are you representing, exactly , other than yourself, by using *we all* ?
Strange question! I’m part of the NWO conspiracy, muzza. But, hey, you know that already, so it’s weird that you ask, given we’re both in the same black ops unit. If you’ve blown our cover, Obama is going to be well pissed.
Alex Jones will set you free!!
Oh, and who is this Marshall Law that we hear about so much?
Nice guy. I played water polo with his brother Johnny in in high school.
I fought johnny once, but the Law won.
😀
Predictive got me there, poor proofing on my part.
As for Alex Jones, personally I don’t use his site, I’ve had that conversation with people here before, could have even been you, Murray!
DON’T BREAK COVER!!! DON’T BREAK COVER!!! YOU’LL GET US ALL LIQUIDATED!!!
Fusion centers will be working overtime taking it all in….the baseless allegations will be used as “proof” at a later date no doubt.
Another reason to be thankful to live in a small backwater country.
What does Sandy Hook and the Boston marathon have in common?
http://i.imgur.com/WedLF8K.jpg
Sad crazy people trying to make out both are a US Government hoax?
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
Kim Hill pronounces Michael Burleigh “balanced”
National Radio, Saturday 20 April 2013
Kim Hill is a very smart and well read person. I was concerned, therefore, to hear her speak positively, a few minutes ago during an interview with Professor John Carson Lennox, of a book by the notoriously unhinged Michael Burleigh. She gave the impression that Burleigh was “balanced”. Any sane person who has managed to struggle through some of his insane books or articles would dispute that.
While it is clear that she reads a great many books, comments like that about someone as notorious as Michael Burleigh lead one to wonder if she really does read all of them thoroughly.
yes, Mozza, I listened to that interview (was gonna link it) 🙂 and I was disappointed with Kim.
Anyway the discussion with Prof Lennox was a fascinating in-depth one. Interesting that the Prof believes that the Resurrection is proof of God. Without the Resurrection presumably the God would become god. But of course there is only the Bible to offer “proof.”
“John Carson Lennox is a British mathematician and philosopher of science who is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. He is the author of a number of books, including and God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (Lion Books, ISBN: 978-0-82547-912-0) and Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are Missing the Target (Lion Books, ISBN: 978-0745953229).”
Not up yet for replay.
Podcast re Lennox http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20130420-0815-john_lennox_maths_science_and_god-048.mp3
Michelle Hewitson on Susan “Yeah I am” / “No I [ain’t]!” Devoy this morning
She is patently aggrieved that people have made up their minds about her and that they think all she is is “someone who wriggles around a little racket” and “the assumption is that I’m white and that I’m right wing.” Well, she is, isn’t she? “Yeah, I am. But I’m not so right wing and I’m not so conservative.” She says she’s worked with disadvantaged people and done a lot of work for Maori organisations. “And they say you’re as Maori as you feel.” But it just sounds daft when she says it. Does she think she’s Maori? “No I don’t!”
Yeah, her appointment remains the most ridiculous out of all of the cronies so far this year.
What would Jon Stewart say about this if he were commenting on NZ politics instead of the US?
It dawned on us during our Friday evening dinner that when Natz talk about jobs, they are really talking about their own jobs and their cronies’ . . . . .
jackie blue
susan devoy
ian fletcher
and coming up next,
absentee cabinet minister tim groser
(thanks, working taxpayers, for funding his swanning around internationally to secure that job he wants in august): http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10878297
*feel free to add to this list
p.s. I’d like to see the opposition parties campaigning to clean up the shit on the government benches.
Yep, National are only about themselves. It’s a pity that such a large part of the population haven’t woken up to that yet.
A large part of the population, believe they have an idea about issues, the drivers, and hence in their wisdom, decide to vote, in a system which will strangling them, and removing any future for their children etc.
Most people are clueless, which is what happens when lies are the SOP over extended period of time, the lies in turn dumb them down, and what you have is what we are seeing played out in front of us!
You may like this
http://truth.co.nz/knucklegate-the-media-labour-and-cronyism/
Whailoil????
Yep.That was really inter….zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Would he able to stop laughing long enough to say anything?
😈
I did laugh though when she said she got rung and told she should apply for the job but couldn’t remember who called her.
She sounded so Prime Mnisterial she did.
She is patently aggrieved that people have made up their minds about her and that they think all she is is “someone who wriggles around a little racket” and “the assumption is that I’m white and that I’m right wing.” Well, she is, isn’t she?
Susan Devoy is a patently stupid woman. Helen Kelly’s assessment is spot on: Devoy’s appointment is part of a deliberate strategy by the government, i.e. Steven Joyce, to denigrate and lessen the authority of the Race Relations Commission.
Someone asked me if I wanted a dog on Thursday. Lovely mid sized cutie, fully trained and good with kids and came with all it’s doggie stuff.
The thing is I really do want a dog that needs a forever home <3
The home or the dog
But….I have learned there are people in the world who can have dogs, and those who can’t and I most definitely can not own a dog unless I own a house to go with it. There is no way that I can afford to further disadvantage myself in the cray-cray Wellington rental market by having a dog (the cat I took in from a friend who moved is bad enough).
Landlords don’t like dogs or their owners and will pick an animal free tenant whenever they can so it would be cruel to take in the dog and eventually end up having to make the choice between re-homing my new furry baby or becoming homeless myself.
I wish someone had explained all this to me when I was younger.
Don’t have much time for dogs in cities. Or rather, not much time for their owners handling of their dogs. So much dog shit on the street, barking dogs in our hood BOWOO BOWOWOWOWO waking everyone up, New Zealanders are bloody boofheads when it comes to dog responsibility around others. Neanderthals (actually, I bet neanderthals never put up with such shit from dog owners).
Looks like the second bombing suspect has been found, shots, tear gas and an ambo heading into the locked down area.
Quick work by the US authorities. Seems like the bad guys were total amateur hour. Did they not have an out after the op? They just stayed in the neighbourhood? What were they going to do, just turn back up to classes as normal next week?
And from Kyrzygstan…this is going to be interesting.
Anyone know what the motive was?
All I know is that the dorm mates of one suspect say he was an ordinary guy they hung out with, ate with, and played sport with.
Apparently the suspect turned up to classes as normal after the bombing and even went to a party, even as he must have known that FBI CCTV footage was appearing on air. This is frakking weird.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/19/bombing-suspect-attended-umass-dartmouth-prompting-school-closure-college-friend-shocked-charge-boston-marathon-bomber/8gbczia4qBiWMAP0SQhViO/story.html
From kyrzygstan? Well best we invade pakistan then. Or, no, afghanistan. Hang on, we already done that. I know.. Iranistan, let’s get those bastards!
And the two earliest known suspects are brothers.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/19/older-bombing-suspect-may-have-had-child-with-rhode-island-woman/EExLtob82SMvdsCmxjtPuI/story.html
Here’s a photo of one of the suspects accepting a Golden Gloves boxing trophy in 2010.
lol
Send them back to Africa.
lolz
“Seems like the bad guys were total amateur hour.”
Ideal patsies.
Invade Kazakhstan immediately, I say.
Radio, With Pictures
Chechnya actually, so it’s already gotten interesting
A senior politician, unbelievable.
https://twitter.com/GrahamBlog/statuses/325348075197583361
https://twitter.com/GrahamBlog/statuses/325346404644048897
Crikey. It’s just like kiwiblog
The comments are interesting. 4:1 to say that the suspect is a US citizen who should not be stripped of their constitutional rights.
Oh dear.
http://www.mzv.cz/washington/en/czech_u_s_relations/news/statement_of_the_ambassador_of_the_czech.html
The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities – the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.
meh, it’s clear that all the -stan’s are terrorist countries no?
Let’s pray that will not include anything to do with metropolitan or even Manhattan.
Seems he’s in the boat.
https://twitter.com/TimWilliamsCBS/status/325399138139271168/photo/1
well, according to the nice policeman on Campbell Live, the arrogance of motorists cutting into queues is growing…
Blessed are the merciful
for they will be shown mercy
not likely to be the wisest, or the richest, yet
a man who has not the wherewithal to be bountiful or liberal
may be truly merciful.
partake of the afflictions of our brethren
have compassion on the souls of others
pity the ignorant and instruct them,
the careless, and warn them
snatch the lost as brands out of a burning forge
for doing good is one of the most purest and refined delights
it is more blessed to give than receive
for with the merciful God will show himself merciful
the most charitable and merciful cannot pretend to merit
next follows the pure in heart
…let me tell you a story about the Joker
…and the thief in the night
Well done to the Boston Police for capturing the second suspect. Hats off to them.
Captured alive. Which means the perp lost his nerve late in the piece.
Fuck’s sake, CV, he’s 19 and we have no fucking idea why the bombings took place. It’s a bit early in the piece to be getting all smug about how un-hardcore a suspect is, don’t you think?
The family members of of Martin Richard, Lingzi Lu, Krystle Campbell and Officer Sean Collier are glad that he has been caught and will face justice.
well let’s see if the US applies constitutional justice or mob justice.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/325399795051147264
fundamentally, across the ditch, “where the bloody hell are they?
Australia is ahead of NZ in the sold out sense, so this is no surprise from them!
War/Terror/*Intelligence* – BIG BUSINESS.
Gotta control the worlds population somehow, and this along with the monetary supply monopoly (aka the central banking system), is how its done!
I see and hear the *drift” muzza
Martin Richard had something to say.
You know, your professions of concern for that little boy would carry some weight if you were not on record applauding the killing of hundreds of little boys and girls in Gaza.
..o’rly ..and where and what did I applaud…?
I think he was replying to Brett.
I think he’s talking to Brett Dale.
Yeah, having a re-read he probably was
.
If so, apologies Morrissey
That’s okay, joe. I wasn’t aiming at you, but our confused friend Brett Dale.
Just making an observation QoT. And 19 year olds destroy tanks and launch bombs all the time.
We need to carefully consider a couple of pertinent questions: 1.) Why is there a TANK on the scene? 2.) Who is in the wrong: the soldier inside the tank or the peasants trying to repel the tank?
No CV, you were being a dick.
Are you saying that 19 year old soldiers who don’t die ‘lose their nerve’?
Frankly, I don’t give a shit. David Frum, George Bush’s speech writer who coined the axis of evil phrase made the same point you made. So that’s the company you’re in.
I think you might be reading far too much into CV’s comments there, but there is no equivalence between a nineteen year old soldier and a nineteen year old terrorist.
Perspective.
https://twitter.com/DougSaunders/status/325342086293508096/photo/1
oooo, a few anarchist threats in there joe; Excellent link. I heard recently from the Sky that the Feds see the Earth Liberation Front (The Elves) as their number 1 targets of attention. btw, do you think that there has been an a-typical frequency of large earthquakes just recently; off Japan, now China…
anyway
more Police And Thieves ies
Recent major quake, Iran/Pakistan border
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/457788/20130416/iran-pakistan-earthquake-21-dead-death-toll.htm
Wonder what their definitions of ecoterrorism and anarchoterrorism are. Or even right wing (I assume it included attacks on abortion providers).
The following clarification needs to be read by listeners to NewstalkZB, the hosts of NewstalkZB, Stephen Franks, Jordan Williams, Neville “Breivik” Gibson, Garth “Gaga” George, Christine “Spankin'” Rankin, Brett Dale and any other bewildered souls out there….
Statement of the Ambassador of the Czech Republic on the Boston terrorist attack
19.04.2013 / 21:27
As many I was deeply shocked by the tragedy that occurred in Boston earlier this month. It was a stark reminder of the fact that any of us could be a victim of senseless violence anywhere at any moment.
As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities – the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.
As the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman noted in his message to President Obama, the Czech Republic is an active and reliable partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.
Petr Gandalovič
Ambassador of the Czech Republic
http://www.mzv.cz/washington/en/czech_u_s_relations/news/statement_of_the_ambassador_of_the_czech.html
See also….
The main people who need to read this clarification is the Pentagon…you know, so they don’t accidentally invade Iran.
Nice one, Viper. You are now on the Christmas card list.
By the way, what do you think the Czech ambassador means when he insists that his country is an “active and reliable” partner of the United States? Does that just mean they support the U.S. in its anti-democracy shenanigans at the U.N.? I was also amused by the tag at the end of the following assurance: “We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.” That sounds extremely like the “don’t you worry about that” phrase used by Sir Les Patterson.
I presume it’s because the Czechs are about to join NATO.
And what about their Warsaw Pact obligations?!?!????!?!?!??!?
more on Key’s legacy (the former V.C Waikato, must read te Standard)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10878341
McDonalds are lovin’it though, John
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10878531
Re Maccas
Think about that for a bit.
WTF is a company taking out a loan to pay dividends?
now, being the critic of the medico-technical complex that I am, I didn’t want to link to this
Horrific Burns
yet, I am personally aquainted with a wee young lassie, about 2 months of age, who has had
-an MRI
-an EEG
-CSF tapped
-anti-viral course
and been seen by two eye specialists and yet they are still unable to determine why she is unable to see more than contrast. a big sigh indeed; where are all these “tele-medicine” benefits we learn of in the MSM propaganda? likely she will have to go to Starship next, while Tony’s royally shafting the health consumer.
Great to see the people of boston cheering on their police force, instead of wearing FTP teeshirts, like the boyracers do here.
Feed The People? Free The Protesters?
File Transfer Protocol.
It’s probably something to do with Kim Dotcom.
yay for unionised civil servants.
“instead of wearing FTP teeshirts”
Fuck any arsehole bully who pushes little girls faces into the ground, I say.
hey, you’re from outer space where they have all those teccy shape-shifter doo dads; can you, or Draco, or RedLogix, or Lynn, or the Viper, or anybody with some experience in these matters advise some-one back from the other side of minimum specs
-processor speed
-Hard drive storage
-RAM
-Vid cards
to run a couple of programs simultaneously, switch effortlessly between say 5 open tabs, maximise fibre potential, optimise viewing of streamed audio / visual and to interface with freeview / satellite tv.
(just looking for an un-vested opinion)
Response will be greatly appreciated and chocolate fish (slightly melted) will be apportioned 😀
guess that’s a no then…
So many variables.
eg “run a couple of programs simultaneously” could be anything from Minesweeper and Solitaire all the way to Final Cut Pro and Abbleton Live.
Do the “5 open tabs” have online games and videos loading or are they text pages?
You’d have to be pretty specific to get any really useful advice beyond “get as much ram, processing and hard drive space as you can afford”.
thanx felix; i realise it was a fairly lame query; was just a little overwhelmed and did not want to waste what little income I have; seems 2.8Ghz, 2GB RAM, 500GB HD a few drops in the ocean to start with?
Get more RAM, it’s probably the best “bang for buck” upgrade you can do in most cases.
Just remember to check whether your running a 32bit or 64bit operating system; a 32bit system will only make use of 3GB of RAM no matter how much you put in.
edit: listen to the voices 🙂
ran out of edit time: yet “more RAM, more RAM”, the voices in my head keep calling…they keep calling 😀
Dude. Yeah the problem is the “Windows” tax where you have to pay good money to get the basic operating system.
The one to get, if you have to buy a copy, is Windows 7 Home 64bit, someone with a student ID may be able to get you an academic price on it, and sometimes the “OEM” price is cheap too. Avoid that frakking loser Windows 8 “let’s pretend your desktop PC is an Android Tablet” shite whatever you do.
You have a mate who can screw the thing together for you?
If so this is my suggestion (check for latest prices with pricespy.co.nz):
AMD “Trinity” processor A8 5600K: budget level quad core with good built in graphics ability. ~$150 This quad core is definitely slower than the Intel quad cores but its pretty fast, cheaper than the Intels and its graphics are also much faster…for casual 3D gaming haha
ASRock FM2A75M-DGS micro-ATX form factor motherboard ~$98
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866MHz ~$120 total (in this case, for better performance you want 2 x 4GB RAM chips as they give you twin lane communication speed, not 1 x 8GB chip which gives you the same amount of RAM but just at single lane communication speed)
IN WIN EM020 Black uATX USB3.0 Mini Tower Case with 400W Power Supply built in (insufficient for heavy duty gaming if you want to include a big discrete gaming video card but certainly fine otherwise) ~$115 I think the case will fit in a 2nd and 3rd HDD if you need more storage room (you’ll have to check if the PSU has the cables to power them up but it should do)
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 ~$100 If you’re going to store a lot (a lot) of video, photos etc then a second 2TB WD Caviar Green internal HDD would be a go. If you’re going to store relatively little, but want very fast performance, forget the traditional HDD and go an Intel 335 SSD (180 GB capacity) for ~$230 is the go.
A front case fan for about $15 would be useful if the room you run the PC in gets warm, otherwise I wouldn’t bother unless you are planning to run the machine full tilt fairly often.
Uh no idea about the Freeview stuff (I presume you get an add in tuner card for it???), but this 3.6 GHz quad core box with 8GB RAM will run nice and fast for all home uses. $600 in parts will give you a box faster than most $900 boxes you get from the main street retailers. Oh yeah you still have to add the windows tax on top of that.
Also do double check that all the parts make sense, I sorta did this in a rush, but should be good.
“hey, you’re from outer space where they have all those teccy shape-shifter doo dads”
“-processor speed
-Hard drive storage
-RAM
-Vid cards”
I’m not a technical, though I did spec, source and build my own desktop unit a year and a half ago.
I’ve had no issues with my quad core i7 2600 using onboard graphics (no vid card) and stock fan, 8gb ram and 500gb hard drive.
Using my processor hungry music software, it handles all I throw at it and never at more than 20% cpu usage.
An i5 would be the minimum I’d suggest, but I’m like Mel.
thnx. u hav restored my faith in extra-terrestrials; an i5 was recommended as a start, guess i’ll go for more ram and dual-core if drachmas permit (what is the speed of your processor?)
If you don’t need/want a 64bit operating system, don’t waste money on lots of ram. 32 bit systems can’t access over 3. something of it, so more than 4gb (2×2) is a waste.
I believe i7s are quad core with hyperthreading (8 cores), i5s are quad core with no HT and i3s are dual core.
My chip runs at 3.4, which most of the range seems to run at, or around.
Good luck.
thanx. see i learned somethings elses important.all ya gotta do is ask the right OP 😉
(reasons i put it out there were, a) gotta fire old gertie up and go into town see a man abouta doo-dad, and then b) he’s a gonna try’n upgrade me to some fancy veehickle I don’t rightly need). Now, ise canna find me one on that new-fangled Trades-whatsa-me-callit, where they done try and sell yoo all sorts of purty trimmins.
Window shop online and take the sales sharks out of the equation and then when you’ve found what you want at your price, take the magical mystery tour.
Couple of handy little program’s that don’t use up much space to stop your computer filling up with crap and things being high jacked.
I like these two for their simplicity and always add them to a new computer when I get one:
Crap Cleaner for cleaning up temp fies, caching, stored web pages, cookies and so on.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Win patrol which is a nice tidy program that warns you if start page is being high jacked or things are being added to start menu. Also allows you to easily view and control what is in your start menu, what’s running now etc.
http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html
Both are free to use.
I’ve likely got a copy of Office 97 sitting in the garage somewhere if you are interested in it for free. It just might take a bit of finding and I’m away for the next few weeks but happy to dig it out.
http://pricespy.co.nz/
All you’ll ever need to build a system.
BTW, I’d always recommend going for a 64 bit OS. You’re going to have a 64 bit PC you might as well get the full performance out of it.
Yep. Most of the actual benefit is in the memory addressing. I also notice a difference between 32 bit and 64 bit when you get more cores.
And to actually get that benefit – use linux. Windows just keeps putting more junk on board until it is effectively the same speed as a old pentium. I just compiled a Qt4/boost program on 32bit windows MSVC2008 on windows7, and it took about 4x as long as g++ did on a 32bit ubuntu 12.04. And I’m not going to even mention the time it took to startup and shut the system down. I’m tempted to pop VC2005 on that system because I’d swear that was faster?
But seriously look at putting in even a 32-64GB SSD as a boot. Now those things seriously kickarse for boot and accessing system programs. Too expensive for terabyte storage, but ok for planting the OS.
About the only thing that windows is useful for these days is games. I’m too serious for games… 0ad starts…
If you’re on a budget skip the Intel chips and go for AMD. Much cheaper both for the motherboard and the CPU.
This isn’t going to answer your question outright, but you can use it as a useful guide: http://www.logicalincrements.com/
Prices are in $US I believe.
In terms of RAM, you’re going to want a minimum of 4gb. If you’re not planning on playing games, then 4gb is probably fine for your purposes. RAM is pretty cheap though so getting more isn’t a huge imposition.
cool link Lanth. I will be well armed with that. Thanks. much appreciated. puts components in perspective. sigh. such a learning curve. oh well, coulda stayed out-of-it 🙂 you guys, wotta ya like aye, wotta ya like. Excellent thinkers, thats what you are like (kinds and all that)
Good resource.
I’d also reiterate what The Al1en said (implied) about graphics cards – if you’re not a serious gamer you don’t really need one.
One could always become a serious gamer…
Or keep your gaming on a console and leave your PC for other stuff. If you got kids stops them filling up your PC with crap.
Boring
😈
And I thought you supported diversity!
http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/02/23/crysis-3-graphics-comparison-ps3-vs-pc-vs-360
What would cause people to wear FTP t-shirts?
Shit like this and this?.
Yeah, thats what people do when the cops actually catch genuine bad guys.
Yeah it never rains in Southern California either.
http://ftp.dailypaul.com/259426/aclu-records-reveal-boston-police-spy-on-political-and-peace-groups
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2013/03/boston_police_catfishing_indie_rockers_cops_pose_as_punks_on_the_internet.html?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=sm&utm_campaign=button_chunky
http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/animals-as-leaders-vs-boston-police
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Z_A6_CzvpEE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZ_A6_CzvpEE
There’s a black cop I remember from a few years back who won’t be cheering either. His two white colleagues beat the shit out of him while he was undercover.
Then there’s the Boston cops who were dealing in drugs……
And you somehow think that Boston cops are respected more than ours.
Yeah we have some crap with our cops as well but it ain’t nothing like the Boston people have to put up with.
You keep trying to tell us how great the US is and how shit we are. I don’t know who you are trying to convince or why you bother but you are not convincing me.
“Yeah we have some crap with our cops as well but it ain’t nothing like the Boston people have to put up with.”
You might be right Ssssmith, but Rickards and co, as well as some of the stories that have come out of places like Dunedin are pretty damning indictments of the NZ police.
And it’s not like the cops here aren’t being used to spy on Maori, activists etc.
It’s not just that we have some crap cops (and some good ones). It’s that the police force culture is very corrupt in some ways (Rickards etc) and highly unethical in others (Tuhoe raids)
I certainly wasn’t suggesting our cops are all sweet and sugar coated – clearly there are issues from time to time and no question there has been a degree of racism amongst some police for ever.
I’m always cautious in including Rickards in that group due to the testimony that he had a broken leg in plaster at the time of the particular incident most refer to. It was something that was quite provable and he has always maintained he wasn’t there.
The others no question about their abysmal behaviour and abuse of power.
The abuse of power is of course sometimes political as was seen with the use of Maori police at Bastion Point. There’s times when you (generic) need to look beyond the individual police or the police culture.
“Inland Revenue is not ruling out the possibility of a cyber-attack after it wrongly sent emails to 47 people yesterday.
The error has prompted the department to shut down all inbound emails while it investigates whether it is the latest Government agency to be hit with a privacy breach.”
Breeches getting to be the norm?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10878684
Unbelievable – in a good way
http://www.universetoday.com/101594/zoom-into-the-moon-with-this-insanely-high-resolution-mosaic/
the fishing don’t look too good.
I have a very wide screen and truly magnificent lunar travel thanks Marty. But just who were those folk down by the 3rd crater from the right who were waving white flags?
Laal – Dehshatgardi Murdabad
Junior Brown – Hung it Up
I’m not sure if this John Armstrong opinion piece in the Herald got linked to here or not, but I found the first 10 comments interesting.
Armstrong discusses the sloppiness of John Key’s having given four different answers to the question “How did you get Ian Fletcher’s number?” and the ammunition it gave to the opposition.
“Politicians – certainly not Prime Ministers – are not supposed to behave in this fashion. They are supposed to have one story and stick to it come hell or high water.”
It’s not the failure to be truthful that disappoints Armstrong, but the failure to simply stick to one story. He concludes with a “but who really cares how he got the number anyway,” line.
Of the first ten comments, two agreed with the ‘who gives a toss’ line, one bemoaned who embarrasing our political stories were in general, one lamented Armstrongs propensity to claim that he knows how ‘most people’ feel about a given issue, and the other six pointed out that the issue is not how he got the number, it’s the lying about it – the chronic and consistent failure of credibility.
What interested me was the relative ‘for and against’ likes in the comments. The two comments agreeing that they couldn’t give a toss got a total of 174 likes, the six comments disagreeing and calling out Key as a liar got a total of 1,947 likes.
This has given me hope that John Key has indeed jumped the shark.
it is quite clearly all down hill for Key and it has been for some time
there is now no way back.
see ya Key, thanks for nothing
It’s important to remember that he most likely doesn’t care beyond some in the moment ego bruising. He’s done the job he was sent in to do, and he can still do alot of damage on the way out.
Absolutely, I’ve been saying here for a while that as soon as his asset sales job is done, Key is off to his next corporate money making scheme with an “Ackshully New Zilund, I’ve been great.”
I’m just glad the tide is finally turning on his public perception. Once you see the tranzrail eyes, you realise that that’s all there is. He’s not a leader with our best interests at heart, he’s a corporate manager, tasked with making sure the sleepy hobbits don’t blink while he smiles and waves and sells our country to the highest bidder.
A succinct analysis of a hollow man.
Mate just told me about this
http://oceana.org/en/blog/2013/04/victory-offshore-oil-drilling-stopped-in-belize
Yay to both people power and court process.
Reinforces the separation of government and the courts as being absolutely essential.
Now if we could just ensure that the separation of government and parliament was more defined so that select committees weren’t a sham and urgency wasn’t abused.
FYI:
Interesting Keiser this week – i.e both KR on RT, and Paxman and Keiser on Newsnight (bbc)