What are people’s thoughts here about what part cannabis plays in the synthetic drug issue?
Is cannabis as risky, riskier or is it safer?
If cannabis was available the same as synthetics would the problem be better, worse or similar?
If no synthetics pass the safety test of the new Act and nothing else changes will the problems get better or worse?
Should the laws related to cannabis use be reviewed?
Should the laws related to cannabis cultivation be reviewed?
Should the laws related to cannabis supply be reviewed?
Should all psychoactive substances be banned (including cannabis)?
When the Psychoactive Substances Act kicks in we may have no synthetic drugs legally for sale or we may have a reduced number of them for sale. Regardless, we will still have issues with drug use, drug addiction and associated problems – especially health and crime.
That’s a different issue, or rather issues. Entrenched issues with no easy solutions. Alcohol is interwoven with the social and commercial fabrics of New Zealand, and impossible to unpick. We have to learn to deal with it better.
What on earth makes you think cannabis and other similar things are any different?
Pete, have you ever smoked cannabis? And I mean, not just once or twice at some pissed party, I mean smoked it enough to learn and understand what happens to the mind ? And Pete, same question with synthetic stuff…
Cannabis has been illegal for how long? Alcohol has been legal for how long?
Cannabis is substantially supplied via major criminal interests. Alcohol is supplied via long established commercial interests.
Self supply of cannabis is illegal, self supply of alcohol is legal.
Cannabis is associated with underground social practices, alcohol is a major part of open and accepted social practices.
I’m quite surprised you asked that question.
I’ve never smoked cannabis or used any synthetic or illegal drugs. I don’t have any interest in drugs personally, but I recognise major social issues and growing discussion and demands about the use of synthetics and natural cannabis.
Did you know cannabis used to be legal?
Did you know alcohol used to be illegal?
Did you know alcohol used to be supplied by major criminal interests?
Did you know alcohol is associated with NZ’s worst underground social practices?
Do you know how much trouble people cause due to cannabis, compared to alcohol?
Genuine question. My knowledge of early 20th century New Zealand history is quite woeful. It’s not my area of expertise.
I know some areas went dry, but I always thought a national prohibition failed. So it seems odd to compare say the former illegality of alcohol to the current illegality of cannabis.
There are still remnants of this with Invercargill, Clutha and Oamaru still dominated by licensing trusts. After prohibition ended (up until the 1980’s) the trusts had control of legal alcohol sales.
When I lived in Auckland in the mid seventies there was still a vote each election that kept Roskill dry.
The national licensing poll was finally abolished in 1989. Many of the no-license electorates had reopened their bars by the 1940s, although the last three – Eden, Roskill and Tawa – did not vote to go ‘wet’ again until 1999.
ffs PG, please think a wee bit about what you type and then take this morning’s nonsense away from here.
“Cannabis is associated with underground social practices,” (socialising, sharing, etc)
“alcohol is a major part of open and accepted social practices” (violence, vomiting, absenteeism, death, etc).
FFS Bill, please think a wee bit about what you read before you launch.
Of course there are positive aspects of underground drug social practices, and of course there many well known negative aspects of open and accepted alcohol social practices.
Pete. You wrote about (quote) “underground social practices”. That suggests illegality, unlawfulness, maybe even unacceptable deviance, and as such screams bigotry on your part.
You didn’t write about (quote) “underground drug social practices”. That, of course, is something completely different and casts the so-called “underground drugs” rather than the “social practices” in the realms of illegality, unlawfulness etc.
“of course there many well known negative aspects of open and accepted alcohol social practices.”
Which is why you refuse to ever engage honestly about them because you know they expose the hypocrisy of every bullshit argument ever used against cannabis.
Did I mention Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwn?
and how is that weekly budget for poor people coming along Pete?
“but I recognise major social issues and growing discussion and demands about the use of synthetics and natural cannabis.”
pete you are just doing again what you have tried to do previously – that is, take an issue and try to use it to increase your personal profile. Is this part of your factchecker role or smply a personal brainfart. To be honest pete you are a lot dimmer than you think you are and your transparent nonsense is, well, transparent and nonsense imo.
Then you will be surprised who else has committed to doing something about this. There’s a growing network of concern and a recognition this needs to be addressed far more proactively.
It’s a bit sad to see here amongst a number is the only forum obsessed with diverting with petty personal pissiness.
So I am correct. They need a leader, a visionary, someone who sees the bigger picture, who isn’t influenced by petty politics but wants that arena to be better, kinder, less extreme – and there is a person within the political sphere who fits the bill, who stands like a colossus with legs astride the political landscape, impervious to the arrows of the unimaginative. Your time has come pete – will you stand tall and accept your destiny. This could be your catapult to the national stage.
Had you considered Pete, that the pissiness is due entirely to your habit of getting up early and spraying an ever so earnest cut n paste over the various blogs as early as possible.
If people really wanted to ‘discuss’ these issues with you they would head over to your place.
The passive aggressive behavior you display on here is hardly raising the political discourse and generally sucks a thread into a petty nah nah nah followed by a look at what they said at the standard post on kiwiblog.
If your true aim is to improve the standard of political discourse perhaps you should consider your posting habits and the effects they have on it….
lolz, I’ve been wonderinf that too. The mind boggles at what might be going on in Pete’s imagination about what cannabis smokers get up to and where they do whatever they get up to, but then it doesn’t pay to follow that line of thought too far.
“Cannabis is substantially supplied via major criminal interests. Alcohol is supplied via long established commercial interests.
Self supply of cannabis is illegal, self supply of alcohol is legal.
Cannabis is associated with underground social practices, alcohol is a major part of open and accepted social practices.”
Pete, you often say that people don’t know you so are wrong to judge, but what you just wrote is breaktaking in its bias and ignorance. Nothing shameful about that ignorance apart from the fact that you seem unwilling to do anything about it.
You’ve basically just laid out how incredibly disconnected you are from whole swathes of NZ society that use currently illegal drugs.
I’m aware of a wide range of people using cannabis. They all either produce it illegally or source it illegally, which means they get it off criminals.
It’s a lot more complicated than just changing the law (that in itself is complicated enough). If it is de-criminalised or legalised there’s a lot to be worked out about what type of production, distribution and use is allowed.
It’s not as simple as just passing a bill through Parliament.
Oh Horseshit you don’t want to talk about Alcohol, because your BOSS says not to. So just stand there in the corner like a good little boy, hold the Comb, and Shut UP.
‘cos if you don’t..he is like a tap..left running..
..and i find that laughing at him/his wall-to-wall bullshit..(and hopefully causing/helping others to laugh at him..the former dunne-party-candidate for dunedin nth..see what i mean..?..there’s a giggle or two right there)
..works best..
..that’s why..
..and re the former-candidate in his disciple-stage..
..it really was a case of ‘catch a falling star’..for him..
..eh..?
..(see what i mean..!..the comedic raw-material is there in spades..)
..and i haven’t even got to the with bearded-face full-body massages he gives to that edwards-the-younger..
..as payment for his weekly mentions in his/edwards’ once-over-lightly roundups in that rightwing-rag..
Every now and then it is handy to use his blatherings to get readers to face the questions raised by his obvious hypocrisy. And let’s face it, when it comes to Pete crusading on this particular issue, at least the hypocrisy will be consistent 🙂
because its sometimes like investigating the characteristics of a fossil?
there’s a chance – a hope even that sometimes something worthwhile might emerge – though usually NOT
in PG’s case, it’s the most charitable explanation
These questions are very oddly framed. The issue of risk isn’t a matter of opinion – it’s something which, although complex, can be quantified and measured. Making policy on the basis of ‘I reckon …’ may be flattering to our egos but probably doesn’t result in good policy.
How many users of X experience significant side effects compared to users of Y? How much does mitigating factor B reduce side effect C?
The complexity comes from issues like legality, accessibility, ruling out other factors (such as the crossover between drug use and mental illness), but my point is it’s not a pure matter of opinion as Pete George has framed it.
The other point worth making is that comparing one type of risk/harm against another is usually not valid.
Personally I believe both cannabis and alcohol have harms associated with them. There is no doubt the risk associated with alcohol is very spectacular and pervasive in our society; but there is good evidence to suggest that there are a less obvious set of risks associated with cannabis of a very different nature.
For that reason I’m not all that keen on consuming much of either of them. I limit my alcohol to about one or two glasses of red a month, and I’ve not bothered with cannabis since I was a teenager. After a short while I found it boring and I rapidly became suspicious of it’s persistent after-effects.
I am more or less anti-drugs, and I wouldnt encourage people to use pot, or any other substance.
That said I dont judge those who use it, and I dont think people should be dragged through the courts for having a joint in their bag or having a cone with their mates on a Saturday night. I think allowing people to grow the stuff for personal use and allowing tobacconists to sell seed and equipment would be a suitable course.
Personally I enjoy a little alcohol, but I never get drunk. (I’ve only had one hangover in my whole life and that was a very long time ago. I do feel considerable sympathy for those people who are wired to become addicted to the stuff. It must be an awful life.)
Caffeine in modest amounts seems to be fairly neutral, but again I find it best to limit it to once a day at most. Sometimes I go off it for months at a time.
Sugar is dreadful stuff metabolically. I do my best to avoid added sugar completely.
My point is – while it’s fair to label all three as ‘drugs’; it’s not fair to them treat them all the same. Different risks, different responses.
Like a lot of people I’m not all that keen on using drugs of any kind, and I accept there is not a neat one-size-fits-all definition of them, nor a nice clean set of risks and harms associated with them.
Equally I’m not all that enamoured with the legal shambles around them. Prohibition/criminalisation is a crude, counter-productive tool to use in response to the very wide diversity of ‘drugs’ we use in our society.
As a result I’m caught between a reluctance to see the doors opened to an uncontrolled smorgasbord of ‘drugs’ available anytime, anywhere – and the frank acknowledgement that prohibition just makes matters worse.
Yet I’ve managed to blithely wander through most of my life quite detached from drugs. This doesn’t make me a better person or special in any fashion – but it does prompt me to ask why it is that some people are so very prone to harm from drug use and others appear to be quite removed from them altogether. I want find out more about the root cause of this difference – and if we understood it better would it help us to move on from this ‘decriminalisation’ dilemma?
Apart from my ex-addition to tobacco and my occasional taste for alcohol, the most addictive drugs I have ever used are the 4 that I now take daily to make sure that I stay healthy and alive. For some reason I’m addicted to living (to code)
But I had a few acquaintances who died from heroin in the 70s – mostly from bad drugs or determined suicide attempts as far as I could tell. There have been a whole lot of friends, family and acquaintances I have seen who used illegal recreational drugs. Over the decades I can’t see much difference in outcomes from the ones who used legal drugs.
Incidentally when I was in my late teens I did try a few drugs. However I was already addicted to writing code so they never had a chance after they interfered with that.
People take drugs for all sorts of reasons, so if we want to look at why some people experience harm from use we need to look past the drug and instead look at the context. Risk from a substance is highly individual, so to my mind it’s a nonsense to look at the risk of say cannabis outside the context of the person using it. Where that gets a bit tricky is the public health aspect, and wether there are untoward effects on society as a whole. But even there, there is no getting around the fact that alcohol is legal for no good reason in terms of risk assessment.
Some of the contexts connected with risk are poverty, violence, colonisation, oppression, historical child abuse, genetics, family dynamics, biology, mental health, peer pressure, socialisation, self-esteem, the need for self-medication…
The other thing that’s important to know is that taking drugs is fun! It’s fine that you don’t do this 🙂 but there is nothing wrong per se with getting out of it. And people with the above contexts also take drugs for fun.
For me this isn’t that hard. Legalise cannabis. We don’t have to even look at legalising other drugs in order to do that. Put in place some good educational resources on use and harm minimisation, some rules around thigns like age or driving etc, and then let people make their own decisions just like we let them make those decisions about everything else. The idea that cannabis is a risk to indviduals or society is a red herring. Yes there is risk, but not in a way that legitimises making criminals out of cannabis users.
Except that so far that’s proven to be not possible. We don’t seem to have come close. So it is hard. And future prospects look hard.
Putting politics and arrogance aside can be hard.
What’s needed is a concerted campaign to move things in that direction. Otherwise the next person to come along suggesting something be done will probably be ridiculed and nothing will change. That’s what’s not hard, petty bitching and same old.
“Except that so far that’s proven to be not possible.”
complete horse shit
(we see above you have already called out for the waaambulance )
Governments choosing not to even try to do something, is not the same thing as something being possible or not.
You could not have supplied a better example of the very central flaw in most of your comments that so many have tried to point out to you so often.
Read this slowly…. Just because you say something, does not mean it is true.
Now, the obsequious little nugget of nothingness that started your final paragraph…
“What’s needed is a concerted campaign to move things in that direction. ”
When did you last pick up the phone to the ALCP and say, ‘hi guys, Pete George here, what can I do to help bring balance and objectivity to the discussion of cannabis reform in New Zealand?
wow cannabis reform… maybe that is a politically and economically important topic that a fact checking site would be interested in covering ……… cue tumbleweeds
When did you last pick up the phone to the ALCP and say, ‘hi guys, Pete George here, what can I do to help bring balance and objectivity to the discussion of cannabis reform in New Zealand?
Last Thursday, after they called me, after I emailed them.
Yes I’m ok with legalising cannabis for the time being. It seems the most pragmatic thing to do at the moment.
Some of the contexts connected with risk are poverty, violence, colonisation, oppression, historical child abuse, genetics, family dynamics, biology, mental health, peer pressure, socialisation, self-esteem, the need for self-medication…
Absolutely. Yet the tragedy is that in self-medicating the end result is often a compounding and entrenchment of all these issues.
I’m with Lynn on this. I too get my fun from solving coding puzzles. Yesterday I worked around 14 hrs on a project, and along the way I finally managed to build and debug a Scalar Kalman filter algorithm that I’ve been thinking about for years. (All actual experts in digital signal processing feel free to LOL now.) And I got a real kick from it – that opportunity to creatively express myself is central to my reason for living.
The opportunity to be creative, to excel at some skill or artform, or to work in a group towards a meaningful goal seem to be the three expansive motivations for humans.
I’m not going to LOL, because I don’t know exactly what you did. However, I am curious as to how you managed to spend years thinking about what I would have considered a fairly simple problem. What made it so time consuming?
Well three things; one is that I only looked at it briefly on a handful of occasions over the years – so the total time spent wasn’t all that long. I found the story behind how Rudolf Kalman solved the Apollo lunar landing module radar guidance problem inspiring – and I guess I was always curious to get my head around at least the basics of what he achieved.
Secondly most of the references on the web are for the general MIMO case with lots of very abstract matrix maths I’m not at all good at. As a result for a long time I had in my mind a wrong idea about how a Kalman filter actually worked. I had completely misunderstood what the a priori was meant to be in practical terms.
Thirdly until recently I didn’t really have a pressing need to make one work, but when faced with the desirability of using one in my current project, I spent a day banging away at the much simpler SISO case and finally the penny dropped.
Like a lot of people I can handle maths as long as I can map it onto something concrete in my mind – it’s the pure abstractions that baffle me unfortunately.
I have to add that after spending years looking at time series trend plots with conventional filters that always add a phase delay – the first time I saw the Kalman filter respond to a step input with zero delay was rather spooky.
I knew in my head that was how it was supposed to work, but actually seeing it was still a surprise.
I know this had drifted OT but it speaks to what Lynn was saying earlier above.
I didn’t think you could drift off topic in open mike 🙂
Thanks for your answer. I have problems with abstract maths as well, which is a bit of a drawback in my job as a theoretical quantum physicist, but can also be an advantage. I tend to look more at what can be achieved with real systems than developing abstract theorems.
“What are people’s thoughts here about what part cannabis plays in the synthetic drug issue?”
As a friend pointed out recently, the only reason that legal highs are legal and cannabis isn’t is because the law hasn’t found a way to make legal highs illegal (I think there is probably a commerical incentive in there too to not ban them outright). It’s simply an anomaly that alcohol is legal and cannabis isn’t. So let’s stop pretending that this is an issue of risk and safety. It’s not. It’s about the need of some people to control morality and the need of other people to control money.
The blindingly obvious solution to the very real problems of legal highs is to legalise cannabis. There are risks to many things that humans do. The line that cannabis has risks is a redherring. We already have models for managing risk including harm minimisation, so risk sin’t a good reason to keep cannabis illegal.
Pete, you are several decades behind the game here. All the questions you are asking have been answered many many times.
Don’t know what you mean by ‘we’ in that sentence. People have been working in this issue already, and progress has been made. That doesn’t include you as far as I can tell.
As for the ‘right’ people, you still fail to understand what the issue is here. The ‘right’ people are the people with the power, and those people aren’t traditional cannabis users (they drink alcohol). The reasons they don’t work outside their experience are varied (commerce, control, ignorance). Until the GP came along, there was no-one putting the decriminalisation issue on mainstream agenda. It’s people like you who wring your hands that are keeping the issue unresolved. Your astounding ignorance isn’t the problem, it’s your inability to recognise you are ignorant and do something about it. But beyond that, I am pretty sure when it comes down to it, you want the power to remain in the hands of the few, and that you don’t trust people in general to make their own decisions about drug use. For you, the decisions should be made by people who are of your class and ilk, otherwise you would already be talking to expert drug users and learning from them.
Plus what Tracey said above about making alcohol illegal.
But beyond that, I am pretty sure when it comes down to it, you want the power to remain in the hands of the few, and that you don’t trust people in general to make their own decisions about drug use.
You’re a long way off the mark with that assumption.
For you, the decisions should be made by people who are of your class and ilk,
And that one. You seem to have pigeon hole pique.
otherwise you would already be talking to expert drug users and learning from them.
I’ve been doing that. And I’ve been working now with three parties with various interests in this.
In the name of fairness -Pete did ask some questions and if we want him to honestly answer ours …. (like a 40 year old virgin, we must believe there will be a first time)
Is cannabis as risky, riskier or is it safer?
It is less risky, in the same way that driving with a seat belt is generally regarded as being safer than driving without one.
If cannabis was available the same as synthetics would the problem be better, worse or similar?
There would not be a problem. Period! The entire market would disappear, largely overnight. The residual problems would be the ongoing addictions relating to those who have already been poisoned by the toxic products created and sold under the blinkered myopia of the current hypocrisy. (have to assume you are referring to ‘synthetic cannabis’ even though no such thing exists. It needs to be said that there are also many other ‘synthetic’ products that this new testing might help make safer for all and less stigmatic. Many of the products that this law wants to ban are actually safer, more natural and less risky than some foods sold in supermarkets. Certainly safer than alcohol)
If no synthetics pass the safety test of the new Act and nothing else changes will the problems get better or worse?
The distribution of even more dangerous compounds will make the problem a lot worse. You only have to look at the poison people drink during periods of alcohol prohibition/scarcity.
Should the laws related to cannabis use be reviewed?
well d’uh
Should the laws related to cannabis cultivation be reviewed?
well d’uh
Should the laws related to cannabis supply be reviewed?
well d’uh
Should all psychoactive substances be banned (including cannabis)?
You do know, that to be anything but a pandering to predetermination, testing must include alcohol right? We all know alcohol has an exemption so the entire testing to make us safer argument holds about as much water as a fishing net. Some schools of thought would even say sugar falls into the category of a psychoactive substance. So yes, let’s review the whole bag of tricks Pete. You may not like the results though. You would have to watch your smug fall away revealing decades of illusion and propaganda.
Taking Pete’s questions at face value, my genuine response is that they are all mostly irrelevant.
What’s relevant is creating a society where where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living, and where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week.
The legality or otherwise of different substances then becomes a non-issue.
There’s no sign of anything anywhere close to this being achieved and it’s very unlikely to be achieved.
Humans have liked using drugs for thousands of years. It’s been suggested that agriculture became established through the desire to produce beer. Whether that’s accurate or not alcohol and other drugs go back a long way.
Many people want to experience drug effects and that’s not likely to change.
Oh yes felix. I shouldn’t say this out loud – but reading these few sentences above brought tears.
There’s a large pragmatic part of me that just wants to try and muddle on with the ‘realities’ of modern life. Pay the mortgage, hold down that job, dress right and behave right and maybe I’ll get to a decent retirement.
Also Pete, I can’t let this slip by: “a society where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living, and where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week.”
If you really, genuinely believe that’s an “unrealistic” goal, then what’s the point of all your efforts?
Seriously. What’s the point? What do you want to see in the world if not that?
I’m still waiting to see the answer to that question by felix. That’s the guts of it. It’s not just a question of getting facts correct and then miraculously arriving at a (non-political?) solution. We all have underlying values that guide the facts and issues we focus on, and the analysis of such. And it is the difference in underlying values that generally differentiates various poltiical positions: left or right; liberal or conservative….etc.
That’s why it’s important to make our basic values and perspectives explicit.
You let slip a part of that quote. Here it is with an important final paragraph.
What’s relevant is creating a society where where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living, and where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week.
The legality or otherwise of different substances then becomes a non-issue.
I responded “I think that’s idealistic and unrealistic”. That was in reference to the whole statement.
I think “creating a society where where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living” is a great ideal and worth working towards.
I think “where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week” is a fine aim but idealistic and I doubt we can ever get close to to that. For example being a parent wipes you out daily, it’s the nature of the job. It’s not uncommon for parents to want a drink or a smoke at the end of another busy day.
“The legality or otherwise of different substances then becomes a non-issue.” I took that as meaning that people wouldn’t use drugs any more. That’s naive and unrealistic. Many poor people don’t have the time or money to do drugs much if at all, and most have more sense than to waste their money and minds.
Drug use and abuse happens across the income spectrum. A wealthy person can be stressed about their money like a poor person stressed about their lack of money.
And no matter how ideal we can make our society I think there will always be a significant number of people who keep using drugs, so the legalities will remain issues. It’s idealistic to think that it could become a non-issue.
Dunne has deeply damaged the credibility of the office of a minister.
All around the country kids are hearing that the Toxic Shot is legal and that it will not be banned by the minister, whose son is making a living out of selling the Toxic shit.
No wonder so many do not vote when they see such self serving bullshit.
Dear Standardistas. Do not engage with Peter George on the decriminalization of Cannabis. etc. It is a smoke screen for his hero Peter Dunne and his drug industry son, James.
The issue is the moral void that is the Dunnes, Pere et Fils
“Dunne has deeply damaged the credibility of the office of a minister.
All around the country kids are hearing that the Toxic Shot is legal and that it will not be banned”
In Hamilton the kids are hearing the toxic shot IS BANNED
If you really care about these kids why don’t you do something useful an get these puff shops shutdown in your area.
The actual report.
12 reasons why we aren’t a rock star economy!
1) Interest rates have been at all-time lows for almost a half-decade
2) Property prices have doubled since 2004
3) New Zealand has the world’s third most overvalued property market
4) New Zealand’s mortgage bubble grew by 165% since 2002
5) Nearly half of mortgages have floating interest rates
6) Mortgages account for 60% of banks’ loan portfolios
7) Finance, not agriculture, is New Zealand’s largest industry
8) New Zealand’s banks are exposed to Australia’s bubble
9) Australian and Chinese buyers are inflating the property bubble
10) New Zealand has a household debt problem
11) Government overseas debt has nearly tripled since 2008
12) The New Zealand dollar is overvalued
Well, Steven Joyce has the perfect response – well that’s if you’re a right winger keen to keep on fiddling until the bubble bursts. He says it’s being “alarmist” and that Colombo is a “bubble-ologist”.
That’s very a very selective representation of that article. It wasn’t just Joyce questioning the claims.
Infometrics managing director Gareth Kiernan…
…said Colombo had picked out all the high-risk metrics he could find to build an “end of the world scenario”.
If his predictions ever came to pass then the economy would be in trouble, but no one was really forecasting that to happen, he said.
Interest.co.nz contributing editor Bernard Hickey…
…said many of the risks identified by Colombo were real but they were old news to those who ran the economy.
“For him to come out and say we’ve got a bubble, therefore it’s going to burst, which will lead to a crisis is a little bit simplistic,” he said.
Kiwis had already seen the Reserve Bank step in to curb the risk of rising house prices by introducing a new loan-to-value ratio, he said.
“Should we all be running for the hills with our hands in the air screaming the end is nigh? Probably not.”
Hickey added that it appeared Colombo’s article had not been published in Forbes magazine proper, which was important when judging its credibility. Instead it was published on the Forbes website with a disclaimer saying Colombo’s opinions were his own.
I’m not sure if Hickey would be generally regarded as a keen right winger.
Increasing residential house prices
Over leveraged residential property
NZ government paying massive supplements to overseas investors via the Accommodation Supplement each year.
Yes, you’re right. I was selective. I was just laughing so hard at Joyce’s clumsy neologism.
I think Hickey is a right winger, but one who has become increasingly skeptical about the neoliberal version of capitalism.
I don’t think there’ll be a sudden catastrophic crisis. But, there will be a down turn as the bubble starts to deflate. And the article does have that quote about the bubble being widely acknowledged.
Yes we are Paul, it should have happened post-GFC. Governments got taxpayers to bail the corporates out, but it wont last. The world’s banking system is a Ponzi scheme nearing its end.
“That’s very a very selective representation of that article.”
No it fucking well wasn’t Pete. It was a fair representation of quotes from Joyce including a link to the source. Like I said above, think about what you type and then take your nonsense away from here.
Actually, I agree with Bill as well. My comment wasn’t intended to represent the whole article. It was a brief comment focused on Joyce’s clumsy neologism – which I found very funny while I was eating breakfast. The arguments for and against the Colombo argument are being looked at in more detail re-micky’s post.
that’s why Pete basically copy pastes whole paragraphs/articles, so he has lots of wriggle room when people try to pin down whatever it is he is referring to or is commenting on. He could save himself a lot of hassle (and free up his fact-checking time) if he just posted links to the NZH front page and simply said …
‘In the future, we need to discuss what would lead to a real dialogue, allowing us to frame the conversation we desperately need to have”
It’s like this Pete. I’ve no problem with people saying stupid things or jumping on their own wee hobby horses from time to time.
But for the past wee while most of your comments have been a mix of stuff that’s annoyingly off beam and/or concern troll nonsense. And I don’t like it. ‘N fact, I’m getting really fucked off by it.
Also, just so you know, I don’t like that even your very occasional sensible comment gets mobbed and even those threads trashed as a result. But then people, I think, are simply and understandably reacting to your comments on the basis of expectation rather than actual content on those occasions.
Now, go away and think about what I’ve said in light of the fact that I disagree with many of the comments and opinions here. I’m telling (not asking) you do that so that you don’t start whining in some narcissistic or self important way about how your picked on by some kind of evil Labour Party/leftsist hive mind that you sometimes appear to imagine ‘the standard’ as.
Now, go away and think about what I’ve said in light of the fact that I disagree with many of the comments and opinions here. I’m telling (not asking) you do that…
Is it just you doing the whining? Or is it a round about moderator instruction to me to go away and not to comment here?
Sheesh, that comment from the guy who accused Karol of misrepresentation up the thread!
I’m giving you information based on observation, providing my own opinion and suggesting a course of action. (The telling is to do with a lens you keep at hand for the sake of any reflection)
If you can’t see what I’ve been observing, then you haven’t been paying attention to the responses you generate. I mean, it’s all rather fucking blatantly obvious, though…from your latest response it would seem reasonable to assume that you simply can’t understand what people say, or see where they’re coming from, even when it’s fairly straight forward. I don’t expect you to have any insight as to why that might be. I have my own thoughts on the matter. I’ll be keeping them to myself.
Funny thing Bill is it seems to be something peculiar to here, and it doesn’t just happen with me.
KIA’s essay is a good example. Most of the initial response was attacking KIA for irrelevant things from the past and attacking me for quoting and linking etc, and denying and diverting.
But sometimes worthwhile discussions eventuate. When micky and KIA started actually addressing and debating things it has resulted in some interesting stuff. Neither is right or wrong (generally), they both make some good points from different views.
Robust discussion or bitching sessions where no alternative views are tolerated?
Wonder how the government will defend their ramping up of New Zealand’s overseas debt( point 11) and not dealing with factors causing the property bubble (point 9)?
Their management of the economy, so praised by the NZ corporate media, has been wretched (as many of us have been saying for a while)
He makes is money off predicting when bubbles are about to burst as Joyce said he’s a “bubble-ologist”.No doubt all his investments are heavily weighted toward ones that do very well when markets crash.
From experience it’s very hard to find financial opinion that doesn’t have a massive slant that favors the author especially when the author’s American.
“..From experience it’s very hard to find financial opinion that doesn’t have a massive slant that favors the author especially when the author’s American..”
so best just stuff yr fists in yr ears and go ‘nah!..nah..!..nah..!’..eh..?
..especially when it is something you don’t want to hear..eh..?
..something that ideologically-grates..?..
..how about nouriel roubini..?
..y’know..!..that guy who was one of the first to predict reasons/timeline of the great financial clusterfuck..?..and one who i relied on for the early predictions/warnings@whoar..)
..(and ..oh..!..how you all laughed at him..eh..?..’dr doom!’..and all that..?..eh..?..)
..well guess what..!..roubini is now saying it is all about to go pop again…
From what I’ve noticed, in America everyone’s an “expert”, this young guy’s a “bubble expert”.
All his investment advice/opinion is bubble related.
The way it seems to work is you’re either a Bull or a Bear, this chap is definitely in the Bear camp so he specifically targets to people who have a negative outlook.
That’s how he makes his money.
There’s only two ways a market can go, up or down.
If you pick a position and stick with it eventually you’re going to be right, it’s getting the timing correct which is the hard thing and that’s when you make your money.
From the article you quote….I just copied a bit more as your quote was very selective.
“Roubini’s critical and consistently bearish economic views have earned him the nicknames “Dr. Doom” and “permabear” in the media.[2] In 2008, Fortune magazine wrote, “In 2005 Roubini said home prices were riding a speculative wave that would soon sink the economy. Back then the professor was called a Cassandra. Now he’s a sage”.[3] The New York Times notes that he foresaw “homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt”.[2] In September 2006, he warned a skeptical IMF that “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence, and, ultimately, a deep recession”. Nobel laureate Paul Krugman adds that his once “seemingly outlandish” predictions have been matched “or even exceeded by reality.”[4]”
So they may have given him those nicknames …but he was accurate in his predictions.
If this is an example of how you extract quotes to make your points, you are clearly an unreliable source of information.
Same…attempts to bluster and divert and a concerted effort to attack the messenger.
But no argument explaining why the issues he mentions ( 12 of them!) aren’t a concern.
Self interest trumps an ability to look critically at an issue.
What a foolish foolish person you are BM ! – “from experience. it’s very hard to find financial opinion that doesn’t…….etc” – what experience BM ? Establish what you say, please.
“From what I’ve noticed …….” Well that’s so powerful (not). Say what you’ve noticed BM. And establish how it proves your point, if you actually have a point other than cheerleading for John Key’s omnipresence as claimed by you and various other trolls.
In fact if you’re going to go into the mythology of US arch-capitalism then it’s extraordinarily dishonest of you not to acknowledge and analyse the place in that of John Key and myriad other banksters.
Because BM from what I’ve noticed…….Merrill Lynch, Goldmann Sachs etc etc etc.
I wonder what keys statements looked like when he was a currency trader and expert for j p morgan? probably self serving like your description of this guy. yet you cannot see his self serving statements as pm for what they are.
Yep he makes money telling others what they should do.
I get the feeling he doesn’t invest too much himself.
According to Wikipedia
Jesse took a hiatus from blogging and anti-economic bubble activism after the U.S. housing bubble popped in 2008, and focused on a career as a private investor and consultant.
In June 2011, Jesse launched his second anti-economic bubble activism campaign to warn of post-2009 economic bubbles.
Obviously his personal investment results weren’t quite as stellar as he hoped.
I think you’ll find that when an entire economic global system gets a lot of its profits from bubbles it also gets a lot of losses when the bubbles burst ergo there will be a high incidence of losses when the sytem ‘rebalances’; when the exaggerated prices adjust back to realistic ones.
It appears this is the type of information Jesse is attempting to warn people about. That he has been one of the victims of such an irrational system, doesn’t make his warnings any less realistic – in fact if anything it indicates he is too conservative in his views.
Yep what a spew article but good for a sunday lol – I thought this was terrible “Dotcom is not even a New Zealand European but a European European.” Is this an actual distinction? Do some people think like that?
“Harawira believes “white motherf****** have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries”. Dotcom is as white as white.”
Gutter politics from the gutterdog-Hide. First Dotcom isn’t a ‘proper kiwi’ according to snide-hide and then he’s been ripping us off for centuries – which is it. Hide is a fail as a politician and a person imo and this article is even more evidence of that.
Still rankles with Brash that he was sacked when he came within a whisker of success.
But lying over the Brethren was too much, even for the Nats.
To win next time, they needed a smoother, slicker version of the Extreme Right to lull the electorate.
And under MMP they needed to double cross Maori, not take them on directly.
Key fitted the bill perfectly.
Same policies, though. What has Key done that Brash has disapproved of? The Maori Party have left their people in a worse situation than before, and in total disarray.
Key’s great success has been to sneak in Extreme Right policies, in several policy areas, under the bland unctuous mumbling of ‘Centre-Right’.
Brash has always come off as vaguely reptilian, even without the insider details:
Asked by Hill about Orewa 2005, the welfare dependency speech, Brash said he didn’t even think welfare spokesperson Katherine Rich wrote the welfare white paper.
This is an outrageous accusation from the former leader. Rich had been given the portfolio by Bill English just after her second baby was born and spent hours writing it.
The leader’s office edited it two years before Brash was leader, but he seems to think it was beyond a women’s capabilities.
He may remember Rich’s corrections to Brash’s first draft of Orewa 05, when she took issue with his repeated references to “bludgers”, “satan”, “free lunches”, “ripping off the system taken for granted” and “an army of dependants on the march”.
Rich said she didn’t think using military language was helpful.
She vehemently objected to Brash’s intention to bring back adoption, compulsory immunisation and forcing beneficiaries to exhaust other means of income so welfare was the last resort.
“I’m not comfortable about making those with Downs syndrome, cerebral palsy or cancer prove they are not able to contribute to their own support before accessing welfare,” she wrote to Brash.
Mothers having second babies would be forced back to fulltime work even when breastfeeding, and Brash was okay with this.
Rich resigned the portfolio.
Georgina te Heu Heu had already lost Maori Affairs, and Hekia Parata left the party.
Other caucus women were unhappy.
I was flatting with Rich and remember her dismay when Michael Bassett’s Post column slated her for criticising her leader in public, saying she deserved to go.
I suggested Rich ask Brash to get this mistake corrected (she’d never criticised him), a simple matter, surely. Brash couldn’t, he told her, because he’d read the column pre-publication and okayed it.
Now Brash is miffed that John Key won’t take his calls, because they once shared a motel room where Brash said he’d hand over prime ministership to Key.
Big problem with that, Don, you need the numbers and caucus support. You were not a king passing the crown to an heir. Key probably muttered something like: “Yeah, now shuddup and get some sleep.”
And some wise National insiders probably leaked those emails, printed out and clamped in a big bulldog clip, so Brash would never become prime minister. We’re incredibly lucky they did.
“I’m not comfortable about making those with Downs syndrome, cerebral palsy or cancer prove they are not able to contribute to their own support before accessing welfare,” she wrote to Brash.
“But many families have been put off by the system, which requires the disabled people to become their parents’ employers, responsible for paying tax, ACC levies, KiwiSaver, annual leave and sick leave.”
The disabled people are required to set up bank accounts, which some banks do not allow for people who are not intellectually competent.”
The parallels are obvious. Dodged what bullet?
Edit Red Rosa is on to it.
Most of these disabled clients would have no concept of what an employer is, and the government expect them to be one. Am I alone in thinking that this policy is whacko?
Just had a watch of ‘The Nation’ on TV3, this weeks program seems to have got at least one commenter hot under the cranial covering,
Seems to me that the main message from Green Party leader Metiria Turei was that if Labour/NZFirst need the Green Party to guarantee ”confidence and supply” then Labour/NZFirst will need the Green Party ”in Government”,
Questioned on the ‘meaning’ of this Metiria chose to simply repeat the statement, and a snigger developed when the ”end game” move that i would imagine Labour/NZFirst will put to the Greens after the election was put to Mets,
”So you will refuse confidence and supply to Labour/NZFirst if you are not given Cabinet seats and enable a National Government then”,???
That’s laughable, BUT, i can see this as being the main plank of negotiation with the Green Party after the 2014 election,
My suggestion to the Green Party is that the correct answer to this little piece of blame gaming which i fully expect to be the negotiating position is the answer that Metiria gave on ‘The Nation’ interview,
”The Green Party is either ”in” the next Government or they are not”…full stop.
“If there’s a minority govt then we’ll have to decide about C&S whenever such votes come up, and such a government would need to talk to us about the shape of any legislation it wants to pass.”
Which political parties are now going to pick up the ball, and make support for a New Zealand ICAC, a core election policy?
In my considered opinion, there would be significant public support for such a policy, especially in light of the latest on-going corruption scandals at New Zealand central and local government level.
(Remember – in the 2013 Auckland mayoralty, I polled 4th with nearly 12,000 votes, campaigning against corrupt corporate control of the Auckland region, which, in my opinion, shows growing public understanding and concern about this HUGE issue.)
Sir Apriana Ngata, a prominent advocate of Maori economic development and self-determination would be disgusted at some of the stances held by the woman who wants to follow in his footsteps. For a start, he would balk at the continued use of floating sweatshops to fish Maori quota, which Turia and her Maori Party cronies continue to try and justify, instead of encourging iwi to invest in their own boats and crews, creating real jobs.
Agree Anne I didn’t notice if she wears glasses, but she needs to get both eyes into focus. However I think her vision has for too long been warped to change.
This, I need not remind you, is Easter, the time in which we must observe the martyrdom of Pete George the most Holy.
It is He who has instructed us in the utmost selective pedantry of our sins of lack of reverence for Himself. Let us not forget that. It is we who have crucified Him on the Cross of Snark.
Let us all retreat to the Hallowed Ground of our Lifestyle Blocks, don the sacred vestments of the Beige Cardigans of Repentance, climb upon our Horses Most High and make the Holy Gestures of the Wagging Finger and the Wrung Hands.
Then let us Check Our Facts and observe the proper period of Calling For More Study.
And let it be that the beige cardigan be appointed with leather patches to reduce wear in the penitent’s elbows as he holds his head in his hands whilst at prayer or in conference with his acolytes; as do we poor listeners and readers whilst receiving the Word from Our Pete (aka PG tips!).
Imagine a political spectrum as a 0-100 line. 0 = Far left and 100 =Far Right I cannot draw a graph on this posting so bear with me.
In the 1990’s Labour was probably 20-65 and National was 35-80
in 2014 Labour is 10-55 and National is 35-80. Each still a 45 point spread. Just a 10 point drift but a significant one.
Then draw a mean distribution curve graph and you will see that the numbers under the curve are heavily in favour of National
The 55-65 group of Labour voters have shifted over to National.
If Labour go further Left eg 5-50 the maths gets substantially worse for Labour
This assumes that political opinion follows a mean distribution curve graph. It does.
The vast majority are in the mid zone and these are the voters that National as a mildly Left to moderate Right Party has increasingly gained in 2005,2008 2011 and 2014 as Labour has drifted Left.
Just look at the election returns and remember that in the 1980’s Labour was home to the likes of Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble. Such people in 2014 would never join or vote Labour. Helen Clark kept in power by keeping in the 20-60 range. Labour have changed their rules and have a leader supported by 30% of caucus. The Labour activists have taken over the party and will shape it in their own image. They are delighted. So am I, I can do the arithmetic.
Minister for Corruption (sorry – Minister for Justice) Judith Collins promised an ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill’.
Hardly surprising that this ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill’. has yet to surface in the Parliamentary legislative ‘sausage machine’?
Justice Minister Judith Collins says the Government’s comprehensive approach to fighting all forms of organised crime will help safeguard New Zealand’s economy, international reputation and public safety.
This month a number of international bodies are evaluating New Zealand’s compliance with international standards related to financial crimes – including the OECD, which will report on New Zealand’s compliance with an international convention to combat bribery of foreign public officials.
“I welcome the release of these reports.
This Government takes all forms of organised crime and corruption very seriously,” Ms Collins says.
The Government will bring in a bill before the end of the year to strengthen laws against money laundering, identity theft, human trafficking and corruption.
Justice Minister Judith Collins says she intends to have a comprehensive set of laws in place to fight all forms of organised crime.
“It’s important to consider bribery and corruption within the big picture of organised crime, which undermines public safety, national security, economic development and good governance,” she said today.
“This bill will help ensure New Zealand maintains its reputation as a responsible international citizen and that our domestic law enforcement agencies have the tolls they need to fight all forms of organised crime.”
So WHERE’S Minister for Corruption (sorry – Minister for Justice) Judith Collin’s Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill?
Legislation
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Oh dear – Minister for Corruption (oops! Justice – yeah right) Judith Collins’ Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill is NOWHERE to be found.
Talk about the corrupt fox in charge of the chook house?
Again – file under ‘You Couldn’t Make This Sh*t Up’?
Auckland citizens and ratepayers are not being told EXACTLY where our public monies are being spent (which is a statutory requirement under the Public Records Act 2005).
So – if I’m not being told EXACTLY where my rates monies are being spent, I’m not paying any.
Not many folks have the guts to do what I’m doing, but, ‘faint heart never won fair go’.
I take full personal responsibility for my actions.
If you take full responsibility stop bitching about it and face the consequences. It doesn’t take guts to not pay your way in life, it’s laziness and spectacular stupidity. When they order your house sold from under you. will you still be taking responsibility or blaming the Council ?
Has Deborah Coddington finally seen the light.
She is certainly making some interesting comments lately.In fact she is begining to sound like a real Leftie. Perhaps her local Labour Party branch should ask her for a donation .If she lived in Cambridge I certainly would.
Justice Minister Judith Collins today welcomed Transparency International New Zealand’s evaluation of our nation’s governance and anti-corruption efforts.
Ms Collins launched key findings from the National Integrity Study (NIS) Assessment tonight, at the annual general meeting of Transparency International’s New Zealand arm.
“New Zealand consistently ranks as the least corrupt country on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index,” Ms Collins says.
“It’s important we maintain our strong international reputation, for being free from – and intolerant of – corruption, to further enhance our nation’s trade, business and economic prosperity.”
The report evaluates key pillars of New Zealand’s governance system, such as the legislature, executive, judiciary, public sector, law enforcement and business sectors.
Ms Collins says there are still improvements to be made to counter corruption and bribery and the Government is actively working to implement change.
“Our efforts include the development of a national anti-corruption strategy, the upcoming Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill, and efforts to raise public trust and confidence in the Courts.”
Ms Collins says the Government values its close working relationship with Transparency International New Zealand and she looks forward to working through the report’s recommendations.
“In many ways we share a common purpose – promoting clean government, increasing transparency and reducing corruption. Together, our efforts help ensure New Zealand maintains its reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world.”
Pity about the lack of transparency with Transparency International NZ?
RAMPANT CORRUPTION STINGS TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
2 March 2014
‘Corruption destroys lives and communities’ is its motto and its publicly advertised mission is to promote transparency which lays bare the conflicts and bribes which suck the soul out of all countries to varying degrees. But Berlin-based non-profit Transparency International is better known for telling the world which countries are doing a good job at combating corruption and which ones are not through its annual ‘perception index’ which rates 177 countries from 1 to 177.
Media organisations such as Forbes rely on Transparency International’s findings in promoting its own world perspective.
In its own ‘perception’, Transparency International ranked New Zealand lowest (along with Finland) in corruption – and its local chapter is the non-profit’s golden child and keeper of the faith. In contrast, New Zealanders question a charter which received almost all of its funding from the New Zealand government, routinely turned away new members – individual memberships have been relatively constant at 50 – and declared its “over-arching principle” is it “will not be involved in investigating or exposing individual cases (of corruption)”.
Finally, a dose of reality has set in, with revelations of rampant corruption within the New Zealand chapter oozing from its opaque façade. Berlin has known since early December that NZ chapter director Suzanne Snively was running a fraudulent company trading on the Transparency International name to sell her consulting services to unsuspecting foreign companies seeking trade with New Zealand. They have done nothing but cover it up. Triple dipping Ms Snively is also a contractor to the New Zealand government and her TINZ salary is funded by the government.
This week it was revealed that another Transparency International New Zealand director Michael Vukcevic falsely claimed in his CV that he had a law degree and other qualifications in order to get an appointment in 2012 to promote New Zealand’s bid for a free trade agreement in the Middle East.
Yet another TINZ director Claire Johnstone was a government official running a private consultancy business which promoted her ability to “access grant funding from government for many of our clients”. Her husband Ash Johnstone, a serving NZ police officer, was profiled on the company website as in charge of conducting security background checks for private clients.
It came to light last year that at least two directors of TINZ made repeated visits to the Ministry of Justice in Cambodia seeking personal fortune on the door-opening coattails of Dame Sylvia Cartwright who was one of two international judges appointed to the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia, filling a vacuum in the war ravaged country.
Fraud examiner and former police prosecutor Grace Haden, who was denied membership in TINZ and consequently launched her own “Transparency New Zealand” is not surprised by the corruption or cover up by Transparency International. “They don’t want to know the reality because it differs from the myth they promote.” Late yesterday, Ms Haden sent out an open letter offering Transparency International her services to verify degrees and credentials of its directors.
……”
Seen for yourselves who ‘sponsors’ Transparency International NZ?
School of Government, VUW
Ministry for Justice
Statistics New Zealand
The Human Rights Commission
Ministry of Social Development
The Treasury
Inland Revenue
Department of Internal Affairs
Corrections
Department of Conservation
Ministry of Transport
Civil Aviation Authority
New Zealand Transport Authority
Maritime New Zealand
Te Puni Kokiri
The State Services Commission
The Ombudsman
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
The New Zealand Defence Force
NIS Silver
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
The Serious Fraud Office
Crown Law
NIS Bronze
NZ Public Service Association
Sponsors
The Gama Foundation
In Kind Donations
Bell Gully
VUW School of Government
PwC
Deloitte
KPMG
Human Rights Commission Launch Day
School of Government Institute for Governance and Policy Studies Wellington
Wellington Girls College
Thorndon New World
NZTE
Institute of Directors
BDO Spicers
Russell McVeigh
Chapman Tripp
Gibson Sheat
Susan Gluck-Hornsby
Chen Palmer
Juliet McKee
Claudia Orange
Te Papa
So – how INDEPENDENT is Transparency International NZ, when so much of their funding comes from NZ Government Departments, which all arguably have a vested interest in maintaining this RORT and FRAUD – that New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’?
Remember?
Under NZ Minister of Corruption (oops! sorry – Justice) Judith Collins’ watch – NZ STILL has not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, and her Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill has STILL not yet surfaced in Parliament.
Funny that.
Penny Bright
SELF-FUNDED full-time ‘anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’.
PS: What does NZ need for a genuine platform for transparency?
Saturday, 19 April 2014, 12:09 pm
Press Release: Green Party
Time for greater ministerial accountability
The Green Party has today released a proposal to introduce a ministerial disclosure regime in New Zealand to improve the transparency and accountability of government.
The proposal, based on the system used in the United Kingdom since 2010, would require all Ministers to publically release records of their meetings with external organisations, overseas travel, gifts given and received, and hospitality received.
The records would be released on a quarterly basis and published online.
“A ministerial disclosure regime will bring a much-needed boost to the transparency and accountability of government in New Zealand,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“The public will be able to see, on a regular basis, who Ministers are meeting with, who they’re receiving gifts and hospitality from, and details of their overseas travel.
“Some of this information is already made public through the Registrar of Pecuniary Interests, but that doesn’t tell us the whole story and it only happens once a year.
“Regular, proactive disclosure of this information, particularly records of who Ministers are meeting with, will bring a greater measure of transparency to decision-making and will improve ministerial accountability.
Penny, this the internet not a gestetner. It has these things called links. Please do not waste our attention by pasting screeds of material we can go and read ourselves.
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The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology “The lie outlasts the liar,” writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the “post-truth” era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, UNSW The views of women and men can differ on important gendered issues such as abortion, gender equity and government spending priorities. Surprisingly, however, average differences in sex ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer S. Hunt, Lecturer in National Security, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle In Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with COVID lockdowns. Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australia’s export ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asha Bowen, Head, Skin Health, Telethon Kids Institute A year ago, in late January 2020, Australia reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, we have seen almost 29,000 confirmed cases and 909 deaths. As cases climbed in Australian cities in 2020, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Emeritus Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne Political pressure forced the federal government in 2017 – when Scott Morrison was treasurer – to call the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services sector. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Ellis, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle The Rise and Fall of Saint George is a story about place, belonging and community that taps into universal tensions of identity and faith in multicultural societies. Playing for ...
An in-depth analysis of media coverage of the euthanasia and cannabis referendums has found that while both sides of the euthanasia referendum were given reasonably fair and balanced coverage, the YES position in the cannabis debate received a heavily ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission Auckland has no plans to hand over the ownership of it assets under the government's planned water reforms, with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff saying his top priority is to ensure it stacks up for the city. Despite ...
Auckland Transport is putting nine new electric buses on the roads today, as it dramatically accelerates its plans to get rid of all its diesel buses – in a funding challenge to the council. Public transport operators are being told to not buy any more diesel buses or risk losing their council ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they find out exactly what we’re voting on in the cannabis referendum, and discover how legalising weed is a women’s issue.First published August 4, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
A principal analyst for the Climate Change Commission says more needs to be done to reduce agricultural emissions or the country will miss its methane targets. ...
Derek Challis, son of the legendary author Robin Hyde, died last Thursday. Michelle Leggott pays tribute He opens a suitcase and there they are, the precious manuscript notebooks written by his poet mother Iris Wilkinson aka Robin Hyde. We are in Dunedin for a Hyde conference. Yes, says Derek Arden ...
Former New Zealand gymnast Katya Nosova is now a champion bodybuilder, who was prepared to spend Christmas alone in quarantine to compete in the 'Olympics' of her sport. Katya Nosova was willing to do everything she could to pose on the world stage in her third Ms Olympia. Despite a ...
Concerts and some sports look likely to be on the move in Auckland after a big win for Eden Park – and politicians and officials may now want to win the public some control over the independent stadium. The advent of big concerts at Eden Park will, in all likelihood, mean ...
Despite promises of improvement, questions remain about colonoscopy services in Otago and Southland.David Williams reports The apology, when it came, was fulsome. “On behalf of the Southern DHB, I offer a sincere apology for lapses and inadequacies in colonoscopy services over the past several years,” district health board chair ...
New Zealand needs to be bold in making developers enhance the environment - not just limit its degradation, writes Stephen Knight-Lenihan All human activity should help restore the natural world. This is a concept that may resonate following the upheavals of 2020 and one which is beginning to appear in law. Imagine ...
The issues political editor Justin Giovannetti will be keeping an eye on in 2021 (that have nothing to do with Covid-19).New Zealand will be busy in 2021. The border will remain closed to nearly all travellers and Covid-19 will continue to lead the news, but the country has a packed ...
A former case manager says that his experience working with beneficiaries suggests claims of a ‘complete shift’ in the service’s approach are laughable.A former Work and Income case manager who now works with beneficiaries engaging with the service has spoken out on a “toxic” culture which he says denies beneficiaries ...
ACC Minister Carmel Sepuloni must confirm whether the Government supports ACC’s apparent policy to make payouts for illegal overstayers , says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . Union spokesman Jordan Williams says, “Since when was it ACC policy to ...
By RNZ News An independent panel says Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January to curb the initial covid-19 outbreak, and criticised the World Health Organisation (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until 30 January. The experts reviewing the global handling of the pandemic, ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Fiji’s NGO Coalition on Human Rights has called for stronger accountability and commitment to human rights at home in response to the country taking the world stage as the head of a UN body. The UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) elected Fiji’s ambassador Nazhat Shameem as ...
Danyl McLauchlan reviews Stuart Ritchie’s Science Fictions, which outlines the staggering systemic flaws in the funding and publication of scientific papers. Back in August of 2006 a number of New Zealand scientists were caught up in a media controversy about whether Māori had a genetic predisposition towards violent crime. It kicked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago America is currently experiencing its worst political and constitutional crisis since the civil war when the very survival of Abraham Lincoln’s government “of, by and for the people” was at stake. On ...
Manaaki Rangatahi report that young people experiencing homelessness are being further traumatized within the emergency accommodation where they have sought safety. Often these environments are unsafe, and unsuitable for young people to live in, and rangatahi ...
Can you figure out which of the above is the real Jacinda Ardern? Probably! But one day, that might not be true.There are many reasons to believe the internet shouldn’t exist. Social media empires exerting, intentionally or not, their control over sovereign governments. Baby Shark. Your aunt on Facebook.It pains ...
The Point of Order Ministers on a Mission Monitor has flickered only fleetingly for much of the month. More than once, the minister to trigger it has been David Parker, who set it off again yesterday with an announcement that shows how he has been spending our money. He welcomed ...
Ban Bomb Day event at the New Brighton Pier, 9am, on January 22nd, 2021 January 22nd, 2021, marks the first day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) Enters into Force and becomes international law. Aotearoa NZ is one of the ...
Why are New Zealand’s 2 Minute Noodles called 3 Minute Noodles in the UK? It’s a puzzle that has taken hold of Dylan Reeve and refuses to let go.I’m a child of the 80s and 90s. I watched a lot of TV and was a big fan of aggressively marketed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonatan A Lassa, Senior Lecturer, Humanitarian Emergency and Disaster Management, College of Indigenous Futures, Arts and Society, Charles Darwin University News of storms battering parts of Queensland and the threat posed by Cyclone Kimi reminded me of a recent experience I’d had. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the use of force to effect the arrest of a wanted offender in Auckland was justified and proportionate to the risk he posed. A man, who was well known to Police, was wanted by Police for an aggravated ...
A distinctly colonial institution, banking has long ignored te ao Māori. Teaho Pihama believes investment in tikanga Māori at Kiwibank can have significant, positive outcomes for Māori.In early 90s Tāmaki Makaurau, when Teahooterangi (Teaho) Pihama was growing up riding his bike around the streets of Kingsland until the streetlights came ...
Donald Trump’s awful presidency expires at midday on Wednesday [US time] when Air Force One will have deposited him in Florida. He retreats to his Mar-a-Lago resort and Joseph R Biden Junior takes command of the White House. Trump’s has been an unpleasant presidency, brought about largely by his own ...
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) has elected its National President for 2021. The election took place last Friday at an NZUSA Special General Meeting (SGM) in Wellington. Andrew Lessells, 22, was elected to serve as the National ...
Think twice before you accept that surprise school reunion invite, writes Chris Schulz.It started with a Facebook notification. A school reunion was being organised. It sounded fun, with a fancy dress party set to be held in the city where I grew up, Whanganui. I hadn’t seen some of my ...
Unlike the US, there is very little NZ precedent for politicians to issue discretionary pardons – creating a challenge for those like Prof Sean Davison who might have a humanitarian claim to mercy. ...
Schools have told the Education Review Office that some children lost 10 weeks of learning in last year's lockdowns, but the overall impact of the pandemic is still unclear. In a report based on surveys of thousand of students, teachers and principals during and after last year's national and Auckland ...
The government seems to still be in holiday mode when in the past two weeks alone we have had six homicides, countless firearms incidents, and police needing to arm themselves against gangs almost every second day," says Sensible Sentencing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Crawford, Associate Professor in Construction and Environmental Assessment, University of Melbourne Over the past few years, Australians have embraced online food delivery services such as UberEats, Deliveroo and Menulog. But home-delivered food comes with a climate cost, and single-use packaging is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland When the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia in March 2020, the Morrison government took bold and imaginative action. The most notable examples were its income support programs – JobKeeper, paying a A$750 weekly ...
Ocean Ute, which arrived at Port Taranaki yesterday, is the second live export ship to arrive in New Zealand this year. Taranaki Animal Rights Group has two demonstrations planned for today. A protest at midday and a vigil at 6.30pm tonight . The number ...
The Department of Corrections is well within its rights to refuse Jared Savage’s “Gangland” book from being read by inmates and it is outrageous that resources and time are now potentially going to be wasted in court about it, says Sensible ...
What are people’s thoughts here about what part cannabis plays in the synthetic drug issue?
Is cannabis as risky, riskier or is it safer?
If cannabis was available the same as synthetics would the problem be better, worse or similar?
If no synthetics pass the safety test of the new Act and nothing else changes will the problems get better or worse?
Should the laws related to cannabis use be reviewed?
Should the laws related to cannabis cultivation be reviewed?
Should the laws related to cannabis supply be reviewed?
Should all psychoactive substances be banned (including cannabis)?
When the Psychoactive Substances Act kicks in we may have no synthetic drugs legally for sale or we may have a reduced number of them for sale. Regardless, we will still have issues with drug use, drug addiction and associated problems – especially health and crime.
tell you what Pete. Why don’t you ask those same questions about alcohol use in NZ, then we can have an honest discussion.
That’s a different issue, or rather issues. Entrenched issues with no easy solutions. Alcohol is interwoven with the social and commercial fabrics of New Zealand, and impossible to unpick. We have to learn to deal with it better.
What on earth makes you think cannabis and other similar things are any different?
Pete, have you ever smoked cannabis? And I mean, not just once or twice at some pissed party, I mean smoked it enough to learn and understand what happens to the mind ? And Pete, same question with synthetic stuff…
Cannabis has been illegal for how long? Alcohol has been legal for how long?
Cannabis is substantially supplied via major criminal interests. Alcohol is supplied via long established commercial interests.
Self supply of cannabis is illegal, self supply of alcohol is legal.
Cannabis is associated with underground social practices, alcohol is a major part of open and accepted social practices.
I’m quite surprised you asked that question.
I’ve never smoked cannabis or used any synthetic or illegal drugs. I don’t have any interest in drugs personally, but I recognise major social issues and growing discussion and demands about the use of synthetics and natural cannabis.
Did you know cannabis used to be legal?
Did you know alcohol used to be illegal?
Did you know alcohol used to be supplied by major criminal interests?
Did you know alcohol is associated with NZ’s worst underground social practices?
Do you know how much trouble people cause due to cannabis, compared to alcohol?
… oh forget it
Has alcohol ever been illegal in New Zealand?
LOL
Genuine question. My knowledge of early 20th century New Zealand history is quite woeful. It’s not my area of expertise.
I know some areas went dry, but I always thought a national prohibition failed. So it seems odd to compare say the former illegality of alcohol to the current illegality of cannabis.
In some areas.
The Demon Drink: Alcohol and Prohibition in New Zealand (PDF)
There are still remnants of this with Invercargill, Clutha and Oamaru still dominated by licensing trusts. After prohibition ended (up until the 1980’s) the trusts had control of legal alcohol sales.
When I lived in Auckland in the mid seventies there was still a vote each election that kept Roskill dry.
Well, I’ll be. You learn something new everyday.
“..I’ve never smoked cannabis or used any synthetic or illegal drugs..”
gee..!..that comes as no real surprise..eh..?
..heh..!
..is professional-fretting/auntying/walter-mitty-dreamings of ‘influence’.. yr drugs of choice there..?..petey..?
..heh..!
..drugs don’t just come in powered/herb-form..eh..?
ffs PG, please think a wee bit about what you type and then take this morning’s nonsense away from here.
“Cannabis is associated with underground social practices,” (socialising, sharing, etc)
“alcohol is a major part of open and accepted social practices” (violence, vomiting, absenteeism, death, etc).
FFS Bill, please think a wee bit about what you read before you launch.
Of course there are positive aspects of underground drug social practices, and of course there many well known negative aspects of open and accepted alcohol social practices.
Pete. You wrote about (quote) “underground social practices”. That suggests illegality, unlawfulness, maybe even unacceptable deviance, and as such screams bigotry on your part.
You didn’t write about (quote) “underground drug social practices”. That, of course, is something completely different and casts the so-called “underground drugs” rather than the “social practices” in the realms of illegality, unlawfulness etc.
“of course there many well known negative aspects of open and accepted alcohol social practices.”
Which is why you refuse to ever engage honestly about them because you know they expose the hypocrisy of every bullshit argument ever used against cannabis.
Did I mention Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwn?
and how is that weekly budget for poor people coming along Pete?
“but I recognise major social issues and growing discussion and demands about the use of synthetics and natural cannabis.”
pete you are just doing again what you have tried to do previously – that is, take an issue and try to use it to increase your personal profile. Is this part of your factchecker role or smply a personal brainfart. To be honest pete you are a lot dimmer than you think you are and your transparent nonsense is, well, transparent and nonsense imo.
Then you will be surprised who else has committed to doing something about this. There’s a growing network of concern and a recognition this needs to be addressed far more proactively.
It’s a bit sad to see here amongst a number is the only forum obsessed with diverting with petty personal pissiness.
“It’s a bit sad to see here amongst a number is the only forum obsessed with diverting with petty personal pissiness.”
wtf is that even trying to say?
We know Easter is a 4/20 this year but maybe you should have had a smaller cone?
So I am correct. They need a leader, a visionary, someone who sees the bigger picture, who isn’t influenced by petty politics but wants that arena to be better, kinder, less extreme – and there is a person within the political sphere who fits the bill, who stands like a colossus with legs astride the political landscape, impervious to the arrows of the unimaginative. Your time has come pete – will you stand tall and accept your destiny. This could be your catapult to the national stage.
Had you considered Pete, that the pissiness is due entirely to your habit of getting up early and spraying an ever so earnest cut n paste over the various blogs as early as possible.
If people really wanted to ‘discuss’ these issues with you they would head over to your place.
The passive aggressive behavior you display on here is hardly raising the political discourse and generally sucks a thread into a petty nah nah nah followed by a look at what they said at the standard post on kiwiblog.
If your true aim is to improve the standard of political discourse perhaps you should consider your posting habits and the effects they have on it….
do you think alcohol should be made illegal?
What the fuck is an “underground social practice”, Pete?
lolz, I’ve been wonderinf that too. The mind boggles at what might be going on in Pete’s imagination about what cannabis smokers get up to and where they do whatever they get up to, but then it doesn’t pay to follow that line of thought too far.
I keep thinking of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFE02apJBQ
“Cannabis is substantially supplied via major criminal interests. Alcohol is supplied via long established commercial interests.
Self supply of cannabis is illegal, self supply of alcohol is legal.
Cannabis is associated with underground social practices, alcohol is a major part of open and accepted social practices.”
Pete, you often say that people don’t know you so are wrong to judge, but what you just wrote is breaktaking in its bias and ignorance. Nothing shameful about that ignorance apart from the fact that you seem unwilling to do anything about it.
You’ve basically just laid out how incredibly disconnected you are from whole swathes of NZ society that use currently illegal drugs.
Pete, are you aware that a huge chunk of cannabis users in NZ comprises of middle class young professional people?
@ amrite..
..no they aren’t…they could be extras in trainspotting..
..pete has nightmares of hordes of them shuffling towards him..
..bongs outstretched…
I’m aware of a wide range of people using cannabis. They all either produce it illegally or source it illegally, which means they get it off criminals.
It’s a lot more complicated than just changing the law (that in itself is complicated enough). If it is de-criminalised or legalised there’s a lot to be worked out about what type of production, distribution and use is allowed.
It’s not as simple as just passing a bill through Parliament.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWN
come back with some honest material
Every syllable you wrote oozes deliberate hypocrisy, or is it just wilful ignorance.
so i will repeat myself,
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWN
Oh Horseshit you don’t want to talk about Alcohol, because your BOSS says not to. So just stand there in the corner like a good little boy, hold the Comb, and Shut UP.
Totally false claims, totally unsupportable, but you will probably be allowed to get away making false accusations here.
Apparently a double standard applies.
🙄 , 🙄 , 🙄 ….
Glad to see you’re getting good use out of your new skill there bad12…………my thoughts exactly, the moment I saw this thread kick off.
7.05am on Easter Sunday, Pete, really?
Really?
🙄
Martyrdom was a sign of holiness, indicating overwhelming faith and sacrifice.
Self-martydom is masturbation for the impotent.
what are peoples’ thoughts here about what part (former dunne-party candidate for dunedin nth) petey george plays in anything..?
..does he just leave a big ‘why?..lord..!..why..?’..in most minds..?
..or is it only me..?
Why do you reply to him?
‘cos if you don’t..he is like a tap..left running..
..and i find that laughing at him/his wall-to-wall bullshit..(and hopefully causing/helping others to laugh at him..the former dunne-party-candidate for dunedin nth..see what i mean..?..there’s a giggle or two right there)
..works best..
..that’s why..
..and re the former-candidate in his disciple-stage..
..it really was a case of ‘catch a falling star’..for him..
..eh..?
..(see what i mean..!..the comedic raw-material is there in spades..)
..and i haven’t even got to the with bearded-face full-body massages he gives to that edwards-the-younger..
..as payment for his weekly mentions in his/edwards’ once-over-lightly roundups in that rightwing-rag..
..the man is comedy-gold..!..)
and by doing that..you can turn him from a rightwing-tr*ll doing his dissembling-work..
..into a foil..
..to be used to highlight just what utter rightwing bullshit it is he peddles..
pete george:..i pretend to fret..therefor i am..
Paul: “Why do you reply to him?”
Phillip Ure: “‘cos if you don’t..he is like a tap..left running..”
a perfect metaphor 🙂
16 comments (out of 41 in total to date) on Open Mike devoted to responding to a dull diversionary question from PG.
Exactly Paul, PG likes to lead people round by the nose, that’s where He gets His thrills, only deserving of this, 🙄 ,this 🙄 ,and this 🙄 …
Every now and then it is handy to use his blatherings to get readers to face the questions raised by his obvious hypocrisy. And let’s face it, when it comes to Pete crusading on this particular issue, at least the hypocrisy will be consistent 🙂
because its sometimes like investigating the characteristics of a fossil?
there’s a chance – a hope even that sometimes something worthwhile might emerge – though usually NOT
in PG’s case, it’s the most charitable explanation
These questions are very oddly framed. The issue of risk isn’t a matter of opinion – it’s something which, although complex, can be quantified and measured. Making policy on the basis of ‘I reckon …’ may be flattering to our egos but probably doesn’t result in good policy.
“The issue of risk isn’t a matter of opinion – it’s something which, although complex, can be quantified and measured.”
How so?
How many users of X experience significant side effects compared to users of Y? How much does mitigating factor B reduce side effect C?
The complexity comes from issues like legality, accessibility, ruling out other factors (such as the crossover between drug use and mental illness), but my point is it’s not a pure matter of opinion as Pete George has framed it.
The other point worth making is that comparing one type of risk/harm against another is usually not valid.
Personally I believe both cannabis and alcohol have harms associated with them. There is no doubt the risk associated with alcohol is very spectacular and pervasive in our society; but there is good evidence to suggest that there are a less obvious set of risks associated with cannabis of a very different nature.
For that reason I’m not all that keen on consuming much of either of them. I limit my alcohol to about one or two glasses of red a month, and I’ve not bothered with cannabis since I was a teenager. After a short while I found it boring and I rapidly became suspicious of it’s persistent after-effects.
‘Good evidence’ is precisely the point – and we should make policy and law decisions based on that, not on ‘I reckon.’
I am more or less anti-drugs, and I wouldnt encourage people to use pot, or any other substance.
That said I dont judge those who use it, and I dont think people should be dragged through the courts for having a joint in their bag or having a cone with their mates on a Saturday night. I think allowing people to grow the stuff for personal use and allowing tobacconists to sell seed and equipment would be a suitable course.
Do you realise that alcohol, coffee, and sugar are all drugs?
Yes but they are not all the same drug.
Personally I enjoy a little alcohol, but I never get drunk. (I’ve only had one hangover in my whole life and that was a very long time ago. I do feel considerable sympathy for those people who are wired to become addicted to the stuff. It must be an awful life.)
Caffeine in modest amounts seems to be fairly neutral, but again I find it best to limit it to once a day at most. Sometimes I go off it for months at a time.
Sugar is dreadful stuff metabolically. I do my best to avoid added sugar completely.
My point is – while it’s fair to label all three as ‘drugs’; it’s not fair to them treat them all the same. Different risks, different responses.
Of course, but you can apply that to cannabis and most other drugs too 🙂
Like a lot of people I’m not all that keen on using drugs of any kind, and I accept there is not a neat one-size-fits-all definition of them, nor a nice clean set of risks and harms associated with them.
Equally I’m not all that enamoured with the legal shambles around them. Prohibition/criminalisation is a crude, counter-productive tool to use in response to the very wide diversity of ‘drugs’ we use in our society.
As a result I’m caught between a reluctance to see the doors opened to an uncontrolled smorgasbord of ‘drugs’ available anytime, anywhere – and the frank acknowledgement that prohibition just makes matters worse.
Yet I’ve managed to blithely wander through most of my life quite detached from drugs. This doesn’t make me a better person or special in any fashion – but it does prompt me to ask why it is that some people are so very prone to harm from drug use and others appear to be quite removed from them altogether. I want find out more about the root cause of this difference – and if we understood it better would it help us to move on from this ‘decriminalisation’ dilemma?
Apart from my ex-addition to tobacco and my occasional taste for alcohol, the most addictive drugs I have ever used are the 4 that I now take daily to make sure that I stay healthy and alive. For some reason I’m addicted to living (to code)
But I had a few acquaintances who died from heroin in the 70s – mostly from bad drugs or determined suicide attempts as far as I could tell. There have been a whole lot of friends, family and acquaintances I have seen who used illegal recreational drugs. Over the decades I can’t see much difference in outcomes from the ones who used legal drugs.
Incidentally when I was in my late teens I did try a few drugs. However I was already addicted to writing code so they never had a chance after they interfered with that.
Heh – the big reason why I drink so little is that any code written the following day – needs a complete re-write the next day after!
But I had a few acquaintances who died from heroin in the 70s – mostly from bad drugs or determined suicide attempts as far as I could tell.
And yes. I don’t dwell on those memories, but they are haunting nonetheless.
People take drugs for all sorts of reasons, so if we want to look at why some people experience harm from use we need to look past the drug and instead look at the context. Risk from a substance is highly individual, so to my mind it’s a nonsense to look at the risk of say cannabis outside the context of the person using it. Where that gets a bit tricky is the public health aspect, and wether there are untoward effects on society as a whole. But even there, there is no getting around the fact that alcohol is legal for no good reason in terms of risk assessment.
Some of the contexts connected with risk are poverty, violence, colonisation, oppression, historical child abuse, genetics, family dynamics, biology, mental health, peer pressure, socialisation, self-esteem, the need for self-medication…
The other thing that’s important to know is that taking drugs is fun! It’s fine that you don’t do this 🙂 but there is nothing wrong per se with getting out of it. And people with the above contexts also take drugs for fun.
For me this isn’t that hard. Legalise cannabis. We don’t have to even look at legalising other drugs in order to do that. Put in place some good educational resources on use and harm minimisation, some rules around thigns like age or driving etc, and then let people make their own decisions just like we let them make those decisions about everything else. The idea that cannabis is a risk to indviduals or society is a red herring. Yes there is risk, but not in a way that legitimises making criminals out of cannabis users.
Except that so far that’s proven to be not possible. We don’t seem to have come close. So it is hard. And future prospects look hard.
Putting politics and arrogance aside can be hard.
What’s needed is a concerted campaign to move things in that direction. Otherwise the next person to come along suggesting something be done will probably be ridiculed and nothing will change. That’s what’s not hard, petty bitching and same old.
It’s only hard because of idiots like you who refuse to see the sense of simply legalising marijuana.
“Except that so far that’s proven to be not possible.”
complete horse shit
(we see above you have already called out for the waaambulance )
Governments choosing not to even try to do something, is not the same thing as something being possible or not.
You could not have supplied a better example of the very central flaw in most of your comments that so many have tried to point out to you so often.
Read this slowly…. Just because you say something, does not mean it is true.
Now, the obsequious little nugget of nothingness that started your final paragraph…
“What’s needed is a concerted campaign to move things in that direction. ”
When did you last pick up the phone to the ALCP and say, ‘hi guys, Pete George here, what can I do to help bring balance and objectivity to the discussion of cannabis reform in New Zealand?
wow cannabis reform… maybe that is a politically and economically important topic that a fact checking site would be interested in covering ……… cue tumbleweeds
Last Thursday, after they called me, after I emailed them.
Great to hear that Pete, and what did you ask them?
Wearing which hat by the way?
What was their response?
or is it all secret and stuff?
Was your bizarre Easter Sunday questions research for a Politicheck article?
If so why did you not say so?
Should we just assume everything you now post is for Politicheck research?
Putting politics and arrogance aside can be hard.
Indeed.
bitching and same old.
You da man!
Dat’s the bomb!
Groovy, man.
Like totally cool, dude.
Gag me with a spoon!
You’re a real hep cat!
Yes I’m ok with legalising cannabis for the time being. It seems the most pragmatic thing to do at the moment.
Some of the contexts connected with risk are poverty, violence, colonisation, oppression, historical child abuse, genetics, family dynamics, biology, mental health, peer pressure, socialisation, self-esteem, the need for self-medication…
Absolutely. Yet the tragedy is that in self-medicating the end result is often a compounding and entrenchment of all these issues.
I’m with Lynn on this. I too get my fun from solving coding puzzles. Yesterday I worked around 14 hrs on a project, and along the way I finally managed to build and debug a Scalar Kalman filter algorithm that I’ve been thinking about for years. (All actual experts in digital signal processing feel free to LOL now.) And I got a real kick from it – that opportunity to creatively express myself is central to my reason for living.
The opportunity to be creative, to excel at some skill or artform, or to work in a group towards a meaningful goal seem to be the three expansive motivations for humans.
I’m not going to LOL, because I don’t know exactly what you did. However, I am curious as to how you managed to spend years thinking about what I would have considered a fairly simple problem. What made it so time consuming?
Well three things; one is that I only looked at it briefly on a handful of occasions over the years – so the total time spent wasn’t all that long. I found the story behind how Rudolf Kalman solved the Apollo lunar landing module radar guidance problem inspiring – and I guess I was always curious to get my head around at least the basics of what he achieved.
Secondly most of the references on the web are for the general MIMO case with lots of very abstract matrix maths I’m not at all good at. As a result for a long time I had in my mind a wrong idea about how a Kalman filter actually worked. I had completely misunderstood what the a priori was meant to be in practical terms.
Thirdly until recently I didn’t really have a pressing need to make one work, but when faced with the desirability of using one in my current project, I spent a day banging away at the much simpler SISO case and finally the penny dropped.
Like a lot of people I can handle maths as long as I can map it onto something concrete in my mind – it’s the pure abstractions that baffle me unfortunately.
I have to add that after spending years looking at time series trend plots with conventional filters that always add a phase delay – the first time I saw the Kalman filter respond to a step input with zero delay was rather spooky.
I knew in my head that was how it was supposed to work, but actually seeing it was still a surprise.
I know this had drifted OT but it speaks to what Lynn was saying earlier above.
I didn’t think you could drift off topic in open mike 🙂
Thanks for your answer. I have problems with abstract maths as well, which is a bit of a drawback in my job as a theoretical quantum physicist, but can also be an advantage. I tend to look more at what can be achieved with real systems than developing abstract theorems.
“What are people’s thoughts here about what part cannabis plays in the synthetic drug issue?”
As a friend pointed out recently, the only reason that legal highs are legal and cannabis isn’t is because the law hasn’t found a way to make legal highs illegal (I think there is probably a commerical incentive in there too to not ban them outright). It’s simply an anomaly that alcohol is legal and cannabis isn’t. So let’s stop pretending that this is an issue of risk and safety. It’s not. It’s about the need of some people to control morality and the need of other people to control money.
The blindingly obvious solution to the very real problems of legal highs is to legalise cannabis. There are risks to many things that humans do. The line that cannabis has risks is a redherring. We already have models for managing risk including harm minimisation, so risk sin’t a good reason to keep cannabis illegal.
Pete, you are several decades behind the game here. All the questions you are asking have been answered many many times.
Blindingly obvious solution or not today, still, nothing has happened about it. Can’t have been obvious enough or made obvious to the right people.
So should we do nothing now and change nothing?
Don’t know what you mean by ‘we’ in that sentence. People have been working in this issue already, and progress has been made. That doesn’t include you as far as I can tell.
As for the ‘right’ people, you still fail to understand what the issue is here. The ‘right’ people are the people with the power, and those people aren’t traditional cannabis users (they drink alcohol). The reasons they don’t work outside their experience are varied (commerce, control, ignorance). Until the GP came along, there was no-one putting the decriminalisation issue on mainstream agenda. It’s people like you who wring your hands that are keeping the issue unresolved. Your astounding ignorance isn’t the problem, it’s your inability to recognise you are ignorant and do something about it. But beyond that, I am pretty sure when it comes down to it, you want the power to remain in the hands of the few, and that you don’t trust people in general to make their own decisions about drug use. For you, the decisions should be made by people who are of your class and ilk, otherwise you would already be talking to expert drug users and learning from them.
Plus what Tracey said above about making alcohol illegal.
You’re a long way off the mark with that assumption.
And that one. You seem to have pigeon hole pique.
I’ve been doing that. And I’ve been working now with three parties with various interests in this.
“..And I’ve been working now with three parties with various interests in this…”
wow..!..(all pomposities/self-regard/importance to one side..)
..so yr now a multi-party go-to person on drug policy too..eh..?
..is there no end to yr (nelson mandela-like) skills..?
..and where do you find the time..?..
..’wot with all yr politicheking…eh..?..
(we are all holding our breath for yr first big scoop/expose..eh..?..
..(and don’t disappoint me now..!..i’ve got money on it being a left-attacking little number..
..my money’s safe..eh..?..)
..i mean those taxpayer union trouts had that provincial flight done by that green mp..eh..?
..them breaking that important story must have had you green with envy..eh..?..
..you must dream of getting anything like that good at this rightwing-pressure-group thing..eh..?..)
In the name of fairness -Pete did ask some questions and if we want him to honestly answer ours …. (like a 40 year old virgin, we must believe there will be a first time)
Is cannabis as risky, riskier or is it safer?
It is less risky, in the same way that driving with a seat belt is generally regarded as being safer than driving without one.
If cannabis was available the same as synthetics would the problem be better, worse or similar?
There would not be a problem. Period! The entire market would disappear, largely overnight. The residual problems would be the ongoing addictions relating to those who have already been poisoned by the toxic products created and sold under the blinkered myopia of the current hypocrisy. (have to assume you are referring to ‘synthetic cannabis’ even though no such thing exists. It needs to be said that there are also many other ‘synthetic’ products that this new testing might help make safer for all and less stigmatic. Many of the products that this law wants to ban are actually safer, more natural and less risky than some foods sold in supermarkets. Certainly safer than alcohol)
If no synthetics pass the safety test of the new Act and nothing else changes will the problems get better or worse?
The distribution of even more dangerous compounds will make the problem a lot worse. You only have to look at the poison people drink during periods of alcohol prohibition/scarcity.
Should the laws related to cannabis use be reviewed?
well d’uh
Should the laws related to cannabis cultivation be reviewed?
well d’uh
Should the laws related to cannabis supply be reviewed?
well d’uh
Should all psychoactive substances be banned (including cannabis)?
You do know, that to be anything but a pandering to predetermination, testing must include alcohol right? We all know alcohol has an exemption so the entire testing to make us safer argument holds about as much water as a fishing net. Some schools of thought would even say sugar falls into the category of a psychoactive substance. So yes, let’s review the whole bag of tricks Pete. You may not like the results though. You would have to watch your smug fall away revealing decades of illusion and propaganda.
I think Pete is one of those people who thinks that drugs are the bad chemicals, as if there is some inherent moral underpinning to chemistry.
if pete wanted to make alcohol illegal I would be more inclined toward his hand wringing over synthetic drugs
Bloody good point Tracey.
Taking Pete’s questions at face value, my genuine response is that they are all mostly irrelevant.
What’s relevant is creating a society where where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living, and where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week.
The legality or otherwise of different substances then becomes a non-issue.
I think that’s idealistic and unrealistic.
There’s no sign of anything anywhere close to this being achieved and it’s very unlikely to be achieved.
Humans have liked using drugs for thousands of years. It’s been suggested that agriculture became established through the desire to produce beer. Whether that’s accurate or not alcohol and other drugs go back a long way.
Many people want to experience drug effects and that’s not likely to change.
Yes Pete but I’m not really concerned with people using drugs per se because the drugs are not really the problem.
Harmful behaviour is the problem (well actually a symptom of a problem).
Why are people engaging in such soul-destroying, abusive, hurtful behaviour with such monotonous regularity?
Why does our society and culture seem to encourage and even reward some of this behaviour?
Weekly wreckings are an accepted and glorified norm. Why? Who gains?
Why do we think there is anything natural about a lifestyle with these destructive, regressive activities so ingrained within it?
Oh yes felix. I shouldn’t say this out loud – but reading these few sentences above brought tears.
There’s a large pragmatic part of me that just wants to try and muddle on with the ‘realities’ of modern life. Pay the mortgage, hold down that job, dress right and behave right and maybe I’ll get to a decent retirement.
And the idealist in me weeps.
Also Pete, I can’t let this slip by: “a society where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living, and where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week.”
If you really, genuinely believe that’s an “unrealistic” goal, then what’s the point of all your efforts?
Seriously. What’s the point? What do you want to see in the world if not that?
I’m still waiting to see the answer to that question by felix. That’s the guts of it. It’s not just a question of getting facts correct and then miraculously arriving at a (non-political?) solution. We all have underlying values that guide the facts and issues we focus on, and the analysis of such. And it is the difference in underlying values that generally differentiates various poltiical positions: left or right; liberal or conservative….etc.
That’s why it’s important to make our basic values and perspectives explicit.
You let slip a part of that quote. Here it is with an important final paragraph.
I responded “I think that’s idealistic and unrealistic”. That was in reference to the whole statement.
I think “creating a society where where young people have faith that their lives are meaningful and worth living” is a great ideal and worth working towards.
I think “where adults find enough stimulation and satisfaction in their activities that they don’t feel like wiping themselves out at the end of every week” is a fine aim but idealistic and I doubt we can ever get close to to that. For example being a parent wipes you out daily, it’s the nature of the job. It’s not uncommon for parents to want a drink or a smoke at the end of another busy day.
“The legality or otherwise of different substances then becomes a non-issue.” I took that as meaning that people wouldn’t use drugs any more. That’s naive and unrealistic. Many poor people don’t have the time or money to do drugs much if at all, and most have more sense than to waste their money and minds.
Drug use and abuse happens across the income spectrum. A wealthy person can be stressed about their money like a poor person stressed about their lack of money.
And no matter how ideal we can make our society I think there will always be a significant number of people who keep using drugs, so the legalities will remain issues. It’s idealistic to think that it could become a non-issue.
If you’re going to say nothing at all Pete, could you use fewer words? You’re just wasting everyone’s time and it’s becoming clear why.
To smoke or not to smoke is not the question.
Dunne has deeply damaged the credibility of the office of a minister.
All around the country kids are hearing that the Toxic Shot is legal and that it will not be banned by the minister, whose son is making a living out of selling the Toxic shit.
No wonder so many do not vote when they see such self serving bullshit.
Dear Standardistas. Do not engage with Peter George on the decriminalization of Cannabis. etc. It is a smoke screen for his hero Peter Dunne and his drug industry son, James.
The issue is the moral void that is the Dunnes, Pere et Fils
“Dunne has deeply damaged the credibility of the office of a minister.
All around the country kids are hearing that the Toxic Shot is legal and that it will not be banned”
In Hamilton the kids are hearing the toxic shot IS BANNED
If you really care about these kids why don’t you do something useful an get these puff shops shutdown in your area.
http://www.legalhighs.co.nz/synthetic-cannabis/six-hamilton-legal-highs-stores-closed/2014
Top story in the Herald
‘Bubble about to burst’
If the Herald reports it, the right wing must be worried….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=11241125
The actual report.
12 reasons why we aren’t a rock star economy!
1) Interest rates have been at all-time lows for almost a half-decade
2) Property prices have doubled since 2004
3) New Zealand has the world’s third most overvalued property market
4) New Zealand’s mortgage bubble grew by 165% since 2002
5) Nearly half of mortgages have floating interest rates
6) Mortgages account for 60% of banks’ loan portfolios
7) Finance, not agriculture, is New Zealand’s largest industry
8) New Zealand’s banks are exposed to Australia’s bubble
9) Australian and Chinese buyers are inflating the property bubble
10) New Zealand has a household debt problem
11) Government overseas debt has nearly tripled since 2008
12) The New Zealand dollar is overvalued
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2014/04/17/12-reasons-why-new-zealands-economic-bubble-will-end-in-disaster/
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/04/19/12-things-forbes-has-to-say-about-nzs-about-to-burst-economic-bubble/
Now if the opposition cannot get some traction on Numbers 3, 9 and 11, then they may as well give up!
This is dynamite.
Well, Steven Joyce has the perfect response – well that’s if you’re a right winger keen to keep on fiddling until the bubble bursts. He says it’s being “alarmist” and that Colombo is a “bubble-ologist”.
That’s very a very selective representation of that article. It wasn’t just Joyce questioning the claims.
Infometrics managing director Gareth Kiernan…
Interest.co.nz contributing editor Bernard Hickey…
I’m not sure if Hickey would be generally regarded as a keen right winger.
No control over foreign buyers has influenced:
Increasing residential house prices
Over leveraged residential property
NZ government paying massive supplements to overseas investors via the Accommodation Supplement each year.
http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index.php?showtopic=10738&hl=%2Bzealand+%2Bresidential+%2Bproperty
nothing to see there..eh pg..?
..now..where can we put more dairy farms..?
..she’ll be right..!
what’s that..?..national have tripled our foreign debt since they came to power..?
..no worries..!
..eh pete..?
..but didn’t they say they had sell off all the assets…
..so they didn’t have ‘to run to the foreign bankers..like labour wants to do..’..?
..wasn’t that the story/spin..?
..so..perhaps you cd apply yr politichek-editor skills to explain that one..?
..’cos they not only flogged off the assets..
..they have tripled our foreign debt..(!)
..w.t.f..!..eh pg..?..
..who is telling all the lies there..eh..?
..but..really..nothing to see there..eh..?..
..you good little rightwing tr*ll you..eh..?..
Yes, you’re right. I was selective. I was just laughing so hard at Joyce’s clumsy neologism.
I think Hickey is a right winger, but one who has become increasingly skeptical about the neoliberal version of capitalism.
I don’t think there’ll be a sudden catastrophic crisis. But, there will be a down turn as the bubble starts to deflate. And the article does have that quote about the bubble being widely acknowledged.
@ karol..
..i don’t share yr optimism..
..we are bubbling like crazy..
..we are exposed to the australian bubbles..
..we are exposed to the chinese bubbles…
..and when any one of those pops..
..we go with it..
..so it isn’t really a matter of ‘if’…but ‘when?’.
..yeah..!..this govt knows what it is doing…
..more dairying..!
..sell more land..!
..dig more coal..!
..drill..!..baby..!..drill..!..
..more low-wage economy..!
..fuck the poor..!
..and how about some more tax cuts for the richest..?..eh..?
..it’s been a while..
..and we spent all the last ones..
..buying our share of those power-companies..
..eh..?
This graph shows an interesting parallel. are we on the brink of a massive world economic crash?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/scary-1929-market-chart-gains-traction-2014-02-11
No. What a ridiculous comparison.
No housing bubbles round the world then?
Yes we are Paul, it should have happened post-GFC. Governments got taxpayers to bail the corporates out, but it wont last. The world’s banking system is a Ponzi scheme nearing its end.
“That’s very a very selective representation of that article.”
No it fucking well wasn’t Pete. It was a fair representation of quotes from Joyce including a link to the source. Like I said above, think about what you type and then take your nonsense away from here.
Why so tetchy Bill? Has Easter Bunny not delivered for you yet?
karol has accepted “Yes, you’re right. I was selective. I was just laughing so hard at Joyce’s clumsy neologism.”
If I quoted such a small part of an article I suspect you would be lining up to grump at me for that.
Actually, I agree with Bill as well. My comment wasn’t intended to represent the whole article. It was a brief comment focused on Joyce’s clumsy neologism – which I found very funny while I was eating breakfast. The arguments for and against the Colombo argument are being looked at in more detail re-micky’s post.
that’s why Pete basically copy pastes whole paragraphs/articles, so he has lots of wriggle room when people try to pin down whatever it is he is referring to or is commenting on. He could save himself a lot of hassle (and free up his fact-checking time) if he just posted links to the NZH front page and simply said …
‘In the future, we need to discuss what would lead to a real dialogue, allowing us to frame the conversation we desperately need to have”
… would anyone notice the difference ?
“Why so tetchy Bill?”
It’s like this Pete. I’ve no problem with people saying stupid things or jumping on their own wee hobby horses from time to time.
But for the past wee while most of your comments have been a mix of stuff that’s annoyingly off beam and/or concern troll nonsense. And I don’t like it. ‘N fact, I’m getting really fucked off by it.
Also, just so you know, I don’t like that even your very occasional sensible comment gets mobbed and even those threads trashed as a result. But then people, I think, are simply and understandably reacting to your comments on the basis of expectation rather than actual content on those occasions.
Now, go away and think about what I’ve said in light of the fact that I disagree with many of the comments and opinions here. I’m telling (not asking) you do that so that you don’t start whining in some narcissistic or self important way about how your picked on by some kind of evil Labour Party/leftsist hive mind that you sometimes appear to imagine ‘the standard’ as.
Is it just you doing the whining? Or is it a round about moderator instruction to me to go away and not to comment here?
Sheesh, that comment from the guy who accused Karol of misrepresentation up the thread!
I’m giving you information based on observation, providing my own opinion and suggesting a course of action. (The telling is to do with a lens you keep at hand for the sake of any reflection)
If you can’t see what I’ve been observing, then you haven’t been paying attention to the responses you generate. I mean, it’s all rather fucking blatantly obvious, though…from your latest response it would seem reasonable to assume that you simply can’t understand what people say, or see where they’re coming from, even when it’s fairly straight forward. I don’t expect you to have any insight as to why that might be. I have my own thoughts on the matter. I’ll be keeping them to myself.
Funny thing Bill is it seems to be something peculiar to here, and it doesn’t just happen with me.
KIA’s essay is a good example. Most of the initial response was attacking KIA for irrelevant things from the past and attacking me for quoting and linking etc, and denying and diverting.
But sometimes worthwhile discussions eventuate. When micky and KIA started actually addressing and debating things it has resulted in some interesting stuff. Neither is right or wrong (generally), they both make some good points from different views.
Robust discussion or bitching sessions where no alternative views are tolerated?
Peculiar to here? I’d say it’s peculiar to you.
joyce calls this guy a ‘bubbleologist’..
..can we call joyce what he is..?
..’a lying prick’..
I think Jesse Colombo may know more than Joyce about the matter.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120516005606/en/Analyst-Warned-Millions-Crash-%E2%80%9808-Age-22
Wonder how the government will defend their ramping up of New Zealand’s overseas debt( point 11) and not dealing with factors causing the property bubble (point 9)?
Their management of the economy, so praised by the NZ corporate media, has been wretched (as many of us have been saying for a while)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Colombo
He makes is money off predicting when bubbles are about to burst as Joyce said he’s a “bubble-ologist”.No doubt all his investments are heavily weighted toward ones that do very well when markets crash.
From experience it’s very hard to find financial opinion that doesn’t have a massive slant that favors the author especially when the author’s American.
@ bm..
“..From experience it’s very hard to find financial opinion that doesn’t have a massive slant that favors the author especially when the author’s American..”
so best just stuff yr fists in yr ears and go ‘nah!..nah..!..nah..!’..eh..?
..especially when it is something you don’t want to hear..eh..?
..something that ideologically-grates..?..
..how about nouriel roubini..?
..y’know..!..that guy who was one of the first to predict reasons/timeline of the great financial clusterfuck..?..and one who i relied on for the early predictions/warnings@whoar..)
..(and ..oh..!..how you all laughed at him..eh..?..’dr doom!’..and all that..?..eh..?..)
..well guess what..!..roubini is now saying it is all about to go pop again…
..and soon…
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=roubini
(oh..!..roubini has also noted that we have the housing market in most peril..
..100% mortgage (french def:..’death-grip’)..anyone..?..
..and like peter sellars in the final scene of dr strangelove..
..you’ll ride that sucker ’till it explodes..eh?…)
From what I’ve noticed, in America everyone’s an “expert”, this young guy’s a “bubble expert”.
All his investment advice/opinion is bubble related.
The way it seems to work is you’re either a Bull or a Bear, this chap is definitely in the Bear camp so he specifically targets to people who have a negative outlook.
That’s how he makes his money.
and yr casual dismissal of roubint..?..is..?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouriel_Roubini#cite_note-NYT-2
There’s only two ways a market can go, up or down.
If you pick a position and stick with it eventually you’re going to be right, it’s getting the timing correct which is the hard thing and that’s when you make your money.
yr obviously a deep-thinker there..bm..
..i’ll just leave you to get on with it..
From the article you quote….I just copied a bit more as your quote was very selective.
“Roubini’s critical and consistently bearish economic views have earned him the nicknames “Dr. Doom” and “permabear” in the media.[2] In 2008, Fortune magazine wrote, “In 2005 Roubini said home prices were riding a speculative wave that would soon sink the economy. Back then the professor was called a Cassandra. Now he’s a sage”.[3] The New York Times notes that he foresaw “homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt”.[2] In September 2006, he warned a skeptical IMF that “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence, and, ultimately, a deep recession”. Nobel laureate Paul Krugman adds that his once “seemingly outlandish” predictions have been matched “or even exceeded by reality.”[4]”
So they may have given him those nicknames …but he was accurate in his predictions.
If this is an example of how you extract quotes to make your points, you are clearly an unreliable source of information.
I don’t see any response to his critique of issues with NZ’s economy
Same…attempts to bluster and divert and a concerted effort to attack the messenger.
But no argument explaining why the issues he mentions ( 12 of them!) aren’t a concern.
Self interest trumps an ability to look critically at an issue.
What a foolish foolish person you are BM ! – “from experience. it’s very hard to find financial opinion that doesn’t…….etc” – what experience BM ? Establish what you say, please.
“From what I’ve noticed …….” Well that’s so powerful (not). Say what you’ve noticed BM. And establish how it proves your point, if you actually have a point other than cheerleading for John Key’s omnipresence as claimed by you and various other trolls.
In fact if you’re going to go into the mythology of US arch-capitalism then it’s extraordinarily dishonest of you not to acknowledge and analyse the place in that of John Key and myriad other banksters.
Because BM from what I’ve noticed…….Merrill Lynch, Goldmann Sachs etc etc etc.
Dishonest Dunce BM.
I wonder what keys statements looked like when he was a currency trader and expert for j p morgan? probably self serving like your description of this guy. yet you cannot see his self serving statements as pm for what they are.
BM I would put my bets on Jesse Colombo’s forecast over a BSc in Zoology Steven Joyce’s any day.
‘He makes is money off predicting when bubbles are about to burst’
So, by rightwing logic, wouldn’t that mean he’s very good at it?
Exactly
Yep he makes money telling others what they should do.
I get the feeling he doesn’t invest too much himself.
According to Wikipedia
Obviously his personal investment results weren’t quite as stellar as he hoped.
I think you’ll find that when an entire economic global system gets a lot of its profits from bubbles it also gets a lot of losses when the bubbles burst ergo there will be a high incidence of losses when the sytem ‘rebalances’; when the exaggerated prices adjust back to realistic ones.
It appears this is the type of information Jesse is attempting to warn people about. That he has been one of the victims of such an irrational system, doesn’t make his warnings any less realistic – in fact if anything it indicates he is too conservative in his views.
(a re-worked workers’ anthem:..for the use of/by shane jones..and his ilk..)
(cloth-caps doffed..and placed across hearts:..all together now..!..after me..!..)
“..the workers flag..is deepest red..
..neither poofters nor feminists..share our bed..
..we’re kiwi-guys..thru and thru..
..and we’ll have none of that funny business..
..no thank you..!..
..oh why can’t it be – like it used to be..?
..when blokes like me – were all you could see..”
+1
The results of 30 years of neo-liberalism and the cult of corporate and individual greed.
An ideology afflicting the UK and New Zealand .
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11241149
The Craig manipulators – it’s a family affair.
And now it looks like a bit of a struggle between McCully and Crafty Craig for the East Coast Bays seat.
Hypocrite Hide – butter wouldn’t melt in his Epsom mouth what ?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11241035
“Oh God…….Hone’s being tricky !”
Wasn’t that a laugh, i particularly enjoyed Hides rewriting of history where all along it was an evil plot by DotCom to give money to Banks,
”Tried to shower Banks with gifts, but, Banks rebuffed Him”, i just cannot fathom how any of us could have missed this important side to the story,
A laugh out loud column from a washed up politician that deserves as many if not more of these 🙄 than PG does…
Yep what a spew article but good for a sunday lol – I thought this was terrible “Dotcom is not even a New Zealand European but a European European.” Is this an actual distinction? Do some people think like that?
“Harawira believes “white motherf****** have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries”. Dotcom is as white as white.”
Gutter politics from the gutterdog-Hide. First Dotcom isn’t a ‘proper kiwi’ according to snide-hide and then he’s been ripping us off for centuries – which is it. Hide is a fail as a politician and a person imo and this article is even more evidence of that.
if reading that one in hard copy..it’d be best/advised to wear rubber gloves..
..it is very very slimy..
thats like saying owen glenn only gave money to peters so he could later bring he and helen down. dont think even the right suggested that?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9960334/NZ-dodged-bullet-on-Brash-ex-MP
Still rankles with Brash that he was sacked when he came within a whisker of success.
But lying over the Brethren was too much, even for the Nats.
To win next time, they needed a smoother, slicker version of the Extreme Right to lull the electorate.
And under MMP they needed to double cross Maori, not take them on directly.
Key fitted the bill perfectly.
Same policies, though. What has Key done that Brash has disapproved of? The Maori Party have left their people in a worse situation than before, and in total disarray.
Key’s great success has been to sneak in Extreme Right policies, in several policy areas, under the bland unctuous mumbling of ‘Centre-Right’.
Yes, the myth of Key being moderate is exactly that. A myth.
A story repeated by the corporate media so their owners could loot New Zealand.
Brash has always come off as vaguely reptilian, even without the insider details:
Asked by Hill about Orewa 2005, the welfare dependency speech, Brash said he didn’t even think welfare spokesperson Katherine Rich wrote the welfare white paper.
This is an outrageous accusation from the former leader. Rich had been given the portfolio by Bill English just after her second baby was born and spent hours writing it.
The leader’s office edited it two years before Brash was leader, but he seems to think it was beyond a women’s capabilities.
He may remember Rich’s corrections to Brash’s first draft of Orewa 05, when she took issue with his repeated references to “bludgers”, “satan”, “free lunches”, “ripping off the system taken for granted” and “an army of dependants on the march”.
Rich said she didn’t think using military language was helpful.
She vehemently objected to Brash’s intention to bring back adoption, compulsory immunisation and forcing beneficiaries to exhaust other means of income so welfare was the last resort.
“I’m not comfortable about making those with Downs syndrome, cerebral palsy or cancer prove they are not able to contribute to their own support before accessing welfare,” she wrote to Brash.
Mothers having second babies would be forced back to fulltime work even when breastfeeding, and Brash was okay with this.
Rich resigned the portfolio.
Georgina te Heu Heu had already lost Maori Affairs, and Hekia Parata left the party.
Other caucus women were unhappy.
I was flatting with Rich and remember her dismay when Michael Bassett’s Post column slated her for criticising her leader in public, saying she deserved to go.
I suggested Rich ask Brash to get this mistake corrected (she’d never criticised him), a simple matter, surely. Brash couldn’t, he told her, because he’d read the column pre-publication and okayed it.
Now Brash is miffed that John Key won’t take his calls, because they once shared a motel room where Brash said he’d hand over prime ministership to Key.
Big problem with that, Don, you need the numbers and caucus support. You were not a king passing the crown to an heir. Key probably muttered something like: “Yeah, now shuddup and get some sleep.”
And some wise National insiders probably leaked those emails, printed out and clamped in a big bulldog clip, so Brash would never become prime minister. We’re incredibly lucky they did.
I found an interesting line in Deborah Coddington’s article concerning Katherine Rich who resigned her portfolio due to Brash’s views.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9960334/NZ-dodged-bullet-on-Brash-ex-MP
“I’m not comfortable about making those with Downs syndrome, cerebral palsy or cancer prove they are not able to contribute to their own support before accessing welfare,” she wrote to Brash.
Now compare this with the article titled
“Bureaucratic hurdles mean few parents get paid to care for disabled children”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11240668
“But many families have been put off by the system, which requires the disabled people to become their parents’ employers, responsible for paying tax, ACC levies, KiwiSaver, annual leave and sick leave.”
The disabled people are required to set up bank accounts, which some banks do not allow for people who are not intellectually competent.”
The parallels are obvious. Dodged what bullet?
Edit Red Rosa is on to it.
Most of these disabled clients would have no concept of what an employer is, and the government expect them to be one. Am I alone in thinking that this policy is whacko?
Just had a watch of ‘The Nation’ on TV3, this weeks program seems to have got at least one commenter hot under the cranial covering,
Seems to me that the main message from Green Party leader Metiria Turei was that if Labour/NZFirst need the Green Party to guarantee ”confidence and supply” then Labour/NZFirst will need the Green Party ”in Government”,
Questioned on the ‘meaning’ of this Metiria chose to simply repeat the statement, and a snigger developed when the ”end game” move that i would imagine Labour/NZFirst will put to the Greens after the election was put to Mets,
”So you will refuse confidence and supply to Labour/NZFirst if you are not given Cabinet seats and enable a National Government then”,???
That’s laughable, BUT, i can see this as being the main plank of negotiation with the Green Party after the 2014 election,
My suggestion to the Green Party is that the correct answer to this little piece of blame gaming which i fully expect to be the negotiating position is the answer that Metiria gave on ‘The Nation’ interview,
”The Green Party is either ”in” the next Government or they are not”…full stop.
“If there’s a minority govt then we’ll have to decide about C&S whenever such votes come up, and such a government would need to talk to us about the shape of any legislation it wants to pass.”
“..If You Support Legal Marijuana, Memorize These 13 Stats..
With Colorado and Washington starting to tax and regulate recreational weed sales –
and medical marijuana legal in 18 other states –
we can finally start to put some hard numbers on the industry’s value..”
(cont..)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/19/benefits-legalizing-weed-by-the-numbers_n_5173785.html?ref=topbar
remember kiddies to keep a smile in your hearts when ya smashing the state. abbie hoofman.
it’s a great quote/line..
“..remember kiddies..!
..when smashing the state..
..always keep a smile on yr lips..
..and a song in yr heart..!”
and wasn’t it robert crumb/furry freak bros..?
I wuz kinda hoping that pete geroge wuz gonna choke on his Easter eggg.
bit no he’s back.heading the readers list.
hmmmm.
Seen this folks?
Is New Zealand in need of an ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption)?
I think so.
http://laudafinem.com/2014/04/19/why-cant-new-zealand-have-honest-and-capable-politicians-is-nz-in-need-of-an-icac/
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrelly had to resign over his $3000 bottle of wine ‘brainfade’.
The difference between NZ and NSW is that NSW has an INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION (ICAC).
High time for an NZ INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION (ICAC)?
Some of us have been advocating this for some time:
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ANTI-CORRUPTION-WHITE-COLLAR-CRIME-CORPORATE-WELFARE-ACTION-PLAN-Ak-Mayoral-campaign-19-July-2013-2.pdf
Which political parties are now going to pick up the ball, and make support for a New Zealand ICAC, a core election policy?
In my considered opinion, there would be significant public support for such a policy, especially in light of the latest on-going corruption scandals at New Zealand central and local government level.
(Remember – in the 2013 Auckland mayoralty, I polled 4th with nearly 12,000 votes, campaigning against corrupt corporate control of the Auckland region, which, in my opinion, shows growing public understanding and concern about this HUGE issue.)
Seen this?
http://www.transparency.net.nz/
Penny Bright
The difference between NZ and NSW is that the Australians have CAPITAL LETTERS.
CAPITALS, I TELL YOU in my considered opining.
heh..!
Oh dear, Tariana Turia is still very bitter and twisted with Labour.
Labour doesn’t deserve our vote.
Imo, all she has achieved in confirming is: the creation of the Maori Party was really all about herself.
Also, she should have asked – do Maori feel and live better after 6 years of National /Maori Party government?
I think not.
Of course, given the Herald’s editorial bias, this was elevated to their top online story.
Sir Apriana Ngata, a prominent advocate of Maori economic development and self-determination would be disgusted at some of the stances held by the woman who wants to follow in his footsteps. For a start, he would balk at the continued use of floating sweatshops to fish Maori quota, which Turia and her Maori Party cronies continue to try and justify, instead of encourging iwi to invest in their own boats and crews, creating real jobs.
Shane Jones responds to Tariana.
I reckon he’s got it right.
Agree Anne I didn’t notice if she wears glasses, but she needs to get both eyes into focus. However I think her vision has for too long been warped to change.
This, I need not remind you, is Easter, the time in which we must observe the martyrdom of Pete George the most Holy.
It is He who has instructed us in the utmost selective pedantry of our sins of lack of reverence for Himself. Let us not forget that. It is we who have crucified Him on the Cross of Snark.
Let us all retreat to the Hallowed Ground of our Lifestyle Blocks, don the sacred vestments of the Beige Cardigans of Repentance, climb upon our Horses Most High and make the Holy Gestures of the Wagging Finger and the Wrung Hands.
Then let us Check Our Facts and observe the proper period of Calling For More Study.
Amen.
don’t forget the other ‘holy gestures’..
..the slow stroking of the beard..
..and the shaking of the head..’no!’..
..the looking ‘sad’/disappointed..
..and the pursed-lips..
..and that ‘beige-cardigan’ had better be a twin-set…
..and those grey shoes had better have velcro-‘laces’…!
..and those pants had better be permanent-press..!
..and that strange ritual that has built up over time..
..of ‘followers’ gathering to remember him by smoking joints..
..(they say it is because thru is sacrifices for us all..he had none..oh..!..the humanity of the man..!..)
..and to chant rounds of:..’more study’..and ‘but what about?’..
..and of course how they all affect the pompadour of st petes’ former hero/god-figure..
..st peter the dunne…the great- equivocater..
..he who pete came to call ‘the fallen-one’..
..after the great schism of 2013..
..and so it was written..
..and so it did come to pass..
And let it be that the beige cardigan be appointed with leather patches to reduce wear in the penitent’s elbows as he holds his head in his hands whilst at prayer or in conference with his acolytes; as do we poor listeners and readers whilst receiving the Word from Our Pete (aka PG tips!).
then of course there is the serious hair-loss..
..all from excessive forelock-tugging..
..(at/to the pompadoured-one/he-whose-name-must-never-now-be-mentioned..
..as i understand it..)
..and of course there is also his brave-banner /spitting back into the teeth of ridicule..
..of carrying on that now much-sneered-at/reviled facial-hair-affectation..
..the roger douglas mo’..
Rhino
The satire is….very funny.
Imagine a political spectrum as a 0-100 line. 0 = Far left and 100 =Far Right I cannot draw a graph on this posting so bear with me.
In the 1990’s Labour was probably 20-65 and National was 35-80
in 2014 Labour is 10-55 and National is 35-80. Each still a 45 point spread. Just a 10 point drift but a significant one.
Then draw a mean distribution curve graph and you will see that the numbers under the curve are heavily in favour of National
The 55-65 group of Labour voters have shifted over to National.
If Labour go further Left eg 5-50 the maths gets substantially worse for Labour
This assumes that political opinion follows a mean distribution curve graph. It does.
The vast majority are in the mid zone and these are the voters that National as a mildly Left to moderate Right Party has increasingly gained in 2005,2008 2011 and 2014 as Labour has drifted Left.
Those numbers are fascinating. How did you make them up?
it’s called a lowest-orifice-pluck..
Just look at the election returns and remember that in the 1980’s Labour was home to the likes of Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble. Such people in 2014 would never join or vote Labour. Helen Clark kept in power by keeping in the 20-60 range. Labour have changed their rules and have a leader supported by 30% of caucus. The Labour activists have taken over the party and will shape it in their own image. They are delighted. So am I, I can do the arithmetic.
you write like a string of double happy’s going off..
In the 1980’s the National Party infiltraitored the Labour Party.
Some of them are still there.
FYI – seen this?
Minister for Corruption (sorry – Minister for Justice) Judith Collins promised an ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill’.
Hardly surprising that this ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill’. has yet to surface in the Parliamentary legislative ‘sausage machine’?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1310/S00301/bill-supports-zero-tolerance-for-organised-crime.htm
Minister of Justice
18 October 2013 Media Statement
Bill supports zero-tolerance for organised crime
Justice Minister Judith Collins says the Government’s comprehensive approach to fighting all forms of organised crime will help safeguard New Zealand’s economy, international reputation and public safety.
This month a number of international bodies are evaluating New Zealand’s compliance with international standards related to financial crimes – including the OECD, which will report on New Zealand’s compliance with an international convention to combat bribery of foreign public officials.
“I welcome the release of these reports.
This Government takes all forms of organised crime and corruption very seriously,” Ms Collins says.
http://www.3news.co.nz/New-laws-to-fight-organised-crime/tabid/1607/articleID/317781/Default.aspx
New laws to fight organised crime
Friday 18 Oct 2013 10:33a.m.
The Government will bring in a bill before the end of the year to strengthen laws against money laundering, identity theft, human trafficking and corruption.
Justice Minister Judith Collins says she intends to have a comprehensive set of laws in place to fight all forms of organised crime.
“It’s important to consider bribery and corruption within the big picture of organised crime, which undermines public safety, national security, economic development and good governance,” she said today.
“This bill will help ensure New Zealand maintains its reputation as a responsible international citizen and that our domestic law enforcement agencies have the tolls they need to fight all forms of organised crime.”
So WHERE’S Minister for Corruption (sorry – Minister for Justice) Judith Collin’s Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill?
I checked today on the NZ Parliamentary website:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/legislation/bills/?Criteria.Keyword=Organised+Crime+and+Anti-Corruption+Legislation+Bill%2C&Criteria.Timeframe=&Criteria.Parliament=-1&Criteria.DocumentType=&Criteria.Status=&Search=Go
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Oh dear – Minister for Corruption (oops! Justice – yeah right) Judith Collins’ Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill is NOWHERE to be found.
Talk about the corrupt fox in charge of the chook house?
Again – file under ‘You Couldn’t Make This Sh*t Up’?
Penny Bright
That reminds me have you paid your rates yet Penny?
Absolutely not.
Auckland citizens and ratepayers are not being told EXACTLY where our public monies are being spent (which is a statutory requirement under the Public Records Act 2005).
So – if I’m not being told EXACTLY where my rates monies are being spent, I’m not paying any.
Not many folks have the guts to do what I’m doing, but, ‘faint heart never won fair go’.
I take full personal responsibility for my actions.
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
If you take full responsibility stop bitching about it and face the consequences. It doesn’t take guts to not pay your way in life, it’s laziness and spectacular stupidity. When they order your house sold from under you. will you still be taking responsibility or blaming the Council ?
She’s got a point – we really should be told exactly where every penny of our money is being spent.
Has Deborah Coddington finally seen the light.
She is certainly making some interesting comments lately.In fact she is begining to sound like a real Leftie. Perhaps her local Labour Party branch should ask her for a donation .If she lived in Cambridge I certainly would.
Seen this folks?
Shining a light on New Zealand CORRUPTION …….
http://beehive.govt.nz/release/collins-welcomes-transparency-assessment
Judith Collins 19 NOVEMBER, 2013
Collins welcomes transparency assessment
Justice Minister Judith Collins today welcomed Transparency International New Zealand’s evaluation of our nation’s governance and anti-corruption efforts.
Ms Collins launched key findings from the National Integrity Study (NIS) Assessment tonight, at the annual general meeting of Transparency International’s New Zealand arm.
“New Zealand consistently ranks as the least corrupt country on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index,” Ms Collins says.
“It’s important we maintain our strong international reputation, for being free from – and intolerant of – corruption, to further enhance our nation’s trade, business and economic prosperity.”
The report evaluates key pillars of New Zealand’s governance system, such as the legislature, executive, judiciary, public sector, law enforcement and business sectors.
Ms Collins says there are still improvements to be made to counter corruption and bribery and the Government is actively working to implement change.
“Our efforts include the development of a national anti-corruption strategy, the upcoming Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill, and efforts to raise public trust and confidence in the Courts.”
Ms Collins says the Government values its close working relationship with Transparency International New Zealand and she looks forward to working through the report’s recommendations.
“In many ways we share a common purpose – promoting clean government, increasing transparency and reducing corruption. Together, our efforts help ensure New Zealand maintains its reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world.”
Pity about the lack of transparency with Transparency International NZ?
http://kiwisfirst.com/
RAMPANT CORRUPTION STINGS TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
2 March 2014
‘Corruption destroys lives and communities’ is its motto and its publicly advertised mission is to promote transparency which lays bare the conflicts and bribes which suck the soul out of all countries to varying degrees. But Berlin-based non-profit Transparency International is better known for telling the world which countries are doing a good job at combating corruption and which ones are not through its annual ‘perception index’ which rates 177 countries from 1 to 177.
Media organisations such as Forbes rely on Transparency International’s findings in promoting its own world perspective.
In its own ‘perception’, Transparency International ranked New Zealand lowest (along with Finland) in corruption – and its local chapter is the non-profit’s golden child and keeper of the faith. In contrast, New Zealanders question a charter which received almost all of its funding from the New Zealand government, routinely turned away new members – individual memberships have been relatively constant at 50 – and declared its “over-arching principle” is it “will not be involved in investigating or exposing individual cases (of corruption)”.
Finally, a dose of reality has set in, with revelations of rampant corruption within the New Zealand chapter oozing from its opaque façade. Berlin has known since early December that NZ chapter director Suzanne Snively was running a fraudulent company trading on the Transparency International name to sell her consulting services to unsuspecting foreign companies seeking trade with New Zealand. They have done nothing but cover it up. Triple dipping Ms Snively is also a contractor to the New Zealand government and her TINZ salary is funded by the government.
This week it was revealed that another Transparency International New Zealand director Michael Vukcevic falsely claimed in his CV that he had a law degree and other qualifications in order to get an appointment in 2012 to promote New Zealand’s bid for a free trade agreement in the Middle East.
Yet another TINZ director Claire Johnstone was a government official running a private consultancy business which promoted her ability to “access grant funding from government for many of our clients”. Her husband Ash Johnstone, a serving NZ police officer, was profiled on the company website as in charge of conducting security background checks for private clients.
It came to light last year that at least two directors of TINZ made repeated visits to the Ministry of Justice in Cambodia seeking personal fortune on the door-opening coattails of Dame Sylvia Cartwright who was one of two international judges appointed to the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia, filling a vacuum in the war ravaged country.
Fraud examiner and former police prosecutor Grace Haden, who was denied membership in TINZ and consequently launched her own “Transparency New Zealand” is not surprised by the corruption or cover up by Transparency International. “They don’t want to know the reality because it differs from the myth they promote.” Late yesterday, Ms Haden sent out an open letter offering Transparency International her services to verify degrees and credentials of its directors.
……”
Seen for yourselves who ‘sponsors’ Transparency International NZ?
http://www.transparency.org.nz/Partners-and-Sponsors
Partners and Sponsors
Cornerstone Platinum
The Office of the Auditor General
NIS Gold
School of Government, VUW
Ministry for Justice
Statistics New Zealand
The Human Rights Commission
Ministry of Social Development
The Treasury
Inland Revenue
Department of Internal Affairs
Corrections
Department of Conservation
Ministry of Transport
Civil Aviation Authority
New Zealand Transport Authority
Maritime New Zealand
Te Puni Kokiri
The State Services Commission
The Ombudsman
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
The New Zealand Defence Force
NIS Silver
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
The Serious Fraud Office
Crown Law
NIS Bronze
NZ Public Service Association
Sponsors
The Gama Foundation
In Kind Donations
Bell Gully
VUW School of Government
PwC
Deloitte
KPMG
Human Rights Commission Launch Day
School of Government Institute for Governance and Policy Studies Wellington
Wellington Girls College
Thorndon New World
NZTE
Institute of Directors
BDO Spicers
Russell McVeigh
Chapman Tripp
Gibson Sheat
Susan Gluck-Hornsby
Chen Palmer
Juliet McKee
Claudia Orange
Te Papa
So – how INDEPENDENT is Transparency International NZ, when so much of their funding comes from NZ Government Departments, which all arguably have a vested interest in maintaining this RORT and FRAUD – that New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’?
Remember?
Under NZ Minister of Corruption (oops! sorry – Justice) Judith Collins’ watch – NZ STILL has not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, and her Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill has STILL not yet surfaced in Parliament.
Funny that.
Penny Bright
SELF-FUNDED full-time ‘anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’.
PS: What does NZ need for a genuine platform for transparency?
Try this :
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ANTI-CORRUPTION-WHITE-COLLAR-CRIME-CORPORATE-WELFARE-ACTION-PLAN-Ak-Mayoral-campaign-
FFS Penny just put some links in. No need to bore people more than you already do.
Australia heading down the savage neoliberal route and copying NZ.
The consequences of them voting in Tony Abbott now becoming clear.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9961464/Australia-looks-to-NZ-for-disability-reform-ideas
JK Rowling on tax residency
Good call Green Party:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1404/S00340/time-for-greater-ministerial-accountability.htm
Time for greater ministerial accountability
Saturday, 19 April 2014, 12:09 pm
Press Release: Green Party
Time for greater ministerial accountability
The Green Party has today released a proposal to introduce a ministerial disclosure regime in New Zealand to improve the transparency and accountability of government.
The proposal, based on the system used in the United Kingdom since 2010, would require all Ministers to publically release records of their meetings with external organisations, overseas travel, gifts given and received, and hospitality received.
The records would be released on a quarterly basis and published online.
“A ministerial disclosure regime will bring a much-needed boost to the transparency and accountability of government in New Zealand,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“The public will be able to see, on a regular basis, who Ministers are meeting with, who they’re receiving gifts and hospitality from, and details of their overseas travel.
“Some of this information is already made public through the Registrar of Pecuniary Interests, but that doesn’t tell us the whole story and it only happens once a year.
“Regular, proactive disclosure of this information, particularly records of who Ministers are meeting with, will bring a greater measure of transparency to decision-making and will improve ministerial accountability.
……………………
https://www.greens.org.nz/sites/default/files/ministerial_disclosure_fact_sheet.pdf
I support this proposal.
“Nothing to hide – nothing to fear?”
Who is meeting the Ministers?
Who in this John Key led National/ACT Government is NOT going to support this initiative?
hmmmm………… let me guess ……
Penny Bright
FFS just put the links up.
That one wasn’t that big.
Needs to be done in real time.
Penny, this the internet not a gestetner. It has these things called links. Please do not waste our attention by pasting screeds of material we can go and read ourselves.
I enjoyed this sci fi short film
http://boingboing.net/2014/04/19/scattered-short-film-adapted.html
Fantastic discussion!