Want to keep up with the latest developments relating to climate change?
Or just uncertain of the facts and want to know more?
Then check out the Daily Climate News. You couldn’t go far past dailyclimate.org as a good simple factual resource. Here gathered in one place, are climate related news stories from around the globe.
The lead story today is about the phenomenon known as ‘weather whiplash’ hitting farming in the US.
The wettest autumn since records began, followed by the coldest spring in 50 years, has devastated British wheat, forcing food manufacturers to import nearly 2.5m tonnes of the crop.
“Normally we export around 2.5m tonnes of wheat but this year we expect to have to import 2.5m tonnes,”
Charlotte Garbutt UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board analyst
But it is not all bad news. There is some good news, and some mixed news.
Relating to OM yesterday. Your inability to see the super power proxy war unfolding in Syria, or the fact that there is no popular uprising (except possibly in your own mind) because the majority of the fighters in the conflict are imported mercenaries and jihadists, undermines any humanitarian point you have tried to make.
Do you know what you have in common with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz? You’re a supporter of regime change through foreign military force. These are intentions that General Wesley Clark revealed years ago, after he left the military.
And please don’t try and threaten my Labour Party membership. I’ve had a number of MPs make the attempt, and to you I will also say, fuck off.
And please donât try and threaten my Labour Party membership. Iâve had a number of MPs make the attempt, and to you I will also say, fuck off.
Colonial Viper
CV the only one threatening your Labour Party membership is yourself. No self respecting democratic party can be seen to tolerate an intemperate extremist who openly supports mass murder.
You still telling other political parties what they should be doing?
You still support the foreign sponsored military overthrow of Assad, you support mass murder, feel that itch in your conscience? Those are the heavy weapons that the west are now openly supplying to foreign Islamist fighters in Syria.
Here is a list of the different Islamist groups now fighting in Assad. To be clear: these are the people you are supporting, Jenny.
The Syrian Islamic Front (SIF)
AFFILIATES: Islamic Ahrar al-Sham Movement
The Free Syrian Army:
Affiliated fighters Many different claims. Most recently, in June 2013, Idriss claimed he is the leader of 80,000 fighters
AFFILIATES Syria Martyrs Brigades, Farouq Battalions, Tawhid Brigade, Suqour al-Sham Brigades and Islam Brigade
The Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF)
AFFILIATES Farouq Battalions, Tawhid Brigade, Suqour al-Sham Brigades and Islam Brigade
Those are the heavy weapons that the west are now openly supplying to foreign Islamist fighters in Syria.
3500 tons of armaments,brought from Croatia,.
the Kerry /haig beatup for a no fly zone lasted about 5 minutes at the G8 when the Russians told them what their expected losses would be.A point emphasized by the US chief of staff,who stated that a no fly zone would require neutralizing a fully integrated state of the art air defense system and in addition the US did not have the economic capability due to sequestration (read funding cuts) hence it would require dual house approvals.
So most of the names of the organisations you have supplied CV care of the Independent, have titles that include the words Islamic or Islam. So what?
I support a people’s right to overthrow a monstrous dictatorship.
While you CV are more and more revealing yourself as an ignorant Islamaphobe who supports a regime that uses torture and bombardment from the air against civilian populations who have rejected the dictatorship.
You are an Islamaphobe who admires a murderous dictator with a fashionable wife, because he has been publicly feted and admired by useful idiots in the West for being “Secular” and “Progressive“. While in private more valued by the West for providing a safe haven for torture for the shadowy CIA rendition program, As well as keeping Israel’s Northern Border trouble free.
So why in your opinion CV is “Islamic” in a rebel organisations name, enough to discredit them in your eyes?
Around the world where all other means of popular expression has been suppressed, people have turned to religious faiths and organisations and charities that not only provide succor for a besieged people, but also give a space to give voice to their hopes and dreams for a better life.
IMHO, Mainly because such organisations are the only ones that can still operate under the harsh conditions of dictatorship.
In most of the Arab world, which until recently due to the Arab Spring has been overwhelmingly dominated by pro-Western despots who banned all political meetings. Friday prayers were the natural place where people could gather in large numbers without interference or attack from their various regimes. And so space was gained for the birth of Arab Spring under conditions of harsh repressive dictatorship in which all other means of popular expression were violently suppressed.
For instance the rise of Hamas in Palestine occurred mainly through their welfare charity and health provision when all secular organisations had either failed or become corrupted or infiltrated.
You still telling other political parties what they should be doing?
Colonial Viper
Not at all CV. Just pointing out to one of them, and the rest of the country that they harbour an admirer of a fascist style regime in their ranks.
It is up to the Labour Party if they are happy to tolerate supporters of mass murder and torture in their ranks. If the Labour Party are happy with this situation, then they will have to judged by it.
It seems to me that the next national election campaign has already started.
Key has been repeating the theme that NZ Labour is a radical left party, not fit to be trusted with the Treasury benches.
Repetition is a powerful rhetorical tool, akin to conditioning.
He would not be doing so on his own. It is probable that the National strategy
committee [Collins, Lusk, Joyce, Textor, Crosby .. ad nauseam] has decided on
a long term strategy of a long march through the swamps of electoral politics to
set the stage and control the parameters of the campaign.
We will probably soon have other National parliamentarians echoing the theme.
It seems to me that the next national election campaign has already started.
Yep, there was a reason why the previous government set the election period as from Jan of the year of the election and it’s the same reason why National dropped it as soon as they got power – because the electioneering happens throughout the entire year. Some academics think that electioneering never stops.
I see that some within Labour are proposing that Clayton Cosgrove is selected as its candidate for the Christchurch East by election. The thinking is that this will shore up support for Shearer as it will bring into Parliament Kelvin Davis who is said to be a Shearer supporter.
Can I suggest an alternative thinking, that Labour selects the best possible candidate for the job. This person should preferably be a local of have strong links to the area. They should be capable of doing the job, of helping local people with their problems and of holding the Government to account for the shyte situation it has created in Christchurch. They should also have the judgment to not do stupid stuff like accepting free beer and food in a Sky City Corporate Box.
I do not give a toss who they support for the leadership. In fact if they are selected for loyalty reasons rather than on ability there is something seriously wrong.
*sigh* How much longer is the wider left going to be subjected to the weakening impacts of the self-serving shenanigans of the current inadequate Labour caucus leadership? It’s thoroughly depressing.
And it is so self serving. At the time that all focus should be on Dalziel’s bid for the mayoralty we are talking instead about internal shyte. Dalziel should be given some clean air to get her campaign going. For Christchurch’s sake it is vital that she beats Mr Lego Clown.
Agree Karol, if this is true. Very depressing if members of the Labour caucus continue to feel it is necessary to play this game and continue to sure up David Shearer’s position. If true it certainly lowers my opinion of Davis, I didn’t think he was too bad. Difficult to respect someone that backs Shearer.
Maybe Shearer can terrorise opponents in Chch East by-election as well, really working well in Ikaroa-Rawhiti!
Noble idea SP but cannot see it happening, based on some of the candidates that ran in 2011 its looking like a members only club which excludes and discourages talented committeid folk who can conribute.
“Labour has signalled it will drop at least three of its economic policies, although more for reasons of fiscal restraint than unpopularity: paying into the Cullen super fund before the country returns to surplus, removing GST from fruit and vegetables and making the first $5000 of income tax-free.”
Now it may not be much but 5k tax free would make a difference to the poorest or the poor, but now I see that Labour are starting to show their true light blue colours, fiscal restraint my arse, they are just trying to pull in the blue center vote and to hell with the poor typical Shearer shit! And how much, has the NOT putting in to the Cullen Fund cost us? And if you are really poor even the Gestapo Tax off of the Greenery would be a help.
Just makes my decision to vote Green this time even more correct. I will not vote for a Haters party, and Labour has become a haters party under the mismanagement of Shearer Mallard King Robertson Hipkins and the Rest,
Yeah but the problem with that is Key understands money and its place in the world (as opposed to how you lot would like money to work in a utopian fantasy world) and the good Ginga Dr has no fucking idea at all.
The Primary Dealers can access billions in newly created money from the Federal Reserve at a less than 0% real interest rate.
I think it’s this current system which is the unsustainable, utopian fantasy (for the elite).
and the good Ginga Dr has no fucking idea at all.
Russel Norman has got a very good grip on the problems we face today. On the other hand, you should stop listening to the shit heads who are actually responsible for the GFC and the subsequent Great Recession, and who in the main, are still in charge pretending they know what they are doing.
David H, You have highlighted a quote attributed to Labour which is in fact shit made up by Audrey Young. Where have you heard or seen anyone from Labour actually ” signal ” such a thing ?. Young, Armstrong et al are part of the Nat disinformation and ” left wing ” denigration campaign which is only given credence by repetition on Labour/Green associated forums. You are playing their game for them.
It strikes me that you and your ilk do not want a left Government because you are only happy constantly complaining and bitching.
You’re not going to get one if you keep repeating their made up shit and I repeat playing their game for them. The All Blacks ( and all great teams ) are at their best and unbeatable ( Chch last Sat ) when they get the other team to play the way they want. Simple, it’s the first rule of warfare.
Get out and do some bloody work, doorknocking and phone calling and stop being so fucking negative.
I doubt that Audrey is simply day dreaming those policy changes. She meets Labour front bench MPs on a weekly basis.
As for door knocking for Labour…which I have done a lot of…I’ve decided that I don’t door knock for centrist parties. Not where my political leanings are.
I will be very frustrated if Labour drop the income tax free zone. It simply means that they are not willing to significantly raise taxes on those earning higher incomes.
CV
I can see that it would be useful to have all in the taxation system with all contributing something. But if the first $20,000 on wages was at 5% it would be fairer. The government gets extra tax from GST on the spending of the net income.
That’s what should happen for low income people now the GST has been introduced. And it should be brought down to 10% again. It’s a burden on the spending on necessities, which can include expensive items like frig’s, maintenance on houses and vehicles. It just loads expense on the low income sector which has the biggest bit of the pie chart – the only place where their pie portion is large.
Then decent progressive steps. This country has overused the excuse of simplicity of tax structure which is a lazy approach in this age that has moved on from individual clerks penning everything and working from printed tables to fast calculators and automation. Income tax needs to move on to systems that provide subsidies for transport, allowances for tools, and more tax steps that are inflation indexed.
In general I very much agree. Whether everyone needs to be paying income tax is worth a discussion. People paying income tax on their UB which is so low already…what’s the point.
But in general terms yes the tax system has to become far more progressive, and also far simpler to administer with Far fewer gaps for avoidance.
I don’t know about the third policy David H mentions (the $5000) but the other two (GST and Cullen Fund) have both been publicly mentioned by Shearer/Parker. The Cullen fund was in Shearer’s speeches over a year ago.
Just calling Labour voters gullible tools of the MSM really doesn’t work. Nor does blaming people for not door-knocking in the cold on behalf of the warm corporate box. Clearly some Labour MPs don’t need less criticism, they need more, until they get it.
It’s a really tiresome ploy to ask questions you don’t want the answer to. Pretending to want information, but actually just being contrary for the sake of it.
If you did genuinely want the answer, you could simply Google “david shearer speech cullen fund”. It would save us both time.
actually, fair call on that one about google. Bit busy today though, and it didn’t ring any bells.
But I did actually want the answer, that’s why I asked the question.
The Cullen fund thing according to DTB’s links is not ” drop [ing …] paying into the Cullen super fund before the country returns to surplus”. It is “until we are back in surplus, any new spending will have to be paid for out of existing budget provisions, new revenue, or by re-prioritising.” Note the “new revenue” and “re-prioritising”. Lots of room there, like a CGT or higher tax band counting as “new revenue”. But definitely reporters are “interpreting” what is said, rather than quoting.
And the vege thing is simply a long way down the list at this stage. Depends on what the policy committee comes up with. And given that they’ll need the Greens to be in government, it would be difficult for Labour to refuse to do it should the Greens ask, it being recent policy and all.
Then let me put it this way Adrian. I have voted Labour ever since I was able to vote. I have helped by door knocking, driving people to vote, and in the other 1001 ways the volunteers help out. This time I will vote Green. I am so disappointed with the direction the party has taken, and the list of screw ups are getting longer by the day, so there is a leadership problem there, the absolute debacle that was the Paddy Gower Chris Hipkins hate Cunlife day live on TV3, turned me right off of Labour there and then. And nothing they have done since leads me to believe they will change. It seems to me that Labour are completely at war within the Party hierarchy and they don’t give a rats arse about the voters it’s more about hanging onto the pay packet. So if you want my vote then you have policy that will help those that are less well of that will help the Children and will put work to get jobs out there. Now for the last 40 years every time Labour has won I have been in full time well paid employment. I lose said employment under National as any extra money is gone. This time if labour get in I fear I will have no such employment as they don’t seem to have a clue I would not trust their front bench as far as I could spit against the wind.
The largest employment growth area in government (by percentage) is this department. Maybe we should just start calling it the Central Committee of the Dictatorship
“A government controlled by one person, or a small group of people. In this form of government the power rests entirely on the person or group of people. The dictator(s) may also take away much of its peoples’ freedom. In contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.”
Changing those laws is the first step in being unrestricted by laws. Undermining the power of the Judiciary is also key (no pun intended).
If calling Labour’s last rule “helengrad” was an acceptable epithet (and it was used by mainstream journalists including John Armstrong) then why such horror if we start to call this government “the Dictatorship”?
Peter Dunne wants the rules changed so that he can keep 100’s of thousands in party cash. How long has UF been duping the electoral commission re the numbers they really have in their party?
“Please please let me keep my nose in the trough really deeply, please don’t pull me back to the edge where I only get a little.”
With everything he has been caught out doing, he still demands things to be as they were, even tho’ he has Leaked sensitive docs (thanks for that Pete) has NO party but still wants the money (no thanks Pete)
Yesterday he said they had enough members to form 4 parties. He also said it was their largest membership in a long time. 2000? That’s as many people who put their hand in their pocket for this party? I am a MMP fan but guys like this and Banks are taking the piss.
On RadioNZ National this morning ‘the Hairdo’ backed down from His claim of having 2000 members calling that claim a slight over estimation,
Apparently the Hairodo’s party has 1000 members via electronic medium which the Electoral Commission will not accept for the purpose of registering United Future as a party,
Dunne today will have a discussion with the Speaker of the House who would in a sane world where there wasn’t being operated a protection racket for errant Ministers and MP’s withdraw the ‘Leaders’ funding for the non-existent United Future party but don’t hold your breath,
Dunnes legacy when He finally ceases supping at the trough will be to have been the ‘black hole in space’ of New Zealand politics having sucked in every fledgling ‘movement’ and political party from christians to hunters’n’fishers whereupon anything such may have stood for has disappeared immediately from the political sphere…
Actually, I/S has an interesting post and makes a good point on that:
Because in 2002, Parliament passed the Electronic Transactions Act 2002, the thrust of which is basically “electronic stuff counts”.
So basically the Electoral Commission could accept electronic membership records; they just choose not to. And that choice appears to be contrary to S 8 of the Electronic Transactions Act 2002.
It seems that it may be the electoral commission that’s breaking the law.
Actually, I understood that the electoral commission now say they will accept electronic records. But the stuff originally submitted electronically was just a spreadsheet of names “not supported by any signed and dated evidence from members”. This was judged to be inadequate. They want signed and dated forms and will accept those that have been submitted to the party electronically.
Not sure about that – looking at the Herald article, apparently the EC is cool with electronic, but wants the members signatures (basically scans of the forms). UF just wanted to give them an excel spreadsheet of the membership details (my guess is no signatures).
The real problem for Dunne is that the EC claims no facility to “reregister” parties, so UF comes under as a new registration and he loses his party leadership $$$ because a new parliamentary party needs 6 MPs.
heh, heh, heh
edit: snap karol – that’ll teach me to have a work chat halfway through writing a comment đ
So David Cameron and Lynton Crosby have set out to destroy the Labour Party ?
“The Prime Minister insisted, when challenged on this point, that he is only interested in learning one thing from Mr Crosby: “How we destroy the credibility of the Labour Party.” Mr Cameron added that this was a subject in which Mr Crosby has “considerable expertise”, but is something Labour is even better at doing for itself.
One might add that this is also a subject in which Mr Cameron has considerable expertise. On leaving Oxford, he went straight into the Conservative Research Department, where he mastered the technique of making a close study of Labour policy in order to demonstrate, with the help of quotation, that it is riven by fatal contradictions.
So what we get nowadays at Prime Minister’s questions is a perpetual assault by Mr Cameron on the Labour Party, of a kind which a gifted desk officer in the Conservative Research Department of the late 1980s might make. It is a professional performance, but also a rather mean-spirited and constricted one.”
.. and a role model for John Key and the National Party front bench from which Aaron Gilmore took his cue.
Raa
That’s all interesting – especially the bit about David Cameron doing a virtual PhD on the anomalies of the Labour Party. Is that on google under David Cameron? Have you a link?
I was commenting on Guava’s link above .. but I don’t think
John Key can match Cameron’s performance in this respect
because he has not put in the effort, love him or hate him, which Cameron has.
I’m not big on crime news stories, they always feel a bit manipulative, but this:
“A nun has admitted breaking the arm of a 9-year-old at Sunday School after the girl failed to get an action song right.
Leva-i-Fangalupe Fono – known as Sister Leva – yelled at the girl, flicked her in the head and broke the girl’s arm when she twisted it behind her back. ” http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/261704/nun-admits-breaking-girls-arm
This just feels wrong on every level! Breaking a nine-year old’s arm at Sunday School – even if she had been playing up that would have been grossly inappropriate, but for getting a song wrong?
I know the Catholics already have semi-public schools, but I see this as a taste of things to come if religious groups get to run Charter Schools away from the public eye. What would Destiny thugs do to a kid who blew one of Bishop(/ Messiah) Tamaki’s photo ops?
Pasupial
The buzz word these days is to be ‘passionate’ about what you do. Could this be the ultimate effect – Ultimate Passion Fighting? The Army manages to lose a few of its trainees now and then which apparently is collateral damage when looking at the overall objective. I guess when you want to produce successful stats and stars that illuminate your education organisation positively, what’s a few broken arms while trying to control the poor material you are working with? /sarc
I was watching The Wire and a white teacher without street experience trying to teach the belligerent, negative, malicious and troubled young people from a very depressed area. One girl suddenly slashed the face of another with a razor in a recent view. The teachers and school leaders are now trying a new approach and mentally dividing the children into those from the stoops, and those from the corners. This indicates two different types of response by the youngsters to their education and each will be met by a shaped method that responds to the way that group behaves. The idea is that each group should be taught in a way that specially meets their approach so they can be controlled and led into education with their minds readied to concentrate, and not just to think up playing disruptive games with the teacher.
There is an interview on 9toNoon this morning that would be good for all interested in NZ employment and smart business providing it to listen to. It’s about Lego’s rise and fall and scramble to rise again and keep selling and coping with low cost labour competition. We need to follow similar trajectory in trying to scramble out of our low operating economy using our wits not reverting to reliance on primary and extractive industries till we have metaphorically chopped all the kauri trees.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/presenters/kathryn-ryan (audio available probably after 11am if you miss it live).
10:05 Professor David Robertson – the story behind Lego
Why the iconic Danish company faced near collapse in 2003, and how it managed to recover and become one of the world’s biggest toy companies, and what this turnaround can teach other companies about surviving and thriving. Professor Robertson teaches Innovation and Product Development at Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry
It appears that Wellington mayoral contender and long-time rubbish batsman John Morrison has been plagiarising the council’s chief executive for his own puff-piece in last week’s Dom Post:
On the topics of Wellington
-the Wellington Regional Transport Committee; Fran Wilde-go with buses. Celia Wade-Brown-light rail. Light-rail in Wellington?
and the ‘comfortable” response to begging in the streets? Charity-boxes to fund charity organizations!ffs, there is that ‘deserving” of the corralled poor.
“The Hillsborough Room at The Fickling Centre. Cnr of Mt Eden and Mt Albert Rd, (behind 3 Kings Shops in rear of car park and opposite Club Physical) Plenty of parking and on a bus route.
After the enthusiasm of the March Against Monsanto come and find what is happening in NZ and Australia on the GE front?
Australian farmer Bob Mackley and Green Party MP Steffan Browning are visiting to tell you about the impact of an Australian GE crop contamination; and what is happening around GE in New Zealand.
Bob Mackley is speaking about the contamination of his farm by genetically engineered crops.
Come and hear about his experience.
(I heard him last year and he is very knowledgeable and interesting.)
Bob Mackley is a canola farmer in Victoria. He is a strong community figure; a past District Council Chairman and a member of the Victorian Farmers Federation.
He has experience as a convener of a grain marketing group formed to empower local small farmers to get their crops to market, and is past president of the Wimmera Conservation Farming Association.
His crops were contaminated by his neighbourâs GE canola and he is very concerned about the impact of this on his business. He is also concerned about the divisive effect the introduction of GE crops has had on community relationships.
Steffan Browning is working very hard on our behalf to keep NZ GE free. I am delighted to be running this meeting for him.
He will speak about our position in New Zealand and what is happening, not only about keeping crops out of the environment, but about how the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Food Standards (FSANZ) is approving GE food for release here, even before it has been approved by the US!
Please bring along as many people as you can. The more people who really understand about GE the sooner the movement will grow to ensure it is kept out of our environment.”
(Lisa Er from the ‘Awareness Party’ has helped to organise this meeting.)
In a now legendary incident, Schmeiser’s fields were contaminated by seeds from a neighbor’s genetically modified Roundup Ready canola plants, which had blown onto his land. When the farmer, who was the subject of the 2009 film “David Versus Monsanto,” saved the seeds from these “accidental migrants” for replanting, Monsanto sued him for patent infringement and won the case but received no damages, since the court determined that Schmeiser had gained no economic benefit from the incident. Later Schmeiser countersued Monsanto for “libel, trespass, and contamination of his fields with Roundup Ready Canola.” But that case was dismissed.
Schmeiser, who reportedly spent more than $400,000 on legal fees, says he can no longer use his strain of canola, which took him 50 years to develop, because he cannot prove that it doesn’t include the Roundup Ready gene.
Stopping GE seems like a good idea to me because it would stop shit like this happening. The rest of the article is a must read as it covers how Monsanto are raking in the dollars from lawsuits. IMO, Patents are past their use-by dates and are now a very good example of law gone wrong.
off the subject of suits, was watching Bill O’Reilly on Letterman last night (now there is a program that indicates the States of America…) opined that Snowden could have sued the govt. and that he is likely to get a “ten-stretch”.
It’s more a case of updating patent laws to deal with the implications of GE.
Especially as in the past farmers would have been able to keep seed without threat of legal action, from commercially developed crop lines that usually take even longer than GE techniques to breed and oft used mutagenic methods to generate novel variations. Thus I see a problematic legal contradiction in giving GMO’s patent protection, as frankly, unless you’re making a whole new species, all it is, is a much faster and direct method of adding desired genetic variation to an organism.
*cough*
Anyhow – from actually having done considerable amounts of course work (BSc is in Molecular Biology, so biochemistry and genetics Nick knowth) and regular readings in the years since, the main issues with GMO’s biologically speaking are thus:
1) What changes occur in the global regulation of genes for the GMO vs the parent strain and do we understand if the differences have negative consequences in context of ecological relationships and human usage? Case in point – Monsanto removed the selectivity filter from 3 of the bt toxin proteins, which means those bt toxins now worked on insect species that they previously worked on. While global changes in gene expression vs parent may lead to other issues, that are more difficult to pin down if functions/context of specific genes is unknown.
2) Are their any significant biochemical changes to the introduced protein products? i.e. proteins are often modified post-translation with phosphate groups and/or sugar polymers (branching and linear). Especially if the the RNA they are derived on is tagged for export to the cell membrane or excretion into the extracellular environment. These can cause changes in protein function, dependant on the protein’s sequence and 3d structure + any binding substrates or allosteric moderators. Addition of sugar polymers can also cause immunological reactions in humans if the immune system of the individual carries antibodies against a matching sugar polymer.
3) Is gene flow to wild species possible? i.e. can the GMO reproduce with any relatives, where mating systems allow for it? In the case of some plant families, the historical species barriers were geographic isolation, rather than via incompatibilities. Which means that you need to be very, very careful in developing plant GMO’s to insure that genes for herbicide resistances or bt toxins do not leak into wild or weedy relatives. Basically – plants can be really, really “fun” when it comes to dealing with hybrids due to quirks of their sexual reproduction and are prone to all sorts of weird stuff (polyploidy being the main one) that can create means for genes to flow from crops to weeds and vis versa.
As to GE in generally – it’s an extremely useful tool, we use it daily for producing a wide variety of biological products and can be used to rapidly introduce phenotypes that otherwise would take very large numbers of generations to find and select for. For example, we use GE yeast and other fungi to produce stuff like insulin, human growth factor and rennet enzymes, along with other proteins (antibodies for example), that would otherwise be harvested from animals or humans. Allowing for high levels of purity and avoids carrying over viral diseases.
References: spread all through out 2 years of biochem and genetics notes ;-; Probably a bit straightforward to find via google scholar though, aiming for review articles, but suspect key papers stuck behind paywalls…
The leader of one of Labour’s biggest union backers has been accused of making a “spiteful” attack on the Duchess of Cambridge after comparing her to “young women having babies to get state handouts”.
This buys into right wing framing, loses votes on the Left, and loses votes on the Right, it’s just stupid.
I read it and disagree: by my reading, he was sending up the right wing framing, not feeding into it. He described the bedroom tax as vile and vicious, and also said:
“We must not support a Labour Government that does not: put an end to privatisation and market madness or restore our NHS- invest in our public services, restore the facility time taken away from our activists, restore workers rights and remove the shackles on trade unions.”
These are not the words of someone buying into right wing framing.
Aus deports NZ offenders in record numbers
The Taliban are back.
Brazil’s increasing middle-classes represented in protests; we can only hope and pray.
Rankin- “a parenting crisis”
Clark- “both matter”
Rankin- went straight to “dysfunctional families”
Wills- “poverty rate triple that when we were kids (I quote ‘kids’ reluctantly, another weakness in the national discourse)”
-“poverty of children triple that of the elderly”
-“outgoings too high”
Rankin- believes “that life skills overcome poverty”.
McCroskie- straight to stereo-typing the PI -“money going back to the islands, loan sharks, poverty”.
Lashlie- “poverty is less than 15K…issues are not at arm’s length like they are for the middle classes and above”.
410 Notifications to CYFS a day.”a bleakness of life” (check your privilage ‘pete’)
McCroskie- concedes ” money is a factor” and that ” poorer areas ARE targeted by the liquor and pokie industries”.
Tamaki (had to have a stiff pipe to watch that) -“hey, in a cold house you can still cuddle a child”
“I’m a… I’m a ….I’m a …sensational mother and grandmother” (who clearly has never heard the sweet voice of Jesus in her, MY MY MY , ear).
Hone (Love that man)- “medium income in the North is 12K, many less than that…colds go on and on ‘cos families can’t afford the medicine…whanau (in the studio audience) know this to be true”.
GRINDING LEVELS OF POVERTY place people under stress, lowers the wairua.
Tamaki- “I am , in my own eyes” (give that woman a pill đ ) families working themselves out of debt, into debt with Destiny Church. King takes Bishop.
Interesting watching the nervous throat swallowings of the studio audience when faced with the evidence.
McCroskie- “key driver, family breakdown” stigmatizing the single-parent household, protecting themselves from useless men. Widows and orphans, widows and orphans, what is that blinds ‘Christians’ to that scripture?
Hone (love that man) “poverty can lead to family breakdown”.
Rank in- “why don’t we look at the successful?”
Food Insecurity.
Anyway, I was hosting a man in poverty, with a large family, and he believed from his own extensive experience that both factors, poverty and parenting play a part.
Rankin- believes âthat life skills overcome povertyâ.
Having the skill to make the most of your looks, dress well (with a little accidental cleavage), choose interesting earrings, show off your knees etc. is all useful stuff for women. Women don’t find many good-paying jobs (average out to 80% of men’s wages, which only gives a rough guide to the arid planet that some women try to live on). Hopefully all the effort will enable her to find a well-paid partner so anything she can earn can go towards extra goodies and holidays and better clothes still. Que sera.
I would still contend that there has been a massive drop off of the sort of basic survival skills my mother taught me – cooking, clothing repair, budgeting etc.
I strongly oppose the intent of this Bill to legislatively remove functions from Housing New Zealand (HNZ) under the proposed amended Part 5.
ie: Assessing eligibility for a State house.
¡ The functions of reviews, eligibility, and income-related rent
subsidy calculations should not be transferred to any other body
(including WINZ) from HNZ.
¡ HNZâs role as the major provider of State houses should not be
delegated to a multiple provider of âsocial housingâ. Under no
circumstances should Part 5 of the Principal Act:
The Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992,
be amended.
¡ No âsocial housingâ agency should be recipients of existing State
housing stock.
¡ This Bill should not apply to existing State housing tenants.
¡ State housing is a function of central Government â private âsocial
housingâ entities, should be totally separate entities to Housing
New Zealand.
¡ I oppose this privatized model for State housing.
REALLY important that we get as many submissions in as possible!
Submissions need to be received by the Social Services Select Committee before midnight, Thursday 27 June 2013.
They can be mailed FREEPOST to Parliament to:
MAIL TO THE CLERK OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE :
Private Bag 18041 Parliament Buildings Wellington 6061
I have checked with the Clerk of the Social Services Select Committee, regarding whether or not there will be hearings in Auckland on this Bill.
At this stage, it has not yet been decided.
Recommend that as many Auckland people as possible circle YES to the
‘I WISH TO BE HEARD IN PERSON BY THE SOCIAL SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE’ bit on this submission form.
Have just put this up on my website, and will help get the message out as FAR and WIDE as possible đ
I’m sure Roy Morgan is the biggest cause of depression amongst leftie political activists currently.
One fortnight he bounces his results up giving all sorts of hope for the death of the hated Key, then the next fortnight the numbers bounce down again and suddenly Shearer is wearing Kevlar under his shirt to avoid the inevitable knife in the back.
Maybe they should only survey once a month to help reduce the number of stomach ulcers suffered by the L&G supporters?
You distancing yourself from Shearer yet? I think its a good idea to start the verbal pre-positioning quite soon so it doesn’t look all sudden and panicky.
Personally, I like to base my assessments on facts. So in that case it’s still “too close to call”, or even on occasion leaving national “well behind”.
Besides, I’d find it pretty difficult to maintain an 18-month tantrum. You’re still going strong, though.
An 18 month tanty? I suppose I like to be consistent.
Personally, I like to base my assessments on facts. So in that case itâs still âtoo close to callâ, or even on occasion leaving national âwell behindâ.
Sometimes you have to start turning the wheel well before the evidential point of impact. Just saying.
BTW I think that Labour have a solid 50/50 chance of winning the election in 2014. But “winning” is merely an event and it isn’t the sole criteria of how I judge this thing called “leadership”.
I have never seen such an incompetent Government enjoy such support. I have never seen the Greens so popular. In the inner city liberal suburbs it is touch and go if Labour or the Greens are the most popular liberal party.
I have never seen the Greens win the party vote like they did in Wellington Central last time. I have never seen an electorate lose 10% points of the party vote like Labour did in Auckland Central.
I have never seen Dunedin swing so powerfully to the Greens like it did in 2011.
So nothing to worry about if you are a Green supporter. But if you are a Labour supporter well what can I say?
Oh well. Before there is time for anyone to get restless, the two main papers will put out polls in which Shearer’s Labour is on 35 or 36%, and the volatility of polls will be commented on and blah blah blah, sigh. It’s like watching the little wheels go round in a toy water mill.
You must be joking you naughty Roman. I doubt McFlock is a real Celt.
33% is where Labour has been for the whole Goff Robertson Shearer era.
John Key’s incompetent ministers and MPs mess up daily and Labour can’t make a dent in their grip on power.
Key could call an election if Banks or Dunne get booted.
And would the voters go for Shearer?
Bear in mind only half of this poll occurred before the Sky City Box fiasco.
That may have gone out of the media. It has not gone out of people’s minds
People are silently gobsmacked at the sheer stupidity of Shearer & co.
Not sure if you are talking to me Boadicea, but what I meant was, the polls always seem to stay just high enough for the ABC lot to retain control of the party. And where the main polls fall short, the newspaper ones tend to make up for it. But I agree that the 29-35% range replicates the Goff period, the difference being that Key was a lot more popular then.
Your bare faced jumping from trend data to point data is shallow and unconvincing,
You do not help the case of the leadership by pushing such a weak case in a weak manner.
Here is a link to the figures. The current Labour leadership faction has been driving the strategy since the 2008 loss. And that faction has achieved the square root of sweet-fuck-all.
The polls are a massive failure for Labour. The Labour strategy is wrong. The wrong people are at the top table. Look at the figures. Every member of the party sees them.
Sadly the members found out at the 2011 Annual Conference that their voice is not wanted. Only the Caucus can sort this mess out.
I respect Loyalty. Your support of the leadership is not a real loyalty. It is blinkered support. Keep it up! It strengthens those who want to win Labour for ALL the members.
The polls say Labour/Green Government. Hardly a massive failure.
The members drove the conference, and made historic changes to the party. Ok, if by ‘the members’ you mean the mugs putting DC up when he had no chance, then, yeah, it was a tough conference for them.
I suspect McFlock, like me, doesn’t much care who leads the party. It’s the policies that count, because, on the left, that’s what we’re about. And if Shearer scrapes in, as it appears he will, then we get the best of Labour and the Greens to set our country’s future. That’s a pretty cool outcome, whoever the PM is.
The polls are a whisker away from a Labour/Green/NZ First government which could be the death knell for Labour.
This is at a time when this Government has been as useless, incompetent, disrespective of citizens rights and utterly incompetent in running the economy. And don’t me get started on the environment.
But they are still 11 points ahead of Labour. What gives?
This discussion three months ago on the Standard would have caused a huge number of comments. Are lefties that numb that they now do no longer care?
“This discussion three months ago on the Standard would have caused a huge number of comments. Are lefties that numb that they now do no longer care?”
Yes, many are disappointed or disillusioned. Those who collected Asset Sales petitions saw it mismanaged and we had to back out again.
Then we found out that our “Leaders” were flying up from Wellington and Christchurch to sup in the Sky Box the same day.
The sense of hope that existed last year has been replaced with numbness.
I suspect McFlock, like me, doesnât much care who leads the party. Itâs the policies that count, because, on the left, thatâs what weâre about.
Yes, policies, that’s right, that’s what we’re about.
Uh, and so that means that leadership is not that important.
So. We going to put our Leader on the hoardings this time? You know, because who leads our party…uh…isn’t something we need to much care about.
Sweetie, you can start here.
National ’08 45%, ’11 47.5% now 44%.
Labour/ Green ’08 41%, ’11 38.5% now 44.5%
NZ1 ’08 4%, ’11 6.5% now 6%
National has not been impacted by their own foul ups or by the efforts of the opposition.
Labour Greens have closed the gap with the Nats by 4 pc points. However Winston and his 6% will go Nat rather than share power with the Greens.
That is not a success given all that has gone on since ’08.
That is a failure given that an election could be called anytime ( due to self inflicted wounds by Natz&co) and that a full term election is a little over 12 months away.
Nothing cool there. It is very chilling. All Labour people should be very very concerned.
What were the polls reading especially for national just before the elections? If you’re going to compare survey points with actual observations, you might want to see what the survey bias was.
A few percent skewed towards national, if I recall correctly.
the six and a half points was election results. I.e., actual votes, not “voter intention” estimates. That’s the difference between actual starting points, of which surveys like roymorgan estimate support periodically between the actual elections.
If I wanted to compare survey point data, I’d look at the 23% result Labour got under goff shortly before the election.
Love the way you speak for all labour party members, though.
The comparison was between goff and shearer’s leadership performance.
Moving from the low/mid thirties into the high/mid twenties is not the same as moving from the hih/mid twenties into the low/mid thirties in half the time.
The comparison was between goff and shearerâs leadership performance.
There you fucking go again
What you actually mean is
The comparison was between goff and shearerâs polling performance.
Which is something different entirely. My prediction for next year is that Goff in 2011 will have shown himself a far stronger and more experienced campaigner than Shearer in 2014. Feel free to disagree.
I may need to learn to read McFlock but you need to learn about politics. Given the appalling nature of this Government Labour should be ahead in the polls. Figuring out relative comparisons to show that it is slightly better now than it was before is frankly shyte.
The Labour party is doing fine under MMP. MMP, if you don’t recall, is supposed to have coalition governments. They provide the meat, the greens provide the healthy veges. National is trying to be a monolith party under MMP, and it’s in serious long term strife. Basically, my ideal labour vote is 38-40-odd percent. With 12-15% greens or another left wing party to drag government policy left.
Labour had a poor election response in 2011. But it needs to move through current levels to get to the 40-odd mark in 2014. It’s made it halfway, pretty much, and seems to be consistently improving, if slowly.
Oh, and the silent majority might just turn out to be a vocal minority who can’t deal with the fact that they supported a losing candidate.
So David Shearer is the person who will deliver us to the promised land?
FFS man he can hardly tie his shoe laces without help.
Do you ever get out and talk to people on the street? The message I hear is that Labour is just not cutting it. There is no oomph. There is no passion. There is no explanation of what NZ has to do to improve things.
Do you really want to rely on Winston Peters to provide a majority next time?
I dunno who the fucking polls talk to mate, but they’re not talking to anyone without a landline at home, and they’re not talking to anyone who just uses a mobile phone.
Thanks for leaping to the defence of Shearer et al over and over and over this evening, always good to see an Alliance supporter muck in to cheerlead a centrist political party.
I hope you’re right McFlock. I came here looking for reasons to vote Labour and I think his leadership image and his ability to articulate and sell policy are going to be important to those voters who make their choices on the basis of what they see on the telly and the messages they remember. If I were to vote Labour on the basis of my own personal perception of Shearer’s ability to be elected to deliver a better alternative government right now it would be on the basis of gamble and hope, expecting failure, nothing like conviction.
Labour people are stoic and not too mouthey. They have jobs and families and hobbies. They have been doing the the Enrollment stuff, the renewals, the boring meetings, the poorly led Asset Campaign. And they are generally silent while supporting their MPs and waiting for the Caucus to sort it’s shit out.
Your sneering attitude towards the members disgust at the attendance at the Sky Box is disgusting.
Oh fuck off McFlock, if I recall according to you, you’ve never been a member of the Labour Party but do support the Alliance.
So the arrogance you have being a non-member and a supporter of a different party, sneering at someone who is a member, over their comment relating to a membership to which you have never belonged yourself, makes me sneer.
Ah, so the labour members who disagree with boudica aren’t really labour party members, hence how b’s blanket description of the opinions of labour party membership cannot be wrong.
It’s not just the Sky City box fiasco that so infuriating… it’s the fact that every bloody week they fuck up and undermine some supposedly key policy point.
Every week with every single major policy they give the NACTS an opportunity to shout “Show me the money!”
And all NACT’s useful idiots are saying “Clark was rating lower in the Precambrian, Goff was at a lower point in the Triassic…”
It’s all grasping at straws.
Even Dalziel was desperately scrambling on Nine to Noon the other day, pretending that “normal voting patterns” would resume.
I feel sorry for, and am amazed at the faith and persistence of, party workers who sincerely and passionately devote themselves to policy development only to be spat on at the last conference and humiliated by a recurring cycle of fiascoes that happen so regularly you could set your watch by them. It’s as if Sisyphus can’t even get his boulder to the top of the mountain – it rolls away the moment he moves it.
Mothers chew food for their babies, baby food is mash, to make it easy to digest, so was it any wonder a faster food chain would utilize food science to make food that produce a quick feeling of fullness. Food that was easily digestible within 5 hours. So I was a bit struck when the lawyer before the privy council seem to suggest that a MacDonald fast food takeout should be near the upper limit of five hour before it would be digested. And what is near alibi that would exonerate him, we here a lot about the speeding to get home, and how the computer clock was wrong, well there was a clock at the alibi event too, if you were going to kill someone and came across a clock that was wrong… ..anyway this is why courts should be trusted with the process and why Bain should get compensation, for Justice to be fair the court must prove guilt, and when they can’t…
Given that McDonalds buns take a good year to develop mold/decompose behind my couch, it would not surprise me at all if they were at the upper limits of what’s digestible.
The only evidence suggesting he was in Petone at midnight is the alibi of a prostitute – I look forward to her testimony at the rehearing.
In the meantime, pro-Lundy nutbars are going to have to explain:
a) the bedroom window broken and surrounding blood stains of Mum when the “stranger jewellery-box-robber hypothesis” is premised on the intruder leaving through the door, which was after all open (the defence case was “No true pre-meditated murderer would be such an amateur”);
b) The stranger invader grabbing the key off the divider, going outside to grab Lundy’s tools, unlocking the garage, THEN murdering mother and child; and
c) The increase in Mum’s and Dad’s life insurance policy when dad was facing over 100k in debt.
Instead you want to jump up and defend how easily digestible McDonalds would be? Please.
I’ve never understood why people seem to get so personally involved with court cases they presumably have nothing to do with, and take up such entrenched positions on matters they know nothing more about than anyone else.
Someone who disagrees with you on the interpretation of a very limited set of facts isn’t necessarily a nutbar. They’re just another uninformed person like yourself but with a slightly different perspective.
Also you seem to be scornful of evidence provided by a sex worker. Why is that?
A part of what sex workers are paid for is to keep men’s secrets.
As to nutbar, that was sloppy language, and not intended to be founded on the fact of aerobubble was being pro-Lundy (but rather anti-judicial-process-but-only-parts-of-it-that-don’t-suit-Lundy, and the vaguely conspiratorial ring of the post…) – anyway, I retract and apologize.
However, I do think presuming that both the computer clock and the motel’s/sex worker’s clock were wrong is simply reading in facts that do not exist (and have not even been alleged by the defence) is fringe behaviour.
Same with an appeal court overturning a decision (which having watched the closing arguments at the P.C., and the way they were received by the judges, I believe Lundy will get a retrial) and coming out with “why courts should [not] be trusted with the process” is fringey tinfoilhat behaviour.
Burgers behind couches, dry out, whereas a burger introduced to a wet billion year old evolved stomach is quite a different thing. Obviously people who eat burgers digest them… duh.
Considering that Labour appears to follow the Greens on every harebrained initiative, a few questions arise:
Where is David Shearer?
What is he doing?
What leadership does he provide other than follow Norman?
Who is advising him?
Why isn’t Grant Robertson stepping in?
Grant Robertson is the problem and therefore can’t be “stepping in” to fix anything.
He has all the Leaders Staff under his control – he picked most.
Robertson, along with WaionouimataMan, devised the election strategy for 2011, the image strategy for Goff and now the image strategy for Shearer. Along with Goff, Mallard and King he picked Shearer to block Cunliffe, who would have sent them to their well earned retirment/Embassy etc.
If you are wondering what Shearer is doing wrong, the answer is he is doing whatever Grant Roberson is telling him to do.
Remove Robertson and we are on the way to fixing the Labour Party.
So you are saying that Robertson is the VRWC plant and not Shearer? That is quite devious as most folk assumed that Shearer was ballsing up Labour by himself without any help from his deputy?
Whoever the fuck killed these men forgot that unless you’ve got control over the local police and media, the truth will always come to the fucking surface. Murder just leaves too many loose ends for investigators to follow, particularly when intelligence orgs are involved.
No wonder Snowden’s in hidding then if this is their standard operating procedure for closing leaks đ
At this stage of the game Labour needs to be in the low 40s not the low 30s.
Why?
The Governor General will invite the leader of the largest party to try to form a government first. Winston would go with National if the only alternative is a Labour Green NZ First Threesome. If Winstonâs supporters thought that he would even think of working with the Green they would run to the Natz in droves.
The electorate will not give Labour the boost it needs if it thinks that will lead to a Threeesome Govt.
To win, Labour needs to be in a position to choose between the Greens and Winston. They need to be in the 40s That is not going to happen unless the Caucus decides to make a very significant change.
As long as Shearer Robertson are there Labour will remain in the low 30s and Natz will lead the next Government.
.
formally requesting the leader of the political party with support of a majority in the House of Representatives to form a government,
So s/he’d only invite the leader of the biggest party to form a government if they had an outright majority. Failing that, whatever party can get the confidence and supply agreement of enough MPs to form a majority alliance, will get the GG’s invite.
It is a well known phenomenon that EQC is the most woeful government department ever. It goes back to not even having a plan to deal with the thousands and thousands of claims that would result from a disaster hitting one of our major cities. This is of course gross negligence of the highest order given that is exactly their purpose. (holding back expletives here..)….. and that negligence rests entirely on the shoulders of previous Ministers responsible for the organisation and the governments they were part of.
Now as part of that complete incompetence it has also committed other astounding blunders such as emailing out private details to all and sundry.
But now get this – documents necessary to get repairs underway for claimants are no longer emailed, they are snail-mailed because they simply cannot trust themselves to not make a mistake with email…
… excuse me here but …… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
It is the fist of control that this represents. Someone makes a mistake then everyone is not allowed to do that which is by far the most efficient way of sending out information.
The managers need to worry less about the possible mistakes and more about the best way to send out information. That is if helping ordinary people sort out their problems is important.
Te Hamua Nikora has outlined the Mana Movement’s new housing policy very very well in the speech linked to below. And he doesn’t pull any punches where labour is concerned either. I can’t wait for him to get into parliament.
MANA wants to build 10,000 state houses a year, 500 immediately in Ikaroa Rawhiti, as a first step to ensuring that every whanau that needs a home can get one, either to rent or to own.
MANA would run the scheme through a restructured Te Puni Kokiri, in the same way that Maori Affairs ran the scheme in the past.
Government finance would come through Te Puni Kokiri, effectively cutting out banks and their mean-spirited attitude to Maori homeowners.
Only Maori first home owners would be able to apply.
There would be no deposit.
Interest rates would be no higher than the rates government pays on money it borrows.
Applicants can either build new or buy an existing property
Applicants will be able to negotiate mortgage arrangements that suit their circumstances.
MANAâs policy would fully restart Maori Trade Training in all the housing apprenticeships â carpentry, electrician, plumber, glazier, painting, roofing and drain-laying â and provide direct employment to hundreds of young Maori, reversing unemployment of 5,000 in Ikaroa Rawhiti and sending a positive message to those in Australia as well.
It is a win-win â our people get jobs building decent homes for our whanau.
An incredibly nasty peice on TV3 news by Tova Obrien on Te Hamua Nikora and pakehas lack of understanding of koha. Just let it go MSM, understand what Koha is about and fuck off. This sort of ignorant shit from the msm just pisses me off.
That was a classic TV3 misrepresentation…my understanding is that Marama is completely supportive of the Koha to Te Hauma Nikora (Native Affairs from a couple of weeks ago). TV3 played that clip in such a way to cause confusion.
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Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kĹrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whÄnau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it wonât come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of Americaâs virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealandâs apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second âSputnik momentâ. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the worldâs first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
Our originating document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between MÄori and the British Crown. Initially inked by NgÄ Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this governmentâs failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealandâs opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting MÄori and Pacific people especially hard, with MÄori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between MÄori and the British Crown. Initially inked by NgÄ Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing â National still wonât commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the countryâs public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader ChlÜe Swarbrick. ...
Te PÄti MÄori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymourâs âcost-savingâ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. âWhatâs the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?â Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the townâs Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mĹ Te KÄhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tĹŤpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tĹŤpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Childrenâs Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her governmentâs terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers â temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymourâs school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Governmentâs move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Governmentâs commitment to get New Zealandâs roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. âIncreasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. âToday I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in WhÄngarei will be offering childhood immunisations â the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Governmentâs record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealandâs strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealandâs national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Governmentâs transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. Itâs a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. âThe racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. âThe latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are âstill both very highâ.â The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawkeâs Bay Fallen Soldiersâ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawkeâs Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealandâs second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. âWe have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mĹ Te KÄhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âThis Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. âA world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed KÄinga Oraâs decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. âIn 2024 KÄinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,â Mr Bishop says. âAs part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. âAs schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamarikiâs review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 Whatâs Up hotline. âWhen I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. âThe Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. âDecember 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labourâs blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. âThe previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. âNational campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 â the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. âThis yearâs Budget will drive forward the Governmentâs plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. âBudget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Governmentâs growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. âJust over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. âThe Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,â says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. âThe change is part of the Governmentâs plan to unlock New Zealandâs potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of KÄinga Oraâs development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âIâve been a strong advocate for social housing on KÄinga Oraâs Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministersâ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.âHealth New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. âI referred the matter of Judge Aitkenâs alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. âLast year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. âOur diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealandâs interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,â Mr Peters says. âIt is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi â without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston Northâs biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whÄnau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. âThe Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. Itâs so great to be here and Iâm ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges â CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. âInvest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. âThe reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealandâs economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Ministerâs State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealandersâ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. âIn the previous governmentâs final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. âThat is completely ...
The Governmentâs welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. âThere are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âI am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. âJon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. âIâm pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
A long time ago, Brian Turner wrote a poem in which, among the mountains, as he slept on a river flat ⌠My speechless ancestors played like mice among my dreamsand he woke to the river running over my bed of stone. I have come to know that where a ...
Pacific Media Watch President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including more than $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and ...
Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman says New Zealand should provide a robust response to Donald Trump's Gaza plan, and also "should stop tip-toeing" around Trump. ...
The new minister of transport has opened the door for public consultation on at least some of the speed limit changes the government said would be automatic. ...
Officially, they’re called ‘memecoins,’ but KĹura Wealth founder Rupert Carlyon says the crypto world has another name for them: ‘shitcoins’.In digital finance, that phrase is used for tokens that have no true value – in essence, a money-grab.A few days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump launched his own ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Guy Williams has made a whole show off the joke that he is a âvolunteerâ journalist. So getting publicly owned by David Seymour while trying to act as a journalist is a good and timely reminder not to underestimate the nuance and ...
Many of SÄmoaâs beloved dishes are the result of cultural collaboration, writes Madeleine Chapman. All photos by Jin FelletIf you ever find yourself at a barbecue in a SÄmoan home, thereâs 99% chance that sapasui (chop suey) will be on the table. For the past century, sapasui has ...
The funnyman takes us through his life in television, including Jono and Ben mayhem, live Telethon flubs, and funnelling all those experiences into his new comedy Vince. Thereâs an inciting incident in Threeâs new comedy Vince where morning television presenter Vince Walters (Jono Pryor) is visiting sick kids in hospital ...
People often claim they just want Waitangi Day to be a celebration. At Waitangi, away from the headlined political acrimony and the marae Ätea, celebrating is what most people are doing. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous ...
Is there anything more fashionable than a MÄori get together? One of the best things about Northland is that nobody cares what they look like â probably because theyâre all naturally more stylish than the rest of us, famously. MÄori from the Far North, especially. In 27 degree heat, wearing ...
Iâve been in love with him since last July, but itâs only now in this tepid hotel room that I find myself wondering why. The first thing he does when we arrive is smoke a cone in the bathroom â he emerges, hacking up a lung, fists thrust into his ...
MONDAY“Name,” barked a representative of the lower orders.I regarded him with a look of stern disapproval, and told him from up high, “May I remind you that I have name suppression. I shall also thank you to ask with more respect as befits a former president of the Act Party, ...
Books of Mana: 180 MÄori-Authored Books of Significance, edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira has just been released by Otago University Press. In this essay, Books are Taonga, Jeanette Wikaira explores her personal relationship to books and their value.For me, books are taonga. The knowledge ...
Get to know Tara, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Taraâs human for their support! Dog name: Tara Age: Two Breed: Mostly Border Collie and a little bit Catahoula Leopard dog If dog ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Gail Duncan, Chairperson of the St Peterâs on Willis Social Justice Group, one of the organisations invited to submit on the Bill, says the Governmentâs actions are unprecedented. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member.ABC News/Supplied The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Nik/Unsplash You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health. Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and ...
Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Tijana Simic/Shutterstock The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO Mino Surkala, Shutterstock Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University Netflix Netflixâs new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson. The first episode opens with Gibsonâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greeceâs government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The âearthquake swarmâ is also affecting other ...
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Want to keep up with the latest developments relating to climate change?
Or just uncertain of the facts and want to know more?
Then check out the Daily Climate News. You couldn’t go far past dailyclimate.org as a good simple factual resource. Here gathered in one place, are climate related news stories from around the globe.
The lead story today is about the phenomenon known as ‘weather whiplash’ hitting farming in the US.
AS DROUGHT TURNS TO FLOOD, FARMERS GET “WEATHER WHIPLASH”
Many New Zealand farmers currently suffering flooding after an unprecedented drought could relate.
Other lead stories
How British farmers have been badly effected by changes in weather patterns.
UK FARMERS FAIL TO FEED NATION AFTER EXTREME WEATHER HITS WHEAT CROP
But it is not all bad news. There is some good news, and some mixed news.
First the good news:
Emission cuts lead to cleaner California air
In a marriage that replaces coal, natural gas and renewable energy will power the future Texas grid
Renewables growth shifts to developing nations
Now the mixed news:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday a $19.5 billion plan to defend New York City against rising seas and severe storms
Relating to OM yesterday. Your inability to see the super power proxy war unfolding in Syria, or the fact that there is no popular uprising (except possibly in your own mind) because the majority of the fighters in the conflict are imported mercenaries and jihadists, undermines any humanitarian point you have tried to make.
Do you know what you have in common with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz? You’re a supporter of regime change through foreign military force. These are intentions that General Wesley Clark revealed years ago, after he left the military.
And please don’t try and threaten my Labour Party membership. I’ve had a number of MPs make the attempt, and to you I will also say, fuck off.
tsk tsk. trouble in the sandbox. đ
CV the only one threatening your Labour Party membership is yourself. No self respecting democratic party can be seen to tolerate an intemperate extremist who openly supports mass murder.
You still telling other political parties what they should be doing?
You still support the foreign sponsored military overthrow of Assad, you support mass murder, feel that itch in your conscience? Those are the heavy weapons that the west are now openly supplying to foreign Islamist fighters in Syria.
Here is a list of the different Islamist groups now fighting in Assad. To be clear: these are the people you are supporting, Jenny.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/freedom-fighters-cannibals-the-truth-about-syrias-rebels-8662618.html
Those are the heavy weapons that the west are now openly supplying to foreign Islamist fighters in Syria.
3500 tons of armaments,brought from Croatia,.
the Kerry /haig beatup for a no fly zone lasted about 5 minutes at the G8 when the Russians told them what their expected losses would be.A point emphasized by the US chief of staff,who stated that a no fly zone would require neutralizing a fully integrated state of the art air defense system and in addition the US did not have the economic capability due to sequestration (read funding cuts) hence it would require dual house approvals.
Jenny, being a warmonger, will be well pleased.
As I just commented, it seems that the US (global) financial situation may be about to get much worse. Very pleased to be in NZ.
Only people who don’t know how lucky they are to be in a democracy.
can justify the use of massive violence to deny it to others.
So most of the names of the organisations you have supplied CV care of the Independent, have titles that include the words Islamic or Islam. So what?
I support a people’s right to overthrow a monstrous dictatorship.
While you CV are more and more revealing yourself as an ignorant Islamaphobe who supports a regime that uses torture and bombardment from the air against civilian populations who have rejected the dictatorship.
You are an Islamaphobe who admires a murderous dictator with a fashionable wife, because he has been publicly feted and admired by useful idiots in the West for being “Secular” and “Progressive“. While in private more valued by the West for providing a safe haven for torture for the shadowy CIA rendition program, As well as keeping Israel’s Northern Border trouble free.
So why in your opinion CV is “Islamic” in a rebel organisations name, enough to discredit them in your eyes?
Around the world where all other means of popular expression has been suppressed, people have turned to religious faiths and organisations and charities that not only provide succor for a besieged people, but also give a space to give voice to their hopes and dreams for a better life.
IMHO, Mainly because such organisations are the only ones that can still operate under the harsh conditions of dictatorship.
In most of the Arab world, which until recently due to the Arab Spring has been overwhelmingly dominated by pro-Western despots who banned all political meetings. Friday prayers were the natural place where people could gather in large numbers without interference or attack from their various regimes. And so space was gained for the birth of Arab Spring under conditions of harsh repressive dictatorship in which all other means of popular expression were violently suppressed.
For instance the rise of Hamas in Palestine occurred mainly through their welfare charity and health provision when all secular organisations had either failed or become corrupted or infiltrated.
Not at all CV. Just pointing out to one of them, and the rest of the country that they harbour an admirer of a fascist style regime in their ranks.
It is up to the Labour Party if they are happy to tolerate supporters of mass murder and torture in their ranks. If the Labour Party are happy with this situation, then they will have to judged by it.
It seems to me that the next national election campaign has already started.
Key has been repeating the theme that NZ Labour is a radical left party, not fit to be trusted with the Treasury benches.
Repetition is a powerful rhetorical tool, akin to conditioning.
He would not be doing so on his own. It is probable that the National strategy
committee [Collins, Lusk, Joyce, Textor, Crosby .. ad nauseam] has decided on
a long term strategy of a long march through the swamps of electoral politics to
set the stage and control the parameters of the campaign.
We will probably soon have other National parliamentarians echoing the theme.
Winston is onto it
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8810045/Key-puts-boot-into-Opposition
.. so is Mad Max
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10130073/American-Mad-Max-angers-Australians.html
Winston The Toe-Cutter.
Yep, there was a reason why the previous government set the election period as from Jan of the year of the election and it’s the same reason why National dropped it as soon as they got power – because the electioneering happens throughout the entire year. Some academics think that electioneering never stops.
still got hoardings masquerading as public announcements out west – theyve never gone away
Yep, seen that. National Party advertising courtesy of the taxpayer.
Yip still getting mail outs from that numpty Shearer.
http://www.social-europe.eu/2013/06/one-more-reason-to-end-this-depression-now-fascism/
yep, lacing up those boots.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10891752. Can it get much worse? Kids starving while shyster politicians and their hired help pay spin doctors to avoid democratic transparency.
I see that some within Labour are proposing that Clayton Cosgrove is selected as its candidate for the Christchurch East by election. The thinking is that this will shore up support for Shearer as it will bring into Parliament Kelvin Davis who is said to be a Shearer supporter.
Can I suggest an alternative thinking, that Labour selects the best possible candidate for the job. This person should preferably be a local of have strong links to the area. They should be capable of doing the job, of helping local people with their problems and of holding the Government to account for the shyte situation it has created in Christchurch. They should also have the judgment to not do stupid stuff like accepting free beer and food in a Sky City Corporate Box.
I do not give a toss who they support for the leadership. In fact if they are selected for loyalty reasons rather than on ability there is something seriously wrong.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8817400/Cosgrove-not-flavour-of-the-moment
So in other words. No one in the current crop?
*sigh* How much longer is the wider left going to be subjected to the weakening impacts of the self-serving shenanigans of the current inadequate Labour caucus leadership? It’s thoroughly depressing.
And it is so self serving. At the time that all focus should be on Dalziel’s bid for the mayoralty we are talking instead about internal shyte. Dalziel should be given some clean air to get her campaign going. For Christchurch’s sake it is vital that she beats Mr Lego Clown.
Excellent to see Lianne has the backing of Vicky Buck, Sam Johnston and possibly Garry Moore?
Definitely Gary Moore! He was on RNZ this morning promoting her big time.
Amen to that; time for Bob to park up. Never been a touch on Moore and Buck.
Agree Karol, if this is true. Very depressing if members of the Labour caucus continue to feel it is necessary to play this game and continue to sure up David Shearer’s position. If true it certainly lowers my opinion of Davis, I didn’t think he was too bad. Difficult to respect someone that backs Shearer.
Maybe Shearer can terrorise opponents in Chch East by-election as well, really working well in Ikaroa-Rawhiti!
Stop making sense
Noble idea SP but cannot see it happening, based on some of the candidates that ran in 2011 its looking like a members only club which excludes and discourages talented committeid folk who can conribute.
“Labour has signalled it will drop at least three of its economic policies, although more for reasons of fiscal restraint than unpopularity: paying into the Cullen super fund before the country returns to surplus, removing GST from fruit and vegetables and making the first $5000 of income tax-free.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10891744
Now it may not be much but 5k tax free would make a difference to the poorest or the poor, but now I see that Labour are starting to show their true light blue colours, fiscal restraint my arse, they are just trying to pull in the blue center vote and to hell with the poor typical Shearer shit! And how much, has the NOT putting in to the Cullen Fund cost us? And if you are really poor even the Gestapo Tax off of the Greenery would be a help.
Just makes my decision to vote Green this time even more correct. I will not vote for a Haters party, and Labour has become a haters party under the mismanagement of Shearer Mallard King Robertson Hipkins and the Rest,
Basically the main policies which differentiate them from National as giving a fuck about low income folks.
I can’t see myself voting for them either.
And if quantitative easing is good enough for the UK and the USA then it’s good enough for Norman…
He needs to start calling Key on his “funny money” jibes and asking if he said that when last speaking to US or UK government officials or ministers.
Yeah but the problem with that is Key understands money and its place in the world (as opposed to how you lot would like money to work in a utopian fantasy world) and the good Ginga Dr has no fucking idea at all.
You speak of a “utopian fantasy world of money”
The Primary Dealers can access billions in newly created money from the Federal Reserve at a less than 0% real interest rate.
I think it’s this current system which is the unsustainable, utopian fantasy (for the elite).
Russel Norman has got a very good grip on the problems we face today. On the other hand, you should stop listening to the shit heads who are actually responsible for the GFC and the subsequent Great Recession, and who in the main, are still in charge pretending they know what they are doing.
David H, You have highlighted a quote attributed to Labour which is in fact shit made up by Audrey Young. Where have you heard or seen anyone from Labour actually ” signal ” such a thing ?. Young, Armstrong et al are part of the Nat disinformation and ” left wing ” denigration campaign which is only given credence by repetition on Labour/Green associated forums. You are playing their game for them.
It strikes me that you and your ilk do not want a left Government because you are only happy constantly complaining and bitching.
We complain and bitch because we DO want a left government.
You’re not going to get one if you keep repeating their made up shit and I repeat playing their game for them. The All Blacks ( and all great teams ) are at their best and unbeatable ( Chch last Sat ) when they get the other team to play the way they want. Simple, it’s the first rule of warfare.
Get out and do some bloody work, doorknocking and phone calling and stop being so fucking negative.
I doubt that Audrey is simply day dreaming those policy changes. She meets Labour front bench MPs on a weekly basis.
As for door knocking for Labour…which I have done a lot of…I’ve decided that I don’t door knock for centrist parties. Not where my political leanings are.
I will be very frustrated if Labour drop the income tax free zone. It simply means that they are not willing to significantly raise taxes on those earning higher incomes.
CV
I can see that it would be useful to have all in the taxation system with all contributing something. But if the first $20,000 on wages was at 5% it would be fairer. The government gets extra tax from GST on the spending of the net income.
That’s what should happen for low income people now the GST has been introduced. And it should be brought down to 10% again. It’s a burden on the spending on necessities, which can include expensive items like frig’s, maintenance on houses and vehicles. It just loads expense on the low income sector which has the biggest bit of the pie chart – the only place where their pie portion is large.
Then decent progressive steps. This country has overused the excuse of simplicity of tax structure which is a lazy approach in this age that has moved on from individual clerks penning everything and working from printed tables to fast calculators and automation. Income tax needs to move on to systems that provide subsidies for transport, allowances for tools, and more tax steps that are inflation indexed.
In general I very much agree. Whether everyone needs to be paying income tax is worth a discussion. People paying income tax on their UB which is so low already…what’s the point.
But in general terms yes the tax system has to become far more progressive, and also far simpler to administer with Far fewer gaps for avoidance.
CV…but the war will be won in the center as always? you disagree?
The world will be lost in the centre, DavidC.
I don’t know about the third policy David H mentions (the $5000) but the other two (GST and Cullen Fund) have both been publicly mentioned by Shearer/Parker. The Cullen fund was in Shearer’s speeches over a year ago.
Just calling Labour voters gullible tools of the MSM really doesn’t work. Nor does blaming people for not door-knocking in the cold on behalf of the warm corporate box. Clearly some Labour MPs don’t need less criticism, they need more, until they get it.
Where did Shearer or anyone in labour say they would drop the Cullen fund payments before surplus? Or drop any of the other policies mentioned?
It’s a really tiresome ploy to ask questions you don’t want the answer to. Pretending to want information, but actually just being contrary for the sake of it.
If you did genuinely want the answer, you could simply Google “david shearer speech cullen fund”. It would save us both time.
Read first search result. And many more.
actually, fair call on that one about google. Bit busy today though, and it didn’t ring any bells.
But I did actually want the answer, that’s why I asked the question.
The Cullen fund thing according to DTB’s links is not ” drop [ing …] paying into the Cullen super fund before the country returns to surplus”. It is “until we are back in surplus, any new spending will have to be paid for out of existing budget provisions, new revenue, or by re-prioritising.” Note the “new revenue” and “re-prioritising”. Lots of room there, like a CGT or higher tax band counting as “new revenue”. But definitely reporters are “interpreting” what is said, rather than quoting.
And the vege thing is simply a long way down the list at this stage. Depends on what the policy committee comes up with. And given that they’ll need the Greens to be in government, it would be difficult for Labour to refuse to do it should the Greens ask, it being recent policy and all.
Still busy supporting NZ’s centrist capitalist monetary orthodoxy party?
still throwing your toys around the cot?
Sure, I thought that was obvious. Now you answer.
No Cullen Fund restart until surplus, says Shearer – but did he tell his MPs?
Labour gone cold on GST-free food
Then let me put it this way Adrian. I have voted Labour ever since I was able to vote. I have helped by door knocking, driving people to vote, and in the other 1001 ways the volunteers help out. This time I will vote Green. I am so disappointed with the direction the party has taken, and the list of screw ups are getting longer by the day, so there is a leadership problem there, the absolute debacle that was the Paddy Gower Chris Hipkins hate Cunlife day live on TV3, turned me right off of Labour there and then. And nothing they have done since leads me to believe they will change. It seems to me that Labour are completely at war within the Party hierarchy and they don’t give a rats arse about the voters it’s more about hanging onto the pay packet. So if you want my vote then you have policy that will help those that are less well of that will help the Children and will put work to get jobs out there. Now for the last 40 years every time Labour has won I have been in full time well paid employment. I lose said employment under National as any extra money is gone. This time if labour get in I fear I will have no such employment as they don’t seem to have a clue I would not trust their front bench as far as I could spit against the wind.
Re Dunne and GCSB reports
Apparently 2 reports could not been “found”
One with an unnamed minister
AND
One with the department of the PM that WAS shredded.
That seems very odd as the report was going to be released any way.
Really weird.
“One with the department of the PM ”
The largest employment growth area in government (by percentage) is this department. Maybe we should just start calling it the Central Committee of the Dictatorship
“A government controlled by one person, or a small group of people. In this form of government the power rests entirely on the person or group of people. The dictator(s) may also take away much of its peoples’ freedom. In contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.”
Changing those laws is the first step in being unrestricted by laws. Undermining the power of the Judiciary is also key (no pun intended).
If calling Labour’s last rule “helengrad” was an acceptable epithet (and it was used by mainstream journalists including John Armstrong) then why such horror if we start to call this government “the Dictatorship”?
Peter Dunne wants the rules changed so that he can keep 100’s of thousands in party cash. How long has UF been duping the electoral commission re the numbers they really have in their party?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10891755
“Please please let me keep my nose in the trough really deeply, please don’t pull me back to the edge where I only get a little.”
With everything he has been caught out doing, he still demands things to be as they were, even tho’ he has Leaked sensitive docs (thanks for that Pete) has NO party but still wants the money (no thanks Pete)
Yesterday he said they had enough members to form 4 parties. He also said it was their largest membership in a long time. 2000? That’s as many people who put their hand in their pocket for this party? I am a MMP fan but guys like this and Banks are taking the piss.
On RadioNZ National this morning ‘the Hairdo’ backed down from His claim of having 2000 members calling that claim a slight over estimation,
Apparently the Hairodo’s party has 1000 members via electronic medium which the Electoral Commission will not accept for the purpose of registering United Future as a party,
Dunne today will have a discussion with the Speaker of the House who would in a sane world where there wasn’t being operated a protection racket for errant Ministers and MP’s withdraw the ‘Leaders’ funding for the non-existent United Future party but don’t hold your breath,
Dunnes legacy when He finally ceases supping at the trough will be to have been the ‘black hole in space’ of New Zealand politics having sucked in every fledgling ‘movement’ and political party from christians to hunters’n’fishers whereupon anything such may have stood for has disappeared immediately from the political sphere…
Actually, I/S has an interesting post and makes a good point on that:
It seems that it may be the electoral commission that’s breaking the law.
Actually, I understood that the electoral commission now say they will accept electronic records. But the stuff originally submitted electronically was just a spreadsheet of names “not supported by any signed and dated evidence from members”. This was judged to be inadequate. They want signed and dated forms and will accept those that have been submitted to the party electronically.
Fair enough.
Not sure about that – looking at the Herald article, apparently the EC is cool with electronic, but wants the members signatures (basically scans of the forms). UF just wanted to give them an excel spreadsheet of the membership details (my guess is no signatures).
The real problem for Dunne is that the EC claims no facility to “reregister” parties, so UF comes under as a new registration and he loses his party leadership $$$ because a new parliamentary party needs 6 MPs.
heh, heh, heh
edit: snap karol – that’ll teach me to have a work chat halfway through writing a comment đ
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2013/06/by-andrew-gimsonfollow-andrew-on-twitter-lynton-crosby-has-never-lobbied-david-cameron-on-anything-to-do-with-cigarettes-or.html
So David Cameron and Lynton Crosby have set out to destroy the Labour Party ?
“The Prime Minister insisted, when challenged on this point, that he is only interested in learning one thing from Mr Crosby: “How we destroy the credibility of the Labour Party.” Mr Cameron added that this was a subject in which Mr Crosby has “considerable expertise”, but is something Labour is even better at doing for itself.
One might add that this is also a subject in which Mr Cameron has considerable expertise. On leaving Oxford, he went straight into the Conservative Research Department, where he mastered the technique of making a close study of Labour policy in order to demonstrate, with the help of quotation, that it is riven by fatal contradictions.
So what we get nowadays at Prime Minister’s questions is a perpetual assault by Mr Cameron on the Labour Party, of a kind which a gifted desk officer in the Conservative Research Department of the late 1980s might make. It is a professional performance, but also a rather mean-spirited and constricted one.”
.. and a role model for John Key and the National Party front bench from which Aaron Gilmore took his cue.
Raa
That’s all interesting – especially the bit about David Cameron doing a virtual PhD on the anomalies of the Labour Party. Is that on google under David Cameron? Have you a link?
I was commenting on Guava’s link above .. but I don’t think
John Key can match Cameron’s performance in this respect
because he has not put in the effort, love him or hate him, which Cameron has.
I’m not big on crime news stories, they always feel a bit manipulative, but this:
“A nun has admitted breaking the arm of a 9-year-old at Sunday School after the girl failed to get an action song right.
Leva-i-Fangalupe Fono – known as Sister Leva – yelled at the girl, flicked her in the head and broke the girl’s arm when she twisted it behind her back. ”
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/261704/nun-admits-breaking-girls-arm
This just feels wrong on every level! Breaking a nine-year old’s arm at Sunday School – even if she had been playing up that would have been grossly inappropriate, but for getting a song wrong?
I know the Catholics already have semi-public schools, but I see this as a taste of things to come if religious groups get to run Charter Schools away from the public eye. What would Destiny thugs do to a kid who blew one of Bishop(/ Messiah) Tamaki’s photo ops?
I don’t want to be a catholic boy,
i just want to have some fun,
i don’t want to be a catholic boy
and get beaten by the nun…
Pasupial
The buzz word these days is to be ‘passionate’ about what you do. Could this be the ultimate effect – Ultimate Passion Fighting? The Army manages to lose a few of its trainees now and then which apparently is collateral damage when looking at the overall objective. I guess when you want to produce successful stats and stars that illuminate your education organisation positively, what’s a few broken arms while trying to control the poor material you are working with? /sarc
I was watching The Wire and a white teacher without street experience trying to teach the belligerent, negative, malicious and troubled young people from a very depressed area. One girl suddenly slashed the face of another with a razor in a recent view. The teachers and school leaders are now trying a new approach and mentally dividing the children into those from the stoops, and those from the corners. This indicates two different types of response by the youngsters to their education and each will be met by a shaped method that responds to the way that group behaves. The idea is that each group should be taught in a way that specially meets their approach so they can be controlled and led into education with their minds readied to concentrate, and not just to think up playing disruptive games with the teacher.
There is an interview on 9toNoon this morning that would be good for all interested in NZ employment and smart business providing it to listen to. It’s about Lego’s rise and fall and scramble to rise again and keep selling and coping with low cost labour competition. We need to follow similar trajectory in trying to scramble out of our low operating economy using our wits not reverting to reliance on primary and extractive industries till we have metaphorically chopped all the kauri trees.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/presenters/kathryn-ryan (audio available probably after 11am if you miss it live).
10:05 Professor David Robertson – the story behind Lego
Why the iconic Danish company faced near collapse in 2003, and how it managed to recover and become one of the world’s biggest toy companies, and what this turnaround can teach other companies about surviving and thriving. Professor Robertson teaches Innovation and Product Development at Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry
It appears that Wellington mayoral contender and long-time rubbish batsman John Morrison has been plagiarising the council’s chief executive for his own puff-piece in last week’s Dom Post:
http://wccwatch.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/morrison-caught-out/
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=56433
What an idiot. Also: Jack Yan just tweeted “I guess thatâs what happens when you donât have any of your own policies.”
The Right must be genuinely desperate to have put up this clown as a serious mayoral contender.
On the topics of Wellington
-the Wellington Regional Transport Committee; Fran Wilde-go with buses. Celia Wade-Brown-light rail. Light-rail in Wellington?
and the ‘comfortable” response to begging in the streets? Charity-boxes to fund charity organizations!ffs, there is that ‘deserving” of the corralled poor.
ANTI-GE PUBLIC MEETING TONIGHT!
Thursday 20 June 2013, 7.15pm – 9.30pm
See you there? đ
___________________________________________________________________________
https://www.facebook.com/events/662356430445771/
“The Hillsborough Room at The Fickling Centre. Cnr of Mt Eden and Mt Albert Rd, (behind 3 Kings Shops in rear of car park and opposite Club Physical) Plenty of parking and on a bus route.
After the enthusiasm of the March Against Monsanto come and find what is happening in NZ and Australia on the GE front?
Australian farmer Bob Mackley and Green Party MP Steffan Browning are visiting to tell you about the impact of an Australian GE crop contamination; and what is happening around GE in New Zealand.
Bob Mackley is speaking about the contamination of his farm by genetically engineered crops.
Come and hear about his experience.
(I heard him last year and he is very knowledgeable and interesting.)
Bob Mackley is a canola farmer in Victoria. He is a strong community figure; a past District Council Chairman and a member of the Victorian Farmers Federation.
He has experience as a convener of a grain marketing group formed to empower local small farmers to get their crops to market, and is past president of the Wimmera Conservation Farming Association.
His crops were contaminated by his neighbourâs GE canola and he is very concerned about the impact of this on his business. He is also concerned about the divisive effect the introduction of GE crops has had on community relationships.
Steffan Browning is working very hard on our behalf to keep NZ GE free. I am delighted to be running this meeting for him.
He will speak about our position in New Zealand and what is happening, not only about keeping crops out of the environment, but about how the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Food Standards (FSANZ) is approving GE food for release here, even before it has been approved by the US!
Here is some news just released by Steffan about the food bill:
http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/green-party-celebrates-changes-food-bill
Please bring along as many people as you can. The more people who really understand about GE the sooner the movement will grow to ensure it is kept out of our environment.”
(Lisa Er from the ‘Awareness Party’ has helped to organise this meeting.)
Life in the Rural Police State of Monsanto
Stopping GE seems like a good idea to me because it would stop shit like this happening. The rest of the article is a must read as it covers how Monsanto are raking in the dollars from lawsuits. IMO, Patents are past their use-by dates and are now a very good example of law gone wrong.
off the subject of suits, was watching Bill O’Reilly on Letterman last night (now there is a program that indicates the States of America…) opined that Snowden could have sued the govt. and that he is likely to get a “ten-stretch”.
It’s more a case of updating patent laws to deal with the implications of GE.
Especially as in the past farmers would have been able to keep seed without threat of legal action, from commercially developed crop lines that usually take even longer than GE techniques to breed and oft used mutagenic methods to generate novel variations. Thus I see a problematic legal contradiction in giving GMO’s patent protection, as frankly, unless you’re making a whole new species, all it is, is a much faster and direct method of adding desired genetic variation to an organism.
*cough*
Anyhow – from actually having done considerable amounts of course work (BSc is in Molecular Biology, so biochemistry and genetics Nick knowth) and regular readings in the years since, the main issues with GMO’s biologically speaking are thus:
1) What changes occur in the global regulation of genes for the GMO vs the parent strain and do we understand if the differences have negative consequences in context of ecological relationships and human usage? Case in point – Monsanto removed the selectivity filter from 3 of the bt toxin proteins, which means those bt toxins now worked on insect species that they previously worked on. While global changes in gene expression vs parent may lead to other issues, that are more difficult to pin down if functions/context of specific genes is unknown.
2) Are their any significant biochemical changes to the introduced protein products? i.e. proteins are often modified post-translation with phosphate groups and/or sugar polymers (branching and linear). Especially if the the RNA they are derived on is tagged for export to the cell membrane or excretion into the extracellular environment. These can cause changes in protein function, dependant on the protein’s sequence and 3d structure + any binding substrates or allosteric moderators. Addition of sugar polymers can also cause immunological reactions in humans if the immune system of the individual carries antibodies against a matching sugar polymer.
3) Is gene flow to wild species possible? i.e. can the GMO reproduce with any relatives, where mating systems allow for it? In the case of some plant families, the historical species barriers were geographic isolation, rather than via incompatibilities. Which means that you need to be very, very careful in developing plant GMO’s to insure that genes for herbicide resistances or bt toxins do not leak into wild or weedy relatives. Basically – plants can be really, really “fun” when it comes to dealing with hybrids due to quirks of their sexual reproduction and are prone to all sorts of weird stuff (polyploidy being the main one) that can create means for genes to flow from crops to weeds and vis versa.
As to GE in generally – it’s an extremely useful tool, we use it daily for producing a wide variety of biological products and can be used to rapidly introduce phenotypes that otherwise would take very large numbers of generations to find and select for. For example, we use GE yeast and other fungi to produce stuff like insulin, human growth factor and rennet enzymes, along with other proteins (antibodies for example), that would otherwise be harvested from animals or humans. Allowing for high levels of purity and avoids carrying over viral diseases.
References: spread all through out 2 years of biochem and genetics notes ;-; Probably a bit straightforward to find via google scholar though, aiming for review articles, but suspect key papers stuck behind paywalls…
Rock On! NickS
NickS uses SCIENCE
It’s super effective!
(sounds of brains imploding heard across the land)
UK union leader loses plot
This buys into right wing framing, loses votes on the Left, and loses votes on the Right, it’s just stupid.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/10128822/Unison-leader-Dave-Prentis-Labour-should-not-fall-into-trap-of-Coalition-with-Liberal-Democrats.html
I read it and disagree: by my reading, he was sending up the right wing framing, not feeding into it. He described the bedroom tax as vile and vicious, and also said:
“We must not support a Labour Government that does not: put an end to privatisation and market madness or restore our NHS- invest in our public services, restore the facility time taken away from our activists, restore workers rights and remove the shackles on trade unions.”
These are not the words of someone buying into right wing framing.
Aus deports NZ offenders in record numbers
The Taliban are back.
Brazil’s increasing middle-classes represented in protests; we can only hope and pray.
THE VOTE:
Moot-it is parenting, held.
Rankin- “a parenting crisis”
Clark- “both matter”
Rankin- went straight to “dysfunctional families”
Wills- “poverty rate triple that when we were kids (I quote ‘kids’ reluctantly, another weakness in the national discourse)”
-“poverty of children triple that of the elderly”
-“outgoings too high”
Rankin- believes “that life skills overcome poverty”.
McCroskie- straight to stereo-typing the PI -“money going back to the islands, loan sharks, poverty”.
Lashlie- “poverty is less than 15K…issues are not at arm’s length like they are for the middle classes and above”.
410 Notifications to CYFS a day.”a bleakness of life” (check your privilage ‘pete’)
McCroskie- concedes ” money is a factor” and that ” poorer areas ARE targeted by the liquor and pokie industries”.
Tamaki (had to have a stiff pipe to watch that) -“hey, in a cold house you can still cuddle a child”
“I’m a… I’m a ….I’m a …sensational mother and grandmother” (who clearly has never heard the sweet voice of Jesus in her, MY MY MY , ear).
Hone (Love that man)- “medium income in the North is 12K, many less than that…colds go on and on ‘cos families can’t afford the medicine…whanau (in the studio audience) know this to be true”.
GRINDING LEVELS OF POVERTY place people under stress, lowers the wairua.
Tamaki- “I am , in my own eyes” (give that woman a pill đ ) families working themselves out of debt, into debt with Destiny Church. King takes Bishop.
Interesting watching the nervous throat swallowings of the studio audience when faced with the evidence.
McCroskie- “key driver, family breakdown” stigmatizing the single-parent household, protecting themselves from useless men. Widows and orphans, widows and orphans, what is that blinds ‘Christians’ to that scripture?
Hone (love that man) “poverty can lead to family breakdown”.
Rank in- “why don’t we look at the successful?”
Food Insecurity.
Anyway, I was hosting a man in poverty, with a large family, and he believed from his own extensive experience that both factors, poverty and parenting play a part.
Did I say check your privilage?
Rankin- believes âthat life skills overcome povertyâ.
Having the skill to make the most of your looks, dress well (with a little accidental cleavage), choose interesting earrings, show off your knees etc. is all useful stuff for women. Women don’t find many good-paying jobs (average out to 80% of men’s wages, which only gives a rough guide to the arid planet that some women try to live on). Hopefully all the effort will enable her to find a well-paid partner so anything she can earn can go towards extra goodies and holidays and better clothes still. Que sera.
I would still contend that there has been a massive drop off of the sort of basic survival skills my mother taught me – cooking, clothing repair, budgeting etc.
Awesome:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/06/18/191279201/3-d-printer-brings-dexterity-to-children-with-no-fingers
now that’s a way better use for the technology, rather than the printing of bloody guns.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10890588
OPPOSE the PRIVATISATION of State Housing via the ‘social housing’ model!
Sue Henry (Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby) has asked me to send this FAR and WIDE!
ATTENTION â SOCIAL SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE:
SUBMISSION ON THE SOCIAL HOUSING REFORM (HOUSING RESTRUCTURING AND TENANCY MATTERS ) BILL:
http://www.parliament.nz/enNZ/PB/SC/MakeSub/4/0/7/50SCSS_SCF_00DBHOH_BILL12226_1-Social-Housing-Reform-Housing-Restructuring.htm
I strongly oppose the intent of this Bill to legislatively remove functions from Housing New Zealand (HNZ) under the proposed amended Part 5.
ie: Assessing eligibility for a State house.
¡ The functions of reviews, eligibility, and income-related rent
subsidy calculations should not be transferred to any other body
(including WINZ) from HNZ.
¡ HNZâs role as the major provider of State houses should not be
delegated to a multiple provider of âsocial housingâ. Under no
circumstances should Part 5 of the Principal Act:
The Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992,
be amended.
¡ No âsocial housingâ agency should be recipients of existing State
housing stock.
¡ This Bill should not apply to existing State housing tenants.
¡ State housing is a function of central Government â private âsocial
housingâ entities, should be totally separate entities to Housing
New Zealand.
¡ I oppose this privatized model for State housing.
____________________________________________________________________________
REALLY important that we get as many submissions in as possible!
Submissions need to be received by the Social Services Select Committee before midnight, Thursday 27 June 2013.
They can be mailed FREEPOST to Parliament to:
MAIL TO THE CLERK OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE :
Private Bag 18041 Parliament Buildings Wellington 6061
I have checked with the Clerk of the Social Services Select Committee, regarding whether or not there will be hearings in Auckland on this Bill.
At this stage, it has not yet been decided.
Recommend that as many Auckland people as possible circle YES to the
‘I WISH TO BE HEARD IN PERSON BY THE SOCIAL SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE’ bit on this submission form.
Have just put this up on my website, and will help get the message out as FAR and WIDE as possible đ
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?p=175
Her Warship đ
FAR and WIDE, I tell you!
Roy Morgan out.
Lab 33% (-2)
grn 11.5% (-0.5)
nat 44% (+3)
“Too close to call”.
NZ First = 6%
I’m sure Roy Morgan is the biggest cause of depression amongst leftie political activists currently.
One fortnight he bounces his results up giving all sorts of hope for the death of the hated Key, then the next fortnight the numbers bounce down again and suddenly Shearer is wearing Kevlar under his shirt to avoid the inevitable knife in the back.
Maybe they should only survey once a month to help reduce the number of stomach ulcers suffered by the L&G supporters?
I dunno. The trends are not too bad.
Nat + 3% isnt bad? LOL
one datapoint in a survey with a nominal MoE of ~3%? Nope.
labgrn moving from well behind to consistently too close to call (even nudging ahead at times, not seen for years)? That’s what people call a “trend”.
You distancing yourself from Shearer yet? I think its a good idea to start the verbal pre-positioning quite soon so it doesn’t look all sudden and panicky.
I’m sure you do.
Personally, I like to base my assessments on facts. So in that case it’s still “too close to call”, or even on occasion leaving national “well behind”.
Besides, I’d find it pretty difficult to maintain an 18-month tantrum. You’re still going strong, though.
An 18 month tanty? I suppose I like to be consistent.
Sometimes you have to start turning the wheel well before the evidential point of impact. Just saying.
BTW I think that Labour have a solid 50/50 chance of winning the election in 2014. But “winning” is merely an event and it isn’t the sole criteria of how I judge this thing called “leadership”.
How about these for facts?
I have never seen such an incompetent Government enjoy such support. I have never seen the Greens so popular. In the inner city liberal suburbs it is touch and go if Labour or the Greens are the most popular liberal party.
I have never seen the Greens win the party vote like they did in Wellington Central last time. I have never seen an electorate lose 10% points of the party vote like Labour did in Auckland Central.
I have never seen Dunedin swing so powerfully to the Greens like it did in 2011.
So nothing to worry about if you are a Green supporter. But if you are a Labour supporter well what can I say?
nothing to worry about if you’re a left supporter.
McFlock, your “trust me, it’s all under control” meme is very calming and reassuring.
well, some of us are natural-born chicken littles, and some of us prefer to look at the facts.
What do your pretense of “facts” and objectivity (you have no such thing) have to do with it?
Facts are the difference between discussing the real world and living in Narnia.
You’re welcome to present your own.
The Government has been under constant pressure through multiple fuck ups and it goes up in the polls?
well, it went down in the one just after the budget. I would have expected them to get a bounce from that, but it didn’t happen then. Maybe a lag?
compliance.
Oh well. Before there is time for anyone to get restless, the two main papers will put out polls in which Shearer’s Labour is on 35 or 36%, and the volatility of polls will be commented on and blah blah blah, sigh. It’s like watching the little wheels go round in a toy water mill.
You must be joking you naughty Roman. I doubt McFlock is a real Celt.
33% is where Labour has been for the whole Goff Robertson Shearer era.
John Key’s incompetent ministers and MPs mess up daily and Labour can’t make a dent in their grip on power.
Key could call an election if Banks or Dunne get booted.
And would the voters go for Shearer?
Bear in mind only half of this poll occurred before the Sky City Box fiasco.
That may have gone out of the media. It has not gone out of people’s minds
People are silently gobsmacked at the sheer stupidity of Shearer & co.
Not sure if you are talking to me Boadicea, but what I meant was, the polls always seem to stay just high enough for the ABC lot to retain control of the party. And where the main polls fall short, the newspaper ones tend to make up for it. But I agree that the 29-35% range replicates the Goff period, the difference being that Key was a lot more popular then.
And that goff started six and a half points higher than Shearer did.
McFlock,
Your bare faced jumping from trend data to point data is shallow and unconvincing,
You do not help the case of the leadership by pushing such a weak case in a weak manner.
http://www.roymorgan.com/~/media/Files/Findings/2013/June/4978-NZ-National-Voting-Intention.pdf
Here is a link to the figures. The current Labour leadership faction has been driving the strategy since the 2008 loss. And that faction has achieved the square root of sweet-fuck-all.
The polls are a massive failure for Labour. The Labour strategy is wrong. The wrong people are at the top table. Look at the figures. Every member of the party sees them.
Sadly the members found out at the 2011 Annual Conference that their voice is not wanted. Only the Caucus can sort this mess out.
I respect Loyalty. Your support of the leadership is not a real loyalty. It is blinkered support. Keep it up! It strengthens those who want to win Labour for ALL the members.
Where to start?
The polls say Labour/Green Government. Hardly a massive failure.
The members drove the conference, and made historic changes to the party. Ok, if by ‘the members’ you mean the mugs putting DC up when he had no chance, then, yeah, it was a tough conference for them.
I suspect McFlock, like me, doesn’t much care who leads the party. It’s the policies that count, because, on the left, that’s what we’re about. And if Shearer scrapes in, as it appears he will, then we get the best of Labour and the Greens to set our country’s future. That’s a pretty cool outcome, whoever the PM is.
The polls are a whisker away from a Labour/Green/NZ First government which could be the death knell for Labour.
This is at a time when this Government has been as useless, incompetent, disrespective of citizens rights and utterly incompetent in running the economy. And don’t me get started on the environment.
But they are still 11 points ahead of Labour. What gives?
This discussion three months ago on the Standard would have caused a huge number of comments. Are lefties that numb that they now do no longer care?
“This discussion three months ago on the Standard would have caused a huge number of comments. Are lefties that numb that they now do no longer care?”
Yes, many are disappointed or disillusioned. Those who collected Asset Sales petitions saw it mismanaged and we had to back out again.
Then we found out that our “Leaders” were flying up from Wellington and Christchurch to sup in the Sky Box the same day.
The sense of hope that existed last year has been replaced with numbness.
Yes, policies, that’s right, that’s what we’re about.
Uh, and so that means that leadership is not that important.
So. We going to put our Leader on the hoardings this time? You know, because who leads our party…uh…isn’t something we need to much care about.
Doesn’t bother me. I think its pretty obvious that Shearer is best when he’s not around.
Sweetie, you can start here.
National ’08 45%, ’11 47.5% now 44%.
Labour/ Green ’08 41%, ’11 38.5% now 44.5%
NZ1 ’08 4%, ’11 6.5% now 6%
National has not been impacted by their own foul ups or by the efforts of the opposition.
Labour Greens have closed the gap with the Nats by 4 pc points. However Winston and his 6% will go Nat rather than share power with the Greens.
That is not a success given all that has gone on since ’08.
That is a failure given that an election could be called anytime ( due to self inflicted wounds by Natz&co) and that a full term election is a little over 12 months away.
Nothing cool there. It is very chilling. All Labour people should be very very concerned.
There has been absolutely nothing to suggest NZF will go with National
except that it IS winston. Who knows wtf he’ll do? He might even resign prior to the campaign, ffs.
What were the polls reading especially for national just before the elections? If you’re going to compare survey points with actual observations, you might want to see what the survey bias was.
A few percent skewed towards national, if I recall correctly.
the six and a half points was election results. I.e., actual votes, not “voter intention” estimates. That’s the difference between actual starting points, of which surveys like roymorgan estimate support periodically between the actual elections.
If I wanted to compare survey point data, I’d look at the 23% result Labour got under goff shortly before the election.
Love the way you speak for all labour party members, though.
So the 2011 result was a good one because Labour got 27%? McFlock you need to get a grip on reality.
You need to learn to read.
The comparison was between goff and shearer’s leadership performance.
Moving from the low/mid thirties into the high/mid twenties is not the same as moving from the hih/mid twenties into the low/mid thirties in half the time.
There you fucking go again
What you actually mean is
Which is something different entirely. My prediction for next year is that Goff in 2011 will have shown himself a far stronger and more experienced campaigner than Shearer in 2014. Feel free to disagree.
I’m sure you’ll find plenty of excuses if shearer is the next pm.
Uh…no, I’m still pretty confident that Shearer will not be as good in the campaign as Goff in 2011, regardless of “winning”.
They aren’t mutually exclusive you see.
working on it already. That’s good.
I may need to learn to read McFlock but you need to learn about politics. Given the appalling nature of this Government Labour should be ahead in the polls. Figuring out relative comparisons to show that it is slightly better now than it was before is frankly shyte.
Or you’re just projecting that everyone sees the same things and thinks the same way you do.
Ah, the silent majority strikes again
Well you tell me McFlock. How does the Labour Party get out of the shyte that it is in right now?
And don’t diss the silent majority. From what I hear they are talking a whole load of sense.
The Labour party is doing fine under MMP. MMP, if you don’t recall, is supposed to have coalition governments. They provide the meat, the greens provide the healthy veges. National is trying to be a monolith party under MMP, and it’s in serious long term strife. Basically, my ideal labour vote is 38-40-odd percent. With 12-15% greens or another left wing party to drag government policy left.
Labour had a poor election response in 2011. But it needs to move through current levels to get to the 40-odd mark in 2014. It’s made it halfway, pretty much, and seems to be consistently improving, if slowly.
Oh, and the silent majority might just turn out to be a vocal minority who can’t deal with the fact that they supported a losing candidate.
So David Shearer is the person who will deliver us to the promised land?
FFS man he can hardly tie his shoe laces without help.
Do you ever get out and talk to people on the street? The message I hear is that Labour is just not cutting it. There is no oomph. There is no passion. There is no explanation of what NZ has to do to improve things.
Do you really want to rely on Winston Peters to provide a majority next time?
And yet the polls seem to be trending up. I recall when a 2 point dip would take labour into the 20s.
FFS man have you ever heard about the margin of error?
yes. That doesn’t take labour into the twenties any more, either. Under goff, it was lucky to take labour out of the twenties.
I dunno who the fucking polls talk to mate, but they’re not talking to anyone without a landline at home, and they’re not talking to anyone who just uses a mobile phone.
still more reliable than “CV reckons people think this”, though.
Thanks for leaping to the defence of Shearer et al over and over and over this evening, always good to see an Alliance supporter muck in to cheerlead a centrist political party.
you’re the one who thinks the fate of a nation comes down to a single person’s job description.
You think that leadership is unimportant. I don’t.
I think the style of leadership is unimportant.
I hope you’re right McFlock. I came here looking for reasons to vote Labour and I think his leadership image and his ability to articulate and sell policy are going to be important to those voters who make their choices on the basis of what they see on the telly and the messages they remember. If I were to vote Labour on the basis of my own personal perception of Shearer’s ability to be elected to deliver a better alternative government right now it would be on the basis of gamble and hope, expecting failure, nothing like conviction.
Labour people are stoic and not too mouthey. They have jobs and families and hobbies. They have been doing the the Enrollment stuff, the renewals, the boring meetings, the poorly led Asset Campaign. And they are generally silent while supporting their MPs and waiting for the Caucus to sort it’s shit out.
Your sneering attitude towards the members disgust at the attendance at the Sky Box is disgusting.
Bollocks to the silent majority! Most LP members and supporters I’ve talked to since the weekend have been far from silent.
The arrogance you have to speak for all members is what makes me sneer.
Oh fuck off McFlock, if I recall according to you, you’ve never been a member of the Labour Party but do support the Alliance.
So the arrogance you have being a non-member and a supporter of a different party, sneering at someone who is a member, over their comment relating to a membership to which you have never belonged yourself, makes me sneer.
I sneer at anyone who thinks they have a mainline into the internal desires of everyone in a particular group.
Especially if I know members of that group who support shearer as leader and still actually like the party they belong to.
It’s not hard to find people who like a centrist political party mate.
Tell that to Peter Dunne.
But he’s not an MP for any party, and likely hasn’t been for quite some time.
QED
Ah, so the labour members who disagree with boudica aren’t really labour party members, hence how b’s blanket description of the opinions of labour party membership cannot be wrong.
The “no true socialist” fallacy.
To be fair though, you’re not going to find many socialists in the Labour party these days.
they left in 1989.
Yep. So it’s not exactly a fallacy, as long as we’re speaking in general.
lol
touchĂŠ
It’s not just the Sky City box fiasco that so infuriating… it’s the fact that every bloody week they fuck up and undermine some supposedly key policy point.
Every week with every single major policy they give the NACTS an opportunity to shout “Show me the money!”
And all NACT’s useful idiots are saying “Clark was rating lower in the Precambrian, Goff was at a lower point in the Triassic…”
It’s all grasping at straws.
Even Dalziel was desperately scrambling on Nine to Noon the other day, pretending that “normal voting patterns” would resume.
I feel sorry for, and am amazed at the faith and persistence of, party workers who sincerely and passionately devote themselves to policy development only to be spat on at the last conference and humiliated by a recurring cycle of fiascoes that happen so regularly you could set your watch by them. It’s as if Sisyphus can’t even get his boulder to the top of the mountain – it rolls away the moment he moves it.
And all the time, it’s excuses, excuses, excuses…
FFS I’m getting seasick, up, down, up, down, it’s like real bad porn film.
gentle swells. The trick is to watch the tides.
Tides = ‘election cycles’ , the “in phrase” for Robertson’s strategists.
Thanks McFlock. It’s nice to see your Party Central credentials confirmed.
CV, McFlock is not an Alliance bod.
lol
A fantacist in action, right there.
Although I am confidant in saying “and you, madam, are no Celt”.
Boadicea…thanks, I appreciate it.
Don’t.
The only relationship I have with Robertson is that he was present of the students’ association at about the same time I started uni.
Mothers chew food for their babies, baby food is mash, to make it easy to digest, so was it any wonder a faster food chain would utilize food science to make food that produce a quick feeling of fullness. Food that was easily digestible within 5 hours. So I was a bit struck when the lawyer before the privy council seem to suggest that a MacDonald fast food takeout should be near the upper limit of five hour before it would be digested. And what is near alibi that would exonerate him, we here a lot about the speeding to get home, and how the computer clock was wrong, well there was a clock at the alibi event too, if you were going to kill someone and came across a clock that was wrong… ..anyway this is why courts should be trusted with the process and why Bain should get compensation, for Justice to be fair the court must prove guilt, and when they can’t…
Ooh good, a pro-Lundy nutbar.
Given that McDonalds buns take a good year to develop mold/decompose behind my couch, it would not surprise me at all if they were at the upper limits of what’s digestible.
The only evidence suggesting he was in Petone at midnight is the alibi of a prostitute – I look forward to her testimony at the rehearing.
In the meantime, pro-Lundy nutbars are going to have to explain:
a) the bedroom window broken and surrounding blood stains of Mum when the “stranger jewellery-box-robber hypothesis” is premised on the intruder leaving through the door, which was after all open (the defence case was “No true pre-meditated murderer would be such an amateur”);
b) The stranger invader grabbing the key off the divider, going outside to grab Lundy’s tools, unlocking the garage, THEN murdering mother and child; and
c) The increase in Mum’s and Dad’s life insurance policy when dad was facing over 100k in debt.
Instead you want to jump up and defend how easily digestible McDonalds would be? Please.
I’ve never understood why people seem to get so personally involved with court cases they presumably have nothing to do with, and take up such entrenched positions on matters they know nothing more about than anyone else.
Someone who disagrees with you on the interpretation of a very limited set of facts isn’t necessarily a nutbar. They’re just another uninformed person like yourself but with a slightly different perspective.
Also you seem to be scornful of evidence provided by a sex worker. Why is that?
A part of what sex workers are paid for is to keep men’s secrets.
As to nutbar, that was sloppy language, and not intended to be founded on the fact of aerobubble was being pro-Lundy (but rather anti-judicial-process-but-only-parts-of-it-that-don’t-suit-Lundy, and the vaguely conspiratorial ring of the post…) – anyway, I retract and apologize.
However, I do think presuming that both the computer clock and the motel’s/sex worker’s clock were wrong is simply reading in facts that do not exist (and have not even been alleged by the defence) is fringe behaviour.
Same with an appeal court overturning a decision (which having watched the closing arguments at the P.C., and the way they were received by the judges, I believe Lundy will get a retrial) and coming out with “why courts should [not] be trusted with the process” is fringey tinfoilhat behaviour.
Burgers behind couches, dry out, whereas a burger introduced to a wet billion year old evolved stomach is quite a different thing. Obviously people who eat burgers digest them… duh.
Considering that Labour appears to follow the Greens on every harebrained initiative, a few questions arise:
Where is David Shearer?
What is he doing?
What leadership does he provide other than follow Norman?
Who is advising him?
Why isn’t Grant Robertson stepping in?
Santi, God Bless your sweet Innocence.
Grant Robertson is the problem and therefore can’t be “stepping in” to fix anything.
He has all the Leaders Staff under his control – he picked most.
Robertson, along with WaionouimataMan, devised the election strategy for 2011, the image strategy for Goff and now the image strategy for Shearer. Along with Goff, Mallard and King he picked Shearer to block Cunliffe, who would have sent them to their well earned retirment/Embassy etc.
If you are wondering what Shearer is doing wrong, the answer is he is doing whatever Grant Roberson is telling him to do.
Remove Robertson and we are on the way to fixing the Labour Party.
So you are saying that Robertson is the VRWC plant and not Shearer? That is quite devious as most folk assumed that Shearer was ballsing up Labour by himself without any help from his deputy?
Oh shit:
https://twitter.com/cstross/status/346589204144353280
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/mi6-coder-death-foul-play/
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/codebreaker-death/
http://www.alternet.org/story/40485/two_strange_deaths_in_european_wiretapping_scandal
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3305
Whoever the fuck killed these men forgot that unless you’ve got control over the local police and media, the truth will always come to the fucking surface. Murder just leaves too many loose ends for investigators to follow, particularly when intelligence orgs are involved.
No wonder Snowden’s in hidding then if this is their standard operating procedure for closing leaks đ
if one follows the MSM, even, bodies in boots, sniper take-outs; the capitalists have a lot at stake.
One of us is the killer đ
This of great sadness (at 51)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10891822
a very talented Boss.
MANA housing plan (love that man).
This is another load of sh*t MSM editorial; Justice and the military, and nuclear developments are under the control of hard-line clerics obedient to The Supreme Leader, backed by the powerful Revolutionary Guard
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/international-politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503226&objectid=10891736
At this stage of the game Labour needs to be in the low 40s not the low 30s.
Why?
The Governor General will invite the leader of the largest party to try to form a government first. Winston would go with National if the only alternative is a Labour Green NZ First Threesome. If Winstonâs supporters thought that he would even think of working with the Green they would run to the Natz in droves.
The electorate will not give Labour the boost it needs if it thinks that will lead to a Threeesome Govt.
To win, Labour needs to be in a position to choose between the Greens and Winston. They need to be in the 40s That is not going to happen unless the Caucus decides to make a very significant change.
As long as Shearer Robertson are there Labour will remain in the low 30s and Natz will lead the next Government.
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The Governor General will invite the leader of the largest party to try to form a government first.
Wrong.
It happens like this: The GG’s role includes
So s/he’d only invite the leader of the biggest party to form a government if they had an outright majority. Failing that, whatever party can get the confidence and supply agreement of enough MPs to form a majority alliance, will get the GG’s invite.
said it before, but from my perspective ideally:
(lab+grn)>((nat+NZ1)=(lab+NZ1)).
For that I reckon lab+grn are on track to be in a good position for the beginning or 2014, considering their starting point.
Absolute rubbish, Willem.
As karol says, all that counts is a majority in the house.
Party share of that majority simply does not come into it in any way shape or form.
It is a well known phenomenon that EQC is the most woeful government department ever. It goes back to not even having a plan to deal with the thousands and thousands of claims that would result from a disaster hitting one of our major cities. This is of course gross negligence of the highest order given that is exactly their purpose. (holding back expletives here..)….. and that negligence rests entirely on the shoulders of previous Ministers responsible for the organisation and the governments they were part of.
Now as part of that complete incompetence it has also committed other astounding blunders such as emailing out private details to all and sundry.
But now get this – documents necessary to get repairs underway for claimants are no longer emailed, they are snail-mailed because they simply cannot trust themselves to not make a mistake with email…
… excuse me here but …… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
it brings tears to the eyes …….
It is the fist of control that this represents. Someone makes a mistake then everyone is not allowed to do that which is by far the most efficient way of sending out information.
The managers need to worry less about the possible mistakes and more about the best way to send out information. That is if helping ordinary people sort out their problems is important.
Maybe they should just pack up all their computers back in to their boxes, and send them back, because they are obviously too stupid to use them.
Te Hamua Nikora has outlined the Mana Movement’s new housing policy very very well in the speech linked to below. And he doesn’t pull any punches where labour is concerned either. I can’t wait for him to get into parliament.
http://mana.net.nz/2013/06/mana-housing-policy-announcement-for-maori-te-hamua-nikora-ikaroa-rawhiti-mana-candidate/
An incredibly nasty peice on TV3 news by Tova Obrien on Te Hamua Nikora and pakehas lack of understanding of koha. Just let it go MSM, understand what Koha is about and fuck off. This sort of ignorant shit from the msm just pisses me off.
Now I feel better.
Saarbo.
Maybe you would like to explain why I as a tax paying Whitey should just fuck off when it comes to bribes for Maori?
I’m sure you could get your donation back – if you asked nicely.
So sad to see the bit from Marama – she’s gone down in my estimation now.
That was a classic TV3 misrepresentation…my understanding is that Marama is completely supportive of the Koha to Te Hauma Nikora (Native Affairs from a couple of weeks ago). TV3 played that clip in such a way to cause confusion.
I’m very pleased to hear that Saarbo – thanks – It did seem so out of character from someone I admire so much.
All hands, action stations, this is not a drill
Severe global financial market crash may be starting. Expect massive paper asset deflation. The banksters and their puppet politicians kicking the can down the road, may have just run out of road.