In a team concerns are taken up with the people involved, there is no going to the media to backstab the party leader and sabotage the presentation of a united front.
This ratbag is a nasty piece of work.
If the Labour Party is to flourish in the future people like this will have to go from caucus.
What makes you think that there is an insider?
I think that this is just misinformation designed to denigrate Cunliffe in the eyes of the public. Audrey Young is a likely conduit for Crosby-Textor style malicious misinformation which is designed to pollute our democratic system. I call her out as a biased “journalist” . She should have to write a disclaimer at the end of any of her pieces.
Phillip, before you start f…..g spouting off you mouth, find out the facts. Otherwise you are no better than those jonolists, ABCers, and others who are out to criticise and bring down Cunliffe and let Key remain in power.
Cunliffe WAS out whacking up billboards yesterday. Here is a photo of him doing so – taken by none other than Patrick Gower (that great Cunliffe supporter not) and posted on Gower’s Twitter account.
Why are you incapable of admitting your error in this instance? Being an IMP supporter doesn’t mean you have to dis Labour at every opportunity. Save some bile for the Tories.
Also; could you at least be consistent with your idiosyncratic punctuation. Most people, including myself, use ellipses [ie; …] to denote a missing portion of a quote. You use twin-dots [..] and double spacing for some gonzo reason that seems like a good idea to you. Could you please stick to that? Otherwise it seems you are haphazardly missing chunks out of your rants – eg:
he should have been putting up those billboards in auckland…
my very major regret is that the pig was probably not provided with livable conditions during the months it was alive, for the sole reason of fattening up the bottom line.
This is a good place to hang my ire at Petrick Gair (as he calls himself) creaming his jeans over Labour’s absurdly low figures on the 3 News/Research poll. I used to work for Reid’s on the phones with that poll, so I know how biased the questions are.
Vicky
“I think what’s happening here is that Cunliffe is signalling that he’ll stay on as leader after the election. ‘Helen Clark lost an election and stayed, and look how that turned out.’ His mechanism for doing so is to bring allies into caucus using the party list. So his enemies – who are electorate MPs – are cheerfully sabotaging their party’s campaign to prevent any new list MPs coming in.
What really gets me about this is that there are hundreds if not thousands of Labour volunteers around the country who are giving up time with their families to go doorknocking or leafleting or staff call centres for the Labour Party because they believe in it and its values, and all that work is being pissed away by the actual MPs, who obviously don’t.”
Paul, I thought Goff should have stayed leader after the defeat in 2011. The party was going to overhaul itself and he should have remained until the party had a process for selecting his replacement.
If that had occurred, then whomever was selected – Shearer (when more experienced) or Cunliffe or Jones etc would have had a chance in 2014, and if creditable in their performance another go in 2014. And without all the drama and disunity.
It was the experienced old guard in caucus who got this all wrong and then they resent the party for imposing another choice of leader on them.
Irrespective of Labour’s election result now, there is scheduled to be a “confirmation” as per the constitutional changes that were made a couple of years ago.
If caucus really wants to gear up for that, I think they will find the activists geared up to Not Take Shit from the ABC club in any shape or form.
i have this really really strange feeling that most of those commenting upon the Labour Party this morning view it through some strangely tinted shadze,
The conversation seems to revolve around some magic wand being waved which magically transforms the old Dinosaur,
My first suggestion is that you all ‘define’ Labour’s proposed Finance Minister, who from everything that He has uttered,(and might have wished He hadn’t), is, in my, firm, opinion, wedded firmly in His thinking within the Neo-liberal paradigm,
From that position,(if you agree with the analysis), it becomes far easier to define the Labour Party circa 2014,
Having said all that, i do not propose to do so, put a definition, a label if you will, on the current Labour Party, this close to the election such a debate is both futile and counter-productive to ridding the country of the Slippery little Shyster currently occupying the position of Prime Minister,
(And yes, i have fully canvassed my and other’s thoughts about where that leaves us in terms of ‘a Government of the left’, such thoughts, again, are probably now best left until after the election)…
The aim is that any students wishing to learn Te Reo should be able to do so at their own school in this country.
What is wrong with this aim? I know that in a very large decile 10 Auckland secondary school of about 1900 students in the 1990’s, those students wanting to learn Te Reo had to do it by correspondence school.
At present there are not enough teachers of Te Reo to enable every school to teach Te Reo (so this policy cannot be implemented immediately and must happen over time as more teachers are trained.)
It will not be compulsory for all students to learn Te Reo.
It will (in the long term as teacher numbers allow) be compulsory for schools to OFFER teaching in Te Reo so that any student wishing to learn the language can do so at his/her own school.
I think that people need to get used to the idea of LONG TERM PLANNING, something that has been absent in the last 6 years of Nat govt.
“the height of journalistic balance and integrity.” ?
I for one, have never seen a single person ever state that, anywhere. Nor am I aware of any news agency on the planet that could even try to say that with a straight face.
All coverage considered, it is far more balanced than most Network media out of America and Europe. Not sure what your language gifts are but I am mainly restricted to English language news, so cannot judge News services in other languages as confidently. This may came as a shock Gosman, but most people I know who regularly view RT, treat any story involving Russia with due caution.
News services are just information, to add to all the other information, that you are then meant to consider and deliberate upon to reach your own understanding of events. Even Fox has information on occasion that is actually useful. Granted it is almost as rare as sightings of the Yeti but it happens.
What you may not be aware of is that many viewers watch RT not for their news, but for their current affairs shows and for their excellent documentary screenings. Shows such as Cross talk, Big Picture, Breaking the Set, the Keiser Report, each of them strong well researched informative platforms where reality is allowed a sliver of sunlight. No news service will ever survive on an international platform if it tries to tell the truth about everything all the time. The advertisers would run screaming.
The trick is knowing where each source of information is biased or in other words where it’s conflict of interests are.
RT clearly has a massive conflict of interest on any topic that interests Putin. To reference it directly on such a topic is to insult the intelligence of the listener.
Gos, yes it is great that a journalist resigns rather than tell untruths or have to “spin” stories. If the same were true of the jornos working for the msm in NZ or on CNN tbey would have run out of jornos by now.
i actually have a screenshot from a stuff page from feb with the headline ‘national surge in the polls’, surely they should be at 70+% now if they have been ‘surging’ this whole time?
That old fart Armstrong from the Herald should not have a job – from yesterday (capitals are mine) –
“Dotcom must now prove FAR BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT that Key has lied repeatedly when challenged as to when exactly he became aware or was made aware of the former Megaupload mogul’s existence. If Dotcom cannot or will not do that, he should zip it.”
What’s this standard of proof you’ve invented Armstrong ? FAR beyond reasonable doubt ?
What’s that mean you fucking old idiot ? How FAR beyond ? Who says that ‘this’ FAR beyond (piece of string) is FAR beyond enough, or that ‘this’ FAR beyond (piece of string) is not FAR beyond enough ? You ?
Honestly, this is writing reflecting the mental processing capacity of a child. Alternatively it is writing containing this promise – “Unconditionally, I Armstrong will NOT write that Key lied.”
As a journalist is this old fart simply unartful or is he wilfully corrupt ?
between this and Armstrong calling for Cunliffe’s immediate resignation over the 11 year old Liu letter, I think its time that Armstrong gets put out to pasture. That’s all he is good for now.
I got an absurd tome of gibberish yesterday as a leaflet from the CP (conservative party, but also coincidentally; corporal punishment). 8 sides of A4 paper with Craig’s smirking face taking up half of the cover; which must be the only way he’ll ever get a magazine cover photo. The thing is actually glued rather than stapled together! The effect is rather ruined by it having been haphazardly folded to fit in the letterbox slot.
They’re still going with the; “stand for something” slogan, which is still just as terrible. But they at least get specific about four key policies:
1/ Binding Referendums (which I actually sortof agree with, but only if; there is a majority of all enrolled voters not just of those who who cast a vote and if; the questions are far more rigorously defined).
2/ Flat Tax
3/ Hard labour/ longer sentence for Prisoners
4/ Māori bashing
But it is the wording that really gets me:
1/ “Pure Democracy… it’s why wars get started… what else are they looking to ignore? To think they won’t is madness.
2/ “The only other reason [than Mallard’s Moa] we need to pay so much tax is to fund the Government’s vote buying programme… Don’t let anyone tell you we can’t afford a tax cut… Real money in the hands of those who need it and know what to do with it. Letting anyone else spend it is just lunacy.”
3/ “Call us crazy… If we’re elected it’ll be because you wanted us to give the Government a backbone… How loony is that?.. Anything else is just crazy talk?”
4/ “One law to rule us all [one law to find us, one law to bring us all, and in the darkness bind us]… Maori are treated as 2nd class citizens and victims [which] drives us nuts… Maori have been segregated by special laws and separate seats in parliament… Our wild and crazy thought?.. bring closure to the claims process… Nothing loony about that.”
Note the frequent; “I’m not mad”, statements – he literally finishes every policy outline with some variant of that. Protesting too much methinks.
i should start this comment with one of those ”i have supported Colon’s Conservatives for many many years” raves,
Small blessings that Colon and the Conservative view a ‘nationwide’ leaflet drop as not extending South beyond ‘the Tron’
Not getting to partake in Colon’s missive deprives me of the chance to stamp,stomp, spit upon it, with the final act a grand little display of pyromania as i burned it on the front lawn all the while laughing like a loon…
I’m in Dunedin, so you may get your chance to defile the wretched thing soon enough.
From the way it was rammed in the letterbox (the layout, printing and binding are all excellent – shame about the words), I assume that it was a commercial delivery subcontracted to some underpaid child rather than a committed volunteer. Maybe they’re waiting for the cheque to clear in your area?
Lolz Pasupial, the letterbox stuffer of note round here at the moment is an old bloke who looks like He might be supplementing His pension via filling everybody round here’s recycle wheelie bins,
i swear its unintentional, but, perhaps Freud might have other ideas, lately i have managed to ‘pop up’ from behind various bushes/the car at the point where He is ramming the junk into the box,
Although i always give Him a ‘Thanks Pal’, totally not meant,(perhaps Sigmund would write an essay on this behavior), He takes one look at me and practically runs off up the street,
Maybe, it being the weekend, the old boy has used His ‘initiative’ and burned the whole stack of Colon’s musings,(something i am sure Freud could have penned a whole tomb on), thus saving His legs for another day and leaving me unsullied from accusations of pyromania…
Pasupial, I didn’t see the pamphlet get delivered but I suspect they hired DX mail, the private mail company set up in opposition to NZ Post, to deliver the Cons pamphlets.
There is no way they have enough volunteers to letterbox the country but they have the money to get a contracted delivery done.
“Small blessings that Colon and the Conservative view a ‘nationwide’ leaflet drop as not extending South beyond ‘the Tron’”.
Oh really? I received a 4 page glossy nut bar rant in the mail, with ET on the cover, from the Cons.
For entertainment on this rainy day I plan to put Colin in make up and jewellery with a speech bubble that will say “Giz a kiss sailor”. He will have pouty lips. This will then go in the green plastic see through WCC recycling bag, facing outwards so his sweet face is there for all the street to see.
Lolz Rosie, sounds like that one would make a good billboard to put up somewhere,(an online version if you know how to get it up on facebook???),
There’s a totally insane, albeit thankfully small strain of thought that has me wishing that ‘the PinHead’ gets into the Parliament,
i should imagine the power-rush to Colon’s head will make what happened to Nick Smith upon His elevation to Deputy Leader under Doctor Dullard Don Brash look like the teddy bears picnic in comparison,
Funnily enough there’s a reference to sailors in the pamphlet. Something about the Government spending taxpayers money like “drunken sailors”. I must apologise to the adorable Julian Clarey as that is who Colon ended up looking like after my make over. I was actually going for the Amy Winehouse look.
I don’t have the skills and am not on FB put there is huge potential for a nationwide campaign to lampoon Colon’s pamphlet. I went with his homophobic buzz but there is plenty of other material to produce multiple images of satire.
Haven’t had a chance to continue with Tragedy at Pike River Mine, but hope to do so after I’ve whipped up a big batch of anzac biscuits this arvo.
i will be interested in what you make of the book in the way of ‘conclusions’ Rosie, if you have read the exchange provoked by our last discussion of your ‘read’ i will get around to,
(a), Pointing out Strydom the South African electricians actual evidence which provoked the questions from Commissioner Bell to Him about ‘explosives’
(b) White the mine manager at the time’s evidence surrounding the heavy smell of burned diesel,
(c), the fact that Strydom the South African electrician used English as a second language which made parts of His evidence hard to decypher,
(d),Commissioner Bell queried Strydom vis a vis ‘the smell being cordite’ and ‘the smell being diesel’
What seems here to be an inconsistency in the evidence of Strydom when He describes the smell as being both of those things is in fact not,
The two smells are ‘totally’ consistent with the use of ANFRO explosives which i will explain after you have finished the book,
To understand ‘how’ these two smells, cordite and diesel, remained in the mine, after what we seen as a minute long expulsion from the mine of the ‘explosion’ on our TV’s will require an explanation of what occurs when such an explosion occurs in an open ended ‘tunnel’ or an understanding of where the residue from a discharged firearm ends up as opposed to the fired bullet,
Yes, I did read the “exchange” triggered by raising the Rebecca MacFie book.
And yes, I’ll let you know when I have finished reading and what conclusion I drew from the book as to the cause of the explosion, the first one. As mentioned, so far I can only see it as a disaster waiting to happen, a failure of management H&S of epic proportions to keep their workers safe.
I take it you’re fully aware, after reading the notes from the R. C enquiry (I haven’t) of the consistent failures of management to address the serious and life threatening H&S that staff formally complained of via hazard notices? Serious question, just wanted to clarify.
AS for that particular discussion between yourself, TRP and McFlock, as much as I understood and supported the technical elements they both raised I tend to shy away when things get a bit shouty and testosterone laden. Lols, I have enough problems in real life that raise my blood pressure, I don’t need to add to it.
Definitely Rosie, i fully understand the intricacies of ‘what happened’ at Pike River right form the point of the original ‘test drilling’ at the mine site,
This test drilling, accomplished via an above-ground drilling rig helicoptered into the National Park where the depth and actual make-up of the coal seams was ‘discovered’ by taking ‘core samples’ from various depths being the genesis of the actual mine was also not ‘up to industry standards’,
Whether there was any ‘deliberation’ in this ‘not up to industry standards’ test drilling will probably never be known, but, far far fewer test bores and samples were drilled and taken from the proposed mine than is the industry standard practice,
The above, the samples taken, lead the investors to believe that there was a far greater amount of highly valuable quality coking coal to be mined from there than was in fact present, and, from that point the litany continued on until the day of the first explosion,
As i pointed out in our previous discussion on the mine, by the day of the explosion,and, on days too numerous to count befor-hand, that mine was an actual Bomb, simply waiting for a spark to be struck in the wrong time and place,
i do not believe for an instant that ‘Management’,(in all its hues), could have failed to have known the above fact,
The fact that that mine was a ‘Bomb’ is i believe why in its short operational lifetime there were 5 statutory mine managers,(including Whittal), all of whom spent an inordinately short period of time holding that position,
(The Statutory Mine Manager carries the ‘legal can’ if something goes ‘wrong’, like an explosion, in the mine),
My question here of course, the same as asked in our previous discussion, is, considering ‘who’ must have known the dangerous state of the mine, did they get tired of waiting for the inevitable to occur???,
i have plenty of experience with test drilling/core sampling/drilling as a labourer for a well known firm of specialist drillers/pilers here in Wellington,
i have plenty of experience with explosives through work as a farm labourer many years ago and work as a labourer for a well known demolition firm here in the capital,
i could even tell you the recipe for making ANFRO explosives,(which in a family friendly show like this i wont), its qualities, its efficiencies, and, more important why i believe Strydom the electrician described to the Commission the smell of both Cordite and ANFRO,
”The smell is yes with explosives” unquote,
Until i read the evidence of Strydom the electrician i like most other people believed that the initial explosion at Pike River was one of Methane Gas,
Now i question that, again with the question asked above, ”did person or persons unknown get tired of waiting for the inevitable to occur”…
Thanks for taking the time. Looks like we both have the same awareness of the mine’s history and issues – up to the point where you question who knew of the dangerous state of the mine and whether they wanted to hurry up the inevitable. (Yes, as per previous discussion)
I still can’t entertain this idea, mass murder an’ all BUT you do have a working knowledge of explosives and know about the evidence given by the S.A electrician. I don’t.
But I will come back to it. Right now, I have that book waiting by the fire and a hot cuppa waiting…………
Lolz Rosie, always interested in discussing this with other people, if anything i put forward as ‘fact’ isn’t how you see it from your readings feel free in future discussions to point this out,
There are also a number of ‘things’ that to me make Strydom the SA electrician ‘ a person of interest’,(and i use that phrase with deliberation), that i will try and canvas in any future discussion,
In His 28 years of mining, He had been at the scene of 6 mine explosions, and, it is His evidence initially to the Police which leads me to the belief that the initial Pike River explosion was in relative terms ‘small’,
He describes in His evidence his ‘confusion’ as to whether or not there had been an actual explosion in the mine because of the fact that in ‘large’ mine explosions in South Africa all the fire hoses, set out with spacing along the tunnel walls, were blown off the walls,
At Pike River, all the fire hoses remained firmly in their allotted places on the tunnel wall, indicating the blast had been relatively small…
Yep, a more clear set of initials would read ANDO,(and i would rather not be giving away any more of what that leads to for obvious reasons, although i am sure extreme inquiring minds wont have any trouble following the now obvious trail)…
felix, definitely not, But, how would you feel if someone put 6042 plus a zillion together came up with a number called i am a dumb fuck, slapped together the recipe, did a whole pile of damage and then said they got the idea off of a discussion here….
Hi, Rosie, testosterone point noted. It’s hard to be restrained in dealing with idiots, particularly ones who piss on the graves of the dead. And, yes, homophobes in particular do set me off, so sorry if it got messy. at the end.
Bad, just to touch on a couple of today’s misunderstandings, can I ask you have a look at a map of the mine? It’ll help you understand why Pike cannot be described as an open ended tunnel or why fire hoses a km or more away from the blast site and close to the entrance were relatively unscathed.
And as for claiming Strydom is a ‘person of interest’, why don’t you go to the cops if you have any evidence he was involved in mass murder? In fact, why not spell out the evidence for us now?
Hey Te Reo Putake. No need to apologise 🙂 Testosterone laden arguments are a given at times on this site.
One of the other reasons I want to be restrained in my language and withhold speculations around Pike River, is for the exact sentiment you raise, The Dead. I want to have some respect for their memory and also to anyone of their friends, family or partners who may happen to be reading.
I’m getting many questions answered by reading MacFie’s book and appreciate that her writing style is sensitive to the weight of loss the community suffered.
Laugh out loud, who would have thunk the liar in chief Te Reo Putere would have slunk belatedly into the conversation spewing abusive accusations,
The same Liar who carved out of Commissioner Bell’s questions at the Royal Commission 3 words from a question Bell asked and then deliberately falsely attributed those 3 words to Strydom the South African electrician simply so Putere the stranger to the truth could pretend ‘it’ had evidence that i was not telling the truth,
And this POS has the gall to upbraid me with claims of disrespect to the Pike River Families,
As far as the blast at the mine goes Putere, i am simply quoting from the evidence of Strydom the South African electrician, you have read this evidence so stop trying to spread bullshit among the readers,
If you want to dispute Strydoms reasoning as to why the fire hoses were not blown off the wall, feel free. but,
Unlike you, a pathetic wanker sitting behind a computer screen Strydom the South African electrician had 28 years mining experience which included being at the scene of 6 explosions in South African mines,
What’s your comparable experience Putere, wanking on endlessly on your computer…
Boring, boring, boring. Just put up some evidence, why doncha?. ps, still waiting for you to apologise for inventing a quote or failing to provide the second quote from the manager, whose name, for the time being escapes you. Go on, try being a grown up, it doesn’t hurt.
Pike river was the biggest, most transparent enquiry into an industrial accident in kiwi history, with a clear case decision on cause and effect, and responsibility clearly sheeted home. It was notable for the quality and quantity of the expert evidence and the candour of the mineworkers and other local witnesses. All those people, none of whom has ever suggested anything as astonishing as deliberate mass murder versus one sad fuck. I’m with the miners and their families. You’re on your own, fool.
Don’t call me bud Putere(to the truth), i despise cynical LIARS and you proved to me that you are one the other day by deliberately carving from a question by Pike River Commissioner Bell 3 words from that entire question which could not be mistaken for anything but a question about EXPLOSIVES which Bell was addressing to Strydom in a pathetic effort to point score against me,
That Putere(to the truth) is what i would class as disrespecting the Pike River families, everyone with links to those families and the Royal Commission,
Here’s some FACT for you Putere, the whole question from Bell to Strydom You carved those 3 words from,
Q, ”I mean Cordite to me isn’t a diesel smell, its more a smell to do with explosives, would–is that because of your South African experience with explosives” unquote Commissioner Bell,
And the words you carved out of Commissioner Bell’s question which you falsely attributed to Strydom trying to make a liar out of me which simply proves you to be the LIAR,
”Isn’t a diesel smell” Lies from Putere unquote,
Here’s the first part of Strydom the SA electricians answer to Commissioner Bell just in case anyone missed it,
A,”The smell is yes with Explosives” unquote Strydom the SA electrician to Pike River Commissioner Bell…
Bad12 I appreciate the passion but you seem to attack people who are not of the right. TRP is solid working class left and PU is distinct but has a world view that should be respected.
MS, you have your opinion i have mine, said in dark black writing by you or LPrent i will take a hint,
However, it is not me that butted into a conversation on the Pike River Mine explosion the other day it was Him and He was directly calling me a LIAR and then engaging in the behavior i outlined above which is simply cynical lying and using the Pike River Royal Commissioners questions to make up His cynical lies,
If you think that that is ‘solid left’ behavior well good for you, and my question is such behavior rife within the Labour Party probably wont go down to well,
Phillip Ure is another story, and your opinion of Him is noted, again, if the opinions you have so far expressed are writ in black writing i will obviously have to if i wish to keep commenting here take note,
Other than that MS, i will ignore your comment as it looks from where i sit to be an attempted censorship of me without addressing the equal behaviors of those i joust with in the comments,
TPR had no need to enter the discussion i was having tonight making the accusations he already made a couple of days ago, when he stops making such accusations i will stop responding to them…
Cheers, MS. Obviously, I’m not going to stop pointing out the homophobe fantasist’s bullshit, despite his using the bullying Netanyahu line. Luckily, the facts speak for themselves.
“Not getting to partake in Colon’s missive deprives me of the chance to stamp,stomp, spit upon it, with the final act a grand little display of pyromania as i burned it on the front lawn all the while laughing like a loon…”
I had the fun of doing pretty much that, and also with the others that blew out of letterboxes all the way down the road.
How much did he spend on all this?
Lolz Vicky32, my sense of deprivation deepens, Colon’s ‘we are not fucking loonies you hear’ Conservatives have blown a bundle i should imagine,
i think the total war chest is around 2.5 million with Colon dropping a reputed 2 million into the pot, what it actually cost to print up and distribute a nationwide leaflet drop i couldn’t even begin to address,(bucket-loads is my best guess),
Lolz big ups on keeping your neighborhood ‘clean'(if i catch the letterbox stuffer going about His lawful trade polluting the hood i might offer Him at least a used tenner for His whole pile)…
@ Pasupial 10.14
I’m not mad’. Craig appealing to the daft opinionated who are agin’ everything and presenting himself as a Messiah going to usher in a new age of commonsense, government bashing a la usa fundamentalists and somehow more money for the deserving (not those others who are lazy and have warts) – and for the sensitive PCs I have warts!.
Lolz, a cross between Peter ‘the Hairdo’ Dunne and Doctor Dullard Don Brash would perhaps adequately describe the politics of Colon ‘i am not fucking insane’ Craig then,
The short form of the above description being, 🙄 🙄 🙄 ….
Philip you are on a permanent dreadlock holiday.
Cunliffe has a family and has spent his money and time in his own country whilst HawaiiKey is spending his money and time is his home country.
What did Chester Borrrow? Whatever, I think he has had it long enough and should give it back. It didn’t work for him. He always seems unimpressive, and the latest about Coroners funding doesn’t inspire.
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish was born and grew up in a Gaza refugee camp, worked hard and received a scholarship to study medicine in Cairo, gained a diploma in obstetrics and gynecology specialising in fetal medicine and a master’s degree at Harvard and despite the daily humiliation of border control he went on to become one of the first Gazan doctors employed in Israeli hospitals.
In January 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, three of his daughters and his niece were dismembered in their bedroom by an Israeli artillery strike.
Izzeldin Abuelaish has since lived and worked in Canada and doesn’t seek revenge or retribution, he writes seeking peace and reconciliation. .
Thank you Otago Daily Times, for the search terms.
“…The naming in Australia this week of a high-profile Otago man whose identity was suppressed in the Dunedin District Court earlier this year – when he was discharged without conviction on an indecency charge – raises questions about the effectiveness of such court orders in the internet age. Timothy Brown reports…”
The case raises the issue of grooming. Thus a danger to name suppression (as the former AB involved is old enough to be on super there is no real livelihood issue).
Do some men become social friends of married couples and then at a later time make a grope for the women when alone with her – based on the idea that social friends and in particular married women will keep it to themselves.
If she does not tell her partner, and social contact continues and she is unable to prevent being alone with him he tries again.
When discussing this on another site, someone posted this thought
“Many women don’t tell because all too often the male response is firstly ‘what did you do to let him think you were willing’? I’m sure for many it is probably a question asked to try and sort out what happened, but either way it makes the female feel that she must have done something wrong. Rape victims are frequently hounded by guilt that they must have in some way contributed to what happened. That they are too blame – which is a mindset that prevents many from reporting the attack – this is especially so with women (and some males) who are victims of sexual assault in the form of ‘groping’ etc.”
If it is found that the person is a serial offender, (via case and name exposure) then it reduces the isolation (the why me) that the victim has.
Derryn Hinch has written on the case, but says it is illegal for anyone in New Zealand to read what he wrote. I live in Australia, so I read it. It reminded me again why I’ve never been a fan of the All Blacks, and makes me wonder how much of a coincidence it is that rape and rugby both begin with the letter r.
John Key tells Vlad how it is…”Go on Vlad, show some leadership! Fess up, it woz you guys!!”
Vlad thinks to himself, “Run away and wet your pants little lapdog!”
Meanwhile the families and friends of 300 mourn their loved ones. None of this is helping their pain and dignity.
True Ennui, and I wish we had a PM that whould have the guts to say similar to Netanyahu.
But that’s right – NZ is all US-ian in foreign policy now.
In Gaza the killing of innocents and the pain for their families and friends is just as real as in the Ukranian war zone. Al jazeera gives these people names .
Apart from the obligatory snide opening, it reads like a different author.
Usually only read him if I’m in a particularly balanced mood, and feel as if I can respond rationally to his rants and the comments from his fans. But today didn’t need to do that at all.
it was patronising and reinforces the notion that women have to wait until some wealthy white man considers there is an issue for there to actually be an issue. I was put in mind that slylands might have written a siimilar thing but only after a woman he cared about was impacted.
Sounds more like “I’ll co-opt the phrase ‘rape culture’ then re-define it purely so I can attack people I don’t like” than any real understanding of the concept.
Greenwald was first contacted by Edward Snowden, a former contractor of the U.S. National Security Agency, in late 2012.[65] Snowden contacted Greenwald anonymously and said he had “sensitive documents” that he would like to share.[66] Greenwald found the measures that the source asked him to take to secure their communications, such as encrypting email, too annoying to employ.[65] Snowden then contacted documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras in January 2013.[67]
According to The Guardian, what originally attracted Snowden to both Greenwald and Poitras was a Salon article penned by Greenwald detailing how Poitras’ controversial films had made her a “target of the government”.[66][68] Greenwald began working with Snowden in either February[69] or in April after Poitras asked Greenwald to meet her in New York City, at which point Snowden began providing documents to them both.[65]
Neither do I, Tracey. In other words, I am not a signed up user, but it doesn’t seem to stop me being able to read various Twitter accounts, and save them to my favorites to read. Or to google them and read them.
So what’s your opinion of the Glenn Greenwald who supported the Iraq invasion, said the US is exceptional and different, derided Argentinian ant-war protestors – These are hard-core Communists. Fidel Castro is one of their heroes., and described Venezuela as that country under the repressive thumb of Fidel Castro-copy Hugo Chavez ?.
Despite these doubts, concerns, and grounds for ambivalence, I had not abandoned my trust in the Bush administration. Between the president’s performance in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the swift removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the fact that I wanted the president to succeed, because my loyalty is to my country and he was the leader of my country, I still gave the administration the benefit of the doubt. I believed then that the president was entitled to have his national security judgment deferred to,
Distorted media accounts notwithstanding, isn’t it painfully obvious what is going on here? These are hard-core Communists. Fidel Castro is one of their heroes. This has nothing to do with opposition to the war in Iraq or specific free trade agreements. Those are thinly disguised pretexts. These demonstrators hate the United States because they are genuinely opposed to economic freedom and individual liberty, and they seek to impose the collectivist authoritarianism of Fidel Castro onto the entire Latin American continent.
As is true in U.S., the Latin American socialist agitators who have captured the attention and affection of the American media are as substance-less as they are inconsequential. They are lovers of Fidel Castro. The insist that the source of their severe economic woes is not their collectivist policies or national character, of course, but the evil economic policies of the U.S. At the same time, of course, they are furious that the evil U.S. is not providing them with greater economic aid.
Firstly, I think that it is important that you understand that people take time to under go their own political awakenings and maturation. At the time of the second Iraq War, Greenwald was in his 30’s and for the most part, believed in what he had been taught by the MSM to believe – American exceptionalism.
Secondly, I think that you have taken some of his quotes out of context, albeit you have done us a favour by linking through to your source material. With regards to GW Bush’s wars against in Afghanistan and Iraq post 9/11 for instance, Greenwald goes on to say:
It is not desirable or fulfilling to realize that one does not trust one’s own government and must disbelieve its statements, and I tried, along with scores of others, to avoid making that choice until the facts no longer permitted such logic.
Soon after our invasion of Iraq, when it became apparent that, contrary to Bush administration claims, there were no weapons of mass destruction, I began concluding, reluctantly, that the administration had veered far off course from defending the country against the threats of Muslim extremism…
And in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion came a whole host of revelations that took on an increasingly extremist, sinister, and decidedly un- American tenor. The United States was using torture as an interrogation tool, in contravention of legal prohibitions. We were violating international treaties we had signed, sending suspects in our custody for interrogation to the countries most skilled in human rights abuses. And as part of judicial proceedings involving Yaser Esam Hamdi, another U.S. citizen whom the Bush administration had detained with no trial and no access to counsel, George W. Bush began expressly advocating theories of executive power that were so radical that they represented the polar opposite of America’s founding principles.
With all of these extremist and plainly illegal policies piling up, I sought to understand what legal and constitutional justifications the Bush administration could invoke to engage in such conduct. What I discovered, to my genuine amazement and alarm, is that these actions had their roots in sweeping, extremist theories of presidential power that many administration officials had been advocating for years before George Bush was even elected…
Thirdly, Snowden examined in detail Greenwald’s suitability to be the journalist that he would go to. I believe that Greenwald’s conduct to date has proven Snowden’s judgement and trust in Greenwald, correct.
Three news says Cunliffe not ruling out working with Mana and co is hurting Labour in the polls, no surprises there. How is la la Harry saying she wouldn’t let Dot.Crim into NZ but she is happy to get her nose in the trough and take the proceeds of his crimes.
What does 3 News know about what is hurting Labour in the polls?
Laila Harre wants to change the government. Kim Dotcom wants to change the government. David Cunliffe wants to change the government. Russell Norman and Metiria Turei want to change the government. Winston Peters wants to change the government. More than half of New Zealand wants to change the government. Hope it happens.
3 News asked in the poll if Not ruling out IMP was wrong and about half voted yes.
I think David has said that it is unlikely that IMP would be at the Cabinet Table but wait and see what the electorate decide in September. If Key needed another 2-3% to win would he rule IMP out? They had better not ask!
This has been covered in parliament itself has it not? Cunliffe asking Key to rule out pre election deals if Labour would do the same and Key backing down. News flash – Labour has always said no pre election deals while slippery Key refuses to commit to anything as he is constantly undecided as to what makes him feel most comfortable. Get some of that, Brook Sabin.
I think the electorate is going to be surprised by Internet Mana. David Cunliffe is certainly not committing one way or the other. Our jokey, matey PM however just gives us a nudge and a wink on these things and no-one know where he stands. It’s the politics of confusion. Grey Warbler described it with his Macbeth quotes earlier today.
Also covered by Simon Wilson slapping down National party embedded journalist Brooke Sabin on the Nation yesterday when discussing the same subject.
Funny thing how the support for National is around 50%… and “half voted yes” to the whole not ruling out IMP. I think there may be more than just significant overlap there 😛
Those who want a change from National would accept that deal in a heartbeat if it got rid of John Key.
TV3 poll not too bad all things considered. Ignore Gower.
Nats 49.4
Lab/Gr/IMP/NZF 45.7
Given that the Cons vote, 2.7%, is now likely to be wasted a 3% shift to the Left/NZF would be enough.
A 7% shift to Lab/Gr/IMP would give the Left power. I know this sounds a lot but we are in the grip of the ridiculous MSM’s attack on Cunliffe’s brave “man” speech and even Gower is starting to say that IMP is going “up and up” and they have only just started.
This election will go to the wire. I liked Cunliffe’s positive “we will come out fighting” on TV3 News tonight.
Cunliffe I am sorry to be a man comment are at least hypocritical in light of who he had lunch with. I would hope Labour and National could put petty party politics aside and change the law regarding permanent name suppression of those found or pleading guilty to serious sexual offending. This particularly repugnant when it is granted because of an offenders social status and/or political or legal connections.
I is clear many on this blog know the sexual predators name. I am sure I am not breaching and order saying he is not an unemployed Maori.
This is not the only current case. A kiddy fiddling Hawkes Bay lawyer has permanent name suppression. I do not know if I am in contempt by saying the bloody judge is an enabler. I do not really care.
I would also say that all MP who do not vote for a law change on name suppresion are also enablers.
MediaWorks announced in October 2019 that it intended to sell off its struggling television business and cancel or cut back on several popular local programmes, including New Zealand Today, Married at First SightNew Zealand and 7 Days. Its radio and outdoor advertising arms are currently performing well, but MediaWorks’ ...
Westminster voting intention:CON: 44% (+3)LAB: 28% (-1)LDEM: 14% (-1)BREX: 6% (-)via @OpiniumResearch, surveyed this weekChgs. w/ 08 Nov— Britain Elects (@britainelects) 16 November 2019 This, of course, doesn't look good. Labour have been chucking big, headline grabbing policies left, right and centre ... Well, maybe not right. Left, left ...
Some readers may remember that I mentioned last year that I was applying for NZ citizenship. I filled out the paperwork and had my original citizenship interview in February. Everything went well until they discovered that, because I had spent five months in the US in 2017, I had not ...
by Deirdre O’Neill It is becoming quite acceptable for certain sections of the left to declare that people like me – women who are ‘gender critical’ – should not be allowed in leftist or anarchist spaces. Leaving aside the arrogance and implicit authoritarianism of this claim, its lack of critical ...
There is an article in The Conversation, written by Jeremy P. Shapiro (Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University), about what he sees as the psychologically-based underpinnings of three main matters that seem to vex people all around the planet. The article is titled “The Thinking ...
. . Blogger Martyn Bradbury has won his case against unreasonable search and surveillance against the NZ Police; and subsequent Police attempts to produce evidence in secrecy, in a closed Court. His case highlights a disturbing growing trend in Aotearoa New Zealand for State power to be used against ...
The Committee of Disobedient Women has intercepted an email from Dr Emma Eejut, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Massey University to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Jan Thomas. Dear Jan, Thank you for your courageous move. I think 10 pages of blether** should tie any of the students game enough to try holding ...
That's the only response to the findings of the Ombudsman's investigation into LGOIMA practices at the Christchurch City Council:My investigation identified serious concerns about the Council’s leadership and culture, and its commitment to openness and transparency. In particular, Council staff raised concerns with me about various methods employed by some ...
NZ First seems to be nakedly trying to enrich itself from public office:A powerful New Zealand First figure helped establish a forestry company that then pushed for money from two key funding streams controlled by a New Zealand First Minister. An RNZ investigation has found Brian Henry, lawyer for Winston ...
Behrouz Boochani is an award winning author and journalist. He is also a refugee, who for the past six years has been detained in Australia's offshore gulag on Manus Island, and in Papua New Guinea. But last night, with the cooperation of the WORD Christchurch festival and Amnesty International, he ...
Different Strokes: If a multicultural immigration policy imposes no obligation on immigrant communities to acknowledge and ultimately embrace their host nation’s most cherished traditions and values, then how is that nation to prevent itself from being reduced to a collection of inward-looking and self-replicating ethnic and cultural enclaves?THE COALITION GOVERNMENT’S ...
Protective Zone: Reading the rules and guidelines released by Massey University, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that its governing body considers the whole concept of free speech a disruptive threat to the orderly imparting of orthodox academic knowledge.IN TRUE ORWELLIAN fashion, Massey University has announced its commitment to ...
Farmers held a hate-march on Parliament today, complete with MAGA hats, gun-nut signs, and gendered insults. While supposedly about a grab-bag of issues - including, weirdly, mental health - it was clear that the protest was about one thing, and one thing only: climate change. And specifically, forestry "destroying" rural ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security released their annual report today, and I've been busy reading through it. In amongst the usual review of what they've been doing all year, there's a few interesting bits. For example, a discussion on "agency retention and disposal of information", which points out that ...
Recently more than 150 post-graduate students and young scientists presented an open letter to the Green Party via The Spinoff, encouraging them to reconsider their position on genetic modification. Their target is tackling climate change issues.[1] Can any party continue to be dismissive about genetic modification (GM) contributing to ...
by Deirdre O’Neill Under Thatcher and then Blair and continuing up until our contemporary moment, the working class has seen its culture slowly and progressively destroyed. The change from an industrial society to a service society produced a marked shift in focus from the working class as the backbone of ...
Since 2013, the Australian government has detained refugees without trial in Pacific gulags, where they are abused, tortured, and driven to suicide. The policy is not just an abuse of human rights and possible crime against humanity; it has also had a corrosive effect on the states Australia uses as ...
It seems fair to say that we currently live in a problematic political moment in world history. Democracies are in decline and dictatorships are on the rise. Primordial, sectarian and post-modern divisions have re-emerged, are on the rise or have been accentuated by political evolutions of the moment such as ...
Last month, Greenpeace head Russel Norman surrendered his speaking slot at an EPA conference to student climate activist Sorcha Carr, who told the EPA exactly what she thought of them. It was a bold move, which confronted both regulators and polluters (or, as the EPA calls them, "stakeholders") with the ...
The core principle supposedly underlying New Zealand's electoral finance regime is transparency: parties can accept large donations from rich people wanting to buy policy, but only if they tell the public they've been bought. Most parties abide by this, so we know that TOP was wholly-owned by Gareth Morgan, and ...
Today is a Member's Day, probably the second-to-last one of the year, and its a big one, with the Third Reading of David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. last Member's Day it was reported back from committee, after MPs voted narrowly to make it subject to a (rules TBA) ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThe growth of the human population over the last 70 ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...
by Don Franks In 1957, E M Forster wrote, of his greatest work: “The India described in ‘A Passage to India’ no longer exists either politically or socially. Change had begun even at the time the book was published ( 1924) and during the following quarter of a century it ...
The Referendums Framework Bill was due back from select committee today. But there's no report on it. Instead, the bill has been bounced back to the House under Standing order 29593) because the Committee didn't bother to produce one. They probably tried. But given the membership of the committee (which ...
Two years into New Zealand’s Labour-led government, the long-delayed Zero Carbon Bill became law on 7 November. Passed essentially unanimously, the lengthy public debates and political manoeuvring faded away until the final passage was even anticlimactic: Flipping through the @nzstuff@DomPost I was starting to wonder if I’d dreamt ...
Now the Zero Carbon Bill is law, what's next? Obviously, the ETS changes currently before select committee are going to be the next battleground. But we're also going to get a good idea of where we're going, and if the progress the Zero Carbon Act promises is good enough, during ...
Grant PearceThe effects of the current Australian bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland (and also again in California) are devastating and far-reaching. To date, the fires have resulted in several lives being lost and many homes and properties destroyed. Here in New Zealand, the impacts have been only ...
A passing comment in a post the other day about the labour force participation rates of older people prompted me to pull down the fuller data and see what we could see about various participation rates over the decades since the HLFS began in 1986. As it happens, the ...
Distract And Divert: The rise of what we have come to call “Identity Politics” represents the ideological manifestation of the ruling class’s objective need to destroy class politics, and of the middle-class’s subjective need to justify their participation in the process.THE RELIEF of the ruling class can only be imagined. ...
"I saw a newspaper picture,From the political campaignA woman was kissing a child,Who was obviously in pain.She spills with compassion,As that young child'sFace in her hands she gripsCan you imagine all that greed and avariceComing down on that child's lips?" ...
Dr Matt Boyd, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick WilsonThe Global Health Security Index which considers pandemic threats has just been published. Unfortunately, NZ scores approximately half marks (54/100), coming in 35th in the world rankings – far behind Australia. This poor result suggests that the NZ Government needs to ...
The Zero Carbon Act is inadequate, with a weak methane target designed to give farmers a free ride. But it turns out it could have been worse: Climate Change Minister James Shaw was so desperate to get National on board, he wanted to gut that target, and leave it in ...
The Herald reprints an Australian story on a couple of tragic deaths in Bali from drinking cocktails that had methanol in them. The story argues that methanol is likely the result of home distillation. But what the young tourists were experiencing was far from a hangover. They’d consumed a toxic cocktail ...
Last month, the police announced a trial of specialist roaming armed units, which would drive round (poor, brown) areas in armoured SUVs, armed to the teeth. When they announced the trial, they told us it was about having armed police "ready to attend major incidents at any time if needed". ...
Spain went to the polls today in the second elections this year, after the Socialists (who had come to power in a confidence vote, then gone to the polls in April) rejected the offer of a coalition with the left-wing PoDemos, and instead decided to gamble n a better outcome ...
A couple of days ago I attended (and spoke at) the University of Waikato’s “LearnFest” event. There were lots of talks and sessions on very diverse aspects of teaching, mostly at tertiary level. One was by Myra Williamson from Te Piringa Faculty of Law here at Waikato, on Contract Cheating ...
There will be a transit of Mercury – the planet Mercury will pass across the face of the Sun – taking place at sunrise in New Zealand on Tuesday, 12th November. It was by observing such an event 250 years ago that James Cook and his scientist colleagues were able ...
Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ...
National Messiah? Chris Luxon identifies himself as an evangelical Christian. If he is genuine in this self-characterisation, then he will take every opportunity his public office provides to proselytise on behalf of his faith. He will also feel obliged to bear witness against beliefs and practices he believes to be ...
I'm going to make a Reckless Prediction™ that the Tories have 'topped out' in the 'poll of polls' / Britain Elects multipoll tracker at about 38%, and in the next week we will start to see Labour creep up on them.In fact, we might just be seeing the start of ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Lizzie Marvelly: “I may have missed this… has @afterellen gone all terf-y? Or am I reading something incorrectly? “ https://twitter.com/LizzieMarvelly/status/1191840059105742849 After Ellen is a lesbian website that is unashamedly pro-lesbian, as you’d expect. So why is Ms Marvelly so bothered about lesbians having their ...
Did you know there once was a time when it was illegal to be a gypsy (aka Romani) in Britain?That was between 1530, when the Egyptians Act was passed, and 1856, when it was repealed.Amongst other things, the act forbade the entry of 'Egyptians' into England, ordered those already there ...
Some days I sit and think, “what will I write…?” What do you say when you get to 1000 posts? Maybe you just start where you are, diverge to where this all began, then offer a collection of reader’s favourite posts, and a few of your own? (And throw in ...
Counter-Puncher: The “activists” and “radicals” (his own words) from the Indian community who took such strong exception to Shane Jones’ remarks about Immigration NZ’s treatment of arranged marriages, may end up bitterly regretting their intervention. Jones is not the sort of person who turns the other cheek to his critics.SHANE ...
In the spirit of Remember, remember the fifth of November, let's keep this in mind FOREVER.
Oh dear. Extraordinary interview on PM with Andrew Bridgen and @EvanHD just now. Bridgen was defending Jacob Rees Mogg’s Grenfell comments. Evan asked him if JRM had meant to say he would have left ...
Collision Course? In conditions of ideological white-out, the international bankers’ “Woop-Woop! Pull Up!” warning may have come too late to save global capitalism.WHAT DOES IT MEAN when international bankers are more willing to embrace radical solutions than our politicians and their electors? At both the International Monetary Fund and the ...
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a conundrum. It is a disease that was described hundreds of years ago and the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) isolated in 1906. We have had vaccines for about 80 years but this disease is defiant in the face of human immunity. I wanted to ...
The Zero Carbon Bill has just passed its third reading, uanimously. In the end, National supported it - but we all know they'll turn around and gut it the moment they regain power. Meanwhile, I guess ACT's David Seymour didn't even bother to show up. I am on record as ...
Dr Lindsay Robertson, Dr Jerram Bateman, Professor Janet HoekMembers of the public health community hold divergent views on how access to vaping products or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products should be arranged. Some believe ENDS should be as widely available as smoked tobacco and argue for liberal ...
When the Police were trying to cover up for the National Party over Dirty Politics, they went all-in with their abuses of power. They illegally search Nicky Hager's house, violating his journalistic privilege and invading his privacy. They unlawfully acquired Hager's bank records. They did the same to left-wing blogger ...
Last month, in response to a wave of protests by Extinction Rebellion, the British government purported to ban their protests from the whole of London. It was a significant interference with the freedoms of expression and assembly, and another sign of the country's decline into tyranny. But now, a court ...
Last year, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reported on significant problems with the intelligence warrant system. While they were unwilling to declare any warrant "irregular" (meaning unlawful) due to the recent law change, they were also not willing to give the system a clean bill of health. Now, they've ...
The National Party has come out in support of encouraging greater vaccination uptake. But it sure isn’t the way I’d do it. National’s suggested docking the benefits of those on benefit whose kids aren’t keeping up with their vaccinations. Some in National have suggested extending that to payments under Working ...
Feeding The Flames: It is simply not enough to demand an end to “corruption”, or “inequality”, or the overbearing influence of the authorities in Beijing. These are just “lowest common denominator” demands: the sort of slogans that pull people onto the streets. They are not a plan.WHERE’S THE PLAN? Across ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has risen to 4.2%. There are 115,000 unemployed - 11,000 fewer than when Labour took office. In that time the minimum wage has gone up by $2 an hour, which shows that the right's fears about increases causing unemployment are simply ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has called for submissions on Andrew Little's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill. Normally I encourage participation in the democratic process. I am not doing so in this case. Instead, I encourage all of you to boycott this submissions process, and to post ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf tiny concentrations of carbon dioxide can hold enough heat ...
Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and within it, one of the fastest sources is elite travel: billionaires flitting around the world in their private jets, spewing excessive pollution into the atmosphere just so they can avoid mixing with us dirty peasants. But in ...
That's what we face if we don't stop climate change, according to a warning from 11,000 scientists:The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists. “We declare clearly and unequivocally ...
by Phil Duncan Here’s just a few of the kind of threats issued day in and day out against gender-critical women – feminists, marxists, etc – overwhelmingly by MEN (albeit men identifying as women). “Kill all Terfs”. “Shoot a Terf today”. “All terfs deserve to be shot in the head”. ...
This is the third of the synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Unlike the humble cup of coffee and t-shirt that we looked at in ...
Tom MooreTraditionally a food source and cutting tool, freshwater mussels/kākahi are now widely valued as water filters that help clean our waterbodies and maintain ecosystem health throughout Aotearoa. The improvement they provide in water quality can make it easier for other animals to live in streams and rivers, as ...
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…Installation complete: this was nothing ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is back in the House today for its second reading. While this isn't the final stage, its still effectively D-Day for the bill. Because today, at around 5pm, is when we're going to find out if it has a majority, whether National will support it or ...
Winston Peters is in court today, suing a bunch of former Minister and civil servants over their pre-election leak of his superannuation repayment. He's characterised the leak as malicious, and said that it is repugnant that his information was passed on to Ministers to use for political advantage. And he's ...
Murray CoxDo I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called ...
Transformative Politics: The idea is to turn each recipient into an unwitting accomplice in their own transformation. From interested observer to hyped-up activist, sharing our messages promiscuously with ‘friends’. You’ll be part of an ever-expanding circulatory system, Jennifer, for the ideas that will win us the election.”JENNIFER SKITTERED her chair ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Justice New Zealand First is proud that a key Coalition Agreement commitment which will provide for a more transparent and effective criminal justice system has been realised. Legislation to establish the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body focused on identifying and responding to possible miscarriages of ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters met with Korea Racing Authority Chairperson Nak Soon Kim in Seoul today to discuss closer cooperation between the New Zealand and Korean horse racing industries. As part of the visit to the Seoul Racecourse, Mr Peters witnessed ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10 million to establish Otago as the centre of New Zealand’s creative digital industry over the next ten years, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “The initiative will bring us closer to the vision of ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)’s skills and employment programme will help young Otago people into long-term forestry careers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Te Ara Mahi will invest $63,000 in the 2020 school year to support eight 17 and 18 ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will support local plans to revitalise and stimulate economic development opportunities in Otago, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The four Regional Economic Development Ministers have approved an in-principle investment of $19.9 million towards the region’s ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is pleased to have received the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) report on the Coalition Government’s Mycoplasma bovis eradication efforts, which shows significant progress in the fight against the disease. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, says the report’s findings ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon David Parker, Minister for Trade and Export Growth The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing to support economic growth opportunities for Otago’s engineering and manufacturing sectors, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Export Minister David Parker announced today. Almost $20 million ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed in Seoul today opportunities to work more closely in the Pacific and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Peters and Minister Kang confirmed New Zealand and the ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development The three marae in the historic Parihaka Pa complex in Taranaki have been upgraded to high speed broadband with the support of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Connecting the ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence Minister of Defence Ron Mark will today launch the Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 Defence Assessment during a speech at Te Papa. The Assessment outlines how Defence will partner with our Pacific Island neighbours and invest in Pacific regional security architecture. The Plan aligns with the Coalition ...
A new Provincial Growth Fund investment could create about 80 new jobs in Gisborne over the next two years, turning a local small business into a “beacon of employment” in the process. Regional Economic Development Parliamentary Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau said the PGF’s Te Ara Mahi funding stream would provide $1.6m ...
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer and more secure, Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing) Kris Faafoi has announced today. Both renters and landlords will benefit from the suite of practical changes to the Residential ...
The Government is asking the food industry to step up work to tackle obesity including reducing sugar, fat and salt in their products, better information for consumers, and tighter restrictions on advertising to children. Health Minister David Clark and Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor have responded to a ...
ew, modern emergency department and outpatient facilities at Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital mean better emergency care for the growing tourist mecca’s visitors and locals, says Health Minister David Clark. Today Dr Clark officially opened the hospital’s redeveloped Emergency Department and Outpatient facilities. The new facilities include: • An extended Emergency Department ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter says today’s release of sexual and reproductive health data reinforces the significance of the Government’s commitment to providing free or very low-cost contraception. The Ministry of Health today published statistics from the Ministry of Health’s 2014/15 Health Survey. “It is important people can make ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that at the request of the Samoan Government, New Zealand will be providing further support to Samoa as it faces a worsening measles outbreak. “In response to a request from the people of Samoa, New Zealand is providing 3000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) ...
“The new Disability Action Plan 2019–2023 moves us towards the inclusive and accessible New Zealand that this government has committed to,” Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “The Action Plan was designed by disabled people, their family and supporters, the disability sector and government agencies. It will ensure ...
Third Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting 14 November 2019 Joint Statement 1. Defence Ministers Ron Mark and Dr Ng Eng Hen today conducted their third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore. 2. Building on the Enhanced Partnership signed between both countries in May this year, this annual meeting ...
A Bill to improve the court system’s response to sexual violence has passed its first reading in Parliament today. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill will reduce the trauma sexual violence complainants experience in court, while maintaining defendants’ fundamental rights and making sure the trial process ...
Streamlined payment practices are a step closer for Kiwi businesses with the formal launch of New Zealand’s e-Invoicing framework. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the government has now established the structure to enable automated and direct data exchange between the accounting systems of buyers and sellers. “The move to ...
Another 51 quarantine officers and four new biosecurity detector dog teams will help protect New Zealand from invasive pests and diseases this summer, says Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor. “The Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity system and support our valuable primary sector “New Zealand’s flora, fauna ...
A new report has found New Zealand’s space sector contributed $1.69 billion to the economy in the last financial year and employs 12,000 people, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. The report by Deloitte was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and shows New Zealand ...
Judge Coral Shaw has been appointed as the new Chair of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. "Judge Shaw, who is currently one of the inquiry commissioners, is extremely well qualified for the ...
The Government has confirmed its third major mental health facility upgrade since the Budget, this time at Palmerston North Hospital. The Prime Minister and Health Minister today visited MidCentral DHB to announce that $30 million has been allocated to upgrade its acute mental health facility. It follows earlier announcements in ...
The roll out of the National Bowel Screening Programme has reached the halfway mark, with 10 out of 20 District Health Boards now part of the programme. MidCentral DHB, which covers Palmerston North, Manawatu and surrounding districts, this week became the latest to DHB to offer free bowel screening to ...
The Government welcomes PHARMAC’s decision to fund a vaccine to protect young people from meningococcal disease from 1 December this year. “Meningococcal disease is a serious threat which people at higher risk should be protected from,” says Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter. “The combined pharmaceutical budget was increased by ...
Groups involved with innovative fisheries research projects are encouraged to apply for government support in the latest funding round from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures programme. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash says the SFF Futures funding is designed to be flexible enough to support small or large projects across a ...
The Government has fixed an issue affecting how Immigration New Zealand has processed visa applications for culturally arranged marriages, which will now see a consistent process applied which ensures people with legitimate arranged marriages can visit New Zealand while also preventing any rorting of the system. Earlier this year Immigration ...
The Royal Commission into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques will report back on 30 April 2020 to give it more time to hear submissions and consider information, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Royal Commission was originally scheduled to report back to Government by 10 December 2019. “There has ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Washington DC today to attend a ministerial meeting focused on defeating ISIS, and to continue pursuing New Zealand’s trade opportunities. Mr Peters will participate in a meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers from key countries contributing to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. ...
The recently crowned Bird of the Year, the hoiho/yellow eyed penguin, is getting a much needed helping hand alongside more than 168 other community conservation projects announced Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage today. 168 community conservation projects throughout New Zealand are benefiting from $8 million in government grants, including $500,000 ...
Controls on assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms are to be broadened to include some types of pistols, under changes to a bill currently making its way through Parliament. Police Minister Stuart Nash has tabled a Supplementary Order Paper to the Arms Legislation Bill, which is currently before a Select Committee ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark will travel to Singapore today to conduct a counterpart visit and to co-chair the third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting with his counterpart, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen. “Singapore is one of our most important defence partners in the region, and our ...
Nelson’s Salisbury School is to be rebuilt, creating a modern and suitable learning environment for students at the residential special school, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The school for girls aged 8-15, in Richmond, was earmarked for closure by National until the process ...
The panel undertaking a comprehensive review of the Resource Management Act has identified the main issues to be addressed and options for reform and is calling for feedback to inform its final report. In July the Government announced the comprehensive review of the resource management system, including the RMA - ...
An important safety valve has been added to New Zealand’s criminal justice system with the third reading of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill today. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “We’ve seen how our justice system can very occasionally get things spectacularly wrong, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...
The New Zealand Government is today sending 21 firefighters to help fight the ongoing catastrophic Australian bushfires. “The fires in Australia are in some of the toughest, most challenging conditions ever,” says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “As of yesterday morning, there were 100 active bushfire-related incidents across Queensland and ...
More frontline support for schools through a new education agency, as part of a redesigned Ministry of Education More support for principals and school boards including through a new centre of leadership and local leadership advisor roles New independent disputes panels for parents and students Management of school property ...
The Government’s reform of the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a watershed moment in education and an opportunity to create meaningful change for ākonga Māori and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis said today. “Last year through Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, Māori teachers, parents, ākonga, whānau, hapū and iwi ...
Infrastructure Minister is welcoming the first of many updated project pipelines from the newly established New Zealand Infrastructure Commission today. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has released an expanded pipeline of major capital projects – another crucial step towards delivering better infrastructure outcomes. “The first iteration of the ...
Tougher gun laws designed to improve public safety through firearms prohibition orders are proposed in a new document released for public input. Police Minister Stuart Nash says firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would give new powers to Police to ensure high-risk individuals come nowhere near firearms. “We have already prohibited the ...
Andy Coupe has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. “Mr Coupe has strong commercial and capital markets experience and TVNZ has benefited from his technical knowledge of business and finance, as well as his extensive governance experience,” the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi said. Andy ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today officially opened a separated pathway, following the completion of the Kaiwharawhara Stream bridge, which will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians along Hutt Road. The $6.8m Hutt Road project provides a separated path for cycling and pedestrians, the replacement of informal parking ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of career diplomat Si’alei van Toor as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Russia. “I’m pleased to appoint Ms van Toor to this position. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having previously served as Senior Trade Adviser to the ...
The Treasury’s 2019 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released on Wednesday December 11, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Coalition Government will publish the 2020 Budget Policy Statement at the same time, outlining the priorities for Budget 2020. Further details on arrangements for the release will ...
A new initiative to better support small businesses through hands-on mentoring and advice has been launched by the Minister for Small Business. The first event in the Kiwi Business Boost series of regional workshops and online tools has been launched in Wairoa by Stuart Nash. “The Business Boost initiative combines ...
The latest Quarterly Connectivity Report shows that more and more New Zealanders are moving to Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB), with Rolleston having the highest uptake at 74 per cent, as at the end of September. “This means that nearly three quarters of Rolleston’s households and businesses have moved to ultra-fast services. ...
The passing of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill will help ensure a safe planet for our kids and grandkids, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said today. The landmark legislation which provides a framework to support New Zealanders to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects ...
The review of Oranga Tamariki practice around the planned uplift of a Hastings baby in May shows significant failings by the Ministry and that the planned and funded changes to shift from a child crisis service to a proper care and protection service need to be accelerated, Children’s Minister Tracey ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has wished students the best of luck for this year’s NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams which start tomorrow. Around 140,000 students will have participated in 119 NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams by the end of the exam period on 3 December. “I want to ...
Retiring Green MP Gareth Hughes says the pace of change in the current Government is not fast enough for his liking but that is not the reason he is quitting politics. ...
The Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business is releasing its latest report today on Culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse parties in the Courts: A Chinese case study . The Report’s author, Mai Chen, Chair of the Superdiversity ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Doubts emerge about Auckland port move, NZDF leaves death-causing material behind in Afghanistan, and laws around renting to be shaken up.Over the last week, the ramifications of moving most of the operations of Auckland’s port north to Whangarei have been ...
An ambitious new partnership between Sky Sports and more than 50 sports promises more free sport for Kiwis. Suzanne McFadden looks at how it will change the way we see female athletes ...
Catriona MacLennan helped conduct a survey of the top NZ companies to establish the ethnicity of their directors. The results were not surprising, but also far from encouraging. ...
Episode 1 in a series on the trials of injured animals as they’re rescued, rehabilitated and released back into the wild follows the rescue of a yellow-eyed penguin. ...
New Zealand Defence Force's failed to clean up properly after itself in Afghanistan - with the result that seven children have been killed and another 10 civilians injured. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Chinese embassy has lashed out at two Liberal members of parliament, Andrew Hastie and James Paterson, saying they would need to “repent and redress their mistakes” before they would be welcome in China. The ...
Tim Costley National’s new candidate in Otaki Local party members have selected Tim Costley as National’s candidate in Ōtaki for the 2020 General Election. Mr Costley is replacing retiring MP Nathan Guy, who is standing down after five terms. ...
“Compelling research out of the UK reaffirms vaping’s life-saving role. Here’s hoping our Government’s pending legislation reflects vaping’s increasingly documented health benefits for smokers,” say Ben Pryor, co-owner of the largest Kiwi-owned ...
Government has announced a raft of changes to the Residential Tenancies Act. The Minister has said he does not want to be seen to unduly punishing landlords. These changes do more than punish landlords however. They will punish anyone living next ...
Democracy under Fire on Firearms Law Reform - COLFO SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2019 The Government supposedly wants to “hear from all New Zealanders” about firearms law reform – unless you happen to be a licenced firearms owner. ...
From Monday 18 November New Zealand women are working for free until the end of the year because of the gender pay imbalance between men and women. ...
Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit is releasing its most hard-hitting documentary yet, exposing a secret the NZ Defence Force doesn’t want Kiwis to know. ...
The government has announced a suite of practical changes to the Residential Tenancies Act in its bid to make renting fairer and more secure. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happening?A number of changes to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) has just been announced by associate minister of housing Kris ...
US Trumpian Inspired Rhetoric From Anti-Trans Group Not a Good Fit with Nz Society Trans-rights support groups around the country have been dismayed by recent divisive and repellent comments by Stand Up For Women (SUFW), a group calling itself feminist ...
Sam Brooks reviews the third season of The Crown, a show that can’t decide whether it wants to humanise the monarchy or tear it all down.This review contains very mild spoilers for world history, 1964-1977.Three seasons in, there’s no doubt that The Crown is the, well, crown jewel in Netflix’s ...
An easy, flavour-packed noodle recipe from Bounty – Cooking With Vegetables, the new cookbook from national food education charity the Garden to Table Trust.The fresh flavours of these noodles are less complex than many Thai dishes, as the simple spice paste uses just a few ingredients. If you’d rather not ...
Part 2: In this excerpt from the evidence of Sir Maarten Wevers in the High Court case of Winston Peters over his superannuation leak, the former head of the Prime Minister's Department explains what ministers should be told by public servants ...
In this excerpt from the evidence of Sir Maarten Wevers in the High Court case of Winston Peters over his superannuation leak, the former head of the Prime Minister's Department summarises our governing arrangements. ...
With the 2020 cannabis referendum fast approaching, New Zealanders have a unique opportunity to let the government know what they want from drug reform. It will then be up to our policy makers to decide whether drug reform will focus on changing outcomes for those struggling under historically racist policy.By ...
It breaks my heart to think of young queer and trans people seeing this sign, and thinking there are no spaces where they will ever belong, writes Hadassah Grace. The first time I ventured into a gay bar, I vowed never to go back.It was a vulnerable time in my life. ...
It breaks my heart to think of young queer and trans people seeing this sign, and thinking there are no spaces where they will ever belong, writes Hadassah Grace. The first time I ventured into a gay bar, I vowed never to go back.It was a vulnerable time in my life. ...
Hayden Donnell looks for inspiration and innovation on how to house the city’s future.Auckland Council’s Unitary Plan has enabled a building boom. More than 14,600 building consents were issued in the city in the year to September. Despite that, houses remain extremely expensive and out-of-reach for many first home buyers. ...
Simon Shepherd: David Seymour's euthanasia bill passed this week, and next week he will be putting the finishing touches on his next bill. Is he just a very hard-working politician or is this the longest one-person election campaign known to mankind? ...
Simon Shepherd: It's Transgender Awareness Week, the same week a feminist group, Speak Up For Women, has brought Megan Murphy from Canada to speak in New Zealand. Murphy is a radical feminist who believes trans women aren't women, views that have ...
As a follow-up to our post about police station office hours for the public and in the cause of balance, we bring positive news – or rather, we are passing on the positive news which the police delivered in a press statement, It’s all about the productivity gains achieved – it ...
Books editor Catherine Woulfe follows Wellington author Lawrence Patchett into his extraordinary story of heat and humanity and history repeating. The Burning River begins like the best kind of yarn. “Someone had been there. Someone strange. In the centre of his camp, a new circle of sooted rocks. A campfire, with ...
SPECIAL REPORT: By Philip Cass in BrisbaneMelanesian Media Freedom Forum – Day two –The second day of the Melanesian Media Freedom Forum began with praise for the work of young Pacific journalists by Professor David Robie and ended with a warning that threats to journalism in the ...
In this special episode of The Real Pod, brought to you by Nando’s, we chat to the champions of My Restaurant Rules NZ 2019.In the afterglow of Rustic Kitchen’s historic win on My Restaurant Rules NZ, Duncan and Alex got on the blower with Tyson and Denise. Then we forgot ...
Hannah Kronast attends a women’s empowerment panel focused on the huge disparities in training and employment within science and technology. In the far back left-hand corner of a women’s equality and empowerment event, a male stuck up his hand. “What can men do to help?” he asked.It was at a panel ...
Our recent Spinoff Art survey provided a snapshot on gender equality in the local art scene, but it wasn’t the full story. Anna Knox continues the conversation by asking some gallery owners and directors for their responses to our findings.The Spinoff’s survey of gender bias in visual arts found that ...
Based on their study of trans wellbeing Aotearoa, the research team at Counting Ourselves find six data points that highlight the strength of our trans and non-binary community.Last month the first comprehensive national survey on transgender health and wellbeing in Aotearoa was published by the academics and researchers at Counting ...
The SpinoffBy Dr Jaimie Veale, Jack Byrne and Ahi Wi-Hongi
Ten thousand years ago, roasted hares and figs were flat-layed on Levantine flax leaves. Now, we drape prosciutto over strawberries on computer desks. Josie Adams mourns the death of the platter.Three days ago I stumbled on an accidental recreation of a 1950s platter: a giant ham, a cake that was ...
India’s decision not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership promoted by China is politically significant. But its impact on trade and prosperity is more nuanced, as Bloomberg explains.It avoids some market opening on both sides (India to agriculture; others to services) that would have been economically beneficial. But ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Crisp discusses the the week in politics the government’s response to the bush fires as well as the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action. They also talk about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The proposed acquisition of infant formula producer Bellamy’s Australia Ltd by China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited has been given approval by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Strict, legally enforceable conditions, have been set by the treasurer, which ...
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) is condemning the All Saints Day evening raid on 31 October. With the arrest of over 60 union organisers, human rights defenders and activists in the Philippines province of Negros. The 16th of November is an international ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Assistant professor, University of Canberra What’s happening? Suddenly, at the level of central banks, Australia is regarded as an investment risk. On Wednesday Martin Flodén, the deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank, announced that because Australia and Canada were “not ...
SPECIAL REPORT: By Philip Cass in Brisbane Opening session – Day OneThe problems of operating in the Pacific and the impact of online news and the emergence of ‘citizen journalists’ were common concerns for all delegates to this week’s Melanesian Media Freedom Forum.The forum, held at Griffith ...
Standoff between protesters and the police at Yeung Uk Road, Hong Kong. Image by Studio Incendo – 20190825 Tsuen Wan March. CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81751531.The recent surge in social protests world-wide is quantitatively and qualitatively different than in previous ages. The advent of individualised mass communications technologies and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is going to start asking internet service providers to block certain offshore gambling websites. The decision follows former New South Wales premier ...
The Zero Carbon Act (ZCA) is over a week old, but it’s still being heavily debated and analysed. After all, depending on who you listen to, it’s the most significant new law of the year, of this Government, or even of some people’s lifetime. And it deals with a giant ...
Green MP and refugee Golriz Ghahraman was there last night when the former Manus Island detainee and acclaimed writer arrived in New Zealand.Last night, quietly and without fanfare a small group made up of human rights activists, literary folk, and just two journalists, came together at Auckland Airport to welcome ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra D’urso, Researcher, The Australian Centre, University of Melbourne To perform an exit is not as simple as it sounds. In fact, exiting a situation can be almost impossible for some. Exit Strategies is a new production by indie performer and theatre ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niro Kandasamy, Tutor, University of Melbourne Sri Lanka’s presidential election on Saturday comes at a critical time for the country. The government has been in turmoil since President Maithripala Sirisena sacked the prime minister last year and replaced him with former strongman ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Hansen, Chief of Staff, The Conversation If you have kids, chances are you’ve worried about their presence on social media. Who are they talking to? What are they posting? Are they being bullied? Do they spend too much time on it? ...
New Zealand Police has won a prestigious World Class Policing Award for its ‘more street than station approach’ Mobility programme, which has saved millions of hours of officers’ time. ...
SEA-Unite SkyCity workers are expected to strike this weekend after 50 called in sick with symptoms linked to smoke inhalation from the convention centre fire. ...
In a powerful rebuff to critics who question whether the prime minister is willing to use her political capital, this morning she powerfully demonstrated her commitment to New Zealand culture.For two years, my professional life has been devoted to winning respect for the lowbrow, beaten-up, off-brand artefacts that truly define ...
MPs and staffers will likely begin moving out of their Bowen House offices over the next six months, so the building can undergo earthquake strengthening work. ...
The party that sold off the BNZ, NZ Rail, Petrocorp, Postbank, the Shipping Corporation, Air New Zealand, the State Insurance Office, the Tourist Hotel Corporation and a host of other New Zealand assets is at it again – with the assistance of its coalition ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trent Penman, Associate professor, University of Melbourne As sure as night follows day, this week’s bushfires prompted inevitable debate about whether fire authorities should have carried out more hazard reduction burning, and whether opposition from conservationists prevented this. There are two key ...
A new poem by writer and performer Freya Daly Sadgrove.TURDUCKEN I blow my body around like the huge clump of brown hairthat I once saw blowing up Cuba StreetI follow its movements with interestI put a video of it on the internet my favourite bragis that a groundskeeper ...
PHARMAC has backed down on a controversial drug brand switch affecting patients with epilepsy and mental health conditions after three people died following the change. ...
Tara Ward reviews Goodnight Kiwi, a new series that features well-known New Zealanders reading bedtime stories to kids. It’s strange to think that New Zealand television wasn’t always the 24-hour, infomercial-tastic extravangza that it is today. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, our televisions used to go dark every night at ...
FIRST Union members at Countdown have ratified a new agreement that will set their supermarket team on a path towards a living wage, and significantly raise the pay of 15,000 workers across the country. ...
13 moments that prove the music awards are so much > than all other award showsBENEE cleaned up, every performance was somewhere between an eight and a ten, there was an unfeasible quantity of award presenter awkwardness and many nights ended very late. The music awards are over 50 and ...
While the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Commission are examining whether New Zealand laws properly balance the issues of freedom of speech and hate speech (whatever that might be), taxpayers are helping to finance Chinese propaganda. Hateful propaganda, we suggest. The Screen Production Grant has handed a $243,000 subsidy to a ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Media Peter Thompson (Stuff): A new model for public media – but have the old ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Viking Penguin $35)“Olive struggles to figure herself out, and has an urgent ...
After more than seven months of trying to end a tenancy to protect neighbours, a Rotorua property manager has finally received approval from the High Court to end the tenancy. ...
We agree with the Ombudsman Peter Boshier in his new report on councils QUOTE ; “leaders, officials lack of action to "ensure an approach is adopted that is consistent with openness and transparency" Un-quote. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1911/S00186/chief-ombudsman-new-report-wakeup-call-for-council-leaders.htm ...
Māori food systems are rich with potential, and whānau-based food producers across the country are looking to traditional ways to ensure their communities thrive in the future. Alice Neville reports from the Eat New Zealand Food Hui.In recent years there has been much talk – in food business, hospitality, tourism ...
Open mike 20/07/2014 
Open mike is your post.
MediaWorks announced in October 2019 that it intended to sell off its struggling television business and cancel or cut back on several popular local programmes, including New Zealand Today, Married at First Sight New Zealand and 7 Days. Its radio and outdoor advertising arms are currently performing well, but MediaWorks’ ...3 hours ago
Some readers may remember that I mentioned last year that I was applying for NZ citizenship. I filled out the paperwork and had my original citizenship interview in February. Everything went well until they discovered that, because I had spent five months in the US in 2017, I had not ...20 hours ago
by Deirdre O’Neill It is becoming quite acceptable for certain sections of the left to declare that people like me – women who are ‘gender critical’ – should not be allowed in leftist or anarchist spaces. Leaving aside the arrogance and implicit authoritarianism of this claim, its lack of critical ...21 hours ago
There is an article in The Conversation, written by Jeremy P. Shapiro (Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University), about what he sees as the psychologically-based underpinnings of three main matters that seem to vex people all around the planet. The article is titled “The Thinking ...2 days ago
. . Blogger Martyn Bradbury has won his case against unreasonable search and surveillance against the NZ Police; and subsequent Police attempts to produce evidence in secrecy, in a closed Court. His case highlights a disturbing growing trend in Aotearoa New Zealand for State power to be used against ...2 days ago
That's the only response to the findings of the Ombudsman's investigation into LGOIMA practices at the Christchurch City Council:My investigation identified serious concerns about the Council’s leadership and culture, and its commitment to openness and transparency. In particular, Council staff raised concerns with me about various methods employed by some ...3 days ago
Different Strokes: If a multicultural immigration policy imposes no obligation on immigrant communities to acknowledge and ultimately embrace their host nation’s most cherished traditions and values, then how is that nation to prevent itself from being reduced to a collection of inward-looking and self-replicating ethnic and cultural enclaves?THE COALITION GOVERNMENT’S ...3 days ago
Recently more than 150 post-graduate students and young scientists presented an open letter to the Green Party via The Spinoff, encouraging them to reconsider their position on genetic modification. Their target is tackling climate change issues.[1] Can any party continue to be dismissive about genetic modification (GM) contributing to ...4 days ago
by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...6 days ago
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ... 1 week ago
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…
Installation complete: this was nothing ... 2 weeks ago
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...4 days ago
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...1 week ago
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer and more secure, Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing) Kris Faafoi has announced today. Both renters and landlords will benefit from the suite of practical changes to the Residential ...18 hours ago
Retiring Green MP Gareth Hughes says the pace of change in the current Government is not fast enough for his liking but that is not the reason he is quitting politics. ...18 mins ago
The Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business is releasing its latest report today on Culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse parties in the Courts: A Chinese case study . The Report’s author, Mai Chen, Chair of the Superdiversity ...29 mins ago
Labour is charging wealthy business figures $1500-a-pop to lunch with Jacinda Ardern; and NZ First-linked forestry company pushed for govt funds. ...31 mins ago
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Doubts emerge about Auckland port move, NZDF leaves death-causing material behind in Afghanistan, and laws around renting to be shaken up.Over the last week, the ramifications of moving most of the operations of Auckland’s port north to Whangarei have been ...2 hours ago
An ambitious new partnership between Sky Sports and more than 50 sports promises more free sport for Kiwis. Suzanne McFadden looks at how it will change the way we see female athletes ...3 hours ago
Catriona MacLennan helped conduct a survey of the top NZ companies to establish the ethnicity of their directors. The results were not surprising, but also far from encouraging. ...3 hours ago
Episode 1 in a series on the trials of injured animals as they’re rescued, rehabilitated and released back into the wild follows the rescue of a yellow-eyed penguin. ...3 hours ago
Steve Braunias reviews the as-told-to book of All Blacks skipper Kieran Read, and fully expects it to suck. ...3 hours ago
The disastrous impact of banks selling risky financial derivatives to farmers is still being felt in rural communities more than a decade later. ...4 hours ago
New Zealand Defence Force's failed to clean up properly after itself in Afghanistan - with the result that seven children have been killed and another 10 civilians injured. ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Chinese embassy has lashed out at two Liberal members of parliament, Andrew Hastie and James Paterson, saying they would need to “repent and redress their mistakes” before they would be welcome in China. The ...10 hours ago
Green Party MP Gareth Hughes first entered Parliament in 2010. ...19 hours ago
Many fund managers are overconfident and the public buy the illusion. ...24 hours ago
Part 2: In this excerpt from the evidence of Sir Maarten Wevers in the High Court case of Winston Peters over his superannuation leak, the former head of the Prime Minister's Department explains what ministers should be told by public servants ...1 day ago
In this excerpt from the evidence of Sir Maarten Wevers in the High Court case of Winston Peters over his superannuation leak, the former head of the Prime Minister's Department summarises our governing arrangements. ...1 day ago
New Zealand's coroners learnt lessons of cultural competency and communication from March 15. ...1 day ago
As a follow-up to our post about police station office hours for the public and in the cause of balance, we bring positive news – or rather, we are passing on the positive news which the police delivered in a press statement, It’s all about the productivity gains achieved – it ...2 days ago
"I rang the ambulance service then went to the shed": a new short story by a master of the form, Oamaru writer Owen Marshall. ...2 days ago
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In a team concerns are taken up with the people involved, there is no going to the media to backstab the party leader and sabotage the presentation of a united front.
This ratbag is a nasty piece of work.
If the Labour Party is to flourish in the future people like this will have to go from caucus.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/10287781/Skiing-holiday-puts-Cunliffe-on-slippery-slope
@ spc..what is interesting/telling about that one..
..is that the mp’s named and cited/praised by this ‘unknown’ mp…as ‘hard-working mp’s’..
..are goff/king/shearer..(!)
..which does tend to lean toward it being a fully paid-up abc-er..who is this ‘unknown-mp’..
..and i’m nominating ‘chippy’ hipkins..as the moaner..(he needs to be asked:..’was it you?..’..)
(mind you..i also think it stoopid that cunnliffe decided that now was a good time for a skiing-holiday-
..and a skiing-holiday in that centre of social-deptivation..queenstown..
..’what ho..!..chaps..!’..
..and way to go to get the struggling masses you are trying to entice to relate to you..eh..?..)
Chippie is my local MP … when I read it I thought this was Mallard at work.
As for Cunliffe, if the wife and kids are going skiing – does he not spend time with his family?
What makes you think that there is an insider?
I think that this is just misinformation designed to denigrate Cunliffe in the eyes of the public. Audrey Young is a likely conduit for Crosby-Textor style malicious misinformation which is designed to pollute our democratic system. I call her out as a biased “journalist” . She should have to write a disclaimer at the end of any of her pieces.
@ spc..’chippy’..or ‘ducky’…
..or any other one of those rightwing-ratbags..
..stick their pics on the wall..and throw a dart..
..they are all much of a muchness..
..the neo-lib hang-nail in labour..
I just E-Mail Moira Coatsworth over this continual undermining of Labour by the (Fab4) of wastrels, of my time, and Taxpayers money.
Does she reply?
not yet but i’ll let you know.
when those labour volunteers were freezing their arses off running around putting up billboards..?
..yesterday morning..
..where was their leader..?
..wd snug and warm in q-town cover it..?
..he should have been out also whacking up billboards..
..and preferably in auckland..
..he wd have received wide media coverage had he done that..
..but he didn’t..and he didn’t…
Phillip, before you start f…..g spouting off you mouth, find out the facts. Otherwise you are no better than those jonolists, ABCers, and others who are out to criticise and bring down Cunliffe and let Key remain in power.
Cunliffe WAS out whacking up billboards yesterday. Here is a photo of him doing so – taken by none other than Patrick Gower (that great Cunliffe supporter not) and posted on Gower’s Twitter account.
http://t.co/zsWoze48z9
it doesn’t alter the fact cunnliffe shouldn’t have gone on holiday..
(for tactical-reasons..the normal black-hole for media-coverage is in hawaii..
..so why the f… is cunnliffe not filling that gap/telling his/labours’ story..?
..labour moan about how little media-coverage they get..
..and they piss this golden opportunity up against the wall..?
..eight weeks out from an election..?
..really really hard to see the/any logic in that one..eh..?)
..and he should have been putting up those billboards in auckland…
..thus guaranteeing wide-coverage..
..only stalkers like gower wd b bothered tekking down to q-town..to watch cunnliffe at play..
..like i said..tactically that all both sucks and blows..
He WAS putting up billboards in Auckland – not Queenstown.
And the first day you could legally put them up was yesterday (Sat) and that is what he was doing.
the ..holiday…was..a..bad..idea…
Actually no.
Three days, two of which he had flu, versus Key 10 days in Hawaii.
First duty of leadership is to yourself and to your family. No matter what.
Key understands that principle of leadership, and so does Cunliffe.
spare me the crocodile-tears..eh..?
..mp’s have the best holidays..bar none..
..(that’s that one of their key ‘principles’ already well taken care of..eh..?)
..and once every three years they actually have to do some graft..
..end of story..
..and they need yet aother feckin’ holiday..?..to prepare..?
.for those 8 weeks of ‘graft..?
..cry us a fucken river..eh..?
PU
Why are you incapable of admitting your error in this instance? Being an IMP supporter doesn’t mean you have to dis Labour at every opportunity. Save some bile for the Tories.
Also; could you at least be consistent with your idiosyncratic punctuation. Most people, including myself, use ellipses [ie; …] to denote a missing portion of a quote. You use twin-dots [..] and double spacing for some gonzo reason that seems like a good idea to you. Could you please stick to that? Otherwise it seems you are haphazardly missing chunks out of your rants – eg:
Phillip-you are trolling for the right now I am convinced. Pathetic.
How can you equate 3 days skiing in NZ where Cunliffe would have been among and talking to voters with Key swanning around in Hawaii for 2 weeks.
whrs my chq…?
Phil lets facts get in the way as much as the Black Knight lets his wounds hold him back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4
“Phillip, before you start f…..g spouting off you mouth”
Too late, and just more of the same old tired anti Labour/Greens bollocks.
Odd how a supporter of a 1.5% party knows what the major left parties should be doing.
I’m calling it the little boy who cried bacon.
Lolz, little pig, little pig, i had a couple of slices of one of the little pigs backsides with my tea last night, delicious,
From amidst the dripping bacon fat i did spare a thought for the little pig that died as it was born to do providing me with a varied diet…
my very major regret is that the pig was probably not provided with livable conditions during the months it was alive, for the sole reason of fattening up the bottom line.
Dude
that was just fXXking weak (Bad not CV)
your coming off like nasty little child now………..
This is a good place to hang my ire at Petrick Gair (as he calls himself) creaming his jeans over Labour’s absurdly low figures on the 3 News/Research poll. I used to work for Reid’s on the phones with that poll, so I know how biased the questions are.
Vicky
I’d say it’s either Mallard or some NAct black bag operative. Neither would surprise me.
Dimpost’s article is worth a read.
Extract…
“I think what’s happening here is that Cunliffe is signalling that he’ll stay on as leader after the election. ‘Helen Clark lost an election and stayed, and look how that turned out.’ His mechanism for doing so is to bring allies into caucus using the party list. So his enemies – who are electorate MPs – are cheerfully sabotaging their party’s campaign to prevent any new list MPs coming in.
What really gets me about this is that there are hundreds if not thousands of Labour volunteers around the country who are giving up time with their families to go doorknocking or leafleting or staff call centres for the Labour Party because they believe in it and its values, and all that work is being pissed away by the actual MPs, who obviously don’t.”
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/strategic-defeat/
Paul, I thought Goff should have stayed leader after the defeat in 2011. The party was going to overhaul itself and he should have remained until the party had a process for selecting his replacement.
If that had occurred, then whomever was selected – Shearer (when more experienced) or Cunliffe or Jones etc would have had a chance in 2014, and if creditable in their performance another go in 2014. And without all the drama and disunity.
It was the experienced old guard in caucus who got this all wrong and then they resent the party for imposing another choice of leader on them.
@ spc..
..nooo..!. to yr first line..
..and yeesss!!! to yr last..
..and who to blame for the dragging of the party back to the right..?
..after that all-to-brief ‘the workers’ flag is deepest red’ moment from cunnliffe..?
..who dun that..?
Irrespective of Labour’s election result now, there is scheduled to be a “confirmation” as per the constitutional changes that were made a couple of years ago.
If caucus really wants to gear up for that, I think they will find the activists geared up to Not Take Shit from the ABC club in any shape or form.
that is good news..
in an event like that, we’ll be taking the fight directly to the ABC’ers.
i have this really really strange feeling that most of those commenting upon the Labour Party this morning view it through some strangely tinted shadze,
The conversation seems to revolve around some magic wand being waved which magically transforms the old Dinosaur,
My first suggestion is that you all ‘define’ Labour’s proposed Finance Minister, who from everything that He has uttered,(and might have wished He hadn’t), is, in my, firm, opinion, wedded firmly in His thinking within the Neo-liberal paradigm,
From that position,(if you agree with the analysis), it becomes far easier to define the Labour Party circa 2014,
Having said all that, i do not propose to do so, put a definition, a label if you will, on the current Labour Party, this close to the election such a debate is both futile and counter-productive to ridding the country of the Slippery little Shyster currently occupying the position of Prime Minister,
(And yes, i have fully canvassed my and other’s thoughts about where that leaves us in terms of ‘a Government of the left’, such thoughts, again, are probably now best left until after the election)…
the harawira/harre/dotcom roadshow hits auckland today..
..@ 2pm this aft..at the kelston community hall..135 awaroa rd..sunnyvale..
..should be fun..!
Paul Little, in the NZ Herald, has ago at Judith Collins. Also some praise for a Labour policy, along with a bit of a back-hander.
Paul Little brings up the Te Reo in Schools subject. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11296233
There is a lot of misinformation about this topic, and I get hoha (fed up) with the deliberate misconstruing of the truth.
What is wrong with this aim? I know that in a very large decile 10 Auckland secondary school of about 1900 students in the 1990’s, those students wanting to learn Te Reo had to do it by correspondence school.
It will (in the long term as teacher numbers allow) be compulsory for schools to OFFER teaching in Te Reo so that any student wishing to learn the language can do so at his/her own school.
I think that people need to get used to the idea of LONG TERM PLANNING, something that has been absent in the last 6 years of Nat govt.
Seen the latest poll comrades?
David Cunliffe really is the best thing that has happened to NZ in a very long time.
Seen the latest ‘wing-nut’ drooling comrades, 🙄 really are the best thing that has happened to the internet for a very long time, 🙄 …
🙄
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/mh17-russia-today-presenter-sara-firth-quits-over-malaysia-airlines-crash-coverage-9615489.html
For all those who think RT is the height of journalistic balance and integrity.
“the height of journalistic balance and integrity.” ?
I for one, have never seen a single person ever state that, anywhere. Nor am I aware of any news agency on the planet that could even try to say that with a straight face.
All coverage considered, it is far more balanced than most Network media out of America and Europe. Not sure what your language gifts are but I am mainly restricted to English language news, so cannot judge News services in other languages as confidently. This may came as a shock Gosman, but most people I know who regularly view RT, treat any story involving Russia with due caution.
News services are just information, to add to all the other information, that you are then meant to consider and deliberate upon to reach your own understanding of events. Even Fox has information on occasion that is actually useful. Granted it is almost as rare as sightings of the Yeti but it happens.
What you may not be aware of is that many viewers watch RT not for their news, but for their current affairs shows and for their excellent documentary screenings. Shows such as Cross talk, Big Picture, Breaking the Set, the Keiser Report, each of them strong well researched informative platforms where reality is allowed a sliver of sunlight. No news service will ever survive on an international platform if it tries to tell the truth about everything all the time. The advertisers would run screaming.
The trick is knowing where each source of information is biased or in other words where it’s conflict of interests are.
RT clearly has a massive conflict of interest on any topic that interests Putin. To reference it directly on such a topic is to insult the intelligence of the listener.
Gos, yes it is great that a journalist resigns rather than tell untruths or have to “spin” stories. If the same were true of the jornos working for the msm in NZ or on CNN tbey would have run out of jornos by now.
This poll crappola really is getting to North Korean style Dear Leader levels. Will the roll of dishonour that is our media back off one wonders before the polls hit 98% for ShonKey?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11296265
i actually have a screenshot from a stuff page from feb with the headline ‘national surge in the polls’, surely they should be at 70+% now if they have been ‘surging’ this whole time?
lol
And they’re “surging” a couple of points lower than the “govern alone” polls two months out from election2011.
Turned out they could only implement their flagship policies with the help of an election fraudster.
That old fart Armstrong from the Herald should not have a job – from yesterday (capitals are mine) –
“Dotcom must now prove FAR BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT that Key has lied repeatedly when challenged as to when exactly he became aware or was made aware of the former Megaupload mogul’s existence. If Dotcom cannot or will not do that, he should zip it.”
What’s this standard of proof you’ve invented Armstrong ? FAR beyond reasonable doubt ?
What’s that mean you fucking old idiot ? How FAR beyond ? Who says that ‘this’ FAR beyond (piece of string) is FAR beyond enough, or that ‘this’ FAR beyond (piece of string) is not FAR beyond enough ? You ?
Honestly, this is writing reflecting the mental processing capacity of a child. Alternatively it is writing containing this promise – “Unconditionally, I Armstrong will NOT write that Key lied.”
As a journalist is this old fart simply unartful or is he wilfully corrupt ?
between this and Armstrong calling for Cunliffe’s immediate resignation over the 11 year old Liu letter, I think its time that Armstrong gets put out to pasture. That’s all he is good for now.
Just buy him another carton of fags the next time you pass through duty free. His emphysema will get him before Sept 20th.
lol
So Armstrong wants KDC to meet unreasonable levels of doubt? Sounds unbiased 🙂
I got an absurd tome of gibberish yesterday as a leaflet from the CP (conservative party, but also coincidentally; corporal punishment). 8 sides of A4 paper with Craig’s smirking face taking up half of the cover; which must be the only way he’ll ever get a magazine cover photo. The thing is actually glued rather than stapled together! The effect is rather ruined by it having been haphazardly folded to fit in the letterbox slot.
They’re still going with the; “stand for something” slogan, which is still just as terrible. But they at least get specific about four key policies:
1/ Binding Referendums (which I actually sortof agree with, but only if; there is a majority of all enrolled voters not just of those who who cast a vote and if; the questions are far more rigorously defined).
2/ Flat Tax
3/ Hard labour/ longer sentence for Prisoners
4/ Māori bashing
But it is the wording that really gets me:
1/ “Pure Democracy… it’s why wars get started… what else are they looking to ignore? To think they won’t is madness.
2/ “The only other reason [than Mallard’s Moa] we need to pay so much tax is to fund the Government’s vote buying programme… Don’t let anyone tell you we can’t afford a tax cut… Real money in the hands of those who need it and know what to do with it. Letting anyone else spend it is just lunacy.”
3/ “Call us crazy… If we’re elected it’ll be because you wanted us to give the Government a backbone… How loony is that?.. Anything else is just crazy talk?”
4/ “One law to rule us all [one law to find us, one law to bring us all, and in the darkness bind us]… Maori are treated as 2nd class citizens and victims [which] drives us nuts… Maori have been segregated by special laws and separate seats in parliament… Our wild and crazy thought?.. bring closure to the claims process… Nothing loony about that.”
Note the frequent; “I’m not mad”, statements – he literally finishes every policy outline with some variant of that. Protesting too much methinks.
i should start this comment with one of those ”i have supported Colon’s Conservatives for many many years” raves,
Small blessings that Colon and the Conservative view a ‘nationwide’ leaflet drop as not extending South beyond ‘the Tron’
Not getting to partake in Colon’s missive deprives me of the chance to stamp,stomp, spit upon it, with the final act a grand little display of pyromania as i burned it on the front lawn all the while laughing like a loon…
Bad12
I’m in Dunedin, so you may get your chance to defile the wretched thing soon enough.
From the way it was rammed in the letterbox (the layout, printing and binding are all excellent – shame about the words), I assume that it was a commercial delivery subcontracted to some underpaid child rather than a committed volunteer. Maybe they’re waiting for the cheque to clear in your area?
Lolz Pasupial, the letterbox stuffer of note round here at the moment is an old bloke who looks like He might be supplementing His pension via filling everybody round here’s recycle wheelie bins,
i swear its unintentional, but, perhaps Freud might have other ideas, lately i have managed to ‘pop up’ from behind various bushes/the car at the point where He is ramming the junk into the box,
Although i always give Him a ‘Thanks Pal’, totally not meant,(perhaps Sigmund would write an essay on this behavior), He takes one look at me and practically runs off up the street,
Maybe, it being the weekend, the old boy has used His ‘initiative’ and burned the whole stack of Colon’s musings,(something i am sure Freud could have penned a whole tomb on), thus saving His legs for another day and leaving me unsullied from accusations of pyromania…
Pasupial, I didn’t see the pamphlet get delivered but I suspect they hired DX mail, the private mail company set up in opposition to NZ Post, to deliver the Cons pamphlets.
There is no way they have enough volunteers to letterbox the country but they have the money to get a contracted delivery done.
“Small blessings that Colon and the Conservative view a ‘nationwide’ leaflet drop as not extending South beyond ‘the Tron’”.
Oh really? I received a 4 page glossy nut bar rant in the mail, with ET on the cover, from the Cons.
For entertainment on this rainy day I plan to put Colin in make up and jewellery with a speech bubble that will say “Giz a kiss sailor”. He will have pouty lips. This will then go in the green plastic see through WCC recycling bag, facing outwards so his sweet face is there for all the street to see.
Lolz Rosie, sounds like that one would make a good billboard to put up somewhere,(an online version if you know how to get it up on facebook???),
There’s a totally insane, albeit thankfully small strain of thought that has me wishing that ‘the PinHead’ gets into the Parliament,
i should imagine the power-rush to Colon’s head will make what happened to Nick Smith upon His elevation to Deputy Leader under Doctor Dullard Don Brash look like the teddy bears picnic in comparison,
(PS, hows ‘that book’ going)…
Funnily enough there’s a reference to sailors in the pamphlet. Something about the Government spending taxpayers money like “drunken sailors”. I must apologise to the adorable Julian Clarey as that is who Colon ended up looking like after my make over. I was actually going for the Amy Winehouse look.
I don’t have the skills and am not on FB put there is huge potential for a nationwide campaign to lampoon Colon’s pamphlet. I went with his homophobic buzz but there is plenty of other material to produce multiple images of satire.
Haven’t had a chance to continue with Tragedy at Pike River Mine, but hope to do so after I’ve whipped up a big batch of anzac biscuits this arvo.
i will be interested in what you make of the book in the way of ‘conclusions’ Rosie, if you have read the exchange provoked by our last discussion of your ‘read’ i will get around to,
(a), Pointing out Strydom the South African electricians actual evidence which provoked the questions from Commissioner Bell to Him about ‘explosives’
(b) White the mine manager at the time’s evidence surrounding the heavy smell of burned diesel,
(c), the fact that Strydom the South African electrician used English as a second language which made parts of His evidence hard to decypher,
(d),Commissioner Bell queried Strydom vis a vis ‘the smell being cordite’ and ‘the smell being diesel’
What seems here to be an inconsistency in the evidence of Strydom when He describes the smell as being both of those things is in fact not,
The two smells are ‘totally’ consistent with the use of ANFRO explosives which i will explain after you have finished the book,
To understand ‘how’ these two smells, cordite and diesel, remained in the mine, after what we seen as a minute long expulsion from the mine of the ‘explosion’ on our TV’s will require an explanation of what occurs when such an explosion occurs in an open ended ‘tunnel’ or an understanding of where the residue from a discharged firearm ends up as opposed to the fired bullet,
There is much yet to be discussed…
Yes, I did read the “exchange” triggered by raising the Rebecca MacFie book.
And yes, I’ll let you know when I have finished reading and what conclusion I drew from the book as to the cause of the explosion, the first one. As mentioned, so far I can only see it as a disaster waiting to happen, a failure of management H&S of epic proportions to keep their workers safe.
I take it you’re fully aware, after reading the notes from the R. C enquiry (I haven’t) of the consistent failures of management to address the serious and life threatening H&S that staff formally complained of via hazard notices? Serious question, just wanted to clarify.
AS for that particular discussion between yourself, TRP and McFlock, as much as I understood and supported the technical elements they both raised I tend to shy away when things get a bit shouty and testosterone laden. Lols, I have enough problems in real life that raise my blood pressure, I don’t need to add to it.
Definitely Rosie, i fully understand the intricacies of ‘what happened’ at Pike River right form the point of the original ‘test drilling’ at the mine site,
This test drilling, accomplished via an above-ground drilling rig helicoptered into the National Park where the depth and actual make-up of the coal seams was ‘discovered’ by taking ‘core samples’ from various depths being the genesis of the actual mine was also not ‘up to industry standards’,
Whether there was any ‘deliberation’ in this ‘not up to industry standards’ test drilling will probably never be known, but, far far fewer test bores and samples were drilled and taken from the proposed mine than is the industry standard practice,
The above, the samples taken, lead the investors to believe that there was a far greater amount of highly valuable quality coking coal to be mined from there than was in fact present, and, from that point the litany continued on until the day of the first explosion,
As i pointed out in our previous discussion on the mine, by the day of the explosion,and, on days too numerous to count befor-hand, that mine was an actual Bomb, simply waiting for a spark to be struck in the wrong time and place,
i do not believe for an instant that ‘Management’,(in all its hues), could have failed to have known the above fact,
The fact that that mine was a ‘Bomb’ is i believe why in its short operational lifetime there were 5 statutory mine managers,(including Whittal), all of whom spent an inordinately short period of time holding that position,
(The Statutory Mine Manager carries the ‘legal can’ if something goes ‘wrong’, like an explosion, in the mine),
My question here of course, the same as asked in our previous discussion, is, considering ‘who’ must have known the dangerous state of the mine, did they get tired of waiting for the inevitable to occur???,
i have plenty of experience with test drilling/core sampling/drilling as a labourer for a well known firm of specialist drillers/pilers here in Wellington,
i have plenty of experience with explosives through work as a farm labourer many years ago and work as a labourer for a well known demolition firm here in the capital,
i could even tell you the recipe for making ANFRO explosives,(which in a family friendly show like this i wont), its qualities, its efficiencies, and, more important why i believe Strydom the electrician described to the Commission the smell of both Cordite and ANFRO,
”The smell is yes with explosives” unquote,
Until i read the evidence of Strydom the electrician i like most other people believed that the initial explosion at Pike River was one of Methane Gas,
Now i question that, again with the question asked above, ”did person or persons unknown get tired of waiting for the inevitable to occur”…
Thanks for taking the time. Looks like we both have the same awareness of the mine’s history and issues – up to the point where you question who knew of the dangerous state of the mine and whether they wanted to hurry up the inevitable. (Yes, as per previous discussion)
I still can’t entertain this idea, mass murder an’ all BUT you do have a working knowledge of explosives and know about the evidence given by the S.A electrician. I don’t.
But I will come back to it. Right now, I have that book waiting by the fire and a hot cuppa waiting…………
Lolz Rosie, always interested in discussing this with other people, if anything i put forward as ‘fact’ isn’t how you see it from your readings feel free in future discussions to point this out,
There are also a number of ‘things’ that to me make Strydom the SA electrician ‘ a person of interest’,(and i use that phrase with deliberation), that i will try and canvas in any future discussion,
In His 28 years of mining, He had been at the scene of 6 mine explosions, and, it is His evidence initially to the Police which leads me to the belief that the initial Pike River explosion was in relative terms ‘small’,
He describes in His evidence his ‘confusion’ as to whether or not there had been an actual explosion in the mine because of the fact that in ‘large’ mine explosions in South Africa all the fire hoses, set out with spacing along the tunnel walls, were blown off the walls,
At Pike River, all the fire hoses remained firmly in their allotted places on the tunnel wall, indicating the blast had been relatively small…
*ANFO
dont argue with ‘morans’ f.
they drag you down to their level and then beat you with experieince.
Yep, a more clear set of initials would read ANDO,(and i would rather not be giving away any more of what that leads to for obvious reasons, although i am sure extreme inquiring minds wont have any trouble following the now obvious trail)…
Bad, it’s probably the most well-known backyard explosive in the world. The recipe is two clicks away from anyone who cares to know.
You’re not guarding the chamber of secret wisdom, buddy.
felix, definitely not, But, how would you feel if someone put 6042 plus a zillion together came up with a number called i am a dumb fuck, slapped together the recipe, did a whole pile of damage and then said they got the idea off of a discussion here….
If you were really concerned about that you wouldn’t have brought it up here at all.
Hi, Rosie, testosterone point noted. It’s hard to be restrained in dealing with idiots, particularly ones who piss on the graves of the dead. And, yes, homophobes in particular do set me off, so sorry if it got messy. at the end.
Bad, just to touch on a couple of today’s misunderstandings, can I ask you have a look at a map of the mine? It’ll help you understand why Pike cannot be described as an open ended tunnel or why fire hoses a km or more away from the blast site and close to the entrance were relatively unscathed.
And as for claiming Strydom is a ‘person of interest’, why don’t you go to the cops if you have any evidence he was involved in mass murder? In fact, why not spell out the evidence for us now?
The fact is, you ain’t got no facts.
Hey Te Reo Putake. No need to apologise 🙂 Testosterone laden arguments are a given at times on this site.
One of the other reasons I want to be restrained in my language and withhold speculations around Pike River, is for the exact sentiment you raise, The Dead. I want to have some respect for their memory and also to anyone of their friends, family or partners who may happen to be reading.
I’m getting many questions answered by reading MacFie’s book and appreciate that her writing style is sensitive to the weight of loss the community suffered.
Laugh out loud, who would have thunk the liar in chief Te Reo Putere would have slunk belatedly into the conversation spewing abusive accusations,
The same Liar who carved out of Commissioner Bell’s questions at the Royal Commission 3 words from a question Bell asked and then deliberately falsely attributed those 3 words to Strydom the South African electrician simply so Putere the stranger to the truth could pretend ‘it’ had evidence that i was not telling the truth,
And this POS has the gall to upbraid me with claims of disrespect to the Pike River Families,
As far as the blast at the mine goes Putere, i am simply quoting from the evidence of Strydom the South African electrician, you have read this evidence so stop trying to spread bullshit among the readers,
If you want to dispute Strydoms reasoning as to why the fire hoses were not blown off the wall, feel free. but,
Unlike you, a pathetic wanker sitting behind a computer screen Strydom the South African electrician had 28 years mining experience which included being at the scene of 6 explosions in South African mines,
What’s your comparable experience Putere, wanking on endlessly on your computer…
Boring, boring, boring. Just put up some evidence, why doncha?. ps, still waiting for you to apologise for inventing a quote or failing to provide the second quote from the manager, whose name, for the time being escapes you. Go on, try being a grown up, it doesn’t hurt.
Pike river was the biggest, most transparent enquiry into an industrial accident in kiwi history, with a clear case decision on cause and effect, and responsibility clearly sheeted home. It was notable for the quality and quantity of the expert evidence and the candour of the mineworkers and other local witnesses. All those people, none of whom has ever suggested anything as astonishing as deliberate mass murder versus one sad fuck. I’m with the miners and their families. You’re on your own, fool.
🙄 🙄 🙄 i usually reserve them for ‘wing-nuts’ Putere(to the truth), must mean you have elevated yourself to the level of scum with your pathetic abuse…
PS, a hint for you: how many of those who gave evidence went into the mine after it had exploded, only one, Strydom the South African electrician,
i dare say the two who survived were not in much a of a fit state to be making notes of their surroundings as they staggered down the drift to safety…
Sorry, bud, you’re clearly beyond self awareness. All the best with the fantasy. Ciao.
Don’t call me bud Putere(to the truth), i despise cynical LIARS and you proved to me that you are one the other day by deliberately carving from a question by Pike River Commissioner Bell 3 words from that entire question which could not be mistaken for anything but a question about EXPLOSIVES which Bell was addressing to Strydom in a pathetic effort to point score against me,
That Putere(to the truth) is what i would class as disrespecting the Pike River families, everyone with links to those families and the Royal Commission,
Here’s some FACT for you Putere, the whole question from Bell to Strydom You carved those 3 words from,
Q, ”I mean Cordite to me isn’t a diesel smell, its more a smell to do with explosives, would–is that because of your South African experience with explosives” unquote Commissioner Bell,
And the words you carved out of Commissioner Bell’s question which you falsely attributed to Strydom trying to make a liar out of me which simply proves you to be the LIAR,
”Isn’t a diesel smell” Lies from Putere unquote,
Here’s the first part of Strydom the SA electricians answer to Commissioner Bell just in case anyone missed it,
A,”The smell is yes with Explosives” unquote Strydom the SA electrician to Pike River Commissioner Bell…
Bad12 I appreciate the passion but you seem to attack people who are not of the right. TRP is solid working class left and PU is distinct but has a world view that should be respected.
MS, you have your opinion i have mine, said in dark black writing by you or LPrent i will take a hint,
However, it is not me that butted into a conversation on the Pike River Mine explosion the other day it was Him and He was directly calling me a LIAR and then engaging in the behavior i outlined above which is simply cynical lying and using the Pike River Royal Commissioners questions to make up His cynical lies,
If you think that that is ‘solid left’ behavior well good for you, and my question is such behavior rife within the Labour Party probably wont go down to well,
Phillip Ure is another story, and your opinion of Him is noted, again, if the opinions you have so far expressed are writ in black writing i will obviously have to if i wish to keep commenting here take note,
Other than that MS, i will ignore your comment as it looks from where i sit to be an attempted censorship of me without addressing the equal behaviors of those i joust with in the comments,
TPR had no need to enter the discussion i was having tonight making the accusations he already made a couple of days ago, when he stops making such accusations i will stop responding to them…
Cheers, MS. Obviously, I’m not going to stop pointing out the homophobe fantasist’s bullshit, despite his using the bullying Netanyahu line. Luckily, the facts speak for themselves.
🙄 🙄 🙄 what your latest little tirade of abuse deserves, a whole page full of them…
“Not getting to partake in Colon’s missive deprives me of the chance to stamp,stomp, spit upon it, with the final act a grand little display of pyromania as i burned it on the front lawn all the while laughing like a loon…”
I had the fun of doing pretty much that, and also with the others that blew out of letterboxes all the way down the road.
How much did he spend on all this?
Lolz Vicky32, my sense of deprivation deepens, Colon’s ‘we are not fucking loonies you hear’ Conservatives have blown a bundle i should imagine,
i think the total war chest is around 2.5 million with Colon dropping a reputed 2 million into the pot, what it actually cost to print up and distribute a nationwide leaflet drop i couldn’t even begin to address,(bucket-loads is my best guess),
Lolz big ups on keeping your neighborhood ‘clean'(if i catch the letterbox stuffer going about His lawful trade polluting the hood i might offer Him at least a used tenner for His whole pile)…
@ Pasupial 10.14
I’m not mad’. Craig appealing to the daft opinionated who are agin’ everything and presenting himself as a Messiah going to usher in a new age of commonsense, government bashing a la usa fundamentalists and somehow more money for the deserving (not those others who are lazy and have warts) – and for the sensitive PCs I have warts!.
Lolz, a cross between Peter ‘the Hairdo’ Dunne and Doctor Dullard Don Brash would perhaps adequately describe the politics of Colon ‘i am not fucking insane’ Craig then,
The short form of the above description being, 🙄 🙄 🙄 ….
There’s an old saying which goes something like this:
If you think you’re mad then your’re not. But if you are convinced you’re not mad then you are.
Philip you are on a permanent dreadlock holiday.
Cunliffe has a family and has spent his money and time in his own country whilst HawaiiKey is spending his money and time is his home country.
gee tricle..it didn’t feel like ‘dreadlocked-holiday’ when i started working this morn..@ 5.00am..eh..?
(and this is what i have done since then.. http://whoar.co.nz/ ..some ‘holiday’..eh..?..)
..and do you have anyone who cd initiate you into the mysteries of the reply-button..?
What did Chester Borrrow? Whatever, I think he has had it long enough and should give it back. It didn’t work for him. He always seems unimpressive, and the latest about Coroners funding doesn’t inspire.
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish was born and grew up in a Gaza refugee camp, worked hard and received a scholarship to study medicine in Cairo, gained a diploma in obstetrics and gynecology specialising in fetal medicine and a master’s degree at Harvard and despite the daily humiliation of border control he went on to become one of the first Gazan doctors employed in Israeli hospitals.
In January 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, three of his daughters and his niece were dismembered in their bedroom by an Israeli artillery strike.
Izzeldin Abuelaish has since lived and worked in Canada and doesn’t seek revenge or retribution, he writes seeking peace and reconciliation. .
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/18/father-children-gaza-bloodshed-palestinians-israelis
http://daughtersforlife.com/devdfl2013/our-story/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izzeldin_Abuelaish
Interesting column in the sst today by Nick Hager.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/510500/Nats-secret-advisers-accused-of-dirty-tricks-in-Aussie
Be interesting if any other news media picks it up. I suspect not.
My bad, picked it up from twitter, column is from 2008.
Good info thanks Northshoreguynz – good to remind us all of what is behind these media attacks and Key’s image.
Here is another one (from July 2013):
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/jul/19/lynton-crosby-david-cameron-tobacco-australia-lobbyist-mark-textor
Interesting…..i wonder if Crosby Texter have hidden journalist stringers?…ie hidden paid manipulators embedded in the MSM?
Thank you Otago Daily Times, for the search terms.
“…The naming in Australia this week of a high-profile Otago man whose identity was suppressed in the Dunedin District Court earlier this year – when he was discharged without conviction on an indecency charge – raises questions about the effectiveness of such court orders in the internet age. Timothy Brown reports…”
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/309904/digital-era-subverts-suppression
slater will publish the name
by that I meant slater must have published it ages ago
The case raises the issue of grooming. Thus a danger to name suppression (as the former AB involved is old enough to be on super there is no real livelihood issue).
Do some men become social friends of married couples and then at a later time make a grope for the women when alone with her – based on the idea that social friends and in particular married women will keep it to themselves.
If she does not tell her partner, and social contact continues and she is unable to prevent being alone with him he tries again.
When discussing this on another site, someone posted this thought
“Many women don’t tell because all too often the male response is firstly ‘what did you do to let him think you were willing’? I’m sure for many it is probably a question asked to try and sort out what happened, but either way it makes the female feel that she must have done something wrong. Rape victims are frequently hounded by guilt that they must have in some way contributed to what happened. That they are too blame – which is a mindset that prevents many from reporting the attack – this is especially so with women (and some males) who are victims of sexual assault in the form of ‘groping’ etc.”
If it is found that the person is a serial offender, (via case and name exposure) then it reduces the isolation (the why me) that the victim has.
Derryn Hinch has written on the case, but says it is illegal for anyone in New Zealand to read what he wrote. I live in Australia, so I read it. It reminded me again why I’ve never been a fan of the All Blacks, and makes me wonder how much of a coincidence it is that rape and rugby both begin with the letter r.
Thanks for that Murray, I’m not in NZ either, so found it and read it too. I’m not surprised in the least.
ODT says it’s not an offence for people in NZ to read the overseas post, but it is an offence to publish it in NZ.
And it does not surprise me – re the name and the rugby connection.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10288851/MH17-Key-calls-on-Putin-to-step-up
John Key tells Vlad how it is…”Go on Vlad, show some leadership! Fess up, it woz you guys!!”
Vlad thinks to himself, “Run away and wet your pants little lapdog!”
Meanwhile the families and friends of 300 mourn their loved ones. None of this is helping their pain and dignity.
ra ra rasputin.
True Ennui, and I wish we had a PM that whould have the guts to say similar to Netanyahu.
But that’s right – NZ is all US-ian in foreign policy now.
In Gaza the killing of innocents and the pain for their families and friends is just as real as in the Ukranian war zone. Al jazeera gives these people names .
Surprisingly coherent article from Rodney Hide in the Herald today: Rodney Hide: Rape culture protects predators
Apart from the obligatory snide opening, it reads like a different author.
Usually only read him if I’m in a particularly balanced mood, and feel as if I can respond rationally to his rants and the comments from his fans. But today didn’t need to do that at all.
it was patronising and reinforces the notion that women have to wait until some wealthy white man considers there is an issue for there to actually be an issue. I was put in mind that slylands might have written a siimilar thing but only after a woman he cared about was impacted.
I think this story is more about nailing David Cunliffe than rape culture.
Check out Whaleoil.
Sounds more like “I’ll co-opt the phrase ‘rape culture’ then re-define it purely so I can attack people I don’t like” than any real understanding of the concept.
SR. it never stops bleeding blubber.
Either way, patronising wealthy white guy epipheny is not what it is. Politics is what it is.
Widow of smoker to get $27b ! Cool bananas!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/10289064/27b-verdict-against-RJ-Reynolds
Well, Kim Dotcom’s 15 Sept Auckland Town Hall meeting gets even more interesting.
The Internet Party Twitter feed has announced that Glenn Greenwald (ex Guardian journalist who has released the Snowden revelations) will be there.
Tweets by InternetPartyNZ
F..k that is interesting!
That is one heavy duty battery journalist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald
Global surveillance disclosure:
Greenwald was first contacted by Edward Snowden, a former contractor of the U.S. National Security Agency, in late 2012.[65] Snowden contacted Greenwald anonymously and said he had “sensitive documents” that he would like to share.[66] Greenwald found the measures that the source asked him to take to secure their communications, such as encrypting email, too annoying to employ.[65] Snowden then contacted documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras in January 2013.[67]
According to The Guardian, what originally attracted Snowden to both Greenwald and Poitras was a Salon article penned by Greenwald detailing how Poitras’ controversial films had made her a “target of the government”.[66][68] Greenwald began working with Snowden in either February[69] or in April after Poitras asked Greenwald to meet her in New York City, at which point Snowden began providing documents to them both.[65]
Perhaps it’s he that will deliver the oil on the prime minister’s spying regime.
I dont do twitter so thanks veuto
Neither do I, Tracey. In other words, I am not a signed up user, but it doesn’t seem to stop me being able to read various Twitter accounts, and save them to my favorites to read. Or to google them and read them.
This is a real biggie. Armstrong and others who have been deriding KDC as wielding a fizzer, are fucked.
@ c.v..
..i stood on the edge of the stand-up dotcom did with the corporate-media @ the roadshow..
..and they tried that jeering approach..
..and dotcom just shut them right down..
..and was entirely believable/credible..
..leaving me certain he has the ‘goods’ on key..
..and his greenwald news stopped their whining about timing..
..dead in its’ tracks…
..’twas a delight to behold..
the internet/mana roadshow in west ak went off like the proverbial rocket..
..very very cool it was..
..and the takeaway is that glenn greenwald will be one of the international guests at the dotcom ak town hall meeting..
..five days before the election..
..how cool is that..?
..greenwald has been a journalist i have admired since his very early on g.f.c.-warnings..
..and he will be helping dotcom dump on key…
..woo-fucken-hoo..!
..here is my greenwald-archive..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=greenwald
So what’s your opinion of the Glenn Greenwald who supported the Iraq invasion, said the US is exceptional and different, derided Argentinian ant-war protestors – These are hard-core Communists. Fidel Castro is one of their heroes., and described Venezuela as that country under the repressive thumb of Fidel Castro-copy Hugo Chavez ?.
@ joe 90…
(i’ll let greenwald answer that..)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/30/1182442/-Glenn-Greenwald-Responds-to-Widespread-Lies-About-Him-on-Cato-Iraq-War-and-more#
Brilliant thanks Phillip.
In his own words.
Despite these doubts, concerns, and grounds for ambivalence, I had not abandoned my trust in the Bush administration. Between the president’s performance in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the swift removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the fact that I wanted the president to succeed, because my loyalty is to my country and he was the leader of my country, I still gave the administration the benefit of the doubt. I believed then that the president was entitled to have his national security judgment deferred to,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/100297462
( http://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm?fuseaction=printable&book_number=1812 )
Distorted media accounts notwithstanding, isn’t it painfully obvious what is going on here? These are hard-core Communists. Fidel Castro is one of their heroes. This has nothing to do with opposition to the war in Iraq or specific free trade agreements. Those are thinly disguised pretexts. These demonstrators hate the United States because they are genuinely opposed to economic freedom and individual liberty, and they seek to impose the collectivist authoritarianism of Fidel Castro onto the entire Latin American continent.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.co.nz/2005/11/meet-oh-so-noble-peace-protestors-in.html
As is true in U.S., the Latin American socialist agitators who have captured the attention and affection of the American media are as substance-less as they are inconsequential. They are lovers of Fidel Castro. The insist that the source of their severe economic woes is not their collectivist policies or national character, of course, but the evil economic policies of the U.S. At the same time, of course, they are furious that the evil U.S. is not providing them with greater economic aid.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.co.nz/2005/11/reality-of-latin-american-reaction-to.html
Firstly, I think that it is important that you understand that people take time to under go their own political awakenings and maturation. At the time of the second Iraq War, Greenwald was in his 30’s and for the most part, believed in what he had been taught by the MSM to believe – American exceptionalism.
Secondly, I think that you have taken some of his quotes out of context, albeit you have done us a favour by linking through to your source material. With regards to GW Bush’s wars against in Afghanistan and Iraq post 9/11 for instance, Greenwald goes on to say:
Thirdly, Snowden examined in detail Greenwald’s suitability to be the journalist that he would go to. I believe that Greenwald’s conduct to date has proven Snowden’s judgement and trust in Greenwald, correct.
Will Greenwald get a visa?
Good question. Will NZ deny him entry at the border and send him back on a return flight…
If so that will be interesting indeed.
We better hope that Kim can come through for us on Sept 15th.
We’re relying on you Kim, please don’t let us down.
You’r all we have now Kim.
Guaranteed to be irrelevant crap.
Concentrating on a plan rather than mythology would be a good start.
@ lprent..
..u really think so..?
..this will be the snowden nz-drop..
..how is that not interesting..?
..i’m picking labour aren’t too happy about this..
..because the secrets exposed will not show the clark govt in a very good light..
.and int/mana on 2.3% on tv3 poll..
..and they have only just started campaigning..
..and i have been to a few political meetings in my life..
..but this one was the most electric/alive..i have been to..
..there was a lot going on in that room..
..and the chemistry between harawira/harre/dotcom/sykes/minto etc..
..was almost palpable…
.they all really like/respect each other..
,.,that much is very clear…
Three news says Cunliffe not ruling out working with Mana and co is hurting Labour in the polls, no surprises there. How is la la Harry saying she wouldn’t let Dot.Crim into NZ but she is happy to get her nose in the trough and take the proceeds of his crimes.
What does 3 News know about what is hurting Labour in the polls?
Laila Harre wants to change the government. Kim Dotcom wants to change the government. David Cunliffe wants to change the government. Russell Norman and Metiria Turei want to change the government. Winston Peters wants to change the government. More than half of New Zealand wants to change the government. Hope it happens.
3 News asked in the poll if Not ruling out IMP was wrong and about half voted yes.
I think David has said that it is unlikely that IMP would be at the Cabinet Table but wait and see what the electorate decide in September. If Key needed another 2-3% to win would he rule IMP out? They had better not ask!
This has been covered in parliament itself has it not? Cunliffe asking Key to rule out pre election deals if Labour would do the same and Key backing down. News flash – Labour has always said no pre election deals while slippery Key refuses to commit to anything as he is constantly undecided as to what makes him feel most comfortable. Get some of that, Brook Sabin.
I think the electorate is going to be surprised by Internet Mana. David Cunliffe is certainly not committing one way or the other. Our jokey, matey PM however just gives us a nudge and a wink on these things and no-one know where he stands. It’s the politics of confusion. Grey Warbler described it with his Macbeth quotes earlier today.
Also covered by Simon Wilson slapping down National party embedded journalist Brooke Sabin on the Nation yesterday when discussing the same subject.
Funny thing how the support for National is around 50%… and “half voted yes” to the whole not ruling out IMP. I think there may be more than just significant overlap there 😛
Those who want a change from National would accept that deal in a heartbeat if it got rid of John Key.
+1
write her a letter and ask her.
TV3 poll not too bad all things considered. Ignore Gower.
Nats 49.4
Lab/Gr/IMP/NZF 45.7
Given that the Cons vote, 2.7%, is now likely to be wasted a 3% shift to the Left/NZF would be enough.
A 7% shift to Lab/Gr/IMP would give the Left power. I know this sounds a lot but we are in the grip of the ridiculous MSM’s attack on Cunliffe’s brave “man” speech and even Gower is starting to say that IMP is going “up and up” and they have only just started.
This election will go to the wire. I liked Cunliffe’s positive “we will come out fighting” on TV3 News tonight.
Cunliffe I am sorry to be a man comment are at least hypocritical in light of who he had lunch with. I would hope Labour and National could put petty party politics aside and change the law regarding permanent name suppression of those found or pleading guilty to serious sexual offending. This particularly repugnant when it is granted because of an offenders social status and/or political or legal connections.
I is clear many on this blog know the sexual predators name. I am sure I am not breaching and order saying he is not an unemployed Maori.
This is not the only current case. A kiddy fiddling Hawkes Bay lawyer has permanent name suppression. I do not know if I am in contempt by saying the bloody judge is an enabler. I do not really care.
I would also say that all MP who do not vote for a law change on name suppresion are also enablers.