I couldn’t find anything on last night’s meeting in the Herald this morning, despite going right to the bottom of the page. I guess it will be tucked away somewhere. Ironically, an article on Key’s performance in his interview with John Campbell, was still up, despite it being days old.
Yes, Campbell’s poll result 52666 votes, 89% against the Bill. Combined with another amazing pack public meeting…and virtually nothing in the NZ Herald.
If you mean the Hoskings who wrote this, then yeah, I’d really like to hear how that quiet chat goes . . .
“Government of laws and not of men” is not a left wing principle: it was most clearly enunciated by John Locke, whose writings on government in the late 17th Century form the basis of much classical liberal and conservative philosophy about private property rights – and what is personal privacy if not a private property right? – and small government.
Those who favour small government, and having the rights of officials to interfere in your lives and business kept under firm legal control, should be concerned about this legislation.
You might be irritated by the way a few prominent left wing journalists have seized upon this and used it as a soapbox.
You might be outraged at the shamelessness of opposition parties who rail against this particular extension of state power but who plan to extend that powers with every other announcement they make.
Put that irritation and outrage to one side for now. It will keep, believe me. There is a more important issue to deal with now.
Think on this: what will those politicians from the left wing parties like the Greens or Labour do with these powers when and if they attain office?
If you think they will do anything rather than use these powers to further bolster the size of the state in our lives, then I have an emissions trading scheme to sell you.
Hasn’t the Green Party said it will repeal the Act? How is this consistent with your spin?
I suspect that, especially given the information uncovered by Nicky Hager, any SIS/GCSB left employed under a Labour/Greens/Mana government would keep spying, but not as directed by the government. The information obtained, probably about the left, would go straight to Washington. The Greens and Mana know this and even some in Labour are waking up to it. The latest revelations have only driven the point home – as a sovereign nation we cannot afford to have intelligence services linked into UKUSA, Echelon, or whatever. If we need one, we’re going to have to rebuild from scratch.
The latest revelations have only driven the point home – as a sovereign nation we cannot afford to have intelligence services linked into UKUSA, Echelon, or whatever. If we need one, we’re going to have to rebuild from scratch.
Wonder why human rights abuses are becoming the norm here and our laws watered down. Take a look at what happening in the UK. Its time to sever ties with this country:
Human rights are legal fictions which are used in place of the natural rights of common law. There are very good reasons to sever state ties with the UK, but it isn’t something that can happen overnight because of the oaths of allegiance of NZ MPs and judges.
“Go Figure” Moment of the Day: on Firstline this morning…
“If Shearer was really serious about being Prime Minister he would have come and sorted this out because that’s what Helen Clark did with the then Leader of the Opposition.”
A bit of role reversal going on there I think.
In accordance with most historical mass movements, those opposed to GCSB might consuder adopting a simple symbol of opposition to wear as a badge etc.(e.g. HART badges, red poppy, etc)
I suggest the outline of a fish or snapper, in red. (J Key’s attempted red herring). Easy to make, easily recognisble.
Reminded again of the US comedian who said: ” You’re Prime Minister’s name is John Key? That’s what you ask for in America when you need to go to the bathroom in a service station !”
I therefore suggest a small drawing of a toilet because it is where he is leading us.
I wish as much concern for our nation’s families in need of assistance could be shown to match that of the search for the yacht Nina and its occupants. Apparently there are 41 satellites viewing this area of the world – I don’t know if that is the total or just from the west. Concerned people are scouring views from one private satellite (the USA refused access to its own citizens to view the government’s records) looking for signs of these precious people. Our NZ parents and their children are not so precious.
Perhaps we could have a report every day of one NZ family that had been needy and had received all the help wanted to improve their position and find themselves in a secure home, with transport, able to manage their parental duties, near to work, and with a holiday weekend provided and paid for and tutoring and sports equipment for the children, and further part-time education for the parents. Just to show that we and our government agencies are working to assist citizens to have opportunities to successfully make their way in life. To show we do not abandon our people when there are rough times and they are under stress from poverty and lack of job opportunities and low wages.
Agree Amirite. Hone added perspective which has always been visible but so often ignored. And “we” expect “them” to help “us” fight “our” battles. Much like the times when Maori and low boys were only any good if they won tests or the Ranfurly Shield. Those times are still with us in measure, as much as popular middle class canard denies it.
Hone has some powerful things to say that apply to Maori and pakeha as well. Good on him. You can’t just ask nicely, you’ll get the brush-off. Someone has to insist for fair treatment and an opportunity to live life, and not the vicious punitive government punch in the nose.
They have given away other people’s property (our trade barriers were part of our resources that protected us ensuring home-made could compete with imports – would the Dutch mine their polders,barriers against the sea, for a quick buck?) to ensure one section of society can trade without let or hindrance. Doh, they then make their own hindrance. And don’t have proper surveillance where it is needed, over their own processes and pipes. Can’t have pipes flowing with money into NZ and not have clean pipes going out.
You can’t just ask nicely, you’ll get the brush-off.
yep. look at the history of the abolition movement, the 40 hour week, womens suffrage, the right to form trade unions.
The Left has forgotten what it takes to make real changes. Its why the fuckwit Right Wingers go on about “having better manners” to lefties. Because they know about the power of taking concrete action on concrete issues.
Without doing that we will always get watered down policy wonkish positioning.
“our trade barriers were part of our resources that protected us ensuring home-made could compete with imports ”
Trade barriers are a major cost. They especially hurt the poor while transferring resources to the few. Capitalists become lobbyists and get rich behind tariffs (or worse import licenses). How can you support policies that transfer resources from consumers to producers to prop up inefficient local production? It is ridiculous. I thought this debate finished 20 years ago.
Trade barriers hurt the poor? Are you saying that competing with Chinese laborers pound for pound, who on average get paid as little as $6,500 NZD annually (Gansu province) is good for people on low incomes in New Zealand? It is clearly not more efficient to compete with economies that pay their workers peanuts, especially when none of those savings are transferred to consumers.
some trade barriers will be required in order to bring a degree of localisation back to the NZ economy, and to buffer us from external economic shocks.
Removal of barriers only works if each country has the exact same wages, exact same services (hospital, fire, telecoms, etc), exact same laws and protections and, most importantly, the exact same enforcement of those laws and protections. If they’re not the same then the price difference is incorrect which results in industry going to where it’s least efficient. Exactly as we’ve been seeing over the last few decades.
@Grey
I’ve often thought the same sort of thing after a large earthquake – the politicians, the media, councils et al – anxious to show their concern and understanding.
I guess killing them slowly (the beneficiaries, the indigent, etc) is acceptable these days.
What we need is to follow Thatcher’s way and decide to have a good war, it takes people’s minds off their chilblains after earthquakes destroy their housing and revitalises National Spirit.
Trouble is after the traditional expressions of concern, the government will want the affected people to wait for a few years till they get round to taking them seriously. I remember this approach being applied to an African famine fast approaching. The authorities were preparing and expected to be ready to mount humanitarian assistance within six months. But only six weeks food was left – the reporting journalist was in tears. /sarc
So they say that our GDP per capita is increasing.
But is it really? Are we as a nation of people more active and producing and doing more? My suspicion is no we are not. My suspicion is that the GDP numbers simply reflect an increase in the amount of money spinning around the economy. And where has that money come from? My suspicion is all of that extra money has come from debt lent into existence and printed by the banks.
It is a anti-spam “feature” from wordfence. It looks at how many page requests different types of organisms make per minute and throttles it if it exceeds a quantity (currently 4) in that minute, then you get that message.
What it is for is to stop someone trying to dump the whole or a large part of the whole site at once thereby making the site largely inaccessible for others. One or the other of the limits get hit multiple times every day. The bingbot is particularly obnoxious. But there is also someone from China reading successively through various authors comments last week. And we’ve had attempts to do simple page sweeps from inside NZ (and not just the National Library)
Bit of a bugger if you’re someone who just looks at the site every few days, opens anything that looks interesting in a new tab and settles down for a quick few minutes’ concentrated reading.
I was ready to blame it on Sticky Beak Key and his insatiable desire to read all my emails though. Might be an idea for something to do if the error page is customisable…
Whatever he’s doing, I wish he’d just bugger off, and take Goff, King, Shearer, Jones, and Hipkins with him. He is an irrelevance and an embarrassment. His major achievements have been to close schools and gag Cunliffe.
The home of the NeoLiberal revolution the U$. The Brave new world we have been copying courtesy of Roger the Dodger and his followers continues to show its true colours:
“Drastic growth in “extreme poverty” in US”
The 1% continue to crow on the pile’s top having cornered most of the wealth.
Well yes, Colonial Viper, it IS very bad if the Guardian had to destroy the Snowden material, but
why on earth – seeing they’re dealing with spooks, spies, and goodness knows what else – didn’t they keep a back-up copy or two (or more) on other sites? Surely when you’re dealing with such sensitive material you (the media concerned) would ensure safety of content by copying, and re-copying and taking the USBs elsewhere. Maybe they did do that ….. hope so, anyway.
but why on earth – seeing they’re dealing with spooks, spies, and goodness knows what else – didn’t they keep a back-up copy or two (or more) on other sites?
They did.
You seem to be missing the point, the UK government shouldn’t be able to demand that information that the media has be destroyed. Going the route that the UK has here it shows that the UK is well on the way to becoming an oppressive, totalitarian state.
The Guardian notes that the UK Govt was probably just making a point – that it can physically interfere with a newspaper publisher if it wants to.
The Chief Editor wrote an editorial – remarkably – outlining what happened. He said that Whitehall officials were told that copies of the data were held internationally and that Glenn Greenwald was writing and publishing from Brazil so wouldn’t even be affected by any UK injunction.
They ordered the smashing of the Guardian’s computer equipment anyway. One of the agents joked while witnessing the destruction that they could now call off the “black helicopters”.
What is it with New Zealanders and dogs? I reckon we are about the most uncivilised race on the planet when it comes to dogs. Can’t walk down the street without having to keep an eye out for dogshit bombs. Can’t go to places where dogs are either banned or required to be on a lead because so many owners ignore the rules (despite people with kids going to these places to avoid dogs). Can’t sleep in many urban locales because there will be some dog barking incessantly.
However, it annoys me that, walking places from my home, I sometimes come across a dog not on a lead (some times with, sometimes without an owner). It can make what should be a pleasurable, and environmentally-friendly way of getting place, unpleasant – because unleashed dogs scare me. The owners may think they are harmless, but how can I be sure of that?
Exactly Karol. Nobody can be certain about a dogs intentions, as the above linked article indicates (again). Imo it is unacceptable for dog owners to impose themselves on other people in this way. Similarly with the bombs left on the footpath – in our neighbourhood I would challenge anybody to walk around any block in the vicinity with eyes closed (!) and not end up with the stinking goopoop jammed into their shoes and then walked into the house. Gross.
Finally, I appreciate most owners are responsible but it seems from mine anecdote that the proportion of responsible owners in NZ is far lower than elsewhere.
at an absolute level yes – but you can tell an awful lot about how a dog might behave if you understand their thought process and non verbal cues. The signals are different for different breeds – but theres a lot of common ground and they are surprisingly easy to learn and the responses you can use are highly effective (most of the time)
while i agree there are some really shitty dog owners out there (hey, i live in west AK) they ARE a minority and it serves no one to take a position of it being an issue of dog owners imposing on everyone else.
The far more sensible and productive angle is to accept there are dogs and learn how to mitigate the possible outcomes for both yourself an others around you.
and i say this as someone who has had to drag their partner through the front door and slam a rotties head in said door to get it to detach from her leg.
i hate crap dog owners but i equally have little time for people who assume dogs think and react like humans. I see it as we all have responsibilities when it comes to dogs in society
(this is in no way a comment about the dog attack case in question, or an attack on yourself VTO – just my 10cents)
I’m sure you’re right framu, especially when it comes to reading a dog’s tell-tale signs.
Don’t know about this though “is to accept there are dogs and learn how to mitigate the possible outcomes” or this “we all have responsibilities when it comes to dogs in society”. That is imposing one person’s life choices on others and I don’t see why that is reasonable. I accept it is a reality but only in the same way that drunk drivers are a reality.
sheesh – most dogs you see in public are on no way compareable to the threat you face from drunk drivers – hyperbole much?
re: we all have responsibilities – think of it this way.
You see a dog in the street, you are responsible for how you react.
The dog owner cant be accountable for kids running up to a dog and trying to pat it, or people deliberatly jumping right next to the dog, leaping at it, teasing it or any other number of reactions that will lead to a pretty predictable result. They are accountable for their dogs reaction however
(though im a firm believer in accepting how others see your dog in public – if i had a muscular type dog it would wear a muzzle in public even if it was a softie)
Are we not imposing our selves on dog owners and dogs by behaving like this? Imposition and compromise is a two way street. You cant sit there and say “Well im not into dogs therefore all dog owners have to adjust themselves to suit me” That just leads into a dead end with each side saying its not their fault
Dogs exist – we should take the initiative and educate ourselves and our children on how to behave around and interact with them, otherwise someone gets bit, and the dog possibly gets put down
But surely if one was on the street minding their own business, it is not their responsibility to avoid a dog that is off a lead, any more than it is their responsibility to avoid being hit by a drunk driver.
true – im more talking about our general attitude than a specific scenario.
You are still the author of your reaction – if the dog is showing zero signs of threat and you ignore it its probably going to go on its way – if you leap about the place and act scared the dog is going to start showing interest – possibly unhealthy interest
If you look back at what im saying here we all have responsibilities – dog owner and general public.
I firmly favour knowing both your dog AND how others view your dog. If youve got a rottie its not the most socially harmonious thing to walk it off its lead regardless of its temperament.
An example of the approach the opposition needs to take to show the public precisely what Key’s doing in a way that everybody understands and that convinces people that Key is wrong:
I don’t really know and am not a lawyer but my guess is that if that’s what the contract says and if it’s all going to be covered in legislation anyway then it would be lawful. Even if this level of detail isn’t in the legislation I’d guess that a contract saying as much would be enough.
lprent if you’re around, what has happened to the small colourful square things that used to sit next to each posters name? Always found these extremely helpful in running through a thread – could decide whether to ignore or consider at a far faster pace. Now it takes longer to run down a thread and see what’s going on….
They should be there on both the desktop and mobile versions. But I’ve been trying out a late loader on the desktop version to conform to the mobile version. It loads the images via javascript after the rest of the text page has loaded.
Do you have javascript turned off? Is there are blank space for them? What are you running on?
Oh dear, just when Labour start to get a bit of traction Shearer stuffs it up, wonder why he didn’t want norman to know and what will norman think of that…
and heres the clip if anyone (including Cunliffe ;)) is interested:
National party undercover agent 26 – David Shearer has official blown his cover, arghhhh frustrating he’s done some great work but the jobs not quite done.
Don’t be stupid BM/chris73. The Minister in charge of the GCSB, John Key, is obliged under law to inform the leader of the opposition about any significant developments concerning the GCSB. The fact that Shearer had to approach Key shows that the Prime Minister is ignoring the rules.
Given that Key’s got past history of having to correct statements in the House about who initiated contact with whom, and is apparently incapable of remembering what he’s seen, been briefed on or signed, I’d frankly want his story to be corroborated by a host of angels and saints before considering the possibility that Key’s not outright lying.
The lesson is do not enter into confidential chats with John Key to improve cross-party cooperation, because he will twist it to make it appear like a betrayal. Dirty tricks indeed. Surprised? Na.
Whats funny is that if Key had said no as per the agreement and it came out later they did have meetings the left would have been all up in arms about brain fades and lying…
Of course Shearer could maybe not be so much of a fucking idiot in the first place
Shearer asked Key if he or any of his staff had contacted Labour as the Government worked to gain cross-party support for the proposed legislation.
Shearer insisted “who approached who” was important – he instigated the meeting and Key had his “facts round the wrong was”.
“This is the Government’s bill, the Government did not do anything to try and initiate a sit-down with other parties in order to get broader consensus across the House,” he said.
It’s National’s bill and they should have been the ones approaching other parties – they didn’t.
Are our CCO’s just duplicating effort?
At present, citizens and ratepayers who have a question about council issues or who want to report a problem have to choose between the Auckland Council service centre or one of the CCOs. Would you support integrating the CCO service centres into a single service centre?
Currently if you report a leaking drain, your call may be handled by Auckland Council, WaterCare or AucklandTransport depending on where the drain is.
If you want to ask a question under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, you may have to ask Auckland Council AND Auckland Transport AND WaterCare. And they may all give you copies of the same information!
What would you do to overcome this waste of ratepayers’ money? waste of citizens’ time and duplication of effort?
Bruce
______________________________________________________________________________
20 August 2013
THE CONSIDERED OPINION OF AUCKLAND MAYORAL CANDIDATE PENNY BRIGHT, ON ‘CCOs’
To be blunt – I believe that the ‘Council Controlled Organisation’ (CCO) model has been the mechanism for the corrupt corporate takeover of the Auckland region.
This is the self-appointed, self-selected, ‘invitation-only’ private sector lobby group, which really runs the Auckland region.
Check for yourself, the links between Auckland Council and Auckland Council CCOs.
How many Auckland Council and Auckland Council CCO contracts are going to member companies of the Committee for Auckland? )
Unelected, appointed businesspeople now control core Council services.
I am, and have been for years, adamantly opposed to the CCO model, and have had considerable experience fighting the former Metrowater CCO model, in my capacity as Media Spokesperson for the Water Pressure Group.
CCOs must go.
Core Council services must be brought back under the direct democratic control of elected representatives.
The reality is that private sector businesspeople do NOT ‘transmogrify’ into competent ‘public servants’.
The LAW, systems, culture and habits from the private sector business world are not the same as those from the ‘public service’ / government world.
In fact, in my considered opinion, the neo-liberal ‘Rogernomics’ mantra that ‘public is bad – private is good’ – has been a global rort and fraud perpetrated upon the public.
At Auckland Council and CCO level, there are now thousands of consultants and contractors, with their private snouts in our public trough, making private profit out of public services which used to be provided ‘in-house’.
Have YOUR rates gone up or down since this Auckland ‘SUPERCITY’ was forced upon us?
If this ‘contracting-out / PRIVATISED’ model was genuinely more ‘efficient’ – wouldn’t rates be going DOWN – not UP?
As Mayor – I will have directly-attached to the Mayor’s office, not ‘spin-doctors’, but a small team of forensic investigators, who will OPEN THE BOOKS and make available for public scrutiny, the NAMES of the consultants/ contractors; the SCOPE / TERM and VALUE of these contracts.
Also, a ‘Quality Assurance’ expert in the public service area, who will help ensure proper ‘open, transparent and democratically-accountable’ systems are in place, to help ensure ‘prudent stewardship’ over our public monies, assets and resources.
(I have had a Quality Assurance background myself, so have some knowledge and experience in setting up systems THAT WORK.)
Also a ‘whistle-blower hotline’ direct to the Mayo\’s office, so that anonymous tipoffs from concerned staff/citizens, can help to expose corrupt conflicts of interest.
Unless a ‘cost-benefit’ analysis proves that the use of private ‘consultants/ contractors’ is a more ‘cost-effective’ use of ratepayer monies, then these services will be returned ‘in-house’.
‘Cutting out the private consultants /contractors\’ should help to free up some hundreds of millions of ratepayers public monies.
I believe that the public majority should benefit from our public monies, and this ‘corporate welfare’ must STOP.
David Shearer: Is the Prime Minister saying that the law society, the human rights commission, the privacy comissioner, Geoffry Palmer, and many others also don’t understand the law?
John Key: Mr Speaker, yes.
House: What an arrogant man, what an arrogant man.
These words from David Slack on Mora this afternoon in response to Mora asking whether the PM’s assurances affect his position on the GCSB bill:
“No (!). If I’m buying a used car I’m going to listen to the mechanic not the used car salesman.” – wherein Key is the used car salesman and Geoffrey Palmer is the mechanic. Beautiful !
What the hell has happened to this country ? Are we that dumb ? A country where seemingly all the mechanics can be roundly debunked by a wan “I disagree” from the used car salesman.
Certainly the Affable Tory Fool Mora was somewhat animated in asserting that the PM’s assurances cannot be spurious (as the other panelist mentioned) because there are those who trust those assurances. What ? Thought Mora was Mensa material ?
Lolz wans’t that a good laugh, and the TV news made the guffaws even bigger, i have often accused the current Prime minister of turning the Office of Prime Minister into little more than the rough shack to be found on any used car lot in this country,
Tonight Him and Bill confirmed that they are seeking the annual award for the top NZ used car salesman with a vengence announcing tonight a used car salesman pay a third now and a third later deal with the latest ransacking of New Zealand’s asset base,
Bill from Dipton, never to be found wanting for a word when things get really really stupid, when asked how much flicking the next load of power shares on tick would cost against the price gained from the share offer looked impressively akin to the village idiot when He told the media he wouldn’t have a clue…
Do we take it as read then, is the American NSA paying hard cash for the New Zealand GCSB’s ability to plug the US spy agency’s into the data stream of New Zealand citizens,
What a neat way for the GCSB to avoid all New Zealand laws currently being enacted in the Parliament, simply plug the NSA into the data stream and they in turn can report back any ‘threats’ to the current National Government,
Who’s going to know??? when the Prime Minister point blank refuses to confirm or deny the NSA payment question asked by Russell Norman in the House today who among us would now be willing to bet money that they are not paying the GCSB here to plug them directly into the data stream,
When the Prime Minister could not answer NO to Russell Norman’s question in the House today over US NSA payments to the GCSB the equivocation simply screamed YES…
i have to wonder if the payments made by the US spy agency NSA to foreign intelligence organizations includes GPS locations so as to give the Prez an easy target should He feel the need to launch a drone or two in the general direction should future events label ‘crticism’ as a definite terrorist threat…
I think the NSA has contributed/owned GCSB for many, many years .. as long as Waihopai has been open ( or is it closed?) and even Tangimoana before then. And I don’t think the prime ministers knew .. well, David Lange said he didn’t know until he read one of Nicky Hager’s books.
Actually, I have always wondered how the US powers-that-be had power over Helen Clark to not make this country GM free when the chance was there and the mood of the country was with her. Never made sense to me, and I have to keep wondering. How little have we known for how long ??
.. in interview, Mr Livingstone said plainly that MI5, Britain’s “national” branch of the intelligence services (MI6 is international), had covered up paedophile rings, so they could find blackmail evidence as leverage on politicians.
Why attack the consensus? In recent years, social scientists have started to put the pieces together. A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change in 2011, replicated by a 2013 study published in the journal Climatic Change, found that public perceptions about scientific agreement are linked to support for policy to mitigate climate change. When people think that scientists are still debating about what’s causing climate change, they’re less likely to support climate action.
The problem is that, for the last 20+ years, we’ve had a bunch of sociopaths/psychopaths attacking the consensus in the public domain and thus causing doubt in the public.
Anything that dose not suit your agenda annoyes you I think. From 08 or any other time. And then you stand upon your soap box and preach about democracy at the same time banning anyone who has a different point of view. Irony
[lprent: Off topic for the post. Moved to OpenMike. Read the policy.
I usually ban for silly behaviour. A good indicator would be to dump a off-topic comment into the top level comments of a post. You look like a good candidate. But who knows – now you have had your wee wank and spray like a miniature poodle, you may even have something to contribute. Stranger things have happened. ]
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The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President respectively for the US 2020 Election, may have dispensed with the erstwhile nemesis, Trump the candidate – but there are numerous critical openings through which much, much worse many out there may yet see fit to ...
I don’t know Taupō well. Even though I stop off there from time to time, I’m always on the way to somewhere else. Usually Taupō means making a hot water puddle in the gritty sand followed by a swim in the lake, noticing with bemusement and resignation the traffic, the ...
Frances Williams, King’s College LondonFor most people, infection with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – leads to mild, short-term symptoms, acute respiratory illness, or possibly no symptoms at all. But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection – this has been dubbed “long COVID”. Scientists are ...
Last night, a British court ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US. Unfortunately, its not because all he is "guilty" of is journalism, or because the offence the US wants to charge him with - espionage - is of an inherently political nature; instead the judge accepted ...
Is the Gender Identity Movement a movement for human liberation, or is it a regressive movement which undermines women’s liberation and promotes sexist stereotypes? Should biological males be allowed to play in women’s sport, use women-only spaces (public toilets, changing rooms, other facilities), be able to have access to everything ...
Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK – following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititi’s successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...
Dear friends, it’s been a covidious year,A testing time for all of us here—Citizens of an island nationIn a state of managed isolation,A team (someone said) five million strong,Making it up as we went along:Somehow in typical Kiwi fashion,Without any wild excess ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 27, 2020 through Sat, Jan 2, 2021Editor's Choice7 Graphics That Show Why the Arctic Is in Trouble Arctic Sea Ice: NSIDC It’s no secret that the Arctic is ...
One of the books I read in 2020 was She, by H. Rider Haggard (1887). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as being an exemplar of a good old-fashioned adventure story. I also noted with amusement ...
Scottish doctor Malcolm Kendrick looks at the pandemic and the responses to it 30th December 2020 I have not written much about COVID19 recently. What can be said? In my opinion the world has simply gone bonkers. The best description can be found in Dante’s Inferno, written many hundreds of ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University It could be argued artificial intelligence (AI) is already the indispensable tool of the 21st century. From helping doctors diagnose and treat patients to rapidly advancing new drug discoveries, it’s our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Through recent natural disasters, global upheavals and a pandemic, Australia’s political centre has largely held. Australians may have disagreed at times, but they have also kept faith with governmental norms, eschewing the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Seale, Associate professor, UNSW Health workers are at higher risk of COVID infection and illness. They can also act as extremely efficient transmitters of viruses to others in medical and aged care facilities. That’s why health workers have been prioritised to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Orchard, Adjunct Lecturer, Monash University Last week, somewhat overshadowed by the events in Washington, the Democrats took control of the US Senate. The Democrats now hold a small majority in both the House and the Senate until 2022, giving President-elect Joe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Heatwaves, floods, bushfires: disaster season is upon us again. We can’t prevent hazards or climate change-related extreme weather events but we can prepare for them — not just as individuals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Starting school is an important event for children and a positive experience can set the tone for the rest of their school experience. Some children are excited to attend school for the first ...
Some families in emergency housing are reporting their children are becoming emotionally distressed because of their living conditions. Demand for emergency accommodation has escalated this past year with the number of emergency housing grants increasing by half. Data showed nearly 10,000 people were given an Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant between ...
Summer reissue: Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden are back for a second season of On the Rag, and where better to start than with the mysterious, exhausting world of wellness?First published June 23, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
With few Covid-19 infections and negiligible natural immunity, New Zealand faces being a victim of its own success when it is left till last to get the vaccines, argues Dr Parmjeet Parmar. ...
Steve Braunias reports on a literary cancelling. The Corrections department has refused to allow Jared Savage's best-selling book Gangland inside prison on the grounds that it "promotes violence and drug use". An inmate at Otago Corrections Facility in Dunedin was sent a copy of the book – but it was ...
New data from the CTU’s annual work life survey shows a snapshot of working people’s experiences and outlook heading out of 2020 and into the new year. Concerningly 42% of respondents cite workplace bullying as an issue in their workplace - a number ...
An international player, selector and self-confessed cricket stats nerd, Penny Kinsella has now played a hand in recording the rich history of the women's game in New Zealand. Penny Kinsella’s cricketing career was perched on the cusp of change for the White Ferns. “My first tour to Australia, we ...
The dramatic capsize of American Magic brought out the best in the America's Cup sailing fraternity. But, Suzanne McFadden asks, what does it mean to the crippled New York Yacht Club campaign and to the Prada Cup? It was a scene as unreal as it was calamitous. Right at the moment the ...
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of ...
The experience in the Brazilian city of Manaus reveals how mistaken, and dangerous, the herd-immunity-by-infection theory really is. As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop ...
As New Zealand gears up to fight climate change, experts warn that we need to actually reduce emissions, not just plant trees to offset our greenhouse gases. ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
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.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Covid-19 fears accelerated banks’ moves towards cashless transactions. But the Reserve Bank is fighting to protect cash, and those who still use it. ...
Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks.A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had ...
Summer reissue: In this episode of Bad News, Alice Snedden is forced to confront her own mortality before hosting a very special dinner party to get to grips with the euthanasia debate.First published August 27, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
The contrast between the words of John F Kennedy and today’s anti-democratic demagogue is inescapable, writes Dolores Janiewski I still remember three eloquent speeches by an American president. One happened in January 1961 and spoke about a “torch being passed to a new generation”. Two years later and one day apart, ...
The debate over cutting down a large macrocarpa to make way for a new residential development has highlighted a wider agreement between developers and protesters: that we also need to be planting far more trees. At the corner of Great North Road and Ash Street in Avondale, a 150-year-old macrocarpa stands its ground ...
More infectious variants of Covid-19 are increasingly being intercepted at the country’s borders, but the minister running New Zealand’s response is resisting pressure to accelerate vaccination plans despite demands from health experts as well as political friends and foes, Justin Giovannetti reports.New Zealand’s first Covid-19 jabs will be administered in ...
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Roy Morgan.
National down 7
Labour up 5
Greens up 4.
Guess the corporate media won’t mention it then.
http://www.roymorgan.com/morganpoll/new-zealand/voting-intention-summary
I couldn’t find anything on last night’s meeting in the Herald this morning, despite going right to the bottom of the page. I guess it will be tucked away somewhere. Ironically, an article on Key’s performance in his interview with John Campbell, was still up, despite it being days old.
sigh.
Yes, Campbell’s poll result 52666 votes, 89% against the Bill. Combined with another amazing pack public meeting…and virtually nothing in the NZ Herald.
However number 1 item on RNZ 7am News.
Will RNZ get a live interview from the government on the issue?
Or will JK have a quiet chat with his mate Hoskings on ZB
If you mean the Hoskings who wrote this, then yeah, I’d really like to hear how that quiet chat goes . . .
“Government of laws and not of men” is not a left wing principle: it was most clearly enunciated by John Locke, whose writings on government in the late 17th Century form the basis of much classical liberal and conservative philosophy about private property rights – and what is personal privacy if not a private property right? – and small government.
Those who favour small government, and having the rights of officials to interfere in your lives and business kept under firm legal control, should be concerned about this legislation.
You might be irritated by the way a few prominent left wing journalists have seized upon this and used it as a soapbox.
You might be outraged at the shamelessness of opposition parties who rail against this particular extension of state power but who plan to extend that powers with every other announcement they make.
Put that irritation and outrage to one side for now. It will keep, believe me. There is a more important issue to deal with now.
Think on this: what will those politicians from the left wing parties like the Greens or Labour do with these powers when and if they attain office?
If you think they will do anything rather than use these powers to further bolster the size of the state in our lives, then I have an emissions trading scheme to sell you.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/gcsb-bill-why-small-govt-conservatives-should-be-worried-rh-p-144493
Hasn’t the Green Party said it will repeal the Act? How is this consistent with your spin?
I suspect that, especially given the information uncovered by Nicky Hager, any SIS/GCSB left employed under a Labour/Greens/Mana government would keep spying, but not as directed by the government. The information obtained, probably about the left, would go straight to Washington. The Greens and Mana know this and even some in Labour are waking up to it. The latest revelations have only driven the point home – as a sovereign nation we cannot afford to have intelligence services linked into UKUSA, Echelon, or whatever. If we need one, we’re going to have to rebuild from scratch.
QFT
repealing the Bill isn’t any good as the original Act is more full of holes than Swiss cheese.
The NZ Herald’s online heading
Rugby’s $64m injury bill
The ACC forked out nearly $64 million for rugby injuries in the past year – with almost 70,000 active claims for players at all levels.E
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11111163
Bread and circuses.
Who is the editor of the Herald?
On mobile site this is the fourth article from top – http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11111156 – a piece designed to make Key look reasonable about spying.
Jesus, Herald, you think you’re not ready being watched?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11111048
It’s in the ‘Most popular’ sidebar on the website, currenty number two. No sign of snapper.
A lawyer, and atheist, and the ugly truth about NZ’s corrupt judicial system:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/08/marriage_day.html/comment-page-1#comment-1189287
Wonder why human rights abuses are becoming the norm here and our laws watered down. Take a look at what happening in the UK. Its time to sever ties with this country:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/david-miranda-interview-detention-heathrow
Human rights are legal fictions which are used in place of the natural rights of common law. There are very good reasons to sever state ties with the UK, but it isn’t something that can happen overnight because of the oaths of allegiance of NZ MPs and judges.
“Go Figure” Moment of the Day: on Firstline this morning…
“If Shearer was really serious about being Prime Minister he would have come and sorted this out because that’s what Helen Clark did with the then Leader of the Opposition.”
A bit of role reversal going on there I think.
In accordance with most historical mass movements, those opposed to GCSB might consuder adopting a simple symbol of opposition to wear as a badge etc.(e.g. HART badges, red poppy, etc)
I suggest the outline of a fish or snapper, in red. (J Key’s attempted red herring). Easy to make, easily recognisble.
i like the idea of a symbol/badge to show support but not a fish!
Have you never heard of christianity ?
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=fish+christian+symbol&client=firefox-a&hs=1sE&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=fJ0SUs_kOqTxiAe1qYHYBQ&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=980&bih=757>
Surely a satellite silhouette would be more apt
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=satellite+dish+silhouette&client=firefox-a&hs=88t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZZwSUpOZEIaOiAep2YHIDA&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=982&bih=761
(excuse the long links, a nice tidy clean link kept getting screwed up)
p.s to mods: why am I still in moderation, two days now, what have i written of late to warrant such interest?
Reminded again of the US comedian who said: ” You’re Prime Minister’s name is John Key? That’s what you ask for in America when you need to go to the bathroom in a service station !”
I therefore suggest a small drawing of a toilet because it is where he is leading us.
Perhaps it is your name being so treacherous in these times and all that.
🙂 had crossed my mind that perhaps the inner machinations of askimet or whatever it is has done exactly that
and yes even this comment is in moderation
I wish as much concern for our nation’s families in need of assistance could be shown to match that of the search for the yacht Nina and its occupants. Apparently there are 41 satellites viewing this area of the world – I don’t know if that is the total or just from the west. Concerned people are scouring views from one private satellite (the USA refused access to its own citizens to view the government’s records) looking for signs of these precious people. Our NZ parents and their children are not so precious.
Perhaps we could have a report every day of one NZ family that had been needy and had received all the help wanted to improve their position and find themselves in a secure home, with transport, able to manage their parental duties, near to work, and with a holiday weekend provided and paid for and tutoring and sports equipment for the children, and further part-time education for the parents. Just to show that we and our government agencies are working to assist citizens to have opportunities to successfully make their way in life. To show we do not abandon our people when there are rough times and they are under stress from poverty and lack of job opportunities and low wages.
“..I wish as much concern for our nation’s families in need of assistance could be shown ..”
you could maybe go and watch hones’ speech to the ak town hall meeting..
..he deviated from the script..reminding the mainly white/middle-class audience..
..that minorities/the poor/beneficiaries..are already living in/under a surveillance state..
..with petty/minor officials bullying/combing thru/prodding into/ruling over the minuitae/privacies of their lives..
..(a loan required to buy tampons..?..as they are deemed a ‘luxury’..?..by work and income..?..f.f.s..!..)
..as part of their everyday work..
..hone also pointed out the truism that likely a lot of the audience present nodded along in agreement with the idea of ‘benefit-reform’..
..and called on that audience to attend to these injustices as vigorously as they oppose this spooking-legislation..
phillip ure..
Best speech of the night, and not staged at all. I have more and more respect for the guy.
Agree Amirite. Hone added perspective which has always been visible but so often ignored. And “we” expect “them” to help “us” fight “our” battles. Much like the times when Maori and low boys were only any good if they won tests or the Ranfurly Shield. Those times are still with us in measure, as much as popular middle class canard denies it.
Hone has some powerful things to say that apply to Maori and pakeha as well. Good on him. You can’t just ask nicely, you’ll get the brush-off. Someone has to insist for fair treatment and an opportunity to live life, and not the vicious punitive government punch in the nose.
They have given away other people’s property (our trade barriers were part of our resources that protected us ensuring home-made could compete with imports – would the Dutch mine their polders,barriers against the sea, for a quick buck?) to ensure one section of society can trade without let or hindrance. Doh, they then make their own hindrance. And don’t have proper surveillance where it is needed, over their own processes and pipes. Can’t have pipes flowing with money into NZ and not have clean pipes going out.
yep. look at the history of the abolition movement, the 40 hour week, womens suffrage, the right to form trade unions.
The Left has forgotten what it takes to make real changes. Its why the fuckwit Right Wingers go on about “having better manners” to lefties. Because they know about the power of taking concrete action on concrete issues.
Without doing that we will always get watered down policy wonkish positioning.
“our trade barriers were part of our resources that protected us ensuring home-made could compete with imports ”
Trade barriers are a major cost. They especially hurt the poor while transferring resources to the few. Capitalists become lobbyists and get rich behind tariffs (or worse import licenses). How can you support policies that transfer resources from consumers to producers to prop up inefficient local production? It is ridiculous. I thought this debate finished 20 years ago.
Trade barriers hurt the poor? Are you saying that competing with Chinese laborers pound for pound, who on average get paid as little as $6,500 NZD annually (Gansu province) is good for people on low incomes in New Zealand? It is clearly not more efficient to compete with economies that pay their workers peanuts, especially when none of those savings are transferred to consumers.
some trade barriers will be required in order to bring a degree of localisation back to the NZ economy, and to buffer us from external economic shocks.
Removal of barriers only works if each country has the exact same wages, exact same services (hospital, fire, telecoms, etc), exact same laws and protections and, most importantly, the exact same enforcement of those laws and protections. If they’re not the same then the price difference is incorrect which results in industry going to where it’s least efficient. Exactly as we’ve been seeing over the last few decades.
When we had trade barriers, Fairylands, we did not really have any poor!
We did not have workers paid less than it cost to live. Funny that!
What a strange idea. Debates never finish.
@Grey
I’ve often thought the same sort of thing after a large earthquake – the politicians, the media, councils et al – anxious to show their concern and understanding.
I guess killing them slowly (the beneficiaries, the indigent, etc) is acceptable these days.
What we need is to follow Thatcher’s way and decide to have a good war, it takes people’s minds off their chilblains after earthquakes destroy their housing and revitalises National Spirit.
Trouble is after the traditional expressions of concern, the government will want the affected people to wait for a few years till they get round to taking them seriously. I remember this approach being applied to an African famine fast approaching. The authorities were preparing and expected to be ready to mount humanitarian assistance within six months. But only six weeks food was left – the reporting journalist was in tears. /sarc
So they say that our GDP per capita is increasing.
But is it really? Are we as a nation of people more active and producing and doing more? My suspicion is no we are not. My suspicion is that the GDP numbers simply reflect an increase in the amount of money spinning around the economy. And where has that money come from? My suspicion is all of that extra money has come from debt lent into existence and printed by the banks.
So, same level of activity just with more debt.
If so, that is good how?
Slashdot covering last night’s GCSB meeting:
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/08/19/1550240/protests-mount-in-new-zealand-against-new-surveillance-laws
@Lynn – I like to open up several tabs at once and browse between them. I’ve been getting this message quite a bit lately.:
Is this a bug, or a feature?
Yeah I do the same and its been slowing down my Colonial Viper turbo boost!
It is a anti-spam “feature” from wordfence. It looks at how many page requests different types of organisms make per minute and throttles it if it exceeds a quantity (currently 4) in that minute, then you get that message.
What it is for is to stop someone trying to dump the whole or a large part of the whole site at once thereby making the site largely inaccessible for others. One or the other of the limits get hit multiple times every day. The bingbot is particularly obnoxious. But there is also someone from China reading successively through various authors comments last week. And we’ve had attempts to do simple page sweeps from inside NZ (and not just the National Library)
lprent, you have mail
Bit of a bugger if you’re someone who just looks at the site every few days, opens anything that looks interesting in a new tab and settles down for a quick few minutes’ concentrated reading.
I was ready to blame it on Sticky Beak Key and his insatiable desire to read all my emails though. Might be an idea for something to do if the error page is customisable…
I’ve widened it out from 4 pages per minute to 10 pages per minute. That should reduce the problem.
A lot of new traffic today coming in via google. They’re reading the GCSB posts. I guess that Snapper isn’t as interesting as John Key thinks?
Thank you for the change 🙂
Ta for fixing it.
Slippery finally tells a truth:
“If I wholesale blatantly flout the law as Prime Minister I’m never going to survive anyway.”
Audrey Young
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11111384
Sixty years later and although they may have moved on from fomenting coups and calling them silly names they’re still at it. John Phillip Shah Key…?.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/19/politics/cia-iran-1953-coup/index.html
Is Trevor Mallard shit stirring? Is there a self proclaimed A and B Labour team? WTF is he on about?
Trevor Mallard @TrevorMallard 3m
Labour “B team” #fairnessatwork pic.twitter.com/QwJw0IrrDo
Whatever he’s doing, I wish he’d just bugger off, and take Goff, King, Shearer, Jones, and Hipkins with him. He is an irrelevance and an embarrassment. His major achievements have been to close schools and gag Cunliffe.
Great campaign management in 2011 as well
The home of the NeoLiberal revolution the U$. The Brave new world we have been copying courtesy of Roger the Dodger and his followers continues to show its true colours:
“Drastic growth in “extreme poverty” in US”
The 1% continue to crow on the pile’s top having cornered most of the wealth.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/08/19/extr-a19.html
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-05/40-us-workers-now-earn-less-1968-minimum-wage
Guardian says Britain forced it to destroy Snowden material
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/20/us-usa-security-snowden-guardian-idUSBRE97I10E20130820
This is very very bad.
Well yes, Colonial Viper, it IS very bad if the Guardian had to destroy the Snowden material, but
why on earth – seeing they’re dealing with spooks, spies, and goodness knows what else – didn’t they keep a back-up copy or two (or more) on other sites? Surely when you’re dealing with such sensitive material you (the media concerned) would ensure safety of content by copying, and re-copying and taking the USBs elsewhere. Maybe they did do that ….. hope so, anyway.
They did.
You seem to be missing the point, the UK government shouldn’t be able to demand that information that the media has be destroyed. Going the route that the UK has here it shows that the UK is well on the way to becoming an oppressive, totalitarian state.
The Guardian notes that the UK Govt was probably just making a point – that it can physically interfere with a newspaper publisher if it wants to.
The Chief Editor wrote an editorial – remarkably – outlining what happened. He said that Whitehall officials were told that copies of the data were held internationally and that Glenn Greenwald was writing and publishing from Brazil so wouldn’t even be affected by any UK injunction.
They ordered the smashing of the Guardian’s computer equipment anyway. One of the agents joked while witnessing the destruction that they could now call off the “black helicopters”.
What is it with New Zealanders and dogs? I reckon we are about the most uncivilised race on the planet when it comes to dogs. Can’t walk down the street without having to keep an eye out for dogshit bombs. Can’t go to places where dogs are either banned or required to be on a lead because so many owners ignore the rules (despite people with kids going to these places to avoid dogs). Can’t sleep in many urban locales because there will be some dog barking incessantly.
Then you get this sort of thing.. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9064361/Rottweilers-had-attacked-a-child-before
New Zealand dog owners are irresponsible shitheads to an extent greater than pretty much every other place ever visited. They need to sharpen up.
Grump growl snarl
Most dog owners are responsible.
However, it annoys me that, walking places from my home, I sometimes come across a dog not on a lead (some times with, sometimes without an owner). It can make what should be a pleasurable, and environmentally-friendly way of getting place, unpleasant – because unleashed dogs scare me. The owners may think they are harmless, but how can I be sure of that?
Exactly Karol. Nobody can be certain about a dogs intentions, as the above linked article indicates (again). Imo it is unacceptable for dog owners to impose themselves on other people in this way. Similarly with the bombs left on the footpath – in our neighbourhood I would challenge anybody to walk around any block in the vicinity with eyes closed (!) and not end up with the stinking goopoop jammed into their shoes and then walked into the house. Gross.
Finally, I appreciate most owners are responsible but it seems from mine anecdote that the proportion of responsible owners in NZ is far lower than elsewhere.
“Nobody can be certain about a dogs intentions”
at an absolute level yes – but you can tell an awful lot about how a dog might behave if you understand their thought process and non verbal cues. The signals are different for different breeds – but theres a lot of common ground and they are surprisingly easy to learn and the responses you can use are highly effective (most of the time)
while i agree there are some really shitty dog owners out there (hey, i live in west AK) they ARE a minority and it serves no one to take a position of it being an issue of dog owners imposing on everyone else.
The far more sensible and productive angle is to accept there are dogs and learn how to mitigate the possible outcomes for both yourself an others around you.
and i say this as someone who has had to drag their partner through the front door and slam a rotties head in said door to get it to detach from her leg.
i hate crap dog owners but i equally have little time for people who assume dogs think and react like humans. I see it as we all have responsibilities when it comes to dogs in society
(this is in no way a comment about the dog attack case in question, or an attack on yourself VTO – just my 10cents)
I’m sure you’re right framu, especially when it comes to reading a dog’s tell-tale signs.
Don’t know about this though “is to accept there are dogs and learn how to mitigate the possible outcomes” or this “we all have responsibilities when it comes to dogs in society”. That is imposing one person’s life choices on others and I don’t see why that is reasonable. I accept it is a reality but only in the same way that drunk drivers are a reality.
Gotta fly…. later ..
sheesh – most dogs you see in public are on no way compareable to the threat you face from drunk drivers – hyperbole much?
re: we all have responsibilities – think of it this way.
You see a dog in the street, you are responsible for how you react.
The dog owner cant be accountable for kids running up to a dog and trying to pat it, or people deliberatly jumping right next to the dog, leaping at it, teasing it or any other number of reactions that will lead to a pretty predictable result. They are accountable for their dogs reaction however
(though im a firm believer in accepting how others see your dog in public – if i had a muscular type dog it would wear a muzzle in public even if it was a softie)
Are we not imposing our selves on dog owners and dogs by behaving like this? Imposition and compromise is a two way street. You cant sit there and say “Well im not into dogs therefore all dog owners have to adjust themselves to suit me” That just leads into a dead end with each side saying its not their fault
Dogs exist – we should take the initiative and educate ourselves and our children on how to behave around and interact with them, otherwise someone gets bit, and the dog possibly gets put down
But surely if one was on the street minding their own business, it is not their responsibility to avoid a dog that is off a lead, any more than it is their responsibility to avoid being hit by a drunk driver.
true – im more talking about our general attitude than a specific scenario.
You are still the author of your reaction – if the dog is showing zero signs of threat and you ignore it its probably going to go on its way – if you leap about the place and act scared the dog is going to start showing interest – possibly unhealthy interest
If you look back at what im saying here we all have responsibilities – dog owner and general public.
I firmly favour knowing both your dog AND how others view your dog. If youve got a rottie its not the most socially harmonious thing to walk it off its lead regardless of its temperament.
“New Zealand dog owners are irresponsible shitheads to an extent greater than pretty much every other place ever visited.”
You should spend some time in Paris.
An example of the approach the opposition needs to take to show the public precisely what Key’s doing in a way that everybody understands and that convinces people that Key is wrong:
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/selling-it-on-credit.html
The opposition needs to focus properly on convincing the public, not its mates who already agree with them.
is that even legal? (selling shares on credit)
I don’t really know and am not a lawyer but my guess is that if that’s what the contract says and if it’s all going to be covered in legislation anyway then it would be lawful. Even if this level of detail isn’t in the legislation I’d guess that a contract saying as much would be enough.
The fact that something is in legislation does not make it lawful. The state is fundamentally corrupt in its representation of law:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/08/police_assn_call_for_teina_pora_inquiry.html/comment-page-1#comment-1183508
lprent if you’re around, what has happened to the small colourful square things that used to sit next to each posters name? Always found these extremely helpful in running through a thread – could decide whether to ignore or consider at a far faster pace. Now it takes longer to run down a thread and see what’s going on….
They should be there on both the desktop and mobile versions. But I’ve been trying out a late loader on the desktop version to conform to the mobile version. It loads the images via javascript after the rest of the text page has loaded.
Do you have javascript turned off? Is there are blank space for them? What are you running on?
hmmmm, Q1 don’t know, Q2 no, Q3 don’t know. This is a problem when positive resistance to new technology is employed…..
Try it now. They should be back. I’ll have a look at the change in CPU load with those features off – affects the images.
Yep back now ta.
New RM poll: The relentless lying about spying has caught up with Johnny Sparkles.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5113-new-zealand-voting-intention-august-2013-201308200137
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9064246/Labours-spy-bill-changes-unwanted
Oh dear, just when Labour start to get a bit of traction Shearer stuffs it up, wonder why he didn’t want norman to know and what will norman think of that…
and heres the clip if anyone (including Cunliffe ;)) is interested:
What a disappointment
National party undercover agent 26 – David Shearer has official blown his cover, arghhhh frustrating he’s done some great work but the jobs not quite done.
Key will be gutted.
Don’t be stupid BM/chris73. The Minister in charge of the GCSB, John Key, is obliged under law to inform the leader of the opposition about any significant developments concerning the GCSB. The fact that Shearer had to approach Key shows that the Prime Minister is ignoring the rules.
Necessity has no law.
lol
Given that Key’s got past history of having to correct statements in the House about who initiated contact with whom, and is apparently incapable of remembering what he’s seen, been briefed on or signed, I’d frankly want his story to be corroborated by a host of angels and saints before considering the possibility that Key’s not outright lying.
Considering how many times John Key has been lying over the years, I’d say that everything he said there was complete and utter BS.
The lesson is do not enter into confidential chats with John Key to improve cross-party cooperation, because he will twist it to make it appear like a betrayal. Dirty tricks indeed. Surprised? Na.
Seriously?
Shearer asked Key twice, the first time Key gave Shearer the opportunity to change his mind or alter the question.
But alas David Shearer the dumbest mofo ever blindly blundered on and darwined himself.
Whats funny is that if Key had said no as per the agreement and it came out later they did have meetings the left would have been all up in arms about brain fades and lying…
Of course Shearer could maybe not be so much of a fucking idiot in the first place
You’re obviously incapable of reading:
It’s National’s bill and they should have been the ones approaching other parties – they didn’t.
Addendum
FYI – arguably the most pivotal question in the Auckland Council Mayoral election?
AUCKLAND COUNCIL ELECTION: Question asked on http://vote.co.nz/dashboard/answer/2424
Are our CCO’s just duplicating effort?
At present, citizens and ratepayers who have a question about council issues or who want to report a problem have to choose between the Auckland Council service centre or one of the CCOs. Would you support integrating the CCO service centres into a single service centre?
Currently if you report a leaking drain, your call may be handled by Auckland Council, WaterCare or AucklandTransport depending on where the drain is.
If you want to ask a question under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, you may have to ask Auckland Council AND Auckland Transport AND WaterCare. And they may all give you copies of the same information!
What would you do to overcome this waste of ratepayers’ money? waste of citizens’ time and duplication of effort?
Bruce
______________________________________________________________________________
20 August 2013
THE CONSIDERED OPINION OF AUCKLAND MAYORAL CANDIDATE PENNY BRIGHT, ON ‘CCOs’
To be blunt – I believe that the ‘Council Controlled Organisation’ (CCO) model has been the mechanism for the corrupt corporate takeover of the Auckland region.
(If you want evidence of corrupt ‘conflicts of interest’ – check out for yourself http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/membership/member-organisations
This is the self-appointed, self-selected, ‘invitation-only’ private sector lobby group, which really runs the Auckland region.
Check for yourself, the links between Auckland Council and Auckland Council CCOs.
How many Auckland Council and Auckland Council CCO contracts are going to member companies of the Committee for Auckland? )
Unelected, appointed businesspeople now control core Council services.
I am, and have been for years, adamantly opposed to the CCO model, and have had considerable experience fighting the former Metrowater CCO model, in my capacity as Media Spokesperson for the Water Pressure Group.
CCOs must go.
Core Council services must be brought back under the direct democratic control of elected representatives.
The reality is that private sector businesspeople do NOT ‘transmogrify’ into competent ‘public servants’.
The LAW, systems, culture and habits from the private sector business world are not the same as those from the ‘public service’ / government world.
In fact, in my considered opinion, the neo-liberal ‘Rogernomics’ mantra that ‘public is bad – private is good’ – has been a global rort and fraud perpetrated upon the public.
At Auckland Council and CCO level, there are now thousands of consultants and contractors, with their private snouts in our public trough, making private profit out of public services which used to be provided ‘in-house’.
Have YOUR rates gone up or down since this Auckland ‘SUPERCITY’ was forced upon us?
If this ‘contracting-out / PRIVATISED’ model was genuinely more ‘efficient’ – wouldn’t rates be going DOWN – not UP?
As Mayor – I will have directly-attached to the Mayor’s office, not ‘spin-doctors’, but a small team of forensic investigators, who will OPEN THE BOOKS and make available for public scrutiny, the NAMES of the consultants/ contractors; the SCOPE / TERM and VALUE of these contracts.
Also, a ‘Quality Assurance’ expert in the public service area, who will help ensure proper ‘open, transparent and democratically-accountable’ systems are in place, to help ensure ‘prudent stewardship’ over our public monies, assets and resources.
(I have had a Quality Assurance background myself, so have some knowledge and experience in setting up systems THAT WORK.)
Also a ‘whistle-blower hotline’ direct to the Mayo\’s office, so that anonymous tipoffs from concerned staff/citizens, can help to expose corrupt conflicts of interest.
Unless a ‘cost-benefit’ analysis proves that the use of private ‘consultants/ contractors’ is a more ‘cost-effective’ use of ratepayer monies, then these services will be returned ‘in-house’.
‘Cutting out the private consultants /contractors\’ should help to free up some hundreds of millions of ratepayers public monies.
I believe that the public majority should benefit from our public monies, and this ‘corporate welfare’ must STOP.
(For more information check out http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz http://www.stopthesupercity.org.nz http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz )
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
‘Her Warship’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11111531
………….nuf said !
David Shearer: Is the Prime Minister saying that the law society, the human rights commission, the privacy comissioner, Geoffry Palmer, and many others also don’t understand the law?
John Key: Mr Speaker, yes.
House: What an arrogant man, what an arrogant man.
These words from David Slack on Mora this afternoon in response to Mora asking whether the PM’s assurances affect his position on the GCSB bill:
“No (!). If I’m buying a used car I’m going to listen to the mechanic not the used car salesman.” – wherein Key is the used car salesman and Geoffrey Palmer is the mechanic. Beautiful !
What the hell has happened to this country ? Are we that dumb ? A country where seemingly all the mechanics can be roundly debunked by a wan “I disagree” from the used car salesman.
Certainly the Affable Tory Fool Mora was somewhat animated in asserting that the PM’s assurances cannot be spurious (as the other panelist mentioned) because there are those who trust those assurances. What ? Thought Mora was Mensa material ?
Lolz wans’t that a good laugh, and the TV news made the guffaws even bigger, i have often accused the current Prime minister of turning the Office of Prime Minister into little more than the rough shack to be found on any used car lot in this country,
Tonight Him and Bill confirmed that they are seeking the annual award for the top NZ used car salesman with a vengence announcing tonight a used car salesman pay a third now and a third later deal with the latest ransacking of New Zealand’s asset base,
Bill from Dipton, never to be found wanting for a word when things get really really stupid, when asked how much flicking the next load of power shares on tick would cost against the price gained from the share offer looked impressively akin to the village idiot when He told the media he wouldn’t have a clue…
Do we take it as read then, is the American NSA paying hard cash for the New Zealand GCSB’s ability to plug the US spy agency’s into the data stream of New Zealand citizens,
What a neat way for the GCSB to avoid all New Zealand laws currently being enacted in the Parliament, simply plug the NSA into the data stream and they in turn can report back any ‘threats’ to the current National Government,
Who’s going to know??? when the Prime Minister point blank refuses to confirm or deny the NSA payment question asked by Russell Norman in the House today who among us would now be willing to bet money that they are not paying the GCSB here to plug them directly into the data stream,
When the Prime Minister could not answer NO to Russell Norman’s question in the House today over US NSA payments to the GCSB the equivocation simply screamed YES…
“Equivocation” is such a beautiful word. Means “bullshitting”.
That’s what our society has become. Bullshit ! Great BBQs in Parnell though !
i have to wonder if the payments made by the US spy agency NSA to foreign intelligence organizations includes GPS locations so as to give the Prez an easy target should He feel the need to launch a drone or two in the general direction should future events label ‘crticism’ as a definite terrorist threat…
I think the NSA has contributed/owned GCSB for many, many years .. as long as Waihopai has been open ( or is it closed?) and even Tangimoana before then. And I don’t think the prime ministers knew .. well, David Lange said he didn’t know until he read one of Nicky Hager’s books.
Actually, I have always wondered how the US powers-that-be had power over Helen Clark to not make this country GM free when the chance was there and the mood of the country was with her. Never made sense to me, and I have to keep wondering. How little have we known for how long ??
.. in interview, Mr Livingstone said plainly that MI5, Britain’s “national” branch of the intelligence services (MI6 is international), had covered up paedophile rings, so they could find blackmail evidence as leverage on politicians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dU4wfVI7LNc
Closing the consensus gap: Public support for climate policy
The problem is that, for the last 20+ years, we’ve had a bunch of sociopaths/psychopaths attacking the consensus in the public domain and thus causing doubt in the public.
imagine if the world’s rules and norms and structures and governances worked to concentrate the wealth and power down to the bottom of the pyramid
Anything that dose not suit your agenda annoyes you I think. From 08 or any other time. And then you stand upon your soap box and preach about democracy at the same time banning anyone who has a different point of view. Irony
[lprent: Off topic for the post. Moved to OpenMike. Read the policy.
I usually ban for silly behaviour. A good indicator would be to dump a off-topic comment into the top level comments of a post. You look like a good candidate. But who knows – now you have had your wee wank and spray like a miniature poodle, you may even have something to contribute. Stranger things have happened. ]
dude – its a blog, not the mechanism used to run the country – get over yourself
also – know what your on about. There’s plenty of righties who come here and dont get banned