"The problem with written constitutions is that the inevitable conflicts over their interpretation are resolved by unelected lawyers in judges’ robes. And, as anyone who’s been paying attention to US politics recently knows, allowing judges to determine what should and shouldn’t be included among the fundamental rights of citizens, can throw up some very disturbing results.
With their single house of Parliament, their unwritten – and hence flexible and adaptable – constitution, and their highly efficient electoral machinery, New Zealanders are the masters of their own destiny to a degree unencountered among many peoples. Our courts cannot strike down legislation passed by the House of Representatives, nor can one Parliament bind another – both prohibitions guaranteeing a radically majoritarian mode of government. If the essence of democracy consists of giving effect to the will of the majority, then New Zealand must rank as one of the most democratic nations on Earth"
Whitby in England has announced is doubling the rates on all unoccupied houses, including those used for airbn, in order to increase the supply of residential housing
I mean publishing them for the general public. I just looked again, couldn't find it. I've looked in the past too. Let me know if you find it. Might need to ask the EC or whoever directly.
We're split between the two electorates, Whakatipu is in Southland, but the rest of Central is Waitaki. There's quite a bit of commonality in the Whakatipu / Southland situation, but sfa between Cromwell and Oamaru, was in early 80's when the dam was starting, but not now.
Central Otago will be a seperate electorate at the next review, if the Electoral Commission can figure out how to carve up the rest of South Island. Unfortunately I can't see an outcome that makes more red electorates, just lots much bluer ones. Central would unfortunately be a very deep shade of blue.
I find this column impossible to understand. Anyone?
The Three Waters reforms, Covid Recovery Fund, Provincial Growth Fund, Māori health and education – there's an urgent need to take action on the lack of accountability to New Zealanders, says Auditor-General John Ryan
“I don’t trust CEOs of government agencies… you want trust, you gotta earn it, front up.”
That was the damning assessment from one participant in a study commissioned by the Auditor-General this year, as his office warns of widespread failings in the public accountability of government.
Why did he leave it so late into the 3 Waters legislative process?
If I were Mahuta I would be having a WTF chat with the Auditor General and Hipkins as House manager on a process level. Treasury at least should have warned government this was coming.
But even if you found an alternative to the structural relationship between state corporations and the citizen that causes distrust, would that improve trust?
Or is public trust needed in public corporations when we are far more customers than we are citizens? You get what you pay for not what you engage with. Not a fun conclusion but there's no structural reset on anyone's horizon.
No one appears willing to undo the Public Finance Act, or de-corporatise public utilities and services. On the contrary COVID appears to have accelerated it through health.
Success for the Auditor General would surely be: some extra accountability clause in the 3 Waters bill, on top of the Select Committee ones already added in there.
For example each water entity required to front to Select Committee every year. Or something.
The AG letter to the speakers was last week,following his report to Parliament.
On 27 October when I appeared in front of the Committee, some members expressed concerns about a lack of transparency and accountability over the spending of public money on new initiatives. I share these concerns and I offered to write to the Committee summarising my views on this.
It is difficult, and often not possible, to track spending and what is being achieved
I am concerned by the slow progress in providing this clarity in the reporting requirements. The Public Service Act has been in place since 2020, and five interdepartmental executive boards (IEBs) have been established under the Act. I understand that the Treasury is currently working on publishing the reporting requirements that apply.
Essentially what the AG has persistently found is an absence of Transparency in reporting , no review method for inadequate reporting,follow the money trails are difficult to understand (especially from suppling funding without adequate measurement.
Not a lone voice, and if Luxon has any sense (debatable) he'll stop giving Ardern the free gift of "you want to give the wealthiest everything and the poorest next to nothing".
Confident prediction for 2023: the policy will get dumped by National, or Luxon will. Or both.
The purpose of the National party is to redistribute wealth upwards (or at a minimum prevent its redistribution downwards). Without cutting top tax rates it will need to find other ways to do this. The options would include state asset sales, re-inflating the housing market by stripping out brightline tests and turning on the immigration tap), lowering wages that employers have to pay (immigration tap open, repealing Fair Pay legislation), and so on. Would it be enough though? I can see them delaying tax cuts as a promise for Term 2 after a Term 1 of cost-cutting austerity, i.e. the tax cuts become a reward for the well-off to compensate for the pain that was mostly felt by other people (the less well off) during the austerity phase.
True enough, but their very first purpose is to get elected. Promises can be broken afterwards.
I'm pretty sure that scrapping the 39% rate won't be a campaign commitment. (Whether they do it later is another question: "oh dear, we just had to give this concession to ACT, so sorry, we didn't want to" etc).
So here's my commitment to you. When I become PM, I'll reverse Labour's tax grab. National will repeal each of these tax increases implemented by Labour.
Lets not go through the whole debate for our purposes here in Open Mike.
Being non compos mentis likely affects few people’s ability to vote unless they are medically obviously not able to drag their arses to a booth, or get assistance with early voting. Those unaware of, or not on the non published roll however, are likely in greater numbers–women, debtors etc. Another pool of voters like the “off the grids” that should be enticed and supported to become involved in that basic level of democratic participation.
Age 16–18 should not be a barrier either, including some societal education and support if the legislation were to be enacted.
Any change would require the backing of three quarters of MPs, or a majority vote in a referendum.
Ardern said given the requirement, it “should not just be a matter for consideration by the government of the day alone, but for the Parliament as a whole”.
To get to 92 (75% of parliament) the bill would need some of National to vote against party lines, that’s in addition to getting the vote of every other party.
Hard not to see this as a move to kick the can further down the road while appearing to be acting.
They make everyone re-sit their drivers' license after 80, to make sure they're not drooling on the handbrake.
You could start with compulsory voter restrictions for everyone in rest home hospital-level care then to all with an EPOA and work backwards to 'can't put on their shoes'.
With the responsibility to vote goes IMO all other aspects of being an adult (18 in general terms in NZ). Let 16 years replace being of age appropriate for more "rights" (refer below link) ?? Or is voting at 16 age but other "adult" rights are not age suitable ??
How about those under 25 that are still dependant upon parents incomes to be eligible for an allowance, etc. Come on PM how about aligning 16 to the age for all "adult" age levels ??
I am neither conservative, nor anti-Maori, nor property owning, and I think this is an idiotic development on two levels.
1. I oppose lowering the voting age, on the basis that 16 year olds (in school, and living at home) are more vulnerable to external influence. If we're going with taxation and representation, 8 year olds pay tax, and that is not an argument for 8 year olds voting. 18 is a somewhat arbitrary cut-off, sure, but then so is 16.
2. The Supreme Court is frankly violating the norms of parliamentary sovereignty here. This is not the USA, where courts make policy decisions all the time, and invent laws to justify their own biased nonsense. This is the sort of issue to be resolved via a proper debate within wider New Zealand, not a debate via an unelected and unaccountable judiciary imposing political decisions upon us. NZBORA was never intended to be that.
I don’t follow. The NZ Courts can only point out inconsistencies in legislation, AFAIK, and not dictate Parliament. They either show a clear path or an obstacle.
Correct. The Supreme Court is not violating anything. Parliament will respond and (very probably) the current law (age) will remain … for now.
But it is in the political arena, and like many issues in the "too hard basket" (marriage equality, abortion) it will eventually be taken out of the basket … and of course in years to come everyone will pretend it was never in there!
Decreeing that a voting age of 18 (in place since 1974) is inconsistent with NZBORA (in place since 1990) in 2022 is a nakedly political act on the part of the judiciary here.
It's a sign (along with the nonsense about vaccine mandates somehow breaching fundamental human rights) that NZBORA needs to go.
Ruling out Labour is a dumb move on Winston's behalf.
He has always benefited from being able to go with either side, he has always said making statements about potential coalition partners before the votes are counted was stupid.
A lot of lefty's refuse to accept it but he has in the past got a load of votes from angry labour supporters, people who may want a labour govt but want a handbrake on labours social policies and that even if he didn't go with labour he'd also be a handbrake to the right in immigration and privatization.
By ruling one side out he's not gonna get the angry labour voters and many of the right wing voters he wants to court will blame him for putting labour in power in the first place.
Silly move. Playing both sides of the fence has always been his strength.
My hope is that he sucks as many right wing votes from nat/act as possible but only gets 4.7% of the vote and no electorate seat.
A lot of anti immigration/nationalist populists are bizarrely supporting act right because they don't seem to know that act is in favor of hyper immigration and privatization and foreign ownership. Winston should be able to steal those voters off act and hopefully not break 5% and a few % will make or break this election
My Dad was a swing voter between NZF and Labour. He was rightly angry at Peters' betrayal with the election where he went with National after implying he would go with Labour. Vote Labour in the next few elections. Not sure how long for, but he loved Ardern so voted Labour in the last two. If he was fucked off with Labour I can't imagine him voting Green.
Of interest is cunning old Winston says" HE WONT WORK WITH CURRENT LABOUR PARTY"
after the election labour won't be the current labour party they'll be the newly elected labour government,thats more than enough wriggle room for the old northland tuna to slip through
Unless Labour change all the people from the PM down they will very well be the same government, in their third term. The same people, the same government, no real change in terms of policy, or representation.
This is like pretending that each time John Key got another term it was a different National Party government. It wasn't.
Anyone can refuse to work with anyone, personally i don't think they should, but they all can lay down their priorities and rule out to vote with this or that person/party.
But i guess playing word games makes one feel better about knowing that NZFirst will not come to the aid of Labour should they need it. This next election is going to be so so messy.
However, the interviewer doubled down, and checked whether he was ruling out working with an Ardern-led government – and he claims he is.
To double-check whether there was any wriggle room in his position on Labour, he is asked if he is ruling out working with a Jacinda Ardern-led Government.
Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting i ruled the regulations of private weapons in the US out. That was babies being shot to pieces and it changed nothing. The political will is not there.
In response to the shooting, President Biden again called on elected officials to take action to stop gun violence and reiterated the need for a ban on assault weapons. He also lamented that the shooting joins other violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and against transgender women.
This was a club how had weekly drag shows and such. You can be assured that that transwomen had been in the club, not sure if one of them got killed by the shooter.
Realised that I was reading the addition "and transwomen" as carrying on from the comment about the Pulse nightclub.
I think it may have just been clumsy phrasing, or a quote not reported in full context.
However, I do think these statements need to be made with clear eyed accuracy. It does no-one any favours, if the harm is asserted without evidence or alternatively under-reported.
He also lamented that the shooting joins other violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and against transgender women.
I could be wrong, but it's possible Biden was taking this opportunity to empathise with and express sympathy for members of minority communities who have been violently attacked. Maybe too 'woke' for some – politicians walk a fine line.
Consider:
He also lamented that the shooting joins other violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including[1:] the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and[2: attacks] against transgender women [as members of the LGBTQ community].
The shooting came during Transgender Awareness Week and hours before Sunday's International Transgender Day of Remembrance, when events around the world are held to mourn and remember transgender people lost to violence.
Why Biden specified "transgender women", instead of "transgender men" or "transgender people" is a mystery. It might make sense if transgender women are victims of violence more often than transgender people in toto, but I don't know if that's the case.
The previous month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government, which lined up with similar sermons from a Texas fundamentalist pastor.
Quotes are from arkie's link @9.2 – the emphasis is mine.
(The name might seem harsh, but the list was compiled after demands when the author was criticised after maintaining a list named Counting Dead Women.)
Context and perspective(s) are important – whether they’re "always necessary" for every statement is a matter for debate, but we all have our obsessions.
Reporting on these particular sentiments is a case in point – lamenting violent attacks on members of minority communities (an expression of sympathy and/or empathy for what some members of these communities go through?) is something that all decent, empathetic people could get behind, imho.
"Context and perspective(s) are important – whether they’re "always necessary" for every statement is a matter for debate, but we all have our obsessions."
I am concerned with this continual repetition of the vulnerability of transwomen in particular, not because expressions of concern are to be denied, but this automatic repetition has played a big part in legislative, policy and institutional changes that have significant impacts on society, but most particularly on women and girls.
So, yes, I approach all promoted comments regarding this with scrutiny.
"Reporting on these particular sentiments is a case in point – lamenting violent attacks on members of minority communities (an expression of sympathy and/or empathy for what some members of these communities go through?) is something that all decent, empathetic people could get behind, imho."
arkie chose that particular paragraph – without knowing the details – to repeat the narrative given above. That transgender women are fundamentally victims of hate. So, I questioned that certainty.
To draw immediate conclusions when so little is known, is not the act of empathy or decency either.
To draw immediate conclusions when so little is known, is not the act of empathy or decency either.
Imho, some will resist empathising with gay, lesbian and transgender people with every fibre of their being – won't matter to them how much time has passed or how much more is known.
The previous month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government, which lined up with similar sermons from a Texas fundamentalist pastor.
I'm going to reply to this, in regards to Biden's remarks and because it is a necessary discussion given that we are currently looking at legislation that seeks to unequivocally and definitively provide a prosecutable recognition of "hate"
The recent attack on Club Q can be rightly called a hateful incident, but until more details are known it is premature to call it or even casually refer to it as a hate crime.
As further details come to light, (and if the perpetrator provides believable testimony regarding motivation), then this might be classed as a hate crime, but I am not aware that this is the case here.
It is important to maintain that distinction despite the inclination to make this assumption. Delaying that declaration until more is known respects the victims of the crime, by not reducing them to a message for political purpose, as Biden appeared to do.
(The fundmentalist pastor sounds like an idiot, and I would hope he is prosecuted under whatever laws apply for wherever he is.)
But Biden is the POTUS and his words carry immense authority and influence.
As mentioned, it is hard to tell whether the addition of "… and against transwomen" was an incomplete reference, or a knowledgeable recognition that amongst the victims were transwomen. But even that is a stretch.
What it appears to be, is the taking of an opportunity caused by a heinous incident, to promote the vulnerability not of transgender children, or transmen – but specifically transwomen.
Why do you think this group was singled out from the rest of the transgender community?
(When this message is promulgating unthinkingly and without evidence it sets the environment for the breaking of single-sex boundaries without question. And that is having significant impacts.)
That is why I respectfully and decisively hold the line on this narrative. The narrative – until it is confirmed – has nothing to do with the hateful crime committed.
Empathy, support and decency that can and should be extended to the victims and their loved ones without that premature label.
Whether or not this is a hate crime, and whether or not hate speech contributed to the mass murderer's ideation and actions, will be for others to determine.
I'm just pleased that Biden chose to lament this and other attacks that have resulted in the deaths of gay, lesbian and transgender people – his is an entirely appropriate response, imho.
I respect your reasons and need to "decisively hold the line on this narrative", just as I respect Biden for his empathetic 'narrative'.
Among those who were fatally shot on Saturday was Daniel Aston, 28, a transgender man who bartended and frequently performed at Club Q. Aston loved 1980s music and hats, his mother told Colorado Public Radio.
She admitted that in the past, she was often worried of her son being targeting for being transgender.
"I always worried about it," she said. "He's a trans man and the trans community are really the biggest targets I can think about it right now."
Who could fail to feel sympathy and empathy for Daniel Aston's mother – you'd have to have a heart of stone.
The fundmentalist pastor sounds like an idiot, and I would hope he is prosecuted under whatever laws apply for wherever he is.
Yep, hate-filled idiots – they’re everwhere. Good luck prosecuting them in some US states though – free speech etc.
""I always worried about it," she said. "He's a trans man and the trans community are really the biggest targets I can think about it right now.""
This mother faces the senseless and immediate loss of her child, and she should be supported, however her heartfelt fears are also not evidence of increased vulnerability.
That's what statistics are for, and statistics show otherwise.
This relentless narrative of persecution despite lack of evidence is not healthy for transgender people, especially those who have other well-being issues. Entwined with the familiar suicidal ideation, it's a catastrophe for many transgender people.
I believe the approach taken by Biden is a harmful one for all these reasons, but I guess it essentially comes down to one question:
Is is true?
If it is, then Biden and anyone else who joins is right to condemn.
This relentless narrative of persecution despite lack of evidence is not healthy for transgender people, especially those who have other well-being issues. Entwined with the familiar suicidal ideation, it's a catastrophe for many transgender people.
Why would transgender people be any less persecuted than other minorities have been, and still are, for sexual orientation, race, etc.?
I think we've reached the point of 'agree to disagree'.
You will have your reasons for believing that there is a "lack of evidence" for the "persecution" of transgender people. We may never know if Daniel Aston would have agreed with you – all we have to go on for now are the heartfelt words of his bereaved mother.
Whether "suicidal ideation" is relevant to Aston's murder (or that of transgender woman Kelly Loving – thanks for the BBC link) is a matter of speculation. What is absolutely certain is that bullets were "not healthy" for Aston, Rump, Loving, Paugh, Green and several others at Club Q that night – rather, they were "a catastrophe".
"You will have your reasons for believing that there is a "lack of evidence" for the "persecution" of transgender people. "
The reason being, that there is none. If you are prepared to provide some then, go ahead. At present, in terms of assault and homicides transgender people are a fairly safe demographic.
That does not mean they are immune from violent acts, just that statistically they are not more likely than any other group to be the victim.
"“Sexual violence is about power and control,” Jack Byrne, one of the ‘Counting Ourselves’ researchers and a trans man, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“If the world tells you that nobody loves and cares for you that puts huge levels of pressure on you and (increases your) vulnerability to be preyed upon.”
Why is the messaging that nobody loves you most often coming from advocates and allies?
If you get a chance look at the website and really see what hard data is provided.
"What is absolutely certain is that bullets were "not healthy" for Aston, Rump, Loving, Paugh, Green and several others at Club Q that night – rather, they were "a catastrophe"."
I don't know where the quotes are from.
Once more, the attack Club Q is rightly condemned. They may, or may not, get a credible motivation from the perpetrator. It is likely he has some grievance against homosexuals, but it is currently not known.
What is being discussed here, is Biden using the incident to repeat a narrative that has little evidence to support it. As you are so vehement that this was the right call, perhaps you will provide it.
The victims were a married, mixed race lesbian couple with an adopted teenage son.
The son had been shot,, the women stabbed and shot and attempts were made to burn their bodies.
Now, is this homicide:
1. Homophobic – with the son being caught up in the incident,
2. Misogynistic – with the son being caught up in the incident,
3. Race based – with the non-person of colour caught up in the incident,
4. Religious fervour – against same-sex marriage, etc.
The perpetrator was known to them, but not an acquaintance. This was a hateful crime – but was it a hate crime?
It seems not.
It appears that the women were killed because they were lesbians, but most specfically – they were lesbians that were involved in organising the annual lesbian MichFest and they maintained the single-sex admission criteria, despite pressure from transwomen activists over the years. The homicide happened AFTER the women gave up the battle, and withdrew their organisational labour resulting not in the admittance of transwomen to the festival, but the cessation of the festival altogether.
This strikes me as pure narcissistic rage that the outcome that had been sought had been thwarted. You can read details here.
The relevant part of this story, is that due to the accepted narrative of the vulnerability of transwomen, this convicted murderer has been, and continues to be held in a women's prison.
These decisions need to make sense, and be backed by robust data and evidence. But instead they are informed by such narratives as the one apparently spouted by Biden (though I acknowledge as president he might have had some intelligence that was not public).
@Molly – as I wrote @7:02 pm yesterday, I think we've reached the point of 'agree to disagree', as confirmed by your comment @10:35 pm, and my response here.
Re the start of this thread @9.2, I believe Biden's effort to empathise with and express sympathy for members of (minority) LGBT communities who have been victimised (and their loved ones), by way of lamenting the murderous attack on people at Club Q, is good.
You would exclude transgender people ("Drop the T"?) from any list of individuals/groups who/that have been persecuted for their behaviour, but persecuted some have been, consistent with the links below and with my halting efforts to empathise with trans people.
Gender Persecution
Strengthening International Norms to Ensure Accountability
Transgender people come from all walks of life, and HRC Foundation has estimated that there are more than 2 million of us across the United States. We are parents, siblings, and kids. We are your coworkers, your neighbors, and your friends.
The transgender community is composed of people – just human, like you and me, and as such more or less susceptible to harrassment, discrimination and even persecution.
That does not mean they are immune from violent acts, just that statistically they are not more likely than any other group to be the victim.
Re "the persecution line", persecution is not necessarily a statistical phenomenon – what does 'persecution' mean to you?
What is being discussed here, is Biden using the incident to repeat a narrative that has little evidence to support it. As you are so vehement that this was the right call, perhaps you will provide it.
You describe my opinion of Biden's 'use' of "the incident" as "vehement" (I would prefer 'firm', naturally), but is it really any more vehement than yours? After all, except for the purposes of quoting, I've avoided phrases such as "pure narcissistic rage" and words like "catastrophe" and "spouted" – phrases and words that betray perhaps a trace of fervour on your part. Not that there's anything wrong with a bit of earnest vehemence/fervour/firmness now and then, imho.
I sincerely hope that Kiwis engaged in the spiralling 'gender wars' (for want of a better term) can negotiate an armistice – I'd feel uneasy if DeSantis-style rhetoric ever became mainstream in NZ.
You have however, provided examples of the narrative not harm. A few of your more contemporary links conflate a group of demographics together, including women and so is talking about violence experienced by everybody but straight men without a declared gender identity.
There are countries where persecution of gay and transgender people is violent and supported/perpetuated by authorities.
Biden's USA is not one of them,
Nor is NZ .
Investigate for yourself the court appearances or records of assault in our media.
Iraq continues to execute homosexuals, but provides free full gender reassignment surgery.
Is that a crime against the LGBTQ+, or will you at least concede that this is an extreme form of gay conversion therapy?
Your selective misrepresentation (by reuse out of context) of my word choice, continued references to tone, and my failure to emphathise studiously avoids the content of what I am saying.
You provided no statistical evidence of harm, you also do not engage in the points put forward for discussion.
Human empathy, and dignity is based is truth.
Your approach creates an environment where truth is willfully discarded.
Do sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) in the United States encounter disproportionate rates of victimization as compared with their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts?
…
The rate of violent victimization for SGMs is 71.1 victimizations per 1000 people compared with 19.2 victimizations per 1000 people for those who are not SGMs. SGMs are 2.7 times more likely to be a victim of violent crime than non-SGMs. These findings raise the importance of further considering sexual orientation and gender identity in victimization and interventions.
Your selective misrepresentation (by reuse out of context) of my word choice, continued references to tone, and my failure to emphathise studiously avoids the content of what I am saying.
@Molly, I've read all your comments in this thread – I’m simply expressing my opinion about Biden's position as reported @9.2.
For the record, I vehemently deny your accusation of "continued references to tone".
I mentioned sympathy/empathy in comments by way of explanation. I regret that you feel I was suggesting that you failed to “emphathise” with victims of the Club Q shooting – that was not my intent. But those idiot pastors in Idaho and Texas, eh?
Human empathy, and dignity is based is truth.
On that we can agree.
Your approach creates an environment where truth is willfully discarded.
On that we must agree to disagree, and I'm sorry you feel this way.
Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the 2018 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, has spoken to the harm of "manufactured hysteria" in the US – Biden's expression of sympathy/empathy for the Club Q shooting victims, and their loved ones, won't resonate with everyone, but it struck a chord with me – and hopefully not only me.
Biden's “expression of sympathy” was coupled with a narrative that you continually fail to substantiate even while admiring it. It appears that your verification method is someone nice said something nice, so it must be true. You post examples of further narrative to support other narrative, not evidence of harm for the specific group of transgender women.
An example is the entirety of your last link:
"People gathered in Orlando, Florida on Sunday for a vigil to show solidarity with the victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. In 2016, Pulse, a gay nighclub in Orlando, was the scene of another horrific mass shooting. Brandon Wolf survived that shooting and said he plans to offer support to the survivors in Colorado Springs. Wolf said the Pulse shooting propelled him to become a full-time activist for “Equality Florida,” an LGBTQ civil rights organization."
That quote is only the start – the link also contains a 7 minute audio file of an interview with Wolf.
Biden's “expression of sympathy” was coupled with a narrative that you continually fail to substantiate even while admiring it.
@Molly – substantiating this 'narrative' that you find so objectionable is on Biden. I can and do appreciate his stance, as reported @9.2, for the sympathy, empathy and compassion it shows.
I also have compassion for adults and children who strive (and struggle, for any number of reasons) to find their way in the world (those in the US more than some).
Ocasio-Cortez quote-tweeted Boebert’s statement on the Colorado shooting, stating: “you have played a major role in elevating anti-LGBT+ hate rhetoric and anti-trans lies while spending your time in Congress blocking even the most common sense gun safety laws.”
A plugin must've stopped the video from appearing, because all I had was the paragraph, so that makes sense.
We are not talking past each other. You have continued to support the narrative that Biden promulgated that transgender women are vulnerable to violence. You have been given eight opportunities to provide evidence of this claim, and failed to do so.
Conversely, I have provided evidence to you of the recorded violence against transgender people, that has been compiled by those who consider this recording (as I do) important.
It shows a different reality. One you won’t even acknowledge. Why?
Biden could have expressed sympathy for the victims, without creating a narrative when information was not available to support it.
Like the mayor of Colorado Springs took care to say after the shooting:
"Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told ABC News that the suspect "had considerable ammo" and "was extremely well armed" when they allegedly walked into Club Q. While a motive remains under investigation, Suthers said "it has the trappings of a hate crime."
"But we're going to have to see what the investigation shows in terms of, you know, social media and things like that to make a clear determination exactly what the motive was," the mayor said in an interview on Monday."
"While the suspect is already facing state charges, numerous federal agencies and offices, including the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, are aware of the shooting, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado said in a statement Monday. The office said it would “review all available facts of the incident to determine what federal response is warranted.”
To me this is respectful, empathetic and provides dignity to victims, survivors and loved ones. When information is not yet available, you don't make assumptions.
By the by, when you were unsuccessfully looking for links of evidence of harm, and had to resort to links of narratives of harm, did it occur to you that statements such as Biden's have created an instant assertion that transwomen are a vulnerable minority, even though you have been unable to find evidence of this?
It’s a reaction that has been cultivated by links such as those you have provided.
Now, if transwomen are considered even more vulnerable than dead children in NZ, what impact does that have on public discussion, legislation and policy?
Well, perhaps it means that women who request confirmation that single-sex spaces, provisions, services etc remain single-sex are considered obsessive bigots for putting restrictions on the demands of transwomen to be included – because everybody "knows" how vulnerable transgender women are.
A plugin must’ve stopped the video from appearing, because all I had was the paragraph, so that makes sense.
It’s not an autoplay audio file. Try clicking on the circled triangle, in the red-orange rectangle containing the text “LISTEN NOW”, immediately to the right of the headline.
Here is the relevant quote reporting Biden's response (see @9.2)
He [Biden] also lamented that the shooting joins other violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and against transgender women.
The report in the link @9.2 continues with an actual Biden quote:
"Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often," he said in a statement. "We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate."
You perceived Biden's reported response as constituting a 'narrative' (formulated by you) "that transgender women are vulnerable to violence", whereas I perceived "Biden was taking this opportunity to empathise with and express sympathy for members of minority communities who have been violently attacked." (see @9.2.1.2)
Since we disagree on Biden's intent (each seeing what we want to see), I hope (for a third time) that we can agree to disagree. Perhaps consider that this exchange would have been briefer but for the use of the term "transgender women" in the report excerpt @9.2.
Re your narrative, the mass murder at Club Q shows trans women are vulnerable to violence, and they are not unique in this regard.
(Don't get an orange rectangle – just white space)
Ok. I saw within the article I provided a full quote, so agree that arkie's original comment was incomplete and/or paraphrased. This has been acknowledged more than once.
Any reference to "and transgender women" implies targets were selected due to gender identity – the motive was (and remains, at present) unknown;
Thus any such reference is both assumptive and premature.
There automatically was the oft repeated vulnerability of transwomen that is not supported by evidence,
4, Despite looking, you couldn't find any additions to the link I provided which makes transwomen a particularly safe demographic. Much safer than children. (You no doubt came across some NZ incidents? Do you want to post?)
"Re your narrative, the mass murder at Club Q shows trans women are vulnerable to violence, and they are not unique in this regard."
Everyone is vulnerable to a bullet from a gun, or senseless violence, so why are transwomen continually referred to as especially vulnerable – without evidence of veracity? This sentence doesn't really make sense.
You refuse to recognise this storytelling has and continues to have an impact on discussions around women's right's and single sex spaces.
I've tried enough now to get you to understand the wider ramifications of a Pavlov type response.
I'm finished. Carry on if you need to.
(Oh, and feel free to post the one NZ transwoman murder while you're at it. I'm sure it would've come up in your searches.)
You have continued to support the narrative that Biden promulgated that transgender women are vulnerable to violence.
@Molly – I don't believe that Biden's stance, as reported @9.2, is evidence that Biden promugated the narrative that transgender women are vulnerable to violence – that’s not how I read it.
Most people, including transgender people, have probably been vulnerable to violence at some time in the their life.
After reading the full text of Biden's (empathetic and statesman-like, imho) statement on 20 November 2022, I now agree with you that it indicates he believes transgender women are vulnerable to violence. Biden’s focus on the LGBTQI+ community is entirely appropriate in context – as for why he devoted a whole sentence to transgender women, “the epidemic of violence and murder” is a clue.
Of course, there’s no pleasing some people. Transgender women and dying – damned if you do and damned if you don’t
While no motive in this attack is yet clear, we know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years. Gun violence continues to have a devastating and particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation and threats of violence are increasing. We saw it six years ago in Orlando, when our nation suffered the deadliest attack affecting the LGBTQI+ community in American history. We continue to see it in the epidemic of violence and murder against transgender women – especially transgender women of color. And tragically, we saw it last night in this devastating attack by a gunman wielding a long rifle at an LGBTQI+ nightclub in Colorado Springs.
Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate.
Today, yet another community in America has been torn apart by gun violence. More families left with an empty chair at the table and hole in their lives that cannot be filled. When will we decide we've had enough? We must address the public health epidemic of gun violence in all of its forms. Earlier this year, I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly three decades, in addition to taking other historic actions. But we must do more. We need to enact an assault weapons ban to get weapons of war off America's streets.
Today, Jill and I are praying for the families of the five people killed in Colorado Springs last night, and for those injured in this senseless attack.
You refuse to recognise this storytelling has and continues to have an impact on discussions around women's right's and single sex spaces.
First I've heard of this particular refusal of mine – talk about “a Pavlov type response.” Personally I would have avoided using “storytelling” as a pejorative so soon after the Club Q attack. Btw, I support women's rights and single sex spaces – don't know about Jill and Joe Biden.
Thank you for posting three links to statistics regarding the violence experienced by transgender people.
Two actually come from the same source, and do note the high incidence of harm to transgender women. The further analysis that they link to – which applies to your third link about gun violence – shows that they are highly represented in other groups that make them (along with others in the group) exposed to situations where violence can occur.
You cannot assume that transgender women are vulnerable because of their gender identity when so many other significant factors are in play. That is not to say that it is NOT a factor, just that the impact of it has to be determined to state with confidence that it was the primary factor.
A quick search on Google Scholar pulled up this study based on prostitutes translates quite closely to the figures of harm you posted, when you account for the 72% of transgender women involved in prostitution:
If we are talking about job harm, then prostitution has to be one of the most vulnerable. Is it any wonder that those within it have higher rates of assault and violence?
"Personally I would have avoided using “storytelling” as a pejorative so soon after the Club Q attack.
Yeah, I know. My word choice is not to your taste. I'll live with the criticism. Your critique of the use of "narcissistic rage"when discussing the following makes your vocabulary advice less than persuasive:
"The discussion turns to the “blunt force wounds” (bruising, basically) found on Reed. Dr. Rogers found bruises on the top part of a finger, thighs, knees, other parts of legs, and the front part of the abdomen. (It should be noted that Dr. Rogers uses his report to assist him for much of his testimony.) The Prosecution asks if Reed’s bruises could be due to an assailant pinning her down. He says that “it’s a possibility,” but cannot give any further confirmation.
Dr. Rogers proceeds to talk about the gunshot wounds found on Reed. There were two gunshot wounds, one on the front left side of the chest, the other on the front side of the left shoulder. The bullet that caused the former wound passed through the ribs and left lung. Since there was no exit wound, the bullet remained in the lung. This wound also contained “stippling,” or gunpowder residue; stippling is only present when the gun is very close to the target when fired. There was hemorrhaging associated with this wound, meaning that Reed was still alive at the time she received this wound. The second bullet wound, the one to the shoulder, also had hemorrhaging and signs of stippling. This one penetrated soft tissue.
He also details multiple stab wounds (“deep” cuts) and incise wounds (“shallow” cuts), he reckons over 40 total: 28 on head/neck area, 12 on torso, one on right arm, and some on both hands. He goes through them, one by one. Of note is that some of the stab/incise wounds had hemorrhaging, while others did not. This means the assailant stabbed Reed while she was still alive and continued to stab her after she died. He adds that some of the wounds were consistent with a double-edged blade, some with a single-edged blade, and others were indeterminable.
Dr. Rogers then discusses 2 gunshot wounds found on Dimabu. One appears to be a grazing wound, that is, a wound where the bullet just brushes against the skin rather than piercing the skin. He admits that he isn’t certain this is a grazing wound, but it’s his best guess, based on his experience. The second bullet pierced his heart. Photos are shown of Diambu’s injuries. Dr. Rogers concludes the bullet to the heart was the cause of Diambu’s death…
..The summary of Wright’s injuries is as follows:
“Blunt injuries” consist of one scrape to the left side of Wright’s neck.
There are 4 gunshot wounds on Wright, in 2 pairs — that is, there are two wounds where bullets entered, and two where they exited. Both hit critical organs. One bullet entered through the left breast, the second on the left back. This latter is “possibly” indicative of Wright being shot in the back as she was lying on her stomach.
There is a stab wound on the left side of Wright’s neck.
…
Dr. Rogers agrees with Dr. Herman’s conclusion that Wright died due to multiple bullet and stab wounds…."
It is taken you over ten attempts to provide statistics to back up your assertion that transwomen are a particularly vulnerable group. And those statistics are not evidence of that fact, because of the other factors.
So, when I say you have a Pavlov response, it is because you only sought out the evidence after many requests, and still maintain this is the right sequence. (We'll ignore the fact that the quality provided is still low).
"Btw, I support women's rights and single sex spaces"
These days, due to language appropriation and legislative, policy and guideline changes, that sentence means very little in isolation.
Until we have those official statistics, we should handle the data we do have with care. Anyone that tells you this is clear-cut – on either side of this often vexed debate – is wrong.
"Btw, I support women's rights and single sex spaces"
These days, due to language appropriation and legislative, policy and guideline changes, that sentence means very little in isolation.
@Molly, how about this more long-winded sentence?
I support women's and transgender women's rights, and spaces exclusively for the use of each of the following: women, transgender men, transgender women, and men.
Open to brief alternatives that aren't hostile to the above groups.
"I support women's and transgender women's rights, and spaces exclusively for the use of each of the following: women, transgender men, transgender women, and men."
Right, it appears that after skipping over relevant points we've now made the leap to a different topic. Can do, but with this proviso – you shouldn't really care about whether I think you support women's rights or not.
You – and I – should just be working towards clearly explaining our own views, and attempting to understand the other's position. We don't need labels to do this.
With that in mind, a couple of follow up questions:
What is your idea of space?
Single-sex facilities, services, support services, sports, women's organisations, prison estate, awards, scholarships, language specific to each group?
It looks like you are advocating for third and fourth spaces.
Interestingly, most women's right advocates have no problem accommodating trans identified women of any type in their single-sex spaces.
(Men – on the other hand – unanimously want trans identified men out of their spaces, and into women's.)
Women who have suggested third spaces to accommodate these men have been called transphobic, bigoted, and TERVEN – so welcome to the club.
How is the provision of third and fourth spaces practically and financially viable across the board, so as to be a reasonable solution?
Would there not be a further difficulty in having to create yet more spaces for the additional gender identities, including the non-binary, and the new WPATH category of eunuch, and nullgenders?
Can you see how this solution has additional problems?
The difficulty with your stated position, is not that it wouldn’t be supported by women who want to retain single-se spaces, it is the option that is most often and consistently refused by transgender people.
Many (or the loudest) don’t want a third option, (or I’m guessing, a fourth) unless it is the only option (ie. unisex provision only). Many (OTL) want only admittance into the single-sex space to which they do not belong (for a myriad of reasons).
Now, a solution that does not guarantee safety (- but that guarantee is impossible to give) – is that men, collectively ensure that trans identified men are safe in their single-sex spaces.
No boundary breaking required.
(Numbering of questions autocorrected to irrelevance. Leaving it, as not important).
Right, it appears that after skipping over relevant points we've now made the leap to a different topic.
@Molly – please be gentle. You were the first to mention women's rights and single sex spaces in this thread.
You refuse to recognise this storytelling has and continues to have an impact on discussions around women's right's and single sex spaces.
1. What is your idea of space?
Was thinking public loos, changing rooms/showers – maybe also in private businesses such as gyms. There are (were?) some women-only gyms in Palmy. Yes, prison cells too – hadn't thought of them.
2. It looks like you are advocating for third and fourth spaces.
Yes – can't please everyone, but (cost aside) this might displease the least, although it would make transgender people more visible, which is probably not what many of them want – tricky.
It's good that most women's rights advocates have no problem accommodating transgender men of any type in their single-sex spaces, but (to my mind) this is more about whether even a small number of woman using a single-sex space might have a problem. If it turned out that none did, then that would simplify things – only third spaces (for transgender women) would be needed.
Men – on the other hand – unanimously want trans identified men out of their spaces, and into women's.
Gosh – all men? That's depressing. Not me though – third spaces for transgender women would be fine as far as I'm concerned.
3. How is the provision of third and fourth spaces practically and financially viable across the board, so as to be a reasonable solution?
Don't know how easy/financially feasible the provision of third spaces would be – imho some accommodation is required. What might the alternative(s) be – to 'unmake' transgender women, or otherwise fix them (and men) so that only one space is required? Is this a realistic option, given men’s propensity for violence, and the idea that men unanimously want transgender women out of their spaces?
Now, a solution that does not guarantee safety (- but that guarantee is impossible to give) – is that men, collectively ensure that trans identified men are safe in their single-sex spaces.
Since you raised the issue of practicality in 3, might I suggest that the idea of all men in their single sex spaces being non-violent towards transgender women seems more like a lovely dream than an alternative solution – implementation without the necessary behaviour modification could increase the incidence of assaults on transgender women. Safer to put men and transgender women in separate cages, imho.
Otoh, if you have a practical plan to modify behaviour en masse, how about rolling it out first in Russia/Ukraine before moving on to war zones closer to home.
I know you are unlikely to believe it, but I am being gentle, as best I can. If you look back, I try not to ascribe motives or intentions, but make the assumption that perhaps the other person in the conversation has not considered, or does not know, and work towards that. It can come across as abrupt, where clarity is intended. I think there also may be an expectation of a different style of engagement because of my female name. This approach seems to be more common and accepted in males.
That said. I do genuinely appreciate you continuing this exchange.
The single-sex spaces was introduced, because the conversation is affected by an assumption that transwomen are vulnerable and need to be accommodated in women's single-sex spaces for that reason.
You are correct about the unanimous – it was a left over adjective from an edit – and by the time I noticed it, the edit had gone. I know there are men who would support trans identified men in their spaces. I'd even go further and say there are those that would ensure their safety and comfort while in them.
It's interesting that you had only considered single-sex spaces to refer to facilities for changing and toileting. Transwomen have demanded and been admitted to breastfeeding forums, pregnancy support groups, women's organisations, women's clubs – the list goes on. The impacts range from mild to significant, but there is always an impact.
There is so much in regards to facilities that should be considered and when I was trying to organise my own thoughts, I wrote a series of threads on Twitter (… I know..). I'll link them to text here so they don't take up so much space. I'd probably be able to write them more clearly now, but they are a good record of what and how I think.
They began mostly in response to the constant accusation that keeping single-sex spaces was akin to claiming all transwomen are predatory:
The second was when I undertook the online research for statistics that I asked you to do. I will endeavour to read all links provided to me in conversations, after someone has taken the time to do so, but I also think that self-discovery of information is much more persuasive then me providing links for which the source or the author is then condemned without discussion of content.
On the topic of women's rights and gender ideology, there are very few "left-wing" publications that accurately report concerns, and give space to women's rights advocates – unless they include men.
In regards to additional spaces, it is the safest environments that are most likely to be able to afford accommodation in third spaces. When government and councils are strapped for resources, this provision (that is fundamentally unnecessary – especially if all they do is "want to pee") is a waste of resources.
"It's good that most women's rights advocates have no problem accommodating transgender men of any type in their single-sex spaces, but (to my mind) this is more about whether even a small number of woman using a single-sex space might have a problem. If it turned out that none did, then that would simplify things – only third spaces (for transgender women) would be needed."
That's an interesting perspective. Given that many women have indicated a problem with trans-identified men using their spaces, and they have been ignored and accused of transphobia, bigotry and hatred, your concession to women who might be concerned about other women (with a gender identity) using single-sex spaces is one that hasn't been offered many times before.
Moving on to prisons, which you had not given much thought to. In NZ's prison estate, there are no official published statistics, and though people have tried to do OIR, there has been some difficulty in ascertaining how accurate they are.
Submissions for the amendments for the BDMRR bill asked for clarity on the how single-sex spaces would be ensured, and were told that there was no impact. This was said, knowing that single-sex spaces had already been breached, and the concerns around spaces such as prisons, had already been realised:
While the discussion was taking place the NZ media published opinion pieces and narratives around the vulnerability of transwomen, and this does do much to derail the concerns of women when they are raised.
"Since you raised the issue of practicality in 3, might I suggest that the idea of all men in their single sex spaces being non-violent towards transgender women seems more like a lovely dream than an alternative solution – implementation without the necessary behaviour modification could increase the incidence of assaults on transgender women. Safer to put men and transgender women in separate cages, imho."
Cages? I suspect you are talking specifically about prisons here, rather than toilet facilities, or other single-sex spaces. Like any instance where people are confined involuntarily, it requires a different consideration, I agree.
I have several times on this platform posted a link to a facility that has been in place in the LA County Jail system, that not only caters to transgender identified men, but homosexual men that are at elevated risk. There are other vulnerable males in the prison system that could also benefit from separation, but this example is one that shows a working solution:
Any government that imprisons their citizens, should also ensure their safety while imprisoned, and such allocation of resources seems necessary to me. So neither impractical or financially wasteful in this particular instance.
Otoh, if you have a practical plan to modify behaviour en masse, how about rolling it out first in Russia/Ukraine before moving on to war zones closer to home.
I don't really understand what you are saying here. Unless, you thought that when I wrote of practical considerations and financial costs – it applied to all single sex spaces.
What is important, is that solutions are found that do not assume that because women's single-sex spaces are a safeguarding and privacy measure that works for women, that women's spaces are therefore the safest place to put men.
The person who committed the crime identified as 'Non binary' with 'they/them' pronouns.
Question: did they do that to wriggle out of a hate crime? And if so can we assume that men would and will appropriate a trans identity in order to receive a better and lesser punishment, or instead of being locked up in a male prison will get transferred to a female prison, or to just get out of a hate crime that they committed. And Just a few hours later 10 people were being gunned down by another disgruntled person in a shop.
The question however stands, are men – criminal men, in this case a mass murderer claiming a trans identity to get a get out of jail card?
If so, then it would be truly despicable. But that too was already foretold by those that quite a few lefties would call 'terf' or 'bigot' or 'phobe' or even just 'cassandra'. That wimpy little criminal penis havers would do exactly that to get locked in the female prisons, cause 'they / them' or 'she/her'. Or to get a a lower sentence. Cause just because the dude wanted to do the crime does not mean he wants to do the time.
Given that I consider non-binary to be a nonsense, I can't claim to accept this as a pertinent fact.
Do I suspect they (or their lawyers) considered doing so, in order to have lesser punitive action from the prosecutors and justice system? Yes, I suspect so.
However, under current legislation and guidance, there is no way either to discount or confirm that suspicion. The deciding factor is the self-declaration. The problem was foreseen, identified and ignored. This is just another iteration.
The victims of the crime, those killed, injured and all those who care for them, need to have a justice system that works equitably for everyone, regardless of sex, race, disability, religious reasons, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Any death from this random violence is a tragedy. In terms of justice, it should be neither lessened nor elevated by the victims protected characteristics, but treated as diligently as possible. I'm not supportive of this two tier empathy system that seems to develop alongside hate legislation.
Grieving for the development of a world view where such acts of violence is seen as an answer.
The return of the wild goose. I can hear it honking. Winston returns to the flock and is welcomed, forgiven, and installed as leader to the delight of the faithful who held to the tale of the Second Coming.
"The centre cannot hold……." Yeats had it, just a century late.
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Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
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The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
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Food for thought
[unlinked quote deleted]
Will we remain so?…particularly now QE2 has passed.
I deleted your unlinked quote. Feel free to post it again with a link.
Food for thought
"The problem with written constitutions is that the inevitable conflicts over their interpretation are resolved by unelected lawyers in judges’ robes. And, as anyone who’s been paying attention to US politics recently knows, allowing judges to determine what should and shouldn’t be included among the fundamental rights of citizens, can throw up some very disturbing results.
With their single house of Parliament, their unwritten – and hence flexible and adaptable – constitution, and their highly efficient electoral machinery, New Zealanders are the masters of their own destiny to a degree unencountered among many peoples. Our courts cannot strike down legislation passed by the House of Representatives, nor can one Parliament bind another – both prohibitions guaranteeing a radically majoritarian mode of government. If the essence of democracy consists of giving effect to the will of the majority, then New Zealand must rank as one of the most democratic nations on Earth"
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/11/if-it-aint-broke-why-fix-it.html
Will we remain so?…particularly now QE2 has passed.
Good article Pat
Another problem caused by the empty home hoarding parasites.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ghost-houses-increasing-why-are-40000-homes-lying-vacant-in-auckland/MD7REG67TBCIWB2NITGJCH5SH4/
As speculators are now buying into lower decile areas and leaving the houses empty. House alarms that blare continuously for days unattended.
Whitby in England has announced is doubling the rates on all unoccupied houses, including those used for airbn, in order to increase the supply of residential housing
Far out.
I can't see our government ever implementing such a sensible reform to address homelessness.
In this country seems our parliamentarians grovel and cower at feet of the landlord lobby over enacting even the smallest housing reform.
Anyone here from the Waitaki electorate?
Also does anyone have a link to the booth-by-booth breakdown of voting from the 2020 election … especially for Waitaki?
not sure if they do that now because of postal voting.
Waitaki as central government electorate of course they do.
I mean publishing them for the general public. I just looked again, couldn't find it. I've looked in the past too. Let me know if you find it. Might need to ask the EC or whoever directly.
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2020/statistics/votes-by-voting-place-electorate-index.html
Plotting a coup over the hill?
That is exactly what I wanted thankyou Graeme.
There's also a spatial map version around but it's more useful within cities.
Just gearing my mind to the political landscape, and also trying to find good Labour people in WakandaWanaka.
We're split between the two electorates, Whakatipu is in Southland, but the rest of Central is Waitaki. There's quite a bit of commonality in the Whakatipu / Southland situation, but sfa between Cromwell and Oamaru, was in early 80's when the dam was starting, but not now.
Central Otago will be a seperate electorate at the next review, if the Electoral Commission can figure out how to carve up the rest of South Island. Unfortunately I can't see an outcome that makes more red electorates, just lots much bluer ones. Central would unfortunately be a very deep shade of blue.
Holy Gunrack a seat bluer than Waitaki. All we need.
It's more about the networks for me.
I find this column impossible to understand. Anyone?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/auditor-general-calls-for-wide-reaching-reviews-of-failing-public-accountability?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=4e7ff8f90f-Daily_Briefing+21.11.2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-4e7ff8f90f-95522477
Crikey damning as a sample of Maori interviewees.
Why did he leave it so late into the 3 Waters legislative process?
If I were Mahuta I would be having a WTF chat with the Auditor General and Hipkins as House manager on a process level. Treasury at least should have warned government this was coming.
But even if you found an alternative to the structural relationship between state corporations and the citizen that causes distrust, would that improve trust?
Or is public trust needed in public corporations when we are far more customers than we are citizens? You get what you pay for not what you engage with. Not a fun conclusion but there's no structural reset on anyone's horizon.
No one appears willing to undo the Public Finance Act, or de-corporatise public utilities and services. On the contrary COVID appears to have accelerated it through health.
It looks more like a political statement rather than a formal report. Wonder how the criteria for success or failure is measured?
Hard to avoid the political lens.
Success for the Auditor General would surely be: some extra accountability clause in the 3 Waters bill, on top of the Select Committee ones already added in there.
For example each water entity required to front to Select Committee every year. Or something.
The AG letter to the speakers was last week,following his report to Parliament.
https://www.oag.parliament.nz/2022/accountability-concerns?utm_source=Subs&utm_medium=Subs&utm_campaign=OPC+letter
Essentially what the AG has persistently found is an absence of Transparency in reporting , no review method for inadequate reporting,follow the money trails are difficult to understand (especially from suppling funding without adequate measurement.
Higher risk's of corruption then are open etc.
A National party insider calls for Nats to scrap their tax policy, especially the top rate cut:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/its-time-for-to-74414030
Not a lone voice, and if Luxon has any sense (debatable) he'll stop giving Ardern the free gift of "you want to give the wealthiest everything and the poorest next to nothing".
Confident prediction for 2023: the policy will get dumped by National, or Luxon will. Or both.
The purpose of the National party is to redistribute wealth upwards (or at a minimum prevent its redistribution downwards). Without cutting top tax rates it will need to find other ways to do this. The options would include state asset sales, re-inflating the housing market by stripping out brightline tests and turning on the immigration tap), lowering wages that employers have to pay (immigration tap open, repealing Fair Pay legislation), and so on. Would it be enough though? I can see them delaying tax cuts as a promise for Term 2 after a Term 1 of cost-cutting austerity, i.e. the tax cuts become a reward for the well-off to compensate for the pain that was mostly felt by other people (the less well off) during the austerity phase.
True enough, but their very first purpose is to get elected. Promises can be broken afterwards.
I'm pretty sure that scrapping the 39% rate won't be a campaign commitment. (Whether they do it later is another question: "oh dear, we just had to give this concession to ACT, so sorry, we didn't want to" etc).
I think a bigger problem than the money maths for Luxon is this language, and his fading credibility …
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/christopher-luxon-s-full-state-of-the-nation-speech-as-he-vows-to-repeal-labour-s-tax-grab.html
So here's my commitment to you. When I become PM, I'll reverse Labour's tax grab. National will repeal each of these tax increases implemented by Labour.
No “wriggle room” as the journos love to say.
Some of our reactionary conservative, anti Māori, multiple property owning brethren will likely be bricking themselves over this ruling…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/479175/supreme-court-rules-in-favour-of-make-it-16-to-lower-voting-age
We probably need an upper age limit as well. In the category Two legs good, three legs bad.
Snowball in Animal Farm: "No animal shall drink alcohol. No animal shall sleep in a bed. Four legs good, two legs bad."
Sphinx to Oedipus: "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, three legs in the evening, and no legs at night?"
Lets not go through the whole debate for our purposes here in Open Mike.
Being non compos mentis likely affects few people’s ability to vote unless they are medically obviously not able to drag their arses to a booth, or get assistance with early voting. Those unaware of, or not on the non published roll however, are likely in greater numbers–women, debtors etc. Another pool of voters like the “off the grids” that should be enticed and supported to become involved in that basic level of democratic participation.
Age 16–18 should not be a barrier either, including some societal education and support if the legislation were to be enacted.
Debate is coming whether you want it or not to Parliament.
PM is signalling legislation will be introduced and it will be a conscience vote.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/479195/voting-age-16-law-to-be-drafted-requiring-three-quarters-of-mps-to-pass-ardern
That's just a chat between Chippie as House leader and Speaker.
Luxon is clear it's 18 for his team.
Then it will not happen:
To get to 92 (75% of parliament) the bill would need some of National to vote against party lines, that’s in addition to getting the vote of every other party.
Hard not to see this as a move to kick the can further down the road while appearing to be acting.
Lets extend that 16 years old parameter to drinking age and adult court age for those caught committing crime – what could possibly go wrong?????
They make everyone re-sit their drivers' license after 80, to make sure they're not drooling on the handbrake.
You could start with compulsory voter restrictions for everyone in rest home hospital-level care then to all with an EPOA and work backwards to 'can't put on their shoes'.
Great come back (Not) – FFS.
With the responsibility to vote goes IMO all other aspects of being an adult (18 in general terms in NZ). Let 16 years replace being of age appropriate for more "rights" (refer below link) ?? Or is voting at 16 age but other "adult" rights are not age suitable ??
How about those under 25 that are still dependant upon parents incomes to be eligible for an allowance, etc. Come on PM how about aligning 16 to the age for all "adult" age levels ??
https://www.studylink.govt.nz/products/a-z-products/student-allowance/2-parents.html
I am neither conservative, nor anti-Maori, nor property owning, and I think this is an idiotic development on two levels.
1. I oppose lowering the voting age, on the basis that 16 year olds (in school, and living at home) are more vulnerable to external influence. If we're going with taxation and representation, 8 year olds pay tax, and that is not an argument for 8 year olds voting. 18 is a somewhat arbitrary cut-off, sure, but then so is 16.
2. The Supreme Court is frankly violating the norms of parliamentary sovereignty here. This is not the USA, where courts make policy decisions all the time, and invent laws to justify their own biased nonsense. This is the sort of issue to be resolved via a proper debate within wider New Zealand, not a debate via an unelected and unaccountable judiciary imposing political decisions upon us. NZBORA was never intended to be that.
I don’t follow. The NZ Courts can only point out inconsistencies in legislation, AFAIK, and not dictate Parliament. They either show a clear path or an obstacle.
Correct. The Supreme Court is not violating anything. Parliament will respond and (very probably) the current law (age) will remain … for now.
But it is in the political arena, and like many issues in the "too hard basket" (marriage equality, abortion) it will eventually be taken out of the basket … and of course in years to come everyone will pretend it was never in there!
Decreeing that a voting age of 18 (in place since 1974) is inconsistent with NZBORA (in place since 1990) in 2022 is a nakedly political act on the part of the judiciary here.
It's a sign (along with the nonsense about vaccine mandates somehow breaching fundamental human rights) that NZBORA needs to go.
Huh?
Baby – bathwater
I cannot wait until Peters is no longer able to stand for parliament and we don't have to put up with this democracy munting bullshit.
https://twitter.com/ClintVSmith/status/1594476152877301761
Ruling out Labour is a dumb move on Winston's behalf.
He has always benefited from being able to go with either side, he has always said making statements about potential coalition partners before the votes are counted was stupid.
A lot of lefty's refuse to accept it but he has in the past got a load of votes from angry labour supporters, people who may want a labour govt but want a handbrake on labours social policies and that even if he didn't go with labour he'd also be a handbrake to the right in immigration and privatization.
By ruling one side out he's not gonna get the angry labour voters and many of the right wing voters he wants to court will blame him for putting labour in power in the first place.
Silly move. Playing both sides of the fence has always been his strength.
My hope is that he sucks as many right wing votes from nat/act as possible but only gets 4.7% of the vote and no electorate seat.
A lot of anti immigration/nationalist populists are bizarrely supporting act right because they don't seem to know that act is in favor of hyper immigration and privatization and foreign ownership. Winston should be able to steal those voters off act and hopefully not break 5% and a few % will make or break this election
imo any angry Labour voter would vote Green, not Winston Peters.
My Dad was a swing voter between NZF and Labour. He was rightly angry at Peters' betrayal with the election where he went with National after implying he would go with Labour. Vote Labour in the next few elections. Not sure how long for, but he loved Ardern so voted Labour in the last two. If he was fucked off with Labour I can't imagine him voting Green.
Neither can I when he has voted NZF in the past. I'm the opposite, I could never vote for NZF. I have voted Greens in the past.
My Dad was an intermittent NZF voter who would swing to Labour and back, I'm aware of the dynamic and issues.
As b points out below, Peters didn't rule out Labour, he's just playing the same old bullshit game.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/luxon-won-t-rule-out-nz-first-coalition-after-peters-says-no-to-current-labour-party/ar-AA14lh4t?cvid=789dada705e34a9aea9ab7b74b6c7e4e&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover
Of interest is cunning old Winston says" HE WONT WORK WITH CURRENT LABOUR PARTY"
after the election labour won't be the current labour party they'll be the newly elected labour government,thats more than enough wriggle room for the old northland tuna to slip through
thanks. That makes way more sense. The news the other day was behind the NZH paywall so I couldn't see what he was actually saying.
Unless Labour change all the people from the PM down they will very well be the same government, in their third term. The same people, the same government, no real change in terms of policy, or representation.
This is like pretending that each time John Key got another term it was a different National Party government. It wasn't.
Anyone can refuse to work with anyone, personally i don't think they should, but they all can lay down their priorities and rule out to vote with this or that person/party.
But i guess playing word games makes one feel better about knowing that NZFirst will not come to the aid of Labour should they need it. This next election is going to be so so messy.
However, the interviewer doubled down, and checked whether he was ruling out working with an Ardern-led government – and he claims he is.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nz-first-leader-winston-peters-would-he-work-again-with-labour/WJHT3DVJFNBW5FYG2SKKFTGZRE/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=nzh_fb&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2OWMAklt2SbS-Oi8QYY1g-kItOnlsykeWvkieGWd209lldqAOH9tQd0Is#Echobox=1668812817
Now, no one can weasel words like Winston – but this seems unusually definite, from him.
Oh OK ta,
Absolutely tragic news out of America… a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs.
Some are taking this as a reason for "hate speech" legislation.
I take it as a reason for proper gun control legislation.
https://twitter.com/roblogic_/status/1594506589418885120?s=20&t=Vh6CPTxJZbG-O8lKSXpJ6w
Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting i ruled the regulations of private weapons in the US out. That was babies being shot to pieces and it changed nothing. The political will is not there.
they'll defend their right to be murdered by their neighbours till the death
¿Por qué no los dos?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-springs-mass-shooting-club-q/
"…other violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and against transgender women."
Wasn't The Pulse nightclub incident also a gay nightclub, making the target in both incidents gay men?
Why do you think Biden added "…and against transgender women."?
Have there been similar targeted attacks against trans-identified males?
If this was a club for the alphabet community chances are that transwomen would very well have been present in a gay club as many of them are gay.
Yes, I understand that, but I'm pretty sure at the time they hadn't identified the victims as transgender, but gay men.
I've been looking the lists some have provided for Transgender Awareness Week and couldn't find that reference.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_for_being_transgender
For contrast.. the most ignored demographic..
https://twitter.com/seerutkchawla/status/1594304747447656451?s=20&t=cF1LXKe14X123QLHHCAgDw
The result of Ronald Reagan taking Mental Health out of Healthcare and putting it into 'community based care' which of course did not work.
This was a club how had weekly drag shows and such. You can be assured that that transwomen had been in the club, not sure if one of them got killed by the shooter.
Thanks. I still stupidly sometimes forget drag queens come under transgender now, rather than just a stage persona.
NY Times had a tribute article to most of the Pulse nightclub victims here:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/us/orlando-shooting-victims/jason-benjamin-josaphat
Realised that I was reading the addition "and transwomen" as carrying on from the comment about the Pulse nightclub.
I think it may have just been clumsy phrasing, or a quote not reported in full context.
However, I do think these statements need to be made with clear eyed accuracy. It does no-one any favours, if the harm is asserted without evidence or alternatively under-reported.
I could be wrong, but it's possible Biden was taking this opportunity to empathise with and express sympathy for members of minority communities who have been violently attacked. Maybe too 'woke' for some – politicians walk a fine line.
Consider:
He also lamented that the shooting joins other violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including [1:] the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and [2: attacks] against transgender women [as members of the LGBTQ community].
Why Biden specified "transgender women", instead of "transgender men" or "transgender people" is a mystery. It might make sense if transgender women are victims of violence more often than transgender people in toto, but I don't know if that's the case.
Quotes are from arkie's link @9.2 – the emphasis is mine.
There are a few lists maintained online:
One I linked t above:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_for_being_transgender
UK specific: https://kareningalasmith.com/2021/04/21/counting-dead-trans-people/
(The name might seem harsh, but the list was compiled after demands when the author was criticised after maintaining a list named Counting Dead Women.)
Wider scope: LGBT people:
ttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acts_of_violence_against_LGBT_people
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_violence_against_LGBT_people_in_the_United_States
I'm sure as with all such lists there are omissions. I believe its always necessary to put such statements as Biden's in context and perspective.
Context and perspective(s) are important – whether they’re "always necessary" for every statement is a matter for debate, but we all have our obsessions.
Reporting on these particular sentiments is a case in point – lamenting violent attacks on members of minority communities (an expression of sympathy and/or empathy for what some members of these communities go through?) is something that all decent, empathetic people could get behind, imho.
"Context and perspective(s) are important – whether they’re "always necessary" for every statement is a matter for debate, but we all have our obsessions."
I am concerned with this continual repetition of the vulnerability of transwomen in particular, not because expressions of concern are to be denied, but this automatic repetition has played a big part in legislative, policy and institutional changes that have significant impacts on society, but most particularly on women and girls.
So, yes, I approach all promoted comments regarding this with scrutiny.
"Reporting on these particular sentiments is a case in point – lamenting violent attacks on members of minority communities (an expression of sympathy and/or empathy for what some members of these communities go through?) is something that all decent, empathetic people could get behind, imho."
arkie chose that particular paragraph – without knowing the details – to repeat the narrative given above. That transgender women are fundamentally victims of hate. So, I questioned that certainty.
To draw immediate conclusions when so little is known, is not the act of empathy or decency either.
Imho, some will resist empathising with gay, lesbian and transgender people with every fibre of their being – won't matter to them how much time has passed or how much more is known.
Not Biden though – good for him.
https://pl.usembassy.gov/president_transgender_day/
I'm going to reply to this, in regards to Biden's remarks and because it is a necessary discussion given that we are currently looking at legislation that seeks to unequivocally and definitively provide a prosecutable recognition of "hate"
The recent attack on Club Q can be rightly called a hateful incident, but until more details are known it is premature to call it or even casually refer to it as a hate crime.
As further details come to light, (and if the perpetrator provides believable testimony regarding motivation), then this might be classed as a hate crime, but I am not aware that this is the case here.
It is important to maintain that distinction despite the inclination to make this assumption. Delaying that declaration until more is known respects the victims of the crime, by not reducing them to a message for political purpose, as Biden appeared to do.
(The fundmentalist pastor sounds like an idiot, and I would hope he is prosecuted under whatever laws apply for wherever he is.)
But Biden is the POTUS and his words carry immense authority and influence.
As mentioned, it is hard to tell whether the addition of "… and against transwomen" was an incomplete reference, or a knowledgeable recognition that amongst the victims were transwomen. But even that is a stretch.
What it appears to be, is the taking of an opportunity caused by a heinous incident, to promote the vulnerability not of transgender children, or transmen – but specifically transwomen.
Why do you think this group was singled out from the rest of the transgender community?
(When this message is promulgating unthinkingly and without evidence it sets the environment for the breaking of single-sex boundaries without question. And that is having significant impacts.)
That is why I respectfully and decisively hold the line on this narrative. The narrative – until it is confirmed – has nothing to do with the hateful crime committed.
Empathy, support and decency that can and should be extended to the victims and their loved ones without that premature label.
Whether or not this is a hate crime, and whether or not hate speech contributed to the mass murderer's ideation and actions, will be for others to determine.
I'm just pleased that Biden chose to lament this and other attacks that have resulted in the deaths of gay, lesbian and transgender people – his is an entirely appropriate response, imho.
I respect your reasons and need to "decisively hold the line on this narrative", just as I respect Biden for his empathetic 'narrative'.
Who could fail to feel sympathy and empathy for Daniel Aston's mother – you'd have to have a heart of stone.
Yep, hate-filled idiots – they’re everwhere. Good luck prosecuting them in some US states though – free speech etc.
@Drowsy M. Kram
""I always worried about it," she said. "He's a trans man and the trans community are really the biggest targets I can think about it right now.""
This mother faces the senseless and immediate loss of her child, and she should be supported, however her heartfelt fears are also not evidence of increased vulnerability.
That's what statistics are for, and statistics show otherwise.
This relentless narrative of persecution despite lack of evidence is not healthy for transgender people, especially those who have other well-being issues. Entwined with the familiar suicidal ideation, it's a catastrophe for many transgender people.
I believe the approach taken by Biden is a harmful one for all these reasons, but I guess it essentially comes down to one question:
Is is true?
If it is, then Biden and anyone else who joins is right to condemn.
The BBC have released details about the five victims:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63705862
Why would transgender people be any less persecuted than other minorities have been, and still are, for sexual orientation, race, etc.?
I think we've reached the point of 'agree to disagree'.
You will have your reasons for believing that there is a "lack of evidence" for the "persecution" of transgender people. We may never know if Daniel Aston would have agreed with you – all we have to go on for now are the heartfelt words of his bereaved mother.
Whether "suicidal ideation" is relevant to Aston's murder (or that of transgender woman Kelly Loving – thanks for the BBC link) is a matter of speculation. What is absolutely certain is that bullets were "not healthy" for Aston, Rump, Loving, Paugh, Green and several others at Club Q that night – rather, they were "a catastrophe".
@Drowsy M. Kram
"You will have your reasons for believing that there is a "lack of evidence" for the "persecution" of transgender people. "
The reason being, that there is none. If you are prepared to provide some then, go ahead. At present, in terms of assault and homicides transgender people are a fairly safe demographic.
That does not mean they are immune from violent acts, just that statistically they are not more likely than any other group to be the victim.
One of the researchers for the Counting Ourselves report repeats the persecution line:
"“Sexual violence is about power and control,” Jack Byrne, one of the ‘Counting Ourselves’ researchers and a trans man, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“If the world tells you that nobody loves and cares for you that puts huge levels of pressure on you and (increases your) vulnerability to be preyed upon.”
Why is the messaging that nobody loves you most often coming from advocates and allies?
If you get a chance look at the website and really see what hard data is provided.
https://countingourselves.nz/2018-survey-report/
"What is absolutely certain is that bullets were "not healthy" for Aston, Rump, Loving, Paugh, Green and several others at Club Q that night – rather, they were "a catastrophe"."
I don't know where the quotes are from.
Once more, the attack Club Q is rightly condemned. They may, or may not, get a credible motivation from the perpetrator. It is likely he has some grievance against homosexuals, but it is currently not known.
What is being discussed here, is Biden using the incident to repeat a narrative that has little evidence to support it. As you are so vehement that this was the right call, perhaps you will provide it.
To put into context. A triple murder trial concluded last week for a triple-homicide that took place in 2016.
The victims were a married, mixed race lesbian couple with an adopted teenage son.
The son had been shot,, the women stabbed and shot and attempts were made to burn their bodies.
Now, is this homicide:
1. Homophobic – with the son being caught up in the incident,
2. Misogynistic – with the son being caught up in the incident,
3. Race based – with the non-person of colour caught up in the incident,
4. Religious fervour – against same-sex marriage, etc.
The perpetrator was known to them, but not an acquaintance. This was a hateful crime – but was it a hate crime?
It seems not.
It appears that the women were killed because they were lesbians, but most specfically – they were lesbians that were involved in organising the annual lesbian MichFest and they maintained the single-sex admission criteria, despite pressure from transwomen activists over the years. The homicide happened AFTER the women gave up the battle, and withdrew their organisational labour resulting not in the admittance of transwomen to the festival, but the cessation of the festival altogether.
This strikes me as pure narcissistic rage that the outcome that had been sought had been thwarted. You can read details here.
The relevant part of this story, is that due to the accepted narrative of the vulnerability of transwomen, this convicted murderer has been, and continues to be held in a women's prison.
These decisions need to make sense, and be backed by robust data and evidence. But instead they are informed by such narratives as the one apparently spouted by Biden (though I acknowledge as president he might have had some intelligence that was not public).
These messages of persecution, are not benign.
@Molly – as I wrote @7:02 pm yesterday, I think we've reached the point of 'agree to disagree', as confirmed by your comment @10:35 pm, and my response here.
Re the start of this thread @9.2, I believe Biden's effort to empathise with and express sympathy for members of (minority) LGBT communities who have been victimised (and their loved ones), by way of lamenting the murderous attack on people at Club Q, is good.
You would exclude transgender people ("Drop the T"?) from any list of individuals/groups who/that have been persecuted for their behaviour, but persecuted some have been, consistent with the links below and with my halting efforts to empathise with trans people.
The transgender community is composed of people – just human, like you and me, and as such more or less susceptible to harrassment, discrimination and even persecution.
Re "the persecution line", persecution is not necessarily a statistical phenomenon – what does 'persecution' mean to you?
You describe my opinion of Biden's 'use' of "the incident" as "vehement" (I would prefer 'firm', naturally), but is it really any more vehement than yours? After all, except for the purposes of quoting, I've avoided phrases such as "pure narcissistic rage" and words like "catastrophe" and "spouted" – phrases and words that betray perhaps a trace of fervour on your part. Not that there's anything wrong with a bit of earnest vehemence/fervour/firmness now and then, imho.
I sincerely hope that Kiwis engaged in the spiralling 'gender wars' (for want of a better term) can negotiate an armistice – I'd feel uneasy if DeSantis-style rhetoric ever became mainstream in NZ.
Aotearoa New Zealand is where woke goes to die!??
@Drowsy M Kram
Thank you for taking the time to provide links.
You have however, provided examples of the narrative not harm. A few of your more contemporary links conflate a group of demographics together, including women and so is talking about violence experienced by everybody but straight men without a declared gender identity.
There are countries where persecution of gay and transgender people is violent and supported/perpetuated by authorities.
Biden's USA is not one of them,
Nor is NZ .
Investigate for yourself the court appearances or records of assault in our media.
Iraq continues to execute homosexuals, but provides free full gender reassignment surgery.
Is that a crime against the LGBTQ+, or will you at least concede that this is an extreme form of gay conversion therapy?
Your selective misrepresentation (by reuse out of context) of my word choice, continued references to tone, and my failure to emphathise studiously avoids the content of what I am saying.
You provided no statistical evidence of harm, you also do not engage in the points put forward for discussion.
Human empathy, and dignity is based is truth.
Your approach creates an environment where truth is willfully discarded.
The shooter in Colorado was stopped by an unarmed veteran and a transwoman, not a drag queen as reported in NYT
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/colorado-springs-club-q-hero-gunman-b2230055.html
As to the question:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aba6910 (my bold)
Thanks arkie (@11:29 am)
@Molly, I've read all your comments in this thread – I’m simply expressing my opinion about Biden's position as reported @9.2.
For the record, I vehemently deny your accusation of "continued references to tone".
I mentioned sympathy/empathy in comments by way of explanation. I regret that you feel I was suggesting that you failed to “emphathise” with victims of the Club Q shooting – that was not my intent. But those idiot pastors in Idaho and Texas, eh?
On that we can agree.
On that we must agree to disagree, and I'm sorry you feel this way.
Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the 2018 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, has spoken to the harm of "manufactured hysteria" in the US – Biden's expression of sympathy/empathy for the Club Q shooting victims, and their loved ones, won't resonate with everyone, but it struck a chord with me – and hopefully not only me.
Oops, 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
@arkie
Your link – once again – relates to an amalgamation of sexual orientatin and gender identity.
The stats that have been compiled by transgender allies and often referenced on Trans Remembrance Day are here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_for_being_transgender
Every death a tragedy, but few in number no matter how you look at it.
However, let's take a brief look..
Between the years 2004-2019 32 victtms recorded worldwide.
During the same period:
Between 2004 and 2019, there have been 139 victims under the age of 15 in New Zealand alone
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/the-homicide-report/index.html
Do we hold a Child Remembrance Day?
@Drowsy M.Kram
Biden's “expression of sympathy” was coupled with a narrative that you continually fail to substantiate even while admiring it. It appears that your verification method is someone nice said something nice, so it must be true. You post examples of further narrative to support other narrative, not evidence of harm for the specific group of transgender women.
An example is the entirety of your last link:
That quote is only the start – the link also contains a 7 minute audio file of an interview with Wolf.
@Molly – substantiating this 'narrative' that you find so objectionable is on Biden. I can and do appreciate his stance, as reported @9.2, for the sympathy, empathy and compassion it shows.
I also have compassion for adults and children who strive (and struggle, for any number of reasons) to find their way in the world (those in the US more than some).
If you can’t see the evidence of harm to transgender women, then we will probably continue to talk past each other.
@Drowsy M.Kram
A plugin must've stopped the video from appearing, because all I had was the paragraph, so that makes sense.
We are not talking past each other. You have continued to support the narrative that Biden promulgated that transgender women are vulnerable to violence. You have been given eight opportunities to provide evidence of this claim, and failed to do so.
Conversely, I have provided evidence to you of the recorded violence against transgender people, that has been compiled by those who consider this recording (as I do) important.
It shows a different reality. One you won’t even acknowledge. Why?
Biden could have expressed sympathy for the victims, without creating a narrative when information was not available to support it.
Like the mayor of Colorado Springs took care to say after the shooting:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/colorado-lgbtq-club-shooting-suspect-held-murder-hate/story?id=93776669
The Federal Office was equally circumspect:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/21/us/anderson-lee-aldrich-colorado-springs-shooting-suspect/index.html
To me this is respectful, empathetic and provides dignity to victims, survivors and loved ones. When information is not yet available, you don't make assumptions.
By the by, when you were unsuccessfully looking for links of evidence of harm, and had to resort to links of narratives of harm, did it occur to you that statements such as Biden's have created an instant assertion that transwomen are a vulnerable minority, even though you have been unable to find evidence of this?
It’s a reaction that has been cultivated by links such as those you have provided.
Now, if transwomen are considered even more vulnerable than dead children in NZ, what impact does that have on public discussion, legislation and policy?
Well, perhaps it means that women who request confirmation that single-sex spaces, provisions, services etc remain single-sex are considered obsessive bigots for putting restrictions on the demands of transwomen to be included – because everybody "knows" how vulnerable transgender women are.
It’s not an autoplay audio file. Try clicking on the circled triangle, in the red-orange rectangle containing the text “LISTEN NOW”, immediately to the right of the headline.
@Molly – imho we are, in that this exchange has exposed "an unbridgeable gulf between their [our] respective perceptions".
Here is the relevant quote reporting Biden's response (see @9.2)
The report in the link @9.2 continues with an actual Biden quote:
You perceived Biden's reported response as constituting a 'narrative' (formulated by you) "that transgender women are vulnerable to violence", whereas I perceived "Biden was taking this opportunity to empathise with and express sympathy for members of minority communities who have been violently attacked." (see @9.2.1.2)
Since we disagree on Biden's intent (each seeing what we want to see), I hope (for a third time) that we can agree to disagree. Perhaps consider that this exchange would have been briefer but for the use of the term "transgender women" in the report excerpt @9.2.
Re your narrative, the mass murder at Club Q shows trans women are vulnerable to violence, and they are not unique in this regard.
@Drowsy M. Kram
(Don't get an orange rectangle – just white space)
Ok. I saw within the article I provided a full quote, so agree that arkie's original comment was incomplete and/or paraphrased. This has been acknowledged more than once.
Tragically, since we started this conversation another multiple shooting has been reported. The gun violence remains a scourge of the US.
The points you keep missing are:
4, Despite looking, you couldn't find any additions to the link I provided which makes transwomen a particularly safe demographic. Much safer than children. (You no doubt came across some NZ incidents? Do you want to post?)
Everyone is vulnerable to a bullet from a gun, or senseless violence, so why are transwomen continually referred to as especially vulnerable – without evidence of veracity? This sentence doesn't really make sense.
You refuse to recognise this storytelling has and continues to have an impact on discussions around women's right's and single sex spaces.
I've tried enough now to get you to understand the wider ramifications of a Pavlov type response.
I'm finished. Carry on if you need to.
(Oh, and feel free to post the one NZ transwoman murder while you're at it. I'm sure it would've come up in your searches.)
@Molly – I don't believe that Biden's stance, as reported @9.2, is evidence that Biden promugated the narrative that transgender women are vulnerable to violence – that’s not how I read it.
Most people, including transgender people, have probably been vulnerable to violence at some time in the their life.
After reading the full text of Biden's (empathetic and statesman-like, imho) statement on 20 November 2022, I now agree with you that it indicates he believes transgender women are vulnerable to violence. Biden’s focus on the LGBTQI+ community is entirely appropriate in context – as for why he devoted a whole sentence to transgender women, “the epidemic of violence and murder” is a clue.
Of course, there’s no pleasing some people. Transgender women and dying – damned if you do and damned if you don’t
First I've heard of this particular refusal of mine – talk about “a Pavlov type response.” Personally I would have avoided using “storytelling” as a pejorative so soon after the Club Q attack. Btw, I support women's rights and single sex spaces – don't know about Jill and Joe Biden.
@Drowsy M. Kram
Thank you for posting three links to statistics regarding the violence experienced by transgender people.
Two actually come from the same source, and do note the high incidence of harm to transgender women. The further analysis that they link to – which applies to your third link about gun violence – shows that they are highly represented in other groups that make them (along with others in the group) exposed to situations where violence can occur.
https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-02/Transgender_infographic_508_0.pdf
eg. 72% were involved in sex work,
65% had been homeless, 61% had disabilities etc.
It is not one factor in isolation here.
You cannot assume that transgender women are vulnerable because of their gender identity when so many other significant factors are in play. That is not to say that it is NOT a factor, just that the impact of it has to be determined to state with confidence that it was the primary factor.
A quick search on Google Scholar pulled up this study based on prostitutes translates quite closely to the figures of harm you posted, when you account for the 72% of transgender women involved in prostitution:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9698636/
If we are talking about job harm, then prostitution has to be one of the most vulnerable. Is it any wonder that those within it have higher rates of assault and violence?
"Personally I would have avoided using “storytelling” as a pejorative so soon after the Club Q attack.
Yeah, I know. My word choice is not to your taste. I'll live with the criticism. Your critique of the use of "narcissistic rage" when discussing the following makes your vocabulary advice less than persuasive:
It is taken you over ten attempts to provide statistics to back up your assertion that transwomen are a particularly vulnerable group. And those statistics are not evidence of that fact, because of the other factors.
So, when I say you have a Pavlov response, it is because you only sought out the evidence after many requests, and still maintain this is the right sequence. (We'll ignore the fact that the quality provided is still low).
"Btw, I support women's rights and single sex spaces"
These days, due to language appropriation and legislative, policy and guideline changes, that sentence means very little in isolation.
For any diehards or insomniacs still following this conversation, an article with some good links and a good summation paragraph:
https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-how-many-trans-people-murdered-uk
@Molly, how about this more long-winded sentence?
Open to brief alternatives that aren't hostile to the above groups.
@Drowsy M. Kram
"I support women's and transgender women's rights, and spaces exclusively for the use of each of the following: women, transgender men, transgender women, and men."
Right, it appears that after skipping over relevant points we've now made the leap to a different topic. Can do, but with this proviso – you shouldn't really care about whether I think you support women's rights or not.
You – and I – should just be working towards clearly explaining our own views, and attempting to understand the other's position. We don't need labels to do this.
With that in mind, a couple of follow up questions:
Single-sex facilities, services, support services, sports, women's organisations, prison estate, awards, scholarships, language specific to each group?
Interestingly, most women's right advocates have no problem accommodating trans identified women of any type in their single-sex spaces.
(Men – on the other hand – unanimously want trans identified men out of their spaces, and into women's.)
Women who have suggested third spaces to accommodate these men have been called transphobic, bigoted, and TERVEN – so welcome to the club.
Can you see how this solution has additional problems?
The difficulty with your stated position, is not that it wouldn’t be supported by women who want to retain single-se spaces, it is the option that is most often and consistently refused by transgender people.
Many (or the loudest) don’t want a third option, (or I’m guessing, a fourth) unless it is the only option (ie. unisex provision only). Many (OTL) want only admittance into the single-sex space to which they do not belong (for a myriad of reasons).
Now, a solution that does not guarantee safety (- but that guarantee is impossible to give) – is that men, collectively ensure that trans identified men are safe in their single-sex spaces.
No boundary breaking required.
(Numbering of questions autocorrected to irrelevance. Leaving it, as not important).
@Molly – please be gentle. You were the first to mention women's rights and single sex spaces in this thread.
Was thinking public loos, changing rooms/showers – maybe also in private businesses such as gyms. There are (were?) some women-only gyms in Palmy. Yes, prison cells too – hadn't thought of them.
Yes – can't please everyone, but (cost aside) this might displease the least, although it would make transgender people more visible, which is probably not what many of them want – tricky.
It's good that most women's rights advocates have no problem accommodating transgender men of any type in their single-sex spaces, but (to my mind) this is more about whether even a small number of woman using a single-sex space might have a problem. If it turned out that none did, then that would simplify things – only third spaces (for transgender women) would be needed.
Gosh – all men? That's depressing. Not me though – third spaces for transgender women would be fine as far as I'm concerned.
Don't know how easy/financially feasible the provision of third spaces would be – imho some accommodation is required. What might the alternative(s) be – to 'unmake' transgender women, or otherwise fix them (and men) so that only one space is required? Is this a realistic option, given men’s propensity for violence, and the idea that men unanimously want transgender women out of their spaces?
Since you raised the issue of practicality in 3, might I suggest that the idea of all men in their single sex spaces being non-violent towards transgender women seems more like a lovely dream than an alternative solution – implementation without the necessary behaviour modification could increase the incidence of assaults on transgender women. Safer to put men and transgender women in separate cages, imho.
Otoh, if you have a practical plan to modify behaviour en masse, how about rolling it out first in Russia/Ukraine before moving on to war zones closer to home.
@Drowsy M Kram
I know you are unlikely to believe it, but I am being gentle, as best I can. If you look back, I try not to ascribe motives or intentions, but make the assumption that perhaps the other person in the conversation has not considered, or does not know, and work towards that. It can come across as abrupt, where clarity is intended. I think there also may be an expectation of a different style of engagement because of my female name. This approach seems to be more common and accepted in males.
That said. I do genuinely appreciate you continuing this exchange.
The single-sex spaces was introduced, because the conversation is affected by an assumption that transwomen are vulnerable and need to be accommodated in women's single-sex spaces for that reason.
You are correct about the unanimous – it was a left over adjective from an edit – and by the time I noticed it, the edit had gone. I know there are men who would support trans identified men in their spaces. I'd even go further and say there are those that would ensure their safety and comfort while in them.
It's interesting that you had only considered single-sex spaces to refer to facilities for changing and toileting. Transwomen have demanded and been admitted to breastfeeding forums, pregnancy support groups, women's organisations, women's clubs – the list goes on. The impacts range from mild to significant, but there is always an impact.
There is so much in regards to facilities that should be considered and when I was trying to organise my own thoughts, I wrote a series of threads on Twitter (… I know..). I'll link them to text here so they don't take up so much space. I'd probably be able to write them more clearly now, but they are a good record of what and how I think.
They began mostly in response to the constant accusation that keeping single-sex spaces was akin to claiming all transwomen are predatory:
Safeguarding and risk assessment
The vulnerability of trans identified males
Understanding women's differences
The second was when I undertook the online research for statistics that I asked you to do. I will endeavour to read all links provided to me in conversations, after someone has taken the time to do so, but I also think that self-discovery of information is much more persuasive then me providing links for which the source or the author is then condemned without discussion of content.
On the topic of women's rights and gender ideology, there are very few "left-wing" publications that accurately report concerns, and give space to women's rights advocates – unless they include men.
In regards to additional spaces, it is the safest environments that are most likely to be able to afford accommodation in third spaces. When government and councils are strapped for resources, this provision (that is fundamentally unnecessary – especially if all they do is "want to pee") is a waste of resources.
And yes, I did do a thread on toilet design too.
"It's good that most women's rights advocates have no problem accommodating transgender men of any type in their single-sex spaces, but (to my mind) this is more about whether even a small number of woman using a single-sex space might have a problem. If it turned out that none did, then that would simplify things – only third spaces (for transgender women) would be needed."
That's an interesting perspective. Given that many women have indicated a problem with trans-identified men using their spaces, and they have been ignored and accused of transphobia, bigotry and hatred, your concession to women who might be concerned about other women (with a gender identity) using single-sex spaces is one that hasn't been offered many times before.
Moving on to prisons, which you had not given much thought to. In NZ's prison estate, there are no official published statistics, and though people have tried to do OIR, there has been some difficulty in ascertaining how accurate they are.
Submissions for the amendments for the BDMRR bill asked for clarity on the how single-sex spaces would be ensured, and were told that there was no impact. This was said, knowing that single-sex spaces had already been breached, and the concerns around spaces such as prisons, had already been realised:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/112432880/transgender-prisoner-investigated-for-sexual-assault-behind-bars
While the discussion was taking place the NZ media published opinion pieces and narratives around the vulnerability of transwomen, and this does do much to derail the concerns of women when they are raised.
"Since you raised the issue of practicality in 3, might I suggest that the idea of all men in their single sex spaces being non-violent towards transgender women seems more like a lovely dream than an alternative solution – implementation without the necessary behaviour modification could increase the incidence of assaults on transgender women. Safer to put men and transgender women in separate cages, imho."
Cages? I suspect you are talking specifically about prisons here, rather than toilet facilities, or other single-sex spaces. Like any instance where people are confined involuntarily, it requires a different consideration, I agree.
I have several times on this platform posted a link to a facility that has been in place in the LA County Jail system, that not only caters to transgender identified men, but homosexual men that are at elevated risk. There are other vulnerable males in the prison system that could also benefit from separation, but this example is one that shows a working solution:
https://youtu.be/2thDt4twxww
Any government that imprisons their citizens, should also ensure their safety while imprisoned, and such allocation of resources seems necessary to me. So neither impractical or financially wasteful in this particular instance.
Otoh, if you have a practical plan to modify behaviour en masse, how about rolling it out first in Russia/Ukraine before moving on to war zones closer to home.
I don't really understand what you are saying here. Unless, you thought that when I wrote of practical considerations and financial costs – it applied to all single sex spaces.
What is important, is that solutions are found that do not assume that because women's single-sex spaces are a safeguarding and privacy measure that works for women, that women's spaces are therefore the safest place to put men.
There's an article in the NYT with a first hand account from someone at Club Q;
https://archive.ph/L1sA1
The person who committed the crime identified as 'Non binary' with 'they/them' pronouns.
Question: did they do that to wriggle out of a hate crime? And if so can we assume that men would and will appropriate a trans identity in order to receive a better and lesser punishment, or instead of being locked up in a male prison will get transferred to a female prison, or to just get out of a hate crime that they committed. And Just a few hours later 10 people were being gunned down by another disgruntled person in a shop.
Sadness everywhere.
Because being a self-loathing non binary person means it can't possibly be hate crime.
And besides, the killings will continue until you do what we want.
https://twitter.com/abughazalehkat/status/1595225986215383040
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/23/2137984/-The-Q-Club-mass-shooter-is-trolling-he-s-a-homophobic-man-according-to-those-who-know-him
The question however stands, are men – criminal men, in this case a mass murderer claiming a trans identity to get a get out of jail card?
If so, then it would be truly despicable. But that too was already foretold by those that quite a few lefties would call 'terf' or 'bigot' or 'phobe' or even just 'cassandra'. That wimpy little criminal penis havers would do exactly that to get locked in the female prisons, cause 'they / them' or 'she/her'. Or to get a a lower sentence. Cause just because the dude wanted to do the crime does not mean he wants to do the time.
.
Given that I consider non-binary to be a nonsense, I can't claim to accept this as a pertinent fact.
Do I suspect they (or their lawyers) considered doing so, in order to have lesser punitive action from the prosecutors and justice system? Yes, I suspect so.
However, under current legislation and guidance, there is no way either to discount or confirm that suspicion. The deciding factor is the self-declaration. The problem was foreseen, identified and ignored. This is just another iteration.
The victims of the crime, those killed, injured and all those who care for them, need to have a justice system that works equitably for everyone, regardless of sex, race, disability, religious reasons, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Any death from this random violence is a tragedy. In terms of justice, it should be neither lessened nor elevated by the victims protected characteristics, but treated as diligently as possible. I'm not supportive of this two tier empathy system that seems to develop alongside hate legislation.
Grieving for the development of a world view where such acts of violence is seen as an answer.
His conservative p-head pron star father is relieved he isn't gay.
Little wonder the killer turned out the way he did.
https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1595519454900805649
https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/im-sorry-i-let-my-son-down-father-of-accused-colorado-club-shooter-speaks-out/509-6c4ad66e-35ef-41a5-9255-bca31cea3a73
Well, that is what self id is all about. Pretending to not be a thing.
"Pretending"!
It is what they know to be true. Says so, in the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationship Registration Bill.
Expecting words to have literal meanings is so Boomer of you, Sabine.
sadly to young to be a boomer……i am the generation of their children lol
Doesn't matter… if you identify as a Boomer…
The information coming out about the shooter's life is revealing a very dysfunctional family, and chaotic upbringing.
Why doesn’t Winston just rejoin National, and be done with it?
This is a rhetorical question, right, and no one needs to answer it, yes?
The return of the wild goose. I can hear it honking. Winston returns to the flock and is welcomed, forgiven, and installed as leader to the delight of the faithful who held to the tale of the Second Coming.
"The centre cannot hold……." Yeats had it, just a century late.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
Because his Party does not need National, they need him. That is the joy of MMP.