Open mike 21/09/2013

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, September 21st, 2013 - 249 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

249 comments on “Open mike 21/09/2013 ”

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  1. phillip ure 1
    21 September 2013 at 9:05 am

    americas’ cup..!..oh no..!

    ..i can’t stand it..!

    ..even more of martin ‘i’m lost for words’ tasker..?

    ..aarrgghh!!!

    phillip ure

    • karol 1.1
      21 September 2013 at 9:09 am

      Who cares? This rich man’s sport is something I avoid in the MSM.

      • phillip ure 1.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 9:51 am

        i care..the bumbling/inarticulate ineptitude of the tasker..(the ‘statler’ of sports’-commentary..)..

        ..stresses me out..

        ..and as for ‘rich mans’ sport’..?

        ..how is soccer/football etc. not ‘a rich mans’ sport’..?

        ..and as for funding of sports..?

        ..i am all for ‘rich men’ taking up that role..

        ..and for those leeching sports to stop sucking up the mindblowing amount of tax-revenue that they do..

        (n.b..i had a sports byepass @ birth..rugby etc. bores me rigid…

        ..but i could go a go on one of those boats..

        ..and martin tasker alone deserves/screams for..commentary on his woeful attempts..

        ..at..commentary..

        ..that tasker is even there..should make us all ‘care’..

        phillip ure..

        ..

      • miravox 1.1.2
        21 September 2013 at 11:09 pm

        “Who cares? “

        I do. There’s public investment in this. It might not be the most cost effective way to show case the kind of NZ skill but it means more jobs of NZ companies beyond extracting commodities from the environment and the creates the prospect of a jobs growth in NZ through tech, boat building, events and related services.

        It was always a high risk investment and I’m not sure it was a good investment – but seeing as it’s happening, I care.

      • Populuxe1 1.1.3
        22 September 2013 at 1:10 am

        Except that in New Zealand it really isn’t that much of a “rich man’s sport” because the sea is easily accessable and there are a number of public and club programmes that encourage it, particularly at school level. Or is this another attack of intellectual snobbery despite the fact that many people who enjoy watching the races on the telly are of humble means themselves?

        • phillip ure 1.1.3.1
          22 September 2013 at 7:44 am

          @ populuxe..

          “..Except that in New Zealand it really isn’t that much of a “rich man’s sport” because the sea is easily accessable and there are a number of public and club programmes that encourage it..”

          ..mm!!..tell that to the kids in sth ak..eh..?

          ..and it is so ‘white’..isn’t it..?

          ..you almost need shades..

          ..phillip ure..

        • karol 1.1.3.2
          22 September 2013 at 7:47 am

          “Intellectual snobbery”? I know more “intellectuals” or academics who support the America’s cup than don’t.

          At the America’s Cup level it is all about wealth – access to the better designed boats etc.

          I know at a weekly club level it is a far more accessible sport, especially at a small boat level. Have whanau who are have been well into it most of their lives.

          The professionalisation of too many sports is a turn off. It has become more about money than grass roots participation. The latter still happens, of course, but it has become relatively neglected – the secondary and more marginal aspect of sports. Once the dominant interst in sports was at the grass roots level.

        • felix 1.1.3.3
          22 September 2013 at 8:49 pm

          Yeah, who can’t afford a boat?

          No-one Pop has ever met, apparently.

          FFS.

    • millsy 1.2
      21 September 2013 at 1:28 pm

      You heard it here first:

      Oracle will win the next 5 races and retain the America’s Cup.

  2. David H 2
    21 September 2013 at 9:10 am

    Yeah but how many more ways can the bloody yanks find to delay the inevitable ?

    • Paul 2.1
      21 September 2013 at 9:17 am

      Who cares?

      • North 2.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 9:33 am

        What I’ve come to care about in the deepest way is seeing and hearing excellently turned out and coiffed upper-middle class ladies repeatedly issuing – “I’m gutted, really gutted………” – when successive races fail to deliver the Americas Cup to Westhaven. OMG. And the fucking tears (???)

        This is intolerable. Something really must be done !

        I remain, yours……..

    • bad12 2.2
      21 September 2013 at 9:26 am

      Lolz i am actually having a good old chortle about the drama, here i was thinking that that was a nifty bit of sailing from Dean Barker and His crew,

      Next minute poor old Martin T is sobbing into the microphone over the until today unknown time limit…

  3. Sanctuary 3
    21 September 2013 at 9:13 am

    I see the sewer master and his trolls are throwing all sorts of desperate smears at David Cunliffe. I guess that internal polling is looking really ugly for the Nats.

  4. Paul 4
    21 September 2013 at 9:59 am

    Another who cares ?
    The Herald is such a toadying little rag, isn’t it?
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11128076
    “Prime Minister John Key and his family arrived at Balmoral Castle early this morning for a weekend visit with the Queen and other members of the Royal Family.”

    • yeshe 4.1
      21 September 2013 at 11:37 am

      please, please, please, your madge, make shonkey try out a kilt for outdoors wear ! please ….

      • Greywarbler 4.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 1:05 pm

        yeshe +1
        And while he is at it, what about finding a suitable heraldic coat of arms/shield design for himself. A choice of your funny face icon for the description of the most appropriate design!

        • Rhinocrates 4.1.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 1:58 pm

          Arms: a peacock, rampant on a field of or. Crest: a conical helm bearing the letter “D”. Supporters: a penguin and Moby Dick. Motto: Vendor.

          • Greywarbler 4.1.1.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 2:15 pm

            For those who aren’t as advanced as rhino –
            or is gold and indicates generosity and elevation of the mind (in a Key coat of arms this must be regarded as a noble, asperashional slogan.
            Other colours/designs – see here http://www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm

            Rhino has set a high standard!!

            • Rhinocrates 4.1.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2013 at 2:21 pm

              Or – gold, can represent his greed, but is also painted as yellow, which would also be appropriate. 🙂

            • yeshe 4.1.1.1.1.2
              21 September 2013 at 5:12 pm

              It seems a castle can be used as a symbol of protection, and a Chimera can be used, meaning “Impossible or difficult to believe”.

              Thus my suggestion is an outline of the Kim Dotcom mansion/castle, with a rampant Chimera.

              Motto: “I know you know”

              Colour just has to be red.

              Crest: a pointing finger.

          • Rhinocrates 4.1.1.1.2
            21 September 2013 at 2:19 pm

            Actually, this could be fun… for Jones,

            Arms: a phallus, erect on a field of azure (blue, as in movies). Crest: of latex (hopefully). Supporters: absent. Motto: Tutum Non Opus (Not Safe For Work)

      • Tim 4.1.2
        21 September 2013 at 2:02 pm

        no please – I already know! Knock-kneed – muddle-age flab dressed up in the nicest way that even his loyal-to-the-end-cos there’s-a-mill-or-two-hanging-on-it-woifey hangs in there for.
        Some images – we really should be protected from – perhaps even by a nenny-State.
        I feel sorry for the DPS sometimes – but I just have to wonder whether the requoimint for recruiting isn’t an IQ so much s a TQ (thickness quotient).
        Sickem bois!

    • Clement Pinto 4.2
      21 September 2013 at 2:41 pm

      If the Royal couple very graciously gave their loyal subject Key the high honour of changing the Royal baby’s poo nappy, now THAT would be some news!

  5. bad12 5
    21 September 2013 at 10:00 am

    Who said this…

    ”Although I began my time here when the Government was dismantling the underpinning of the Welfare State, I leave here in the firm belief the the answer to that is not to continue to re-instate what cannot survive the turning of a political tide”

    A hint???, the party that built the Welfare State might have more than a few members in the Parliament who have not the stomach nor the honor necessary to defend it, obviously more than a couple of them need find something else to do other than try and ‘sell’ us their twisted Neo-phillosophy…

    • Jenny Kirk 5.2
      21 September 2013 at 4:08 pm

      Bad12 @5 – you are being unfair in not putting Lianne Dalziel’s quote into its context. She was commenting on how easy it is for a Tory government to undo the achievements of assisting people from a Labour government. Just as we’ve watched Key’s government dismantling many of the achievements of the Clark government.

      Dalziel went on to say :

      “It is debilitating to any Government to have to spend its first term in office fixing what has been done.”
      ” The solution is to build a resilient nation, a nation of communities that are resilient to the ebb and flow of political change, by becoming more self-reliant and self-sufficient but also resilient to the emergent challenges that we can no longer predict with any certainty. ”
      “From welfare State to resilient nation is how I describe my journey of discovery. ………And resilience is not strength in the face of adversity……….it is the capacity to plan and prepare for, absorb, recover from, and adapt to the consequences of an adverse event.”

      And she was suggesting that there may be other ways to create a society which is strong, looks after its people, and that maybe new thinking is needed by people in authority to achieve this.

      “It is also about the capacity to co-create a new normal.”

      • yeshe 5.2.1
        21 September 2013 at 5:02 pm

        Great correction, Jenny. Such a tragedy she is not around to be an inspirational and invigorating minister in this new Labour Govt. but surely and sorely, Christchurch needs her skills. She is one of our brightest and best, imho.

        • Colonial Viper 5.2.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 5:08 pm

          Dalziel has understood it.

          For instance Labour getting greedy and making TVNZ fully commercial, but protecting it with a flimsy charter and creating the public broadcaster Ch 7, which National defunds and removes at the click of their fingers and makes go away forever, is a useless approach to left leadership and governing.

          The NATs can take apart in 18 months what it takes Labour 3 years to implement.

          I’d be very interested in what detailed thinking she has done around these concepts.

        • Chooky 5.2.1.2
          21 September 2013 at 5:48 pm

          +1 yeshe

      • phillip ure 5.2.2
        21 September 2013 at 7:01 pm

        could dalziels’ attitude/’wisdoms’ be summed up as ‘arbeit macht frei’…?

        ..phillip ure..

      • bad12 5.2.3
        21 September 2013 at 8:18 pm

        Nice protective comment Jenny Kirk its all i would expect from you, seems pretty clear to me what Dalziel was saying without needing an interpreter,

        Hers is pretty much a cleverer interpretation of David Shearers ‘painter on the roof’, seems to me she was talking directly at and about beneficiaries…

        • yeshe 5.2.3.1
          21 September 2013 at 8:34 pm

          but your editing of her speech shd get you a job at Fairfax any time you wish it. disingenuous at best, bad 12

          • bad12 5.2.3.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 9:47 pm

            Editing of Her speech yeshe???, did She or did She not use those very words, well the answer to that is She did,

            Then with a metaphorical wipe of Her brow She goes on to say how debilitating it is to have to spend all that time putting back together what the Tories have wrecked,

            She leaves ‘there’ with the firm belief that the answer is not to continue to re-instate what cannot survive the turning of the political tide,

            SO, in essence She is of the firm belief that every time National kick another brick out of the wall of the Welfare State Labour should just wave the white flag,

            Even has a little plug for the Bene’s being more self reliant, nice nod to ACT philosophy that, and like i said above Mumbai slums are vibrant places of self reliance, trouble is tho it’s damn illegal to scavenge at the tip here in New Zealand,

        • karol 5.2.3.2
          21 September 2013 at 8:56 pm

          II don’t think it was that. But it seems to me Dalziel’s given up on rebuilding social security, because of the way it has been damaged by successive governments.

          I think having a base of resilient communities of people willing to stand up for their needs and rights, is a necessary base for rebuilding and maintaining a fair society with strong social security provisions.

        • Jenny Kirk 5.2.3.3
          21 September 2013 at 9:46 pm

          That’s a patronising comment about myself who you don’t know, Bad12 – “all i would expect from you” and even more patronising to be likening Dalziel’s comments as being similar Shearer’s imaginery “painter on the roof “.
          Have you really read and understood what Dalziel was saying ?
          Shearer was talking about a made-up scenario designed to attract the bigots (rightwing and leftwing).
          Dalziel talked about a REAL place – Aranui – “… a place that has truly come into its own, sparked off by two significant Labour Government initiatives ………….” She said the Government at that time did not make what happened in Aranui happen. The Government was the facilitator or the enabler for the community, which led the way. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Government, the council, and the community, which paved the way for true partnership. The approach was based on the community’s strengths, not on its needs…..” and she went on to say “If we look at the strong base that Aranui built on the back of the housing and social development initiatives, maybe it is time to start thinking about how it could become its own landlord as a community, providing income for its own community development and providing a source of local work.”

          I interpret Dalziel’s words to mean – providing a community with the support and wherewithal to go forward in its own direction will give that community the strength to withstand whatever adverse events might come its way in the future. And maybe the support and wherewithal has to continue for a reasonable length of time to make sure the strength is built upon and becomes rock solid.

          That’s not wishy-washy stuff, nor is it telling beneficiaries to get off their butts. Its about looking at how people might work together in a community to empower each other and themselves and providing the necessary to enable that to happen. Its grassroots stuff – not the usual trickle-down from government – telling people here’s what we think you need.

          • bad12 5.2.3.3.1
            21 September 2013 at 10:09 pm

            Yes blah blah blah, that part of the speech is miles away from where Dalziel talked of Aranui, after Aranui comes a whole lot of stuff along with thank you’s etc etc,

            So i do not take the attack on the welfare system from Dalziel to be linked in any way to the Aranui part of the speech, but if you choose to, good for you that is your right to interpret the speech in any way you see fit,

            The only way that Welfare State cannot survive the ‘turning of the political tide’ as Dalziel puts it is if the Party that built that Welfare State has decided to be the turncoats who allow that political tide to turn in the first place,

            ”Although i began my time here when the Government was dismantling the welfare state, i leave here in the firm belief that the answer to that is not to continue to re-instate what cannot survive the turning of a political tide”,

            Said not as an introduction to what Dalziel said about Aranui, not as an ending to it either, thank you everyone for knowing how great i am and now lets have a go at the welfare system is how that slotted into Her speech…

      • Murray Olsen 5.2.4
        21 September 2013 at 9:15 pm

        That’s how I read it as well, Jenny. I think it’s an important message. People don’t just need food, shelter, and income when the vaguely left occupies the Treasury benches. We need changes that the Tories can’t just sign away. Whether Dalziel has, or had, either a plan or the willingness to make such changes is another question.

        • bad12 5.2.4.1
          21 September 2013 at 10:12 pm

          Yeah sure we need all our cities and town as self reliant communities not reliant upon central government for anything, sort of like Afghanistan perhaps…

          • Murray Olsen 5.2.4.1.1
            22 September 2013 at 1:34 am

            That wouldn’t be my solution, but if you think it might work……..

            In the meantime, I’m not here for any sort of one-upmanship. Might as well fake orgasms during masturbation if I ever fall to that level. I’m here to learn, discuss, and even propose something now and then.

      • Puddleglum 5.2.5
        22 September 2013 at 12:33 am

        Hi Jenny,

        I think I follow the arguments in this thread. What I can’t understand, however, is why Dalziel – or anyone else – thinks that the measures that build ‘resilience’ (whatever that might mean – the concept has actually come in for a lot of criticism in the literature) are any less able to be dismantled than other measures.

        Community ‘resilience’ can be undermined as much as secure employment, a welfare state or anything else I would have thought. Short of armed resistance, I don’t think local resilience can resist legislative changes. It’s important to remember that many communities, in the past, were ‘resilient’. That didn’t prevent them being dismantled through structural changes. This is the pathos of much sociopolitical history.

        • just saying 5.2.5.1
          22 September 2013 at 6:10 am

          What I read from this and numerous other statements coming out of the Labour Party regarding social security (along with what is not being said), is that the caucus is an alarmingly long way down the neoliberal garden path on this issue. The language that is used would sit comfortably ACT policy. Apparently those with the fewest resources need, not more resources, but to build “more resilience”.

          We already have an increasingly big reserve army of the poorest working hard at “building community”. NGOs are increasingly directed by well-paid fundraisers, who are taking courses and attending swanky conferences in managing this army of the poor. Many such organisations are using a corporate model, and the volunteering is becoming more and more coerced. WINZ, ACC, and social services are referring clients and calling it “rehabiliation”. The unemployed are being forced to sign 10+ -page employment contracts in which they are required to forgo significant civil rights and which burden them with extensive responsibilities, without any minimum pay or conditions whatsoever. And the private sector is also increasingly exploiting this free workforce.

          In two different NGOs in which I am involved, woefully underfunded health agenices have attempted to refer acutely ill psychiatric patients as “treatment” for them.

          I think it was a Labour government that entrenched the permanent minimum of six percent real unemployment. This was a gift to employers aimed at disempowering the working class and lowering wages and conditions. I guess if politicians can deliberately shut large numbers of workers and their families out of society it’s really quite a short walk to blaming the victims for the consequences, and for the sorts of cruel and humiliating practices and policies we see today under the auspices of “building resilience” and preparing people for work, (what freaking work?!)

          What this demonstrates to me is how dangerous it is to have the poorest and most disadvantaged almost completely unrepresented in parliament. So much so , that the Green Party, which is dedicated to fighting massive and crucial environmental battles, has been forced to partially fill the vacuum Labour has left in its wake. Personally I’ll be voting Mana, because though I believe the work the Greens have done has been essential, I fear a dedicated environmental movement making compromises in social security policy in order to progress their core, planet-saving objectives

          I see this as being one of the most important issues facing the left. We need to be vigilant in challenging the right-wing narrative that has become well-established around social security. If Leanne Dalziel, or any other politician wishes to use catch-phrases from the hard-right song book, we need to force them to explain exactly what they are saying. If it is all as innocent as many here claim, surely she’d welcome the opportunity to be explicit in what she is claiming and proposing, and I certainly challenge her to do so.

          • phillip ure 5.2.5.1.1
            22 September 2013 at 7:48 am

            @ just saying..

            ..ditto..ditto..ditto..

            phillip ure..

          • karol 5.2.5.1.2
            22 September 2013 at 7:53 am

            Excellent, js. Well explained.

          • bad12 5.2.5.1.3
            22 September 2013 at 9:12 am

            Just Saying, you definitely say what i allude to with far better clarity than i can muster, +100%…

          • miravox 5.2.5.1.4
            22 September 2013 at 9:19 am

            + 1

            This would have made a great post, I reckon.

            Heading: Those with the fewest resources need, not more resources, but to build “more resilience”?

            • just saying 5.2.5.1.4.1
              22 September 2013 at 8:26 pm

              ….self sustaining, self sufficient, low carbon, with the ability to withstand and even benefit from financial, energy, resource and organisational shocks, highly democratic and localised, embodying within themselves the resources, infrastructure, competence and wherewithal to protect, advocate for and look after its membership’s interests in a wide variety of different situations.

              edit – this is in reply to CV further down the page

              I’d like you to imagine being poor, and without other resources that can be converted into money, and explain to me how you would go about achieving the above.

              Also, how does reducing resources to the poorest facilitate the above.

              Maybe you can lead the way and give away all your material resources, and show us how it’s done.

              • Colonial Viper …
                22 September 2013 at 8:39 pm

                Are you busy dreaming up imaginary enemies now? Do you want to point to any comment where I said we need to reduce resource allocation to the most hard up in society?

                Frankly, what’s your answer? To push out higher levels of benefits from Wellington? OK done. Its only electronic credits after all. What next in your quest for resiliency?

                And forget about money for the moment; money is not a resource. Tell me about how you would organise the nation’s resources and its people for maximum resiliency.

                • just saying …
                  22 September 2013 at 8:46 pm

                  You haven’t answered my question.

                  Do you want to point to any comment where I said we need to reduce resource allocation to the most hard up in society?

                  You supported Dalziel when she said:

                  ”Although I began my time here when the Government was dismantling the underpinning of the Welfare State, I leave here in the firm belief the the answer to that is not to continue to re-instate what cannot survive the turning of a political tide”

                  And linked it to:

                  ….self sustaining, self sufficient, low carbon, with the ability to withstand and even benefit from financial, energy, resource and organisational shocks, highly democratic and localised, embodying within themselves the resources, infrastructure, competence and wherewithal to protect, advocate for and look after its membership’s interests in a wide variety of different situations.

                  Are you going to answer my question?

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    22 September 2013 at 9:31 pm

                    Nah, you see enemies in shadows, and that’s your problem not mine to be answerable to. I also see that you have no alternative answers of your own.

                    • just saying …
                      22 September 2013 at 9:45 pm

                      CV, I’m currently involved in putting all my worldly resources into a project that is all of this:

                      ….self sustaining, self sufficient, low carbon, with the ability to withstand and even benefit from financial, energy, resource and organisational shocks, highly democratic and localised, embodying within themselves the resources, infrastructure, competence and wherewithal to protect, advocate for and look after its membership’s interests in a wide variety of different situations.

                      We are struggling with…….you guessed it…….money.

                      Perhaps you’d like to put your money where your mouth is, seeing as it is:
                      …only electronic credits after all., and give aus a sizeable donation. Hell, I suspect you live nearby, maybe you'[d like to join us…..

                      Looking forward to hearing from you.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 September 2013 at 4:29 am

                      I’m not going to participate in a pissing match based on who is most faithful, pious and honourable to the cause of low carbon sustainability. When I say money is ‘merely’ electronic credits,that is of course true. The fact that I am not a Primary Dealer of the Fed and can’t get my hands on money at zero interest is also true . That means that personally I am still just a user of money not an issuing authority of money.

                      And congratulations being involved full scale in your own resiliency projects. Me too. I wish you all the best in it.

                  • The Al1en …
                    22 September 2013 at 9:54 pm

                    I support Dalziel when she said:

                    ”Although I began my time here when the Government was dismantling the underpinning of the Welfare State, I leave here in the firm belief the the answer to that is not to continue to re-instate what cannot survive the turning of a political tide”

                    If she meant there’s no point in using time and money to keep putting back into place what national can rip apart in an instant. What are needed are sound policies that bypass party politics, that communities can rally behind, showing maximum resiliency, regardless of political persuasion to the benefit of all New Zealanders.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 September 2013 at 4:36 am

                      This.

                      Does it mean that we give up on universal benefits? Certainly not. But four fifths of our effort must go into new initiatives which prepare us for a future of limited energy and depleted physical resources; an environment that no one had thought of when the first Social Security Act had been drafted.

          • Colonial Viper 5.2.5.1.5
            22 September 2013 at 9:49 am

            The language that is used would sit comfortably ACT policy. Apparently those with the fewest resources need, not more resources, but to build “more resilience”.

            I refuse to let the fucking right wing steal even more of the English language from us, and then have lefties turn on people who use that same language.

            Read all the coded meanings you wish into it, but the definition of resilient communities IMO is clear – self sustaining, self sufficient, low carbon, with the ability to withstand and even benefit from financial, energy, resource and organisational shocks, highly democratic and localised, embodying within themselves the resources, infrastructure, competence and wherewithal to protect, advocate for and look after its membership’s interests in a wide variety of different situations.

            As for access to more “resources”, what are we talking about here? Are we talking about ‘money’ or are we talking about actual real resources?

            Because it is time we all get this straight money is not a “resource”. Oil is a resource. Pig iron is a resource. A team of highly capable tradies is a resource. A hydro dam is a resource. A server farm (indeed, a real farm) is a resource. Money on the other hand is simply a widely accepted unit of account which is electronically and instantly magicked up by the millions and the billions, at the press of a key stroke.

            You cannot do that with actual “resources”.

            • just saying 5.2.5.1.5.1
              22 September 2013 at 10:12 am

              And what? Eat out of the (still hugely inadequate) community vegetable gardens? Dress from the rag collection containers? Treat each other with folk medicine? Huddle together 15 to an electricity-free room under a blanket for warmth? Exercise by walking miles between used-by-dated food skips?

              Young people without kids can get by like this for a while.

              Everyone else would need sympathetic, middle-class friends and family to survive.
              But hey it would really build resilience – were it not for the chronic infections, malnutrition, hypothermia…….

              • Colonial Viper …
                22 September 2013 at 1:50 pm

                What are you talking about? Why are you equating ‘resilient communities’ with poor impoverished communities? Are they the same thing to you?

                As for your comment on the middle classes: look at the USA. The middle classes are being fucked, and barely exist any more. What do you see the answer as being? A miraculous remake of central government? Sorry, but that ain’t happening; and even if it does such a government will only be in power for a fraction of a lifespan…and then what?

                • just saying …
                  22 September 2013 at 2:11 pm

                  The conversation is about Dalziel’s comment about provision for social security, so yes, we are talking about “poor impoversihed communties” (at least I certainly was.) These communities are not well-enough resourced to be resilient imo.

                  As for the second part of your comment, I guess it depends on your definition of middle class. To be clear, my definition is similar to the one described in the following link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22007058

                  Not the elite, but well off, highly educated, usually professional with highly marketable skills, tons of social capital and connections and asset rich. I don’t think what tends to be referred to in NZ as “lower middle class” is or ever was, middle class.

                  The middle class are far from being an endangered species in NZ. They are doing better than ever before in my lifetime.

                  I don’t know what you mean by a “miraculous remake of central government” in the context of the conversation about Dalziel’s comment

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    22 September 2013 at 2:18 pm

                    Social security includes elements like the benefits system, ACC, education and health. Plenty of things can be done around that space. The question is – what elements of it do you want centralised and what elements decentralised. Things like education and health – are already moderately decentralised, for instance, in terms of governance, management and operations.

                    The middle class are far from being an endangered species in NZ. They are doing better than ever before in my lifetime.

                    You’re only talking about the top 10%-15%. For relatively new teachers, nurses, small business people etc. things are getting increasingly dicey.

                    • just saying …
                      22 September 2013 at 2:41 pm

                      I thought I’d clarified what I mean when I talk about the “middle class”.
                      To put it in really simple terms, I believe there is a large working class, a much smaller middle class and a tiny elite class (aka our “owners”).

                      In terms of middle class – think “Public Address”.

                      As for social security, ACC, health and education being decentralised – sounds good. Requires resources.

                      As I have written above, my personal experience of the movements towards localisation, self-sufficiency, community-building etc. – there is some gobsmackingly fantastic work being done by truly amazing people, but they, and the whole movement, are being undermined by the powers that be using all the right buzz-phrases, but in fact, exploiting them to advance the neoliberal agenda.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      22 September 2013 at 3:02 pm

                      What “resources”?

                      Do you mean money? Money is not a resource. Money is digitally generated, it is issued, it is created, it is electronically credited, millions and billions of dollars on virtual spreadsheets. Created with a few keystrokes.

                      Real resources are things like trained experienced work teams of people, a forest, a farm, a super computer, a coal mine, a tanker of crude oil. None of those things can be electronically magicked up by key strokes, they are real resources.

                    • marty mars …
                      22 September 2013 at 10:02 pm

                      ” there is some gobsmackingly fantastic work being done by truly amazing people”

                      So true js, so true, and we need to get that out there – I am a sub-editor for happyzine.co.nz an online good news service which sources inspiring and uplifting stories that positively influence our communities by showing them what others are doing and giving them hope. Send me an email martytakaka@gmail.com and I’ll write up what you and your community are doing – it may even inspire others to do the same. Kia kaha.

                    • marty mars …
                      22 September 2013 at 11:29 pm

                      Hey js – emails keep bouncing – but the answer is yes. Happyzine has 2k subscribers from all around our country.

            • Puddleglum 5.2.5.1.5.2
              22 September 2013 at 1:08 pm

              Hi Colonial Viper,

              My concern has less to do with language and more to do with the practical question of how the conditions for more local resilience can be defended against centralised (legislated) efforts that undermine such conditions? (For me, ‘resilience’ – if it means anything useful – involves, crucially, the distribution and deconcentration of power).

              The kind of ideal you describe has appeal. Yet, it would effectively ‘pull the plug’ on those who currently have control of resources. That suggests to me that long before it ever gained critical mass, such ‘resilience’ would be nipped in the bud (and there are all sorts of ways that this could be done without appearing to be doing so). Which would mean, of course, that it isn’t very resilient.

              I just can’t see how the fight to gain ‘resilience’ can sidestep or ignore the power of the state – which Dalziel appears to believe. I can’t see how it can occur while centralised power can trump it. And there are plenty of interests that would wish it to.

              To abandon efforts to ‘reinstate’ welfare measures in what would be a very long interim (even assuming the end will be achieved) is naive at best, and very harmful to the most powerless at worst.

              It could lead to the scenario that others here fear – central government ‘allowing’ local communities to play at creating resilience while ensuring that the policy and broader economic environment remains hostile to success of such efforts.

              Failing to plan for how to deal with this issue right from the start would be fatal to accomplishing resilience Dalziel seems to suggest simply ignoring what central government policies get introduced as, for some reason, they have no effect on efforts to be locally resilient.

              The history of the world (imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, etc.) is evidence enough that you can’t ignore what lies beyond the local power horizon.

              • Rogue Trooper …
                22 September 2013 at 1:36 pm

                Reassured that you are around from time-to-time Puddleglum

              • Colonial Viper …
                22 September 2013 at 1:56 pm

                My concern has less to do with language and more to do with the practical question of how the conditions for more local resilience can be defended against centralised (legislated) efforts that undermine such conditions? (For me, ‘resilience’ – if it means anything useful – involves, crucially, the distribution and deconcentration of power).

                One of the key weapons of the neoliberals against the people is that of disengagement and distraction.

                A focus on regional, community and neighbourhood resiliency and democracy, cuts through this by helping people engage and focus. It provides people with a political education and political tools.

                Could Wellington try and undermine such communities (real and virtual) using legislation and the power of the state? Of course. But the push back would be strong and it would be painful for any government trying it on.

                The kind of ideal you describe has appeal. Yet, it would effectively ‘pull the plug’ on those who currently have control of resources. That suggests to me that long before it ever gained critical mass, such ‘resilience’ would be nipped in the bud (and there are all sorts of ways that this could be done without appearing to be doing so). Which would mean, of course, that it isn’t very resilient.

                Leaders like Cunliffe are extremely aware of this problem. The opprobrium he faced last year from his own “colleagues” was part of this process of “nipping in the bud”. And of course you cannot ignore it you have to deal with it directly and indirectly.

                You have to bring at least some of the elite top 1% along. It is in their own interests not to live in a country falling apart at the seems after all; it is in other words “self interest, properly understood”.

                • Puddleglum …
                  22 September 2013 at 8:45 pm

                  Thanks Colonial Viper.

                  I agree that engagement has to be part of the goal. But the reason engagement is lacking is just because of the structural aspects of the economy and social world. These are largely the result of structural ‘lock in’ in that individuals in the course of living a ‘typical’ life in our world (working, getting kids to school, etc.) don’t engage because engagement is not something the structures encourage or enable.

                  That’s one reason why so many social movements really struggle to gain any serious momentum.

                  To achieve widespread social change, it is not enough to get people in small groups or communities to alter the structure of their own lives.

                  I know the famous quote from Margaret Mead about small groups – but that hides half of the process to achieve social change. That ‘other half’ is top-down structural change (either from deliberate legislative and policy change or from external factors; everything from natural disasters to global economic crises to wars in far off lands that reverberate locally).

                  Widespread change involves a fortunate confluence between groups already operating (or trying to operate) in different ways AND top-down change in the ‘settings’ and structures present in the broader social, economic and political environment. Change never just comes from the bottom up.

                  For every small group (or small minority) that, in retrospect, can be seen as the harbinger of a social or economic revolution, there are probably thousands of such groups that never will be. Seeds and the right soil, and all that.

                  The ‘long emergency’ may well be the structural change required for local efforts at resilience to become more widespread and break the hold of those whose wealth is little more than a promisory note on future economic output. The art of politics in this ‘dynamic environment’, however, will be to harness the structural changes brought about by that global process and channel it into functional and progressive restructuring of our society.

                  As for bringing along some of the 1%, I suppose that could happen. I try not to think in terms of individuals, though.There is always diversity at the level of individuals and there have always been errant members of the elite (as with every social group). But if structures don’t change (e.g., in the way wealth accumulates) then I’d be very surprised if a few ‘converts’ from the 1% will make much impact on the general trajectory.

                  Also, there is always a different view of how much ‘falling apart at the seams’ a society can endure depending upon where in society someone sits. There is, for example, a considerable difference between what are morally unacceptable levels of hardship in a population and what are politically, economically and socially ‘sustainable’ levels of hardship.

                  A good deal of general – and morally unacceptable – hardship can be contained pretty much in perpetuity in many societies. The current trend towards more authoritarian state postures (monitoring, surveillance, extension of coercive powers, etc.) suggests that the current ‘plan’ is towards greater containment of the consequences of increasing hardship rather than an economic and social restructuring to reduce levels of hardship.

                  That is, the 1% – or whoever – appear convinced, for now, that the general population will put up with more hardship allied with more constraints.

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    23 September 2013 at 4:55 am

                    I agree with virtually everything you say here, but I will be picky with one comment. Any real substantial change for the better, ie not change which favours the elites, has ALWAYS come from a mass movement of people forcing the power structures of the day to adapt and deliver.

                    for your final observation. Yes. What we are seeing now are the techniques of control, coercion and callousness that the empire has always applied and perfected at the edges off its territories (and which we as imperial citizens close to the centre always tended to ignore as we gained most of the benefits of the empire) is now being applied to us.

                    Many of the citizens of Rome appear confused and bewildered that the authoritarian military state rule applied to the tribes of Germania and Gaul, and which they personally benefited from for generations, is now being applied to them. Even as the material benefits of empire seem to be shrinking and reserved for fewer and fewer of those close to Caesar and his palace.

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    23 September 2013 at 4:58 am

                    “The art of politics in this ‘dynamic environment’, however, will be to harness the structural changes brought about by that global process and channel it into functional and progressive restructuring of our society.”

                    This is a comment that I also take to heart. Thanks PG.

          • Rogue Trooper 5.2.5.1.6
            22 September 2013 at 1:33 pm

            well written and worth a read thanx , just saying

  6. billbrowne 6
    21 September 2013 at 10:09 am

    Proud to be one of

    “the more rabid parts of the Left-wing bloggerati”

    as labeled by Tracy, will John ever notice me, Watkins in the dom this AM.

  7. joe90 7
    21 September 2013 at 10:11 am

    They’re back. (trigger/s inside)

    This return is arguably facilitated by a public mood that sanctions it.

    As the security apparatus regains some credibility and popularity, a former State Security officer tells Mada Masr that social acceptance will enable state security to return to its previous strength.

    The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that State Security is currently regaining the most valuable asset that it lost after January 25: its sources. He says that after a period of being scared while the regime was under attack, those that the apparatus relies upon are now starting to cooperate again.

    For the wider public, the experience of deteriorating conditions under Morsi’s rule has persuaded them the return of the old regime, alongside its security, may not be a negative thing after all.

    For one, the release of Mubarak earlier this month, after months of imprisonment on several charges — an event that would have once triggered large protests —was received with no reaction.

    http://madamasr.com/content/deep-return

    • travellerev 8.1
      21 September 2013 at 12:32 pm

      Funny how when John Key was quoted as saying the same thing in his younger years that was a good thing while here it is pushed as being somehow not so good. Maybe he should have gone abroad to make $ 50 mill first

    • karol 8.2
      21 September 2013 at 6:10 pm

      Once you get past the naked ambition stuff, it’s quite an interesting life story. And compared with Shonkey – Key said he always wanted to be PM since a young boy. Didn’t show any particular interest in politics for decades after tha. Busied himself speculating and enriching himself. Then decided it was time to fuli his PM ambition. Came to back to NZ, served a little time in the Nats – became leader, became PM. Now chases fter US presidents and royalty.

      Cunliffe – interest in politics and debating from a young age. Can point to early experiences that shaped his class-based politics. Worked at various jobs and did various courses to develop relevant schools. Got involved in teddy Kennedy’s election campaign at one point. Back in NZ began in politics, working hard at it, spent over a decade as n MP, including some ministerial experience before becoming leader.

      Cunliffe – has done the hard yards and has been focused on the nitty gritty of politics.

      Key, swans about glorifying himself, playing golf to get in with influential people, networks, aims to win and be top dog wherever he finds himself.

      • Anne 8.2.1
        21 September 2013 at 8:13 pm

        Key, swans about glorifying himself, playing golf to get in with influential people, networks, aims to win and be top dog wherever he finds himself.

        And angles for an invite to Balmoral by pestering his British contacts (made during his London based corporate days) so that he can add it to his CV.

        “I spent a week-end with the Queen”.

      • Harriet 8.2.2
        21 September 2013 at 8:53 pm

        “……Got involved in teddy Kennedy’s election campaign at one point…..”

        Why on earth would you herald the biggest mysogynist the left has ever had…..apart maybe from his brother – JFK?…….. I thought you wanted the women’s vote?

        Mary Jo Kopechne is now going to be Cunliffs undoing…..funny that…..she also stopped Ted from him becoming his Nations leader!

        • North 8.2.2.1
          21 September 2013 at 9:35 pm

          Get a grip Harriet. I know you’re pissed off but Jesus………political oblivion would be a fairly harsh penance. If you see that outcome as fair or deserved then you’re selfish in favour of your zealotry. Might help your senses, wouldn’t help anyone else. Selfish.

        • phillip ure 8.2.2.2
          22 September 2013 at 7:55 am

          you heard it first from harriet..!

          ..the mary jo kopechne ‘issue’..

          ..is the fulcrum around which the next election will swing..!

          ..(btw..cheers for the early-morning giggle..eh..?..

          ..and i think ‘harriet’ is one of the more ‘loose’/lower-regions inhabitants of the kiwiblog swamp..(and that is saying something..!..eh..?..)

          ..and if you look closely..you can still see bits of the kiwiblog-swamp still sticking to her..

          ..and of course..then there is the odour..

          ..emanating from her words..

          ..that sure smells like the kiwiblog swamp..eh..?.. )

          ..phillip ure..

    • karol 8.3
      21 September 2013 at 8:22 pm

      BTW, the headline for that article may not have been written by Vance but an editor/sub-editor.

      The title is:

      ‘Naked ambition’ behind Cunliffe’s rise to top

      The “naked ambition” bit is lifted out from a quote by Claire Robinson, well down the article:

      Dr Robinson says his ambition to be prime minister was naked.

      That is, the Calire Robinson we all know from TV commentaries:

      Massey University’s Dr Claire Robinson served with him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the late 1980s

      Vance’s article doesn’t really focus on a “naked ambition” line. She does say more than once that Cunliffe had wanted to be PM from a young age, and focuses on Ci=unliffe’s self confidence. The article begins:

      David Cunliffe is a Harvard graduate who once worked in a fish and chip shop – and even as a boy confidently predicted he would be prime minister. Andrea Vance charts the rise, fall and rise again of Labour’s new leader.

      As a gangly, tousle- haired kid on the cusp of his teens, David Cunliffe settled at the bottom of a neighbour’s staircase.

      “Mrs Wilson,” he said. “I am going to be the prime minister of New Zealand one day.”

      Mr Cunliffe was self-assured from a very young age, recalls Gwyneth Wilson, 74. She’d known the boy for a couple of years, since the Cunliffe family moved from Waikato to the sleepy South Canterbury town Pleasant Point.

      “I said: ‘you go for it, David.’ I thought it would happen, I really did. I thought he had the ability and the confidence to do it.”

      “I don’t remember that,” Mr Cunliffe says, perched this week on a sofa in the Opposition leader’s lounge in Labour’s suite of parliamentary offices. The reception is crammed with unpacked boxes. Three days into his new role, the inner office remains bare of personal possessions, save for a well- thumbed copy of The Economist.

      • billbrowne 8.3.1
        21 September 2013 at 8:32 pm

        Yeah, you keep thinking she’s trying to go somewhere, say something with this article, but you get to the end and she hasn’t got anywhere.

        I think it’s her attempt to subtlety try to get the reader to see what ever it is she’s getting at, but she hasn’t really to the skill to pull it off.

        Next time, maybe she should go with an opinion piece, spell whatever it is she wants to say out in words of one syllable which we can all ignore and get on with our lives. She’ll get it off her chest then.

        • karol 8.3.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 8:38 pm

          It’s mainly just a collection of quotes, roughly charting Cunliffe’s life story in chronological order.

          It looks like whoever wrote the title and lead paragraph is trying to frame the article chronology of quotes with a particular meaning.

      • Rhinocrates 8.3.2
        21 September 2013 at 10:02 pm

        Oh shit, Robinson again. Had her as a manager when I worked for Massey. A glib, unimaginative Rogernome idiot and careerist of rather narrow (um, let us say “limited”) intelligence, which I know from first hand experience. Ignore her.

  10. travellerev 10
    21 September 2013 at 11:21 am

    I was wondering how many of you want the British Royal family to rule forever because the MSM says we all do?

    • Colonial Viper 10.1
      21 September 2013 at 5:15 pm

      Looking out 10 years, the probability of the British people getting rid of the Royals is zero. Looking out 30-40 years, it might be a fractional possibility.

      Or put it another way, I expect the Royal family has a fair chance of outlasting the end of democratic western government.

    • JK 10.2
      21 September 2013 at 9:58 pm

      Isn’t that story in the Herald a bit odd ?
      When the Queen’s father died in the early 1950s – George whichever it was – she automatically became Queen of England, and of NZ and other Commonwealth countries – didn’t she ?
      Or did the UK, NZ and other Commonwealth heads of state have to formally/officially agree to that ?
      I thought her heirs would automatically become King of England, and of NZ etc unless we, that is NZ as a whole said, No – its time we became a republic and went our own way.

      But the Herald story says currently the Queen heads the Commonwealth but there is no provision for the position to pass down to her successors. “Instead, the 54 Commonwealth countries would decide to retain the next monarch as the head, or change the system – something Britain opposes and New Zealand has now joined forces with it on”.

      Does this mean we might have a referendum on this matter ?

      • lprent 10.2.1
        21 September 2013 at 11:30 pm

        When the Queen’s father died in the early 1950s – George whichever it was – she automatically became Queen of England, and of NZ and other Commonwealth countries – didn’t she ?

        No. The commonwealth changed in 1949 so that republics could be members. The position of the monarch depends on the laws of the individual countries.

  11. phillip ure 11
    21 September 2013 at 11:23 am

    john key arrives @ balmoral..

    ..gets servant to lick his boots clean..

    ..phillip ure..

    • Colonial Viper 13.1
      21 September 2013 at 11:39 am

      Hope she does one on John Key’s Tranzrail shares claims, also where he was during the Springboks tour.

      • chris73 13.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 12:32 pm

        So why did Cunliffe tell so many lies? I mean its been speculated here enough times as to why Key may have lied so is Cunliffe going to explain why he felt the need to bolster his CV?

        Liar liar pants on fire 🙂

        • Colonial Viper 13.1.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 12:38 pm

          Fuck you’re reaching lol

          • chris73 13.1.1.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 12:53 pm

            Doesn’t matter what you or I think its what the people reading the headline and then skim over the rest of it think

            But I think you already knew that

            • Colonial Viper 13.1.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2013 at 12:56 pm

              LOL you’re just worried about the superficial banality? Thought so.

            • Rhinocrates 13.1.1.1.1.2
              21 September 2013 at 1:00 pm

              We all already know that – what you want is the headline out there and nobody asking any questions and you don’t give a toss if the insinuation is actually true or not.

              But then you already said that.

              • chris73 …
                21 September 2013 at 2:13 pm

                Of course, this is politics we’re talking about and remember the end justifies the means

                • Colonial Viper …
                  21 September 2013 at 2:15 pm

                  In your philosophy. Can’t wait until you start wailing about DC signing a painting off as grand theft fraud. You righties are screwed if this is the best you can do.

                  • chris73 …
                    21 September 2013 at 2:22 pm

                    You righties are screwed if this is the best you can do

                    – Makes you wonder what else Major Stumbles will come up with…

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      21 September 2013 at 5:03 pm

                      oh gawd who are you referring to now. The old leader or the new leader. Would you please contact your handlers at CT and get your lines sorted out.

                    • QoT …
                      22 September 2013 at 6:44 pm

                      CV – clearly they’ve got a memo about needing to create a derogatory nickname for Cunliffe, but didn’t work out that the reason “Mumblefuck” caught on in the first place is because a number of people thought it was an accurate description.

                      I’m predicting any number of attempts by chris and his ilk to attach a label every time Cunliffe sneezes:

                      “He didn’t ask the first question at QT today! Step up, Captain NoShow!!!” “He wore a green tie! Guess we have to call him Major Watermelon now!!!”

                      The tragic thing is they think they’re clever.

                • Rhinocrates …
                  21 September 2013 at 2:35 pm

                  As Dr Manhattan said, nothing ever ends, or more prosaically, the means makes the end. If lies are your method, lies will be your existence, (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

                • Pasupial …
                  21 September 2013 at 2:53 pm

                  Chris73

                  One must choose those means (and only those means) which are essential to achieving one’s ends.

                  But then again; you are no Prince.

    • RedBaronCV 13.2
      21 September 2013 at 2:46 pm

      Coming from the newspaper that hasn’t bothered to print the unemployment rate for months but puts up messiah like photo’s of the saints. Peter Jackson & Dean Barker??? They have a few to go to fill out the roster.
      Anyway given the general quality of the paper they can’t have a journalist left on the staff.

  15. Chooky 15
    21 September 2013 at 11:57 am

    Christchurch Press….well known as a mouthpiece of the National Party ….does some very important INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM and comes up with a SCOOP for the front page.!!! YEH!..

    SHOCK, HORROR………David Cunliffe has not updated his cv.!!!!!…..pathetic!

    Nact and the MSM really are running scared!

    • Colonial Viper 15.1
      21 September 2013 at 11:58 am

      Just in time for the Christchurch East by-election lol

      • Greywarbler 15.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 12:47 pm

        Chooky
        That other well known David who stands in manly splendour hewed from marble, would if he was made in NZ, have been reduced to rubble by vandalistic, envious, lesser sculptors. By the time they had attacked him with their pickaxes, hammered off his hands, chipped pieces off him all over, his essential beauty, strength and outstanding quality would be severely lessened from these barbarian impulses and action.

        So we can view these actions from nasty NACTs on our politician David in their correct light, that they arise from those of lesser intelligence and worth galvanised to adopt the tall poppy solution to uncomfortable evidence of their insipid abilities.

        (David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. It is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a …)

        And incidentally on Kim Hill this morning, there was an illuminating interview on the various families in the Oz media, the Fairfa’s, Packers, Murdochs. And on the Oz media its history and likely future.

        • Chooky 15.1.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 5:18 pm

          @Greywarbler …thanks for those miscellaneous warbles ….and culture vulture worm tidbits…..us chooks love them and our greeny victuals

          • Greywarbler 15.1.1.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 7:05 pm

            Chooky
            Well it is spring, and us birds are up early to sing. And I can’t help thinking of the Taliban destroying fine statues that have stood for centuries. The lesser wants to destroy what it can’t emulate or what is a perceived threat.

    • chris73 15.2
      21 September 2013 at 12:36 pm

      Not updating his CV…

      It comes after inquiries to the homeless shelter could not confirm if he had ever carried out volunteer work there.
      – Theres a reason for that

      Wellington City Mission was also contacted, as the New Lynn MP also cited work with its budgeting service on his CV.

      Manager Jill Hilston said she has worked there 18 years and could not recall him.

      – Shes probably a right-wing plant

      “I can’t tell you the last time I saw him at a Forest & Bird event or meeting, I have to say. We have weekend field trips … but I have never seen him on one in my time. I’ve been on the committee since 1989.”

      – Well hes a busy man

      “He has a clear memory of it, but not clear enough to say who his co-convener was.”
      – Snigger

      • Colonial Viper 15.2.1
        21 September 2013 at 12:40 pm

        Wellington City Mission was also contacted, as the New Lynn MP also cited work with its budgeting service on his CV.

        Manager Jill Hilston said she has worked there 18 years and could not recall him.

        – Shes probably a right-wing plant

        LOL can you count up to 20? Allow me to assist.

        Why are you surprised that Ms Hilston can’t remember something which occurred at the City Mission 5-10 years before she even started working there?

        Gawd you Righties are reaching.

        • chris73 15.2.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 1:03 pm

          A spokesman for Mr Cunliffe confirmed his office had requested work at Auckland City Mission be removed from the webpage. He said it was a “mistake”.

          – Ooops a daisy

          His curriculum vitae said he was a union delegate for three years, between 1987 and 1990, and co-convener for a year. The PSA’s electronic records do not go back that far, and the union could not produce anyone who remembered his activities.

          – The PSA couldn’t find anyone to corroborate the potential future leader of NZ thats backed by the unions claims

          🙂

          • Colonial Viper 15.2.1.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 1:53 pm

            lol you’re still reaching with unattributed “quotes” haha. Face it, they asked a manager who only started working at the Mission 5-10 years after Cunliffe was there. Dumb.

            • chris73 15.2.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2013 at 2:18 pm

              Yes but people will start to think Cunliffes “economical” with the truth or hes a Walter Mitty-type

              • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) …
                21 September 2013 at 2:24 pm

                Being perceived as being economical with the truth hasn’t stopped Key being elected. Perhaps to a lot of NZers this quality isn’t an issue and the ‘ends justifies the means’ (quote unquote Chris73)

                • chris73 …
                  21 September 2013 at 2:27 pm

                  No not really because the general assumption with National is that they will be economical with the truth whereas Stumbles is suggesting he and Labour more moral

                  Meaning hes got further to fall when he stumbles

                  • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) …
                    21 September 2013 at 2:33 pm

                    But chris73, no one believes politicians. Your overly-complex theories are of no relevance. It is simply about who creates the best story after all. (Ends justify the means).

          • fisiani 15.2.1.1.2
            21 September 2013 at 4:02 pm

            Simple solution would be to ask Cunliffe who his co-convemor was. That should be easy then to verify.

            • gobsmacked 15.2.1.1.2.1
              21 September 2013 at 4:58 pm

              Another simple solution would be to ask John Key which strip clubs he visited. And refuse to stop asking until he answers. And call him a liar when he “doesn’t recall”.

              It’s the issues that matter, eh?

              • fisiani …
                21 September 2013 at 5:54 pm

                Cunliffe claimed to be a co-convenor. That should be easy to prove. john Key has made no such claim. I want Cunliffe’s claim to be true. I want an honest person leading the Labour party.

                [lprent: That last statement of yours appears to be quite dishonest based on your previous comments on this site. Banned for a week for the vile habit of concern trolling. ]

                • felix …
                  21 September 2013 at 8:02 pm

                  I want a qualified mechanic leading the National Party and a pair of teenage boys leading ACT.

                  But who cares?

                • RedLogix …
                  21 September 2013 at 9:37 pm

                  It might be timely to dig back through some records on this site around Key’s own very, very dodgy CV.

                  Some years ago I did some internet digging myself and from the evidence I uncovered at the time it is was blindingly obvious that Key has faked some very important items of his CV in order to cover up his criminal past.

                  • Molly …
                    22 September 2013 at 9:33 am

                    Yes, interesting reading on this blog and others re John Key’s CV claims that he was not involved in the run on the kiwi dollar in 1987.

                    Be an interesting research exercise if we had more than two independent journalists in this country.

          • lprent 15.2.1.1.3
            21 September 2013 at 8:57 pm

            Between 1987 and 1990 I worked at three organisations.

            One has been through at least 2 changes of ownership since then, another has folded, and I have absolutely no idea what happened at the other one. In the one that is still running there were no staff in 2001 who worked there at the time I was there. People were doing CV checks in 2001.

            I don’t have contact with any of the ex-staff from any of those organisations apart from a friend who was working in Colorado 3 or 4 years ago.

            That is because that period was about 25 years ago.

            You really are stupid dork if you think that anyone useful can produce co-workers from when they were working that long ago..

            Of course if you are a useless fool like yourself then you may get stuck in organisations for long periods of time and doing that kind of a background check may work. I hardly think that David Cunliffe (or myself) can really be expected to operate at your low standards.

            • QoT 15.2.1.1.3.1
              22 September 2013 at 1:14 pm

              Fuck it, I’m an 80s baby and there are jobs on my CV which would be really difficult to “confirm” due to businesses changing hands and closing down.

              I really cannot fathom people my age getting het up about minor items on Cunliffe’s CV from the time we were toddlers.

              (And before anyone raises it: this is actually very, very different to a PM who claims he “always wanted to be PM” yet wasn’t political enough to “remember” his views on the Sprinbok tour.)

      • Sosoo 15.2.2
        21 September 2013 at 3:41 pm

        In other words, allegations of dishonesty on Cunliffe’s part cannot be substantiated.

        Colour me shocked.

      • Jenny Kirk 15.2.3
        21 September 2013 at 5:06 pm

        Chris 73 @15.2 – you might find the following helpful !

        21September 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT
        David Cunliffe’s community activities

        Some questions have been raised by media in relation to the community activities section of David Cunliffe’s curriculum vitae.

        David Cunliffe was a member of the PSA from 1987-1990 when he worked for MFAT. During part of this time he served as a PSA delegate and co-convenor.

        Mr Cunliffe was a member of Waitakere Forest & Bird in his early time as an MP. That membership has since lapsed and has not been represented as a current activity.

        Some confusion has arisen over Mr Cunliffe’s voluntary work for church charity organisations. He volunteered as a budget advisor for the Wellington Inner City Ministry, which was a co-operative venture involving St Peter’s Church on Willis Street, when he attended the church during the 1987-1990 period.

        David Cunliffe has volunteered delivering food parcels to the Auckland City Mission as a member of St Matthew’s in the City. He has not volunteered directly for Auckland City Mission.

        © Scoop Media

        • Roflcopter 15.2.3.1
          21 September 2013 at 6:11 pm

          Explaining is losing… plenty of legs in this yet.

          • karol 15.2.3.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 6:17 pm

            Mwhahahahahahahah – try hard.

            Righties getting desperate.

            I thought Key’s team didn’t do smear.

          • Jenny Kirk 15.2.3.1.2
            21 September 2013 at 6:58 pm

            Maybe, Roflcopter – but the more people who know the real story, the less likely is that the legs will grow.

          • Sanctuary 15.2.3.1.3
            21 September 2013 at 7:51 pm

            Good grief. That is right up there with ”

            Your zip is undone! Made you look! Nah na nanaaaa nah!”

            How old are you Roflcopter, seven? Clearly even all the prep at boarding school wasn’t enough to get you over line.

            I know Hooten behaves like one of those slightly thick rural prats when he’s just rolled daddy’s Landrover and is looking for someone to blame, but must you all carry on like he is your role model?

            • phillip ure 15.2.3.1.3.1
              22 September 2013 at 7:58 am

              @ sanctuary..

              “..I know Hooten behaves like one of those slightly thick rural prats when he’s just rolled daddy’s Landrover – and is looking for someone to blame..”

              heh..!

              phillip ure..

    • Populuxe1 15.3
      22 September 2013 at 12:59 am

      “Christchurch Press….well known as a mouthpiece of the National Party”

      Ah, that must explain all those front page headlines, editorials and in depth articles decrying the ineptitude of the National government in dealing with anything remotely related to the earthquate then.

  16. captain hook 16
    21 September 2013 at 11:58 am

    so when is keys and his pay as you go cronies going to remove the two tier system of democracy and provide Parliamentary TV for all New Zealanders and not just the few?

    • karol 16.1
      21 September 2013 at 6:21 pm

      You keep saying this, ch. Some of us keep telling you how most people should be able to get freeview. And you ignore us.

      What gives?

      Freeview will be the only TV in NZ come September, for anyone wanting Free-to-air. The Parliament channel is part of it. Not just for the few. Before long, the only TVs people use will be those with built in freeview, including the parliament channel.

      I get it with a TV, a freeeview box & a UHF aerial.

      What is it you don’t understand about that?

  17. Rogue Trooper 17
    21 September 2013 at 12:23 pm

    Unemployment in the good ol’ U S of A
    http://www.courier-journal.com/viewart/20130920/BETTERLIFE04/309200129?

    -better living everybody. 😀

  18. Greywarbler 18
    21 September 2013 at 12:28 pm

    Those who are interested in where to for NZ would like what Lisa Harper was saying on Radionz with Kim Hill this a.m. She has done lots, expnanded her capabilities continually and has a high opinion of NZs level of entrepreneurship and innovation. But she also notes how many projects are closed down before they realise their potential for various reasons, or that they get sold overseas and they get the advantage of innovation that our enterprise drivers should be bringing to this country.

    11:05 Lisa Harper
    Lisa Harper is an artisan cheesemaker and farmer who was awarded the Enterprising Rural Woman Award in 2011. She has been travelling the world this year on a Nuffield Scholarship, and has just published her memoir, The Wharf at Waterfall Bay (Random House, ISBN: 978-1-77553-456-3).

    Don’t know when audio will be available.

  19. chris73 19
    21 September 2013 at 12:42 pm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/8924136/Number-on-benefits-drops-reaction-mixed

    Good thing most people will only read the headlines: Go National! 🙂

    • Colonial Viper 19.1
      21 September 2013 at 12:45 pm

      no additional jobs + beneficiary numbers drop = needy people being forced off benefits (and Chris73 celebrating)

    • millsy 19.2
      21 September 2013 at 1:27 pm

      Do you want the poor on the street Chris?

      • chris73 19.2.1
        21 September 2013 at 2:15 pm

        I want National to win the next election because their policies are better for NZ, certainly better then the Greens/Labour

        • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 19.2.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 2:52 pm

          I hope you are not too overcome with sadness when your misguided aspirations are shattered. Mind you, there will be less sad people in the country when Greens/Labour do win the election.

        • Molly 19.2.1.2
          22 September 2013 at 9:39 am

          Obviously, your definition of NZ is different from mine:
          NZ = all people who are born or choose to live here + the natural environment we live in

          Would be (mildly) interested in hearing yours, because my NZ is suffering under a National government.

        • Puddleglum 19.2.1.3
          22 September 2013 at 10:26 pm

          National’s policies are better for New Zealand which is why misrepresenting their effects on New Zealand will help ensure they win the next election???

    • Rhinocrates 19.3
      21 September 2013 at 2:45 pm

      Translation: “Don’t look behind the curtain”. The second admission on the same thread that chris73 welcomes lies and that NACT depends on lies.

      I guess there’s no point in arguing with someone who doesn’t even appreciate things like truth or facts and admits it while having some superstitious faith that things will magically work out in the end.

      To repeat: chris73 actually embraces lies. Apparently he thinks that that makes his dick longer, but everyone else can now see… well, that he lies like his idol.

      • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 19.3.1
        21 September 2013 at 2:57 pm

        These people are spreading seeds of doubt.
        You are not arguing with them, you are merely providing a thought remedy for readers of their doubt-mongering.

        And you do a good job at that, Rhinocrates. Keep up the good work.

        • Rhinocrates 19.3.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 5:18 pm

          Thank you. I’ve a lot of close friends from the former Warsaw Pact and they are universally astonished at the naiveté of people who think that they live in an open democracy. Tyranny has knocks at midnight by secret policemen, but they come when it’s too late. Before then, it’s the liars, the toadies, the vindictive and the complacent that you’ll see.

          And the fools tell themselves, “it can’t happen here and they’ll always come for someone else anyway.”

          Good novel by C. K. Stead: Smith’s Dream Made a good film too.

  20. BLiP 20
    21 September 2013 at 12:44 pm

    ‘

    Please consider signing the petition to introduce the labelling of products which contain palm oil.

    Under New Zealand labelling laws, palm oil can be labelled as any one of 200 different scientific names or generically as vegetable oil. Mandatory palm oil labelling would make it possible for consumers to avoid palm oil and it would create a level playing field for companies choosing to voluntarily label palm oil.

    Palm Oil is the ingredient asocciated with large scale deforestation, indigenous human rights abuses, land conflicts, carbon emissions and wildlife loss. Until we have labelling consumers can not make the ethical choice to not buy palm oil.

    Unmask Palm Oil is the New Zealand campaign for mandatory palm oil labelling, we campaign to make the Minister of Food Safety, Nikki Kaye, introduce labelling.

  21. blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 21
    21 September 2013 at 1:54 pm

    Regarding the TV One News item where Mr Ed Miliband, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, appears to provide our incompetent National Party P.M some sort of endorsement referring him as ‘one of the longest lasting leaders’.

    I would just like to express my gratitude to Mr Miliband for showing me just how captured British politicians are by big money interests and express my sincere condolences to the British people for not having an option of voting against such interests.

    I would like to know whether a comment such as this gains Mr Miliband a direct pecuniary gain, or perhaps simply solidifies his network for him? Because it sure ain’t serving any left-wing cause here in NZ.

    • Colonial Viper 21.1
      21 September 2013 at 1:57 pm

      FFS Milliband, and I thought a year ago you were going to be something different. WTF.

      • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 21.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 2:05 pm

        They are completely captured. Don’t they only have a FPP system?
        We are in danger of being completely captured. At least we have a MMP system.

        I hope that Mr Cunliffe is for real. If he is he has very powerful interests against him. Just look at the bias of the media for a start.

        Do the non-voting people even listen, watch and read the media?

        Have to find a way to get to the people who will vote left.

        Need to find creative ways to get the message out.

  22. chris73 22
    21 September 2013 at 2:16 pm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/9194591/NZ-Greenpeace-activists-stay-detained

    – This is what happens when you play outside nice, western democratic countries

      • chris73 22.1.1
        21 September 2013 at 2:23 pm

        Yep NZs not a bad place when you compare it to most other countries

        • felix 22.1.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 2:46 pm

          …in spite of your best efforts you tory creep.

        • Rhinocrates 22.1.1.2
          21 September 2013 at 2:55 pm

          O RLY? Anything’s alright as long as its a quantum better than North Korea? Is that your benchmark? How bad would things have to be for you to stop saying, “It’s not as bad as the ninth circle of Hell so it’s alright”?

          “How much better can things be?” is the real question, and the answer is “Lots”.

          • felix 22.1.1.2.1
            21 September 2013 at 3:19 pm

            God forbid that advances in technology, productivity, profits, human rights, communication, and access to information should actually improve the lives of ordinary people.

            • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 22.1.1.2.1.1
              21 September 2013 at 4:03 pm

              Sacre bleu! Felix!

              Wash your mouth out this instant!

              The heresy you speak!

              • Colonial Viper …
                21 September 2013 at 5:01 pm

                The Key government has made protesting at sea against oil drilling illegal. In other words, Key is copying closely the foot steps of the Russian Government, who are right now detaining Greenpeace activists for protesting against Gazprom deep sea drilling.

                chris73 is a fucking moron for not even realising this.

    • BM 22.2
      21 September 2013 at 2:41 pm

      You poke the Bear, you get the claws 😈

      • Rhinocrates 22.2.1
        21 September 2013 at 4:08 pm

        So, Vladimir Putin is a hero? Oh wow, the testosterone is just too much… I have to take my shirt off and fly a Sukhoi fighter right now, maybe even have a few journalists shot!

        Because, you know, everyone has to submit to the powerful!

        • BM 22.2.1.1
          21 September 2013 at 4:36 pm

          I don’t know what Greenpeace was thinking by fucking off the Russians, they were lucky the Russkies didn’t shoot them on the spot.

          I’d be surprised if these Greenpeace activists don’t spend the next 10 years in some shitty gulag, this was a really dumb idea.

          • Rhinocrates 22.2.1.1.1
            21 September 2013 at 5:00 pm

            You call it dumb. I call it heroic. They know the risks very well and they know the risks of doing nothing too, but you think that acquiescence is admirable.

            What would your position have been on slavery in America the 19th Century? Wringing your hands hypocritically and saying, “Ooh, a war could be fought over it! People will get hurt – and that makes them idiots! Best to let it continue.”

            … and before you challenge me on that, I work every day with refugees and disabled people who have had to deal with injustice first hand. I’m blessed not to experience it myself, but I know what it is. You, apparently, don’t.

            • Murray Olsen 22.2.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2013 at 10:08 pm

              His position on slavery would probably have been framed in terms of the property rights of the slave owners. That’s the ACT position, after all.

        • Populuxe1 22.2.1.2
          22 September 2013 at 1:01 am

          Aw, so we’ve forgotten Snowden already, have we?

      • Murray Olsen 22.2.2
        21 September 2013 at 10:06 pm

        How is the Eagle any different? Apart from the fact that it send its drones all round the world to kill people, rather than making arrests in or near its own territory.

  23. tracey 23
    21 September 2013 at 2:36 pm

    chris73

    im with you. everyone in auckland should be able to send their boys to kings or ags. oh wait… that wont work…

    you sniping at the ppta is more than uninformed it is ignorant. just where do you get your information?

    • phillip ure 23.1
      21 September 2013 at 8:34 pm

      @chris 73 +’information..

      ..farrar & the whale..?

      ..there is that clear smugness @ the miseries of others..

      ..(a ‘smugness’ mindblowing in its’ ignorances of how serious shit could happen to them in a flash..

      ..something that could change their lives..for the worst..

      ..and leave them needing help..

      ..and that they are unable to see/understand that possibility..

      ..just that..labels them as being as thick as a sack of fucken doorknobs..)

      ..then there is that class-hatred/racism..

      ..that is so redolent of the breed..

      ..just ignorant fools..really..

      ..and just a shame there is so many of them..

      ..phillip ure..

  24. Chooky 24
    21 September 2013 at 3:11 pm

    Question for the environmental law experts:

    What is the current legal status of the QEII National Trust? …. Is it safe ?

    This national trust under the name of HRH Queen Elizabeth II….was set up 36 years ago to very tightly legally safeguard unique natural, historic and geological spaces, landscapes and features on private land in New Zealand, in perpetuity for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

    With over 3,600 covenants now registered, the QEII National Trust is a unique partnership between private landowners, often farmers , and the Crown to preserve special places for conservation.

    With the John Key Nact government’s trashing of the Resource Management Act(RMA)…..is the QEII Act also affected?

    If so…..what would Her Majesty have to say about this?

    …..(because NZers have not been consulted over the trashing of the RMA and if the QEII National Trust were to be trashed they probably wouldnt be consulted over this either)

    • Murray Olsen 24.1
      21 September 2013 at 10:11 pm

      Not an environmental law expert, but I suspect the trust will be safe because it protects private land. It’s the commons that is under threat.

      • Chooky 24.1.1
        23 September 2013 at 7:43 pm

        @ Murray Olsen….I wouldn’t count on this!!! …..especially NOT when it gets in the way of corporate irrigation schemes or fracking or digging oil wells or mining for minerals

        So I am still waiting for an environmental law expert on this one ….and also Labour Party Policy on whether they will keep QEII National Trust legal integrity and inviolability…..

        I also want to know whether Labour will completely restore Resource Management Act back to what it was ….before Nact trashed it

        …. and whether Labour will restore democracy to ECAN and throw out the scurrillous pretenders and impersonators ….(you know the ECAN which Cantabrians used to be able to elect until Nact overthrew it!….and replaced it with their shameless toadies)

  25. Neoleftie 25
    21 September 2013 at 3:24 pm

    Chch east labour selection result.
    Poto Williams selected.
    Poto Williams is a 51 year old resident of New Brighton, she is Regional Manager of St John of God Hauora Trust, managing the Community , Youth and Child Service (Southern Region), based at the Waipuna site in Pages Road in Wainoni. Living and working in the Christchurch East provides a very real understanding of local issues on a daily basis, people wanting a life with a positive future for themselves and their children.

    Her current role is the latest in many community based roles, having held senior management positions in the Community Mental Health, Community Health, Disability services and prior to her current role, in the Family Violence sector.

    Her community work has included being involved in issues of homeless ness through the LIFEWISE Big Sleepout, being active in the Auckland and Christchurch launches of the Living Wage Campaign, being a member of the Community Child Protection Review Panel and holding governance roles for Waitakere Community Law Service and Community Waitakere.

    She is of Cook Island descent, part of a large extended family in New Zealand and Australia, holds an MBA from Southern Cross University and is currently writing a Doctoral Thesis on Pacific Women’s Leadership.

    • bad12 25.1
      21 September 2013 at 4:06 pm

      Doesn’t that sound like a good selection, a person with a career of hands on experience in all fields surrounding the most ‘need’ in various communities,

      Well done Labour, more, many more candidates with such predigree are needed…

    • Rhinocrates 25.2
      21 September 2013 at 4:57 pm

      Excellent – another person with local roots and experience, not a paratrooper.

    • Rogue Trooper 25.3
      21 September 2013 at 5:41 pm

      Excellent! 😀

  26. gobsmacked 26
    21 September 2013 at 4:51 pm

    The source (i.e. excuse) for flinging dirt at the leader of the opposition today is the MPs’ biography section on the Parliamentary website.

    The very same source revealed 7 years ago that the (then) leader of the opposition had left his party in the 1990’s. It revealed – or glossed over – quite a few other gaps too.

    An interesting revelation, so interesting that not one journalist has ever asked John Key about it, or reported on the answer.

    (Unrelated fact: David Cunliffe does not bribe Press gallery journalists with free bottles of wine or meals at expensive restaurants).

  27. ak 27
    21 September 2013 at 8:19 pm

    Alasdair Thompsom backs Living Wage. By George, those worms they certainly are a-turning eh what?

    No wonder the maggoterati here are down to faeces. The internal polling must be terrifying. And Roy is calling as we speak.

    Pussycat, pussycat, how was the queen?

    The Born to Leech and Amoral

    In the court of Obscene.

  28. xtasy 28
    21 September 2013 at 11:47 pm

    Memorial service for Victor Jara, socialist and popular Chilean singer, who was tortured and killed by the fascist regime under Pinochet about 40 years ago:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfDQL7eYN90

    Viva Victor, viva el pueblo Chileno, viva la revolucion!

  29. xtasy 29
    21 September 2013 at 11:53 pm

    More re Victor Jara:

  30. xtasy 30
    22 September 2013 at 12:12 am

    While we have the “worms” of Alasdair Thompson turn in the rotten apple, I call out to you all, nothing is won and gained yet. We have a damned formidable challenge, and the worst enemy is a corrupt government and corrupt mainstream media, totally supporting it.

    Until I see the tide turning, as shown in the affectionate public response in that last video link just above, in Chile, also happening here, I will be worried and scared for the future of New Zealand Aotearoa. Much more needs doing than changing the leader of a Labour Party, much much more must be done, more challenges put to them and others, and we must get every person confronted with questions like:

    How many farm acres do you own and control?
    What is your stake in whatever former SOE enterprise?
    What is your input into government policy?
    What is your rights under present laws?
    What is your say on major policy?
    Who the hell are you, and are you actually being taken note of?

    That and more questions must be asked to every NZer, and they must be reminded that they are taken to the bloody cleaners, ripped off, raped and pillaged day in and out 24/7. Too many fall for the consumerist crap and forget the totally more important rights they should take advantage of, to have a democratic voice. But oh no, we cannot have that.

    Hence endless brainwashing by commerical advertising and mainstream dumbing down media, and we get it more and more, even on Campbell Live. I despair that in this country people think their voices are heard by that guy, who is not at all in their interest, but just exploiting public sentiment here and there. I and others sent him real stories, but he never presents them. You are all massively lied to and manipulated, I am afraid, NZ is a giant fraud for a society, and nobody does address social injustice, housing un-affordability and much else, except in empty words.

    There lies your damned challenge, David Cunliffe and Labour, we are waiting!

    Relinked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrtUomCFWUs

  31. xtasy 31
    22 September 2013 at 12:34 am

    The best song of Victor Jara:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xRJ6jbCv1o

    As I feel as depressed as he must have been at times, I look forward for eternal peace, as I sense nothing at all that encourages me to live any longer in this world. I find the existing situation not only disturbing, but non desirable to live under. It is best to sign off in peace and make an end, as there is no future for justice and fairness, not in the world and here in NZ either. I have no more hope and faith, my energy is gone, I am opting OUT!

    • Clement Pinto 31.1
      22 September 2013 at 12:50 am

      Hi xtasy, I can sense that you are deeply hurt. But remember that there are lots of nice people and lovely things too in this world. Accentuate on the positive. Your mind is very powerful. So is your heart and soul. Think positive, without necessarily forgetting the sad bits, but let those depressing bits not pull you down, but let them be a reason to overcome and conquer. Think of all the people in the world who may be in a worse situation of sadness than you. That is life, with its ups and downs. Go to bed now, say a few prayers if it helps and start fresh tomorrow with a happier future outlook. God Bless and Cheers!

  32. xtasy 32
    22 September 2013 at 1:25 am

    I sense a fight for the elementary rights of people, which Victor Jara stood for, I cannot see many others take the same stand, I wish they were. I have decided not long ago that I will challenge the injustices that happen in NZ until I die, and it is my experience that NZ authorities are VERY corrupt and do NOT respect human rights and the law, so they damn me to go down to where I never wanted to go. I know MY enemy, and it sits right there in Wellington, I am afraid. I am beyond making excuses and expecting excuses, they are very EVIL powers up there, believe you me!

    Iit requires sometimes DEATH to send a signal, this is serious, and that is the truth, I am afraid. I do NOT fear DEATH no more.

  33. Not Another Sheep 33
    22 September 2013 at 1:59 am

    xtasy what do you mean by “opting OUT” ?
    You have highlighted the life of Victor Jara – an incredible example of a man who came from poverty and despair, lived courageously under an abhorrent regime. He used his creativity to influence many as an activist, challenging tyranny to gain social justice in a unique way. He was a voice pulling his fellow countrymen out of the dark, challenging the types of evils you speak about and he hence became a representation of hope for other oppressed human beings. He was a champion urging others on as he believed in the dignity and rights of every life and carried his fight out in .a phenomenal way, with beauty and love…you could say like ‘Ghandi’.
    You have a gift too xtasy, your writings do show great thought, empathy and intelligence- that’s your voice !
    Quote you from above….” Who the hell are you, and are you actually being taken note of?” Well, you’ve been noted and your despair is heard.
    Take up the challenge there xtasy, go out there every day and meet the challenges in a Victor Jara way. I know through my work there are plenty who need another human to notice them, talk and walk with them, give them hope; needing people like you who do understand…..
    It wasn’t Jara’s death that was the victory, xtasy…. far from it. It was his life and love of life, his enduring works and his voice- He wouldn’t have stood for ‘opting out’. 0800 543 354.
    Keep hope alive and keep the faith, there xtasy.

    • Molly 33.1
      22 September 2013 at 10:14 am

      +100

      xtasy – you ask whether you are effective…

      FWIW I always read your comments with interest (and agreement) when I see them. I don’t want to negate NAS’s comments with clumsy words, but the changes and best education I have made in my life have been from the access to words, talk and comments from people like yourself. This is often how permanent change is made.

      It is happening for many – and it is not solely your burden to make it so.

      It is your current participation that added to all the others allows a shift to take place. Those collective shifts over time are powerful changes. Continue your current engagement and it will be effective.

      Your expressed views on this blog coincide with planting trees, not cutting them down. Keep planting and Kia kaha – Hold on.

      • xtasy 33.1.1
        23 September 2013 at 3:40 am

        Thank you Molly, Not Another Sheep, Just saying and Clement Pinto. Sadly I tend to drop into very deep “holes” at times, and some here will have noticed and know this.

        I had a terrible week, but pulled my socks up as much as I could. That though is also part of a bad upbringing by an over authoritarian father, who never allowed emotions and much else to develope. A bit too much of a “stiff upper lip” was a large part of my parenting, and it has caused much damage. Maybe some can relate to that.

        I have though incredible swings from bad to better, and I also feel very sympathetic and motivated towards some others suffering immensely, especially under welfare “reforms” or “deforms”.

        There is a new story on ACC Forum to look at, which is very revealing, about how the new rules affect sick and disabled, especially those with serious mental health issues. It is worth a read, and it tells so much, it is very distressing. Also a friend of mine got an email from Jacinda Ardern, which is promising, I believe, no matter what the caucus realignment may bring. She appears to be more genuine and committed than I thought. So we will watch that space with great interest.

        Sorry for causing worry and distress, but at times I am really in very bad shape, and what this rotten government does to us, has a lot to account for it. I rather see them thrown out of office much sooner than late 2014. I will try to sort myself out once again, and continue the hard work and struggle. Support all the advocates too, please, they are struggling to get much support these days. All the best, and thanks for patience and bearing with my own challenges.

        http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15326-hatchet-doctor-exposed-winz-acc-alert-hdc-office-do-cop-out/

  34. Linz 34
    22 September 2013 at 8:27 am

    So this is why the Keys were invited to Balmoral: From NZ Herald:
    NZ backs royals to always lead Commonwealth
    John Key supports Queen’s wish to have her successors assume role
    New Zealand will campaign for the Queen’s wish for her successors to automatically become the head of the Commonwealth, says Prime Minister John Key.
    Question: when did John Key become New Zealand?
    Facts: The Commonwealth

    • Founded in April 1949. Now has 54 member nations.

    • Queen is the Head of State of 16 Commonwealth countries, including New Zealand.

    • One of the conditions of membership is that the countries recognise the Queen as the head of the Commonwealth.

    • Countries are also expected to have a constitutional link to one of the existing Commonwealth nations. Mozambique and Rwanda (admitted in 2009) are exceptions to this.

    Time to become a Republic.

    • amirite 34.1
      25 September 2013 at 11:39 am

      And to kick the bastard out.

      On the different note, what’s happening with this site? I was unable to log on and post earlier this morning.

      Strange eh? Does it have something to do with this or is he being paranoid?
      http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/09/25/last-nights-hack-attack-against-the-daily-blog/

      [lprent: Nope. There was a problem with the graphics on the Feed chewing up the CPU. There has been higher traffic than usual (which I haven’t looked at yet), but that tends to vary with the creation of new spambots. The daily blog one looks more like a classic writeable file (usually footer.php) being modified. We got caught by that in 2008 and from memory kiwiblog had something similar a few years later. ]

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    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    19 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

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