Number of cars crushed by Judith (crusher) Collins – 0
Number of prisons made smoke free by Judith (cougher) Collins – 0
Prisoners openly stand around smoking in front of guards, the air is heavily scented with cigarette smoke.
Corrections Officers say the whole policy is a joke, and could only be enforced with massive and violent over the top methods.
Desperate prisoners have even resorted to smoking their patches, and even risking electrocution by getting a light jamming tin foil into the wall plugs, and shorting out the power systems on a regular basis.
If they had been asked, Corrections Officers said the policy may have had some chance, if instead of a blanket ban, smoking was only banned from indoor areas – as in other public buildings.
Number of prison officers asked for their advice by Judith (la la land) Collins – 0
Increased cost on the taxpayer for funding unlimited nicotine patches and lozenges per inmate: who knows.
What’s your point? Non-imates can get subsidised patches – I have some from my abortive attempt to quit (before the company I worked for collapsed.) It’s well-known to anyone who cares about people rather than just about enforcing their will on the unworthy, that quitting is next to impossible in high-stress situations. Don’t kid yourself that Tariana’s policy was about anyone’s “health” – it was purely a punitive power play, with a dose of middle class snobbery thrown in. The middle classes drink (oh man do they drink!) but they love to sneer at the working and beneficiary classes who smoke.
Not a big fan of smokers or smoking, regardless of socio-economic status, but you make a good point there, Vicky. Though I see it more in the furore over liqour outlets. If a bottle store opens in a poor area there is a huge outrage, but barely a peep if it is in a middle-upper class area.
Though I see it more in the furore over liqour outlets. If a bottle store opens in a poor area there is a huge outrage, but barely a peep if it is in a middle-upper class area
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
– No, dead is dead
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
– Doesn’t matter, still a terrorist douche bag
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
– Didn’t rhink Blair was that smart but good on him (Sun Tzu would probably approve)
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
– So what
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
– I’m sure Gaddafi had a hand in keeping his people in the stone age already
yeah the world sure looks like a better place.
– Well its a good start
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
Or water, I’ve heard…
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
Seems very likely!
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
Oh yes, and the country resembles one of the inner circles of hell right now. I am very suspicious about it – and have been all along… “Libya has been liberated!” a newsreader just cried excitedly on the BBC. Yeah, right!
Including a fair few agreements and assurances that were made between Libya, the UK and the US. Let’s see what happens to Gaddaffi’s children; they each had a role in helping him run the state and will also know much.
@Carol, I guess you’re right. They’ll be a few “Western Interests” giving a sigh of relief today that he’s not alive to tell stories.
Problem is that doubt he would have made a good witness as I think, mentally, he had been treading water in the deep end for too long. Some have said drugs, others mental illness.
This is probably more a geo-political chess move disguised as a revolution of the people. If you are the US (and Britain & France) you want to ensure a continual supply of oil (especially of the quality that Libya has) from a compliant state. The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Saudi Arabia is on side, Iraq is now in the bag, Southern Sudan is now independent, Nigeria is a basket case and now Libya is accessible.
So who’s next? Who is the next country that is going to have “democracy” brought to them in exchange for oil?
Wow! Shock – Horror – Western Oil firms are interested in making money in oil rich nations!
Who would have thunk it.
The only link to something suggesting impropriety in handling of these contracts is an opinion piece which state that handling out technical contracts to multinational oil firms rather than specialists is unusual. However that is then countered by a quote in the next link which explains this as follows “But the deals, known as service contracts, are unusual, said Greg Mutitt, co-director of Platform, an oil industry research group. “Normally such service contracts are carried out by specialist companies … The majors are not normally interested in such deals, preferring to invest in projects that give them a stake in ownership of extracted oil and the potential for large profits. The explanation is that they see them as a stepping stone…” ”
One of your links was about oil interest BEFORE military intervention in Libya and one of them was a Cartoon as far as I could see. This is the best you could do???
Someone stated that this information was on CNN this morning. If so I’m sure it is easy enough to link the article to make your case stronger.
Just to reiterate, as it seems some of you are having difficulty comprehending what is being asked here, where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?
“where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?”
Gosman, is war an ‘unproper’ way to carry out business? Before each of these invasions the oil was being exploited by quite a different set of companies/state agencies. There was interest from western oil companies in gaining access to Libyan oil (which, as you note, one of my links provides evidence for).
After the invasions, a set of companies that just happened to match (in ‘home nationality’ status) the countries doing the invading are lined up to do the exploiting.
Further, in one of those links it also noted that the service contracts in Iraq were written with US State Department help. Is that ‘proper’?
Evidence, in both a legal and scientific sense, is not usually ‘cast iron’. Rather, it is used to build a case. In that sense, there is ample evidence that the oil contracts were a result of improper practices (including invasion).
I included the cartoon as a humorous punchline for the links – hence my attempt at a ‘smiley’ just after it (though it didn’t appear as the full yellow-faced icon we’ve all come to love (?))
If he was kept alive, as Carol had wished, Libyans would still be “no longer under a tyrant and torturer”, so I’m not sure what your point is.
Also, we are led to believe that the rebel forces had taken him alive and intended to keep him alive. Whether or not that is simply propaganda, it is also true that it could be to the advantage of Libyan people to find out things from Gaddafi about the country’s situation (e.g., any hidden wealth, corruptly instituted contracts with foreign companies that they may now wish to re-litigate or annul, etc.).
That’s the reason he was shot Carol /The Capitalist West has so much to hide . I would presume it will be hidden from public view until most of us have gone ahead.
Exactly! On Radio NZ this morning, I kept hearing on the news that the “rebel leader” regretted that Ghaddafi was dead, and that he “had tried to save him”. Tui billboard!
Dirty raghead eh Cris? Never mind the tens of thousands of other people who were killed during the raids and the new Ambassador calling Libia the jewel in the crown because of the oil and gold they can loot, you sad racist piece of shit.
That’s not what he said Ev, so don’t twist it. He referenced the stuff article and then said he was glad Gadaffi was dead. Not even close to what you just commented.
Second that ev. If NATO and the oil men can do this to Libya they can do it to any country that suits. With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.
A new regime that appears to have started with an execution rather than a trial of the deposed ex leader is not a great beginning for any Libyans expecting enhanced human rights. I predict they will have a US compliant government that oversees the export of oil wealth to the detriment of local needs.
“With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.”
For that reason I am concerned about the possibility for foreign pressure on our government (overt or covert) to open up our EEZ to foreign oil companies.
You just can’t go in there and scoop up a bunch of it in the back of trucks. You actually need to invest heavily in the infrastructure for extraction..
Also there is no evidence that Western oil firms get the oil for free from places like Iraq so why would you think Libya was going to be any different?
It’s not about free but reliable supply and at a reasonable price.
What will be interesting is what is going to happen to Libya’s assets? LIA has position in GE, Catepillar, Citigroup, Haliburton, BASF and more in Italy and France (plus millions in bank accounts).
NATO may confiscate these in return for the cost of the air strikes.
Ummmmmm…. Western oil firms had reliable supply and at a reasonable price BEFORE the Libyan uprising.
If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability. You lefties should know this. That is why many of you keep claiming that the West loves the leaders of Saudi Arabia.
Of course you could easily win this argument by pointing out an example in Iraq where Western oil firms have been able to get preferential treatment in oil contracts. Perhaps you could find this evidence in this article on the subject http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/iraq-oil-production-increasing-to-3.html
With peak oil and the pressure to ensure this is an “American century” and/or the dominance of the west it is about ensuring supply is reliable – you do that by having more than one source in the event that the source you have relied upon “BEFORE the Libyan uprising” is no longer available.
“If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability.”
It is not about the type of government (democrartic or dictatorial) but whether they will be compliant with your objectives. The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.
“The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.”
Quite possibly true however there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that they get better deals after a military intervention. If you note the article I linked to you will have noted the large influence of Chinese oil companies in developing Iraqi fields.
I didn’t argue preferential contracts. As I said it was not about free but cheap, available, constant.
I assume market prices will still prevail (in theory – the more supply the cheaper).
But cost is less of a consideration than available and constant. You cannot be a world power, and project that power unless you have oil to power your planes and to run the economy at home.
With regard to assets – CNN listed the investments made by LIA and that there would be an expectation that NATO countries would be reimbursed.
Look back in history (read the book The Prize) and you will see that the geo-politics of the mid-east has been about oil as far back as the early 20th century.
Last week I gave Dave Brown the Trotskyite a hard time about his contentions about the Russian revolution…his theological attachment to his dogma spoke louder to him than the corpses of the victims. The record was written in blood for all to see.
I would contend that support of the US / European incursions into the Middle East will be equally judged in terms of morality by the very substantial body count of the innocents. We are all beneficiaries of the oil flow and therefore culpable because we subscribe to and foster a model of economy that takes what it wants from whoever gets in the way. No easy answers here.
“Most of the incremental oil will come from work by BP and China National Petroleum Corp. at Rumaila, an Eni-led group at Zubair and — later in the year — from Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell at West Qurna-Phase 1.”
Chinese oil companies? Only one, in partnership with BP. The rest are part of the “Coalition of the Willing”. I note, for example, a lack of mention of any Russian companies. Or Iraqi, for that matter.
Your argument does not hold water William Joyce. The Libyan and Iraqi governments still control the awarding of oil extraction rights in their nations. They can quite easily withdraw these at some stage in the future.
The fact that these nations are far more democratic now means that there will be in fact less stability in relation to this than if the countries was being run by a brutal dictator. If I sign an agreement with a brutal dictator I can be reasonably assured that he will be in power for a number of years. There is no way of knowing in places like Iraq if the agreement you signed might not be repudiated by another government that is less interested in maintaining good relations with the country that you are based in.
Mcflock – I believe when the article mentions the Iraq’s Missan Oil Co it is fair to assume this is an Iraqi bassed oil company. In fact you can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missan_Oil_Company
What you fail to deal with is the fact that there is Chinese there at all in a major role should be evidence that the West is not controlling Iraq’s oil extraction. Why would the West allow the Chinese a key role when the Chinese were less than happy with the 2003 invasion?
I stand corrected – an Iraqi company has a 25% share in a field that produces 265,000bpd, so they basically account for 70,000bpd out of 4,000,000bpd (based on the cumulative field totals).
As for the Chinese involvement, you always give a taste of the action to the guy who bankrolls your existence at the moment.
But the majority of contracts went to members of the “Coalition of the Willing”.
Gosman, I understand your point that, theoretically, there is a greater certainty of making a deal and having continued supply if there is only one person to deal with.
But there can come a point (and we have seen it so often in US foreign policy) where the ally can become the enemy.
These events more than likely come about for a combination of reasons and so may or may not be about oil. But one thing is certain, when the dust settles, they want to have their foot in the door. Yes, there is less certainty if a democracy is in place but democracies can be surprisingly easy to manipulate/corrupt.
As I said above… The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Did the US start the revolution? I don’t know, probably not. But once it was under way I am sure that France and Britain saw a possible end game that would work in their favour – hence the pressure they put on the US to intervene.
It’s one thing to have oil agreements with Libya but a better thing to have an oil supply agreement + access to other resources + an open market to invest in + an economy that can be supplied with western products.
It should be pointed out France and possibly Britain had other reasons to see Gadaffi gone – if I remember rightly something to do with telecommunications, money lent to France (or was his Sarkosy’s political funds – I can’t remember)
Intervention is an action. The motives for intervention can differ. The Neo-Cons who want American dominance in the world see the chance to ease their concerns about supply. The liberals see intervention as a means to support some sort of democratic self-determination.
Dick Cheney made it perfectly clear (and I which I could give you a reference) that the future of US foreign policy (diplomatic and military) was all about securing the supply of oil.
. You actually need to invest heavily in the infrastructure for extraction..
What makes you think there’s not already an infrastructure? Maybe you think that Libya is just a wide oasis in the desert, with airports comprising a few Nissen huts surrounded by camels and a few WW2 jeeps… (as portrayed in American movies.)
Thank heaven for small mercies. The slash and burn Tea-Party Hamilton City Council has backed down on proposed charges for library books. They will still make huge cuts to their libarary budget, but at least there was some place they were willing to stop.
Damn right they should be thankful Millsy. They are getting a spanking new velodrome (strangely situated at a private school), what the hell do they need books for?
The rate payers group of Hamilton is growing at an alarming rate with more and more young people and ex-Nat voters. Nothing gets people more upset as rising taxes and lowering house prices with the money spend on stupid projects such a velodromes etc. while they can’t afford to buy their necessities anymore. Like $2 per book from the library to name but one.
thankfully the Council has stepped back from that particular brainfart, but has said it will reduce new stock purchases amongst steps to scrape back spending.
My submission on that proposal (the velodrome) indicated my concern over its location. The whole ‘cycling centre of excellence’ is now spread over a 100km triangle – a complete nonsense – it should have been in Rotorua as it was the only place that had all the requirements of the tender, but no money to ‘buy’ a velodrome.
Councils have become an even sicker joke over recent decades.
People continue to elect any vain, bombastic buffoon that can pay to get their picture in the paper and then wonder why they end up with motley gaggles of barely-literate car salesmen and intellectually-challenged social climbers who proceed to trip over themselves in farcical efforts to make the most regressive taxation system in history even more punishing to the poorest.
One day someone might examine the huge transfer of the rating burden from rich to poor (via eg UAGCs and targeted rates) but don’t hold your breath.
They’re now easy meat and sitting ducks to any well-heeled lobby group and their own legions of upper-middle-class employees: many council staff and CEOs are now paid massively more than the CEO of the world’s largest bank (which incidentally is $150k – see Bernard Hickey’s blog of a couple of days ago)
It’s a farce. And while they contribute vast amounts of ratepayers’ money to their local rags via advertising, they’ll continue to receive the same sychophantic press fellation as NACT, and the trend will continue.
Either organise locally or expect more amalgamations and wave goodbye to local democracy.
Yes, because farmers should so be given free reign to ignore the RMA when it comes to water pollution from runoff and shovel off the costs of climate change to the government and public…
Why do journos insist on carrying on as if the rest of the world cannot use the Internet? Even if the [Journalist ? ] chooses not to do any basic research, most people i know do some level of fact checking especially when they are told to look the other way. Stories like this seem outdated and more and more desperate in their pathetic attempts to brand a popular global movement as if it is a Sociology capping stunt.
It’s always fascinated me that she has chosen (or at least not vetoed) a picture to accompany her “journalism”, in which one eye is covered. If I thought she had any capacity for self-awareness I’d think the one-eyed image was a bit of a joke.
I loved the comment someone left on the page, along the lines of “let them eat cake, eh?”.
It really was a mentally-vacant upper-middle-class opinion piece, the sort of thing someone says at a dinner party after a few too many glasses of chardonnay. With a wee hint of “but we’re smarter than them so we’re richer”.
@ Blue
Have you ever heard her on Jim Mora’s The Panel session? She is the most loud mouthed, ignorant woman that has ever graced that programme. And that includes Christine Rankin before she won – courtesy of that other ignoramus, Paula Bennett – a spot on the Families Commission.
Care to point out the errors or are you just taking the bog standard approach to an opinion piece that you disagree with by stating it is all based on lies?
I actually didn’t see anything in there that anybody could point out as being factually incorrect. You are entitled to disagree with her opinion and conclusion of course.
I take it you are referring to my “well researched” comment. I guess you didn’t bother reading to the end of the line where i also wrote “clearly reasoned”. The trick to comprehension there gosman is the relationship of information to the intent to persuade. Intent to persuade being a pretty big part of the whole ‘reasoning’ thing.
I did not say she had misrepresented any facts, that issue is your interpretation. My issue is with what she wrote. The piece Ms Cone wrote is, as you point out, an opinion piece.
An opinion published in a National Newspaper is an opportunity to express a view that few get to take advantage of. As a recepient of that privilege it is beholden of Ms Cone to inform herself of the topic she is making comment on. She has clearly failed to do. Her tone and statements, such as “Anyway, I suspect many of the Occupy protesters are not so much against capitalism per se, as feeling miffed that they personally are not rich capitalists. ” expose her ill-informed prejudice.
I respect her right to voice her informed opinion, naturally, as i do yours. Informed opinions are the foundations on which we build our social norms and conventions. With strong foundations great structures can be built. Which is i why i object to foundations built of conjecture and ignorance.
Her insinuation that the 1% got there by merit has the same prejudicial basis. Difficult to argue that one, factually.
I watched a programme on Sky in which the medieval mind was explored. That mind believed the ruling class, the 1%ers, got there by merit and by superior genes, of course.
What utter bollocks. You have no way of knowing how much information Deborah Cone has researched. Just because someone doesn’t share your opinion about a topic that must mean they are not as informed as you. The intellectual arrogance dripping from that is simply astounding to behold.
A (potentially) good point, but it’s shame that you’ve historically failed to follow it yourself. Unfortunately a quick skim over the article shows she done about a year 11 student level of research that borders on “not achieved” if we’re going on NCEA standards, and instead fills in by conjecturing with teh “jealously” hypothesis. Which when dealing with grass roots protests is a pretty clear cut case of pick and chose, instead of doing teh smart thing and looking at all the various voices…
Also highly amusing is her referencing of a shining example of pseudoscience via bullshitting with statistics that is The Bell Curve as a hint that the rich are “smarter” than the poor and thus natural elites. Funny thing about that is that is, if memory serves me right, quick stats tests show little difference between the upper income earners and the rest of the population in terms of average intelligence, and that IQ scores aren’t a statistically significant predictor of a persons income.
But hey, why try and wrap your head around complex causations behind income levels and old boys networks when you can play pretend and believe it’s down to “merit”?…
And as the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to be critiqued from “on high”, it emerges that Goldman Sachs executives have awarded themselves US$10.01 billion in bonuses so far this year.
Good Press Release from the Mana Party where Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate Tawhai McClutchie calls for a complete cancellation on oil and gas development in New Zealand.
“Tauranga Moana needs to be a wake-up call. Our country should be developing more widespread, community-based sustainable energy alternatives. Not only does it behove this country’s clean, green image, such sustainable energy alternatives help break our habit of oil dependence, puts power back into our people’s hands, and it is healthier for the environment and wildlife. All future oil operations must stop.”
I agree with this call because further exploitations are based on selfishness and greed and the myth of unending growth, which is false and illusory – it just isn’t going to happen – peak oil and the effects of climate change are happening now and the world as we have known it is changing, drastically. Community and connection are the only answer and this Press Release is part of the solution to the problems many refuse to acknowledge. As Tawhai says, “Their greed is insatiable.”
There’s always room for doubt, you only have to look at young earth creationists raging against the far taller mountain of evidence for evolutionary biology on the basis of ideological beliefs 🙁
I reckon Joky Hen fears a Brashional government and is therefore only prepared to put “Two Ticks National” when he votes.
In fact, with so many current, former, and aspiring leaders of the National Party potentially there in November, they must all be watching their backs.
The country knows where Brash stands on most issues and Key will find it very difficult to work with him.
Question: On the official programme for the final, will it say
France vs New Zealand or France vs All Blacks?
From memory, of following the tours of United Kingdom, the provincial/club games used to be against the All Blacks but the games against the then Five Nations, i.e the internationals, it was vs New Zealand.
The All Blacks used to be the official touring party, bit like the MCC in cricket. The tests were against England but state and minor games were against the MCC.
Has someone made a killing therefore on the printing of all those flags with All Blacks rather than New Zealand on them.
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Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
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Number of cars crushed by Judith (crusher) Collins – 0
Number of prisons made smoke free by Judith (cougher) Collins – 0
Prisoners openly stand around smoking in front of guards, the air is heavily scented with cigarette smoke.
Corrections Officers say the whole policy is a joke, and could only be enforced with massive and violent over the top methods.
Desperate prisoners have even resorted to smoking their patches, and even risking electrocution by getting a light jamming tin foil into the wall plugs, and shorting out the power systems on a regular basis.
If they had been asked, Corrections Officers said the policy may have had some chance, if instead of a blanket ban, smoking was only banned from indoor areas – as in other public buildings.
Number of prison officers asked for their advice by Judith (la la land) Collins – 0
Increased cost on the taxpayer for funding unlimited nicotine patches and lozenges per inmate: who knows.
What’s your point? Non-imates can get subsidised patches – I have some from my abortive attempt to quit (before the company I worked for collapsed.) It’s well-known to anyone who cares about people rather than just about enforcing their will on the unworthy, that quitting is next to impossible in high-stress situations. Don’t kid yourself that Tariana’s policy was about anyone’s “health” – it was purely a punitive power play, with a dose of middle class snobbery thrown in. The middle classes drink (oh man do they drink!) but they love to sneer at the working and beneficiary classes who smoke.
Non-inmates:
Don’t dry used tea leaves,
Don’t sprinkle the contents of nicotine patches, or crushed lozenges over dried tea leaves,
Don’t smoke this vile concoction.
Not a big fan of smokers or smoking, regardless of socio-economic status, but you make a good point there, Vicky. Though I see it more in the furore over liqour outlets. If a bottle store opens in a poor area there is a huge outrage, but barely a peep if it is in a middle-upper class area.
A very good point, millsy!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/5826304/Gaddafi-killed-as-last-stronghold-falls
Better late then never I guess
A new era for Libya I suppose. The ‘rebels’ can at last claim an absolute victory.
I don’t care who claims the kill, just that hes dead
A bit bloodthirsty of you, chris73. Isn’t it enough for you just to see his régime toppled?
I think the world is a better place (however small) because hes dead.
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
yeah the world sure looks like a better place.
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
– No, dead is dead
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
– Doesn’t matter, still a terrorist douche bag
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
– Didn’t rhink Blair was that smart but good on him (Sun Tzu would probably approve)
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
– So what
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
– I’m sure Gaddafi had a hand in keeping his people in the stone age already
yeah the world sure looks like a better place.
– Well its a good start
Or water, I’ve heard…
Seems very likely!
Oh yes, and the country resembles one of the inner circles of hell right now. I am very suspicious about it – and have been all along… “Libya has been liberated!” a newsreader just cried excitedly on the BBC. Yeah, right!
Actually, I would have preferred Gaddafi was kept alive. There’s probably a few skeletons in his closet that would rattle some western governments.
Including a fair few agreements and assurances that were made between Libya, the UK and the US. Let’s see what happens to Gaddaffi’s children; they each had a role in helping him run the state and will also know much.
@Carol, I guess you’re right. They’ll be a few “Western Interests” giving a sigh of relief today that he’s not alive to tell stories.
Problem is that doubt he would have made a good witness as I think, mentally, he had been treading water in the deep end for too long. Some have said drugs, others mental illness.
This is probably more a geo-political chess move disguised as a revolution of the people. If you are the US (and Britain & France) you want to ensure a continual supply of oil (especially of the quality that Libya has) from a compliant state. The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Saudi Arabia is on side, Iraq is now in the bag, Southern Sudan is now independent, Nigeria is a basket case and now Libya is accessible.
So who’s next? Who is the next country that is going to have “democracy” brought to them in exchange for oil?
Where is the evidence William Joyce that Western nations get preferential treatment in handling of oil contracts after military intervention?
Your musings on this topic are essentially conspiratorial nonsense mascarading as an attempt at serious geopolitical analysis.
It was on CNN this morning.
Try here, here and here in relation to Libya. Try here, here and here 🙂 for Iraq.
Conspiracy theories are one thing; naivety quite another.
Wow! Shock – Horror – Western Oil firms are interested in making money in oil rich nations!
Who would have thunk it.
The only link to something suggesting impropriety in handling of these contracts is an opinion piece which state that handling out technical contracts to multinational oil firms rather than specialists is unusual. However that is then countered by a quote in the next link which explains this as follows “But the deals, known as service contracts, are unusual, said Greg Mutitt, co-director of Platform, an oil industry research group. “Normally such service contracts are carried out by specialist companies … The majors are not normally interested in such deals, preferring to invest in projects that give them a stake in ownership of extracted oil and the potential for large profits. The explanation is that they see them as a stepping stone…” ”
One of your links was about oil interest BEFORE military intervention in Libya and one of them was a Cartoon as far as I could see. This is the best you could do???
Someone stated that this information was on CNN this morning. If so I’m sure it is easy enough to link the article to make your case stronger.
Just to reiterate, as it seems some of you are having difficulty comprehending what is being asked here, where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?
“where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?”
Gosman, is war an ‘unproper’ way to carry out business? Before each of these invasions the oil was being exploited by quite a different set of companies/state agencies. There was interest from western oil companies in gaining access to Libyan oil (which, as you note, one of my links provides evidence for).
After the invasions, a set of companies that just happened to match (in ‘home nationality’ status) the countries doing the invading are lined up to do the exploiting.
Further, in one of those links it also noted that the service contracts in Iraq were written with US State Department help. Is that ‘proper’?
Evidence, in both a legal and scientific sense, is not usually ‘cast iron’. Rather, it is used to build a case. In that sense, there is ample evidence that the oil contracts were a result of improper practices (including invasion).
I included the cartoon as a humorous punchline for the links – hence my attempt at a ‘smiley’ just after it (though it didn’t appear as the full yellow-faced icon we’ve all come to love (?))
Gosman has always had trouble understanding the difference between evidence and proof.
He demands the former thinking it synonymous with the latter.
And then when the former is provided in abundance he gets on his high horse because it isn’t the latter that he thought he was demanding.
lol.
Felix, That about sums Gosman up! LOL
Another Libyan resource now likely to be pillaged by Western corporate interests, specifically French corporations, are the massive water aquifers in the south of the country.
Always follow the money.
Carol:
Seriously, you dont care that his people is no longer under a tyrant and torturer, you just
want western governments to be embarrassed ?
Brett Dale,
If he was kept alive, as Carol had wished, Libyans would still be “no longer under a tyrant and torturer”, so I’m not sure what your point is.
Also, we are led to believe that the rebel forces had taken him alive and intended to keep him alive. Whether or not that is simply propaganda, it is also true that it could be to the advantage of Libyan people to find out things from Gaddafi about the country’s situation (e.g., any hidden wealth, corruptly instituted contracts with foreign companies that they may now wish to re-litigate or annul, etc.).
That’s the reason he was shot Carol /The Capitalist West has so much to hide . I would presume it will be hidden from public view until most of us have gone ahead.
Exactly! On Radio NZ this morning, I kept hearing on the news that the “rebel leader” regretted that Ghaddafi was dead, and that he “had tried to save him”. Tui billboard!
Wouldn’t you rather he were tried, chris?
There may be some reasons people dont want him tried, dead is far more convenient.
http://www.cluborlov.blogspot.com/
Club Orlov, nice holiday spot that one.
Only if it was guaranteed that he’d be executed once hes found guilty, if not then no.
So it’s not actually about justice then. Good to know.
Dirty raghead eh Cris? Never mind the tens of thousands of other people who were killed during the raids and the new Ambassador calling Libia the jewel in the crown because of the oil and gold they can loot, you sad racist piece of shit.
That’s not what he said Ev, so don’t twist it. He referenced the stuff article and then said he was glad Gadaffi was dead. Not even close to what you just commented.
Cheers
Its sad (but typical I guess) that little dick-smacks like ev read what they want in a statement.
He/she sees a statement as racist even when theres no racist statements in it, kind of suggests that he/she might be a little bit racist…
Second that ev. If NATO and the oil men can do this to Libya they can do it to any country that suits. With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.
A new regime that appears to have started with an execution rather than a trial of the deposed ex leader is not a great beginning for any Libyans expecting enhanced human rights. I predict they will have a US compliant government that oversees the export of oil wealth to the detriment of local needs.
“With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.”
For that reason I am concerned about the possibility for foreign pressure on our government (overt or covert) to open up our EEZ to foreign oil companies.
Don’t worry, we’ve got sweet FA proven reserves so its a big fat nothing until someone finds 10Bb equivalent somewhere around here.
How are they going to loot the oil?
You just can’t go in there and scoop up a bunch of it in the back of trucks. You actually need to invest heavily in the infrastructure for extraction..
Also there is no evidence that Western oil firms get the oil for free from places like Iraq so why would you think Libya was going to be any different?
It’s not about free but reliable supply and at a reasonable price.
What will be interesting is what is going to happen to Libya’s assets? LIA has position in GE, Catepillar, Citigroup, Haliburton, BASF and more in Italy and France (plus millions in bank accounts).
NATO may confiscate these in return for the cost of the air strikes.
Ummmmmm…. Western oil firms had reliable supply and at a reasonable price BEFORE the Libyan uprising.
If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability. You lefties should know this. That is why many of you keep claiming that the West loves the leaders of Saudi Arabia.
Of course you could easily win this argument by pointing out an example in Iraq where Western oil firms have been able to get preferential treatment in oil contracts. Perhaps you could find this evidence in this article on the subject http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/iraq-oil-production-increasing-to-3.html
With peak oil and the pressure to ensure this is an “American century” and/or the dominance of the west it is about ensuring supply is reliable – you do that by having more than one source in the event that the source you have relied upon “BEFORE the Libyan uprising” is no longer available.
“If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability.”
It is not about the type of government (democrartic or dictatorial) but whether they will be compliant with your objectives. The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.
Avoiding the issue I see there William Joyce
“The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.”
Quite possibly true however there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that they get better deals after a military intervention. If you note the article I linked to you will have noted the large influence of Chinese oil companies in developing Iraqi fields.
I didn’t argue preferential contracts. As I said it was not about free but cheap, available, constant.
I assume market prices will still prevail (in theory – the more supply the cheaper).
But cost is less of a consideration than available and constant. You cannot be a world power, and project that power unless you have oil to power your planes and to run the economy at home.
With regard to assets – CNN listed the investments made by LIA and that there would be an expectation that NATO countries would be reimbursed.
Look back in history (read the book The Prize) and you will see that the geo-politics of the mid-east has been about oil as far back as the early 20th century.
Last week I gave Dave Brown the Trotskyite a hard time about his contentions about the Russian revolution…his theological attachment to his dogma spoke louder to him than the corpses of the victims. The record was written in blood for all to see.
I would contend that support of the US / European incursions into the Middle East will be equally judged in terms of morality by the very substantial body count of the innocents. We are all beneficiaries of the oil flow and therefore culpable because we subscribe to and foster a model of economy that takes what it wants from whoever gets in the way. No easy answers here.
“Most of the incremental oil will come from work by BP and China National Petroleum Corp. at Rumaila, an Eni-led group at Zubair and — later in the year — from Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell at West Qurna-Phase 1.”
Chinese oil companies? Only one, in partnership with BP. The rest are part of the “Coalition of the Willing”. I note, for example, a lack of mention of any Russian companies. Or Iraqi, for that matter.
Your argument does not hold water William Joyce. The Libyan and Iraqi governments still control the awarding of oil extraction rights in their nations. They can quite easily withdraw these at some stage in the future.
The fact that these nations are far more democratic now means that there will be in fact less stability in relation to this than if the countries was being run by a brutal dictator. If I sign an agreement with a brutal dictator I can be reasonably assured that he will be in power for a number of years. There is no way of knowing in places like Iraq if the agreement you signed might not be repudiated by another government that is less interested in maintaining good relations with the country that you are based in.
Mcflock – I believe when the article mentions the Iraq’s Missan Oil Co it is fair to assume this is an Iraqi bassed oil company. In fact you can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missan_Oil_Company
What you fail to deal with is the fact that there is Chinese there at all in a major role should be evidence that the West is not controlling Iraq’s oil extraction. Why would the West allow the Chinese a key role when the Chinese were less than happy with the 2003 invasion?
I stand corrected – an Iraqi company has a 25% share in a field that produces 265,000bpd, so they basically account for 70,000bpd out of 4,000,000bpd (based on the cumulative field totals).
As for the Chinese involvement, you always give a taste of the action to the guy who bankrolls your existence at the moment.
But the majority of contracts went to members of the “Coalition of the Willing”.
Gosman, I understand your point that, theoretically, there is a greater certainty of making a deal and having continued supply if there is only one person to deal with.
But there can come a point (and we have seen it so often in US foreign policy) where the ally can become the enemy.
These events more than likely come about for a combination of reasons and so may or may not be about oil. But one thing is certain, when the dust settles, they want to have their foot in the door. Yes, there is less certainty if a democracy is in place but democracies can be surprisingly easy to manipulate/corrupt.
As I said above…
The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Did the US start the revolution? I don’t know, probably not. But once it was under way I am sure that France and Britain saw a possible end game that would work in their favour – hence the pressure they put on the US to intervene.
It’s one thing to have oil agreements with Libya but a better thing to have an oil supply agreement + access to other resources + an open market to invest in + an economy that can be supplied with western products.
It should be pointed out France and possibly Britain had other reasons to see Gadaffi gone – if I remember rightly something to do with telecommunications, money lent to France (or was his Sarkosy’s political funds – I can’t remember)
Intervention is an action. The motives for intervention can differ. The Neo-Cons who want American dominance in the world see the chance to ease their concerns about supply. The liberals see intervention as a means to support some sort of democratic self-determination.
Dick Cheney made it perfectly clear (and I which I could give you a reference) that the future of US foreign policy (diplomatic and military) was all about securing the supply of oil.
Gosman has always had trouble understanding the difference between conspiracy and opportunism.
Until recently he still had a black and white tv. He only got rid of it because the shades of grey were confusing him.
What makes you think there’s not already an infrastructure? Maybe you think that Libya is just a wide oasis in the desert, with airports comprising a few Nissen huts surrounded by camels and a few WW2 jeeps… (as portrayed in American movies.)
Thank heaven for small mercies. The slash and burn Tea-Party Hamilton City Council has backed down on proposed charges for library books. They will still make huge cuts to their libarary budget, but at least there was some place they were willing to stop.
Damn right they should be thankful Millsy. They are getting a spanking new velodrome (strangely situated at a private school), what the hell do they need books for?
The rate payers group of Hamilton is growing at an alarming rate with more and more young people and ex-Nat voters. Nothing gets people more upset as rising taxes and lowering house prices with the money spend on stupid projects such a velodromes etc. while they can’t afford to buy their necessities anymore. Like $2 per book from the library to name but one.
thankfully the Council has stepped back from that particular brainfart, but has said it will reduce new stock purchases amongst steps to scrape back spending.
My submission on that proposal (the velodrome) indicated my concern over its location. The whole ‘cycling centre of excellence’ is now spread over a 100km triangle – a complete nonsense – it should have been in Rotorua as it was the only place that had all the requirements of the tender, but no money to ‘buy’ a velodrome.
Still, the posh kids can have fun!
obviously part of keys cycleway
You’d think they could start by reducing their bloated roads budget.
Councils have become an even sicker joke over recent decades.
People continue to elect any vain, bombastic buffoon that can pay to get their picture in the paper and then wonder why they end up with motley gaggles of barely-literate car salesmen and intellectually-challenged social climbers who proceed to trip over themselves in farcical efforts to make the most regressive taxation system in history even more punishing to the poorest.
One day someone might examine the huge transfer of the rating burden from rich to poor (via eg UAGCs and targeted rates) but don’t hold your breath.
They’re now easy meat and sitting ducks to any well-heeled lobby group and their own legions of upper-middle-class employees: many council staff and CEOs are now paid massively more than the CEO of the world’s largest bank (which incidentally is $150k – see Bernard Hickey’s blog of a couple of days ago)
It’s a farce. And while they contribute vast amounts of ratepayers’ money to their local rags via advertising, they’ll continue to receive the same sychophantic press fellation as NACT, and the trend will continue.
Either organise locally or expect more amalgamations and wave goodbye to local democracy.
I couldn’t agree more ak.
“Organising locally” is often difficult and time-consuming where ‘community ties’ have become most fractured, but urgently, and unavoidably necessary.
Micheal Redman, Hamiltons ad man form hell. Sorry Auckland he’s yours now.
No mention of the Labour party policy on Agriculture at the moment I see.
It looks like the Labour party has decided to give up any hope of winning over the provinces and are pandering to it’s urban constinuency again.
Yes, because farmers should so be given free reign to ignore the RMA when it comes to water pollution from runoff and shovel off the costs of climate change to the government and public…
Another well researched and clearly reasoned piece of work on the Occupy movement -sarc
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10760490
Why do journos insist on carrying on as if the rest of the world cannot use the Internet? Even if the [Journalist ? ] chooses not to do any basic research, most people i know do some level of fact checking especially when they are told to look the other way. Stories like this seem outdated and more and more desperate in their pathetic attempts to brand a popular global movement as if it is a Sociology capping stunt.
It’s Deborah Hill Cone, Freedom. You can’t really expect much.
It’s always fascinated me that she has chosen (or at least not vetoed) a picture to accompany her “journalism”, in which one eye is covered. If I thought she had any capacity for self-awareness I’d think the one-eyed image was a bit of a joke.
I loved the comment someone left on the page, along the lines of “let them eat cake, eh?”.
It really was a mentally-vacant upper-middle-class opinion piece, the sort of thing someone says at a dinner party after a few too many glasses of chardonnay. With a wee hint of “but we’re smarter than them so we’re richer”.
@ Blue
Have you ever heard her on Jim Mora’s The Panel session? She is the most loud mouthed, ignorant woman that has ever graced that programme. And that includes Christine Rankin before she won – courtesy of that other ignoramus, Paula Bennett – a spot on the Families Commission.
Which facts do you have a problem with?
Care to point out the errors or are you just taking the bog standard approach to an opinion piece that you disagree with by stating it is all based on lies?
I actually didn’t see anything in there that anybody could point out as being factually incorrect. You are entitled to disagree with her opinion and conclusion of course.
I take it you are referring to my “well researched” comment. I guess you didn’t bother reading to the end of the line where i also wrote “clearly reasoned”. The trick to comprehension there gosman is the relationship of information to the intent to persuade. Intent to persuade being a pretty big part of the whole ‘reasoning’ thing.
I did not say she had misrepresented any facts, that issue is your interpretation. My issue is with what she wrote. The piece Ms Cone wrote is, as you point out, an opinion piece.
An opinion published in a National Newspaper is an opportunity to express a view that few get to take advantage of. As a recepient of that privilege it is beholden of Ms Cone to inform herself of the topic she is making comment on. She has clearly failed to do. Her tone and statements, such as “Anyway, I suspect many of the Occupy protesters are not so much against capitalism per se, as feeling miffed that they personally are not rich capitalists. ” expose her ill-informed prejudice.
I respect her right to voice her informed opinion, naturally, as i do yours. Informed opinions are the foundations on which we build our social norms and conventions. With strong foundations great structures can be built. Which is i why i object to foundations built of conjecture and ignorance.
Her insinuation that the 1% got there by merit has the same prejudicial basis. Difficult to argue that one, factually.
I watched a programme on Sky in which the medieval mind was explored. That mind believed the ruling class, the 1%ers, got there by merit and by superior genes, of course.
What utter bollocks. You have no way of knowing how much information Deborah Cone has researched. Just because someone doesn’t share your opinion about a topic that must mean they are not as informed as you. The intellectual arrogance dripping from that is simply astounding to behold.
A (potentially) good point, but it’s shame that you’ve historically failed to follow it yourself. Unfortunately a quick skim over the article shows she done about a year 11 student level of research that borders on “not achieved” if we’re going on NCEA standards, and instead fills in by conjecturing with teh “jealously” hypothesis. Which when dealing with grass roots protests is a pretty clear cut case of pick and chose, instead of doing teh smart thing and looking at all the various voices…
Also highly amusing is her referencing of a shining example of pseudoscience via bullshitting with statistics that is The Bell Curve as a hint that the rich are “smarter” than the poor and thus natural elites. Funny thing about that is that is, if memory serves me right, quick stats tests show little difference between the upper income earners and the rest of the population in terms of average intelligence, and that IQ scores aren’t a statistically significant predictor of a persons income.
But hey, why try and wrap your head around complex causations behind income levels and old boys networks when you can play pretend and believe it’s down to “merit”?…
And as the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to be critiqued from “on high”, it emerges that Goldman Sachs executives have awarded themselves US$10.01 billion in bonuses so far this year.
Multiple highly radioactive spots found all around Tokyo
Japanese MSM seems complicit in keeping this quiet.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/10/more-than-20-radioactive-hotspots-found-in-tokyo.html
Rush Limbaugh Sympathizes With Terrorist Sex Slavers, the Lords Resistance Army.
It just had to be said…
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse…..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10760745
Macaroon’s coming to hang out with Key – more photo ops!
Whale stranded on Ohope beach. Conservationists concerned it may have ingested oil.
I bet Key and Bridges won’t show up for a photo op with the whale!
“I didn’t drive that whale onto the beach”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5828339/Whale-strands-on-Ohope-Beach
Good Press Release from the Mana Party where Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate Tawhai McClutchie calls for a complete cancellation on oil and gas development in New Zealand.
“Tauranga Moana needs to be a wake-up call. Our country should be developing more widespread, community-based sustainable energy alternatives. Not only does it behove this country’s clean, green image, such sustainable energy alternatives help break our habit of oil dependence, puts power back into our people’s hands, and it is healthier for the environment and wildlife. All future oil operations must stop.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1110/S00359/national-the-party-of-irresponsibility-and-greed.htm
I agree with this call because further exploitations are based on selfishness and greed and the myth of unending growth, which is false and illusory – it just isn’t going to happen – peak oil and the effects of climate change are happening now and the world as we have known it is changing, drastically. Community and connection are the only answer and this Press Release is part of the solution to the problems many refuse to acknowledge. As Tawhai says, “Their greed is insatiable.”
The rights war on the poor continues.
The Economist: The heat is on.
A new analysis of the temperature record leaves little room for the doubters. The world is warming
There’s always room for doubt, you only have to look at young earth creationists raging against the far taller mountain of evidence for evolutionary biology on the basis of ideological beliefs 🙁
There ain’t no warmin’, e-volutchun and Jay-zus walked himself with the dyno-saws. And that nice Mista Key, ain’t he just the sweetest thang?
hey joe 90 funny how the temperature graph matches the CO 2 graph
What’s your Number?
I reckon Joky Hen fears a Brashional government and is therefore only prepared to put “Two Ticks National” when he votes.
In fact, with so many current, former, and aspiring leaders of the National Party potentially there in November, they must all be watching their backs.
The country knows where Brash stands on most issues and Key will find it very difficult to work with him.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5830022/ACT-can-t-bank-on-Keys-support
Question: On the official programme for the final, will it say
France vs New Zealand or France vs All Blacks?
From memory, of following the tours of United Kingdom, the provincial/club games used to be against the All Blacks but the games against the then Five Nations, i.e the internationals, it was vs New Zealand.
The All Blacks used to be the official touring party, bit like the MCC in cricket. The tests were against England but state and minor games were against the MCC.
Has someone made a killing therefore on the printing of all those flags with All Blacks rather than New Zealand on them.
Greece continues to disintegrate as their politicians again choose the banksters over their own people
The guillotine is the only answer at this stage.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday#p/u/4/YdL97_SE9nc
That’s always what it comes down to once the psychopaths take control.
Haere ra Muammar
You gave em shit for a while
Danced em in circles
Let the crushed masses smile
But in the end it’s numbers
And the width of the gall
You sacrificed thousands
While they’d take us all.
Rest easy Muammar
As they prance on your grave
Join the warrior rank
And sup deep to the brave.
Uh huh
Amene!
-304
Good words, ak!