Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike…
We sleep walk toward “interesting times”…as we all (me included) burn heaps and heaps of fossil fuels. “Ah but it was not my fault”, we will all say as we are forced to take a sailboat to the warm beaches of South Georgia.
Yesterday when Tat “came out” Jim Nald asked him about “megatrends”. Well the biggest megatrend of the lot is SEP (somebody elses problem). Its from the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, something so preposterous and out there that ones brain rejects it being possible and blithely ignores it.
The premise is the same old techno narcissism that we are so bloody clever that we can subvert the rules of thermodynamics to “invent” alternative energy sources. On a finite planet.. not to mention consuming more through “growth”. And the common wankspanner idea of today that information technology can create tangible “growth”…last time I tried I found the Mac was neither edible, tasty or able to cloth me. I am so fekkin bored with this trite nonsense. Reality can be seen, its not an SEP, we just need to stop fantastic drivel like that proposed by the aforesaid “academic” and deal to facts.
-When the government is invasive,
the people are wanting.
Calamity is what fortune depends upon;
fortune is what calamity subdues.
Who knows how it will all end?
Is there no right and wrong?
The orthodox also becomes unorthodox,
the good also becomes ill;
people’s confusion
is indeed long-standing- 58
Ennui
This morning Radionz was interviewing a South African Ivo Vetger who has written a book that highlights how some of the fears and statements that have been made about harm from environmental pollution or climate change, have been false, exaggerated, not come to pass,.
It isn’t fair to make such statements he thinks, it frightens people as in the Gulf of Mexico debacle fishermen were told they would not be able to fish again, and some/one committed suicide. And now they are fishing again and the dugong, manatees, or whatever, other sea creatures are just fine. And oil on the seafloor – that is not anything new and the environment can handle it.
Just another excuse maker for doing nothing, fiddling while Rome burns BAU BUM. He’s a smoothie, good talker, written a book. Why bother RadioNZ 9toNoon?
This is a considered opinion from Twitter (says it all). The latest from Ivo Vegter (@IvoVegter). Free-market columnist. Author: Extreme Environment. ‘A sniveling sycophant, rotten little shill, dribbly contention monger …
And about our capacity to think things out rationally using reason.
from Jonathan Cainer (b1957) – got this from the newspaper don’t know the guy.
Our brains are not capable of comprehending the infinite so, instead, we ignore it and eat cheese on toast.
I’ve mentioned how useful Transactional Analysis methods are for understanding thinking states but will do so again. It helps to see where we or others, are coming from. From book I’m OK – You’re OK.
Three states –
Parent – Authoritarian, behaviour forming rules, inhibitions, often from childhood and still
being applied in present whether appropriate now or not.
Child – Tends to be joyful, irresponsible, uninhibited, artisitic expressive.
Can adopt certain behaviours – The Little Professor is one.
Adult – Tries to think rationally using appropriate information, trying to make balanced
decisions. Can lack empathy if not allowing any child thoughts. Can be too
rule bound and judgmental if drawing on parent too much. But can keep thinking
and examining, can make appropriate changes.
With better understanding of how we think, we can think out better solutions. Maybe we will succeed to cope with our future.
Thanks P, I have read a little on TA, seems to have merit. Gotta be some circuit breaker to willful non acceptance of reality. Still there is nothing new, how old is the story of the emperors clothes?
Two stories. One Germany has so much renewable power its causing its neighbors problems, and another story about a low energy carbon segrestrator? that produces charcoal. Its not that far off but instead of Germany pumping the excess supply around europe it just needs to use up the excess to create something useful like charcoal – reducing the carbon from the atmosphere (for a time).
Aero, apologies for being a kill joy but the stories demonstrate the way the whole techno narcissistic spin doctors work. Germany may well have too much energy, I was there a few months ago, windmills everywhere. But they burn oil and coal as well to generate electricity. What I read there was that they were dependent on that, wind was a thin layer of cream on the cake.
I’ve read a couple of articles that suggest Germany’s biggest problem with renewables is the wind is in the north and the manufacturing is in the south and as far as the lines to connect the two go, the nimbys are in the middle.
Masses of local solar power in the south… well, it looks like masses from the autobahn. Though I don’t know what proportion of energy needs it meets. The BMW plant has pretty impressive solar architecture the pics look pretty , anyway.
The figure has been climbing but is variable. Apparently varying between seventy something and eighty something percent depending on climactic conditions.
Damn – so we need more renewables to cover the drought years, at least some is underway.
I worry, though, that the NActs are so focused on oil and gas that investment potential for renewables will decline. They seem intent on the pot of gold type investment rather than long-term sustainables.
I hope that our Government is offering help to any NZs affected by the fires. Presumably the Oz Government will be more reasonable after their past neglect but there needs to be help and transport available to very needy people and particularly families that might have lost jobs or homes, and be absolutely skint when they were just managing before.
They are virtual refugees, our own, so get with it you sloppy pollies and do something for our own. And while you are thinking of responsibilities to people, what about that Afghan interpreter who is in Germany and who you are shouldering out because he doesn’t fit some narrow criteria you have set up. It appears they are being bounced around the Defence Force, the Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman, and the Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/225253/afghan-sas-interpreters-say-requests-ignored
Getting through your narrow limitations is worse than trying to get an Afghani camel through the eye of a needle. Same for the 6 in Kabul. They are thinking what a lot of bull you talk, and need help from the officials over there which apparently has been reluctantly given. They are now being asked to make their third application.
Are you trying to freeze them out the poor sods. I hope that you are not encouraging the NZ officials there to be like Bennett’s Nazi WINZ men and women here.
Ummm…….the Aussie government is actually making it harder for Aussies to get help with this new lot of fires. I can’t see they’ll be too eager to help us.
– This is bullsh*t, I read this a while back (I had just got into The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and while its not quite my cup of tea its certainly interesting, thought provoking and not salacious at all (though some of the themes are heavy going)
Thats what happens when you start listening to the likes of Bob McCroskie and Colin Craig. Expect more of this as their movements become more prominent.
They are as bad as the Nazis when it comes to book burning.
New Zealand’s largest community housing development involving 282 social and affordable homes on surplus Government land at Weymouth in South Auckland was announced today by Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown.
“This exciting development involves both the Government’s social and affordable housing reforms and will help 113 families into their first home. It will also expand the provision of community and social housing by 169 units,” Dr Smith says.
There are seven development areas which will emerge as new parts of Vienna from various construction sites. In these seven urban developments almost 34,000 persons will find new homes on about 177 hectares. A home means in particular affordable and pleasant living. This is first of all ensured through funding granted by the City of Vienna and, secondly, by attaching great importance in planning to an enjoyable environment for the dwellers with adequate shopping and recreational facilities but also cafes and restaurants. Schools, nurseries and offices are an integral part of the concept. But a well-developed infrastructure is at least as important as the buildings themselves.
We went out to the opening day of the new underground line to the new Seestadt development last weekend (us z-listers will go to the opening of anything) Amazing to see 30 cranes operating to build the second phase of the development on brownfield land (old airstrip) and transport infrastructure already in place.
No short-term thinking here – this is a 20-year development with multiple aims, including social housing interspersed with private homes, transport infrastructure, environmental sustainability, business growth and jobs, jobs and more jobs.
Good link Miravox, what we stopped doing here in New Zealand as we let the ‘market’ decide for us was this sort of planning around housing needs,
What is wrong with the current ‘planning’ hastily ‘dreamed’ up by Slippery’s National Government as a ‘political response’ is that the building of such housing here will still be at the whim of the ‘market’,
It is obvious that in this area of total market failure to meet the demand for affordable housing it is Government’s role to step in and cause the actual building of the numbers of homes needed…
That Weymouth project was the one that was begun to be scoped under Helen Clark’s watch. not exactly a slippery government intitiative. Looks like it began with Clark & Len Brown’s blessings, and Nick Smith and the Slippery one are only now giving it the green light? What a pathetic, too late, too little effort!!
Yes Karol, of course you are right, look at everything that the current National Government has accomplished within the area of ‘social housing’ and ALL of it was well into the planning stage at the point Labour lost the 2008 election,
Much of such planning even by Labour i consider to be part of the ‘Neo-Liberal abdication of responsibility’ from Government as far as affordable housing across the whole spectrum is concerned,
To be blunt, Labour looked to be only interested in building actual houses for those in the middle class who can immediately afford to buy them, the deliberate downsizing of the HousingNZ stock has with deliberation been assigned as beneficiary only territory while the working poor have been deliberately trapped paying 50%+ of their weekly income to the burgeoning middle class demographic of Landlords,
Has any of this changed under the new leadership of David Cunliffe, there has been no indication of any such change and we await Labour’s spokesperson on Housing Phil Twyford’s recipe of change if there is to be any…
I get the feeling that NZ politicians won’t see the market failure in affordable home until people start living in cars in their own suburbs. As long as people are homeless somewhere else, they’ll keep putting off the problem.
When they do come to terms with it, I reckon it will be loadsamoney to private developers, private companies to run social housing (not social housing trusts – not to mention the sidelining of the role of the state)… and a massive increase in caravan parks.
Miravox, recent government-led attempts at property development in New Zealand leave a lot to be desired. Local example – rebuild of central Christchurch. Compare central city progress and standards to fringe city progress and standards. The government’s CCDU aint much chop. Private sector is outperforming them by a massive factor. Government in this arena is performing like miley cyrus – bleeaaargh!
Is the government actually leading anything in housing in Christchurch? I mean, really, do these people want to provide evidence that the state should be involved in housing?
miravox
Great to know what other countries do that have pollies that have entered the 21st century.
I think I heard a whisper at the pub, that the leaky homes were being assessed on a standard of whether they were more water tight than a raupo hut. Probably some unreliable drunken joker though.
Hah! It’s certainly not perfect here – but the local government does has a long-standing housing research department, forward planning and commitment to affordable housing. I think the most pressing problem at the moment is the lack of provision of smaller apartments for younger and single office workers. The council has contracted for a few buildings around town being stripped out and refurbished to deal with that.
I doubt there would be a leaky home scandal here. Solid builds here – otoh – being from NZ, when I first saw all the brick and masonry apartment blocks my first thought was ‘that’s not going to stand up in an earthquake’. Having said that, I’ve no idea what the earthquake standards are over here… I was told there weren’t any quakes – that was before the 4.5 last month.
My theory is we don’t really have a ‘government’. If it looks like corporate interest, and it behaves like corporate interest
and its called government, it’s
really corporate interest. Just
like the USA. Follow the money
folks! You will understand how it really works.
Probably. IIRC, many of the USA’s Founding Fathers didn’t want participatory democracy because the peasants would vote all the wealth into their hands rather than allow it to remain in the hands of the rich and so they made the US a representative democracy. As far as I can make out, this is where the fear of “mob rule” came from.
Phil
Yes not fair. We are the dingy dinghy bobbing behind the behemoth of the stately ship The United States of America, we still haven’t got anything half as good as Disneyland, and our own theme park area is being taken over by corporate interests, to be demolished by miners (sing, underground, over-ground, wombleing free) or salivated over by resource drillers who might be miners or for energy or water suckers.
At the end there’ll be just us suckers left and we won’t have a playground with any amenities.
Just a sad lonely swing that creaks in a sinister manner even though there’s nothing moving.
I disagree, the problem is we fall for the idea that National is competent, that they are even capitalists, they aren’t, they want power by any legal means however harmful to long term outcomes. A good business, corporation, does not work like that, its just we have so few good business CEO in NZ, its just too easy to paddle in the shit stream coming from our lazy small parliament. We need a upper Chamber to expose how laughably shortsighted the lower house is when it comes to making law. Hell, Winston would be great in there 😉
Yes they are. You just fail to accept that capitalism is just another form of feudalism. Although you do seem to realise it:
they want power by any legal means however harmful to long term outcomes.
We need a upper Chamber to expose how laughably shortsighted the lower house is when it comes to making law.
The US has one of those – they just had to shut down the government.
An upper house really doesn’t answer the problems as the upper house will be drawn from the same partisans. The only solution is a participatory democracy where the administration actually does what the people want rather than what the corporations want.
The only solution is a participatory democracy where the administration actually does what the people want rather than what the corporations want.
That’s just a description of representative democracy with some wishful thinking tacked on the end. There are systemic reasons why representative administrations will never do what people want over the long term.
Far better to push for an actual participatory democracy rather than a feel-good nicety-nice representative one. So…a particpatory democracy where we, the people, are the multiple administrations – administrative systems that we form and dissolve according to our given situations – and that absolutely ensure that what is done is what we want.
RT
Colin Craig is dreaming….
Lovely bird mate. Lovely parrot.
What do you call it?
Oh Winston it’s called. Say hello Winston. Oh I think he’s gone to sleep on his perch. He’s tired after a long squwark??.
That is a dead parrot! It has ceased to be.
No no mate. There is life in the old bird yet.
richard
If you can’t understand it then you can’t say it’s obtuse. I think you mean obscure. You would be right. RT probably designs cryptic crosswords in his sleep.
Whatever we think of NZFirst and Winston Peters you have to admit that He certainly has His nose attuned to which way the political wind is blowing,
In what looks like a large leap to the left Winston is not only proposing a Government provided KiwiSaver but also a Government insurer,
You forgot one Winston, how about a Government retailer of electricity to compliment KiwiPower, ensure prices savings are passed on to consumers and introduce real price competition into the retail pricing of electricity…
Winston Peters should stay firmly in opposition. In fact, he should campaign on staying in opposition. He is bloody useless once in government – gets all carried away, wraps himself in baubles, rants and wanders, gets in stoushes and finally the whole edifice comes crashing down. Nobody benefits.
Across the spectrum, :Labour/Green/NZFirst/Mana,(and i will add here Maori Party although i see that Party facing political oblivion), there is MUCH that they all have in common with each other in the policy arena,
As a ‘leftist’ attempting to look forward past the 3 yearly electoral cycle i am dearly hoping for Labour/Green as the numbers are tending to suggest to gain 50% of the vote in 2014,
Looking ahead tho i think much more could be done by the left fostering a far larger coalition which would include ALL the parties listed above as a coalition should they all be represented in the Parliament after the elections in 2014,
What i am suggesting is a coalition that over numerous elections has at least, if not more, then 50% of the popular vote where such could be an effective Government of the left over at least 4 terms and preferably as far as a 5 term Government,
What Peters and NZFirst have come out of their annual conference advocating, the Government becoming an insurer and the Government becoming a provider in the KiwiSaver mix is hardly outrageous and i would advocate the Government becoming far far more involved in many other areas of business where once a successful business has been established the shareholdings could be transferred into funds such as ACC and the Cullen retirement Fund,
What 30 years of Neo-liberal wankerism has or should have taught us all is that ‘the market’ in New Zealand has been a FAILURE in so many ways on so many levels that ‘the Government’ does and must have a role and involvement in business far above that of simply setting rates of taxation and industry regulation, Government must also assume the role of catalyst in new areas of business as well as old…
Is there any mileage in A Grand Alliance, one that locks up at least 55% of the vote, that, in theory anyway, should ensure at least three, and possibly more terms?
Winston is right of center, so he appeals more to National voters view of the world, so why would you, when you have a uncomfortable story about Key’s govt want to give it to Winston. Well because he speaks to National voters better than a Green or a Labour MP. And if he’s wrong, well thats a burnt right of center MP thats self-harmed. Win-win.
What is happening in Auckland?….Chief Exec, Head of Communications, Head of Legal, Chief Financial Officer ….all either resigned , resigning or potentially resigning
It seems to be a Council in disarray….why?….usually when so many top people resign at the same time there are serious governance, management and morale issues
….See Ad’s post…it needs revisiting:
Ad 19
20 October 2013 at 7:22 am
……We need to get back to debating the agenda of the Council. At the moment, the Council will lose its Chief Executive within months, has lost its Head of Communications, head of Legal, and (if a successful CE candidate) their Chief Financial Officer. It is highly likely to lose more. Like it or not, the staff at Council are a whole lot more powerful than these politicians who meet very occasionally.
We also currently have a Council with no Committee structure, no Committee delegations, and no functioning democracy at all. Five of the new Council are brand new and either have no Council experience or none playing at this level.
This is for steering an entity far larger in its assets than Fonterra.
We have a Unitary Plan preparing for public hearings which the Government has determining it will select the Commissioners for.
We have Cabinet decisions coming down the pipeline that will currently greatly expand motorway investment and do very little for public transport.
You people are obsessed with the media when the policy content and all the other players underneath the Council that will make it happen are far more at risk. Change your viewfinder quickly.
Garth McVicar turned up again on the Nation, this time,
to talk about the defense laywer his friend who committed
suicide. Bad things happen to good people, successful
lawyers do breakdown and commit suicide; innocent people
are drawn into and become harmed by heinous crimes; but
you’ll never hear McVicar say a person convicted of a crime
might be innocent, and that the rub for me because justice
is all about balance and assuaging bias.
McVicar cannot be trusted.
But on the Nation he went further, in a disgraceful display of a
mix of ignorance, false pleading and self-victimization.
McVicar declared his friend had been taken from him, so he
was a victim of a crime, the crime of suicide. Yet, he claims
the man who would have joined his cause was a great lawyer,
and by inference would not have know suicide was a crime.
I ask you in all of Christendom what was the man thinking!
How could someone hoping to speak for the victims of crime
have wanted a criminal in his organization. But wait, its worse!
Suicide is a mental state, a derangement of the mind, what
in all of Christendom was McVicars thinking when he was
declaring that the time of this expert lawyer derangement would
have made such a great colleague in his cause.
McVicar ignored, was ignorant of the legal fact that suicide is a crime.
To my mind McVicar must have so hated this poor man that he was
willing to go on the record, the only other way to see this, is to
suggest that this man is a very poor voice for victims rights to not
worry about pleading for victims, victimize himself, and to want to
engage deranged criminals in his cause.
Seriously, suicide victims are many, we live on after loved ones kill
themselves, what does McVicar not get? That pleading for the
perpetrator to the crime of suicide would be such a great friend of
his cause, how would that make suicide victims feel?
So the Nobel committee could recognize Fama the Younger, awarding him the prize for his work on unpredictability. But it could distance itself from the silliness of Fama the Elder, by having the Younger share the award with Shiller. And that is how the most astute critic of the efficient-market hypothesis helped its creator win a Nobel Prize in economics.
IMHO This “government” Intend to and are already copying the Draconian harassment and punitive sanctions regime applied to bennies of the hell bound sold out (Sold out because they’ve privatised everything in sight)clapped out U$K, that slavish puppet of the collapsing U$$$$$$$.
I just hope it doesn’t get as bad here as this in the shameful Tory Toff hell of a greed cesspool:
Comment: “Cameron and his buddies are true psychopathic serial killers, except they can do it with impunity. How many deaths are they responsible for in this country? Probably runs into thousands since they have been in power. Like a bully they love to kick people when they’re down and they don’t care if it’s a man, woman or child.”
Comment: “I DONT MIND PAYING LOTS OF TAX IF IT KEEPS PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK OR UNEMPLOYED A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS AND FOOD IN THEIR BELLYS, they don’t speak for me, NOT IN MY NAME, TORIES!!!!!!!!!..GET IT! AND GET OUT.”
Now that we’ve reached the end of growth and the endless creation of debt based money supply. Plus we’ve totally maxed out our credit card with the environment, we are now witnessing the Cannibalisation of the people’s Commonwealth as follows:
1. Privatisation into private hands of the nations commonly held assets. The U$K is currently flogging of the NHS and the Royal Mail.
2. Attacks on the entitlements of the unemployed and sick and disabled to make their money available for the private interests who are destroying U$K society .
3.The current U$K Tory Government doesn’t understand that a paradigm shift is happening and are determined to support their aspirations my making the ordinary Brit pay for them by a return to Dickensian cruelty.
bad 12 i don’t take kindly to the deliberate insults X has taken to tossing around and have deliberately, having ‘had words’ with that one previously where he/she has gone off the deep end, shrugged off the insults, http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18102013/#comment-712930
If someone has a rant then you don’t have to take it personally or react against it on behalf of us all. What about, if you can’t say anything supportive and the person irritates you just by their approach, say nothing. Everybody who comes to The Standard is unhappy about something that is going on and some are having a harder time than others, just saying something about it can be therapeutic. And much of it is just not about oneself personally, it extends to a general unsettling anxiety, a lack of hope for an improvement for everyone ‘going forward’.
Pfft, Hogwash, in my world such insults as X was tossing around in the wee small hours of the other morning are demanding of a reply far more energetic than that which i supplied,(in consideration of that ones mental state at the time),
Your comment Greywarbler in consideration of the way you have presented it is fucking dishonest and in effect appears to highlight just one thing in that the grey matter inside your head looks from here to be shit brown,
The link you have given to readers is not a reply to the comments you have linked to and you obviously fucking know this yet choose to behave in a devious dishonest portrayal of myself in a supposed reply to X,
The comments i made to and about X on the morning of 18/10/2013 were directly addressed to a comment that X made in ‘Open Mike’ number 37 at 2.48am on that morning, yet you choose to not link to that comment made to X and instead insinuate by omission that i am commenting to the links you provide,
Ps, what does the word i signify to you at the start of that particular comment??? i says that i am replying to X on behalf of no-one but me, some people are just dense…
“IMHO This “government” Intend to and are already copying the Draconian harassment and punitive sanctions regime applied to bennies of the hell bound sold out (Sold out because they’ve privatised everything in sight)clapped out U$K, that slavish puppet of the collapsing U$$$$$$$.”
Why not? In the absence of a Nat politician equipped with his or her intelligent life form and beating blood pump (sometimes known as a heart) that places them above blind ambition, ideology. and a ‘dear leader’ is yet to be discovered. They have 3/5ths of SFA of an idea to rub together with the other 2/5ths of an esprayshunally collective in waiting.
(I’m gonna watch “The Block” tonight). I hear the Bunnings taps chosen are going to be simply fucking gorgeous
Tut Tut Tut ! How repugnant, how egregious of Teina Pora at 38 years of age to pursue a sexual liaison and to seek the association of a friend. Human, lawful behaviours denied him by an evil fit-up which endures 20 years on !!!
Meanwhile those who fitted him up are free to pursue their lives as they please, including associations of the type sought by this victim of the grossest travesty.
It’s cruelly ironic that on top of the specific matters considered by the Parole Board one of the grounds for denial of parole seems to be a potential not to handle life on the outside after 7,300 days and nights on the inside. Also seemingly that he was not saint-like honest about behaving as a human being after 20 years.
For the justice system to continue abusing Teina Pora on account of the above piss-nothing expressions of being human is no less repugnant than the acid thrower holding the victim to account for the horrendous scarring the victim bears. Of course after 20 years of incarceration it should not frighten the horses that he seeks to exercise his sexuality or to exercise fraternal bonds. To then go “tut tut tut you weren’t honest with us and you’re not fit” is utterly risible.
There must be a change to the Parole Act to ensure that in cases such as Teina Pora’s the Parole Board cannot impose ridiculously unrealistic conditions which inevitably will be breached because the conditions demand of the parolee an effective inhumanity.
As it is the law looks an absolute ass. Worse, in so righteously focusing on Teina Pora’s culpability in expressing the humanity which to his credit he retains after 20 years, the justice system is permitted to take focus off its grievous moral and physical culpability in his case.
Meanwhile a number of highly respected former policemen are enjoying the pleasant weather from their retirement homes, playing golf, or fishing, or having a beer with their mates ???
Given what we now know about this travesty Teina Pora should not be sitting around in prison at the pleasure of the slowly turning wheels of “justice” and several individuals possessed with statutory power to further victimise him in effect, thus further humiliating the justice system.
Blood girl found in Gypsy home. Just out of interest, do Police run parental tests on kids found in P labs? Should any case of child abuse immediately mean a dna parental verification?
I think that when paternity is disputed in NZ the person named as being the biological father has to pay child support and for the DNA test when not the father in order to cease payments.
The case of the young girl found in a Gypsy home warrants investigation due to the likelyhood of not being the carers child. Probably when the suspicion is so great proof is required.
Children found in P labs this is a child protection issue.
Interesting that Auckland Council CEO Doug McKay has ‘asked Ernst and Young to conduct an independent review of the use of council resources in the mayoral office’ – when he, Ernst and Young (and Nigel Morrison, CEO of Sky City) are all members of the Committee for Auckland?
(Who must be horrified at how this has got so horribly ‘out-of-hand’ – as it were).
MAJOR ‘conflicts of interest’ here, in my considered opinion.
Time for an NZ ‘Independent Commission Against Corruption’.
In the meantime – time for the SFO (purportedly the ‘lead’ agency in fighting corruption in NZ) to use their powers to do a VERY thorough investigation -particularly of the use of Sky City – in ANY way by Len Brown, during his illicit affair with Bevan Chuang.
“If everybody around us was acting abominably”
Principled broadcasters cogitate about those wicked Germans
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Monday 21 October 2013
Jim Mora, David Farrar, Julia Hartley Moore
On National Radio this afternoon it’s been a big day on the morality front. Jim Mora is obviously still affected by an interview he has conducted with a woman about the phenomenon of the Schreibtischtäter (“desk murderers”) in Nazi Germany, i.e. the women who helped the Nazis to run their wicked, criminal state. Just before the Panel pre-show segment gets started with Jessica Maddock’s round-up of world news, Jim makes a few solemn observations about moralité and courage….
JIM MORA: A reader recommends we read a book written by the daughter of Hans Frank, who was hanged as a war criminal at Nuremberg in 1946. …[Deep sigh to indicate moral seriousness]…. We like to think we would stand apart, don’t we, if everybody around us was acting abominably.
JULIA HARTLEY MOORE: It’s a problem when the WOMEN start acting like that.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Indeed.
I am sure many listeners mused on just how the brave and moral souls, including the women, on Jim Mora’s Panel would have behaved in Nazi Germany.
Jim Mora said all those things, and he sighed like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders too, just as I recorded. Ms. Hartley Moore made that comment too.
But YOU are trying to say I made up this little conversation. You’ll transcribe that for us then? There’s a good fellow.
Nope.
I’m not going to be a full-time amanuensis just because you’re a fucking idiot.
It’s within the first two minutes of the recording I linked to. Anyone who wants to see just how much of a liar you are (again) can go there.
I didn’t even hear this supposed sigh. Seems more like a standard inhalation one makes when talking after long sentences.
These things are subtle. Your interpretation is just as valid as mine. Jim Mora has a habit of making these heartfelt sighs whenever a difficult or trying problem comes up. I have often described them as “baffled sighs”, but then again maybe this afternoon it was more like you say, just inhaling.
I’m not going to be a full-time amanuensis….
I think you should reconsider. It really would be a useful way to use your talents.
….just because you’re a fucking idiot.
?!?!? Really? Why so?
It’s within the first two minutes of the recording I linked to. Anyone who wants to see just how much of a liar you are (again) can go there.
This is a bit sad really. I don’t like to see someone humiliate himself like you are doing by engaging in this bizarre little campaign of yours. You know, if you had simply pointed out that my rendition of that little display of hypocrisy this afternoon was not word-perfect, you’d have been fine.
But, unwisely and rashly, you’ve made the stupid accusation that I am making it up. Anyone who listened to the program this afternoon will know I did not make anything up.
With your extreme language, you’ve put yourself way out on a limb.
You’re welcome to link to the datestamp or recording that you did actually transcribe accurately, and I will retract.
At the moment, as far as I can tell you’ve grossly misrepresented what was said to a massive level.
Gimme a link or a timestamp – was it further in to the recording? Maybe you’ll learn something about how good it is to accurately say what your source is supposed to be.
I take it you’ll be admitting that the script is almost complete fiction, unlike here?
You know, your display of bad temper and crude lack of generosity doesn’t bolster your flailing efforts one little bit. You can call me a liar as often as you like; the fact is I have a substantial body of work on this site, none of it made up. None of it.
Well, okay, I did have Leitermann’s moronic audience chanting “Heil, Heil, Heil!” which was obviously not literally true. But it did capture the Nuremberg Rally atmosphere which prevailed in the presence of that race-baiting, lying “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen.
Otherwise, it’s strictly transcripts of villainous, hypocritical, sanctimonious commentators laughing their heads off, all the way to the lounge bar. As you know perfectly well, of course. And resent, what with you supporting some of the reprobates I’ve held up for inspection.
the fact is I have a substantial body of work on this site, none of it made up. None of it
Do you say that as a continuation of surrealist performance art, or simply because you received a severe blow to the head?
In the fabrication that is comment 23, about 90% of the excerpt (including the context, spirit and intent of the discussion) is fabricated. Go back to my link in 23.1, and compare them word for word, and even general point for point. They are nothing alike.
I cannot comprehend how someone can be so stupid, yet still work a computer. So you’re a barefaced liar. But I see no benefit to the lies if they are intentional, and that just leaves performance art – but really?
“surrealist performance art….you received a severe blow to the head…. fabrication 90% … fabricated…. stupid…. you’re a barefaced liar…. lies…. performance art…”
That’s a litany of abuse, and a display of calculated dishonesty that would give even an ACT campaign manager pause for thought.
As I have pointed out to you several times now, my substantial body of work trumps your abuse. You can make your baseless, foolish accusations as often as you like, but they don’t bestow the slightest credibility to your disastrous case.
If you had corrected one of my inadvertent mistakes or objected to the tone or accuracy of one or more of my descriptors, that might have constituted intelligent and thoughtful criticism. As it is, all you have to offer is that rancid, limp stream of abuse.
Here it is again, in condensed form: “surrealist performance art….severe blow to the head…. fabrication …. 90% fabricated…. stupid…. you’re a barefaced liar…lies….”
Gosh that really is sad. I feel concerned for you. Are you sober?
I don’t understand why Morrisey comes in for such heat. Morrisey, your reviews of the panel are amusing imo. Clearly your take on the show is a personal assessment, which is fine. Reading them puts a ring and zing around Jim’s show now – his show is tainted by your near daily assessments. Some nob utters something utterly foolish or ill-informed and sure enough there it is in all its Morrisey-glory a short while later.
Most amusing.
Perhaps someone could do a Morrisey review review…. oh, wait a minute ….
Your substantial body of work is a huge pit of electronic silage.
you kindly provided a transcript which is reasonably accurate, it is substantially different to your original “transcript” of the same recording, and you still claim to be accurate?
I’m stone cold sober, but I fear I’m talking with someone in the Twilight Zone.
Yes, I swear and call you names. The reason is that assuming anyone would believe your shit is quite obviously intended to be an enormous fucking insult.
Thank you for the kind words, vto, your support and encouragement really is appreciated.
Perhaps someone could do a Morrisey review review….
I’ve already been flattered with a parody of my work by my good friend Te Reo Putake. It wasn’t all bad, but it could have been a bit sharper. Dave Armstrong won’t hire him on the strength of yesterday’s little send-up.
“Some nob utters something utterly foolish or ill-informed and sure enough there it is in all its Morrisey-glory a short while later.”
Or, as is usually the case, some nob utters something boring and Morrissey invents a far more exciting fantasy conversation which he then insists is “near word perfect” and “none of it made up”.
Yeah, sometimes it’s funny, but he’s presenting these stories as actual quotes from real people when they’re just not. He even attributes quotes to people that are the exact opposite of what they said.
It’s no different from what Cameron Slater does and I have no idea why such blatant lies are allowed to be presented as fact on this site.
It wasn’t a parody, it was a piss take. Took about five minutes and it’s still a work of genius compared to your steaming mounds of bullshit. How’s that apology coming on, liar?
“But YOU are trying to say I made up this little conversation. You’ll transcribe that for us then? There’s a good fellow.”
Can’t prove a negative, Moz. But McF has supplied a link to the audio and after listening to it, I can’t hear any of the things you claim.
“Jim Mora said all those things”
Please indicate where he said those things. The link to the audio has been provided for you. All you have to do is listen to it and write down the time in mins and secs where each statement occurs.
“and he sighed like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders too, just as I recorded.”
Again, please note the time.
“Ms. Hartley Moore made that comment too.”
Again, please note the time. If you’re right, and your transcript is accurate, then simply posting the exact time each statement was made will easily clear the matter up.
Here you go: a word-perfect transcript. I think you’ll agree that anyone who listens to the tape, looks at the script and then compares it with my admittedly imperfect rush transcript/rendition will agree that, contrary to our friend McFlock’s crazed allegations, I catch the tone—of faux seriousness—pretty much perfectly. I believe that Jim Mora’s supposedly concerned conjectures about moral behaviour under pressure have to be considered in the light of his own abominable behaviour and the chilling exhibition of group-think by most of his guests whenever he expresses scorn and contempt for the victims of state-run vendettas…..
[STARTS at 1:25….
JIM MORA: And your question, says Elaine, about whether each of us would be morally independent of the overall group view is a good one and the answer is: probably not. ……[Pause]….. Yeah, we were saying in that interview, you know, if you were in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, to what extent would you have resisted if everybody around you was behaving abominably? I mean you’d like to think that you’d stand apart and be noble and you—-
JULIA HARTLEY MOORE: But the reality is that the pressure, you know—exactly right. I just think, you know, that when women do stuff like this, many times I think women can be far worse than men.
JIM MORA: Or so it seems, in certain cases.
JULIA HARTLEY MOORE: Yeah.
JIM MORA:[sigh] Ah, the book Hitlers Furies. ….[Suddenly brightens up] Nice to see you! Ha ha ha! Sorry I’ve roped you in on the conversation right away! I don’t think we’ve got David Farrar yet….
… but does the nicest lady on Earth own it – and do they serve Lambie with bits of greenery served up by poor bastards on minimum wage?
I need to be able to satisfy my cravings for good, clean, conservative food (in moderation) and be able to look down on those aspirational staff members busting for a leak, content in the knowledge that I’m ‘considerably richer than they’ are, and who are loathe to take a piss break for fear their pay will be docked.
Afternoons is a bit like that TV smaltz she used to host – without the pictures, but complete with subtle Natty advertorials.
But morrissey, if you never made up a single thing (“none of it made up. None of it.”) and, indeed, your transcripts are near word-perfect (as you’ve recently claimed), how can your two “transcripts” be so fundamentally different?
….how can your two “transcripts” be so fundamentally different?
That is my point: they are not fundamentally different. My rush transcript (which as you and others are quite right to point out, is not perfect) has the germ of Jim Mora’s comment, and just as importantly, the spurious and cynical pretence at engagement with a moral issue.
Someone listening to that show for the first time ever this afternoon may well have taken his solicitous tone as genuine. But as you and I know, his record of laughing, guffawing and snorting at the victims of state terror casts doubt on that.
My transcript—or as you might justly prefer, my sketchy impression—was not fundamentally different from the full transcript. Just not as complete.
If your target was Mora, why invent the JHM comment?
” the spurious and cynical pretence at engagement with a moral issue” is completely your invention. Your perspective. Your interpretation. So it’s not an accurate reflection of The Panel, it’s a reflection of your interpretation of what went on. You can either stick with ACTUAL near-word-perfect transcripts, or you can make up caricatures of your interpretations of the vibe of what you heard, but to invent the caricatures and then insist that they’re even fundamentally similar to what was actually said is akin to spitting in your audience’s face.
And why go to all the trouble of writing the second transcript when all he needed to do was note the times of the totally-not-made-up statements and secret sighs in the first transcript?
Wow, now you’re even proving yourself to be inaccurate, yet you still don’t see it. No wonder you won’t apologise for lying. You have no compass for the truth, no sense of the essence of a conversation and you’d rather be thought of as an idiot than accept criticism from others.
All while making unfounded and pointless criticisms of a typically light afternoon talk radio show. Fluffy radio show is fluffy. Well done for spotting that Moz.
Still waiting for the apology for your lies, Moz. Still waiting, you lying sack ‘o’ shit.
Sorry, Te Reo, but I just haven’t got the time to reply to your (sadly abuse-laden, fact-free) contribution now. I’ll address it some time tomorrow on Open Mike 22 October.
I recommend you go to bed and run through a few more names to call me. The ones you’ve been using are getting tired. (That’s because they have no substance to them.)
Your substantial body of work is a huge pit of electronic silage.
Errr, isn’t silage a good thing?
I’m stone cold sober,
Good. You seem to have calmed down a bit too. You’re back to your old self again.
….but I fear I’m talking with someone in the Twilight Zone.
Arrrrggghhhh! We can discard the theory about McFlock going straight.
Yes, I swear and call you names. The reason is that assuming anyone would believe your shit is quite obviously intended to be an enormous fucking insult.
Oh come on, McFlock, let’s dispense with the throwing of horseshit for a while. How about you try critiquing me for a while without the obligatory side-order of abuse? But really I think both of us need a good sleep now. I have to leave, unfortunately.
Indeed. “vous n’êtes pas mon guy, ami” would have been ‘touche’, if I remember my schoolboy french-canadian correctly. Simply repeating the phrase is a fail in any language.
The very best thing about Moz the Morrisey is that he/she stirs fire in the belly (Burp). It’s been sadly lacking of late.
Moz – I do wonder about your health though – transcribing anaesthetic for the masses just seems like an exercise in elevating a complete load of kaka to undeserved high status.
60’s ZB, Afternoons, Radio NZ National – brought to you by Rinso – the housewife’s choice and the nicest man on Earth with the best song ever written! Whites are whiter, colours are brighter. Wipe it up wipe it up with XLO
“I do wonder about your health though – transcribing anaesthetic for the masses just seems like an exercise in elevating a complete load of kaka to undeserved high status.”
What the fuck would Moz know about transcribing? His comment above at 23.1.2.2.1 is literally the first time he has ever tried it.
I don’t even know what you’re on about, catman, but it would be a good bet to say you haven’t got gifting an own goal to kong the other night out of your system yet. Look, don’t blame the guy who provides the ammo just because you shoot yourself in the foot 😉
I say go hard and vent away. The nhs will provide you with a strap-a-spleen-to-me operation should you wear your old one out 😆
You might want to ask for some bum kiss cream when you’re in. You must be running low.
I only speak on behalf of myself, and get buy with a little help from my friends. 😀 (to credit grumpy, “it’s a piss poor day when you don’t learn something”)
Too many dickie birds sitting on the wire not to throw a stone at, if you know what I mean. But you’re alright, mate.
Out of the handful of regulars whose opinions I respect, you make it onto the first foot 😆
Across the Ditch, former PM Malcolm Fraser asks “Can Australia Claim to be a Sovereign Nation?” and asserts “The increasing American attention to the Pacific is bad news for Australians”, while drawing attention to the drone-killing programme ‘Pine Gap’:
Cool clip, but only the real thing will do. If there is not one by october 21 2015, I
will lose all faith and bawl like a baby, the hoverboard represents childhood dreams,
(although I was a teen when the movie came out) if there is not one, my childhood
will officially be dead, and all that will be left is reality and reality is no friend of the
dreamer.
Fuck me!!! now there’s a winner for Mora’s “Afternoons”. It could follow the best, bestest, better by farrrrr better than bestest song ever written. Could even give Josie Pagani a regular spot immediately after, and perhaps Oik Williams. I’m sure they’d both be “inclined to agree”. RNZ needs a ratings shakeup (ratings of course being of paramount importance for a ‘public service broadcaster’ – especially since its the only one left)
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 29 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
Thinking of NSW.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/9306718/Fire-catastrophe-fear-in-New-South-Wales
Yes. It’s worrying. Seems early in spring for such devastating fires…?! Hard summer coming up?
We sleep walk toward “interesting times”…as we all (me included) burn heaps and heaps of fossil fuels. “Ah but it was not my fault”, we will all say as we are forced to take a sailboat to the warm beaches of South Georgia.
Yesterday when Tat “came out” Jim Nald asked him about “megatrends”. Well the biggest megatrend of the lot is SEP (somebody elses problem). Its from the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, something so preposterous and out there that ones brain rejects it being possible and blithely ignores it.
This morning I watched Keiser on RT, he interviewed a British “academic” who has co authored a book called Turn Around Challenge. http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/201308Turnaround Challenge
The premise is the same old techno narcissism that we are so bloody clever that we can subvert the rules of thermodynamics to “invent” alternative energy sources. On a finite planet.. not to mention consuming more through “growth”. And the common wankspanner idea of today that information technology can create tangible “growth”…last time I tried I found the Mac was neither edible, tasty or able to cloth me. I am so fekkin bored with this trite nonsense. Reality can be seen, its not an SEP, we just need to stop fantastic drivel like that proposed by the aforesaid “academic” and deal to facts.
Enne Mondayitis? open wide and say “arrrgh!”
-When the government is invasive,
the people are wanting.
Calamity is what fortune depends upon;
fortune is what calamity subdues.
Who knows how it will all end?
Is there no right and wrong?
The orthodox also becomes unorthodox,
the good also becomes ill;
people’s confusion
is indeed long-standing- 58
Just did the arrrrgh thing at the quacks….good timing.
RT
Why 58? What?
Tao te ching g.
Ennui
This morning Radionz was interviewing a South African Ivo Vetger who has written a book that highlights how some of the fears and statements that have been made about harm from environmental pollution or climate change, have been false, exaggerated, not come to pass,.
It isn’t fair to make such statements he thinks, it frightens people as in the Gulf of Mexico debacle fishermen were told they would not be able to fish again, and some/one committed suicide. And now they are fishing again and the dugong, manatees, or whatever, other sea creatures are just fine. And oil on the seafloor – that is not anything new and the environment can handle it.
Just another excuse maker for doing nothing, fiddling while Rome burns BAU BUM. He’s a smoothie, good talker, written a book. Why bother RadioNZ 9toNoon?
This is a considered opinion from Twitter (says it all).
The latest from Ivo Vegter (@IvoVegter). Free-market columnist. Author: Extreme Environment. ‘A sniveling sycophant, rotten little shill, dribbly contention monger …
And about our capacity to think things out rationally using reason.
from Jonathan Cainer (b1957) – got this from the newspaper don’t know the guy.
I’ve mentioned how useful Transactional Analysis methods are for understanding thinking states but will do so again. It helps to see where we or others, are coming from. From book I’m OK – You’re OK.
Three states –
Parent – Authoritarian, behaviour forming rules, inhibitions, often from childhood and still
being applied in present whether appropriate now or not.
Child – Tends to be joyful, irresponsible, uninhibited, artisitic expressive.
Can adopt certain behaviours – The Little Professor is one.
Adult – Tries to think rationally using appropriate information, trying to make balanced
decisions. Can lack empathy if not allowing any child thoughts. Can be too
rule bound and judgmental if drawing on parent too much. But can keep thinking
and examining, can make appropriate changes.
With better understanding of how we think, we can think out better solutions. Maybe we will succeed to cope with our future.
TA is helpful.
Thanks P, I have read a little on TA, seems to have merit. Gotta be some circuit breaker to willful non acceptance of reality. Still there is nothing new, how old is the story of the emperors clothes?
PS love the Tweet on the sniveling sycophant!!!
To be honest the first thing I said to myself listening to that guy was “Who’s paying you ?”
There was that ring to it to my ears.
Two stories. One Germany has so much renewable power its causing its neighbors problems, and another story about a low energy carbon segrestrator? that produces charcoal. Its not that far off but instead of Germany pumping the excess supply around europe it just needs to use up the excess to create something useful like charcoal – reducing the carbon from the atmosphere (for a time).
Aero, apologies for being a kill joy but the stories demonstrate the way the whole techno narcissistic spin doctors work. Germany may well have too much energy, I was there a few months ago, windmills everywhere. But they burn oil and coal as well to generate electricity. What I read there was that they were dependent on that, wind was a thin layer of cream on the cake.
I’ve read a couple of articles that suggest Germany’s biggest problem with renewables is the wind is in the north and the manufacturing is in the south and as far as the lines to connect the two go, the nimbys are in the middle.
Masses of local solar power in the south… well, it looks like masses from the autobahn. Though I don’t know what proportion of energy needs it meets. The BMW plant has pretty impressive solar architecture the pics look pretty , anyway.
Looks like German renewables share of electricity generation has gone from 8% to 22% over the last ten years. Not bad.
They suck compared to us though: we’ll hit 90% before long iirc. Which places our country in a very special position.
If I recall, the Clark government planned 90% renewables by 2025, do you know if that still holds?
The figure has been climbing but is variable. Apparently varying between seventy something and eighty something percent depending on climactic conditions.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8935330/Sharp-decline-in-NZ-renewable-generation
Damn – so we need more renewables to cover the drought years, at least some is underway.
I worry, though, that the NActs are so focused on oil and gas that investment potential for renewables will decline. They seem intent on the pot of gold type investment rather than long-term sustainables.
I hope that our Government is offering help to any NZs affected by the fires. Presumably the Oz Government will be more reasonable after their past neglect but there needs to be help and transport available to very needy people and particularly families that might have lost jobs or homes, and be absolutely skint when they were just managing before.
They are virtual refugees, our own, so get with it you sloppy pollies and do something for our own. And while you are thinking of responsibilities to people, what about that Afghan interpreter who is in Germany and who you are shouldering out because he doesn’t fit some narrow criteria you have set up. It appears they are being bounced around the Defence Force, the Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman, and the Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/225253/afghan-sas-interpreters-say-requests-ignored
Getting through your narrow limitations is worse than trying to get an Afghani camel through the eye of a needle. Same for the 6 in Kabul. They are thinking what a lot of bull you talk, and need help from the officials over there which apparently has been reluctantly given. They are now being asked to make their third application.
Are you trying to freeze them out the poor sods. I hope that you are not encouraging the NZ officials there to be like Bennett’s Nazi WINZ men and women here.
Ummm…….the Aussie government is actually making it harder for Aussies to get help with this new lot of fires. I can’t see they’ll be too eager to help us.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/government-cut-in-aid-heartless-20131020-2vuz1.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/9304502/Fairytale-sex-off-the-shelves
– This is bullsh*t, I read this a while back (I had just got into The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and while its not quite my cup of tea its certainly interesting, thought provoking and not salacious at all (though some of the themes are heavy going)
and on a different note:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9305871/Taliban-bomb-explodes-close-to-ex-NZ-MP
– Always wondered what had happened to him
Thats what happens when you start listening to the likes of Bob McCroskie and Colin Craig. Expect more of this as their movements become more prominent.
They are as bad as the Nazis when it comes to book burning.
Only really picked up on your idea yesterday of a “Centennial Labour Government”. What a great idea Millsy!
Interesting; a fairy-tale indoctrination chris73
He’s in different parts now. (Joke – And he is all right so I’m not being callous.)
A tale of two solutions to housing shortages. I know I shouldn’t compare, but the differences in vision are stark.
Auckland
Affordable and pleasant
We went out to the opening day of the new underground line to the new Seestadt development last weekend (us z-listers will go to the opening of anything) Amazing to see 30 cranes operating to build the second phase of the development on brownfield land (old airstrip) and transport infrastructure already in place.
No short-term thinking here – this is a 20-year development with multiple aims, including social housing interspersed with private homes, transport infrastructure, environmental sustainability, business growth and jobs, jobs and more jobs.
Good link Miravox, what we stopped doing here in New Zealand as we let the ‘market’ decide for us was this sort of planning around housing needs,
What is wrong with the current ‘planning’ hastily ‘dreamed’ up by Slippery’s National Government as a ‘political response’ is that the building of such housing here will still be at the whim of the ‘market’,
It is obvious that in this area of total market failure to meet the demand for affordable housing it is Government’s role to step in and cause the actual building of the numbers of homes needed…
That Weymouth project was the one that was begun to be scoped under Helen Clark’s watch. not exactly a slippery government intitiative. Looks like it began with Clark & Len Brown’s blessings, and Nick Smith and the Slippery one are only now giving it the green light? What a pathetic, too late, too little effort!!
Yes Karol, of course you are right, look at everything that the current National Government has accomplished within the area of ‘social housing’ and ALL of it was well into the planning stage at the point Labour lost the 2008 election,
Much of such planning even by Labour i consider to be part of the ‘Neo-Liberal abdication of responsibility’ from Government as far as affordable housing across the whole spectrum is concerned,
To be blunt, Labour looked to be only interested in building actual houses for those in the middle class who can immediately afford to buy them, the deliberate downsizing of the HousingNZ stock has with deliberation been assigned as beneficiary only territory while the working poor have been deliberately trapped paying 50%+ of their weekly income to the burgeoning middle class demographic of Landlords,
Has any of this changed under the new leadership of David Cunliffe, there has been no indication of any such change and we await Labour’s spokesperson on Housing Phil Twyford’s recipe of change if there is to be any…
The privatisation of Glen Innes, and the blue print to do the same everywhere, which is happening, began under Labour.
I get the feeling that NZ politicians won’t see the market failure in affordable home until people start living in cars in their own suburbs. As long as people are homeless somewhere else, they’ll keep putting off the problem.
When they do come to terms with it, I reckon it will be loadsamoney to private developers, private companies to run social housing (not social housing trusts – not to mention the sidelining of the role of the state)… and a massive increase in caravan parks.
Miravox, recent government-led attempts at property development in New Zealand leave a lot to be desired. Local example – rebuild of central Christchurch. Compare central city progress and standards to fringe city progress and standards. The government’s CCDU aint much chop. Private sector is outperforming them by a massive factor. Government in this arena is performing like miley cyrus – bleeaaargh!
Is the government actually leading anything in housing in Christchurch? I mean, really, do these people want to provide evidence that the state should be involved in housing?
miravox
Great to know what other countries do that have pollies that have entered the 21st century.
I think I heard a whisper at the pub, that the leaky homes were being assessed on a standard of whether they were more water tight than a raupo hut. Probably some unreliable drunken joker though.
Hah! It’s certainly not perfect here – but the local government does has a long-standing housing research department, forward planning and commitment to affordable housing. I think the most pressing problem at the moment is the lack of provision of smaller apartments for younger and single office workers. The council has contracted for a few buildings around town being stripped out and refurbished to deal with that.
I doubt there would be a leaky home scandal here. Solid builds here – otoh – being from NZ, when I first saw all the brick and masonry apartment blocks my first thought was ‘that’s not going to stand up in an earthquake’. Having said that, I’ve no idea what the earthquake standards are over here… I was told there weren’t any quakes – that was before the 4.5 last month.
My theory is we don’t really have a ‘government’. If it looks like corporate interest, and it behaves like corporate interest
and its called government, it’s
really corporate interest. Just
like the USA. Follow the money
folks! You will understand how it really works.
+1
Our government hasn’t been “our government” for the last thirty years. It’s been the agents of the corporate takeover.
Expect it goes back much longer than than…
How is it allowed to happen, get digging!
Probably. IIRC, many of the USA’s Founding Fathers didn’t want participatory democracy because the peasants would vote all the wealth into their hands rather than allow it to remain in the hands of the rich and so they made the US a representative democracy. As far as I can make out, this is where the fear of “mob rule” came from.
hence the electoral college, rather than the vote directly electing the president
Modeled on Rome, rather than a more inclusive version of greek democracy.
+100
Phil
Yes not fair. We are the dingy dinghy bobbing behind the behemoth of the stately ship The United States of America, we still haven’t got anything half as good as Disneyland, and our own theme park area is being taken over by corporate interests, to be demolished by miners (sing, underground, over-ground, wombleing free) or salivated over by resource drillers who might be miners or for energy or water suckers.
At the end there’ll be just us suckers left and we won’t have a playground with any amenities.
Just a sad lonely swing that creaks in a sinister manner even though there’s nothing moving.
I disagree, the problem is we fall for the idea that National is competent, that they are even capitalists, they aren’t, they want power by any legal means however harmful to long term outcomes. A good business, corporation, does not work like that, its just we have so few good business CEO in NZ, its just too easy to paddle in the shit stream coming from our lazy small parliament. We need a upper Chamber to expose how laughably shortsighted the lower house is when it comes to making law. Hell, Winston would be great in there 😉
Yes they are. You just fail to accept that capitalism is just another form of feudalism. Although you do seem to realise it:
The US has one of those – they just had to shut down the government.
An upper house really doesn’t answer the problems as the upper house will be drawn from the same partisans. The only solution is a participatory democracy where the administration actually does what the people want rather than what the corporations want.
That’s just a description of representative democracy with some wishful thinking tacked on the end. There are systemic reasons why representative administrations will never do what people want over the long term.
Far better to push for an actual participatory democracy rather than a feel-good nicety-nice representative one. So…a particpatory democracy where we, the people, are the multiple administrations – administrative systems that we form and dissolve according to our given situations – and that absolutely ensure that what is done is what we want.
Another excellent bit of analysis from MattL at the Auckland Transport blog, on how their planned Congestion Free Network saves money – partly from its positive effects and partly by scrapping costly and useless road projects.
LA, more roads than buildings.
Younger: Man’s Inhumanity to Man
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11143439
Watchdog
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11143307
More Sheep Flock to Pinstripes
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11143309
NZ First to “KiwiFund”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11143171
-but Colin Craig is promising to “knock Winston off his perch” (with laughter)…”us versus NZ First, played out with Greypower”.
Now who is up for a Brazilian Libra ? :Chinese and Indian state-owned a shoe-in.
RT
Colin Craig is dreaming….
Lovely bird mate. Lovely parrot.
What do you call it?
Oh Winston it’s called. Say hello Winston. Oh I think he’s gone to sleep on his perch. He’s tired after a long squwark??.
That is a dead parrot! It has ceased to be.
No no mate. There is life in the old bird yet.
Just another day at the Overseas Investment Office; just another 4,000 ha of land to be alienated from NZ ownership —
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/9300217/Chinese-Crafar-farms-buyer-now-after-Synlait
Green River Killings / Ridgeway Circus (“Said, you’re gonna find the world is smoulderin’, and if you get lost, come on home to Green River”)
Too obtuse for me.
K
richard
If you can’t understand it then you can’t say it’s obtuse. I think you mean obscure. You would be right. RT probably designs cryptic crosswords in his sleep.
in vivid colour
😈
GW, I stand corrected. I should have accused RT of being obtuse.
Perhaps if it was put to music.
Swamp Thang!
Take no notice when they say: “you’re just too….too obscure for me…..” 😉
a superlative fender
Whatever we think of NZFirst and Winston Peters you have to admit that He certainly has His nose attuned to which way the political wind is blowing,
In what looks like a large leap to the left Winston is not only proposing a Government provided KiwiSaver but also a Government insurer,
You forgot one Winston, how about a Government retailer of electricity to compliment KiwiPower, ensure prices savings are passed on to consumers and introduce real price competition into the retail pricing of electricity…
NZ First certainly deserve the seats handed to them. It’s an ageing population at one end.
Gold card. Great manifesto!
Winston Peters should stay firmly in opposition. In fact, he should campaign on staying in opposition. He is bloody useless once in government – gets all carried away, wraps himself in baubles, rants and wanders, gets in stoushes and finally the whole edifice comes crashing down. Nobody benefits.
He is more effective in opposition.
He wasn’t that bad in Foreign Affairs, certainly better than McCully.
That’s not saying much. Anything would be better than McCully.
The Herald running interference again.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11143295
Seems to me that some, and I emphasise some, of NZFirst and the Labour Party policies aren’t that far apart in ideology.
I guess they feel they have to run interference as Key rejected the idea – which effectively rules out working with NZF after the election.
…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9305797/Peters-names-price-for-any-coalition-talks
“I don’t see a place for a Winston Peters-led New Zealand First in a government that I lead,” show some consistency Mr Key
Across the spectrum, :Labour/Green/NZFirst/Mana,(and i will add here Maori Party although i see that Party facing political oblivion), there is MUCH that they all have in common with each other in the policy arena,
As a ‘leftist’ attempting to look forward past the 3 yearly electoral cycle i am dearly hoping for Labour/Green as the numbers are tending to suggest to gain 50% of the vote in 2014,
Looking ahead tho i think much more could be done by the left fostering a far larger coalition which would include ALL the parties listed above as a coalition should they all be represented in the Parliament after the elections in 2014,
What i am suggesting is a coalition that over numerous elections has at least, if not more, then 50% of the popular vote where such could be an effective Government of the left over at least 4 terms and preferably as far as a 5 term Government,
What Peters and NZFirst have come out of their annual conference advocating, the Government becoming an insurer and the Government becoming a provider in the KiwiSaver mix is hardly outrageous and i would advocate the Government becoming far far more involved in many other areas of business where once a successful business has been established the shareholdings could be transferred into funds such as ACC and the Cullen retirement Fund,
What 30 years of Neo-liberal wankerism has or should have taught us all is that ‘the market’ in New Zealand has been a FAILURE in so many ways on so many levels that ‘the Government’ does and must have a role and involvement in business far above that of simply setting rates of taxation and industry regulation, Government must also assume the role of catalyst in new areas of business as well as old…
Yes, Key getting the MP on in the first term ended up saving their bacon for the second term.
It’s good politics. Whether or not Cunliffe would be willing to rope Winston in even if his votes weren’t required is hard to say, though.
Is there any mileage in A Grand Alliance, one that locks up at least 55% of the vote, that, in theory anyway, should ensure at least three, and possibly more terms?
We already have a lot of competition in electricity retail.
The cause of the price hikes have been lines companies (no competition) and generators (no genuine competition).
Winston is right of center, so he appeals more to National voters view of the world, so why would you, when you have a uncomfortable story about Key’s govt want to give it to Winston. Well because he speaks to National voters better than a Green or a Labour MP. And if he’s wrong, well thats a burnt right of center MP thats self-harmed. Win-win.
What is happening in Auckland?….Chief Exec, Head of Communications, Head of Legal, Chief Financial Officer ….all either resigned , resigning or potentially resigning
It seems to be a Council in disarray….why?….usually when so many top people resign at the same time there are serious governance, management and morale issues
….See Ad’s post…it needs revisiting:
Ad 19
20 October 2013 at 7:22 am
……We need to get back to debating the agenda of the Council. At the moment, the Council will lose its Chief Executive within months, has lost its Head of Communications, head of Legal, and (if a successful CE candidate) their Chief Financial Officer. It is highly likely to lose more. Like it or not, the staff at Council are a whole lot more powerful than these politicians who meet very occasionally.
We also currently have a Council with no Committee structure, no Committee delegations, and no functioning democracy at all. Five of the new Council are brand new and either have no Council experience or none playing at this level.
This is for steering an entity far larger in its assets than Fonterra.
We have a Unitary Plan preparing for public hearings which the Government has determining it will select the Commissioners for.
We have Cabinet decisions coming down the pipeline that will currently greatly expand motorway investment and do very little for public transport.
You people are obsessed with the media when the policy content and all the other players underneath the Council that will make it happen are far more at risk. Change your viewfinder quickly.
Garth McVicar turned up again on the Nation, this time,
to talk about the defense laywer his friend who committed
suicide. Bad things happen to good people, successful
lawyers do breakdown and commit suicide; innocent people
are drawn into and become harmed by heinous crimes; but
you’ll never hear McVicar say a person convicted of a crime
might be innocent, and that the rub for me because justice
is all about balance and assuaging bias.
McVicar cannot be trusted.
But on the Nation he went further, in a disgraceful display of a
mix of ignorance, false pleading and self-victimization.
McVicar declared his friend had been taken from him, so he
was a victim of a crime, the crime of suicide. Yet, he claims
the man who would have joined his cause was a great lawyer,
and by inference would not have know suicide was a crime.
I ask you in all of Christendom what was the man thinking!
How could someone hoping to speak for the victims of crime
have wanted a criminal in his organization. But wait, its worse!
Suicide is a mental state, a derangement of the mind, what
in all of Christendom was McVicars thinking when he was
declaring that the time of this expert lawyer derangement would
have made such a great colleague in his cause.
McVicar ignored, was ignorant of the legal fact that suicide is a crime.
To my mind McVicar must have so hated this poor man that he was
willing to go on the record, the only other way to see this, is to
suggest that this man is a very poor voice for victims rights to not
worry about pleading for victims, victimize himself, and to want to
engage deranged criminals in his cause.
Seriously, suicide victims are many, we live on after loved ones kill
themselves, what does McVicar not get? That pleading for the
perpetrator to the crime of suicide would be such a great friend of
his cause, how would that make suicide victims feel?
McVicar and friend…..oxymorons.
FAMA HAS SHILLER TO THANK FOR HIS NOBEL PRIZE: NOTED
😈 (for all time’s sake)
Damn. Outage earlier..
The CDN/storage updates that were meant to allow me speed up the site caused more CPU at the web server.
Turned off the CDN/storage until I can look at it tonight. Turned up the number of cores on both the webserver and the database server
IMHO This “government” Intend to and are already copying the Draconian harassment and punitive sanctions regime applied to bennies of the hell bound sold out (Sold out because they’ve privatised everything in sight)clapped out U$K, that slavish puppet of the collapsing U$$$$$$$.
I just hope it doesn’t get as bad here as this in the shameful Tory Toff hell of a greed cesspool:
” Cancer killed my husband, but Atos took his dignity a long time before his death”
19 Oct 2013 00:00
Widow Lyn Coupe has vowed to fight in her dead husband’s name to overturn the decision to axe his £50-a-week incapacity benefit
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cancer-killed-husband-atos-took-2467964
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2u-zcXtBlA
Comment: “Cameron and his buddies are true psychopathic serial killers, except they can do it with impunity. How many deaths are they responsible for in this country? Probably runs into thousands since they have been in power. Like a bully they love to kick people when they’re down and they don’t care if it’s a man, woman or child.”
Comment: “I DONT MIND PAYING LOTS OF TAX IF IT KEEPS PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK OR UNEMPLOYED A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS AND FOOD IN THEIR BELLYS, they don’t speak for me, NOT IN MY NAME, TORIES!!!!!!!!!..GET IT! AND GET OUT.”
Hope XTASY’s OK?
Now that we’ve reached the end of growth and the endless creation of debt based money supply. Plus we’ve totally maxed out our credit card with the environment, we are now witnessing the Cannibalisation of the people’s Commonwealth as follows:
1. Privatisation into private hands of the nations commonly held assets. The U$K is currently flogging of the NHS and the Royal Mail.
2. Attacks on the entitlements of the unemployed and sick and disabled to make their money available for the private interests who are destroying U$K society .
3.The current U$K Tory Government doesn’t understand that a paradigm shift is happening and are determined to support their aspirations my making the ordinary Brit pay for them by a return to Dickensian cruelty.
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/
johnm
Xtasy seems to have been looking at Chile lately. If he knows Spanish he may like to give a translation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67b5oTV7nWA
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18102013/#comment-712890
and
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18102013/#comment-712892
bad 12
i don’t take kindly to the deliberate insults X has taken to tossing around and have deliberately, having ‘had words’ with that one previously where he/she has gone off the deep end, shrugged off the insults,
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18102013/#comment-712930
If someone has a rant then you don’t have to take it personally or react against it on behalf of us all. What about, if you can’t say anything supportive and the person irritates you just by their approach, say nothing. Everybody who comes to The Standard is unhappy about something that is going on and some are having a harder time than others, just saying something about it can be therapeutic. And much of it is just not about oneself personally, it extends to a general unsettling anxiety, a lack of hope for an improvement for everyone ‘going forward’.
Pfft, Hogwash, in my world such insults as X was tossing around in the wee small hours of the other morning are demanding of a reply far more energetic than that which i supplied,(in consideration of that ones mental state at the time),
Your comment Greywarbler in consideration of the way you have presented it is fucking dishonest and in effect appears to highlight just one thing in that the grey matter inside your head looks from here to be shit brown,
The link you have given to readers is not a reply to the comments you have linked to and you obviously fucking know this yet choose to behave in a devious dishonest portrayal of myself in a supposed reply to X,
The comments i made to and about X on the morning of 18/10/2013 were directly addressed to a comment that X made in ‘Open Mike’ number 37 at 2.48am on that morning, yet you choose to not link to that comment made to X and instead insinuate by omission that i am commenting to the links you provide,
Wanker….
Ps, what does the word i signify to you at the start of that particular comment??? i says that i am replying to X on behalf of no-one but me, some people are just dense…
I’m starting to wonder just how many deaths our government is responsible for and if there’s there’s any way we can charge the bastards.
“IMHO This “government” Intend to and are already copying the Draconian harassment and punitive sanctions regime applied to bennies of the hell bound sold out (Sold out because they’ve privatised everything in sight)clapped out U$K, that slavish puppet of the collapsing U$$$$$$$.”
Why not? In the absence of a Nat politician equipped with his or her intelligent life form and beating blood pump (sometimes known as a heart) that places them above blind ambition, ideology. and a ‘dear leader’ is yet to be discovered. They have 3/5ths of SFA of an idea to rub together with the other 2/5ths of an esprayshunally collective in waiting.
(I’m gonna watch “The Block” tonight). I hear the Bunnings taps chosen are going to be simply fucking gorgeous
wailoil be a piece of sh*t is beginning to look more and more like someone who has had too many cheezeburgers.
Tut Tut Tut ! How repugnant, how egregious of Teina Pora at 38 years of age to pursue a sexual liaison and to seek the association of a friend. Human, lawful behaviours denied him by an evil fit-up which endures 20 years on !!!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11140345
Meanwhile those who fitted him up are free to pursue their lives as they please, including associations of the type sought by this victim of the grossest travesty.
It’s cruelly ironic that on top of the specific matters considered by the Parole Board one of the grounds for denial of parole seems to be a potential not to handle life on the outside after 7,300 days and nights on the inside. Also seemingly that he was not saint-like honest about behaving as a human being after 20 years.
For the justice system to continue abusing Teina Pora on account of the above piss-nothing expressions of being human is no less repugnant than the acid thrower holding the victim to account for the horrendous scarring the victim bears. Of course after 20 years of incarceration it should not frighten the horses that he seeks to exercise his sexuality or to exercise fraternal bonds. To then go “tut tut tut you weren’t honest with us and you’re not fit” is utterly risible.
There must be a change to the Parole Act to ensure that in cases such as Teina Pora’s the Parole Board cannot impose ridiculously unrealistic conditions which inevitably will be breached because the conditions demand of the parolee an effective inhumanity.
As it is the law looks an absolute ass. Worse, in so righteously focusing on Teina Pora’s culpability in expressing the humanity which to his credit he retains after 20 years, the justice system is permitted to take focus off its grievous moral and physical culpability in his case.
Meanwhile a number of highly respected former policemen are enjoying the pleasant weather from their retirement homes, playing golf, or fishing, or having a beer with their mates ???
Given what we now know about this travesty Teina Pora should not be sitting around in prison at the pleasure of the slowly turning wheels of “justice” and several individuals possessed with statutory power to further victimise him in effect, thus further humiliating the justice system.
The law can and must be changed.
Blood girl found in Gypsy home. Just out of interest, do Police run parental tests on kids found in P labs? Should any case of child abuse immediately mean a dna parental verification?
I think that when paternity is disputed in NZ the person named as being the biological father has to pay child support and for the DNA test when not the father in order to cease payments.
The case of the young girl found in a Gypsy home warrants investigation due to the likelyhood of not being the carers child. Probably when the suspicion is so great proof is required.
Children found in P labs this is a child protection issue.
typical right wing bullshit….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/9308791/Government-provides-bridging-finance-for-Team-NZ
meanwhile in other news
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/9308373/Fellmongery-workers-laid-off
Priorities right?
and Tachikawa Forest Products (50c in the dollar)
Why We Need To Politicize The Bushfires (Mega-)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/21/greens-bushfires-climate-change?
from The Guardian
The TPP and US Foreign Policy
and China’s Economy Gets Back On Track
http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-gdp-grew-78-third-quarter-industrial-production-beat-forecasts-while-urban-investment-data 😀
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/events-shifting-strongly-len-browns-favour-pundit-ck-147245
Interesting that Auckland Council CEO Doug McKay has ‘asked Ernst and Young to conduct an independent review of the use of council resources in the mayoral office’ – when he, Ernst and Young (and Nigel Morrison, CEO of Sky City) are all members of the Committee for Auckland?
(Who must be horrified at how this has got so horribly ‘out-of-hand’ – as it were).
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/membership/member-organisations
MAJOR ‘conflicts of interest’ here, in my considered opinion.
Time for an NZ ‘Independent Commission Against Corruption’.
In the meantime – time for the SFO (purportedly the ‘lead’ agency in fighting corruption in NZ) to use their powers to do a VERY thorough investigation -particularly of the use of Sky City – in ANY way by Len Brown, during his illicit affair with Bevan Chuang.
I’m looking forward to the future by-election…….
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
“If everybody around us was acting abominably”
Principled broadcasters cogitate about those wicked Germans
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Monday 21 October 2013
Jim Mora, David Farrar, Julia Hartley Moore
On National Radio this afternoon it’s been a big day on the morality front. Jim Mora is obviously still affected by an interview he has conducted with a woman about the phenomenon of the Schreibtischtäter (“desk murderers”) in Nazi Germany, i.e. the women who helped the Nazis to run their wicked, criminal state. Just before the Panel pre-show segment gets started with Jessica Maddock’s round-up of world news, Jim makes a few solemn observations about moralité and courage….
JIM MORA: A reader recommends we read a book written by the daughter of Hans Frank, who was hanged as a war criminal at Nuremberg in 1946. …[Deep sigh to indicate moral seriousness]…. We like to think we would stand apart, don’t we, if everybody around us was acting abominably.
JULIA HARTLEY MOORE: It’s a problem when the WOMEN start acting like that.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Indeed.
I am sure many listeners mused on just how the brave and moral souls, including the women, on Jim Mora’s Panel would have behaved in Nazi Germany.
I think we would all agree that there’s little doubt how David Letterman would have behaved….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24122012/#comment-566434
Keep watching “Open Mike” over the next few days to see how Jim Mora and co. would likely have behaved in Nazi Germany…
[any relationship with any conversation on The Panel that actually took place is purely coincidental]
cf: the first two minutes
Wow. Just wow.
Again, this problem of incoherence has resurfaced. Are you sober?
Jim Mora said all those things, and he sighed like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders too, just as I recorded. Ms. Hartley Moore made that comment too.
But YOU are trying to say I made up this little conversation. You’ll transcribe that for us then? There’s a good fellow.
Nope.
I’m not going to be a full-time amanuensis just because you’re a fucking idiot.
It’s within the first two minutes of the recording I linked to. Anyone who wants to see just how much of a liar you are (again) can go there.
I didn’t even hear this supposed sigh. Seems more like a standard inhalation one makes when talking after long sentences.
I didn’t even hear this supposed sigh. Seems more like a standard inhalation one makes when talking after long sentences.
These things are subtle. Your interpretation is just as valid as mine. Jim Mora has a habit of making these heartfelt sighs whenever a difficult or trying problem comes up. I have often described them as “baffled sighs”, but then again maybe this afternoon it was more like you say, just inhaling.
I’m not going to be a full-time amanuensis….
I think you should reconsider. It really would be a useful way to use your talents.
….just because you’re a fucking idiot.
?!?!? Really? Why so?
It’s within the first two minutes of the recording I linked to. Anyone who wants to see just how much of a liar you are (again) can go there.
This is a bit sad really. I don’t like to see someone humiliate himself like you are doing by engaging in this bizarre little campaign of yours. You know, if you had simply pointed out that my rendition of that little display of hypocrisy this afternoon was not word-perfect, you’d have been fine.
But, unwisely and rashly, you’ve made the stupid accusation that I am making it up. Anyone who listened to the program this afternoon will know I did not make anything up.
With your extreme language, you’ve put yourself way out on a limb.
Silly fellow.
I’m not your employee, you egotistical fuckwit.
You’re welcome to link to the datestamp or recording that you did actually transcribe accurately, and I will retract.
At the moment, as far as I can tell you’ve grossly misrepresented what was said to a massive level.
Gimme a link or a timestamp – was it further in to the recording? Maybe you’ll learn something about how good it is to accurately say what your source is supposed to be.
I’m not your employee, you egotistical fuckwit.
Say, I LIKE that sentence. It has rhythm, and balance, and a certain je ne sais quoi—-or in English, zing!
May I use it for a playscript I’m preparing? Please?
yeah, you can follow it up with “suck my balls”
I take it you’ll be admitting that the script is almost complete fiction, unlike here?
I take it you’ll be admitting that the script is almost complete fiction, unlike here?
You know, your display of bad temper and crude lack of generosity doesn’t bolster your flailing efforts one little bit. You can call me a liar as often as you like; the fact is I have a substantial body of work on this site, none of it made up. None of it.
Well, okay, I did have Leitermann’s moronic audience chanting “Heil, Heil, Heil!” which was obviously not literally true. But it did capture the Nuremberg Rally atmosphere which prevailed in the presence of that race-baiting, lying “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen.
Otherwise, it’s strictly transcripts of villainous, hypocritical, sanctimonious commentators laughing their heads off, all the way to the lounge bar. As you know perfectly well, of course. And resent, what with you supporting some of the reprobates I’ve held up for inspection.
Do you say that as a continuation of surrealist performance art, or simply because you received a severe blow to the head?
In the fabrication that is comment 23, about 90% of the excerpt (including the context, spirit and intent of the discussion) is fabricated. Go back to my link in 23.1, and compare them word for word, and even general point for point. They are nothing alike.
I cannot comprehend how someone can be so stupid, yet still work a computer. So you’re a barefaced liar. But I see no benefit to the lies if they are intentional, and that just leaves performance art – but really?
“surrealist performance art….you received a severe blow to the head…. fabrication 90% … fabricated…. stupid…. you’re a barefaced liar…. lies…. performance art…”
That’s a litany of abuse, and a display of calculated dishonesty that would give even an ACT campaign manager pause for thought.
As I have pointed out to you several times now, my substantial body of work trumps your abuse. You can make your baseless, foolish accusations as often as you like, but they don’t bestow the slightest credibility to your disastrous case.
If you had corrected one of my inadvertent mistakes or objected to the tone or accuracy of one or more of my descriptors, that might have constituted intelligent and thoughtful criticism. As it is, all you have to offer is that rancid, limp stream of abuse.
Here it is again, in condensed form: “surrealist performance art….severe blow to the head…. fabrication …. 90% fabricated…. stupid…. you’re a barefaced liar…lies….”
Gosh that really is sad. I feel concerned for you. Are you sober?
I don’t understand why Morrisey comes in for such heat. Morrisey, your reviews of the panel are amusing imo. Clearly your take on the show is a personal assessment, which is fine. Reading them puts a ring and zing around Jim’s show now – his show is tainted by your near daily assessments. Some nob utters something utterly foolish or ill-informed and sure enough there it is in all its Morrisey-glory a short while later.
Most amusing.
Perhaps someone could do a Morrisey review review…. oh, wait a minute ….
Your substantial body of work is a huge pit of electronic silage.
you kindly provided a transcript which is reasonably accurate, it is substantially different to your original “transcript” of the same recording, and you still claim to be accurate?
I’m stone cold sober, but I fear I’m talking with someone in the Twilight Zone.
Yes, I swear and call you names. The reason is that assuming anyone would believe your shit is quite obviously intended to be an enormous fucking insult.
Thank you for the kind words, vto, your support and encouragement really is appreciated.
Perhaps someone could do a Morrisey review review….
I’ve already been flattered with a parody of my work by my good friend Te Reo Putake. It wasn’t all bad, but it could have been a bit sharper. Dave Armstrong won’t hire him on the strength of yesterday’s little send-up.
“Some nob utters something utterly foolish or ill-informed and sure enough there it is in all its Morrisey-glory a short while later.”
Or, as is usually the case, some nob utters something boring and Morrissey invents a far more exciting fantasy conversation which he then insists is “near word perfect” and “none of it made up”.
Yeah, sometimes it’s funny, but he’s presenting these stories as actual quotes from real people when they’re just not. He even attributes quotes to people that are the exact opposite of what they said.
It’s no different from what Cameron Slater does and I have no idea why such blatant lies are allowed to be presented as fact on this site.
It wasn’t a parody, it was a piss take. Took about five minutes and it’s still a work of genius compared to your steaming mounds of bullshit. How’s that apology coming on, liar?
“But YOU are trying to say I made up this little conversation. You’ll transcribe that for us then? There’s a good fellow.”
Can’t prove a negative, Moz. But McF has supplied a link to the audio and after listening to it, I can’t hear any of the things you claim.
“Jim Mora said all those things”
Please indicate where he said those things. The link to the audio has been provided for you. All you have to do is listen to it and write down the time in mins and secs where each statement occurs.
“and he sighed like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders too, just as I recorded.”
Again, please note the time.
“Ms. Hartley Moore made that comment too.”
Again, please note the time. If you’re right, and your transcript is accurate, then simply posting the exact time each statement was made will easily clear the matter up.
Here you go: a word-perfect transcript. I think you’ll agree that anyone who listens to the tape, looks at the script and then compares it with my admittedly imperfect rush transcript/rendition will agree that, contrary to our friend McFlock’s crazed allegations, I catch the tone—of faux seriousness—pretty much perfectly. I believe that Jim Mora’s supposedly concerned conjectures about moral behaviour under pressure have to be considered in the light of his own abominable behaviour and the chilling exhibition of group-think by most of his guests whenever he expresses scorn and contempt for the victims of state-run vendettas…..
[STARTS at 1:25….
JIM MORA: And your question, says Elaine, about whether each of us would be morally independent of the overall group view is a good one and the answer is: probably not. ……[Pause]….. Yeah, we were saying in that interview, you know, if you were in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, to what extent would you have resisted if everybody around you was behaving abominably? I mean you’d like to think that you’d stand apart and be noble and you—-
JULIA HARTLEY MOORE: But the reality is that the pressure, you know—exactly right. I just think, you know, that when women do stuff like this, many times I think women can be far worse than men.
JIM MORA: Or so it seems, in certain cases.
JULIA HARTLEY MOORE: Yeah.
JIM MORA: [sigh] Ah, the book Hitlers Furies. ….[Suddenly brightens up] Nice to see you! Ha ha ha! Sorry I’ve roped you in on the conversation right away! I don’t think we’ve got David Farrar yet….
…..ENDS at 2:09]
“his own abominable behaviour and the chilling exhibition of group-think”.
Jim doesn’t actually ever THINK. He simply agrees with everything – how else could he possibly be the nicest man on Earth?
O hell … it’s 9:57 pm … I’m pekish. I wonder if that healthy fast food Subway is open. It’s an OK option taken in moderation. Loverly!
Try Carl’s Jr. some time, Tim. I highly recommend it.
… but does the nicest lady on Earth own it – and do they serve Lambie with bits of greenery served up by poor bastards on minimum wage?
I need to be able to satisfy my cravings for good, clean, conservative food (in moderation) and be able to look down on those aspirational staff members busting for a leak, content in the knowledge that I’m ‘considerably richer than they’ are, and who are loathe to take a piss break for fear their pay will be docked.
Afternoons is a bit like that TV smaltz she used to host – without the pictures, but complete with subtle Natty advertorials.
But morrissey, if you never made up a single thing (“none of it made up. None of it.”) and, indeed, your transcripts are near word-perfect (as you’ve recently claimed), how can your two “transcripts” be so fundamentally different?
….how can your two “transcripts” be so fundamentally different?
That is my point: they are not fundamentally different. My rush transcript (which as you and others are quite right to point out, is not perfect) has the germ of Jim Mora’s comment, and just as importantly, the spurious and cynical pretence at engagement with a moral issue.
Someone listening to that show for the first time ever this afternoon may well have taken his solicitous tone as genuine. But as you and I know, his record of laughing, guffawing and snorting at the victims of state terror casts doubt on that.
My transcript—or as you might justly prefer, my sketchy impression—was not fundamentally different from the full transcript. Just not as complete.
If your target was Mora, why invent the JHM comment?
” the spurious and cynical pretence at engagement with a moral issue” is completely your invention. Your perspective. Your interpretation. So it’s not an accurate reflection of The Panel, it’s a reflection of your interpretation of what went on. You can either stick with ACTUAL near-word-perfect transcripts, or you can make up caricatures of your interpretations of the vibe of what you heard, but to invent the caricatures and then insist that they’re even fundamentally similar to what was actually said is akin to spitting in your audience’s face.
So if they’re no different then why won’t you make a note of the times of the statements from your first transcript?
It would be far, far quicker and easier than all that typing and would prove once and for all that there was “none of it made up. None of it.”
And why go to all the trouble of writing the second transcript when all he needed to do was note the times of the totally-not-made-up statements and secret sighs in the first transcript?
Wow, now you’re even proving yourself to be inaccurate, yet you still don’t see it. No wonder you won’t apologise for lying. You have no compass for the truth, no sense of the essence of a conversation and you’d rather be thought of as an idiot than accept criticism from others.
All while making unfounded and pointless criticisms of a typically light afternoon talk radio show. Fluffy radio show is fluffy. Well done for spotting that Moz.
Still waiting for the apology for your lies, Moz. Still waiting, you lying sack ‘o’ shit.
Sorry, Te Reo, but I just haven’t got the time to reply to your (sadly abuse-laden, fact-free) contribution now. I’ll address it some time tomorrow on Open Mike 22 October.
I recommend you go to bed and run through a few more names to call me. The ones you’ve been using are getting tired. (That’s because they have no substance to them.)
Sleep tight, my hatchet-wielding friend.
Fuck fuck fuckity off, then you lying, cowardly sack ‘o’ shit. Your chickenshit excuses can’t hide your weakness.
Your substantial body of work is a huge pit of electronic silage.
Errr, isn’t silage a good thing?
I’m stone cold sober,
Good. You seem to have calmed down a bit too. You’re back to your old self again.
….but I fear I’m talking with someone in the Twilight Zone.
Arrrrggghhhh! We can discard the theory about McFlock going straight.
Yes, I swear and call you names. The reason is that assuming anyone would believe your shit is quite obviously intended to be an enormous fucking insult.
Oh come on, McFlock, let’s dispense with the throwing of horseshit for a while. How about you try critiquing me for a while without the obligatory side-order of abuse? But really I think both of us need a good sleep now. I have to leave, unfortunately.
Adieu, mon ami.
Fuck off then, you coward. You’re not even skilled enough to be a jonolist.
Gosh, you do know that crude language doesn’t make a lie one bit less of a lie, or an insult one whit cleverer? Don’t you?
Surely?
Please don’t waste your time shouting abuse like that. It only makes you look bad.
Then again, maybe it plays well down there in Hurricanes country….
You know all about lying, Moz. It’s pretty much all you’ve got. Nice to see you keeping up the stalking though. Nice sideline, creep.
Je ne suis pas votre ami, Guy
Je ne suis pas votre ami, Guy
TOUCHÉ.
not bloody likely
Indeed. “vous n’êtes pas mon guy, ami” would have been ‘touche’, if I remember my schoolboy french-canadian correctly. Simply repeating the phrase is a fail in any language.
The very best thing about Moz the Morrisey is that he/she stirs fire in the belly (Burp). It’s been sadly lacking of late.
Moz – I do wonder about your health though – transcribing anaesthetic for the masses just seems like an exercise in elevating a complete load of kaka to undeserved high status.
60’s ZB, Afternoons, Radio NZ National – brought to you by Rinso – the housewife’s choice and the nicest man on Earth with the best song ever written! Whites are whiter, colours are brighter. Wipe it up wipe it up with XLO
Please assure me you’re OK though … I’ll save ya a bit of Lambie on brown – (minus the olives)
“I do wonder about your health though – transcribing anaesthetic for the masses just seems like an exercise in elevating a complete load of kaka to undeserved high status.”
What the fuck would Moz know about transcribing? His comment above at 23.1.2.2.1 is literally the first time he has ever tried it.
Big boyz and girlz you say, Rogue? 🙄
So that’s what a grown up internet peer group, gang bang kick-a-thon looks like.
e-peen sword fighting for beginners 😆
Are you still upset about being called on your passive/aggressive victim bullshit?
Poor baby.
I don’t even know what you’re on about, catman, but it would be a good bet to say you haven’t got gifting an own goal to kong the other night out of your system yet. Look, don’t blame the guy who provides the ammo just because you shoot yourself in the foot 😉
I say go hard and vent away. The nhs will provide you with a strap-a-spleen-to-me operation should you wear your old one out 😆
You might want to ask for some bum kiss cream when you’re in. You must be running low.
I only speak on behalf of myself, and get buy with a little help from my friends. 😀 (to credit grumpy, “it’s a piss poor day when you don’t learn something”)
Too many dickie birds sitting on the wire not to throw a stone at, if you know what I mean. But you’re alright, mate.
Out of the handful of regulars whose opinions I respect, you make it onto the first foot 😆
while typically a wedgie, or a curve-ball, engineer’s generally have a sphere-end .
Always room for a ball joint separator, but never second hand.
drift or threaded, both are handy tools
Threaded, because it sounds complex, but drift, ’cause it sounds like what the cool kidz would have.
Across the Ditch, former PM Malcolm Fraser asks “Can Australia Claim to be a Sovereign Nation?” and asserts “The increasing American attention to the Pacific is bad news for Australians”, while drawing attention to the drone-killing programme ‘Pine Gap’:
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/can-australia-claim-to-be-a-sovereign-nation-20131020-2vusx.html
October 21st 2013.
Only two more years!!
It better happen!
Try bolting a surfboard to a jet-pack, or there’s this , good luck ! Don’t forget your helmet! Remember what happened last time…
One of these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ued-lMSNkow
But watch out for these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2473_VuXEfw
Fender:
Cool clip, but only the real thing will do. If there is not one by october 21 2015, I
will lose all faith and bawl like a baby, the hoverboard represents childhood dreams,
(although I was a teen when the movie came out) if there is not one, my childhood
will officially be dead, and all that will be left is reality and reality is no friend of the
dreamer.
downton abbey is like taking a bubble-bath..
..so so much soap..
..coro st in period costume..
..eee-up..!
..phillip ure..
.. the answerrrrr loys in the soil! They just haven’t discovered it yet and the Archers seem to have died out
Fuck me!!! now there’s a winner for Mora’s “Afternoons”. It could follow the best, bestest, better by farrrrr better than bestest song ever written. Could even give Josie Pagani a regular spot immediately after, and perhaps Oik Williams. I’m sure they’d both be “inclined to agree”. RNZ needs a ratings shakeup (ratings of course being of paramount importance for a ‘public service broadcaster’ – especially since its the only one left)