[Please note, we are trialling something new for Open Mike and Daily Review.
In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted.
“They’ve been prepared to defend. It’s going to be tough fighting, but I think we can take back Mosul and then we can move on into Syria and take back Raqqa.”
Odd, none of the Kurd’s I follow are saying anything about this.
I think you don’t get how hated ISIS is by the Kurd’s, nor the other ethnic and religious minorities in the region. To them, contemplating having to fight ISIS later is not part of there thinking, they want to finish them now.
Mosul will be the hard fight they expect.
I think the Russians are forgetting this is a civil war, hearts and minds are everything. So big propaganda pieces from the Iraq and Kurdish forces is to be expected, to extrapolate some theory of ISIS safe passage deal, seems wonky at best.
Also I’m hearing the US staying out as much as possible (air strikes), because this is a civil war. They know they can’t win one of those for someone.
Gable Tostee “not guilty”. If you disagree with that “verdict”, then that
legal sage and philosopher Chris Trotter has some stern advice for you.
Gable Tostee, 30, was charged after Warriena Wright, 26, fell from his balcony in Queensland’s Gold Coast in August 2014. Prosecutors argued that she was so intimidated that she tried to escape by climbing to a lower floor, but fell.
After four days of deliberation, the jury has found Gable Tostee not guilty of murder and manslaughter.
In case you are foolish enough to be disgusted by that “verdict”, then you should consider the following piece of solemn admonition….
I think all this talk about the jury is most unfortunate. You have, even in this case I think, to trust the jury. In any trial, there are always items of evidence that we do not know about, even in this case I think.
Guilty of something, at least. I can see why a jury might eventually come down to rejecting murder, but as a juror I’d find it pretty hard to vote not guilty of manslaughter for a guy pleading “self-defence” against a woman who was screaming “No no no, let me go home!” at the time.
Miss-trial due to instagram, the accused should be made to take the stand. I expect it to be appealed. Weird case, creepy as after discovering more about Tostee.
Sad for the young ladies family, so sad, so public for them, love and energy to her family.
Exactly… there is no legal requirement… just good lawyers, and you tend to get what you pay for.
More profitable to sell ones story than tell it publically on the stand anyways, which media outlet will offer the best price for his story I wonder? Will it be enough to cover his legal fee’s?
It appears that Miss Wright did not receive competent representation. There are way too many unanswered questions.
“I would [let you go home], but you have been a naughty girl..”. Tells us that Tostee had unfinished business.
Intimidation, pure and simple. Just this remark alone from his creepy recording (why did he record this in the first place? Blackmail? More intimidation?) is evidence enough. He clearly intended to cause her mental and emotional harm. His intentions led directly to her death. He could have chosen to push her out the front door but instead chose to isolate her. The balcony is not “off the property” it is an isolated, outdoor part of said property. Judge got that completely wrong.
Syria Solidarity: National day of action 29th October
Civilians in Aleppo and across Syria are being intensively bombed by Russia with bunker bombs, phosphorous bombs, napalm, thermobaric and cluster bombs; and by the Syrian regime with chlorine containing barrel bombs; targetting homes, schools, hospitals, rescue teams, and underground shelters .
Like many Syrian cities, Aleppo has been under a starvation siege. The regime and Russian have even bombed the city’s water supply.
Despite these atrocious crimes against humanity, Aleppo’s people show tremendous solidarity and caring for each other, as they work to find the wounded under the rubble, and rush them to undergound clinics for treatment. Hundreds of democratically run community councils have been formed across Syria in the liberated areas. They have produced a tremendous amount of art, literature, music, and electronic media documenting the revolution and counter revolution in Syria.
The “peace” talks have broken down. It is clear that Russia and the Assad regime are looking for a military solution to enable the genocidal Assad regime to continue in power.
Most of the fighters killing Syrian civilians are not Syrians. They include soliders from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq, many of them conscripted or desperately poor with no other options for a living.
The Assad regime and Russia have killed half a million Syrian people. The genocide has to stop! The regime regularly uses rape and torture as weapons.
The war started because people across Syria went onto the streets to demand democracy, and instead were shot, rounded up, tortured, raped and killed. So the people took up arms to defend themselves. The Assad regime has vowed to continue to obliterate the population until it accepts his rule.
Both the United States and Russia have re-defined the people’s struggle for democracy as a “war on terror” and are both responsible for killing civilians.
Isis grew in Syria with the encouragement of the Assad regime. Assad deliberately released extremists from his jails, who went on to join Isis in Syria. The regime leaves Isis alone, and Isis is continually attacking the democratic opposition groups. The democratic opposition has been forced to fight on two fronts, against the attacks from the regime and from Isis. Despite the evils perpetrated by Isis, it has killed a fraction of the number of people, that the Assad regime has. The Assad regime with its Russian and Iranian allies are the greater evil.
Stop the bombing! Troops out!
No more genocide! Solidarity with the Syrian Revolution!
Victory for Syrian people now!
Nah – they’re backing the wrong horse. The West are only in there to push for regime change – like in Libya. Same fucked up principle will give the same result as Libya. Please note how the yanks are also doing Israels and Saudi Arabias dirty work as they try to squash Shia regimes one by one.
Here is the news, Cinny. No way will the bombing stop. It never does. Our media blame it on the other side through blaming ‘human shield’ tactics, etc, when our bombs kill civilians. Are our side going to stop bombing Mosul because of civilians? Nup – but we will get publicity about the nasty Russian and Assad bombs in Aleppo. Get used to it.
Superprofits off the back of ratepayer/taxpayer subsidies and a broken housing market. https://t.co/8UivWVVBcJ— TransportBlog (@TransportBlog) October 20, 2016
a note to cv – I put this on the post you put up but I suspect that post won’t stay up so I’m reposting here
Why not read the signs and actually take time off from the bubble you have created around yourself. You’ll probably come back fresher. What you are doing now isn’t working – that’s my advice – read the signs mate because imo all of your credibility capital is pretty well gone down the gurgler because of some of those ‘calls’ you have recently made.
anyway delete, ban or ignore – or maybe listen – your call.
@MM Weka, PM, The Ex, J 90 etc,
you guys appear to me to be just bullies who have undertaken an irrational, abusive and vindictive attack on CV who, at least originally, tried to discuss the matter of The Clintons, Trump and American politics. A discussion centred within a framework of big business, political elitism and social inequality. You have pushed him in the the corner he now finds himself in, and to what end other than to shut down a differing view point.
I’m sure i’m not the only one who thinks this. I have found you all disappointing.
it’s not really the case here though – cv does not identify as left. I identify as left. cv and I are not in the same camp and therefore he isn’t my own and I’m not his own. I really tried to come from a place of compassion in my comment to him above – it is sad to me that some (maybe including you gsays) don’t get that.
We (of the left) have to get rid of this government and get more equality and equity in play for so many disadvantaged people in our society – life is getting so hard for so so many and it is happening now, this minute and only getting worse. I want to focus on that, not have to deal with lies and misinformation designed, yes DESIGNED to disrupt the left, from someone who shoots wildly, never aims correctly and dismisses as unimportant the innocent bystanders who end up recipients of his output. And this is done under cover like a wolf with a sheepskin on its back.
Sure I could ignore, let it go, concentrate on my passionate areas but you know, this is MY community too, in that I visit, I consider, I contribute, I laugh, I cry – all here, in this community – I am not going to sit on my hands and allow trojan horse pretenders to take MY community away – I won’t have anywhere to go if that happens… 🙁
hey cheers marty,
a couple of things..
i did get yr compassion earlier.
for me andrew’s comment was a chance to have 10 cents worth.
i had been thinking that tensions had been running high in the last few days without much sign of a backdown or releasing of tensions. generally over excitement generated by opinions of the american popularity contest.
in the cold light of day neither candidate is a great example of a leader to deal with what humanity is staring down the barrell of.
about our community; please don’t take this as telling y’all how to suck eggs.. the best thing we can do for our community is to be kinder to each other.
well andrew I don’t think cv was pushed and I don’t agree with you when you imply that cv is able to be pushed – I think he is competently able to have his own agency and responsibility to what he says. My note to him above comes from a place of compassion, because in the past others have given me the same advice when I needed to hear it.
The point is that there is scope for valid political debate outside of gender discrimination and by my observation this is where CV endeavoured to position the conversation, at least initially. It was you guys that seemed to insist the issue had to be viewed through the prism of gender politics only. In doing so you have you have completely undermined a valid discussion on what, strategically speaking, is the best way to end corporate domination of social and political outcomes. It also says a lot about about how illiberal you all really are.
The point is that there is scope for valid political debate outside of gender discrimination and by my observation this is where CV endeavoured to position the conversation, at least initially.
I don’t know what you are referring to and given you are making some hefty accusations, I think you need to explain more clearly what you are talking about.
No Weka I don’t, the meaning is clear enough, and they are observations not accusations. Your reaction is also clear… defensive and antagonistic. It is you that needs to consider more carefully what I might be talking about. There should be a better response to challenging and complex matters of social/political concern than that proffered by J90 below that again just looks to ‘win’ not explore the issue.
[one of the main rules one this site is don’t tell authors/moderators what to do. Another is don’t waste moderators’ time. There are very good reasons for both of those, which boil down to protecting authors so that they want to put up posts and so they have time to write. In that sense authors are considered more important than commenters, not because we’re somehow better but because we’re the ones putting the work in to keep the front page full of posts.
I get that it is complicated when an author/mod is also commenting, so let me be clear. When you called me a bully above, I wasn’t sure if you were referring to my comments or my moderations. I’ve let this subthread run because I’ve been busy and I was hoping that it would settle down. But you are now outright challenging an author and that’s a problem. Please now clarify if you think I am a bully as a commenter or a moderator or both. If you are calling me a bully as a moderator, you need to link to 3 examples in the past month that support that. If you are calling me a bully as a commenter, I will deal with that when I am not in bold. However you need to be aware that if you continue to make accusations without responding to requests for clarification or back up, then at some point a moderator will get involved.
This isn’t negotiable. I suggest you read the Policy and About, because I’m not willing to spend more time on this and if I have to moderate you again I will be putting in a timed ban. I have no problem with people expressing disappointment or dissatisfaction with the moderation here, or specific decisions, or asking questions or making constructive suggestions, but it’s not ok to have a go at authors. I’m putting you in premod so I can more easily pick up your reply. – weka]
Friendly advice from a non-moderator: you definitely make two accusations with no identifying context in 8.1.2.1, and doubling down on it is a good way to annoy moderators. The site does explain all this in its comments policy.
Then I will leave it to others to form an opinion on whether this anti CV clique seeks to shut down rather than engage with dessenting viewpoints. I have no wish to be further dragged in to pedantic argument on the definition of an accusation while you chose to ignore the substance of the observation.
Holding an opinion that an alleged serial sexual offender is a manifestly unsuitable candidate is a view through the prism of gender politics only, really?.
Holding an opinion that an alleged serial sexual offender is a manifestly unsuitable candidate is a view through the prism of gender politics only, really?.
… a candidate who has personally ensured that gender is front and centre of each of the three presidential debates. “Nasty woman”, “she” (repeated in hissing tones many times), doubting her stamina, saying she doesn’t “look” presidential, stalking her onstage in the most repulsive way – and admitting later that he was in fact envisaging her sexually at that time!!! DURING a live, televised presidential debate!!!
I don’t agree with the conclusions you have reached there andrew. I can’t see where there was any insistence at all apart from asking for evidence for blanket, usually insulting and hurtful, accusations against others – when that inevitably didn’t occur then that was named as an opinion and was weighed against other opinions that that writer has made previously – there does develop a cumulative effect where a commenter’s ‘voice’ is known.
You don’t like that as a left left person I don’t like reading and having to argue against bullshit and hate speech, against arguments proven false and with no redeeming qualities I might add, against a self confessed non-left thinker or believer – just because they want to shout loudly their (proven) bigotry. That is fine by me and also fine you make comment on it.
Thank you Andrew Murray. I agree with your comments and am disappointed by the behaviour of many on this site in their relentless vindictive treatment of CV.
BTW, if anyone had noticed my light commenting around these parts recently, a small part of it is due to CV’s behaviour of late. I just can’t be bothered coming here and having to scroll past all his crap. I’m sure there are some who might consider that sweet relief, of course 🙂
I like your posts, they’re normally quite considered but its Penny Brights posts that annoy the heck out of me or rather her posting something then not bothering to reply to people that comment on what she posted
Yes Puck I have observed you partaking in group bullying of Penny in the past and commented on that yesterday …… when you were being insincere about attitudes to women posters ……
Also not one of you trolls ever answered my easy maths question of $2.2 billion divided by $22 million ……….. when comparing the aussie bank fraud featuring a getaway tax vehicle provided by John Shewan ….. versus the $22 million welfare fraud prosecuted in the same year … The answer was of course that Shewans and the bamks fraud was 100x larger … or 100 years worth.
You never answered did you Puck ………
Bring back CV and ban Puck is my opinion …….
I’ve accepted Hillary the Hawk will be the next president over Trump, who I called out as a rapist last fathers day from memory …..
Anyway, New Zealand and the rest of the world should take a lot more refugees …..
Good on them, I think Parkers not at Joshua or Klitschkos level just yet but sometimes you just have to take the opportunity when it comes and, if he can beat Ruiz, his opportunity will come sooner rather later
As long as he gives it everything i’m all good with it , it took me along time to get over the Tua man getting overwhelmed with the occasion and failing to fire a shot.
I’m absolutely sure we are there, Robert. I suggested in a post ages ago that our role over there was not going to be limited to training the Iraqi military and that the SAS would be lurking around as well. I’d like to think that when IS are forced out of Iraq and into Syria that our role, whatever it is, comes to a swift end.
“Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has denied claims in international media that New Zealand special forces are calling in airstrikes in northern Iraq, “or involved in any other combat operations” in the country.”
Of course NZ special forces individuals could be working with/seconded to other nations forces which means they come under those countries mandate and not our own so Gerry Brownlee is probably telling the truth…or interpreting the question the way he wants to
If that doesn’t work out, there’s also this, starting with lignin. But sorry, it doesn’t specifically say ethanol is one of the useful molecules it produces.
Transport grade fuels – Biofuels (second and third generation) are just around the corner, per the link you have supplied the “issue” at the moment is developing catalysts that are commercially viable to use. The rest of the tech is ready to go.
As someone who is involved in the residential building and development industry in Auckland, there appears to be a trend of the banks “de risking” in this industry. I have just completed the yearly banking review for the coy. With our “relationship” banker informing me that the bank has given us 10 months to reduce our credit facility by 1/3rd, which will mean that money that were intended to develop land and houses will now be used to repay the bank back. This on top of that the MOCCL rate we pay is to increase. The reason was that the bank is under pressure to maintain its profit margins in a tight market, in which they cannot lower rates as investors are unwilling to deposit for fixed terms given the low yields.
From discussions with others within the industry we are not the only coy that the banks are placing increasing pressure to reduce debt, this at a time when we are forever being reminded that Auckland needs 14k houses build p.a. ??
As someone who is involved in the residential building and development industry in Auckland, there appears to be a trend of the banks “de risking” in this industry. I have just completed the yearly banking review for the coy. With our “relationship” banker informing me that the bank has given us 10 months to reduce our credit facility by 1/3rd, which will mean that money that were intended to develop land and houses will now be used to repay the bank back. This on top of that the MOCCL rate we pay is to increase. The reason was that the bank is under pressure to maintain its profit margins in a tight market, in which they cannot lower rates as investors are unwilling to deposit for fixed terms given the low yields.
From discussions with others within the industry we are not the only coy that the banks are placing increasing pressure to reduce debt, this at a time when we are forever being reminded that Auckland needs 14k houses build p.a. whilst building less than 9k??
interesting, ty for the info. I wonder if banks are expecting some people to default on loans, so are making sure businesses are able to counter balance it by paying down more debt at this time? Are interest rates about to rise? Will people be able to maintain massive mortgages on over priced properties?
How much profit do the banks need? It’s not as a result of recent property investor/banking lending rules changes?
Sounds like it could be a stumbling block for many in the trade whom are trying to build housing. Or is nick smith trying to dig himself out of a gaping cavernous hole, maybe he’ll blame the banks next for lack of action on his housing promises? Building boom? Housing Crisis?
Either way sounds like a pain for the people in your industry for sures.
With a massive Russian fleet now heading from the Baltic to the Syrian coast, and the US effectively expelling 5000 ISIS fighters from Iraq to Syria, I see a nod-wink for a Russian bloodbath of the remaining Isis. In Syria.
Recent events suggest the potential of a (sorry about that) deliberate mistake is also high. I’m not sure about the US strike that hit Assad forces, but I don’t believe they expected the Russian reprisal.
ISIS may disperse if they face a genuine existential threat – some at least of them can do that.
This has the potential to be a very good war not to be involved in – no high moral ground, and small players get hurt if the giants dance.
[In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted – weka]
What has happened to CV’s post about US-Filipino relations? I saw the post in my RSS feed but when I clicked through to the site it was gone!
All I can see is some cryptic references to CV being banned, but no official notice or anything. It all comes across as a bit Stalinist in form. That post about Duterte I was looking forward to reading but perhaps it wasn’t politically correct? Who can enlighten me?
I don’t know – I’m not a mod.
But I really do hope CV is able to bring it back. It is a topic that immediately affects some of my wider family by marriage, and friends.
(Reply to Conal)
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Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says, “Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Symons, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University Michael Schiffer / Unsplash Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth ...
One woman’s quest to watch Challengers without ruining her body clock. Every Saturday morning, I wake up with a screaming demon inside my head urging me to “Do. Something. This. Weekend.” I run through the possibilities in my head in a defensive mental crouch, reminiscent of that one time I ...
The PSA is alarmed that ACC is proposing to shed 309 jobs including 29 dedicated injury prevention jobs at a time when the number and cost of injuries is rising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Baker, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images As local and regional councils struggle with inadequate infrastructure and unsustainable costs, New Zealand will be hearing a lot more about the potential solution offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Sacks, Professor of Public Health Policy, Deakin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock In recent years, there’s been increasinghype about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods. But new evidence published this week found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked ...
Fears that New Zealand is relying too heavily on low-cost forests to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions have been reignited by a report from the OECD. ...
[Please note, we are trialling something new for Open Mike and Daily Review.
In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted.
Have fun folks – weka]
US and Saudis grant 9,000 ISIS fighters free passage from Iraqi Mosul to Syria
http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2016/10/us-and-saudis-grant-9000-isis-fighters.html
Gosh, it’s almost like the various governments involved in this conflict have competing interests that they’re promoting. I’m shocked!
I particularly liked the bit that there are only a thousand ISIS fighters left in all of Mosul, and that the entire attack is a charade.
Dude blown to smithereens on telly means only 999 left, I guess.
Trump referred to this in last night’s debate. Clinton scoffed in response.
“They’ve been prepared to defend. It’s going to be tough fighting, but I think we can take back Mosul and then we can move on into Syria and take back Raqqa.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/full-transcript-third-2016-presidential-debate-230063#ixzz4NfXuCyck
US and Saudi’s allowing rebels safe passage into Syria as excuse to invade Syria?
Odd, none of the Kurd’s I follow are saying anything about this.
I think you don’t get how hated ISIS is by the Kurd’s, nor the other ethnic and religious minorities in the region. To them, contemplating having to fight ISIS later is not part of there thinking, they want to finish them now.
Mosul will be the hard fight they expect.
I think the Russians are forgetting this is a civil war, hearts and minds are everything. So big propaganda pieces from the Iraq and Kurdish forces is to be expected, to extrapolate some theory of ISIS safe passage deal, seems wonky at best.
Also I’m hearing the US staying out as much as possible (air strikes), because this is a civil war. They know they can’t win one of those for someone.
The Yazidis may have the greatest reason to hate ISIL – but lacking a superpower sponsor we don’t hear much from them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_Yazidis_by_ISIL
Gable Tostee “not guilty”. If you disagree with that “verdict”, then that
legal sage and philosopher Chris Trotter has some stern advice for you.
Gable Tostee, 30, was charged after Warriena Wright, 26, fell from his balcony in Queensland’s Gold Coast in August 2014. Prosecutors argued that she was so intimidated that she tried to escape by climbing to a lower floor, but fell.
After four days of deliberation, the jury has found Gable Tostee not guilty of murder and manslaughter.
In case you are foolish enough to be disgusted by that “verdict”, then you should consider the following piece of solemn admonition….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19072013/#comment-664870
I mean its a fair call about the information the jury gets but on the face of it I’d have thought he was guilty
Agree with you there PR, quite shocking & sad for the family.
Guilty of something, at least. I can see why a jury might eventually come down to rejecting murder, but as a juror I’d find it pretty hard to vote not guilty of manslaughter for a guy pleading “self-defence” against a woman who was screaming “No no no, let me go home!” at the time.
Miss-trial due to instagram, the accused should be made to take the stand. I expect it to be appealed. Weird case, creepy as after discovering more about Tostee.
Sad for the young ladies family, so sad, so public for them, love and energy to her family.
” the accused should be made to take the stand”
Why?
There is no legal requirement for this and in a lot of cases it is the norm for the accused not to take the stand.
Exactly… there is no legal requirement… just good lawyers, and you tend to get what you pay for.
More profitable to sell ones story than tell it publically on the stand anyways, which media outlet will offer the best price for his story I wonder? Will it be enough to cover his legal fee’s?
“I would [let you go home], but you have been a naughty girl..”.
I dont know why Tostee just didnt let her go home.
It appears that Miss Wright did not receive competent representation. There are way too many unanswered questions.
“I would [let you go home], but you have been a naughty girl..”. Tells us that Tostee had unfinished business.
Intimidation, pure and simple. Just this remark alone from his creepy recording (why did he record this in the first place? Blackmail? More intimidation?) is evidence enough. He clearly intended to cause her mental and emotional harm. His intentions led directly to her death. He could have chosen to push her out the front door but instead chose to isolate her. The balcony is not “off the property” it is an isolated, outdoor part of said property. Judge got that completely wrong.
Yup. Kidnapping basically.
US election discussion thread is available now.
Syria Solidarity: National day of action 29th October
Civilians in Aleppo and across Syria are being intensively bombed by Russia with bunker bombs, phosphorous bombs, napalm, thermobaric and cluster bombs; and by the Syrian regime with chlorine containing barrel bombs; targetting homes, schools, hospitals, rescue teams, and underground shelters .
Like many Syrian cities, Aleppo has been under a starvation siege. The regime and Russian have even bombed the city’s water supply.
Despite these atrocious crimes against humanity, Aleppo’s people show tremendous solidarity and caring for each other, as they work to find the wounded under the rubble, and rush them to undergound clinics for treatment. Hundreds of democratically run community councils have been formed across Syria in the liberated areas. They have produced a tremendous amount of art, literature, music, and electronic media documenting the revolution and counter revolution in Syria.
The “peace” talks have broken down. It is clear that Russia and the Assad regime are looking for a military solution to enable the genocidal Assad regime to continue in power.
Most of the fighters killing Syrian civilians are not Syrians. They include soliders from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq, many of them conscripted or desperately poor with no other options for a living.
The Assad regime and Russia have killed half a million Syrian people. The genocide has to stop! The regime regularly uses rape and torture as weapons.
The war started because people across Syria went onto the streets to demand democracy, and instead were shot, rounded up, tortured, raped and killed. So the people took up arms to defend themselves. The Assad regime has vowed to continue to obliterate the population until it accepts his rule.
Both the United States and Russia have re-defined the people’s struggle for democracy as a “war on terror” and are both responsible for killing civilians.
Isis grew in Syria with the encouragement of the Assad regime. Assad deliberately released extremists from his jails, who went on to join Isis in Syria. The regime leaves Isis alone, and Isis is continually attacking the democratic opposition groups. The democratic opposition has been forced to fight on two fronts, against the attacks from the regime and from Isis. Despite the evils perpetrated by Isis, it has killed a fraction of the number of people, that the Assad regime has. The Assad regime with its Russian and Iranian allies are the greater evil.
Stop the bombing! Troops out!
No more genocide! Solidarity with the Syrian Revolution!
Victory for Syrian people now!
Wellington action:
2-3pm 29th October, Russian Embassy, 57 Messines Road, Karori
[https://www.facebook.com/events/1837996156434984/]
Auckland action:
2-3pm 29th October, Aotea Square
[https://www.facebook.com/events/104432090029183/]
Awesome initiative, kudos to all those whom attend.
Nah – they’re backing the wrong horse. The West are only in there to push for regime change – like in Libya. Same fucked up principle will give the same result as Libya. Please note how the yanks are also doing Israels and Saudi Arabias dirty work as they try to squash Shia regimes one by one.
Stop the bombing! I’d say they just want less death and suffering from war, I’m down with that, everyone should be.
So sick of the killing, i don’t care whom is doing it, it needs to stop
Here is the news, Cinny. No way will the bombing stop. It never does. Our media blame it on the other side through blaming ‘human shield’ tactics, etc, when our bombs kill civilians. Are our side going to stop bombing Mosul because of civilians? Nup – but we will get publicity about the nasty Russian and Assad bombs in Aleppo. Get used to it.
Judge Goddard got it in the neck in an ”overseas” rantsite yesterday.
No byline to identify the author but really it was hardly needed.
a note to cv – I put this on the post you put up but I suspect that post won’t stay up so I’m reposting here
Why not read the signs and actually take time off from the bubble you have created around yourself. You’ll probably come back fresher. What you are doing now isn’t working – that’s my advice – read the signs mate because imo all of your credibility capital is pretty well gone down the gurgler because of some of those ‘calls’ you have recently made.
anyway delete, ban or ignore – or maybe listen – your call.
@MM Weka, PM, The Ex, J 90 etc,
you guys appear to me to be just bullies who have undertaken an irrational, abusive and vindictive attack on CV who, at least originally, tried to discuss the matter of The Clintons, Trump and American politics. A discussion centred within a framework of big business, political elitism and social inequality. You have pushed him in the the corner he now finds himself in, and to what end other than to shut down a differing view point.
I’m sure i’m not the only one who thinks this. I have found you all disappointing.
I’m very disappointed too. E UNUM PLURIBUS.
gotta say i feel rather dismayed at what has played out in this community lately.
Yeah normally its the right leaning posters on this site that have people calling for bans
you should be banned for that 🙂
Don’t worry, it’ll happen again sooner or later 😉
Well, it might happen one day, anyway.
its a special kind of ire the left saves for its own.
it’s not really the case here though – cv does not identify as left. I identify as left. cv and I are not in the same camp and therefore he isn’t my own and I’m not his own. I really tried to come from a place of compassion in my comment to him above – it is sad to me that some (maybe including you gsays) don’t get that.
We (of the left) have to get rid of this government and get more equality and equity in play for so many disadvantaged people in our society – life is getting so hard for so so many and it is happening now, this minute and only getting worse. I want to focus on that, not have to deal with lies and misinformation designed, yes DESIGNED to disrupt the left, from someone who shoots wildly, never aims correctly and dismisses as unimportant the innocent bystanders who end up recipients of his output. And this is done under cover like a wolf with a sheepskin on its back.
Sure I could ignore, let it go, concentrate on my passionate areas but you know, this is MY community too, in that I visit, I consider, I contribute, I laugh, I cry – all here, in this community – I am not going to sit on my hands and allow trojan horse pretenders to take MY community away – I won’t have anywhere to go if that happens… 🙁
hey cheers marty,
a couple of things..
i did get yr compassion earlier.
for me andrew’s comment was a chance to have 10 cents worth.
i had been thinking that tensions had been running high in the last few days without much sign of a backdown or releasing of tensions. generally over excitement generated by opinions of the american popularity contest.
in the cold light of day neither candidate is a great example of a leader to deal with what humanity is staring down the barrell of.
about our community; please don’t take this as telling y’all how to suck eggs.. the best thing we can do for our community is to be kinder to each other.
You insight is valued by me.
well andrew I don’t think cv was pushed and I don’t agree with you when you imply that cv is able to be pushed – I think he is competently able to have his own agency and responsibility to what he says. My note to him above comes from a place of compassion, because in the past others have given me the same advice when I needed to hear it.
The point is that there is scope for valid political debate outside of gender discrimination and by my observation this is where CV endeavoured to position the conversation, at least initially. It was you guys that seemed to insist the issue had to be viewed through the prism of gender politics only. In doing so you have you have completely undermined a valid discussion on what, strategically speaking, is the best way to end corporate domination of social and political outcomes. It also says a lot about about how illiberal you all really are.
The point is that there is scope for valid political debate outside of gender discrimination and by my observation this is where CV endeavoured to position the conversation, at least initially.
I don’t know what you are referring to and given you are making some hefty accusations, I think you need to explain more clearly what you are talking about.
No Weka I don’t, the meaning is clear enough, and they are observations not accusations. Your reaction is also clear… defensive and antagonistic. It is you that needs to consider more carefully what I might be talking about. There should be a better response to challenging and complex matters of social/political concern than that proffered by J90 below that again just looks to ‘win’ not explore the issue.
[one of the main rules one this site is don’t tell authors/moderators what to do. Another is don’t waste moderators’ time. There are very good reasons for both of those, which boil down to protecting authors so that they want to put up posts and so they have time to write. In that sense authors are considered more important than commenters, not because we’re somehow better but because we’re the ones putting the work in to keep the front page full of posts.
I get that it is complicated when an author/mod is also commenting, so let me be clear. When you called me a bully above, I wasn’t sure if you were referring to my comments or my moderations. I’ve let this subthread run because I’ve been busy and I was hoping that it would settle down. But you are now outright challenging an author and that’s a problem. Please now clarify if you think I am a bully as a commenter or a moderator or both. If you are calling me a bully as a moderator, you need to link to 3 examples in the past month that support that. If you are calling me a bully as a commenter, I will deal with that when I am not in bold. However you need to be aware that if you continue to make accusations without responding to requests for clarification or back up, then at some point a moderator will get involved.
This isn’t negotiable. I suggest you read the Policy and About, because I’m not willing to spend more time on this and if I have to moderate you again I will be putting in a timed ban. I have no problem with people expressing disappointment or dissatisfaction with the moderation here, or specific decisions, or asking questions or making constructive suggestions, but it’s not ok to have a go at authors. I’m putting you in premod so I can more easily pick up your reply. – weka]
Friendly advice from a non-moderator: you definitely make two accusations with no identifying context in 8.1.2.1, and doubling down on it is a good way to annoy moderators. The site does explain all this in its comments policy.
Then I will leave it to others to form an opinion on whether this anti CV clique seeks to shut down rather than engage with dessenting viewpoints. I have no wish to be further dragged in to pedantic argument on the definition of an accusation while you chose to ignore the substance of the observation.
http://images.memes.com/meme/290340
Holding an opinion that an alleged serial sexual offender is a manifestly unsuitable candidate is a view through the prism of gender politics only, really?.
Holding an opinion that an alleged serial sexual offender is a manifestly unsuitable candidate is a view through the prism of gender politics only, really?.
… a candidate who has personally ensured that gender is front and centre of each of the three presidential debates. “Nasty woman”, “she” (repeated in hissing tones many times), doubting her stamina, saying she doesn’t “look” presidential, stalking her onstage in the most repulsive way – and admitting later that he was in fact envisaging her sexually at that time!!! DURING a live, televised presidential debate!!!
And that is all a-ok with Mr Murray?
I don’t agree with the conclusions you have reached there andrew. I can’t see where there was any insistence at all apart from asking for evidence for blanket, usually insulting and hurtful, accusations against others – when that inevitably didn’t occur then that was named as an opinion and was weighed against other opinions that that writer has made previously – there does develop a cumulative effect where a commenter’s ‘voice’ is known.
You don’t like that as a left left person I don’t like reading and having to argue against bullshit and hate speech, against arguments proven false and with no redeeming qualities I might add, against a self confessed non-left thinker or believer – just because they want to shout loudly their (proven) bigotry. That is fine by me and also fine you make comment on it.
Thank you Andrew Murray. I agree with your comments and am disappointed by the behaviour of many on this site in their relentless vindictive treatment of CV.
BTW, if anyone had noticed my light commenting around these parts recently, a small part of it is due to CV’s behaviour of late. I just can’t be bothered coming here and having to scroll past all his crap. I’m sure there are some who might consider that sweet relief, of course 🙂
I’m sure you are not the only one.
I like your posts, they’re normally quite considered but its Penny Brights posts that annoy the heck out of me or rather her posting something then not bothering to reply to people that comment on what she posted
Yes Puck I have observed you partaking in group bullying of Penny in the past and commented on that yesterday …… when you were being insincere about attitudes to women posters ……
Also not one of you trolls ever answered my easy maths question of $2.2 billion divided by $22 million ……….. when comparing the aussie bank fraud featuring a getaway tax vehicle provided by John Shewan ….. versus the $22 million welfare fraud prosecuted in the same year … The answer was of course that Shewans and the bamks fraud was 100x larger … or 100 years worth.
You never answered did you Puck ………
Bring back CV and ban Puck is my opinion …….
I’ve accepted Hillary the Hawk will be the next president over Trump, who I called out as a rapist last fathers day from memory …..
Anyway, New Zealand and the rest of the world should take a lot more refugees …..
made not in ………. but by the u.s.a
Quietly following this Todd&Clare shenanigans and I reckon the whole thing is just a bit too cute, so, putting on my bestest tinny –
Obviously it’s taken time and resources to launch but would a professional hit piece on Assange:
Coincide with an internet rumour about Assange’s well being.
Coincide with Assange’s loss of internet services
Offer a payment from the Russian government to promote a women’s dating site.
Todd &Clare front be so easily exposed and connected to Clinton associates, within hours, by internet sleuths.
Allegations be so easily refuted, again, within hours, by contacting Bahamian police.
Had enough time to go viral and just before it got legs, it’s squashed.
Tinny off.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article109255732.html#1
plus wikileaks anniversary and/or major announcement this month.
I don’t quote get which conspiracy it is though – the one to attempt to discredit Assange or the one to discredit Clinton?
Sorting the black flags from the white hats black flagging sounds just the job for ugly truth…or trav….
I see Pete George has something to say on the CV banning.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Be good to see: (1) the outcome of this; and (2) it happen here. What chances are there of IRD doing something similar??
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/20/hmrc-launch-crackdown-gig-economy-firms-agency-self-employed-staff
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/85600505/parking-joseph-how-a-small-team-from-new-zealand-secured-a-world-heavyweight-title-shot-against-the-odds
Good on them, I think Parkers not at Joshua or Klitschkos level just yet but sometimes you just have to take the opportunity when it comes and, if he can beat Ruiz, his opportunity will come sooner rather later
Here’s hoping Joseph knows how to count.
Its an odd business for sure
Parker put the last falla down with a body blow ,that takes real power, he’s ready for all of them ,
Believe me when I say I hope you’re right and I hope I’m wrong
As long as he gives it everything i’m all good with it , it took me along time to get over the Tua man getting overwhelmed with the occasion and failing to fire a shot.
In a war we should not be in. Directing airstrikes that might be the cause of war crimes. Harming New Zealand’s reputation. So says the Guardian:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85603946/nz-sas-in-northern-iraq–reports
Do you think we are there?
I think we might be.
I’m absolutely sure we are there, Robert. I suggested in a post ages ago that our role over there was not going to be limited to training the Iraqi military and that the SAS would be lurking around as well. I’d like to think that when IS are forced out of Iraq and into Syria that our role, whatever it is, comes to a swift end.
And like we should believe a spokeperson for Gerry Brownlee’s office? Yeah, right …
“Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has denied claims in international media that New Zealand special forces are calling in airstrikes in northern Iraq, “or involved in any other combat operations” in the country.”
Of course NZ special forces individuals could be working with/seconded to other nations forces which means they come under those countries mandate and not our own so Gerry Brownlee is probably telling the truth…or interpreting the question the way he wants to
It wouldn’t trouble Gerry to tell bare-faced lies any more than it does Key.
CO2 into ethanol.
Buggered if I know where they get the hydrogen from, but Oak Ridge don’t usually bullshit this stuff.
Fuck fuel, I’m just glad there’s a new source of liquor 🙂
Water??
yeah by the look they were bubbling the co2 through a clear solution onto the catalyst, which is apparently electrified.
So my assumption is that the catalyst and the voltage break the co2 and h2o bonds, leaving everyone to rejiggle into C2H6O and 2xO2.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe so probably not that hard to get hold of
The CO2 is dissolved in water.
https://www.ornl.gov/news/nano-spike-catalysts-convert-carbon-dioxide-directly-ethanol
If that doesn’t work out, there’s also this, starting with lignin. But sorry, it doesn’t specifically say ethanol is one of the useful molecules it produces.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161020143940.htm
Lanza tech (originally from NZ) are also working on similar outcomes…
http://www.lanzatech.com/
Transport grade fuels – Biofuels (second and third generation) are just around the corner, per the link you have supplied the “issue” at the moment is developing catalysts that are commercially viable to use. The rest of the tech is ready to go.
As someone who is involved in the residential building and development industry in Auckland, there appears to be a trend of the banks “de risking” in this industry. I have just completed the yearly banking review for the coy. With our “relationship” banker informing me that the bank has given us 10 months to reduce our credit facility by 1/3rd, which will mean that money that were intended to develop land and houses will now be used to repay the bank back. This on top of that the MOCCL rate we pay is to increase. The reason was that the bank is under pressure to maintain its profit margins in a tight market, in which they cannot lower rates as investors are unwilling to deposit for fixed terms given the low yields.
From discussions with others within the industry we are not the only coy that the banks are placing increasing pressure to reduce debt, this at a time when we are forever being reminded that Auckland needs 14k houses build p.a. ??
As someone who is involved in the residential building and development industry in Auckland, there appears to be a trend of the banks “de risking” in this industry. I have just completed the yearly banking review for the coy. With our “relationship” banker informing me that the bank has given us 10 months to reduce our credit facility by 1/3rd, which will mean that money that were intended to develop land and houses will now be used to repay the bank back. This on top of that the MOCCL rate we pay is to increase. The reason was that the bank is under pressure to maintain its profit margins in a tight market, in which they cannot lower rates as investors are unwilling to deposit for fixed terms given the low yields.
From discussions with others within the industry we are not the only coy that the banks are placing increasing pressure to reduce debt, this at a time when we are forever being reminded that Auckland needs 14k houses build p.a. whilst building less than 9k??
interesting, ty for the info. I wonder if banks are expecting some people to default on loans, so are making sure businesses are able to counter balance it by paying down more debt at this time? Are interest rates about to rise? Will people be able to maintain massive mortgages on over priced properties?
How much profit do the banks need? It’s not as a result of recent property investor/banking lending rules changes?
Sounds like it could be a stumbling block for many in the trade whom are trying to build housing. Or is nick smith trying to dig himself out of a gaping cavernous hole, maybe he’ll blame the banks next for lack of action on his housing promises? Building boom? Housing Crisis?
Either way sounds like a pain for the people in your industry for sures.
With a massive Russian fleet now heading from the Baltic to the Syrian coast, and the US effectively expelling 5000 ISIS fighters from Iraq to Syria, I see a nod-wink for a Russian bloodbath of the remaining Isis. In Syria.
Recent events suggest the potential of a (sorry about that) deliberate mistake is also high. I’m not sure about the US strike that hit Assad forces, but I don’t believe they expected the Russian reprisal.
ISIS may disperse if they face a genuine existential threat – some at least of them can do that.
This has the potential to be a very good war not to be involved in – no high moral ground, and small players get hurt if the giants dance.
some interesting discussion by some geeks trying to find links between clinton campaign and the toddandclair “assange is pedophile” scam.
bring your tinfoil hat but still some rather interesting connections
https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiLeaks/comments/587lbg/i_have_been_looking_into_the_san_fransisco/
Assuming that the people who wanted to set up a website in a false name put their correct address on the registrations…
At least someone’s looking at it, though.
[In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted – weka]
What has happened to CV’s post about US-Filipino relations? I saw the post in my RSS feed but when I clicked through to the site it was gone!
All I can see is some cryptic references to CV being banned, but no official notice or anything. It all comes across as a bit Stalinist in form. That post about Duterte I was looking forward to reading but perhaps it wasn’t politically correct? Who can enlighten me?
I hope to see that article again too, as soon as CV is back. It is quite riveting really, what is happening over there, and relevant for many of us.
So what happened? Why was the Duterte post deleted?
I don’t know – I’m not a mod.
But I really do hope CV is able to bring it back. It is a topic that immediately affects some of my wider family by marriage, and friends.
(Reply to Conal)