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Blazer (Friday): What qualities do you admire in a leader Gezza?
I asked for a few hours to think about that one before replying. I’ve had that time now (n between some rellies joining me for a few days in a working bee i n & around Pookden Manor) & I’ve decided to frame my response around the qualities I think a good PM should have – as that was the context of our discussion .
Others please feel free to critique my list, or add or replace anything they think is missing, or they have a better “quality” for.
………………………..
A Good PM
Intelligent. Able to understand complex issues & identify constructive solutions to problems, both individually & when working collectively with Cabinet, caucus, departmental advisers & industry experts.
Good communicator. Always clear. Circumspect when the situation requires it (eg for reasons of national security, diplomacy, or policy not finalised yet) but not vague or waffly.
Good people skills. Relates easily & well to people of all backrounds. Knows how to spot talent (intelligence, people skills, capacity for learning and hard work) among caucus members. Matches colleagues’ abilities to portfolios well.
Sets clear vision & strategic goals for Government, so that Ministers know what their departments – and THEY – are expected to achieve, & by when.
Sets clear vision & strategic goals for New Zealand as a society & as an independent country with its own unique national goals, priorities, & interdependencies, & international relationships.
Good People Manager. Recognises & rewards good performance by MPs by promoting them; rewards persistent bad performance or clear lack of ability by demoting MPs or not appointing them to important portfolios.
Consultative, but also decisive when Cabinet or Caucus reach an impasse & a decision MUST be taken – even if that decision subsequently turns out to be a wrong one.
Tolerant of Cabinet Ministers’ & backbench MP’s mistakes – within sensible (common sense) limits! Nobody’s perfect. Recognises this when things go wrong for Party MPs within the Parliamentary working environment, but ensures that lessons are learned.
Strong. Does not shy from sacking Ministers or taking other disciplinary measures when these are clearly required because of MP foolishness or grossly inappropriate / unlawful behaviour.
Hi Gezza, I'm not sure of the context you were asked to define Leadership but having read your list i am wondering, in our lifetime, do you think any other PM has had more of those qualities than our current one? I know others will disagree but it seems to me that Ardern fits most, if not all, of those qualities.
I came up with this list based on what qualities, from my observations over my lifetime, a good chairperson of a board, AND a good CEO (private or government) has. Because, imo, a good PM essentially combines those two roles.
Sometimes a good COTB & a good CEO has the intelligence to appoint others who have some qualities they lack to fill the gaps as their trusted advisers. Helen Clark did this with H2, for example.
I didn’t try & write it around a particular PM, but from what I remember, Norman Kirk comes close meeting most of those. Jacinda Ardern, I’m not quite so sure. Judith Collins however doesn’t get within a bull’s roar of meeting most of those requirements, in my view.
Gezza: you've expressed your disenchantment with Jacinda Ardern before, and here, it seems, you've set up a format for criticising NZ Prime Ministers; is your hope that commenters here will similarly share their anxieties about Jacinda?
I was pleased to read the response from Red Blooded One.
“Gezza: you’ve expressed your disenchantment with Jacinda Ardern before, and here, it seems, you’ve set up a format for criticising NZ Prime Ministers;”
G: No I haven’t. I’ve set out the qualities I personally think a good PM has. Jacinda Ardern has some of those qualities. Or, at least, sometimes she displays them. Helen Clark has many of those qualities. John Key had some, but not others & I learned not to trust Key.
I believe I’m a more dispassionate observer than you are when it comes to such issues, as I’m not politically tribal, Robert, like you are.
Reminds me: One obvious quality I completely missed out & I’m now adding adding. Honesty.
“is your hope that commenters here will similarly share their anxieties about Jacinda?”
G: No. You should know me well enuf by now. If that is what I meant, that is what I would have said. When I post, I say what I mean, & I mean what I say. I’m always happy to clarify if questioned, so thank you for at least asking that question. Don’t try and read my mind, Robert. You are no better a mind-reader than I am. And I can’t read minds.
“I was pleased to read the response from Red Blooded One.”
Your original post was clear, and thought provoking. FWIW:
Intelligent: Undoubtedly
Good communicator: This has been her strength; in recent months there is a risk it is becoming her weakness. An example: the proposed hate speech legislation.
Good people skills: Yes to your first point. Not so much to your second.
Sets clear vision & strategic goals (etc): No. I sense at times there is no overriding vision beyond slogans, but to be fair that could be because of the nature of our political system (e.g. in the first term she was in a coalition with a party that she is not ideologically comfortable with).
Good people manager: Jury's out. In fact this one is hard to gauge unless you are close to the workings of her caucus.
Consultative but also decisive: Again that's difficult without being an insider.
Tolerant of Cabinet Ministers’ & backbench MP’s mistakes/Strong: I've combined these. At times she's been too tolerant. Phil Twyford, David Clark and Clare Curran both got too much latitude, and right now Poto Williams and Kris Faafoi are being given latitude I'm not sure they deserve. But I'll say this – the PM may be hamstrung if she senses a lack of depth in her caucus. In other words a perceived weakness in this category may in fact reflect strengths in others as she seeks to balance the work needing doing with the talent available.
"The best way to handle people given latitude is to give them none of course."
I assume that's sarcasm. I run an international business, and I give my team a lot of latitude, but in return my expectations are clear, as are the consequences of non performance.
"What were the excesses of latitudes Ardern gave David Clark and Clare Curran?"
It took too long for her to sack them, in a nutshell. And she prevaricated. On the On 7/9/18 she said Curran's job was 'not on the line', yet accepted her resignation just hours later.
They were going off on tangents and not team players add a level of incompetency too.No govt either National or Labour are all of the same competency just like Key and Clark they pushed out liabilities.
To also show that those who didn't stick to the team plan consequences are coming .
I felt sure you were meaning the discussion to focus on Jacinda Ardern, Gezza, but if you mean us to discuss PM's from the past as well, may I ask you about your statement:
"I learned not to trust Key"
You trusted Key initially, then learned not to trust him?
For what reasons did you find him trustworthy, initially?
Sorry Robert. Not really interested in thinking about & then commenting further on Key. Projects to do at Pookden Manor & a perfect, sunny, wind-free mornng for doing them. Getting out there and into them while I’m still able to. Later, dude. 👍🏼
Key had me thinking finally an honest politican till about 4 months out from the 2008 election ,then I remember my bullshit detector starting screeching, I had know real political leaning back then .
No. Deeply pissed off at this incrementalist wet bus ticket neoliberal status quo gutless Blairite pack of weasels who are happy for homeowners/ "investors" to get billions of free $$$$$$$ in unearned capital gains but are like Scrooge when it comes to helping the poor.
Yes. I also liked your list of qualities needed for a good PM Gezza. You will have spent a lot of time putting it together so good on you.
I also agree with RBO that Jacinda Ardern reflects all those qualities. Of course she isn't perfect and she would be the first to agree. For example, I find her a bit waffly sometimes and have been known to tell her as much while watching her on TV. 😡
The largely misogynistic memes that her opponents have tried to pin on her… she's a lightweight who doesn't know what she is doing and, she has no control over her ministers etc., and they have no policies is so much hogwash. Unfortunately there are people whose memory cells are non existent and they fall for the nonsense.
“i am wondering, in our lifetime, do you think any other PM has had more of those qualities than our current one?”….really, are you serious?
Apart from Covid, Ardern has been the most ineffectual and pointless Labour PM in my life time, and that really is saying something..though to be fair she has been great for anyone who profits from banks, landowners, landlords and corporate monopoly owners and their shareholders…turns out she is great at talking, shit at actually doing anything…you only need to observe her (complete lack of) action on climate change to understand this plain fact.
Jacinda Ardern: "my generation's nuclear free moment"….get the fuck out of here!
I listened to a podcast with Murray Bolton recently. Bolton, who is 73, said he had lived through some very good Labour governments (he named the Clark government specifically). His opinion – this is the worst government in his lifetime. Of any political makeup.
Gypsy, I have to confess I said Murray Who? So I looked him up and I am now wondering why I should pay his 'reckons', his opinions, any more weight than, say, my own?
I'm 72 and have seen some ten different governments of various lengths of tenure, and my opinion is different from this 'rich-lister businessman /entrepreneur.'
One of our downslides in critical thinking being shown more clearly recently is our credence in celebrities, as if being famous gives us more intellect or specialised knowledge, when all it does is feed our confirmation bias. I bet, Gypsy, you gave this citation to listen to Murray Who? because he believes what you believe.
I ask, rather, what specialised knowledge or intellect he brings that I should pay attention, and even defer to?
This is on my mind because I have had to run a critique as part of my position in an organisation of a racist, misogynist, extremist ranting letter which had been published with a long CV of the author of the rant. The purpose of the CV was to add weight to this man's opinions, when it did nothing to show any expertise or specialised knowledge.
Funnily enough, this ranter was also a CEO and company founder, like Murray Who? All it did for me was to confirm my incipient confirmation bias about the predilection of famous persons (especially CEOs and business founders) to pontificate about things they have but lay knowledge of. Lucky I'm not famous, eh?
Murray Bolton is a highly successful businessman. He has also taken on the power of the government in court and won, and is now helping other kiwi's stuck in the insane MIQ system get home. And you are?
Doesn't mean he is right, a good guy or has any other admirable traits though.
His reckons are as good as anyone else's and no more.
This uncritical admiration and views that people have something of worth to give the nation because they have got/acquired lots of money is a less than desirable trait.
It seems to be more prevalent (eg the people who admired John Key because he had worked in the money markets) and this is sad as NZ was, in times past, a country that it was said 'Jack's as good as his master.
How does that qualify him to pronounce on what is/was the best or worst government in 60-70 years? To pronounce so certainly that we are directed to a podcast to be enlightened!
Who I am gives me no more right to pronounce upon the worth of 10+ governments more than any other reasonably well informed citizen.
That was my point. Murray Bolton from the evidence you have given, his age and business experience, and ability to pay for and win a court judgement is not an experienced politician, historian or political scientist whose measured judgement upon the relative worth of 60 years of NZ government can be trusted.
I do know that I would be looking at factors such as financial, health and employment statistics, I'd be looking at foreign policy, housing and poverty rates. I'd be researching quality of laws passed, quality of life and average income, environment and social issues, treatment of minority groups, the penal system and the use of state powers.
At least I'd be arguing from a position of some credible knowledge.
I've not heard the podcast. We were not given a reference. Does Mr Bolton traverse any or all of those areas for ten governments?
So it comes down to my other point. Why do we so accept the opinions of the famous, the celebrities, those successful in one aspect of life, be it business, acting or singing and promote them above those whose knowledge and experience is directly applicable?
"How does that qualify him to pronounce on what is/was the best or worst government in 60-70 years?"
The same as it qualifies you to disagree.
"Why do we so accept the opinions of the famous, the celebrities, those successful in one aspect of life, be it business, acting or singing and promote them above those whose knowledge and experience is directly applicable?"
Who are these people "whose knowledge and experience is directly applicable?" The politicians themselves? The opinion of successful people such as Bolton has value because they are the ones doing the hard yards to make NZ successful. They employ people, pay taxes. They lead organisations at the coalface of the very problems politicians create.
"My issue was whether I should be persuaded by the reckons of a businessman, whether anyone should be persuaded by the reckons of such folk."
I don't think you should be. My view is we should take into account a range of opinions from people we respect, even if we don't always agree with them.
Yes I have come across these types of comments where outrageous things, way outside their expertise are said and then the press (often from a press release) states XXXX YYYY was president of the Waikikamoocau Sand Fertiliser Works and owns the local Ford dealership. Because of this somehow they feel their opinions seem to be worth more than Joseph Blow who has a degree in English Tudor History and is being house husband to three children, or Mrs Taitama who runs the Kohanga Reo, or any person in the street. The NZ cringe really.
The press really should be asking sometimes, and your expertise is…….
There was a radio station recently that got some OTT letters and handled them very well on air.
I usually say 'I give nothing to racism, sexism'. etc. This puzzles people sometimes and gives me the chance to explain my view that what they are saying may be racist, sexist etc.
Good luck with the critique. I find looking at the HR Act is good to start with. Pretty simple Act and stark about its impact.
My observation of the past 4 years is that there is too much deference to the Public Service and other advice, and not enough going with what Labour actually believes (think policy platforms etc). It may or may not work, but Little's rejection of the advice and instead opting to lead Cabinet in disestablishing all DHBs was a welcome departure from that in my view.
Add Chris Hipkins to that list. He has stopped the money basis of Education, and managed to keep things intact during 4 rounds of covid.
Kris Fafoi has changed the credit trap significantly, and has slowed the "cheap labour" supply. That has not endeared him to many.
Megan Woods has beavered away at housing, using her people skills to get the opposition onside.
Jacinda Ardern has demoted Ministers who failed their brief or did not live by the morality and honesty expected.
Gezza does not like Ardern and is carefully leaving out qualities we have noted throughout her tenure.
Relationships with other Leaders, recognised by her peers.
Crisis management. Both short and longterm. She has excelled in her managment of the following in the last 4 years.
Fruit fly incursion, Micoplasma Bovis, Kauri dieback, Myrtle Rust, an erruption and the sad outcome, Two terror attacks, Covid 19 and now Delta, plus dealing with the problems of 501s being sent here by Dutton. The other big issues are climate change inequality and being a good Treaty partner, Trade and controlling the huge influence of runaway tech giants and their Algorithms.
The current memes have changed from "It is Winston telling her what to do" to she is "Going to resign and take a better paying overseas position"
Her very few flashes of anger and disparagement born out of the silly comments from the opposition, can be understood. Generally she is patient and answers questions openly, saying she will find out/come back if needing more detail to answer. Her clear full answers where she heads off journalists' loaded questions is a lesson in control. People generally said they were amazed at her tolerance.
This is a Pandemic. It is not over, and we are finding how to live with it while keeping our little boat afloat. A great number of people voted for this Government. Some have wavered in the face of the necessary decisions to keep us safe, and others are threatened by the coming changes, so they may also have doubts. The facts show an amazing balancing act.
Qualities not on the original list.
Honest, openminded, people centered, thoughtful, strength of character able to rise to the occasion able to face problems squarely and plan a way forward able to hold the respect and loyalty of those she is leading.
She clearly loves NZ. I hope she is PM for as long as possible, as given all those extra problems things are bad but by overseas standards more than acceptable with big efforts being made to turn many problems round.
Just my not important opinion. Oh and a disclaimer. I am a Life Labour Party member, and I am proud of the Labour legacy.
Congratulations on the life membership, that's fantastic recognition. I'm also a Labour Party member (VFL) and volunteer (did 5 years as campaign and LEC treasurer) but not at that level!
Hipkins' work on the Education System is an excellent example of a minister pushing past the public service advice, and possible 3 Waters could be the next big example of that. And that was a good reminder that good work has been done and continues, and it can be a long slog on intractable issues. Perhaps my frustration is that some issues have been beyond the political will of the voters rather than cabinet, like redesigning the tax system.
Gezza does not like Ardern and is carefully leaving out qualities we have noted throughout her tenure.
Neither of those assertions is true, Patricia. Another epic fail mind-reader. I do not pretend to know what you think or how you think. Please do not think you can do that with me. You can’t. You are not me. You do not see thru my eyes.
I do not adore Ardern, like some do, & see some faults or shortcomings. It is incorrect – in fact it’s false – to say I do not like her & imply that is my entire assessment.
I have NOT carefully left out qualities you think she has that should be in the list. False again.
Imo, Ardern has many of the qualities I came up with. My mission was not to write them around any particular PM, but to come with my ideal list, from my own perspective. Then see who seemed to meet all or most of them.
Those qualities are all mostly “transferable”. That skill set could almost be used in an authoritarian administration or…cough…a neo liberal state like New Zealand with a monetarist consensus among main parties. You know–free as possible in and out flow of capital, deregulation, managerialist culture, penetration of public infrastructure by private capital…that kind of thing.
What is missing is a requirement for a class left political understanding, analysis and action plan.
Certainly Gezza. Just from my perspective who needs highly efficient, even likeable leaders, that end up reinforcing capitalist class power via the neo liberal state and legislation?
It is time for a referendum on monetarism–it has never been put to the vote–not when Roger slipped it in, and Ruth aggressively continued TINA–because for the main parties structural neo liberalism is the default cultural and legislative setting via Reserve Bank Act, State Sector Act etc.
To have a referendum you have to be able to ask a clear question that can, normally, be answered with a YES or a NO. It is possible to have more than two answers but they still have to be in a simple form. ie I choose A or I choose B or I choose C.
Are all these qualities of equal value or are they different.
For example, to me, John Key scores very highly in the strong category whereas Jacinda Ardern doesn't however Jacinda scores highly on the clear vision but John does not
So do you have a ranking for what qualities are higher or lower or what qualities you're willing to 'let go' if the other qualities are there
Also, in your opinion, how would Bill English gone as leader if he'd had a proper go of it
how would Bill English gone as leader if he'd had a proper go of it
As leader of the Nats for 3 years, including 10 months as PM, English did have "a proper go of it"; personally I think English, Bridges, Muller and Kaye would all be doing a better job of leading the Nats than the incumbent, but that's not saying much, is it?
I listed them in no particular order orher than when they popped into my head & I wrote them down, Pucky.
I haven’t considered weighting them, or assigning them a priority, because I see them as a desirable set & see no useful purpose in trying to assign one quality as of more value than another when the caucus, & the national situations, can change at each eiection & throw any such attempt up in the air.
If you want to make claims about people (commenters, public figures, people in the news), then please back up. You can express opinions but once it crosses into details about people or events etc, you have to make the argument and support it with evidence.
From the Policy,
This includes making assertions that you are unable to substantiate with some proof (and that doesn’t mean endless links to unsubstantial authorities) or even argue when requested to do so. Such comments may be deleted without warning or one of the alternatives below may be employed. The action taken is completely up to the moderator who takes it.
The reason for that is to keep the debate robust. When people have links to understand a comment in context, the debate improves. Likewise when people explain their thinking.
Occasional educational short bans are likely from me over the next few months as I don’t want to be spending my time chasing people up on this. If you find your comments aren’t appearing, check the Replies tab to see if one of the mods has replied to you. If you can’t see the Replies tab, ask for help.
CV has gone off on a self imposed exile. Fallen a long way from a former Labour party candidate, into the Trump/Antivax rabbit hole. Sad to see a capable mind fall prey to nihilism
Sorry to hear that CV has fallen down the Trump/Antivax rabbit hole. It was an inevitable trajectory.
Start believing one pro fascist far right narrative and it is only a small step to the next one, and the next after that.
so the grandswill organised protests got less vehicles going through our cities than a bunch of boy racers on a casual night out . thoughts on how huge the mother of all protests wasnt?
my favourite "camera angles" case was Prebble doing a live piece to camera for ACT (yes, it was that long ago). It was in Hagley Park, for breakfast tv ISTR.
Anyway, Prebble was in front, and behind him were half a dozen or so supporters with a huge number of balloons. Sure enough, a slight gust of wind momentarily parted the balloons and through the crack there was nobody for at least a hundred yards, save one person in the distance looking vaguely towards the camera as their dog sniffed around a tree.
Hope this doesn't cause inadvertant offence to anyone, but I spotted it in my feed on a very rare visit to my Farcebook page last night & I thought it was funny….
If he wasn't then, current law change proposals may change that.
Freedom of expression is one of the primary tenets of liberty in Canada, but that may soon change.
Trans activists are cleverly constructing the legal censorship of those of us who still dare to name reality. At the forefront of this charge is trans activist Morgane Oger, who became infamous for convincing the City of Vancouver to defund Canada’s last remaining “female only” rape crisis centre. The Morgane Oger Foundation has been lobbying the Canadian government to regulate the internet, to curb, so-called ‘hate speech’, and on May 16, 2019 delivered testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
…Perhaps trans activist and professional dominatrix Hailey Heartless described the situation best when he tweeted: “The difference between us is, women like me get podiums, radio interviews, book deals, meetings with lawmakers and national audiences, women like you get your little niche newsletter and your slowly disappearing ‘safe spaces’.” Although he was mocking us, he was right. And once trans rights lobbyists, like Morgane Oger, are consulted by the Canadian government for their input on what to ban specifically, those newsletters and our voices will be lost.
It confused me. I still can't get my head around things like this (I probably never will)
Then it just made me sad, not sad like going to the cupboard and going to grab a biscuit then remembering you're on a diet sad, but sad as in this is how the worlds of 1984 or The Handmaids Tale begin.
As for Jordon Peterson…..I am glad expresses the opinions he does (mostly). A lot of it I don't agree with it, some I do.
Watched him interviewed by a feminist Helen (sorry forgotten her name) journalist.
I think its good he raises stuff about men and their contribution and service and how its men who die in wars, who CS more and who are murdered more.
But I think neither of them stressed how female biology has disadvantaged us. We are phyically weaker and we have time out for child birth and mothering (I know things are changing with this, but that is why women have more rights now).
Also most men are wired to pursue sex with females (biologically for survival of the species) but within this men have viewed women as sex objects for their gratification. Obviously this isn't the whole picture. But an importatnt one that contributes to inequality in the sexes.
'Also most men are wired to pursue sex with females (biologically for survival of the species) but within this men have viewed women as sex objects for their gratification. Obviously this isn't the whole picture. But an importatnt one that contributes to inequality in the sexes.'
Hi Molly, I came across this excerpt from a longer video. In it Africa Brooke says how she had decided what to think about Peterson, and that gets 'unpacked'.
I understand JP can get on people's nerves. I think this clip is worthwhile and gets very touching near the end when JP reveals the impact 'the haters' had on him.
Since my awareness of this issue (BDMRR) was raised by y'all here on TS I have been reading, learning and getting informed.
I am frustratingly not going to engage in the discussion as there are quite a few threads intertwined and I much rather korero in the flesh where subtleties can be expressed. I can see integrity on both sides of the issue but get turned off when debate goes to the extreme end to make a point. Most of the extremities come from overseas.
Also, as McFlock demonstrates below, chatter gets shut down quick or bogged down in petty point scoring.
It's not like Ta-Nehisi Coates is a run of the mill "hater". If "one of the foremost black intellectuals" is calling you out on something, best have a wee think.
He may be "one of the foremost black intellectuals" but hes certainly not a good comic book writer, this guy on the other hand is, and before you put on your big boy pants, Just Some Guy is black and Bisexual (since labels seem important to you), the first youtube clip is from 2018 just to let you know
Dunno about any of that, already watched one damned video of not much today, surprised I bothered with that.
The point I made was that if someone one describes as being a foremost intellectual satirises one's material (and more specifically how one's core audience recieves it), then some self reflection is in order. Peterson obviously respects Coates. Possibly should reflect upon the criticism, then.
The sad fact is there hasn't been an intellectual argument capable of supporting Marxism since Marx; and his own arguments have been disproved worldwide ever since his were made.
Yet Jordan Peterson is the one who is uneducated about him……
The point was that a supposedly deep thinker turned up to a debate using only a cursory reading of the communist manifesto to discuss marxism in general.
I'm not defending Marx, Žižek did that. Quite competently. Maybe he'd have had a more difficult task if his opponent had done his homework and actually knew the subject area at hand.
The usual transparent tactic when anyone points out marxism's manifest, catastrophic failures is to pretend 'oh that wasn't real communism'.
Peterson responds that when someone says that, what they're really claiming is 'that if I was in charge of the revolution, it would have all turned out differently'.
Which of course is nothing but a monumental conceit.
Also it may usefully inform us about where each is likely to go too far – due to a distorted overweighting of their primary motive. Conservatives become tyrants when driven by a sense of ‘purity’ engage in race supremacy and jingoist fascism. Liberals when their desire for ‘freedom’ becomes a repudiation of society and manifests as libertarianism and neo-liberal economic theories. And socialists are prone to stepping over the ‘caring’ line when they promote political theories intended to impose equality of outcomes – marxism and it’s modern derivatives in particular.
Capitalism is not complicated – it requires no appeal to an arcane theory that can only be understood by the high priests of the cult. It's a rather simple set of economic tools and ideas relating to business formalism, rule of law and markets. Neloliberalism on the other hand was the stupid theory that these useful tools would work if you applied them to everything.
OK so in short words you might understand – derivatives are a risk mitigation tool. Within limits they work very well, outside of those limits they don't.
Like say double entry book-keeping, the technical details take a bit of learning, but the basic idea is simple enough to understand. Unless of course you're determined not to.
Otherwise I see you've completely failed to address the substance of my comment and wandered off down a path of your own bewilderment.
@ arkie and In Vino, you might find some ideas of retired clinical psychologist Daniel helpful in regard to understanding scorn – I did.
In the meantime, I am trusting that you will evaluate my ideas on the basis of their relevance, reasonableness, and fit with your own experience. Readers have the right to disagree. I only ask that you do so thoughtfully and respectfully – for your sake as much as for mine. This would involve resisting two opposing tendencies. First would be a fault-finding dismissal based on a close-minded adherence to your preconceived notions. Second, and just as problematic, would be a total, unquestioning buy-in, so that you can apply the suggestions without questioning or critical thinking. I hope that you find a middle ground between these two extremes, so that you can continue exploring these matters in a spirit of curiosity, adventure, and awe. And if you like, keep me informed on your progress with this quest.
Boundaries. Marxism takes the good idea that the extremes of wealth and poverty should be moderated – and goes too far by demanding equal outcomes. Wherever and whenever this boundary is stepped over the actual result has been catastrophe.
You wouldn't suggest a 'reasoned discussion' with the ChCh mass murderer – and he only killed 51 people. Why would I engage with an ideology that directly, openly requires the violent eradication of entire classes of 'oppressors'?
Our definitions are not aligned which makes a conversation unproductive. I outlined my working definitions here.
Capitalism, conservatism and socialism normally co-exist in a balance in all modern societies. Some tilt more toward one pole than the other. However:
When the idea of liberal capitalism – which is essentially the actions of the individual within a market context – is taken too far you get neo-liberalism or libertarianism.
When the idea of conservatism – which is essentially about making what is known and trusted work in a stable fashion – is taken too far you get fascism, race purity and tyranny.
When the idea of socialism – which is about moderating the extremes of wealth and poverty, and protecting the most vulnerable – is taken too far into imposing equal outcomes you get communism and all the cultist woke variations it’s morphed into.
Using these rough definitions, ordinary conservatism, capitalism and socialism are within the bounds of acceptable political discourse. The others are demonstrably worthless ideologies.
You would be taken seriously if you actually knew what Communism is, or read what Marx really wrote. Instead of mindlessly repeating the US idea, that Communists are any Government they don't like.
Hint. A State that has a Dictatorship, and Nomenclatura., is by definition, not Communist.
Any more than another Dictatorship that claimed to be Socialist, while murdering millions, was Socialist.
Even more funny. When it is noted that "Communist" China pulled millions out of poverty more recently. Your fellow parrots start saying. "China is Capitalist, not Communist".
I am a supporter of a Democratic mixed economy. But note that Marx was largely correct. Though much of his analysis was the product of his time, it is still one of the best descriptions of Capitalisms working. We are seeing the results of the Marxist theory "diminishing rate of return on capital” in the developed countries now. It is only revolution or the threat of revelation that removes the Kleptocracy. Such as the UK after WW2. Where they started looking after returning soldiers and workers for fear of becoming Russia.
Not Marx's wishes. A description of reality.
Revolutions tend to end up with the most violent anti democratic and ruthless arseholes on top, which is why they I certainly am against them. Some circumstances, such as Batista’s Cuba, Czarist Russia, pre revolution France,, for example, make life so bad for so many that it becomes inivitable.
The US one is a good example. Resulting in a Constitution of "checks and balances" which ensure that "The Masses" will never have Democratic power over the "elite". Little different from Soviet Russia or China. Except the USA does propaganda, fooling the populace, better. As your repeating it proves.
You would be taken seriously if you actually knew what Communism is, or read what Marx really wrote.
You didn't need to read the ChCh's mass murderer's 'manifesto' to know it was a worthless pile of shit. So why the fuck would anyone take Marx's driveling nonsense seriously>
' Marx increasingly became preoccupied with an attempt to understand the contemporary capitalist mode of production, as driven by a remorseless pursuit of profit, whose origins are found in the extraction of surplus value from the exploited proletariat. The precise role of morality and moral criticism in Marx’s critique of contemporary capitalist society is much discussed, and there is no settled scholarly consensus on these issues. His understanding of morality may be related to his account of ideology, and his reflection on the extent to which certain widely-shared misunderstandings might help explain the stability of class-divided societies'- excerpt Stanford Eof Philosophy
Yes I do that Aussie cunt an injustice – he only managed 51 dead. Marx and Engels however openly justified and advocated for the eradication of entire classes of people.
Can't find a citation to back up your claim. Eh. Redlogix? Because, as we know, there isn't one.
Pontificating on "what Marx said" without actually bothering to find out what he really said, when it has shaped so much thought on the "Political economy" including influencing a whole lot of Economists, including the ones that disagreed with him, such as Milton Freidman, shows a refusal to inform yourself.
Like commenting on Western philosophy while ignoring the bible.
Commenting on modern economics while ignoring Marx, is failing to educate yourself.
How many people have been murdered in the name of Jesus Christ, who, if he really existed, only advocated for violently overturning money lenders tables?
Marx in his final and culminating paragraph of the The Communist Manifesto stated:
"The Communists openly declare that their ends can only be attained by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.
The ambiguity of the word 'forcible' was not in question for the three of Marx's most prominent followers who all engaged in violent revolutions aimed at eradicating those they declared to be the 'oppressor' class.
Weasel all you like – the stack of bodies still buried every metre or so under the Highway of Bones is proof enough for any sane person.
If you had been a serf or factory worker in Czarist Russia. I think you would have been rather keen on “removing the oppressor”.
Unfortunately replaced with another. Would you have supported anyone who “violently removed” Stalin?
Which sort of confirms what Marx said about the History of class struggle.
We will forget about the fact that the US “highway of bones” must be getting in numbers close to Stalin by now. But they are mostly Brown people, so, who cares.
Your denial of the fucking obvious is contemptible. Unlike you I did get to travel over that grim Highway I mentioned above – on the way to a gold processing project in the region. You on the other hand cannot even bring yourself to name it.
The last para of the paramount document in all of marxist literature calls for a forcible overthrow of the social order – an instruction carried out to the fucking letter by actual marxist revolutionaries and you pretend it has another meaning.
Your conflation of the actions of 20th century dictators with the readily accessible writings of 19th century political activists is not only disingenuous but also inaccurate, as you yourself have demonstrated.
Don’t get me wrong: regimes that took the name “communist” – from Stalin’s to Pol Pot’s – committed unspeakable, monstrous crimes. But for the right, a revival of interest in Marx’s pre-Stalinist vision of communism is the most striking and chilling example of its own collapsing ideological supremacy: “communism” is synonymous with tens of millions of deaths and nothing else. Capitalism, by contrast, is presented as a largely bloodless, blameless engine of human prosperity.
The story of capitalism is more complicated than that. If you want to read effusive praise of capitalism, you’ll find it in Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto: the revolutionary dynamism of the capitalists, they wrote, had created “wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals”. But capitalism is an economic system drenched in the blood of countless millions.
…
Capitalism was built on the bodies of millions from the very start. From the late 17th century onwards, the transatlantic slave trade became a pillar of emergent capitalism. Much of the wealth of London, Bristol and Liverpool – once the largest slave trading port in Europe – was made from the enslaved labour of Africans. The capital accumulated from slavery – from tobacco, cotton and sugar – drove the industrial revolution in Manchester and Lancashire; and several banks today can trace their origins to profits made from slavery.
Capitalism was built on the bodies of millions from the very start. From the late 17th century onwards, the transatlantic slave trade became a pillar of emergent capitalism.
Spare me the tedious whaddaboudism.
Slavery is an ancient almost universal feature of most known historic societies – pre-dating capitalism by millenia. For a relatively short period slavery and an emerging capitalism overlapped, but very quickly capitalist industrialisation led to the direct end of chattel slavery. (A process incidentally led largely by the same class of 'exploiting' Europeans Owen Jones manages to completely ignore.)
If not for this capitalism you hate so much, slavery would be as commonplace and endemic as ever. Statistically you wouldn't even be alive and able to type out your complaints about it here.
Capitalism is a great system … for the capitalists. Pretty shit for the workers, the environment, wildlife, democracy, or ethics. IMNSHO is it a spiritual force of evil
Current estimates are that about 12 million to 12.8 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic over a span of 400 years. The number purchased by the traders was considerably higher, as the passage had a high death rate with approximately 1.2-2.4 million dying during the voyage and millions more in seasoning camps in the Caribbean after arrival in the New World. Millions of people also died as a result of slave raids, wars, and during transport to the coast for sale to European slave traders.
Slavery in the 21st Century. OK so lets look at this – because clearly you didn't. Well bugger me there right at the top, a map showing where it remains most prevalent. All arguably the last places on earth you'd hold up as liberal democratic, developed 'rule of law', capitalist style nations.
How generous of those European nations to abolish slavery after benefitting from it for 400 years.
More denial. Virtually every major historic society featured slavery due to their lack of industrialisation. The only time and places where slavery has been made both permanently illegal and largely abolished have been those featuring a capitalist industrialisation – which really started to dominate from the early to mid 1800’s.
So slavery didn’t end, as you claimed, it is still ongoing despite the law. In a globalised economy those on the top still benefit from it no matter where it occurs.
In the 21st Century, almost every country has legally abolished chattel slavery, but the number of people currently enslaved around the world is far greater than the number of slaves during the historical Atlantic slave trade.
but the number of people currently enslaved around the world is far greater than the number of slaves during the historical Atlantic slave trade.
A typical piece of intellectual dishonesty that has to erase context to even look faintly plausible.
For a start the human population has increased roughly ten-fold in that period. Failing to correct for that alone makes it a meaningless comparison. To make matters worse it compares one subset of slavery, the trans-Atlantic trade, with the total global trade today.
For a second – those places where it remains most prevalent are the least developed places on earth. Nothing much of any 'benefit' comes from these places that could not be done more efficiently and profitably without slavery.
And while this residual slavery is of course deplorable – at maybe 40m people and maybe $150b of revenue it represents a diminishing and very minor fraction of the total global economy.
Given that chattel slavery is virtually non-existent in all the developed, industrialised, capitalist nations that feature a reliable rule of law and property rights – the obvious way to fully and finally eradicate slavery is to extend these conditions everywhere.
I agree with Marx's view of capital as an "egregore"; a disembodied entity with its own demonic life force; which describes the modern multinational corporation such as BlackRock perfectly. This is a popular essay on the topic:
RL. Are you really trying to argue that Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin only existed because Marx?
All the hundreds of other bloody despots in history. Many before Marx was even born. Robespierre, Pinochet, Hitler, the Shah, Stroessner, Suharto, Videla. The many that came out on top after revolutions. All due to Marx?
Are you really trying to argue that Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin only existed because Marx?
They absolutely relied on marxism as their justification. All monsters need an ideology to give cover to their madness – and classical marxism is certainly not the only one they turn to.
And as I've carefully outlined, but everyone ignores, ideology is what you get when you take a good idea in isolation, like fairness, purity, or freedom and make it into a totalising solution that will deliver some future utopia. Which is promised to be so wonderful that any amount of destruction and horror is justified to achieve it.
Which is essentially what all of the tyrants you have named share in common.
It is the wannabee tyrant that uses it as an excuse.
In the case of marxism the tyranny is baked in. Because the goal is equality of outcome but all humans are different – the revolution must impose it's new social order. The oppressor class must be overthrown and replaced with the worker class – who will magically deliver the promised utopia. (Exactly how remains mostly unexamined.)
Authoritarian personalities are deeply drawn to this prospect, they imagine they will be the ones doing the 'redistributing'. All the petty tyrants – and they lurk everywhere – come out of the woodwork like the zombies in World War Z to inflict their revenge for every slight and hurt they've carefully nurtured.
Those who have lived through communism say that it was not so much the brutality of the state they feared – because they expected that – but that no-one not even their family, could be trusted not to betray them. As a result everyone spoke in lies all the time.
Ta-Nehisi Coates … "one of the foremost black intellectuals"
LOL … more like one of the High Priests of the Critical Race Theory Religious Cult of which you are a particularly ambitious & dogmatic local cheerleader.
Somewhat akin to a Church of Scientology enforcer.
But don't let that stop you. Please, tell me more about how much I have written here about Critical Race Theory. If I'm a prominent cheerleader of it, please provide the links.
You have to go to the annotated links for that detail, but it is there..
eg. No. 3 – Combatting hate speech and hate crimes: Proposed legislative changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code – Canadian Govt site.
yeah, I don't even have my head around the NZ legislation, not going to deep dive on the Canadian's, so left not much the wiser. She might be right, or she might be over egging it. It's a problem, including in NZ, that we don't have many straightforward explanations of legislation (not just in this area).
On the subject of systemic racism in medicine. This was mentioned on Morning Report. That pulse oximeters have an inbuilt bias. The readings for those with non white skin aren’t as accurate.
“Pulse oximetry devices used for warning of low blood oxygenation in covid-19 and other diseases may be missing three times as many cases of occult hypoxaemia in black patients as in white, says a study report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.1
Researchers looked at over 48 000 pulse oximetry readings in 8675 US white patients and 1326 US black patients, comparing them with more accurate arterial oxygen saturation measures taken almost contemporaneously.
Among white patients whose pulse oximetry readings were 92-96%, the proportion who actually had arterial oxygen saturation below 88% was 3.6% (95% confidence interval 2.5% to 4.6%). But among black patients the proportion actually below that figure was 11.4% (7.6% to 15.2%).
“Our results suggest that reliance on pulse oximetry to triage patients and adjust supplemental oxygen levels may place black patients at increased risk for hypoxaemia,” noted the study authors, from the University of Michigan Medical School. The study is the latest of many to find that current assumptions and algorithms, often derived from heavily white patient populations, may work against black patients.2”
When products are developed by predominantly white folks, they fail to take colour into account. The same has been found with facial recognition software.
No easy fix, unless tertiary institutions take affirmative action more seriously.
How about "men like me", who mimic women outwardly and to different degrees of success, who have an innate feeling of womanhood without any of the experience of being female.Who feel more comfortable in life presenting as a woman , looking like a woman ,behaving as if they were a woman
Women they are not, unless we are to tear down our understanding of reproduction of mammalian species, based on binary sex.And totally demolish the language that has evolved around that
Anyone keen to start degendering French and Spanish etc?
We are barely human in the eyes of some. And this movement is a MRA movement for middle class white male to assert their dominance over NON Males and bros will be supporting it. In the end, bros will not suffer from this, only non bros. And thus it was ever since.
I have long maintained the idea that men will never be allies of women. And this movement demonstrates it so nicely.
We are no longer a class. We are something that anyone can be and no one can define.
That's a sad perspective. Most men love the women and girls in their lives, and would protect them ahead of their own life. Don't focus on the criminals when most guys are quietly working to make the world better.
But the 'class' of men that is the other 50% of the worlds population is not a womens friend. Not even to their 'own' women such as 'their' wife or 'their' child.
Please point where 'guys' are working quietly to make things better for women by allowing men into female prisons, female shelters, female rape crisis centres, female changing rooms, female toilets, female swimming hours, female sports, female awards, female hospital wards and oh allowing male lesbians to demand women suck their lady dicks in the name of lesbianism.
I can't wait to see that, cause all of these things are being pushed through not by criminals but by lawmakers, lawyers, opinion makers, journalists, and the likes. Unless you are calling these people criminals and i am just missing the 'joke' in all of that.
You will find that if you look long enough at the Labour Party – the one which is currently in a single majority government – that it is not a bunch of idealistic millennial women with their heads in the clouds – but full of men and women being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each to make this into law, and they are cynically enough to push that into law, knowing full well that non of that will ever really affect them.
You will find that if you look long enough – and you have all the submissions to watch for the spectacle of rude manners, the condescending bullthittery that came courtesy of the idealistic middle aged women of the Labour and Green Party – that Mme Kere Kere, Mme Wall, Mme Russel et al, – are really pushing hard for this to become law.
You will find that if you look long enough, that it is our lawmaker in government who push that shit on women – no debate and all – and non of the men in parliament are saying a single word but then maybe they are cowards. Who knows.
You will find that if you look long enough, that maybe it is time for the silent blokes who love 'their women' and 'their mothers' and 'their daughters' to maybe just maybe start speaking up on behalf of 'their' women.
You will find that if you look long enough, that maybe it is time for the silent blokes who love ‘their women’ and ‘their mothers’ and ‘their daughters’ to maybe just maybe start speaking up on behalf of ‘their’ women.
The problem with this solution is that two generations of men who have done so have been shouted down by women for having the temerity to “think they can speak on women’s behalf”.
And even the “tone’ of that sentence I quote, and the negative, sarcastic-seeming framing of the word “their” (apparently implying men still think they own women in this country, which is nonsense) makes men want to back out & leave it to the girls & women to fight their own battles. Which is precisely what we have been told to do over & over again by misandrist females for several decades now.
Change your language, & your approach, if you want help from men. And don’t ask “men” to change other people they can’t, any more than you can.
Newsflash: Men are not all the exact same creature, always collectively perceiving & acting in their own common group interest. That thinking is shite.
We are unique all individuals & how we relate to the women in our lives is unique & individual too. The biggest influence on who I am, how I relate to people, & how I perceive things was my mother, not my father. Though I loved them both equally, nature & nurture has made me more like mum than dad in personality. And I’m comfortable with that – because I think it makes me a nicer MAN.
Change your language, & your approach, if you want help from men. And don’t ask “men” to change other people they can’t, any more than you can.
well then, I won't expect YOU to help women – who may or may not be 'yours', as i won't change my language. But then, i don't expect men to help. I don't expect men to be allies of anyone who is not a man. I simply expect men to stand by and do nothing. As usual.
But then, i don’t expect men to help. I don’t expect men to be allies of anyone who is not a man. I simply expect men to stand by and do nothing. As usual.
I help women all the time. I also help men. Anyone who asks for my help generally gets it, if I can actually help. That’s how I was brought up.
I don’t know your full story, but some of your recent comments that I have read – and your pseudonym – point to a harrowing background, & who knows maybe even PTSD. Apparently your experience has prejudiced you against men in general.
I am sorry if that is so, but don’t expect to get away with frequently lambasting men in general because of your distorted perception of what “men” are like. You are not a man & you don’t know what you are talking about. Talking only to others who feel the same way about men will never open your eyes to what most men are really like.
And lambasting & hectoring “men” will just see you mentally categorised as a man-hater & ignored because of it, imo.
What starts off as politeness and empathy (addressing transwomen as if they were in fact truly women ) can end being embedded in policy and law, to the detriment of women
Yeah had this discussion one with some women who were lamenting their negotiation skills and deciding that they had to get better at it.
They discovered that all the men who started with them started on significantly higher salaries than they did. They had decided it was their own fault – most were more skilled and experienced than the men.
I pointed out that the person who was responsible for employing them was the only person who knew all the salaries he was starting people on and that he had made conscious decisions about each and everyone including the context of gender and the obvious disparity. These were conscious decisions to pay all the men more. The only person who could have fixed it at the time was that person.
Therein lies most of the problem – if the people who could fix it wanted to do so they don't need committees, investigations, protests, unions, legislation, etc to do so. They just need to exercise the power they already have. That they choose not to is deliberate.
When you consider the angry right and the disappointed left, that is a remarkably low number. Compare leaders of other democracies: Boris Johnson, for example has an approval rating of 25% (source: YouGov). In fact, the Evil Cindy Dictator is so unpopular in her country that she must resign no other leader in any Western democracy has a higher approval rating (except Angela Merkel as she bids farewell). And this is after a slump.
I was looking at that damned thing, and didn't get the "Mrs Ed" comment at all. Must have gotten so distracted by the overt racism that it overloaded my fuckwit-detector.
I'm ok with that in this case – it's so beyond the pale that the right whingers will end up throwing money at them. As it is, nobody can boycott it because airbnb has already ditched it from their listings.
This way, they don't even get the oxygen of complaining about freeze peach and vuctumhood.
Although NZ being small as it is, it'll probably get out in a couple of days. Even if the owners don't out themselves to explain how it was just a joke, or what have you.
Barry Soper being a real pushy prick thinking his questions are the only important ones at the stand up this afternoon. Jacinda is more patient with him than I would be.
Never thought I would see the day when this blog waxes lyrical about Jordan Peterson, guy who wants to roll back all the social gains over the last 50 years and restore a puritanical patriarchial society where all forms of pleasure are outlaws, and LGBT's have no rights.
No wonder I dont post here much any more. You guys are getting worse and worse each day.
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Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
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Blazer (Friday): What qualities do you admire in a leader Gezza?
I asked for a few hours to think about that one before replying. I’ve had that time now (n between some rellies joining me for a few days in a working bee i n & around Pookden Manor) & I’ve decided to frame my response around the qualities I think a good PM should have – as that was the context of our discussion .
Others please feel free to critique my list, or add or replace anything they think is missing, or they have a better “quality” for.
………………………..
A Good PM
Intelligent. Able to understand complex issues & identify constructive solutions to problems, both individually & when working collectively with Cabinet, caucus, departmental advisers & industry experts.
Good communicator. Always clear. Circumspect when the situation requires it (eg for reasons of national security, diplomacy, or policy not finalised yet) but not vague or waffly.
Good people skills. Relates easily & well to people of all backrounds. Knows how to spot talent (intelligence, people skills, capacity for learning and hard work) among caucus members. Matches colleagues’ abilities to portfolios well.
Sets clear vision & strategic goals for Government, so that Ministers know what their departments – and THEY – are expected to achieve, & by when.
Sets clear vision & strategic goals for New Zealand as a society & as an independent country with its own unique national goals, priorities, & interdependencies, & international relationships.
Good People Manager. Recognises & rewards good performance by MPs by promoting them; rewards persistent bad performance or clear lack of ability by demoting MPs or not appointing them to important portfolios.
Consultative, but also decisive when Cabinet or Caucus reach an impasse & a decision MUST be taken – even if that decision subsequently turns out to be a wrong one.
Tolerant of Cabinet Ministers’ & backbench MP’s mistakes – within sensible (common sense) limits! Nobody’s perfect. Recognises this when things go wrong for Party MPs within the Parliamentary working environment, but ensures that lessons are learned.
Strong. Does not shy from sacking Ministers or taking other disciplinary measures when these are clearly required because of MP foolishness or grossly inappropriate / unlawful behaviour.
Hi Gezza, I'm not sure of the context you were asked to define Leadership but having read your list i am wondering, in our lifetime, do you think any other PM has had more of those qualities than our current one? I know others will disagree but it seems to me that Ardern fits most, if not all, of those qualities.
I’m pondering that one, RBO. Give me some time.
I came up with this list based on what qualities, from my observations over my lifetime, a good chairperson of a board, AND a good CEO (private or government) has. Because, imo, a good PM essentially combines those two roles.
Sometimes a good COTB & a good CEO has the intelligence to appoint others who have some qualities they lack to fill the gaps as their trusted advisers. Helen Clark did this with H2, for example.
I didn’t try & write it around a particular PM, but from what I remember, Norman Kirk comes close meeting most of those. Jacinda Ardern, I’m not quite so sure. Judith Collins however doesn’t get within a bull’s roar of meeting most of those requirements, in my view.
Gezza: you've expressed your disenchantment with Jacinda Ardern before, and here, it seems, you've set up a format for criticising NZ Prime Ministers; is your hope that commenters here will similarly share their anxieties about Jacinda?
I was pleased to read the response from Red Blooded One.
“Gezza: you’ve expressed your disenchantment with Jacinda Ardern before, and here, it seems, you’ve set up a format for criticising NZ Prime Ministers;”
G: No I haven’t. I’ve set out the qualities I personally think a good PM has. Jacinda Ardern has some of those qualities. Or, at least, sometimes she displays them. Helen Clark has many of those qualities. John Key had some, but not others & I learned not to trust Key.
I believe I’m a more dispassionate observer than you are when it comes to such issues, as I’m not politically tribal, Robert, like you are.
Reminds me: One obvious quality I completely missed out & I’m now adding adding. Honesty.
“is your hope that commenters here will similarly share their anxieties about Jacinda?”
G: No. You should know me well enuf by now. If that is what I meant, that is what I would have said. When I post, I say what I mean, & I mean what I say. I’m always happy to clarify if questioned, so thank you for at least asking that question. Don’t try and read my mind, Robert. You are no better a mind-reader than I am. And I can’t read minds.
“I was pleased to read the response from Red Blooded One.”
G: So was I.
Your original post was clear, and thought provoking. FWIW:
Intelligent: Undoubtedly
Good communicator: This has been her strength; in recent months there is a risk it is becoming her weakness. An example: the proposed hate speech legislation.
Good people skills: Yes to your first point. Not so much to your second.
Sets clear vision & strategic goals (etc): No. I sense at times there is no overriding vision beyond slogans, but to be fair that could be because of the nature of our political system (e.g. in the first term she was in a coalition with a party that she is not ideologically comfortable with).
Good people manager: Jury's out. In fact this one is hard to gauge unless you are close to the workings of her caucus.
Consultative but also decisive: Again that's difficult without being an insider.
Tolerant of Cabinet Ministers’ & backbench MP’s mistakes/Strong: I've combined these. At times she's been too tolerant. Phil Twyford, David Clark and Clare Curran both got too much latitude, and right now Poto Williams and Kris Faafoi are being given latitude I'm not sure they deserve. But I'll say this – the PM may be hamstrung if she senses a lack of depth in her caucus. In other words a perceived weakness in this category may in fact reflect strengths in others as she seeks to balance the work needing doing with the talent available.
The best way to handle people given latitude is to give them none of course.
What were the excesses of latitudes Ardern gave David Clark and Clare Curran?
"The best way to handle people given latitude is to give them none of course."
I assume that's sarcasm. I run an international business, and I give my team a lot of latitude, but in return my expectations are clear, as are the consequences of non performance.
"What were the excesses of latitudes Ardern gave David Clark and Clare Curran?"
It took too long for her to sack them, in a nutshell. And she prevaricated. On the On 7/9/18 she said Curran's job was 'not on the line', yet accepted her resignation just hours later.
They were going off on tangents and not team players add a level of incompetency too.No govt either National or Labour are all of the same competency just like Key and Clark they pushed out liabilities.
To also show that those who didn't stick to the team plan consequences are coming .
I felt sure you were meaning the discussion to focus on Jacinda Ardern, Gezza, but if you mean us to discuss PM's from the past as well, may I ask you about your statement:
"I learned not to trust Key"
You trusted Key initially, then learned not to trust him?
For what reasons did you find him trustworthy, initially?
What made you distrust him, ultimately?
I never liked or trusted Sir John.
Sorry Robert. Not really interested in thinking about & then commenting further on Key. Projects to do at Pookden Manor & a perfect, sunny, wind-free mornng for doing them. Getting out there and into them while I’m still able to. Later, dude. 👍🏼
Ah! Just Ardern then.
No. Already told you, Robert, you’re a hopeless mind reader.
The way YOU think is NOT the way I think.
Give up trying to needle me. Not gonna work. 🙄
Find something more productive to do.
Hang in there Gezza
Robert gets a hard-on either defending Jacinda or having a go at a previous poster named James.
Other than that his posts are generally good.
Love your posts on the ducks and general commentary. Really enjoy reading the non-partisan commentators on this site
@ Westykev
Thanks kev. That sort of encouragement makes me want to continue to contribute.
I note that dissent & non-partisan commenters seem to be quite welcome here of late & I like that.
I’m always prepared to change my views if I’m persuaded by a good argument, or if I’m shown to be clearly wrong – at least, I hope I am.
I read a lot more here than I comment on.
Key had me thinking finally an honest politican till about 4 months out from the 2008 election ,then I remember my bullshit detector starting screeching, I had know real political leaning back then .
I voted Key in 2008 because he promised to address the housing crisis and child poverty. What a sucker I was.
And I bet you have been voting for whoever promised to fix the same problems at every election that has followed.
And guess what? Both problems have got worse every single time. What are you going to do in 2023?
And you voted Adern in 2017 and 2020?
How has housing and child poverty gotten better?
fool me once shame on you…
and remember, we were asked by Adern to judge her by her solutions to these issues
Voted TOP last time. I'm in Seymour's electorate and can't remember my electorate vote, still traumatised.
Voted TOP?!? no wonder you are traumatised
Are you pleased with the results on poverty and housing under this government?
No. Deeply pissed off at this incrementalist wet bus ticket neoliberal status quo gutless Blairite pack of weasels who are happy for homeowners/ "investors" to get billions of free $$$$$$$ in unearned capital gains but are like Scrooge when it comes to helping the poor.
We elect the "pack of weasels" we deserve Jimmy – it'll be NAct's turn again (too) soon. Hang in there Jude.
That's a great list Gezza, all good qualities but unfortunately the downside is just more Blah Blah Blah.
Adrian I agree, a huge fail on climate change, child poverty, housing crisis any many more. Big win on Banking and Property Investment.
I like JA as our PM but Labour need more action on all our crises and less Blah Blah Blah.
Thanks Gezza. I don't disagree with your list, all admirable qualities. 👍
Yes. I also liked your list of qualities needed for a good PM Gezza. You will have spent a lot of time putting it together so good on you.
I also agree with RBO that Jacinda Ardern reflects all those qualities. Of course she isn't perfect and she would be the first to agree. For example, I find her a bit waffly sometimes and have been known to tell her as much while watching her on TV. 😡
The largely misogynistic memes that her opponents have tried to pin on her… she's a lightweight who doesn't know what she is doing and, she has no control over her ministers etc., and they have no policies is so much hogwash. Unfortunately there are people whose memory cells are non existent and they fall for the nonsense.
“i am wondering, in our lifetime, do you think any other PM has had more of those qualities than our current one?”….really, are you serious?
Apart from Covid, Ardern has been the most ineffectual and pointless Labour PM in my life time, and that really is saying something..though to be fair she has been great for anyone who profits from banks, landowners, landlords and corporate monopoly owners and their shareholders…turns out she is great at talking, shit at actually doing anything…you only need to observe her (complete lack of) action on climate change to understand this plain fact.
Jacinda Ardern: "my generation's nuclear free moment"….get the fuck out of here!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/08/jacinda-ardern-climate-change-is-my-generation-s-nuclear-free-moment.html
I listened to a podcast with Murray Bolton recently. Bolton, who is 73, said he had lived through some very good Labour governments (he named the Clark government specifically). His opinion – this is the worst government in his lifetime. Of any political makeup.
Gypsy, I have to confess I said Murray Who? So I looked him up and I am now wondering why I should pay his 'reckons', his opinions, any more weight than, say, my own?
I'm 72 and have seen some ten different governments of various lengths of tenure, and my opinion is different from this 'rich-lister businessman /entrepreneur.'
One of our downslides in critical thinking being shown more clearly recently is our credence in celebrities, as if being famous gives us more intellect or specialised knowledge, when all it does is feed our confirmation bias. I bet, Gypsy, you gave this citation to listen to Murray Who? because he believes what you believe.
I ask, rather, what specialised knowledge or intellect he brings that I should pay attention, and even defer to?
This is on my mind because I have had to run a critique as part of my position in an organisation of a racist, misogynist, extremist ranting letter which had been published with a long CV of the author of the rant. The purpose of the CV was to add weight to this man's opinions, when it did nothing to show any expertise or specialised knowledge.
Funnily enough, this ranter was also a CEO and company founder, like Murray Who? All it did for me was to confirm my incipient confirmation bias about the predilection of famous persons (especially CEOs and business founders) to pontificate about things they have but lay knowledge of. Lucky I'm not famous, eh?
Murray Bolton is a highly successful businessman. He has also taken on the power of the government in court and won, and is now helping other kiwi's stuck in the insane MIQ system get home. And you are?
Doesn't mean he is right, a good guy or has any other admirable traits though.
His reckons are as good as anyone else's and no more.
This uncritical admiration and views that people have something of worth to give the nation because they have got/acquired lots of money is a less than desirable trait.
It seems to be more prevalent (eg the people who admired John Key because he had worked in the money markets) and this is sad as NZ was, in times past, a country that it was said 'Jack's as good as his master.
Bolton was an admirer and supporter of the Clark government. It’s ok if you disagree with him. As far as I know that’s still allowed.
How does that qualify him to pronounce on what is/was the best or worst government in 60-70 years? To pronounce so certainly that we are directed to a podcast to be enlightened!
Who I am gives me no more right to pronounce upon the worth of 10+ governments more than any other reasonably well informed citizen.
That was my point. Murray Bolton from the evidence you have given, his age and business experience, and ability to pay for and win a court judgement is not an experienced politician, historian or political scientist whose measured judgement upon the relative worth of 60 years of NZ government can be trusted.
I do know that I would be looking at factors such as financial, health and employment statistics, I'd be looking at foreign policy, housing and poverty rates. I'd be researching quality of laws passed, quality of life and average income, environment and social issues, treatment of minority groups, the penal system and the use of state powers.
At least I'd be arguing from a position of some credible knowledge.
I've not heard the podcast. We were not given a reference. Does Mr Bolton traverse any or all of those areas for ten governments?
So it comes down to my other point. Why do we so accept the opinions of the famous, the celebrities, those successful in one aspect of life, be it business, acting or singing and promote them above those whose knowledge and experience is directly applicable?
👍🏼 🏆
"How does that qualify him to pronounce on what is/was the best or worst government in 60-70 years?"
The same as it qualifies you to disagree.
"Why do we so accept the opinions of the famous, the celebrities, those successful in one aspect of life, be it business, acting or singing and promote them above those whose knowledge and experience is directly applicable?"
Who are these people "whose knowledge and experience is directly applicable?" The politicians themselves? The opinion of successful people such as Bolton has value because they are the ones doing the hard yards to make NZ successful. They employ people, pay taxes. They lead organisations at the coalface of the very problems politicians create.
I haven't agreed or disagreed with you or Bolton about the issue of which was the worst or best government.
My issue was whether I should be persuaded by the reckons of a businessman, whether anyone should be persuaded by the reckons of such folk.
If he were to pronounce on what was the most business-friendly government, he might well have a worthy opinion.
But I offer the contention that good government is more than business friendliness.
Even though this government has been very well world ranked for business friendliness. Here's the 2020 ranking. First!
https://www.companiesoffice.govt.nz/insights-and-articles/nz-ranks-first-for-ease-of-doing-business-for-the-fourth-year/
"My issue was whether I should be persuaded by the reckons of a businessman, whether anyone should be persuaded by the reckons of such folk."
I don't think you should be. My view is we should take into account a range of opinions from people we respect, even if we don't always agree with them.
Yes I have come across these types of comments where outrageous things, way outside their expertise are said and then the press (often from a press release) states XXXX YYYY was president of the Waikikamoocau Sand Fertiliser Works and owns the local Ford dealership. Because of this somehow they feel their opinions seem to be worth more than Joseph Blow who has a degree in English Tudor History and is being house husband to three children, or Mrs Taitama who runs the Kohanga Reo, or any person in the street. The NZ cringe really.
The press really should be asking sometimes, and your expertise is…….
There was a radio station recently that got some OTT letters and handled them very well on air.
I usually say 'I give nothing to racism, sexism'. etc. This puzzles people sometimes and gives me the chance to explain my view that what they are saying may be racist, sexist etc.
Good luck with the critique. I find looking at the HR Act is good to start with. Pretty simple Act and stark about its impact.
Thanks, Shanreagh. I've just seen the letter resulting re the extremist ranting and it addresses the issues.
Joseph Blow sounds a bit like me, actually.
Dear oh dear!…you really know how to ..sugar coat things…Adrian.
My observation of the past 4 years is that there is too much deference to the Public Service and other advice, and not enough going with what Labour actually believes (think policy platforms etc). It may or may not work, but Little's rejection of the advice and instead opting to lead Cabinet in disestablishing all DHBs was a welcome departure from that in my view.
Add Chris Hipkins to that list. He has stopped the money basis of Education, and managed to keep things intact during 4 rounds of covid.
Kris Fafoi has changed the credit trap significantly, and has slowed the "cheap labour" supply. That has not endeared him to many.
Megan Woods has beavered away at housing, using her people skills to get the opposition onside.
Jacinda Ardern has demoted Ministers who failed their brief or did not live by the morality and honesty expected.
Gezza does not like Ardern and is carefully leaving out qualities we have noted throughout her tenure.
Relationships with other Leaders, recognised by her peers.
Crisis management. Both short and longterm. She has excelled in her managment of the following in the last 4 years.
Fruit fly incursion, Micoplasma Bovis, Kauri dieback, Myrtle Rust, an erruption and the sad outcome, Two terror attacks, Covid 19 and now Delta, plus dealing with the problems of 501s being sent here by Dutton. The other big issues are climate change inequality and being a good Treaty partner, Trade and controlling the huge influence of runaway tech giants and their Algorithms.
The current memes have changed from "It is Winston telling her what to do" to she is "Going to resign and take a better paying overseas position"
Her very few flashes of anger and disparagement born out of the silly comments from the opposition, can be understood. Generally she is patient and answers questions openly, saying she will find out/come back if needing more detail to answer. Her clear full answers where she heads off journalists' loaded questions is a lesson in control. People generally said they were amazed at her tolerance.
This is a Pandemic. It is not over, and we are finding how to live with it while keeping our little boat afloat. A great number of people voted for this Government. Some have wavered in the face of the necessary decisions to keep us safe, and others are threatened by the coming changes, so they may also have doubts. The facts show an amazing balancing act.
Qualities not on the original list.
Honest, openminded, people centered, thoughtful, strength of character able to rise to the occasion able to face problems squarely and plan a way forward able to hold the respect and loyalty of those she is leading.
She clearly loves NZ. I hope she is PM for as long as possible, as given all those extra problems things are bad but by overseas standards more than acceptable with big efforts being made to turn many problems round.
Just my not important opinion. Oh and a disclaimer. I am a Life Labour Party member, and I am proud of the Labour legacy.
Congratulations on the life membership, that's fantastic recognition. I'm also a Labour Party member (VFL) and volunteer (did 5 years as campaign and LEC treasurer) but not at that level!
Hipkins' work on the Education System is an excellent example of a minister pushing past the public service advice, and possible 3 Waters could be the next big example of that. And that was a good reminder that good work has been done and continues, and it can be a long slog on intractable issues. Perhaps my frustration is that some issues have been beyond the political will of the voters rather than cabinet, like redesigning the tax system.
Gezza does not like Ardern and is carefully leaving out qualities we have noted throughout her tenure.
Neither of those assertions is true, Patricia. Another epic fail mind-reader. I do not pretend to know what you think or how you think. Please do not think you can do that with me. You can’t. You are not me. You do not see thru my eyes.
I do not adore Ardern, like some do, & see some faults or shortcomings. It is incorrect – in fact it’s false – to say I do not like her & imply that is my entire assessment.
I have NOT carefully left out qualities you think she has that should be in the list. False again.
Imo, Ardern has many of the qualities I came up with. My mission was not to write them around any particular PM, but to come with my ideal list, from my own perspective. Then see who seemed to meet all or most of them.
Adrian, how long has that "lifetime" been?
Those qualities are all mostly “transferable”. That skill set could almost be used in an authoritarian administration or…cough…a neo liberal state like New Zealand with a monetarist consensus among main parties. You know–free as possible in and out flow of capital, deregulation, managerialist culture, penetration of public infrastructure by private capital…that kind of thing.
What is missing is a requirement for a class left political understanding, analysis and action plan.
Be very happy to see your attempt to set out briefly how that would look.
I don’t see my list as in any way neo liberal. Applies just as well to a capable left wing leader, imo.
Certainly Gezza. Just from my perspective who needs highly efficient, even likeable leaders, that end up reinforcing capitalist class power via the neo liberal state and legislation?
It is time for a referendum on monetarism–it has never been put to the vote–not when Roger slipped it in, and Ruth aggressively continued TINA–because for the main parties structural neo liberalism is the default cultural and legislative setting via Reserve Bank Act, State Sector Act etc.
"It is time for a referendum on monetarism"
To have a referendum you have to be able to ask a clear question that can, normally, be answered with a YES or a NO. It is possible to have more than two answers but they still have to be in a simple form. ie I choose A or I choose B or I choose C.
What on earth is you question going to be?
I've gone right off Jacinda myself….first Ireland and now the French ,beating the AB's…that was the last…straw.
Yeah it is hard to keep opinions on an even keel when these sorts of things are allowed to happen. Must be the Guvmint's fault some where some how
Hi Gezza
Are all these qualities of equal value or are they different.
For example, to me, John Key scores very highly in the strong category whereas Jacinda Ardern doesn't however Jacinda scores highly on the clear vision but John does not
So do you have a ranking for what qualities are higher or lower or what qualities you're willing to 'let go' if the other qualities are there
Also, in your opinion, how would Bill English gone as leader if he'd had a proper go of it
How on earth did English not have a 'proper go' at it?
His fav line was 'there is no silver bullet'…maintained the Key legacy….'kick the can…down the road=let someone else …deal with it.
He was PM for less than a year (from memory) and a great deal of that was electioneering
Whatabout his other 'go' at it!
In October 2001, English replaced Jenny Shipley as the leader of the National Party (and consequently as Leader of the Opposition). He led the party to its worst defeat at the 2002 general election, and as a consequence, in October 2003 he was replaced as leader by Don Brash.'
I'm talking about being PM
Twice leader of National two time looser.No Charisma .the Boag constrictor doubling down.
Key was able to hold an audience English made them fall a sleep.
fix email address
'Honest John' was a strong proponent of Dirty Politics, as was and is the current 'leader' of the opposition. Jamie-Lee Ross, Rodger 'Merv' Bridge, Sandra Goudie, Matt King, Michelle Boag, Hamish Walker, Michael Woodhouse, Andrew Falloon, Todd Barclay, Nick Smith, etc. etc. – all part of Key's 'legacy'. Just imagine – thank-you Peters!
As leader of the Nats for 3 years, including 10 months as PM, English did have "a proper go of it"; personally I think English, Bridges, Muller and Kaye would all be doing a better job of leading the Nats than the incumbent, but that's not saying much, is it?
I listed them in no particular order orher than when they popped into my head & I wrote them down, Pucky.
I haven’t considered weighting them, or assigning them a priority, because I see them as a desirable set & see no useful purpose in trying to assign one quality as of more value than another when the caucus, & the national situations, can change at each eiection & throw any such attempt up in the air.
I think the language around the idea of 'leadership' has become so debased through overuse, that no useful discussion of the topic is possible.
I was not happy how Lees – Galloway left. Not sure if there was more to the situation. Being demoted as a minister would have been enough.
Aussie cricketers. Anyone surprised?
Former Australian cricket captain Tim Paine drops bomb about coach in explosive tell-all – NZ Herald
Not at all.
I had a wry smile when some Australian cricket official said Paines behaviour did not meet the standards expected of Australian cricket.
Yes I was going to say his behaviour seems to fit exactly what we now expect from them!
Nice 10 minute segment on Gardening Australia about John Clarke and a conservation project he was involved with in his later years.
(Starts @ 43:37)
very cool.
"New Zealand will always be his spiritual home" 💚
Thanks, 'twas a nice interlude in my work day
For those following the other day, Millsy has retracted his comment about Greenwald wanting Trump back in. He's now released from the ban list.
. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-11-2021/#comment-1835088
If you want to make claims about people (commenters, public figures, people in the news), then please back up. You can express opinions but once it crosses into details about people or events etc, you have to make the argument and support it with evidence.
From the Policy,
The reason for that is to keep the debate robust. When people have links to understand a comment in context, the debate improves. Likewise when people explain their thinking.
Occasional educational short bans are likely from me over the next few months as I don’t want to be spending my time chasing people up on this. If you find your comments aren’t appearing, check the Replies tab to see if one of the mods has replied to you. If you can’t see the Replies tab, ask for help.
Oh well, a legion of The Standard readers can delete their “Free Millsy” posts then.
C'mon … Tat Loo was far better comedic value than Millsy.
I miss the early cv, not so much the later version.
And me old mate Draco, where’s draco.
yeah, haven't seen Draco for ages. Did he get a ban?
I miss marty too.
Yeh i miss marty. I think he just got pissed off with the place. Or did he get a ban?
I was wondering that too, I know he had some health issues so that was my concern about his absence.
Radio silence from DTB for a few months now. Hope he's OK
CV has gone off on a self imposed exile. Fallen a long way from a former Labour party candidate, into the Trump/Antivax rabbit hole. Sad to see a capable mind fall prey to nihilism
Hope he makes a full recovery
Sorry to hear that CV has fallen down the Trump/Antivax rabbit hole. It was an inevitable trajectory.
Start believing one pro fascist far right narrative and it is only a small step to the next one, and the next after that.
I too was once a big admirer of CV and regarded him as a fellow lefty, until that is, he fell for the regime change conspiracy theory in Syria.
It was all down hill from there.
I would call Tat Loo part of the 'Post Left' now. Kinda in the same vein as Tim Pool, Michael Tracey, Jesse Singal, Aimee Terese etc and so on.
Mind you, he has been always like this. I think there is an article floating round from 2004 by him that was pretty much anti-vaccination.
Here is the article, incase anyone wants to know,.
\https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/itat-looi-to-trust-or-not-to-trust-the-basic-question/5BSDLC62LNKNKOFZVW4PKZ5ZAQ/
lol. Lonely PR.
Pity Millsy doesn't retract this load of bile as well
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-11-2021/#comment-1835076
hard to make sense of that tbh. Was it insulting PR that was the problem, or the description of Rittenhouse?
I don't mind people insulting me as long as I can insult them back
that doesn't usually work out so well though.
Here was me thinking he was describing himself 🙃
so the grandswill organised protests got less vehicles going through our cities than a bunch of boy racers on a casual night out . thoughts on how huge the mother of all protests wasnt?
Yep , the numbers were embarrassingly low, no matter how creative the camera angles got.
.
Had the same thought about camera angles.
my favourite "camera angles" case was Prebble doing a live piece to camera for ACT (yes, it was that long ago). It was in Hagley Park, for breakfast tv ISTR.
Anyway, Prebble was in front, and behind him were half a dozen or so supporters with a huge number of balloons. Sure enough, a slight gust of wind momentarily parted the balloons and through the crack there was nobody for at least a hundred yards, save one person in the distance looking vaguely towards the camera as their dog sniffed around a tree.
That was ACT's massive rally in Hagley Park, lol
Hope this doesn't cause inadvertant offence to anyone, but I spotted it in my feed on a very rare visit to my Farcebook page last night & I thought it was funny….
I'm reluctant to admit it, but perhaps Jordan Peterson was right about compelled speech and hate speech.
Women Are Human opinion article:
Gender Critical Feminism Soon May Be Criminalized in Canada
If he wasn't then, current law change proposals may change that.
Jordan Peterson is a good man.
He was never against trans people, it was the changing of the wording of the laws he was against.
From my perspective, he represents Dworkin's quote on men who view women as private property. I concede he seems to have been prescient on this topic.
(Am I allowed to suggest his approach and notoriety may have contributed to the adversarial positioning on this topic? No? Damn…)
So, what did you think of the article?
'(Am I allowed to suggest his approach and notoriety may have contributed to the adversarial positioning on this topic? No? Damn…)'
No doubt.
I haven't read it yet, I'm still dealing with idiots over the Kyle Rittenhouse trail
It confused me. I still can't get my head around things like this (I probably never will)
Then it just made me sad, not sad like going to the cupboard and going to grab a biscuit then remembering you're on a diet sad, but sad as in this is how the worlds of 1984 or The Handmaids Tale begin.
Your bang on there PR.
As for Jordon Peterson…..I am glad expresses the opinions he does (mostly). A lot of it I don't agree with it, some I do.
Watched him interviewed by a feminist Helen (sorry forgotten her name) journalist.
I think its good he raises stuff about men and their contribution and service and how its men who die in wars, who CS more and who are murdered more.
But I think neither of them stressed how female biology has disadvantaged us. We are phyically weaker and we have time out for child birth and mothering (I know things are changing with this, but that is why women have more rights now).
Also most men are wired to pursue sex with females (biologically for survival of the species) but within this men have viewed women as sex objects for their gratification. Obviously this isn't the whole picture. But an importatnt one that contributes to inequality in the sexes.
'Also most men are wired to pursue sex with females (biologically for survival of the species) but within this men have viewed women as sex objects for their gratification. Obviously this isn't the whole picture. But an importatnt one that contributes to inequality in the sexes.'
– Yeah I get this
as intended.
Hi Molly, I came across this excerpt from a longer video. In it Africa Brooke says how she had decided what to think about Peterson, and that gets 'unpacked'.
I understand JP can get on people's nerves. I think this clip is worthwhile and gets very touching near the end when JP reveals the impact 'the haters' had on him.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v8v7ueICWuU
Thanks, gsays. Will have a look after getting through the webinar below.
Did you have a look at the article?
Yes, I have read the article. Thanks.
Since my awareness of this issue (BDMRR) was raised by y'all here on TS I have been reading, learning and getting informed.
I am frustratingly not going to engage in the discussion as there are quite a few threads intertwined and I much rather korero in the flesh where subtleties can be expressed. I can see integrity on both sides of the issue but get turned off when debate goes to the extreme end to make a point. Most of the extremities come from overseas.
Also, as McFlock demonstrates below, chatter gets shut down quick or bogged down in petty point scoring.
It's not like Ta-Nehisi Coates is a run of the mill "hater". If "one of the foremost black intellectuals" is calling you out on something, best have a wee think.
He may be "one of the foremost black intellectuals" but hes certainly not a good comic book writer, this guy on the other hand is, and before you put on your big boy pants, Just Some Guy is black and Bisexual (since labels seem important to you), the first youtube clip is from 2018 just to let you know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ7wFvxMqpA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86228e0Edt4
Dunno about any of that, already watched one damned video of not much today, surprised I bothered with that.
The point I made was that if someone one describes as being a foremost intellectual satirises one's material (and more specifically how one's core audience recieves it), then some self reflection is in order. Peterson obviously respects Coates. Possibly should reflect upon the criticism, then.
Just saying his comics are crap
I'll bear that in mind.
Ironically, I have found Petterson to be one of the better, deeper, braver thinkers I have come across.
Most deep thinkers would read more than one pamphlet co-authored by marx before participating in a public debate about capitalism vs marxism.
still fighting the lost battles of centuries ago?
The sad fact is there hasn't been an intellectual argument capable of supporting Marxism since Marx; and his own arguments have been disproved worldwide ever since his were made.
Yet Jordan Peterson is the one who is uneducated about him……
Quite plainly, he was.
The point was that a supposedly deep thinker turned up to a debate using only a cursory reading of the communist manifesto to discuss marxism in general.
I'm not defending Marx, Žižek did that. Quite competently. Maybe he'd have had a more difficult task if his opponent had done his homework and actually knew the subject area at hand.
The usual transparent tactic when anyone points out marxism's manifest, catastrophic failures is to pretend 'oh that wasn't real communism'.
Peterson responds that when someone says that, what they're really claiming is 'that if I was in charge of the revolution, it would have all turned out differently'.
Which of course is nothing but a monumental conceit.
same with…'crony capitalism'…oh that's not real..Capitalism…!
You haven't been paying attention.
Capitalism is not complicated – it requires no appeal to an arcane theory that can only be understood by the high priests of the cult. It's a rather simple set of economic tools and ideas relating to business formalism, rule of law and markets. Neloliberalism on the other hand was the stupid theory that these useful tools would work if you applied them to everything.
Explain to us how financial derivatives work.
You also seem to be conflating markets with capitalism.
@arkie
Search engines are your friend.
No appeals to high priests and arcane theory huh? lol
Marx & Engels at the click of a button for those who are interested in some reading.
OK so in short words you might understand – derivatives are a risk mitigation tool. Within limits they work very well, outside of those limits they don't.
Like say double entry book-keeping, the technical details take a bit of learning, but the basic idea is simple enough to understand. Unless of course you're determined not to.
Otherwise I see you've completely failed to address the substance of my comment and wandered off down a path of your own bewilderment.
There’s no need to be so unpleasant surely, this is not complicated stuff!
Double-entry bookkeeping also predates capitalism, how interesting!
It’s important to have an understanding of that which you are criticising, that’s why I also posted a link to Marx’s bibliography.
But in the end, I guess it all depends on how determined you are, either way.
Redlogix is very determined to be fucking obtuse and obnoxiously argumentative. He wears us down, but without convincing.
Marxist apologists get the same treatment from me as do libertarians and fascists. That’s not persuasion I’m doing here – it’s scorn.
@ arkie and In Vino, you might find some ideas of retired clinical psychologist Daniel helpful in regard to understanding scorn – I did.
@ DMK
Boundaries. Marxism takes the good idea that the extremes of wealth and poverty should be moderated – and goes too far by demanding equal outcomes. Wherever and whenever this boundary is stepped over the actual result has been catastrophe.
You wouldn't suggest a 'reasoned discussion' with the ChCh mass murderer – and he only killed 51 people. Why would I engage with an ideology that directly, openly requires the violent eradication of entire classes of 'oppressors'?
You seem to be confirming that Communism and Capitalism,don't exist in any pure form.
I agree.
As for ' Why would I engage with an ideology that directly, openly requires the violent eradication of entire classes of 'oppressors'?
That bogeyman Communism is subjected to 'eradication' ,it is anathema to Capitalist construct.
Cuba is a good study.
Cuba cannot be allowed to thrive,in case it encourages other countries to adopt its ideology.
After 60 years of embargo and surviving it is now in crisis.
Trump enforced financial restrictions on Cuba.
Remittances from the U.S ,a large source of finance were halted.
Without historical Venezuelan and Soviet assistance, the screaming economy' is near…strangulation.
Capitalism still relies on …debt slavery….that's the…reality.
Newsflash: Stalin died a long, long time ago. Capitalism is busy committing global ecocide, right now.
Stalin died a long, long time ago.
And marxism should have been buried with him.
As for Hedges – long on the alarmism that will get him clicks, short on actual solutions.
@Blazer
Our definitions are not aligned which makes a conversation unproductive. I outlined my working definitions here.
Capitalism, conservatism and socialism normally co-exist in a balance in all modern societies. Some tilt more toward one pole than the other. However:
When the idea of liberal capitalism – which is essentially the actions of the individual within a market context – is taken too far you get neo-liberalism or libertarianism.
When the idea of conservatism – which is essentially about making what is known and trusted work in a stable fashion – is taken too far you get fascism, race purity and tyranny.
When the idea of socialism – which is about moderating the extremes of wealth and poverty, and protecting the most vulnerable – is taken too far into imposing equal outcomes you get communism and all the cultist woke variations it’s morphed into.
Using these rough definitions, ordinary conservatism, capitalism and socialism are within the bounds of acceptable political discourse. The others are demonstrably worthless ideologies.
You would be taken seriously if you actually knew what Communism is, or read what Marx really wrote. Instead of mindlessly repeating the US idea, that Communists are any Government they don't like.
Hint. A State that has a Dictatorship, and Nomenclatura., is by definition, not Communist.
Any more than another Dictatorship that claimed to be Socialist, while murdering millions, was Socialist.
Even more funny. When it is noted that "Communist" China pulled millions out of poverty more recently. Your fellow parrots start saying. "China is Capitalist, not Communist".
I am a supporter of a Democratic mixed economy. But note that Marx was largely correct. Though much of his analysis was the product of his time, it is still one of the best descriptions of Capitalisms working. We are seeing the results of the Marxist theory "diminishing rate of return on capital” in the developed countries now. It is only revolution or the threat of revelation that removes the Kleptocracy. Such as the UK after WW2. Where they started looking after returning soldiers and workers for fear of becoming Russia.
Not Marx's wishes. A description of reality.
Revolutions tend to end up with the most violent anti democratic and ruthless arseholes on top, which is why they I certainly am against them. Some circumstances, such as Batista’s Cuba, Czarist Russia, pre revolution France,, for example, make life so bad for so many that it becomes inivitable.
The US one is a good example. Resulting in a Constitution of "checks and balances" which ensure that "The Masses" will never have Democratic power over the "elite". Little different from Soviet Russia or China. Except the USA does propaganda, fooling the populace, better. As your repeating it proves.
You would be taken seriously if you actually knew what Communism is, or read what Marx really wrote.
You didn't need to read the ChCh's mass murderer's 'manifesto' to know it was a worthless pile of shit. So why the fuck would anyone take Marx's driveling nonsense seriously>
Surely you jest!
Marx is a legend…
' Marx increasingly became preoccupied with an attempt to understand the contemporary capitalist mode of production, as driven by a remorseless pursuit of profit, whose origins are found in the extraction of surplus value from the exploited proletariat. The precise role of morality and moral criticism in Marx’s critique of contemporary capitalist society is much discussed, and there is no settled scholarly consensus on these issues. His understanding of morality may be related to his account of ideology, and his reflection on the extent to which certain widely-shared misunderstandings might help explain the stability of class-divided societies'- excerpt Stanford Eof Philosophy
One would assume because they aren't so determined to remain ignorant or make such outlandish false equivalences.
Marx is a legend…
So was Freud.
@arkie
Yes I do that Aussie cunt an injustice – he only managed 51 dead. Marx and Engels however openly justified and advocated for the eradication of entire classes of people.
You can back up that claim with a citation of Marx & Engels doing such a thing?
On one hand you claim I know nothing about marxism, and then demand I educate you about it!
Use a search engine.
Can't find a citation to back up your claim. Eh. Redlogix? Because, as we know, there isn't one.
Pontificating on "what Marx said" without actually bothering to find out what he really said, when it has shaped so much thought on the "Political economy" including influencing a whole lot of Economists, including the ones that disagreed with him, such as Milton Freidman, shows a refusal to inform yourself.
Like commenting on Western philosophy while ignoring the bible.
Commenting on modern economics while ignoring Marx, is failing to educate yourself.
How many people have been murdered in the name of Jesus Christ, who, if he really existed, only advocated for violently overturning money lenders tables?
Because, as we know, there isn't one.
Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot would all beg to differ.
On this site we do not accept: making assertions that you are unable to substantiate with some proof.
I am not asking you to educate me.
Marx supported a “Democracy of the Proleteriat”.
Not something Stalin, Mao, or Pol Pot, were noted for.
Bought on by “class struggle”. Not necessarily violent. Mentions Trade Unions and other usually non violent organisations as a means.
A Utopian ideal to my mind, but close to the ideals the USA pretends to value.
Marx was being descriptive, not prescriptive.
Marx in his final and culminating paragraph of the The Communist Manifesto stated:
The ambiguity of the word 'forcible' was not in question for the three of Marx's most prominent followers who all engaged in violent revolutions aimed at eradicating those they declared to be the 'oppressor' class.
Weasel all you like – the stack of bodies still buried every metre or so under the Highway of Bones is proof enough for any sane person.
Like the US revolution, eh?
If you had been a serf or factory worker in Czarist Russia. I think you would have been rather keen on “removing the oppressor”.
Unfortunately replaced with another. Would you have supported anyone who “violently removed” Stalin?
Which sort of confirms what Marx said about the History of class struggle.
We will forget about the fact that the US “highway of bones” must be getting in numbers close to Stalin by now. But they are mostly Brown people, so, who cares.
So Marx and Engels didn't openly justify and advocate for the eradication of entire classes of people. Who'd've thunk it!
Some extra reading for those who are interested: Status of Violence in Marx's Theory of Revolution
Your denial of the fucking obvious is contemptible. Unlike you I did get to travel over that grim Highway I mentioned above – on the way to a gold processing project in the region. You on the other hand cannot even bring yourself to name it.
The last para of the paramount document in all of marxist literature calls for a forcible overthrow of the social order – an instruction carried out to the fucking letter by actual marxist revolutionaries and you pretend it has another meaning.
You demanded I provide a cite and I did.
Your conflation of the actions of 20th century dictators with the readily accessible writings of 19th century political activists is not only disingenuous but also inaccurate, as you yourself have demonstrated.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/26/communists-capitalism-stalinism-economic-model
the paramount document in all of marxist literature
No that would be Capital, the communist manifesto is a political pamphlet.
Capitalism was built on the bodies of millions from the very start. From the late 17th century onwards, the transatlantic slave trade became a pillar of emergent capitalism.
Spare me the tedious whaddaboudism.
Slavery is an ancient almost universal feature of most known historic societies – pre-dating capitalism by millenia. For a relatively short period slavery and an emerging capitalism overlapped, but very quickly capitalist industrialisation led to the direct end of chattel slavery. (A process incidentally led largely by the same class of 'exploiting' Europeans Owen Jones manages to completely ignore.)
If not for this capitalism you hate so much, slavery would be as commonplace and endemic as ever. Statistically you wouldn't even be alive and able to type out your complaints about it here.
Capitalism is a great system … for the capitalists. Pretty shit for the workers, the environment, wildlife, democracy, or ethics. IMNSHO is it a spiritual force of evil
https://twitter.com/ianpaulwright/status/1452985473580904448?s=20
Tedious whataboutism, me? lol
very quickly capitalist industrialisation led to the direct end of chattel slavery.
From your provided link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_21st_century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade
How generous of those European nations to abolish slavery after benefitting from it for 400 years.
I don’t hate capitalism, where did I make that claim? Why do you feel the need to fabricate the words of others?
@arkie
Slavery in the 21st Century. OK so lets look at this – because clearly you didn't. Well bugger me there right at the top, a map showing where it remains most prevalent. All arguably the last places on earth you'd hold up as liberal democratic, developed 'rule of law', capitalist style nations.
How generous of those European nations to abolish slavery after benefitting from it for 400 years.
More denial. Virtually every major historic society featured slavery due to their lack of industrialisation. The only time and places where slavery has been made both permanently illegal and largely abolished have been those featuring a capitalist industrialisation – which really started to dominate from the early to mid 1800’s.
@roblogic
Anything from Twitter = Automatic Fail
So slavery didn’t end, as you claimed, it is still ongoing despite the law. In a globalised economy those on the top still benefit from it no matter where it occurs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_21st_century
but the number of people currently enslaved around the world is far greater than the number of slaves during the historical Atlantic slave trade.
A typical piece of intellectual dishonesty that has to erase context to even look faintly plausible.
For a start the human population has increased roughly ten-fold in that period. Failing to correct for that alone makes it a meaningless comparison. To make matters worse it compares one subset of slavery, the trans-Atlantic trade, with the total global trade today.
For a second – those places where it remains most prevalent are the least developed places on earth. Nothing much of any 'benefit' comes from these places that could not be done more efficiently and profitably without slavery.
And while this residual slavery is of course deplorable – at maybe 40m people and maybe $150b of revenue it represents a diminishing and very minor fraction of the total global economy.
Given that chattel slavery is virtually non-existent in all the developed, industrialised, capitalist nations that feature a reliable rule of law and property rights – the obvious way to fully and finally eradicate slavery is to extend these conditions everywhere.
"Anything from Twitter = Automatic Fail"
lol, you're missing out mate. 😛
I agree with Marx's view of capital as an "egregore"; a disembodied entity with its own demonic life force; which describes the modern multinational corporation such as BlackRock perfectly. This is a popular essay on the topic:
Marx on Capital as a Real God – 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗫𝗜𝗦𝗠 (wordpress.com)
Tangential: A freaky cyberpunk short story in the vein of "Snow Crash":
The Gig Economy – Zero HP Lovecraft (wordpress.com)
The closest I've seen anything truly demonic was visiting Perm 36 in 2001.
RL. Are you really trying to argue that Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin only existed because Marx?
All the hundreds of other bloody despots in history. Many before Marx was even born. Robespierre, Pinochet, Hitler, the Shah, Stroessner, Suharto, Videla. The many that came out on top after revolutions. All due to Marx?
Not the circumstances of the time?
Are you really trying to argue that Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin only existed because Marx?
They absolutely relied on marxism as their justification. All monsters need an ideology to give cover to their madness – and classical marxism is certainly not the only one they turn to.
And as I've carefully outlined, but everyone ignores, ideology is what you get when you take a good idea in isolation, like fairness, purity, or freedom and make it into a totalising solution that will deliver some future utopia. Which is promised to be so wonderful that any amount of destruction and horror is justified to achieve it.
Which is essentially what all of the tyrants you have named share in common.
Slowly getting to the point, but resisting at every turn.
That it is not the utopian ideology that is the problem.
It is the wannabee tyrant that uses it as an excuse.
Christianity was used as a reason for tyranny, for centuries. Causing more deaths than any other "ideology".
Now we have US, exceptionalism.
It is the wannabee tyrant that uses it as an excuse.
In the case of marxism the tyranny is baked in. Because the goal is equality of outcome but all humans are different – the revolution must impose it's new social order. The oppressor class must be overthrown and replaced with the worker class – who will magically deliver the promised utopia. (Exactly how remains mostly unexamined.)
Authoritarian personalities are deeply drawn to this prospect, they imagine they will be the ones doing the 'redistributing'. All the petty tyrants – and they lurk everywhere – come out of the woodwork like the zombies in World War Z to inflict their revenge for every slight and hurt they've carefully nurtured.
Those who have lived through communism say that it was not so much the brutality of the state they feared – because they expected that – but that no-one not even their family, could be trusted not to betray them. As a result everyone spoke in lies all the time.
.
LOL … more like one of the High Priests of the Critical Race Theory Religious Cult of which you are a particularly ambitious & dogmatic local cheerleader.
Somewhat akin to a Church of Scientology enforcer.
That wasn't my description. It was Peterson's.
But don't let that stop you. Please, tell me more about how much I have written here about Critical Race Theory. If I'm a prominent cheerleader of it, please provide the links.
Funnily enough, my own searches haven't brought up anything about me "cheerleading" CRT, but a post by advantage suggests that not only is the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff a woke liberal who sees uses for CRT in his work, but he seems to have read more Marx than Jordan Peterson. At least that dude does his homework.
My own contribution to that discussion: pretty much just a lol.
I guess my thetans were weak that day, or whatever.
I got about half way through and gave up. It doesn't really explain the Bills and how they are likely to be interpreted and acted upon.
You have to go to the annotated links for that detail, but it is there..
eg. No. 3 – Combatting hate speech and hate crimes: Proposed legislative changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code – Canadian Govt site.
..and it is an opinion piece.
yeah, I don't even have my head around the NZ legislation, not going to deep dive on the Canadian's, so left not much the wiser. She might be right, or she might be over egging it. It's a problem, including in NZ, that we don't have many straightforward explanations of legislation (not just in this area).
On the subject of systemic racism in medicine. This was mentioned on Morning Report. That pulse oximeters have an inbuilt bias. The readings for those with non white skin aren’t as accurate.
“Pulse oximetry devices used for warning of low blood oxygenation in covid-19 and other diseases may be missing three times as many cases of occult hypoxaemia in black patients as in white, says a study report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.1
Researchers looked at over 48 000 pulse oximetry readings in 8675 US white patients and 1326 US black patients, comparing them with more accurate arterial oxygen saturation measures taken almost contemporaneously.
Among white patients whose pulse oximetry readings were 92-96%, the proportion who actually had arterial oxygen saturation below 88% was 3.6% (95% confidence interval 2.5% to 4.6%). But among black patients the proportion actually below that figure was 11.4% (7.6% to 15.2%).
“Our results suggest that reliance on pulse oximetry to triage patients and adjust supplemental oxygen levels may place black patients at increased risk for hypoxaemia,” noted the study authors, from the University of Michigan Medical School. The study is the latest of many to find that current assumptions and algorithms, often derived from heavily white patient populations, may work against black patients.2”
When products are developed by predominantly white folks, they fail to take colour into account. The same has been found with facial recognition software.
No easy fix, unless tertiary institutions take affirmative action more seriously.
So if the doctors don't have an unconscious bias based on ethnicity, the equipment does.
https://www.apsf.org/article/apsf-statement-on-pulse-oximetry-and-skin-tone/
"women like me"
How about "men like me", who mimic women outwardly and to different degrees of success, who have an innate feeling of womanhood without any of the experience of being female.Who feel more comfortable in life presenting as a woman , looking like a woman ,behaving as if they were a woman
Women they are not, unless we are to tear down our understanding of reproduction of mammalian species, based on binary sex.And totally demolish the language that has evolved around that
Anyone keen to start degendering French and Spanish etc?
The language distortion aids in the derailing of transparency and open discussion.
It has real world impacts, often negative for women as a class.
We are barely human in the eyes of some. And this movement is a MRA movement for middle class white male to assert their dominance over NON Males and bros will be supporting it. In the end, bros will not suffer from this, only non bros. And thus it was ever since.
I have long maintained the idea that men will never be allies of women. And this movement demonstrates it so nicely.
We are no longer a class. We are something that anyone can be and no one can define.
"men will never be the allies of women"
That's a sad perspective. Most men love the women and girls in their lives, and would protect them ahead of their own life. Don't focus on the criminals when most guys are quietly working to make the world better.
I am not focusing on any man in particular.
But the 'class' of men that is the other 50% of the worlds population is not a womens friend. Not even to their 'own' women such as 'their' wife or 'their' child.
Please point where 'guys' are working quietly to make things better for women by allowing men into female prisons, female shelters, female rape crisis centres, female changing rooms, female toilets, female swimming hours, female sports, female awards, female hospital wards and oh allowing male lesbians to demand women suck their lady dicks in the name of lesbianism.
I can't wait to see that, cause all of these things are being pushed through not by criminals but by lawmakers, lawyers, opinion makers, journalists, and the likes. Unless you are calling these people criminals and i am just missing the 'joke' in all of that.
I think you'll find that half of the misguided activists pushing these idiotic reforms are idealistic millennial women with their heads in the clouds
You will find that if you look long enough at the Labour Party – the one which is currently in a single majority government – that it is not a bunch of idealistic millennial women with their heads in the clouds – but full of men and women being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each to make this into law, and they are cynically enough to push that into law, knowing full well that non of that will ever really affect them.
You will find that if you look long enough – and you have all the submissions to watch for the spectacle of rude manners, the condescending bullthittery that came courtesy of the idealistic middle aged women of the Labour and Green Party – that Mme Kere Kere, Mme Wall, Mme Russel et al, – are really pushing hard for this to become law.
You will find that if you look long enough, that it is our lawmaker in government who push that shit on women – no debate and all – and non of the men in parliament are saying a single word but then maybe they are cowards. Who knows.
You will find that if you look long enough, that maybe it is time for the silent blokes who love 'their women' and 'their mothers' and 'their daughters' to maybe just maybe start speaking up on behalf of 'their' women.
And if they can't do it for the women, do it for the safeguarding of girls.
You will find that if you look long enough, that maybe it is time for the silent blokes who love ‘their women’ and ‘their mothers’ and ‘their daughters’ to maybe just maybe start speaking up on behalf of ‘their’ women.
The problem with this solution is that two generations of men who have done so have been shouted down by women for having the temerity to “think they can speak on women’s behalf”.
And even the “tone’ of that sentence I quote, and the negative, sarcastic-seeming framing of the word “their” (apparently implying men still think they own women in this country, which is nonsense) makes men want to back out & leave it to the girls & women to fight their own battles. Which is precisely what we have been told to do over & over again by misandrist females for several decades now.
Change your language, & your approach, if you want help from men. And don’t ask “men” to change other people they can’t, any more than you can.
Newsflash: Men are not all the exact same creature, always collectively perceiving & acting in their own common group interest. That thinking is shite.
We are unique all individuals & how we relate to the women in our lives is unique & individual too. The biggest influence on who I am, how I relate to people, & how I perceive things was my mother, not my father. Though I loved them both equally, nature & nurture has made me more like mum than dad in personality. And I’m comfortable with that – because I think it makes me a nicer MAN.
🙄 * We are all unique individuals…
well then, I won't expect YOU to help women – who may or may not be 'yours', as i won't change my language. But then, i don't expect men to help. I don't expect men to be allies of anyone who is not a man. I simply expect men to stand by and do nothing. As usual.
But thanks for stating it so clearly.
@ Sabine
But then, i don’t expect men to help. I don’t expect men to be allies of anyone who is not a man. I simply expect men to stand by and do nothing. As usual.
I help women all the time. I also help men. Anyone who asks for my help generally gets it, if I can actually help. That’s how I was brought up.
I don’t know your full story, but some of your recent comments that I have read – and your pseudonym – point to a harrowing background, & who knows maybe even PTSD. Apparently your experience has prejudiced you against men in general.
I am sorry if that is so, but don’t expect to get away with frequently lambasting men in general because of your distorted perception of what “men” are like. You are not a man & you don’t know what you are talking about. Talking only to others who feel the same way about men will never open your eyes to what most men are really like.
And lambasting & hectoring “men” will just see you mentally categorised as a man-hater & ignored because of it, imo.
@Gezza, well said. I gave up earlier because my motives were impugned. It seems that our interlocutor is projecting anger at the wrong targets.
"we are all unique individuals"
"I'm not"
https://youtu.be/KHbzSif78qQ
Happening now.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2021/11/18/french-dictionary-adds-gender-neutral-pronoun-causes-controversy/8671553002/
What starts off as politeness and empathy (addressing transwomen as if they were in fact truly women ) can end being embedded in policy and law, to the detriment of women
Jane Clare Jones does a good satire here on your point:
The Annals of the Terf Wars
(Doesn't change anything, but may raise a wry smile.)
she stopped in 2018, she needs updating.
this one fits too. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2016/10/04/this-is-how-they-broke-our-grandmothers/
And no that one ain't funny, but then history is never really funny when one is part of the losing 'class'. Right?
Thanks. Sabine.
Good article, and good links.
Still exploring the links, but will share one of the closing sentences:
"oppression is not a misunderstanding"
Yeah had this discussion one with some women who were lamenting their negotiation skills and deciding that they had to get better at it.
They discovered that all the men who started with them started on significantly higher salaries than they did. They had decided it was their own fault – most were more skilled and experienced than the men.
I pointed out that the person who was responsible for employing them was the only person who knew all the salaries he was starting people on and that he had made conscious decisions about each and everyone including the context of gender and the obvious disparity. These were conscious decisions to pay all the men more. The only person who could have fixed it at the time was that person.
Therein lies most of the problem – if the people who could fix it wanted to do so they don't need committees, investigations, protests, unions, legislation, etc to do so. They just need to exercise the power they already have. That they choose not to is deliberate.
+1
Just putting this out there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HqvbdOWpc8
JP satire — I enjoyed it anyway
https://youtu.be/2fcWGB-RABM
He nailed the voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXb4h6cXvX4
Very long (>3hr) webinar on ROGD (Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria).
Stella O’Malley, psychotherapist & author — ‘How Clinicians Work with ROGD’
Jude, a parent campaigner — ‘From Theory to Reality: When ROGD Hits Your Family’
Dr David Bell, Former Consultant Psychiatrist, Ex-Governor at Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust — ‘First Do No Harm’
Dr Lisa Littman, Public Health Researcher — ‘Psychosocial Factors & Gender Dysphoria’
Questions from the audience.
Timestamps for each on the Youtube site.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInYPMCHOzo&t=99s
Thanks again Molly and for all who post on this.
One third of NZ voters think the PM is performing badly. That's after a drop in her approval rating.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/11/newshub-reid-research-poll-growing-number-of-voters-believe-jacinda-ardern-performing-badly.html
When you consider the angry right and the disappointed left, that is a remarkably low number. Compare leaders of other democracies: Boris Johnson, for example has an approval rating of 25% (source: YouGov). In fact, the Evil Cindy Dictator is so unpopular in her country that
she must resignno other leader in any Western democracy has a higher approval rating (except Angela Merkel as she bids farewell). And this is after a slump..
👍🏼
Backups failing to move to the correct place ran the database system out of disk space.
I'll change that properly later today.
Site was down for about 30 minutes.
They printed this. They're proud of it. And worse, they probably think they're funny. Because she looks like a horse, geddit?!!11!!1
Racists gonna racist
OH!
I was looking at that damned thing, and didn't get the "Mrs Ed" comment at all. Must have gotten so distracted by the overt racism that it overloaded my fuckwit-detector.
What I don't get is why the address of the place isn't up.
I'm ok with that in this case – it's so beyond the pale that the right whingers will end up throwing money at them. As it is, nobody can boycott it because airbnb has already ditched it from their listings.
This way, they don't even get the oxygen of complaining about freeze peach and vuctumhood.
Although NZ being small as it is, it'll probably get out in a couple of days. Even if the owners don't out themselves to explain how it was just a joke, or what have you.
Those owners are own-foot-shooters living in some strange Pākehā-supremacist world where being Māori is apparently some kind of social crime. 🙄
That story almost beggars belief.
Thanks for the update. Noticed that when trying to link to 22-11-2021 Open Mike and ended up with 21-11-21 Open mike showing.
All good now
Barry Soper being a real pushy prick thinking his questions are the only important ones at the stand up this afternoon. Jacinda is more patient with him than I would be.
He stormed out!
But remember, it's the woman PM who is "flaky" or does a "hissy fit" or is "emotional", etc, etc. Not Barry with the balls.
On the off chance anyone missed it, NZ moves to the Covid Protection Framework (aka traffic lights) 23:59 Thursday 2 December. Next Monday's cabinet meeting will decide which level each region transitions at, but Auckland has been flagged as being Red.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/11/22/nzs-new-covid-traffic-light-system-what-it-means-for-you/
thanks. That's also the best explanation of the traffic light system I've seen so far.
Never thought I would see the day when this blog waxes lyrical about Jordan Peterson, guy who wants to roll back all the social gains over the last 50 years and restore a puritanical patriarchial society where all forms of pleasure are outlaws, and LGBT's have no rights.
No wonder I dont post here much any more. You guys are getting worse and worse each day.