Bounce back that Christmas greeting to you Cinny and also Marty Mars – sort of locals to me and good to read your news and your thoughts. Hope you have a good time – a good break – and there will be plenty to think and write about in 2018 so I hope we will all be there then.
Also to all Standardistas who think through their comments kia kaha and from the Maori Dictionary ‘Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia’ (with links in TS style) –
Meri Kirihimete Play. 1. (loan) (noun) Merry Christmas. “Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia” (e kī ana te Pākehā) ki ngā iwi me ngā hapū katoa (HKW 12/1898:6). / “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” (as the Pākehā say) to all the tribes and hapū.
and
Kia kaha – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_kaha
Kia kaha is a Māori phrase used by the people of New Zealand meaning stay strong, used as an affirmation. The phrase has significant meaning for Māori: popularised through its usage by the 28th Māori Battalion during World War II, it is found in titles of books and songs, as well as a motto. Linguistically, kia kaha consists …
128 for (including NZ) 9 against (including Palau, Micronesia, Nauru, and Marshall Islands who may have heard the aid threat) and 35 abstained (including Canada and Australia).
It really shows how weak your moral argument is when you have to threaten people to get them to vote with you.
And the unsurprising thing is that they try to charcterise themselves as the victim being bullied. Actually, there was a guy on Morning Report this morning representing the ‘Jewish view’ (or should I say the Zionist view) doing the exact same thing. That nasty, nasty United Nations has apparently been bullying them for years – probably because (like Trump) the world just doesn’t appreciate how exceptional they are.
So exceptional are they, that they have/had a Divine Right to supply weaponry to the Sth Efrican apartheid regime, and to use white phosporus, and to disobey agreements they’d signed up to.
Do you reckon that if Trump and his enterage of loving fans decides to hit the button and causes the inevitable – it may be the demise of the UN – somewhat akin to the demise of the League of Nations in days gone by?
You have to wonder just who is holding him back from doing so at the mo’. I know there are reports of one General expressing concern and considering his options, but that Washington crew have some really big issues concerning how big they perceive the size of their balls to be.
It’ll also be interesting to see how offended the Orange Man sees NuZull’s treachery after voting Trump’s wrong way. Foive Oise and all.
How very dare us to have done so! What an offense to that Leader of the Free Whurl and champion of democracy!
(/sarc)
Hello All
I caught that this morning had me spitting coffee at the radio again, and the repeating of it throughout the news Bulletins.
Why was it repeated it was propaganda not news, and where was the right of reply?
I been on my best behavior since the elections trying not to swear at the radio and now my streak is broken. :/
National Party emergency caucus meeting, Sept. 10, 2005
Part 1 of 2
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
DOCTOR DON BRASH. Aging, decrepit, discredited liar who also happens to be leader of the National Party. MICHELLE BOAG. Complete bitch. Formidably well organised, well read and merciless political backroom operator. Former chairperson of the National Party, given the boot after guiding it to record defeat in 2002. MURRAY McCULLY. Fomer lover of Michelle Boag. National Party campaign “strategist”, therefore currently the most discredited and disrespected person in the southern hemisphere. JUDITH (“ROSA”) COLLINS. A brutal, intimidating woman with the looks and personality of the James Bond villain, Rosa Klebs. Collins has replaced the lovely K****rine R*ch as the National Party’s “social welfare” spokeswoman. To many observers, this position sits oddly against her former role as a corporate lawyer for the casino industry. K*****INE R*CH. The polar opposite to Collins. Blonde, curvy and gorgeous. Ignominiously tossed off National front bench because she was too “wet” . SIMON POWER. Former National defence spokesman. Removed from position due to gross incompetence. GEORGINA TE HEU HEU. Tall, aristocratic, a genuine example of Māori royalty. Ignominiously tossed off national front bench because she is Māori. GERRY BROWNLEE. Enormously fat former woodwork teacher who somehow has ended up as deputy leader of the National Party. A walking, talking disaster, funny for about two minutes, painful and tiresome thereafter. DR. LOCKWOOD SMITH. Notorious for his oft-stated willingness to act as an unquestioning lackey of the United States government. Former host of Australian children’s TV show Here’s Humphrey; Smith played the role of Humphrey. Later went on to front children’s quiz show W-3 in NZ, where he haughtily insisted the intermediate school contestants call him “Sir”. BILL ENGLISH, Dr. NICK SMITH, TONY RYALL. Sworn enemies of the current National Party leadership. A slyly subversive, potentially destabilizing trio of troublemakers. M________ BR**N. Political pollster.
NOTE: The names of a couple of people who participate in a sexual act in the course of this documentary have been surgically amended, for privacy’s sake.
——————————————-
SCENE: Saturday 10 September 2005, 9:25 a.m. The top suite at the James Cook Hotel, Wellington. The National Party’s former Welfare spokesperson MISS K*TH*R*N* R*CH sleeps, curled in the arms of her toyboy M_______ BR**N, the political pollster. While his “wet” Tory companion sleeps, BR**N watches the television show Agenda, while elegantly—some might say pretentiously and smugly—sipping from a tall glass of Pimms.
Suddenly, MISS R*CH awakes with a jolt. BR**N only just manages to avoid a spillage of Pimms.
MISS R*CH:[panting fearfully] Oh my GOD! Oh, M_________! I’m so worried….
And will this dramatic anecdote include any other of McMuff’s peca..peca…..pickles include that bastion of the 4th Estate – the one that used to get out the Elna and run herself up a business suit using the covering from the old chaise longue (you know the one that was sooooooooo passe Darling) ? Jeeze Morrissey – I hope, I hope!
And what are you going to do in the second series?
THANK YOU CHRIS HIPKINS, THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH 🙂 THANK YOU TRACY MARTIN 🙂 You’ve saved and changed lives, you’ve kept your word and so many many people are so very grateful.
I’m so freaking happy, best news ever 🙂 It’s official Salisbury School stays open.
Now watch for the gNat counter. It’ll go something like “this from the man who can’t count”
I agree! good call Messrs Hipkins nd Martin. They did keep their word.
Actually, now I think about it, Morrissey’s 2nd season (above) could revolve around Ms Parata and her loving husband. But I’d suggest he takes some advice from the gorgeous Juuuudy Caaaalingham (BE’s utterly gorgeous wife darling), having made such a contribution to NuZull drama with Shorty Street.
You’ll probably find them ‘coffeeing’ somewhere on the Ponce Road doncha know!
Are you pondering the best New Year’s resolution that can help animals, the planet and your health?
There are heaps of reasons to eat kind this January. Not only is it the best way to help animals, it can also improve your personal health and protect our environment.
Well, round up your friends, family and colleagues and sign up for the Veganuary Challenge! There’s never been a better time!
Veganuary is a worldwide campaign that challenges people to try vegan in January…..Why not check it out for yourself?
Smart alec comments.
Nothing positive to contribute.
Like Trump’s bully boy America, you sneer and smear.
If you wish to stay a carnivore, do so. There is no need for the bully boy comments as ever.
I’d seriously consider going vegan Ed – it’s only that my research at this site suggests that veganism turns one into the most boring of sanctimonious tards.
These warning signals between plants within one CMN are transmitted rapidly, and non-infested plants up-regulated genes of the jasmonate defense pathway shortly after plants within their CMN were attacked by herbivores.
Many years ago my wife was explaining to friends we hadn’t seen for some time why she had become a vegetarian. She finished her explanation with the quip “and yes I’ve heard all the screaming cabbage jokes”
Clever woman.
Looking forward to seeing evidence that plants suffer as animals do.
Scientific studies only please.
Why? Are you saying a living thing has to be sufficiently like you to trigger your emotions for you to care about it? (Rhetorical question – of course that’s what you’re saying.)
Every living thing on this planet is food for other living things, including apex predators like humans (although at our level we’re mostly food for microorganisms unless we get really unlucky). Feel free to be choosy about which living things you eat, but don’t try and make some moral bullshit story out of it.
Plants don’t want to be killed and eaten any more than animals do, as demonstrated by the defence mechanisms they evolve, like thorns or toxins. The fact that they don’t make eye contact and express emotions recognisable to humans doesn’t alter that fact. The only difference it makes is that without those things you don’t feel any qualms about dismembering and eating them. You’re still dismembering and eating things that didn’t want you to, regardless of what kind of living thing it is.
Were people who advocated against slavery ‘peddling religious moralism?’
Were people who advocated against child sacrifice ‘peddling religious moralism?’
Were people who advocated against whaling ‘peddling religious moralism?’
Were people who advocated against the Holocaust ‘peddling religious moralism?’
If so, I am happy to wear the badge you give me.
However, logic tells me that adopting a plant based diet is better for the planet than eating animals, logic tells me that adopting a plant based diet is better for my health than eating animals and logic tells me that adopting a plant based diet is better for the welfare of animals than eating animals.
Be careful pushing that line.
Highly inflammatory.
For some reason you have gone super aggressive simply because I have made a case for a plant based diet.
It would appear many agree with me and others are open to discussing the idea.
Yet ever since I brought the subject up, you have exuded hostility. Why?
You face the smacked child syndrome. People who were smacked by their parents sometimes react by supporting the continued rights of parents to smack their children – albeit no longer tolerant of the beating of children.
Those fed meat by their parents and who continue to eat meat and feed it to their children … are just doing what humans have done since our existence, eat meat – albeit supporting the existence of animal cruelty laws and humane slaughter regimes.
That individual and planetary health advantages can be derived from a more vegetarian diet is a sustainable argument. It is harder to suggest that only life in the sea should eat fish, or that prey for meat predators should only exist where there are game parks (for the hunting cats).
Maybe people will change once climate change becomes more serious.
If it’s a choice between some sort of life for their children and grandchildren – or a burger, then that might do it.
Or we shall wait till it’s too late.
And laws will be passed.
For some reason you have gone super aggressive simply because I have made a case for a plant based diet.
I can’t help the fact you interpret all disagreement as a personal assault. Also, you’ve never made a case for a plant-based diet, just asserted it and scattered links to propaganda videos or whatever.
Yet ever since I brought the subject up, you have exuded hostility. Why?
Every time you bring the subject up, you assert a claim of moral superiority over people who don’t follow your particular fad diet. I reject that claim and don’t like to let it pass in case people imagine that silence implies consent. You then interpret that disagreement as aggression or hostility, apparently unable to grasp the concept that people don’t have to share your views.
If it were not clear, I am making the case for a plant based diet.
I thought I had been clear.
Look at the start of this thread at 6.
I was sharing an idea of PETA’s. Is that not ok?
But you don’t want to hear, so just scroll past my comments.
Look at the language you use.
You are highly aggressive.
Sure it’s OK. But it’s also OK for people to point out when others are peddling moralistic propaganda on a thread. I already told you why I don’t just scroll past that. If you could share your fad diet suggestions without asserting moral superiority over people who don’t follow that diet, there’d be fewer dissenting responses.
The improbable idea that plants have sentience has no relevance whatsoever to the proven and blatantly obvious sentience of animals.
We do not need to slaughter by the billions animals that feel pain, emotions, and have as much right to their lives as we have to ours. We can gain all of our sustenance from plants in a way that is environmentally sustainable and at the same time gain optimal health and well-being. Therefore there is no argument that can morally, socially or ethically support the consumption of animals.
Actually, I suspect plant sentience is highly likely. Just completely alien.
If all the magic books are wrong, and our own self-awareness is merely the result of100Billion simple response thresholds working together, then why do those threshold things need to be neurons? Sure, bioelectric neurons might be faster than, say, cells releasing a distress signal, but why rule out every other interactional system?
I genuinely view it as a serious proposition, until we can determine the origin of our “spark” of sentience all bets are on the table. Could our planet or our galaxy be sentient? The gravitational interactions of 100billion stars and associated satellites are more complex than 100Billion neurons.
But seriously, I do agree that plant intelligence is an interesting possibility and intelligence could be more pervasive than we realise. Are you a fan of Stephen Baxter? (he writes about this stuff)
Even human intelligence is not exclusive to the brain, it’s linked to the whole body.
intelligence is fundamentally linked to specific sensorimotor modalities, a specific environment, a specific upbringing, and a specific problem to solve
Haven’t really read up on it since uni, but it’s always an interesting thought. On the flipside, it’s the conundrum of self awareness that keeps me from being completely athiest.
Rubbish Fruit most definitely wants to be eaten, its its seed dispersal device
Acorns and nuts are are perfectly willing (if we carry on with your anthropomorphosis)to be squirreled away, knowing that some stashes will be forgotten about and new plants will arise.
I’m still lurking here. But I’m in a hellish work crunch right now, with several months to go, so I’m trying to keep my politics addiction under control while I deal with it.
Great to see the new authors here getting in to it!
The second challenge is least elaborated on but I see it as an issue of very similar nature as the first and third challenges, i.e. one that is deeply rooted in how we treat each other.
Arguably, jobs of the future will have more focus on what’s colloquially called “people skills” and less on “production” as such. Therefore, such skills should become more highly valued and thus paid much better than they currently are. In fact, I’d argue that generally people skills are utterly undervalued at present here in New Zealand and consequently they are generally not very good. Taken together, good people skills are better for the people & society and better for the economy as well – over 60% of New Zealand’s GDP is accounted for by Service Industries.
He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. [One of the best proverbs ever and right up there with the meaning & spirit of Ubuntu IMHO]
I see our Maori culture is getting to popular for some people and they are trying to damage our Maori culture a radio station called flav own by NZ me has found research on the most common prisoners names and translated them to Maori and post these name’s on social media. t
This is disrespecting my te puna for some of those names belong to some of OUR great te puna a apologies is required please.
The neo liberals who seed these actions against OUR Maori culture are scared about us Maori getting our Mana back because they know when we do we will never let them piss on OUR beautiful country and all the people of New Zealand. I’m a proud New Zealand Maori and so should all Maori on mother earth. Ka kite ano
National Party emergency caucus meeting, Sept. 10, 2005
Part 2 of 2
SCENE: The pollster M_________ BR**N is in the top suite of the James Cook Hotel, Wellington, with the National Party’s recently deposed Welfare spokesperson MISS K*TH*R*N* R*CH. It’s 9:25 a.m. and MISS R*CH has awoken with a jolt…..
MISS R*CH:[panting fearfully] Oh my GOD! Oh, M_________! I’m so worried….
BR**N:[busses her then laughs reassuringly] Don’t worry, my dear. Your husband’s in Dunedin. And even if he did turn up here at the James Cook Hotel, I’ve got my batman Scr**ge keeping a look out. He’s armed and he’s ornery.
MISS R*CH: No, no — not that. I’ve just had this horrifying dream. I was on this — this jumbo jet… and it was utterly OUT OF CONTROL and heading inexorably for DISASTER, and everybody on it realized that too — but it was too late, though, because it was TOO LATE to change the captain, and the co-captain was a FAT FOOL who nobody believed in, and everybody on board realized the captain was too old and had no idea and he was a blithering, hopeless liar and… and people up and down the country were just LAUGHING at us, and everyone was so grim and unhappy, especially that awful butch cow Judith Collins….
BR**N:[gathers MISS R*CH in closely] Sssssshhhh, don’t worry, my dear. Let moi interpr—
MISS R*CH: No need to interpret it, M__________. I know perfectly well what it means: the National Party is doomed. Doomed like New Orleans. [She gives BR**N her well-rehearsed “helpless yet sultry” look] That means I’m doomed, too. Do you like doomed, wet women, M_________?
BR**N:[with well-rehearsed tone of deep sincerity] I ADORE doomed, wet women. [Growls roughly] Especially from the National party. Come ‘ere….
[We draw a discreet veil over proceedings for eight steamy minutes.]
MISS R*CH:[shrieking] Oh God, it’s nine thirty-eight! The emergency shadow caucus meeting starts at ten sharp! That uber-bitch Michelle Boag is coming to give us all a rark up! [bestows a long, lascivious kiss on BR**N] Gotta fly! I’m late.
—————————————–
10:05 a.m. The Brethren’s Churchill Road Gospel Hall in Crofton Downs. The National Party caucus is in session. The former chairwoman of the party, MICHELLE BOAG, is reading the riot act. Demoralised politicians with sour, defeated expressions listen in gloomy silence. At first glance, everyone appears shell-shocked. However, closer inspection shows that several members are rather more sanguine. Deposed leader BILL ENGLISH actually seems to be enjoying it somewhat. To the anger of many, and the amusement of some, he is ostentatiously reading Nicky Hager’s explosive book The Hollow Men. BOAG bores on relentlessly…
BOAG: …. and in all fairness the less we hear of Don Brash over the next seven days the better.
BILL ENGLISH: You chose ‘im! BOAG:[grimly ignoring the disaffected former leader] And we will be hearing no more at all from our former “strategist” — if that’s the right word for what he’s been up to over the last fortnight. [she glares at MURRAY McCULLY like a basilisk] From now on, I and seven friends, who will remain anonymous, will be directing this campaign. For the last week of the campaign we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and remind people of our CORE PRINCIPLES. I sometimes wonder whether anybody remembers what the National Party STANDS for any more.
DR LOCKWOOD SMITH:[excitedly waving hand in the air] Ooh! I know, I
know!
BOAG:[nervously] Ye-e-e-e-e-e-e-esss, Lockwood?
DR LOCKWOOD SMITH: Never pay in cash, Never tell the truth, and Never play by the rules!
BOAG:[closes eyes in despair, buries face in hands] Give me str-r-r-r-r-r-r-rength!
DON BRASH: No, no, no, no, no, no, no! That’s not right, Lockwood! Eeeeeeehhhhhh….
JOHN KEY:[cool, smiling, unfazed] Actually, that IS the National Party philosophy.
SIMON POWER: And it’s a darned fine philosophy too.
DON BRASH: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no……
TONY RYALL:[in disgust] The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.
BILL ENGLISH:[shaking his head] These right wing ideologues are tearing this party apart! IT’S A FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP!!
JOHN KEY:[cool, smiling, unfazed] We stand for… ooooohhhhh… taking the tax off petrol.
RYALL: Eh? You said the opposite two weeks ago!
ROGER SOWRY: It’s ANOTHER flip-flop!
BROWNLEE:[with boyish excitement] Right, that’s enough thinking! Let’s go GET Helen Clark with our new flip-flop policy!
BOAG:[tartly, between clenched teeth] Shut up and sit down, you fatuous, footling fathead.
BROWNLEE:[aggressively] You can’t call me fatuous! That’s size-ist!
DON BRASH: Eeeeeeeehhhh, Gerry, when Michele calls you “fatuous”, it does not mean you are fat, it means you are foolish.
BROWNLEE:[cheerfully] Oh! Well, that’s all right, then!
DISAFFECTED CAUCUS MEMBER: Shut up and sit down, Brash! Michelle’s in
charge, not you!
DOCTOR DON BRASH: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Eeeeeeeehhhhhh…..
BOAG:[doggedly ignoring the mounting turmoil] Now we also need an attack strategy to get at Margaret Wilson, and —
SIMON POWER: We could base our strategy on the fact she’s got a wooden leg!
BOAG: Yes! For once, a bright idea! Now let’s brainstor—-
[BOAG is interrupted mid-sentence by the late arrival of the deposed shadow welfare spokesperson.]
MISS R*CH: Sorry I’m late.
BOAG:[acerbically] Sit down quickly at the back of the room, next to Tony Ryall and Nick Smith, and that Maori woman.
DAVID CARTER: Siberia!
CAUCUS: Ha ha ha ha ha!
BOAG: Stop that! This is a party in crisis! The time for levity is after we win the election!
RYALL: Ha! THAT’ll be the day! [imitating Fraser from Dad’s Army] We’re DOOMED! We’re all DOOOOO-O-O-O-OOOMED!
CAUCUS: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! ….I’d rather have Captain Mainwaring in charge than Don Brash! …. We’re TOAST, let’s face it, fellas! … Don’t PANIC!!!! … Ha ha ha ha ha!
DOCTOR DON BRASH: Oh no no no no no no no no no. That’s not funny.
CAUCUS: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
BOAG: Stop this nonsense NOW! We need to FOCUS!
DOCTOR DON BRASH: Eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhh….
[The room descends into uproar. After the laughter has roiled around the room for an extended period, the hubbub eventually dies down. K*TH*R*N* R*CH moves toward the back of the now silent room. Unfortunately, this necessitates moving past her successor, the bulldog-like JUDITH COLLINS…]
COLLINS:[sotto voce, acidly] Being “grilled” by a “pole-ster”, were we?
MISS R*CH:[sotto voce, sweetly] You weren’t. I was.
[COLLINS glowers, her face turning a deep, angry shade of purple as MISS R*CH moves on to take her seat in “Siberia” next to GEORGINA TE HEU HEU, MURRAY McCULLY, TONY RYALL and NICK SMITH.]
McCULLY: K*th*rin*, I’m free tonight and for the rest of the week, if you need any help with your “poling”….
Of fuck @ Morrissey. I didn’t realise part two would cum so soon!
And gawsh!!! That Crofton Downs setting is oh so familiar darling. I remember a few of its casualties quite well.
I’m not so sure that wonderful North and South investigative journalist, the previous foreskin of consumer rights, you know – the one that regularly appears on those Sunday morning NZoA-funded raisin affairs ‘shows’ as a talking head giving us his words-for-the-wise, the one that can’t handle a tab of the Jolly Green Giant without resorting to mummy’s bosom….s.s.S.S.Si something or other.
Morrissey darling!! Be careful darling, There are powerful forces at play (legends in their own minds even). And always remember – what plays in Vegas, STAYS in Vegas
Those forces you mention have been stirred up by the release of these caucus notes. Forty-four angry down votes so far for Part 1, and 28 for Part 2. And a whole lot of very testy comments…
OMG Morrissey – you forced me to stoop! I’ve never done that before (accessed that horrid horrid web site thingy), and my back is bloody killing me!
I do have a few ideas for a 3rd, 4th and 5th series though.
I’m just not sure which should come 3rd, 4th and 5th.
I mean, I was thinking of people like that poor poor HdPA and partner- the raspy voiced thing who, in days gone by, used to really concern all those Wellington Eastern Suburbs bloody do-gooders. You know, the ones that were worried about things like violence towards women and wife beating, and male ownership of their woifies (silly silly people!)
But then I thought about playing and staying in Vegas stuff and early morning jogs down lower Tory Street – you know, where that gay thingy/secret bathhouse thing is – by that blubber boy gNat 2IC.
I’m not sure a NZ version of Coronation Street could be sustained or even whether public NZ would actually engage.
Besides, I’m old enough to have signed the Official Secrets Act, and basically, if there isn’t a few of them held to account before too long, an easier option is to simply fuck off to places where they actually care about corrupt politicians and wimpy public servants, and where they care about things like preserving the purity of the water table.
Comes a time where pushing shit uphill is not actually worth it
Trying to think of a good reason why when I’ve just spent some of my time moderating to de-escalate flaming, and you post another comment poking at someone, I shouldn’t also moderate you. Especially seeing it was only a few days ago you were moderated for a particularly inflammatory comment.
Could not agree more, does wonders for piece of mind.
Just sowed another crop of lettuce, basil (eating heaps at the moment, it’s growing well) and my late season crop of Tarragon – which I hope will last me through the winter after I dry it.
I’ve never grown tarragon. What do you use it for?
I’ve been putting in another round of lettuces too. Plus some basil outside, which is kind of a risk down south. Just been harvesting a great crop of black currants.
I’ll have to see if I can find some tarragon to transplant.
Basil grows here ok in pots outside but on the porch. It should be ok in the garden so long as we don’t get a cold snap, and even then it might be ok, I’ve planted it in a more sheltered spot. Growing things on a window sill is riskier due to neglect 😉 I do have a nice sunny window sill though, so maybe I’ll put some there too and cover all bases.
I love black currants, cheesecake sounds fantastic.
Jim Mora’s panel.
Listen if you want to know the concerns of the elderly upper middle class.
It would be interesting to compare the socio-economic backgrounds of the panellists with the overall population.
If only the Government of the day (National) and or the city council offered loaning money to make buildings safe in the first place, things would be moving along more quickly.
I would not give david seenothing the time of day but this is a important issue. I would like to see him live on the minamim wage for a year these people born with a silver spoon should not comment on the minamim wage its hipocyce. Look at our Australian cousins we would have to add $10 a hour to catch up to them they have strong unions and everyone has disposable income. That is why they will be able to launch a Lady’s Rugby league competition in Australia because they have fans that can afford to support the teams. It would be to hard a task for Steve Chew to launch a Lady’s Rugby professional competition because there is not enough people with disposable income to support the teams.
david seenothing thinks he and his other neo liberal m8 should keep all the money and stuff the rest of us we he can go and get _________ he is just a puppet for national Ana to kai
I suggest population is a bigger factor here Eco making women’s rugby league viable also tied to nrl clubs and only 6 teams , games will be curtain raises and a very short season hey but don’t let facts get in the way of a good socialist story
Some people think that they can play me with out me working out there objective but no the big pictures is the muppets are playing them you like being fools and being played well good on you puppet fools I’m not going anywhere I can read yous like a book also I no you’ve been in this play for years ECO is going to win Ana to kai
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Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The 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. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
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 ...
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Who else are at work for the last time in 2017???
I got my Hawaiian shirt on and I am clock watching to lunchtime when it is beersies and breakup time, Back in three weeks. 🙂 🙂
A big merry Xmas and Happy New Year call out to all the Standardnistas! 🙂 xxx
Have a good one.
Seasons Greetings Sanctuary and to all the amazing Standardnistas 🙂
May everyone have a wonderful Summer Solstice, enjoy the holidays, love this time of year 🙂
Bounce back that Christmas greeting to you Cinny and also Marty Mars – sort of locals to me and good to read your news and your thoughts. Hope you have a good time – a good break – and there will be plenty to think and write about in 2018 so I hope we will all be there then.
Also to all Standardistas who think through their comments kia kaha and from the Maori Dictionary ‘Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia’ (with links in TS style) –
Meri Kirihimete – Māori Dictionary
http://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=Meri+Kirihimete
Meri Kirihimete Play. 1. (loan) (noun) Merry Christmas. “Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia” (e kī ana te Pākehā) ki ngā iwi me ngā hapū katoa (HKW 12/1898:6). / “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” (as the Pākehā say) to all the tribes and hapū.
and
Kia kaha – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_kaha
Kia kaha is a Māori phrase used by the people of New Zealand meaning stay strong, used as an affirmation. The phrase has significant meaning for Māori: popularised through its usage by the 28th Māori Battalion during World War II, it is found in titles of books and songs, as well as a motto. Linguistically, kia kaha consists …
Hugs Grey to you and yours from me and mine 🙂
The U.N. is taking down names, and the first one is United States of America.
In your eye Nicky Haley.
The hubris, arrogance, bullying, blindness and more of the Trump’s USA is staggering.
CNN report
128 for (including NZ) 9 against (including Palau, Micronesia, Nauru, and Marshall Islands who may have heard the aid threat) and 35 abstained (including Canada and Australia).
It really shows how weak your moral argument is when you have to threaten people to get them to vote with you.
And the unsurprising thing is that they try to charcterise themselves as the victim being bullied. Actually, there was a guy on Morning Report this morning representing the ‘Jewish view’ (or should I say the Zionist view) doing the exact same thing. That nasty, nasty United Nations has apparently been bullying them for years – probably because (like Trump) the world just doesn’t appreciate how exceptional they are.
So exceptional are they, that they have/had a Divine Right to supply weaponry to the Sth Efrican apartheid regime, and to use white phosporus, and to disobey agreements they’d signed up to.
Do you reckon that if Trump and his enterage of loving fans decides to hit the button and causes the inevitable – it may be the demise of the UN – somewhat akin to the demise of the League of Nations in days gone by?
You have to wonder just who is holding him back from doing so at the mo’. I know there are reports of one General expressing concern and considering his options, but that Washington crew have some really big issues concerning how big they perceive the size of their balls to be.
It’ll also be interesting to see how offended the Orange Man sees NuZull’s treachery after voting Trump’s wrong way. Foive Oise and all.
How very dare us to have done so! What an offense to that Leader of the Free Whurl and champion of democracy!
(/sarc)
Hello All
I caught that this morning had me spitting coffee at the radio again, and the repeating of it throughout the news Bulletins.
Why was it repeated it was propaganda not news, and where was the right of reply?
I been on my best behavior since the elections trying not to swear at the radio and now my streak is broken. :/
Poll booths in Catalonia about to close. Live result thingee here.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/dec/21/catalonia-voters-results-regional-election-spain-live
National Party emergency caucus meeting, Sept. 10, 2005
Part 1 of 2
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
DOCTOR DON BRASH. Aging, decrepit, discredited liar who also happens to be leader of the National Party.
MICHELLE BOAG. Complete bitch. Formidably well organised, well read and merciless political backroom operator. Former chairperson of the National Party, given the boot after guiding it to record defeat in 2002.
MURRAY McCULLY. Fomer lover of Michelle Boag. National Party campaign “strategist”, therefore currently the most discredited and disrespected person in the southern hemisphere.
JUDITH (“ROSA”) COLLINS. A brutal, intimidating woman with the looks and personality of the James Bond villain, Rosa Klebs. Collins has replaced the lovely K****rine R*ch as the National Party’s “social welfare” spokeswoman. To many observers, this position sits oddly against her former role as a corporate lawyer for the casino industry.
K*****INE R*CH. The polar opposite to Collins. Blonde, curvy and gorgeous. Ignominiously tossed off National front bench because she was too “wet” .
SIMON POWER. Former National defence spokesman. Removed from position due to gross incompetence.
GEORGINA TE HEU HEU. Tall, aristocratic, a genuine example of Māori royalty. Ignominiously tossed off national front bench because she is Māori.
GERRY BROWNLEE. Enormously fat former woodwork teacher who somehow has ended up as deputy leader of the National Party. A walking, talking disaster, funny for about two minutes, painful and tiresome thereafter.
DR. LOCKWOOD SMITH. Notorious for his oft-stated willingness to act as an unquestioning lackey of the United States government. Former host of Australian children’s TV show Here’s Humphrey; Smith played the role of Humphrey. Later went on to front children’s quiz show W-3 in NZ, where he haughtily insisted the intermediate school contestants call him “Sir”.
BILL ENGLISH, Dr. NICK SMITH, TONY RYALL. Sworn enemies of the current National Party leadership. A slyly subversive, potentially destabilizing trio of troublemakers.
M________ BR**N. Political pollster.
NOTE: The names of a couple of people who participate in a sexual act in the course of this documentary have been surgically amended, for privacy’s sake.
——————————————-
SCENE: Saturday 10 September 2005, 9:25 a.m. The top suite at the James Cook Hotel, Wellington. The National Party’s former Welfare spokesperson MISS K*TH*R*N* R*CH sleeps, curled in the arms of her toyboy M_______ BR**N, the political pollster. While his “wet” Tory companion sleeps, BR**N watches the television show Agenda, while elegantly—some might say pretentiously and smugly—sipping from a tall glass of Pimms.
Suddenly, MISS R*CH awakes with a jolt. BR**N only just manages to avoid a spillage of Pimms.
MISS R*CH: [panting fearfully] Oh my GOD! Oh, M_________! I’m so worried….
To be continued…..
And will this dramatic anecdote include any other of McMuff’s peca..peca…..pickles include that bastion of the 4th Estate – the one that used to get out the Elna and run herself up a business suit using the covering from the old chaise longue (you know the one that was sooooooooo passe Darling) ? Jeeze Morrissey – I hope, I hope!
And what are you going to do in the second series?
Thanks Tim, some fine suggestions there! When I composed this, Maggie Barry was not yet in parliament.
I wrote this in 2005, for the old Google Groups nz.politics site. It’s still going, but Google has done its best to ruin it.
THANK YOU CHRIS HIPKINS, THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH 🙂 THANK YOU TRACY MARTIN 🙂 You’ve saved and changed lives, you’ve kept your word and so many many people are so very grateful.
I’m so freaking happy, best news ever 🙂 It’s official Salisbury School stays open.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/100082589/salisbury-saved-hipkins-announces-end-of-closure-process-for-richmondbased-school
Now watch for the gNat counter. It’ll go something like “this from the man who can’t count”
I agree! good call Messrs Hipkins nd Martin. They did keep their word.
Actually, now I think about it, Morrissey’s 2nd season (above) could revolve around Ms Parata and her loving husband. But I’d suggest he takes some advice from the gorgeous Juuuudy Caaaalingham (BE’s utterly gorgeous wife darling), having made such a contribution to NuZull drama with Shorty Street.
You’ll probably find them ‘coffeeing’ somewhere on the Ponce Road doncha know!
Are you pondering the best New Year’s resolution that can help animals, the planet and your health?
There are heaps of reasons to eat kind this January. Not only is it the best way to help animals, it can also improve your personal health and protect our environment.
Well, round up your friends, family and colleagues and sign up for the Veganuary Challenge! There’s never been a better time!
Veganuary is a worldwide campaign that challenges people to try vegan in January…..Why not check it out for yourself?
http://www.veganuary.co.nz
By signing up, you’ll receive regular emails offering tips, menu plans, recipes, inspiration and more.https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/22/guest-blog-amanda-sorrenson-veganuary-the-best-nys-resolution-you-can-make/
Looks interesting I’ll have a closer look later today after finishing the lunchtime BBQ.
How droll
How troll
Smart alec comments.
Nothing positive to contribute.
Like Trump’s bully boy America, you sneer and smear.
If you wish to stay a carnivore, do so. There is no need for the bully boy comments as ever.
I’d seriously consider going vegan Ed – it’s only that my research at this site suggests that veganism turns one into the most boring of sanctimonious tards.
^ that actually made me laugh out loud.
Good old Ed/Paul – he’s probably a nice chap face to face for a chat.
There are heaps of reasons to eat kind this January.
Doesn’t sound very kind to plants. Maybe you could alternate? Kind to animals one month, kind to plants the next.
Looking forward to seeing evidence that plants suffer as animals do.
Scientific studies only please.
When those evil sharks stop murdering fish – I will stop eating bacon
So funny.
Hilarious.
Mycorrhizal networks: Mechanisms, ecology and modeling,
Simard et al 2012.
On the specific subject of “pain”, see Common mycorrhizal networks and their effect on the bargaining power of the fungal partner in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis Bücking et al 2016:
Thank.
I shall read.
Many years ago my wife was explaining to friends we hadn’t seen for some time why she had become a vegetarian. She finished her explanation with the quip “and yes I’ve heard all the screaming cabbage jokes”
Clever woman.
The Revenge of the Cabbage is just hot air 😉
Looking forward to seeing evidence that plants suffer as animals do.
Scientific studies only please.
Why? Are you saying a living thing has to be sufficiently like you to trigger your emotions for you to care about it? (Rhetorical question – of course that’s what you’re saying.)
Every living thing on this planet is food for other living things, including apex predators like humans (although at our level we’re mostly food for microorganisms unless we get really unlucky). Feel free to be choosy about which living things you eat, but don’t try and make some moral bullshit story out of it.
Plants don’t want to be killed and eaten any more than animals do, as demonstrated by the defence mechanisms they evolve, like thorns or toxins. The fact that they don’t make eye contact and express emotions recognisable to humans doesn’t alter that fact. The only difference it makes is that without those things you don’t feel any qualms about dismembering and eating them. You’re still dismembering and eating things that didn’t want you to, regardless of what kind of living thing it is.
I see why your nom de plume is psycho.
For people who peddle religious moralism, logic is always confronting. Vegans are no different in that respect.
Were people who advocated against slavery ‘peddling religious moralism?’
Were people who advocated against child sacrifice ‘peddling religious moralism?’
Were people who advocated against whaling ‘peddling religious moralism?’
Were people who advocated against the Holocaust ‘peddling religious moralism?’
If so, I am happy to wear the badge you give me.
However, logic tells me that adopting a plant based diet is better for the planet than eating animals, logic tells me that adopting a plant based diet is better for my health than eating animals and logic tells me that adopting a plant based diet is better for the welfare of animals than eating animals.
your badge is on the post……
I really don’t think you’d want to wear the badge that’s appropriate for people making the case that Jews are like livestock.
Be careful pushing that line.
Highly inflammatory.
For some reason you have gone super aggressive simply because I have made a case for a plant based diet.
It would appear many agree with me and others are open to discussing the idea.
Yet ever since I brought the subject up, you have exuded hostility. Why?
You face the smacked child syndrome. People who were smacked by their parents sometimes react by supporting the continued rights of parents to smack their children – albeit no longer tolerant of the beating of children.
Those fed meat by their parents and who continue to eat meat and feed it to their children … are just doing what humans have done since our existence, eat meat – albeit supporting the existence of animal cruelty laws and humane slaughter regimes.
That individual and planetary health advantages can be derived from a more vegetarian diet is a sustainable argument. It is harder to suggest that only life in the sea should eat fish, or that prey for meat predators should only exist where there are game parks (for the hunting cats).
Maybe people will change once climate change becomes more serious.
If it’s a choice between some sort of life for their children and grandchildren – or a burger, then that might do it.
Or we shall wait till it’s too late.
And laws will be passed.
I’d say it’s because you’ve made the case using judgemental and highly charged language.
It certainly set my teeth on edge.
Highly inflammatory.
And also highly accurate.
For some reason you have gone super aggressive simply because I have made a case for a plant based diet.
I can’t help the fact you interpret all disagreement as a personal assault. Also, you’ve never made a case for a plant-based diet, just asserted it and scattered links to propaganda videos or whatever.
Yet ever since I brought the subject up, you have exuded hostility. Why?
Every time you bring the subject up, you assert a claim of moral superiority over people who don’t follow your particular fad diet. I reject that claim and don’t like to let it pass in case people imagine that silence implies consent. You then interpret that disagreement as aggression or hostility, apparently unable to grasp the concept that people don’t have to share your views.
If it were not clear, I am making the case for a plant based diet.
I thought I had been clear.
Look at the start of this thread at 6.
I was sharing an idea of PETA’s. Is that not ok?
But you don’t want to hear, so just scroll past my comments.
Look at the language you use.
You are highly aggressive.
I was sharing an idea of PETA’s. Is that not ok?
Sure it’s OK. But it’s also OK for people to point out when others are peddling moralistic propaganda on a thread. I already told you why I don’t just scroll past that. If you could share your fad diet suggestions without asserting moral superiority over people who don’t follow that diet, there’d be fewer dissenting responses.
You are one of the very few dissenting voices.
The improbable idea that plants have sentience has no relevance whatsoever to the proven and blatantly obvious sentience of animals.
We do not need to slaughter by the billions animals that feel pain, emotions, and have as much right to their lives as we have to ours. We can gain all of our sustenance from plants in a way that is environmentally sustainable and at the same time gain optimal health and well-being. Therefore there is no argument that can morally, socially or ethically support the consumption of animals.
improbable
Read the links at 6.2.1.2: it’s possible. Does that network possess a memory?
Actually, I suspect plant sentience is highly likely. Just completely alien.
If all the magic books are wrong, and our own self-awareness is merely the result of100Billion simple response thresholds working together, then why do those threshold things need to be neurons? Sure, bioelectric neurons might be faster than, say, cells releasing a distress signal, but why rule out every other interactional system?
I genuinely view it as a serious proposition, until we can determine the origin of our “spark” of sentience all bets are on the table. Could our planet or our galaxy be sentient? The gravitational interactions of 100billion stars and associated satellites are more complex than 100Billion neurons.
yeah man
But seriously, I do agree that plant intelligence is an interesting possibility and intelligence could be more pervasive than we realise. Are you a fan of Stephen Baxter? (he writes about this stuff)
Even human intelligence is not exclusive to the brain, it’s linked to the whole body.
This reality makes AI that much harder to achieve.
Haven’t really read up on it since uni, but it’s always an interesting thought. On the flipside, it’s the conundrum of self awareness that keeps me from being completely athiest.
Rubbish Fruit most definitely wants to be eaten, its its seed dispersal device
Acorns and nuts are are perfectly willing (if we carry on with your anthropomorphosis)to be squirreled away, knowing that some stashes will be forgotten about and new plants will arise.
“eat kind”
Wow! Just Wow – an encouragement to cannibalize, on TS!!!
But you’re eating my foods food.
Nothing useful to say.
Sadly I’m off to the Jack Daniels BBQ competition in January so I will have to give it a miss.
Febs not looking good either with Meatstock happening in Auckland – a great weekend out if you are interested in learning the views of others.
http://meatstock.co.nz
But hurry – apparently it sold out last year.
You are hilarious, James.
You’re an idiot, James. Not even useful. Just an idiot.
Yes that expresses it far better Robert.
You do wonder where these people come from……
Auckland.
I guess that’s subjective.
No. In your case it is demonstrative.
Brilliant
This is a bloody good read:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/22-12-2017/the-three-big-challenges-for-jacinda-ardern/
Merry Christmas r0b!
Come back r0b. We miss you
Merry Christmas MS, and Merry Christmas to all!
I’m still lurking here. But I’m in a hellish work crunch right now, with several months to go, so I’m trying to keep my politics addiction under control while I deal with it.
Great to see the new authors here getting in to it!
Ho ho ho…
Yes.
Ardern is competent, and I am glad we have her leading the country.
That is indeed a good read.
The second challenge is least elaborated on but I see it as an issue of very similar nature as the first and third challenges, i.e. one that is deeply rooted in how we treat each other.
Arguably, jobs of the future will have more focus on what’s colloquially called “people skills” and less on “production” as such. Therefore, such skills should become more highly valued and thus paid much better than they currently are. In fact, I’d argue that generally people skills are utterly undervalued at present here in New Zealand and consequently they are generally not very good. Taken together, good people skills are better for the people & society and better for the economy as well – over 60% of New Zealand’s GDP is accounted for by Service Industries.
He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. [One of the best proverbs ever and right up there with the meaning & spirit of Ubuntu IMHO]
I see our Maori culture is getting to popular for some people and they are trying to damage our Maori culture a radio station called flav own by NZ me has found research on the most common prisoners names and translated them to Maori and post these name’s on social media. t
This is disrespecting my te puna for some of those names belong to some of OUR great te puna a apologies is required please.
The neo liberals who seed these actions against OUR Maori culture are scared about us Maori getting our Mana back because they know when we do we will never let them piss on OUR beautiful country and all the people of New Zealand. I’m a proud New Zealand Maori and so should all Maori on mother earth. Ka kite ano
On face value, it would be worth complaining to the BSA, but it seems quite weird for the Polynesian oriented Flava station to be this tasteless
National Party emergency caucus meeting, Sept. 10, 2005
Part 2 of 2
SCENE: The pollster M_________ BR**N is in the top suite of the James Cook Hotel, Wellington, with the National Party’s recently deposed Welfare spokesperson MISS K*TH*R*N* R*CH. It’s 9:25 a.m. and MISS R*CH has awoken with a jolt…..
MISS R*CH: [panting fearfully] Oh my GOD! Oh, M_________! I’m so worried….
BR**N: [busses her then laughs reassuringly] Don’t worry, my dear. Your husband’s in Dunedin. And even if he did turn up here at the James Cook Hotel, I’ve got my batman Scr**ge keeping a look out. He’s armed and he’s ornery.
MISS R*CH: No, no — not that. I’ve just had this horrifying dream. I was on this — this jumbo jet… and it was utterly OUT OF CONTROL and heading inexorably for DISASTER, and everybody on it realized that too — but it was too late, though, because it was TOO LATE to change the captain, and the co-captain was a FAT FOOL who nobody believed in, and everybody on board realized the captain was too old and had no idea and he was a blithering, hopeless liar and… and people up and down the country were just LAUGHING at us, and everyone was so grim and unhappy, especially that awful butch cow Judith Collins….
BR**N: [gathers MISS R*CH in closely] Sssssshhhh, don’t worry, my dear. Let moi interpr—
MISS R*CH: No need to interpret it, M__________. I know perfectly well what it means: the National Party is doomed. Doomed like New Orleans. [She gives BR**N her well-rehearsed “helpless yet sultry” look] That means I’m doomed, too. Do you like doomed, wet women, M_________?
BR**N: [with well-rehearsed tone of deep sincerity] I ADORE doomed, wet women. [Growls roughly] Especially from the National party. Come ‘ere….
[We draw a discreet veil over proceedings for eight steamy minutes.]
MISS R*CH: [shrieking] Oh God, it’s nine thirty-eight! The emergency shadow caucus meeting starts at ten sharp! That uber-bitch Michelle Boag is coming to give us all a rark up! [bestows a long, lascivious kiss on BR**N] Gotta fly! I’m late.
—————————————–
10:05 a.m. The Brethren’s Churchill Road Gospel Hall in Crofton Downs. The National Party caucus is in session. The former chairwoman of the party, MICHELLE BOAG, is reading the riot act. Demoralised politicians with sour, defeated expressions listen in gloomy silence. At first glance, everyone appears shell-shocked. However, closer inspection shows that several members are rather more sanguine. Deposed leader BILL ENGLISH actually seems to be enjoying it somewhat. To the anger of many, and the amusement of some, he is ostentatiously reading Nicky Hager’s explosive book The Hollow Men. BOAG bores on relentlessly…
BOAG: …. and in all fairness the less we hear of Don Brash over the next seven days the better.
BILL ENGLISH: You chose ‘im!
BOAG: [grimly ignoring the disaffected former leader] And we will be hearing no more at all from our former “strategist” — if that’s the right word for what he’s been up to over the last fortnight. [she glares at MURRAY McCULLY like a basilisk] From now on, I and seven friends, who will remain anonymous, will be directing this campaign. For the last week of the campaign we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and remind people of our CORE PRINCIPLES. I sometimes wonder whether anybody remembers what the National Party STANDS for any more.
DR LOCKWOOD SMITH: [excitedly waving hand in the air] Ooh! I know, I
know!
BOAG: [nervously] Ye-e-e-e-e-e-e-esss, Lockwood?
DR LOCKWOOD SMITH: Never pay in cash, Never tell the truth, and Never play by the rules!
BOAG: [closes eyes in despair, buries face in hands] Give me str-r-r-r-r-r-r-rength!
DON BRASH: No, no, no, no, no, no, no! That’s not right, Lockwood! Eeeeeeehhhhhh….
JOHN KEY: [cool, smiling, unfazed] Actually, that IS the National Party philosophy.
SIMON POWER: And it’s a darned fine philosophy too.
DON BRASH: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no……
TONY RYALL: [in disgust] The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.
BILL ENGLISH: [shaking his head] These right wing ideologues are tearing this party apart! IT’S A FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP!!
JOHN KEY: [cool, smiling, unfazed] We stand for… ooooohhhhh… taking the tax off petrol.
RYALL: Eh? You said the opposite two weeks ago!
ROGER SOWRY: It’s ANOTHER flip-flop!
BROWNLEE: [with boyish excitement] Right, that’s enough thinking! Let’s go GET Helen Clark with our new flip-flop policy!
BOAG: [tartly, between clenched teeth] Shut up and sit down, you fatuous, footling fathead.
BROWNLEE: [aggressively] You can’t call me fatuous! That’s size-ist!
DON BRASH: Eeeeeeeehhhh, Gerry, when Michele calls you “fatuous”, it does not mean you are fat, it means you are foolish.
BROWNLEE: [cheerfully] Oh! Well, that’s all right, then!
DISAFFECTED CAUCUS MEMBER: Shut up and sit down, Brash! Michelle’s in
charge, not you!
DOCTOR DON BRASH: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Eeeeeeeehhhhhh…..
BOAG: [doggedly ignoring the mounting turmoil] Now we also need an attack strategy to get at Margaret Wilson, and —
SIMON POWER: We could base our strategy on the fact she’s got a wooden leg!
BOAG: Yes! For once, a bright idea! Now let’s brainstor—-
[BOAG is interrupted mid-sentence by the late arrival of the deposed shadow welfare spokesperson.]
MISS R*CH: Sorry I’m late.
BOAG: [acerbically] Sit down quickly at the back of the room, next to Tony Ryall and Nick Smith, and that Maori woman.
DAVID CARTER: Siberia!
CAUCUS: Ha ha ha ha ha!
BOAG: Stop that! This is a party in crisis! The time for levity is after we win the election!
RYALL: Ha! THAT’ll be the day! [imitating Fraser from Dad’s Army] We’re DOOMED! We’re all DOOOOO-O-O-O-OOOMED!
CAUCUS: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! ….I’d rather have Captain Mainwaring in charge than Don Brash! …. We’re TOAST, let’s face it, fellas! … Don’t PANIC!!!! … Ha ha ha ha ha!
DOCTOR DON BRASH: Oh no no no no no no no no no. That’s not funny.
CAUCUS: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
BOAG: Stop this nonsense NOW! We need to FOCUS!
DOCTOR DON BRASH: Eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhh….
[The room descends into uproar. After the laughter has roiled around the room for an extended period, the hubbub eventually dies down. K*TH*R*N* R*CH moves toward the back of the now silent room. Unfortunately, this necessitates moving past her successor, the bulldog-like JUDITH COLLINS…]
COLLINS: [sotto voce, acidly] Being “grilled” by a “pole-ster”, were we?
MISS R*CH: [sotto voce, sweetly] You weren’t. I was.
[COLLINS glowers, her face turning a deep, angry shade of purple as MISS R*CH moves on to take her seat in “Siberia” next to GEORGINA TE HEU HEU, MURRAY McCULLY, TONY RYALL and NICK SMITH.]
McCULLY: K*th*rin*, I’m free tonight and for the rest of the week, if you need any help with your “poling”….
http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.co.nz/2017/12/national-party-emergency-caucus-meeting.html
Of fuck @ Morrissey. I didn’t realise part two would cum so soon!
And gawsh!!! That Crofton Downs setting is oh so familiar darling. I remember a few of its casualties quite well.
I’m not so sure that wonderful North and South investigative journalist, the previous foreskin of consumer rights, you know – the one that regularly appears on those Sunday morning NZoA-funded raisin affairs ‘shows’ as a talking head giving us his words-for-the-wise, the one that can’t handle a tab of the Jolly Green Giant without resorting to mummy’s bosom….s.s.S.S.Si something or other.
Morrissey darling!! Be careful darling, There are powerful forces at play (legends in their own minds even). And always remember – what plays in Vegas, STAYS in Vegas
Thanks for the heads up, Tim.
Those forces you mention have been stirred up by the release of these caucus notes. Forty-four angry down votes so far for Part 1, and 28 for Part 2. And a whole lot of very testy comments…
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_22_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2104326
OMG Morrissey – you forced me to stoop! I’ve never done that before (accessed that horrid horrid web site thingy), and my back is bloody killing me!
I do have a few ideas for a 3rd, 4th and 5th series though.
I’m just not sure which should come 3rd, 4th and 5th.
I mean, I was thinking of people like that poor poor HdPA and partner- the raspy voiced thing who, in days gone by, used to really concern all those Wellington Eastern Suburbs bloody do-gooders. You know, the ones that were worried about things like violence towards women and wife beating, and male ownership of their woifies (silly silly people!)
But then I thought about playing and staying in Vegas stuff and early morning jogs down lower Tory Street – you know, where that gay thingy/secret bathhouse thing is – by that blubber boy gNat 2IC.
I’m not sure a NZ version of Coronation Street could be sustained or even whether public NZ would actually engage.
Besides, I’m old enough to have signed the Official Secrets Act, and basically, if there isn’t a few of them held to account before too long, an easier option is to simply fuck off to places where they actually care about corrupt politicians and wimpy public servants, and where they care about things like preserving the purity of the water table.
Comes a time where pushing shit uphill is not actually worth it
Nice. Funny. “[she glares at MURRAY McCULLY like a basilisk]” – (She glares, like a basilisk, at MURRAY McCULLY) – no?
Thank you, Robert. You are correct.
Minimum wage to increase to $16.50 on 1st April 2018
I’d rate that a strong “Pathetic” from Labour. Better than NAct, but still pathetic.
The living wage (i.e. enough to have basic living needs met) is $20.20. We are a wealthy country – why not “Let’s Fix This”?? And now?
Another piss poor effort from Labour.
Labour, the party the left can count on to let them down.
Which one, the one where Britain voted for the resolution but you were in such a hurry to display your masculinity you missed it?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Trying to think of a good reason why when I’ve just spent some of my time moderating to de-escalate flaming, and you post another comment poking at someone, I shouldn’t also moderate you. Especially seeing it was only a few days ago you were moderated for a particularly inflammatory comment.
Ok Ok sorry.
Jeeze, OAB, get a garden! 🙂
Could not agree more, does wonders for piece of mind.
Just sowed another crop of lettuce, basil (eating heaps at the moment, it’s growing well) and my late season crop of Tarragon – which I hope will last me through the winter after I dry it.
I agree to.
I’ve never grown tarragon. What do you use it for?
I’ve been putting in another round of lettuces too. Plus some basil outside, which is kind of a risk down south. Just been harvesting a great crop of black currants.
Tarragon, goes well with eggs and egg dishes. Chicken for those who eat that, I used it dried when cooking it with chicken.
Do you have a glass house or window cill you can use for basil? It likes warm, I’ve been able to grow it over winter here in Auckland.
Yummy black currants cheesecake, with double cream topping – a old fav of mine 🙂
I’ll have to see if I can find some tarragon to transplant.
Basil grows here ok in pots outside but on the porch. It should be ok in the garden so long as we don’t get a cold snap, and even then it might be ok, I’ve planted it in a more sheltered spot. Growing things on a window sill is riskier due to neglect 😉 I do have a nice sunny window sill though, so maybe I’ll put some there too and cover all bases.
I love black currants, cheesecake sounds fantastic.
Thing in Auckland, you get in the habit of watering pots everyday. Or your precious plants die. Sometimes twice a day with some.
I’ll see if I can find the recipe – think it was in the Edmonds cook book.
A nativity scene.
http://www.everettpatterson.com/?p=1835
Jim Mora’s panel.
Listen if you want to know the concerns of the elderly upper middle class.
It would be interesting to compare the socio-economic backgrounds of the panellists with the overall population.
I agree Ed, I had to turn it off, it was abyssmal.
PM makes donation appeal for Auckland needy
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99882671/pm-makes-donation-appeal-for-auckland-needy
It’s a shame she and her colleagues couldn’t put together a little Xmas bonus for beneficiaries.
Time being wasted in an era of heightened seismic risk.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/nz-earthquake/100080788/dozens-of-wellington-buildings-still-havent-done-urgent-earthquake-strengthening
If only the Government of the day (National) and or the city council offered loaning money to make buildings safe in the first place, things would be moving along more quickly.
I would not give david seenothing the time of day but this is a important issue. I would like to see him live on the minamim wage for a year these people born with a silver spoon should not comment on the minamim wage its hipocyce. Look at our Australian cousins we would have to add $10 a hour to catch up to them they have strong unions and everyone has disposable income. That is why they will be able to launch a Lady’s Rugby league competition in Australia because they have fans that can afford to support the teams. It would be to hard a task for Steve Chew to launch a Lady’s Rugby professional competition because there is not enough people with disposable income to support the teams.
david seenothing thinks he and his other neo liberal m8 should keep all the money and stuff the rest of us we he can go and get _________ he is just a puppet for national Ana to kai
I’d be surprised if there is enough audience interest in a professional women’s league. It’s more of a male boofhead thing.
I suggest population is a bigger factor here Eco making women’s rugby league viable also tied to nrl clubs and only 6 teams , games will be curtain raises and a very short season hey but don’t let facts get in the way of a good socialist story
Watch out for the chemicals in that hair dye sunshine.
They may accelerate your brain rot.
Meanwhile our elite yachtsmen are trying to sponge tens of millions of public money, those commie bastards /sarc
Some people think that they can play me with out me working out there objective but no the big pictures is the muppets are playing them you like being fools and being played well good on you puppet fools I’m not going anywhere I can read yous like a book also I no you’ve been in this play for years ECO is going to win Ana to kai