George Galloway is on fire.
Listen to the first 12 minutes to hear his view of Trump, his speech and the demise of Obama. These are views you do not hear in the neoliberal mainstream media.
He does provide a fine example of Andre’s point the other day, about how some on the loonier fringes of the left would rather see a right-wing nationalist demagogue win power and implement a policy prescription big on racism, sexism and destruction of the environment, than see an insufficiently-left member of a centre-left party get the job. The convergence of extreme left and extreme right is approaching 1930s levels.
“an insufficiently-left member of a centre left party” is third way (Blairism) and is a proven disaster. Your scale goes straight from Blairism to ‘extreme’ left. I don’t see any calls for that, I only see a growing call for a return to the Left, which you conveniently leave out.
I “conveniently” left out a “return to the left,” as there were only two candidates on the ballot with any chance of success and neither represented the left (hardly surprising in a country far more conservative and right-wing-oriented than New Zealand). Referring to those two candidates, Galloway, a fine representative of the loonier fringes of the left, says it’s better that the right-wing nationalist demagogue got the job than that the fairly ordinary Democrat nominee should have it. I find that significant – don’t you?
No. It comes down to your definition of “loonier fringes of the Left”.
Don’t forget that we, and the Democrats, have under-estimated just how much people did not want “more of the same” as offered by Clinton.
Some of them so not wanted more of the same under Clinton that they elected (either actively by voting for him or passively by not voting) someone far worse. So the question is, are those people indistinguishable from fascists or just idiots? Galloway isn’t a voter in US elections, but his declaration of preference for Trump invites the same question about him – and in his case, I’m genuinely not sure which it is. Possibly both.
“someone far worse”. That is going to be hard to prove because Hillary will not get to deliver her very questionable brand of “Pax Americana” ( which is the same as the Republicans version anyway!).
Well, yes, for the left’s nutcase element there’s no way the actual, really-existing unpleasantness that Trump is about to unleash on the USA will be able to compete with their bizarre fantasies about “Killary,” “Crooked Hillary” etc. However, those of us in the reality-based community are able to spot the difference between a fairly typical Democrat presidential candidate and a Tangerine Nazi Rapeclown. It’s instructive that so many on the extreme left prefer the latter.
New Zealand is supporting them as part of the Ukraine violent Coup …. where Nazis get in power….. with a bit of death before hand …. and heaps afterwards
U.s.a sponsored and Clinton endorsed of course …..
racism, sexism and destruction of the environment …..
Are you describing what Hillary brought to Libya ????
She was afraid of NOT being able to wage ….
” the Clinton emails reveal one other important fact – that before and during the NATO conflict, Clinton and her team knew very well, and actually feared, that the conflict in Libya might very well have been resolved through negotiations;” …
” Clinton shunned such efforts, instead preferring a war, despite its quite predictably horrible consequences, which would give the U.S. and its allies the hand they wanted in the future of Libyan and African affairs.”
Hillary prevailed as we all know ……….. The results have been very bad for blacks, women, children, family’s… and human rights for the people of Libya ..
“…, before the war, Libya had less of its population in poverty than the Netherlands. Libyans had access to free health care, education, electricity and interest-free loans, and women had great freedoms that had been applauded by the U.N. Human Rights Council in January 2011, on the eve of the war that destroyed the government. ….”
War propaganda from clinton and co was used as justification for reprisals and ethnic cleansing of blacks ,,, “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added fuel to the fire by saying she was “deeply concerned” that Gaddafi’s troops were participating in widespread rape in Libya. “Rape, physical intimidation, sexual harassment, and even so-called ‘virginity tests’ have taken place..,”.
But others not pushing for wars of aggression say otherwise ….
Amnesty International crisis researcher, Donatella Rovera: “We examined this issue in depth and found no evidence. The rebels spread these rumours everywhere,…. which had terrible consequences for African guest workers: there was a systematic hunt for migrants, some were lynched and many arrested….”
Shes quite a woman that Hillary …
” the town of Tawergha had been completely eradicated of all its mainly black population by rebels in nearby Misrata, who had marked their signature on the walls to the town: “the brigade for purging slaves, black skin”
Do we think its racism that makes her such a ‘super-predator’ ???
The rant I’d write if I had the time and the skillz with words…
Just a taster:
“I’m sick of seeing people who insist on being willfully ignorant of basic civics and how government works, stunningly myopic of the bigger picture or the greater good, and outright refuse to even consider coalition building, still being catered to like customers at a high end day spa because they’re the either loudest voices in the room or are adept with or active on social media — even if they’re using it to promote laughingly biased fake news.”
‘Swimming has been banned at 10 Auckland beaches this summer because of worsening pollution from human and animal wastes.
Permanent signs declaring that the water is not safe for swimming went up at the start of summer at Laingholm and Wood Bay near Titirangi, the north and south lagoons at Piha, and at the Bethells Beach lagoon – all popular swimming spots for children too young to swim in the wild west coast surf.
Auckland Council has now stopped routine monitoring of water quality at all five sites, as well as at five other beaches that already had permanent warning signs – Cox’s Bay, Meola Reef, Weymouth, the Wairau Stream outlet at Milford Beach and Little Oneroa lagoon on Waiheke Island.
It has also issued temporary health warnings so far this summer at seven of the other 72 beaches that are still monitored.’
The worst faecal bacteria count, measured at Green Bay on November 16, was 24,200 enterococci in every 100ml of water – 173 times the maximum safe level of 140.’
Mayors are actually fairly powerless which is a Good Thing as we really don’t want petty dictatorships. But that means that the cities are run by the councillors which are either RWNJs themselves or are scared of the RWNJs call for lowering rates which results in these types of stories happening.
In other words, the problem is the RWNJs saying that we need to lower rates/taxes and the people actually believing those lies.
Stunned mullet
No I haven’t seen your mayors over the last few decades but I have seen a lot of your short comments and don’t think much of your ability to intelligently critique anything including mayors.
I live at Ngataringa Bay and have been here for 14 years.
The seawater quality is better now than for many years. The leechate from the old Devonport tip has essentially disappeared.
I also recall that Takapuna, Cheltenham and the North Shore beaches were regularly closed. This has not happened for years. There has been a huge amount spent on the sewage system that has meant that this almost never happens. The Wairau creek issue will have been much worse in the past.
So these measures of pollution have no context of time. Sure things could be better, but seawater quality has got progressively better in Auckland over the last 20 years.
So your back yard is now fine Wayne ? Oh lucky you living in a rich Nact area. However, the point of the post is that many waterways are deteriorating beyond clean up point and the council does not have the funds to do anything about it.
Another product of Nact’s “let’s load Auckland up with people” and “the rest of the country with cows”.
So as the party of everyone needs to be responsible for themselves – how about your lot taking some personal responsibility for their poor personal choices here which are impacting on the rest of us and are going to cost heaps to fix?
And why aren’t the cost of these choices going into silly old Bill English’s social investment modeling as money the taxpayers will have to spend to clean up after the righties?? It’s going to dwarf the cost of the people he is hounding
Oh and I forgot to mention – if an earlier bunch of rightie’s had had their way then there would be no Ngataringa Bay – they were going to fill it in. Lucky for you Wayne that the left & environmentalist’s fought back and won. Your lot were wrong and the left was right.
The point I am making is that such things have to be viewed in a context.
Our beaches, right across Auckland, are much better than they were 20 years ago.
Watercare is spending enormous amounts of money so that they will continue to improve.
For instance the relatively new sewage system on the Manukau is vastly better than the huge ponds that preceded it. There is a whole new round of new construction taking place at the plant to take account of growth and to improve water quality.
The five spots with permanent signs are a problem. But I know for instance that Wairau creek is substantially better as a result of building the collector tanks, probably now about ten years ago.
If asked the question,; Is water quality in the harbours continuing to improve” I would say “yes”.
So?? In context the number of places permanently off limits has just doubled. All those extra people – look at the cost of fixing it all. let’s do the social investment modelling shall we?
lol, that’s what I was thinking. If Auckland has a magic wand, why aren’t they sharing it around, that’s what I want to know. To be fair to Wayne though, he did say it disappeared, not that someone disappeared it, so maybe it’s a local phenomenon.
Being a solutions kind of person, maybe the wand can be waved inspiring all of those who really do care about the environment to up stakes and exit the burg.
En masse.
Leaving the City of Sails to those who merely seek the kudos of an Auckland address…and they will come, believe me.
And they can sit with clothes pegs on their noses admiring the sludgy tide as it ebbs and flows over the dead and stinking foreshore.
If I’m a bit tetchy about this it is because this has been featured in news reports for decades now…heavy rain flooding the stormwater and sewage system and depositing shit on Auckland beaches.
Not one single extra house or any structure should be allowed until this is sorted. Now.
Its all very well obtaining a building permit or resource consent on the basis that the developer has met the sewage and stormwater requirements when the actual infrastructure receiving those products can’t cope when it rains heavily.
Madness.
If I were living in Auckland I’d be protesting/rioting about this.
I guess it has literally literally leeched out, or alternatively properly sealed in. The tip was closed about 30 years ago and over about 10 years it was properly sealed. It is now quite a nice park.
Anyway from my experience of swimming in Ngataringa (I am one of the few who do) I can absolutely testify to the water quality progressively improving. There has been a recovery of fish life. There is less mud, more sand and the mangroves are more healthy.
I know enough about the rest of North Shore and the Waitemata to also make my observations of water quality. I both sail and fish on it regularly. In the last four weeks, three fishing trips. All with 4 or 5 snapper typically caught over a 2 hour period.
So from what I see the harbour is actually pretty good. Not perfect, but not deteriorating and at least on the North Shore, improving.
Sorry that the rest of you can only ever see a glass half empty.
Wayne – I was unable to respond yesterday; all glitched up with WordPress;
Your anecdotal comments are fair enough, in the way that everyone else’s are, but the science, represented by the warning signs mentioned earlier, tell a more reliable story. It was a bit churlish of you, I thought, to typify “the rest of us” as only ever seeing a glass half empty. That particular phrase seems to be favoured by a certain kind of person; those who laud our “100% pure rivers” by comparing them with China’s much worse rivers. Claiming that we’d be “half-empty glassers” if we believe the rivers now are far from their best, simply because you can remember them when they were even worse, is a similarly deluded, imo. As to the leachate from the landfill you cite, years of leaking and the debatable quality of the engineering of containment systems don’t have me breathing a sigh of relief over any of the tip-sites we’ve created over the past 100 years.
It would be of interest to know what the definition of a Christian is. Is it someone who believes in the idea that Jesus was the son of God etc, etc or that they follow the teachings – because the two do not necessarily go together – frequently don’t, in fact!
If anyone missed it, China housing bubble just popped. Volcanic shelter-flippers can take a break together with the Great Auk. It could be a long and bumpy ride down if the earth moves again.
The incoming administration allocated at least a dozen of 183 seats on the inaugural platform to donors and fundraisers, who sat beside cabinet designees, senators, and President Trump’s immediate family. Another 49 seats for the pre-inaugural Friday morning church service, which Trump attended, were allocated to a billionaire fundraiser.
The documents, which come from the inauguration’s organizing committee, paint a markedly different picture than the one Trump presented during the campaign, that of a swashbuckling populist who would overturn “the rigged system” and drain Washington’s corrupt “swamp” of money-driven influence.
If these documents are any indication, Trump’s inner circle is shaping up to be even more plutocratic and insular than that of previous presidents.
…
In 2013, the New York Times made an incomplete chart showing many of the attendees who were granted platform seats for Barack Obama’s second inaugural. Only two of those among the platform crowd who the Times was able to identify were megadonors—Chris Hughes, the Facebook co-founder, and his husband Sean Eldridge.
Well, it’s Sunday and perhaps minor issues like racist images on popular New Zealand products will interest people who have had enough of politics with a capital “P” during the week. That’s what I reckon, stunned.
Did you watch the video of the woman who comes from a country with a large population of people of African descent, whose job it is to study social phenomena? A few clues there.
Stunned thinks, nothing to see here, move on.
Yates could easily capitulate, acknowledge the problem, change the image and enjoy the kudos and free publicity. But they seem to have dug in (when in a hole etc…garden suppliers after all)
A bigger problem is the way people get upset over things like this and ascribe meanings which in the past were never thought of .. the world is progressively getting more and more idiotic with false sensitivities for political reasons.
Have you noticed the lamp? which suggests to me an ‘Arabian nights’ fairy tale so it is logical the character will be darker skinned than northern european.
Latest NZCPC comment by Muriel Newman puts her finger squarely on the problem of PC or political crap.
After years of neo-liberal propaganda, what goes for ‘middle-of-the-road’ these days is nothing like the views that would have been considered ‘centrist’ sometime earlier (depicted in my sketch).
Now the whole continuum has become distorted. The Third Wayers (Blairites) and the rest of the faux progressives have not only dislocated the Political Left from the True Left but also skewed the distribution of views to the right.
The Political Left is close to where the Right used to sit (the scales on my sketch are meaningful) and as a result, what is now termed ‘centrist’, has shifted dramatically to the right of the distribution.
The Right is now much more extreme than it used to be (particularly on economic matters).
TRUE LEFT ———————————————— POLITICAL LEFT——— CENTRIST VIEWS — RIGHT
Except for a few fringe dwellers in social media the political right in New Zealand is far from extreme. Given that many people claim little real difference between the two larges parties here, National and Labour, and some claim with justification that some Green policy positions (especially environmental) transcend political alignments.
“Except for a few fringe dwellers in social media the political right in New Zealand is far from extreme. ”
I should point out your simply wrong. Both the political left and right in NZ are wedded to a position adopted by Labour4 that the market, left to its own devices, provides a close to ideal social and political environment (which is responsible for most social goods). That is an extreme position and demonstrably incorrect.
I did a binge watch of “The Fugitive” a couple of years ago. Richard Kimble (The Fugitive) lives his life in the USA at the bottom of society, on the margins, so there are shows, in passing, about union troubles and boss/workers troubles. It really shows how far to the right the USA has moved on these issues in just over 50 years.
(And it’s a really interesting watch for two other reasons:
1) for how the adults act towards the teenagers of the time (the baby boom generation). It’s like their force of numbers means that the adults perceive them as just inherently troublesome and
2) for how primitive all the technology was just 50 years ago)
Trump repeated a campaign line that the U.S. should have “kept”‘ Iraq’s oil after the 2003 invasion, saying that might have blocked the rise of the Islamic State. He added: “Maybe we’ll have another chance.” The president again said he opposed the Iraq war, though interviews at the time indicated otherwise.
The Retirement Commissioner is getting airplay for the problems of funding the old age pension (superannuation) giving the large costs which she forecasts to go to 90 billion a year by 2020 I think. There is talk about shifting it up to 67 which is a commonsense way of dealing with it. That there are not enough paid jobs to go round doesn’t enter into it. The Wince department drives people into depression and oppresses and degrades those forced to go on the treadmill who aren’t the right fit for employers and the cold-blooded working -bludgers-being-bludgeoned system is not acknowledged either.
It’s time to face up to the truth that money is a system of exchangeable tokens. It’s a way to convert credits to a virtually universal transfer system. What is essential to have is food, housing, security, transport, personal care for health, spectacles etc. – that doesn’t change. If retired people can earn credits by doing something that is useful to society then they should be given enough credits from the system to provide for themselves to a decent level. Then any money they manage to earn can be on top of that. Superannuation tax on income would be 5% for the first $20,000 and 40% over that, and all the time there would be no tax on their basic pension.
Also planned demise will be legalised with a practical, thoughtful system set up that people could choose to ignore, or opt into or out of with set steps to follow, and would apply to all those over 70 and to medical personnel or others. There may be specially designated trained and certificated people to be the dying equivalents of marriage celebrants.
Instead of top-down policies for older people, with decisions made for them,
there should be groups holding discussions around the country as to how they should be treated. There are enough capable, mature minds still functioning well and able to absorb facts, discuss financial matters, standards of living, standards of ethical treatment, philosophical and religious aspects.
Then there is the conflict caused by generational unbalance in numbers and expectations, in political power and experience and the lack of input into society by many wage earners when they retire although receiving much respectful assistance and finance from society on top of any income and assets they hold, which is not equally available to the young vulnerable adult.
Why is the retirement comissioner engaged in undermining entitlements for pensioners? Is that part of her job description? Given the impending boom in demand for services for the retired, should she not be advocating for capacity increases and additional training to relieve inflationary pressures here before they arrise?
My comment about the Retirement Commissioner will probably come up later.
It’s 12.52 22/1 now. I will put the link to Radionz item of the Commissioner below. I think some have not been able to access this easily. I have found that if the link is put in the subject heading window in a new tab, it goes through okay to the item summary with the listen button at top.
This will be a sub-set of the Hilary vote feeling good about themselves but, like the Occupy Movement, achieving no effective change because they are only ever preaching to the converted.
Rather than making an effort to understand how the people they need to win over think and changing the strategy to fit. Whining and stomping feet ‘aint it.
Still, I guess some people got some much needed exercise, so it’s not all a waste of time.
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Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
What is language? We generally assume that it a facility unique to humans, allowing us to share what’s in and on our minds. We can tell of our plans, our past exploits, our knowledge. It also allows us to lie. And yet there are vast numbers of people we can’t ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
As the New Zealand First Party gathers for its annual conference, the question swirling in the year is how it can carve out a path to avoid electoral defeat in 2020, writes Jo Moir for RNZ. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s a familiar break up excuse that’s used ...
To the early intervention therapists, to the teachers, to the speech therapists, the occupational therapists, music therapists, diabetes nurses and all: you change the world.When I was married almost a decade ago we had the following reading at our wedding:You are holding up a ceilingwith both arms. It is very ...
The faces said it all. The smiles of the European leaders crowded round Boris after the Brexit deal was struck. The deal his opponents – no, pretty much everyone – said was impossible.So what’s in it? The detail is still opaque, but subject to gremlins in the fine print, ...
Iran attracts an onslaught of negative media in New Zealand and Western media. But is it fair or deserved? David Robie has spent several weeks travelling in the country on sabbatical and finds the media negativity far from the reality of the “most friendly” country he has ever visited ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan. They talk about Alan Jones accusing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of failing the immediate needs of drought-striken farmers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow in Geometallurgy/Applied Geochemistry, The University of Queensland Last month, scientists uncovered a mineral called Edscottite. Minerals are solid, naturally occurring substances that are not living, such as quartz or haematite. This new mineral was discovered after an ...
The Auckland-based collective talk origins, ambitions and making the rave accessible to everybody.Friendly Potential is an outfit that defies easy summary. They’re among the country’s most ambitious and prolific club promoters. In their almost five-years of operation, they’ve been responsible for the local debuts of electronic music icons including Detroit ...
Analysis: Two polls show support for Labour sliding, the government is accused of breaking another promise and the Greens's refusal to back a bill forces Labour to rely on National to get it through. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Lindsey, University of Technology Sydney One spring morning in 1850, over 8,000 Sydneysiders marched through town to protest the resumption of transportation – the act of sending British criminals to Australia. It was the largest protest in Australia thus far, an ...
Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses. ...
Sam Brooks recaps the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and wonders why some of these queens don’t know how to sew.This episode asks, and sort of answers the main question that millions of people across the world: why would you come on Drag Race and not know how to sew?!There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John M Clarke, Team Leader, Regional Projections, CSIRO Last month we lost Dr Penny Whetton – one of the world’s most respected climate scientists and a brilliant mentor to the next generation of researchers. Penny will also be remembered as a passionate ...
Ten moose were upended into the Dusky Sounds in 1910. Now, their descendants are getting their day in the sun.The climate crisis is affecting wildlife all over the country: rockhopper penguin populations are in drastic decline, tuatara eggs aren’t hatching females, and the ice walls keeping predators away from kea ...
Security footage of NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell being thrown out of a Tauranga bar looks unlikely to ever be aired - despite his leader Winston Peters promising a screening. ...
Amnesty International is concerned that Justice Minister Andrew Little's Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill could have the potential to undermine human rights in New Zealand. The Bill would give the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to ...
Expect the old campaigner Winston Peters to be at his belligerent best as he gears up for another election. He’s kept his party alive for 27 years and he shows no sign of quitting. The omens may be bleak—polls this week showed his party below the 5% threshold– but Peters ...
The National Party has agreed to take down any videos breaching the current rules around the use of parliamentary TV footage, as all parties try to reach consensus. ...
Recently the Health Promotion Agency released a report into hazardous drinking in New Zealand. The report shows that Māori who drink alcohol and live in deprived circumstances are less likely to have a harmful relationship with alcohol if they ...
Turkey-US joint-statement on military ops within Syria’s territory.The Turkish Embassy in New Zealand issued Evening Report this unabridged United States of America-Republic of Turkey joint-statement detailing what both sides agreed to regarding Turkey’s military operations within the so-called security zone within Syrian territory near Turkey’s southern border. It is ...
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash didn’t mention what winners will receive, when he proudly called for entries for a new public award “to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector”. Nor did he mention the cost to taxpayers of this initiative. Point of Order’s checks with the website where more details have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona R Martin, Senior Lecturer in Convergent and Online Media, University of Sydney One of the basic tenets of the ABC Act is independence from government. Yet once again, in contravention to that principle, the federal government is trying to push through ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Lily Holloway.modernity to globalisationwhen I get there as still life and landscape and also portraitureseeking the cacti in small pots who dot the globeslices of pie offer up the vision after the sermonexpressing emotions without coherent narrative supportbecause no artist responded to this callemploying ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi to rule out any taxpayer-funded purchase or bailout for Mediaworks’s channel Three. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “For the last few months Mediaworks ...
The Police Commissioner's announcement that squadcars of officers with automatic rifles will patrol New Zealand's streets is dangerous and unnecessary, according to the criminal justice community organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The ...
News broke this morning that Mediaworks is seeking to sell off, and even contemplating closing, its TV division. What might that mean for journalism?For journalism in New Zealand, the loss of Three’s TV division is a devastating blow. It is not yet known whether any of the news properties will ...
In our defence of our coalition Government policy on climate change, we fully support Government plan to use rail funding for rail infrastructure upgrades to promote use rail infrastructure for freight around NZ. ...
The billions of tonnes of plastic in our oceans isn’t going away any time soon, but innovative companies here and abroad are working together to find silver linings to this daunting problem.Fishing boats head out to sea and set their nets. They go back to shore. They head back out, ...
An EveningReport.nz investigation by Kevin ListKiwibank services. Image by Kevin List.Evening Report looks into the separation of Kiwibank from New Zealand Post, and considers the impact on the public’s access to banking services in their communities.Kiwibank. What’s going on? Kiwibank and New Zealand Post are in the ...
Local Government New Zealand today confirmed what many local election commentators have observed; that more of the voting public cast their ballots in favour of women candidates than ever before. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington (this week we totted up the data a day early, on Wednesday, to let our books ed. ...
New Zealand's mineral manufacturing sector is expected to face some testing times, with softer prices, tighter margins and sluggish export markets. ...
Portugal has been painted by pro-cannabis legalisation groups as a model to follow. Yet just last month, the mayor of Porto contradicted his previous pro-harm reduction position and endorsed reintroducing criminal penalties for drug use in public spaces. ...
Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short announced today the inclusion of six Cook Island First World War soldiers in the New Zealand and Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s official rolls of honour. ...
The latest statistics released by the Health Promotion Agency showing a dramatic fall in the numbers of cigarettes being sold in supermarkets, service stations, and liquor stores are being welcomed by the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ). ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.NZ First Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Where to from here? How NZ First will win in ...
Aotearoa Climate Emergency (ACE), a climate change network, will host a conference in Wellington on 11 November (Armistice Day) to promote holding a Citizens Assembly in 2020, as a way of breaking the current political deadlock on treating climate ...
MediaWorks’ owners have called time after years of losses from its TV division. Sources say the company will announce it is for sale – if no buyers emerge, it will close within months.Three is facing the biggest crisis in its three decade history today, as its ownership will soon announce ...
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Open Mike 22/01/2017 
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Colbert on fire. Finally I’ve learned what length a tie should be tied at.
Stacey Herbert and Max Keiser on fire. I learnt why the Democrats lost the US election.
It was because they relied on quants and algorithms.
George Galloway is on fire.
Listen to the first 12 minutes to hear his view of Trump, his speech and the demise of Obama. These are views you do not hear in the neoliberal mainstream media.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj1PjSpkPss
Everyone’s on fire.
He does provide a fine example of Andre’s point the other day, about how some on the loonier fringes of the left would rather see a right-wing nationalist demagogue win power and implement a policy prescription big on racism, sexism and destruction of the environment, than see an insufficiently-left member of a centre-left party get the job. The convergence of extreme left and extreme right is approaching 1930s levels.
“an insufficiently-left member of a centre left party” is third way (Blairism) and is a proven disaster. Your scale goes straight from Blairism to ‘extreme’ left. I don’t see any calls for that, I only see a growing call for a return to the Left, which you conveniently leave out.
I “conveniently” left out a “return to the left,” as there were only two candidates on the ballot with any chance of success and neither represented the left (hardly surprising in a country far more conservative and right-wing-oriented than New Zealand). Referring to those two candidates, Galloway, a fine representative of the loonier fringes of the left, says it’s better that the right-wing nationalist demagogue got the job than that the fairly ordinary Democrat nominee should have it. I find that significant – don’t you?
No. It comes down to your definition of “loonier fringes of the Left”.
Don’t forget that we, and the Democrats, have under-estimated just how much people did not want “more of the same” as offered by Clinton.
Some of them so not wanted more of the same under Clinton that they elected (either actively by voting for him or passively by not voting) someone far worse. So the question is, are those people indistinguishable from fascists or just idiots? Galloway isn’t a voter in US elections, but his declaration of preference for Trump invites the same question about him – and in his case, I’m genuinely not sure which it is. Possibly both.
“someone far worse”. That is going to be hard to prove because Hillary will not get to deliver her very questionable brand of “Pax Americana” ( which is the same as the Republicans version anyway!).
Well, yes, for the left’s nutcase element there’s no way the actual, really-existing unpleasantness that Trump is about to unleash on the USA will be able to compete with their bizarre fantasies about “Killary,” “Crooked Hillary” etc. However, those of us in the reality-based community are able to spot the difference between a fairly typical Democrat presidential candidate and a Tangerine Nazi Rapeclown. It’s instructive that so many on the extreme left prefer the latter.
And did you mention nazis ????
New Zealand is supporting them as part of the Ukraine violent Coup …. where Nazis get in power….. with a bit of death before hand …. and heaps afterwards
U.s.a sponsored and Clinton endorsed of course …..
They care not who they kill
racism, sexism and destruction of the environment …..
Are you describing what Hillary brought to Libya ????
She was afraid of NOT being able to wage ….
” the Clinton emails reveal one other important fact – that before and during the NATO conflict, Clinton and her team knew very well, and actually feared, that the conflict in Libya might very well have been resolved through negotiations;” …
” Clinton shunned such efforts, instead preferring a war, despite its quite predictably horrible consequences, which would give the U.S. and its allies the hand they wanted in the future of Libyan and African affairs.”
Hillary prevailed as we all know ……….. The results have been very bad for blacks, women, children, family’s… and human rights for the people of Libya ..
“…, before the war, Libya had less of its population in poverty than the Netherlands. Libyans had access to free health care, education, electricity and interest-free loans, and women had great freedoms that had been applauded by the U.N. Human Rights Council in January 2011, on the eve of the war that destroyed the government. ….”
And now ?.?, ?”Control and crucifixions: Life in Libya under IS”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35325072
War propaganda from clinton and co was used as justification for reprisals and ethnic cleansing of blacks ,,, “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added fuel to the fire by saying she was “deeply concerned” that Gaddafi’s troops were participating in widespread rape in Libya. “Rape, physical intimidation, sexual harassment, and even so-called ‘virginity tests’ have taken place..,”.
But others not pushing for wars of aggression say otherwise ….
Amnesty International crisis researcher, Donatella Rovera: “We examined this issue in depth and found no evidence. The rebels spread these rumours everywhere,…. which had terrible consequences for African guest workers: there was a systematic hunt for migrants, some were lynched and many arrested….”
Shes quite a woman that Hillary …
” the town of Tawergha had been completely eradicated of all its mainly black population by rebels in nearby Misrata, who had marked their signature on the walls to the town: “the brigade for purging slaves, black skin”
Do we think its racism that makes her such a ‘super-predator’ ???
Or is she just a psycho like her mentor Kissinger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmOb6DRrLWg
The rant I’d write if I had the time and the skillz with words…
Just a taster:
“I’m sick of seeing people who insist on being willfully ignorant of basic civics and how government works, stunningly myopic of the bigger picture or the greater good, and outright refuse to even consider coalition building, still being catered to like customers at a high end day spa because they’re the either loudest voices in the room or are adept with or active on social media — even if they’re using it to promote laughingly biased fake news.”
View at Medium.com
Hmm,
Galloway as a touchstone of sensible political analysis. Probably enough said with that one observation.
Clean Green New Zealand.
‘Swimming has been banned at 10 Auckland beaches this summer because of worsening pollution from human and animal wastes.
Permanent signs declaring that the water is not safe for swimming went up at the start of summer at Laingholm and Wood Bay near Titirangi, the north and south lagoons at Piha, and at the Bethells Beach lagoon – all popular swimming spots for children too young to swim in the wild west coast surf.
Auckland Council has now stopped routine monitoring of water quality at all five sites, as well as at five other beaches that already had permanent warning signs – Cox’s Bay, Meola Reef, Weymouth, the Wairau Stream outlet at Milford Beach and Little Oneroa lagoon on Waiheke Island.
It has also issued temporary health warnings so far this summer at seven of the other 72 beaches that are still monitored.’
The worst faecal bacteria count, measured at Green Bay on November 16, was 24,200 enterococci in every 100ml of water – 173 times the maximum safe level of 140.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11786380
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11785299
Auckland eh? What a shithole.
This has been happening for years…yet the message is…. build more houses!
Bring in more people! With the extra rates we can fix the infrastructure!
Stupid.
Talking of stupid, have you seen our mayors over the last few decades.
And have you read the above comment?
Mayors are actually fairly powerless which is a Good Thing as we really don’t want petty dictatorships. But that means that the cities are run by the councillors which are either RWNJs themselves or are scared of the RWNJs call for lowering rates which results in these types of stories happening.
In other words, the problem is the RWNJs saying that we need to lower rates/taxes and the people actually believing those lies.
Stunned mullet
No I haven’t seen your mayors over the last few decades but I have seen a lot of your short comments and don’t think much of your ability to intelligently critique anything including mayors.
I live at Ngataringa Bay and have been here for 14 years.
The seawater quality is better now than for many years. The leechate from the old Devonport tip has essentially disappeared.
I also recall that Takapuna, Cheltenham and the North Shore beaches were regularly closed. This has not happened for years. There has been a huge amount spent on the sewage system that has meant that this almost never happens. The Wairau creek issue will have been much worse in the past.
So these measures of pollution have no context of time. Sure things could be better, but seawater quality has got progressively better in Auckland over the last 20 years.
There is still no excuse for so many places to be unsafe for swimming. “It could be worse” is the classic canard of the visionless.
Those permanent signs must just be a wee jolly prank then. That’s a relief.
So your back yard is now fine Wayne ? Oh lucky you living in a rich Nact area. However, the point of the post is that many waterways are deteriorating beyond clean up point and the council does not have the funds to do anything about it.
Another product of Nact’s “let’s load Auckland up with people” and “the rest of the country with cows”.
So as the party of everyone needs to be responsible for themselves – how about your lot taking some personal responsibility for their poor personal choices here which are impacting on the rest of us and are going to cost heaps to fix?
And why aren’t the cost of these choices going into silly old Bill English’s social investment modeling as money the taxpayers will have to spend to clean up after the righties?? It’s going to dwarf the cost of the people he is hounding
Oh and I forgot to mention – if an earlier bunch of rightie’s had had their way then there would be no Ngataringa Bay – they were going to fill it in. Lucky for you Wayne that the left & environmentalist’s fought back and won. Your lot were wrong and the left was right.
The point I am making is that such things have to be viewed in a context.
Our beaches, right across Auckland, are much better than they were 20 years ago.
Watercare is spending enormous amounts of money so that they will continue to improve.
For instance the relatively new sewage system on the Manukau is vastly better than the huge ponds that preceded it. There is a whole new round of new construction taking place at the plant to take account of growth and to improve water quality.
The five spots with permanent signs are a problem. But I know for instance that Wairau creek is substantially better as a result of building the collector tanks, probably now about ten years ago.
If asked the question,; Is water quality in the harbours continuing to improve” I would say “yes”.
So?? In context the number of places permanently off limits has just doubled. All those extra people – look at the cost of fixing it all. let’s do the social investment modelling shall we?
No they’re not.
That’s five new spots. There were other spots that had permanent warning signs up before them.
Have you got research to back that up?
Because if you don’t then it’s simply unfounded opinion.
” The leechate from the old Devonport tip has essentially disappeared.”
Poof! Just like that!
lol, that’s what I was thinking. If Auckland has a magic wand, why aren’t they sharing it around, that’s what I want to know. To be fair to Wayne though, he did say it disappeared, not that someone disappeared it, so maybe it’s a local phenomenon.
“To be fair to Wayne though, …”
Why?
The King of NIMBY and I’m Alright, Jack needs none of us to support his position.
Wayne…you will just never get it will you?
You do actually reside in your own little island -in- your -head.
I was being satirical 😉
So was I. 😉 😉
Are you sure? Because your makes sense and is meaningful when read straight.
“Are you sure? Because your makes sense and is meaningful when read straight.”
Now I’m not sure what you’re saying here. 🙂
The “Why” was satirical.
The rest was not so much. 😉
Satire and sarcasm never come across well in text and can thus often lead to miscommunication.
Agree with Draco, it was impossible to tell that that was satirical.
“If Auckland has a magic wand….”
Being a solutions kind of person, maybe the wand can be waved inspiring all of those who really do care about the environment to up stakes and exit the burg.
En masse.
Leaving the City of Sails to those who merely seek the kudos of an Auckland address…and they will come, believe me.
And they can sit with clothes pegs on their noses admiring the sludgy tide as it ebbs and flows over the dead and stinking foreshore.
If I’m a bit tetchy about this it is because this has been featured in news reports for decades now…heavy rain flooding the stormwater and sewage system and depositing shit on Auckland beaches.
Not one single extra house or any structure should be allowed until this is sorted. Now.
Its all very well obtaining a building permit or resource consent on the basis that the developer has met the sewage and stormwater requirements when the actual infrastructure receiving those products can’t cope when it rains heavily.
Madness.
If I were living in Auckland I’d be protesting/rioting about this.
Robert,
I guess it has literally literally leeched out, or alternatively properly sealed in. The tip was closed about 30 years ago and over about 10 years it was properly sealed. It is now quite a nice park.
Anyway from my experience of swimming in Ngataringa (I am one of the few who do) I can absolutely testify to the water quality progressively improving. There has been a recovery of fish life. There is less mud, more sand and the mangroves are more healthy.
I know enough about the rest of North Shore and the Waitemata to also make my observations of water quality. I both sail and fish on it regularly. In the last four weeks, three fishing trips. All with 4 or 5 snapper typically caught over a 2 hour period.
So from what I see the harbour is actually pretty good. Not perfect, but not deteriorating and at least on the North Shore, improving.
Sorry that the rest of you can only ever see a glass half empty.
Wayne – I was unable to respond yesterday; all glitched up with WordPress;
Your anecdotal comments are fair enough, in the way that everyone else’s are, but the science, represented by the warning signs mentioned earlier, tell a more reliable story. It was a bit churlish of you, I thought, to typify “the rest of us” as only ever seeing a glass half empty. That particular phrase seems to be favoured by a certain kind of person; those who laud our “100% pure rivers” by comparing them with China’s much worse rivers. Claiming that we’d be “half-empty glassers” if we believe the rivers now are far from their best, simply because you can remember them when they were even worse, is a similarly deluded, imo. As to the leachate from the landfill you cite, years of leaking and the debatable quality of the engineering of containment systems don’t have me breathing a sigh of relief over any of the tip-sites we’ve created over the past 100 years.
President Donald J Trump: It all begins today.
Indeed it does Mr President. And godspeed Mr President, godspeed.
If your god is on the side of Trump then it just reflects how stupid this whole god concept is.
No-one could claim Trump is a Christian.
It would be of interest to know what the definition of a Christian is. Is it someone who believes in the idea that Jesus was the son of God etc, etc or that they follow the teachings – because the two do not necessarily go together – frequently don’t, in fact!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-18/china-housing-bubble-finally-pops-first-slowdown-after-19-months-acceleration
If anyone missed it, China housing bubble just popped. Volcanic shelter-flippers can take a break together with the Great Auk. It could be a long and bumpy ride down if the earth moves again.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-20/real-markets%C2%A0are-not-pop-economics
It looks like Trumps main financial backers include many mega-wealthy, like Peter Thiel.
Mattathias Schwartz writes:
The Black Magic debate – are you offended by this logo?
Should Yates rebrand?
You’ve heard of Zoo-do, but Voodoo…?
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/88568961/kiwi-gardening-company-defends-black-magic-product-amid-racism-concerns
Must be a slow news day.
Well, it’s Sunday and perhaps minor issues like racist images on popular New Zealand products will interest people who have had enough of politics with a capital “P” during the week. That’s what I reckon, stunned.
What is racist about the image ?
Everything.
Hoodoo you think might find that image offensive?
“What is racist about the image ?”
Did you watch the video of the woman who comes from a country with a large population of people of African descent, whose job it is to study social phenomena? A few clues there.
OMG, I was thinking “so it’s called Black Magic, big whoop,” then I clicked on the story and saw the image. What the serious fuck were they thinking?
Stunned thinks, nothing to see here, move on.
Yates could easily capitulate, acknowledge the problem, change the image and enjoy the kudos and free publicity. But they seem to have dug in (when in a hole etc…garden suppliers after all)
Brought up on Little Black Sambo, I shouldn’t wonder. Hasn’t noticed the world has moved on – friend of the mad butcher, maybe
Yates is now a subsidiary of DuluxGroup, an Australian listed company on the S&P/ASX 200.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yates_(company)
It’s as inoffensive as a Thai Hitler restaurant.
A bigger problem is the way people get upset over things like this and ascribe meanings which in the past were never thought of .. the world is progressively getting more and more idiotic with false sensitivities for political reasons.
Have you noticed the lamp? which suggests to me an ‘Arabian nights’ fairy tale so it is logical the character will be darker skinned than northern european.
Latest NZCPC comment by Muriel Newman puts her finger squarely on the problem of PC or political crap.
Upset? More tidying up things that have passed unnoticed, due to familiarity. Muriel gets upset though, whenever anyone points out such issues.
Post on third-way politics. With a bonus, implications of NZ govt meddling in US politics.
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=35202
Weka might be interested in this part:
Except for a few fringe dwellers in social media the political right in New Zealand is far from extreme. Given that many people claim little real difference between the two larges parties here, National and Labour, and some claim with justification that some Green policy positions (especially environmental) transcend political alignments.
Since your trying to claim
“Except for a few fringe dwellers in social media the political right in New Zealand is far from extreme. ”
I should point out your simply wrong. Both the political left and right in NZ are wedded to a position adopted by Labour4 that the market, left to its own devices, provides a close to ideal social and political environment (which is responsible for most social goods). That is an extreme position and demonstrably incorrect.
Weka understands that, BTW.
I did a binge watch of “The Fugitive” a couple of years ago. Richard Kimble (The Fugitive) lives his life in the USA at the bottom of society, on the margins, so there are shows, in passing, about union troubles and boss/workers troubles. It really shows how far to the right the USA has moved on these issues in just over 50 years.
(And it’s a really interesting watch for two other reasons:
1) for how the adults act towards the teenagers of the time (the baby boom generation). It’s like their force of numbers means that the adults perceive them as just inherently troublesome and
2) for how primitive all the technology was just 50 years ago)
Plus, where’s that guy’s missing arm?
Our most valuable asset
Can’t be made, mined or bought
Is misunderstood,misapplied and disregarded
https://www.mcc-berlin.net/en/research/co2-budget.html
Labour in the U.K. – Corbyn looking to deliver how some of us predicted. (According to their own figures).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/20/exclusive-labour-set-lose-copeland-by-election-partys-canvass/
Probably only because hes not far left enough
But emails!.
Trump repeated a campaign line that the U.S. should have “kept”‘ Iraq’s oil after the 2003 invasion, saying that might have blocked the rise of the Islamic State. He added: “Maybe we’ll have another chance.” The president again said he opposed the Iraq war, though interviews at the time indicated otherwise.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/21/donald-trump-president-day-two-prayer-service-national-cathedral/96877028/
The Retirement Commissioner is getting airplay for the problems of funding the old age pension (superannuation) giving the large costs which she forecasts to go to 90 billion a year by 2020 I think. There is talk about shifting it up to 67 which is a commonsense way of dealing with it. That there are not enough paid jobs to go round doesn’t enter into it. The Wince department drives people into depression and oppresses and degrades those forced to go on the treadmill who aren’t the right fit for employers and the cold-blooded working -bludgers-being-bludgeoned system is not acknowledged either.
It’s time to face up to the truth that money is a system of exchangeable tokens. It’s a way to convert credits to a virtually universal transfer system. What is essential to have is food, housing, security, transport, personal care for health, spectacles etc. – that doesn’t change. If retired people can earn credits by doing something that is useful to society then they should be given enough credits from the system to provide for themselves to a decent level. Then any money they manage to earn can be on top of that. Superannuation tax on income would be 5% for the first $20,000 and 40% over that, and all the time there would be no tax on their basic pension.
Also planned demise will be legalised with a practical, thoughtful system set up that people could choose to ignore, or opt into or out of with set steps to follow, and would apply to all those over 70 and to medical personnel or others. There may be specially designated trained and certificated people to be the dying equivalents of marriage celebrants.
Instead of top-down policies for older people, with decisions made for them,
there should be groups holding discussions around the country as to how they should be treated. There are enough capable, mature minds still functioning well and able to absorb facts, discuss financial matters, standards of living, standards of ethical treatment, philosophical and religious aspects.
Then there is the conflict caused by generational unbalance in numbers and expectations, in political power and experience and the lack of input into society by many wage earners when they retire although receiving much respectful assistance and finance from society on top of any income and assets they hold, which is not equally available to the young vulnerable adult.
Why is the retirement comissioner engaged in undermining entitlements for pensioners? Is that part of her job description? Given the impending boom in demand for services for the retired, should she not be advocating for capacity increases and additional training to relieve inflationary pressures here before they arrise?
My comment about the Retirement Commissioner will probably come up later.
It’s 12.52 22/1 now. I will put the link to Radionz item of the Commissioner below. I think some have not been able to access this easily. I have found that if the link is put in the subject heading window in a new tab, it goes through okay to the item summary with the listen button at top.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-weekend/audio/201830221/commissioned-retirement-commissioner-diane-maxwell
Don’t like the result?, Protest
Don’t like the policies?, Protest
Got an axe to grind?, Protest
Yawn, do something useful such as get a job, get a haircut and have a shower….
[away you go troll, 2 weeks. – weka]
[2 weeks is Waitangi Day, so better to make it 3 weeks. – weka]
[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.]
You forgot to mention yell racism and sexism.
Or lynch mob the arrogant right who like to denigrate and label those who actually give a damn about others!
Welcome back 😉
This will be a sub-set of the Hilary vote feeling good about themselves but, like the Occupy Movement, achieving no effective change because they are only ever preaching to the converted.
Rather than making an effort to understand how the people they need to win over think and changing the strategy to fit. Whining and stomping feet ‘aint it.
Still, I guess some people got some much needed exercise, so it’s not all a waste of time.