(it’s always a good idea to start yr day with a belly-laff..and this one’ll do it for ya..)
..parker has had his thinking cap on…
..and he has come up with what really ails labour..
..and hold onto your seats..!..it’s the colour red…
(..and the fact that labour supporters are members of ‘a cult’..(!)..)
..no no..!..c’mon..!..hear him out..!
“..Like a cult and too red – Parker on Labour..(ed:..breaking news..!..parker has discovered what labours’ problems are..it’s the colour red..(!)..(who knew..?..)
(ed:..any reader-suggestions for a new colour from/for labour..?
..i reckon a pale-blue wd pretty much nail it..eh..?..
..and well done! to that parker ..eh.?
..for his keen analysis/solutions to all that ails labour..
Like, Labour is not National Lite already!!!
SMH in disbelief.
I hope he gets sucked into a black hole of political oblivion, or just switch on to leading ACT. That would suit his ideology I suppose.
Obviously Parker hasn’t any acquaintances who worship the colour blue. I had several conversations before the election with diehard National voters who constantly spoke of the importance of the colour blue *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*.
I can imagine your parties – a whole lot of slobs having a fart competition and boasting about the sexual conquests they’d have if feminism hadn’t turned women against them. Hmm, a bit like Sealord Jones and Back Pussy Tamihere mixed with Jamie Whyte Power and Simon Bridges. Yuck.
Anyone hear Suzie Ferguson’s interview of Len Brown on Morning Report?
The whole tine and content sounded like Cameron Slater provided her with the direction for the interview.
Dirty Politics alive and well.
And now on Morning Report.
Disgraceful.
Really rude interviewing. Gotcha stuff. Rather than any discussion about the need to extend rail. Why does she have to do it that way – she seems to have a particular hatred of mayors of the left because she does the same to Lianne Dalziel.
ALL of morning reports interviews are like this – gyon only looked good on the JK/dirty pol one because of the dumb answers the PM gave – not because the interview method changed
The problem I have framu, what does one listen to or see first thing in the morning for local news
You’ve got Gyon on Morning Report, That dick called Christy complete with simpering sidekick on TV One, and soon we will have prat Henry on Three.
Definitely a need for a completely independent news channel.
@ Paul
I noticed something in her interview on – Does NZ want elite universities? where she was hammering the bit about the salaries perhaps being too high as a way of bringing fees down. They do truly compete against overseas in this, unlike our many CEOs, economists and service providers to gummint who talk their own increments up and up.
Also MPs who are two a penny, and probably should be judged for salary increases from that level!
She let one question get away and that was the amount spent on advertising and promotion, which the speaker assured here was tiny compared to their overall budget, of which salaries amounted to 60%. I believe advertising can be around $2 million which if halved could provide $1m of discretionary money, a useful amount. And does that sum include PR also, which seems to have ballooned as a sapper of budgets in many government-related organisations.
A good point made was that the cpi measures certain household requirements and unis have disproportionate high labour costs so really aren’t so concerned about household matters. (For instance, the rise in the price of cabbages, which was quoted one year when the CPI had risen strongly in the vegetable ‘basket’).
The fact is the educators and researchers are underpaid, micro managed and controlled, while a new class of University “managers” are getting the dosh.
But hose organisations that do need them need competent ones, not managers who are merely competent at climbing the corporate ladder and empire-building.
No, I’m pretty sure that there’s no organisations that need managers. They may need some administration types, and good ones at that, but not managers.
During a debate in the House of Lords, [Lord Freud] appeared to describe the changing number of disabled people likely to receive the employment and support allowance as a “bulge of, effectively, stock”. After a furious response by the people he was talking about, this was transcribed by Hansard as “stopped”, rendering the sentence meaningless. I’ve listened to the word several times on the parliamentary video. Like others, I struggle to hear it as anything but “stock”.
If we’re right, he is not the only person at his department who uses this term. Its website describes disabled people entering the government’s work programme for between three and six months as “3/6Mth stock”. Perhaps this makes sense when you remember that they are a source of profit for the companies running the programme. The department’s delivery plan recommends using “credit reference agency data to cleanse the stock of fraud and error”. To cleanse the stock: remember that.
Is it reassuring or sinister that in the comments of this article by George Monbiot there are people who think this article is an over-reaction to computer language? It’s the programs that call people ‘stock’ and no problem that humans are just repeating it, they don’t really think like that, they say.
Sorry can’t agree with you on that one TRP
I worked for one particular company for over 20 years, The owner who was an officer and a gentleman and a war hero would refer to any member of his staff as a valued member of the company. I am sure he would have been horrified if they were referred as a “human resource.”
We know businesses need resources, but there is not the need to refer to staff as some form of stock item. to be used and abused and possibly sold off in end of year sales.
I have just noticed, I had another silly old sod (SOS) moment
That word creped should have been crept. Ah well, suppose you can’t win them all.
halfcrown- The best I heard in a corporate report and actually used by an HR relative of mine a few years ago was ‘human capital’ but the term doesn’t seem to have taken off.
Shame..I’d already prepared a response (more vehement than halfcrown’s) to the first person who referred to me as human capital but I think Key & co. consider NZ workers as human capital.
Don’t mind ‘Personnel’ as it seems to still regard employees (and employers) as persons.
So David Parker thinks that the colour red is Labour’s problem…..I would have thought it was the colour yellow.
If not the coward’s colour perhaps the white flag of surrender?
All our State houses are to be emptied and sold, NZ is to be plunged into a Middle East War and white collar fraud has been proven to be bleeding our society dry….and this doofus is on about colours and how passionate he can be.
Meanwhile, yesterday (I guess because I was signed up as a Green Party volunteer for the last election), I got an email from Metiria Turei saying the campaign for next election starts today. It asks for donations and lays out the principles for the next election:
We’ll be the best MPs we can be, pushing for our policies wherever we can. And we’ll re-engage young people and disenfranchised voters.
We’re aiming to make sure every New Zealander knows we care about developing a fairer, cleaner and smarter New Zealand all of the time, not just because there’s an election.
[…]
Each election becomes more important than the last. This National government keeps trashing our precious environment and increasing the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’.
It’s up to us to think about our long term future and the planet’s survival. The Green Party’s future role depends on us starting the campaign for 2017 today!
That is pretty much what the Greens always do. their aim is to work with any party if it will further th GP agenda. The outcome last term highlighted the differences between Nats and the Greens’ policies, resulting in Nats rebuffing them.
I expect pretty much the same this time round – the Greens therefore highlight just how radically right wing Key’s government is.
Used carefully that refusal can be used to embarass JK as much as possible.
BTW what is it with Nact and others suggesting that the Greens stick only to enviroment policies. The Greens can do as they please, without Nact;’s loud controlling voice .
At the moment the Greens go for sustainable business practices, hardly anti growth, more like a rechannel of effort, and sharing what we have equally.
Some one a little scared perhaps?
I’d like to see Russell/Meretai front footing some of the ‘ we have better business idea’s than you lot because you pinch them”
BTW what is it with Nact and others suggesting that the Greens stick only to enviroment policies.
National are trying to kill off the Greens. They know as well as I do that single issue parties haven’t got snowball’s chance in a furnace of surviving.
A political party, to be relevant, needs to address all of a societies issues.
National’s mates are delusional if they think they can load all the costs of resource depletion and climate change, while they continue with profligate lifestyles, onto the “untermensch” without the pitchforks.
“Capitalism doesn’t work without socialism”.
Greens are hardly extreme, with policies that would have been considered mainstream by Holyoak’s National party.;
In the media coverage that followed, the conversation coalesced around a central idea: even if promised, is privacy truly achievable?
Personally, I still work on the idea that nothing I do on the internet is anonymous.
For the internet to work the computers need to track the data that is sent and received. Cannot get away from that. Even if geo-tagging is turned off the IP address will give the receivers of data packets from you a reasonable idea as to where you are. The telco will know precisely where you are.
The question isn’t whether the data will be recorded, it will be. The question is who gets to look at it afterwards and when.
And, the Flickr Vision team has been working for the last year or so to be able to recognize more than 1000 things in images using deep convolutional neural nets. Incidentally, one of the things we’re pretty good at recognizing is birds!
Interesting that Metiria Turei has been receiving calls from National voters urging the Greens to team up with the Nats because these Nat voters are feeling guilty about voting for Key etc.
well blow me down with a feather ….. expect more as this term goes on …. it will be like the vote for mmp – where later on nobody admits to their voting.
When it comes to provisions for retirement, super etc, I suspect the default perspective many slip into, focuses more on a masculine life trajectory.
In general, women on average earn less than men, and tend to have time out from participating in the paid workforce, in order to raise children, and tend to have smaller amounts in retirement funds or investments.
Stuff has an article today about the trend towards a higher percentage of women working past 65 years, and the problems for women in low paid jobs.
The percentage of women aged 65+ in the workforce has risen from 2 per cent 20 years ago to 15 per cent today. In 20 years, people aged over 65 could occupy 12 per cent of the workforce, up from 5 per cent in 2011. By then, 30 per cent of women this age will be in paid work. Only 10 per cent of women aged 65+ with no formal qualifications are employed, compared with 23 per cent of women with post-school qualifications. Women are now more educated than men in all age brackets except for those over 60.
Well, PI and Maori men, though given secondary consideration, do tend to get more focus in the debates, than do women generally.
Yes, Pakeha men are the dominant consideration with respect to assumptions about life trajectories of older people.
Maori and Pacific men are likely to be in a much more difficult situation as they get older, than Pakeha men, and than large numbers of Pakeha women
But the varying situations of women are generally given even less consideration in the debates.
Women on low pay, especially those with no formal education qualifications, and including a high proportion of Maori and Pacific women, are often in a very difficult position as they get older. They often need to keep working for the income. It’s harder for such women to find work as they get older. And on average they tend to live about 4-5 years longer than Maori or Pacific men.
Such women probably need both super at 65 years, plus at least some part time work, because they are unlikely to have any further savings or investments.
Also, people tend to talk of boomers as all being wealthy, owning their own homes, etc. Yet the stats in the article say that women over 60 overall have fewer formal educational qualifications than younger women.
Yep. Men consistently earn more than women in the same position, and also tend to get higher positions.
NB I was referring to the big difference between PI/Maori earning power vs Pakeha earning power. My sense is that being PI or Maori instead of Pakeha is actually a bigger factor in pay inequality than gender.
The biggest indicator of future earnings is the socio-economic status of your parents and grandparents. Which disproportionately effects Maori, and PI, and totally refutes the idea that New Zealand is a meritocracy where we have “equality of opportunity”.
(The other big indicator, for boys and girls, is the education level of their mother)
I wonder how much it is skewed by what I see around me. Young women in all the retail and service jobs. Young men, especially Maori, without jobs. If you are a young Maori male you would have to be very highly educated to get a job.
Of course it means that the only young Maori males with jobs are in the higher paid ones.
Sue Bradford’s bill advocating openness about pay would have identified whether the problem is gender, or something more complex. Then we could have argued from fact, not impressions.
There is a whole other discussion about how keeping pay rates secret suits employers, and those who discriminate.
With National awards a non-union shop assistant or office worker could point to what the Union members were getting, as a benchmark.
Many of those who reckon they do not need Unions are totally unaware of how much they benefited by the foundations set in wages and conditions by Unions.
There is a whole other discussion about how keeping pay rates secret suits employers, and those who discriminate.
There’s a lot of stuff that’s kept secret because of privacy that benefits the business class. Stuff that shouldn’t be kept private because it affects others thus making it public.
They also , thanks to our judge made laws, get very little out of marriage breakdown, shoulder the bulk of the $ costs of raising the kids, as well as providing the free childcare, and meet any costs for the over 18 crowd. Women should be able to attach the super of the male parent – why not?
A book just published by Bridget Williams here The Picketty Phenomenon- A NZ Perspective. On Radionz this morning there were three commenters Geoff Bertram, Donal Curtin, Susan Guthrie from the Morgan phenomenon! http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20154344
What I have taken from this is not necessarily right but this is how it seems. The idea is to reshape the tax system to reflect fairly where wealth is being produced – from investments etc. The Morgan study on tax is taking the view that all assets should be taxed and that would include the family home. But the tax would be on the individual’s own investment, so it would be a tax on unrealised income from that.
That may be fair on a macro level, but an income-poor person with a house shouldn’t have to sell the house so as to be able to pay for the tax on it, on top of all the other costs relating to house owning including rates, maintenance, repairs. Or sell it to someone else who can afford to pay the tax and outlay for the other costs, and rent it from them. The poor person would then change position from an asset holder to a less certain position as a renter. Which could happen.
It is hard on the poor trying for some social upward mobility and security to have a tax on even part of their house value, that would cause their small amount of discretionary money, available for their non-necessity needs and wants, to transfer to the disposable part from which they must pay for the fixed and other costs imposed by authorities, and service providers.
It is likely they will be stretched to pay their mortgage, which usually will be principal and interest from which banks make considerable income, which is really unearned income. Perhaps the banks should be paying the tax on the property. which is only the buyer’s by convention, and while the payments are made promptly. Under the mortgage the property can be claimed by the bank and sold for recovery in a very short time, a fortnight or month, after failure of the mortgagor to pay their required instalment owing on the required date.
Radionz Notes.
09:20 The Piketty Phenomenon
The global debate on taxing wealth, sparked by economist Thomas Piketty and his proposals for improving income equality. Piketty’s thesis is contained in his bestselling book Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
The new book, The Piketty Phenomenon collects New Zealand responses to Thomas Piketty’s argument that inherited wealth will always grow faster, on average, than earned wealth.
Three New Zealand economists discuss Piketty’s thesis in the New Zealand context – Geoff Bertram is a research associate at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University; Susan Guthrie is the co-author of the 2011 book, The Big Kahuna with Gareth Morgan which argued for significant tax and welfare reform to redistribute wealth; and Donal Curtin is the former chief economist at the BNZ and now works as a consultant.
A wealth or capital gains tax, can be net. After interest.
Note that if I build a spec house, I have to pay tax on it, whereas the many people in Auckland whose house prices have risen hundreds of thousands, through no effort of theirs, pay nothing.
And that is why we get housing bubbles and why political parties have such difficulty implementing a CGT. Lazy people looking for the easy way to become rich rather than going out and working for it.
Yes its frakking annoying. Working for a living barely pays in comparison to speculating on bits of ticky tacky construction materials thrown together.
Youth are the new poor and the new underclass …Unless they have rich parents they will never be able to afford a house…let alone tertiary education debt and in particular postgraduate tertiary education …. both in Britain and in New Zealand… Youth have been sold out! …Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss and Prof Antal Fekete gives further background.
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Johnny Rotten challenging Russell Brand and offer the show as a platform for a debate between the two. Max notes that quantitative easing is the central bank equivalent of punk rock gobbing. They highlight several of the many market distortions similar to the insanity leading up to the 1929 market crash – including $140,000 AUD cats.
In the second half, Max continues with his interview of Professor Antal Fekete of FeketeResearch.com about how the 1921 bond market collapse led the US Federal Reserve & Treasury conspiring to illegally introduce open market operation, leading to a situation in which profits in the bond market are risk free while profits in the commodity market are NOT risk free.
* Yet she says she did not consult with Cunliffe before making her decision.
Cunliffe had already given his endorsement to Andrew Little by then and did not change that after Mahuta entered. Mahuta said she had not asked him to.
*”Cunliffe’s decision around the leadership was his. I had no influence over that.”
However, she said he had faced “real challenges” in his year as leader and makes it clear they were from within Labour.
“His closest supporters understood the extent of those challenges, but he didn’t let it deter him from trying to do the best job he could do to get into Government in 2014. You do what you’ve got to do. He was focussed on looking in front of him, but it is hard if leaders are having to look behind them as well.”
* She insists she is not simply positioning for deputy. “People will be assessed on their merits and ability to contribute. If I’m not successful it’s up to the leader to decide.”
*When told she’s a gutsy woman, she replied “got to give it a whirl.”
Mahuta is mother to two young children responsibilities outside Parliament with Tainui. Asked whether she’ll cut some of her tribal work if she is leader, she said she is a woman “and women multitask”. “Women can do amazing things and still continue to be mums.” She said she would wind back some of the tribal work if she was leader.
* Little known fact: She has tattoos of her children’s names on her feet.
Well, since she has now said she is serious about being leader, and not just being deputy, then I am prepared to listen closely to what she has to say and to consider whether to rank her as #1.
Chris Bishop is a future Prime Minister after Sir John retires after a record six terms.
[lprent: I really don’t appreciate diversion trolls at the top of a post. Sure it referred to something in the post. However it had absolutely nothing to do with the actual topic of the post.
Moved to OpenMike and be warned that the next such comment will incur a harsh ban. ]
“Finally, there seem to be some who believe that within the Labour Party there is a small clique of Rogernomic moles who are waiting to regain control of the party. Last time round they supported David Cunliffe, this time they seem to be endorsing Andrew Little, who I am sure is far too sensible to want to be associated with such nonsense.”
That is an interesting way of saying the ABC club is a figment of our imagination! Grant has persuaded him that the core backers of Cunliffe are accusing the ABC of being Rogernomes. That is not the case IMO. Some, like Shearer and Nash, definitely are. I believe that the majority see the ABC club as a bunch of self serving pricks with an over-baked sense of entitlement and lacking in any serious philosophical point of view.
And I thought Cullen is an honourable man.
I have known him since he was an electorate MP.
He has been astute on many issues but, now as a retired senior statesman, having the mana of an elder within the Party, his latest piece really raises questions about him wading into the Primary, lobbying for a particular candidate and revealing the kind of judgment or wisdom that he still may have.
Does his latest move set an example or precedent for other retired senior Parliamentarians to follow?
Who is next in the line of august, esteemed retired Parliamentarians to step forward to lobby for his/her preferred candidate?
Cullen has shown poor communication skills when he talks about the Rogernomic group. He makes it sound like they supported Cunliffe, whereas I thought it was the opposite.
I think that what we need to remember is that Cunliffe was essentially a great conservative manager of the economy. He put in place a low wage, high cost economy and kept taxes slightly lower by the trick of having the state owned power companies charge very high prices. He subsidised employers and further marginalised beneficiaries with Working For Families. That he can support Robertson without mentioning the petulant anti-Cunliffe outbursts does not impress me at all.
Labour is the party that was built by working Kiwis for working Kiwis. We are still that party.
But we have to get our house in order. Because if we don’t then all we have is a bunch of good intentions gone to waste.
We need to fix the machine. We need to bring the pieces of the Labour movement back together and focus them on winning government and making changes we need to to build a fair society.
It’s a big task but it’s one we need to address one step at a time. First we need a caucus that communicates effectively within itself and with focus. Getting to that point will be the first job for the new Leader. Then the Leader and caucus need to reach out to the party and ensure they work well within themselves. Then we need to work alongside our affiliates.
We must find a common cause, within the movement, and with the many, many New Zealanders who want something better for themselves and for their families.
If we don’t find common cause as a movement we will never earn the trust of New Zealanders.
I can do this. I have done this before.
When I became the leader of the EPMU, one of New Zealand’s largest and most powerful unions, it was a house divided. I led the project to bring it together, to modernise it, to bring through new talent. I built a union which took our member’s issues out to the public, to the media, and won the argument again and again. We covered a lot of ground and during that time I dealt with organisations from small business to New Zealand’s biggest corporates on many different issues.
The one unifying thing, across all of these issues, was fairness. We got fair outcomes for our members and for New Zealand workers across the board because we worked together.
We are a party of immensely talented people. But right now we’re working as individuals, not as a collective movement.
We must fix this. We can.
We need to regain New Zealanders’ trust. We need them to know that when we make a promise, we can deliver. We need them to know we stand for them and their ambitions. Not just against what’s wrong but for what is right.
As part of that we must acknowledge the trust MÄori put in Labour in delivering us six of the the seven MÄori seats. They are our voters and we must make good on their return to us. We must ensure that MÄori are represented well within Labour and that advancing their aspirations is a cornerstone of our Party. That’s what being representative is about.
People have asked me why I’m standing. I’m standing because I believe in Labour’s values. I believe in fairness and justice for workers, for families, for all New Zealanders. People aren’t getting a fair go right now, and I won’t tolerate a society in which the very few at the top gain at the expense of the many.
I won’t tolerate a society in which good jobs are destroyed and replaced with insecure work, in which people in the middle are squeezed tighter and tighter by the cost of living and have no way to get ahead. A society in which those at the bottom fall off the edge of the cliff.
These are the principles I have stood for throughout my life and they have been at the core of how I have led. They are the principles that the Labour Party embodies.
But to stand up for those principles we must be a united Party with new ideas and a real plan to win back the trust of New Zealanders.
I can bring the party together. I have the track record to prove it.
Thus far, Andrew Little is saying best… all the things I’ve been thinking for many years. I’m coming more and more to the view he’s the one to lead Labour out of the wilderness. Strong, forthright, doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Just what the party needs.
Given his years with the EPMU he will be accustomed to sticking with the job at hand and not letting others set the narrative for him. Also, they have spent a lot of their vitriol on Cunliffe – it would be hard for them to repeat the same act convincingly. I am very sad about all David Cunliffe has been forced to endure.
@ Tracey
He’s big enough, strong enough to either ignore it or treat it with the contempt it deserves. He’s well known and been around a long time. In one way or another he has assisted thousands upon thousands of workers in the past 30 years, so I doubt that meme will have the kind of outcome his detractors will be hoping for.
I even suspect the media will not buy into it for the simple reason some of them probably have cause to be grateful for his ‘assistance’ in days gone by.
fair comment about media. hadnt thought of that aspect. didnt cunliffe ignore their antics too?
i was saddened to read that when murdochs papers went rabid on whitlam journos went on strike… saddened cos it was done and they are too self interested here to consider such a stance.
Agreed Anne. The EPMU represent journalists and so he will know most of them reasonably well in different circumstances – even those that did not join the union.
Most people can see through the fact this was written after the election, once Armstrong’s slavish support got the Tories in.
I have no respect for him as a journalist.
The CEO is working with board member Georgina Te Heu Heu to make Maori Television a propaganda channel for the Maori Party and the National Party. Mihi Forbes will be next on their list to be pushed out the door.
And what a tragedy that will be … she is delightful with her incisive brilliance. She and John Campbell are the last lights still burning through the fog.
Looks like Little made the best impression. Love this from him:
Tracy Watkins:
Now Little takes a real swipe at the party and the caucus and has a crack at them for “flailing and faffing about” while injustice occurs.
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Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. Broken urban planning systems make for misery even in the best of times. If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as ...
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis will have independent eyes and ears across Oranga Tamariki over the next five months as the Government tries to change the work and practices of the ministry. The Government has created a Māori-led watchdog to oversee how the children's ministry, Oranga Tamariki, deals with parents and ...
When an Auckland school classroom went up in flames in December last year, exploding asbestos over neighbouring houses, five separate government agencies were involved. Yet stressed residents dealing with the aftermath on their homes say the response felt chaotic and uncoordinated; even local MPs who got involved couldn't get the information they wanted. Hundreds of thousands of ...
The pandemic has accelerated the trend of doing our banking online instead of in person. This rapid digital embrace has, in turn, sped up the closure of many smaller bank branches. But, as Mark Jennings writes, there are new branches springing up with a different look and purpose. Auckland’s Wynyard ...
Corrina Gage has represented New Zealand in a trio of water sports. But it's her love for waka ama - and the opportunities it gives paddlers from 5 to 85 - that keeps her racing and coaching around the world. Lake Karāpiro is quiet and still now. But last week, it was all noise ...
Telling a Rotary Club audience that housing is a serious problem and they should care deeply about it landed flat but took some daring from the National leader, writes Justin Giovannetti.Judith Collins’ level of control over the National Party is still a question best answered by a shrug.Elevated to her ...
A gang turf war gripped the South Auckland suburb in late 2020, forcing schools to lock down and armed police to patrol the streets. Community leaders are now warning the cycle of violent retribution could continue in 2021, unless radical interventions are made.The violent altercations that loomed large in Ōtara ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...
Auckland writer Olivia Hayfield* explains how she resurrected 16th-century playwright Christopher Marlowe to star in her new novel, Sister to Sister. Olivia Hayfield is a pen name. Real name: Sue Copsey. When I’m planning my modern retellings of historical tales, I read widely on the characters and see who leaps out at ...
The Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine could be approved as early as next week, Marc Daalder reports Medsafe will be asked to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 on February 2, the Government has announced. The Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee (MAAC) is an independent panel that provides advice on some medicine approvals in ...
COMMENT:By Bryan Kramer, PNG’s Minister of Police who has defended Commissioner Manning’s appointment today in The National My last article, announcing that I intend to make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the Public Service regulation to no longer require the Commissioner of Police to ...
The Point of Order Trough Monitor was triggered today by the announcement of a $9 million handout for Southlanders – sorry, some Southlanders. The news came from the office of Grant Robertson who, as Minister of Finance, prefers to invest public money rather than give it away – especially when ...
Few people outside of her campaign team gave Chlöe Swarbrick any chance of winning in Auckland Central this year – but the Green Party MP was too busy to listen. Here’s how they turned the electorate green.First published November 12, 2020.Three Ticks Chlöe is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Interactions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake.Released today, the report is based on research ...
The Opposition starts the political year calling for emergency, temporary legislation to free up house building National leader Judith Collins has set five priorities for her party over the next three years - but excluded climate change, education and Crown-Māori relations. Giving her first 'state of the nation' speech as party ...
One of the biggest challenges facing the Ardern government is in public health. New Zealand may have escaped the pressures heaped on other health systems by the Covid-19 pandemic but its health service has had its problems, not least those exposed in the first report from Heather Simpson and her ...
New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has revealed that 14 close contacts of the Northland community case have returned negative test results. Yesterday he announced two close contacts – her husband and hair dresser – were negative. In his tweet, Hipkins described the news as “encouraging”. However, New ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the arbitrary and opaque experiments that Google is conducting with its search engine in Australia, with the consequence that many national news websites are no longer appearing in the search results seen by some users. The Australian, ABC, Australian Financial ...
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says councils can take stronger action against companies dumping contaminated waste water, even though they have identified loopholes in the law on fines. ...
Drag Race Down Under, part of the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, is filming in New Zealand. In their own words, local drag talent share what drag means to them and how it might be impacted by the show.RuPaul’s Drag Race is, quite simply, a television phenomenon. Love it or ...
For a long time, weighted blankets were considered a specialist device. Now they’re popular with even the most normal sleepers.Growing up, Temple Grandin spent time on her aunt’s cattle ranch in America, watching cow after stressed cow enter a squeeze chute and come out calm as the dead sea. She ...
Increased provisional tax thresholds, immediate low-value asset write offs and allowing the deferral of tax payments and use of money interest (UOMI) write offs were the most popular tax measures introduced by the Government to help businesses survive ...
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(it’s always a good idea to start yr day with a belly-laff..and this one’ll do it for ya..)
..parker has had his thinking cap on…
..and he has come up with what really ails labour..
..and hold onto your seats..!..it’s the colour red…
(..and the fact that labour supporters are members of ‘a cult’..(!)..)
..no no..!..c’mon..!..hear him out..!
“..Like a cult and too red – Parker on Labour..(ed:..breaking news..!..parker has discovered what labours’ problems are..it’s the colour red..(!)..(who knew..?..)
(ed:..any reader-suggestions for a new colour from/for labour..?
..i reckon a pale-blue wd pretty much nail it..eh..?..
..and well done! to that parker ..eh.?
..for his keen analysis/solutions to all that ails labour..
so..in summary:.(cont..)..”
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/like-a-cult-and-too-red-parker-on-labour-ed-breaking-news-parker-has-discovered-what-labours-problems-are-its-the-colour-red-who-knew/
you’re up early 🙂
@ barfly..
i’m always up early..i usually start hunting/gathering stories for whoar @ about 5.00a.m..
..i’ve already done two editorial pieces..
..here’s the other..(lamenting all the brokenwood-hate..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/comment-whoar-whats-with-all-the-hate-being-directed-brokenwood/
comment@ whoar:..what’s with all the hate being directed @ ‘brokenwood’..?
(excerpt:..)
‘..and/but i have been amazed at the amount of abuse being heaped on it..
..it seems to be the current ‘dotcom’ for the tv reviewers…let’s all gang up on ‘brokenwood’..whoar..!
..and this reached a nadir on national radio yesterday..with their reviewer phil wallington…
..wallington got quite steamed up..and seems to have taken it personally..
..but you really have to wonder just how much attention wallington paid to what he reviewed..
..as twice in his review he claimed the series was set back in the period of the age of the leads’ old holden car..(!)
..he reviewed this..but he didn’t notice it is set in the present day..(!)..
..(they have cellphones..phil..duh..!..didya notice..?)..’..(cont..)
Like, Labour is not National Lite already!!!
SMH in disbelief.
I hope he gets sucked into a black hole of political oblivion, or just switch on to leading ACT. That would suit his ideology I suppose.
or is the reality that …National is Labour Lite?
Nope…..there mainly just a bunch of sociopaths with good camoflage
@ lesThat was a neat thrust – didn’t see it coming. Ouch. New perspective when lying on the floor looking up your opponent’s baggy shorts!
“Like a cult and too red “
Jeez I’m pleased I haven’t voted yet
Obviously Parker hasn’t any acquaintances who worship the colour blue. I had several conversations before the election with diehard National voters who constantly spoke of the importance of the colour blue *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*.
parker..?..out of touch..?..much…?
..so..in his own words..he wants to become the leader of ‘a cult’..?
..parker has clearly not thought this one thru..
..and what new colour wd he like..?
..does he lean to a puce..?
..or more a turqoise..?
it is refreshing isn’t it pu
i think ‘refresh’ cd be a good new branding-name for labour..
..(you cd make all sort of clean-out/emetic-references in yr advertising..)
..and their new colour..whatever it is..should have some bubbles in it…
..those parker is targeting..like ‘bubbles’..
phillip u
Your mind and imagination about Labour is taking off like a jump jet.
but nowhere near as wild and crazy as they are doing themselves..
..and the basic fact is..that labour have got themselves into the position..
..where the only candidate with any ministerial experience..
..is wannabe cult-leader parker..
(and didn’t helen clark to such a good job of seeing off anyone who was a ‘threat’ during her time..eh..?
..and this is what you get left with..if you do that..)
no it was Shearer who got rid of Leanne Dalziel and Charles Chauvel
This is democracy in action, Phil
Slinging mud and raising these sort of important points publicly, is what a truly democratic party does.
@ bm..
..nah..!..this is just batshit-crazy stuff..
..if you made it up you’d be laffed out of the room..
..as he should be…
I disagree, I like this quote about what sort of party labour should be
A party where you feel comfortable enough to let one rip is the sort of party I’d want to vote for.
Good stuff David Parker.
and yr a rightwing trout..bm..
..so yr kiss of approval is just really ‘anti’-support..
..and as such worthless/meaningless..
I can imagine your parties – a whole lot of slobs having a fart competition and boasting about the sexual conquests they’d have if feminism hadn’t turned women against them. Hmm, a bit like Sealord Jones and Back Pussy Tamihere mixed with Jamie Whyte Power and Simon Bridges. Yuck.
You’ve gotta laugh.
Isn’t this just the middle class answer to everything? – a fresh coat of paint and a bit of titivating. Cos everything’s still alright for them.
I recommend something from Resene. Maybe executive navy blue.
Not yet but re-branding is the corporate answer to bad press.
PU – You missed out the bit where he said he didn’t want to over emphasise this point….
he didn’t need to..
..just saying it was brainfart enough..
..imagine key saying national are ‘too blue’..and are members of ‘a cult’..
..(but he doesn’t want to ‘over-emphasise’ it..)
..right ho..!
I think David Parker should start a new party…great idea!
…and fawn should be the colour
…and it should have a new name as well
….like….Wannabe Party ?
( no longer the Red Labour Party but the Fawn Wannabe Party !)
lol
Anyone hear Suzie Ferguson’s interview of Len Brown on Morning Report?
The whole tine and content sounded like Cameron Slater provided her with the direction for the interview.
Dirty Politics alive and well.
And now on Morning Report.
Disgraceful.
Really rude interviewing. Gotcha stuff. Rather than any discussion about the need to extend rail. Why does she have to do it that way – she seems to have a particular hatred of mayors of the left because she does the same to Lianne Dalziel.
She has really gone downhill since she got the post on MR.
Is she told the line to take or is she just inherently a Tory tool?
“Really rude interviewing. Gotcha stuff.”
ALL of morning reports interviews are like this – gyon only looked good on the JK/dirty pol one because of the dumb answers the PM gave – not because the interview method changed
morning report is a sad pathetic joke
The problem I have framu, what does one listen to or see first thing in the morning for local news
You’ve got Gyon on Morning Report, That dick called Christy complete with simpering sidekick on TV One, and soon we will have prat Henry on Three.
Definitely a need for a completely independent news channel.
i wd like to see brown interviewed ‘hard’..on three subjects/issues..
1)..the not small matter of auckland ratepayers having to fork out/piss down the toilet a million dollars a day..each and every day..
..in interest on the loans that have been wracked up by the council..
..cd he plse detail just what we got for that eyewatering debt..y’know..!..something concrete maybe..?
2)..cd he explain why the council needs p.r.-trouts/spin-doctors numbering in the hundreds..?
..and cd he tell us just what the fuck they all do all/each day..?
..how do they fill all those highly-paid-for hours..?..
(300 x 8= 2,400 hrs each working day..
..12,000 spin-doctor/p.r.-trout-hrs each working week..(!)
..that ratepayers are also forking out for..
..’cos..y’see..to the untrained eye..this number of the clearly un-necessary ..just points to/screams out.. a culture of excess..
..one that needs a serious clean/clear-out..
..how cd it not..?
3..)..i remember in his first campaign how brown harvested all those soft/do-gooder votes/ers..by promising to help house the homeless of auckland..
,.aside from passing legislation making it easier for authorities to ‘move them on’/herd/hide them out of sight..
..cd he plse detail just what he has done ..if anything..to fufill that clear campaign-promise..
..since he has been mayor..and in the position to do just that..?
@ Paul
I noticed something in her interview on – Does NZ want elite universities? where she was hammering the bit about the salaries perhaps being too high as a way of bringing fees down. They do truly compete against overseas in this, unlike our many CEOs, economists and service providers to gummint who talk their own increments up and up.
Also MPs who are two a penny, and probably should be judged for salary increases from that level!
She let one question get away and that was the amount spent on advertising and promotion, which the speaker assured here was tiny compared to their overall budget, of which salaries amounted to 60%. I believe advertising can be around $2 million which if halved could provide $1m of discretionary money, a useful amount. And does that sum include PR also, which seems to have ballooned as a sapper of budgets in many government-related organisations.
A good point made was that the cpi measures certain household requirements and unis have disproportionate high labour costs so really aren’t so concerned about household matters. (For instance, the rise in the price of cabbages, which was quoted one year when the CPI had risen strongly in the vegetable ‘basket’).
The fact is the educators and researchers are underpaid, micro managed and controlled, while a new class of University “managers” are getting the dosh.
Same with doctors/nurses and DHB “managers.”
And yet managers should be paid the least. They don’t produce anything and we don’t need them.
some organisations might not need them.
But hose organisations that do need them need competent ones, not managers who are merely competent at climbing the corporate ladder and empire-building.
No, I’m pretty sure that there’s no organisations that need managers. They may need some administration types, and good ones at that, but not managers.
Is it reassuring or sinister that in the comments of this article by George Monbiot there are people who think this article is an over-reaction to computer language? It’s the programs that call people ‘stock’ and no problem that humans are just repeating it, they don’t really think like that, they say.
Good old NZ’s ACC was criticised a few years back for referring to clients in its reports as “stock”. As in ways of reducing its stock.
Another saying that has creped in is the use of the term “human resource”
We no longer have Personnel Managers, they are Human Resource managers.
As I told some smart arse a few years ago I am not a resource that can be harvested or disregarded when they felt fit.
This type of language dehumanises people and I think it is done for that reason.
Nah, it’s just new words for the same old shit. They know it’s shit, that’s why they have to keep rebranding it.
Actually, it can be seen as a sign of respect for value of workers. Without resources, businesses are nothing.
Sorry can’t agree with you on that one TRP
I worked for one particular company for over 20 years, The owner who was an officer and a gentleman and a war hero would refer to any member of his staff as a valued member of the company. I am sure he would have been horrified if they were referred as a “human resource.”
We know businesses need resources, but there is not the need to refer to staff as some form of stock item. to be used and abused and possibly sold off in end of year sales.
I have just noticed, I had another silly old sod (SOS) moment
That word creped should have been crept. Ah well, suppose you can’t win them all.
halfcrown- The best I heard in a corporate report and actually used by an HR relative of mine a few years ago was ‘human capital’ but the term doesn’t seem to have taken off.
Shame..I’d already prepared a response (more vehement than halfcrown’s) to the first person who referred to me as human capital but I think Key & co. consider NZ workers as human capital.
Don’t mind ‘Personnel’ as it seems to still regard employees (and employers) as persons.
So David Parker thinks that the colour red is Labour’s problem…..I would have thought it was the colour yellow.
If not the coward’s colour perhaps the white flag of surrender?
All our State houses are to be emptied and sold, NZ is to be plunged into a Middle East War and white collar fraud has been proven to be bleeding our society dry….and this doofus is on about colours and how passionate he can be.
Aout what?
Nothing wrong with red.
It’s not knowing what colour you stand for that is Labour’s problem.
They have forgotten their roots since the 1980s.
It’s not knowing what colour you stand for that is Labour’s problem.
Bingo!
Bang on!
Spot on!
Jackpot!
parker is also showing a complete shearer level of idiocy by using such words publicly
exactly what word are the MSM going to use to beat labour over the head with for the next few weeks? cult perhaps?
fecking idiots
Ha Ha, democracy in action.
yep..and one of the downsides..
..is that idiots like you get to have voice too..
..but no system is perfect..
youve said it twice
so what?
Yes, we’re quite aware that you RWNJs don’t like democracy and much prefer being told what to do by someone in power over you.
Meanwhile, yesterday (I guess because I was signed up as a Green Party volunteer for the last election), I got an email from Metiria Turei saying the campaign for next election starts today. It asks for donations and lays out the principles for the next election:
Yet I read a report that the Greens have gone cap in hand to this rogue RW government for policy concessions. What a disgrace.
That is pretty much what the Greens always do. their aim is to work with any party if it will further th GP agenda. The outcome last term highlighted the differences between Nats and the Greens’ policies, resulting in Nats rebuffing them.
I expect pretty much the same this time round – the Greens therefore highlight just how radically right wing Key’s government is.
Used carefully that refusal can be used to embarass JK as much as possible.
BTW what is it with Nact and others suggesting that the Greens stick only to enviroment policies. The Greens can do as they please, without Nact;’s loud controlling voice .
At the moment the Greens go for sustainable business practices, hardly anti growth, more like a rechannel of effort, and sharing what we have equally.
Some one a little scared perhaps?
I’d like to see Russell/Meretai front footing some of the ‘ we have better business idea’s than you lot because you pinch them”
National are trying to kill off the Greens. They know as well as I do that single issue parties haven’t got snowball’s chance in a furnace of surviving.
A political party, to be relevant, needs to address all of a societies issues.
Yep, they are.
National’s mates are delusional if they think they can load all the costs of resource depletion and climate change, while they continue with profligate lifestyles, onto the “untermensch” without the pitchforks.
“Capitalism doesn’t work without socialism”.
Greens are hardly extreme, with policies that would have been considered mainstream by Holyoak’s National party.;
Whisper Controversy Questions the Promise of True Privacy
Personally, I still work on the idea that nothing I do on the internet is anonymous.
For the internet to work the computers need to track the data that is sent and received. Cannot get away from that. Even if geo-tagging is turned off the IP address will give the receivers of data packets from you a reasonable idea as to where you are. The telco will know precisely where you are.
The question isn’t whether the data will be recorded, it will be. The question is who gets to look at it afterwards and when.
Introducing: Flickr PARK or BIRD
Think about it.
Indeed.
Interesting that Metiria Turei has been receiving calls from National voters urging the Greens to team up with the Nats because these Nat voters are feeling guilty about voting for Key etc.
well blow me down with a feather ….. expect more as this term goes on …. it will be like the vote for mmp – where later on nobody admits to their voting.
silly voters
What a load of bollocks.
ok, except for you BM. You will admit to voting for Key wont you.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11345976
This today from Claire Trevett.
NM showing some smarts getting the interview with her and the selfie. As we know selfie’s help win elections.
Interesting NM comments about Cunliffe and what was going on in that Labour caucus!
thanks for this!
There is a voice of honesty and directness there, while still preserving dignity and mana.
I appreciate that and I am looking forward to hearing her speak at the hustings.
When it comes to provisions for retirement, super etc, I suspect the default perspective many slip into, focuses more on a masculine life trajectory.
In general, women on average earn less than men, and tend to have time out from participating in the paid workforce, in order to raise children, and tend to have smaller amounts in retirement funds or investments.
Stuff has an article today about the trend towards a higher percentage of women working past 65 years, and the problems for women in low paid jobs.
and not just a masculine earning trajectory, a pakeha one too. PI and Maori median income is many thousands less per annum than Pakeha.
Well, PI and Maori men, though given secondary consideration, do tend to get more focus in the debates, than do women generally.
Yes, Pakeha men are the dominant consideration with respect to assumptions about life trajectories of older people.
Maori and Pacific men are likely to be in a much more difficult situation as they get older, than Pakeha men, and than large numbers of Pakeha women
But the varying situations of women are generally given even less consideration in the debates.
Women on low pay, especially those with no formal education qualifications, and including a high proportion of Maori and Pacific women, are often in a very difficult position as they get older. They often need to keep working for the income. It’s harder for such women to find work as they get older. And on average they tend to live about 4-5 years longer than Maori or Pacific men.
Such women probably need both super at 65 years, plus at least some part time work, because they are unlikely to have any further savings or investments.
Also, people tend to talk of boomers as all being wealthy, owning their own homes, etc. Yet the stats in the article say that women over 60 overall have fewer formal educational qualifications than younger women.
Yep. Men consistently earn more than women in the same position, and also tend to get higher positions.
NB I was referring to the big difference between PI/Maori earning power vs Pakeha earning power. My sense is that being PI or Maori instead of Pakeha is actually a bigger factor in pay inequality than gender.
The biggest indicator of future earnings is the socio-economic status of your parents and grandparents. Which disproportionately effects Maori, and PI, and totally refutes the idea that New Zealand is a meritocracy where we have “equality of opportunity”.
(The other big indicator, for boys and girls, is the education level of their mother)
I wonder how much it is skewed by what I see around me. Young women in all the retail and service jobs. Young men, especially Maori, without jobs. If you are a young Maori male you would have to be very highly educated to get a job.
Of course it means that the only young Maori males with jobs are in the higher paid ones.
Sue Bradford’s bill advocating openness about pay would have identified whether the problem is gender, or something more complex. Then we could have argued from fact, not impressions.
There is a whole other discussion about how keeping pay rates secret suits employers, and those who discriminate.
With National awards a non-union shop assistant or office worker could point to what the Union members were getting, as a benchmark.
Many of those who reckon they do not need Unions are totally unaware of how much they benefited by the foundations set in wages and conditions by Unions.
There’s a lot of stuff that’s kept secret because of privacy that benefits the business class. Stuff that shouldn’t be kept private because it affects others thus making it public.
I think it is Norway where all tax returns are public.
Australia is busy embarrassing tax dodging corporates at present.
They also , thanks to our judge made laws, get very little out of marriage breakdown, shoulder the bulk of the $ costs of raising the kids, as well as providing the free childcare, and meet any costs for the over 18 crowd. Women should be able to attach the super of the male parent – why not?
A piece on economy and Picketty on Radionz right now Kathryn is going full on and it’s good stuff. Some opinions of worth to hear!
A book just published by Bridget Williams here The Picketty Phenomenon- A NZ Perspective. On Radionz this morning there were three commenters Geoff Bertram, Donal Curtin, Susan Guthrie from the Morgan phenomenon!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20154344
What I have taken from this is not necessarily right but this is how it seems. The idea is to reshape the tax system to reflect fairly where wealth is being produced – from investments etc. The Morgan study on tax is taking the view that all assets should be taxed and that would include the family home. But the tax would be on the individual’s own investment, so it would be a tax on unrealised income from that.
That may be fair on a macro level, but an income-poor person with a house shouldn’t have to sell the house so as to be able to pay for the tax on it, on top of all the other costs relating to house owning including rates, maintenance, repairs. Or sell it to someone else who can afford to pay the tax and outlay for the other costs, and rent it from them. The poor person would then change position from an asset holder to a less certain position as a renter. Which could happen.
It is hard on the poor trying for some social upward mobility and security to have a tax on even part of their house value, that would cause their small amount of discretionary money, available for their non-necessity needs and wants, to transfer to the disposable part from which they must pay for the fixed and other costs imposed by authorities, and service providers.
It is likely they will be stretched to pay their mortgage, which usually will be principal and interest from which banks make considerable income, which is really unearned income. Perhaps the banks should be paying the tax on the property. which is only the buyer’s by convention, and while the payments are made promptly. Under the mortgage the property can be claimed by the bank and sold for recovery in a very short time, a fortnight or month, after failure of the mortgagor to pay their required instalment owing on the required date.
Radionz Notes.
09:20 The Piketty Phenomenon
The global debate on taxing wealth, sparked by economist Thomas Piketty and his proposals for improving income equality. Piketty’s thesis is contained in his bestselling book Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
The new book, The Piketty Phenomenon collects New Zealand responses to Thomas Piketty’s argument that inherited wealth will always grow faster, on average, than earned wealth.
Three New Zealand economists discuss Piketty’s thesis in the New Zealand context – Geoff Bertram is a research associate at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University; Susan Guthrie is the co-author of the 2011 book, The Big Kahuna with Gareth Morgan which argued for significant tax and welfare reform to redistribute wealth; and Donal Curtin is the former chief economist at the BNZ and now works as a consultant.
A wealth or capital gains tax, can be net. After interest.
Note that if I build a spec house, I have to pay tax on it, whereas the many people in Auckland whose house prices have risen hundreds of thousands, through no effort of theirs, pay nothing.
And that is why we get housing bubbles and why political parties have such difficulty implementing a CGT. Lazy people looking for the easy way to become rich rather than going out and working for it.
Well you can see why. I was silly enough to start a business.
If I had spent the same money on leveraging half a dozen rentals in Auckland I would be retired already.
Yes its frakking annoying. Working for a living barely pays in comparison to speculating on bits of ticky tacky construction materials thrown together.
Youth are the new poor and the new underclass …Unless they have rich parents they will never be able to afford a house…let alone tertiary education debt and in particular postgraduate tertiary education …. both in Britain and in New Zealand… Youth have been sold out! …Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss and Prof Antal Fekete gives further background.
http://rt.com/shows/keiser-report/196944-episode-max-keiser/
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Johnny Rotten challenging Russell Brand and offer the show as a platform for a debate between the two. Max notes that quantitative easing is the central bank equivalent of punk rock gobbing. They highlight several of the many market distortions similar to the insanity leading up to the 1929 market crash – including $140,000 AUD cats.
In the second half, Max continues with his interview of Professor Antal Fekete of FeketeResearch.com about how the 1921 bond market collapse led the US Federal Reserve & Treasury conspiring to illegally introduce open market operation, leading to a situation in which profits in the bond market are risk free while profits in the commodity market are NOT risk free.
So chuffed you go to Max and Stacey for economics classes, Chooky. These guys taught me everything I know!!! 😀
Nanaia Mahuta: In it to win, not just to be Labour deputy leader
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11345976
Some points from the article:
* Yet she says she did not consult with Cunliffe before making her decision.
Cunliffe had already given his endorsement to Andrew Little by then and did not change that after Mahuta entered. Mahuta said she had not asked him to.
*”Cunliffe’s decision around the leadership was his. I had no influence over that.”
However, she said he had faced “real challenges” in his year as leader and makes it clear they were from within Labour.
“His closest supporters understood the extent of those challenges, but he didn’t let it deter him from trying to do the best job he could do to get into Government in 2014. You do what you’ve got to do. He was focussed on looking in front of him, but it is hard if leaders are having to look behind them as well.”
* She insists she is not simply positioning for deputy. “People will be assessed on their merits and ability to contribute. If I’m not successful it’s up to the leader to decide.”
*When told she’s a gutsy woman, she replied “got to give it a whirl.”
Mahuta is mother to two young children responsibilities outside Parliament with Tainui. Asked whether she’ll cut some of her tribal work if she is leader, she said she is a woman “and women multitask”. “Women can do amazing things and still continue to be mums.” She said she would wind back some of the tribal work if she was leader.
* Little known fact: She has tattoos of her children’s names on her feet.
Well, since she has now said she is serious about being leader, and not just being deputy, then I am prepared to listen closely to what she has to say and to consider whether to rank her as #1.
I already did 🙂
I like red. It is the colour of blood, sweat and tears……love, life and roses.
Chris Bishop is a future Prime Minister after Sir John retires after a record six terms.
[lprent: I really don’t appreciate diversion trolls at the top of a post. Sure it referred to something in the post. However it had absolutely nothing to do with the actual topic of the post.
Moved to OpenMike and be warned that the next such comment will incur a harsh ban. ]
Michael Cullen’s statement endorsing Grant Robertson
Thanks Ovid
The last para from Sir Michael
“Finally, there seem to be some who believe that within the Labour Party there is a small clique of Rogernomic moles who are waiting to regain control of the party. Last time round they supported David Cunliffe, this time they seem to be endorsing Andrew Little, who I am sure is far too sensible to want to be associated with such nonsense.”
That is an interesting way of saying the ABC club is a figment of our imagination! Grant has persuaded him that the core backers of Cunliffe are accusing the ABC of being Rogernomes. That is not the case IMO. Some, like Shearer and Nash, definitely are. I believe that the majority see the ABC club as a bunch of self serving pricks with an over-baked sense of entitlement and lacking in any serious philosophical point of view.
That helps Ovid. Michael Cullen can be trusted that his opinion is balanced. Thanks.
And I thought Cullen is an honourable man.
I have known him since he was an electorate MP.
He has been astute on many issues but, now as a retired senior statesman, having the mana of an elder within the Party, his latest piece really raises questions about him wading into the Primary, lobbying for a particular candidate and revealing the kind of judgment or wisdom that he still may have.
Does his latest move set an example or precedent for other retired senior Parliamentarians to follow?
Who is next in the line of august, esteemed retired Parliamentarians to step forward to lobby for his/her preferred candidate?
Cullen has shown poor communication skills when he talks about the Rogernomic group. He makes it sound like they supported Cunliffe, whereas I thought it was the opposite.
I think that what we need to remember is that Cunliffe was essentially a great conservative manager of the economy. He put in place a low wage, high cost economy and kept taxes slightly lower by the trick of having the state owned power companies charge very high prices. He subsidised employers and further marginalised beneficiaries with Working For Families. That he can support Robertson without mentioning the petulant anti-Cunliffe outbursts does not impress me at all.
…”we need to remember is that Cunliffe was essentially a great conservative”…typo?…you mean Cullen?
Yeah. Oops. Maybe someone can edit it for me?? Please.
Andrew Little’s letter:
Labour is the party that was built by working Kiwis for working Kiwis. We are still that party.
But we have to get our house in order. Because if we don’t then all we have is a bunch of good intentions gone to waste.
We need to fix the machine. We need to bring the pieces of the Labour movement back together and focus them on winning government and making changes we need to to build a fair society.
It’s a big task but it’s one we need to address one step at a time. First we need a caucus that communicates effectively within itself and with focus. Getting to that point will be the first job for the new Leader. Then the Leader and caucus need to reach out to the party and ensure they work well within themselves. Then we need to work alongside our affiliates.
We must find a common cause, within the movement, and with the many, many New Zealanders who want something better for themselves and for their families.
If we don’t find common cause as a movement we will never earn the trust of New Zealanders.
I can do this. I have done this before.
When I became the leader of the EPMU, one of New Zealand’s largest and most powerful unions, it was a house divided. I led the project to bring it together, to modernise it, to bring through new talent. I built a union which took our member’s issues out to the public, to the media, and won the argument again and again. We covered a lot of ground and during that time I dealt with organisations from small business to New Zealand’s biggest corporates on many different issues.
The one unifying thing, across all of these issues, was fairness. We got fair outcomes for our members and for New Zealand workers across the board because we worked together.
We are a party of immensely talented people. But right now we’re working as individuals, not as a collective movement.
We must fix this. We can.
We need to regain New Zealanders’ trust. We need them to know that when we make a promise, we can deliver. We need them to know we stand for them and their ambitions. Not just against what’s wrong but for what is right.
As part of that we must acknowledge the trust MÄori put in Labour in delivering us six of the the seven MÄori seats. They are our voters and we must make good on their return to us. We must ensure that MÄori are represented well within Labour and that advancing their aspirations is a cornerstone of our Party. That’s what being representative is about.
People have asked me why I’m standing. I’m standing because I believe in Labour’s values. I believe in fairness and justice for workers, for families, for all New Zealanders. People aren’t getting a fair go right now, and I won’t tolerate a society in which the very few at the top gain at the expense of the many.
I won’t tolerate a society in which good jobs are destroyed and replaced with insecure work, in which people in the middle are squeezed tighter and tighter by the cost of living and have no way to get ahead. A society in which those at the bottom fall off the edge of the cliff.
These are the principles I have stood for throughout my life and they have been at the core of how I have led. They are the principles that the Labour Party embodies.
But to stand up for those principles we must be a united Party with new ideas and a real plan to win back the trust of New Zealanders.
I can bring the party together. I have the track record to prove it.
Thanks Olwyn.
thanks
He speaks for me.
Thus far, Andrew Little is saying best… all the things I’ve been thinking for many years. I’m coming more and more to the view he’s the one to lead Labour out of the wilderness. Strong, forthright, doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Just what the party needs.
how do you think he can best deal with the certain meme of commie far left unionist
Given his years with the EPMU he will be accustomed to sticking with the job at hand and not letting others set the narrative for him. Also, they have spent a lot of their vitriol on Cunliffe – it would be hard for them to repeat the same act convincingly. I am very sad about all David Cunliffe has been forced to endure.
i am not reassured that they have been deterred. little would not have had the wealth and network against him like this govt has… or the media
i wonder if, whoever wins, they start using the word bully alot
i wont be bullied. nzers dont like bullies. key, bennett and collins are bullies…
@ Tracey
He’s big enough, strong enough to either ignore it or treat it with the contempt it deserves. He’s well known and been around a long time. In one way or another he has assisted thousands upon thousands of workers in the past 30 years, so I doubt that meme will have the kind of outcome his detractors will be hoping for.
I even suspect the media will not buy into it for the simple reason some of them probably have cause to be grateful for his ‘assistance’ in days gone by.
Good point Anne! The EPMU is their union.
🙂
fair comment about media. hadnt thought of that aspect. didnt cunliffe ignore their antics too?
i was saddened to read that when murdochs papers went rabid on whitlam journos went on strike… saddened cos it was done and they are too self interested here to consider such a stance.
Agreed Anne. The EPMU represent journalists and so he will know most of them reasonably well in different circumstances – even those that did not join the union.
john armstrong trying to be impartial, after the fact, on dirty politics. or perhaps he is giving key advice
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11346115
Most people can see through the fact this was written after the election, once Armstrong’s slavish support got the Tories in.
I have no respect for him as a journalist.
Question Time today: on the agenda, poverty, housing accords, Key’s communications with Slater, inquiry into Judith Collins dealings with SFO.
Another sound of silencing … the deconstruction of Maori TV now complete by forcing out Julian Wilcox following on from Carol Hirschfeld.
What a fool the new CEO must be to deliberately provoke the loss of these skilled and genius broadcasters.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11346609
The CEO is working with board member Georgina Te Heu Heu to make Maori Television a propaganda channel for the Maori Party and the National Party. Mihi Forbes will be next on their list to be pushed out the door.
I suggest a name change to Kupapa Television. That’s all it’ll be if we let them get away with it.
And what a tragedy that will be … she is delightful with her incisive brilliance. She and John Campbell are the last lights still burning through the fog.
Probably off topic. But please fix the RSS feed to have the full articles in it again. Having only the summaries makes it hard to read offline.
[Nothing is off topic in OM. LPrent? – MS]
OMG Robertson is resurrecting Helen’s Pledge card.
Not the way to move forward IMO
Stuff live on line (tweets) from Labour leadership meeting:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/beehive-live/10646919/Beehive-Live-And-now-to-work
Can’t edit.
Looks like Little made the best impression. Love this from him:
Hell, he’s brave. 😯
Not bad eh, let’s see if Little can hold his nerve over the next few weeks. BTW did you catch the link to my Radio 1 interview, Anne?
Yes I did CR. Great stuff. I couldn’t help wondering if a certain parliamentarian down your way heard it too. 🙂
😈
Maybe Little with Cunliffe as DP. I could maybe buy that.
I sort of like both of them.
Don’t want to vote for the others.