Whilst Key and Goff jibed at one another about how they were going to improve the lot of ordinary NZers last night other events were occuring that will make eithers wishes impossible. Whilst Goff clearly expressed a more cogent and less venal BAU position, BAU just wont be possible.
Those who watch the markets will have noted that despite the forced casino optomism on Wall St and the money escaping the financial meltdown that is Europe stocks have dipped below the years starting point. Worldwide governments dont have the cash to pay the interest on their bonds, default is going to be the song they sing (or sell state assets a la Key). More importantly the false “recovery” and demand over supply sees oil going back through the $100 mark, that despite consumer demand falling off badly. Indicating there is definitely a lot less able to be pumped. All up the party is well over.
For us what does it mean? Who ever wins the election is in deep do dos, and Key will answer by selling the silver and locking the chest. A vote for National is a gauranteed way to keep your tax cut, lose your job and to watch your share in NZ sold to your new masters.
More so now with the latest comments out of China suggesting that they’ll be looking after their own economy thanks very much and not bailing out the USA or Eu.
And what is going to happen when China starts “looking after its own” and then the US govt starts defaulting on its China-owned debt (this must become a popular policy there eventually): World War III?
I now prefer the term DAU (disaster as usual) instead of BAU (business as usual) to describe current economic, social and environmental arrangements, though the term BAU will undoubtedly be used for quite a while yet.
This morning must have been something of a shock to anyone who has heavily invested in DAU, what with the Dow down 2.56% (in numerical terms around what it was in 1999, and in inflation-adjusted terms down by around 70% over the decade); oil down due to the severe demand destruction that is a consequence of collapsing economies; even gold down! (something of a mystery -but then the price is clearly being manipulated): so much ‘hot money’ and nowhere for it to go as so-called investment managers alternate between chasing higher returns and safety. Asia-Pacific markets are in for a bumpy ride.
Meanwhile, everything that people need to pay for to survive in the NZ province of the global industrial catastrophe just keeps going up -rates, insurance, energy costs, food. And the fall in the Kiwi dollar will result in a surge in prices for most imported goods. Anyone who failed to heed the numerous warnings about establishing a food supply will soon be in deep trouble.
The entire system, which is predicated on fraudulent creation of money and exploitation of people and resources, hit the wall when global oil extraction hit peak over 2005 to 2008. The Earth has LESS and LESS to give but we still have maniacs in charge who demand MORE and MORE. And an uniformed populace that thinks it is entitled to more and more.
Since all political parties are offering their own versions of a ‘better, brighter future’ based on various delusions about economic growth we will witness a magnificent COLLISION WITH REALITY which will play out extremely badly for the vast majority of people over the coming year or so. As Dr Colin Cambell (co-founder of ASPO) said many years ago: If you don’t deal with reality reality will deal with you.
‘A vote for National is a gauranteed way to keep your tax cut, lose your job and to watch your share in NZ sold to your new masters.’
I agree on the ‘lose your job’ and ‘watch your share of assets sold to your new masters’ aspects but I suspect people will not keep their tax cuts: any incoming government is likely to raise taxes (either directly or indirectly) to prevent a fairly instantaneous implosion of its finances. And in doing so will cause one. In other words, orthodox economics offers no way out of the hole we are in because orthodox economics is what created the hole we are in.
A while ago you said you realised people were not listening to what you had to say and you turned your attention instead to preparing yourself. What was this preparation?
Uturn, that is a very pertinent question so a quick answer on behalf of AFKTT:
1. Quit as much debt as possible, preferably be freehold or low cost rent, kill the credit card.
2. Learn to live within your means, start substituting wants with real needs.
3. Learn to trade your skills with others for needs, learn to grow food.
In other words do what your grandparents did without thinking.
From a government viewpoint the trick is the same, pay off/ reneg on debt, balance trade accounts, balance tax versus expenditure. And most importantly make sure that the infrastructure required for the new low energy economy is owned by the state, and people trained with real life skills that can be converted into real economic output (as opposed to accounting / lawyering / speculating).
1. I got out of the big city I was living in and moved to a small one (couldn’t get to where I wanted to be due to financial constriants).
2. I established an orchard and started working on improving soil quality for other food production.
3. I installed some passive solar.
4. I cut my expenseses. I still have a car but normally only drive about 20km a week. Most of the time I cycle or walk -very unfashionable. I am in the process of disengaging from the consumer society.
Thanks, Bored and AFKTT. Apart from establising an orchard, seems we’ve arrived at the same conclusions from different approaches. My route has been a bit less organised – I followed my nose along a trail of things that either looked right or wrong when compared to the reality of the life I’d lived. I left the country to come back to the city for financial reasons. Co-incidentally my country skills – or what Bored refers to as grandparent skills – naturally recreated what they knew worked, in an urban environment.
There is a serious flaw to this existence as far as prescribing it to others goes, that I’m sure you are aware of, though. There is no way urban environments can support the density of population, without major shifts in the idea of land use and ownership. Sure urban and community gardens are a good start to get people thinking in a larger perspective, but eventually the limitations will be clear. It’s a domino effect of enlightenment for people who begin thinking and reality isn’t appeased by a few potatoes growing in a bag on the balcony. This is just one of many problems.
While I could shoot back out to the country and dig in, I plan to stick it out here a while longer and see what happens and what practical solutions emerge for the urban question. There may be none. Urban people are strange (no offence intended) or should I say their actions display a wildly different perspective to mine. While Vege World, The Aussie Butcher and the supermarket exist and while credit is being plied, few will understand that working 9-5 in an office and paying your taxes isn’t the “real world” at all. Bridging the gap is a challenge in the extreme, but then nothing is easy. Realism says there is no point, I’ll wait a while longer for a miracle. Best of luck to you both with your plans.
I’ve seen a lot of people write Kevin Moore’s views off as insanity, but having now read (all of) The Easy Way, it’s clear the statements are based on fact and the conclusions are solid.
I was disappointed that he invoked the controversy over 9/11 in support of his arguments. Not because I think the “official story” is correct – I don’t, far from it – but because in the minds of many this will automatically put Moore in the “tinfoil hat” category, and the rest of the book will be tarred with that brush.
But I do see his points, and I do agree that everything is going to turn to shit – possibly not as soon as he makes out (society does have the ability to adjust to a degree), but over time, it’s obvious that that’s how things will go. I’ve given the book to friends of mine to read, and some of them have said “yes but technology and innovation will get us out of it, don’t worry.” Let’s say they have much more faith in that than I do.
I plan to start some preparations myself, although I’m now locked into a mortgage on an asset with declining value, which makes things difficult – and makes me a slave. Thankfully that’s the only debt I have, and I have a small amount of land on which to “experiment” with growing my own veges etc. Ideally, though, I’d like to get some land out the back-end of nowhere and set myself up permanently before dropping off the grid.
So much easier said than done, though. And that’s the way “they” want it.
Would not mind the fall out shelter as a garden shed……chicken coop perhaps. Uturn makes a good point that you cant do everything, that urban life makes food independence etc impossible. Actually social capital is the best investment going forward, you cant be an island. Suppose that is why we dont just give up on politics per se, it is the macro form of social organisation to deliver our needs.
1. I got out of the big city I was living in and moved to a small one (couldn’t get to where I wanted to be due to financial constriants).
2. I established an orchard and started working on improving soil quality for other food production.
3. I installed some passive solar.
Afewknowthetruth
AFKTT it is all very commendable the measures you have taken, to protect your family’s future.
I don’t think your efforts will be enough. The collapse threatens to be so vast and all encompassing that individualistic solutions will be crushed and swept aside, along with everything else.
For the vast majority of the population, (here and overseas), who don’t have the luxury of being able to buy even the smallest viable landholding out in the country, one way or another we will not take the DAU lying down.
This may sound ominous and threatening to some, but for more than A Few of us, we have not completely given up on civil society just yet.
There is still hope for a genuine democratically decided – ‘best outcome’, for the greatest number.
I like “we have not completely given up on civil society just yet. There is still hope for a genuine democratically decided – ‘best outcome’, for the greatest number.”
What I suspect will happen is that if the current democratic institutions fail to meet muster new democratic institutions that are fit for purpose will replace them. And I cant quite see the established property based interests playing ball nicely, they are likely to be the first to eject popular democracy as too injurious to their privileges. Forceful ejection may be required. To quote Cromwell, “You have sat too long for all the good that you have done. Begone.”
Bored, afktt, U
Much the same here.
I have downsized from 17 acres to 1/4 acre and moved to a small coastal town where I no longer have to travel to do the things I enjoy. I now enjoy a much better lifestyle. Much better food, and a farmers market where I get to meet and know the people who grow the food I am unable to.
Like you I watch the machinations of DAU (I like that and shall steal it! 🙂 ) with increasing dismay as the greed of the players pushes the world towards the collapse of civilisation as it is now perceived. What the world will be like when my grandchildren are of age I shudder o think.
Moving your accounts to a NZ owned bank such as Kiwi Bank, the TSB or the Cooperative Bank is one of the few direct and painless ways to impact New Zealand’s private indebtedness. David Cunliffe has identified that $2.5 billion leaves the New Zealand economy each year in profits to Australian banks.
I had a spell with Kiwibank and found the whole process terrible (sorry). The customer service was very poor, so much so they managed to forget to pay the ASB the mortgage money for our home when we were transferring to Kiwibank.
It took several calls to the banking ombudsman to sort the issue – did the one year fixed rate and promptly went back to the original provider, who is sadly Aussie owned.
I have had an account with TSB for years – and never had any problems – even though I live well away from New Plymouth and have visited there only once in the past 40+ years. They are only a free phone call away if I need to speak to someone and everything else is done online or occassional deposit thru a Postshop.
Using Kiwibank for a business account, great service, but they seem very risk averse in their lending so I doubt I’d try to finance anything through them.
I had a spell with Kiwibank and found the whole process terrible (sorry).
When? I know when they first opened they were a… little immature I suppose would be the best description. They seem to have gotten better since my first opening of an account there.
They seem to have gotten better since my first opening of an account there
They have. I opened a business account there when they first started and it was underwhelming, but improved as time went on. A few years ago I started some personal banking with them and it’s fine – easily as good as other banks I’ve used. But yeah, Joe90 is right about being risk averse… however given the banking meltdown in the last few years that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Want to substantially reduce hypocricy in politics? Want to rid Parliament of a collection of mysoginists, liars and supposed perk busters who instead have feasted in the public trough? Want to get rid of a party that harboured in its ranks an MP who had previously stole the identity of a dead baby?
Then vote Paul Goldsmith as MP for Epsom! (Feck did I just say that?)
Why have I got an email invitation latish last night from Mediaworks to answer a survey so they “can better tailor our prizes, content and advertising mix to your preferences.”?
I am not aware of having registerd at any of their websites, and the email went to an address that I don’t use on website forums, logins etc.
Could be youtube. If you view youtube while signed into gmail their tracking system has your information and now shares it. I see that they are pushing advertising by making a viewer answer a survey question before they allow the chosen video to play. So much for the much espoused online freedom. Looks like the internet will eventually collapse under the wieght of it’s own self interest.
Youtube assigns advertising to match your location – you won’t get American ad’s if you dial in from Auckland. The questions you answer to view are collated for NZ advertisers, not Americans or anyone else. Mediaworks are just one client. Youtube knows your email address if you visit there while you are signed into your Google account/blogger or anything else Google owned. If you have forwarding enabled on your gmail, your other email addresses will be accessible. If you back up your Google password with an alternative email address or a phone number, you hand over that information. They ask you for backups for security reasons, but money gets the last word. It’s just Google walking in Facebook’s shoes, one step behind to stay legal, but still unethical.
And the major intelligence services have software consoles which extract all info from Facebook etc. These consoles are built right into the software by Facebook etc, for various gov agencies. They are not add-ons.
They like the fact that you friend people, tell them up to date info on where you’ve been, provide details of the networks of contacts you talk to, photos of places and people important to you etc.
The email address that the survey invitation was sent to, was not one I use for online forums, facebook, twitter etc. It’s not a gmail addie either. And I haven’t logged into youtube for months. So I’m not sure what triggered it.
“Why have I got an email invitation latish last night from Mediaworks to answer a survey so they “can better tailor our prizes, content and advertising mix to your preferences.”?”
I got the same thing! I did wonder if I had signed up at one stage, but on reflection I am sure I didn’t…
Good idea, ianmac. Answered with BS selections till I got to the agree to terms and conditions page. Just a lot of question about household, job, income, credit/loyalty cards, hobbies, cars/transport, TV and Internet use…. sky, pay per viewing….
All these companies asking us to complete surveys should be more honest…. it’s not to make things better for customers so much, as ultimately being about increasing or maintaining their profits. Mediaworks is offering entering a draw for prizes for completing the survey. We should send them an invoice for helping their business.
“Just a lot of question about household, job, income, credit/loyalty cards, hobbies, cars/transport, TV and Internet use…. sky, pay per viewing….”
Interestingly, the survey assumes that you *do* in fact watch TV 3 and 4 on demand, something I have never done. I don’t watch TV3 at all, but for the news, which I have watched only twice in the past 7 weeks! It also assumes that you do want pay per view, and gives no options such as “I’d sooner crawl over broken glass”. I don’t watch American programming, although Prime is the only way to avoid it.
I will turn back on the comment auto remember of names, emails, and websites as well as the wsiwyg comment editor. These all have problems with the cache system I had to put on last night to cope with the load after the debate.
These will all move to using client side JavaScript, which has problems with a few people’s systems, but works with the majority. It doesn’t have issues with cached names and preferences for other people being sent from the server. The code was written and tested last year so I just have to extract it from subversion.
I have the next couple of days off from work so I can help with eDay stuff for several electorates. So this will be lower on the priority list than that.
If you want to avoid all of this, then register and use a login (or just use a login if you have one already). That serves up pages for each logged in user individually.
Goff’s dilemma highlighted by the debate:
– Peters says he won’t go into goverment with anyone
– Labour has to have NZF support to have any chance of leading a coalition
– Goff needs Peters to go against his word to have any chance of going into government
Another Peters post election betrayal is Goff’s only chance.
As Goff said numerous times last night, the Election has not happened yet,
Maybe we wait for the Voters to present the actual situation,
then you can have your aneurism
or you could try thinking for yourself and ignore the propoganda of manipulative politicians whose self interested actions show up the hypocrisy of every single agreement ever made under MMP.
Let us vote, then let us have MMP for once.
If it really does not deliver a better government FOR ALL NEW ZEALANDERS
then go ahead and have your manipulative agreements, your delusional bindings of confidence and supply, your saccharine soaked empty phrases that mean less than the good behaviour promises of a toddler at Christmas.
Voters have asked for MMP , let them see how it might actually work, just once.
Dump the defacto FPP and let NZ have a representative parliament that they voted for.
Dump the defacto FPP and let NZ have a representative parliament that they voted for.
Bingo.
There really shouldn’t be a “government” there should just be parliament with the whole lot voting on policy based upon the facts. Would probably need to vote in the president separate of the general election if we got that though.
I remember in the past you lamenting the ‘negative’ approach of Labour, but it seems to me that you are being very negative about Goff (and Peters) in your recent comments. Perhaps you should take your own advice and take a positive approach in getting support for UF?
When it comes down to it, it is starting to get a bit pointless to speculate about possible governments. Let’s all just wait until Saturday and see what the numbers are.
UF’s dilemma:
– Dunne has unequivocally hitched his star to Key
– Key’s a phoney and a lightweight with nothing left in the tank
– People seem to be noticing that they’ve been sold a bill of goods
Except that:
– a majority people disagree with you about Key
– National have proven to be a reliable government (mostly) through an exceptionally difficult term, and
– UF has proven to be a reliable contributior to government.
– We’ll see
– Difficult because the government has no interest in governing
– UF has proven to be a sinecure for Dunne and Ohariu has had enough of it.
Disunited No-future has never been anying other than a bunch of opportunistic clowns who are completely disconneced from reality and have nothing to offer.
‘UF has proven to be a reliable contributior to government’
Have been a reliable contributor to wrecking the next generation’s future via Disaster As Usual economics.
And that’s what UF are offering this time round, is it not?
We in the Ohariu electorate recently received a pamphlet from Peter Dunne. Unfortunately I threw it out or I’d link a picture, but it had absolutely no policy information: Just a bunch of quotes from various people and publications about how wonderful Peter Dunne is.
Pretty sure you could haul-up similar information from sympathetic sources on practically any MP you like.
Let’s not forget National are all about shrinking the public service, and the Ohariu electorate has the highest percentage of public service workers in the country. And they’re not stupid: They know a vote for Dunne is a vote for Key, and I’d bet they’re not willing to risk losing their jobs so The Hair can make a return to parliament.
Policy evidently isn’t all that important to United Future. And why would it be? UF has thrown its lot in with National whose policies are deeply unpopular. If Bill English was leader of the Nats they wouldn’t have a hope in hell at this election with the policies they have. It’s entirely reliant on Brand Key. And Peter Dunne isn’t closely enough associated with Brand Key to get the votes he needs, so he’s got to rely on bullshit quotes of positive opinion from whatever source he find.
The United Future pamphlet doesn’t fit that decription at all. It details four key policies:
– reform tax for middle income families
– a sensible super scheme with choice of age (Labour said they are considering this)
– access to all New Zealanders to our outdoors
– limit asset sales
There is no excuse to be ignorant of it, there is plenty of detail on the website, on vote.co.nz and UF policy is being detailed and compared on many media election sites. Saying there is no policy evident is blatant misrepresentation or deliberate lies.
There is more chance of United Future policy being implemented next term than Labour policy, Mana policy, NZF policy and Green policy.
We’re definitely not talking about the same pamphlet then. This particular pamphlet was clearly campaigning for the electorate seat, so it may not have gone out to all electorates.
I love how you respond to me telling me I have “no excuses” to be ignorant of UF policy, Pete, but don’t touch with a barge pole my many other comments about the hollowness of the party and their leader.
Choosing your arguments is all well and good, but what you choose to remain silent on says much more about UF and their “Fairness and Choice (as long as you’re like us and do what we want you to)” policies than the points you choose to argue.
I note, however, that UF’s flagship Income Sharing tax policy – which can be found at http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz/assets/Income%20Sharing.pdf – goes into no detail whatsoever about how the scheme would be funded. If you’re going to tax (your definition of) families less, who’s picking up the tab for that?
I don’t know if you saw my question to you the other day – at number 8 in the UF list, what percentage of vote would be needed to get you into parliament?
Wrong, it’s more tax reform for the rich. Their income splitting will only benefit the rich exactly the same as the tax cuts that NAct put through. Nobody else will be better off.
a sensible super scheme with choice of age
Sensible would be one that worked and this one won’t. Neither will Labours’. You need resources to be able to maintain society and all parties are all about using up the resources ASAP so that we can have more piles of nothing money.
access to all New Zealanders to our outdoors
And what, exactly, does that mean?
I can already go outdoors, I can go to the beach and the stream. Probably can’t eat the shellfish or go swimming in the stream though as they’ve either been poisoned by industrialism/farming or over fished. Thing is, I’m sure UF is one of those parties that want to continue the destructive ways (more industrialism, farming and over fishing) that have been built up over the last few centuries and are now brining us to an anthropogenic Extinction Level Event.
limit asset sales
Rather than doing the rational thing and opposing asset sales altogether. Why would anyone want to vote for a party that is obviously insane?
DTB could not agree with you re income splitting. Lab has been at pains regarding “A fairer tax” yet how is it that IRD regard the calc of tax by the individual and welfare/benefits by family unit. So what for all those families that have made sacrifices to enable a stay at home parent (Many actively involved in NPO and child care/school help that the community and society benefit from). How is it fair on these family units? Taxed to the max.
And your concern regarding only benefiting the rich is a lazy generalisation, that if such a concerns exists can be managed by placing a limit on the amount to be split. It is not difficult to manage, just needs a little will power.
Yet in the handout Lab is campaiging for the choice (with govt financial assistance) for this same position of allowing parents to stay at home, pity the sentiment is not made regarding poor and middle class families as well. http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/11/labour-is-the-nasty-party-ctd-19/
Anyone else been to that OnTheFence.co.nz website? Seems to be giving an interesting bias – this from Twitter:
– John: Did that stupid on the fence thing. United Future 88%? WHAT AND MANA?. GET OUT.
– Charlotte Yee: LOL just did onthefence.co.nz I think it’s rigged my “top 3 parties” are labour, united future and mana… #really?
– Beth: I did that dumb on the fence sheep game and I got 19% United Future as my top match.
– Naly_D: according to http://onthefence.co.nz my best-suited political party is United Future (20%). Because, y’know, I’m 50.
– l•x•ndr•: @lethifolds I’ll be surprised if you don’t get told to vote for United Future lolol prove me wrong
– NICOLE C: @Naly_D I got 50% United Future …. Could it be bias ahaha
– Michael Parry: Has anyone got a result other than United Future on onthefence.co.nz ????
– Moata Tamaira @Michael_J_Parry @librarykris I got United Future too…which I found a bit odd.
– Lisa Rapley: @Naly_D I got united future too, then Labour then Mana. I just don’t even…
– Katherine Chisholm: Just played http://onthefence.co.nz. Where did United Future come from??
– Frazer Skinner: @Naly_D Who published the site? UF 97%, Labour 55%, Mana 39% Um.. no thanks
Does everyone secretly love United Future or is there something else in play here?
“National have proven to be a reliable government….”. for whom – themselves???
UF is a ‘thin- ice skating on’ party. What a strange party to choose to represent Pete G.- and even worse, by choosing them, have to support National just to get into office ( only this time hopefully not). There must be a better way to spend your life????
The Peoples Union Health clinic in Newtown, Wellington is facing closure, the DHB is going to take $300,000 of funding away from them. This is a vital service for poor people, refugees, new immigrants. Tony Ryall promised no front line cuts in Health, but of course he’s a liar like the rest of that grubby pack of plunderers.
I am getting freaked out by all the greaseballs on Teevee who think they and only they know the outcome of the election before it has been held.
especially gluon and the dunnycan.
how did New Zealand end up with these manques?
newsflash: beenit preparing legislation so all beneficiaries will be told not only how to spend their money but who to vote for.
you heard it hear first.
that graphic is hilarious. Labour drops 1/2% and loses two of their little red guys. National lose 5% yet don’t lose one of the little blue guys.
Classy stuff by the Herald ! I think not.
A few days of almost being balanced, now back on regular form.
just had a long FB debate with an ‘undecided but leaning to National’ voter who despite admitting they don’t know much about the other parties believes john key will back down on Asset Sales as people don’t want them!
If John Key wanted to back down on asset sales, he would have done it months or weeks ago before the height of the campaign now. He could have taken out a major aggravating factor to his campaign to cement his hold for the second term.
The reality is he will go the whole hog with asset sales because he is there precisely to advance that agenda to shift the assets and more wealth to his cronies, the puppet masters and himself.
The reality is he will go the whole hog with asset sales because he is there precisely to advance that agenda to shift the assets and more wealth to his cronies, the puppet masters and himself.
Yep and I’m reasonable certain that they’ll go for 100% sales as well because 49% won’t raise enough (note that Blinglish is reported to have said that they won’t raise as much as expected).
“The reality is he will go the whole hog with asset sales because he is there precisely to advance that agenda to shift the assets and more wealth to his cronies, the puppet masters and himself.”
Exactly Jim N. There can be no other reason for him to sell and risk losing his precious position(even if he eventually wants to go to Hawaii) as very few Kiwis want him to sell. He has been told to ‘asset strip’ in NZ. Wonder who he is working for , ‘cos it sure ain’t New Zealand.
Fucked if I know. Just had a conversation where the RWNJ (there really is no other description) argued that having less than 40% of the vote (National government in several FPP elections) was democratic and that MMP, where majority actually had their say, was undemocratic.
It’s the mindset of the comfortably self-satisfied “I’ve got mine, and screw the rest”.
Anything that secures an endless inflation of property, rentals, and less wealth to the lower classes.
As ugly as it sounds, the prospect that Banks will ‘defend’ the good white wealthy folk of Epsom from sex crazed unemployed polynesian drug addicts probably resonates with a significant portion of voters in that electorate. There does seem to be a a nasty racist streak running through a large chunk of the New Zealand population, one that Brash flirted with in his Hollowman ‘Iwi/Kiwi’ Orewa speech , the same one that Banks and Peters exploited with their antiAsian rants during the 90s (somewhere ’round that time anyway.)
Conversely:
allowing young men to work for finance companies or as money traders is a failure- criminality, sucking off the suffering of ordinary people, forcing thousands into unemployment, greed, psychopathic behaviour. It’s time it stopped!
I note that another socialist government in Europe has been consigned to history. The Spanish Socialist party plummeted from 169 seats to 110, their lowest ever representation whilst the conservative Popular Party went from 154 to 186 seats, giving them an absolute majority.
During the last 7 years of socialism, unemployment has reached heights greater than during any previous crisis, with the rate reaching 21.5% in October.
Spain has elected a career politician, who in a previous government failed spectacularly, with a reputation for playing favourites and has failed to articulate any clear plan to voters about how he’ll handle a faltering economy.
The prospect of seeing the PP in power again after 8 years is not a happy one. While I’m no fan of the PSOE (I think I called them ‘the very worst party in Spain’ at one point, though I can’t find a link), my suspicion is that before long many who loathe the Socialists will remember how much more they loathed the PP last time they governed.
Such reminds me of the 1990 election here. The majority were really pissed off with Labour and so National got back in power but the truth is that nobody wanted National either it’s just that there wasn’t a whole lot of choice.
The socialists were doing the austerity that the Spaniards didn’t want and the new party is going to do the same thing. They’ll try to vote them (PP) out next term but, again, they won’t actually get any choice as to what actually happens in their country.
To be honest that’s what I reckon is happening in this election. No one really wants National even many National supporters aren’t particularly happy with them they just don’t see much choice.
That’s basically why I don’t think Labour’s strategy of attacking National has been a good one. Noone is that stoked with National anyway but just attacking doesn’t automatically make you the viable alternative.
Labour released policy, costings and a vision for the future and then pointed out that National weren’t doing too well in the trust. Breaking promises, ruling for the few at the top and not addressing the problems that the GFC had caused.
I think it’s hit home for a lot of people – now just need them to vote.
Not sure anyone goes back and looks at prior days open mikes but oh well.
I agree Labour have released policy – it was even policy that many people prefered to Nationals. However they have chosen to not really focus on their own policy instead their entire campaign has been based on attacking National and its policy.
It’s a valid strategy but I can’t help thinking that had they actually done what they originally said they were going to do and keep the election about the policy (but make it about their policies not Nationals) they would have done a lot better (and I mean that whatever the outcome of the election).
Obviously its a moot argument but still I think it would’ve made it a lot more interesting.
Ivvy leaguer Italy France and Germany are going democratic socialist .Spain has always had higher unemployment than northern European countries, more corruption in southern European countries and no one pays tax .
The Ambrose court hearing is underway and the Listener’s Election blog is providing tweets from Derek Ching on what is happening if anyone is interested
Disclaimer – know I have referred to this blog several times of late – no connections at all. I am just finding it a useful site to quickly keep up to date on what is happening throughout the day. Their take on last night’s debate is also interesting and entertaining. Link is in the right had column of the above link. Wish I had found their Bingo cards before last night!
Feng Shui Master has just said celestial line-up and his divination point to increasing NZ crises and difficulties associated with astrological castings done on John Key.
An anology was also given about Key that he is like rot behind the walls at homes.
The Arab Spring hangs in balance, as protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and in other cities in Egypt battle the riot police of the ruling Egyptian military junta.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are braving tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and live ammunition in demonstrations against the ruling military council in Egypt.
Despite promising elections, (which are being continually put back), Mubarak’s generals are demanding that the military have power above any elected civilian authority. Meanwhile protesters are still being tried in military courts and torture by the military and police is still routine.
By late on 20 November there were an estimated 100,000 in Tahrir Square according to eyewitness accounts and thousands protesting in every major city in Egypt. Their demands are clear: the downfall of Marshal Tantawi and Mubarak’s generals. As of Sunday 5 people at least had been killed and around 1000 injured.
The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions issued a call on Saturday 19 November to its 1.4 million members in affiliated unions to join the protests in Tahrir.
Our brothers and sisters in Egypt inspired us all with their courage over the past ten months. Without them, would we have seen the Occupy movement? How would our own struggles against austerity and cuts look without the model of the Egyptian revolution, and the knowledge that ordinary people can change the world?
If the Arab Spring is crushed in Egypt…..
…..the military rulers of Syria will be strengthened in their slaughter of unarmed protesters.
If the Arab Spring is crushed in Egypt…….
……. it will be major setback for the Arab Spring throughout the Middle East!
If the Arab Spring is crushed in the Middle East……
…… this will remove a major brake on the West’s move to war against Iran.
If the Arab Spring is crushed in the Middle East, major conflagration with Iran will be inevitable, as the US and Israel’s invasion plans can only succeed with the support of compliant Western backed right wing regimes retaining power in the Middle East.
If the Arab Spring is crushed in Egypt, the movement for democracy and against tyranny and war and recession, throughout the world, will suffer a major setback.
Responding to appeals from Egyptian activists, Middle East and North Africa, Solidarity in Britain is forwarding the following call for international solidarity action to the whole world. Please respond immediately.
Tahrir has inspired a wave of movements around the world. We must not let it go down to defeat!
If you are organising a protest or a picket, particularly if you can mobilise support from the trade union movement in solidarity with the call from the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, please let the world know.
Many people interpret the times we are living in as Biblical ‘End Times’.
Irrespective of that, there is no question that the entire North Africa-Middle East region is a tinderbox awaiting a spark.
I see that the war-of-words over Iran has started again, after a period of relative quiet. An attack on Iran would almost certainly bring the global economic system to a halt in a matter of weeks if it resulted in blockage of the Straits of Hormuz.
“Many people interpret the times we are living in as Biblical ‘End Times’.”
Interestingly, a good 50% of my ESOL students (Chinese, secular and 17-20 years old) believe something similar. The topic today was sports, and when I said brightly “The next Olympics will be held in London in 2012”, a couple of them said “But the world is going to end in 2012!” I was gobsmacked. Where has this come from?
The religious channels in SKY TV when I surf through them often are on the topic of end times- earthquakes, tsunamis, “it seems that the world is crying out to be delivered.”
It is a sign of narcissism, I believe, that people believe that the end times are going to come in their life-time. It seems part of the conservative psyche.
History is littered with such false prophecy. I often imagine, when engaged in this topic, the Monty Pythonesque dialogue of disgruntled failed end-timers coming down off the mountain top muttering about their leader who got it wrong.
‘I’ve seen a lot of people write Kevin Moore’s views off as insanity, but having now read (all of) The Easy Way, it’s clear the statements are based on fact and the conclusions are solid.’
‘will automatically put Moore in the “tinfoil hat” category’
It is a lot easier for people to dimiss arguments without checking the facts than to do the necessary research and present logical arguments. We are now at the stage of witnessing people self-select for learning the hard way (or even perishing).
It will be very interesting to revue this ‘conversation’ one year from now.
Several years ago I likened the situation in most western societies to tossing a coin. At the moment it always lands with the face that shows ‘complacency and denial’ exposed. One day it will land with the obverse face exposed. That says: ‘panic’.
Some parents have been branded abusers because of the bizarre names of their children.
Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt stated his concerns in a written decision after a custody hearing in New Plymouth revealed a couple had named their child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
He was so disturbed at the effect on the nine-year-old that he ordered her temporarily placed under court guardianship so a suitable name could be chosen.
LOL- ‘Follow Me on Twat’. Excellent work as always.
I expect RWNJ’s burst a few blood vessels watching that Child Poverty doco tonight. It was basically a giant ad for ‘Commie Pinko’ politics. Full of ads for Labour and the Greens too 🙂
When I heard Phil Goff saying how silly it was to sell the house to pay the mortgage off I thought of all the sensible people doing exactly that as they move on to better things.
It was magnificent! This is reality in NZ. I know because I see it regularly. Please wake up dear voters and vote with your heart and soul. Our chidren are our future, it’s in our hands! Congrats to the makers of this doco. Well done!
Agreed Lyn. It needs a huge rethink since the declared intent of a certain political grouping is intent on reducing housing, education and health. Wonder if that excellent doco touched many?
The doco certainly touched me Ianmac. Bryan Bruce did a phenomenal job investigating this horror and presenting it to us in such a clear manner. Our poor children and their parents, who are all to often facing a heartbreaking battle to provide for them. Thought the sights I saw tonight had been consigned to history.
What is our government up to? Can’t they manage to run a country properly? They appear to have the wrong spending priorities. Our children deserve so much more.
Post of the week from the Bog relating to the bad case of worms that seems to have infected the place..
quinnjin (12) Says:
November 22nd, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Yeah right farrar you tory turd. Key got his arse kicked, and it turns out the test audience was fairly picked. Your slimey liitle mate in parliament just got his arse kicked, why? cause hes full of shit. eat it up and stop mewling your pathetic excuses.
Trying to comment again, but suspect I will be dumped into ‘spam’. But on the off -chance this gets through, somebody with more knowledge of the in’s and out’s might want to post on the fact that a fuck of a lot of comments from regular contributors are going into ‘trash’. (Seems I’m the only one going down the ‘spam’ route)
Hmm, but still wondering, what’s with the umpteen comments from regular commentators in ‘trash’? Some, though not all, are duplicated as comments on the page.
Oops! Got something to say afterall. There goes the tourist industry. Thomas Cook (How big are they in the scheme of things? Certainly not ‘small fry’) in emergency talks with banks and shares down 51%.
Who would have thunk that a global depression would mean people not going on holiday? Wonder what plans the illustrious NZ minister of tourism has up his sleeve (or in his ball pocket) for the shoit that that suddenly appears to be hovering waiting for gravity assisted splash?
Ah, but the market decides how things work! So, they all try to undercut each other to get the customers, who can’t actually afford their package holidays to Spain, meanwhile the airlines have rising fuel costs and can’t afford to pay the leases on their big shiny aircraft, which are leased from very big banks.
But don’t worry, they’ll be paid out by governments, who will in turn tax the poor.
Bit late now but TV1 late news said that with the help of the Ombudsman, they have discovered that Govt had no real evidence or official advice about the predicted uptake of shares in the Asset Sale. Key has been saying that official advice shows that at least 85% of the share sales will be taken up in NZ hands. There has be no official advice other than a few oral discussions.
Key has lied – again. Could be a big story.
ian along with low share prices and no money around for kiwis to invest Aussie super fund will grab the lions share titbits after goldman sachs has gouged its price out
Powerco is the poster child for how things turn out when a public asset is flogged off.
11 years from formation through to compulsory acquisition by offshore owners.
April 1993: New Plymouth Energy (the electricity division of the New Plymouth District Council) merges with Taranaki Electricity (former Taranaki Electric Power Board) to become Taranaki Energy Limited
November 2004: It is now moving to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares and remove Powerco from the New Zealand stock exchange.
The ultra-rich have done very, very well out of the pandemic. Globally, the wealth of the ten richest people rose by US$540 billion last year, enough money to pay for the pandemic in its entirity. And in New Zealand, local billionaire Graeme Hart saw his wealth increase by almost NZ$3.5 ...
Postmodernism has long been looked upon as an indecipherable ideology and a source of amusement. In 1996 Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University, had a hoax article published in ‘Social Text’ an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. In ‘Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Anew study in Nature Sustainability incorporates the damages that climate change does to healthy ecosystems into standard climate-economics models. The key finding in the study by Bernardo Bastien-Olvera and Frances Moore from the University of California at Davis: The models have been underestimating the ...
In a recent interview with RNZ (14th of January), NZ Council of Civil Liberties Chair Thomas Beagle, in response to Simon Bridges condemnation of the post-Trump Twitter purge of local far Right and other accounts, said the following: “Cos the thing about freedom of expression is that it’s not just ...
Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...
Last month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...
MARVIN HUBBARD, US citizen by birth, New Zealand citizen by choice, Quaker and left-wing activist, has been broadcasting his show, "Community or Chaos", on Otago Access Radio for the best part of 30 years. On 24 November last year, I spoke with him about the outcome of the 2020 General ...
This is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...
Yesterday's Gone: Cold shivers are running up and down the spines of conservatives everywhere. Donald Trump may have gone, but all the signs point to there being something much more momentous in the wind-shift than a simple return to the status quo ante. A change is gonna come. ONE COULD ...
Is it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
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 ...
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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: ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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“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 ...
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Whilst Key and Goff jibed at one another about how they were going to improve the lot of ordinary NZers last night other events were occuring that will make eithers wishes impossible. Whilst Goff clearly expressed a more cogent and less venal BAU position, BAU just wont be possible.
Those who watch the markets will have noted that despite the forced casino optomism on Wall St and the money escaping the financial meltdown that is Europe stocks have dipped below the years starting point. Worldwide governments dont have the cash to pay the interest on their bonds, default is going to be the song they sing (or sell state assets a la Key). More importantly the false “recovery” and demand over supply sees oil going back through the $100 mark, that despite consumer demand falling off badly. Indicating there is definitely a lot less able to be pumped. All up the party is well over.
For us what does it mean? Who ever wins the election is in deep do dos, and Key will answer by selling the silver and locking the chest. A vote for National is a gauranteed way to keep your tax cut, lose your job and to watch your share in NZ sold to your new masters.
More so now with the latest comments out of China suggesting that they’ll be looking after their own economy thanks very much and not bailing out the USA or Eu.
But how is China going to have an economy without Western markets for their niknaks – isn’t global capitalism a big loop?
Uke and HS both got it right, its a big inter related loop. When one counttry gets a cold the contagion follows.
And what is going to happen when China starts “looking after its own” and then the US govt starts defaulting on its China-owned debt (this must become a popular policy there eventually): World War III?
Bored.
Absolutely right!
I now prefer the term DAU (disaster as usual) instead of BAU (business as usual) to describe current economic, social and environmental arrangements, though the term BAU will undoubtedly be used for quite a while yet.
This morning must have been something of a shock to anyone who has heavily invested in DAU, what with the Dow down 2.56% (in numerical terms around what it was in 1999, and in inflation-adjusted terms down by around 70% over the decade); oil down due to the severe demand destruction that is a consequence of collapsing economies; even gold down! (something of a mystery -but then the price is clearly being manipulated): so much ‘hot money’ and nowhere for it to go as so-called investment managers alternate between chasing higher returns and safety. Asia-Pacific markets are in for a bumpy ride.
Meanwhile, everything that people need to pay for to survive in the NZ province of the global industrial catastrophe just keeps going up -rates, insurance, energy costs, food. And the fall in the Kiwi dollar will result in a surge in prices for most imported goods. Anyone who failed to heed the numerous warnings about establishing a food supply will soon be in deep trouble.
The entire system, which is predicated on fraudulent creation of money and exploitation of people and resources, hit the wall when global oil extraction hit peak over 2005 to 2008. The Earth has LESS and LESS to give but we still have maniacs in charge who demand MORE and MORE. And an uniformed populace that thinks it is entitled to more and more.
Since all political parties are offering their own versions of a ‘better, brighter future’ based on various delusions about economic growth we will witness a magnificent COLLISION WITH REALITY which will play out extremely badly for the vast majority of people over the coming year or so. As Dr Colin Cambell (co-founder of ASPO) said many years ago: If you don’t deal with reality reality will deal with you.
‘A vote for National is a gauranteed way to keep your tax cut, lose your job and to watch your share in NZ sold to your new masters.’
I agree on the ‘lose your job’ and ‘watch your share of assets sold to your new masters’ aspects but I suspect people will not keep their tax cuts: any incoming government is likely to raise taxes (either directly or indirectly) to prevent a fairly instantaneous implosion of its finances. And in doing so will cause one. In other words, orthodox economics offers no way out of the hole we are in because orthodox economics is what created the hole we are in.
A while ago you said you realised people were not listening to what you had to say and you turned your attention instead to preparing yourself. What was this preparation?
Uturn, that is a very pertinent question so a quick answer on behalf of AFKTT:
1. Quit as much debt as possible, preferably be freehold or low cost rent, kill the credit card.
2. Learn to live within your means, start substituting wants with real needs.
3. Learn to trade your skills with others for needs, learn to grow food.
In other words do what your grandparents did without thinking.
From a government viewpoint the trick is the same, pay off/ reneg on debt, balance trade accounts, balance tax versus expenditure. And most importantly make sure that the infrastructure required for the new low energy economy is owned by the state, and people trained with real life skills that can be converted into real economic output (as opposed to accounting / lawyering / speculating).
U.
1. I got out of the big city I was living in and moved to a small one (couldn’t get to where I wanted to be due to financial constriants).
2. I established an orchard and started working on improving soil quality for other food production.
3. I installed some passive solar.
4. I cut my expenseses. I still have a car but normally only drive about 20km a week. Most of the time I cycle or walk -very unfashionable. I am in the process of disengaging from the consumer society.
Anyone who has read this:
http://www.publishme.co.nz/shop/theeasyway-p-684.html
will understand exactly where we are headed and what to do.
Thanks, Bored and AFKTT. Apart from establising an orchard, seems we’ve arrived at the same conclusions from different approaches. My route has been a bit less organised – I followed my nose along a trail of things that either looked right or wrong when compared to the reality of the life I’d lived. I left the country to come back to the city for financial reasons. Co-incidentally my country skills – or what Bored refers to as grandparent skills – naturally recreated what they knew worked, in an urban environment.
There is a serious flaw to this existence as far as prescribing it to others goes, that I’m sure you are aware of, though. There is no way urban environments can support the density of population, without major shifts in the idea of land use and ownership. Sure urban and community gardens are a good start to get people thinking in a larger perspective, but eventually the limitations will be clear. It’s a domino effect of enlightenment for people who begin thinking and reality isn’t appeased by a few potatoes growing in a bag on the balcony. This is just one of many problems.
While I could shoot back out to the country and dig in, I plan to stick it out here a while longer and see what happens and what practical solutions emerge for the urban question. There may be none. Urban people are strange (no offence intended) or should I say their actions display a wildly different perspective to mine. While Vege World, The Aussie Butcher and the supermarket exist and while credit is being plied, few will understand that working 9-5 in an office and paying your taxes isn’t the “real world” at all. Bridging the gap is a challenge in the extreme, but then nothing is easy. Realism says there is no point, I’ll wait a while longer for a miracle. Best of luck to you both with your plans.
I’ve seen a lot of people write Kevin Moore’s views off as insanity, but having now read (all of) The Easy Way, it’s clear the statements are based on fact and the conclusions are solid.
I was disappointed that he invoked the controversy over 9/11 in support of his arguments. Not because I think the “official story” is correct – I don’t, far from it – but because in the minds of many this will automatically put Moore in the “tinfoil hat” category, and the rest of the book will be tarred with that brush.
But I do see his points, and I do agree that everything is going to turn to shit – possibly not as soon as he makes out (society does have the ability to adjust to a degree), but over time, it’s obvious that that’s how things will go. I’ve given the book to friends of mine to read, and some of them have said “yes but technology and innovation will get us out of it, don’t worry.” Let’s say they have much more faith in that than I do.
I plan to start some preparations myself, although I’m now locked into a mortgage on an asset with declining value, which makes things difficult – and makes me a slave. Thankfully that’s the only debt I have, and I have a small amount of land on which to “experiment” with growing my own veges etc. Ideally, though, I’d like to get some land out the back-end of nowhere and set myself up permanently before dropping off the grid.
So much easier said than done, though. And that’s the way “they” want it.
I do believe those are the first specific courses of action I’ve seen you advocate here.
They seem fairly reasonable. I was half-imagining you sitting in a fallout shelter in the wilderness.
Would not mind the fall out shelter as a garden shed……chicken coop perhaps. Uturn makes a good point that you cant do everything, that urban life makes food independence etc impossible. Actually social capital is the best investment going forward, you cant be an island. Suppose that is why we dont just give up on politics per se, it is the macro form of social organisation to deliver our needs.
Lots here.
http://blog.opensourceecology.org/
http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Main_Page
AFKTT it is all very commendable the measures you have taken, to protect your family’s future.
I don’t think your efforts will be enough. The collapse threatens to be so vast and all encompassing that individualistic solutions will be crushed and swept aside, along with everything else.
For the vast majority of the population, (here and overseas), who don’t have the luxury of being able to buy even the smallest viable landholding out in the country, one way or another we will not take the DAU lying down.
This may sound ominous and threatening to some, but for more than A Few of us, we have not completely given up on civil society just yet.
There is still hope for a genuine democratically decided – ‘best outcome’, for the greatest number.
Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou, Ake! Ake! Ake!
I like “we have not completely given up on civil society just yet. There is still hope for a genuine democratically decided – ‘best outcome’, for the greatest number.”
What I suspect will happen is that if the current democratic institutions fail to meet muster new democratic institutions that are fit for purpose will replace them. And I cant quite see the established property based interests playing ball nicely, they are likely to be the first to eject popular democracy as too injurious to their privileges. Forceful ejection may be required. To quote Cromwell, “You have sat too long for all the good that you have done. Begone.”
Bored, afktt, U
Much the same here.
I have downsized from 17 acres to 1/4 acre and moved to a small coastal town where I no longer have to travel to do the things I enjoy. I now enjoy a much better lifestyle. Much better food, and a farmers market where I get to meet and know the people who grow the food I am unable to.
Like you I watch the machinations of DAU (I like that and shall steal it! 🙂 ) with increasing dismay as the greed of the players pushes the world towards the collapse of civilisation as it is now perceived. What the world will be like when my grandchildren are of age I shudder o think.
The creation of New Zealand’s Cooperative Bank – the PSIS has registered as a bank – has gone unremarked here so far.
http://www.psis.co.nz
Moving your accounts to a NZ owned bank such as Kiwi Bank, the TSB or the Cooperative Bank is one of the few direct and painless ways to impact New Zealand’s private indebtedness. David Cunliffe has identified that $2.5 billion leaves the New Zealand economy each year in profits to Australian banks.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/tax-changes-make-sense-says-labour/1113674/
The more people who stop using foreign owned banks the better. Foreign ownership of our businesses is bad for our economy and our society.
I had a spell with Kiwibank and found the whole process terrible (sorry). The customer service was very poor, so much so they managed to forget to pay the ASB the mortgage money for our home when we were transferring to Kiwibank.
It took several calls to the banking ombudsman to sort the issue – did the one year fixed rate and promptly went back to the original provider, who is sadly Aussie owned.
I have had an account with TSB for years – and never had any problems – even though I live well away from New Plymouth and have visited there only once in the past 40+ years. They are only a free phone call away if I need to speak to someone and everything else is done online or occassional deposit thru a Postshop.
Using Kiwibank for a business account, great service, but they seem very risk averse in their lending so I doubt I’d try to finance anything through them.
When? I know when they first opened they were a… little immature I suppose would be the best description. They seem to have gotten better since my first opening of an account there.
They have. I opened a business account there when they first started and it was underwhelming, but improved as time went on. A few years ago I started some personal banking with them and it’s fine – easily as good as other banks I’ve used. But yeah, Joe90 is right about being risk averse… however given the banking meltdown in the last few years that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
To all Epsom voters.
Want to substantially reduce hypocricy in politics? Want to rid Parliament of a collection of mysoginists, liars and supposed perk busters who instead have feasted in the public trough? Want to get rid of a party that harboured in its ranks an MP who had previously stole the identity of a dead baby?
Then vote Paul Goldsmith as MP for Epsom! (Feck did I just say that?)
You may find a few like minded folk here, Mickey:
https://www.facebook.com/hipstersforgoldsmith
Why have I got an email invitation latish last night from Mediaworks to answer a survey so they “can better tailor our prizes, content and advertising mix to your preferences.”?
I am not aware of having registerd at any of their websites, and the email went to an address that I don’t use on website forums, logins etc.
Wondering the same thing, Carol.
Could be youtube. If you view youtube while signed into gmail their tracking system has your information and now shares it. I see that they are pushing advertising by making a viewer answer a survey question before they allow the chosen video to play. So much for the much espoused online freedom. Looks like the internet will eventually collapse under the wieght of it’s own self interest.
or u could use Orbit downloader to download the ackshull video u want to watch
Eh? What’s the connection between Mediaworks and Google/Youtube?
Skynet bro skynet
Youtube assigns advertising to match your location – you won’t get American ad’s if you dial in from Auckland. The questions you answer to view are collated for NZ advertisers, not Americans or anyone else. Mediaworks are just one client. Youtube knows your email address if you visit there while you are signed into your Google account/blogger or anything else Google owned. If you have forwarding enabled on your gmail, your other email addresses will be accessible. If you back up your Google password with an alternative email address or a phone number, you hand over that information. They ask you for backups for security reasons, but money gets the last word. It’s just Google walking in Facebook’s shoes, one step behind to stay legal, but still unethical.
And the major intelligence services have software consoles which extract all info from Facebook etc. These consoles are built right into the software by Facebook etc, for various gov agencies. They are not add-ons.
They like the fact that you friend people, tell them up to date info on where you’ve been, provide details of the networks of contacts you talk to, photos of places and people important to you etc.
Basically you are doing all their work for them.
Yep. Genuinely random spam is pretty rare – it isn’t cost effective.
The email address that the survey invitation was sent to, was not one I use for online forums, facebook, twitter etc. It’s not a gmail addie either. And I haven’t logged into youtube for months. So I’m not sure what triggered it.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/FB-tracks-sites-you-visit-even-after-logging-off/articleshow/10810818.cms
Seems unlikely that it would be sent from a mediaworks.co.nz email address if that were the case.
“Why have I got an email invitation latish last night from Mediaworks to answer a survey so they “can better tailor our prizes, content and advertising mix to your preferences.”?”
I got the same thing! I did wonder if I had signed up at one stage, but on reflection I am sure I didn’t…
Did you answer? Be interesting to look for “curious” questions. Go through the questions but quit before final send.
Good idea, ianmac. Answered with BS selections till I got to the agree to terms and conditions page. Just a lot of question about household, job, income, credit/loyalty cards, hobbies, cars/transport, TV and Internet use…. sky, pay per viewing….
All these companies asking us to complete surveys should be more honest…. it’s not to make things better for customers so much, as ultimately being about increasing or maintaining their profits. Mediaworks is offering entering a draw for prizes for completing the survey. We should send them an invoice for helping their business.
“Just a lot of question about household, job, income, credit/loyalty cards, hobbies, cars/transport, TV and Internet use…. sky, pay per viewing….”
Interestingly, the survey assumes that you *do* in fact watch TV 3 and 4 on demand, something I have never done. I don’t watch TV3 at all, but for the news, which I have watched only twice in the past 7 weeks! It also assumes that you do want pay per view, and gives no options such as “I’d sooner crawl over broken glass”. I don’t watch American programming, although Prime is the only way to avoid it.
I will turn back on the comment auto remember of names, emails, and websites as well as the wsiwyg comment editor. These all have problems with the cache system I had to put on last night to cope with the load after the debate.
These will all move to using client side JavaScript, which has problems with a few people’s systems, but works with the majority. It doesn’t have issues with cached names and preferences for other people being sent from the server. The code was written and tested last year so I just have to extract it from subversion.
I have the next couple of days off from work so I can help with eDay stuff for several electorates. So this will be lower on the priority list than that.
If you want to avoid all of this, then register and use a login (or just use a login if you have one already). That serves up pages for each logged in user individually.
Goff’s dilemma highlighted by the debate:
– Peters says he won’t go into goverment with anyone
– Labour has to have NZF support to have any chance of leading a coalition
– Goff needs Peters to go against his word to have any chance of going into government
Another Peters post election betrayal is Goff’s only chance.
As Goff said numerous times last night, the Election has not happened yet,
Maybe we wait for the Voters to present the actual situation,
then you can have your aneurism
Before they present the situation voters need to evaluate the likely possibilities and decide.
Labour almost certainly would need NZ First to govern, which means Peters would need to exchange his word for baubles.
or you could try thinking for yourself and ignore the propoganda of manipulative politicians whose self interested actions show up the hypocrisy of every single agreement ever made under MMP.
Let us vote, then let us have MMP for once.
If it really does not deliver a better government FOR ALL NEW ZEALANDERS
then go ahead and have your manipulative agreements, your delusional bindings of confidence and supply, your saccharine soaked empty phrases that mean less than the good behaviour promises of a toddler at Christmas.
Voters have asked for MMP , let them see how it might actually work, just once.
Dump the defacto FPP and let NZ have a representative parliament that they voted for.
Bingo.
There really shouldn’t be a “government” there should just be parliament with the whole lot voting on policy based upon the facts. Would probably need to vote in the president separate of the general election if we got that though.
I remember in the past you lamenting the ‘negative’ approach of Labour, but it seems to me that you are being very negative about Goff (and Peters) in your recent comments. Perhaps you should take your own advice and take a positive approach in getting support for UF?
When it comes down to it, it is starting to get a bit pointless to speculate about possible governments. Let’s all just wait until Saturday and see what the numbers are.
Haha.
UF’s dilemma:
– Dunne has unequivocally hitched his star to Key
– Key’s a phoney and a lightweight with nothing left in the tank
– People seem to be noticing that they’ve been sold a bill of goods
lolz
Except that:
– a majority people disagree with you about Key
– National have proven to be a reliable government (mostly) through an exceptionally difficult term, and
– UF has proven to be a reliable contributior to government.
pfft.
– We’ll see
– Difficult because the government has no interest in governing
– UF has proven to be a sinecure for Dunne and Ohariu has had enough of it.
Unbalanced Follicles
Useless Fakehairs
Pityrosporum folliculitis?
go and peddle your bullshit somewhere else trollwhore
your endless crap today is pissing me off
PG
Disunited No-future has never been anying other than a bunch of opportunistic clowns who are completely disconneced from reality and have nothing to offer.
‘UF has proven to be a reliable contributior to government’
Have been a reliable contributor to wrecking the next generation’s future via Disaster As Usual economics.
And that’s what UF are offering this time round, is it not?
We in the Ohariu electorate recently received a pamphlet from Peter Dunne. Unfortunately I threw it out or I’d link a picture, but it had absolutely no policy information: Just a bunch of quotes from various people and publications about how wonderful Peter Dunne is.
Pretty sure you could haul-up similar information from sympathetic sources on practically any MP you like.
Let’s not forget National are all about shrinking the public service, and the Ohariu electorate has the highest percentage of public service workers in the country. And they’re not stupid: They know a vote for Dunne is a vote for Key, and I’d bet they’re not willing to risk losing their jobs so The Hair can make a return to parliament.
Policy evidently isn’t all that important to United Future. And why would it be? UF has thrown its lot in with National whose policies are deeply unpopular. If Bill English was leader of the Nats they wouldn’t have a hope in hell at this election with the policies they have. It’s entirely reliant on Brand Key. And Peter Dunne isn’t closely enough associated with Brand Key to get the votes he needs, so he’s got to rely on bullshit quotes of positive opinion from whatever source he find.
Scraping the bottom of the barrel, eh?
The United Future pamphlet doesn’t fit that decription at all. It details four key policies:
– reform tax for middle income families
– a sensible super scheme with choice of age (Labour said they are considering this)
– access to all New Zealanders to our outdoors
– limit asset sales
There is no excuse to be ignorant of it, there is plenty of detail on the website, on vote.co.nz and UF policy is being detailed and compared on many media election sites. Saying there is no policy evident is blatant misrepresentation or deliberate lies.
There is more chance of United Future policy being implemented next term than Labour policy, Mana policy, NZF policy and Green policy.
We’re definitely not talking about the same pamphlet then. This particular pamphlet was clearly campaigning for the electorate seat, so it may not have gone out to all electorates.
I love how you respond to me telling me I have “no excuses” to be ignorant of UF policy, Pete, but don’t touch with a barge pole my many other comments about the hollowness of the party and their leader.
Choosing your arguments is all well and good, but what you choose to remain silent on says much more about UF and their “Fairness and Choice (as long as you’re like us and do what we want you to)” policies than the points you choose to argue.
I note, however, that UF’s flagship Income Sharing tax policy – which can be found at http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz/assets/Income%20Sharing.pdf – goes into no detail whatsoever about how the scheme would be funded. If you’re going to tax (your definition of) families less, who’s picking up the tab for that?
Key’s already ruled out more tax cuts anyway.
I don’t know who UF thinks they’re kidding with this income splitting for taxation purposes.
I don’t know if you saw my question to you the other day – at number 8 in the UF list, what percentage of vote would be needed to get you into parliament?
Wrong, it’s more tax reform for the rich. Their income splitting will only benefit the rich exactly the same as the tax cuts that NAct put through. Nobody else will be better off.
Sensible would be one that worked and this one won’t. Neither will Labours’. You need resources to be able to maintain society and all parties are all about using up the resources ASAP so that we can have more piles of
nothingmoney.And what, exactly, does that mean?
I can already go outdoors, I can go to the beach and the stream. Probably can’t eat the shellfish or go swimming in the stream though as they’ve either been poisoned by industrialism/farming or over fished. Thing is, I’m sure UF is one of those parties that want to continue the destructive ways (more industrialism, farming and over fishing) that have been built up over the last few centuries and are now brining us to an anthropogenic Extinction Level Event.
Rather than doing the rational thing and opposing asset sales altogether. Why would anyone want to vote for a party that is obviously insane?
DTB could not agree with you re income splitting. Lab has been at pains regarding “A fairer tax” yet how is it that IRD regard the calc of tax by the individual and welfare/benefits by family unit. So what for all those families that have made sacrifices to enable a stay at home parent (Many actively involved in NPO and child care/school help that the community and society benefit from). How is it fair on these family units? Taxed to the max.
And your concern regarding only benefiting the rich is a lazy generalisation, that if such a concerns exists can be managed by placing a limit on the amount to be split. It is not difficult to manage, just needs a little will power.
Yet in the handout Lab is campaiging for the choice (with govt financial assistance) for this same position of allowing parents to stay at home, pity the sentiment is not made regarding poor and middle class families as well.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/11/labour-is-the-nasty-party-ctd-19/
There is one word to describe United Future and – dare I say it – all of it’s supporters, and it’s… beige.
I’ve done my little bit to help Charles smash Dunne this year. Fingers crossed.
Peter dunne has been in coalition with Wiston Peters twice now
People voting with their feet record numbers leave for Australia
Anyone else been to that OnTheFence.co.nz website? Seems to be giving an interesting bias – this from Twitter:
– John: Did that stupid on the fence thing. United Future 88%? WHAT AND MANA?. GET OUT.
– Charlotte Yee: LOL just did onthefence.co.nz I think it’s rigged my “top 3 parties” are labour, united future and mana… #really?
– Beth: I did that dumb on the fence sheep game and I got 19% United Future as my top match.
– Naly_D: according to http://onthefence.co.nz my best-suited political party is United Future (20%). Because, y’know, I’m 50.
– l•x•ndr•: @lethifolds I’ll be surprised if you don’t get told to vote for United Future lolol prove me wrong
– NICOLE C: @Naly_D I got 50% United Future …. Could it be bias ahaha
– Michael Parry: Has anyone got a result other than United Future on onthefence.co.nz ????
– Moata Tamaira @Michael_J_Parry @librarykris I got United Future too…which I found a bit odd.
– Lisa Rapley: @Naly_D I got united future too, then Labour then Mana. I just don’t even…
– Katherine Chisholm: Just played http://onthefence.co.nz. Where did United Future come from??
– Frazer Skinner: @Naly_D Who published the site? UF 97%, Labour 55%, Mana 39% Um.. no thanks
Does everyone secretly love United Future or is there something else in play here?
Haha, I did it, got a bit bored so exited early.
Apparently my top 3 choices are UF at 5%, Labour and Greens at 2%.
Considering I answered almost all left-leaning on every single question…
Me too, got bored so completed less than half of the topics and scored 11% towards UF so I’d say the site is a jack up by United Follicular.
@Pete G 9.37am
“National have proven to be a reliable government….”. for whom – themselves???
UF is a ‘thin- ice skating on’ party. What a strange party to choose to represent Pete G.- and even worse, by choosing them, have to support National just to get into office ( only this time hopefully not). There must be a better way to spend your life????
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/school-faces-closure-after-funding-change-4555829
This is the school that Key used before the 2008 election…. They even made a dvd here blah blah blah
Now theyre closing it.It costs $150k a year to keep running.
85 % success rate for troubled kids
Awesome coverage last night before the leaders debate on the news but has obviously been overlooked
Im disgusted places like this will be forced to close
I have a nephew in Christchurch who attends a school like this and theyre also facing the chop
He has come so far and all the hard work will be in vain
Enough is a fuking nuff
This pissass bunch called National doint give a fuck about anyone but their tory assed schools and mates
The Peoples Union Health clinic in Newtown, Wellington is facing closure, the DHB is going to take $300,000 of funding away from them. This is a vital service for poor people, refugees, new immigrants. Tony Ryall promised no front line cuts in Health, but of course he’s a liar like the rest of that grubby pack of plunderers.
John Key:
Money, assets and resources for me and my mates … but not for you
The implosion of the US continues unabated but the elites hope to delay the day of reckoning by a year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/21/us-automatic-cuts-supercommittee-defeat
Meanwhile Spain gets into deeper trouble
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/21/mariano-rajoy-spain-debt-crisis
There really are too many crises to fit on one page these days.
One thing is for sure: as everything gets worse the blame game will escalate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/21/gloomy-britons-blame-labour-poll
I am getting freaked out by all the greaseballs on Teevee who think they and only they know the outcome of the election before it has been held.
especially gluon and the dunnycan.
how did New Zealand end up with these manques?
It’s the result of a socio-economic system that rewards psychopathy.
Here is another one for your John Key voting mates:
http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/six-degrees-of-separation-or-how-close-is-john-key-to-the-key-players-in-the-global-banker-take-over/
newsflash: beenit preparing legislation so all beneficiaries will be told not only how to spend their money but who to vote for.
you heard it hear first.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765223
that graphic is hilarious. Labour drops 1/2% and loses two of their little red guys. National lose 5% yet don’t lose one of the little blue guys.
Classy stuff by the Herald ! I think not.
A few days of almost being balanced, now back on regular form.
Left-leaning voters should take that as an added incentive to step out, go to the Ballot Box and correct the tory lies perpetrated by the media.
just had a long FB debate with an ‘undecided but leaning to National’ voter who despite admitting they don’t know much about the other parties believes john key will back down on Asset Sales as people don’t want them!
How do you combat a mindset that deluded.?
If John Key wanted to back down on asset sales, he would have done it months or weeks ago before the height of the campaign now. He could have taken out a major aggravating factor to his campaign to cement his hold for the second term.
The reality is he will go the whole hog with asset sales because he is there precisely to advance that agenda to shift the assets and more wealth to his cronies, the puppet masters and himself.
Yep and I’m reasonable certain that they’ll go for 100% sales as well because 49% won’t raise enough (note that Blinglish is reported to have said that they won’t raise as much as expected).
“The reality is he will go the whole hog with asset sales because he is there precisely to advance that agenda to shift the assets and more wealth to his cronies, the puppet masters and himself.”
Exactly Jim N. There can be no other reason for him to sell and risk losing his precious position(even if he eventually wants to go to Hawaii) as very few Kiwis want him to sell. He has been told to ‘asset strip’ in NZ. Wonder who he is working for , ‘cos it sure ain’t New Zealand.
Cyanide or 1080
Fucked if I know. Just had a conversation where the RWNJ (there really is no other description) argued that having less than 40% of the vote (National government in several FPP elections) was democratic and that MMP, where majority actually had their say, was undemocratic.
It’s the mindset of the comfortably self-satisfied “I’ve got mine, and screw the rest”.
Anything that secures an endless inflation of property, rentals, and less wealth to the lower classes.
Conversely:
Christian Heritage aren’t even a registered party to contest the election. Why are they in the poll?
I note that another socialist government in Europe has been consigned to history. The Spanish Socialist party plummeted from 169 seats to 110, their lowest ever representation whilst the conservative Popular Party went from 154 to 186 seats, giving them an absolute majority.
During the last 7 years of socialism, unemployment has reached heights greater than during any previous crisis, with the rate reaching 21.5% in October.
Spain has elected a career politician, who in a previous government failed spectacularly, with a reputation for playing favourites and has failed to articulate any clear plan to voters about how he’ll handle a faltering economy.
http://www.thebadrash.com/2011/11/19/spain-elections-the-view-from-the-edge-of-the-precipice/
The prospect of seeing the PP in power again after 8 years is not a happy one. While I’m no fan of the PSOE (I think I called them ‘the very worst party in Spain’ at one point, though I can’t find a link), my suspicion is that before long many who loathe the Socialists will remember how much more they loathed the PP last time they governed.
Such reminds me of the 1990 election here. The majority were really pissed off with Labour and so National got back in power but the truth is that nobody wanted National either it’s just that there wasn’t a whole lot of choice.
The socialists were doing the austerity that the Spaniards didn’t want and the new party is going to do the same thing. They’ll try to vote them (PP) out next term but, again, they won’t actually get any choice as to what actually happens in their country.
To be honest that’s what I reckon is happening in this election. No one really wants National even many National supporters aren’t particularly happy with them they just don’t see much choice.
That’s basically why I don’t think Labour’s strategy of attacking National has been a good one. Noone is that stoked with National anyway but just attacking doesn’t automatically make you the viable alternative.
Labour released policy, costings and a vision for the future and then pointed out that National weren’t doing too well in the trust. Breaking promises, ruling for the few at the top and not addressing the problems that the GFC had caused.
I think it’s hit home for a lot of people – now just need them to vote.
Not sure anyone goes back and looks at prior days open mikes but oh well.
I agree Labour have released policy – it was even policy that many people prefered to Nationals. However they have chosen to not really focus on their own policy instead their entire campaign has been based on attacking National and its policy.
It’s a valid strategy but I can’t help thinking that had they actually done what they originally said they were going to do and keep the election about the policy (but make it about their policies not Nationals) they would have done a lot better (and I mean that whatever the outcome of the election).
Obviously its a moot argument but still I think it would’ve made it a lot more interesting.
Ivvy leaguer Italy France and Germany are going democratic socialist .Spain has always had higher unemployment than northern European countries, more corruption in southern European countries and no one pays tax .
The Ambrose court hearing is underway and the Listener’s Election blog is providing tweets from Derek Ching on what is happening if anyone is interested
http://www.listener.co.nz/nz-election-2011-live/tuesday-22-november/
Wonderful cartoon at the top of the page!
Disclaimer – know I have referred to this blog several times of late – no connections at all. I am just finding it a useful site to quickly keep up to date on what is happening throughout the day. Their take on last night’s debate is also interesting and entertaining. Link is in the right had column of the above link. Wish I had found their Bingo cards before last night!
See post on this topic.
Sorry – missed that post.
Not a problem in any way! I was just trying to steer any followup comments there…
Feng Shui Master has just said celestial line-up and his divination point to increasing NZ crises and difficulties associated with astrological castings done on John Key.
An anology was also given about Key that he is like rot behind the walls at homes.
Very good analogy.
The Atlantic: What George Orwell Can Teach Us About OWS and Police Brutality.
A call for international solidarity with protests in Egypt
MENA Solidarity Network (Solidarity with workers in the Middle East)
The Arab Spring hangs in balance, as protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and in other cities in Egypt battle the riot police of the ruling Egyptian military junta.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are braving tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and live ammunition in demonstrations against the ruling military council in Egypt.
Despite promising elections, (which are being continually put back), Mubarak’s generals are demanding that the military have power above any elected civilian authority. Meanwhile protesters are still being tried in military courts and torture by the military and police is still routine.
By late on 20 November there were an estimated 100,000 in Tahrir Square according to eyewitness accounts and thousands protesting in every major city in Egypt. Their demands are clear: the downfall of Marshal Tantawi and Mubarak’s generals. As of Sunday 5 people at least had been killed and around 1000 injured.
The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions issued a call on Saturday 19 November to its 1.4 million members in affiliated unions to join the protests in Tahrir.
Our brothers and sisters in Egypt inspired us all with their courage over the past ten months. Without them, would we have seen the Occupy movement? How would our own struggles against austerity and cuts look without the model of the Egyptian revolution, and the knowledge that ordinary people can change the world?
If the Arab Spring is crushed in Egypt…..
…..the military rulers of Syria will be strengthened in their slaughter of unarmed protesters.
If the Arab Spring is crushed in Egypt…….
……. it will be major setback for the Arab Spring throughout the Middle East!
If the Arab Spring is crushed in the Middle East……
…… this will remove a major brake on the West’s move to war against Iran.
If the Arab Spring is crushed in the Middle East, major conflagration with Iran will be inevitable, as the US and Israel’s invasion plans can only succeed with the support of compliant Western backed right wing regimes retaining power in the Middle East.
If the Arab Spring is crushed in Egypt, the movement for democracy and against tyranny and war and recession, throughout the world, will suffer a major setback.
Responding to appeals from Egyptian activists, Middle East and North Africa, Solidarity in Britain is forwarding the following call for international solidarity action to the whole world. Please respond immediately.
Tahrir has inspired a wave of movements around the world. We must not let it go down to defeat!
If you are organising a protest or a picket, particularly if you can mobilise support from the trade union movement in solidarity with the call from the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, please let the world know.
Email menasolidarity@gmail.com.
MENA will list as many protests as they can.
Send pictures and they will publish them too.
Many people interpret the times we are living in as Biblical ‘End Times’.
Irrespective of that, there is no question that the entire North Africa-Middle East region is a tinderbox awaiting a spark.
I see that the war-of-words over Iran has started again, after a period of relative quiet. An attack on Iran would almost certainly bring the global economic system to a halt in a matter of weeks if it resulted in blockage of the Straits of Hormuz.
We need to be prepared for almost anything.
“Many people interpret the times we are living in as Biblical ‘End Times’.”
Interestingly, a good 50% of my ESOL students (Chinese, secular and 17-20 years old) believe something similar. The topic today was sports, and when I said brightly “The next Olympics will be held in London in 2012”, a couple of them said “But the world is going to end in 2012!” I was gobsmacked. Where has this come from?
The religious channels in SKY TV when I surf through them often are on the topic of end times- earthquakes, tsunamis, “it seems that the world is crying out to be delivered.”
It is a sign of narcissism, I believe, that people believe that the end times are going to come in their life-time. It seems part of the conservative psyche.
History is littered with such false prophecy. I often imagine, when engaged in this topic, the Monty Pythonesque dialogue of disgruntled failed end-timers coming down off the mountain top muttering about their leader who got it wrong.
A bit like the Nats on Sunday really…………
Ben
‘I’ve seen a lot of people write Kevin Moore’s views off as insanity, but having now read (all of) The Easy Way, it’s clear the statements are based on fact and the conclusions are solid.’
‘will automatically put Moore in the “tinfoil hat” category’
It is a lot easier for people to dimiss arguments without checking the facts than to do the necessary research and present logical arguments. We are now at the stage of witnessing people self-select for learning the hard way (or even perishing).
It will be very interesting to revue this ‘conversation’ one year from now.
Several years ago I likened the situation in most western societies to tossing a coin. At the moment it always lands with the face that shows ‘complacency and denial’ exposed. One day it will land with the obverse face exposed. That says: ‘panic’.
.
That’s for sure.
Only in America! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/video.cfm?c_id=2&gal_cid=2&gallery_id=122772
Anything they can do we can do too.
Some parents have been branded abusers because of the bizarre names of their children.
Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt stated his concerns in a written decision after a custody hearing in New Plymouth revealed a couple had named their child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
He was so disturbed at the effect on the nine-year-old that he ordered her temporarily placed under court guardianship so a suitable name could be chosen.
More loons.
Some more PICS to do the rounds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19473099@N05/?saved=1
LOL- ‘Follow Me on Twat’. Excellent work as always.
I expect RWNJ’s burst a few blood vessels watching that Child Poverty doco tonight. It was basically a giant ad for ‘Commie Pinko’ politics. Full of ads for Labour and the Greens too 🙂
Great work William – love theTwitter one!
When I heard Phil Goff saying how silly it was to sell the house to pay the mortgage off I thought of all the sensible people doing exactly that as they move on to better things.
Go back to your poor and woman hating hole thank you very much..
Hope the TV3 doco on Child Poverty finishing at 8:30 gets wide viewing.
It was magnificent! This is reality in NZ. I know because I see it regularly. Please wake up dear voters and vote with your heart and soul. Our chidren are our future, it’s in our hands! Congrats to the makers of this doco. Well done!
Agreed Lyn. It needs a huge rethink since the declared intent of a certain political grouping is intent on reducing housing, education and health. Wonder if that excellent doco touched many?
I live in hope.
The doco certainly touched me Ianmac. Bryan Bruce did a phenomenal job investigating this horror and presenting it to us in such a clear manner. Our poor children and their parents, who are all to often facing a heartbreaking battle to provide for them. Thought the sights I saw tonight had been consigned to history.
What is our government up to? Can’t they manage to run a country properly? They appear to have the wrong spending priorities. Our children deserve so much more.
Lol – zombie slater door knocking : )
Oops… was supposed to be reply to Williams photo stream above
Post of the week from the Bog relating to the bad case of worms that seems to have infected the place..
hahaha…too funny !!!
hhahahahaha made my day
I lasted all of 1 hour there
Aint been banned from Trademe boards yet- some of the torys there are jus plain nasty ( as in fucked up)
Loved the prog on Child Poverty in NZ tonite
honest and hard hitting
HNZ ,you should be ashamed of yourselves.
National well dont really need to say sfa.
Trademe boards huh ?
Fucked up torys eh ?
Black to the future i reckon !!!
Trying to comment again, but suspect I will be dumped into ‘spam’. But on the off -chance this gets through, somebody with more knowledge of the in’s and out’s might want to post on the fact that a fuck of a lot of comments from regular contributors are going into ‘trash’. (Seems I’m the only one going down the ‘spam’ route)
First comment in three days that ‘came up’….and just for once, I’ve nothing to say goddamnit!
Fixed the spam trigger. Have new moderators learning the ropes.
Hmm, but still wondering, what’s with the umpteen comments from regular commentators in ‘trash’? Some, though not all, are duplicated as comments on the page.
Oops! Got something to say afterall. There goes the tourist industry. Thomas Cook (How big are they in the scheme of things? Certainly not ‘small fry’) in emergency talks with banks and shares down 51%.
Who would have thunk that a global depression would mean people not going on holiday? Wonder what plans the illustrious NZ minister of tourism has up his sleeve (or in his ball pocket) for the shoit that that suddenly appears to be hovering waiting for gravity assisted splash?
sell air new zealand for fifty cents
Ah, but the market decides how things work! So, they all try to undercut each other to get the customers, who can’t actually afford their package holidays to Spain, meanwhile the airlines have rising fuel costs and can’t afford to pay the leases on their big shiny aircraft, which are leased from very big banks.
But don’t worry, they’ll be paid out by governments, who will in turn tax the poor.
Bit late now but TV1 late news said that with the help of the Ombudsman, they have discovered that Govt had no real evidence or official advice about the predicted uptake of shares in the Asset Sale. Key has been saying that official advice shows that at least 85% of the share sales will be taken up in NZ hands. There has be no official advice other than a few oral discussions.
Key has lied – again. Could be a big story.
ian along with low share prices and no money around for kiwis to invest Aussie super fund will grab the lions share titbits after goldman sachs has gouged its price out
Imperator has written about this too and given a link:
http://tvnz.co.nz/election-2011/ombudsman-called-in-over-asset-sales-secrets-4559548
‘Key has lied – again. Could be a big story.” I do hope so Ianmac
Powerco is the poster child for how things turn out when a public asset is flogged off.
11 years from formation through to compulsory acquisition by offshore owners.
April 1993: New Plymouth Energy (the electricity division of the New Plymouth District Council) merges with Taranaki Electricity (former Taranaki Electric Power Board) to become Taranaki Energy Limited
November 2004: It is now moving to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares and remove Powerco from the New Zealand stock exchange.