The Maritime Union appreciates the community support so far. While we continue to push for a settlement of the dispute via collective bargaining we are seeing no movement from the Port Company except to progress the contracting out process. As a result we have no choice but to fight for maintaining some security of employment and against the contracting out of our jobs. This week therefore sees the start from Friday of a two week strike at the Port.
Your support is going to be increasingly important to us as we fight over issues that are significant for us all.
We will have a 24/7 picket at Teal Park – outside the Fergusson Wharf gate (in front of the Westpac Rescue Centre) corner Tamaki Drive and Solent Street from 10 am Friday 24 February . If you are Auckland based or visiting town we would appreciate you joining us at the picket where you can learn about the dispute, directly from the workers concerned and show your solidarity. Where ever you live you can encourage people you know to come and join us. We are particularly inviting the community to visit on 25-26 February and 3-4 March 11am-3pm when there will food, children’s’ activities and entertainment for all. Parking is on Tamaki Drive and surrounding streets. Contributions of food are appreciated and can be left at the picket.
Please join us.
Financial Support
We have set up 2 ways for individuals to provide financial support for our members.
By calling our information line 0900ourport / 09006877678 to make a $5 automatic contribution.
or by depositing money into our bank account:
Account name: MUNZ National Fighting Fund
Account number: 02-0560-0450165-004
Branch: BNZ Manners Street, Wellington
Deliveries
We are organising groups to deliver postcards in your local area. If you haven’t already indicated you are willing to deliver a one hour bag of delivery and are able to, let us know.
Website and Facebook
Visit http://www.saveourport.com or http://www.facebook.com/saveourport to keep up to date with the dispute. Please encourage others to visit the site and sign our online petition. Attached to this email is a copy of the petition which you can take to your workplace, community organisation and events to encourage people to sign.
Prime Minister John Key has refused a request by the Public Service Association for an urgent meeting to discuss his plans for the state sector.
Earlier this month Mr Key signalled more mergers and job losses as the Government continues its goal of slashing $1billion from the public service.
The Government is looking at how technology such as smart phones can be used to replace over-the-counter contact and how savings can be made through further sharing of back-office functions such as human resources.
Mr Key plans to outline the Government’s proposals in a speech next month and has warned he will “make no apology” for trying to make the state sector more efficient.
Too busy for this, yet he never seems too busy to take holidays in Hawaii, or to spend an hour chatting about cats and other trivial stuff on the radio, to meet with Warners’ execs who are looking for some extra NZ taxpayer money and law changes…..etc, etc….?
We want to achieve a lasting and sustainable solution to the current labour productivity issues and disruptive action in Auckland as quickly as possible through two separate and parallel processes: firstly through negotiations on a Collective Agreement which will deliver improved flexibility, and a long term solution to the current productivity issues which have diminished our customer focus and impaired the Port’s performance for decades; and secondly, through consultation on a proposal to contract out labour at the Port.
Tony Gibson, Customer Advisory, 22 February 2012
Getting rid of the union by outsourcing, and seeking a collective with the union are both mutually exclusive of each other.
The inescapable conclusion is, the Ports of Auckland are only going through the motions of negotiating with the union, to meet their minimal legal requirements to do so.
The Ports of Auckland ltd. are on track with their premeditated plan to lock out the union members.
Contracting Out Proposal:
POA issued an RFP to prospective contractors on 10 January, and we are now in advanced discussions with contractors on the proposal. We’ve had three meetings with the union, but consultation has been relatively one-sided. We will be asking MUNZ to give us a formal response to the proposal by early next week. Meanwhile, the Port has been gathering views from prospective contractors and other staff through the consultation process. We’ll be reviewing this feedback over the next two weeks with a view to deciding whether we take this approach further. Our consultation process on a contract-out model is not just with union members, or stevedores, but involves a complete organisational review.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy
out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work
for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody, anything that the government does
not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work
because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other
half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is
going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any
nation.
1. It is regrettable that some wealthy insist on accumulating so much when if it was shared around many would benefit.
2. What a chief executive receives without deserving many struggling workers must work without receiving properly.
3. The government can and does create wealth. Anyone who denies this is a fool.
4. New Zealand does not have a wealth problem, it has a sharing problem.
5. When 1% of the people get the idea that they are entitled to exorbitant wealth because the remaining 99% is going to take care of them, and when the other 99% understands this is wrong, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy
out of prosperity. Correct. You simply legislate against the wealthy ticket clipping the poor.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work
for without receiving. But this will be the end of capitalism – an entire ownership class who gets massive economic benefits while others do the work for them on the minimum wage or close to it
3. The government cannot give to anybody, anything that the government does
not first take from somebody else. Correct. Tax the wealthiest who can afford it, the most. Don’t worry they’ll still have plenty for another investment house, overseas holiday and a couple of new cars afterwards.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!Correct. This is why the wealthy insist on taking wealth from the many and giving it to themselves, the few. That way they can MULTIPLY the wealth of the country…for just themselves.
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work
because the other half is going to take care of them, Actually this happens when work means having a minimum wage JOB (just above broke), and we have an economy which doesn’t need or want NZ workers.
Oh, that old chestnut that the highest-paid amongst us work the hardest, and therefore deserve the most, while the people who do the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous jobs in our society deserve the least.
Millions of dollars a year for a CEO, minimum wage for a caregiver looking after the elderly.
All is right in James111’s world.
But I would agree that number 5 is a problem. When half the people got the idea that property speculation would mean they didn’t have to work and could live off their tenants, and the other half decided to leave because there was nothing here for them but tenant-slavery, the country did indeed go to hell in a handbasket.
Oh, that old chestnut that the highest-paid amongst us work the hardest, and therefore deserve the most, while the people who do the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous jobs in our society deserve the least.
Millions of dollars a year for a CEO, minimum wage for a caregiver looking after the elderly.
Seconded! My daughter in law works at Selwyn Village, and pours her heart into caring for her “ladies” – for peanuts!
It bothered me last year when I worked at the language school, getting $35.00 an hour, leaving at 6.00 pm and seeing the cleaners come in then, knowing they were just starting, cleaning up our mess for half the money…(That being said, despite that my job was far more temporary than they ever let on 🙁 , I preferred it to cleaning!)
At least schools are not all that filthy…
No, they’re all BS. There’s only poverty because of the rich. Get rid of the rich and there won’t be any poverty. The actual truth is that you cannot get wealthy without stealing from the rest of the community.
A couple of days ago the Standard started a thread with the fact that the National lead government had broken the $ 50 billion debt ceiling. One of my comments there was that they were doing Greece on us triggering an avelange of Gosman misinfo crap.
Here are some time lines and articles with regards to the Greece/Goldman history you might find interesting:
No misinformation travellerev. I just pointed out the many flaws in your Goldman Sachs causing the Sovereign Debt crisis conspiracy theory.
What you fail to understand is that it was the Greeks inability to cut Government spending , (or at least to fund it domestically), which is at the heart of their problem not Goldman Sachs setting up deals for them. You might like to treat a modern sovereign nation like some sort of drug addled crack whore incapable of making rational decisions. I prefer to place the blame squarely on the people who spent the cash, not on the ones who enabled them to borrow it.
At least you should now know the EU is not the same as the Eurozone. So you have learnt something.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. They are both fools. And each cares not a jot for the other. This has always been the way.
But given that the entire monetary system is a privately owned ponzi scheme it is clear that the solution is an erasion and replacement of the scheme. No ponzi schemes last.
But this ponzi scheme called the fractional reserve banking system just gets completely ignored in your shallow one-dimensional assessments.
Not just mine vto. I have yet to see one mainstream NZ politician rally against fractional reserve banking. You may very well be right, however your views have yet to persuade anyone, even on the left of the political spectrum, that is likely to be in a position of power in future.
Clearly ideas for change to systems which are not sustainable take time to gain traction in the mainstream and then for politicians to be brave enough to pick them up. This has been the case with such things as limited voting, slavery, apartheid, foreign ownership of land in NZ, the list goes on and back into time. But you will surely realise this. The fact that the fractional reserve system is not being picked up by politicians yet is immaterial to the issue.
The fractional reserve banking system is a ponzi scheme. You are aware of this and it should figure in your in-depth analysis of everything monetray, no? In particular the global debt problem, no? I mean, should the monetary system be included as part of an analysis of this problem gosman?
It’s not just not being picked up by politicians. It isn’t even being picked up by any mainstream political party at a discussion level as far as I can see.
There is also no influential grass roots movement or pressure group bringing this to the public attention. All there seems to be is some fringe far left people throwing this idea around amongst themselves.
You might like to compare this to the process to change limited voting, slavery, apartheid, etc (laughable in my mind) but those things took decades to change and this was despite strong support for them. You have nothing at this stage.
Wow…you can’t see the mainstream power structures acting to undermine the banking system which shares with them some of its power? I wonder why that is.
It’s not just me who can’t see this C.V. It is pretty much all mainstream political parties in the Western world (including the left leaning ones). Now I’m sure you believe your ideas make sense yet it isn’t an old idea. As you pointed out variations on a non-Fractional Reserve Banking system have been practiced in the past. However the ideas you expouse are failing to gain traction for some reason. It must be very frustrating for you C.V.
The ideas etc are not “failing to gain traction”. In case you hadn’t noticed across the entire western world especially, since the gfc, these thoughts and ideas are in fact gaining traction. In evidence see the Occupy movement, among others.
Unless you have any evidence that there is less discussion around the monetary system today than before the gfc, then you are simply wrong.
The Occupy movement? Oh yes now I remember, that little leftist get together at the end of last year. How’s that all going now? Must have achieved something surely.
Excellent, thanks gosman, an acknowledgement that the issues around the monetary system and its unsustainable nature are gaining traction and being openly discussed (your opinion on the Occupy people is immaterial to the relevance of its existence, which is what your point concerned), contrary to your point above.
In fact I don’t think the Occupy Movement managed to convey any such message that they were against the Fractional Reserve Bank System. Sure they were angry at bankers but so what. I’m angry at bankers a lot as well and I work for a bank. Doesn’t mean I want to change the syatem.
I didn’t state that. I did state that the specific idea that the problem is with Fractional Reserve Banking isn’t gaining traction. You haven’t really provided any evidence that it is.
I just dealt with all of those points above. And you don’t answer my question.
As always.
Why do you not take the fractional reserve banking system, and its ponzi unsustainable nature, into account when discussing the global debt situation and in particular Greece?
Because I reject your proposition. As does most of the Governments and opposition parties in the Western world. It must eat you up inside at times to be so sure your views are correct yet noone in a position of influence can see what to you is obvious.
Oh, so you don’t consider the very nature of the fractional reserve money system in discussing the global debt problem and in particular the Greek debt situation because of me.
No, on another thread I discussed why I reject the proposition from an economic stand point.
Now I have a couple of questions for you.
Have you ever discussed the issues you have with the fractional reserve banking system with any politician of a left leaning party (Labour, Greens, Mana, heck even NZ First)?
If you did, did they slowly back away from you while making excuses why they had to go?
Well gosman, that is not what you said above. If you have outlined reasons for viewing the fractional reserve banking system as inert in the global debt situation elsewhere then, without you outlining them again now, the discussion will have to stop. Useless.
As to your two questions, no. I don’t have anything to do with political parties, either from the right where I have placed most of my votes or from the left where I, and most the world imo, have dabbled and are now heading back to.
Conclusion as to the value of this mini-thread with you – witheringly useless.
So you haven’t presented your entirely presuassive and rock solid argument that the current financial system we live under in the Western world is a Ponzi scheme and needs to chang to anyone who might have an ability to actually change the system.
Instead you come on to a Blog site and express these views in the comments section among people that essentially agree with you but are on the whole largely powerless to do anything about them at this stage.
Wow! I admire your persistence. Much like I admire the Wile E Coyote’s persistence chasing the Road Runner. What’s the definition of insanity again? Something about doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
Don’t presume so much gosman, you just look a fool. I attend to things such as this in my own particular way, which has its effects, trust me.
As for comments on a blog site – the reasons I bung around on here are my own personal ones (and not very good one really). And anyway as I understand, this site is watched and commented on at times by, by way of example sample, politicians as senior as Mallard and journalists as senior as Hooten and Garner. So your claim that it is ineffectual is in fact completely wrong. Blog sites are referenced by all manner of commentary in the modern world – maybe you have missed that change.
.
What amazes me Gosman, is that you refuse to take the nature, structure and ownership of the world’s debt system into account when discussing the world’s debt.
Gosman, can you explain how on the one hand you are opposed to Government debt, but on the other defend the system that creates out of thin air and runs on such vast quantities of it?
I just dealt with all of those points above. And you don’t answer my question.
As always.
Why do you not take the fractional reserve banking system, and its ponzi unsustainable nature, into account when discussing the global debt situation and in particular Greece?
Gosman says no mainstream politician is up to the task of calling the reserve bank to task but in London mayoral candidate Livingstone is calling for the hanging of a banker a day until they get it as his slogan to get elected. That’s progress I reckon.
Wasn’t Ken Livingston the Mayor of London previously? You know in the early 2000’s when the Bankers were running riot. Also how is ‘hanging bankers until they improve’ the same as deciding to change the banking system to be non-fractional resevere banking?
There is a fair amount of fairly respectable (right wing) economic opinion which is opposed to fractional reserve banking. i.e. Milton Friedman, Hayek, von Mises etc.
If I understand your analogy correctly, the deficit spending is the crack, which would make GS the dealer.
I’m no great fan of the war on drugs, but if we believe crack use to be a problem in society, I’m not convinced that a good respnse would be to have the state enforce the payment of users tic bills. YMMV of course.
Who was using the analogy again vto? Oh that’s right it was me. Therefore I think I would know if PB was understanding the purpose of it wouldn’t you agree?
And a multitude of unelected politicians and bureaucrats are the inside agents for the banksters, while organisations like the IMF are lobby groups and executive arms for them.
given that you are a complete tool who has been repeatedly caught lying, fails to read his own sources, and frequently has no idea what he’s talking about, it’s not really a good idea for you to simply assume that your “points” go over other people’s heads.
’tis better to remain quiet and be thought a stupid lying incompetent selfish tool, than to start typing and remove all doubt…
it was the Greeks inability to cut Government spending , (or at least to fund it domestically), which is at the heart of their problem gets analogised, somehow, to crack addiction.
Looks to me like he was saying the Greeks were ‘addicted’ to not funding their govt spending domestically, forcing them to borrow money from offshore.
But you can’t really be addicted to ‘not doing’ something, ergo, it’s the borrowed money that they were addicted to.
Ummmmm….. I think you will find that I basically stated it would be simplistic nonsense to believe such an analogy. But it is always good to see it confirmed that leftists believe in simplistic nonsense. Thanks for the laugh at your expense.
No you didn’t. But to save people from scrolling up:
What you fail to understand is that it was the Greeks inability to cut Government spending , (or at least to fund it domestically), which is at the heart of their problem not Goldman Sachs setting up deals for them. You might like to treat a modern sovereign nation like some sort of drug addled crack whore incapable of making rational decisions. I prefer to place the blame squarely on the people who spent the cash, not on the ones who enabled them to borrow it.
the bold bit is where you use the simplistic analogy you introduced to explain your position. #hack #stupidtroll
Ummmm…. I think you missed discussing the bit where I stated the actual analogy
“You might like to treat a modern sovereign nation like some sort of drug addled crack whore incapable of making rational decisions.”
Notice I am attributing this view to someone else (in this case the champion of wacky conspiracy theories travellerev). It is clear in this context it is not a view I share.
I also make the distinction between a modern sovereign nations and the drug addled crack whore. This is because I am highlighting that it would be simplistic nonsense to do so. Modern Sovereign nations are nothing like some sort of drug addled crack whore. They are far more complex and sophisicated.
But hey, if you want to run with such a simplistic view of the world go ahead and be my guest. It just makes you look like a plonker that’s all.
Then you probably shouldn’t have talked about a ‘greek inability’ rather than a ‘greek choice’. That set up the confusion. In any case, I tend to the view that bankers who loan money* to people with no ability to repay it, ar at least**, as culpable for the resulting shitstorm.
“…Over the last week, an important approach to economics that has spent years on the sidelines went mainstream: Modern Monetary Theory.
This is good news for anyone who wants to see the neoliberal paradigm challenged- and a positive sign to heterodox economists who have difficulty getting a hearing in a field still gripped by outmoded models.
The theory, which provides unusual perspectives on issues including currency, debt, and government spending, kicked off in the mid-90s – and has since grown into a movement.
Its roster of proponents includes James K. Galbraith; Australian economist Bill Mitchel; Randall Wray and Stephanie Kelton of the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Rob Parenteau; Scott Fullwilier; Warren Mosler; and blogger Marshall Auerback. ‘
Their insights have been particularly valuable in countering the deficit hysteria which reached a fever pitch in the U.S. during the summer of 2011 –
Bank of America is about to get hammered.
US$100 billion in litigation from investors claiming fraud in the mortgage backed securities and now it seems the Attorney-General of NY is going after it for all the taxes that weren’t paid on those security deals. – Kaiser Report interview with Chris Whalen of Tangent Capital.
I wonder if our dear leader still has his money in B of A. Knowing that his biography [Not the one written by Crosby Textor] has numerous incidences where he skips town before he has to face the consequences [“It wasn’t me gov. That was after I left town”], I guess he has dumped and run.
Does any one know his B of A exposure or am I dealing in old news?
On the government website regarding the financial interests of our politicians the only portion of his wealth outside of his trust funds is shares in BofA.
This could mean several things. He wants total control and no trust fund managers to know how much he owns in shares.
The amount in shares is probably considerable making his position as our prime minister a giant conflict of interest.
They were his long term Merrill Lynch investment shares turned into BofA shares when they were forced to buy Merrill Lynch.
Some more related facts are that Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest share holders in BofA which does not bode well for NZ.
Robert Rubin who spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs eventually serving as a member of the Board, and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992 served on the foreign Exchange committee from 1996-1998 after which he went on to preside over the repeal of the Glass Steagall act in the same year.
What is interesting is that he shared the upon invitation only job with none other than John Key’s direct boss Stephen Belotti and John Key received his invitation to “serve” on that committee which is used as a sounding board for the Federal Reserve of New York and a grooming hotspot for future revolving door politicians/bankers.
Here is a post I wrote about the 6 degrees of separation and how close John Key is to the key players in the global bankster takeover.
And no, this is not old news but very opportune because the only way John Key can hang on to his paper wealth is by keeping the system going and that can only be done by indebting the globe further and further into debt so the derivatives bubble ( $ 32 trillion worth) with which he made his money does not collapse.
Thanks ev.
Very informative as usual. Do we have any idea about the level of exposure? The share prices have taken a hit over the last year and there is a prospect of chapter 11 or at least a heavy restructuring, either of which would affect the share price.
I see from your 6 degrees article he is so well connected that he will not be in the dole cue any time soon, but do we know how much a dive in BofA could hurt his interests?
Thank you for taking the time to check out the links I gave you.
As I said before the fact that the shares are not in a trust fund therefore not even allowing the trustees of his funds to know the extend of the share portfolio is probably an indication that it is considerable but I think nobody knows the true size of his paper wealth.
But here is food for thought:
Would it matter if it was $1 million or $25 million in size or would John Key with his future and his shares in mind play along to get along so he can get a cushy job when he leaves (what he considers to be) this dump?
Would he violate his own interests in order to break us free from the Reserve bank system which made him a “made man” still beholden to his international finance masters to help liberate his country men from the collapsing system?
The thing is that unless Greece defaults and goes back to the Drachma and as a result the rest of the financial system goes in meltdown exposing the reserve system for the Ponzi scheme that it is we’re stuffed and under no circumstance will John Key do what is in the best interest of the NZ population. Namely to break away from the reserve system and start issuing interest free government social credit to rebuild the production capability of this country thereby decentralising the power now held by the 1%.
The excuses for war have focused mainly on a threat of terrorism from Iran and nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. The propaganda for war is as usual, highly flawed. It is based on a falsehood that the United States and Israel are somehow operating their nuclear weapons industries properly, and can therefore judge a hypothetical threat from Iran.
Great to see The Standard (comments at least) turning into a playground for wacky conspiracy theorists. I find the best way to scare people off the left is to direct them here to see all the crazy talk of ‘Banksters’ and ‘Shadowy forces’ and ‘Plots to undermine democracy’. You guy’s provide me with hours of amusement.
You should delve back into the archives a bit more. You’ll find massive and extensive archives on building collapses, signatures on paintings, electoral law, labour law on fishing, taxation systems, science of climate change, implication of falling discoveries of hydrocarbons, and just about everything else you want to name.
It literally comes from across the spectrum and has varying levels of knowledge from your pious knowledge that is usually limited to criticism (and yes there is a place for critics), to people who suggest ideas that are frequently wacky, to those who merely sprout slogans (and risk my boredom).
The point is that airing and discussing ideas is useful. Coming up with ideas for others to cut holes into is useful. Being a dickhead critic isn’t. Being a good critic is. Pick your place….
Don’t get me wrong. Some of the articles and associated comments are generally quite good. However when anything involves economics or general discussion you get the usual suspects turn up with wacky ideas that are generally unsupported even by the wider left movement. It is the comments I generally direct people to so as to turn them off the left not usually the articles (although a couple have proved useful in that regard).
I would suggest that Gosman read up on Copernicus, who resisted openly publishing his views, not wishing – as he confessed – to risk the scorn “to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses.”
When ever I read the rubbish that Gosman generally spouts, I take a quick look at a comment Felix made a while ago that reads:
It seems to me that many who self-identify as “conservative” – especially at an early age, the sort of panty-sniffers and thumb-suckers you find in the young nats for example – seem to have never examined exactly what it is they’re identifying as. It’s more like a club they join that offers the security of never having to examine themselves (or anything else) too closely for comfort.
And understandable if so. Imagine the cognitive dissonance that would arise from actually admitting to yourself that you think things are as good as they’ll ever be and we’d best just stop now, um actually let’s go back a bit just to be sure.
In fact it’s to their advantage to be a bit thick if they want to hold fast to their thick beliefs, because a smarter person simply couldn’t do it. The best a smart conservative can hope for is a double life where inwardly s/he understands the absurdity of it all but publicly puts on a thick face to avoid confrontation, both internal and within the peer group.
Awful really. Some of your Nat friends really are this twisted, grinning smugly to the world while cowering behind the eyes.
You’ll find extreme messages on any forum that isn’t subject moderated. Hell, I find them on comment threads that are exclusively on c++. Did you realize that there are conspiracy theories about the c++ 2011 standard?
We moderate almost entirely on commenting behaviour rather than subjects. There are a few exceptions for the racist, sexist, pointless abuse comments, and generally anti-social commentators. Some people seem to think that raising these in every context are valid subjects. The moderators don’t. But mostly it is behaviours of diversion commenting, fire and forget comments, things that bore the moderators to even read, attacking authors or the site, and all of the paraphernalia of the modern major disruptor.
Gosman seems to be one of those people who think that conspiratorial behaviour is simply absent from the human condition.
That is doesn’t exist in business (lol), doesn’t exists in relationships (lol), doesn’t exist in the workplace (lol), doesn’t exist in politics (LOL)….
Gosman is the type of person who comes here, refuses to accept any evidence, spouts generalisations and expects everyone to side with him; pretty pathetic really.
The Standard documents current affairs. If you have a specific argument against it or those that post here, please define it? Don’t just try to plonk what is obviously troll dung on everything.
I was wondering why there were so many comments on this thread so early in the day. I was expecting this little green goblin and it turns out I was right.
Four Injured After Troops Break into Palestinian Home in Jerusalem http://www.imemc.org/article/62987
Monday February 13, 2012 00:00 by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies
Palestinian medical sources in Jerusalem reported that four residents were wounded on Sunday evening, when Israeli troops and policemen broke into a Palestinian home of a former political prisoner, in al-Isawiyya town, in East Jerusalem.
Eyewitnesses said that the army broke into the home of former political prisoner, Samer al-Eesawy, by smashing the main door, and attacked his relative, lawyer Shereen al-Eesawy, her mother Laila, and her brother Shadi.
The lawyer suffered fractures in her arm and leg, and was taken prisoner by the police. Her mother was moved to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem suffering bruises in the neck, and a fracture in her arm, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
Also, resident Rami Ismat was shot by a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by the army while invading the town. He was also moved to Hadassah Hospital.
It is worth mentioning that in October of last year, Samer al-Eesawy was released under the prisoner-swap deal that secured the release of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in exchange for the release of over a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
The first phase of the deal was implemented on October 18, 2011, when Israel released 450 detainees, and Shalit was handed by the Hamas movement to Egypt, and on December 18, 2011, Israel released 550 Palestinian detainees in the second phase of swap-deal.
Your ignorance is astounding. Why don’t you find out about what Israel does in the Occupied Territories before you make such a grossly stupid statement?
Perhaps we should send Jim Jim and Gossie out into international waters with a copies of Atlas Shrugged and Javanese For Idiots and see how that get on? I’m prepared to chip in a few bucks for the fares, if only for the peace and quiet round these parts while they’re away.
I’m in two minds – if he crashes there, then he’s back on our telly.
But if he were successful over there, I think the waves of smug infantilism would still radiate powerfully across the Tasman – and more local folk might try to copy him.
Paul Henry has kept true to his controversial reputation in his debut on Australian breakfast television this morning.
After being wound-up by his co-hosts for being a technophobe, Henry hassled Deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop for not choosing who she would vote for between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
In a segment called Henry Hotline, where viewers call to ask Henry a question, one caller said the show had to be “kidding” with the choice of hosts.
“Never have I seen two out of three more unprofessional newscasters ever in my life,” the caller said.
“Who’s that bloke with the glasses on? I don’t know him, I don’t want him,” said another caller.
Henry also commented that one caller sounded like she had been drinking.
The first airing of Channel Ten’s Breakfast show was brought forward by four days following Labor MP Kevin Rudd’s resignation as Foreign Minister in Washington late last night.
Rehearsals for Henry and his three co hosts, Andrew Rochford, Kathryn Robinson and Magdalena Rose, were cut short in a bid to capitalise on the ratings from the political fall out between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Rudd.
Executive producer Majella Wiemers has said in recent interviews that her job “is to make a show that’s different and unpredictable”.
An official statement said: “We said be prepared for a show that’s cheeky and unpredictable, and (yesterday’s) surprise resignation by Kevin Rudd means it’s time for Breakfast to launch.”
Channel Ten, which puts on the Breakfast show, tweeted late last night: “Get and early night, guys! @TenBreakfast will be making a surprise launch tomorrow at 6am!”
Henry resigned from TVNZ’s Breakfast show after a public uproar over comments about New Zealand’s former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand and an international outcry over him laughing at Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s name.
Where the hell is David Shearer?
If disappearing is his idea of doing things differently then I’m not impressed.
I want him to be different but I want to know he’s there and can and will and is taking it to Wankey!
Now, yesterday on the radio the defense lawyers had cross-examined the two young witnesses, yet todays ‘updated’ Herald story fails to mention this, instead painting a very different scenario to the one described on Radio NZ yesterday.
The Government is challenging opponents of state-owned asset sales to explain why it would be better to borrow billions of dollars from overseas lenders.
He either really doesn’t get that selling assets is worse than borrowing or it’s another misdirection. I’m betting on the latter – this government really, really wants to sell our assets to their rich mates and make us serfs.
Alternately, English could explain the pros and cons of selling state owned enterprises, in public, in detail, covering all the points the opposition have already made and placing them into context and also examine alternative choices to reducing debt that run contrary to his party’s philosophy.
After all, it’s his job to persuade the public, not the Opposition’s to support his illusions.
He seems to be saying, that since every person in NZ who opposes Asset sales cannot prove beyond any doubt that he is not witholding or concealing agendas or details, he is therefore telling the truth.
English is a snakeoil salesman and the MSM are traitors because they know it and won’t call it.
“Referring to social welfare reform which will apply tougher work tests on sole parents and address youth employment, Mr English said the Government would move quickly to get reforms underway.
He said it was staggering that around one in eight New Zealanders aged 18 to 64 was on a benefit and about half of them had spent at five of the past 10 years on a benefit.
“That’s not only bad for the beneficiaries and their children, it’s a waste for society and taxpayers.”
And what jobs might they all be going to then Balanced Bill?
The class war is going to ramp up hard by the looks of it!
Japan had 54 nuclear reactors. Ten were ‘knocked out’ by the earthquake/tsunami last March. A further six that sat on active fault lines were shut down. The remainder, bar three that will shut down in April, were also shut down.
And yet, in December there was a 6% surplus in electricity generating capacity in Japan.
So the question is; If Japan, that was supposedly highly reliant on nuclear generation can lose it’s entire nuclear generating capacity and have a surplus of power available, then what’s the basis of arguments that would have us believe that we (globally) need nuclear power generation?
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 18
Why not start a Gosman thread tomorrow? He can there talk about anything that takes his fancy. And anyone who wants to interact with him can do so there. And there alone.
Why not start a Gosman thread tomorrow? He can there talk about anything that takes his fancy. And anyone who wants to interact with him can do so there. And there alone.
I’d like to know how gossies plan to put poor children into concentration camps so they die quicker is going. I’m sure his cowboyhat is too tight – he should take note of the great Dan’s hat – now that is class
Apologies if this has already been posted, but MUNZ have a really nice web button that would look real sweet on Teh Standard. Actually, on any worker friendly blog or website. Find it here.
Great to see the profit result for Ports of Tauranga today over 33 million for six months up 22% year on year,and higher than any analysts predicted.Really puts a spotlight on how badly POA is performing
Just goes to show what a well run port with competitive Labor rates ( contractors can achieve). Cant wait to see the mess sorted out at POA.
Get the port running the way it should be with the Labor costs much more competitive with their rival. Then all the rates payers of Auckland might get a decent return above 2.2% which is pathetic.
There is a mantra with the neo Liberals that goes something like “private good, public bad”.
So the cuts in the jobs of the “anonymous” are okay.
However, the newly redundant public servants are human beings with lives, mortgages and usually loyal to the core for their country (as opposed to a lot of the Right’s supporters who salt their profits overseas).
When is there going to be a voice in support of these people and their jobs? A great many will have dedicated a “lifetime” to their jobs – ACC/IRD/WINZ/HOUSING/CYPFS/RMA, (taken burdens from a day’s events home, and often shielded their ministers from embarrassment). They will have often implemented unpopular policy driven by their ministers and had to cop the flack from the public.
Along comes a government of zealots and removes swathes of jobs without any regard for these individuals.
And before the ministers claim that the jobs are a drain and unproductive, they might ask just what contribution they themselves make to the GDP.
@logie97
The NACTs aren’t just zealots, they are manipulators, liars and destroyers of the country and the services enjoyed by all NZ people.
I have family that support NACT and they have achieved much and have a good income and nice life and and make a point that they are paying tax ans think anyone getting welfare is wasting their tax payments. There is no attempt to understand the conditions of the general lower income group, just hostility and disdain. But when one of their family falls into the lower income bracket. that person, being a favourite, receives kindness and thoughtfulness which is not shown to other ‘losers’.
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump has agreed to “consider” exempting Australia from the 25% tariff he has imposed on imports of steel and aluminium to the US. Trump gave the undertaking during a wide-ranging 40-minute ...
Pacific Media Watch Israeli police have confiscated hundreds of books with Palestinian titles or flags without understanding their contents in a draconian raid on a Palestinian educational bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem, say eyewitnesses. More details have emerged on the Israeli police raid on a popular bookstore in occupied East ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist China and the Cook Islands’ relationship “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”, says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga express a loss of confidence in Prime Minister Mark Brown. In response to questions from the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Donald Trump is moving rapidly to change the contours of contemporary international affairs, with the old US-dominated world order breaking down into a multipolar one with many centres of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronnie Das, Associate Professor in Data Analytics, The University of Western Australia In the recent Border-Gavaskar series against India, Steve Smith agonisingly missed out reaching 10,000 Test runs in front of his home crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, falling short by ...
In a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff, comedians and best friends Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester embark on a cross-country quest to find love. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff following award-winning comedians and friends Brynley Stent and ...
🚐 Bryn and Ku pack their bags and swap the bleak dating scene of Tāmaki Makaurau for some meet and mingle events in Ōtautahi that will take them out of their comfort zone. ❣️ Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club follows comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they head out ...
"The relationship between China and the Cook Islands does not target any third party," the Chinese Foreign Ministry says, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga plan protest. ...
From tradwives to ‘petite blonde’ preferences, this season feels like a throwback for all the wrong reasons, writes Alex Casey. First of all: I know. Complaining about bad stuff on Married at First Sight Australia is like complaining that water is wet. But I’ve been bobbing around in these waters ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a public servant who’s ‘trying to get better’ explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 24. Ethnicity: Pākehā and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zena Assaad, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering, Australian National University Ziv Lavi/Shutterstock Last week, Google quietly abandoned a long-standing commitment to not use artificial intelligence (AI) technology in weapons or surveillance. In an update to its AI principles, which were first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenainn Simpson, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Florian Nimsdorf / Shutterstock About 400 kilometres northwest of Sydney, just south of Dubbo, lies a large and interesting body of rock formed around 215 million years ago by erupting volcanoes. Known as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mareike Riedel, Senior lecturer in law, Macquarie University The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents has dominated headlines in Australia in recent months, with calls for urgent action to address what many are calling a crisis. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney For a long time, it seemed refugee law had little relevance to people fleeing the impacts of climate change and disasters. Nearly 30 years ago, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Kirkman, Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock You’ve heard of the gender pay gap. What about the gap in medical care? Cardiovascular diseases – which can lead to heart ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Iain White, Professor of Environmental Planning, University of Waikato Getty Images Urban planning has a long history of promoting visionary ideas that advocate for particular futures. The most recent is the concept of the 15-minute city, which has gained traction globally. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, Associate Professor in Climate Science, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, The University of Melbourne Earth is crossing the threshold of 1.5°C of global warming, according to two major global studies which together suggest the planet’s climate has ...
As support for the coalition dips, the PM and his soon-to-be-deputy have engaged in a public war of words. Stewart Sowman-Lund has the details in today’s edition of The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Support slips If there was ever a political honeymoon, or ...
Failure by successive governments has left the South Island’s freshwater in a near disastrous state, the High Court has been told, in a case that could force the Crown to jointly manage water bodies with Ngāi Tahu.Individual Ngāi Tahu leaders, and the collective group Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, are ...
Nearing the end of his career, the world’s greatest unicycle racer chases the sport’s most elusive record. There’s something different about world-class athletes. Even if you know nothing about their sport, you can see it. It’s the way they move – precise, powerful. It’s how they carry themselves – focused, ...
Migrants with money are the focus of new visa settings that the government hopes will boost the economy. Alice Neville explains.What’s all this then? On Sunday, as part of the government’s big plan to kickstart economic growth, changes were announced to the Active Investor Plus visa category, with the ...
A lineup of prominent figures have joined the call to halt the deportation of a mother convicted of inflicting injuries on her baby, as fears grow she could be another victim of a ...
Comment: Saturday February 1 was the grim fourth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar. The date seems to have gone unnoticed back here in New Zealand. Even before war in Ukraine and then Gaza, Myanmar got little attention. Yet it is the most destructive conflict in our region. The ...
We’re on the brink of a ‘tidal wave’ of misinformation.No one knows the size of it, but there’s a warning that leaving it to the government to sort out won’t work.In the year of local government elections, expect computer-generated content where the sources and authenticity are murky; more complaints about ...
Comment: The next four years are going to bring a terrible information environment, with absurd claims bubbling up from fever swamps overseas The post Paranoia and politics appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Swirly World Sails South, by Andrew Fagan (2012)I feel Andrew is totally under-rated as an author. Alongside his latest book, Swirly World: Lost at Sea, his earlier sailing book is among my favourites. It tells of his trip around New Zealand – via the Auckland Islands. When he set out, ...
Yasser Abdulaal, who has lived in Ōtautahi Christchurch for five years, said his two sisters had lost their homes in the 15-month-long war. “Toxic wasteland” . . . Palestinians take shelter in tents set up amid heavily damaged buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot ...
RNZ PacificMarshall Islands Journal editor Giff Johnson says US President Donald Trump’s decision on aid “is an opening for anybody else who wants to fill the gap” in the Pacific. Trump froze all USAID for 90 days on his first day in office and is now looking to significantly ...
MUNZ seek support
So JonKey is too busy to mee the PSA over public sector cuts even though this is a policy Key has fronted on?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6464535/PSA-disappointed-Key-won-t-discuss-cuts
Too busy for this, yet he never seems too busy to take holidays in Hawaii, or to spend an hour chatting about cats and other trivial stuff on the radio, to meet with Warners’ execs who are looking for some extra NZ taxpayer money and law changes…..etc, etc….?
The PSA need to link up with the Maritime workers.
MUNZ need the numbers and the PSA need a way of making the Government sit up and listen.
‘
A lock out by any other name would smell as sweet?
Customer Advisory
An update from Tony Gibson
Getting rid of the union by outsourcing, and seeking a collective with the union are both mutually exclusive of each other.
The inescapable conclusion is, the Ports of Auckland are only going through the motions of negotiating with the union, to meet their minimal legal requirements to do so.
The Ports of Auckland ltd. are on track with their premeditated plan to lock out the union members.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy
out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work
for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody, anything that the government does
not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work
because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other
half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is
going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any
nation.
emphasis on the possibly
5 sentences that will earn you a failing grade in economics
ahhh, James, read number four again and then explain your oft spoken love of a system that’s very foundation is built upon fractional reserve banking?
How about these?
1. It is regrettable that some wealthy insist on accumulating so much when if it was shared around many would benefit.
2. What a chief executive receives without deserving many struggling workers must work without receiving properly.
3. The government can and does create wealth. Anyone who denies this is a fool.
4. New Zealand does not have a wealth problem, it has a sharing problem.
5. When 1% of the people get the idea that they are entitled to exorbitant wealth because the remaining 99% is going to take care of them, and when the other 99% understands this is wrong, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Micky
What wealth did the last Labour government create in nine years? Answer none they just taxed people to death
James 111 arguing with you is like arguing with a rock.
A rock gives off the impression of potential wisdom whereas james opens his mouth and removes all doubt there’s ony RWNJ dribble
And rocks also give the hope of finding they contain small nuggets of precious minerals.
James is more like a coprolite.
yes i remember the times well.
piles of bodies in the streets
hazmat teams burning the dead
tax relief soup kitchens were everywhere
im just grateful we didnt live in any of those countries which paid even more tax than we do.
“im just grateful we didnt live in any of those countries which paid even more tax than we do.”
Like you mean almost all of the rest of the OECD?
yeah – thems the ones
FIFY Jimmy
Oh, that old chestnut that the highest-paid amongst us work the hardest, and therefore deserve the most, while the people who do the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous jobs in our society deserve the least.
Millions of dollars a year for a CEO, minimum wage for a caregiver looking after the elderly.
All is right in James111’s world.
But I would agree that number 5 is a problem. When half the people got the idea that property speculation would mean they didn’t have to work and could live off their tenants, and the other half decided to leave because there was nothing here for them but tenant-slavery, the country did indeed go to hell in a handbasket.
Seconded! My daughter in law works at Selwyn Village, and pours her heart into caring for her “ladies” – for peanuts!
It bothered me last year when I worked at the language school, getting $35.00 an hour, leaving at 6.00 pm and seeing the cleaners come in then, knowing they were just starting, cleaning up our mess for half the money…(That being said, despite that my job was far more temporary than they ever let on 🙁 , I preferred it to cleaning!)
At least schools are not all that filthy…
No, they’re all BS. There’s only poverty because of the rich. Get rid of the rich and there won’t be any poverty. The actual truth is that you cannot get wealthy without stealing from the rest of the community.
A couple of days ago the Standard started a thread with the fact that the National lead government had broken the $ 50 billion debt ceiling. One of my comments there was that they were doing Greece on us triggering an avelange of Gosman misinfo crap.
Here are some time lines and articles with regards to the Greece/Goldman history you might find interesting:
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-washington-dc/read-it-and-weep-a-timeline-of-goldman-sachs-corruption
http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/inside-the-mind-of-an-investment-banker-greece-goldman-and-derivatives.html
http://antioligarch.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/what-chase-goldman-sachs-did-to-greece/
The Matt Taibbi article with regards to Goldman Sachs actively betting that Greece would fall is particularly poignant.
And Gosman? Go fuck yourself with your pathetic misinfo tripe
No misinformation travellerev. I just pointed out the many flaws in your Goldman Sachs causing the Sovereign Debt crisis conspiracy theory.
What you fail to understand is that it was the Greeks inability to cut Government spending , (or at least to fund it domestically), which is at the heart of their problem not Goldman Sachs setting up deals for them. You might like to treat a modern sovereign nation like some sort of drug addled crack whore incapable of making rational decisions. I prefer to place the blame squarely on the people who spent the cash, not on the ones who enabled them to borrow it.
At least you should now know the EU is not the same as the Eurozone. So you have learnt something.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. They are both fools. And each cares not a jot for the other. This has always been the way.
But given that the entire monetary system is a privately owned ponzi scheme it is clear that the solution is an erasion and replacement of the scheme. No ponzi schemes last.
But this ponzi scheme called the fractional reserve banking system just gets completely ignored in your shallow one-dimensional assessments.
Not just mine vto. I have yet to see one mainstream NZ politician rally against fractional reserve banking. You may very well be right, however your views have yet to persuade anyone, even on the left of the political spectrum, that is likely to be in a position of power in future.
Again so shallow gosman.
Clearly ideas for change to systems which are not sustainable take time to gain traction in the mainstream and then for politicians to be brave enough to pick them up. This has been the case with such things as limited voting, slavery, apartheid, foreign ownership of land in NZ, the list goes on and back into time. But you will surely realise this. The fact that the fractional reserve system is not being picked up by politicians yet is immaterial to the issue.
The fractional reserve banking system is a ponzi scheme. You are aware of this and it should figure in your in-depth analysis of everything monetray, no? In particular the global debt problem, no? I mean, should the monetary system be included as part of an analysis of this problem gosman?
It’s not just not being picked up by politicians. It isn’t even being picked up by any mainstream political party at a discussion level as far as I can see.
There is also no influential grass roots movement or pressure group bringing this to the public attention. All there seems to be is some fringe far left people throwing this idea around amongst themselves.
You might like to compare this to the process to change limited voting, slavery, apartheid, etc (laughable in my mind) but those things took decades to change and this was despite strong support for them. You have nothing at this stage.
Wow…you can’t see the mainstream power structures acting to undermine the banking system which shares with them some of its power? I wonder why that is.
As usual the Keiser Report reveals much.
It’s not just me who can’t see this C.V. It is pretty much all mainstream political parties in the Western world (including the left leaning ones). Now I’m sure you believe your ideas make sense yet it isn’t an old idea. As you pointed out variations on a non-Fractional Reserve Banking system have been practiced in the past. However the ideas you expouse are failing to gain traction for some reason. It must be very frustrating for you C.V.
The ideas etc are not “failing to gain traction”. In case you hadn’t noticed across the entire western world especially, since the gfc, these thoughts and ideas are in fact gaining traction. In evidence see the Occupy movement, among others.
Unless you have any evidence that there is less discussion around the monetary system today than before the gfc, then you are simply wrong.
The Occupy movement? Oh yes now I remember, that little leftist get together at the end of last year. How’s that all going now? Must have achieved something surely.
Excellent, thanks gosman, an acknowledgement that the issues around the monetary system and its unsustainable nature are gaining traction and being openly discussed (your opinion on the Occupy people is immaterial to the relevance of its existence, which is what your point concerned), contrary to your point above.
No acknowledgment at all.
In fact I don’t think the Occupy Movement managed to convey any such message that they were against the Fractional Reserve Bank System. Sure they were angry at bankers but so what. I’m angry at bankers a lot as well and I work for a bank. Doesn’t mean I want to change the syatem.
If even a leftist like Naomi Wolf isn’t picking up that one of the main issues of the Occupy movement is with Fractional Reserve Banking (see http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog1.php/2011/11/27/naomi-wolf-occupy-has-objectives) what hope do you have of getting this message wider coverage VTO. You certainly ain’t goin get it posting here.
Ok gosman, you are right … there is less discussion around the world’s money system today than there was a few years ago.
bonkers
I didn’t state that. I did state that the specific idea that the problem is with Fractional Reserve Banking isn’t gaining traction. You haven’t really provided any evidence that it is.
No Gosman. I did provide evidence by way of the Occupy example. You have provided no evidence for your assertion.
Gosman you’re a gift…
“In fact I don’t think the Occupy Movement managed to convey any such message that they were against the Fractional Reserve Bank System”
“The Disastrous Success of Fractional Reserve Banking”
http://theoccupiedtimes.co.uk/?p=1026
http://occupychi.org/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=684
http://occupywallst.org/forum/end-the-federal-reserve-and-the-fractional-reserve/
http://plancast.com/p/853c/occupy-federal-reserve-end-fractional-reserve-banking
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimkiernan/6532691879/
Washington Post mainstream enough for you Gossy?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/modern-monetary-theory-is-an-unconventional-take-on-economic-strategy/2012/02/15/gIQAR8uPMR_print.html
I just dealt with all of those points above. And you don’t answer my question.
As always.
Why do you not take the fractional reserve banking system, and its ponzi unsustainable nature, into account when discussing the global debt situation and in particular Greece?
Because I reject your proposition. As does most of the Governments and opposition parties in the Western world. It must eat you up inside at times to be so sure your views are correct yet noone in a position of influence can see what to you is obvious.
Oh, so you don’t consider the very nature of the fractional reserve money system in discussing the global debt problem and in particular the Greek debt situation because of me.
well done.
pathetic attempt at diversion and avoidance.
I’ve already discussed previously why I reject the issues with fractional reserve banking.
“I’ve already discussed previously why I reject the issues with fractional reserve banking.”
What you have said is that you reject the issues with fractional reserve banking because few politicians take them up.
That’s fine. At least it adds to an understanding of your understanding of the world, namely;
1. shallow.
2. the fractional reserve monetary system is immaterial to the current global debt problem.
No, on another thread I discussed why I reject the proposition from an economic stand point.
Now I have a couple of questions for you.
Have you ever discussed the issues you have with the fractional reserve banking system with any politician of a left leaning party (Labour, Greens, Mana, heck even NZ First)?
If you did, did they slowly back away from you while making excuses why they had to go?
Well gosman, that is not what you said above. If you have outlined reasons for viewing the fractional reserve banking system as inert in the global debt situation elsewhere then, without you outlining them again now, the discussion will have to stop. Useless.
As to your two questions, no. I don’t have anything to do with political parties, either from the right where I have placed most of my votes or from the left where I, and most the world imo, have dabbled and are now heading back to.
Conclusion as to the value of this mini-thread with you – witheringly useless.
So let me get this straight then.
So you haven’t presented your entirely presuassive and rock solid argument that the current financial system we live under in the Western world is a Ponzi scheme and needs to chang to anyone who might have an ability to actually change the system.
Instead you come on to a Blog site and express these views in the comments section among people that essentially agree with you but are on the whole largely powerless to do anything about them at this stage.
Wow! I admire your persistence. Much like I admire the Wile E Coyote’s persistence chasing the Road Runner. What’s the definition of insanity again? Something about doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
Don’t presume so much gosman, you just look a fool. I attend to things such as this in my own particular way, which has its effects, trust me.
As for comments on a blog site – the reasons I bung around on here are my own personal ones (and not very good one really). And anyway as I understand, this site is watched and commented on at times by, by way of example sample, politicians as senior as Mallard and journalists as senior as Hooten and Garner. So your claim that it is ineffectual is in fact completely wrong. Blog sites are referenced by all manner of commentary in the modern world – maybe you have missed that change.
.
What amazes me Gosman, is that you refuse to take the nature, structure and ownership of the world’s debt system into account when discussing the world’s debt.
Mainstream economics and politics being such a measure of success at this juncture too eh Gosman. At least you don’t have unattainable expectations..
Gosman, can you explain how on the one hand you are opposed to Government debt, but on the other defend the system that creates out of thin air and runs on such vast quantities of it?
“There is also no influential grass roots movement or pressure group bringing this to the public attention.”
I’d watch out for Occupy on May1st before proclaiming that Gos..
I just dealt with all of those points above. And you don’t answer my question.
As always.
Why do you not take the fractional reserve banking system, and its ponzi unsustainable nature, into account when discussing the global debt situation and in particular Greece?
VTO,
Gosman says no mainstream politician is up to the task of calling the reserve bank to task but in London mayoral candidate Livingstone is calling for the hanging of a banker a day until they get it as his slogan to get elected. That’s progress I reckon.
Wasn’t Ken Livingston the Mayor of London previously? You know in the early 2000’s when the Bankers were running riot. Also how is ‘hanging bankers until they improve’ the same as deciding to change the banking system to be non-fractional resevere banking?
Haven’t had a chance to read this yet, but an MMT’r on fiat..
http://coppolacomment.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/merits-of-debt-money-system.html
I hope your masters pay you well shilly G, I really do, because you’re going to need every cent when it goes to pot globally.
And for those of you still believing John Key is here for your interest here is another shill doing his masters dirty work
There is a fair amount of fairly respectable (right wing) economic opinion which is opposed to fractional reserve banking. i.e. Milton Friedman, Hayek, von Mises etc.
If I understand your analogy correctly, the deficit spending is the crack, which would make GS the dealer.
I’m no great fan of the war on drugs, but if we believe crack use to be a problem in society, I’m not convinced that a good respnse would be to have the state enforce the payment of users tic bills. YMMV of course.
Nope, you don’t understand the analogy at all.
Nope, P’s b absolutely understood the analogy.
Who was using the analogy again vto? Oh that’s right it was me. Therefore I think I would know if PB was understanding the purpose of it wouldn’t you agree?
GS is the dealer and the credit ratings agencies are the thugs and the muscle.
Whoosh!
Did you see that C.V?
That was the point going over your head.
And a multitude of unelected politicians and bureaucrats are the inside agents for the banksters, while organisations like the IMF are lobby groups and executive arms for them.
Gosman,
given that you are a complete tool who has been repeatedly caught lying, fails to read his own sources, and frequently has no idea what he’s talking about, it’s not really a good idea for you to simply assume that your “points” go over other people’s heads.
’tis better to remain quiet and be thought a stupid lying incompetent selfish tool, than to start typing and remove all doubt…
Not at all. If you intended some other understanding then you should be more accurate with your analogies.
It’s like Humpty Dumpty saying to Alice: “When I use an analogy… it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less”.
It should be fairly easy to clear this up.
it was the Greeks inability to cut Government spending , (or at least to fund it domestically), which is at the heart of their problem gets analogised, somehow, to crack addiction.
Looks to me like he was saying the Greeks were ‘addicted’ to not funding their govt spending domestically, forcing them to borrow money from offshore.
But you can’t really be addicted to ‘not doing’ something, ergo, it’s the borrowed money that they were addicted to.
Ummmmm….. I think you will find that I basically stated it would be simplistic nonsense to believe such an analogy. But it is always good to see it confirmed that leftists believe in simplistic nonsense. Thanks for the laugh at your expense.
No you didn’t. But to save people from scrolling up:
What you fail to understand is that it was the Greeks inability to cut Government spending , (or at least to fund it domestically), which is at the heart of their problem not Goldman Sachs setting up deals for them. You might like to treat a modern sovereign nation like some sort of drug addled crack whore incapable of making rational decisions. I prefer to place the blame squarely on the people who spent the cash, not on the ones who enabled them to borrow it.
the bold bit is where you use the simplistic analogy you introduced to explain your position. #hack #stupidtroll
Ummmm…. I think you missed discussing the bit where I stated the actual analogy
“You might like to treat a modern sovereign nation like some sort of drug addled crack whore incapable of making rational decisions.”
Notice I am attributing this view to someone else (in this case the champion of wacky conspiracy theories travellerev). It is clear in this context it is not a view I share.
I also make the distinction between a modern sovereign nations and the drug addled crack whore. This is because I am highlighting that it would be simplistic nonsense to do so. Modern Sovereign nations are nothing like some sort of drug addled crack whore. They are far more complex and sophisicated.
But hey, if you want to run with such a simplistic view of the world go ahead and be my guest. It just makes you look like a plonker that’s all.
Then you probably shouldn’t have talked about a ‘greek inability’ rather than a ‘greek choice’. That set up the confusion. In any case, I tend to the view that bankers who loan money* to people with no ability to repay it, ar at least**, as culpable for the resulting shitstorm.
**or other peoples money
* and probably more.
A graph to show you the effects of Austerity on Greece’s GDP slide post 2008, think they will ever pay it back while being strangled Gosman/
The dealer doesn’t get paid when the junkie dies!
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/austerity-europe/?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto
And a clip, from the mouths of those who dealt with Goldman to help them get into the EU
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17108367
yeah I know Gosman… lalalala, can’t hear you, fingers in your ears and all that..
my banker buddies told me it was all those lazy Greeks
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/the-challenge-to-status-quo-economics-everybody-is-talking-about/
“…Over the last week, an important approach to economics that has spent years on the sidelines went mainstream: Modern Monetary Theory.
This is good news for anyone who wants to see the neoliberal paradigm challenged- and a positive sign to heterodox economists who have difficulty getting a hearing in a field still gripped by outmoded models.
The theory, which provides unusual perspectives on issues including currency, debt, and government spending, kicked off in the mid-90s – and has since grown into a movement.
Its roster of proponents includes James K. Galbraith; Australian economist Bill Mitchel; Randall Wray and Stephanie Kelton of the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Rob Parenteau; Scott Fullwilier; Warren Mosler; and blogger Marshall Auerback. ‘
Their insights have been particularly valuable in countering the deficit hysteria which reached a fever pitch in the U.S. during the summer of 2011 –
– and still darkens policy debates worldwide…”
(cont..)
phil-at-whoar.
Bank of America is about to get hammered.
US$100 billion in litigation from investors claiming fraud in the mortgage backed securities and now it seems the Attorney-General of NY is going after it for all the taxes that weren’t paid on those security deals. – Kaiser Report interview with Chris Whalen of Tangent Capital.
I wonder if our dear leader still has his money in B of A. Knowing that his biography [Not the one written by Crosby Textor] has numerous incidences where he skips town before he has to face the consequences [“It wasn’t me gov. That was after I left town”], I guess he has dumped and run.
Does any one know his B of A exposure or am I dealing in old news?
Hi .William,
On the government website regarding the financial interests of our politicians the only portion of his wealth outside of his trust funds is shares in BofA.
This could mean several things. He wants total control and no trust fund managers to know how much he owns in shares.
The amount in shares is probably considerable making his position as our prime minister a giant conflict of interest.
They were his long term Merrill Lynch investment shares turned into BofA shares when they were forced to buy Merrill Lynch.
Some more related facts are that Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest share holders in BofA which does not bode well for NZ.
Robert Rubin who spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs eventually serving as a member of the Board, and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992 served on the foreign Exchange committee from 1996-1998 after which he went on to preside over the repeal of the Glass Steagall act in the same year.
What is interesting is that he shared the upon invitation only job with none other than John Key’s direct boss Stephen Belotti and John Key received his invitation to “serve” on that committee which is used as a sounding board for the Federal Reserve of New York and a grooming hotspot for future revolving door politicians/bankers.
Here is a post I wrote about the 6 degrees of separation and how close John Key is to the key players in the global bankster takeover.
And no, this is not old news but very opportune because the only way John Key can hang on to his paper wealth is by keeping the system going and that can only be done by indebting the globe further and further into debt so the derivatives bubble ( $ 32 trillion worth) with which he made his money does not collapse.
Here is John Key confessing on breakfast TV to the fact that every bankster knew that the derivatives trade was a short term Ponzi scheme.
I hope this helps!
Thanks ev.
Very informative as usual. Do we have any idea about the level of exposure? The share prices have taken a hit over the last year and there is a prospect of chapter 11 or at least a heavy restructuring, either of which would affect the share price.
I see from your 6 degrees article he is so well connected that he will not be in the dole cue any time soon, but do we know how much a dive in BofA could hurt his interests?
W,
Thank you for taking the time to check out the links I gave you.
As I said before the fact that the shares are not in a trust fund therefore not even allowing the trustees of his funds to know the extend of the share portfolio is probably an indication that it is considerable but I think nobody knows the true size of his paper wealth.
But here is food for thought:
Would it matter if it was $1 million or $25 million in size or would John Key with his future and his shares in mind play along to get along so he can get a cushy job when he leaves (what he considers to be) this dump?
Would he violate his own interests in order to break us free from the Reserve bank system which made him a “made man” still beholden to his international finance masters to help liberate his country men from the collapsing system?
The thing is that unless Greece defaults and goes back to the Drachma and as a result the rest of the financial system goes in meltdown exposing the reserve system for the Ponzi scheme that it is we’re stuffed and under no circumstance will John Key do what is in the best interest of the NZ population. Namely to break away from the reserve system and start issuing interest free government social credit to rebuild the production capability of this country thereby decentralising the power now held by the 1%.
Here is an interesting analysis by Dan Denning from Ozzie blog the Daily Reckoning: What the Greek debt crisis is all about.
Dismantling the reason for war
The excuses for war have focused mainly on a threat of terrorism from Iran and nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. The propaganda for war is as usual, highly flawed. It is based on a falsehood that the United States and Israel are somehow operating their nuclear weapons industries properly, and can therefore judge a hypothetical threat from Iran.
Great to see The Standard (comments at least) turning into a playground for wacky conspiracy theorists. I find the best way to scare people off the left is to direct them here to see all the crazy talk of ‘Banksters’ and ‘Shadowy forces’ and ‘Plots to undermine democracy’. You guy’s provide me with hours of amusement.
You should delve back into the archives a bit more. You’ll find massive and extensive archives on building collapses, signatures on paintings, electoral law, labour law on fishing, taxation systems, science of climate change, implication of falling discoveries of hydrocarbons, and just about everything else you want to name.
It literally comes from across the spectrum and has varying levels of knowledge from your pious knowledge that is usually limited to criticism (and yes there is a place for critics), to people who suggest ideas that are frequently wacky, to those who merely sprout slogans (and risk my boredom).
The point is that airing and discussing ideas is useful. Coming up with ideas for others to cut holes into is useful. Being a dickhead critic isn’t. Being a good critic is. Pick your place….
Don’t get me wrong. Some of the articles and associated comments are generally quite good. However when anything involves economics or general discussion you get the usual suspects turn up with wacky ideas that are generally unsupported even by the wider left movement. It is the comments I generally direct people to so as to turn them off the left not usually the articles (although a couple have proved useful in that regard).
“…wacky ideas that are generally unsupported even by the wider left movement”
Could you explain what you mean please? At the moment it looks like you are out of your depth.
I would suggest that Gosman read up on Copernicus, who resisted openly publishing his views, not wishing – as he confessed – to risk the scorn “to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses.”
When ever I read the rubbish that Gosman generally spouts, I take a quick look at a comment Felix made a while ago that reads:
It seems to me that many who self-identify as “conservative” – especially at an early age, the sort of panty-sniffers and thumb-suckers you find in the young nats for example – seem to have never examined exactly what it is they’re identifying as. It’s more like a club they join that offers the security of never having to examine themselves (or anything else) too closely for comfort.
And understandable if so. Imagine the cognitive dissonance that would arise from actually admitting to yourself that you think things are as good as they’ll ever be and we’d best just stop now, um actually let’s go back a bit just to be sure.
In fact it’s to their advantage to be a bit thick if they want to hold fast to their thick beliefs, because a smarter person simply couldn’t do it. The best a smart conservative can hope for is a double life where inwardly s/he understands the absurdity of it all but publicly puts on a thick face to avoid confrontation, both internal and within the peer group.
Awful really. Some of your Nat friends really are this twisted, grinning smugly to the world while cowering behind the eyes.
And some of them are just thick.”
And I too, just laugh
You’ll find extreme messages on any forum that isn’t subject moderated. Hell, I find them on comment threads that are exclusively on c++. Did you realize that there are conspiracy theories about the c++ 2011 standard?
We moderate almost entirely on commenting behaviour rather than subjects. There are a few exceptions for the racist, sexist, pointless abuse comments, and generally anti-social commentators. Some people seem to think that raising these in every context are valid subjects. The moderators don’t. But mostly it is behaviours of diversion commenting, fire and forget comments, things that bore the moderators to even read, attacking authors or the site, and all of the paraphernalia of the modern major disruptor.
Gosman seems to be one of those people who think that conspiratorial behaviour is simply absent from the human condition.
That is doesn’t exist in business (lol), doesn’t exists in relationships (lol), doesn’t exist in the workplace (lol), doesn’t exist in politics (LOL)….
Weird, ain’t it?
Gos should tell the police they can stop investigating anyone suspected of conspiring, cos it just doesn’t happen.
Save them a fair bit of time I reckon.
Gosman is the type of person who comes here, refuses to accept any evidence, spouts generalisations and expects everyone to side with him; pretty pathetic really.
The Standard documents current affairs. If you have a specific argument against it or those that post here, please define it? Don’t just try to plonk what is obviously troll dung on everything.
I was wondering why there were so many comments on this thread so early in the day. I was expecting this little green goblin and it turns out I was right.
Yep. It’s getting to the point where I’m reading the posts and skipping most of the comments.
Open mike is pretty much fucked now too by the looks.
Little green boring goblin is not worth reading it’s just gosman dribbling drivel.
Four Injured After Troops Break into Palestinian Home in Jerusalem
http://www.imemc.org/article/62987
Monday February 13, 2012 00:00 by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies
Palestinian medical sources in Jerusalem reported that four residents were wounded on Sunday evening, when Israeli troops and policemen broke into a Palestinian home of a former political prisoner, in al-Isawiyya town, in East Jerusalem.
Eyewitnesses said that the army broke into the home of former political prisoner, Samer al-Eesawy, by smashing the main door, and attacked his relative, lawyer Shereen al-Eesawy, her mother Laila, and her brother Shadi.
The lawyer suffered fractures in her arm and leg, and was taken prisoner by the police. Her mother was moved to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem suffering bruises in the neck, and a fracture in her arm, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
Also, resident Rami Ismat was shot by a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by the army while invading the town. He was also moved to Hadassah Hospital.
It is worth mentioning that in October of last year, Samer al-Eesawy was released under the prisoner-swap deal that secured the release of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in exchange for the release of over a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
The first phase of the deal was implemented on October 18, 2011, when Israel released 450 detainees, and Shalit was handed by the Hamas movement to Egypt, and on December 18, 2011, Israel released 550 Palestinian detainees in the second phase of swap-deal.
Been a fair bit happenning in Syria recently………….
Israelis seems a lot more considerate than Assad.
Just saying…………………………
Your ignorance is astounding. Why don’t you find out about what Israel does in the Occupied Territories before you make such a grossly stupid statement?
Not as “outstanding” as your hypocracy.
Could you elucidate? Right now, you’re floundering, and I don’t think you are in any way capable of explaining how I am guilty of “hypocracy”.
As we all know, there is no such thing as wage slavery, so I don’t why these guys are bleating so much.
They’re not slaves and slaveowners, they’re rational economic actors maximising their utility.
Perhaps we should send Jim Jim and Gossie out into international waters with a copies of Atlas Shrugged and Javanese For Idiots and see how that get on? I’m prepared to chip in a few bucks for the fares, if only for the peace and quiet round these parts while they’re away.
A disgusting blot on our international reputation. One wonders how the owners of these fishing corporations can sleep at night………..
Paul Henry get’s hammered by the Aussies: “I don’t know him, I don’t want him” Classic!
Bugger! I was kinda hoping they’d love him over there so there would be no chance he’d come back here.
I’m in two minds – if he crashes there, then he’s back on our telly.
But if he were successful over there, I think the waves of smug infantilism would still radiate powerfully across the Tasman – and more local folk might try to copy him.
I think this one is more objective and McFlock gets his wish…………
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/game-on-as-breakfast-crashes-the-morning-tv-party-20120223-1toz8.html
Upping the IQ in both Australia and NZ…
Paul Henry comes under fire on Aussie debut
http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/paul-henry-s-early-aussie-debut-4738470?ref=rss
Paul Henry has kept true to his controversial reputation in his debut on Australian breakfast television this morning.
After being wound-up by his co-hosts for being a technophobe, Henry hassled Deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop for not choosing who she would vote for between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
In a segment called Henry Hotline, where viewers call to ask Henry a question, one caller said the show had to be “kidding” with the choice of hosts.
“Never have I seen two out of three more unprofessional newscasters ever in my life,” the caller said.
“Who’s that bloke with the glasses on? I don’t know him, I don’t want him,” said another caller.
Henry also commented that one caller sounded like she had been drinking.
The first airing of Channel Ten’s Breakfast show was brought forward by four days following Labor MP Kevin Rudd’s resignation as Foreign Minister in Washington late last night.
Rehearsals for Henry and his three co hosts, Andrew Rochford, Kathryn Robinson and Magdalena Rose, were cut short in a bid to capitalise on the ratings from the political fall out between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Rudd.
Executive producer Majella Wiemers has said in recent interviews that her job “is to make a show that’s different and unpredictable”.
An official statement said: “We said be prepared for a show that’s cheeky and unpredictable, and (yesterday’s) surprise resignation by Kevin Rudd means it’s time for Breakfast to launch.”
Channel Ten, which puts on the Breakfast show, tweeted late last night: “Get and early night, guys! @TenBreakfast will be making a surprise launch tomorrow at 6am!”
Henry resigned from TVNZ’s Breakfast show after a public uproar over comments about New Zealand’s former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand and an international outcry over him laughing at Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s name.
Where the hell is David Shearer?
If disappearing is his idea of doing things differently then I’m not impressed.
I want him to be different but I want to know he’s there and can and will and is taking it to Wankey!
.
From today’s Herald coverage http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10787478
Now, yesterday on the radio the defense lawyers had cross-examined the two young witnesses, yet todays ‘updated’ Herald story fails to mention this, instead painting a very different scenario to the one described on Radio NZ yesterday.
More unbalanced reporting?
English issues asset sales challenge
He either really doesn’t get that selling assets is worse than borrowing or it’s another misdirection. I’m betting on the latter – this government really, really wants to sell our assets to their rich mates and make us serfs.
Can English explain why it would be good for NZ to have our State Assets sold by NAct? NO he can’t!
Can bungling Bill even tie his own shoe laces? The bloke is a lemon
Alternately, English could explain the pros and cons of selling state owned enterprises, in public, in detail, covering all the points the opposition have already made and placing them into context and also examine alternative choices to reducing debt that run contrary to his party’s philosophy.
After all, it’s his job to persuade the public, not the Opposition’s to support his illusions.
He seems to be saying, that since every person in NZ who opposes Asset sales cannot prove beyond any doubt that he is not witholding or concealing agendas or details, he is therefore telling the truth.
English is a snakeoil salesman and the MSM are traitors because they know it and won’t call it.
“Referring to social welfare reform which will apply tougher work tests on sole parents and address youth employment, Mr English said the Government would move quickly to get reforms underway.
He said it was staggering that around one in eight New Zealanders aged 18 to 64 was on a benefit and about half of them had spent at five of the past 10 years on a benefit.
“That’s not only bad for the beneficiaries and their children, it’s a waste for society and taxpayers.”
And what jobs might they all be going to then Balanced Bill?
The class war is going to ramp up hard by the looks of it!
” around one in eight New Zealanders aged 18 to 64 was on a benefit”
how does that even work when our unemployment rate is round 6-7%?
what am i missing here?
is it actually heaps worse than that – or more un-verified repeating by the media?
Open question.
Japan had 54 nuclear reactors. Ten were ‘knocked out’ by the earthquake/tsunami last March. A further six that sat on active fault lines were shut down. The remainder, bar three that will shut down in April, were also shut down.
And yet, in December there was a 6% surplus in electricity generating capacity in Japan.
So the question is; If Japan, that was supposedly highly reliant on nuclear generation can lose it’s entire nuclear generating capacity and have a surplus of power available, then what’s the basis of arguments that would have us believe that we (globally) need nuclear power generation?
Why not start a Gosman thread tomorrow? He can there talk about anything that takes his fancy. And anyone who wants to interact with him can do so there. And there alone.
Excellent idea. He’s such a bore!
Dunno, might prove popular.
The Daily Gos?
daily floss maybe
I’d like to know how gossies plan to put poor children into concentration camps so they die quicker is going. I’m sure his cowboyhat is too tight – he should take note of the great Dan’s hat – now that is class
http://ponderosascenery.homestead.com/files/castbios/hoss.html
Apologies if this has already been posted, but MUNZ have a really nice web button that would look real sweet on Teh Standard. Actually, on any worker friendly blog or website. Find it here.
Great to see the profit result for Ports of Tauranga today over 33 million for six months up 22% year on year,and higher than any analysts predicted.Really puts a spotlight on how badly POA is performing
Just goes to show what a well run port with competitive Labor rates ( contractors can achieve). Cant wait to see the mess sorted out at POA.
Get the port running the way it should be with the Labor costs much more competitive with their rival. Then all the rates payers of Auckland might get a decent return above 2.2% which is pathetic.
Can’t wait to see you run crying to mummy when your paper-round pay gets slashed in half little jim.
There is a mantra with the neo Liberals that goes something like “private good, public bad”.
So the cuts in the jobs of the “anonymous” are okay.
However, the newly redundant public servants are human beings with lives, mortgages and usually loyal to the core for their country (as opposed to a lot of the Right’s supporters who salt their profits overseas).
When is there going to be a voice in support of these people and their jobs? A great many will have dedicated a “lifetime” to their jobs – ACC/IRD/WINZ/HOUSING/CYPFS/RMA, (taken burdens from a day’s events home, and often shielded their ministers from embarrassment). They will have often implemented unpopular policy driven by their ministers and had to cop the flack from the public.
Along comes a government of zealots and removes swathes of jobs without any regard for these individuals.
And before the ministers claim that the jobs are a drain and unproductive, they might ask just what contribution they themselves make to the GDP.
@logie97
The NACTs aren’t just zealots, they are manipulators, liars and destroyers of the country and the services enjoyed by all NZ people.
I have family that support NACT and they have achieved much and have a good income and nice life and and make a point that they are paying tax ans think anyone getting welfare is wasting their tax payments. There is no attempt to understand the conditions of the general lower income group, just hostility and disdain. But when one of their family falls into the lower income bracket. that person, being a favourite, receives kindness and thoughtfulness which is not shown to other ‘losers’.