Radio NZ reporting that Sky City told the government 14 months ago it could not afford to build convention centre as promised.
Will the media hold them to account?
Makes skycity appear clean as, top corporate citizen and all that and the MSM puppets will be looking elsewhere and hand wringing over Sabin or excusing them for the lui donation etc.
Skycity and NACT colluded from day 1 over this deal and it’s just been a case of how them and their MSM acolytes feed the sheeple given the election had to be negotiated.
Joyce was just on Radio NZ and I have never heard him sound sicker. He took umbrage at the suggestion that he had deliberately lied to the public and disputed that he had the necessary intent. Good way to confirm that he may have inadvertently lied …
The New Zealand Herald does not regard the fact the government is considering sending our troops to Iraq today as important enough news to make any of its top 10 stories online.
Apparently our taxi fare gap is more important.
National run a non democratic process by choosing not to put it to the whole of the House, instead they have chosen the Banana Republic route of letting cabinet choose. Both the Tory-Maori party and United Future are not in favour of the role our troops are too play.
What a disgraceful breech of democracy by Key and his cronies. These 100 troops would be better employed combating an invasion on our own shores, the Queensland fruit fly.
They were talking about this on Morning Report this morning. Under Labour, apparently the only time a decision like this was put to the house was in late 2003 when they were voting whether to send the SAS back to Afghanistan or not. The other decisions were all made by the Labour cabinet.
That doesn’t make it right – particularly for those of us that don’t support Labour so the “but they did it too” argument doesn’t really sit too well.
I’d dearly love to see a clean up of parliamentary process. Its pretense of “democracy” is losing it’s veneer on a daily basis – irrespective of who is pulling the levers of control.
John Stevens giving a very good interview on 1 news this morning.
Stopped short of calling Key a liar about the SAS going to Afghanistan in 2009 . pointed out the the Iraq war was built on lies and finished with saying reporters weren’t asking the right questions about our going to fight Isis.
No sorry it will be on delay at about 7-50 . The liar in chief was just on at 7-15 answered most questions buy talking about what Clarke did and confirmed that there will be no vote on going to Iraq I wish she had of asked him if it was because he would lose.
Oxymoron Key says “he is confident if put to a vote the other party’s would support sending non combat troop to the Middle East.” Really so don’t bother giving a democratic vote?
And the reason Key won’t put sending troops to Iraq to the vote, is because he would be out voted.
Parties AGAINST NZ military involvement, training role possibly leading to combat –
Labour
Greens
NZ First
United Future
Maori Party
Parties FOR NZ military involvement regardless of role –
National minus one MP (Sabin)
ACT
To lose would be a slap in the face for Key and National. So to keep onside with his US buddies, he goes for over riding the democratic process of a Parliamentary vote! Isn’t this what dictators do?
When Espiner listed the parties in the Parliament who would vote against deployment in their interview Key mumbled on for a bit and then when pressed petulantly said they could always wait until after the Northland byelection.
“The invasion of Iraq in 2003 I think was not just a mistake, but perhaps a biggest mistake the U.S. has ever made in foreign policy. It’s a four trillion dollar mistake, it caused enormous damage in the region, to the people of Iraq and certainly to my army and very-very many of my friends. So, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a disaster, a fiasco, unnecessary and poorly conducted. We played the endgame very-very badly and that failure of American foreign policy in 2011 necessitates today America returning to Iraq in force.”
If there is an active war zone around with some of our normal allies special forces in action, you can generally assume that there will be a NZSAS contingent around as well. It doesn’t mean that they are deployed there. It just means that they are off doing a training (often as a kind of sabbatical) with other forces. It is part of their job.
The words “squad deployment” were used. I know they often work with other countries’ special forces, and love telling stories about how bad the Americans are. They are always at other people’s wars, while I believe the regular forces only started doing that via disobeying orders from the Clark government.
@ b waghorn
John Stevens is a musician I think. The person you are referring to from TV1 News is
Jon Stephenson, and that is a name and spelling to remember. A NZ person of worth
who deserves to be identified correctly.
Thinking back to last years election, no wonder Key looked tired and weary.knowing about Liu, Sky City fiasco and Sabin whilst telling us all that National were steering us in such a straight line, well, what can we say?
And this is a nice piece – which basically sums up my take on elections – add the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national – I think you should take some time to read.
Of course we are not in a debate! You haven’t made any statements, just petulant vague gibberish.
How about expanding on your original mind fart…”“..the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national…”?
Congratulations exStatic, you have delivered a new benchmark in nonsensical gibberish. I am sure we all look forward to the ever generous delight of your considerably reasoned contributions.
;“We’ve had four finds in our traps over three years. In the previous 14 years when we had the 100 percent screening in place, we didn’t find any.”
“Sure that’s going to cost some money, but we also have to look at every time we’re responding here is between $1 million to $1.5 million for the response that we’re putting in place.”
So how much has been saved by not screening 100%
Note no flys for 14 years with 100% screening
Now 4 infestations since reduced screening 3 years ago TO SAVE MONEY!!!!!
>>Mr Guy also denied that reinstating mandatory x-ray screening of luggage from all passengers coming off international flights would prevent the fruit fly from entering the country, saying it was “too difficult to confirm” how the pest arrived in Grey Lynn.
So how come Mr Guy there was no invasion for th 14 years there was mandatory screening.
Well, it’s now 0.0% so it can hardly plunge any lower. Does that mean they’re going to hail their current leader as a success because he stopped them falling any further? I wouldn’t put it past them.
I like the un-named woman saying something like “I think having a young one as a leader is quite good, because the young ones do like someone about their own age”.
Love her weird phrasing of “young ones”. Sorry Ms Unnamed Woman, but this “young one” actually wants sound and sane policy, not some young toff that’s been elevated beyond his depth and talent.
Is it just the money being spent? But surely they are there for a reason – creating international economic opportunities? I understand that the london posting has a few other issues but if the posting was made first then I also see no problems. Also isn’t this all ATEED which whilst owned by the council isn’t controlled by the council (thanks Rodney!)
Is it just me or is the Herald stirring up an issue that isn’t there at all and is failing to ask the right questions or state the facts in a non-biased way?
In google there is mention of NZ Australia NATO and the west but I have done a search of the article thinking it referred to Iraq and matters relating but can’t find a mention. So where that term was lifted from I do not know.
Still, Nassem Taleb says that “modern medicine” killed more people than it saved until probably the 1930s and that risk/benefit phenomena is still not well understood in a healthcare context, leading to bad (and sometimes tragic) decisions by both patients and practitioners.
..and you appear to be an unrepentant denier of the proven benefits of modern medicine.
You continuing sniping at immunisation and other medical interventions and your assertions that the health profession are dupes of the pharmaceutical industry whilst basing your arguments on your own rather flimsy knowledge base is perverse and brings your own profession into disrepute.
Disclosure – I do recommend patients to osteopaths and acupuncturists for musculoskeletal and other ailments and have a great deal of respect for their abilities in their areas of expertise.
..and you appear to be an unrepentant denier of the proven benefits of modern medicine.
Not at all. But I am an advocate of making sure patients can exercise informed consent before any treatment is provided. There are a very wide variety of situations for which modern western medical care is unparalleled and very necessary. Suggesting that there are other situations where its risks, benefits and unknowns are less clear cut or positive might be considered distateful, however.
and your assertions that the health profession are dupes of the pharmaceutical industry
Those are your words, not mine. And when you get entire classes of medical students boycotting medical school professors whom they feel have too close links with big pharma, or medical researchers themselves admitting that big pharma drug trials with positive results are more likely to be published in peer reviewed journals than ones which show the drugs in a bad light, I think that there are valid concerns to be considered.
They boycott professors who teach evolution too. In fact that seems to be the main reason. I suppose I missed all the classes in all the schools and all the professors you’re referring to.
One of you has made repeated assertions on this very blog concerning medical professionals being dupes and in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and that prescribing in NZ was not evidence based, clearly such an accusation is hyperbolic cant.
I must admit to being a bit mystified as to what point you are trying to make, that mistakes are made by medical professionals and that the population have adverse reactions at times to medicines…. that is undeniable.
The report you link to however is very flawed.
just as initial example in relation to ADRs a critique was made of the published paper that the report relied upon.
‘”…Simple pooling of fatal event frequencies from only those studies specifically reporting the number of fatal ADRs, as was done in the meta-analysis of Lazarou and colleagues, is likely to dramatically overestimate the death rate.
CONCLUSION:
Meta-analysis was invalid because of heterogeneity of the studies. Most of these studies did not report the data needed for incidence calculations. The methodology used was seriously flawed, and no conclusions regarding ADR incidence rates in the hospitalized population in the United States should be made on the basis of the original meta-analysis. “
I must admit to being a bit mystified as to what point you are trying to make, that mistakes are made by medical professionals and that the population have adverse reactions at times to medicines…. that is undeniable.
It’s probably the scale of the issues which would be surprising to every day people. Yes, I agree with you that every study (including meta-analyses) has limitations and those limitations mean that you can’t make sweeping or blanket conclusions.
However most in the medical profession would not find it in the least surprising, for example, that a patient had died in hospital while receiving a cytotoxic cocktail for their cancer and that their death would be listed as drug related.
15 year old UK girls outsmart British intelligence, quit school and head to Syria to join ISIS
Oh dear. I’m sure the intelligence services will be asking for more powers, new legislation and additional millions in money to prevent future occurrences.
This could end up like the varroa mite where it was put in the too hard basket eventually by the government. Anyone who watches Boarder Security knows that many people do not declare and destroy the food they bring in. In fact many of them try to hide the stuff. Letting people from Oz go through without searching is so dumb it beggars belief that the government would risk millions of dollars in exports in order to avoid an almost negligible inconvenience to passengers. Like the other policies of the national government that allows drilling of oil in the area of the highly endangered Maui dolphin. To many of the rest of us this is just a no brainer to protect NZ export interests, tourism and our environment and quality of life for both people and our forma and flora. Who pays when things go wrong. The tax payer. Like we did when the lack of regulation meant the tax payer spent millions on the Rena cleanup and it’s still not fixed properly.
Andrew Little please scream from the rooftops about what stupidity this is. Motivate NZers to fight back against these dumb policies. We want a government that cares about our country which it is clear this government does not. We need a great leader and clearly John Key may have charm but not the ethics to look after NZ, it’s people and it’s environment for future generations.
Facts About Fruit Flies
– Mother fruit flies lay about 200-300 eggs at a time
– The most likely place for a mother fruit fly to lay her eggs is in a piece of rotting fruit
– As soon as the babies hatch, they start reproducing about 24 hours later
– From the time the mother fruit fly lays her eggs until you see the fruit flies buzzing around is about 7-13 days.
They apparently have about 7,500 traps in Auckland checking for these blighters and it sounds a lot – did I hear right? HortNZ CE Peter Silcock said that the action taken on commercial consignments of fruit in Oz and the border controls here are probably sufficient to mean good coverage. It is more likely that they come in travellers bags and they would like 100% screening. PRIM (Primary Industries Ministry) have increased surveillance – for fruit flies – but not to the extent which is needed. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/266475/fruit-fly-crackdown-continues
Something that I notice is that yachties are never mentioned – there seems quite a floating population swanning around these days. They should be equally targeted for compliance with regs.
This is yet another example of the dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement Systems (ISDS) and another reason for rejecting the TPPA. This illustrates the lengths that these multicorporations will go to in order to evade their responsibilities and the moral and ethical vacuum in which they operate.
Imagine a similar scenario in NZ with respect to deep sea drilling!
It is better to read the whole article dated Feb 16, 2015 but here is an excerpt from the Chevron v Ecuador case.
“Unfortunately for Chevron, its expensive retaliation strategy against Mr. DeLeon and others has failed to end the litigation, has only increased the resolve of the affected villagers, and has not diminished the company’s risk from collection actions targeting its assets to ensure compliance with the judgment,” it added.
After an eight-year trial, an Ecuador court in 2011 found Chevron liable for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest, decimating indigenous groups and causing an outbreak of cancer and other diseases. The case – litigated in Ecuador at Chevron’s request — was funded in large part by Mr. DeLeon, a successful businessman in the internet gaming space and a law school classmate of Donziger’s.
Two layers of courts in Ecuador unanimously affirmed the trial court judgment, including the country’s Supreme Court in a 5-0 ruling. Chevron still refused to pay the judgment and retaliated by suing numerous supporters of the villagers, including Mr. DeLeon but also lawyers, environmental groups, bloggers, and scientific consultants.
Just another short excerpt:
“Chevron also continues to face the likelihood of a devastating setback in the appeal of its controversial racketeering judgment in New York, now scheduled to be heard the week of March 30. The facts in that case prove the company corrupted its star witness with more than $2 million in payments to testify falsely in the trial, according to multiple reports.”
Still looking out for the right wing scum on this latest Liu moment. Where are these scum ? But for the fact it’d take 11 years to arrive I’d send them a letter of invitation to contribute……..
I am curious to know if this issue has been exposed on the TV1 and TV3 news at 6? I don’t think so, but I did not watch the news in full over the weekend. Those who did watch could you please let us know. TIA.
Yeah ACT are fronting with Robin Grieve, a particularly nasty character who attended an election forum as a candidate and bemoaned ‘it was a lefty love feast.’ He got booed on stage and off, very entertaining value 🙂
NATIONAL’S CALLOUS AND CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OF NATION’S BIO- SECURITY!
You won’t believe this!
The fruit fly outbreak is a damning indictment on the Government’s systematic destruction of border security with the inefficient and money pinching Minister in charge, Nathan Guy.
Now the $6 billion fruit and vegetable industry is at risk and the Government is squarely to blame.
This is very serious. Guy should be a goner for this.
When I returned from a visit to Japan in 1998 I was pulled up at Customs because the Xray of my bag had shown a round object. I was happy to unpack it and show the round wooden doll I had been given in Tokyo, and Customs was happy that it was not an apple or an orange. I was happy that they had screened my bag along with every other bag on the flight. They have stopped doing that and only Xray “at risk” individuals. It is cheaper – they say. Tell that to the fruit and vege shops in Grey Lynn today and who knows to whom tomorrow?
Another impact of reckless tax cuts in 09, they went through penny pinching across the board to eek every potential ‘saving’ in an effort to smudge the wealth transfer.
Border security in an agricultural economy isn’t a luxury to be tweaked it’s a necessity that needs bolstering and vigilance.
“If U.S. land were divided like U.S. wealth…” a graphic divvied up by 1%, 9%, and the remaining 90%. Would love to see a NZ one (including foreign ownership, renter/owner, and unoccupied households).
Chinese are flocking to holiday in Japan to get away from their horrible air pollution, where you not only can see the air you breathe, you can cut it with a knife and fork, or in their case hold it between their chopsticks. But the Japanese are quietly saying, because they need the Chinese money after many years of recession, that the Japanese are lacking cultural sensitivity. They are too loud, and if there is anything free they take it in sackfuls, their children stand on seats in their shoes, and they eat their own food in cafes. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-tourists-flock-to-japan-for-the-sushi-the-shopping-and-the-fresh-airdespite-tensions-10061720.html
Queenstown is stuffed to the gills with tourists. Perhaps they are Chinese tourists. If they don’t watch out down there they will spoil the attraction of their Queenstown attractions. Probably they will go mad and treat it like a gold bull to be milked. When you’ve got dosh you can make everything happen to suit yourself.
Oh dear me. What a bad case of cultural myopia. I meant to say that the Japanese were saying quietly that the Chinese were a bit louder than they are used to, but my fingers went and put Japanese not Chinese, which doesn’t make sense when it is read. I don’t know what happened there.
Dunedin’s city hospital is suffering badly. Bad leaks had to be patched and still there is more to be done. The College of Intensive Medicine of Australia and New Zealand has withdrawn the hospital’s intensive care unit’s training accreditation, with the main issue being the state of the unit. A $2 million refurbishment, which could well be the barest minimum, is planned but has not begun yet.
Now, comes a report from Beca consultancy group that up to
$50 million will be needed to keep the clinical services building at Dunedin Hospital going for another 10 years.
In addition, nearly $75 million will have to be spent on the ward block over the next 10 years. http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/331153/dunedin-hospitals-catch-22
I diagnose a serious and debilitating affliction ‘political invisibility syndrome’. Those regional patients with this indisposition looking unhealthy may be subjected to triage.
If their condition is exacerbated by a raging state of ‘regional-extensioning-flew’ the prognosis is not good. This is a sad case where the patient glides further and further away from the source of its nourishment, and will stretch till its supply-lines are woefully thin and then inevitably breaks down.
Maybe we can get SkyCity to set up pokie machines at the hospital, and get them to pay for a new ward or two in the process. You know, because this country can’t fund anything decent any more without kowtowing to the corporates.
Vigorous seas are reducing the chance of tar balls washing ashore after a split pipe at an offshore platform caused 250 litres of oil to spill into the sea.
The slick has spread 10km from the Raroa platform site off the Taranaki coast since Friday.
The spill happened when oil company OMV was transferring oil from Raroa to the oil tanker Nectar.
Okay could have been a lot worse – get ready for more of these spills if the gnats have their dirty exploitation way. I agree with Jean quoted below
Jean Kahui of Frack Free Kapiti said her organisation was concerned about the “disgusting” spill and said it raised wider concerns about offshore oil operations.
“We can feel extremely lucky that this was a small spill. Imagine if it was a larger spill. Our coast [would] be devastated for generations,” she said.
I hope this can be used to test our systems of readiness for the inevitable disaster just around the corner.
Did someone discuss the women on Radionz talking about how everything she has trained for soon has no jobs for her? She has had to look for months to find anything else. This was around the Precarieat discusion with Prof Standing.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20168197
10:06 Rhonda Samoa – The Precariousness of Work
Rhonda Samoa is a truck driver, a graduate of the New Zealand Film School, and the sister of Mark Samoa who was killed in a work accident on the Wellington waterfront in 2013. Rhonda knows a thing or two about the precariousness of work in the 21st Century, having been made redundant twice in the last six years, but she remains optimistic about the ability of workers to negotiate safe and fair work conditions as long as they stick together.
Be afraid New Zealand, be afraid.
The Herald attempts to whip NZ into the necessary frame of mind to accept war in Iraq.
This make it more than a rag.
It’s a danegerous rag.
For Messrs Murphy and Roughan at the Herlad and the others mmebers of the complicit media.
Read the last verse in particular of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!– An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.–
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
One Mews just interviewed a NZ commentator on the Iraq Civil War deployment and how we have boxed ourselves in over there, with the caption “Person’s Name.”
Garner on radio live today: (a few hours ago so I’ll have to Morrissey it)
“Gee I dunno, I just can’t get that excited about this whole fruitfly thing, ya know? I mean it’s not like a TSUNAMI or an EARTHQUAKE, ha know? I mean I DRIVE HOME through the affected area and I’m like NOT SCARED AT ALL. Like, it’s just a FLY, ya know? Anyway there’s important news I have to tell you about. I went for a ride on a waterslide yesterday and guess what? It was SHIT!”
He then spends the next hour talking about how shit the waterslide was.
They’re not from here. They breed like flies. They have no respect for our culture. They have no humanity. They are a major threat to NZ’s wealth and wellbeing. Everything they touch becomes a writhing, maggoty mass of corruption.
Fruit flies must be exterminated – Death to the gnats!
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Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardern’s announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements – the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister. She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealand’s international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardern’s calendar was fuller than most. Ardern’s first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardern’s ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardern’s first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Little’s noble resignation ...
An Astonishing Rapport: Jacinda Ardern's "Politics of Kindness" raised so many progressive possibilities. Her own tragedy, and New Zealand's, is that so few of them were realised.MUCH WILL BE WRITTEN in the coming days about "The Ardern Years", some of it sympathetic and insightful, most of it spiteful and wrong.For ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of women’s rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is formally facing down an emergency just a few days after being sworn in, summoning the National Crisis Management Centre to the Beehive. The Beehive Bunker is being stood up to help with coordination of the emergency response in Auckland. I’ve asked ...
Brits abroad can be an asset to Aotearoa - but only if we make an effort to engage with te ao Māori, writes Scottish expat Fran Barclay Earlier this week, the UK High Commissioner signalled a promising intention to address the barriers facing young Māori and Pasifika who aspire to ...
"They want the Māoris out": provincial life in NZShe hadn’t learned to shut her mouth. Howard was tired of Councillor Kemp harping on and on and on. He pushed himself deeper into the boardroom chair and leaned back as far as he could force it. This woman had ranted ...
Positive affirmation quotes often aren’t helpful for tāngata whai ora. But taking the piss out of them can be. Early in January, on the first day of what would be a week of staying in bed with the curtains pulled, I put a disappointingaffirmations Instagram post up on my stories. ...
Ellen Rykers visits Mahakirau Forest Estate, ‘a crown jewel in the Coromandel Range’, where pest control is serious business.This is an excerpt from our weekly environment newsletter Future Proof – sign up here. The Mahakirau Forest Estate is not your average subdivision. Enter through its tall ...
As Auckland tackles severe floods and the city’s airport emerges from a deluge on both the runway and in terminals, Air New Zealand has confirmed that no flights will leave or arrive before noon on Saturday at the earliest. In a statement, the airline said anyone booked for a flight ...
RNZ News Mayor Wayne Brown has shut down criticism that he was too slow in declaring a state of emergency after severe flooding in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. In a media stand-up late on Friday evening, Brown said he was following advice from experts and as soon as they ...
The Prime Minister has gone down to the Beehive bunker to help coordinate the emergency response, as the Insurance Council warns some Aucklanders whose homes and business are flooded face very hard times ahead. Jonathan Milne reports.Comment: Standing by the south-western motorway, I watched in dismay as hundreds of cars ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland as severe weather causes major flooding across much of the city. It’s expected the rain will continue into the morning. This post will be updated as more information is shared.What does a state of emergency mean? A state of emergency ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown said he declared an emergency in Auckland as soon as he possibly could – and he made the decision without listening to the “clamour” of the public. There has been some criticism of the mayor for his relative silence today throughout the deadly flooding that’s hit ...
Welcome to a special late night edition of The Spinoff’s live updates as Auckland enters a state of emergency. Stewart Sowman-Lund is on deck, with help from our news team.The top linesAuckland is in a state of emergency. It will remain in place for seven ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is pleased the call was made to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. All government agencies were working “flat out” to help in what was an “extraordinary set of circumstances”, Hipkins said in a tweet. “The emergency response is underway and the government is ready ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown has released a statement following the decision to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. Brown has faced criticism this evening for his relative silence throughout today’s major flooding, with the first public pronouncement of the state of emergency coming from his deputy. Brown said the ...
Christopher Luxon has criticised the time it took for the state of emergency in Auckland to be declared. The National Party leader is currently in Southland, but told Today FM he intends to get back to Auckland as soon as possible. Earlier in the night, Luxon sent a tweet “urging” ...
Here is, verbatim, that latest information we have from Civil Defence on tonight’s state of emergency in Auckland: Auckland Emergency Management has opened a Civil Defence Centre to assist those that have been displaced or need assistance following today’s severe weather. The centre is open now and is based at ...
Severe flooding has ravaged Auckland today but the mayor of the city is barely visible. As I write, the airport has flooded, check-in areas looking like a public pool. Motorways are overflowing and cars have been seen floating down streets like a river. A person has died in floodwaters in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers has laid out an economic blueprint for pursuing “values-based capitalism”, involving public-private co-investment and collaboration and the renovation of key economic institutions and markets. In a 6000-word essay in The Monthly ...
This is live coverage of the developing situation in Auckland. We will continue to update this with photos and information as it comes to hand. After a day of torrential rain, and new reports of at least one death in the flood water, a state of emergency has been declared ...
Fans are describing Auckland Transport's plans to help them get to and from Elton John's concerts in the supercity this weekend as a fiasco with tonight's concert now cancelled due to the weather. Two concerts were due at Mt Smart Stadium before tonight's concert was called off in the face ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland due to severe flooding that has caused people to evacuate their homes. It was officially declared at 9.54pm. Meanwhile, Auckland Airport has closed its international terminal check-in due to flooding inside the building. The airport says it is sincerely sorry to ...
RNZ News Residents in flood-prone areas of West Auckland are being asked to prepare to evacuate as bad weather causes power cuts and car crashes across Tāmaki Makaurau, with a severe thunderstorm watch in place for the north of Aotearoa New Zealand. Auckland Emergency Management said the severe weather across ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Five years ago, bulldozers with chains cleared forests and woodlands almost triple the size of the Australian Capital Territory in a single year. Brazil? Indonesia? No – much closer: Queensland. In 2018-19, ...
Auckland Transport has apologised for confusing messaging that suggested attendees of tonight’s Elton John concert should drive. In a post on Facebook last night, AT said “driving to the concert is recommended” – a suggestion that prompted backlash due to the lack of parking options near the stadium. The announcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Tingay, John Curtin Distinguished Professor (Radio Astronomy), Curtin University Asteroid 20223 BU’s path in red, with green showing the orbit of geosynchronous satellites.NASA/JPL-Caltech There are hundreds of millions of asteroids in our Solar System, which means new asteroids are discovered ...
In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry revealed he attended the future King and Queen of England’s wedding with a frostbitten penis. A veteran of Antarctic expeditions says it’s not an issue that crops up often, if at all.Now that the avalanche of coverage about the Duke of Sussex’s memoir ...
A new poem by Wellington poet and publisher Ash Davida Jane. objects in the mirror are closer than they appear if a dog digs in the right spot and unearths a rib what do I care if a woman grows from that bone take her in and tend to her ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Grove Press, $25) Everyone’s chowing down on fiction ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide schankz/Shutterstock Have you ever worried if the play between your cats was getting too rough? A new study published in Scientific Reports has investigated play and fighting ...
More water than anything else, the cucumber is the perfect counter to intense and fiery flavours. Cucumber is without a doubt the most refreshing vegetable*, the antidote to hot summer days. At 95% water, a cucumber is basically an edible, crunchy, waste-free water bottle. Beside water, the cucumber has almost ...
REVIEW:By Rowan Callick Radio Australia was conceived at the beginning of the Second World War out of Canberra’s desire to counter Japanese propaganda in the Pacific. More than 70 years later its rebirth is being driven by a similarly urgent need to counter propaganda, this time from China. Set ...
The yellow brick road to Mt Smart stadium looks to be packed this weekend as thousands travel to dual Elton John concerts In the words of pop royal Elton John, “I think it’s going to be a long, long time” - in this case for the 40,000 odd concert-goers driving ...
The decision by Sport Northland to deny 'Stop Co-Governance', a community group, use of their Whangarei venue to hold a public meeting is illegal and defies the rights given to all Kiwis to voice their political opinions. This case, yet again, illustrates ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rolf Gerritsen, Professorial Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University The supposed dimensions of the “crisis” in Alice Springs have been exhaustively portrayed in the media, both nationally and in the Northern Territory. The stories abound: shopfront windows repeatedly broken, groups of ...
Children’s Commissioner, Judge Frances Eivers: "Myself and previous Commissioners have been clear that the use of motels at all is deplorable, and a symptom of a system that is failing children. "Concerns around the practice have been raised repeatedly ...
Everything you need to know to get through the chaotic commute to to the Elton John concert in Tāmaki Mākaurau this weekend. Fans heading to Elton John’s concerts at Mt Smart Stadium this weekend have been advised to drive or walk thereby Auckland Transport (AT). In a Facebook post ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tamara Borovica, Research assistant and early career researcher, Critical Mental Health research group, RMIT University Shutterstock If your new year’s resolutions include getting healthier, exercising more and lifting your mood, dance might be for you. By dance, we don’t ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Andrews, Professor and Academic Director (Indigenous Research), La Trobe University ShutterstockAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Many people do not know about the early activism undertaken ...
Finance minister Grant Robertson has opted to go list-only for the upcoming election, meaning he will not seek to be re-elected as MP for Wellington Central. It opens up the door for a swift exit from politics should Labour lose the election; without an electorate, no byelection would be triggered ...
Tory Whanau told The Spinoff’s When The Facts Change podcast that National’s transport spokesperson would push Wellington ‘backwards’ if he becomes transport minister.Wellington’s left-leaning mayor is worried her plans for the city could be scuppered by a new National-led government – and specifically by the party’s most likely candidate ...
Thousands of people are expected to flock to Auckland’s Western Springs on Monday for the triumphant return of the Laneway Festival. But with severe weather warnings in place, is it going to be reduced to a Splendour in the Grass-style “hellscape”? According to the organisers, no. In an email sent ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago A German Leopard 2 heavy battle tank of the type destined for Ukraine.Getty Images The recent decision by Olaf Scholz’s German government to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks – after ...
The Hauraki Gulf Alliance, a group of diverse organisations representing more than 1 million people, has rubbished proposals to continue trawling and dredging in New Zealand’s first marine park, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The Hauraki Gulf Fisheries ...
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has shared experiences of children and young people in emergency housing ahead of New Zealand’s review under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Geneva this week. “The government ...
It’s felt like a long time between drinks, but everyone’s favourite/least favourite family are almost back on our screens. HBO today released a trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Succession and announced a March release date. Check out the trailer – which doesn’t give away too much, but successfully ...
Want to avoid being a bad visitor at the beach this summer? Just follow these simple steps.My partner’s whānau has had a bach in Whangaparāoa, 45 minutes north of Auckland, since the 1950s. They’ve been around long enough to become a part of the bay’s furniture. They know the ...
A slightly underrated track from Elton John gained real life resonance last night. Fans heading to his concerts at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland this weekend have been advised to drive or walk there by Auckland Transport as work on the rail network upgrade has closed the Penrose train station. One of ...
Morning Report - RNZ political editor Jane Patterson and deputy political editor Craig McCulloch run the ruler over the transition to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, and the co-governance debate. ...
Activists from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) will gather right outside the main entrance of the Wellington Cup with props that symbolise the blood that is shed on the racetrack. ...
Waking up this morning was like a return to my summer break, where I was lulled out of my sleep by the sound of torrential rain. The North Island is in for a wet, windy and generally just bleak weekend. That’s particularly bad news for those of us at the ...
A lot of it is from Auckland as business leaders and a local MP make their requests. Further south, leading academics want plans for a new airport scratched, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
Parts of the nation’s capital have turned into a wasteland of red stickers, and ‘for lease’ signs. WellingtonNZ CEO John Allen has been given the challenge of breathing new life into the city’s economy, businesses, and image. He talks to Bernard about housing and hotel shortages, sewerage on the streets, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Baron, Associate Professor, Philosophy of Science, Australian Catholic University Counterfactuals are claims about what would happen, were something to occur in a different way. For instance, we can ask what the world would be like had the internet never been developed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University Getty Images With a new prime minister sworn in and a cabinet reshuffle imminent, it’s no exaggeration to say the election year has begun with a bang. Already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lindy Willmott, Professor of Law, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock By the end of 2023, eligible people in all Australian states will be able to apply for voluntary assisted dying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly-Ann Allen, Associate Professor, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University Shutterstock Teachers around Australia are preparing to head back to the classroom for 2023. But amid excitement about a new school year, there are ongoing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Ian Alexander “Molly” Meldrum is 80 on January 29 2023. The Australian music industry would not be where it is today without his work as a talent scout, DJ, record producer, ...
The Bill that will create a new public media entity has been improved by the select committee that studied it, but it remains unfit for purpose. Kio Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, a think tank at the University of Auckland, had submitted that ...
Never mind the chief executives and TV cameras in the CBD – it was a small business grouping in west Auckland that had the new Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as a captive audience, to talk through the challenges for struggling employers. Jonathan Milne reports.Mark Hauser and his ...
This morning, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called out the failure of the New Zealand Government to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Referring to the current minimum age of criminal responsibility, the Committee stated ...
Eighty years after Jewish youths fought for their lives on the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto, the family of an Auckland Holocaust survivor is calling on New Zealanders to reject hatred and treat everyone with dignity, no matter their background. Alicja ...
Our box-fresh prime minister sat down Auckland’s CEO set for his first public audience yesterday. Duncan Greive was there.“I did say we wanted to get closer to business,” quipped our very new prime minister, Chris Hipkins. He sat alongside former National leader, now Auckland Business Chamber CE Simon Bridges, ...
In the northern part of Aotearoa, mangroves occupy mudflats and river mouths. They’re not always loved – but given our rising sea level, maybe they should be. It took a long time for Mere Kepa (Ngati Raka, Ngati Ira) to learn to love the manawa. She grew up around their ...
Kiwis are still buying oodles of new gas guzzlers, David Williams writesOpinion: I like a positive news story, especially when it comes to the environment – I really do. But it’s hard to reconcile progress on the Government’s clean car discount scheme with the urgency we need to reduce ...
Being an international hockey player and a business owner is busy work for Brooke Roberts, but it's taught her the values of self-belief and looking after yourself. And they're values that the Black Sticks have brought into a partnership with Women's Refuge this weekend. When Brooke Roberts was put in ...
David Ruck was held on remand for months after a judge determined he was likely to continue sending death threats if released, Marc Daalder reports A 45-year-old Christchurch man was sentenced to 14 months in prison last year after making several threats to kill Jacinda Ardern. David Anthony Ruck, who ...
Radio NZ reporting that Sky City told the government 14 months ago it could not afford to build convention centre as promised.
Will the media hold them to account?
Makes skycity appear clean as, top corporate citizen and all that and the MSM puppets will be looking elsewhere and hand wringing over Sabin or excusing them for the lui donation etc.
Skycity and NACT colluded from day 1 over this deal and it’s just been a case of how them and their MSM acolytes feed the sheeple given the election had to be negotiated.
Joyce was just on Radio NZ and I have never heard him sound sicker. He took umbrage at the suggestion that he had deliberately lied to the public and disputed that he had the necessary intent. Good way to confirm that he may have inadvertently lied …
“Oh no Suzie! Saying that I mislead the Public is a big over-reaction.” Now sulk Joyce.
The New Zealand Herald does not regard the fact the government is considering sending our troops to Iraq today as important enough news to make any of its top 10 stories online.
Apparently our taxi fare gap is more important.
National run a non democratic process by choosing not to put it to the whole of the House, instead they have chosen the Banana Republic route of letting cabinet choose. Both the Tory-Maori party and United Future are not in favour of the role our troops are too play.
What a disgraceful breech of democracy by Key and his cronies. These 100 troops would be better employed combating an invasion on our own shores, the Queensland fruit fly.
They were talking about this on Morning Report this morning. Under Labour, apparently the only time a decision like this was put to the house was in late 2003 when they were voting whether to send the SAS back to Afghanistan or not. The other decisions were all made by the Labour cabinet.
That doesn’t make it right – particularly for those of us that don’t support Labour so the “but they did it too” argument doesn’t really sit too well.
I’d dearly love to see a clean up of parliamentary process. Its pretense of “democracy” is losing it’s veneer on a daily basis – irrespective of who is pulling the levers of control.
The best way to stop NZ participating in wars is to discourage all youth from joining the armed forces in the first place.
John Stevens giving a very good interview on 1 news this morning.
Stopped short of calling Key a liar about the SAS going to Afghanistan in 2009 . pointed out the the Iraq war was built on lies and finished with saying reporters weren’t asking the right questions about our going to fight Isis.
Could you provide a link?
No sorry it will be on delay at about 7-50 . The liar in chief was just on at 7-15 answered most questions buy talking about what Clarke did and confirmed that there will be no vote on going to Iraq I wish she had of asked him if it was because he would lose.
Guyon raised that point about the vote on RNZ
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20168253
The interview does not exactly scream ‘our PM is a man with a plan”
the only ‘plan’ he has..
..is to be a spear-carrier/mercenary for the americans..
..it’s all quite simple really..
..as we again go to war/kill..
..for reasons craven and base..
Oxymoron Key says “he is confident if put to a vote the other party’s would support sending non combat troop to the Middle East.” Really so don’t bother giving a democratic vote?
Meanwhile more fruit flies get discovered.
@ b waghorn –
And the reason Key won’t put sending troops to Iraq to the vote, is because he would be out voted.
Parties AGAINST NZ military involvement, training role possibly leading to combat –
Labour
Greens
NZ First
United Future
Maori Party
Parties FOR NZ military involvement regardless of role –
National minus one MP (Sabin)
ACT
To lose would be a slap in the face for Key and National. So to keep onside with his US buddies, he goes for over riding the democratic process of a Parliamentary vote! Isn’t this what dictators do?
When Espiner listed the parties in the Parliament who would vote against deployment in their interview Key mumbled on for a bit and then when pressed petulantly said they could always wait until after the Northland byelection.
@ Mary
Yes that is what dictators do.
Also they rig elections by stitching up their rivals with false allegations.
@ saveNZ – you got it in one there.
National have always been a party of dictators. We’ve seen this time and time again over the years.
key said that ‘combat troops will not be going to iraq’..
..but hasn’t he also said that the s.a.s.will be going..to guard the trainers..?
..and aren’t the s.a.s…’combat troops’..
..which is true..?
..and yes..these are the same lies clark/goff/key told us about our ‘non-combatant’ role in afghanistan..
..and we all know what a pile of steaming-lies that was..
..as is this..
and does ‘training’ work..?..has it ever worked..?..answer:..no..
“..In the past 50 years –
– has there been any case of the U.S. successfully training local troops –
– to prosecute a war against insurgents?..”
(cont..)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41042.htm
Americans are desperate for support on the ground in Iraq against ISIS
…New Zealand soldiers will be pawns in a war which is NOT New Zealanders’ ( Helen Clark kept us from the illegitimate invasion of Iraq) .
The Iraq war debacle was initiated by United States and Israel….they should be the ones cleaning up their own mess on the ground against ISIS.
John Key will be responsible for repercussions on New Zealand and New Zealanders .
Americans now admit their invasion of Iraq was an absolute disaster
‘Americans have to die on battlefield to destroy ISIS – US military strategist’
http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/232635-us-isis-middle-east/
John Nagl , Counterinsurgency Expert:
“The invasion of Iraq in 2003 I think was not just a mistake, but perhaps a biggest mistake the U.S. has ever made in foreign policy. It’s a four trillion dollar mistake, it caused enormous damage in the region, to the people of Iraq and certainly to my army and very-very many of my friends. So, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a disaster, a fiasco, unnecessary and poorly conducted. We played the endgame very-very badly and that failure of American foreign policy in 2011 necessitates today America returning to Iraq in force.”
New Zealand should only go into Iraq as part of a UN force…not support for US and Israel agenda in the Middle East.
Good comment from Gordon Campbell over at Scoop :
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2015/02/23/gordon-campbell-on-todays-announcement-on-iraq/
SAS are already in Iraq. The Army person who told me thought it was public knowledge.
If there is an active war zone around with some of our normal allies special forces in action, you can generally assume that there will be a NZSAS contingent around as well. It doesn’t mean that they are deployed there. It just means that they are off doing a training (often as a kind of sabbatical) with other forces. It is part of their job.
The words “squad deployment” were used. I know they often work with other countries’ special forces, and love telling stories about how bad the Americans are. They are always at other people’s wars, while I believe the regular forces only started doing that via disobeying orders from the Clark government.
@ b waghorn
John Stevens is a musician I think. The person you are referring to from TV1 News is
Jon Stephenson, and that is a name and spelling to remember. A NZ person of worth
who deserves to be identified correctly.
Doh cheers yes I’ve seen him many times I bet there s not many politicians that send him a Xmas card.
Thinking back to last years election, no wonder Key looked tired and weary.knowing about Liu, Sky City fiasco and Sabin whilst telling us all that National were steering us in such a straight line, well, what can we say?
Proves he can get a job after he is booted /resigns from office, as a Juggling Clown!
“..Bill Maher Calls For Marijuana Legalization..
(ed:..and he makes a very strong case..
..and not just for legalisation of pot..
..but also for the freeing/pardoning of all non-violent drug-prisoners..)
(cont..)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/21/bill-maher-weed-legalization_n_6726842.html
Boring
u clearly need some good pot in yr life..there..bored git…
..i quite liked how maher said the last time he smoked pot..
..was ‘just before the show’..
..it’s also quite boring how bored-git doesn’t define just what aspect of the clip he found ‘boring’..
..the content..?..the execution..?
..or is he just verbalising a deep/irrational hatred of the ‘umble ‘erb’..?
That is such a funny and insightful video! He is so clever! Enjoyed it.
I don’t indulge myself, but I do support decriminalisation of marijuana and medical marijuana.
Yeah Bill Maher, he’s worth listening to. And this interview was a bit of an eye opener.
It’s an hour long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WoERqJBMPE
It’s official: Fracking causes quakes. Check out the graph – really….graphic.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-21/usgs-confirms-oklahoma-quakes-are-due-fracking
Interesting stuff from Ireland – and the on going simmering revolt.
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/27889
And this is a nice piece – which basically sums up my take on elections – add the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national – I think you should take some time to read.
http://libcom.org/blog/alternative-voting-systems-are-no-alternative-21022015
On the above link there is three more in the series, which are well worth reading.
Unfortunately the government of Ireland backed Germany against Greece in last weeks debt negotiations.
The Irish population didn’t. It’s puppet government did! Big difference!
Agree – the people and the government are two different things. This is becoming the norm all over the globe.
Where the idea the government of the people, for the people – is dead.
“..the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national…”
You think National was Rawshark?
Put down the crack pipe and walk away exStatic.
Seriously, you what? I have to have a rational discussion with that comment? GFY.
I take it “GFY” means “Good For You”?
If you are going to make stupid statements, don’t expect everyone to take you seriously.
Nope – God’s Foolish Yapper.
And were not in a debate – I’m not sure you know how to.
Of course we are not in a debate! You haven’t made any statements, just petulant vague gibberish.
How about expanding on your original mind fart…”“..the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national…”?
My goodness exStatic, having a bad day are we?
You obviously didn’t read the link – It shows
I’ll repeat my belief – you are not able to have a discussion.
Is it because you happen to be a – die in the wool ideologue – or is it that, your commented to having to be right?
No Donghua Liu timeline to see here, no sirree. Look, a cycleway!
How did Dong Hua Liu crop up here? Is he related to Eleanor Catton?
Lateral thinking seems to be lost on exStatic….
OAB knows what I am on about……you need to get out more.
You seem to think that “lateral thinking” is reading a book in bed.
ExStatic: OAB sure knows what I’m on about.
Sure do: you’re an asshole.
🙄
Oh look, yet another right wing gobshite arguing in bad faith. Beyond tiresome.
Congratulations exStatic, you have delivered a new benchmark in nonsensical gibberish. I am sure we all look forward to the ever generous delight of your considerably reasoned contributions.
Sorry if I was too obscure, or in adam’s case “lateral”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/65493542/radio-host-sean-plunket-stands-by-calling-eleanor-catton-a-hua
I will put myself in moderation with this comment – but what the hell.
exStatic – you are doing some bad trolling today – it is of the Gosman type – but done poorly.
You just seem to be obtuse to the point of idiocy.
Yes, thanks for that but I am aware of who Eleanor Catton is.
Please enlighten us – how do questionable political party donations relate in any way to Eleanor Catton?
http://caa.org.nz/general-news/come-cycling-around-waterview-tomorrow-tuesday-20th/
“God’s Foolish Yapper”…love it!.
Of more relevance to NZ is that Luigi Wewege (Dirty Politics, Ch 10) is suing an Irish publicly funded investigative journalist – Conor Ryan – and the broadcasters themselves, RTE.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/colourful-past-of-vivier-financier-wewege-1.2109965
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406245
Fourth fruit fly found in Grey Lynn, Minister confirms
This from yesterday deserves a repeat.
So how much has been saved by not screening 100%
Note no flys for 14 years with 100% screening
Now 4 infestations since reduced screening 3 years ago TO SAVE MONEY!!!!!
And how much is it going to cost to (If they can) eradicate this pest that should have NEVER had the opportunity to invade our country.
Sorta reminds me of this. From the Bundy’s and me to our TricKey PM.
>>Mr Guy also denied that reinstating mandatory x-ray screening of luggage from all passengers coming off international flights would prevent the fruit fly from entering the country, saying it was “too difficult to confirm” how the pest arrived in Grey Lynn.
So how come Mr Guy there was no invasion for th 14 years there was mandatory screening.
Just to confirm. The X-rays kill/neutralise any pests in the bag right? Not to detect but to destroy, right?
Interesting point,
I always assumed detection, but killing better if true.
Anyone else know?
i am sure it is just detection..
..a death-ray wd have/mean all sorts of complications/side-issues..
http://www.3news.co.nz/opinion/brook-sabin/opinion-national-to-blame-for-fruit-fly-outbreak-2015022311
Found this on face book Brook Sabin giving to national a bit.
A perfect example of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/266763/act-hopes-to-halt-plunge-in-support
Well, it’s now 0.0% so it can hardly plunge any lower. Does that mean they’re going to hail their current leader as a success because he stopped them falling any further? I wouldn’t put it past them.
I like the un-named woman saying something like “I think having a young one as a leader is quite good, because the young ones do like someone about their own age”.
Love her weird phrasing of “young ones”. Sorry Ms Unnamed Woman, but this “young one” actually wants sound and sane policy, not some young toff that’s been elevated beyond his depth and talent.
there was a puff-piece in the herald on wk/nd..
..asking ‘what do act want?’..
..my immediate reaction was:..who the fuck knows/cares! – they are on 0%’..
The obvious answer to ‘what do act want?’.. Is what ever key and his mates tell them they want.
I may have missed this, but why is Granny Herald up in arms about ATEED postings overseas?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406141
Is it just the money being spent? But surely they are there for a reason – creating international economic opportunities? I understand that the london posting has a few other issues but if the posting was made first then I also see no problems. Also isn’t this all ATEED which whilst owned by the council isn’t controlled by the council (thanks Rodney!)
Is it just me or is the Herald stirring up an issue that isn’t there at all and is failing to ask the right questions or state the facts in a non-biased way?
…is the Herald stirring up an issue that isn’t there at all and is failing to ask the right questions or state the facts in a non-biased way?
Imo, yes. Just like they did over the now discredited Liu/ non – donations to Labour scandal last year.
“..why is Granny Herald up in arms about ATEED postings overseas?..”
while those postings do seem suss/a scam..
..their outrage is extremely selective..
…and their rightwing anti-brown/labour agenda drives this hissy-fit..
..they/the owners want a rightwing mayor in auckland….
The Spectator putting Putin in the role of Dragon-in-Chief in Europe, and the strains on the EU.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9447782/how-vladimir-putin-is-waging-war-on-the-west-and-winning/
In google there is mention of NZ Australia NATO and the west but I have done a search of the article thinking it referred to Iraq and matters relating but can’t find a mention. So where that term was lifted from I do not know.
Death By Medicine
You really are a stirrer.
Still, Nassem Taleb says that “modern medicine” killed more people than it saved until probably the 1930s and that risk/benefit phenomena is still not well understood in a healthcare context, leading to bad (and sometimes tragic) decisions by both patients and practitioners.
..and you appear to be an unrepentant denier of the proven benefits of modern medicine.
You continuing sniping at immunisation and other medical interventions and your assertions that the health profession are dupes of the pharmaceutical industry whilst basing your arguments on your own rather flimsy knowledge base is perverse and brings your own profession into disrepute.
Disclosure – I do recommend patients to osteopaths and acupuncturists for musculoskeletal and other ailments and have a great deal of respect for their abilities in their areas of expertise.
Not at all. But I am an advocate of making sure patients can exercise informed consent before any treatment is provided. There are a very wide variety of situations for which modern western medical care is unparalleled and very necessary. Suggesting that there are other situations where its risks, benefits and unknowns are less clear cut or positive might be considered distateful, however.
Those are your words, not mine. And when you get entire classes of medical students boycotting medical school professors whom they feel have too close links with big pharma, or medical researchers themselves admitting that big pharma drug trials with positive results are more likely to be published in peer reviewed journals than ones which show the drugs in a bad light, I think that there are valid concerns to be considered.
They boycott professors who teach evolution too. In fact that seems to be the main reason. I suppose I missed all the classes in all the schools and all the professors you’re referring to.
Perhaps i have mixed you up with @chooky,
One of you has made repeated assertions on this very blog concerning medical professionals being dupes and in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and that prescribing in NZ was not evidence based, clearly such an accusation is hyperbolic cant.
I must admit to being a bit mystified as to what point you are trying to make, that mistakes are made by medical professionals and that the population have adverse reactions at times to medicines…. that is undeniable.
The report you link to however is very flawed.
just as initial example in relation to ADRs a critique was made of the published paper that the report relied upon.
‘”…Simple pooling of fatal event frequencies from only those studies specifically reporting the number of fatal ADRs, as was done in the meta-analysis of Lazarou and colleagues, is likely to dramatically overestimate the death rate.
CONCLUSION:
Meta-analysis was invalid because of heterogeneity of the studies. Most of these studies did not report the data needed for incidence calculations. The methodology used was seriously flawed, and no conclusions regarding ADR incidence rates in the hospitalized population in the United States should be made on the basis of the original meta-analysis. “
It’s probably the scale of the issues which would be surprising to every day people. Yes, I agree with you that every study (including meta-analyses) has limitations and those limitations mean that you can’t make sweeping or blanket conclusions.
Well possibly everyday people would be surprised.
However most in the medical profession would not find it in the least surprising, for example, that a patient had died in hospital while receiving a cytotoxic cocktail for their cancer and that their death would be listed as drug related.
15 year old UK girls outsmart British intelligence, quit school and head to Syria to join ISIS
Oh dear. I’m sure the intelligence services will be asking for more powers, new legislation and additional millions in money to prevent future occurrences.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/22/uk-counter-terror-officials-criticised-syria-bound-london-schoolgirls
They always said “British Intelligence is an oxymoron”
On Goldman Sachs, Pension Funds And Why John “I’m A Dolphin” Key Calling Russell Norman A Muppet Is Important
Old news I know.
But always a good idea to be reminded of the room needed to be given by car drivers.
http://cca-actions.org/actions/wood-makes-people-big-cars
and a action as well – seems we need this in all our major cities
http://www.designboom.com/design/latvia-cyclists-car-skeletons-vehicle-size-10-10-2014/
This could end up like the varroa mite where it was put in the too hard basket eventually by the government. Anyone who watches Boarder Security knows that many people do not declare and destroy the food they bring in. In fact many of them try to hide the stuff. Letting people from Oz go through without searching is so dumb it beggars belief that the government would risk millions of dollars in exports in order to avoid an almost negligible inconvenience to passengers. Like the other policies of the national government that allows drilling of oil in the area of the highly endangered Maui dolphin. To many of the rest of us this is just a no brainer to protect NZ export interests, tourism and our environment and quality of life for both people and our forma and flora. Who pays when things go wrong. The tax payer. Like we did when the lack of regulation meant the tax payer spent millions on the Rena cleanup and it’s still not fixed properly.
Andrew Little please scream from the rooftops about what stupidity this is. Motivate NZers to fight back against these dumb policies. We want a government that cares about our country which it is clear this government does not. We need a great leader and clearly John Key may have charm but not the ethics to look after NZ, it’s people and it’s environment for future generations.
@ Lorraine
+1
Facts About Fruit Flies
– Mother fruit flies lay about 200-300 eggs at a time
– The most likely place for a mother fruit fly to lay her eggs is in a piece of rotting fruit
– As soon as the babies hatch, they start reproducing about 24 hours later
– From the time the mother fruit fly lays her eggs until you see the fruit flies buzzing around is about 7-13 days.
the expert on RNZ today said they only laid “about twelve eggs” – which seemed a ridicuously small number for a fly
relevant bit 1:08
They apparently have about 7,500 traps in Auckland checking for these blighters and it sounds a lot – did I hear right? HortNZ CE Peter Silcock said that the action taken on commercial consignments of fruit in Oz and the border controls here are probably sufficient to mean good coverage. It is more likely that they come in travellers bags and they would like 100% screening. PRIM (Primary Industries Ministry) have increased surveillance – for fruit flies – but not to the extent which is needed.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/266475/fruit-fly-crackdown-continues
Something that I notice is that yachties are never mentioned – there seems quite a floating population swanning around these days. They should be equally targeted for compliance with regs.
This is yet another example of the dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement Systems (ISDS) and another reason for rejecting the TPPA. This illustrates the lengths that these multicorporations will go to in order to evade their responsibilities and the moral and ethical vacuum in which they operate.
Imagine a similar scenario in NZ with respect to deep sea drilling!
It is better to read the whole article dated Feb 16, 2015 but here is an excerpt from the Chevron v Ecuador case.
“Unfortunately for Chevron, its expensive retaliation strategy against Mr. DeLeon and others has failed to end the litigation, has only increased the resolve of the affected villagers, and has not diminished the company’s risk from collection actions targeting its assets to ensure compliance with the judgment,” it added.
After an eight-year trial, an Ecuador court in 2011 found Chevron liable for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest, decimating indigenous groups and causing an outbreak of cancer and other diseases. The case – litigated in Ecuador at Chevron’s request — was funded in large part by Mr. DeLeon, a successful businessman in the internet gaming space and a law school classmate of Donziger’s.
Two layers of courts in Ecuador unanimously affirmed the trial court judgment, including the country’s Supreme Court in a 5-0 ruling. Chevron still refused to pay the judgment and retaliated by suing numerous supporters of the villagers, including Mr. DeLeon but also lawyers, environmental groups, bloggers, and scientific consultants.
Mr. DeLeon fought Chevron’s pressure campaign for years, but finally threw in the towel this week after it became clear he would face years of additional expensive litigation in Gibraltar’s courts. Gibraltar is the headquarters of many of his various businesses.”
http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/37689-Chevron-DeLeon-Settlement-In-Ecuador-Case-Will-Lead-to-More-Funds-for-Environmental-Clean-up-Villagers-Say
Just another short excerpt:
“Chevron also continues to face the likelihood of a devastating setback in the appeal of its controversial racketeering judgment in New York, now scheduled to be heard the week of March 30. The facts in that case prove the company corrupted its star witness with more than $2 million in payments to testify falsely in the trial, according to multiple reports.”
Despicable!!!!
Still looking out for the right wing scum on this latest Liu moment. Where are these scum ? But for the fact it’d take 11 years to arrive I’d send them a letter of invitation to contribute……..
I am curious to know if this issue has been exposed on the TV1 and TV3 news at 6? I don’t think so, but I did not watch the news in full over the weekend. Those who did watch could you please let us know. TIA.
Three did a story on it to night made key look like a liar not that it matters honesty is not important to right wing voters.
Harsh…but fair.
Always preferred the term “Tory scum”, myself.
Glad to hear that Green party is not contesting the by-election.
Dunno about NZ first. I hope not. ACT please contest.
The Australian experience gives a glimmer, just a glimmer of hope that the Key govt could be toppled.
Yeah ACT are fronting with Robin Grieve, a particularly nasty character who attended an election forum as a candidate and bemoaned ‘it was a lefty love feast.’ He got booed on stage and off, very entertaining value 🙂
Good on ACT to be fronting with Robin Grieve. I hope someone prominent from the Conservatives will stand also. May be Colin Craig himself?
Yep, from a Left point of view, it’s far more important that the Conservatives stand a candidate in Northland to split the Tory vote as much as poss.
ACT’s support is just a tiny drop in the ocean – It’ll make little if any diff. As inconsequential as the day is long.
Oh dear! You gave the game away!
2014 General election results – electorate candidate votes
Candidate Valid Votes Share (%)
SABIN, Mike (NAT) 18,269 52.74
PRIME, Willow-Jean (LAB) 8,969 25.89
CLENDON, David (GP) 3,639 10.51
RINTOUL, Ken (FNZ) 1,661 4.8
TAYLOR, Mel (CNSP) 1,555 4.49
NELSON, Craig (ACT) 200 0.58
WILSON, David Angus (NZDSC) 173 0.5
ROBERTSON, Murray (IND) 96 0.28
TIMMS, Glen (MFP) 75 0.22
Total Valid Votes 34,637 100
Total Votes Cast 36,112 104.26
Winning Candidate: SABIN, Mike – margin 9300
NATIONAL’S CALLOUS AND CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OF NATION’S BIO- SECURITY!
You won’t believe this!
The fruit fly outbreak is a damning indictment on the Government’s systematic destruction of border security with the inefficient and money pinching Minister in charge, Nathan Guy.
Now the $6 billion fruit and vegetable industry is at risk and the Government is squarely to blame.
This is very serious. Guy should be a goner for this.
See why:
http://www.3news.co.nz/opinion/brook-sabin/opinion-national-to-blame-for-fruit-fly-outbreak-2015022311#ixzz3SWHxCjnB
When I returned from a visit to Japan in 1998 I was pulled up at Customs because the Xray of my bag had shown a round object. I was happy to unpack it and show the round wooden doll I had been given in Tokyo, and Customs was happy that it was not an apple or an orange. I was happy that they had screened my bag along with every other bag on the flight. They have stopped doing that and only Xray “at risk” individuals. It is cheaper – they say. Tell that to the fruit and vege shops in Grey Lynn today and who knows to whom tomorrow?
Another impact of reckless tax cuts in 09, they went through penny pinching across the board to eek every potential ‘saving’ in an effort to smudge the wealth transfer.
Border security in an agricultural economy isn’t a luxury to be tweaked it’s a necessity that needs bolstering and vigilance.
Haters and wreckers.
“If U.S. land were divided like U.S. wealth…” a graphic divvied up by 1%, 9%, and the remaining 90%. Would love to see a NZ one (including foreign ownership, renter/owner, and unoccupied households).
Nice discussion to go with that as well Weka. Thanks for the link.
A government that can’t even take on the fruit fly has no business going after Daesh.
Sweet anti-neolliberal slam from Tourettes at Splore (h/t Russell Brown)
“he tells me there is a part time job waiting for everyone at the milk powder factory”
“he tells me global warming’s not so bad, we might never have Australia’s economy but we got bush fires now”
“and the media stands impotent, seagulls parroting his nonsense, and the headlines read, John Key’s Son’s a DJ”
Brilliant.
Chinese are flocking to holiday in Japan to get away from their horrible air pollution, where you not only can see the air you breathe, you can cut it with a knife and fork, or in their case hold it between their chopsticks. But the Japanese are quietly saying, because they need the Chinese money after many years of recession, that the Japanese are lacking cultural sensitivity. They are too loud, and if there is anything free they take it in sackfuls, their children stand on seats in their shoes, and they eat their own food in cafes.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-tourists-flock-to-japan-for-the-sushi-the-shopping-and-the-fresh-airdespite-tensions-10061720.html
Queenstown is stuffed to the gills with tourists. Perhaps they are Chinese tourists. If they don’t watch out down there they will spoil the attraction of their Queenstown attractions. Probably they will go mad and treat it like a gold bull to be milked. When you’ve got dosh you can make everything happen to suit yourself.
Richard Attenborough has a question for China about their lack of restraint – on using illegal ivory and threatening the world’s elephants. Perhaps they can collect their own teeth and use them as delicate features in art forms.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-attenborough-calls-on-chinese-president-to-end-ivory-trade-and-halt-extinction-of-the-african-elephant-10062229.html?icn=puff-7
Oh dear me. What a bad case of cultural myopia. I meant to say that the Japanese were saying quietly that the Chinese were a bit louder than they are used to, but my fingers went and put Japanese not Chinese, which doesn’t make sense when it is read. I don’t know what happened there.
Dunedin’s city hospital is suffering badly. Bad leaks had to be patched and still there is more to be done.
The College of Intensive Medicine of Australia and New Zealand has withdrawn the hospital’s intensive care unit’s training accreditation, with the main issue being the state of the unit. A $2 million refurbishment, which could well be the barest minimum, is planned but has not begun yet.
Now, comes a report from Beca consultancy group that up to
$50 million will be needed to keep the clinical services building at Dunedin Hospital going for another 10 years.
In addition, nearly $75 million will have to be spent on the ward block over the next 10 years.
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/331153/dunedin-hospitals-catch-22
I diagnose a serious and debilitating affliction ‘political invisibility syndrome’. Those regional patients with this indisposition looking unhealthy may be subjected to triage.
If their condition is exacerbated by a raging state of ‘regional-extensioning-flew’ the prognosis is not good. This is a sad case where the patient glides further and further away from the source of its nourishment, and will stretch till its supply-lines are woefully thin and then inevitably breaks down.
Maybe we can get SkyCity to set up pokie machines at the hospital, and get them to pay for a new ward or two in the process. You know, because this country can’t fund anything decent any more without kowtowing to the corporates.
Oil spill
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406521
Okay could have been a lot worse – get ready for more of these spills if the gnats have their dirty exploitation way. I agree with Jean quoted below
I hope this can be used to test our systems of readiness for the inevitable disaster just around the corner.
Did someone discuss the women on Radionz talking about how everything she has trained for soon has no jobs for her? She has had to look for months to find anything else. This was around the Precarieat discusion with Prof Standing.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20168197
10:06 Rhonda Samoa – The Precariousness of Work
Rhonda Samoa is a truck driver, a graduate of the New Zealand Film School, and the sister of Mark Samoa who was killed in a work accident on the Wellington waterfront in 2013. Rhonda knows a thing or two about the precariousness of work in the 21st Century, having been made redundant twice in the last six years, but she remains optimistic about the ability of workers to negotiate safe and fair work conditions as long as they stick together.
There were a few stories on Sunday around wage workers.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
lPrent:
small tech issue that’s been popping up the last few days
The edit function is denying permission to edit at around 4 mins remaining.
test edit 3/3 (seems intermittent whatever it is ) 😮
Then they came for the Australians with dual citizenship…
Be afraid New Zealand, be afraid.
The Herald attempts to whip NZ into the necessary frame of mind to accept war in Iraq.
This make it more than a rag.
It’s a danegerous rag.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11406528
the thought that immediately sprung to mind was that demolishing all shopping malls would be a serious blow for civilization.
It’s amazing which stories Fearfax Media regard as more important than the fact the government is deciding today whether to go to war in Iraq.
These were some of the stories the editor of Stuff thought more important!
Boys stomach pumped
Tourist ignored police lights
It’s a rainy Monday
Students trapped in overloaded lift
Our MSM will be complicit in many deaths.
For Messrs Murphy and Roughan at the Herlad and the others mmebers of the complicit media.
Read the last verse in particular of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!– An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.–
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
One Mews just interviewed a NZ commentator on the Iraq Civil War deployment and how we have boxed ourselves in over there, with the caption “Person’s Name.”
Seems like our MSM are really on top of things.
Reminds me of an old not the 9 o’clock news sketch…and now the news brought to you by the conservative party.
Garner on radio live today: (a few hours ago so I’ll have to Morrissey it)
“Gee I dunno, I just can’t get that excited about this whole fruitfly thing, ya know? I mean it’s not like a TSUNAMI or an EARTHQUAKE, ha know? I mean I DRIVE HOME through the affected area and I’m like NOT SCARED AT ALL. Like, it’s just a FLY, ya know? Anyway there’s important news I have to tell you about. I went for a ride on a waterslide yesterday and guess what? It was SHIT!”
He then spends the next hour talking about how shit the waterslide was.
Sometimes war is justified.
They’re not from here. They breed like flies. They have no respect for our culture. They have no humanity. They are a major threat to NZ’s wealth and wellbeing. Everything they touch becomes a writhing, maggoty mass of corruption.
Fruit flies must be exterminated – Death to the gnats!