This is what happens when you offer a socialist alternative to neoliberalism…..
Will NZ Labour learn from this?
I doubt it. Too many members of the cargo cult in the party.
Similar dynamic but different circumstances. We don’t have a Corbyn here. It’s not just about policy and kaupapa, it’s about who has the strength to deal with the neoliberals in the party and then in the media. Corbyn did it his way, Little is doing it another way.
Reuters reports British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives will suspend campaigning for the national election on June 8.
“A Tory (Conservative) source speaking to the Press Association (news agency) said that the Prime Minister’s general election campaign was being suspended,” Sky News said.
The panic in the UK establishment and the right wing media is real, the IRA smear of Corbyn is designed to get the conversation off policy and back onto knee jerk hysteria.
This blatant smear operation should be formally responded to because it is such a great opportunity. Rather than attacking the media on this, the smart response is along the lines of, “More of this please. If the establishment media want to indulge in shredding what little remains of their credibility, damage shareholder value, and expose senior executives to personal liability …. bring it on. This election is about the people, and we trust them to see this for what it is.”
Roman Lord (Labour candidate for East Coast Bays) who’s thrown a hissy fit about his position on the list and claims his position at 72 was at least in part because he’s a white, middle class male, needs to do quite a bit of growing up. The list selection process gives any interested member an input into ranking their local candidates and presumably he wasn’t highly rated. Hey, it’s a competitive process – not everyone can win.
I thought Little did a good job responding to questions about this on Morning Report, but Lord shouldn’t have put him in this position in the first place. He shouldn’t have put himself forward if he was going to be so fragile and damage the party because his pride got damaged.
I have never met him and I doubt he has been a member for long. I saw him at the list conference and he gave only an OK speech. His comments suggest he has no idea how the Labour Party works.
Very good candidates have worked for years to get into a position where they could become MPs.
Exactly. You do your time in the blue areas in the arse end of the list, avoid major fuckups or tantys like this, and then you build a political skillset.
Me, I’m far too unelectable personally (yeah I like to call fuckers “fucko” in real life, too), but I’ve had a couple of friends/acquaintances walk down that path.
If Roman really had his heart in, he should have just dismissed his ranking on a list and worked hard to become the MP for East Coast Bays. It wouldn’t have been easy, but it would have been worth it.
Maybe he’ll have another crack at it next election?
The next PM of NZ and Leader of the Labour Party is handling this small hiccup beautifully.
The outgoing governments list is still to come, eleven of their current MP’s are not seeking re-election. Are they having trouble finding candidates?
Didnt Helen Clark contest a safe National seat in her first election. Instead of throwing her toys, it looked like she knuckled down and campaigned instead, learning the ropes. Her hard work would be rewarded in the next election when she got, and won, Mt Albert.
I think Rohan expected to be parachuted into a safe seat and a high list placing on his first go, presumably because he was a sporting personality.
She sure did Millsy – Piako in the Waikato, one of the bluest of seats. I was part of her support team based in Morrinsville in 1975. We had a great time even though we knew it would not be successful
Wait, he was fortunate enough to get both an electorate to run in and raise his personal profile, and he got a position on the list? Isn’t that a vote of confidence that your party considers you a suitable person to be an MP and they want to give you a chance to get experience so you can be an MP in future?
I guess he failed that opportunity in spectacular fashion and his unsuitability for any sort of public office has been clearly shown.
…either Bill English was lying to Susie Ferguson on the radio, or his advisors lied to him about what TPP11 will require, or the Crown’s lawyers are lying to the Waitangi Tribunal. I report, you decide.
After all, it isn’t like Double Dipton has ever been caught lying now, eh. No, wait…
Thoroughly enjoyed this Israeli military view of Trump’s determination to completely wipe out ISIS:
Their ideal strategy is to sit back and let Al Qaeda and ISIS duke it out—and work to contain the conflict rather than trying to end it with military force. As the IDF intelligence officer put it, “the battle for deterrence is easier than the battle for influence.”
Quite so McFlock. It stands out like dogs balls that Israel is benefitting from all this sunni/shia conflict. What’s the bet that they are involved up to their eyeballs in keeping it this way? No doubt about it.
The USA- Israel- Saudi Arabia cabal are all ” working ” in the interest of Zionism.
They just have to keep fomenting conflict upon conflict to keep things going in their direction.
I’d go one further. For Israel, a long war of attrition in Syria, combined with a mass exodus of refugees, will make it very easy for them to annex a little more territory on the Syrian side of the Golan heights under the pretext of ensuring ‘stability’ and ‘security’ due to ‘threats’ from Hezbollah. Should Assad survive, he’ll be too weak to take them on; should he fall, they have the ideal pretext for an expanded security buffer.
Al-Qaeda and ISIS: innit funny that they’ve both focused so heavily in taking on Israel’s enemies in the region, while never quite seeming to get around to any actions of significance against the nation they supposedly hate so much. Almost as if…
Not really.
Israel has been doing domestic security in a high threat environment for 70 years. They make the TSA look like buffoons. It’s a hard target.
But your competition for recruits, on the other hand… right next to you, competing for the same resources. You’re gonna fight them.
Israeli security is legendary – the Brits found in the late 40s that they couldn’t keep a step ahead of them or keep anything from them – I suspect the experiences of the previous decade shaped that aspect. But, that doesn’t quite explain why the most fetishized of Israel’s enemies are the target of two organisations which ostensibly formed to fight them. After all, Palestinians have been smuggling weapons past them just as successfully for every one of those 70 years. It’s not like AQ or IS couldn’t have gotten in there. Additionally, the IAF has flown numerous illegal sorties attacking the SAA, Hezbollah and other Shiite militias at will despite them being exclusively engaged in regime defence. But not so with AQ or IS. I mean, I’ve experienced and observed coincidences in my time, but…
Yup. No dead except the bomber.
1 in 2015, 1 fatality other than the bomber.
And then nothing until 2008.
And these are the folks with experience “for every one of those 70 years”.
Oh, sure, I suspect AQ/ISIS would love a big statement in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, but they would have extreme difficulty getting it set up and they know it’s be followed by a large can of Israeli whoop-ass, and the Israelis are really good at targeting essential personnel.
Actually, for AQ and IS, destroying Israel is part of what they claim their objective is – which brings us back to where we started – how strange it is that they seem to prefer attacking enemies of Israel to proving that they themselves are enemies of Israel.
Clinton’s emails on the subject make interesting reading.
Israel has a “thing” about Iran (I know, who doesn’t these days 🙄 ) and absolutely wants the support for Hezbollah in the Lebanon ended. That means bye-bye Syria (it being the conduit between Iran and the Lebanon).
________
Then there’s – ISIS and Al Qaeda also want Iran gone (obviously)
Israel is still technically at war with Syria.
Israel has been treating ISIS terrorists and has even publicly apologised for killing some of their number.
______________
Fast forward to the potential of Syria ‘gone’. That’s a huge number of refugees fleeing every which way to get away from head-choppers. Then (say the remaining regional powers) the head-choppers must go…so, Turkey cleans out and occupies swathes across its current Syrian border. Israel does likewise. Hell, Iraq or even Iraqi Kurdistan might be given a wee slice of pie.
And the Saudi’s? What do the Saudi’s do? Do they let the whole Syria thing be carved up with nothing in it for them in return for Iran being placed on tender-hooks? Maybe.
I’ve heard it the other way around: that ISIS attacked some Israeli units, were soundly retaliated against, and apologised for kicking the tiger. But I’d really like a link for Israel apologising for killing ISIS fighters.
The first hard hitting interview I have seen with Theresa May, definitely worth a watch….if the media had actually been asking her indepth questions like this from the beginning, the Tories would been slipping even worse in the polls than they are now,
Andrew Neil Interviews Theresa May.
Looking at Theresa May the question of why females still have to go through the ritual of painting on, wearing make-up, spending the time enhancing eyelashes, defining eyebrows, eyeshadow, lipstick etc. Just simple light powder over the nose and forehead when on screen is all that is needed for image.
Why not spend 10 minutes in the morning reading something about philosophy and how it is interwoven with economics. That would be the most fruitful piece of thinking of her or any other pollies day.
“Looking at Theresa May the question of why females still have to go through the ritual of painting on, wearing make-up, spending the time enhancing eyelashes, defining eyebrows, eyeshadow, lipstick etc. Just simple light powder over the nose and forehead when on screen is all that is needed for image.”
Who are you to say how she should do her make up or what is “needed”. Do you want ot tell her how to dress as well?
If she wants to put on makeup and feels good for it – good for her.
Greywarshark, so far as I can tell, is not speaking to Teresa May, he’s posing a question to us about make up use and offering his view, “Just simple light powder over the nose and forehead when on screen is all that is needed for image”. He doesn’t have to pass your, “who are you?” test to offer his opinion, does he, James?
No s/he is making comment about Theresa Mays makeup – thus the “looking at Theresa May” bit.
She should be able to put on as much makeup as she likes, for whatever reason she likes or feels without having people comment on it and others deciding “what is needed”.
Or do you think its appropriate that men can comment on what a woman should wear (makeup or clothes).
Theresa Mary May, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, should expect people, even anonymous posters on a foreign blog, not to comment about how much makeup she uses???
Are you completely off the planet? A famous person should expect to go un-commented upon???
Laws, regulations, statutes, decrees, edicts, rules, rulings, measures, dictums, commands, orders, stipulations, commandments, directives, pronouncements, proclamations, dictates, demands…
have I built a fair profile of you, James? You sound like that ACT bloke, Semour.
James
Who are you to tell me what my opinion should be. If I want to say that she would be a better politician if she put in the time reading some publication that expresses new thoughts that’s my right.
And further I express the opinion that you should do some reading and learning which might benefit TS instead of your kneejerk conformist reactions which you seem to think indicates you are a fair and free thinker. That might make you feel good and it would be something to congratulate you for.
“There are places that welcome men who tell women how to dress and what to wear.”
Fashion Houses?: Gavinchy’s? Christian Dior’s? Alexander Wang’s? Balenciaga’s, McQueen’s, Aquazzura’s; can you see yourself in any of these, Greywarshark, as James sees you, seemingly?
Greywarshark, fashionista!
Breathtaking!
Tipping good says Poorer Benefit.
After all, she thinks, we Nat pollies get tipped all the time for giving good service to those we work to serve, so hey go for it.
Interesting interview on tipping with academic from USA. He says that it becomes mandatory because of social pressure and norms, and the waiter gets more if they interact with the customer, smile, crouch down to get to eye level etc. And with that in mind, he points out that big-breasted blonde women get more than other women, and interestingly blacks get less than whites. It gives customers a feel of control which they like in the USA.
Personally I would hate feeling pressured by some hovering waiter. I start to feel that everyone out there is after something from me and my money, by fair means or foul. (Paranoid or a reaction to the reality I encounter?) It is a double pressure as I would then have to tip him to make him or her go away.
RadioNZ
To tip or not to tip…
From Nine To Noon, 20 minutes ago
Listen duration 7′ :03″
The Deputy Prime Minister, Paula Bennett has suggested New Zealand should embrace tipping to improve the quality of service for tourists. Ms Bennett, who is also the Tourism Minister, made the comments in a letter to the New Zealand Herald and has been backed up by the Restaurant Association and the Hospitality Association. Kathryn Ryan speaks to Professor Michael Lynn,from Cornell University who’s published more than 50 academic papers on the subject of tipping.
As far as I am concerned tipping a service worker is just another way, we the stupid public are sucked into subsidising the employer of that worker and aiding and abetting him keeping the employee’s wages supressed.
If a service industry has to rely on tips to their workers to keep their business surviving then the business owner shouldn’t be operating in the first place, Why on earth should a service worker need to rely on tips if the company is paying a decent living wage. Keep tipping out of NZ – bosses are bad enough as it is paying a decent wage, don’t subsidise them.
I always got tips as a tour guide – i did come to expect them and it really made a difference financially. Waiters and service people not so sure it’s good for them unless it is on top of a good hourly rate.
marty mars
Yes I agree. A good hourly rate. But going on what NZ legislation and practice has been for the last 30 years, the mean attitude that is prevalent in this country, and the inefficient way that business run which can’t survive without stretching wages thin like rubber bands, I doubt that there would be money other than tips enough to pay transport to and from work.
Quote from someone who came here after WW2 when he was six and thought NZ was a great place, though opportunity in Europe came up and he returned there. He was here 1948-1963 and visited in the 1990s. He states:
The almost classless society I remembered had disappeared….On one hand extravagant houses perched on cliffs or set in extensive gardens , on the other, families living in caravans or shacks on cheap campsites or no man’s land.
In the city centres I saw queues at soup kitchens, people rummaging in litter baskets, and begging in the street. Symbolic of this destitution were the opportunity shops not just in the cities but even in the smallest towns throughout the country.
His summary – New Zealand society between 1948-1963 didn’t need opportunity shops. New Zealand itself was a real opportunity shop.
(The Opportunity Shop – Growing up in New Zealand 1948-1963.
Author Michael Mence)
i waitressed in France and Germany
fixed minimum wage (FF 5.600 around 1700 NZD per month at the time), tips (up to a full wage if one was light on the feet – a good waitress can manage two lunch services in her corner of table 🙂 ) , accom (ski stations) and food (on full meal per shift plus free non alcoholic beverages/coffee/tea)- no better way to make good money, travel the world a bit all the while working and manage to hold on to your money for the most part.
the US tipped wage, a lower then usual taxed min wage currently hovering around 2.60 – 2.70 $ per hour plus tips, is a different beast. That is not even substance level, and often these women – and the majority of tipped wage earners are women – are supplemented with Food stamps, Medicaid, and such.
I am quite certain that Paula Benet is not talking about the first scenario.
Sabine
Agree. We haven’t had a positive attitude to working people receiving fair wages and being able to work hard and get ahead for decades. We are in a society that screws people down just like every third world one. If we don’t change we will be end up among the lowest corrupt dictatorship.
Interesting research about how Metservice due to it’s government obligation to make money rather than solely provide a public service has a 49% stake in MetOcean, which provides special oceanic weather forecasts for the deep sea oil and gas industry…
Is the National government obsessed with trying to get NZ into the stone age? While other countries are divesting in oil and gas knowing that it’s a dying industry, our government is forcing government services into this industry with public money that should be going for public good!
Good question saveNZ. Why don’t you send an email to all the Gnashional MPs and Pm just to place the question within their purview, as they will never have confronted such thoughts before.
I agree Sad (some sort of time warp of policy) but the alternative of 3 more years of Natz is even worse.
I’m just hoping for a 3 way, with Labour, Greens and NZ First with Mana for Maori and hopefully between the lot of them some sort of change and sense prevails. At least the opposition are not corrupt like the Natz.
We know society will get worse under the Natz – like Theresa May (God help the UK if she gets in), there is an ideology of just disgusting policy and gross stupidity that just emulates from Natz, they have been in power too long.
It would be interesting to know if the vast majority of Labour supporters oppose PPPs? And if so, why would Labour position themselves against their own support?
Unfortunately their policies reek of trying to follow what they guess public opinion might be, rather than actually showing some leadership and inspiring people to better things.
It was the IRA when I was a kid – but they didn’t like killing children, or even killing people generally, and with the exception of a few splinter groups tended to tip off the authorities before their bombs went off so that it would cause disruption and property damage, but not death. Can’t recall them ever suicide bombing though, that one’s unique to just a couple groups I can think of. Come to think of it, I can’t recall the IRA repeatedly driving trucks into people, either.
As for not being able to prevent it ….if they keep it up at the rate they’re going, things are going to change very quickly. Frau Merkel and Monsieur Macron have their European project to protect, after all. And for Britain, May will soon have the kind of super-majority which will allow all kinds of responses. Things are very Weimar right now.
ahh, the years of the IRA / Red Army Faction i remember them well.
Mogadishou Lufthansa_Flight_181, the First Intifada, the Olympic Games of 1972 in Munich,
Makes me feel old Sabine, I was on my OE in London when the IRA was playing havoc with the London utilities. Many a time we had to divert from different methods of transport to get our weary bones home at night after work because of bomb scares in the tube stations. It wore my parents ragged worrying about me over there. And the passing a hot potato in a pub joke which went around the drinking classes!!!! It seems radical groups have been doing their damage for years on end.
are random children killed more offensive to you then a random dead women or a random dead man if all had been killed by some random person with a gun or a bomb?
They’re more offensive to me if someone did it because of ideology rather than mental illness or other factors beyond their control, if that’s what you mean? All the more so if it’s the ideology of a pervy sky wizard.
Hi cj,
The US were indiscriminate about children with both the bombs they dropped on Japan in 1945.
The carnage from that ideology carries on for generations.
Why is “terrorism” always the first port of call for western authorities these days?
It couldn’t have been some terrible accident involving a commercial gas canister or some such – a contained reticulated gas explosion even – given it was in the foyer area?
I suppose because gas canisters don’t explode in crowds of innocent people very often and people blowing themselves up or causing attempted megadeath do occur much more frequently.
I’d guess (just a guess mind) that more gas cannisters blow up than people blowing themselves up in England.
Tend not to hear about the gas cannisters though, unless there’s significant damage or loss of life, whereas a suicide bomber inadvertently ‘kabooming’ their own flat would be major news.
If I had to choose the likelihood of this incident being between just those two possibilities (and I’m not saying there aren’t others), then I’d pick someone accidentally leaving gas running and it being sparked by someone leaving, lighting up or some such, before I’d pick someone going to a concert, waiting until it finishes and then blowing themselves up on the way out.
But hell, I don’t even know if a source of gas was in the building…
And on the reaction of authorities (which is what I was referring to), the police issued statements saying terrorism unless proved otherwise – and apart from Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham (Manchester Mayor), as far as I’ve seen, all politicians are going with some form of terrorism/attack
Same for this morning’s front pages in the UK.
edit – just seen that police are reporting confirmation of a dead person and an IED. So…ID and motive of said person…?
yes, I’m in agreement with you generally on the PR and media handling.
The thing that interests me is that if the intent of terrorists is to terrorise, why the countries being attacked don’t develop strategies for lessening terror in their people, *whatever the event that’s just taken place. I can only surmise that people in charge are stupid enough to believe they can win and so aren’t too worried about upping the ante.
We’re just the meat in the sandwich to be chewed up. Do “our betters” think they can win? Or are they content to have never ending tension they can use in ways that bolsters their own position?
A frightened population is a population that’s easier to contain and control.
I think they’re evil too. I also think governments like the US that bomb civilians are likewise evil. It’s not rocket science to figure out what is going on.
We’re talking about the same death cult which had one of it’s sex-starved useful idiots drive a truck down a street full of civvies in Stockholm killing kids and even managing to pancake someone’s pet dog which was with them at the time. Just which vast swathes of the middle east or other Islamic lands did Sweden ever bomb, colonise, or otherwise victimise to deserve such activity?
I’m not exactly Jack W Parsons, so my rocket science is not good, but to suggest that civilians killed during American bombings are adequate cause to inspire someone to suicide bomb kids in Manchester or run children and pets over in Stockholm sounds to me not to be rocket science, but the beginnings of Dhimmitude.
They’re building a global fucking Caliphate – they’ve said as much. Why not just take them at their word? Mohammed began his first war of conquest centuries before the USA was a nation-state, and these guys believe that they are just finishing what he started. They’ve said as much many a time, so why not believe them? I would assert that this is what a rocket scientist would probably do.
You treat people like shit long enough and bad enough they will act like shit or use it as an excuse to act like shit. It’s not saying it’s a valid excuse or ‘adequate’ cause. But then bombing kids for oil isn’t adequate cause either.
I also think that there is a mix of pretty repugnant ideology mixed in with treating people badly mixed in with poverty and disenfranchisement. Drop bombs on them and see what happens. I’m not talking what’s right, I’m talking how violence dynamics play out.
Ok, that’s …. so wrong I’m kind of stunned. I cited the example of Sweden, for instance. If your comment accurately represents ‘how the violence dynamics play out’, then how did Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, has never colonised any part of the Islamic world, and has welcomed an unbelievable amount of refugees & treated them excellently, end up with children and animals, not to mention civilian adults – run down by a jihadist in a truck? This appears to be in contrast to these violence dynamics and then some. Let’s add Denmark while we’re at it. Again, not a former colonial power, very benign foreign policy traditions and very generous in its welcoming of refugees from the middle east. How did this ‘violence dynamic’ come to see terrorism and extremism on their streets?
I seem increasingly offside with other leftists for saying this is nonsese. Ascribing this kind of childish moral simplicity to grown adults. For this ‘violence dynamic’ to be true, we’d have to believe that these people have incredibly poor critical thinking skills or moral depth. Do you believe that? That they aren’t capable of forming complex moral judgments? I think my explanation makes far more sense, because it conforms to the historical and cultural record.
Their beliefs stem from an historic sense of mission. It is a response to religious texts, not other people’s actions. Their prophet took a small band of outcasts and brigands to war and created a vast empire. He died having impressed upon them that this empire should one day rule the world, and it was their duty to see that done. And so these extremists take that to be their duty. Their propaganda and pronouncements make this clear, so why invent theories about ‘violence dynamics’ instead of just believing what they say?
It’s plain from their own clearly expressed views that how ‘the west’ chooses to act or has done in the past has the square root of fuck all to do with it – they have a very clearly articulated objective, and they think you and I are filth which needs to be cleansed for the world regardless of how we act towards them. We’re dhimmi, or we’re dead. Those are the only options they have for us.
All that happened was that I said something very briefly. You reacted as if I said something I didn’t. I pointed that out. I haven’t read the rest of your comments because you appear to be arguing with someone who isn’t me. When you get off your high horse I’ll be happy to tell you what I think and you can argue with that if you like. For all I know, you have just as valid a view as me. But if you want to keep arguing with yourself, can you please stop using the reply button to me, thanks.
I welcome anything you have to say which may make clear what I had wrong about your statement, and welcome further debate. But I find the apparent victimhood narrative at odds with the history of political Islam and the extremists who promote it. I will always strongly assert that American bombing, as counter productive as it may be towards the objective which can only be accomplished by ground forces, has not one iota to do with the motivations or objectives of Salafism and its adherents.
I think the reason those movements have gained the momentum they have is because of the sympathy they have gained from people who are sick of Western interventions in the Middle East. It’s not that US bombing civilians causes Islamic fundamentalism, it’s that it throws fuel on that fire.
I don’t see Islamic fundamentalists as victims, if that’s what you meant. I really think you are misconstruing my view.
I also think you are being too reductionist with my point. I’m not talking cause and effect in the way you appear to be. Nor fairness or validity of action. But I see Bush, Tr*mp, Bannon, all that lot, as fundamentalists too, just with bigger guns. That was my original point. Two sides at war, both doing evil things. The West likes to pretend that it’s got the moral high ground, but it really doesn’t.
American bombing…has not one iota to do with the motivations or objectives of Salafism and its adherents.
Whereas captured Iraqi daesh report that their motivation was the chaos of civil war, and the GCHQ says that British jihadis are motivated by the racism they experience.
When people are looking for a hateful ideology to justify their vengeance fantasies, they will find one, or how else do you explain the Sensible Sentencing Trust?
The point being that they have to be motivated to hate to put on the ideology in the first place. Losing family members to war can do that.
“I think the reason those movements have gained the momentum they have is because of the sympathy they have gained from people who are sick of Western interventions in the Middle East”
And that is very effective propaganda for them to utilise towards westerners, I agree – but is it really all that true? It caters to our leftist sense of justice, and adds that sense of victimhood which plays on our rightly held belief in justice for the underdog. But are they really any kind of underdog? They believe in fulfilling prophecy. And the prophecy which was bequeathed to them has nothing good in store for you or I.
Even the most dull witted, jingoistic American conservative who wants the rest of the world to bend the knee to the USA and marvel at its power doesn’t want to actually physically rule it – they just want that unchallenged hegemony. I don’t like it, and I look forward to a multipolar world where the USA and the EU can get in among the BRICS and play nice. And a few trillion more debt will probably see that day come. Take the ‘oil war’ thesis; I believed it once myself, and who knows it may have been the objective. Personally I think the Saudis played them for suckers. You know that US oil companies did not end up winning the contracts in Iraq?
In the meantime, political Islam will only ever stop for a breather, to weigh its options and assess the field of combat. Their prophecy will always be there, and will always be the lens through which they view the world. Nobody else can conduct themselves in a way which will make them any more agreeable, or any less of a target for occupation and the choice of dhimmitude or conversion.
You lost me at that bit. Sorry, but references to a whole geographical region of people believing the same thing strikes me as far more ideology than can be debated.
You lost me at that bit. Sorry, but references to a whole geographical region of people believing the same thing strikes me as far more ideology than can be debated.’
You deny that ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups (and those motivated by their propaganda) cite prophecy to justify and inspire their activities?
Suicide bombings (assuming that is what it is) are political. We’re well past the point of being polite about it. If this had happened in NZ, I would agree we would need more tact. But it’s now routine and I’m sick of the whole white people getting bombed by black people needs special treatment when we don’t do that the other way round. All of it is political including your original comment.
There are White fascists deliberately massacring the largest number of innocent Black people they can manage? I guess there was Dylann Roof, but his crime was a multi-day media festival just like the various Muslim fascist ones, so the “special treatment” isn’t obvious.
Who is killing children? It is not just the ‘terrorists’.
We know approximately how many people our bombs etc are killing, many of who are children.
I doubt that ‘our side’ loses more than one in a thousand of the numbers we kill, and laugh off as collateral damage.
We are not innocent, in fact we are depraved simply by the condoning of drone warfare, let all alone all the cluster bombs and depleted uranium etc. being used, and the ever mounting weapon sales to both sides.
As much as it is tragic and shocking we should not be surprised at what lengths people will go to for revenge against us.
…we are depraved simply by the condoning of drone warfare…
…and if the use of drones turns out, as some say, to reduce the number of civilian casualties? Which would certainly fit with Pinker’s findings – cf: The Better Angels Of Our Nature.
What you and Weka are saying about the dynamics of violence is absolutely right, and obviously the best outcome is that all live in peace.
How’s that going to work with eg: Vladimir Putin or the People’s Central Committee, and their ambitions, or a criminal centre-right dictator like Pinochet? Or areas ruled by the equivalent of the Westboro Baptist Death Cult?
The USA and their proxies are a long way off Sun Tzu’s humanitarian ethics; that doesn’t mean that democracy isn’t worth defending.
Quite. But itt’s not like the rest of the West is actually more moral than the US. If it were, then we’d have a UN that did the right things, including standing up to the US. As far as I can tell everyone still wants to hold onto their privilege, including economically. I’m probably basically pacifist, but also pragmatic. If we do have to kill people can we at least be honest about our reasons instead of pretending we are the Good Guys. That doesn’t mean we are devoid of goodness, on the contrary, it’s our belief that our good acts make us the good guys that is the problem.
I suppose what I am saying is that I can’t do much about what people in the Middle East are doing. But I can challenge hypocrisy and warmongering on my own side of the world. I’m not saying we should do nothing.
By contrast, Labour and the Greens have a policy of sticking to UN resolutions. So NZ’s record is patchy, because the National Party drags us down as usual. Even so, we have a better record than the US.
I like to think that’s in part because people do something.
National Party guaranteed to bring us down every time. And the people that vote for them. We’d do so much better if we got rid of half the country 😉
“I like to think that’s in part because people do something.”
Yes, but do you think that we are better than other places e.g. the US, or that we just have a different set of circumstances that allows us to do better? It’s hard to imagine any US president that wouldn’t bomb other countries or enable the a fucked up foreign policy.
James I don’t find your type of comments compassionate, more inflammatory and reactionary. They lead to bullshit like Bush invading Afghanistan or our troops shooting up a village in the Tiguran valley.
Reuters reports British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives will suspend campaigning for the national election on June 8.
“A Tory (Conservative) source speaking to the Press Association (news agency) said that the Prime Minister’s general election campaign was being suspended,” Sky News said.
Suspended, not cancelled. Lib Dems have pulled some scheduled Malta visit too.
Wonder if May could be stupid enough to try rolling the suspension out for a bit and claim that any campaigning by others was insensitive and what not.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Cosby’s ‘focus grouping’ that one as we speak. 👿
Well, if it’s an intentional attack (which seems most likely), the perpetrator(s) might well be irrational. That doesn’t mean they didn’t have a plan. Two or three weeks out from an election? Chances are that’s more than just coincidence.
Why does it have to be anyone trying to skew anything? Why (for the time being) isn’t it being treated as an unexplained explosion that’s being investigated? Why this immediate jumping to “terrorist” conclusions, as though there are no other feasible explanations?
Nothing ruled out and nothing ruled in would be an appropriate position for authorities to be adopting right now instead of this “terrorism until we know different” approach by police.
If it turns out to have been a gas main that went “bang” just as a concert was emptying out, I’ll stand corrected.
And the reason police go “terrorism until we know different” is because gas mains and suchlike don’t have a habit of attacking several locations at the same time, and yet terrorists do – e.g. the November 2015 Paris attacks.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I meant that if they treated it as a gas main and it turned out to be a coordinated attack, more people would die than if they initially treat it as an attack, correctly or incorrectly as it turns out.
If there’s a plan to hit (say) a football match and a concert, then a suicide bomber at a football match is probably going to detonate themselves if an evacuation order is given due to an explosion at the concert, no?
On the other hand, promoting panic could lead to a stampede at the football match when there was no reason to evacuate.
Anyway. it’s been (how many hours now?) so I think we can discount the ‘co-ordinated attack’ theory. That doesn’t mean I’m saying that the incident at the concert definitely isn’t the result of a willful act – just to be clear.
I can’t see how the police and other authorities can do anything other than treat a lethal explosion that is obviously not a gas leak etc as terrorism, for the reasons that McFlock explains. The media on the other hand…
I have no idea what happened. What I meant was that the people actually there doing the investigating, when they understand prelimarily that it’s not a gas leak etc it makes sense for them to err on the side of caution and think terrorism. Can’t think of too many other options. I guess old WW2 bomb, something like that. If you think that the police on the ground are making inaccurate assessments I’d be interested to hear that (I’m sure it’s possible).
I think what the media do is a different thing. Probably what the police tell the media too.
e.g. I seem to remember last time (the guy driving the car into people), there was a really stupid senior police person saying a whole lot of daft stuff in public.
Ok, so assuming they don’t do an OJ-style evacuation, an orderly evacuation would be much safer than a chaotic one.
But even without an evacuation, responding to it as a possible coordinated attack mobilises more cops to public areas, arms them, and could create different casualty handling or fire-fighter logistics. As opposed to assuming that it’s one event and more places are undefended and less emergency services are prepared.
So even if it wasn’t a coordinated attack this time, it was still right to respond to it as such.
It was easy to immediately identify the probable cause of the explosion as terrorism. As is often the case, the charge was loaded with items of hardware. The floor, walls and victims around the explosion would of been peppered with nails etc.
Correction: A lot of people are selectively upset. The likes of James have said little or nothing about the far more numerous daily killings in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.
Im sorry – I have personal ties to Manchester and it does upset me – I will never applogise for that.
If you find that insincere because Im not upset by the daily carnage in places I have never been, know nobody, and have no linkage to – then, well, to hell with you.
I guess it’s that, “They’re killers! Kill them!” thing that gets me. Even worse, “They’re insane! Punish them for eternity!” that leaves me flabbergasted.
Robert – You follow me around this blog like a smell.
Normally I do not mind. You amuse me.
But even for you – running around trying to ‘score points’ on a subject like this when, kids are targeted to be killed in in the name of “who knows what” is pathetic.
I hope this kind of tragedy never impacts on your or your families life. But of it ever does I hope that pathetic little men dont go running around trying to get some personal satisfaction from it.
James, what have you got to say about the killing of kids by New Zealand troops in Afghanistan? I can’t find your expressions of outrage; maybe you were busy at the time of the release of Nicky Hager and John Stephenson’s book?
James’ll never vote Left – he’s hard-boiled ACT, in my estimation, but just in case you’re correct, I’ll give him some more rope room to express himself.
Gotta keep those coffers full! Gotta pay the Bill’s. God, Key’s leaving must have burned! What a scamperer he turned out to be! In any case, Bill’s National’s a good choice for you; Bill doesn’t care about the Afghan villagers either.
Here is what the coverage will not say: targeting an Arianna Grande concert is targeting young women. This is a violent act of misogyny.— ❄️Jaclyn Friedman❄️ (@jaclynf) May 23, 2017
With the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets around the TRAPPIST-1 star 40 light years away, astronomers are looking to the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope to help us find out if any of these planets could possibly support life.
And three of them appear to be in the liquid water zone so this is a pretty good candidate to try and detect life on exo-planets.
heh – now who was I listening to the other day pointing out that this planet, if it didn’t have the moon, would rotate at such a rate that there would be two hours of daylight…
And adding that if Jupiter(?) didn’t have the type of orbit it does, we’d be flung into outer space or into the sun…
Then there was the bit about a possible land/water ratio being required to set up necessary initial conditions for life…
now who was I listening to the other day pointing out that this planet, if it didn’t have the moon, would rotate at such a rate that there would be two hours of daylight
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
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Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
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The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
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A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
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“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
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Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
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New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
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Corbyn is scaring the British establishment.
https://www.thecanary.co/2017/05/22/labour-surges-polls-establishment-media-enters-full-panic-mode-images/
This is what happens when you offer a socialist alternative to neoliberalism…..
Will NZ Labour learn from this?
I doubt it. Too many members of the cargo cult in the party.
Similar dynamic but different circumstances. We don’t have a Corbyn here. It’s not just about policy and kaupapa, it’s about who has the strength to deal with the neoliberals in the party and then in the media. Corbyn did it his way, Little is doing it another way.
Reuters reports British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives will suspend campaigning for the national election on June 8.
“A Tory (Conservative) source speaking to the Press Association (news agency) said that the Prime Minister’s general election campaign was being suspended,” Sky News said.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/331368/live-blog-19-dead-50-injured-in-manchester-explosion
UK Labour goes from six points behind to ten points ahead in Wales.
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/05/22/voting-intention-wales-labour-44-conservatives/
The panic in the UK establishment and the right wing media is real, the IRA smear of Corbyn is designed to get the conversation off policy and back onto knee jerk hysteria.
Please New Zealand Labour Party.
Pay attention.
People want a real socialist alternative to neoliberalism,
100% agree. Alas, our NZ Labour still just wants a slightly different shade of neoliberalism…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/331349/labour-open-to-private-partnerships-or-overseas-investors
Steve Cowan compares UK Labour with socialist ideals
http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.co.nz/2017/05/labours-rising-fortunes.html?m=1
to New Zealand Labour still under the spell of Friedrich Hayek. Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman. Hostage to a cargo cult.
http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.co.nz/2017/05/beyond-farce.html?m=1
This blatant smear operation should be formally responded to because it is such a great opportunity. Rather than attacking the media on this, the smart response is along the lines of, “More of this please. If the establishment media want to indulge in shredding what little remains of their credibility, damage shareholder value, and expose senior executives to personal liability …. bring it on. This election is about the people, and we trust them to see this for what it is.”
yep. Matches Labour’s messages of ‘for the many’, and ‘this is about you’
Roman Lord (Labour candidate for East Coast Bays) who’s thrown a hissy fit about his position on the list and claims his position at 72 was at least in part because he’s a white, middle class male, needs to do quite a bit of growing up. The list selection process gives any interested member an input into ranking their local candidates and presumably he wasn’t highly rated. Hey, it’s a competitive process – not everyone can win.
I thought Little did a good job responding to questions about this on Morning Report, but Lord shouldn’t have put him in this position in the first place. He shouldn’t have put himself forward if he was going to be so fragile and damage the party because his pride got damaged.
He’s acting like a … Roman Lord!
I have never met him and I doubt he has been a member for long. I saw him at the list conference and he gave only an OK speech. His comments suggest he has no idea how the Labour Party works.
Very good candidates have worked for years to get into a position where they could become MPs.
Exactly. You do your time in the blue areas in the arse end of the list, avoid major fuckups or tantys like this, and then you build a political skillset.
Me, I’m far too unelectable personally (yeah I like to call fuckers “fucko” in real life, too), but I’ve had a couple of friends/acquaintances walk down that path.
Rohan Lord.
If Roman really had his heart in, he should have just dismissed his ranking on a list and worked hard to become the MP for East Coast Bays. It wouldn’t have been easy, but it would have been worth it.
Maybe he’ll have another crack at it next election?
The next PM of NZ and Leader of the Labour Party is handling this small hiccup beautifully.
The outgoing governments list is still to come, eleven of their current MP’s are not seeking re-election. Are they having trouble finding candidates?
Why should he be accepted as a candidate next time? I would have no hesitation in telling him to shove off.
Didnt Helen Clark contest a safe National seat in her first election. Instead of throwing her toys, it looked like she knuckled down and campaigned instead, learning the ropes. Her hard work would be rewarded in the next election when she got, and won, Mt Albert.
I think Rohan expected to be parachuted into a safe seat and a high list placing on his first go, presumably because he was a sporting personality.
She sure did Millsy – Piako in the Waikato, one of the bluest of seats. I was part of her support team based in Morrinsville in 1975. We had a great time even though we knew it would not be successful
Wait, he was fortunate enough to get both an electorate to run in and raise his personal profile, and he got a position on the list? Isn’t that a vote of confidence that your party considers you a suitable person to be an MP and they want to give you a chance to get experience so you can be an MP in future?
I guess he failed that opportunity in spectacular fashion and his unsuitability for any sort of public office has been clearly shown.
Labour should be pleased he’s gone after he spoke this morning.
Prof. Geddis doesn’t sound very impressed:
After all, it isn’t like Double Dipton has ever been caught lying now, eh. No, wait…
Labour should be capitalizing off of this.
It’s a shame Labour aren’t not more vocal on the matter.
Yet to see anything on Labour’s website regarding the resurrection of the TPP.
Thoroughly enjoyed this Israeli military view of Trump’s determination to completely wipe out ISIS:
Their ideal strategy is to sit back and let Al Qaeda and ISIS duke it out—and work to contain the conflict rather than trying to end it with military force. As the IDF intelligence officer put it, “the battle for deterrence is easier than the battle for influence.”
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/22/israeli-officers-to-trump-youre-doing-isis-wrong-215172?lo=ap_d1
Well, yeah, but the Israelis have had that policy for decades: encourage their enemies to fight each other.
Not that Trump is right, but the Israeli “answer” is perpetual war in the Middle East, just not in Israel.
Quite so McFlock. It stands out like dogs balls that Israel is benefitting from all this sunni/shia conflict. What’s the bet that they are involved up to their eyeballs in keeping it this way? No doubt about it.
The USA- Israel- Saudi Arabia cabal are all ” working ” in the interest of Zionism.
They just have to keep fomenting conflict upon conflict to keep things going in their direction.
I’d go one further. For Israel, a long war of attrition in Syria, combined with a mass exodus of refugees, will make it very easy for them to annex a little more territory on the Syrian side of the Golan heights under the pretext of ensuring ‘stability’ and ‘security’ due to ‘threats’ from Hezbollah. Should Assad survive, he’ll be too weak to take them on; should he fall, they have the ideal pretext for an expanded security buffer.
Al-Qaeda and ISIS: innit funny that they’ve both focused so heavily in taking on Israel’s enemies in the region, while never quite seeming to get around to any actions of significance against the nation they supposedly hate so much. Almost as if…
Well, maybe, but I suspect that the Israelis took exactly as much of the Golan Heights as they strategically wanted, given the lay of the land.
As for your AQ/ISIS theory… yeah, whatever.
Oh totally, I mean, it would be like if the Soviet Union went to war against everyone except capitalists. Probably totally legit.
Not really.
Israel has been doing domestic security in a high threat environment for 70 years. They make the TSA look like buffoons. It’s a hard target.
But your competition for recruits, on the other hand… right next to you, competing for the same resources. You’re gonna fight them.
Israeli security is legendary – the Brits found in the late 40s that they couldn’t keep a step ahead of them or keep anything from them – I suspect the experiences of the previous decade shaped that aspect. But, that doesn’t quite explain why the most fetishized of Israel’s enemies are the target of two organisations which ostensibly formed to fight them. After all, Palestinians have been smuggling weapons past them just as successfully for every one of those 70 years. It’s not like AQ or IS couldn’t have gotten in there. Additionally, the IAF has flown numerous illegal sorties attacking the SAA, Hezbollah and other Shiite militias at will despite them being exclusively engaged in regime defence. But not so with AQ or IS. I mean, I’ve experienced and observed coincidences in my time, but…
When was the last Palestinian bombing in Israel?
According to Google, a bus in Tel Aviv, April last year.
Yup. No dead except the bomber.
1 in 2015, 1 fatality other than the bomber.
And then nothing until 2008.
And these are the folks with experience “for every one of those 70 years”.
Oh, sure, I suspect AQ/ISIS would love a big statement in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, but they would have extreme difficulty getting it set up and they know it’s be followed by a large can of Israeli whoop-ass, and the Israelis are really good at targeting essential personnel.
That’s ok, we’re talking about Jihadists who look forward to death, aren’t we? Why would jihadists fear death?
Well, you might as well ask why don’t they just shoot themselves instead of mounting suicide attacks?
They have a clear objective they wish to bring about. Fucking off the Israelis is contrary to achieving that objective.
There’s irrational, and then there’s incoherent, lol
Actually, for AQ and IS, destroying Israel is part of what they claim their objective is – which brings us back to where we started – how strange it is that they seem to prefer attacking enemies of Israel to proving that they themselves are enemies of Israel.
Not really strange if you look at their situation and locations.
Israel’s on the “to do” list, definitely. But first things first.
Clinton’s emails on the subject make interesting reading.
Israel has a “thing” about Iran (I know, who doesn’t these days 🙄 ) and absolutely wants the support for Hezbollah in the Lebanon ended. That means bye-bye Syria (it being the conduit between Iran and the Lebanon).
________
Then there’s – ISIS and Al Qaeda also want Iran gone (obviously)
Israel is still technically at war with Syria.
Israel has been treating ISIS terrorists and has even publicly apologised for killing some of their number.
______________
Fast forward to the potential of Syria ‘gone’. That’s a huge number of refugees fleeing every which way to get away from head-choppers. Then (say the remaining regional powers) the head-choppers must go…so, Turkey cleans out and occupies swathes across its current Syrian border. Israel does likewise. Hell, Iraq or even Iraqi Kurdistan might be given a wee slice of pie.
And the Saudi’s? What do the Saudi’s do? Do they let the whole Syria thing be carved up with nothing in it for them in return for Iran being placed on tender-hooks? Maybe.
Idlib will be the Saudi slice of the action if it goes that way.
Israel apologised for an attack on ISIS? Really?
I’ve heard it the other way around: that ISIS attacked some Israeli units, were soundly retaliated against, and apologised for kicking the tiger. But I’d really like a link for Israel apologising for killing ISIS fighters.
Oops. They medically treat, but you’re right on the apology incident – t’was the other way around! My bad 😉
The first hard hitting interview I have seen with Theresa May, definitely worth a watch….if the media had actually been asking her indepth questions like this from the beginning, the Tories would been slipping even worse in the polls than they are now,
Andrew Neil Interviews Theresa May.
Looking at Theresa May the question of why females still have to go through the ritual of painting on, wearing make-up, spending the time enhancing eyelashes, defining eyebrows, eyeshadow, lipstick etc. Just simple light powder over the nose and forehead when on screen is all that is needed for image.
Why not spend 10 minutes in the morning reading something about philosophy and how it is interwoven with economics. That would be the most fruitful piece of thinking of her or any other pollies day.
“Looking at Theresa May the question of why females still have to go through the ritual of painting on, wearing make-up, spending the time enhancing eyelashes, defining eyebrows, eyeshadow, lipstick etc. Just simple light powder over the nose and forehead when on screen is all that is needed for image.”
Who are you to say how she should do her make up or what is “needed”. Do you want ot tell her how to dress as well?
If she wants to put on makeup and feels good for it – good for her.
Greywarshark, so far as I can tell, is not speaking to Teresa May, he’s posing a question to us about make up use and offering his view, “Just simple light powder over the nose and forehead when on screen is all that is needed for image”. He doesn’t have to pass your, “who are you?” test to offer his opinion, does he, James?
No s/he is making comment about Theresa Mays makeup – thus the “looking at Theresa May” bit.
She should be able to put on as much makeup as she likes, for whatever reason she likes or feels without having people comment on it and others deciding “what is needed”.
Or do you think its appropriate that men can comment on what a woman should wear (makeup or clothes).
Theresa Mary May, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, should expect people, even anonymous posters on a foreign blog, not to comment about how much makeup she uses???
Are you completely off the planet? A famous person should expect to go un-commented upon???
Dizzying thinking there, James.
James.Would it be ok for her to appear nude in public “
But still wearing makeup, please!
There are laws about that I believe.
Laws, regulations, statutes, decrees, edicts, rules, rulings, measures, dictums, commands, orders, stipulations, commandments, directives, pronouncements, proclamations, dictates, demands…
have I built a fair profile of you, James? You sound like that ACT bloke, Semour.
You forgot smart and extremely good looking.
And makeup-free (I’m guessing/hoping).
James
Who are you to tell me what my opinion should be. If I want to say that she would be a better politician if she put in the time reading some publication that expresses new thoughts that’s my right.
And further I express the opinion that you should do some reading and learning which might benefit TS instead of your kneejerk conformist reactions which you seem to think indicates you are a fair and free thinker. That might make you feel good and it would be something to congratulate you for.
There are places that welcome men who tell women how to dress and what to wear.
Its my opinion that you may fit in there.
The fact you ignore all the bits about her makeup and just go to the reading comment is a shallow attempt to justify your comment.
“There are places that welcome men who tell women how to dress and what to wear.”
Fashion Houses?: Gavinchy’s? Christian Dior’s? Alexander Wang’s? Balenciaga’s, McQueen’s, Aquazzura’s; can you see yourself in any of these, Greywarshark, as James sees you, seemingly?
Greywarshark, fashionista!
Breathtaking!
Very clunky edit at about 6min 48sec. Wonder what that was about?
Anyway. The woman’s a fucking idiot. No wonder she’s insisted on pre-prepared questions, avoiding the public and bailing from any TV leaders debate.
Forget the makeup. I’d just like to say that that is a strong and stable necklace May is wearing.
Tipping good says Poorer Benefit.
After all, she thinks, we Nat pollies get tipped all the time for giving good service to those we work to serve, so hey go for it.
Interesting interview on tipping with academic from USA. He says that it becomes mandatory because of social pressure and norms, and the waiter gets more if they interact with the customer, smile, crouch down to get to eye level etc. And with that in mind, he points out that big-breasted blonde women get more than other women, and interestingly blacks get less than whites. It gives customers a feel of control which they like in the USA.
Personally I would hate feeling pressured by some hovering waiter. I start to feel that everyone out there is after something from me and my money, by fair means or foul. (Paranoid or a reaction to the reality I encounter?) It is a double pressure as I would then have to tip him to make him or her go away.
RadioNZ
To tip or not to tip…
From Nine To Noon, 20 minutes ago
Listen duration 7′ :03″
The Deputy Prime Minister, Paula Bennett has suggested New Zealand should embrace tipping to improve the quality of service for tourists. Ms Bennett, who is also the Tourism Minister, made the comments in a letter to the New Zealand Herald and has been backed up by the Restaurant Association and the Hospitality Association. Kathryn Ryan speaks to Professor Michael Lynn,from Cornell University who’s published more than 50 academic papers on the subject of tipping.
Yes, pay pollies a basic wage, then distribute the saving. So we can then tip the pollies for good service.
AND there is nothing to stop tourists tipping anyway.
As far as I am concerned tipping a service worker is just another way, we the stupid public are sucked into subsidising the employer of that worker and aiding and abetting him keeping the employee’s wages supressed.
If a service industry has to rely on tips to their workers to keep their business surviving then the business owner shouldn’t be operating in the first place, Why on earth should a service worker need to rely on tips if the company is paying a decent living wage. Keep tipping out of NZ – bosses are bad enough as it is paying a decent wage, don’t subsidise them.
WK you get100% for that.
So long as she can include the tips in the the minimum wage calculation, Paula will be happy.
…And transfer the balance to the business owner, should the tips exceed the minimum wage.
Strong and Stable Brighter Future!!
I meant to put the radio link re tipping.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201844808/to-tip-or-not-to-tip
I always got tips as a tour guide – i did come to expect them and it really made a difference financially. Waiters and service people not so sure it’s good for them unless it is on top of a good hourly rate.
marty mars
Yes I agree. A good hourly rate. But going on what NZ legislation and practice has been for the last 30 years, the mean attitude that is prevalent in this country, and the inefficient way that business run which can’t survive without stretching wages thin like rubber bands, I doubt that there would be money other than tips enough to pay transport to and from work.
Quote from someone who came here after WW2 when he was six and thought NZ was a great place, though opportunity in Europe came up and he returned there. He was here 1948-1963 and visited in the 1990s. He states:
His summary – New Zealand society between 1948-1963 didn’t need opportunity shops. New Zealand itself was a real opportunity shop.
(The Opportunity Shop – Growing up in New Zealand 1948-1963.
Author Michael Mence)
i waitressed in France and Germany
fixed minimum wage (FF 5.600 around 1700 NZD per month at the time), tips (up to a full wage if one was light on the feet – a good waitress can manage two lunch services in her corner of table 🙂 ) , accom (ski stations) and food (on full meal per shift plus free non alcoholic beverages/coffee/tea)- no better way to make good money, travel the world a bit all the while working and manage to hold on to your money for the most part.
the US tipped wage, a lower then usual taxed min wage currently hovering around 2.60 – 2.70 $ per hour plus tips, is a different beast. That is not even substance level, and often these women – and the majority of tipped wage earners are women – are supplemented with Food stamps, Medicaid, and such.
I am quite certain that Paula Benet is not talking about the first scenario.
Sabine
Agree. We haven’t had a positive attitude to working people receiving fair wages and being able to work hard and get ahead for decades. We are in a society that screws people down just like every third world one. If we don’t change we will be end up among the lowest corrupt dictatorship.
Interesting research about how Metservice due to it’s government obligation to make money rather than solely provide a public service has a 49% stake in MetOcean, which provides special oceanic weather forecasts for the deep sea oil and gas industry…
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/05/21/so-who-funds-metservice-the-weird-madness-behind-the-20-meter-wave-story/
Is the National government obsessed with trying to get NZ into the stone age? While other countries are divesting in oil and gas knowing that it’s a dying industry, our government is forcing government services into this industry with public money that should be going for public good!
Good question saveNZ. Why don’t you send an email to all the Gnashional MPs and Pm just to place the question within their purview, as they will never have confronted such thoughts before.
NZ Labour is going full Brighter Future, planning to use public infrastructure projects to transfer public wealth to rich private owners of capital:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/331349/labour-open-to-private-partnerships-or-overseas-investors
They have tied themselves in irrational “fiscal responsibility” knots, so they are only left with National’s lame and failed ideas. SAD.
I agree Sad (some sort of time warp of policy) but the alternative of 3 more years of Natz is even worse.
I’m just hoping for a 3 way, with Labour, Greens and NZ First with Mana for Maori and hopefully between the lot of them some sort of change and sense prevails. At least the opposition are not corrupt like the Natz.
We know society will get worse under the Natz – like Theresa May (God help the UK if she gets in), there is an ideology of just disgusting policy and gross stupidity that just emulates from Natz, they have been in power too long.
” but the alternative of 3 more years of Natz is even worse. ”
I do agree, I’d much prefer the lesser evil of labour. But so disappointing Labour is not offering anything other than TINA.
“Natz, they have been in power too long”
Personally I’m not buying the third term fatigue bit…I thought they were awful from the get-go!
It would be interesting to know if the vast majority of Labour supporters oppose PPPs? And if so, why would Labour position themselves against their own support?
Unfortunately their policies reek of trying to follow what they guess public opinion might be, rather than actually showing some leadership and inspiring people to better things.
This explosion – they just said 19 dead – getting a bad vibe from this one. RIP and thinking about all those who have lost…
Ariana Grande is an ex Disney Star and her viewers are generally young teens with parents.
Sadness everywhere.
What kind of ideology would drive someone to do such a thing…
it appears to be a suicide bomber in an outside area.
It also appears that most of the death came about by trying to leave the venue. essentially a stampede..
sadness,
and you can’t prevent it, and its all kind of ideologies or lack there of that has driven people since eons to do such things.
It was the IRA when I was a kid – but they didn’t like killing children, or even killing people generally, and with the exception of a few splinter groups tended to tip off the authorities before their bombs went off so that it would cause disruption and property damage, but not death. Can’t recall them ever suicide bombing though, that one’s unique to just a couple groups I can think of. Come to think of it, I can’t recall the IRA repeatedly driving trucks into people, either.
As for not being able to prevent it ….if they keep it up at the rate they’re going, things are going to change very quickly. Frau Merkel and Monsieur Macron have their European project to protect, after all. And for Britain, May will soon have the kind of super-majority which will allow all kinds of responses. Things are very Weimar right now.
ahh, the years of the IRA / Red Army Faction i remember them well.
Mogadishou Lufthansa_Flight_181, the First Intifada, the Olympic Games of 1972 in Munich,
just a few that i can remember.
Must’ave been the good old times.
.
Makes me feel old Sabine, I was on my OE in London when the IRA was playing havoc with the London utilities. Many a time we had to divert from different methods of transport to get our weary bones home at night after work because of bomb scares in the tube stations. It wore my parents ragged worrying about me over there. And the passing a hot potato in a pub joke which went around the drinking classes!!!! It seems radical groups have been doing their damage for years on end.
How often did they kill children?
are random children killed more offensive to you then a random dead women or a random dead man if all had been killed by some random person with a gun or a bomb?
They’re more offensive to me if someone did it because of ideology rather than mental illness or other factors beyond their control, if that’s what you mean? All the more so if it’s the ideology of a pervy sky wizard.
Hi cj,
The US were indiscriminate about children with both the bombs they dropped on Japan in 1945.
The carnage from that ideology carries on for generations.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/92875770/live-loud-bangs-heard-at-ariana-grande-gig-in-manchester
yeah. Fuck.
Tossers.
Why is “terrorism” always the first port of call for western authorities these days?
It couldn’t have been some terrible accident involving a commercial gas canister or some such – a contained reticulated gas explosion even – given it was in the foyer area?
I suppose because gas canisters don’t explode in crowds of innocent people very often and people blowing themselves up or causing attempted megadeath do occur much more frequently.
I’d guess (just a guess mind) that more gas cannisters blow up than people blowing themselves up in England.
Tend not to hear about the gas cannisters though, unless there’s significant damage or loss of life, whereas a suicide bomber inadvertently ‘kabooming’ their own flat would be major news.
If I had to choose the likelihood of this incident being between just those two possibilities (and I’m not saying there aren’t others), then I’d pick someone accidentally leaving gas running and it being sparked by someone leaving, lighting up or some such, before I’d pick someone going to a concert, waiting until it finishes and then blowing themselves up on the way out.
But hell, I don’t even know if a source of gas was in the building…
So many regs around gas bottles all trying to keep them safe and it isn’t a Hollywood movie.
..it isn’t a Hollywood movie
This we agree on. And even though they usually aren’t up to the hype that accompanies them, at least the hype makes sense in terms of marketing.
The first media reports I saw said explosion not terrorism.
And on the reaction of authorities (which is what I was referring to), the police issued statements saying terrorism unless proved otherwise – and apart from Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham (Manchester Mayor), as far as I’ve seen, all politicians are going with some form of terrorism/attack
Same for this morning’s front pages in the UK.
edit – just seen that police are reporting confirmation of a dead person and an IED. So…ID and motive of said person…?
yes, I’m in agreement with you generally on the PR and media handling.
The thing that interests me is that if the intent of terrorists is to terrorise, why the countries being attacked don’t develop strategies for lessening terror in their people, *whatever the event that’s just taken place. I can only surmise that people in charge are stupid enough to believe they can win and so aren’t too worried about upping the ante.
Way I look at it, it serves both sides.
We’re just the meat in the sandwich to be chewed up. Do “our betters” think they can win? Or are they content to have never ending tension they can use in ways that bolsters their own position?
A frightened population is a population that’s easier to contain and control.
A frightened population is a population that’s easier for populists to manipulate and control. FIFY
Hardly a recipe for containment or stability, as the current situation in the USA surely demonstrates.
People that do things like this – there are no words I can think of to describe the evil.
May they rot in hell.
I think they’re evil too. I also think governments like the US that bomb civilians are likewise evil. It’s not rocket science to figure out what is going on.
WOW.
We’re talking about the same death cult which had one of it’s sex-starved useful idiots drive a truck down a street full of civvies in Stockholm killing kids and even managing to pancake someone’s pet dog which was with them at the time. Just which vast swathes of the middle east or other Islamic lands did Sweden ever bomb, colonise, or otherwise victimise to deserve such activity?
I’m not exactly Jack W Parsons, so my rocket science is not good, but to suggest that civilians killed during American bombings are adequate cause to inspire someone to suicide bomb kids in Manchester or run children and pets over in Stockholm sounds to me not to be rocket science, but the beginnings of Dhimmitude.
They’re building a global fucking Caliphate – they’ve said as much. Why not just take them at their word? Mohammed began his first war of conquest centuries before the USA was a nation-state, and these guys believe that they are just finishing what he started. They’ve said as much many a time, so why not believe them? I would assert that this is what a rocket scientist would probably do.
“but to suggest that civilians killed during American bombings are adequate cause to inspire someone to suicide bomb kids”
I didn’t say that. Those are your ideas not mine.
Alright, I’ll take you at your word. What did you mean when you said, “It’s not rocket science to figure out what is going on.”?
You treat people like shit long enough and bad enough they will act like shit or use it as an excuse to act like shit. It’s not saying it’s a valid excuse or ‘adequate’ cause. But then bombing kids for oil isn’t adequate cause either.
I also think that there is a mix of pretty repugnant ideology mixed in with treating people badly mixed in with poverty and disenfranchisement. Drop bombs on them and see what happens. I’m not talking what’s right, I’m talking how violence dynamics play out.
Ok, that’s …. so wrong I’m kind of stunned. I cited the example of Sweden, for instance. If your comment accurately represents ‘how the violence dynamics play out’, then how did Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, has never colonised any part of the Islamic world, and has welcomed an unbelievable amount of refugees & treated them excellently, end up with children and animals, not to mention civilian adults – run down by a jihadist in a truck? This appears to be in contrast to these violence dynamics and then some. Let’s add Denmark while we’re at it. Again, not a former colonial power, very benign foreign policy traditions and very generous in its welcoming of refugees from the middle east. How did this ‘violence dynamic’ come to see terrorism and extremism on their streets?
I seem increasingly offside with other leftists for saying this is nonsese. Ascribing this kind of childish moral simplicity to grown adults. For this ‘violence dynamic’ to be true, we’d have to believe that these people have incredibly poor critical thinking skills or moral depth. Do you believe that? That they aren’t capable of forming complex moral judgments? I think my explanation makes far more sense, because it conforms to the historical and cultural record.
Their beliefs stem from an historic sense of mission. It is a response to religious texts, not other people’s actions. Their prophet took a small band of outcasts and brigands to war and created a vast empire. He died having impressed upon them that this empire should one day rule the world, and it was their duty to see that done. And so these extremists take that to be their duty. Their propaganda and pronouncements make this clear, so why invent theories about ‘violence dynamics’ instead of just believing what they say?
It’s plain from their own clearly expressed views that how ‘the west’ chooses to act or has done in the past has the square root of fuck all to do with it – they have a very clearly articulated objective, and they think you and I are filth which needs to be cleansed for the world regardless of how we act towards them. We’re dhimmi, or we’re dead. Those are the only options they have for us.
All that happened was that I said something very briefly. You reacted as if I said something I didn’t. I pointed that out. I haven’t read the rest of your comments because you appear to be arguing with someone who isn’t me. When you get off your high horse I’ll be happy to tell you what I think and you can argue with that if you like. For all I know, you have just as valid a view as me. But if you want to keep arguing with yourself, can you please stop using the reply button to me, thanks.
I welcome anything you have to say which may make clear what I had wrong about your statement, and welcome further debate. But I find the apparent victimhood narrative at odds with the history of political Islam and the extremists who promote it. I will always strongly assert that American bombing, as counter productive as it may be towards the objective which can only be accomplished by ground forces, has not one iota to do with the motivations or objectives of Salafism and its adherents.
I think the reason those movements have gained the momentum they have is because of the sympathy they have gained from people who are sick of Western interventions in the Middle East. It’s not that US bombing civilians causes Islamic fundamentalism, it’s that it throws fuel on that fire.
I don’t see Islamic fundamentalists as victims, if that’s what you meant. I really think you are misconstruing my view.
I also think you are being too reductionist with my point. I’m not talking cause and effect in the way you appear to be. Nor fairness or validity of action. But I see Bush, Tr*mp, Bannon, all that lot, as fundamentalists too, just with bigger guns. That was my original point. Two sides at war, both doing evil things. The West likes to pretend that it’s got the moral high ground, but it really doesn’t.
Whereas captured Iraqi daesh report that their motivation was the chaos of civil war, and the GCHQ says that British jihadis are motivated by the racism they experience.
When people are looking for a hateful ideology to justify their vengeance fantasies, they will find one, or how else do you explain the Sensible Sentencing Trust?
The point being that they have to be motivated to hate to put on the ideology in the first place. Losing family members to war can do that.
“I think the reason those movements have gained the momentum they have is because of the sympathy they have gained from people who are sick of Western interventions in the Middle East”
And that is very effective propaganda for them to utilise towards westerners, I agree – but is it really all that true? It caters to our leftist sense of justice, and adds that sense of victimhood which plays on our rightly held belief in justice for the underdog. But are they really any kind of underdog? They believe in fulfilling prophecy. And the prophecy which was bequeathed to them has nothing good in store for you or I.
Even the most dull witted, jingoistic American conservative who wants the rest of the world to bend the knee to the USA and marvel at its power doesn’t want to actually physically rule it – they just want that unchallenged hegemony. I don’t like it, and I look forward to a multipolar world where the USA and the EU can get in among the BRICS and play nice. And a few trillion more debt will probably see that day come. Take the ‘oil war’ thesis; I believed it once myself, and who knows it may have been the objective. Personally I think the Saudis played them for suckers. You know that US oil companies did not end up winning the contracts in Iraq?
In the meantime, political Islam will only ever stop for a breather, to weigh its options and assess the field of combat. Their prophecy will always be there, and will always be the lens through which they view the world. Nobody else can conduct themselves in a way which will make them any more agreeable, or any less of a target for occupation and the choice of dhimmitude or conversion.
“They believe in fulfilling prophecy”
You lost me at that bit. Sorry, but references to a whole geographical region of people believing the same thing strikes me as far more ideology than can be debated.
‘“They believe in fulfilling prophecy”
You lost me at that bit. Sorry, but references to a whole geographical region of people believing the same thing strikes me as far more ideology than can be debated.’
You deny that ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups (and those motivated by their propaganda) cite prophecy to justify and inspire their activities?
Im not even going to get into this with you.
They are still pulling bodies out – Lets just agree that this is done by the lowest of people and leave politics out of it for the meantime.
Suicide bombings (assuming that is what it is) are political. We’re well past the point of being polite about it. If this had happened in NZ, I would agree we would need more tact. But it’s now routine and I’m sick of the whole white people getting bombed by black people needs special treatment when we don’t do that the other way round. All of it is political including your original comment.
There are White fascists deliberately massacring the largest number of innocent Black people they can manage? I guess there was Dylann Roof, but his crime was a multi-day media festival just like the various Muslim fascist ones, so the “special treatment” isn’t obvious.
Breivik was pissed about multiculturalism, wasn’t he?
Yeah, but he also got massive media coverage. And it was Whitey shooting Whitey, so possibly doesn’t fit weka’s “special treatment” description.
I already said upthread. I think al Qaeda or whoever are evil and so is the US govt or whoever.
Who is killing children? It is not just the ‘terrorists’.
We know approximately how many people our bombs etc are killing, many of who are children.
I doubt that ‘our side’ loses more than one in a thousand of the numbers we kill, and laugh off as collateral damage.
We are not innocent, in fact we are depraved simply by the condoning of drone warfare, let all alone all the cluster bombs and depleted uranium etc. being used, and the ever mounting weapon sales to both sides.
As much as it is tragic and shocking we should not be surprised at what lengths people will go to for revenge against us.
This.
Thanks garibaldi.
…we are depraved simply by the condoning of drone warfare…
…and if the use of drones turns out, as some say, to reduce the number of civilian casualties? Which would certainly fit with Pinker’s findings – cf: The Better Angels Of Our Nature.
What you and Weka are saying about the dynamics of violence is absolutely right, and obviously the best outcome is that all live in peace.
How’s that going to work with eg: Vladimir Putin or the People’s Central Committee, and their ambitions, or a criminal centre-right dictator like Pinochet? Or areas ruled by the equivalent of the Westboro Baptist Death Cult?
The USA and their proxies are a long way off Sun Tzu’s humanitarian ethics; that doesn’t mean that democracy isn’t worth defending.
Quite. But itt’s not like the rest of the West is actually more moral than the US. If it were, then we’d have a UN that did the right things, including standing up to the US. As far as I can tell everyone still wants to hold onto their privilege, including economically. I’m probably basically pacifist, but also pragmatic. If we do have to kill people can we at least be honest about our reasons instead of pretending we are the Good Guys. That doesn’t mean we are devoid of goodness, on the contrary, it’s our belief that our good acts make us the good guys that is the problem.
I suppose what I am saying is that I can’t do much about what people in the Middle East are doing. But I can challenge hypocrisy and warmongering on my own side of the world. I’m not saying we should do nothing.
…we’d have a UN that did the right things…
The USA and Russia/USSR are the worst offenders by a considerable margin.
By contrast, Labour and the Greens have a policy of sticking to UN resolutions. So NZ’s record is patchy, because the National Party drags us down as usual. Even so, we have a better record than the US.
I like to think that’s in part because people do something.
National Party guaranteed to bring us down every time. And the people that vote for them. We’d do so much better if we got rid of half the country 😉
“I like to think that’s in part because people do something.”
Yes, but do you think that we are better than other places e.g. the US, or that we just have a different set of circumstances that allows us to do better? It’s hard to imagine any US president that wouldn’t bomb other countries or enable the a fucked up foreign policy.
James I don’t find your type of comments compassionate, more inflammatory and reactionary. They lead to bullshit like Bush invading Afghanistan or our troops shooting up a village in the Tiguran valley.
The Manchester bombing will no doubt be very bad for Labour, maybe even the end of their steady rise in the polls?
Reuters reports British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives will suspend campaigning for the national election on June 8.
“A Tory (Conservative) source speaking to the Press Association (news agency) said that the Prime Minister’s general election campaign was being suspended,” Sky News said.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/331368/live-blog-19-dead-50-injured-in-manchester-explosion
Suspended, not cancelled. Lib Dems have pulled some scheduled Malta visit too.
Wonder if May could be stupid enough to try rolling the suspension out for a bit and claim that any campaigning by others was insensitive and what not.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Cosby’s ‘focus grouping’ that one as we speak. 👿
Yes. What’s the appropriate length of time to suspend campaigning and how can we best use it to our advantage.
Unbelievably bad timing.
A bit like tha Madrid train bombings. Definitely wanting to skew the election, but who knows which way…
“Definitely wanting to skew the election, but who knows which way…”
I dont think we can say what they definitely wanted. Anybody who would do this in unhinged – God knows what goes thru their mind.
Well, if it’s an intentional attack (which seems most likely), the perpetrator(s) might well be irrational. That doesn’t mean they didn’t have a plan. Two or three weeks out from an election? Chances are that’s more than just coincidence.
And the ones that carried it out aren’t necessarily the planners either.
Why does it have to be anyone trying to skew anything? Why (for the time being) isn’t it being treated as an unexplained explosion that’s being investigated? Why this immediate jumping to “terrorist” conclusions, as though there are no other feasible explanations?
Nothing ruled out and nothing ruled in would be an appropriate position for authorities to be adopting right now instead of this “terrorism until we know different” approach by police.
If it turns out to have been a gas main that went “bang” just as a concert was emptying out, I’ll stand corrected.
And the reason police go “terrorism until we know different” is because gas mains and suchlike don’t have a habit of attacking several locations at the same time, and yet terrorists do – e.g. the November 2015 Paris attacks.
And another example: the July 2014 terror unleashed on Gaza….
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/israel-attacks-gaza-town-war-crime-20148109292997298.html
an example of what? Your desire to rant about Israel at the most random moments?
So to criticize Israeli terror is to “rant”, is it? What do we call your hyperventilation about the far less lethal Manchester bombing?
And, just tell us will you: how is it “random” to mention Israel when terror is a topic under discussion?
DNFTT.
“Timely”.
“Relevant to current events”.
Hopefully “respectful”.
Maybe even, on a good day, “erudite”.
Thanks for asking.
But I would be disappointed if any of these terms applied to my comments:
“delusional”
“monomaniacal”
“irrelevant”
“idiotic”
“callous”
You’re trying to be clever again. Not a good move, my friend.
I ain’t your friend.
There was or has been more than one explosion?
Don’t believe so in this instance.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I meant that if they treated it as a gas main and it turned out to be a coordinated attack, more people would die than if they initially treat it as an attack, correctly or incorrectly as it turns out.
Not quite sure of the logic there McFlock.
If there’s a plan to hit (say) a football match and a concert, then a suicide bomber at a football match is probably going to detonate themselves if an evacuation order is given due to an explosion at the concert, no?
On the other hand, promoting panic could lead to a stampede at the football match when there was no reason to evacuate.
Anyway. it’s been (how many hours now?) so I think we can discount the ‘co-ordinated attack’ theory. That doesn’t mean I’m saying that the incident at the concert definitely isn’t the result of a willful act – just to be clear.
I can’t see how the police and other authorities can do anything other than treat a lethal explosion that is obviously not a gas leak etc as terrorism, for the reasons that McFlock explains. The media on the other hand…
Obviously? Why is it obviously not a gas leak or etc?
I have no idea what happened. What I meant was that the people actually there doing the investigating, when they understand prelimarily that it’s not a gas leak etc it makes sense for them to err on the side of caution and think terrorism. Can’t think of too many other options. I guess old WW2 bomb, something like that. If you think that the police on the ground are making inaccurate assessments I’d be interested to hear that (I’m sure it’s possible).
I think what the media do is a different thing. Probably what the police tell the media too.
e.g. I seem to remember last time (the guy driving the car into people), there was a really stupid senior police person saying a whole lot of daft stuff in public.
Ok, so assuming they don’t do an OJ-style evacuation, an orderly evacuation would be much safer than a chaotic one.
But even without an evacuation, responding to it as a possible coordinated attack mobilises more cops to public areas, arms them, and could create different casualty handling or fire-fighter logistics. As opposed to assuming that it’s one event and more places are undefended and less emergency services are prepared.
So even if it wasn’t a coordinated attack this time, it was still right to respond to it as such.
Now that I’d go with (if I’m picking you up right). Discreet preparedness.
So no arm wavy bullshit about terrorism setting off media and the population in general.
It was easy to immediately identify the probable cause of the explosion as terrorism. As is often the case, the charge was loaded with items of hardware. The floor, walls and victims around the explosion would of been peppered with nails etc.
Presumably having a less liberal society is an ideal.
A commenter said:
“Anybody who would do this in unhinged” – (unhinged means insane?)
“May they rot in hell.” – May they (insane person) rot in hell.
Hmmm… Is that what was meant?
A lot of people are justifiably upset Robert – not surprising they’d write daft things on a blog.
A lot of people are justifiably upset…
Correction: A lot of people are selectively upset. The likes of James have said little or nothing about the far more numerous daily killings in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.
DNFTT
Im sorry – I have personal ties to Manchester and it does upset me – I will never applogise for that.
If you find that insincere because Im not upset by the daily carnage in places I have never been, know nobody, and have no linkage to – then, well, to hell with you.
I have close personal ties to Manchester too. That doesn’t mean I lose all perspective though.
I guess it’s that, “They’re killers! Kill them!” thing that gets me. Even worse,
“They’re insane! Punish them for eternity!” that leaves me flabbergasted.
Robert – You follow me around this blog like a smell.
Normally I do not mind. You amuse me.
But even for you – running around trying to ‘score points’ on a subject like this when, kids are targeted to be killed in in the name of “who knows what” is pathetic.
I hope this kind of tragedy never impacts on your or your families life. But of it ever does I hope that pathetic little men dont go running around trying to get some personal satisfaction from it.
James, what have you got to say about the killing of kids by New Zealand troops in Afghanistan? I can’t find your expressions of outrage; maybe you were busy at the time of the release of Nicky Hager and John Stephenson’s book?
Go back and read my comments in there if you are so interested.
He said he doesn’t care.
james is hot and cold.- A swinging voter. Better on my side, than over there, we need all the votes we can get.
James’ll never vote Left – he’s hard-boiled ACT, in my estimation, but just in case you’re correct, I’ll give him some more
roperoom to express himself.Robert. 16 weeks to go. Every vote counts. james = 2 votes, not just one. One for Vs one against= two.
James? Can you give us some commitment, some assurance?
Vote national. And donate regularly.
Gotta keep those coffers full! Gotta pay the Bill’s. God, Key’s leaving must have burned! What a scamperer he turned out to be! In any case, Bill’s National’s a good choice for you; Bill doesn’t care about the Afghan villagers either.
Go back and read my comments in there if you are so interested.
Aw, I was hoping you’d go with “Fuck off with your false equivalence, Morrissey…”
Hypocrisy Watch: Samantha Power
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/05/21/obama-would-never-do-something-like-that/
DNFTT.
Fool, you haven’t got the chops to argue coherently. Why are you here?
This, so many times.
gotta let them know their place in life.
yep, this one was somewhat gendered terrorism.
Probing seven promising worlds with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
And three of them appear to be in the liquid water zone so this is a pretty good candidate to try and detect life on exo-planets.
heh – now who was I listening to the other day pointing out that this planet, if it didn’t have the moon, would rotate at such a rate that there would be two hours of daylight…
And adding that if Jupiter(?) didn’t have the type of orbit it does, we’d be flung into outer space or into the sun…
Then there was the bit about a possible land/water ratio being required to set up necessary initial conditions for life…
Wonder where they get that idea from.
You think it’s not the case?
I guess they get the idea from astro-physics which would claim to show that the moon acts as a ‘brake’ on the earths rate of rotation.
edit – seems the precise size of the Pacific Basin has quite an impact 😉 …
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/physics/37-our-solar-system/the-moon/the-moon-and-the-earth/147-the-moon-slows-the-earth-s-rotation-but-how-fast-was-it-spinning-billions-of-years-ago-intermediate
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/dr-marc-earth/earth-rotation.html
There is No Planet B…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_B
Views for and against privatising Auckland’s port: https://thespinoff.co.nz/tag/storm-in-the-port/
Quite different tone and credibility there.