As a regular round here, I’m getting really sick and tired of Bryce Edwards misrepresenting this place. Bryce is an academic, and analysing the political blogoshere is supposed to be his bread and butter. And yet he continually presents us as a cardboard cut-out of his own creation, in support of his own political worldview. The antithesis of research. He obviously reads very little of this site, and yet feels he knows enough to endlessly repeat: the The Standard is ‘Labour Party aligned’. He hasn’t noticed that TS is the most fierce critic of the Labour Party in the entire blogosphere, and has been for the years now, that I’ve been reading it. And Party supporters make up a minority of both the authors collectively, and of the the regular commenters. It is no more Labour than it is Green, Te Mana, or (sadly) NZ first, marxist, anarchist or ‘other’.
Another of the behaviours that intensely annoy me is his repeatedly misrepresenting TS in support of his hypothesis that within the broader left the ‘leftists’ are in conflict with supposedly much more right-wing, neoliberal “identity”-politics supporters. TS proves the opposite of his theory as the writers and commenters most concerned with ‘identity’ progression and vocal in its support, also tend to be more left wing than the average of their fellow authors or of their fellow commenters.
How about you do a bit more than seek out confirmation of your pet theories, Bryce.?
I agree, Just Saying. When Bryce Edwards started out, his comments were interesting. But now he just copies what others are saying – there’s nothing new or perceptive in his comments, and he’s just become boorrrrrrring. Not worth reading.
Totally agree, just saying. My blood pressure rose rapidly when I saw Edwards’ latest article last night. referring to the TS as “Labour Party aligned”.
I have also noticed over recent months that he regularly includes in his links a certain well read (NOT) blog by someone who no longer comments here – thank goodness. I refuse to name the person/blog but it is mentioned in the last sentence of the paragraph on the GCSB Bill in Edwards’ latest article.
Santi, after being exposed as a liar and a thief yesterday, your observations on anything have no value at all. You’re a fraud.
[lprent: I saw the discussion related to Santi and Bertram yesterday. However I didn’t see anything about “thief”. That looks like a pure flamewar starter. Not exactly the safest thing to do, so I’d suggest that you either point me in the right direction or desist – because it looks like going beyond the “robust debate” ]
It seems to be what becomes of human nature in the new age. Some academics (and journalists) maintain the fire in their belly and are interested in actual research and reasoned critique.
Jon Stevenson for example, plus several others in journalism and academia – often they don’t get a look in – they don’t fit the corporate academic or media model.
Others, once they’ve nestled into their cuddly position and think they’ve become nice and secure – able to pay the weekly bills, frequent the Ponsonby cafe circuit once in a while, pay the daycare, the mortgage et al, and have ‘quality time’ with their young offspring, they just settle down into Muddle Classhood.
You’ll notice its not just limited to academics. Its affected most of the mainstream media’s “journalists” – those bastions of the 4th Estate. Its COMFORTABLE for them and having that disrupted – well its just a hassle really!
Those ‘political commentators’ as well.
The best place to see them all on display is to watch The Nation, or Q+A once a week – or even listen to the nicest man on Earth everyday.
One of the most noticeable in recent time as far as I can see is Greg Boyed. Once actually quite an enquiring and critical journalist when hosting the News bulletin that used to air on TVNZ7. Look at the transition to 7 Sharp. (There’s a cruel joke in there somewhere).
Watch what happens though when there’s a surfeit of them, they’re knocking 40 or 50, and redundancy hits.
The above is a very judgemental opinion – I know! No more so than what’s inflicted on us by the likes of Bryce daily though!
Another Right Royal Bludger for life is born to suck the life out of the British working people, that makes Him if my long departed Grandma was correct the great-great-great grandson of an Irish ‘pisspot emptier’, (chambermaid),and a long dead English King…
Guess that makes you a Nazi supporting, despot loving, Taliban apologist. How many years have you spent in Afghanistan waiting for your head to be shot off again?
While I am neutral on the birth of a royal baby, I have just heard on RNZ News that the birth will be marked by a 21 gun salute in Wellington at midday – just two hours away.
This is the first I have heard of this as a possibility.
Just what our frazzled nerves do not need at present is the boom of cannons – especially those Wellingtonians who have not heard about the salute.
Nah – Pretty standard procedure – 21 Gun Salute when Willliam was born – I would imagine most people would be aware of it or the possibility of it or soon realise what it is for (after all you can hardly miss the news).
It was actually part of the news! The guns banging away (to be fair only three times on the one I heard) Really!!!! Recorded gunfire is news? Lucky this baby was born today otherwise there would have been no news. Anything being passed under urgency while we have no news. Is Mangler Key going over to kiss the baby? Is he going to wear his pounamu suit. Hope the poor little sod(baby) doesn’t have Charlie’s ears.
I have a terrible confession to make. It’s many years (too many to admit to here) since I was living in London and I came across a ‘live’ link outside St Mary’s hospital. I sat glued to it until 3am this morning because I loved watching the passing parade of disparate English folk in all their tasteless but fascinating regalia (or the lack of it) and their delightful accents. I finally gave it away and went to bed and the baby was born and I missed the most interesting bits.
Labour are a complete mess. The party is in disarray. I have a good feeling it’s still being controlled by a certain bullyish leader in New York. So many left over hacks from the Clark Regime still with their nose in the trough. Labour are in for a huge loss next year. They are no longer a party that represents working party and this fantasy of a labour/green/mana/maori/nz first government is a complete joke. It would be the biggest disaster to ever hit NZ. Labour aligning itself with a racist extremist like Hone? Say goodnight Shearer ….
Johnny
Have you been reading detective fiction with ‘cherchez la femme’ as a theme? The old guard in Labour go right back to Rogered Douglas don’t they? Perhaps someone would like to put me right as to whether there are some still here that were around then.
The HYPOCRITES Prime Minister John Key and (now) ‘Independent’ MP Peter Dunne, who are very quick to defend their privacy when they think it’s under attack, now want to legislate against the lawful rights of New Zealanders to privacy.
URGENT!
Protests against the GCSB and TICs Bills have been organised around New Zealand for this Saturday 27 July 2013.
In Auckland, this Thursday, 25 July at 7pm, at the Mt Albert War Memorial Hall, there will be a Public Meeting at which Kim DotCom (and others) will be speaking.
Where are all the Libertarians and ACT members who supposedly are against ‘Nanny State’ and the lawful rights of citizens to freedom of expression and privacy?
This proposed legislation is BIG BROTHER STATE – on steroids!
Why is ACT MP for Epsom, (the DEFENDANT John Banks) supporting the GCSB Bill?
Can he just please himself when it comes to voting in Parliament, or do ACT members no longer have clear policies and /or principles to which they hold accountable their elected representative?
FYI – this is what I sent directly to Geneva, (for which I have received formal acknowledgment and thanks), as New Zealand’s human rights record is now under review, through the ‘Universal Periodic Review Process’ :
“…. Also, our lawful rights to privacy and our human rights not to be subjected to arbitrary search and surveillance, are currently under attack.
FYI, here is a video and transcript of my raising my concerns directly with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, at a hearing on 2 July 2013, of the Security and Intelligence Committee on proposed changes to the Government Security and Intelligence Bureau Act, which would effectively allow widespread spying on citizens of New Zealand.
How is that 2 members of parliament can hold the country to ransom over a bill to install fascism in our country
It appears no matter what lessons are taught by history it will surely repeat when arrogant fear mongering people run our country
We dont need Keys govt but we do need our democracy
What threat are we to the govt of this country or its security that this little fascist prick can do what he is doing to this country
Fuckin kick your arse if I could
Where are all the Libertarians and ACT members who supposedly are against ‘Nanny State’ and the lawful rights of citizens to freedom of expression and privacy?
Most of them will be in support of the new surveillance state. It’s not for nought that I coined the term: Libertarians: Dictators hiding behind liberal values
They’ll be supportive of anything that protects their privilege.
I have begun to think that (right wing) libertarians, are people who resent any authority telling THEM what to do, but want everyone else, usually those with least privilege, to be in a subservient position to them.
And they do seem to consist of a lot of middle class white males (and a minority of females), who, ultimately support policies that maintain those old boy positions of privilege.
So Penny, as being a candidate for Mayor, what is your view on Auckland home owners not paying rates. Our rates bill has gone up 13% after revaluation?
It’s not that simple any more. In many ways, Australians have progressed while Kiwis have gone backwards. There have been reasonably large protests and a lot of adverse comment in the media. I am proud of many of my Australian friends.
His real “crime” is that he demonstrated how knowledge can be used to empower people, to get them to think as critically engaged citizens rather than assume that knowledge and education are merely about the learning of skills – a reductive concept that substitutes training for education and reinforces the flight from reason and the goose-stepping reflexes of an authoritarian mindset.
This.
One thing I’ve maintained for a while now is that specialisation in learning for work has resulted in a loss of general knowledge and that loss is detrimental to our society as people no longer understand how different parts of society fit together. That lack of understanding then allows them to be more easily conned by the rich and powerful.
Ah, yes. Many working in education have long thought that. I recall a staff member’s retirement speech in a college where I worked in England. The guy was an ex-pat South African – with the then current Thatcher vocationalist changes in mind, he said that would produce excellent technicians without a wider understanding of their work context: workers who would be excellent at following orders without question. He said the 3rd Re1ch produced such excellent technicians for their death camps.
Fantasy world of “neoliberal”/libertarian (?) digital corporations.
I was just looking around to update the connections with Crosby Textor and Big Tobacco, in the light of further revelations about Crosby Textor’s influence on privatising UK Health Care.
Found an article from earlier this year, from the Lancet, that also names lobbying firm Luther Pendragon as one working for Big Tobacco.
Google seemed to think I was searching for Uther Pendragon, allegedly the father of King Arthur.
This reminded me of “Palantir” (name taken from the fantasy world of Lord of the Rings), Peter Thiel’s company, which also operates in NZ. Then came across his new NZ-based venture, a iOS app that provides a virtual dream world that customers can explore – based on climbing Everest:
The San Francisco-based startup’s revenue model is based around intent marketing, selling advertising tailored to the steps and goals users upload to the site. For instance if someone’s goal is to hike the Tongariro Crossing, tourism operators can suggest ways to get to National Park and camping stores can do deals on hiking gear.
“We know what people want to do, that’s the most valuable data in the world … We want to ultimately provide people with great suggestions for the things they need to achieve their goals. We’re working on how to do this in a thoughtful way and make the purchase as seamless as possible,” says Pedraza.
neoliberal dreamweavers? Everest – coming to a country near year, packaging your country, and selling it overseas for their profit.
Ack! Slip of the wrist and I lost a comment I’d typed on yesterday’s Open Mike porn filter thread.
But, I could re-construct some of it here.
I began agreeing with weka on the need to counter the damaging porn, especially when it is misogynistic and involves children.
However, I am also wary of the way such filters can block LGBTI sites, and especially how it can block access for those that most need it. It can be used as a way of harrassing and suppressing those who are already relatively powerless.
Earlier this morning I looked at the site for Palantir Technologies (the firm linked to providing the software for US surveillance agencies like the NSA and founded by Peter Thiel).
One of the things Palantir aim to do is to provide technologies to combat “child exploitation”, which they link to “human trafficking”.
In my post on the <a href='http://thestandard.org.nz/the-long-reach-of-5-eyes-not-in-our-name/“Long reach of 5 Eyes” I wrote about how issues of human trafficking, domestic violence and child porn are being used as a point of access by the state agencies to surveillance of people’s computers.
In the early 80s in London, a flatmate reckoned our phone was tapped as a result of her acting, at the time, in a Gay Sweatshop play. She said all people involved in Gay Sweatshop productions got their phones tapped, and that the signs were all there on our phone. Since then, I have been extremely wary about the uses of state surveillance on those who are already marginalised. And more evidence has come to light about how that happens: eg in the submissions to the GCSB Bill.
Filtering porn sites, will not help to stop damaging porn and its industrialisation/corporatisiation by profiteers. It will merely result in the producers, promoters and users of such porn becoming more sophisticated.
There is already discussion on the internet that Cameron’s war against internet porn will soon extend to things like: internet sites featuring terrorist and extremist Islamic ideology, and how-to self harm/suicide/euthanasia information.
Clearly those things can be damaging to young people as well, and should be banned. From there, grounds would exist to limit access how-to information around the use and enjoyment of elicit drugs, etc. Definitely wouldn’t want young people to be learning about that stuff either.
Since then, I have been extremely wary about the uses of state surveillance on those who are already marginalised. And more evidence has come to light about how that happens: eg in the submissions to the GCSB Bill.
In general I think we need to be a lot more skeptical of government powers and intentions. One important thing to remember is that we are not guarding against how a David Lange, Helen Clark or Jim Bolger might have used these increased technological powers, but how a future Muldoon or Holland (or even worse) would.
To be fair, there is probably “discussion on the internet” to the effect that PRISM is a tool for aliens to control our minds.
Basically, my objection to government internet filters is not so much the idea of the Great Firewall of China being implemented so nobody can report black helicopters, but more a combination of that and the fact that it doesn’t really work. So while the same old perversions will be going on online, mum and dad will happily think that they’ve blocked the nasty sites and be unaware that their teenage son has the latest TOR build because they let him surf the web and play computer games in his room with the door locked.
And, like now, the child pornographers will be caught because someone paid by credit card, or the police got a warrant to search his server while he was detained for filming up skirts (so he couldn’t switch it off and let encryption and/or electromagnets do their job), or a distinctive tattoo was on file from previous charges, or because the teacher thought that the photoshop “swirl” function was as good as redaction, or because someone could get a shorter sentence by testifying about other people’s crimes.
Well, the other angle on this is political of course, that Cameron is making a big noise about how he cares for the well being of kids, while impoverishing families by the many thousands per month.
I enjoy how McFlocks fears always manage to pereate through his comments.
Black helicopters, mind control, aliens etc!
It’sout of your hands McFlock, and those who you and others here, deem to be beneath you, are already right, they always were, and they always will be!
Well, right up until it’s made illegal, and the infomation/communication channels locked down and controlled, until everyone, is learning/repeating, only what they system wants you to!
Get used to it bro, the conspiracy theorists, have been proven to be correct!
Edit: See J90 link below about pine gap..was not many years ago, people blew the existence of pine gap off, as conspiracy!
I enjoy how you’re a fucking moron who doesn’t realise the difference between a “conspiracy theory” that rests more on evidence than supposition, and the bullshit you serve up on a daily basis.
You are beneath me, that’s why, for example, I didn’t bother responding to any of your idiotic comments today.
Although it’s quite obvious that you think you have an intellect vastly superior to everyone else here – how’s your personal, unreviewed, ethically-unexamined experiment on us going? Still the lead investigator for Project Onan?
You are beneath me, that’s why, for example, I didn’t bother responding to any of your idiotic comments today.
But you did, didn’t you!
Thanks, McFlock, I needed the giggle, truth always finds it’s way out.
Good to know you read the link I posted today, while showing restraint to not reply, most likely (I’d like to give you credit for) because you’re a man of humility!
I’m no better than anyone, I have explained this to you before, it’s just stages of the journey, and some are further along theirs than others, that’s all!
Yeah, I tend to respond to morons when their comments specifically about me have no bearing on reality.
As for being “no better then anyone” and following it up with that “further along” the journey drivel, what a load of shit. That’s just you pretending to be humble but not being able to stop your ego leaking all over the screen. You’re a delusional idiot, pure and simple, and frankly I’d prefer it if you kept me out of your fantasies.
I wrote about how issues of human trafficking, domestic violence and child porn are being used as a point of access by the state agencies to surveillance of people’s computers.
It was reported that Bridger had been watching violent porn only hours before he killed April, and anti-porn campaigners have seized on the chance to draw a causal link. It’s the latest development in a handy alliance between social conservatives, antiporn feminists and those who seek to restrict access to communications technology for more sinister reasons.
Internet porn is also being targeted in the name of protecting young people. That child murder has not increased since online pornography became widely available does not matter, and nor does the fact that we already have strict laws against the possession of images of child abuse.
I remember reading an article about co-option, where people who really do want to limit peoples freedom (decrease democracy) are using the language of the liberals to bring about an enhanced police state often with the support of the liberals who would normally oppose these things.
I remember reading an article about co-option, where people who really do want to limit peoples freedom (decrease democracy) are using the language of the liberals to bring about an enhanced police state often with the support of the liberals who would normally oppose these things.
The controllers, long ago were able to master the mind of the masses, they are many steps ahead at all times, the techniques are transparent, but require a degree of awareness!
The controllers simply identify, locate then manipulate the next point of access they require, then direct the journey to the desired outcome, using the tools they have, which is all of them!
The challenge is for people to understand the danger they are in, however with the controllers of modern life having dulled the innate ability to sense danger, the challenge is going un-met!
Will the challenge be met? No I believe that time was lost, many years ago!
“Filtering porn sites, will not help to stop damaging porn and its industrialisation/corporatisiation by profiteers.”
True. The value in family filters is to protect children, not influence the porn industry.
“It will merely result in the producers, promoters and users of such porn becoming more sophisticated.”
Why? I imagine that most of the people that don’t turn the filter off aren’t porn users anyway. And those that are will get their internet porn somewhere else.
I take your point about the effect on the GLBTI communities and people, although I’d still like to see some discussion about the technology (beyond superficial “there is no technical solution” and “all govts are all evil therefore its all bad”).
The value in family filters is to protect children,
And it doesn’t do that either. Filters are, inevitably, quite easy to get around. That’s been true ever since they first came on the market last century.
I don’t know about that Draco. You are treating this as if everything is equal (eg all children have the same level of expertise). I’d be more interested to know the detail.
They’re on the bloody internet thus they don’t need the expertise – just the knowledge of how to find it and if they don’t have that then one of their friends will. Someone’s already mentioned the Tor Network. Children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.
The harm that children need protecting from is the harm that adults do to them and an internet filter won’t help there at all.
“Children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.”
Some children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.
fify.
So you don’t think ten year olds watching rape porn has a negatie effect on them?
“Well educated and supported about sex” – good luck with mandating that then. If a parent personally has not seen violent porn, how could they educate their children to process what they are seeing in a healthy way (assuming they even knew their child was watching that kind of porn). I’m not convinced that you understand the issues around much porn defining heterosexual relationships in negative ways re women and the effects of that, so again, how could you support children in dealing with that?
I suspect there are large parts of the politics of this that you might be unaware of. If you are interested, there are some interesting discussions on feminist blogs about women who have partners that watch alot of porn and how that affects their sex lives, including the kinds of sex women are expected to have because their men are getting their ideas from internet porn in particular about what women should do. The social implications here are serious IMO, as we have generations of young men in particular being influenced (alongside many other influences obviously).
“Some children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.”
What percentage of kids will use tech to bypass family filters?
Again, I think you are treating things as if they are all the same. If kids really want to smoke cigarettes then making it illegal won’t stop them. But it does reduce the number of kids smoking. Which is good.
Of course if you think that smoking isn’t bad for kids, then it’s easy to argue against restrictions.
“Well educated and supported about sex” – good luck with mandating that then.
So, you think it’s better for us adults to continue to fail our children and that all that needs to be done is for the government to put in filters that don’t actually work?
IMO, I think we, as a society, should just become more open about sex and teach children to ask first.
Here is a simple way to look at the ‘feasibility of the technology’:
Is there a way in which we, as humans, could define pornography and ensure that there is universal agreement as to what is porn and what is not porn?*
If there answer to do question is no, then it can’t be done. Even if we had actual people reviewing every site on the internet and defining at is porn or not porn, there would still be disagreement on the filtering process. Of course, in practice, the filtering will be done by computer, which will make filtering even worse, as the computer can only look for patterns in the material and there will inevitably be false positives and false negatives.
* It isn’t as simple as one might think. What about nude art? Mills & Boon books?
The Australian ex-Minister of Broadcasting wanted to ban pictures of small adult breasts, because he thought they encouraged paedophilia. Good Labor man, that one.
Porn/not porn isn’t the issue. The issues are whether different kinds of porn have negative effects on individuals or society that outweigh the rights to freedom of producers and consumers of porn. It’s not about morality, nor prudery, it’s about safety, the rights of children to be free from harm, and the rights of women to challenge misogyny.
“Of course, in practice, the filtering will be done by computer, which will make filtering even worse, as the computer can only look for patterns in the material and there will inevitably be false positives and false negatives.”
So? I have to put up with that crap from google every time I search for anything
How can it NOT be the issue? I thought this discussion was about whether filtering porn was feasible or not. Surely we need to be able to define what porn is before we can filter it?
So? I have to put up with that crap from google every time I search for anything
The false positives might be LGBTI sites, or pages describing how to practice safe sex, or STIs. Children will not have access these pages and be more exposed to harm, rather than less. You are far too eager to dismiss this issue for someone who claims to care about protecting children from harm.
I suppose I wasn’t really thinking about 8yr olds needing to access websites on safe sex or STDs.
It’s not so much that I dismiss the issue, as I dismiss when people say things like “we can’t tell porn from not porn therefore we shouldn’t bother”, or “we can’t build useful filters therefore we shouldn’t bother”. Present some alterate solutions if you want me to take your point seriously.
Considering all the factors which are most damaging to childrens mental and physical health, where does porn rate again?
How many households in poverty or reliant on the benefit even have broadband? Good ol PM Cameron, he knows how to target the constituency of nervous middle class parents worried what their kids are looking up in their bedrooms on their new MacBook Air.
“Considering all the factors which are most damaging to childrens mental and physical health, where does porn rate again?”
That’s a good question (assuming it wasn’t rhetorical). I’d put it in the context of how much damage is being done to children and society by the sexualising of children and childhood.
I really don’t give a shit about what Cameron thinks, and was more interested yesterday in what others were saying in the UK about this issue. I’m not running afer Cameron’s idiocy, I’m taking the opportunity to discuss issues that liberal people should have come to terms with a long time ago.
I’m not running afer Cameron’s idiocy, I’m taking the opportunity to discuss issues that liberal people should have come to terms with a long time ago.
Yes, liberal people should have come to terms with government censorship and restrictions on the internet a long time ago.
It’s not so much that I dismiss the issue, as I dismiss when people say things like “we can’t tell porn from not porn therefore we shouldn’t bother”
But you aren’t even trying to engage on this issue. You just keep repeating slogans about protecting children from harm or women from misogyny. Anyone who disagrees with you is ‘dismissing’ the issue.
My point was that we cannot agree on what is porn or not porn. Some ultra-conservatives might suggests that all nudity should be filtered, as well as sites giving safe sex advice to teenagers or those dealing with LGBTI issues, as these are morally wrong. More liberal people might say that material dealing with nudity is okay but not hardcore material. In any case, government-imposed filtering provides the opportunity for one group to dictate what material is appropriate or not, and this opens the door for certain groups in society to push their moral views onto others.
I suppose I wasn’t really thinking about 8yr olds needing to access websites on safe sex or STDs.
I never said that 8 year olds would need access to these sites. The term ‘children’ in this case would apply to all those under 18, and therefore include teenagers as well. It seems to me that you are deliberately misconstruing the meaning of my comment.
“My point was that we cannot agree on what is porn or not porn. Some ultra-conservatives might suggests that all nudity should be filtered, as well as sites giving safe sex advice to teenagers or those dealing with LGBTI issues, as these are morally wrong. More liberal people might say that material dealing with nudity is okay but not hardcore material. In any case, government-imposed filtering provides the opportunity for one group to dictate what material is appropriate or not, and this opens the door for certain groups in society to push their moral views onto others.”
We already make decisions that some groups in society don’t like. Think abortion. Or the age of sexual consent.
As I said, this isn’t a moral issue (not in the way you mean). The fear that moral groups in the future will gain power and impose conditions on others exists irrespective of this issue.
“I never said that 8 year olds would need access to these sites. The term ‘children’ in this case would apply to all those under 18, and therefore include teenagers as well. It seems to me that you are deliberately misconstruing the meaning of my comment.”
No, I was letting you know what I was thinking about when I talk about child protection. By the time someone’s of the age that their peer group is sexually active, issues of safety are different. I think this is where it is more complex, and where it overlaps with the issues of misogyny and how porn often portrays relationships between women and men.
I’ll just say it again. I’m not dismissive of the issues being raised (the difficulty of creating useful filters, govt surveillance). I’d just like to see those issues discussed by people who also care about how the porn industry affects society. I’m not sure that conversation is happening here. What I am hearing is that there really isn’t that much wrong with porn, and the stuff that is wrong, we either can’t do anything about it or it’s a separate issue. That’s not good enough.
I’m also largely unconvinced by the blanket argument that the internet can’t be controlled. It’s controlled all the time. The debate should be about who controls what and when. Talk details and I’ll be more sympathetic.
The issue of the effects of porn on society is a complex one, and I don’t think it is necessarily bad. For example, I am quite sure that I have seen some evidence that access to porn reduces sexual violence, with the one explanation for this being that the use of porn helps people to fulfil their fantasies or urges in a safe manner.
One thing I am quite sure of though, is that going around and telling men that porn is bad because it is misogynistic or portrays male-female relationships poorly is not going achieve a lot, mainly because men are not really thinking about the images portrayed in that much detail (even if it is true). A better approach to reduce or alter porn use might be to point out that porn (and sex in general) is actually being used to manipulate men into buying (or doing) something by taking advantage of a strong biological urge inherent in many men.
wtl, if you go back and read all my posts on this topic today and yesterday, you will see that I don’t treat porn as one thing. So nowhere have I made a blanket statement that porn is bad because xxx. I’m talking about specific kinds of porn, and who accesses them. You might want to have a think about why you are assuming that I think porn in general is somehow bad, because that idea isn’t coming from me.
“A better approach to reduce or alter porn use might be to point out that porn (and sex in general) is actually being used to manipulate men into buying (or doing) something by taking advantage of a strong biological urge inherent in many men.”
By all means, try that approach for yourself. Please don’t tell me how to approach porn as a political issue until you understand where I am actually coming from.
“The issue of the effects of porn on society is a complex one, and I don’t think it is necessarily bad. For example, I am quite sure that I have seen some evidence that access to porn reduces sexual violence, with the one explanation for this being that the use of porn helps people to fulfil their fantasies or urges in a safe manner.”
Please stop treating porn as one thing and all the same. Please go and educate yourself on the connections between different kinds of porn and violence and how women get affected (I also think some kinds of porn are bad for men too). Then come back with some credible citations for what you just claimed.
At one point I was using a dictionary and the definition of porn and erotica were exactly the same. Given the present dictionary definition of pornography perhaps we should just start calling it erotica.
oops .. this seems to have slipped out of place in the answers …
Hi Karol .. did you see the several weekend Guardian/Observer links I posted on Lynton Crosby, The Lizard of Oz, on Open Mic just a couple of days ago ..
And one of those links reported Luther Pendragon resigned from the tobacco PR which thusly cleared the way for Lynton Crosby and his $10 million contract. .. October 2012 I think it was ?
(So tempted to sign off as Morgana, but resisting I am !)
Again for you:
Here the several links :
“David Cameron urged to probe claim that aide had £6m tobacco deal — Lynton Crosby comes under renewed fire over Philip Morris links as row over cigarette packaging rages on” July 20
Hopefully one day you will write to expose how it affects us here … so many factors now combining including the Crosby destruction of the NHS .. alcohol, tobacco, fracking, health depts .. all here, same same with Key et al following his scripts.
And although there’s nothing new or surprising about Australia taking part in US lead atrocities the most recent revelations about these activities certainly do their bit to fuel the fire.
That’s metadata gathering for you in action. And almost certainly teamed with Waihopai.
And yes Muzza … it used to be the stuff on much-derided conspiracy theory ! Cost Oz a couple of Prime Ministers as I recall; one missing and presumed dead no body ever found, the second removed from office by then GG. Nugan Hand and all that. Worth remembering while we continue to oppose this current GCSB bill.
I guess I must be on the list now, if I wasn’t already !
People on the left have known about Pine Gap, Waihopai, Mt. John and a few other places for 30 or 40 years. If you only just found out, it’s not because of any conspiracy.
I could use the same comment style in your direction but another topic, lets take a look:
People who read/research have known that geo-engineering and weather manipulation, has been going on for about 60-70 years now, but accelerating in velocity, over the past 10-15.
The fact you have not bothered to do anything to learn about it, does not make it a conspiracy theory!
@ Morissey (where ever you are)
OMG MOG OMG OMFG LOL ROFL ROFFL!
The nicest man on Earth was just talking about X Fekta (?)
…. Domnuk Beardin (?)
It was really deep and meaningful stuff, and what we ALL need to know!
…. but, but but you know what?
He used the labels “legubrious” and “ephemera”
Legubrious Ephemera – NOTHING like the nicest, most artikyalit man on Earth’s “show” though.
It was memorable – I’ll treasure it, I’ll remember it for life!
Now there’s some guy called Nick singing the descant
I have done much crystal ball gazing and entrail reading about the Labour Party lately. Today I got thinking about the change that happened to the Listener a few years ago, when it was decided that is should lose its left wing bias and cater to “the middle.”
Who still reads it? A few loyalists who appreciate Jane Clifton and Diana Witchel, a few people for whom it remains a habit, a few incidental people who are captured by a headline at the checkout. The shiny people ate whom it is aimed do not read it, being more inclined to flick through Vogue or Cuisine. However, it has enough turnover to keep paying Pamela Stirling, and it is no longer a vehicle for the left.
This I think is the plan for the Labour Party under Shearer, with dissenters getting shuffled to the back benches or advised to leave. So what if it never rises above 30%. If the plan works it will still generate enough votes to pay a leader and a few shadow ministers, but most importantly, it will cease to be a vehicle for the left. It will be the political equivalent of the Listener.
As an aside, I grew up with the Listener, and bought it pretty much every week of my adult life until about five years ago. The only think I really missed were the TV pages and the cryptic crossword. Since I no longer have a TV and the internet is a better source of info on TV shows, it doesn’t matter. Occasionally I see the Listener in a dairy and am tempted to buy one, but then I look at the cover and it invariably has me grimacing before I’ve even opened the front page. My parents and siblings still read it, it suits their white, liberal middle class sensibilities well (they don’t seem to have noticed the slide to the centre, or maybe they don’t care).
I do read Toby Manhire online sometimes.
btw, I think the Listener started to go down hill when Gorden Campbell left.
Olwyn – I have to say this is one of the most perceptive comments I have seen on this blog. Something needs to change, I don’t know what it is, but I fear that the Labour Party is doomed to getting only a third of the vote, unless something dramatic changes. I don’t know what that change might be. But, as you point out, Labour is doomed to irrelevance and/or niche market unless something changes. And I don’t mean a leadership change. Once upon a time Labour stood for something, and now, I don’t know what that is any more. I am an ageing baby-boomer who cut his political teeth at the Princes Street branch. My children, who would have joined the Labour Party as I did all those years ago, see no relevance in Labour at all. They don’t read the Listener either.
Thanks Tinshed, I agree that something needs to change. We desperately need a solid opposition right now, and for the next generation to find reason to engage politically.
My two children – or adults as they really are – see the Greens as the only real alternative. The Labour Party simply doesn’t connect with them – it has no relevance to their view of the world and its issues. To some extent me too. I grew up on notions of Socialism and Social Democracy. Reading the New Left Review was the part of what we did to stay in touch. But, sad to say, I really can not connect with the current parliamentary Labour party. I feel guilty to feel that very few of them seem worthy of the heritage of the party they now represent. Perhaps as this is my problem, but it concerns me deeply that less than 1/3 of the country now support the party of Savage, Fraser, Nordmeyer, Kirk, or Clark who were such titans of 20th century New Zealand. They all made such a difference. This lot, not all. Nothing.
Newsroom reporting Fran Mold is Shearer’s new CoS: “newsroom.co.nz understands there has been disquiet in Labour ranks about poor political management in the leader’s office…A former NZ Herald and TVNZ reporter Mold was originally employed by former leader Phil Goff and played a key role behind the scenes in the 2011 election campaign.”
And we know how well that went!
The loss of Cameron is more concerning. A very smart guy, very talented. I won’t speculate on the dynamics that led to this departure – since I have absolutely no idea, but it’s disappointing all the same.
NYT reporting how Goldman Sachs turns aluminum into billions in profits by warehousing and hoarding world stocks forcing prices up …. legally, but what criminals they are.
and it seems copper is next on the list …
“Over the past three years, Goldman has raised the price of aluminium by buying a huge warehouse and intentionally slowing down service so they could charge higher storing fees. These fees, handed down to consumers, have netted Goldman Sachs over $5 billion. And there’s nothing illegal about it.”
and this in NYT in same investigation report:
In 2011, for instance, an internal Goldman memo suggested that speculation by investors accounted for about a third of the price of a barrel of oil. A commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator, subsequently used that estimate to calculate that speculation added about $10 per fill-up for the average American driver. Other experts have put the total, combined cost at $200 billion a year.
Physical hoarding (of commodities), and hoarding of commodities via war – See how the oil wars in Iraq, for example have not lead to greater supply or cheaper fuel, in fact the opposite has happened, as was the intended result.
It why the worlds supplies are being so aggressively hunted down, not for money, for control!
Wars are manufactured for many reasons, resource control, is at the top of the list. Resource control can come in the form of so called commodities, or resource control by population control.
All wards are banker wars, and all commodities are controlled by very specific interests, with not only the financial prices which the end consumer does see, but in the technology, which the end consumer will never see!
Something for Wellington and Marlborough, for being stalwarts in the face of adversity. For taking arms against a sea of continent and by opposing get tossed around. For holding on. For thinking, my god, what have I done.. ?
For Fuck’s Sake….. breathlessly, on TV3 Late News (probably the same at 6.00 pm)……..the Royal Hairdresser has been seen “entering” the hospital. Cut and colour for wee bubby maybe ?
Yes…..I know…….Kate and Wills and bub are gonna be on the balcony soon.
Meantime here in NZ there are kids whose fucking hair is falling out with scabies, affliction of the poor, because the poor little buggers at 2 and 3 years of age scratch it out.
I know it’s churlish not excitedly to join in the rejoicing for people who’ve had a kid who’ll be driven home in a Bentley with police outriders.
You know……..as a human being I’m genuinely happy for them, but really……..
There was a lovely photo of Julia Gillard with knitting needles aloft before she was replaced with ruddy Kevin. – Former prime minister Julia Gillard was photographed knitting a kangaroo for the royal baby in Women’s Weekly. Photograph: Women’s Weekly
The baby which was once destined to get a kangaroo personally knitted by a sitting prime minister will now receive an arguably less sentimental gift from its subjects in Australia – a zoo research project funded in his name.
As the world celebrated the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son by lighting up iconic landmarks in blue and even sending the couple condoms, Kevin Rudd announced a bilby research project at Taronga Zoo would be given $10,000 in funding in the name of the future monarch as a gift.
As for the difference between student and prisoner behaviour, you’d expect that a prison population might be more jaded and distrustful, and therefore more likely to defect.
The results went exactly the other way for the simultaneous game, only 37% of students cooperate. Inmates cooperated 56% of the time.
Oh, look at that, economists were wrong – yet again.
Two things don’t surprise me here. The first is that economists are wrong. The second is that prisoners were less selfish than students. Prisoners, and crims in general, have a common enemy in authority, and learn early on that a lot is at stake if they cooperate with that enemy. Students are getting more and more indoctrinated into the selfish sociopathic rubbish that comes with neoliberalism.
It’d be interesting to give this test to politicians from all our main parties. My guess is that Mana and Greens would cooperate, some in Labour would, and NAct would be chomping at the bit to inform on each other. You wouldn’t even need to run it with Dunne.
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
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Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
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Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
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Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
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Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
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A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
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The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10901478
As a regular round here, I’m getting really sick and tired of Bryce Edwards misrepresenting this place. Bryce is an academic, and analysing the political blogoshere is supposed to be his bread and butter. And yet he continually presents us as a cardboard cut-out of his own creation, in support of his own political worldview. The antithesis of research. He obviously reads very little of this site, and yet feels he knows enough to endlessly repeat: the The Standard is ‘Labour Party aligned’. He hasn’t noticed that TS is the most fierce critic of the Labour Party in the entire blogosphere, and has been for the years now, that I’ve been reading it. And Party supporters make up a minority of both the authors collectively, and of the the regular commenters. It is no more Labour than it is Green, Te Mana, or (sadly) NZ first, marxist, anarchist or ‘other’.
Another of the behaviours that intensely annoy me is his repeatedly misrepresenting TS in support of his hypothesis that within the broader left the ‘leftists’ are in conflict with supposedly much more right-wing, neoliberal “identity”-politics supporters. TS proves the opposite of his theory as the writers and commenters most concerned with ‘identity’ progression and vocal in its support, also tend to be more left wing than the average of their fellow authors or of their fellow commenters.
How about you do a bit more than seek out confirmation of your pet theories, Bryce.?
I agree, Just Saying. When Bryce Edwards started out, his comments were interesting. But now he just copies what others are saying – there’s nothing new or perceptive in his comments, and he’s just become boorrrrrrring. Not worth reading.
Totally agree, just saying. My blood pressure rose rapidly when I saw Edwards’ latest article last night. referring to the TS as “Labour Party aligned”.
I have also noticed over recent months that he regularly includes in his links a certain well read (NOT) blog by someone who no longer comments here – thank goodness. I refuse to name the person/blog but it is mentioned in the last sentence of the paragraph on the GCSB Bill in Edwards’ latest article.
I agree. As a visitor I’d say The Standard is a Green Party blog, not Labour’s.
Far more people here support Norman than Shearer.
But you’re not a visitor. You live here.
Like a rat in the ceiling chewing on the wiring.
or, in one memorable instance, the water pipes.
Santi, after being exposed as a liar and a thief yesterday, your observations on anything have no value at all. You’re a fraud.
[lprent: I saw the discussion related to Santi and Bertram yesterday. However I didn’t see anything about “thief”. That looks like a pure flamewar starter. Not exactly the safest thing to do, so I’d suggest that you either point me in the right direction or desist – because it looks like going beyond the “robust debate” ]
According to Wikipedia Ben Johnson introduced the term “to describe as a plagiary someone guilty of literary theft.”
Perhaps someone should ask Santi to prove their claim that “The words are all mine.”
Given that Santi’s comment http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22072013/#comment-666261
is word for word the same as Alwyn’s earlier comment on Kiwiblog.
Seems to fit Ben Johnsons definition of literary theft to me.
It seems to be what becomes of human nature in the new age. Some academics (and journalists) maintain the fire in their belly and are interested in actual research and reasoned critique.
Jon Stevenson for example, plus several others in journalism and academia – often they don’t get a look in – they don’t fit the corporate academic or media model.
Others, once they’ve nestled into their cuddly position and think they’ve become nice and secure – able to pay the weekly bills, frequent the Ponsonby cafe circuit once in a while, pay the daycare, the mortgage et al, and have ‘quality time’ with their young offspring, they just settle down into Muddle Classhood.
You’ll notice its not just limited to academics. Its affected most of the mainstream media’s “journalists” – those bastions of the 4th Estate. Its COMFORTABLE for them and having that disrupted – well its just a hassle really!
Those ‘political commentators’ as well.
The best place to see them all on display is to watch The Nation, or Q+A once a week – or even listen to the nicest man on Earth everyday.
One of the most noticeable in recent time as far as I can see is Greg Boyed. Once actually quite an enquiring and critical journalist when hosting the News bulletin that used to air on TVNZ7. Look at the transition to 7 Sharp. (There’s a cruel joke in there somewhere).
Watch what happens though when there’s a surfeit of them, they’re knocking 40 or 50, and redundancy hits.
The above is a very judgemental opinion – I know! No more so than what’s inflicted on us by the likes of Bryce daily though!
Switched on to RNZ around 8am – royal news. Switched off. Just switched back on to RNZ – still royal baby news. Spare me!
Royalty watching isn’t my thing, but whenever I caught glimpses of the media pack surrounding the birthing suite all I could think was that poor lady!
nothing to stop the family opting out.
Another Right Royal Bludger for life is born to suck the life out of the British working people, that makes Him if my long departed Grandma was correct the great-great-great grandson of an Irish ‘pisspot emptier’, (chambermaid),and a long dead English King…
Guess that makes you a Nazi supporting, despot loving, Taliban apologist. How many years have you spent in Afghanistan waiting for your head to be shot off again?
What? I get the Nazi bit – you mean Pwince Hawwy in his Nazi uniform, but you’ve lost me with the rest.
While I am neutral on the birth of a royal baby, I have just heard on RNZ News that the birth will be marked by a 21 gun salute in Wellington at midday – just two hours away.
This is the first I have heard of this as a possibility.
Just what our frazzled nerves do not need at present is the boom of cannons – especially those Wellingtonians who have not heard about the salute.
Nah – Pretty standard procedure – 21 Gun Salute when Willliam was born – I would imagine most people would be aware of it or the possibility of it or soon realise what it is for (after all you can hardly miss the news).
veutoviper
It was actually part of the news! The guns banging away (to be fair only three times on the one I heard) Really!!!! Recorded gunfire is news? Lucky this baby was born today otherwise there would have been no news. Anything being passed under urgency while we have no news. Is Mangler Key going over to kiss the baby? Is he going to wear his pounamu suit. Hope the poor little sod(baby) doesn’t have Charlie’s ears.
I have a terrible confession to make. It’s many years (too many to admit to here) since I was living in London and I came across a ‘live’ link outside St Mary’s hospital. I sat glued to it until 3am this morning because I loved watching the passing parade of disparate English folk in all their tasteless but fascinating regalia (or the lack of it) and their delightful accents. I finally gave it away and went to bed and the baby was born and I missed the most interesting bits.
You should have stayed tuned. You missed this.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2563045/fish-move-as-oceans-warm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-backs-630000-study-into-how-to-control-global-weather-through-geoengineering-8724501.html
What strikes me is the mention of $630k as the cost, is simply a joke number, why not $666!
Either way, this is little more than another confirmation piece, of what has been going on!
Labour are a complete mess. The party is in disarray. I have a good feeling it’s still being controlled by a certain bullyish leader in New York. So many left over hacks from the Clark Regime still with their nose in the trough. Labour are in for a huge loss next year. They are no longer a party that represents working party and this fantasy of a labour/green/mana/maori/nz first government is a complete joke. It would be the biggest disaster to ever hit NZ. Labour aligning itself with a racist extremist like Hone? Say goodnight Shearer ….
lolz, Clark has got a world to sort out, her former colleagues of 34 MPs are on their own.
Johnny
Have you been reading detective fiction with ‘cherchez la femme’ as a theme? The old guard in Labour go right back to Rogered Douglas don’t they? Perhaps someone would like to put me right as to whether there are some still here that were around then.
The HYPOCRITES Prime Minister John Key and (now) ‘Independent’ MP Peter Dunne, who are very quick to defend their privacy when they think it’s under attack, now want to legislate against the lawful rights of New Zealanders to privacy.
URGENT!
Protests against the GCSB and TICs Bills have been organised around New Zealand for this Saturday 27 July 2013.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1307/S00233/protesting-the-gcsb-tics-bills-nationwide.htm
In Auckland, this Thursday, 25 July at 7pm, at the Mt Albert War Memorial Hall, there will be a Public Meeting at which Kim DotCom (and others) will be speaking.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1307/S00264/urgent-public-meeting-stop-the-gcsb-bill.htm
Where are all the Libertarians and ACT members who supposedly are against ‘Nanny State’ and the lawful rights of citizens to freedom of expression and privacy?
This proposed legislation is BIG BROTHER STATE – on steroids!
Why is ACT MP for Epsom, (the DEFENDANT John Banks) supporting the GCSB Bill?
Can he just please himself when it comes to voting in Parliament, or do ACT members no longer have clear policies and /or principles to which they hold accountable their elected representative?
FYI – this is what I sent directly to Geneva, (for which I have received formal acknowledgment and thanks), as New Zealand’s human rights record is now under review, through the ‘Universal Periodic Review Process’ :
“…. Also, our lawful rights to privacy and our human rights not to be subjected to arbitrary search and surveillance, are currently under attack.
FYI, here is a video and transcript of my raising my concerns directly with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, at a hearing on 2 July 2013, of the Security and Intelligence Committee on proposed changes to the Government Security and Intelligence Bureau Act, which would effectively allow widespread spying on citizens of New Zealand.
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?p=195
GCSB – Penny Bright vs John Key ”
What is happening here is a DISGRACE people!
What are YOU going to do about it ?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption /anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
Penny, the people have shown they will take anything given!
The people have spoken, baa baa baa
How is that 2 members of parliament can hold the country to ransom over a bill to install fascism in our country
It appears no matter what lessons are taught by history it will surely repeat when arrogant fear mongering people run our country
We dont need Keys govt but we do need our democracy
What threat are we to the govt of this country or its security that this little fascist prick can do what he is doing to this country
Fuckin kick your arse if I could
Most of them will be in support of the new surveillance state. It’s not for nought that I coined the term:
Libertarians: Dictators hiding behind liberal values
They’ll be supportive of anything that protects their privilege.
I have begun to think that (right wing) libertarians, are people who resent any authority telling THEM what to do, but want everyone else, usually those with least privilege, to be in a subservient position to them.
And they do seem to consist of a lot of middle class white males (and a minority of females), who, ultimately support policies that maintain those old boy positions of privilege.
Pay your rates. Or shut up. Preferably the latter.
ABS, do the things Penny talks about make you uncomfortable?
Are you in on the theivery?
Perhaps you can tell us here, what you’re doing by way of active involvement!
Cut your hedge. Put your rubbish out. Insulate your house. Chew all food 32 times. Or shut up.
“Pay your rates. Or shut up. Preferably the latter.”
Oh ABS. I’ve often noted that people who get angry about Penny’s rates protest are really trying to silence her dissent.
And there you go, admitting out loud that you care more about shutting her up than you do about her paying.
Sort of QED I think.
So Penny, as being a candidate for Mayor, what is your view on Auckland home owners not paying rates. Our rates bill has gone up 13% after revaluation?
Could they lend us Kevin Rudd for a few weeks ? Or perhaps just Therese Rhein ?
Key might then meet his Waterloo ..
ALP would win Federal Election. ALP 52.5% cf. L-NP 47.5%
http://roymorganresearch.createsend5.com/t/ViewEmail/j/F0ADAE0946692108/50F269E34E94CB84C68C6A341B5D209E
I wonder if the boat people agreement with PNG is going to help or hurt Rudd. Silly question, it is Australia after all.
It’s not that simple any more. In many ways, Australians have progressed while Kiwis have gone backwards. There have been reasonably large protests and a lot of adverse comment in the media. I am proud of many of my Australian friends.
How do you know it will be a boy ?
How do you know it will be spam?
Henry Giroux at Truthout The Violence of Organized Forgetting. Well worth the read.
This.
One thing I’ve maintained for a while now is that specialisation in learning for work has resulted in a loss of general knowledge and that loss is detrimental to our society as people no longer understand how different parts of society fit together. That lack of understanding then allows them to be more easily conned by the rich and powerful.
Ah, yes. Many working in education have long thought that. I recall a staff member’s retirement speech in a college where I worked in England. The guy was an ex-pat South African – with the then current Thatcher vocationalist changes in mind, he said that would produce excellent technicians without a wider understanding of their work context: workers who would be excellent at following orders without question. He said the 3rd Re1ch produced such excellent technicians for their death camps.
Yes. With two teenagers in the house, education in it’s many guises is one that come up often for discussion.
I value the internet for making available these articulate views.
Yes. Thanx
Fantasy world of “neoliberal”/libertarian (?) digital corporations.
I was just looking around to update the connections with Crosby Textor and Big Tobacco, in the light of further revelations about Crosby Textor’s influence on privatising UK Health Care.
Found an article from earlier this year, from the Lancet, that also names lobbying firm Luther Pendragon as one working for Big Tobacco.
Google seemed to think I was searching for Uther Pendragon, allegedly the father of King Arthur.
This reminded me of “Palantir” (name taken from the fantasy world of Lord of the Rings), Peter Thiel’s company, which also operates in NZ. Then came across his new NZ-based venture, a iOS app that provides a virtual dream world that customers can explore – based on climbing Everest:
neoliberal dreamweavers? Everest – coming to a country near year, packaging your country, and selling it overseas for their profit.
Stick people in a misinformed escapist fantasy world while they continue to consolidate power and control over the real world.
Ack! Slip of the wrist and I lost a comment I’d typed on yesterday’s Open Mike porn filter thread.
But, I could re-construct some of it here.
I began agreeing with weka on the need to counter the damaging porn, especially when it is misogynistic and involves children.
However, I am also wary of the way such filters can block LGBTI sites, and especially how it can block access for those that most need it. It can be used as a way of harrassing and suppressing those who are already relatively powerless.
Earlier this morning I looked at the site for Palantir Technologies (the firm linked to providing the software for US surveillance agencies like the NSA and founded by Peter Thiel).
One of the things Palantir aim to do is to provide technologies to combat “child exploitation”, which they link to “human trafficking”.
In my post on the <a href='http://thestandard.org.nz/the-long-reach-of-5-eyes-not-in-our-name/“Long reach of 5 Eyes” I wrote about how issues of human trafficking, domestic violence and child porn are being used as a point of access by the state agencies to surveillance of people’s computers.
In the early 80s in London, a flatmate reckoned our phone was tapped as a result of her acting, at the time, in a Gay Sweatshop play. She said all people involved in Gay Sweatshop productions got their phones tapped, and that the signs were all there on our phone. Since then, I have been extremely wary about the uses of state surveillance on those who are already marginalised. And more evidence has come to light about how that happens: eg in the submissions to the GCSB Bill.
Filtering porn sites, will not help to stop damaging porn and its industrialisation/corporatisiation by profiteers. It will merely result in the producers, promoters and users of such porn becoming more sophisticated.
There is already discussion on the internet that Cameron’s war against internet porn will soon extend to things like: internet sites featuring terrorist and extremist Islamic ideology, and how-to self harm/suicide/euthanasia information.
Clearly those things can be damaging to young people as well, and should be banned. From there, grounds would exist to limit access how-to information around the use and enjoyment of elicit drugs, etc. Definitely wouldn’t want young people to be learning about that stuff either.
In general I think we need to be a lot more skeptical of government powers and intentions. One important thing to remember is that we are not guarding against how a David Lange, Helen Clark or Jim Bolger might have used these increased technological powers, but how a future Muldoon or Holland (or even worse) would.
To be fair, there is probably “discussion on the internet” to the effect that PRISM is a tool for aliens to control our minds.
Basically, my objection to government internet filters is not so much the idea of the Great Firewall of China being implemented so nobody can report black helicopters, but more a combination of that and the fact that it doesn’t really work. So while the same old perversions will be going on online, mum and dad will happily think that they’ve blocked the nasty sites and be unaware that their teenage son has the latest TOR build because they let him surf the web and play computer games in his room with the door locked.
And, like now, the child pornographers will be caught because someone paid by credit card, or the police got a warrant to search his server while he was detained for filming up skirts (so he couldn’t switch it off and let encryption and/or electromagnets do their job), or a distinctive tattoo was on file from previous charges, or because the teacher thought that the photoshop “swirl” function was as good as redaction, or because someone could get a shorter sentence by testifying about other people’s crimes.
Well, the other angle on this is political of course, that Cameron is making a big noise about how he cares for the well being of kids, while impoverishing families by the many thousands per month.
I enjoy how McFlocks fears always manage to pereate through his comments.
Black helicopters, mind control, aliens etc!
It’sout of your hands McFlock, and those who you and others here, deem to be beneath you, are already right, they always were, and they always will be!
Well, right up until it’s made illegal, and the infomation/communication channels locked down and controlled, until everyone, is learning/repeating, only what they system wants you to!
Get used to it bro, the conspiracy theorists, have been proven to be correct!
Edit: See J90 link below about pine gap..was not many years ago, people blew the existence of pine gap off, as conspiracy!
I enjoy how you’re a fucking moron who doesn’t realise the difference between a “conspiracy theory” that rests more on evidence than supposition, and the bullshit you serve up on a daily basis.
You are beneath me, that’s why, for example, I didn’t bother responding to any of your idiotic comments today.
Although it’s quite obvious that you think you have an intellect vastly superior to everyone else here – how’s your personal, unreviewed, ethically-unexamined experiment on us going? Still the lead investigator for Project Onan?
dickhead.
But you did, didn’t you!
Thanks, McFlock, I needed the giggle, truth always finds it’s way out.
Good to know you read the link I posted today, while showing restraint to not reply, most likely (I’d like to give you credit for) because you’re a man of humility!
I’m no better than anyone, I have explained this to you before, it’s just stages of the journey, and some are further along theirs than others, that’s all!
Yeah, I tend to respond to morons when their comments specifically about me have no bearing on reality.
As for being “no better then anyone” and following it up with that “further along” the journey drivel, what a load of shit. That’s just you pretending to be humble but not being able to stop your ego leaking all over the screen. You’re a delusional idiot, pure and simple, and frankly I’d prefer it if you kept me out of your fantasies.
You’re free to believe what you like, McFlock, but it will continue to be exposed around you, as it has been, with increasing velocity!
A similar point made in this article as well.
I remember reading an article about co-option, where people who really do want to limit peoples freedom (decrease democracy) are using the language of the liberals to bring about an enhanced police state often with the support of the liberals who would normally oppose these things.
frickin sheeple
The controllers, long ago were able to master the mind of the masses, they are many steps ahead at all times, the techniques are transparent, but require a degree of awareness!
The controllers simply identify, locate then manipulate the next point of access they require, then direct the journey to the desired outcome, using the tools they have, which is all of them!
The challenge is for people to understand the danger they are in, however with the controllers of modern life having dulled the innate ability to sense danger, the challenge is going un-met!
Will the challenge be met? No I believe that time was lost, many years ago!
“Filtering porn sites, will not help to stop damaging porn and its industrialisation/corporatisiation by profiteers.”
True. The value in family filters is to protect children, not influence the porn industry.
“It will merely result in the producers, promoters and users of such porn becoming more sophisticated.”
Why? I imagine that most of the people that don’t turn the filter off aren’t porn users anyway. And those that are will get their internet porn somewhere else.
I take your point about the effect on the GLBTI communities and people, although I’d still like to see some discussion about the technology (beyond superficial “there is no technical solution” and “all govts are all evil therefore its all bad”).
And it doesn’t do that either. Filters are, inevitably, quite easy to get around. That’s been true ever since they first came on the market last century.
I don’t know about that Draco. You are treating this as if everything is equal (eg all children have the same level of expertise). I’d be more interested to know the detail.
/facepalm
They’re on the bloody internet thus they don’t need the expertise – just the knowledge of how to find it and if they don’t have that then one of their friends will. Someone’s already mentioned the Tor Network. Children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.
The harm that children need protecting from is the harm that adults do to them and an internet filter won’t help there at all.
“Children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.”
Some children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.
fify.
So you don’t think ten year olds watching rape porn has a negatie effect on them?
“Well educated and supported about sex” – good luck with mandating that then. If a parent personally has not seen violent porn, how could they educate their children to process what they are seeing in a healthy way (assuming they even knew their child was watching that kind of porn). I’m not convinced that you understand the issues around much porn defining heterosexual relationships in negative ways re women and the effects of that, so again, how could you support children in dealing with that?
I suspect there are large parts of the politics of this that you might be unaware of. If you are interested, there are some interesting discussions on feminist blogs about women who have partners that watch alot of porn and how that affects their sex lives, including the kinds of sex women are expected to have because their men are getting their ideas from internet porn in particular about what women should do. The social implications here are serious IMO, as we have generations of young men in particular being influenced (alongside many other influences obviously).
“Some children determined to see porn on the net will see porn on the net and, IMO, doing so won’t actually harm them if they’ve been well educated and supported about sex.”
What percentage of kids will use tech to bypass family filters?
Again, I think you are treating things as if they are all the same. If kids really want to smoke cigarettes then making it illegal won’t stop them. But it does reduce the number of kids smoking. Which is good.
Of course if you think that smoking isn’t bad for kids, then it’s easy to argue against restrictions.
So, you think it’s better for us adults to continue to fail our children and that all that needs to be done is for the government to put in filters that don’t actually work?
IMO, I think we, as a society, should just become more open about sex and teach children to ask first.
Here is a simple way to look at the ‘feasibility of the technology’:
Is there a way in which we, as humans, could define pornography and ensure that there is universal agreement as to what is porn and what is not porn?*
If there answer to do question is no, then it can’t be done. Even if we had actual people reviewing every site on the internet and defining at is porn or not porn, there would still be disagreement on the filtering process. Of course, in practice, the filtering will be done by computer, which will make filtering even worse, as the computer can only look for patterns in the material and there will inevitably be false positives and false negatives.
* It isn’t as simple as one might think. What about nude art? Mills & Boon books?
The Australian ex-Minister of Broadcasting wanted to ban pictures of small adult breasts, because he thought they encouraged paedophilia. Good Labor man, that one.
Porn/not porn isn’t the issue. The issues are whether different kinds of porn have negative effects on individuals or society that outweigh the rights to freedom of producers and consumers of porn. It’s not about morality, nor prudery, it’s about safety, the rights of children to be free from harm, and the rights of women to challenge misogyny.
“Of course, in practice, the filtering will be done by computer, which will make filtering even worse, as the computer can only look for patterns in the material and there will inevitably be false positives and false negatives.”
So? I have to put up with that crap from google every time I search for anything
How can it NOT be the issue? I thought this discussion was about whether filtering porn was feasible or not. Surely we need to be able to define what porn is before we can filter it?
The false positives might be LGBTI sites, or pages describing how to practice safe sex, or STIs. Children will not have access these pages and be more exposed to harm, rather than less. You are far too eager to dismiss this issue for someone who claims to care about protecting children from harm.
I suppose I wasn’t really thinking about 8yr olds needing to access websites on safe sex or STDs.
It’s not so much that I dismiss the issue, as I dismiss when people say things like “we can’t tell porn from not porn therefore we shouldn’t bother”, or “we can’t build useful filters therefore we shouldn’t bother”. Present some alterate solutions if you want me to take your point seriously.
Considering all the factors which are most damaging to childrens mental and physical health, where does porn rate again?
How many households in poverty or reliant on the benefit even have broadband? Good ol PM Cameron, he knows how to target the constituency of nervous middle class parents worried what their kids are looking up in their bedrooms on their new MacBook Air.
“Considering all the factors which are most damaging to childrens mental and physical health, where does porn rate again?”
That’s a good question (assuming it wasn’t rhetorical). I’d put it in the context of how much damage is being done to children and society by the sexualising of children and childhood.
In terms of sexualisation in society, Cameron has already made it clear that P3 girls are still welcome at the dairy next to the school
“In terms of sexualisation in society, Cameron has already made it clear that P3 girls are still welcome at the dairy next to the school”
Not sure what your point is there CV. You think more porn is ok because some porn already exists?
Surely you can see that not all porn is the same.
I’m thinking if the real issue is sexualisation in society, Cameron’s just given you a nice big irrelevant distraction to run after.
I really don’t give a shit about what Cameron thinks, and was more interested yesterday in what others were saying in the UK about this issue. I’m not running afer Cameron’s idiocy, I’m taking the opportunity to discuss issues that liberal people should have come to terms with a long time ago.
<blockquoteIn terms of sexualisation in society, Cameron has already made it clear that P3 girls are still welcome at the dairy next to the school
Well spotted, CV – Distraction, it most certainly is!
With a helping of known outcome, thrown in!
Yes, liberal people should have come to terms with government censorship and restrictions on the internet a long time ago.
“Yes, liberal people should have come to terms with government censorship and restrictions on the internet a long time ago”
True.
ahhhh, hilarious, “liberal progressives” who are actually just waiting for state authoritarianism to do its good in the world.
But you aren’t even trying to engage on this issue. You just keep repeating slogans about protecting children from harm or women from misogyny. Anyone who disagrees with you is ‘dismissing’ the issue.
My point was that we cannot agree on what is porn or not porn. Some ultra-conservatives might suggests that all nudity should be filtered, as well as sites giving safe sex advice to teenagers or those dealing with LGBTI issues, as these are morally wrong. More liberal people might say that material dealing with nudity is okay but not hardcore material. In any case, government-imposed filtering provides the opportunity for one group to dictate what material is appropriate or not, and this opens the door for certain groups in society to push their moral views onto others.
I never said that 8 year olds would need access to these sites. The term ‘children’ in this case would apply to all those under 18, and therefore include teenagers as well. It seems to me that you are deliberately misconstruing the meaning of my comment.
“My point was that we cannot agree on what is porn or not porn. Some ultra-conservatives might suggests that all nudity should be filtered, as well as sites giving safe sex advice to teenagers or those dealing with LGBTI issues, as these are morally wrong. More liberal people might say that material dealing with nudity is okay but not hardcore material. In any case, government-imposed filtering provides the opportunity for one group to dictate what material is appropriate or not, and this opens the door for certain groups in society to push their moral views onto others.”
We already make decisions that some groups in society don’t like. Think abortion. Or the age of sexual consent.
As I said, this isn’t a moral issue (not in the way you mean). The fear that moral groups in the future will gain power and impose conditions on others exists irrespective of this issue.
“I never said that 8 year olds would need access to these sites. The term ‘children’ in this case would apply to all those under 18, and therefore include teenagers as well. It seems to me that you are deliberately misconstruing the meaning of my comment.”
No, I was letting you know what I was thinking about when I talk about child protection. By the time someone’s of the age that their peer group is sexually active, issues of safety are different. I think this is where it is more complex, and where it overlaps with the issues of misogyny and how porn often portrays relationships between women and men.
I’ll just say it again. I’m not dismissive of the issues being raised (the difficulty of creating useful filters, govt surveillance). I’d just like to see those issues discussed by people who also care about how the porn industry affects society. I’m not sure that conversation is happening here. What I am hearing is that there really isn’t that much wrong with porn, and the stuff that is wrong, we either can’t do anything about it or it’s a separate issue. That’s not good enough.
I’m also largely unconvinced by the blanket argument that the internet can’t be controlled. It’s controlled all the time. The debate should be about who controls what and when. Talk details and I’ll be more sympathetic.
The issue of the effects of porn on society is a complex one, and I don’t think it is necessarily bad. For example, I am quite sure that I have seen some evidence that access to porn reduces sexual violence, with the one explanation for this being that the use of porn helps people to fulfil their fantasies or urges in a safe manner.
One thing I am quite sure of though, is that going around and telling men that porn is bad because it is misogynistic or portrays male-female relationships poorly is not going achieve a lot, mainly because men are not really thinking about the images portrayed in that much detail (even if it is true). A better approach to reduce or alter porn use might be to point out that porn (and sex in general) is actually being used to manipulate men into buying (or doing) something by taking advantage of a strong biological urge inherent in many men.
wtl, if you go back and read all my posts on this topic today and yesterday, you will see that I don’t treat porn as one thing. So nowhere have I made a blanket statement that porn is bad because xxx. I’m talking about specific kinds of porn, and who accesses them. You might want to have a think about why you are assuming that I think porn in general is somehow bad, because that idea isn’t coming from me.
“A better approach to reduce or alter porn use might be to point out that porn (and sex in general) is actually being used to manipulate men into buying (or doing) something by taking advantage of a strong biological urge inherent in many men.”
By all means, try that approach for yourself. Please don’t tell me how to approach porn as a political issue until you understand where I am actually coming from.
“The issue of the effects of porn on society is a complex one, and I don’t think it is necessarily bad. For example, I am quite sure that I have seen some evidence that access to porn reduces sexual violence, with the one explanation for this being that the use of porn helps people to fulfil their fantasies or urges in a safe manner.”
Please stop treating porn as one thing and all the same. Please go and educate yourself on the connections between different kinds of porn and violence and how women get affected (I also think some kinds of porn are bad for men too). Then come back with some credible citations for what you just claimed.
At one point I was using a dictionary and the definition of porn and erotica were exactly the same. Given the present dictionary definition of pornography perhaps we should just start calling it erotica.
😈
oops .. this seems to have slipped out of place in the answers …
Hi Karol .. did you see the several weekend Guardian/Observer links I posted on Lynton Crosby, The Lizard of Oz, on Open Mic just a couple of days ago ..
And one of those links reported Luther Pendragon resigned from the tobacco PR which thusly cleared the way for Lynton Crosby and his $10 million contract. .. October 2012 I think it was ?
(So tempted to sign off as Morgana, but resisting I am !)
Again for you:
Here the several links :
“David Cameron urged to probe claim that aide had £6m tobacco deal — Lynton Crosby comes under renewed fire over Philip Morris links as row over cigarette packaging rages on” July 20
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jul/20/cameron-lynton-crosby-contract-philip-morris
“David Cameron under attack over fracking firm links to Lynton Crosby” July 19
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jul/19/david-cameron-fracking-lynton-crosby?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
“Lynton Crosby: David Cameron’s Lizard of Oz” ( love it !) July 20
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2013/jul/21/lynton-crosby-cameron-lizard-oz
And in future, perhaps we all offer him this marvelous name, Crosby, Lizard of Oz !
Thanks yeshe. Useful links.
Hopefully one day you will write to expose how it affects us here … so many factors now combining including the Crosby destruction of the NHS .. alcohol, tobacco, fracking, health depts .. all here, same same with Key et al following his scripts.
Thx Karol.
Tuesday Cain and her dad Billy provided a little relief but reading some of the responses meant normal levels of misanthropy were soon restored.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/22/proud-daughter-anti-abortion-placard
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/tuesday-cain-labelled-a-whore-for-holding-antiabortion-sign/story-fni0do1x-1226683546833
And although there’s nothing new or surprising about Australia taking part in US lead atrocities the most recent revelations about these activities certainly do their bit to fuel the fire.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/pine-gap-drives-us-drone-kills-20130720-2qbsa.html
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/29/pine-m29.html
Not many years ago, Pine Gap was also disregarded as the stuff of conspiracy!
That’s metadata gathering for you in action. And almost certainly teamed with Waihopai.
And yes Muzza … it used to be the stuff on much-derided conspiracy theory ! Cost Oz a couple of Prime Ministers as I recall; one missing and presumed dead no body ever found, the second removed from office by then GG. Nugan Hand and all that. Worth remembering while we continue to oppose this current GCSB bill.
I guess I must be on the list now, if I wasn’t already !
People on the left have known about Pine Gap, Waihopai, Mt. John and a few other places for 30 or 40 years. If you only just found out, it’s not because of any conspiracy.
Oh Murray, come on, just stop!
I could use the same comment style in your direction but another topic, lets take a look:
People who read/research have known that geo-engineering and weather manipulation, has been going on for about 60-70 years now, but accelerating in velocity, over the past 10-15.
The fact you have not bothered to do anything to learn about it, does not make it a conspiracy theory!
See how that works, and have another link!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-backs-630000-study-into-how-to-control-global-weather-through-geoengineering-8724501.html
You’re funny.
Shorter, ignorance doesn’t make for a conspiracy.
http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/34026/images/29527/
Of course it does Joe, not in silo of course!
Lies and deceit, also create ignorance!
U.S Exponential debt, ahead of the curve
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-22/can-us-economy-keep-exponential-chart
The Four Most Rigged Economic Indicators
http://moneymorning.com/2013/07/22/the-four-most-rigged-economic-indicators/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+USMoneyMorning+%28Money+Morning%29
Who knew ? Or rather, who doesn’t know ?? Good read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/opinion/sunday/why-men-need-women.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hpw
I always thought boobies had something to do with it
oh dear Winsome Smith, oh dear.
@ Morissey (where ever you are)
OMG MOG OMG OMFG LOL ROFL ROFFL!
The nicest man on Earth was just talking about X Fekta (?)
…. Domnuk Beardin (?)
It was really deep and meaningful stuff, and what we ALL need to know!
…. but, but but you know what?
He used the labels “legubrious” and “ephemera”
Legubrious Ephemera – NOTHING like the nicest, most artikyalit man on Earth’s “show” though.
It was memorable – I’ll treasure it, I’ll remember it for life!
Now there’s some guy called Nick singing the descant
Has the tide turned? Can David Shearer ride the waves to victory?
His people are not sure …
http://www.surf.co.nz/forum/surfing-chat/7746/?pid=214366
He’s not leaving a sinking ship, he’s just in the mood for a swim …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8953732/Shearer-senior-staff-shuffles
I have done much crystal ball gazing and entrail reading about the Labour Party lately. Today I got thinking about the change that happened to the Listener a few years ago, when it was decided that is should lose its left wing bias and cater to “the middle.”
Who still reads it? A few loyalists who appreciate Jane Clifton and Diana Witchel, a few people for whom it remains a habit, a few incidental people who are captured by a headline at the checkout. The shiny people ate whom it is aimed do not read it, being more inclined to flick through Vogue or Cuisine. However, it has enough turnover to keep paying Pamela Stirling, and it is no longer a vehicle for the left.
This I think is the plan for the Labour Party under Shearer, with dissenters getting shuffled to the back benches or advised to leave. So what if it never rises above 30%. If the plan works it will still generate enough votes to pay a leader and a few shadow ministers, but most importantly, it will cease to be a vehicle for the left. It will be the political equivalent of the Listener.
Very good Olwyn!
As an aside, I grew up with the Listener, and bought it pretty much every week of my adult life until about five years ago. The only think I really missed were the TV pages and the cryptic crossword. Since I no longer have a TV and the internet is a better source of info on TV shows, it doesn’t matter. Occasionally I see the Listener in a dairy and am tempted to buy one, but then I look at the cover and it invariably has me grimacing before I’ve even opened the front page. My parents and siblings still read it, it suits their white, liberal middle class sensibilities well (they don’t seem to have noticed the slide to the centre, or maybe they don’t care).
I do read Toby Manhire online sometimes.
btw, I think the Listener started to go down hill when Gorden Campbell left.
I think it went uphill when Finlay MacDonald left. He was obsessed with the “middle class”, whatever that is…
It was 1000 times better with Finlay as editor than it is now.
Olwyn – I have to say this is one of the most perceptive comments I have seen on this blog. Something needs to change, I don’t know what it is, but I fear that the Labour Party is doomed to getting only a third of the vote, unless something dramatic changes. I don’t know what that change might be. But, as you point out, Labour is doomed to irrelevance and/or niche market unless something changes. And I don’t mean a leadership change. Once upon a time Labour stood for something, and now, I don’t know what that is any more. I am an ageing baby-boomer who cut his political teeth at the Princes Street branch. My children, who would have joined the Labour Party as I did all those years ago, see no relevance in Labour at all. They don’t read the Listener either.
Thanks Tinshed, I agree that something needs to change. We desperately need a solid opposition right now, and for the next generation to find reason to engage politically.
My two children – or adults as they really are – see the Greens as the only real alternative. The Labour Party simply doesn’t connect with them – it has no relevance to their view of the world and its issues. To some extent me too. I grew up on notions of Socialism and Social Democracy. Reading the New Left Review was the part of what we did to stay in touch. But, sad to say, I really can not connect with the current parliamentary Labour party. I feel guilty to feel that very few of them seem worthy of the heritage of the party they now represent. Perhaps as this is my problem, but it concerns me deeply that less than 1/3 of the country now support the party of Savage, Fraser, Nordmeyer, Kirk, or Clark who were such titans of 20th century New Zealand. They all made such a difference. This lot, not all. Nothing.
Olwyn That’s a good comparison. That I can relate to.
Newsroom reporting Fran Mold is Shearer’s new CoS: “newsroom.co.nz understands there has been disquiet in Labour ranks about poor political management in the leader’s office…A former NZ Herald and TVNZ reporter Mold was originally employed by former leader Phil Goff and played a key role behind the scenes in the 2011 election campaign.”
And we know how well that went!
The loss of Cameron is more concerning. A very smart guy, very talented. I won’t speculate on the dynamics that led to this departure – since I have absolutely no idea, but it’s disappointing all the same.
And again, the saying comes to mind:
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
From NASA — Earth from Saturn photographed by Cassini spacecraft two days ago … so beautiful !
How tiny and fragile we are ..
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA17171
click on wallpaper for larger image
Dunno why but you’re link didn’t work for me. This one does.
Thanks yeshe – awesome!
The state of the polls, via Danyl McLaughlan and Peter Green.
http://imgh.us/nzpolls20130723a.svg
“temporarily unavailable” – yep – matches up with my view of the value of political polls.
http://gawker.com/goldman-sachs-took-5-billion-from-consumers-by-moving-861862148
NYT reporting how Goldman Sachs turns aluminum into billions in profits by warehousing and hoarding world stocks forcing prices up …. legally, but what criminals they are.
and it seems copper is next on the list …
“Over the past three years, Goldman has raised the price of aluminium by buying a huge warehouse and intentionally slowing down service so they could charge higher storing fees. These fees, handed down to consumers, have netted Goldman Sachs over $5 billion. And there’s nothing illegal about it.”
and this in NYT in same investigation report:
In 2011, for instance, an internal Goldman memo suggested that speculation by investors accounted for about a third of the price of a barrel of oil. A commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator, subsequently used that estimate to calculate that speculation added about $10 per fill-up for the average American driver. Other experts have put the total, combined cost at $200 billion a year.
The direct NYT Business link if you don’t want Gawker’s summation ..
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/business/a-shuffle-of-aluminum-but-to-banks-pure-gold.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Its how all commodities are manipulated!
Done with psychical hoarding/wars, as well as virtual, via futures markets etc!
Imagine what else humanity is being kept away from, if everything else is uses as a weapon!
Wow! Where can I get one of these psychical hoarding/wars, Captain Onan? Spiffy!
Physical hoarding (of commodities), and hoarding of commodities via war – See how the oil wars in Iraq, for example have not lead to greater supply or cheaper fuel, in fact the opposite has happened, as was the intended result.
It why the worlds supplies are being so aggressively hunted down, not for money, for control!
Wars are manufactured for many reasons, resource control, is at the top of the list. Resource control can come in the form of so called commodities, or resource control by population control.
All wards are banker wars, and all commodities are controlled by very specific interests, with not only the financial prices which the end consumer does see, but in the technology, which the end consumer will never see!
Something for Wellington and Marlborough, for being stalwarts in the face of adversity. For taking arms against a sea of continent and by opposing get tossed around. For holding on. For thinking, my god, what have I done.. ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY
For Fuck’s Sake….. breathlessly, on TV3 Late News (probably the same at 6.00 pm)……..the Royal Hairdresser has been seen “entering” the hospital. Cut and colour for wee bubby maybe ?
Yes…..I know…….Kate and Wills and bub are gonna be on the balcony soon.
Meantime here in NZ there are kids whose fucking hair is falling out with scabies, affliction of the poor, because the poor little buggers at 2 and 3 years of age scratch it out.
I know it’s churlish not excitedly to join in the rejoicing for people who’ve had a kid who’ll be driven home in a Bentley with police outriders.
You know……..as a human being I’m genuinely happy for them, but really……..
Welcome to the new royal boy.
There was a lovely photo of Julia Gillard with knitting needles aloft before she was replaced with ruddy Kevin. – Former prime minister Julia Gillard was photographed knitting a kangaroo for the royal baby in Women’s Weekly. Photograph: Women’s Weekly
The baby which was once destined to get a kangaroo personally knitted by a sitting prime minister will now receive an arguably less sentimental gift from its subjects in Australia – a zoo research project funded in his name.
As the world celebrated the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son by lighting up iconic landmarks in blue and even sending the couple condoms, Kevin Rudd announced a bilby research project at Taronga Zoo would be given $10,000 in funding in the name of the future monarch as a gift.
NB Bilby desert dwelling marsupial omnivore
They Finally Tested The ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’ On Actual Prisoners
Oh, look at that, economists were wrong – yet again.
Two things don’t surprise me here. The first is that economists are wrong. The second is that prisoners were less selfish than students. Prisoners, and crims in general, have a common enemy in authority, and learn early on that a lot is at stake if they cooperate with that enemy. Students are getting more and more indoctrinated into the selfish sociopathic rubbish that comes with neoliberalism.
It’d be interesting to give this test to politicians from all our main parties. My guess is that Mana and Greens would cooperate, some in Labour would, and NAct would be chomping at the bit to inform on each other. You wouldn’t even need to run it with Dunne.