It is all but certain that human activity has caused a steady increase in global temperatures over the past 60 years, leading to warmer oceans and an acceleration in sea-level rise, according to the most recent climate change report by an international panel of scientists…..
…..A report on Maryland sea-level rise released in June by the state’s Climate Change Commission estimated that the rise would range from slightly less than a foot to two feet by 2050, and from two to six feet by 2100, depending on several factors, including glacial ice melt.
Up to six feet of sea-level rise can be devastating when effects from storm surge are factored in, said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
In addition to projections, the document reported several facts. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by more than 20
percent since 1958 and 40 percent since 1750, “virtually all due to burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, and a small contribution from cement production”.
We cancel a project that would inject $115m into household incomes over its construction period, create over a thousand permanent jobs, and would when completed power 170,000 New Zealand homes with renewable energy.
Why?
Because planet destroying coal fired electricity is so cheap and abundant
…..Waikato District Council Mayor Allan Sanson said he was not too surprised by the news.
“It was always going to be marginal in relation to the fact that there was already generating capacity and surplus available.”
Waikato Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandra Perry said the news was just another disappointment for the region, especially for those in the energy sector following last week’s Huntly Coal Mine lay-offs.
There you have it. Not only is the bankrupt coal industry laying off workers. It is keeping another 1033 hundred others out of work.
It is way past time that our leaders in government rationalised the real cost of coal, the cost in human misery, illness and death, and the cost of pollution and climate damage. To justly reflect the real cost of fossil fuels and to make renewables competitive.
If any government had foresight vision and the guts to do this. Renewables would then become viable, creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Instead our leaders crawl on their bellies to the fossil fuel moguls at every opportunity. Instead of investing in renewables, politicians offer the polluters $multimillion subsidies to come here to plunder our natural resources, to increase pollution, and to continue our dependence on fossil fuels.
Humanity is facing an existential crisis like none ever faced before, we have no need for the corporate suits, or bureaucratically appointed leaders who have leadership handed to them.
We need leaders leaders with vision, leaders with courage and conviction. Leaders with passion, leaders with boldness, inspired and informed by the past. But solidly rooted in the real world. Well aware of the danger we are in, and of the necessary measures needed to combat it.
Leaders with a mandate to act.
We need political scrappers
Unafraid to fight for that mandate.
Their task, to overcome the impasse that sees humanity careening down a road to certain destruction, and put us on another, safer saner track.
Will the Labour Party have the courage and the foresight to choose such a leader.
Lynn Prentice has accused me of grandstanding, by raising the issue of climate change as a matter in this leadership contest. So let us see, how long the above comment stands.
Will Lynn show his hand, this early in the piece. To try and keep climate change from being an election issue? As Lynn maintains, it is politics 101, that we can’t waste political capital on this issue.
I am sorry Lynn but I missed that class. Though I am pretty sure that civilisation collapse and possible human extinction wasn’t discussed.
Arg. Comment in wrong place. Deleted original comment.
Jenny – so much wrong with your assumptions above. Often I don’t read your comments because your judgements often seem poor, IMO, and then you get very aggressive when anyone disagrees with you.
Are you saying you expect Lynn to delete your comment above because he disagrees with you on a point of political strategy? Just shows your poor judgement. By all means have your say. But your confrontational brinkwomanship is pure bullying, as well as ill-judged. As is always the case, you comments will stand as long as you don’t infringe TS rules.
Jenny that is utter bovine defecation, it was moved to Open Mike because it’s content has little or nothing to do with the leader of the opposition quitting,
Have a look at most comments that get moved,the comment usually appears from whomever moved it once it has been moved,
The real laugh here is that you are obviously begging for a fight, sooner or later you will put up one a bit to s**t comment to far and then will cop what any of the Wing-Nuts who carry on in the vein that you are gets,
There will be little sympathy for such martyrdom over what is essentially your position which is simply untrue, just laughter at you…
Instead of blocking and dumping my comments and attacking me personally. Don’t you think it would be far more astute to actually argue against the points I raise. And if you can’t muster any counter argument then just leave them in place?
[lprent: I have never dumped your comments. That is an outright lie. They have been moved several times. Top-level off topic comments in a post are often moved to OpenMike to prevent them disrupting the post.
However I’m tired of this bullshit martyrdom play. 6 week ban (4th of October). That should give me more time to deal with the site and the actual trolling that will happen over the period of this leadership debate.
You can find another over worked sysop to bug. YourNZ or No Minister would seem to be a good choice. They’d probably appreciate getting the real info on climate change direct from Arctic News. 😈 ]
Do you genuinely believe that leading with a climate change platform is what will win the leadership and then win the election? Perhaps people are reading your post and thinking you see it as the main vote winning platform?
Your points Jenny, the ones that are not outright bullshit have been ‘argued’ with you ad nauseum,
But, back you come with the same old tripe ”wah wah wah the Greens have sold out on climate change wah wah wah” in spite of the fact that it has been shown to you that every week in the Parliament the Green Party has a go at National over climate change,
Because in your little world the mass media do not report these ongoing examination of National’s attitude to climate change in the Parliament by the Green Party you choose to see this as the Green Party having sold out,
Your attitude of posting what are in essence absolute bullshit as a comment and then demanding debate upon what simply is not the truth is tiresome and only worthy of the Wing-Nuts who leak over here from the sewer,
i like most usually choose to surf past your comments…
The sad thing is that if Jenny did say anything worthwhile, I’d miss it because I’ve given up on reading her unsubstantiated raves. At least I try to keep my own unsubstantiated raves short.
You’re all climate change deniers, condemning the human race to a future of alternate roasting and drowning, and every other biblical end to the world! If only a political party would run on this platform they would sweep the 2014 election. Struth!
I have no issue with your commentary about environmental issues. But I think your approach (and is purely an opinion which we are all entitled to) sums up why Labour can not get its act together.
Labour need to elect a leader who has the skills to run caucus and manage many ego’s. So it should be based on their ability to clearly articulate policy, clearly show leadership skills, and clearly portray some overall acumen when it comes to the economy.
Electing a leader based on their personal agenda’s will get labour where they currently are – in opposition.
Helen Clark was a leader, thats what I admired about her – how she held the team together.
So who will be your leader – not who has an agenda that matches yours.
Look at what narratives journos are running. Think about what narratives are useful to the left, and which ones are not. Feed the the former, and starve the latter. Even if that means not responding to something some fuckwit says. Respond in private places.
In short, act like members of a political party that has its shit together.
Moves were under way last night to avoid a messy leadership runoff, but the wider party may push for a contest that would give unions and the wider membership a say.
So Team Robertson have learned nothing, still want to avoid membership having a say in the choice of leader, and are feeding the MSM with tales to make it seem the most likely and best way forward?
It’s complicated and us punters are in the dark to an extent. We don;t know who is talking and journos won’t say, and we don’t even know if journos are using the quotes in ways the quote givers intend. Don’t read too much into what journos conject. Especially about ‘the wider party’ or the electorate.
Don’t feed the ‘irreconcilably divided party narrative’ though. Don’t feed Key’s narratives either.
I’d suggest talking to mps. Let your feelings be known. Be polite and concerned. talk about what narratives are in the media that suck, and explain to them how frustrating that is, as an activist, to see the party undermined by storylines that don’t reflect the reality of a party that is ultimately on the same side.
” David Cunliffe is not as popular in the caucus as he is outside” Vernon Small
If true, then caucus need to remember they get 34 votes in an election (assuming no one votes for a Cunnliffe led Labour party.
People who make decisions in the Labour party need to understand this is a contest, someone will “win” and someone will “lose. The idea is that at the end EVERYONE pulls together to create the NZ they claim they want, not waste energy on undermining the one who “won.”
If this party and some of its supporters don’t grow up, and quickly, the Greens wont be enough to save us from NACTUNITED.
My view is that Vernon Small is practicing Jonolism here, Vernon plugging Grant Robertson could be said to be anointing Grant with the tainted chalice,
Small even calls a democratic vote by the Caucus/Union Affiliates/Membership as messy like it’s something to be avoided at all cost instead the increased democratization of the Party which it is,
My hope is that those in Labour with the mana to intervene in these things attempt to put together a Cunliffe/Robertson ticket which i believe is the best combination of leadership which has the ability to not only unite the Party but more importantly has the ability to consistently knock the shine off of the current Prime Minister,
The stuff poll is a giggle, running first at the moment is Jacinda Adhern, closely followed by Cunliffe with Grant Robertson gaining third with the next substantial number of votes…
The fucking journalists are going to be the ones first up against the wall when all this spying security state stuff comes to pass…you would think that some of them would have enough self preservation instincts left to push for more democracy, not less.
But the Herald has learned MP Maryan Street was preparing a motion of no confidence in Mr Shearer for Tuesday’s meeting.
Plans were also being made to send a delegation to him before that to ask him to stand down rather than force the confidence vote.
The MPs involved were certain the motion would have succeeded if it had been required.
Ms Street would not comment yesterday, but it is understood she decided to front the motion because of growing concerns among MPs over Mr Shearer’s inability to fire as leader and his poor poll ratings.
I trust Shearer to have done what he thinks is best for the party. He seems to be that kind of guy. For all that people have written and said about him no-one that I can recall, has called him egotistic.
i am pretty sure that Dave Shearers final straw was being Narked on by Slippery the Prime Minister for having engaged in a little private politicing over the GCSB Legislation,
i have the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t only the Green Party that Shearer didn’t bother to talk to about that little meeting with the PM,
If my sneaking suspicion is correct and Cunliffe wins the leadership contest for the Labour Party leadership then i fully expect Poetic Justice to triumph at the 2014 election where the 30 pieces of silver Slippery will have earned by having ‘set up’ Shearer will be turned to brass by a Cunliffe lead Labour kicking this abysmal awful Government back to the Opposition Benches where they richly deserve to be…
This country needs consistent, competent, inclusive, united, socially-just, and ethical leadership with a good dose of feet-on-the-ground common sense. At the moment it is not getting it.
I am agnostic when it comes to personalities, but I think the choices are fairly clear.
Whoever it is, he or she needs our consistent and united support in these times.
The ongoing tremors around Seddon show how fragile things can be.
I was depressed that RNZ tried to interview Richard Prebble for an “insiders” take on the party leadership this morning. Prebble loathes Labour and has not been anywhere near the party for – what? – twenty years??? Why would you even bother? It is like interviewing a bitter old man about balls left out on the neighbours lawn.
However, my gloom lifted when the phone line went dead and the interview terminated after about 30 seconds.
This is the time for all those frustrated and/or disillusioned lefties to come back to the Labour fold.
Do you want to change the economic order?
Do you want to shrink the gap between the low-tax paying well to do and the highly-taxed PAYE worker?
Do you want to see export led growth in well paid jobs?
Get behind the Labour Party. Call on Cunliffe to put himself forward.
The NSA & Director of National Inteligence issue a rare joint statement debunking yesterday’s Wall Street Journal report on Section 702 collection
Press reports Based on an article in today’s Wall Street Journal mischaracterize aspects of activities conducted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The NSA does not sift through and have unfettered access to 75% of the United States’ online communications.
The following are the facts . . .
Tim Barnett was talking on Morning Report with Geoff-the-aran-sweater-Robinson.
Robinson “John Key says the Labour Party is a deeply divided party.”
Barnett responded with a denial and a long diatribe.
One day we will get the leadership of the party responding to such a comment from Key with a straight forward response… something like, “Yeah, well he would say that, wouldn’t he!”
My biggest hope is that Mallard is shown the back benches, and is given a hint or 3 that it’s not necessary to put his name forward next year. Along with Goff, King, Fa Foi, and Hipkins. The ABC club needs to learn that they are not the be all, and end all of he Labour Party. Unfortunately, they have been damaging the Labour brand for years. This needs to stop NOW!
“Barnett responded with a denial and a long diatribe.”
sigh.
“haha look John Key can say what he likes, but if he spent a bit more time on his portfolios and a bit less reciting Bob Hope jokes he wouldn’t have a 100% pure gcsb shambles on his plate”
It was delightful to see the noisy fool Potty Gower ignored by Shearer as he left Parliament yesterday, as much as that was perfectly understandable in the moment. In contrast Robertson fell over his words just a little in response to said noisy fool.
The likes of Gower are positively fizzing at the moment. It’s Christmas time for them in the “look at me” stakes. Let their odious gases float off into the ether. And when that frustrates them to the point of childish rancour……..smash them with a few well conceived words.
I mean there’s no profound depth or grey matter there. Their callow vanity is their chink. Rise above !
An Ardern Cunliffe dou would help achieve the objective of uniting the party and winning the 2014 election.
So would Louisa Wall (who actually won an electorate) and Sue Moroney (who actually won an electorate) and many other Labour women.
Ardern, like Jones and Little, never won an electorate. IMO they are second class MPs.
Ardern, like Jones, has not won the hearts and minds of the Party Membership: they both decided that the way up the Labour ladder was to play the Caucus insider game.
Ardern has a very aloof manner when she fleetingly attends membership gigs. Auckland Central is not coming back to Labour soon unless she changes her game.
Ardern needs to develop a little humility, show respect to the membership and earn her stripes.
Macindoe is Ham West I think. Sue ran against Bennett on the East side.
But anyway it’s Hamilton bro, you could stick a blue rosette on a retarded scarecrow and win, (which, funnily enough, is exactly what National did in both cases.)
Louisa Wall won a seat. She sold gay marriage to a majority conservative government. Not only that, she did it with grace and class. Move her up in the next shuffle at the very least.
Not sure if this was a reply to me or not. Anyhow, I don’t put much weight on the fact that Louisa Wall won a seat. The Manurewa seat would be one of Labour’s safest seats in the country so would not have required anything from her to win it.
However, I agree with the comment about gay marriage she has rightly got a lot of credit for that and she definitely deserves rewards for it.
She also sold the Bill to a lot of social and religious conservatives in her own electorate. Not an easy thing to do, and not that she convinced everyone, but people knew that she listened to them and did so seriously.
Helen Kelly was elected Labour leader and was parachuted into the Christchurch East electorate. Probably won’t happen but isn’t it about time she moved into Parliament?
Presumably she will if and when she wants to and can get a selection (none of these things are givens).
In the meantime as a word of caution, please remember that she is an author here, and I have this thing about protecting site authors that is expressed in the policy.
In this if’ness scenario… If she does get elected and goes into parliament, then she will no longer be writing here as a site author. How could she bear to give that up (oh and maybe the union work as well) 😈
Christchurch East isn’t Christian dominated. Christchurch Central elected a gay M.P. several times, then kicked out his hetero replacement. It is, however, one of the most deprived electorates outside South Auckland (It also has some wealthy areas further north). Any good Labour candidate should be able to win here, it is just a matter of getting out the vote.
Anyway fair point Tracey, I do still think that it wouldn’t matter who Labour stood in that seat they would win it, but it probably would have been harder for Louisa Wall compared to many other candidates.
What Prebble or Bassett or Whaleoil or DPF or any right-wing commentators say should of course be completely ignored. The opposite of what they are saying is probably a good idea.
Helen Kelly on RadioNZ, ‘ the Union Affiliates will use their vote to elect the Labour Leader they think has the best chance of winning the 2014 election’,
Good skills Helen, my pick to achieve that goal would be a Cunliffe/Robertson leadership, they are Labour’s best performers in the House…
Ok. The site looks stressed but stable. But there isn’t much spare CPU available to cope with peaks.
I’ll put another server on line between now and tomorrow sometime to spread the load when the site peaks up. Or increase the amount of CPU this one can access. I’d better head to work.
Ditto for me. Seems pretty aggressive, too – I can only open one page every few seconds.
My thanks, also, for keeping the site up and running. I actually the site was served from CloudFlare or some sort of similar CDN? There were international traffic issues, if I recall…
It had to be when we were serving hundreds of pages per minute (usually we peak at 50)and getting arbitrary spiking. The problem is that the site is highly dynamic. So a CDN serves the statics like graphics. But the index and post pages have to be calculated.
But it is now the weekend and I have some time to deal with the peak situations that showed during the GCSB and resignation. So I will ramp servers up and relax it.
“Australia has old-fashioned union arrangements and needs “a dose of Margaret Thatcher,” says Mark Adamson, the British chief executive of Fletcher Building.
On a media call following the release of Fletcher’s annual profit, Adamson said he had been “amazed” at both the level of salaries and inefficiencies in Australia. He took the top job at Fletcher last October, having run the company’s Laminex & Panels division, based in the US.”
“Telecom says it will keep cutting costs, as it this morning reported an earnings lift in a year where it laid off more than 1200 workers. ‘ With a smile and a cheer from CEO and shareholders.
This is nothing to do with him being gay BTW, although the local Taliban might get their rocks off running a smear campaign, and Colin Craig might have a crack at picking up a few PI votes.
GR is more at home in a Newtown cafe rather than a workingman’s club in Wainiuiomata or a state housing suburb in Otara.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. David Cunliffe is the only pick. With Little as deputy, the dour enforcer, smashing all opposition to trade unions.
GR of course would be useful in Tertiary Education, and Shearer would tackle the foreign affairs portfolio, with his experience with the UN.
It very much looks like that this will be a defining moment in the history of the Labour Party, where Rogernomics and Third-way Blarism give way to a new 21st century socialism.
He and others need to learn patience. There is almost no job worth having that you didn’t work hard to get to and put in the time.
I bump into heaps of young lawyers, who think they are worth more than $75k per year… after 3 years in the job. Bide your time, learn, experience, and become better for it.
Lolz, and you are of course telling us that Dave Cunliffe is right at home in the Otara HousingNZ estate,
That’s one hell of a laugh, as part of the ‘other Dave campaign’ a while back someone put up a video of Dave Cunliffe campaigning in South Auckland at the 2011 election, off the back of a flatbed truck with a loud hailer Dave’s contribution made me cringe,
Yelling at the mostly brown faces about what National was going to do ‘to them’ i could almost see those little cartoon bubbles above the heads of His audience flashing in concert a collective ‘WTF’,
Not once did Dave Cunliffe promise even 1 extra State House for these people, the last to be hired and the first to be fired, what was Labour going to accomplish for those people of South Auckland, well from what that particular speech to the crowd promised the answer was Nothing, simply trying to use fear as a tactic to leverage votes was in that particular piece of electioneering the stuff of ‘lead balloons’
You seem to be suggesting here that Grant Robertson, when not involved with the machiavellian smoke and mirrors of politics simply hob-nobs it with the Haves, this is far from the true picture as i KNOW that Robertson is active right across His electorate from the Soup Kitchen, to the Town Hall, to the Night Shelter, i have bumped into Him in all three of those places,
Casting aspersions as what you have done which intend to show Robertson as some form of ‘snob politician’ is taking politics down to a petty level,
Having said all of that, i have a strong belief that Cunliffe and Robertson should both stand for the leadership of the Labour Party so as to allow everyone to see democracy in action, i further believe that whoever of those 2 should win should offer the Deputy position to the runner
up,
“and you are of course telling us that Dave Cunliffe is right at home in the Otara HousingNZ estate,
That’s one hell of a laugh ……”, this from Bad12.
Well – I have news for you, Bad12. David Cunliffe IS right at home with state housing low income people.
I watched him give a straight-forward down-to-earth clear presentation of the country’s economic state and what could be done about it to an audience of low income, state housing residents (mostly Maori) in a low decile area of Whangarei. They lapped it up. They understood him,.
They asked him questions ….. and they wanted more. They kept asking the school principal where the meeting had been held for weeks afterwards if that David Cunliffe would come back again to explain more details. You cannot buy that sort of testimony, and of course absolutely no-one from the media (let alone rightwing MSM) were there to witness it. But it happened.
Cunliffe has the ability to reach out to people, and at the same time he’s quick, articulate, and can foot it with someone as slippery as John Key.
Which just goes to show you that no-one is all good or all bad, but, the video from the 2011election certainly in my opinion highlighted Dave Cunliffe in less than a good light,
We are yet to see if that last bit is simply an urban myth Jenny Kirk, only time will tell if David Cunliffe can truly kick the shine of the Slippery little shyster Key…
Hi
Ever since the recent upgrade my ipad always defaults to the mobile view. Can this be changed or something. I just use safari. I have to scroll to the bottom of the page and choose desktop view.
Is anyone else having this?
The Green Party, which obtained the documents under the Official Information Act, said it showed Social Development Minister Paula Bennett had ignored the facts when crafting the new requirements.
“The Ministry of Education told Paula Bennett that the primary concern was that there wasn’t enough provision for early childhood education for 3 year olds, and that the key barrier for Maori, Pasifika and lower-socioeconomic families was suitable supply,” said Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei.
“She is demonising these families when she has been told over and over again by various ministries that her social obligations and work obligations will cause more harm.”
And National is proved to have ignored the facts and thus will be causing massive harm to people.
I am a bit intrigued by this one, Rafael Correa, Presidente del Equador, admittedly a hero to protect Julian Assange, but not a hero for press freedom. But hey, here he is singing along Quilapayun from Chile. I wonder how sincere that is, but then again, I will not endeavour to prejudice.
The world is changing every day, in and out, so prepare for surprises.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Government continues to invest in New Zealand’s burgeoning space industry, today announcing five scholarships for Kiwi Students to undertake internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash congratulated Michaela Dobson (University of Auckland), Leah Albrow (University of Canterbury) and Jack Naish, Celine Jane ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Who will drain Wellington’s lobbying swamp? Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in ...
65 percent of Kiwis surveyed admit they would have no idea what to do if their identity was stolen Norton, a leading consumer Cyber Safety brand of Gen, today announced the New Zealand launch of Norton™ 360 Platinum, which leverages the company's ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images There might have been pragmatic political reasons behind the government throwing voting-age legislation onto its recent policy bonfire, but it remains a sadly wasted opportunity. The announcement reversed former ...
ANALYSIS:By Bevin Veale, Massey University The impending arrival of Kelly-Jean Keen-Minshull — aka Posie Parker — has put the spotlight on the tension between free speech and protecting vulnerable communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. In particular, it raises questions about Immigration New Zealand’s role in limiting who can visit ...
Wairoa has ready-to-go projects that could be accelerated to quickly get people back into homes following Cyclone Gabrielle, Minister Willie Jackson was told on a visit to Wairoa today. Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa is seeking a Government commitment ...
A new report published by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union exposes the bad decision-making that led to a 61% cost blowout in Auckland’s City Rail Link and shows that the costs of the project now significantly outweigh any benefits. ‘The City Rail Link: ...
Immigration NZ has today confirmed that the controversial anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull will be allowed into New Zealand for her speaking events this week. You can read our report here – and the full statement from Immigration NZ’s Richard Owen to the media is below: “I can confirm that ...
Immigration NZ says it knows some people will be unhappy, but ultimately the threshold to bar Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull from New Zealand hasn’t been reached.The British anti-transgender campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, will be allowed into New Zealand this weekend, Immigration NZ has confirmed.Keen-Minshull’s ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Stevens, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Adelaide Antarctica is an icy place today, but the ice extended even further during past ice ages. The question of how and where life survived on land in the icy continent, through the ages, has ...
Like a Tongan Cool Runnings, with trumpets instead of bobsleds, Red, White & Brass is a feel-good movie based on an incredible true story. First-time film producer Halaifonua Finau tells Sela Jane Hopgood how he got it made.In 2016, promising new Tongan producer Halaifonua Finau was sitting in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Thomas Gleeson, Doctoral Candidate, Australian National University Luz Rovira / Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND In the 19th century, Charles Darwin was one of the first to notice something interesting about domesticated animals: different species often developed similar changes when compared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney New research reveals serious privacy flaws in fertility apps used by Australian consumers – emphasising the need for urgent reform of the Privacy Act. Fertility apps provide a number ...
The Fiji Times “The University of the South Pacific (USP) has been and continues to be a bedrock for regionalism. A resource owned by the region; for the region and a precious institution that needs to be protected in line with the vision of our forebearers.” This was the message ...
By Claudia Tally in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinean family who have been renting a property from the National Housing Corporation for the past 46 years have been served with a 24-hour eviction notice by a different owner who had obtained an eviction notice from the Port Moresby District ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown’s plans to cut back on spending could see the council quit Local Government NZ, the group that represents councils across the country. Stuff’s Todd Niall has reported that $400,000 would be saved by the move, with mayor Brown reportedly wanting to direct that money into other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frederic Gachon, Associate Professor, Physiology of Circadian Rhythms, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland Gregory Pappas/Unsplash Some of us love to be tucked up in bed by a particular time every night, ensuring a certain number of hours ...
The government has launched campaign to help young people navigate break-ups with the long-term aim of preventing family violence, believed to be the first of its kind. ...
Sports can be hugely beneficial for children but there are still many barriers for trans kids wanting to play, writes researcher Julia de Bres.There’s been a lot of talk recently about trans athletes in high performance sport, much of which derives from a broader anti-trans project rather than a ...
A new documentary follows Amber Clyde, skateboarder and founder of Girls Skate NZ, as she works to rebuild her confidence in the sport while juggling solo motherhood.Amber Clyde remembers being bullied as the only girl at the skate park in Birkenhead – but these days all the same bullies ...
After dedicating years to helping young women find their confidence in skateboarding, Amber Clyde must teach herself how to get back on the board after the birth of her second child. But balancing the realities of being a solo Mum with running her own business means that her time is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arthur Immanuel Crichton, PhD candidate, Flinders University Relative of _Chunia pledgei_ named _Ektopodon serratus_ (top left), with _Wakaleo oldfieldi_.Reconstruction of the early Miocene Kutjumarpu faunal assemblage by Peter Schouten, CC BY-SA Imagine a vast, lush forest dominated by giant flightless birds ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is urging its 27,000 members and subscribers to have a say on Auckland Council’s proposed 2022/23 annual budget. Last week, the Ratepayers’ Alliance launched a new website to encourage public feedback. Backtobasics.co.nz ...
New Zealand distance runner Zane Robertson has been banned from all sport for eight years due to doping. Robertson, who is the holder of six national distance running records and a Commonwealth Games bronze medal, was tested at the UK’s Great Manchester Run in May last year. His sample returned ...
Alex Casey asks a psychologist why she was too chicken shit to wear a mask during the flight that probably gave her Covid-19. In the live action replay in my head, I can basically see, frame by frame, the moment that one of those puny little Covid-19 Koosh balls did ...
Social services and health & disability provider Presbyterian Support Northern (PSN) has appointed Joe Waru as its new Kaitohu Matua (General Manager Māori). The appointment will provide PSN with strategic leadership and advice as it seeks to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Veale, Lecturer in Media Studies, part of the Digital Cultures Laboratory in the School of Humanities, Media, and Creative Communication, Massey University Getty Images The impending arrival of Kelly-Jean Keen-Minshull – aka Posie Parker – has put the spotlight ...
Deputy Public Service Commissioner Ms Heather Baggott has today announced the appointment of Mr Andrew Hampton to the position of Director-General of Security and Chief Executive, New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS). The role of the NZSIS is to understand ...
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A recent court action by Australia’s financial regulator suggests ‘greenwashing’ claims can expect far greater scrutiny – a situation likely to happen here soon enough, writes Steven Moe.Coal mining can seem like yesterday’s fuel – a relic of the last century, in the coming age of wind farms and ...
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The new police minister has defended the government’s approach to dealing with crime, as new figures show just 32% of charges laid against young people last year actually resulted in a sentence. Ginny Andersen was promoted into the police portfolio on Monday after Stuart Nash was sent falling to the ...
The final IPCC report was unequivocal in its call to reduce emissions immediately but the government has no further news on how agricultural emissions charging will work, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
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The Labour Party is at a cross roads
The country is at a cross roads
The world is at a cross roads
Which way will we go?
What does New Zealand do?
We cancel a project that would inject $115m into household incomes over its construction period, create over a thousand permanent jobs, and would when completed power 170,000 New Zealand homes with renewable energy.
Why?
Because planet destroying coal fired electricity is so cheap and abundant
There you have it. Not only is the bankrupt coal industry laying off workers. It is keeping another 1033 hundred others out of work.
It is way past time that our leaders in government rationalised the real cost of coal, the cost in human misery, illness and death, and the cost of pollution and climate damage. To justly reflect the real cost of fossil fuels and to make renewables competitive.
If any government had foresight vision and the guts to do this. Renewables would then become viable, creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Instead our leaders crawl on their bellies to the fossil fuel moguls at every opportunity. Instead of investing in renewables, politicians offer the polluters $multimillion subsidies to come here to plunder our natural resources, to increase pollution, and to continue our dependence on fossil fuels.
Humanity is facing an existential crisis like none ever faced before, we have no need for the corporate suits, or bureaucratically appointed leaders who have leadership handed to them.
We need leaders leaders with vision, leaders with courage and conviction. Leaders with passion, leaders with boldness, inspired and informed by the past. But solidly rooted in the real world. Well aware of the danger we are in, and of the necessary measures needed to combat it.
Leaders with a mandate to act.
We need political scrappers
Unafraid to fight for that mandate.
Their task, to overcome the impasse that sees humanity careening down a road to certain destruction, and put us on another, safer saner track.
Will the Labour Party have the courage and the foresight to choose such a leader.
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/speech-the-dolphin-and-the-dole-queue
Lynn Prentice has accused me of grandstanding, by raising the issue of climate change as a matter in this leadership contest. So let us see, how long the above comment stands.
Will Lynn show his hand, this early in the piece. To try and keep climate change from being an election issue? As Lynn maintains, it is politics 101, that we can’t waste political capital on this issue.
I am sorry Lynn but I missed that class. Though I am pretty sure that civilisation collapse and possible human extinction wasn’t discussed.
Arg. Comment in wrong place. Deleted original comment.
Jenny – so much wrong with your assumptions above. Often I don’t read your comments because your judgements often seem poor, IMO, and then you get very aggressive when anyone disagrees with you.
Are you saying you expect Lynn to delete your comment above because he disagrees with you on a point of political strategy? Just shows your poor judgement. By all means have your say. But your confrontational brinkwomanship is pure bullying, as well as ill-judged. As is always the case, you comments will stand as long as you don’t infringe TS rules.
He already has, all but. Moving it into the oubliette and not even giving direction to where it had gone in an effort to stop people reading it.
That is why I have pasted it here again.
And yes I do get angry. Because I expect better from the left.
Jenny, do you not read what people say? You have just shown yet again, that your perception is off.
There’s no arguing with someone who does not read and understand what is written in front of them.
Jenny that is utter bovine defecation, it was moved to Open Mike because it’s content has little or nothing to do with the leader of the opposition quitting,
Have a look at most comments that get moved,the comment usually appears from whomever moved it once it has been moved,
The real laugh here is that you are obviously begging for a fight, sooner or later you will put up one a bit to s**t comment to far and then will cop what any of the Wing-Nuts who carry on in the vein that you are gets,
There will be little sympathy for such martyrdom over what is essentially your position which is simply untrue, just laughter at you…
Instead of blocking and dumping my comments and attacking me personally. Don’t you think it would be far more astute to actually argue against the points I raise. And if you can’t muster any counter argument then just leave them in place?
[lprent: I have never dumped your comments. That is an outright lie. They have been moved several times. Top-level off topic comments in a post are often moved to OpenMike to prevent them disrupting the post.
However I’m tired of this bullshit martyrdom play. 6 week ban (4th of October). That should give me more time to deal with the site and the actual trolling that will happen over the period of this leadership debate.
You can find another over worked sysop to bug. YourNZ or No Minister would seem to be a good choice. They’d probably appreciate getting the real info on climate change direct from Arctic News. 😈 ]
Do you genuinely believe that leading with a climate change platform is what will win the leadership and then win the election? Perhaps people are reading your post and thinking you see it as the main vote winning platform?
Your points Jenny, the ones that are not outright bullshit have been ‘argued’ with you ad nauseum,
But, back you come with the same old tripe ”wah wah wah the Greens have sold out on climate change wah wah wah” in spite of the fact that it has been shown to you that every week in the Parliament the Green Party has a go at National over climate change,
Because in your little world the mass media do not report these ongoing examination of National’s attitude to climate change in the Parliament by the Green Party you choose to see this as the Green Party having sold out,
Your attitude of posting what are in essence absolute bullshit as a comment and then demanding debate upon what simply is not the truth is tiresome and only worthy of the Wing-Nuts who leak over here from the sewer,
i like most usually choose to surf past your comments…
Well said.
The sad thing is that if Jenny did say anything worthwhile, I’d miss it because I’ve given up on reading her unsubstantiated raves. At least I try to keep my own unsubstantiated raves short.
You’re all climate change deniers, condemning the human race to a future of alternate roasting and drowning, and every other biblical end to the world! If only a political party would run on this platform they would sweep the 2014 election. Struth!
I have no issue with your commentary about environmental issues. But I think your approach (and is purely an opinion which we are all entitled to) sums up why Labour can not get its act together.
Labour need to elect a leader who has the skills to run caucus and manage many ego’s. So it should be based on their ability to clearly articulate policy, clearly show leadership skills, and clearly portray some overall acumen when it comes to the economy.
Electing a leader based on their personal agenda’s will get labour where they currently are – in opposition.
Helen Clark was a leader, thats what I admired about her – how she held the team together.
So who will be your leader – not who has an agenda that matches yours.
I don’t think Jenny is a member of the Labour Party.
Read the news.
Look at what narratives journos are running. Think about what narratives are useful to the left, and which ones are not. Feed the the former, and starve the latter. Even if that means not responding to something some fuckwit says. Respond in private places.
In short, act like members of a political party that has its shit together.
You mean, news like this from Vernon Small?
So Team Robertson have learned nothing, still want to avoid membership having a say in the choice of leader, and are feeding the MSM with tales to make it seem the most likely and best way forward?
It’s complicated and us punters are in the dark to an extent. We don;t know who is talking and journos won’t say, and we don’t even know if journos are using the quotes in ways the quote givers intend. Don’t read too much into what journos conject. Especially about ‘the wider party’ or the electorate.
Don’t feed the ‘irreconcilably divided party narrative’ though. Don’t feed Key’s narratives either.
I’d suggest talking to mps. Let your feelings be known. Be polite and concerned. talk about what narratives are in the media that suck, and explain to them how frustrating that is, as an activist, to see the party undermined by storylines that don’t reflect the reality of a party that is ultimately on the same side.
” David Cunliffe is not as popular in the caucus as he is outside” Vernon Small
If true, then caucus need to remember they get 34 votes in an election (assuming no one votes for a Cunnliffe led Labour party.
People who make decisions in the Labour party need to understand this is a contest, someone will “win” and someone will “lose. The idea is that at the end EVERYONE pulls together to create the NZ they claim they want, not waste energy on undermining the one who “won.”
If this party and some of its supporters don’t grow up, and quickly, the Greens wont be enough to save us from NACTUNITED.
My view is that Vernon Small is practicing Jonolism here, Vernon plugging Grant Robertson could be said to be anointing Grant with the tainted chalice,
Small even calls a democratic vote by the Caucus/Union Affiliates/Membership as messy like it’s something to be avoided at all cost instead the increased democratization of the Party which it is,
My hope is that those in Labour with the mana to intervene in these things attempt to put together a Cunliffe/Robertson ticket which i believe is the best combination of leadership which has the ability to not only unite the Party but more importantly has the ability to consistently knock the shine off of the current Prime Minister,
The stuff poll is a giggle, running first at the moment is Jacinda Adhern, closely followed by Cunliffe with Grant Robertson gaining third with the next substantial number of votes…
agreed. His article about why Shearer resigned is mostly about Robertson becoming leader and why democracy should be avoided.
Why do journalists seem to despise democracy so much?
Because it gives people a say in their own governance.
The fucking journalists are going to be the ones first up against the wall when all this spying security state stuff comes to pass…you would think that some of them would have enough self preservation instincts left to push for more democracy, not less.
Yup, for some reason they think that “they” could never be in the position Vance was in. Slow Learners?
“Vance was in slow learners”……only in some things…….
nice
And it seems, according to Clare Trevett on the NZ Herald:
The Herald is a mouthpiece for large corporates.
What do you expect them to be saying?
I trust Shearer to have done what he thinks is best for the party. He seems to be that kind of guy. For all that people have written and said about him no-one that I can recall, has called him egotistic.
i am pretty sure that Dave Shearers final straw was being Narked on by Slippery the Prime Minister for having engaged in a little private politicing over the GCSB Legislation,
i have the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t only the Green Party that Shearer didn’t bother to talk to about that little meeting with the PM,
If my sneaking suspicion is correct and Cunliffe wins the leadership contest for the Labour Party leadership then i fully expect Poetic Justice to triumph at the 2014 election where the 30 pieces of silver Slippery will have earned by having ‘set up’ Shearer will be turned to brass by a Cunliffe lead Labour kicking this abysmal awful Government back to the Opposition Benches where they richly deserve to be…
This country needs consistent, competent, inclusive, united, socially-just, and ethical leadership with a good dose of feet-on-the-ground common sense. At the moment it is not getting it.
I am agnostic when it comes to personalities, but I think the choices are fairly clear.
Whoever it is, he or she needs our consistent and united support in these times.
The ongoing tremors around Seddon show how fragile things can be.
Well said Raa
I was depressed that RNZ tried to interview Richard Prebble for an “insiders” take on the party leadership this morning. Prebble loathes Labour and has not been anywhere near the party for – what? – twenty years??? Why would you even bother? It is like interviewing a bitter old man about balls left out on the neighbours lawn.
However, my gloom lifted when the phone line went dead and the interview terminated after about 30 seconds.
Yes, he and Michael Bassett always joined the wrong party, realised and turned it into national…
This is the time for all those frustrated and/or disillusioned lefties to come back to the Labour fold.
Do you want to change the economic order?
Do you want to shrink the gap between the low-tax paying well to do and the highly-taxed PAYE worker?
Do you want to see export led growth in well paid jobs?
Get behind the Labour Party. Call on Cunliffe to put himself forward.
The NSA & Director of National Inteligence issue a rare joint statement debunking yesterday’s Wall Street Journal report on Section 702 collection
Press reports Based on an article in today’s Wall Street Journal mischaracterize aspects of activities conducted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The NSA does not sift through and have unfettered access to 75% of the United States’ online communications.
The following are the facts . . .
http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/speeches_testimonies/2013_08_21_Joint_Statement_ODNI_NSA.pdf
The Labour Party don’t seem to get it …
Tim Barnett was talking on Morning Report with Geoff-the-aran-sweater-Robinson.
Robinson “John Key says the Labour Party is a deeply divided party.”
Barnett responded with a denial and a long diatribe.
One day we will get the leadership of the party responding to such a comment from Key with a straight forward response… something like, “Yeah, well he would say that, wouldn’t he!”
…or Mrs Collins and Mrs Tolley speaking out about civil liberties and being slapped down by Mr Key looks quite divisive too.
Please not Little, I nearly fell asleep listening to him on TV3 the other day and he is too easy a target because of his union background.
My biggest hope is that Mallard is shown the back benches, and is given a hint or 3 that it’s not necessary to put his name forward next year. Along with Goff, King, Fa Foi, and Hipkins. The ABC club needs to learn that they are not the be all, and end all of he Labour Party. Unfortunately, they have been damaging the Labour brand for years. This needs to stop NOW!
“Barnett responded with a denial and a long diatribe.”
sigh.
“haha look John Key can say what he likes, but if he spent a bit more time on his portfolios and a bit less reciting Bob Hope jokes he wouldn’t have a 100% pure gcsb shambles on his plate”
Right on PB @ 3 and Logie 97 @ 8 above !
It was delightful to see the noisy fool Potty Gower ignored by Shearer as he left Parliament yesterday, as much as that was perfectly understandable in the moment. In contrast Robertson fell over his words just a little in response to said noisy fool.
The likes of Gower are positively fizzing at the moment. It’s Christmas time for them in the “look at me” stakes. Let their odious gases float off into the ether. And when that frustrates them to the point of childish rancour……..smash them with a few well conceived words.
I mean there’s no profound depth or grey matter there. Their callow vanity is their chink. Rise above !
f.w.i.w…from a non-insiders’ point of view..
..i want cunnliffe as leader..and ardern as his deputy..
..(i see them as the most effective pairing..and the one that will appeal most to most of the electorate..)
..and that there be no revenge-moves against any losing faction..
..the likes of shearer/robertson need front-bench roles..
..and internicine-warfare will guarantee defeat..
..and a third-term for key..
..and as a country/people..
..we can’t afford that..
phillip ure..
An Ardern Cunliffe dou would help achieve the objective of uniting the party and winning the 2014 election.
So would Louisa Wall (who actually won an electorate) and Sue Moroney (who actually won an electorate) and many other Labour women.
Ardern, like Jones and Little, never won an electorate. IMO they are second class MPs.
Ardern, like Jones, has not won the hearts and minds of the Party Membership: they both decided that the way up the Labour ladder was to play the Caucus insider game.
Ardern has a very aloof manner when she fleetingly attends membership gigs. Auckland Central is not coming back to Labour soon unless she changes her game.
Ardern needs to develop a little humility, show respect to the membership and earn her stripes.
Sue Moroney lost by 4500 votes to Tim Macindoe.
Macindoe is Ham West I think. Sue ran against Bennett on the East side.
But anyway it’s Hamilton bro, you could stick a blue rosette on a retarded scarecrow and win, (which, funnily enough, is exactly what National did in both cases.)
Not sure where you get that from, both Hamilton East and Hamilton West have had a roughly equal number of Labour and National winners:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_East_(New_Zealand_electorate)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_West_(New_Zealand_electorate)
Moroney has actually had a go at both of these (Ham West in 2011 and East in 2008).
Louisa Wall won a seat. She sold gay marriage to a majority conservative government. Not only that, she did it with grace and class. Move her up in the next shuffle at the very least.
Not sure if this was a reply to me or not. Anyhow, I don’t put much weight on the fact that Louisa Wall won a seat. The Manurewa seat would be one of Labour’s safest seats in the country so would not have required anything from her to win it.
However, I agree with the comment about gay marriage she has rightly got a lot of credit for that and she definitely deserves rewards for it.
She also sold the Bill to a lot of social and religious conservatives in her own electorate. Not an easy thing to do, and not that she convinced everyone, but people knew that she listened to them and did so seriously.
Last night I had a strange dream.
Helen Kelly was elected Labour leader and was parachuted into the Christchurch East electorate. Probably won’t happen but isn’t it about time she moved into Parliament?
Presumably she will if and when she wants to and can get a selection (none of these things are givens).
In the meantime as a word of caution, please remember that she is an author here, and I have this thing about protecting site authors that is expressed in the policy.
In this if’ness scenario… If she does get elected and goes into parliament, then she will no longer be writing here as a site author. How could she bear to give that up (oh and maybe the union work as well) 😈
All I can say is it worked well for Bob Hawke. I think there should be space for “captain’s picks” every now and then.
An openly gay woman winning a seat in a Christian dominated electorate was no mean feat.
Christchurch East isn’t Christian dominated. Christchurch Central elected a gay M.P. several times, then kicked out his hetero replacement. It is, however, one of the most deprived electorates outside South Auckland (It also has some wealthy areas further north). Any good Labour candidate should be able to win here, it is just a matter of getting out the vote.
weren’t we talking about Wall and Manurewa???
Thought we were talking about Moroney and Ham East…
Yeah this thread has jumped quite a bit randomly.
Anyway fair point Tracey, I do still think that it wouldn’t matter who Labour stood in that seat they would win it, but it probably would have been harder for Louisa Wall compared to many other candidates.
2 gigantic old fuckwits on radio nz right now.
good to hear they are backing cunliffe at least.
Haha Richard Prebble thinks Robertson will be the next leader! What an endorsement!
(:-)
All we need now is the head of the Business Roundtable and the NBR to chime in with their picks!
Phil O’Reilly will speak soon I am sure.
What Prebble or Bassett or Whaleoil or DPF or any right-wing commentators say should of course be completely ignored. The opposite of what they are saying is probably a good idea.
How would doing the opposite of what they say constitute ignoring them?
Helen Kelly on RadioNZ, ‘ the Union Affiliates will use their vote to elect the Labour Leader they think has the best chance of winning the 2014 election’,
Good skills Helen, my pick to achieve that goal would be a Cunliffe/Robertson leadership, they are Labour’s best performers in the House…
On RadioNZ right now, Labour’s Shane Jones, ‘scratch’ him from your race card people He has just said He doesn’t see Himself as Party leader…
there’s a relief
LOLZ, for relief contact Shane he is said to be expert in the field…
Ok. The site looks stressed but stable. But there isn’t much spare CPU available to cope with peaks.
I’ll put another server on line between now and tomorrow sometime to spread the load when the site peaks up. Or increase the amount of CPU this one can access. I’d better head to work.
I suspect that we are going to need it
Thanks for keeping her ticking over LPrent. I suspect it’s going to get significantly and progressivley busier the closer we get to the election.
Am still getting ‘Your access to this site has been limited’ messages.
Ditto for me. Seems pretty aggressive, too – I can only open one page every few seconds.
My thanks, also, for keeping the site up and running. I actually the site was served from CloudFlare or some sort of similar CDN? There were international traffic issues, if I recall…
It had to be when we were serving hundreds of pages per minute (usually we peak at 50)and getting arbitrary spiking. The problem is that the site is highly dynamic. So a CDN serves the statics like graphics. But the index and post pages have to be calculated.
But it is now the weekend and I have some time to deal with the peak situations that showed during the GCSB and resignation. So I will ramp servers up and relax it.
Isn’t this the real target??
“Australia has old-fashioned union arrangements and needs “a dose of Margaret Thatcher,” says Mark Adamson, the British chief executive of Fletcher Building.
On a media call following the release of Fletcher’s annual profit, Adamson said he had been “amazed” at both the level of salaries and inefficiencies in Australia. He took the top job at Fletcher last October, having run the company’s Laminex & Panels division, based in the US.”
“Telecom says it will keep cutting costs, as it this morning reported an earnings lift in a year where it laid off more than 1200 workers. ‘ With a smile and a cheer from CEO and shareholders.
What a sanctimonious lackey of the 0.1%. Doesn’t even mind stating baldly that he wants to thieve from his workers to give to the elite.
Go long guillotine manufacturers, I say.
better to squabble about who gets promoted by their choice of new leader though.
Grant Robertson as Labour leader?
NO FUCKING WAY.
This is nothing to do with him being gay BTW, although the local Taliban might get their rocks off running a smear campaign, and Colin Craig might have a crack at picking up a few PI votes.
GR is more at home in a Newtown cafe rather than a workingman’s club in Wainiuiomata or a state housing suburb in Otara.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. David Cunliffe is the only pick. With Little as deputy, the dour enforcer, smashing all opposition to trade unions.
GR of course would be useful in Tertiary Education, and Shearer would tackle the foreign affairs portfolio, with his experience with the UN.
It very much looks like that this will be a defining moment in the history of the Labour Party, where Rogernomics and Third-way Blarism give way to a new 21st century socialism.
He and others need to learn patience. There is almost no job worth having that you didn’t work hard to get to and put in the time.
I bump into heaps of young lawyers, who think they are worth more than $75k per year… after 3 years in the job. Bide your time, learn, experience, and become better for it.
Lolz, and you are of course telling us that Dave Cunliffe is right at home in the Otara HousingNZ estate,
That’s one hell of a laugh, as part of the ‘other Dave campaign’ a while back someone put up a video of Dave Cunliffe campaigning in South Auckland at the 2011 election, off the back of a flatbed truck with a loud hailer Dave’s contribution made me cringe,
Yelling at the mostly brown faces about what National was going to do ‘to them’ i could almost see those little cartoon bubbles above the heads of His audience flashing in concert a collective ‘WTF’,
Not once did Dave Cunliffe promise even 1 extra State House for these people, the last to be hired and the first to be fired, what was Labour going to accomplish for those people of South Auckland, well from what that particular speech to the crowd promised the answer was Nothing, simply trying to use fear as a tactic to leverage votes was in that particular piece of electioneering the stuff of ‘lead balloons’
You seem to be suggesting here that Grant Robertson, when not involved with the machiavellian smoke and mirrors of politics simply hob-nobs it with the Haves, this is far from the true picture as i KNOW that Robertson is active right across His electorate from the Soup Kitchen, to the Town Hall, to the Night Shelter, i have bumped into Him in all three of those places,
Casting aspersions as what you have done which intend to show Robertson as some form of ‘snob politician’ is taking politics down to a petty level,
Having said all of that, i have a strong belief that Cunliffe and Robertson should both stand for the leadership of the Labour Party so as to allow everyone to see democracy in action, i further believe that whoever of those 2 should win should offer the Deputy position to the runner
up,
“and you are of course telling us that Dave Cunliffe is right at home in the Otara HousingNZ estate,
That’s one hell of a laugh ……”, this from Bad12.
Well – I have news for you, Bad12. David Cunliffe IS right at home with state housing low income people.
I watched him give a straight-forward down-to-earth clear presentation of the country’s economic state and what could be done about it to an audience of low income, state housing residents (mostly Maori) in a low decile area of Whangarei. They lapped it up. They understood him,.
They asked him questions ….. and they wanted more. They kept asking the school principal where the meeting had been held for weeks afterwards if that David Cunliffe would come back again to explain more details. You cannot buy that sort of testimony, and of course absolutely no-one from the media (let alone rightwing MSM) were there to witness it. But it happened.
Cunliffe has the ability to reach out to people, and at the same time he’s quick, articulate, and can foot it with someone as slippery as John Key.
Which just goes to show you that no-one is all good or all bad, but, the video from the 2011election certainly in my opinion highlighted Dave Cunliffe in less than a good light,
We are yet to see if that last bit is simply an urban myth Jenny Kirk, only time will tell if David Cunliffe can truly kick the shine of the Slippery little shyster Key…
cunnliffe + robertson – cunnliffe + little – cunnliffe + ardern..
..they all work for me..
..phillip ure..
From The Guardian:
“American soldier formerly known as Bradley issues statement saying he hopes to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/22/bradley-manning-woman-chelsea-gender-reassignment
National. Time for a change.
A change of credit downgrade from A+A+ to AA.
National. A brighter future.
Climate change resulting in more sunny days.
National. ABC, (Anyone but Collins). ABk, (Anyone but key).
Although it was inevitable I’m wondering how any new on-line ID system would work.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/22/huffington-post-ends-commenter-anonymity-because-trolls-are-getting-more-aggressive/
Chris Slane cartoons (@Slanecartoons): Dirty Pipes
David Shearer’s Resignation – The Opera
Hi
Ever since the recent upgrade my ipad always defaults to the mobile view. Can this be changed or something. I just use safari. I have to scroll to the bottom of the page and choose desktop view.
Is anyone else having this?
Turei: Govt ignored warning
And National is proved to have ignored the facts and thus will be causing massive harm to people.
I am a bit intrigued by this one, Rafael Correa, Presidente del Equador, admittedly a hero to protect Julian Assange, but not a hero for press freedom. But hey, here he is singing along Quilapayun from Chile. I wonder how sincere that is, but then again, I will not endeavour to prejudice.
The world is changing every day, in and out, so prepare for surprises.
Viva Chile, viva el libertad!
Viva la revolution, viva el chile – y el continente de sudamerica!