tis Christmas Eve, so wishing you all a happy Christmas.
We are doing our traditional Christmas “thing” with family – generally eating too much ham and turkey and playing old board games. (ed substitute that for a turnip if that make you more comfortable).
Hope 2018 goes better for those of you who have had a poor 2017, and for those who had a good 2017 – may 2018 exceed it.
Dutch journalist to new US Ambassador: you said there were ‘no go zones’ in Netherlands, where are they?
Ambassador: That’s fake news, I didn’t say that
Journalist: We can show you that clip now.
Ambassador: Err
If you lie about a lie does that make it the truth?
Many thanks to Valerie Adams for being a great role model for all the Lady’s around OUR WORLD to aspire to and the best thing is that she brown. I admire that you and your brother show the rest of the World the good humble humane Kiwi nature and use have come from humble beginning Kai kaha
The fact that she is being a good role model is the only thing that matters. it’s nice that you applaud her and acknowledge the fact – but it’s not a skin colour issue.
I guess you’ve swallowed the post-racial Kool-aid but it is a skin colour thing, James.
Young brown women are interested in the put because they identify with Dame Valerie in the same way young Pākehā women are interested pole vaulting, because they identify with Eliza McCartney.
Silly question james but what percentage of advertising images of women are brown? What percentage of newspaper articles talk about brown women in a positive light?
Maybe, in a world where the dominate media did portray people of all colours and races in a equal amount the we could be colour blind. Until then, brown roll modes are somthing aspire to, when most of the images and stories are of white women.
So the best thing about Adams is that she is brown Joe 90 ?
Of course not. But In the context of eco maori’s comment about Adams and inspiration, the folk most in need of inspiration in our society are young Māori and PI women and because just like me is a thing, Dame Valerie’s skin colour does matter to them.
James go piss in the wind somewhere else you have been trying to get me to ingage in your neo liberal dum ass views for a while. I have no time to waste on you Ana to kai
No I havnt – in fact the only replies I can remember sending to you were when you were convinced that people were following you etc, and I very politely and with respect suggested you talk to somebody.
Calling you up on racist statements isnt “neo liberal dum ass views” – its calling you up for “dum ass” racist statements.
Eco maori, I often agree with what you are saying but in this instance – I am not. You are inferring that not only is it “best” for Mrs Adams that she is brown – does it really matter if her efforts have got her there, she could have stripes for all that matters – and to this end that the rest of the world are not good humble human beings.
You might want to look at rephrasing this because this is so not like you.
Merry Christmas, Noel, Frohe Weihnacht, Buon Natale, peace on earth.
Apologies Valerie I forgot to Congratulat you for your new baby I was looking after my blue eye mokos who is my Paua I had planned to mention that first Ka pai
Thanks for this clip Ad (4) … I’m of the vintage being able to remember when I saw some of these great musicals. Oh to be able to move like that. Dancing at its very best.
I have seen a dance clip of a young adult Michael Jackson tap dancing with a couple of other guys. Boy oh boy he was up there with the best of the song and dance performers. An amazing and incredible talent lost to the musical world. RIP Michael.
just came across this and have nothing to add to but a a yeah, sadly so, might 2018 bring about much needed change, but i highly doubt. No guts, no glory – it seems it affects our politicians across the spectrum.
Merry Christmas everybody, to all in this forum. How great that ideas and comments can be shared without getting too much out of hand 🙂
Have a safe and successful New Year.
This second warning contains a series of charts showing how utterly the world’s leaders ignored what they were told twenty-five years earlier. Whether it’s CO2 emissions, temperature change, ocean dead zones, freshwater resources, vertebrate species, or total forest cover, the grim charts virtually all point in the same dismal direction, indicating continued momentum toward doomsday. The chart for marine catch shows something even scarier: in 1996, the catch peaked at 130 million tonnes and in spite of massively increased industrial fishing, it’s been declining ever since—a harbinger of the kind of overshoot that unsustainable exploitation threatens across the board.
My bold.
Proof that physical limits don’t go away just because technology advances.
The UK passport is an expression of our independence and sovereignty – symbolising our citizenship of a proud, great nation. That's why we have announced that the iconic #bluepassport will return after we leave the European Union in 2019. https://t.co/pgQvrBIna5— Theresa May (@theresa_may) December 22, 2017
When I was born in 1923 the British Empire comprised one fifth of the world's population of which the majority lived in squalor like my family. #bluepassport— Harry Leslie Smith (@Harryslaststand) December 22, 2017
Unfortunately Jill, HRC’s loss means the Republican chaired congressional committees, the Republican headed DOJ, FBI, NSA ,CIA, and the Republican Special Counsel can have at it. Idiot.
/
Jill Stein: ‘Clinton Democrats’ Dragged Me Into Russia Probe as ‘Punishment’ For 2016 Run
After your visit to Moscow and your meeting with Vladimir Putin you said that “the world deserve[s] a new commitment to collaborative dialogue between our governments to avert disastrous wars for geopolitical domination, destruction of the climate, and cascading injustices that promote violence and terrorism.” We agree with you. But how can this new “collaborative dialogue” be possible when Mr. Putin has deliberately built a system based on corruption, injustice, falsification of elections, and violation of human rights and international law? How is it possible to have a discussion with Mr. Putin and not mention, not even once, the fate of Russian political prisoners, or the attacks against Russian journalists, artists, and environmentalists? Is it fair to speak with him about “geopolitics” and not mention new Russian laws against freedom of speech, restrictions on NGOs and activists, or the shameful law that forbids “homosexual propaganda”?
By silencing Putin’s crimes you are silencing our struggle. By shaking his hand and failing to criticize his regime you are becoming his accomplice. By forgetting what international solidarity means you are insulting the Russian environmental movement.
So you have not listened to a word Jill Stein has said have you, for someone who professes to hate misogynists – that’s a bit sexist is it not?
That said, what have the Russian greens ever done, except attack Jill Stein? It’s not a very accomplished or comprehensive list. Hard to find much on them. This
Perhaps you could point to the connections between the letter’s signatories, Yevgeniya Chirikova and Nadezda Kutepova, and the Russian Ecological Party.
JIll Stein is the leader of the American Green party. You said Russian Greens – in capitals I might add, which to a lay person like me took to mean it came from a political party. Rather than individuals who hold green values.
Your implication also said all the Greens in Russia, rather than two individuals.
Or were you just implying it came from a political party to counter Stein being a member and leader of the American Greens?
You lost me at this point.
So your basic argument is, Stien is evil and a russian tool – and look I have two people who agree with me.
In the meantime, the whole prosecution of the left carries on, with people like you enabling the new McCarthyism.
Arguing intent over a capitalisation, whatevers. but in my world espousing green values and principles means they’re greens.
And FYI, a congressional committee looking into Stein’s hobnobbing with Flynn, a convicted criminal and potential traitor, and a murderous thug ain’t McCarthyism.
The issue is: what was the event, and who paid for Flynn’s attendance. And basic diligence says to ask the same questions about any other us political figure at the event.
Now, the repugs will try and beat up Stein over this, but I suspect that unlike Flynn she took care to do everything legally (e.g. paid her own way rather than accepting gifts from Russians, avoid making foreign policy commitments to strange men).
One tactic used by proponents of Neoliberalism is the weaponizing of language; a prime example being “welfare dependency.” Here’s a snappy little deconstruction of the term from NZ Council of Christian Social Services site:
“Welfare dependency is an ill-defined concept that is often referred to without any attempt to explain what it means. It implies that welfare benefits are some kind of “drug” that people in poverty are addicted to and the only cure is withdrawal!”
If the beneficiaries & poor are the “addicts” then neoliberalism is the “drug syndicates” that created the dependency and thrive on it; money is the “drug”, of course. In other words, as long as there’s neoliberalism there is and will be (a need for) social welfare as we know it. Dissolve the former and the latter will evaporate with it.
my ex knows exactly how much she can earn before it affects her income support (wff in her case) and turns down work if it will take her over , sounds dependant to me.
If she’s getting wff, I suspect a better description is because of the abatement of wff, combined with income tax, and possibly extra expenses to do with working extra hours, means she gets so little extra in the hand from extra hours of work that it’s just not worth it to her. That’s a different scenario than “turns down work to get free money”.
she went from a permanent part time job to a job that can easily have a cashy bit to it , i livetd with her 12 years i know how she thinks , lefties need to stop dreaming that every one on the benefit is doing there best to be self supporting , ( by the way yes i pay her money every week , plus provide for my kid in other ways and have her 3 nights a week , no i get no wff)
No, she turns down extra hours to avoid being unfairly penalised.
It’s only called free money by rabid haters who frequent newswinge ZB. It’s actually a tax rebate protected by law to recognise the often high costs of raising children.
Exactly the same a back in the days of Muldoon and the tax rates then. In a job I had in ’82 I had to be very careful how much overtime I worked or I went up a tax bracket (36 – 45% I think, been to sleep a few times since then). Nett effect was that if I worked two Saturday mornings a fortnight I got less in the hand than if I had just worked 5 days. One had me just under the threshold by a couple of dollars.
That was actually working as indented to a large degree. Back in those days the government had a policy of full employment and policies like Penal Rates and high taxes to enforce it.
Basically, the government had rules to make it better to employ someone else rather than have people work longer.
But there was also another aspect of that that you’re not mentioning: Back then people also had to fill in a tax return every year. You may have gone up to the higher tax bracket over a week but if that only happened a time or two then, at the end of the year when you filed your tax return, you’d get a large part of it back because over the year you weren’t in the higher tax bracket.
I’m very much in favour of getting everyone to fill in their tax returns every year again.
Yeah, tax return time was nice but it really pissed me off at the time. I was a leading hand on the job so really had to be there, and was earning a bit more for the responsibility, so it affected me but not the other guys.
And it would have been great if we could have got more staff, there were three major projects going on in Marlbrough then, so no spare construction staff, and no accomodation either. Contractors tried bringing in staff from around the country but they couldn’t find anywhere to live. I was living in the nurses home for a while, not ideal living on hospital food when you’re doing heavy physical work, and various pubs, again not ideal long term, and eventually found something to rent.
Would have loved to have had a 40 hr job then, it was a nice place, but didn’t really have the option because all the other contractors were in the same position.
I used to work a casual job with a flatmate. She had to do a three hour stretch before she broke even with the allowance abatement. She did it just to keep her hand in, not because she ended up working for significantly less than minimum wage over the entire shift.
That’s “dependency” in the same way that prison is “reluctance to travel”.
could she have worked more , i know alot on benefits want off , but not all, there are deffinately people who structure their life to maximize the what they can get , knowingly or not that makes them dependant because they are unwilling or unable to wean them selves off.,
No. It was casual, at the behest of the roster-keeper.
Like most people on a benefit, if she could have had a decent job, she would have. Maybe your ex is one of the exceptions, who could have worked 40/wk with a decent income but chose to stay on a benefit.
But seriously, dealing with abatements, having the call centre fuck up the details and take forever to give you the pay they fucked up and underpaid (after you spent ages on hold with them), or getting threatening letters because they fucked up and didn’t process the abatement properly and decided that you were committing benefit fraud – all for an additional amount that barely covers transport and parking costs to get to the bloody job… That’s the decision a lot of people face, and I don’t begrudge them whatever they choose.
i don’t begrudge the ex , if she wants to live poor thats her choice . i just think dependancy on the state is real ,and her case proves it, the state will be part of the problem , but until people admit that it has made people dependant then they are part of the problem to .
I think calling them “dependant” artificially restricts consideration of the issue.
The issue is that the transition from benefit to work is a massive barrier for a huge number of reasons, and if the reward for crossing that barrier isn’t enough to live in dignity, a very small proportion of the unemployed population will say “why bother”. I can’t say I’d blame them for that.
But the vast majority really want work, a decent job that they’d give a decent effort at. But they get stuck going from dead-end job to dead-end job, back on the dole in the meantime until the next exploitative and systematically temporary job comes up.
Her (i.e. your ex) choices are severely limited by the so-called social welfare system with its controlling bureaucracy that has been set up and institutionalised by the State. It is cruel, it is unjust, it is prolonged, it is burdensome and it is through/by the authority of the State; to me these are all hallmarks of oppression. Regardless of the (‘victim’) label, it is not a situation that should be advocated and continued and a proper UBI may go a long way to a more just solution.
She should be able to better her situation for 3 months before the deductions start, and they should be at a reasonable pace to allow a full transition. IMO
Nipped out at dawn, caught a big kingfish, gutted and filleted him on the beach, smoked him in the backyard, we ate him for lunch with homemade mayo, lashings of butter, and a big crusty loaf washed down with artisan cider. Life is good. Nap time!
Stayed at Urapukapuka Island one summer, we used to nip out early for a few snapper, 20 minutes max, then we’d be back to barbecue them with Mum’s special seasoning, YUM
Nipped out at dawn, caught a big kingfish, gutted and filleted him on the beach, smoked him in the backyard, we are him for lunch with homemade mayo, lashings of butter, and a big crusty loaf washed down with artisan cider, and Jacinda is still PM. Life is good. Nap time!
Wars usually have their origin when participants start lying to themselves
From the Herald
“With unusual fanfare, President Donald Trump unveiled a new National Security Strategy last week that cast China and Russia as competitors for global power and potential threats to the United States.”
Quote
“China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity,” the document states. “They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.”
It is the USA government that is making their economy less free and fair – ending net neutrality (blocking access to some sites may result) and undermining health care for all while handing out tax cuts to the advantaged ion their society.
And yes, spending more on their military.
The US government with its surveillance programmes and covert targeting operations does as much as would be expected of any empire to suppress opposition.
It’s opposition to free trade is based on America first and undermining the prosperity of other nations.
Total hypocrisy. And such big lies lead to division, contention and ultimately war.
And such big lies lead to division, contention and ultimately war.
A more accurate and helpful description would be to call them “projections”. They are taken as ‘real’ and ‘true’ without realisation of their origin and affect.
I no the muppets take Christmas and Easter off this has been going on for a few years. They must not have anything better to do A. I no they are pissed that national lost they are getting put the good honest standards that OUR new coalition government expects of all state employees. The retired ones are losing there PE testing gravy train that one who intimidated that boy locking up making him go to Australia well he is retired now Ka pai there is much more going on behind the seens. There job is to serve us not intimidat us and use us.
Labour knows that they interfear in the election smearing Phil Geoff. I reckon that all political parties should have gray as there colour so the police don’t automatically support national some people can be influenced just by colour
Ana to kai
Compliments of the season to all contributors to TS.
My wish for 2018 is that we are governed more by the heart and not the wallet. Let’s hope for a much kinder and caring year, particularly towards those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
Above all else I wish you all good health, the real wealth. Those who are struggling with a long term condition, may you find help and peace. Seasons Greetings.
SCANDAL! Those beastly unarmed Palestinian
women are slapping our brave Israeli soldiers.
When a woman is faced by a maniac, what is she to do? . . . In her rage she will slap him . . . That is to say, the woman will use all her physical strength. Will that not constitute violence? . . . In a situation like [this], slapping or scratching, if the occasion demands it, does not constitute violence. The trust of a woman who slaps is not in the slap, her trust is in God . . . Her expression is not an expression of violence, only of her opposition . . . Her anger, her alarm, proclaims for herself as well as for the man her preparedness to die . . . Instead of feeling helpless and scared, she should say to herself: “I shall offer up my body and life, but shall not become a coward.” Her slap or scratching indicates this resolve. It is in itself non-violence. She has no strength to cause harm. Hence her act is not violence.
—-Mahatma Gandhi, “What Women Should Do in a Difficult Situation,” Collected Works, 4 September 1932
Israeli education minister Naftali Bennett reckons she should be sent to prison for life and professor of Jewish history Micheal Oren says because Ahed has blue eyes, her and her family aren’t a real family.
Remember the Palestinian girl who tried to defend her younger brother from Israeli soldiers? She's just been arrested. pic.twitter.com/eUvkye7yAp— AJ+ (@ajplus) December 19, 2017
The Tamimi family—which may not be a real family—dresses up kids in American clothes and pays them to provoke IDF troops on camera. This cynical and cruel use of children constitutes abuse. Human rights organizations must investigate! https://t.co/Pm5nXhcbo0 via @wallanews— Michael Oren (@DrMichaelOren) December 19, 2017
Thanks Joe. I read Michael Oren’s Six Days of War a few years ago. It’s written with the same degree of intelligence and insight as his slander of the Tamimi family.
Hasbarites will be doing overtime trying to put this particular fire out.
my uncle Rushdi Tamimi who was murdered by Israeli soldiers a year ago. i'll never forget you.😪 pic.twitter.com/D3CmNjwKOp— Ahed Tamimi (@AhedALTamimi) December 1, 2015
The way they operate is to simply flood selected sites with pro-Israeli comments and simply drown any chance of rational discussion. Some of them come across as reasonable and intelligent, but most of them are simply savage and bloody-minded. One of the very worst is our own WAYNE MAPP, who just posted this choice morsel over on Kiwiblog the other day:
The West Bank is subject to an occupation governed by international law.
I have been anerlise the way the state is treating eco and how the neo liberals have been treating US for the last 9 years. I have come to this conclusion that the reason that New Zealand had the highest standards of living in the World in the 50 60 is because these neo liberal bigots stole OUR land trough deceit and when it suited them they made laws to justify this theft they also used deceit to cover up this theft using the media to set public persicption that all the land transfered/stolen was honest and legal YEA RIGHT They used the farcical Court system they set up to steal land how do I know this well they are using the courts to suppress me. It was fate that Maori had Sir Apirana Ngata to slow down the neo liberals theft of Maoris assets he had a lot of land put into trust to protect Maori assets he layed the plans for most of the Marae. And I say we should use OUR Marae more houseing the home less as they are doing in Auckland this will be much cheaper than using motels ass the motelers are price gouging we need to use OUR Marae much more use it or we will lose them . I see a lot of run down Marare. We need to uterlise OUR Marae to UNITE all Maori as one people and one voice if New Zealand first can be Queen maker with 8% of the vote than Maori can directly control who becomes Queen /King
As we have at least 20 % of the population and we could unite with our closes cultures in New Zealand OUR Pacific Islands cousin we will have 30% of the vote we are very very close on a lot of thing genetically culturely Maori migrated from the Pacific Islands 100s of years ago we have the same bad stats in NZ so What is good for Maori can be beneficial to our Pacific Islands cousin. This is not a mountainieos task but the neo liberals will pull all the dirty tricks out of there evil bag to stop this IE change laws propergader through MSM and social media any way they can dream up to fight US from ripping there greedy hands off the leavers that Run OUR Society. In OUR NZ society we could all have jobs that pay good money so one only has to work 40 hours a week to live comfortably the only reason we do not have that now is the greedy neo liberal don’t want to shear they cheat us on the reality of there state systems as being honest and humble and humane YEA RIGHT the state system are set to severe the 1% and this is the reason why OUR worlds has so much poverty the neo liberals are still pillaging Africa. I know that OUR African cousins are going to correct this an rip there leavers of control from the neo liberals and share there great resources more humane and fearly I see that happening now.
The main cultural we need to have when we get OUR Mana back is to respect our neighbours help our neighbours and everyone can live a long and peaceful prosperous life. It is dum to try and kick our neighbours and cheat them when we get our Mana back. Just because there te puna did it to us as it will turn into a dum ass shit fight. And we want New Zealand to be a humane humble helping environmental sustainabil society. We will help OUR Pacific Islands cousin servive climate change with technology and resources we are obliged to do this. Not to just exploit them like shonky has done. PS with what little I know about the subject it looks like block chain could replace money.
Ka kite ano
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Christopher Luxon is every dismal boss who ever made you wince, or roll your eyes, or think to yourself I have absolutely got to get the hell out of this place.Get a load of what he shared with us at his cabinet reshuffle, trying to be all sensitive and gracious.Dr ...
The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health's unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa. ...
Hi,Last night one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, TikTok, became inaccessible in the United States.Then, today, it came back online.Why should we care about a social network that deals in dance trends and cute babies? Well — TikTok represents a lot more than that.And its ban and subsequent ...
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the nightAnd rub my achin' old eyesIs that a voice from inside-a my headOr does it come down from the skies?"There's a time to laugh butThere's a time to weepAnd a time to make a big change"Wake-up you-bum-the-time has-comeTo arrange and re-arrange and ...
Former Health Minister Shane Reti was the main target of Luxon’s reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees ...
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...
Yesterday’s demotion of Shane Reti was inevitable. Reti’s attempt at a re-assuring bedside manner always did have a limited shelf life, and he would have been a poor and apologetic salesman on the campaign trail next year. As a trained doctor, he had every reason to be looking embarrassed about ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 12, 2025 thru Sat, January 18, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
After another substantial hiatus from online Chess, I’ve been taking it up again. I am genuinely terrible at five-minute Blitz, what with the tight time constraints, though I periodically con myself into thinking that I have been improving. But seeing as my past foray into Chess led to me having ...
Rise up o children wont you dance with meRise up little children come and set me freeRise little ones riseNo shame no fearDon't you know who I amSongwriter: Rebecca Laurel FountainI’m sure you know the go with this format. Some memories, some questions, letsss go…2015A decade ago, I made the ...
In 2017, when Ghahraman was elected to Parliament as a Green MP, she recounted both the highlights and challenges of her role -There was love, support, and encouragement.And on the flipside, there was intense, visceral and unchecked hate.That came with violent threats - many of them. More on that later.People ...
It gives me the biggest kick to learn that something I’ve enthused about has been enough to make you say Go on then, I'm going to do it. The e-bikes, the hearing aids, the prostate health, the cheese puffs. And now the solar power. Yes! Happy to share the details.We ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Can CO2 be ...
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has delivered a refreshed team focused on unleashing economic growth to make people better off, create more opportunities for business and help us afford the world-class health and education Kiwis deserve. “Last year, we made solid progress on the economy. Inflation has fallen significantly and now ...
Veterans’ Affairs and a pan-iwi charitable trust have teamed up to extend the reach and range of support available to veterans in the Bay of Plenty, Veterans Minister Chris Penk says. “A major issue we face is identifying veterans who are eligible for support,” Mr Penk says. “Incredibly, we do ...
A host of new appointments will strengthen the Waitangi Tribunal and help ensure it remains fit for purpose, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says. “As the Tribunal nears its fiftieth anniversary, the appointments coming on board will give it the right balance of skills to continue its important mahi hearing ...
Almost 22,000 FamilyBoost claims have been paid in the first 15 days of the year, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The ability to claim for FamilyBoost’s second quarter opened on January 1, and since then 21,936 claims have been paid. “I’m delighted people have made claiming FamilyBoost a priority on ...
The Government has delivered a funding boost to upgrade critical communication networks for Maritime New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand, ensuring frontline search and rescue services can save lives and keep Kiwis safe on the water, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand has ...
Mahi has begun that will see dozens of affordable rental homes developed in Gisborne - a sign the Government’s partnership with Iwi is enabling more homes where they’re needed most, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka attended a sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of earthworks for 48 ...
New Zealand welcomes the ceasefire deal to end hostilities in Gaza, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Over the past 15 months, this conflict has caused incomprehensible human suffering. We acknowledge the efforts of all those involved in the negotiations to bring an end to the misery, particularly the US, Qatar ...
The Associate Minster of Transport has this week told the community that work is progressing to ensure they have a secure and suitable shipping solution in place to give the Island certainty for its future. “I was pleased with the level of engagement the Request for Information process the Ministry ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he is proud of the Government’s commitment to increasing medicines access for New Zealanders, resulting in a big uptick in the number of medicines being funded. “The Government is putting patients first. In the first half of the current financial year there were more ...
New Zealand's first-class free trade deal and investment treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been signed. In Abu Dhabi, together with UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and accompanying investment treaty ...
The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, which shows the highest level of general business confidence since 2021, is a sign the economy is moving in the right direction, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “When businesses have the confidence to invest and grow, it means more jobs and higher ...
Events over the last few weeks have highlighted the importance of strong biosecurity to New Zealand. Our staff at the border are increasingly vigilant after German authorities confirmed the country's first outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in nearly 40 years on Friday in a herd of water buffalo ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee reminds the public that they now have an opportunity to have their say on the rewrite of the Arms Act 1983. “As flagged prior to Christmas, the consultation period for the Arms Act rewrite has opened today and will run through until 28 February 2025,” ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent Two LGBTQIA+ advocates in the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are up in arms over US President Donald Trump’s executive order rolling back protections for transgender people and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government. Pride Marianas ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Ricketson, Professor of Communication, Deakin University This week Prince Harry achieved something few before him have: an admission of guilt and unlawful behaviour from the Murdoch media organisation. But he also fell short of his long-stated goal of holding the Murdochs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Rowe, Associate Professor in Education, Deakin University As Australian families prepare for term 1, many will receive letters from their public schools asking them to pay fees. While public schools are supposed to be “free”, parents are regularly asked to ...
Analysis - At first glance the Prime Minister's fresh plan to inject growth in the economy is a hark back to pre-Covid days and the last National government. ...
Labour Party MPs have kicked off the political year with a spring in their step and fire in their bellies, ready to announce some policies and ramp up the attack strategy.Clad in a casual shirt and jandals, leader Chris Hipkins entered the Distinction Hotel in Palmerston North, guns blazing and ...
COMMENTARY:By Nick RockelPeople get readyThere’s a train a-comingYou don’t need no baggageYou just get on boardAll you need is faithTo hear the diesels hummingDon’t need no ticketYou just thank the Lord Songwriter: Curtis Mayfield You might have seen Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s speech at the National Prayer Service ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Williamson, Senior Tutor in English, University of Canterbury Disney+ “Motherhood,” the beleaguered stay-at-home mother of Nightbitch tells us in contemplative voice-over, “is probably the most violent experience a human can have aside from death itself”. Increasingly depicted as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clive Schofield, Professor, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong Getty Images Among the blizzard of executive orders issued by Donald Trump on his first day back in the Oval Office was one titled Restoring Names ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lewis Ingram, Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of South Australia Undrey/Shutterstock Whether improving your flexibility was one of your new year’s resolutions, or you’ve been inspired watching certain tennis stars warming up at the Australian Open, maybe 2025 has you keen to ...
Christopher Luxon says the government wants tourism "turned on big time internationally" in response to a mayor's call for more funding for the sector. ...
The NZTU's OIA request shows that across the Governor-General's six trips to London between June 2022 and May 2023, the Office of Governor-General incurred just over £10000 / $20000 NZ on VIP services for the Governor-General and those travelling ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Armin Chitizadeh, Lecturer, School of Computer Science, University of Sydney Collagery/Shutterstock In one of his first moves as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump announced a new US$500 billion project called Stargate to accelerate the development of artificial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hart, Emeritus Faculty, US government and politics specialist, Australian National University On his last day in office, outgoing United States President Joe Biden issued a number of preemptive pardons essentially to protect some leading public figures and members of his own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynn Nazareth, Research Scientist in Olfactory Biology, CSIRO DimaBerlin/Shutterstock Would you give up your sense of smell to keep your hair? What about your phone? A 2022 US study compared smell to other senses (sight and hearing) and personally prized commodities ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebekkah Markey-Towler, PhD Candidate, Melbourne Law School, and Research fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne EPA On his first day back in office as United States president, Donald Trump gave formal notice of his nation’s exit from the Paris ...
Taxpayers' Union Spokesman, Jordan Williams, said “the speech was more about feels and repeating old announcements than concrete policy changes to improve New Zealand’s prosperity.” ...
Callaghan Innovation has shown itself to be a toxic organisation, with a culture that leads to waste on a wallet-shattering scale, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said. ...
"It is great to see this Government listening to the mining sector and showing a clear understanding of its value to the economy in terms of jobs and investment in communities, as well as export earnings," Vidal says. ...
The long overdue science reform strategy promises another huge restructure on top of the restructure endured by science agencies to date, creating more uncertainty and worry for thousands of science workers. ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Jeremy Rose The International Court of Justice heard last month that after reconstruction is factored in Israel’s war on Gaza will have emitted 52 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. A figure equivalent to the annual emissions of 126 states and territories. It seems ...
Some feel-good nature wins to start your year. Sure, 2024 wasn’t what you’d call a “feel-good” year for the natural world. But if your heart sank at each new blow to conservation (hello fast track bill, goodbye Jobs for Nature funding, looking at you, conservation and science budget cuts), let ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Resolve poll for Nine newspapers, conducted January 15–21 from a sample of 1,610, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead using ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa French, Professor & Dean, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University Searchlight Pictures In 1961, aged 19, Bob Dylan left home in Minnesota for New York City and never looked back. Unknown when he arrived, he would later be widely ...
Body Shop NZ has been put into voluntary liquidation. We reach out into the Dewberry mists of time to farewell some of our cruelty-free favs. Before Mecca was the mecca, before Sephora sold retinol to tweens and before the internet made beauty content a lucrative career path, there was The ...
According to official Customs information, total interceptions of illegal cigarettes and cigars grew 31.4%, from 4.94 million in 2019–2020 to 6.5 million in 2023–2024. ...
The charity Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders, is calling on Luxon's National-led coalition government for more protection for the dolphins throughout their rang ...
National cannot fall into the habit of simply naming a new Ministerial portfolio and trying to jaw-bone public policy outcomes, says Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams. ...
Luxon is due to give his State of the Nation speech today which will once again prioritise the War On Nature. These destructive policies, including the fast track law, have become one of the trademarks of his first year in office. ...
The November results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2024 (HYEFU 2024), published on 17 December 2024, and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Until there is a considerable strengthening of the accountability mechanisms, the parliamentary term should not be extended, argues Brian Easton in this edited excerpt from his latest book In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong: 2017–2023.A British Lord Chancellor described the British political system as ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad has told an international conference in Bangkok that some of the most severely debt-stressed countries are the island states of the Pacific. Dr Prasad, who is also a former economic professor, said the harshest impacts of global ...
Comment: Labour should not have to be asking whether voters feel better off – but helping them feel that they realistically could be The post Do you feel better off, punk? Well, do ya? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Russell, ARC DECRA Associate Professor in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, La Trobe University Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show prisoner numbers are growing in every Australian state and territory — except Victoria. Nationally, our per capita imprisonment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bioantika, PhD Candidate, Global Centre for Mineral Security, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland An excavator dredges sea sand in Lhokseumawe, Sumatra.Mohd Arafat/Shutterstock Over 20 years ago, then Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri banned the export of sea sand from her ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Vlcek, Lecturer in inclusive education, RMIT University Annie Spratt/Unsplash, CC BY From next week, schools will start to return for term 1. This can be a nervous time for some students, who might be anxious about new teachers, classes and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynn Buckley, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Reforms to the Companies Act are meant to make Aotearoa New Zealand an easier and safer place to do business. But key gaps in the reforms mean they could fall ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tuba Degirmenci, PhD Candidate School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, Queensland University of Technology Tsuguliev/Shutterstock We’ve all seen the marketing message “handmade with love”. It’s designed to tug at our heartstrings, suggesting extra care and affection went into crafting a ...
tis Christmas Eve, so wishing you all a happy Christmas.
We are doing our traditional Christmas “thing” with family – generally eating too much ham and turkey and playing old board games. (ed substitute that for a turnip if that make you more comfortable).
Hope 2018 goes better for those of you who have had a poor 2017, and for those who had a good 2017 – may 2018 exceed it.
Monopoly, no doubt.
I went for whole baked salmon, stuffed with apricots, red onions, and sweet chili sauce, covered in couscous (to keep the moisture in).
I am the main cook this year – it’s at my sister’s house but she’s too exhausted.
I’m looking forward to the animal charm my Ford-obsessed bogal brother and his squad of Bodeans are going to exert over my Victorian mother-in-law.
Rose Slushies Forever!
Sounds stunning. Pretty easy to keep them moist. Enjoy.
Merry Christmas James. Hope you and your family have a good festive break. See you in 2018, for more fun political debate.
I see the US ambassador to Netherlands is lying about his lies.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/100155998/donald-trumps-new-ambassador-to-the-netherlands-caught-lying-about-his-own-lies
Many thanks to Valerie Adams for being a great role model for all the Lady’s around OUR WORLD to aspire to and the best thing is that she brown. I admire that you and your brother show the rest of the World the good humble humane Kiwi nature and use have come from humble beginning Kai kaha
“And the best thing is that she is brown”.
That shouldn’t have anything to do with anything.
The fact that she is being a good role model is the only thing that matters. it’s nice that you applaud her and acknowledge the fact – but it’s not a skin colour issue.
I guess you’ve swallowed the post-racial Kool-aid but it is a skin colour thing, James.
Young brown women are interested in the put because they identify with Dame Valerie in the same way young Pākehā women are interested pole vaulting, because they identify with Eliza McCartney.
So the best thing about Adams is that she is brown Joe 90 ?
No kook aid here. I can see the person (and there is no doubt she is an amazing person ) not her colour.
Silly question james but what percentage of advertising images of women are brown? What percentage of newspaper articles talk about brown women in a positive light?
Maybe, in a world where the dominate media did portray people of all colours and races in a equal amount the we could be colour blind. Until then, brown roll modes are somthing aspire to, when most of the images and stories are of white women.
Of course not. But In the context of eco maori’s comment about Adams and inspiration, the folk most in need of inspiration in our society are young Māori and PI women and because just like me is a thing, Dame Valerie’s skin colour does matter to them.
James go piss in the wind somewhere else you have been trying to get me to ingage in your neo liberal dum ass views for a while. I have no time to waste on you Ana to kai
No I havnt – in fact the only replies I can remember sending to you were when you were convinced that people were following you etc, and I very politely and with respect suggested you talk to somebody.
Calling you up on racist statements isnt “neo liberal dum ass views” – its calling you up for “dum ass” racist statements.
Eco maori, I often agree with what you are saying but in this instance – I am not. You are inferring that not only is it “best” for Mrs Adams that she is brown – does it really matter if her efforts have got her there, she could have stripes for all that matters – and to this end that the rest of the world are not good humble human beings.
You might want to look at rephrasing this because this is so not like you.
Merry Christmas, Noel, Frohe Weihnacht, Buon Natale, peace on earth.
I no who needs there Wairua lifted in the most in OUR beautiful country foreign waka I stand by what I have Written Kai kaha
Apologies Valerie I forgot to Congratulat you for your new baby I was looking after my blue eye mokos who is my Paua I had planned to mention that first Ka pai
This is one outstanding dance accompaniment to Uptown Funk, all interconnected with 1930s,1940s and 1950s dance numbers:
Brilliant!
Thanks for this clip Ad (4) … I’m of the vintage being able to remember when I saw some of these great musicals. Oh to be able to move like that. Dancing at its very best.
I have seen a dance clip of a young adult Michael Jackson tap dancing with a couple of other guys. Boy oh boy he was up there with the best of the song and dance performers. An amazing and incredible talent lost to the musical world. RIP Michael.
just came across this and have nothing to add to but a a yeah, sadly so, might 2018 bring about much needed change, but i highly doubt. No guts, no glory – it seems it affects our politicians across the spectrum.
https://imgur.com/ZnFshU4
Merry Christmas everybody, to all in this forum. How great that ideas and comments can be shared without getting too much out of hand 🙂
Have a safe and successful New Year.
What Will It Really Take to Avoid Collapse?
My bold.
Proof that physical limits don’t go away just because technology advances.
Oh, and that Malthus was right.
Go Harry!
The Jill Stein attacks are just the rebirth McCarthyism. 18 min
Unfortunately Jill, HRC’s loss means the Republican chaired congressional committees, the Republican headed DOJ, FBI, NSA ,CIA, and the Republican Special Counsel can have at it. Idiot.
/
Jill Stein: ‘Clinton Democrats’ Dragged Me Into Russia Probe as ‘Punishment’ For 2016 Run
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/jill-stein-clinton-democrats-dragged-me-into-russia-probe-as-punishment-for-2016-run/
Even your own link does not say what you are saying joe90.
The headline says what you want, but the piece underneath doesn’t.
So more of the same from you Joe90, this alt-right methodology. Maybe you should just run with breitbart, it seems to be your play book at the moment.
Nah. I’m with the Russian Greens.
After your visit to Moscow and your meeting with Vladimir Putin you said that “the world deserve[s] a new commitment to collaborative dialogue between our governments to avert disastrous wars for geopolitical domination, destruction of the climate, and cascading injustices that promote violence and terrorism.” We agree with you. But how can this new “collaborative dialogue” be possible when Mr. Putin has deliberately built a system based on corruption, injustice, falsification of elections, and violation of human rights and international law? How is it possible to have a discussion with Mr. Putin and not mention, not even once, the fate of Russian political prisoners, or the attacks against Russian journalists, artists, and environmentalists? Is it fair to speak with him about “geopolitics” and not mention new Russian laws against freedom of speech, restrictions on NGOs and activists, or the shameful law that forbids “homosexual propaganda”?
By silencing Putin’s crimes you are silencing our struggle. By shaking his hand and failing to criticize his regime you are becoming his accomplice. By forgetting what international solidarity means you are insulting the Russian environmental movement.
https://pplswar.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/russian-greens-open-letter-to-jill-stein/
WOW, just wow.
So you have not listened to a word Jill Stein has said have you, for someone who professes to hate misogynists – that’s a bit sexist is it not?
That said, what have the Russian greens ever done, except attack Jill Stein? It’s not a very accomplished or comprehensive list. Hard to find much on them. This
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Ecological_Party_%22The_Greens%22
Mmm so tools for propaganda purposes then, seems you had another breitbart moment joe90.
Perhaps you could point to the connections between the letter’s signatories, Yevgeniya Chirikova and Nadezda Kutepova, and the Russian Ecological Party.
You said greens.
So the individuals are not part of the russian green party?
So why say greens?
Environmentalists who espouse green values and principles aren’t greens…..righto….
/
JIll Stein is the leader of the American Green party. You said Russian Greens – in capitals I might add, which to a lay person like me took to mean it came from a political party. Rather than individuals who hold green values.
Your implication also said all the Greens in Russia, rather than two individuals.
Or were you just implying it came from a political party to counter Stein being a member and leader of the American Greens?
You lost me at this point.
So your basic argument is, Stien is evil and a russian tool – and look I have two people who agree with me.
In the meantime, the whole prosecution of the left carries on, with people like you enabling the new McCarthyism.
Have a great day tomorrow.
Arguing intent over a capitalisation, whatevers. but in my world espousing green values and principles means they’re greens.
And FYI, a congressional committee looking into Stein’s hobnobbing with Flynn, a convicted criminal and potential traitor, and a murderous thug ain’t McCarthyism.
Really joe90 – guilt by association (one dinner), with no other evidence.
Who died and made you Stalin?
Insults are all you’ve got?
Weak.
The issue isn’t the picture.
The issue is: what was the event, and who paid for Flynn’s attendance. And basic diligence says to ask the same questions about any other us political figure at the event.
Now, the repugs will try and beat up Stein over this, but I suspect that unlike Flynn she took care to do everything legally (e.g. paid her own way rather than accepting gifts from Russians, avoid making foreign policy commitments to strange men).
This is a good read, and has links to answer your question McFlock.
http://www.gp.org/mccarthyite_campaign
One tactic used by proponents of Neoliberalism is the weaponizing of language; a prime example being “welfare dependency.” Here’s a snappy little deconstruction of the term from NZ Council of Christian Social Services site:
“Welfare dependency is an ill-defined concept that is often referred to without any attempt to explain what it means. It implies that welfare benefits are some kind of “drug” that people in poverty are addicted to and the only cure is withdrawal!”
http://nzccss.org.nz/work/poverty/facts-about-poverty/fact-6-making-life-hell-on-a-benefit-does-not-reduce-poverty/
http://nzccss.org.nz/work/poverty/facts-about-poverty/
Nice one!
If the beneficiaries & poor are the “addicts” then neoliberalism is the “drug syndicates” that created the dependency and thrive on it; money is the “drug”, of course. In other words, as long as there’s neoliberalism there is and will be (a need for) social welfare as we know it. Dissolve the former and the latter will evaporate with it.
+100 Incognito
my ex knows exactly how much she can earn before it affects her income support (wff in her case) and turns down work if it will take her over , sounds dependant to me.
No, that is oppression, by the State and sanctioned by (our) society.
bull , she turns down work to get free money , people do it from rich to poor , how you solve it i don’t know , probably a ubi
If she’s getting wff, I suspect a better description is because of the abatement of wff, combined with income tax, and possibly extra expenses to do with working extra hours, means she gets so little extra in the hand from extra hours of work that it’s just not worth it to her. That’s a different scenario than “turns down work to get free money”.
she went from a permanent part time job to a job that can easily have a cashy bit to it , i livetd with her 12 years i know how she thinks , lefties need to stop dreaming that every one on the benefit is doing there best to be self supporting , ( by the way yes i pay her money every week , plus provide for my kid in other ways and have her 3 nights a week , no i get no wff)
No, she turns down extra hours to avoid being unfairly penalised.
It’s only called free money by rabid haters who frequent newswinge ZB. It’s actually a tax rebate protected by law to recognise the often high costs of raising children.
Exactly the same a back in the days of Muldoon and the tax rates then. In a job I had in ’82 I had to be very careful how much overtime I worked or I went up a tax bracket (36 – 45% I think, been to sleep a few times since then). Nett effect was that if I worked two Saturday mornings a fortnight I got less in the hand than if I had just worked 5 days. One had me just under the threshold by a couple of dollars.
That was actually working as indented to a large degree. Back in those days the government had a policy of full employment and policies like Penal Rates and high taxes to enforce it.
Basically, the government had rules to make it better to employ someone else rather than have people work longer.
But there was also another aspect of that that you’re not mentioning: Back then people also had to fill in a tax return every year. You may have gone up to the higher tax bracket over a week but if that only happened a time or two then, at the end of the year when you filed your tax return, you’d get a large part of it back because over the year you weren’t in the higher tax bracket.
I’m very much in favour of getting everyone to fill in their tax returns every year again.
Yeah, tax return time was nice but it really pissed me off at the time. I was a leading hand on the job so really had to be there, and was earning a bit more for the responsibility, so it affected me but not the other guys.
And it would have been great if we could have got more staff, there were three major projects going on in Marlbrough then, so no spare construction staff, and no accomodation either. Contractors tried bringing in staff from around the country but they couldn’t find anywhere to live. I was living in the nurses home for a while, not ideal living on hospital food when you’re doing heavy physical work, and various pubs, again not ideal long term, and eventually found something to rent.
Would have loved to have had a 40 hr job then, it was a nice place, but didn’t really have the option because all the other contractors were in the same position.
I used to work a casual job with a flatmate. She had to do a three hour stretch before she broke even with the allowance abatement. She did it just to keep her hand in, not because she ended up working for significantly less than minimum wage over the entire shift.
That’s “dependency” in the same way that prison is “reluctance to travel”.
could she have worked more , i know alot on benefits want off , but not all, there are deffinately people who structure their life to maximize the what they can get , knowingly or not that makes them dependant because they are unwilling or unable to wean them selves off.,
No. It was casual, at the behest of the roster-keeper.
Like most people on a benefit, if she could have had a decent job, she would have. Maybe your ex is one of the exceptions, who could have worked 40/wk with a decent income but chose to stay on a benefit.
But seriously, dealing with abatements, having the call centre fuck up the details and take forever to give you the pay they fucked up and underpaid (after you spent ages on hold with them), or getting threatening letters because they fucked up and didn’t process the abatement properly and decided that you were committing benefit fraud – all for an additional amount that barely covers transport and parking costs to get to the bloody job… That’s the decision a lot of people face, and I don’t begrudge them whatever they choose.
i don’t begrudge the ex , if she wants to live poor thats her choice . i just think dependancy on the state is real ,and her case proves it, the state will be part of the problem , but until people admit that it has made people dependant then they are part of the problem to .
I think calling them “dependant” artificially restricts consideration of the issue.
The issue is that the transition from benefit to work is a massive barrier for a huge number of reasons, and if the reward for crossing that barrier isn’t enough to live in dignity, a very small proportion of the unemployed population will say “why bother”. I can’t say I’d blame them for that.
But the vast majority really want work, a decent job that they’d give a decent effort at. But they get stuck going from dead-end job to dead-end job, back on the dole in the meantime until the next exploitative and systematically temporary job comes up.
Not to mention a 13 week stand down for someone who quits a job.
Even if it is inadequate hours, wages or the employer is bullying them to the stage their health is being affected.
Perhaps you don’t appreciate how difficult it is to run a household with children as well as working 40 hours per week.
Bringing up children is work.
One of the most necessary and useful jobs there is.
Meanwhile, on Earth, poverty makes people dependent, and poverty is a matter of economics, not choice.
Her (i.e. your ex) choices are severely limited by the so-called social welfare system with its controlling bureaucracy that has been set up and institutionalised by the State. It is cruel, it is unjust, it is prolonged, it is burdensome and it is through/by the authority of the State; to me these are all hallmarks of oppression. Regardless of the (‘victim’) label, it is not a situation that should be advocated and continued and a proper UBI may go a long way to a more just solution.
It’s not free money – it’s tax payers money.
No, it’s a portion of her tax returned to her.
She’s a tax payer.
No, that’s poorly designed systems.
A well designed system would have it so that it didn’t matter how much she earned.
She should be able to better her situation for 3 months before the deductions start, and they should be at a reasonable pace to allow a full transition. IMO
The links are excellent too – worth following.
Nipped out at dawn, caught a big kingfish, gutted and filleted him on the beach, smoked him in the backyard, we ate him for lunch with homemade mayo, lashings of butter, and a big crusty loaf washed down with artisan cider. Life is good. Nap time!
Nice job. I’ve never had luck (or skill) catching kingfish – but love them.
Sounds like a great start to Christmas.
Enjoy.
O for awesome!
My salmon flew up from Stewart Island yesterday.
mmmm salmon wings
Don’t have the fish (not that means much to me as eating fish makes me sick) but we do have home made:
Mead
Honey liqueur
Brandy
Coffee liqueur
Spicy orange liqueur
And a few more.
I’m not so sure it is the fish that is making you sick.
Not when I look at that list.
😆
On the question of being crook on consumption, respect for your experience Alwyn.
What about egg nog? Bah humbug
How did the kingfish die ? Did you or someone else kill it or did it die a slow death ashore or in a boat ?
We beat it to death with a plastic spoon.
The usual way is a quick slice of the spinal cord below the head.
It seems many on this site have little interest in animal welfare.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/sep/14/fish-forgotten-victims
Stayed at Urapukapuka Island one summer, we used to nip out early for a few snapper, 20 minutes max, then we’d be back to barbecue them with Mum’s special seasoning, YUM
Nipped out at dawn, caught a big kingfish, gutted and filleted him on the beach, smoked him in the backyard, we are him for lunch with homemade mayo, lashings of butter, and a big crusty loaf washed down with artisan cider, and Jacinda is still PM. Life is good. Nap time!
Sanctuary, Shades of my childhood.
Wars usually have their origin when participants start lying to themselves
From the Herald
“With unusual fanfare, President Donald Trump unveiled a new National Security Strategy last week that cast China and Russia as competitors for global power and potential threats to the United States.”
Quote
“China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity,” the document states. “They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.”
It is the USA government that is making their economy less free and fair – ending net neutrality (blocking access to some sites may result) and undermining health care for all while handing out tax cuts to the advantaged ion their society.
And yes, spending more on their military.
The US government with its surveillance programmes and covert targeting operations does as much as would be expected of any empire to suppress opposition.
It’s opposition to free trade is based on America first and undermining the prosperity of other nations.
Total hypocrisy. And such big lies lead to division, contention and ultimately war.
A more accurate and helpful description would be to call them “projections”. They are taken as ‘real’ and ‘true’ without realisation of their origin and affect.
If you would like to know where I’m coming from, the following is a good read, for a number of reasons: https://globalfreedommovement.org/carl-jung-shadow-of-the-far-left/
There are more links here: https://thestandard.org.nz/shaking-the-tree/#comment-1424842 [HT to greywarshark ]
Thanks, the word projection leads onto … projection and transference …
I no the muppets take Christmas and Easter off this has been going on for a few years. They must not have anything better to do A. I no they are pissed that national lost they are getting put the good honest standards that OUR new coalition government expects of all state employees. The retired ones are losing there PE testing gravy train that one who intimidated that boy locking up making him go to Australia well he is retired now Ka pai there is much more going on behind the seens. There job is to serve us not intimidat us and use us.
Labour knows that they interfear in the election smearing Phil Geoff. I reckon that all political parties should have gray as there colour so the police don’t automatically support national some people can be influenced just by colour
Ana to kai
Compliments of the season to all contributors to TS.
My wish for 2018 is that we are governed more by the heart and not the wallet. Let’s hope for a much kinder and caring year, particularly towards those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
Kia kaha.
Above all else I wish you all good health, the real wealth. Those who are struggling with a long term condition, may you find help and peace. Seasons Greetings.
Erdogan tightens his hold.
SCANDAL! Those beastly unarmed Palestinian
women are slapping our brave Israeli soldiers.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/12/22/from-children-of-the-stone-to-women-of-the-smack-a-one-step-plan-to-end-the-israeli-occupation/
Her name is Ahed al Tamimi.
Israeli education minister Naftali Bennett reckons she should be sent to prison for life and professor of Jewish history Micheal Oren says because Ahed has blue eyes, her and her family aren’t a real family.
#AhedTamimi
Thanks Joe. I read Michael Oren’s Six Days of War a few years ago. It’s written with the same degree of intelligence and insight as his slander of the Tamimi family.
Hasbarites will be doing overtime trying to put this particular fire out.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRaMD_HW0AAf67_.jpg
The way they operate is to simply flood selected sites with pro-Israeli comments and simply drown any chance of rational discussion. Some of them come across as reasonable and intelligent, but most of them are simply savage and bloody-minded. One of the very worst is our own WAYNE MAPP, who just posted this choice morsel over on Kiwiblog the other day:
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/the_nasty_bds_crowd_target_lorde.html/comment-page-1#comment-2104642
” The West Bank is subject to an occupation governed by international law”
Fucking bullshit Wayne
Bradbury’s Christmas Wish List:
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/24/what-i-want-for-christmas/
Very altruistic. Personally I’ll settle for a
Lamborghini, a pair of supermodels, and a private yachthouse in AucklandI’ll settle 4 a lotto win
I have been anerlise the way the state is treating eco and how the neo liberals have been treating US for the last 9 years. I have come to this conclusion that the reason that New Zealand had the highest standards of living in the World in the 50 60 is because these neo liberal bigots stole OUR land trough deceit and when it suited them they made laws to justify this theft they also used deceit to cover up this theft using the media to set public persicption that all the land transfered/stolen was honest and legal YEA RIGHT They used the farcical Court system they set up to steal land how do I know this well they are using the courts to suppress me. It was fate that Maori had Sir Apirana Ngata to slow down the neo liberals theft of Maoris assets he had a lot of land put into trust to protect Maori assets he layed the plans for most of the Marae. And I say we should use OUR Marae more houseing the home less as they are doing in Auckland this will be much cheaper than using motels ass the motelers are price gouging we need to use OUR Marae much more use it or we will lose them . I see a lot of run down Marare. We need to uterlise OUR Marae to UNITE all Maori as one people and one voice if New Zealand first can be Queen maker with 8% of the vote than Maori can directly control who becomes Queen /King
As we have at least 20 % of the population and we could unite with our closes cultures in New Zealand OUR Pacific Islands cousin we will have 30% of the vote we are very very close on a lot of thing genetically culturely Maori migrated from the Pacific Islands 100s of years ago we have the same bad stats in NZ so What is good for Maori can be beneficial to our Pacific Islands cousin. This is not a mountainieos task but the neo liberals will pull all the dirty tricks out of there evil bag to stop this IE change laws propergader through MSM and social media any way they can dream up to fight US from ripping there greedy hands off the leavers that Run OUR Society. In OUR NZ society we could all have jobs that pay good money so one only has to work 40 hours a week to live comfortably the only reason we do not have that now is the greedy neo liberal don’t want to shear they cheat us on the reality of there state systems as being honest and humble and humane YEA RIGHT the state system are set to severe the 1% and this is the reason why OUR worlds has so much poverty the neo liberals are still pillaging Africa. I know that OUR African cousins are going to correct this an rip there leavers of control from the neo liberals and share there great resources more humane and fearly I see that happening now.
The main cultural we need to have when we get OUR Mana back is to respect our neighbours help our neighbours and everyone can live a long and peaceful prosperous life. It is dum to try and kick our neighbours and cheat them when we get our Mana back. Just because there te puna did it to us as it will turn into a dum ass shit fight. And we want New Zealand to be a humane humble helping environmental sustainabil society. We will help OUR Pacific Islands cousin servive climate change with technology and resources we are obliged to do this. Not to just exploit them like shonky has done. PS with what little I know about the subject it looks like block chain could replace money.
Ka kite ano