“Investigative Journalism: Why Bernie may have actually won New York
Even after Tuesday’s voting debacle, many have assumed that even without election-day mishaps, Hillary Clinton would have won New York. Fairly reasonable, right? After all, it was a decisive sixteen-point win in her home state.
Not so fast; I’m going to present a series of facts that should lead the rational observer to be suspicious of these results.
Before we begin, I want you to know that I am a staunch Sanders supporter; therefore, I will do my best to remove my “Bernie bias” from the equation (please join me in keeping a close eye on my personal beliefs, lest they color my analysis or cause me to omit relevant counter-evidence).
We’re going to examine the situation using a device called Occam’s razor, which essentially says to choose the simplest theory that covers all of the bases.
Let’s look at what we know.
… ”
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“With human beings, perception is e everything”
JENNY
or in this case the creation of misperception
…..there is a misperception, which has spread since Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver appeared on MSNBC last night. Numerous reports quoted Weaver and suggested the campaign plans to upend the will of voters and flip superdelegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination at the convention in July.
However, what Bump, Walsh, and others seem to misunderstand is Weaver made his comments under the presumption that neither Clinton nor Sanders will meet the 2,383 pledged delegate threshold needed to clinch the nomination before the convention. Both candidates will need to make cases to superdelegates to clinch the nomination.
Just because it hurts your delicate feelings it does not make it wrong The left now have a propensity to blame every loss and or poll result on corruption, the media and or the voters, never looking at there own inadequacies and that joe public just doesn’t want to buy their Kool Aid
“Just because it hurts your delicate feelings it does not make it wrong The left now have a propensity to blame every loss and or poll result on corruption…” Reddelusion
Reddelusion if you had read my comment and attached link, you would have seen that it is the Right that are claiming that Sanders is acting undemocratically, for daring to presume that he can lobby super delegates at the Democratic Convention in July. A tactic it seems is only permitted to born to rule establishment figures.
Is smugness the problem with the left? A long read in The Vox analysing the alienation of the liberal left from the ‘red neck’ working class they used to represent. http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism
I know I’m guilty of many of the examples the writer gives, as are so many of the commentatators of all of the left wing blogs. Maybe we need to change our attitudes and not underestimate the size of the chasm that has to crossed if we want to gain the reins of government ever again
Think the problems of the left have a lot to do with the consumer driven neolib world we now live in. Working class organisations have lost their influence while the workers now toil away for ever increasing hours for stagnated wages, they simply don’t have the conditions, resources or luxury of time to formulate any cohesive response.
One thing that I’ve noted over the last couple of years is that the people we need the least, the people who could be so easily replaced, these people are paid the most. And the inverse of course – the people we need the most are paid the least.
Pay matters. How much you earn can determine your lifestyle, where you can afford to live, and your aspirations and status. But to what extent does what we get paid confer ‘worth’?
What makes all this especially shocking is that it’s happening in a capitalist system, a system founded on capitalist values like efficiency and productivity. While politicians endlessly stress the need to downsize government, they remain largely silent as the number of bullshit jobs goes right on growing. This results in scenarios where, on the one hand, governments cut back on useful jobs in sectors like healthcare, education, and infrastructure – resulting in unemployment – while on the other investing millions in the unemployment industry of training and surveillance whose effectiveness has long been disproven.
Garbage men should earn more than bankers, but part of the problem is that garbage men will always earn more than cleaners and rest home workers. Traditional socialist movements lost many politicised women to feminism in the 70s because women were still being expected to make cups of tea and lie on their backs as their main role in the movement, and to put their own agenda and political needs aside until after the revolution.
That’s a generalisation, and not intended to render invisible all the socialist women who have done good work, nor the fact that not all of the traditional left was so biased. From the feminist side, women were talking about why they left those movements and committed to feminist politics instead. It’s hard to see how those women would go back, esp when there is still a strong stream of thought on the left that denigrates human rights issues (so called identity politics) and basically tells everyone that their needs can wait until after the revolution.
Likewise other people who don’t see class as the overarching issue that should take precedence over all others.
I do agree there is a big problem for the left though, in that the party political is now run by the middle classes. Plus the neoliberal capture.
another way to look at it rather than rolling out the stock lefty Neo liberal bollocks is that they can’t be bothered as most are happy enough and just getting on with it in the 21st century. This is to the disgust of the old liberal elite lefty institution (e.g. Academics, unions, labour) that are loosing their power base trying to create misery that is not there to manufacture victims to form a constituency for their own self interest, wealth and power
That smugness is one of the reasons I gave up on Russell Brown and his Public Address cronies. I have a Christian friend who spent years in Ethiopia working with victims of leprosy, war and rape at great psychological cost to herself and when I told them about her, they simply ridiculed her faith. I don’t forgive them for that, but then I’m not a Christian.
Not quite fair… I too am an atheist, but would not have used ridicule to diminish what your friend did. (Unless I thought it very funny and witty at the time…) I hope would not have diminished it at all.
The problem is that many people are desperately trying to justify the stance they have taken, and in conversation do not have time to consider where others are coming from.
It is all part of aging and becoming a grumpy old person. I know.. I think I have been there, but I can’t quite remember.
How many generations ago did the idea gain traction, that by voting in a given party – Labour in most of the English speaking world – that things would get better as society embarked on an ever upward trajectory of improvement that would eventually deliver (remember this?) a world based on socialist principles?
The left said that was never going to happen, because parliament could never be a route to socialism. Nevertheless, enough people were blindsided, improvements flowed to many for a time, and parliamentary statism became synonymous with ‘the left’…at the same time as the left was being systematically marginalised and its thoughts and vision eradicated from the consciousness of the population at large.
And now we’re in a cul-de-sac.
Statism cannot deliver. Markets cannot deliver. They’ve ‘done their dash’ and it’s all decline from now on in. Meanwhile, society at large has largely lost the vision and inspiration that used to inform and drive a substantial proportion of the people within it. What we have now is the spectacle of a shrinking faux left, flailing around trying to convince itself that it has something to offer…that its state bound, bastardised version of left vision and thought continues to carry any water. It’s got nothing.
Only those fortunate enough to be from families that were ‘lifted up’ and who have so far, not been dashed back down, are keen to perpetuate the myth of ‘progress’ by some supposedly ‘left’ parliamentary party fiddling with the art of chrematistics. (Google it). But growing numbers of people, staring back into a quality of life they imagine to be not a million miles away from the shite their great grandparents might have had to endure, just aren’t buying it any more.
Those people don’t need to be convinced that they should stick the course because things will work out. It’s the still comfortable liberals who need to be convinced that a wrong step was taken; that despite their current well being, failure to back track and get off the path we’re on is going to end in nothing but tears.
You doubt that? Then look around you.
The natural world is saying that you can’t have the life that you have. The natural world is saying that you can’t preserve it or build on it. We can’t fool the natural world, and the natural world is essentially saying that time’s up.
The natural world is saying that you can’t have the life that you have. The natural world is saying that you can’t preserve it or build on it. We can’t fool the natural world, and the natural world is essentially saying that time’s up.
Gaia doesn’t negotiate and doesn’t take prisoners.
Aristotle established the fundamental difference between economics and chrematistics. The accumulation of money itself is an unnatural activity that dehumanizes those who practice it. Like Plato, he condemns the accumulation of wealth. Trade exchanges money for goods and usury creates money from money. The merchant does not produce anything: both are reprehensible from the standpoint of their philosophical ethics.
According to Aristotle, the “necessary” chrematistic economy is licit if the sale of goods is made directly between the producer and buyer at the right price; it does not generate a value-added product. By contrast, it is illicit if the producer purchases for resale to consumers for a higher price, generating added value. The money must be only a medium of exchange and measure of value.
In other words, according to two of the greatest thinkers of all time – capitalism is unethical and reprehensible.
Before Capitalism, Goethe in Faust Part 1 described the human condition. I cannot remember exactly now, but the image is of mankind leaping into the air like a grasshopper, only to find his nose buried in a pile of dung when he comes back down.
It appears that nothing has changed, despite all our supposed advances.
“The trouble is that stupid hicks don’t know what’s good for them. They’re getting conned by right-wingers and tent revivalists until they believe all the lies that’ve made them so wrong. They don’t know any better. That’s why they’re voting against their own self-interest.”
Very good article questioning what we are gaining from our bizarre immigration experiment over the last 15 years in which our non-citizen immigration programme is already one of the largest (per capita) in the world and immigration in Auckland will increase nearly 10% the Auckland population in just National term of government) but over 15 years have gained no economic gains in the tradable sector. But Steven Joyce’s answer is to increase immigration.
“A reader pointed me to an article on the NBR website in which Science and Innovation Minister [isn’t there something wrong when we even have a government “innovation minister?] was quoted as telling a business audience yesterday that:
more migration is the only way to bridge the current skills gap for ICT companies in New Zealand.
and
“That’s one of the reasons I’m leery of calls to halt immigration – apart from the fact there’s not much reason to because of the economic gains,” he said.
In the last fifteen years, we have had huge waves of immigration, under both governments, and yet there is not the slightest evidence of economic gains accruing to the New Zealand population as a whole. Tradables sector production per capita has gone nowhere in fifteen years, productivity growth has been lousy, and there is no sign of any progress at all towards meeting Mr Joyce’s own governments (well-intentioned but flawed) exports target.
And yet the Minister’s answer is even more immigration.”
GDP per head remains static or lowers.
A lot of ICT gaps have been filled and now the wages are just being lowered. $50000 five years ago, $35000 now.
The actual skills shortage list that immigration has for jobs that cannot be filled easily, is not large.
Our points based cutoff lets in skilled people (although there can be a mismatch between their job level description and the local equivalent) who want a job (not to start a company) in the local market.
The investment category should be removed. I believe Canada did it.
Where are all the new modern cutting edge factories providing great local jobs and keeping profits local. – I don’t see them – no investment there.
But plenty in property and political donations – they look like more trouble than they are worth…
The only way to increase our nations capability in anything is more R&D. As a small nation with huge resources we should have about 25% of our working populace in R&D and probably more. Instead we’re pushing the Bullshit Jobs for all their worth which is nothing.
Expecting to be able to benefit from imported the skills when those imported skills are then constrained by failed managers is nothing more than vain hope.
We need to decrease some other sectors as well. Farming comes to mind. Trade isn’t benefiting us as instead of encouraging development the economy it actually forces stagnation. Pushes us to produce more of the same rather than allowing increased productivity to increase the diversity of our economy. The end result is what’s just happened to our farmers with the collapse in milk solid prices.
As a small nation with huge resources we should have about 25% of our working populace in R&D and probably more. Instead we’re pushing the Bullshit Jobs for all their worth which is nothing.
For a case study, see the current destruction of AgResearch at the hands of Joyce-appointed examples of just how bad NZ’s managers are. I can only assume the mismanagement in this case is intentional, so Joyce can later claim that AgResearch is dysfunctional and needs to be privatised or absorbed into other research centres.
Speaking of destruction, Paula Bennet has talked about R&D for climate change research AFTER the Natz have just fired a whole load of scientists. They really are idiots.
From jonolist Heather Duplicitous Talons…….a risible twist on Nat harpy Michelle Boag’s perennial claim that the housing crisis is largely down to first home buyers refusing to contemplate other than Remuera and St Mary’s Bay.
Let’s say the millenials do embrace Otara for other than rental investment. Where do the poor people go once they’re shunted out of Otara Heather ? You’ll help them throw up some tents down Meremere way will you Heather ? Idiotic perpetual smirk ‘couldn’t actually give a fuck’ wee jonolist you.
So much offensiveness in that its hard to know where to begin. Shes quickly becoming the heralds star reporter. The end bit where she says Otara can be recolonised by the rich and renamed Ostentatious Heights is pretty sickening.
So much offensiveness in that its hard to know where to begin… The bit that strikes me is her assumption that people have no attachment to an area – that everyone else is a slightly-worse-off version of herself, with grandiose aspirations and no attachment to anywhere. Here’s a fact: In 2009, someone I know, after getting outbid by property developers a few times on $350,000-$420,000 family sized rundown houses in the Newton-Arch Hill area decided they had to make two moves out, not one, to escape their influence, and did so.
That is how recently the whole of central Auckland became too good for ordinary mortals, some of whom have been part of that community for generations. A large group of people, from an ever widening area, simply HATE seeing the HDPA class arrive, and look upon improved facilities with fear and suspicion rather than delighted anticipation. It will not be long before people will be happier to see a gang setting up headquarters in their area, than a bunch of HDPA-types deeming it NZ’s latest answer to Tuscany/Manhattan/Paris/you-name-it.
If there is one central tennet of neoliberalism it’s that there’s no such thing as community. So people having to move is simply a matter of economics.
I know that transport costs are a big issue for people too, both in accessing jobs, but also where families are split and children are under shared care. It’s all very well to say that people can move across town but what if they then can’t afford the petrol to pick their kids up? Never mind, all hail the neoliberal machine where everyone else serves Heather Duplicitous’ class.
Your use of grammar and tense in that statement says it all.
Once you’ve thought about the ethical issues in people being moved, have a think about the effect on existing communities and families. What about kids that are under shared care arrangements? Or solo parents taht are dependent on friends and families for support?
I think there are huge issues with the numbers of people that want to live in Auckland, but suggesting they can be moved isn’t a useful starting point.
Just skip the house and go back to institutions and poor houses.
Anyway surely you are more likely to get this:
Houses for everyone and re-invigoration of smaller communities.
if you move the rich people out to the small communities – logic would dictate this as much more sensible.
They could take their businesses with them, there would be less demand for housing in Auckland, local small businesses would get spin-off work from the successful businesses these rich people can build and develop. They wouldn’t need million dollar salaries and lower paid workers could get more.
So yeah campaign for the rich to move out to the provinces – after all it’s the rich that are our saviours.
I know a few CEO wives that fit that description, then there’s old people, and those with disabilities, not sure if Irish Catholics still meet that description but we could start sending young mums to the country to have their children again – save them the embarrassment of their parents friends knowing they had sex …
the school cafeteria in France makes an interesting contrast to new Zealand in fact a lot of whats in the film does the full film is out if you look for it.
You have to ask, why the hell are we not importing immigrants who actually create NEW businesses that Create NEW job for KIWIS and export and the criteria is to make a profit?
Instead we seem to be importing migrants for internal jobs like Chefs and IT workers and wanting immigrants to invest in Auckland property in an already overheated market and P importers.
Likewise companies here, who’s sole purpose is to take what they can, and then move to the cheapest Labour market.
An insider who worked there has alleged they are now moving to Nigeria for cheaper Labour. Many of the migrants they have imported are now alledgedly on the NZ dole queue.
Game over: NZ’s largest gaming studio to shut
New Zealand’s largest video gaming studio is closing down and 150 people are losing their jobs.
Gameloft is a French-owned company which was set up in Auckland ten years ago.
So just talking to this guy from Florida, how about this as a policy. First generation to attend university (defined as grandparents and parents) all fees free and a living allowance paid…
Anyone hear Paula Bennett on Q and A this morning – she was talking about climate change and said in the conversation “that’s all hyperbole” (she pronounced it hyper-bowl) – not the best educated woman out there – only outdone by Rodney Hide who years ago talked about a cacophony (he pronounced it “cakka-phoney”) Nice to hear something funny for a change with all the terrible stuff going on!
So nice to know our politicians (and ex politicians), those who make the rules and laws, by which we should live, are not the brightest stars in the sky! Well I think we knew that didn’t we? It’s just sometimes they confirm our suspicions regarding their ignorance and stupidity with their ridiculous utterances!
To Hami Shearlie at 10: I must have switched Paula Bennet off before that ‘blue’ in pronunciation because the shame I felt that a person with her portfolio could be so unlearned on the subject, indicated the garden more demanding of my time and general well-being! Thank you for providing a wry smile, though surely this Minister has had ample time since becoming our official face on climate change to have attained a real understanding of the issues. I grieve, and because rain ( though welcome ) has arrived, the garden solution no longer possible.
As much as I dislike the politics of Paula Bennett, mispronounced word could be because the person is smart enough to read an understand the words, and use them correctly, but may have never heard them. It’s is not necessarily a case of ignorance, but a case of unfamiliarity with the sound of the word.
Belittling formal education/intellectual heritage is close to calling a person unintelligent. A dangerous assumption, in my experience.
PSI released the new report on 18 March 2015 at the “SDGs for Workers”, a Parallel Event sponsored by Global Unions at the NGO CSW Forum during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW).
The report assesses the PPP experience in both industrialised and developing countries and contains a combination of 30 years of research by David Hall, former Director of Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) University of Greenwich, UK.
The many case studies analysed, from United Kingdom to Chile, show that PPPs have failed to live up to their promise. In most cases, they are an expensive and inefficient way of financing infrastructure and services, since they conceal public borrowing, while providing long-term state guarantees for profits to private companies.
The author proposes a public alternative to this system, in which national and local governments can continue to develop infrastructure by using public finance for investment, and public sector organisations to deliver the service.
“Public services are massive pools of potential corporate profit, and PPPs serve to access them. The ‘clients’ are captive, the services are often monopoly,” comments David Boys, Deputy General Secretary of PSI.
“This paper provides a synthesis of many years of research, and should be used by union activists, concerned citizens, but also by policy makers around the world.”
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Sacha mentioned Action Station as being an alternative to political parties. I guess there are some other people like me who haven’t heard about it yet. It sounds promising to be involved with while we wait for Labour to get over its sad case of sleeping sickness.
We could join in this, and also support our favourite leftie party, and others which are fighting to forge a name for themselves as being honest workers for the people. We are still allowed this freedom, to have multi-interests, and not just board the train and travel the line to wherever.
http://www.actionstation.org.nz/about
ActionStation is an independent, member-led not-for-profit organisation representing over 100,000 Kiwis holding power to account, standing for a fair society, healthy environment & economic fairness.
@Skinny
I don’t know much about ActionStation. When I looked them up I liked the look of their web page, nice design. Everyone has to start somewhere. But they are lacking something you think? I just don’t feel confident that enough is happening on the political scene. If there is too much of a void a hologram of Trump might beam over and dazzle us with hijinks.
Meanwhile, Obama went undercover for the Brexit crowd in the UK by stating that should the UK opt to leave the EU, then they wouldn’t get to be party to TTIP. Not only that, but the UK would go to the back of the queue as far as ‘negotiating’ any free trade deals with the US was concerned.
Oh. But then, along with the Clinton, pointed out that the US wanted the UK to remain in Europe to act as leverage for the US in Europe.
I don’t know why I used ‘but’ for that second statement. Be an economically crushed vassal of the US of A situated on the geographical fringes of Europe, or…well, there is no ‘or’. Apparently those two things are just what the ordinary people of the UK always wanted…I mean, it must be, innit?
For those of you interested in what Bill Black, a man who put over a thousand bankers in jail and who travels around the globe to educate entire Governments about why Control fraud is such a pervasive, hideous form of fraud, has to say about putting a Merrill Lynch banker on the board of Guardians of the Cullen fund and John Key making New Zealand into a secrecy haven also known as a tax haven here is the link to Vinny Eastwood’s show with Bill Black, recorded last WednesdayVinnie Eastwood’s show with Bill Black In the first half Vinny interviews Bill about his work and his past victories over banking fraud. I have the opportunity to ask Bill a ton of questions pertaining to New Zealand in the second hour! Conclusion? John Key is a banker fraudster who should be in jail like his Icelandic colleagues and the Cullen fund is f&*ked!
Another silly silly article trying to tell people if you only worked harder and saved harder, they can afford a house in Auckland.
Luckily most people don’t believe a word the Herald says anymore.
“Buying your own house is so hard now it seems, that the @nzherald considers it front page news when someone can afford one.” A pearler from the Twitterverse.
Methinks the tide is beginning to turn with the middle classes, here in Auckland at least. I see from the series of articles in the Herald about the housing situation that some of our middle class people are now housing half of their children in their spare bedrooms and kids in their mid-twenties to thirties at that along with their spouses/partners and professionally educated as well, because they cannot afford a down payment on a house. So even with a professional education and joint salaries they still cannot manage a down payment because of high rents and so they are back living with Mum and Dad. Can see this going down like a lead balloon when Mum and Dad want to kick back and go on a overseas trip.
Some of the parents are paying for the down payment/deposit, others are buying land for their kids and its taking a dent in their retirement savings. The rot is setting in, a lot of people on this site have said it will have to be the middle classes being affected by the housing crisis here for the tide to turn. Let’s hope and pray this happens and they see what a complete shambles the Auckland market has been turned into by not having good effective restraints on overseas buyers having carte blanche here to buy up our housing stock.
Some parents may have to, in the end, gift over one or two of their rented properties to the kids and miss out on the income from them. Then we will see them starting to “complain” in a big way. Happy days folks.
It’s not that long ago when it was normal for people to live in extended family situations. In fact it’s been the norm for most of human history. I know we’ve lost the knack of it, but I don’t see people having to share housing with family as the end of the world, or even necessarily a negative.
Add to that that the size of housing and expectations around everyone having their own space is not realistic in an age of climate change and resource depletion.
I have a lot of sympathy for the people who are struggling to pay rent or mortgage, because having a home is central to wellbeing. But it’s hard to feel sorry for the middle classes who are struggling because they are treating home ownership as an investment. I was fortunate to buy and eventually sell a house at a time when it worked financially but I was never under the illusion that it was anything other than a crock of shit that we all pay for and some more than others.
There’s a lot of bitching between the boomers and their offspring generation but I’d take it more seriously if I saw them being also concerned for people who can’t find a place to live, or who are struggling to have a meaningful life because their housing costs suck up so much of their income. Because let’s not forget that most of the people complaining about the difficulties of home ownership would in a flash buy and sell a house as an investment if they could.
I really think that we are at the end of the age of privilege, and I hope that the Gen Y wake up to this and start looking at creative solutions to working with what we’ve got. We should be looking at new models of co-housing, sharing land etc and stepping out of the millieu that says buying a home and saving for retirement is the best thing, because it’s all going to fall over in their life times anyway.
I understand Weka completely, but I feel that the tide will turn now as its the Middle Classes which keep voting in this Government and they are starting to feel the effects. I fully agree that we should help our families out and in my own circumstances that is we are doing, giving one of ours a helping hand, the only difference is we have never voted for National and do not condone what they have done to this country. As Bomber over on the Daily Blog says, once the Middle Classes start to bitch and whinge then we may see the tide turn. In the end it will be a battle between the 1% and the rest of us, Middle Classes included. If that’s what it takes, it can’t come soon enough.
Federated Farmers Arable Industry Group is watching with interest the increasing tonnage of supplementary feeds being imported.
This, at a time, when there is leftover maize and cereal feed grain which could be consumed by these sectors for an equally competitive price.
Maize harvest has begun in the North Island and in many cases they have had an exceptional growing season but the low dairy payout and cheap price of palm kernel expeller have meant they don’t have a home for the product.
Some, meanwhile, are burning the maize in the paddock and writing the season off.
Imported feeds risk bringing in new weeds, pests and diseases. While New Zealand has import health standards to try to manage these risks, sometimes things slip through the cracks. (Latest is something called velvet leaf, looks a bit like bindweed.)
Velvet leaf came in with imported fodder beet seed. Looks like fodder beet is a newish crop desired by dairy farmers. Don’t know why NZ can’t grow its own seed.
Neoliberal, market knows best, system failure, exactly.
@weka
The fodder beet bit interested me too. I think it was fodder beet developed to withstand Roundup that was involved in a large number of cow deaths. Those beets had concentrated toxins in the leaves due to some climatic effect.
So that raises the questions – why are beets being more used, why is the seed imported, do all farmers understand the proper use of it and the times the animals need to be withheld from it, are they taking a risk on using it and then claiming on insurance if it turns out badly, is it something to lay on the now shown as unprofitable over-stocking with non-grass extra feed method?
Are farmers being sold a sick system that is rebounding on them?
(And about imported stuff there was a piece in The Press about searching for the entry point of black grass that is being found in the middle of paddocks, and is not wanted. A little para says it has nothing to do with the roadside drop of tainted seed from trucks carting it to and from the big agricultural importing companies. The plants are growing too far away to result from any dropped seed at roadsides. But weeds are those plants that have amazing reproductive powers and they find ways to get around. A cover up for our big corporates making money from modern industrial farming-with warnings ‘contains collateral damage’?)
The roundup ready issue was with swedes. Both happened inSouthland.
The politics of who controls the world’s seed stores is a major issue for NZ food security. Lots of good work has been done on preserving NZ’s seed banks but if we had a hard crash I think we’d be struggling.
Same old shit. This is why I place relocalisation so high in political priorities. The sooner we get the stuff that matters out of the hands of the greedy people the better all round.
Just another bit on velvet leaf piece earlier that raises questions for the country. That is whether subsidies are good for farmers and the country in certain situations like this. If the MPI is called will they charge the farmer? If so they may not be called and not get to know the extent of the infestation.
MPI will make arrangements for removing the plants, inspect the rest of the crop to ensure there are no more plants and then together with FAR, DairyNZ have developed a farm management plan to manage the velvetleaf to prevent it being moved around the farm or out the gate.
Better to help the farmer and we bear the cost. Better not to allow this Lazy Maisey government free market leave everything to business no regulation contract out stuff to continue. It isn’t working for us. And remember contractors work to rule, in a different way to unionists, but it is still damaging to the country to have people tied to set parameters who must ignore matters outside their contract that need investigation or attention, because they are not being paid to do so.
Well said Miravox. I find it unpleasant when people mock the pronunciation or spelling of others as a sign of their own intellectual superiority – which it rarely is. Some towering geniuses have been rotten spellers.
Whatever we think of her politics, Paula Bennett has an impressive career after starting as a young solo mum, going to university and rising in the political ranks where she has had some demanding roles. It doesn’t help to ridicule successful women and often verges on misogyny.
However I did have to laugh at Mihi Forbes this morning on Radio NZ talking about the first ‘calvary’ charge in a NZ battle. She said it over and over again so it was clearly an unfamiliar word for her despite radio and TV announcing being the profession she is supposedly trained for.
Try to remember to hit the reply button in future Bea Brown then your comment will come up beneath – or closely beneath – the person you are replying to.
As for your fit of pique over a few grins concerning Bennett’s mispronunciation:
Ms Bennett has done well but to describe her as having had an impressive career is over the top given she just happened to be in the right place at the right time and… knew the right people. Her actual qualifications have been attained by many, many thousands of young NZers – lots of them in far more straitened circumstances than herself. In fact from what I’ve heard… she may have been a solo mum but her situation was never straitened.
More important is her language in respect of Climate Change matters. She has a very superficial understanding of the subject -if she has even that – and that is deeply disturbing for a Minister of Climate Change! There is also historical evidence of her spiteful, bullying behaviour towards anyone who dares to cross her, so I personally don’t mind people having a giggle or two over a mispronounced word. Not a big deal in the scheme of things.
‘fit of pique’;’in the right place at the right time and… knew the right people’; ‘she may have been a solo mum but her situation was never straitened’; ‘very superficial understanding of the subject’; ‘spiteful, bullying’.
Wow.
Hyperbole?
But if you share your opinion, don’t be surprised when others share theirs.
You might think it’s just sloganeering, others might feel that the minister responsible for social welfare has not just overseen increased hardship and degradation of those who need help from society, but has in several instances denied people the assistance that she herself received when she walked, however fleetingly, in their shoes.
Personally I have nothing but contempt for the person.
You said something. Someone disagreed with it. You don’t like that someone disagreed with you. I’m just pointing out that that won’t work on this site, esp if the disagreement is over Paula Bennett. You might want to read the site policy too, top of the page.
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.It was another ‘SHOCK! HORROR!’ headline from a media increasingly venturing into tabloid-style journalism:Andrea Vance’s article seemed to focus on the "million dollar sums from the Government as the country grapples with a housing ...
Dr Brian Easton writes: It’s the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I haven’t seen them. Here is my guess at some ...
What Was the Prime Minister Reading in the Runup to Election Year?It’s the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I haven’t seen them. ...
In case you hadn't noticed, FYI, the public OIA request site, has been used to conduct a significant excavation into New Zealand's intelligence agencies, with requests made for assorted policies and procedures. Yesterday in response to one of these requests the GCSB released its policy on New Zealand Purpose and ...
Farming leaders are watching closely whether Damien O’Connor keeps the key portfolios of Agriculture and Trade when Prime Minister Chris Hipkins restructures his Cabinet. O’Connor has been one of the few ministers during Labour’s term in office who has won broad support for what he has done ...
South Islands farmers are whining about another drought, the third in three years. If only we knew what was causing this! If only someone had warned them that they faced a drying climate! But we do know what is causing it: climate change. And they have been warned, repeatedly, for ...
Ok, there’s good news and bad news in this week’s inflation figures, but bad > good. Our inflation rate held steady but hey, at a level below the inflation rate in Australia. The main reason for the so/so result here? A fall in petrol prices of 7.2% offset the really ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet ...
Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet there have been dozens of columns ...
The Clinical Magus: Of particular relevance to New Zealanders struggling to come to terms with the sudden departure of their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is Jung’s concept of the anima. Much more than what others have called the feminine principle, the anima is what the human male has made out ...
The Select Committee, considering the proposed RNZ-TVNZ merger, has come back with a report conceding many of the criticisms that were made of the original legislation. In what is one of the most comprehensive demolitions of a Bill submitted to a Select Committee, the Economic Development, Science and Innovation ...
Such are the 2020s, the age when no-one, it seems, actually respects the basic underpinnings of democracy. Even in New Zealand. This week, I stumbled across a pair of lengthy and genuinely serious articles, that basically argue that Something is Rotten in the state of New Zealand democracy. One ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hurrah. Today we found something fresh on the Beehive website, Beehive.govt.nz, which claims to be the best place to find Government initiatives, policies and Ministerial information. It wasn’t from Finance Minister Grant Robertson, whose reaction to the latest inflation figures would have been appreciated. So, too, ...
Smiling And Waiving A Golden Opportunity: Chris Hipkins knew that the day at Ratana would be Jacinda’s day – her final opportunity to bask in the unalloyed love and support of her followers. He simply could not afford to be seen to overshadow this last chance for his former boss ...
Extremism Consumes Itself: The plot of “Act of Oblivion” concerns the relentless pursuit of the “regicides” Edward Whalley and William Goffe – two of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I’s death warrant. As with his many other works of historical fiction, Robert Harris’s novel brings to life a period ...
To challenge the Government’s promotion of co-governance, to share power between Maori and public authorities and agencies, is to invite accusations of racism. An example: this article by Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog headed Luxon’s race baiting hypocrisy at Ratana. The article was triggered by National leader Christopher Luxon, ...
A very informative video discussion: Are we getting the whole story about Ukraine? | Robert Wright & Ivan Katchanovski Getting objective information on the situation in Ukraine and the cause of this current war is not easy. There is the current censorship and blatant mainstream media bias – which ...
Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, it’s getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon Rātana for the ...
It’s a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, “Chippy” era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes … In the wake of Ardern’s abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because he‘s the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardern’s announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements – the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister. She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealand’s international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardern’s calendar was fuller than most. Ardern’s first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardern’s ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardern’s first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Little’s noble resignation ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of women’s rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
RNZ News Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has acknowledged the way Aucklanders have come together and opened their homes to those in need, with the New Zealand government focused on providing the resources needed to get the city back up and running. The new prime minister — just four days into ...
RNZ News Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty has asked for communication on support after the severe thunderstorm in Auckland to be stepped up. It comes after a Civil Defence warning text failed to be sent out, and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told RNZ they will be reviewing the response, ...
RNZ News Three people are dead and at least one person is missing following the flooding overnight in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. About 1000 people were still stranded today after Auckland Airport was closed last night because of flooding of the arrival and departure foyers. Flights were cancelled for ...
Wayne Brown has doubled down on his decision last night to shun the media until close to midnight and only order a state of emergency at 9.30pm. In a defensive display to the media this afternoon, the Auckland mayor was questioned on comments other councillors made last night, including some ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed there are three deaths linked to the extreme weather event in Auckland over the past 24 hours. There is also at least one person missing. Speaking at a press conference in Auckland, Hipkins said the priority was to make sure Aucklanders were safe, housed ...
*This story was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission*Until New Zealand's stormwater drain system adapts to our rising climate, it will never be able to cope with the level of flooding seen in Auckland on Friday night, writes James Renwick The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced ...
Chris Hipkins has experienced his first major event as prime minister, just days into his tenure. He’s spent the day in Auckland alongside emergency services, surveying the damage and assessing next steps. He’s due to speak at 3.15pm alongside Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. Thanks to Stuff, here is a livestream. ...
Due to the “unprecedented weather event” in Auckland, organisers have confirmed the “heartbreaking decision” to cancel this year’s Laneway Festival. “We were so excited to deliver this show to our biggest crowd ever in New Zealand, our team has been working around the clock to do everything they can to ...
With the rain easing for a moment, many will be beginning the arduous task of cleaning out their flooded property. Auckland council has release advice for cleaning up after a flood. Cleaning up after a flood It is important to clean and dry your house and everything in it. Floodwater ...
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says the airline’s domestic flights in and out of Auckland resumed from 12pm today as Auckland Airport re-opens. But he said with a backlog of flights and customers, the priority is those who need to travel urgently. “Those ...
Festival-goers holding on hope for Laneway, set to take place at Western Springs on Monday, will have to wait a bit longer for an official update. A brief post on Facebook this afternoon stated: “Safety is Laneway Festival’s number one priority. With the large weather event Auckland is currently experiencing, ...
Wayne Brown has defended the timing of a declaration of a state of emergency last night following record rainfall in Auckland. “The state of emergency is a prescribed process, it’s quite formal, and I had to wait until I had the official request from the emergency management centre. The moment ...
After the 11th hour cancellation last night, Elton John has cancelled the second concert of his farewell tour at Mt Smart, which had been scheduled for this evening. In a statement, John said: “Following the instruction of the emergency services, we have no option but to cancel tonight’s show in ...
The member of parliament for Mt Albert, Jacinda Ardern, has posted a message on Facebook following the flooding in Auckland. “I’m very conscious that it’s been a while since I posted, and there have been a few big things happening. But today the most important thing is everyone’s wellbeing and ...
Flooding of the runway, the check-in and arrivals areas on the ground floor and surrounding roads has disrupted operations at Auckland International, halting all departures until at least 5pm today, with no arrivals before 4:30am tomorrow. “People are asked not to come to the International Terminal at this time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Victoria Park near the Auckland CBD on January 27.Getty Images The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced on the night of January 27, the eve of the ...
New Zealand’s largest insurance group, IAG, says it is on track to receive more than 1,100 claims from Aucklanders by lunchtime after the city was deluged in the wettest day on record. Those claims, said the group which includes AMI, State and NZI Insurance, span property damage to homes and ...
The rampant flooding in Auckland didn’t just detonate its provincial public holiday weekend – it coincided with the biggest weekend of the year to date for live events. A pair of Elton John concerts at Mt Smart stadium had a combined capacity of over 80,000, while both Laneway at Western ...
Auckland is beginning a clean-up after its wettest day since records began. “Auckland was clobbered on Friday,” said emergency management duty controller Andrew Clark. “We won’t start to get a good idea of numbers affected until later today and, even then, this will take time, with information still coming in ...
The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is travelling to Auckland after devastating floods hit the city overnight. With the airport out of operation until at least midday, he is landing at Whenuapai air base on a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules aircraft from Wellington. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has arrived in Auckland for a daylong visit to the city following its catastrophic flood on Friday night. Flying in an Air Force Hercules to Whenuapai, Hipkins will spend roughly three hours on the ground assessing flood damage in the city before returning. He will receive ...
A quirk of timing left all Auckland’s institutions on the back foot. But social media, particularly TikTok, graphically showed just how bad the situation was. Late afternoon on a Friday is known as time to quietly drop bad news. You have the plausible deniability of it happening during work hours, ...
It’s a common sight during summer. It’s also a recipe for disaster.I recently drove with my family from New Plymouth to Tāmaki Makaurau and, just like how I lost count of how many cows I saw on the way, I lost count of how many cars had a passenger ...
Opinion - Election year has begun with a bang, and already the punditry and speculation are ramping up, but Grant Duncan warns not to treat polls as gospel. ...
New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is formally facing down an emergency just a few days after being sworn in, summoning the National Crisis Management Centre to the Beehive. The Beehive Bunker is being stood up to help with coordination of the emergency response in Auckland. I’ve asked ...
Analysis - Jacinda Ardern is one of New Zealand's most historically significant leaders. But she did not achieve the grand vision for Aotearoa her outsized rhetoric promised. ...
Brits abroad can be an asset to Aotearoa - but only if we make an effort to engage with te ao Māori, writes Scottish expat Fran Barclay Earlier this week, the UK High Commissioner signalled a promising intention to address the barriers facing young Māori and Pasifika who aspire to ...
"They want the Māoris out": provincial life in NZShe hadn’t learned to shut her mouth. Howard was tired of Councillor Kemp harping on and on and on. He pushed himself deeper into the boardroom chair and leaned back as far as he could force it. This woman had ranted ...
Positive affirmation quotes often aren’t helpful for tāngata whai ora. But taking the piss out of them can be. Early in January, on the first day of what would be a week of staying in bed with the curtains pulled, I put a disappointingaffirmations Instagram post up on my stories. ...
Ellen Rykers visits Mahakirau Forest Estate, ‘a crown jewel in the Coromandel Range’, where pest control is serious business.This is an excerpt from our weekly environment newsletter Future Proof – sign up here. The Mahakirau Forest Estate is not your average subdivision. Enter through its tall ...
As Auckland tackles severe floods and the city’s airport emerges from a deluge on both the runway and in terminals, Air New Zealand has confirmed that no flights will leave or arrive before noon on Saturday at the earliest. In a statement, the airline said anyone booked for a flight ...
RNZ News Mayor Wayne Brown has shut down criticism that he was too slow in declaring a state of emergency after severe flooding in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. In a media stand-up late on Friday evening, Brown said he was following advice from experts and as soon as they ...
The Prime Minister has gone down to the Beehive bunker to help coordinate the emergency response, as the Insurance Council warns some Aucklanders whose homes and business are flooded face very hard times ahead. Jonathan Milne reports.Comment: Standing by the south-western motorway, I watched in dismay as hundreds of cars ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland as severe weather causes major flooding across much of the city. It’s expected the rain will continue into the morning. This post will be updated as more information is shared.What does a state of emergency mean? A state of emergency ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown said he declared an emergency in Auckland as soon as he possibly could – and he made the decision without listening to the “clamour” of the public. There has been some criticism of the mayor for his relative silence today throughout the deadly flooding that’s hit ...
Welcome to a special late night edition of The Spinoff’s live updates as Auckland enters a state of emergency. Stewart Sowman-Lund is on deck, with help from our news team.The top linesAuckland is in a state of emergency. It will remain in place for seven ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is pleased the call was made to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. All government agencies were working “flat out” to help in what was an “extraordinary set of circumstances”, Hipkins said in a tweet. “The emergency response is underway and the government is ready ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown has released a statement following the decision to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. Brown has faced criticism this evening for his relative silence throughout today’s major flooding, with the first public pronouncement of the state of emergency coming from his deputy. Brown said the ...
Christopher Luxon has criticised the time it took for the state of emergency in Auckland to be declared. The National Party leader is currently in Southland, but told Today FM he intends to get back to Auckland as soon as possible. Earlier in the night, Luxon sent a tweet “urging” ...
Here is, verbatim, that latest information we have from Civil Defence on tonight’s state of emergency in Auckland: Auckland Emergency Management has opened a Civil Defence Centre to assist those that have been displaced or need assistance following today’s severe weather. The centre is open now and is based at ...
Severe flooding has ravaged Auckland today but the mayor of the city is barely visible. As I write, the airport has flooded, check-in areas looking like a public pool. Motorways are overflowing and cars have been seen floating down streets like a river. A person has died in floodwaters in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers has laid out an economic blueprint for pursuing “values-based capitalism”, involving public-private co-investment and collaboration and the renovation of key economic institutions and markets. In a 6000-word essay in The Monthly ...
This is live coverage of the developing situation in Auckland. We will continue to update this with photos and information as it comes to hand. After a day of torrential rain, and new reports of at least one death in the flood water, a state of emergency has been declared ...
Fans are describing Auckland Transport's plans to help them get to and from Elton John's concerts in the supercity this weekend as a fiasco with tonight's concert now cancelled due to the weather. Two concerts were due at Mt Smart Stadium before tonight's concert was called off in the face ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland due to severe flooding that has caused people to evacuate their homes. It was officially declared at 9.54pm. Meanwhile, Auckland Airport has closed its international terminal check-in due to flooding inside the building. The airport says it is sincerely sorry to ...
RNZ News Residents in flood-prone areas of West Auckland are being asked to prepare to evacuate as bad weather causes power cuts and car crashes across Tāmaki Makaurau, with a severe thunderstorm watch in place for the north of Aotearoa New Zealand. Auckland Emergency Management said the severe weather across ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Five years ago, bulldozers with chains cleared forests and woodlands almost triple the size of the Australian Capital Territory in a single year. Brazil? Indonesia? No – much closer: Queensland. In 2018-19, ...
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Seen this?
“Investigative Journalism: Why Bernie may have actually won New York
Even after Tuesday’s voting debacle, many have assumed that even without election-day mishaps, Hillary Clinton would have won New York. Fairly reasonable, right? After all, it was a decisive sixteen-point win in her home state.
Not so fast; I’m going to present a series of facts that should lead the rational observer to be suspicious of these results.
Before we begin, I want you to know that I am a staunch Sanders supporter; therefore, I will do my best to remove my “Bernie bias” from the equation (please join me in keeping a close eye on my personal beliefs, lest they color my analysis or cause me to omit relevant counter-evidence).
We’re going to examine the situation using a device called Occam’s razor, which essentially says to choose the simplest theory that covers all of the bases.
Let’s look at what we know.
… ”
____________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
or in this case the creation of misperception
http://www.businessballs.com/elisabeth_kubler_ross_five_stages_of_grief.htm
The Sanders supporters are just starting to go through their five stages of grief.
Questions in and around corruption, and Ad reaches for the cheap shot.
Questions around money buying elections – and Ad decides this is not an issue – and goes for a cheap shot.
Ever thought you just parrot the establishment media Ad? -Ever thought you were a weak individual who only good at the, cheap shot?
Cheap and nasty shot.
Just because it hurts your delicate feelings it does not make it wrong The left now have a propensity to blame every loss and or poll result on corruption, the media and or the voters, never looking at there own inadequacies and that joe public just doesn’t want to buy their Kool Aid
What does your comment have to do with mine or Adam’s or Ads? Or are you just jumping on the back of them to whine about lefties?
Reddelusion if you had read my comment and attached link, you would have seen that it is the Right that are claiming that Sanders is acting undemocratically, for daring to presume that he can lobby super delegates at the Democratic Convention in July. A tactic it seems is only permitted to born to rule establishment figures.
It ain’t over till it’s over …..
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Or to [deleted]
[Only warning. Not fucking acceptable. Don’t go down that track again.] – Bill
Study accuses American Psychological Association of complicity in CIA torture program.
It could not happen to a nicer bunch. I wonder how our lot would fare …
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/us/report-says-american-psychological-association-collabor
http://t.co/Htg3Ia6miW
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2069718/report.pdf
http://t.co/EeTFQ3vBoZ
https://t.co/nkA0CKJmjI
https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/salim-v-mitchell-statement-interest-united-states
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-cia-torture-20160422-story.html
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/salim_v._mitchell_-_complaint_10-13-15.pdf
https://twitter.com/hashtag/GitMo?src=hash
http://t.co/pT7rzVTNpG
Is smugness the problem with the left? A long read in The Vox analysing the alienation of the liberal left from the ‘red neck’ working class they used to represent. http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism
I know I’m guilty of many of the examples the writer gives, as are so many of the commentatators of all of the left wing blogs. Maybe we need to change our attitudes and not underestimate the size of the chasm that has to crossed if we want to gain the reins of government ever again
Thanks for that – a challenging article.
A really annoying article.
Typical leftie self-loathing.
Worth a debate though.
Think the problems of the left have a lot to do with the consumer driven neolib world we now live in. Working class organisations have lost their influence while the workers now toil away for ever increasing hours for stagnated wages, they simply don’t have the conditions, resources or luxury of time to formulate any cohesive response.
http://evonomics.com/why-garbage-men-should-earn-more-than-bankers/
+1
One thing that I’ve noted over the last couple of years is that the people we need the least, the people who could be so easily replaced, these people are paid the most. And the inverse of course – the people we need the most are paid the least.
Summed up here:
Quoting article:
Sounds about right.
+ several million bonus points, DTB.
Garbage men should earn more than bankers, but part of the problem is that garbage men will always earn more than cleaners and rest home workers. Traditional socialist movements lost many politicised women to feminism in the 70s because women were still being expected to make cups of tea and lie on their backs as their main role in the movement, and to put their own agenda and political needs aside until after the revolution.
That’s a generalisation, and not intended to render invisible all the socialist women who have done good work, nor the fact that not all of the traditional left was so biased. From the feminist side, women were talking about why they left those movements and committed to feminist politics instead. It’s hard to see how those women would go back, esp when there is still a strong stream of thought on the left that denigrates human rights issues (so called identity politics) and basically tells everyone that their needs can wait until after the revolution.
Likewise other people who don’t see class as the overarching issue that should take precedence over all others.
I do agree there is a big problem for the left though, in that the party political is now run by the middle classes. Plus the neoliberal capture.
another way to look at it rather than rolling out the stock lefty Neo liberal bollocks is that they can’t be bothered as most are happy enough and just getting on with it in the 21st century. This is to the disgust of the old liberal elite lefty institution (e.g. Academics, unions, labour) that are loosing their power base trying to create misery that is not there to manufacture victims to form a constituency for their own self interest, wealth and power
“Most are happy enough and getting on with it” yeah right
Longer working hours…
http://www.dol.govt.nz/publications/nohsac/evolving_workplace/008_content.asp
Increasing Inequality…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/68600911/Income-inequality-How-NZ-is-one-of-the-worst-in-the-world
High Child poverty rates…
https://www.unicef.org.nz/learn/our-work-in-new-zealand/Child-Poverty-in-New-Zealand
If the author of Twitterature World’s Greatest Books in 20 tweets says so…..
/
That smugness is one of the reasons I gave up on Russell Brown and his Public Address cronies. I have a Christian friend who spent years in Ethiopia working with victims of leprosy, war and rape at great psychological cost to herself and when I told them about her, they simply ridiculed her faith. I don’t forgive them for that, but then I’m not a Christian.
I’ve seen similar happen on ts too. I think it’s more about the fundamentalist atheists than class.
Not quite fair… I too am an atheist, but would not have used ridicule to diminish what your friend did. (Unless I thought it very funny and witty at the time…) I hope would not have diminished it at all.
The problem is that many people are desperately trying to justify the stance they have taken, and in conversation do not have time to consider where others are coming from.
It is all part of aging and becoming a grumpy old person. I know.. I think I have been there, but I can’t quite remember.
How many generations ago did the idea gain traction, that by voting in a given party – Labour in most of the English speaking world – that things would get better as society embarked on an ever upward trajectory of improvement that would eventually deliver (remember this?) a world based on socialist principles?
The left said that was never going to happen, because parliament could never be a route to socialism. Nevertheless, enough people were blindsided, improvements flowed to many for a time, and parliamentary statism became synonymous with ‘the left’…at the same time as the left was being systematically marginalised and its thoughts and vision eradicated from the consciousness of the population at large.
And now we’re in a cul-de-sac.
Statism cannot deliver. Markets cannot deliver. They’ve ‘done their dash’ and it’s all decline from now on in. Meanwhile, society at large has largely lost the vision and inspiration that used to inform and drive a substantial proportion of the people within it. What we have now is the spectacle of a shrinking faux left, flailing around trying to convince itself that it has something to offer…that its state bound, bastardised version of left vision and thought continues to carry any water. It’s got nothing.
Only those fortunate enough to be from families that were ‘lifted up’ and who have so far, not been dashed back down, are keen to perpetuate the myth of ‘progress’ by some supposedly ‘left’ parliamentary party fiddling with the art of chrematistics. (Google it). But growing numbers of people, staring back into a quality of life they imagine to be not a million miles away from the shite their great grandparents might have had to endure, just aren’t buying it any more.
Those people don’t need to be convinced that they should stick the course because things will work out. It’s the still comfortable liberals who need to be convinced that a wrong step was taken; that despite their current well being, failure to back track and get off the path we’re on is going to end in nothing but tears.
You doubt that? Then look around you.
The natural world is saying that you can’t have the life that you have. The natural world is saying that you can’t preserve it or build on it. We can’t fool the natural world, and the natural world is essentially saying that time’s up.
Gaia doesn’t negotiate and doesn’t take prisoners.
Yeah well. Neither do basic physics and chemistry – law of thermo-dynamics and all of that jazz.
Chrematistics
In other words, according to two of the greatest thinkers of all time – capitalism is unethical and reprehensible.
Before Capitalism, Goethe in Faust Part 1 described the human condition. I cannot remember exactly now, but the image is of mankind leaping into the air like a grasshopper, only to find his nose buried in a pile of dung when he comes back down.
It appears that nothing has changed, despite all our supposed advances.
This quote from article says it all
“The trouble is that stupid hicks don’t know what’s good for them. They’re getting conned by right-wingers and tent revivalists until they believe all the lies that’ve made them so wrong. They don’t know any better. That’s why they’re voting against their own self-interest.”
Very good article questioning what we are gaining from our bizarre immigration experiment over the last 15 years in which our non-citizen immigration programme is already one of the largest (per capita) in the world and immigration in Auckland will increase nearly 10% the Auckland population in just National term of government) but over 15 years have gained no economic gains in the tradable sector. But Steven Joyce’s answer is to increase immigration.
http://sciblogs.co.nz/the-dismal-science/2016/04/09/question-steven-joyce/
“A reader pointed me to an article on the NBR website in which Science and Innovation Minister [isn’t there something wrong when we even have a government “innovation minister?] was quoted as telling a business audience yesterday that:
more migration is the only way to bridge the current skills gap for ICT companies in New Zealand.
and
“That’s one of the reasons I’m leery of calls to halt immigration – apart from the fact there’s not much reason to because of the economic gains,” he said.
In the last fifteen years, we have had huge waves of immigration, under both governments, and yet there is not the slightest evidence of economic gains accruing to the New Zealand population as a whole. Tradables sector production per capita has gone nowhere in fifteen years, productivity growth has been lousy, and there is no sign of any progress at all towards meeting Mr Joyce’s own governments (well-intentioned but flawed) exports target.
And yet the Minister’s answer is even more immigration.”
GDP per head remains static or lowers.
A lot of ICT gaps have been filled and now the wages are just being lowered. $50000 five years ago, $35000 now.
The actual skills shortage list that immigration has for jobs that cannot be filled easily, is not large.
Our points based cutoff lets in skilled people (although there can be a mismatch between their job level description and the local equivalent) who want a job (not to start a company) in the local market.
The investment category should be removed. I believe Canada did it.
Where are all the new modern cutting edge factories providing great local jobs and keeping profits local. – I don’t see them – no investment there.
But plenty in property and political donations – they look like more trouble than they are worth…
The only way to increase our nations capability in anything is more R&D. As a small nation with huge resources we should have about 25% of our working populace in R&D and probably more. Instead we’re pushing the Bullshit Jobs for all their worth which is nothing.
Expecting to be able to benefit from imported the skills when those imported skills are then constrained by failed managers is nothing more than vain hope.
We need to decrease some other sectors as well. Farming comes to mind. Trade isn’t benefiting us as instead of encouraging development the economy it actually forces stagnation. Pushes us to produce more of the same rather than allowing increased productivity to increase the diversity of our economy. The end result is what’s just happened to our farmers with the collapse in milk solid prices.
As a small nation with huge resources we should have about 25% of our working populace in R&D and probably more. Instead we’re pushing the Bullshit Jobs for all their worth which is nothing.
For a case study, see the current destruction of AgResearch at the hands of Joyce-appointed examples of just how bad NZ’s managers are. I can only assume the mismanagement in this case is intentional, so Joyce can later claim that AgResearch is dysfunctional and needs to be privatised or absorbed into other research centres.
Speaking of destruction, Paula Bennet has talked about R&D for climate change research AFTER the Natz have just fired a whole load of scientists. They really are idiots.
From jonolist Heather Duplicitous Talons…….a risible twist on Nat harpy Michelle Boag’s perennial claim that the housing crisis is largely down to first home buyers refusing to contemplate other than Remuera and St Mary’s Bay.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11627701
Let’s say the millenials do embrace Otara for other than rental investment. Where do the poor people go once they’re shunted out of Otara Heather ? You’ll help them throw up some tents down Meremere way will you Heather ? Idiotic perpetual smirk ‘couldn’t actually give a fuck’ wee jonolist you.
So much offensiveness in that its hard to know where to begin. Shes quickly becoming the heralds star reporter. The end bit where she says Otara can be recolonised by the rich and renamed Ostentatious Heights is pretty sickening.
So much offensiveness in that its hard to know where to begin… The bit that strikes me is her assumption that people have no attachment to an area – that everyone else is a slightly-worse-off version of herself, with grandiose aspirations and no attachment to anywhere. Here’s a fact: In 2009, someone I know, after getting outbid by property developers a few times on $350,000-$420,000 family sized rundown houses in the Newton-Arch Hill area decided they had to make two moves out, not one, to escape their influence, and did so.
That is how recently the whole of central Auckland became too good for ordinary mortals, some of whom have been part of that community for generations. A large group of people, from an ever widening area, simply HATE seeing the HDPA class arrive, and look upon improved facilities with fear and suspicion rather than delighted anticipation. It will not be long before people will be happier to see a gang setting up headquarters in their area, than a bunch of HDPA-types deeming it NZ’s latest answer to Tuscany/Manhattan/Paris/you-name-it.
I’m so glad I haven’t read that article.
If there is one central tennet of neoliberalism it’s that there’s no such thing as community. So people having to move is simply a matter of economics.
I know that transport costs are a big issue for people too, both in accessing jobs, but also where families are split and children are under shared care. It’s all very well to say that people can move across town but what if they then can’t afford the petrol to pick their kids up? Never mind, all hail the neoliberal machine where everyone else serves Heather Duplicitous’ class.
The permanently unemployed could be moved to free Housing NZ homes in the provinces. Houses for everyone and reinvigoration of smaller communities.
Your use of grammar and tense in that statement says it all.
Once you’ve thought about the ethical issues in people being moved, have a think about the effect on existing communities and families. What about kids that are under shared care arrangements? Or solo parents taht are dependent on friends and families for support?
I think there are huge issues with the numbers of people that want to live in Auckland, but suggesting they can be moved isn’t a useful starting point.
Just skip the house and go back to institutions and poor houses.
Anyway surely you are more likely to get this:
Houses for everyone and re-invigoration of smaller communities.
if you move the rich people out to the small communities – logic would dictate this as much more sensible.
They could take their businesses with them, there would be less demand for housing in Auckland, local small businesses would get spin-off work from the successful businesses these rich people can build and develop. They wouldn’t need million dollar salaries and lower paid workers could get more.
So yeah campaign for the rich to move out to the provinces – after all it’s the rich that are our saviours.
Most state houses in the provinces have been sold off
Or neglected so the government can take a dividend from poor peoples rent.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/283700/english-defends-$118m-housing-nz-dividend
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/09/13/nationals-blatant-lies-on-housing-nz-dividends-the-truth-uncovered/
And as well who are the “permanently unemployed”.
I know a few CEO wives that fit that description, then there’s old people, and those with disabilities, not sure if Irish Catholics still meet that description but we could start sending young mums to the country to have their children again – save them the embarrassment of their parents friends knowing they had sex …
Where to Invade Next is out
the school cafeteria in France makes an interesting contrast to new Zealand in fact a lot of whats in the film does the full film is out if you look for it.
You have to ask, why the hell are we not importing immigrants who actually create NEW businesses that Create NEW job for KIWIS and export and the criteria is to make a profit?
Instead we seem to be importing migrants for internal jobs like Chefs and IT workers and wanting immigrants to invest in Auckland property in an already overheated market and P importers.
Likewise companies here, who’s sole purpose is to take what they can, and then move to the cheapest Labour market.
For example GameLoft based in Parnell, which by it’s own admission employs only 30% Kiwis and 70% non Kiwis, has received $600,000 in grants, but employees complained of excessive hours. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10875615
An insider who worked there has alleged they are now moving to Nigeria for cheaper Labour. Many of the migrants they have imported are now alledgedly on the NZ dole queue.
Game over: NZ’s largest gaming studio to shut
New Zealand’s largest video gaming studio is closing down and 150 people are losing their jobs.
Gameloft is a French-owned company which was set up in Auckland ten years ago.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/295207/game-over-nz's-largest-gaming-studio-to-shut
we are importing immigrates to help bilingenglishl cook the books as there inst much of anything in the economy
+1
To build and develop the economy then we actually need to build and develop the economy – not hope that someone else will do it for us.
+1 Draco. exactly.
So just talking to this guy from Florida, how about this as a policy. First generation to attend university (defined as grandparents and parents) all fees free and a living allowance paid…
Exclusive Bretheren found to be extreme child abusers.
Not a good look for National Party.
Ok, I’ll bite. What the hell does the Exclusive Bretheren have to do with National?
Dnftt
Heavy transport and roading industry
The last thing they want is sunlight on their practices and those places of worship that seen to have insufficient safety exits let alone any windows.
Anyone hear Paula Bennett on Q and A this morning – she was talking about climate change and said in the conversation “that’s all hyperbole” (she pronounced it hyper-bowl) – not the best educated woman out there – only outdone by Rodney Hide who years ago talked about a cacophony (he pronounced it “cakka-phoney”) Nice to hear something funny for a change with all the terrible stuff going on!
Thanks Hami Shearlie (10) … 🙂
So nice to know our politicians (and ex politicians), those who make the rules and laws, by which we should live, are not the brightest stars in the sky! Well I think we knew that didn’t we? It’s just sometimes they confirm our suspicions regarding their ignorance and stupidity with their ridiculous utterances!
Geeze where do we get them from?
To Hami Shearlie at 10: I must have switched Paula Bennet off before that ‘blue’ in pronunciation because the shame I felt that a person with her portfolio could be so unlearned on the subject, indicated the garden more demanding of my time and general well-being! Thank you for providing a wry smile, though surely this Minister has had ample time since becoming our official face on climate change to have attained a real understanding of the issues. I grieve, and because rain ( though welcome ) has arrived, the garden solution no longer possible.
As much as I dislike the politics of Paula Bennett, mispronounced word could be because the person is smart enough to read an understand the words, and use them correctly, but may have never heard them. It’s is not necessarily a case of ignorance, but a case of unfamiliarity with the sound of the word.
Belittling formal education/intellectual heritage is close to calling a person unintelligent. A dangerous assumption, in my experience.
Some humanity on beggars and who we should ban:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/79090057/jeremy-elwood–michele-acourt-should-beggars-be-banned
Seems that a push for PPPs is underway – seen this?
30 years of research into PPPs – which show why they don’t work?
http://www.world-psi.org/en/why-public-private-partnerships-dont-work
PSI released the new report on 18 March 2015 at the “SDGs for Workers”, a Parallel Event sponsored by Global Unions at the NGO CSW Forum during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW).
The report assesses the PPP experience in both industrialised and developing countries and contains a combination of 30 years of research by David Hall, former Director of Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) University of Greenwich, UK.
The many case studies analysed, from United Kingdom to Chile, show that PPPs have failed to live up to their promise. In most cases, they are an expensive and inefficient way of financing infrastructure and services, since they conceal public borrowing, while providing long-term state guarantees for profits to private companies.
The author proposes a public alternative to this system, in which national and local governments can continue to develop infrastructure by using public finance for investment, and public sector organisations to deliver the service.
“Public services are massive pools of potential corporate profit, and PPPs serve to access them. The ‘clients’ are captive, the services are often monopoly,” comments David Boys, Deputy General Secretary of PSI.
“This paper provides a synthesis of many years of research, and should be used by union activists, concerned citizens, but also by policy makers around the world.”
______________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Sacha mentioned Action Station as being an alternative to political parties. I guess there are some other people like me who haven’t heard about it yet. It sounds promising to be involved with while we wait for Labour to get over its sad case of sleeping sickness.
We could join in this, and also support our favourite leftie party, and others which are fighting to forge a name for themselves as being honest workers for the people. We are still allowed this freedom, to have multi-interests, and not just board the train and travel the line to wherever.
http://www.actionstation.org.nz/about
ActionStation is an independent, member-led not-for-profit organisation representing over 100,000 Kiwis holding power to account, standing for a fair society, healthy environment & economic fairness.
Their latest campaign was on freshwater standards.
http://www.actionstation.org.nz/campaigns
There not up to it is the problem.
@Skinny
I don’t know much about ActionStation. When I looked them up I liked the look of their web page, nice design. Everyone has to start somewhere. But they are lacking something you think? I just don’t feel confident that enough is happening on the political scene. If there is too much of a void a hologram of Trump might beam over and dazzle us with hijinks.
Keiser Report: Secret of TTIP and TPP(A)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dHZEjJbz0c&w=560&h=315%5D
Japanese President wants to hold back on ratification of TPPA due to fear of voter backlash
Meanwhile, Obama went undercover for the Brexit crowd in the UK by stating that should the UK opt to leave the EU, then they wouldn’t get to be party to TTIP. Not only that, but the UK would go to the back of the queue as far as ‘negotiating’ any free trade deals with the US was concerned.
Oh. But then, along with the Clinton, pointed out that the US wanted the UK to remain in Europe to act as leverage for the US in Europe.
I don’t know why I used ‘but’ for that second statement. Be an economically crushed vassal of the US of A situated on the geographical fringes of Europe, or…well, there is no ‘or’. Apparently those two things are just what the ordinary people of the UK always wanted…I mean, it must be, innit?
For those of you interested in what Bill Black, a man who put over a thousand bankers in jail and who travels around the globe to educate entire Governments about why Control fraud is such a pervasive, hideous form of fraud, has to say about putting a Merrill Lynch banker on the board of Guardians of the Cullen fund and John Key making New Zealand into a secrecy haven also known as a tax haven here is the link to Vinny Eastwood’s show with Bill Black, recorded last WednesdayVinnie Eastwood’s show with Bill Black In the first half Vinny interviews Bill about his work and his past victories over banking fraud. I have the opportunity to ask Bill a ton of questions pertaining to New Zealand in the second hour! Conclusion? John Key is a banker fraudster who should be in jail like his Icelandic colleagues and the Cullen fund is f&*ked!
Wow…….this one’s pre-nup’ would be a bastard !
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11627945
Herald online’s really cracked a threshhold though…….anything more than cereal, rice, bread…….you’re a wastrel !
Key hand hovers over the panic button…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/79271237/pm-hints-at-land-tax-to-rein-in-foreign-speculators
Still doesn’t look like a joined up plan.
Agree. Poll-driven, reactionary, and disjointed. The hallmarks of this government.
Another silly silly article trying to tell people if you only worked harder and saved harder, they can afford a house in Auckland.
Luckily most people don’t believe a word the Herald says anymore.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11627945
“Buying your own house is so hard now it seems, that the @nzherald considers it front page news when someone can afford one.” A pearler from the Twitterverse.
Methinks the tide is beginning to turn with the middle classes, here in Auckland at least. I see from the series of articles in the Herald about the housing situation that some of our middle class people are now housing half of their children in their spare bedrooms and kids in their mid-twenties to thirties at that along with their spouses/partners and professionally educated as well, because they cannot afford a down payment on a house. So even with a professional education and joint salaries they still cannot manage a down payment because of high rents and so they are back living with Mum and Dad. Can see this going down like a lead balloon when Mum and Dad want to kick back and go on a overseas trip.
Some of the parents are paying for the down payment/deposit, others are buying land for their kids and its taking a dent in their retirement savings. The rot is setting in, a lot of people on this site have said it will have to be the middle classes being affected by the housing crisis here for the tide to turn. Let’s hope and pray this happens and they see what a complete shambles the Auckland market has been turned into by not having good effective restraints on overseas buyers having carte blanche here to buy up our housing stock.
Some parents may have to, in the end, gift over one or two of their rented properties to the kids and miss out on the income from them. Then we will see them starting to “complain” in a big way. Happy days folks.
It’s not that long ago when it was normal for people to live in extended family situations. In fact it’s been the norm for most of human history. I know we’ve lost the knack of it, but I don’t see people having to share housing with family as the end of the world, or even necessarily a negative.
Add to that that the size of housing and expectations around everyone having their own space is not realistic in an age of climate change and resource depletion.
I have a lot of sympathy for the people who are struggling to pay rent or mortgage, because having a home is central to wellbeing. But it’s hard to feel sorry for the middle classes who are struggling because they are treating home ownership as an investment. I was fortunate to buy and eventually sell a house at a time when it worked financially but I was never under the illusion that it was anything other than a crock of shit that we all pay for and some more than others.
There’s a lot of bitching between the boomers and their offspring generation but I’d take it more seriously if I saw them being also concerned for people who can’t find a place to live, or who are struggling to have a meaningful life because their housing costs suck up so much of their income. Because let’s not forget that most of the people complaining about the difficulties of home ownership would in a flash buy and sell a house as an investment if they could.
I really think that we are at the end of the age of privilege, and I hope that the Gen Y wake up to this and start looking at creative solutions to working with what we’ve got. We should be looking at new models of co-housing, sharing land etc and stepping out of the millieu that says buying a home and saving for retirement is the best thing, because it’s all going to fall over in their life times anyway.
I understand Weka completely, but I feel that the tide will turn now as its the Middle Classes which keep voting in this Government and they are starting to feel the effects. I fully agree that we should help our families out and in my own circumstances that is we are doing, giving one of ours a helping hand, the only difference is we have never voted for National and do not condone what they have done to this country. As Bomber over on the Daily Blog says, once the Middle Classes start to bitch and whinge then we may see the tide turn. In the end it will be a battle between the 1% and the rest of us, Middle Classes included. If that’s what it takes, it can’t come soon enough.
Here is another example of our not-wonderful running of our country under free market, low regulation, trust business to know whats best. system failure.
This from Northland Age
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northland-age/rural/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503397&objectid=11622597
Federated Farmers Arable Industry Group is watching with interest the increasing tonnage of supplementary feeds being imported.
This, at a time, when there is leftover maize and cereal feed grain which could be consumed by these sectors for an equally competitive price.
Maize harvest has begun in the North Island and in many cases they have had an exceptional growing season but the low dairy payout and cheap price of palm kernel expeller have meant they don’t have a home for the product.
Some, meanwhile, are burning the maize in the paddock and writing the season off.
Imported feeds risk bringing in new weeds, pests and diseases. While New Zealand has import health standards to try to manage these risks, sometimes things slip through the cracks. (Latest is something called velvet leaf, looks a bit like bindweed.)
Velvet leaf came in with imported fodder beet seed. Looks like fodder beet is a newish crop desired by dairy farmers. Don’t know why NZ can’t grow its own seed.
Neoliberal, market knows best, system failure, exactly.
http://robertguyton.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/velvet-leaf-panic.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/9335886/Farmer-rates-fodder-beet-miles-ahead-of-silage
@weka
The fodder beet bit interested me too. I think it was fodder beet developed to withstand Roundup that was involved in a large number of cow deaths. Those beets had concentrated toxins in the leaves due to some climatic effect.
So that raises the questions – why are beets being more used, why is the seed imported, do all farmers understand the proper use of it and the times the animals need to be withheld from it, are they taking a risk on using it and then claiming on insurance if it turns out badly, is it something to lay on the now shown as unprofitable over-stocking with non-grass extra feed method?
Are farmers being sold a sick system that is rebounding on them?
(And about imported stuff there was a piece in The Press about searching for the entry point of black grass that is being found in the middle of paddocks, and is not wanted. A little para says it has nothing to do with the roadside drop of tainted seed from trucks carting it to and from the big agricultural importing companies. The plants are growing too far away to result from any dropped seed at roadsides. But weeds are those plants that have amazing reproductive powers and they find ways to get around. A cover up for our big corporates making money from modern industrial farming-with warnings ‘contains collateral damage’?)
The roundup ready issue was with swedes. Both happened inSouthland.
The politics of who controls the world’s seed stores is a major issue for NZ food security. Lots of good work has been done on preserving NZ’s seed banks but if we had a hard crash I think we’d be struggling.
Same old shit. This is why I place relocalisation so high in political priorities. The sooner we get the stuff that matters out of the hands of the greedy people the better all round.
+1
Just another bit on velvet leaf piece earlier that raises questions for the country. That is whether subsidies are good for farmers and the country in certain situations like this. If the MPI is called will they charge the farmer? If so they may not be called and not get to know the extent of the infestation.
MPI will make arrangements for removing the plants, inspect the rest of the crop to ensure there are no more plants and then together with FAR, DairyNZ have developed a farm management plan to manage the velvetleaf to prevent it being moved around the farm or out the gate.
Better to help the farmer and we bear the cost. Better not to allow this Lazy Maisey government free market leave everything to business no regulation contract out stuff to continue. It isn’t working for us. And remember contractors work to rule, in a different way to unionists, but it is still damaging to the country to have people tied to set parameters who must ignore matters outside their contract that need investigation or attention, because they are not being paid to do so.
Well said Miravox. I find it unpleasant when people mock the pronunciation or spelling of others as a sign of their own intellectual superiority – which it rarely is. Some towering geniuses have been rotten spellers.
Whatever we think of her politics, Paula Bennett has an impressive career after starting as a young solo mum, going to university and rising in the political ranks where she has had some demanding roles. It doesn’t help to ridicule successful women and often verges on misogyny.
However I did have to laugh at Mihi Forbes this morning on Radio NZ talking about the first ‘calvary’ charge in a NZ battle. She said it over and over again so it was clearly an unfamiliar word for her despite radio and TV announcing being the profession she is supposedly trained for.
Try to remember to hit the reply button in future Bea Brown then your comment will come up beneath – or closely beneath – the person you are replying to.
As for your fit of pique over a few grins concerning Bennett’s mispronunciation:
Ms Bennett has done well but to describe her as having had an impressive career is over the top given she just happened to be in the right place at the right time and… knew the right people. Her actual qualifications have been attained by many, many thousands of young NZers – lots of them in far more straitened circumstances than herself. In fact from what I’ve heard… she may have been a solo mum but her situation was never straitened.
More important is her language in respect of Climate Change matters. She has a very superficial understanding of the subject -if she has even that – and that is deeply disturbing for a Minister of Climate Change! There is also historical evidence of her spiteful, bullying behaviour towards anyone who dares to cross her, so I personally don’t mind people having a giggle or two over a mispronounced word. Not a big deal in the scheme of things.
‘fit of pique’;’in the right place at the right time and… knew the right people’; ‘she may have been a solo mum but her situation was never straitened’; ‘very superficial understanding of the subject’; ‘spiteful, bullying’.
Wow.
Hyperbole?
You really are in the wrong place of you want to praise Bennett and not have people disagree with you.
So we have to show unalloyed hatred?
That goes way beyond disagreement.
What does that remind me of?
Two legs good four legs bad…
And I love the notion of degrees of solo motherhood.
Nope. We don’t have to do a damned thing.
But if you share your opinion, don’t be surprised when others share theirs.
You might think it’s just sloganeering, others might feel that the minister responsible for social welfare has not just overseen increased hardship and degradation of those who need help from society, but has in several instances denied people the assistance that she herself received when she walked, however fleetingly, in their shoes.
Personally I have nothing but contempt for the person.
You said something. Someone disagreed with it. You don’t like that someone disagreed with you. I’m just pointing out that that won’t work on this site, esp if the disagreement is over Paula Bennett. You might want to read the site policy too, top of the page.