Naturally, this doesn’t cure homelessness. There’s still a big place for Labour’s excellent housing policies
But if you ever want to see policy working to tilt a whole market, look no further than the measures that this National government put in place.
It was only in October last year that tighter Loan to Value Ratio restrictions were put in place. It required property investors to have a 40% deposit for a mortgage loan and owner-occupiers to have a 20% deposit. Immediately the froth came off, but now its effect is really showing.
Who knows, we could still have a housing price collapse.
Or we could have the modern miracle of government, over the one great asset the majority of New Zealanders have: their home. And that miracle is managing the entire real estate market down.
What are you on? The article says the biggest casualty is first home buyers are the main ones being shut out of the housing market. Meanwhile, the biggest winners are investors with cash.
From the view from halfway to the bottom end, what you are talking about looks like tinkering to make the market better for the top end, mostly as investment. And ultimately that will continue to hurt renters, the homeless and those on lowish incomes who might want to buy. There are whole classes of people now who can’t own and struggle to afford rent and I don’t see what you are talking about as improving that much (although I’m sure it is better than nothing).
The problem is seeing housing as a financial investment, and that’s a tricky one to unpack because it’s tied to retirement and the contemporary idea that the state can no longer bet trusted to support people. Better to fix welfare/social security IMO, and then reinstate housing as being about having a home instead of a financial investment.
Yep. It’s treating housing a social investment that’s a problem – plus the decline of our welfare system, low wages and focusing generally on profits over people.
Considering that Labour, in it’s fanatical following of the neo-liberal cult, is actually in agreement with the TPPA and FTAs in general then, no, you shouldn’t expect them to make capital off of it.
They have been clear about opposition to the TPPA many times, including on Morning Report a couple of weeks ago. Not that it matters as the TPPA is dead.
Nope TPPA isn’t dead. Bill English was out trying to drum up the zombie agreement with anybody left who will listen.
If Natz get in again, and with Trump going to sign ‘if USA get a good deal”. Well we all know that Natz would sign anything no matter how damaging to the people of NZ. What do they care what’s in the details, whether arduous health costs or turning our cops into copywrite cops for US business – who the frig knows what the National party are prepared to sign with Trump or anyone else, anything.
Not a lot of talk about how hopeless the National Party look, post Key. Zero succession planning in the National Party. My guess is trader Key, read the future, realised the shit was going to hit the fan with our economy 98 million dollars into the red and bailed so he could look good and escape to Hawaii with full benefits and pensions and brag to his mates how he was NZ’s most popular PM.
Of course Tony Blair used to be popular and look what happened to him and the UK Labour party after he left.
Now it’s the right’s turn.
We have Bitter Bill, the world’s biggest bores.
Ex Bene turned Bene basher with a wonderful CV of receiving government money her whole life and now as deputy leader.
Judith Colins with so many scandals and dirt to be dug up she could make mince meat out of the National party rep.
Joyce, the world’s most arrogant yokel, who can even annoy the most eager National business person with his ‘pretty legal’ chit chat
Brownlee, the CHCH rebuild architect – “wizard’.
Smith, who unlike Jesus can turn fish into faeces.
Bill marched away from an interview looking relaxed and pleased.
His statement “if there was a tape” is a worry. Does he know it is long gone,
and now evidence is hear-say?
Though he still has to explain his texts and Glenys’s call to the victim, after his call to her on Waitangi Day. (interview with Gower),
Bouyed by the “late” poll results as well? (late = 2 weeks old)
Bennett declaring a political crush on English, tells me there is division, and she has chosen. No real surprise in that. So Bill has to get the numbers.
WE have to act on faith, and give our honest guy Andrew support.
We need to speak up and sell our honest group.
Bury all hair shirts ’till the election is over!!
We have enough horrible foes without ‘white anting’ the party.
We need to get them in, then apply the pressure to enact people friendly legislation.
We are closer than they care to admit, that is why they are shrill and in attack mode.
Don’t give them fodder.
We need to join together and push this over the line.
Please enrol and vote 2 ticks.
Stable Government with English being sold as a trusted, stable pair of hands is the line National are pushing.
English standing down would destroy that perception. But now that his credibility has come into question, there could also be damage if he remains party leader.
Therefore, it’s delusional to think they wouldn’t be evaluating the numbers.
Moreover, you’ve seem to have forgotten this is an MMP election, therefore Labour aren’t standing alone. And when combined with the Greens (& possibly NZF) it’s going to be a close finish.
CREATIVE FUTURE?
It is no coincidence that world-wide rehabilitation programs for offenders and addicts are invariably grounded in creativity: cooking, music, art, surfing, environmental restoration. Spontaneous creativity is neither a luxury nor a talent, but the natural expression of all of us, setting us aside from other life forms on earth.
By re-aligning our waking hours with that which is creative in ourselves rather than squeezing it in over weekends we will defuse restlessness, the futility of non-fulfilment and the sense that our abilities are going to waste. With widespread automation, decimation of jobs and UBI in place vast reserves of creativity could be put to work restoring society, the environment, the social structure and all that runs counter to a happy and productive country.
Creativity has many faces; the politically inclined will generate fresh ways of inclusive government; educators new methods of drawing out the creativity of their charges; financiers equitable ways of restructuring currency (or what’s left of it); artists and musicians novel expression of humanity’s changing orientation on earth; scientists sustainable methods of restoring the integrity of our ecosystems; idealists insights into our future course; philosophers insightful ways to growth and understanding of the evolving human spirit, to name a few.
For those who have tried it the satisfaction of working creatively in cooperative ventures eclipses the need to “prove oneself” via competition. Whether the race is ready to move beyond this most basic of drivers is difficult to say.
For those who have tried it the satisfaction of working creatively in cooperative ventures eclipses the need to “prove oneself” via competition. Whether the race is ready to move beyond this most basic of drivers is difficult to say.
We evolved beyond it millions of years ago. If there’s anything to the human nature argument that the RWNJs bring up all the time it’s that we’re mostly altruistic and cooperative. It’s the sociopaths that aren’t and they’re the minority.
Your’e saying humans are no longer competitive? Free market system, capitalism, one-upmanship, rampant materialism, – all driven by competition when I last looked.
Our markets are not notably free – everything in NZ costs more except wages. The Rogergnomic reforms failed – but then they were never intended to work, only to enrich a small subset of the population.
True. Talent and creativity can only flourish through honouring the individual’s uniqueness in terms of background, era and culture. Mass delivered education in crowded classrooms can never deliver. National trots out the worn mantra “research has shown that class size does not make a difference to educational achievement.”; of course they are talking about grades but remain shy of asking why depression, suicide, substance abuse etc. remain depressingly high.
Will the PM who quit aka Key be making an appearance at the Nat’s conference this weekend? Will he be standing up and backing English, defending the outgoing PM’s lying etc?
Where is Key? If he was a good friend of Bills surely he would be helping him out of the massive Barclay scandal which is still making news.
Wish they’d get rid of Lisa Owen though, Jesus, shut the fuck up and let your guests speak. don’t ask a question and talk over them when they’re trying to reply to the question you asked.
I think Hone should stay out of politics and go back to activism. i don’t think he gets it. Nothing worse than seeing someone who doesn’t know when it’s over.
Going off the interview, can’t see his deal with the Māori Party going too well.
They agreed not to stand against each other in electoral seats. The expectation being that doing so would encourage supporters of both to support the one standing. However, Hone won’t give his backing of his members doing so due to the Māori Party’s support of the Māori land reform Bill.
And apparently Marama Fox has threaten to respond in kind.
I know. Got a Facebook petition – save the Māori land court – from the mana party. Someone wrote a comment about the deal with the Māori Party – just a joke imo.
Me too Marty. I like Hone but I don’t think he is doing himself (or Mana) any favours at the moment. I think he can be more effective as an activist than as a lone backbencher.
This is more worrying though – he evidently suggested life imprisonment or deportation to China for the death penalty to discourage meth dealing on the Nation. I really wouldn’t have expected that from him
Anyone interested in learning something about the ongoing siege of Gaza should read this book…
Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom
by NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
Gaza is among the most densely populated places in the world. Two-thirds of its inhabitants are refugees, and more than half the population is under eighteen years of age. Since Israel occupied Gaza in 1967, it has systematically de-developed the economy. After Hamas won democratic elections in 2006, Israel intensified its blockade of Gaza, and after Hamas consolidated its control of the territory in 2007, Israel tightened its illegal siege another notch. In the meantime, Israel has launched no less than eight military operations against Gaza—culminating in Operation Cast Lead in 2008–9 and Operation Protective Edge in 2014—that left behind over three million tons of rubble. Recent UN reports predict that Gaza will be unlivable by 2020.
Norman G. Finkelstein presents a meticulously researched and devastating inquest into Israel’s actions of the last decade. He argues that although Israel justified its blockade and violent assaults in the name of self-defense, in fact these actions were cynical exercises of brutal power against an essentially defenseless civilian population. Based on hundreds of human rights reports, the book scrutinizes multifarious violations of international law Israel committed both during its operations and in the course of its decade-long siege of Gaza. It is a monument to Gaza’s martyrs and a scorching accusation against their tormenters.
The most charitable or delusional interpretation I can make is that Labour is outsourcing its environmental policy to the Greens and will ‘concede’ clean river as part of a deal later, but remember how Blair was supposed to be cultivating the Conservative voters before he was going to implement real socialist policies? Right, we all know how that turned out.
It looks like Little is just Captain Mumblefuck 2.0
I don’t know what they’re doing. I’d like to see their whole policies because that article doesn’t really say a lot.
One delegate sought an assurance from Little that the Green Party would not “can” Labour’s attitude to how it would operate as a government.
“We [and the Greens] have common areas of policy but also areas we differ on as well. The more support you give us, the more we can approach your industry in a practical and sensible way,” Little responded.
Lol, that’s my argument to people to vote Green. If we want a progressive govt the more Greens the better. Little is speaking to that audience but it does make me think they’ve chosen messaging over authenticity.
If we want a progressive govt the more Greens the better. Little is speaking to that audience but it does make me think they’ve chosen messaging over authenticity.
Absolutely. They only succeed in coming across as insincere and confused.
I’m voting Green. Very Little can go fuck himself.
It’s very easy to see why people are sick of business as usual politics when the system keeps excreting nobodies like Blinglish and Little.
I think our best bet is to have a L/G govt without Peters. This will give the Greens a chance to prove themselves once and for all. They’re obviously competent to be in govt, but it will be crunch time as to whether they can do govt differently and keep left.
In the absence of any unicorns, I agree. The Greens are showing both integrity and discipline and deserve to have a hand in government. Labour is riddled with egotistical careerists such as Robertson who put themselves first, party second and principles third. Little is totally ineffective in keeping them in check and shows no competence or principles. He is not a PM in waiting, which is the test of any opposition. His only advantage is that Blinglish is not a PM at all.
Hmmm. I was really alarmed about the report about what Little said, but today there was a press release from him, plus just heard David Parker on midday news on Nat radio saying that policy from 2014 hasn’t changed. Little claims he misunderstood the question and his lack of response to another statement was seen as agreement when it wasn’t.
I agree that the Greens are stronger that Labour on environmental policy so making sure they have a significant influence in a Labour/Green government is important.
Thanks Karen, I’ll put that up as a post in the morning. I thought the original Stuff article was poor and probably misleading so good to have some more information.
One of Labour’s problems is the lag time between their speeches and media work and putting things up on their website. I’m still waiting for something on mental health after their good work in Chch last week. If they’re just going to rely on the media coverage then mistakes like this one over water will happen.
Labour don’t seem to have a good comms team at all and I find it really frustrating. I know they have quite a lot on at the moment but this water policy confusion should have dealt with as soon as the article appeared, not 2 days later.
If there is a policy announcement the policy page on the website should be updated immediately afterwards and there should be 2 versions, one with a lot more detail (for policy nerds like me!) They did that for the immigration one but it isn’t consistent.
I am on the mailing list for the Greens and Labour but Labour tend to just send major speeches rather than individual policy announcements. Mostly, I just look at the new policies page:
Hopefully this will be a bit more informative closer to the election as most of the policies don’t have enough detail for my liking. This may be because they are still formulating some of it.
To be honest I dont think farmers want clean rivers/waterways, for the simple reason that it impacts on their profits. “Local based solutions” are all PR bullshit.
It would be better and more honest for FF to have the guts to stand up and just say, “we dont want clean rivers, because we just want to make a shit load of money instead, and also, we want to shut New Zealander out of the farming industry and have farm workers all migrants”.
I think there are lots of farmers who don’t belong to FF, and many of those want to do the right things (and some are doing the right things). We need a govt that will support those farmers.
The 2017 FIZZ Conference
“Taxing Sugary Drinks: An Election Issue” will be held on Monday 26 June.
Meanwhile, I note the following Official Information request languishing on FYI”
Document containing advice re Sugar Tax from MOH tabled during question time 13.10.2016 Request sent to Minister of Health by John Gray on October 13, 2016. Long overdue.
Is it too early to suggest that an All Blacks series win against the Lions and an America’s Cup victory would be – al least national mood wise – be pretty good for this government in September?
I couldn’t see the game where I am overseas – but looks like we played well.
And agree – between this and if we get the Americas cup – it will pit a lot of people in a good mood. Add that the the majority of people thinking the country is heading in the right direction it’s a good position for national.
Outages today were due to googlebots having an issue with an old post from 2011 which had links starting with // and/or ending with ‘. They have read this post hundreds of times before. Looks like something got tweaked.
Caused some interesting effects with some strange URLs. tens of thousands of queries per minute, high CPU, and the processor shutting down when it hit safety tempatures.
I have fixed the page, removed the googlebot special access and I’ve started treating it like bingbot…
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
“As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Police, and family violence and sexual violence response services, it’s a good time to remind everyone what to do if they experience violence or are worried about others,” Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Senior Lecturer (Law), Southern Cross University Elon Musk is no stranger to news headlines. His purchase of Twitter and subsequent decision to rebrand the platform as X has seen it called “a true black mirror of the most worrying parts ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila The electoral commission in Vanuatu is trying its best to clear up some confusion with the voting process for tomorrow’s snap election. Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said this is due to the tight turnaround to deliver this election after Parliament ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma King, Senior Lecturer in French Studies, ARC DECRA Fellow in Screen Studies, Australian National University Universal Pictures In two of the biggest films released this summer, Gladiator II and Nosferatu, most actors seem to be speaking like they’re in a ...
Alex Casey reviews the first and possibly last ever musical biopic to star a CGI ape. Sometime over the fuzzy holiday break, I watched a Subway Take on Instagram which stuck with me. “Musician biopics should be illegal,” opined guest Charlene Kaye. “I’m so sick of the trope of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Whitcombe-Dobbs, Senior Lecturer in Child and Family Psychology, University of Canterbury After last year’s budget cuts to social services, including a NZ$14 million cut to early home visits, social services providers in New Zealand raised concerns about what the move would ...
COMMENTARY:By Maire Leadbeater Aotearoa New Zealand’s coalition government has introduced a bill to criminalise “improper conduct for or on behalf of a foreign power” or foreign interference that echoes earlier Cold War times, and could capture critics of New Zealand’s foreign and defence policy, especially if they liaise with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristine Crous, Senior Lecturer, School of Science and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University Researchers study leaves in the Daintree rainforest in North Queensland, Australia, using a canopy crane. Alexander Cheesman On the east coast of Australia, in tropical ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Baur, Professor, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney World Obesity Federation Obesity is linked to many common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease and knee osteoarthritis. Obesity is currently defined using ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology Sad, anxious or lacking in motivation? Chances are you have just returned to work after a summer break. January is the month when people are most likely to quit ...
Is warning people about police on Google Maps aiding your fellow citizens, or abetting dangerous drivers? Anna Rawhiti-Connell debates Anna Rawhiti-Connell.For over a decade, the navigation app Waze has used a crowdsourcing feature that allows you to report incidents on your route. With your phone plugged into Apple CarPlay ...
With dozens of Māori seats up for referendum, this year’s local elections will reveal where Aotearoa truly stands on representation.Last year, the government introduced legislation requiring all local authorities that had established Māori wards and constituencies to hold a referendum on these seats during this year’s local government elections. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Williams, Associate Professor, Griffith University, Griffith University Queensland’s Bruce Highway is a bit like a 1980s family sedan: dated, worn in places, and often more than a little dangerous. But it’s also a necessary part of life for people just trying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Collins, Research Fellow and Curator, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia South Australian Home Builders’ Club members at work.SAHBC collection S284, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia Australians are no strangers to housing crises. Some will even remember the crisis ...
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The only way forward is for workers to build a new party that fights for the socialist reorganisation of society, on the basis of human need, not private profit. This is the program of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand and the International ...
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David Seymour has welcomed the huge amount of public interest in his controversial proposed law, explains The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Parliament's justice committee will find out tomorrow how many submissions were made on the Treaty Principles Bill after the deadline was extended by nearly a week after website issues. ...
A parent shares their experience and fears as public submissions are sought on the use of puberty blockers for gender-affirming care. Both the author and daughter’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.When my daughter Marie was born, everyone, including me, thought she was a boy. She started ...
Thrice thwarted previously, the Act Party’s Regulatory Standards Bill is set to pass in 2025, ushering in a new – and potentially controversial – era for government rule-making. Here’s everything you need to know. Before public submissions for the Treaty principles bill came to a close on Tuesday, a separate ...
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Summer reissue: Adopted in 1834 the first national flag of New Zealand (Te Kara o Te Whakaminenga o Ngā Hapū o Nu Tīreni) symbolises more than just necessity – it represents Māori autonomy and a legacy of self-determination that continues today.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying ...
Summer reissue: Shortsightedness in kids is skyrocketing overseas. Is New Zealand next? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.“Hey bro, are you blind now?” ...
While mediator Qatar says a Gaza ceasefire deal is at the closest point it has been in the past few months — adding that many of the obstacles in the negotiations have been ironed out — a special report for Drop Site News reveals the escalation in attacks on Palestinians ...
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Summer reissue: Lange and Muldoon clash, two days after the election. Our live updates editor is on the case. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
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Looks like the Auckland housing price boom is really over.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11881164
Naturally, this doesn’t cure homelessness. There’s still a big place for Labour’s excellent housing policies
But if you ever want to see policy working to tilt a whole market, look no further than the measures that this National government put in place.
It was only in October last year that tighter Loan to Value Ratio restrictions were put in place. It required property investors to have a 40% deposit for a mortgage loan and owner-occupiers to have a 20% deposit. Immediately the froth came off, but now its effect is really showing.
Who knows, we could still have a housing price collapse.
Or we could have the modern miracle of government, over the one great asset the majority of New Zealanders have: their home. And that miracle is managing the entire real estate market down.
What are you on? The article says the biggest casualty is first home buyers are the main ones being shut out of the housing market. Meanwhile, the biggest winners are investors with cash.
+ 1
Ad will be okay so no problem.
Here it is.
Housing has to stop being our preferred asset class. It’s going to hurt.
First home buyers will almost always need to draw on their parents’ equity.
Every currently home-owning family will be forced to think like they are a bank with specific limited equity to carefully dole out.
Or, put rules in place to stop speculating on property as a way of making an income.
The 10 year boom has created a set of highly leveraged large landlords. Very few are cashed up. Very few banks are lending.
The 2 year Bright Line test is doing it’s job limiting speculators.
The new rules are not enough, but they are heading us in the right direction without a crash.
From the view from halfway to the bottom end, what you are talking about looks like tinkering to make the market better for the top end, mostly as investment. And ultimately that will continue to hurt renters, the homeless and those on lowish incomes who might want to buy. There are whole classes of people now who can’t own and struggle to afford rent and I don’t see what you are talking about as improving that much (although I’m sure it is better than nothing).
The problem is seeing housing as a financial investment, and that’s a tricky one to unpack because it’s tied to retirement and the contemporary idea that the state can no longer bet trusted to support people. Better to fix welfare/social security IMO, and then reinstate housing as being about having a home instead of a financial investment.
Yep. It’s treating housing a social investment that’s a problem – plus the decline of our welfare system, low wages and focusing generally on profits over people.
Do Labour plan to make the TPP an election issue?
Little has been said.
Good point, of course Labour should. It’s one of the main differences that people can say in one sentence and TPPA is very unpopular.
“TPPA is very unpopular”
One would expect Labour to capitalize off that, yet there’s little being said.
Considering that Labour, in it’s fanatical following of the neo-liberal cult, is actually in agreement with the TPPA and FTAs in general then, no, you shouldn’t expect them to make capital off of it.
That explains the silence. But it will probably cost them a few votes though.
The Nats are pushing it through, hence a number will vote accordingly to oppose it.
They have been clear about opposition to the TPPA many times, including on Morning Report a couple of weeks ago. Not that it matters as the TPPA is dead.
Link?
I’ve never seen them being clear about it and that is usually bound up with their general belief that FTAs are good no matter what.
I put in NZ Labour TPPA and got the NO and the petition.
Trade OK. The loss of sovereignty rules it out. No changes as far as I can see.
Nope TPPA isn’t dead. Bill English was out trying to drum up the zombie agreement with anybody left who will listen.
If Natz get in again, and with Trump going to sign ‘if USA get a good deal”. Well we all know that Natz would sign anything no matter how damaging to the people of NZ. What do they care what’s in the details, whether arduous health costs or turning our cops into copywrite cops for US business – who the frig knows what the National party are prepared to sign with Trump or anyone else, anything.
National will be doing the numbers. Will English remaining do more damage than English standing down?
Both are likely to be fatal.
Lets hope.
Not a lot of talk about how hopeless the National Party look, post Key. Zero succession planning in the National Party. My guess is trader Key, read the future, realised the shit was going to hit the fan with our economy 98 million dollars into the red and bailed so he could look good and escape to Hawaii with full benefits and pensions and brag to his mates how he was NZ’s most popular PM.
Of course Tony Blair used to be popular and look what happened to him and the UK Labour party after he left.
Now it’s the right’s turn.
We have Bitter Bill, the world’s biggest bores.
Ex Bene turned Bene basher with a wonderful CV of receiving government money her whole life and now as deputy leader.
Judith Colins with so many scandals and dirt to be dug up she could make mince meat out of the National party rep.
Joyce, the world’s most arrogant yokel, who can even annoy the most eager National business person with his ‘pretty legal’ chit chat
Brownlee, the CHCH rebuild architect – “wizard’.
Smith, who unlike Jesus can turn fish into faeces.
An ex Merrill Lyncher is the likely outcome of Barclay standing down, but yes, who would replace English?
Bill marched away from an interview looking relaxed and pleased.
His statement “if there was a tape” is a worry. Does he know it is long gone,
and now evidence is hear-say?
Though he still has to explain his texts and Glenys’s call to the victim, after his call to her on Waitangi Day. (interview with Gower),
Bouyed by the “late” poll results as well? (late = 2 weeks old)
Bennett declaring a political crush on English, tells me there is division, and she has chosen. No real surprise in that. So Bill has to get the numbers.
WE have to act on faith, and give our honest guy Andrew support.
We need to speak up and sell our honest group.
Bury all hair shirts ’till the election is over!!
We have enough horrible foes without ‘white anting’ the party.
We need to get them in, then apply the pressure to enact people friendly legislation.
We are closer than they care to admit, that is why they are shrill and in attack mode.
Don’t give them fodder.
We need to join together and push this over the line.
Please enrol and vote 2 ticks.
Nats 49% – labour 25% and you think it’s nats doing the numbers – you’re delusional.
Stable Government with English being sold as a trusted, stable pair of hands is the line National are pushing.
English standing down would destroy that perception. But now that his credibility has come into question, there could also be damage if he remains party leader.
Therefore, it’s delusional to think they wouldn’t be evaluating the numbers.
Moreover, you’ve seem to have forgotten this is an MMP election, therefore Labour aren’t standing alone. And when combined with the Greens (& possibly NZF) it’s going to be a close finish.
Do you care about New Zealand’s children?
We are 1st for rugby, but 34th for children in the OECD.
Which do you care about more ?
CREATIVE FUTURE?
It is no coincidence that world-wide rehabilitation programs for offenders and addicts are invariably grounded in creativity: cooking, music, art, surfing, environmental restoration. Spontaneous creativity is neither a luxury nor a talent, but the natural expression of all of us, setting us aside from other life forms on earth.
By re-aligning our waking hours with that which is creative in ourselves rather than squeezing it in over weekends we will defuse restlessness, the futility of non-fulfilment and the sense that our abilities are going to waste. With widespread automation, decimation of jobs and UBI in place vast reserves of creativity could be put to work restoring society, the environment, the social structure and all that runs counter to a happy and productive country.
Creativity has many faces; the politically inclined will generate fresh ways of inclusive government; educators new methods of drawing out the creativity of their charges; financiers equitable ways of restructuring currency (or what’s left of it); artists and musicians novel expression of humanity’s changing orientation on earth; scientists sustainable methods of restoring the integrity of our ecosystems; idealists insights into our future course; philosophers insightful ways to growth and understanding of the evolving human spirit, to name a few.
For those who have tried it the satisfaction of working creatively in cooperative ventures eclipses the need to “prove oneself” via competition. Whether the race is ready to move beyond this most basic of drivers is difficult to say.
Very uplifting, thanks Ant, there is much to reflect on in your post.
We evolved beyond it millions of years ago. If there’s anything to the human nature argument that the RWNJs bring up all the time it’s that we’re mostly altruistic and cooperative. It’s the sociopaths that aren’t and they’re the minority.
Your’e saying humans are no longer competitive? Free market system, capitalism, one-upmanship, rampant materialism, – all driven by competition when I last looked.
Yep but that doesn’t mean that the majority of people are that way inclined. It just means that the ones with power are.
If the majority were not that way inclined the fashion, cosmetic, designer clothing, and a host of other industries would have collapsed long ago.
No. It’s a question of training via environment. Change the environment and change the people.
Our markets are not notably free – everything in NZ costs more except wages. The Rogergnomic reforms failed – but then they were never intended to work, only to enrich a small subset of the population.
Yes Beeby had it right in the 60s school syllabus.
True. Talent and creativity can only flourish through honouring the individual’s uniqueness in terms of background, era and culture. Mass delivered education in crowded classrooms can never deliver. National trots out the worn mantra “research has shown that class size does not make a difference to educational achievement.”; of course they are talking about grades but remain shy of asking why depression, suicide, substance abuse etc. remain depressingly high.
Agreed. Bring back Beeby!
Thank you!
Only through being creative can we realise who we are.
It’s both an inward and outward journey with no set destination and no initial boundaries or fear.
+1
Will the PM who quit aka Key be making an appearance at the Nat’s conference this weekend? Will he be standing up and backing English, defending the outgoing PM’s lying etc?
Where is Key? If he was a good friend of Bills surely he would be helping him out of the massive Barclay scandal which is still making news.
Enjoying retirement.
Hone on the Nation – wow! He’ll keep the headline writers busy.
Pretty scathing of Andrew Little.
Wish they’d get rid of Lisa Owen though, Jesus, shut the fuck up and let your guests speak. don’t ask a question and talk over them when they’re trying to reply to the question you asked.
Definitely one of the worst interviewers on TV.
“Pretty scathing of Andrew Little.”
Indeed. He accused Little of lying and treating Labour’s Maori MPs like “shit”.
I think Hone should stay out of politics and go back to activism. i don’t think he gets it. Nothing worse than seeing someone who doesn’t know when it’s over.
It’s clear he’s going to let voters decide that one (whether it’s over).
They already have.
Your talking last election. Things are different now, hence I was referring to this election.
Yeah i know. They are different not in a beneficial way imo.
Going off the interview, can’t see his deal with the Māori Party going too well.
They agreed not to stand against each other in electoral seats. The expectation being that doing so would encourage supporters of both to support the one standing. However, Hone won’t give his backing of his members doing so due to the Māori Party’s support of the Māori land reform Bill.
And apparently Marama Fox has threaten to respond in kind.
I know. Got a Facebook petition – save the Māori land court – from the mana party. Someone wrote a comment about the deal with the Māori Party – just a joke imo.
Me too Marty. I like Hone but I don’t think he is doing himself (or Mana) any favours at the moment. I think he can be more effective as an activist than as a lone backbencher.
This is more worrying though – he evidently suggested life imprisonment or deportation to China for the death penalty to discourage meth dealing on the Nation. I really wouldn’t have expected that from him
Yep just a rubbish non solution. Sad.
Anyone interested in learning something about the ongoing siege of Gaza should read this book…
Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom
by NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
Gaza is among the most densely populated places in the world. Two-thirds of its inhabitants are refugees, and more than half the population is under eighteen years of age. Since Israel occupied Gaza in 1967, it has systematically de-developed the economy. After Hamas won democratic elections in 2006, Israel intensified its blockade of Gaza, and after Hamas consolidated its control of the territory in 2007, Israel tightened its illegal siege another notch. In the meantime, Israel has launched no less than eight military operations against Gaza—culminating in Operation Cast Lead in 2008–9 and Operation Protective Edge in 2014—that left behind over three million tons of rubble. Recent UN reports predict that Gaza will be unlivable by 2020.
Norman G. Finkelstein presents a meticulously researched and devastating inquest into Israel’s actions of the last decade. He argues that although Israel justified its blockade and violent assaults in the name of self-defense, in fact these actions were cynical exercises of brutal power against an essentially defenseless civilian population. Based on hundreds of human rights reports, the book scrutinizes multifarious violations of international law Israel committed both during its operations and in the course of its decade-long siege of Gaza. It is a monument to Gaza’s martyrs and a scorching accusation against their tormenters.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/book/gaza-an-inquest-into-its-martyrdom-3/
They Learnt well from the Warsaw ghetto.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/book/gaza-an-inquest-into-its-martyrdom-3/
Thanks Morrissey Not available from Amazon until Jan ’18 apparently Daresay it will be definitive As remains this –
Here’s some punctuation –
Women crying…….not truly for the victims……..more for themselves and their busted ‘Zionist Exceptionalism’
Thanks for those excellent links North!
Reasons to be Cheerful
No. 1 Jeremy Corbyn
The British prime minister-in-waiting has been confronting pure evil for a long time now….
And pure stupidity as well….
A great man.
“Oh Jeremy Corbyn.”
Well fuck you too Labour:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/93965507/labour-abandons-water-and-nutrient-charging-policy-for-farming
The most charitable or delusional interpretation I can make is that Labour is outsourcing its environmental policy to the Greens and will ‘concede’ clean river as part of a deal later, but remember how Blair was supposed to be cultivating the Conservative voters before he was going to implement real socialist policies? Right, we all know how that turned out.
It looks like Little is just Captain Mumblefuck 2.0
Adelia Hallett @AdeliaHallett 5h5 hours ago
Labour hasn’t ruled out pricing water at all David Parker tells F&B conference #ConservationHeroes
https://twitter.com/AdeliaHallett/status/878441100586786816
I don’t know what they’re doing. I’d like to see their whole policies because that article doesn’t really say a lot.
One delegate sought an assurance from Little that the Green Party would not “can” Labour’s attitude to how it would operate as a government.
“We [and the Greens] have common areas of policy but also areas we differ on as well. The more support you give us, the more we can approach your industry in a practical and sensible way,” Little responded.
Lol, that’s my argument to people to vote Green. If we want a progressive govt the more Greens the better. Little is speaking to that audience but it does make me think they’ve chosen messaging over authenticity.
they’ve chosen messaging over authenticity.
If we want a progressive govt the more Greens the better. Little is speaking to that audience but it does make me think they’ve chosen messaging over authenticity.
Absolutely. They only succeed in coming across as insincere and confused.
I’m voting Green. Very Little can go fuck himself.
It’s very easy to see why people are sick of business as usual politics when the system keeps excreting nobodies like Blinglish and Little.
I think our best bet is to have a L/G govt without Peters. This will give the Greens a chance to prove themselves once and for all. They’re obviously competent to be in govt, but it will be crunch time as to whether they can do govt differently and keep left.
In the absence of any unicorns, I agree. The Greens are showing both integrity and discipline and deserve to have a hand in government. Labour is riddled with egotistical careerists such as Robertson who put themselves first, party second and principles third. Little is totally ineffective in keeping them in check and shows no competence or principles. He is not a PM in waiting, which is the test of any opposition. His only advantage is that Blinglish is not a PM at all.
Hmmm. I was really alarmed about the report about what Little said, but today there was a press release from him, plus just heard David Parker on midday news on Nat radio saying that policy from 2014 hasn’t changed. Little claims he misunderstood the question and his lack of response to another statement was seen as agreement when it wasn’t.
http://www.labour.org.nz/labour_will_not_resile_from_royalties
I agree that the Greens are stronger that Labour on environmental policy so making sure they have a significant influence in a Labour/Green government is important.
Thanks Karen, I’ll put that up as a post in the morning. I thought the original Stuff article was poor and probably misleading so good to have some more information.
One of Labour’s problems is the lag time between their speeches and media work and putting things up on their website. I’m still waiting for something on mental health after their good work in Chch last week. If they’re just going to rely on the media coverage then mistakes like this one over water will happen.
Labour don’t seem to have a good comms team at all and I find it really frustrating. I know they have quite a lot on at the moment but this water policy confusion should have dealt with as soon as the article appeared, not 2 days later.
If there is a policy announcement the policy page on the website should be updated immediately afterwards and there should be 2 versions, one with a lot more detail (for policy nerds like me!) They did that for the immigration one but it isn’t consistent.
On you on any of their mailing lists? do you get emailed policy summaries or such? Just wondering if I should subscribe.
I am on the mailing list for the Greens and Labour but Labour tend to just send major speeches rather than individual policy announcements. Mostly, I just look at the new policies page:
http://www.labour.org.nz/announced_policies
Hopefully this will be a bit more informative closer to the election as most of the policies don’t have enough detail for my liking. This may be because they are still formulating some of it.
I also look at their press release page as I prefer to get the info direct rather than filtered by the MSM.
http://www.labour.org.nz/press_releases
thanks Karen.
Federated Farmers are NZ’s version of the NRA.
To be honest I dont think farmers want clean rivers/waterways, for the simple reason that it impacts on their profits. “Local based solutions” are all PR bullshit.
It would be better and more honest for FF to have the guts to stand up and just say, “we dont want clean rivers, because we just want to make a shit load of money instead, and also, we want to shut New Zealander out of the farming industry and have farm workers all migrants”.
/
And bogs do you want clean bogs or dirty bogs?
http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/habitats/wetlands/wetlands-by-region/waikato/kopuatai-peat-dome/
Lol that FF positioning advice, very good.
I think there are lots of farmers who don’t belong to FF, and many of those want to do the right things (and some are doing the right things). We need a govt that will support those farmers.
Federated Farmers are NZ’s version of the NRA.
Ha, yes. A political tumour.
The 2017 FIZZ Conference
“Taxing Sugary Drinks: An Election Issue” will be held on Monday 26 June.
Meanwhile, I note the following Official Information request languishing on FYI”
Hansard details:
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I seek leave to table advice to me from the Ministry of Health saying that there is no conclusive evidence that a sugar tax will decrease obesity rates
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20161013_20161013_16
It is nearly 8 months since the OIA request……….
The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor give his view- “don’t rule out sugar tax” on video. https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2015/07/30/pms-chief-science-advisor-on-sugar-obesity-and-taxes/
Thanks for your good work.
30-8 to the All Blacks.
Is it too early to suggest that an All Blacks series win against the Lions and an America’s Cup victory would be – al least national mood wise – be pretty good for this government in September?
Great – we’re first at rugby and sailing and 34th in the OECD for looking after children.
If we vote for this, we are contemptible.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11874764
The peop,e are never wrong Paul or ed or what ever you call yourself these days so be ready to be disapointed
That’s just a cliché, not an argument.
We are misguided, misinformed, disinformed, manipulated, conditioned, and most of all resistant to change and apathetic. You were saying?
I couldn’t see the game where I am overseas – but looks like we played well.
And agree – between this and if we get the Americas cup – it will pit a lot of people in a good mood. Add that the the majority of people thinking the country is heading in the right direction it’s a good position for national.
Outages today were due to googlebots having an issue with an old post from 2011 which had links starting with // and/or ending with ‘. They have read this post hundreds of times before. Looks like something got tweaked.
Caused some interesting effects with some strange URLs. tens of thousands of queries per minute, high CPU, and the processor shutting down when it hit safety tempatures.
I have fixed the page, removed the googlebot special access and I’ve started treating it like bingbot…
Fascinating interview with Frankie Boyle on British politics
Brilliant
Frankie has had to many pies
Gosh, that’s astute. That really shoots down his points doesn’t it? Also, it’s ‘TOO many’.
Try not to look like such an idiot in future.