The Coal Miners march to parliament tomorrow will be a political test for New Zealand’s Parliamentary Environmental Party the Greens.
Will they be up for the challenge?
Can the Greens make common cause with these workers?
Or will the Green Party MPs stand on the sidelines, defensive and impotent and leave the field free for the venal and opportunist, drill it, mine it, frack it lobby, to co-opt this workers movement for justice to their profit driven anti humanity ends?
Spring Creek miner and union delegate Trevor Bolderson said the plan showed the West Coast mine was viable, but the Government would need to provide some financial support to get the mine through the next couple of years.
“We’re travelling to Wellington because we want the Government to understand what closing Spring Creek will mean for the local community.”
The plan was not just about saving jobs, it was about “providing a future for Greymouth”, he said.
“We’re hoping to make them see that the economic and human cost of closing Spring Creek would be unconscionable.”
Huntly East miner and union delegate Brian Lynch said the long-term damage to his community could be just as great if the Government did not step up.
“Solid Energy’s proposal to cancel the Huntly East ventilation project is a very risky and short-term cost-saving strategy that could force the mine to stop production within two years.
“If Huntly East closes the community will suffer a body blow, and the downstream effects on the Glenbrook steel mill could be even greater . . . we’ll be encouraging the Government to see the bigger picture.”
The miners will arrive at Parliament at 12pm tomorrow.
Will the Greens be on the steps of parliament tomorrow at lunchtime to greet the miners and their representatives?
Will the Greens stand with these workers in demanding that the government put serious money into investing in these workers and their families and saving their communities from the failure of the coal industry?
Will the Greens go further and confidently speak from the platform to argue the case that these communities are finished anyway if they stick with coal, and that this money would better instead be used to support these workers into long term viable above ground green industry jobs?
Will the Green MPs have the courage to stand up before this hard and admittedly sceptical audience to expose the coal industry’s lies that the enviromental movement is the anti-jobs and anti-worker lobby?
Will the Greens take this unique opportunity to point out to these mine workers facing unemployment and hardship for their families, that it is a glaring self evident fact, that it is the fossil fuel lobby that cares nothing for jobs or workers? (Just as the fossil fuel lobby couldn’t care less about the environment or even these workers safety if it gets in the way of making profits out them).
Jenny, what is your gripe with the Greens? You sure do appear to be prejudging them. Are you implying that Labour (whom you omit to mention) will be “on the job in force”? How about we wait until tomorrow comes!
Terry I have no gripe with the Greens. In fact I sincerely hope that they do very well tomorrow.
As for not mentioning Labour, (or National). When it comes to, deep sea drilling, or coal mining, or fracking, you could slip a cigarette paper between party policy between these two when it comes to supporting these outmoded and dangerous climate damaging industries. I expect them both to try to make political capital in promising these workers huge future expansion in coal mining in this country, when the facts are, that such promises are simply not sustainable.
As the parliamentary party for the environment, the Greens must have a different approach – Care for the natural environment, balanced with protection of the human environment.
My fear is that in a highly charged emotional atmosphere like this protest at the steps of parliament is likely to be, that the Greens may be intimidated in not even trying to make common cause with these workers. The danger being – if the Greens let their voice be pushed to the sidelines tomorrow, they will be made a scapegoat for the fossil fuel industry’s own inability to provide secure employment.
At the very least, the Greens need to be there, to be able to defend themselves from any attempts at low political misdirection and dishonest scapegoating, by political opportunists of the rightwing fossil fuel lobby.
Even better if the Greens can forcefully make their case for permanent and secure sustainable future proofed jobs that can give these communities a real future in a rapidly changing world.
In the War Against Poverty meet a real Kiwi battler.
Mid-afternoon on RadioLive I caught up with Sam, a “first-time caller” from Kaikohe. Sam told us he’d smashed the windows of his local Work and Income office with a hammer after the staff refused to give him a food parcel. He has been trespassed from the Winz office……
Matt McCarten Herald on Sunday Sept. 9, 2012
Read the full story on the Herald website on WHY why this man twice rode 4Km on a mobility scooter to smash WINZ’s office windows. He is a multiple-amputee publicising his hunger-strike, after brutal WINZ policies resulted in his starvation.
Unfortunately being the technophobe I am having had trouble finding the proper way to link to Matt McCarten’s full article.
So help me out here people…
Believe me – ya gotta read this story.
It has everything, Pathos, Bathos, drama, indomitable courage, and the overcoming of all obstacles to make a life.
Sam did not commit a meaningless act of vandalism, instead he decided to make a political statement.
Read why WINZ were too cowardly to lay charges against Sam, which is what he wanted, least his cause get the oxygen of publicity. Instead WINZ in continuing their policy of silently starving him, (and others), to death in quiet desperation, having trespassed him from their office.
Forget the Para-Olympians this guy is a real Kiwi hero. He deserves to be celebrated in verse and song.
His marathon should be rerun every year so that his campaign against injustice perfidy and greed in a land of plenty is never forgotten.
“Can you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men…..”
So Paul said, “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.'”
yeah, his story ran on 3news last night, what a trooper… whoever his case manager is, and the centre manager should face disciplinary hearings for cruelty and neglect… winz on the whole have a peculiar way of making you feel second class and it is unacceptable
Yeah but they will probably get a bonus usually. But someone will have to pay the piper for this getting out into the eyes of the public, probably the lowest on the totem pole, on to the dole with them, and not replaced due to savings target, so therefore making a saving at the same time. So really a win win for WINZ.
A University of Otago study using seven years of longitudinal survey data shows that the longer children are living in poor households the more vulnerable they are to poor social and health outcomes.
“The sad reality is that far too many Maori and Pasifika children are affected by poverty and a sure sign in our schools is kids not having lunch or unable to concentrate because they are hungry.
…
“Labour will work alongside community groups to tackle this issue …
…
“I want to encourage principals, parents and community groups to engage with the submission process on the Expert Advisory Group for the Children’s Commission – Solutions to Poverty Report.
– Julie Anne Genter on #justspeak camp for young people wanting a better justice system.
18 hours ago, Kevin Hague was grumpy because: While I’ve been away someone has borrowed my bike, meaning I’ve spent 2hrs putting another one together for my ride
An NZ Greens tweet on marriage equality: Marriage equality sacking is discrimination http://t.co/FBLVFKmA #nzpol
And Kevin Hague on the tobacco industry: The more tobacco industry anti-plain packaging advertising I see, the more excited I am that we are onto a winner
On the NZ First site, Barbara Stewart has a post from a few days about students with disabilities.:
New Zealand First is calling on the Government to urgently amend the criteria so that all students with reading and writing disabilities are able to access extra assistance to sit NCEA exams.
The call comes after it was revealed today that students with “invisible disabilities” such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism are being denied exam assistance by NZQA.
I’m reposting my comment from Bloggers and ripping off content because I posted it late last night, I put a lot of work into it and I want as many people on here to see it as possible. I won’t make a habit of this:
I entered the text of each of the last five posts (skipping the General Debates, Open Mikes, Mental Health Breaks and re-posts of YouTube clips etc) on a number of blogs into this readability index calculator. I didn’t include the blog comments. Wikipedia gives a good explanation of what the Flesch-Kincaid test measures. The lower the reading ease, the more complex. A reading ease score of 0.0-30.0 is best understood by university graduates, while 60.0-70.0 should be easily understood by 15 year-olds and 90.0-100.0 by 11 year-olds. The grade level corresponds to the number of years of education required by a reader to understand a passage.
There seems to be a correlation between the level of comprehension required to understand a post and where the author sits on the political spectrum. It should be remembered, though, that simplicity is not necessarily a vice. Especially when trying to communicate with a large community and trying to persuade them to a particular point of view. Hemmingway, for example, liked short bold sentences.
Edit, you’ll notice up above that some things appear out of order by reading ease level. I sorted the spreadsheet by grade. So obviously the two measures of grade and reading ease aren’t in exact alignment.
Lets not get too smart: if the “left” has to be more educated / literate / intelligent (whatever) to understand our blogs then just maybe we have cut out a large part of the audience we need?
Now thats interesting; Draco keeps referencing Bowally Road and having just read his article on
“Tolerating Islam” i am presently impressed; march on the fifth column
(people may consider the general abstinence from ethanol amongst followers as a Strength)
Josie Pagani for the left and Deborah Coddington for the right on pollie talk after 11am this morning radionz. Listen to the girls mud wrestle – just have to use your imagination. There might be nothing much that’s cerebral and illuminating from this two.
Radio NZ’s political spot just finished and I give credit where credit is due. Josie Pagani out-classed Deborah Coddington on all fronts. Some might say that wouldn’t be hard, but I was still impressed with the depth of her arguments. Deb baby came across quite shallow in comparison.
While I’ve contributed my share of criticism towards the Paganis, you have to be fair to Josie… she has been in a difficult place trying to debate on an equal footing with that bully boy Hooton.
Anne 7.1
Yes I was impressed with the points that Josie Pagani made. Deborah C was as expected. Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo? Pity he didn’t catch her and haul her off to his lair permanently.
Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo?
Yes, it was the one that died about six months ago. Forgotten his name already. He married the
former ACT president (forgotten her name too) who is currently running the Charter School programme set-up by Banksie boy.
She’s currently married to some fancy Wellington lawyer whose name also escapes me… 🙂
China’s in trouble currently. Ongoing social unrest in the interior which is very rarely reported upon. Overoptimistic economic statistics unashamedly falsified. Western consumer demand for Chinese made products nosediving. And then there seem to be a massively wealthy Chinese elite class, a large number of whom seem to be little more than spendthrift kleptocrats. But it looks like the good times are ending as major Chinese frauds are coming to light.
And of course its the ordinary people – even the younger well educated ones – who are getting the shaft from the people in charge. Tricking a younger generation with aspirational talk and then throwing them away.
sorry D. i know it shows my comparative ignorance, i only know how to copy and paste a link and i do not understand “this” instructions (all computerese to me)
if a helpful person with the time could iterate the necessary steps, i will be your friend long time 🙂
i only studied IT during a second degree (nursing; incomplete due to sociopolitical objections -they tend to bash medical doctors a bit which i found to be unbalanced, all things considered; anti-credentialism is merely a political position for me, i am a realist, most of the time anyway)
I just tried to post a step by step explanation of how to do it, but it is difficult to do because as soon as I put in the codes, the words turn blue and it doesn’t make sense.
I only learnt how to do this a month or so ago, I found this web page easy to understand…keep trying, once you get it, it is easy.
Just so you know…your post will look very messy before you post it, but once you click ‘submit comment’ the jumble disappears and your chosen words turn neatly blue.
Bastard thing, c what i mean that was 6 of them sheez ur mean M8
No 4 did not work, ur steakling them M8!
If I didn’t know better , i’d guess @ the author of that script
From now on I’m gonna delimit with …..
‘skdlthewryijgoehwsjgkphsdfg;phsetor8ghs//////\\***&&&&*!$#$@%#$#!^~(*’
That’ll catch it M8!
Try spaces instead M8!
I just realiased that one worked M8! 🙂
Hey heres an idea for ya, might save ya some grief
Why don’t u use an xml object layer to catch the A tag, it returns and error etc it’s just a comment.
If ya want a hand just mail me the script
write in 20 dif languages
do regexp in my sleep M8!
is it C?, looks like strtok gone wrong too me.
if(*(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
or …
/* a basic strtok, non destructive */
while( *(stringvar++)!=0 ) { /*null term*/
if((char) *(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
}
anyway,
from the CNBC coverage of World Economic Forum: China: The Road Ahead (weather forecast)
(recently moved to an uninsulated house, and man, does it get cold quickly when the clouds come)
Martin Sorrell-2012 5-yr Plan about domestic consumption (market research emphasized)
Lee Kai-Fu-social media instrumental role in China’s reforms-“Schrodingers Cat”
(the authorities do permit freedom of speech on their version of Twitter) and watch it “underwater”
-the projection of colonialist past by the West will stoke fires of ultra-nationalism
(“The Rape of Tokyo”?)
Interesting: Li Daoku-social media disciplining the behaviour of officials and bureaucrats
China’s “Soft Power”-securing food and resources from areas like Latin America, Africa and M.E
Ramzan Kadyrov; now there is an interesting man (u gotta long way to go to approach him Gerry)
“Accent of Money” was excellent imo; plenty of Tulips being erected in Auckland
“Accent of Money”..Ferguson is a total apologist and poster boy for the status quo. Read his book on Empire, he contends that the benefits outweigh the pain. He is of course seeing it from top down, it is mighty murky looking down to the slaves level.
Can someone explain the gap in realities that a western mind can’t see, in a way that a western mind can understand, that the justifiable reply to Innocence of the Muslims is rioting and killing? I understand the basic insults, I don’t understand how they translate into the reaction we’re seeing.
There are also geo-political reasons for the recent violence – long-enmity to the West, economic and social unrest, and agent provocateurs in the Muslim world who are trying to destabilise new Arab leadership. Muddying the water may be these provocateurs’ main game, using the film is just a catalyst for their violence.
Ordinary citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are caught between these extremes and left shocked by the sudden outpouring of violence, dousing for many what had been the hope of the Arab Spring.
Many Muslims are genuinely incensed by the “Innocence of Muslims”. They see it as blatant attack on their beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and as part of a series of “attacks” and hatred for their religious sanctity.
…
In fact, the overwhelming majority of Muslims do keep away from violence, even if their hearts are torn by deliberate denigration of their Prophet. Britain’s largest Muslim umbrella body, the Muslim Council of Britain (of which I was once head), has called on all parties to halt violence.
Unfortunately, it is the hotheads and idiots, those who act only from heart and not from head, who fall prey to the agent provocateurs.
Uturn: the western media driven propaganda (directed at us) says that the Muslim reaction is all around this video.
Of course that’s bullshit. As Carol suggests this is massively more complicated and has been simmering away close to a boil for many months. The much vaunted “Arab Spring” has left disillusionment and disarray while ongoing US support for dictators (and their replacements) as well as continual use of drone strikes and western military personnel in Muslim countries has angered.
Carol, this is good stuff. The only point I would make is that rather than acting from the heart (so often a caring thing), they are understandably reacting out of raw, bloody, and long frustrated emotion.
Perhaps Uturn we in the “west” being very used to a cultural and lingual tradition that includes such things as “enlightenment thinking”. Logic based upon our cultural framing / premises are where we view this from. It makes no sense to me that because some “western” trouble maker insults the Prophet that a number of Islamics get beaten / killed, but obviously to them it makes sense. So perhaps the frame of reference for Islamics is different to us and we should be very aware of it when blundering into this type of scenario.
Have a read of some European Reformation history, you will not be surprised we used to burn heretics alive, and persecute on a faith basis up until the late 1700s. We in the “west” (despite the “Enlightenment”, and probably because of it) sent millions to the gulag or the death camps based upon some skued logic less than 60 years since. Maybe we examine ourselves a little?
How about the gap in peopl’es minds that they can’t understand just how “mapped” out all this “chaos” is.
Most human beings just want to get along, and exist in peace, while being able to provide some sene of security for themselves/family etc. Those with the guns, money and the ability to reek havoc in such ways to “attempt” to make it to look like its “organic” = That’s your gap!
Our Corporate Media lenses have been honed closely into every detail of chaos, but little discussion in the mainstream around all of those who haven’t reacted that way, the development this weekend of the militia’s being turfed out of their bases by more moderate groups, the mascinations going on in a play for the Western created power vacuum – vested interests made sure the right groups saw this obscure clip, or the fact that again we’re dealing with blowback, the people we armed turning the guns on us once we’ve helped them achieve their / our short term goal or the IMF’s Shock Doctrine agenda in these countries and how these populations feel about the same economic “liberalisation” (read theft) they thought they’d thrown out.
This is seems to be closer to the mainstream view from where I am in the Middle East:
‘Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and one of the world’s most respected Islamic jurists, has called for greater dialogue and tolerance over the growing challenges created by the explosive growth of social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Too often, Sheikh Ali said, internet users trusted the information they were given without checking the facts and the authenticity of sources.’
and
‘He has called for fellow believers to respond to recent controversial portrayals of Mohammed — which he said “spread hatred” — just like the prophet himself would, “through patience and wisdom.’
Watched Keiser interview Mr Stallman re Open Source and what it really means. It is fascinating watching if you are attuned to the “corporate takeover” of our freedom.
1. Banks are “debanking” in the US the bottom 20% of people as they “cost too much to service”…the same is probably happening here. So “Why did we the taxpayer worldwide bail out the banks, yes all 100% of us?????”
2. ISPs are being forced by legislation in the US which we agree to through our trade agreements etc to suspend users “suspected” of breaking the regs / law. So “Are we guilty until proven innocent, guilty but uncharged etc (all sorts of permutations)? ” All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
Its a corporate kleptocracy. It been around for a while, but in the last 10 years it has taken on mammoth proportions. In the US there is no division between the political class and the corporate class.
All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Correct, but the redress we have, seems to have been “bred” out of people, they seem to not see/want to see or understand what is going on around them, and what it will mean in coming years.
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
And all the while people nerdle about hoping that one day it will all miraculously change, without them having to get off their arses.
Correct, but the redress we have, seems to have been “bred” out of people, they seem to not see/want to see or understand what is going on around them, and what it will mean in coming years.
IMO, one of the downsides to an overly complex society is that people really don’t know what’s going on around them because it is too complex. This opens the way for the corruption and dictatorship we see today* as these immoral actions can easily be hidden within the complexity.
* We see it today because it’s become so commonplace over the decades that it can no longer be hidden.
Bored 11
Being compliant and being corrupt – there is probably not a great degree between them. The hint of an after politics directorship, consultancy etc may be enough to sway the decision in favour of the corporate and bye bye first thoughts of service to the people and the country.
Not really! Key has only launched an investigation by the Government Communications Security Bureau because he has to do something. The GCSB is his baby and any results could be highly questionable. As Ira Rothken said; “It all depends on what the results are,” and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is little to no transparency involved at all.
you may have considered my poetic emphasis on the primacy of Prophets then
(blessings and peace be upon their names)
Prophecy-meta-physics-values-ethics-behaviour-ethics-values-metaphysics-Prophecy
(well, i am still at peace with that, although “true” philosophers may find it too simple)
i am only a gardener, after all, which is what i am off to do now 🙂
Will wonders never cease! Lunch ended up all over my keyboard, when I read the Stuff article on this, still laughing but not really surprised having had some dealings with people from that agency.
“He is responsible as Prime Minister for signing off all intercept warrants by GSCB. While it’s been revealed that ‘some’ bugging was done illegally, it is not credible to think that other monitoring by the agency was not signed by the Prime Minister before the raid was carried out.
“This is not about national security. This is about John Key’s own word and whether he has told the truth to New Zealanders,” said David Shearer.
As you say, for once Shearer is quick of the mark and a well worded press release which gets right to the heart of the matter – the fact that Key as PM is the responsible Minister and is supposed to sign off on all intercepts.
Question Time tomorrow will be interesting, but I expect that Key will try and fob off questions on the grounds that it is a matter before the High Court and/or an investigation is underway. Hopefully Key’s claim to have know nothing until the day before the raid in his interview on Campbell Live will come back to haunt him. Must watch CL tonight – Campbell’s quisical look at the end of that interview has always had me wondering what else he knew but was holding back on.
Hope the “Ignorance gets us nowhere” line is also played back on Key!
Also liked the NZF press release which takes a different tack to Shearer’s. Peters will be loving it – and yet some people think that NZF could work with National next term – don’t think so, imo.
Exactly. Stuff now has an updated article saying the Dotcom’s lawyers say it is too early to know how this will affect his case. Halfway down the article also states the Judge Winklemann has called another hearing on Wednesday on the search warrants….
Already it does not ring true that Key had not heard about dot com. He has to be fibbing, big ones too, in the vicinity of liar liar pants on fire fibs …
“Mr Key appears not to care about the security of New Zealanders, and is instead more concerned with photo opportunities, three-way handshakes at rugby games, and prancing down fashion runways.”
This is going to be bigger then Ben Hur its being picked up US blogs (faster the mainstream it seems) it will go viral. Key needs a distraction ( A trade off ) Solid Energy perhaps? it needs equivalence weighting.To much negative news and its only Monday.
Another issue is that during the cross examination of the Police task force officer in charge of the operation,Davidson (dc lawyer) asked what was the ongoing inter officer communications,and from where was the operation being directed from ,he refused to answer and the reasons (where adjourned to chambers) and subsequently suppressed.
Frustratingly, it will be unlikely that we will know the full story. But Hager does say that Key has been a willing partner with the US on security issues.
Can’t wait to hear policy of the next Labour/Greens/Winston Government as to who is going to pay for all the largess once the TOW deals have been settled, so far and in the future.
This will be along with more money for everybody by way of new Winz benefits, along with new child benefits.
School meals (not only breakfast)
Keeping coal mines open (and not earning).
Keeping Railways and workshops open..
New minimum wage –
Keeping all schools open and reducing class ratio.
Reducing the exchange rate by control.
Paying for water, air, and flora and fauna.
No fracking or mineral exploration (no new coal mines).
Changing the fishing quota and not allowing foreign crewed vessels.
Paying for Auckland’s rail links and new lines.
Reducing fuel costs.
Getting rid of Overseas Banks.
And continuing to fund taxpayer money to Christchurch (to those uninsured also).
Am sure other expectations can be explored.
Well, we could stop borrowing $330 million a week to subsidise the rich for starters. Then we can probably afford most of the things on your list, Fortran.
Also please add buying Fisher & Paykal appliances and maybe the crafar farms after sale and also buying back the public share of the any assets. Quite a bit really.
Fartrain! It will work better than the brighter future
School meals < $19million
Railway work shops open< $20million
New minimum wage will increase job numbers treasury figures and increase tax take!
Reducing exchange rate will increase jobs profits and tax take
Paying for water right wing councils already want to some are!
Why have new coal mines when you are closing them now!
Fish and crews means our fish stocks will stay higher making them more sustainable more money for our economy in the long run!
Rail links and line will mean we can keep Infrastructure costs down and are between 18 and 50 times cheaper than private cars that's not including the cost of owning and maintaining a car!
Like the above reducing fuel costs will bring down our balance of payments deficit making our currency cheaper and more competitive!
Getting rid of overseas banks that won't happen they are way to powerful
We are already paying for CHCH we are also paying the interest on the $10 billion bill!
Im constantly amazed as to how Keys govt in the house refer to the faults of the previous govt as being Labours when they ,National, are the previous govt or was the election such a non event that they still feel no sense of responsibility for the shit they are dumping on those who have no way forward under this second term of right wing bullshit that is so far out of date in its policies that america will probably have to take us over to make sure we are still on the page over where we live in the world .
How can Key profess that he has not read the police report on Banks , is he not the minister in charge of the SIS ? Hello .
Then we have Bennett and her continual bee in her bonnet policies .Does she forget that poor people need a break from their toddlers as we as the rich and being poor walkin them to a child care and broadening the kids outlook cant be too costly because it only takes seven years to set a childs behaviour for life
How fucked up is her sense of values ?
Interesting that Phil Goff reckons that NZ should not give up the independence developed since the nuclear free stance. And he reckons the National government won’t go that far either:
Building on progress over the last decade, it was a welcome further move. A strong and warm relationship with the US makes sense given its influence in the world and shared commitments on values like democracy and human rights.
But from my and Labour’s perspective, it does not place us on a path to resume alliance commitments, or nuclear ship visits.
New Zealand has moved on from there. Labour’s strong belief in speaking with an independent voice based on our values and interests has become part of the mainstream New Zealand belief system.
That’s why even though it might prefer to do so, National won’t openly signal a move back to alliances and nuclear ship visits.
As a small country, New Zealand gains respect and influence not by echoing anyone else’s voice but by taking considered and principled stands on international issues.
Nuclear ship visits, return to ANZUS or permanent stationing of US troops here would not be compatible with New Zealand’s desire to be seen as having an independent voice.
Rejecting permanent stationing is good, but it leaves things open to temporary stationing of US troops here.
Building on progress over the last decade, it was a welcome further move. A strong and warm relationship with the US makes sense given its influence in the world and shared commitments on values like democracy and human rights.
Democracy and Human Rights….Phil shows he has actually lost his mind completely!
Send in the drones Goff they call him these days….Thats what Phil means when he refers to democracy and human rights.As I have posted some time back, Phil was on the radio saying that America should drone Syria, he was positively begging them to do so!
Piss off Phil you career leech, have the UN not offered you the crony career politician role yet!
I urge readers to take half an hour and read journalist Keith Hunter’s website story COUQ and his invitation to ex- Detective inspector Bruce Hutton to sue.
very sad this matter ( i choose not to watch the “investigator ” . his delivery puts me off
(same as that fool minority-basher Wishart; read a couple of his books and thought puh lease already!)
Agreed re Wishart, but Wishart is a serial conspiracy theorist, this appears to be a deliberate attempt to seriously mislead the NZ public, using public money, and the most likely instigators would appear to be the NZ police.
Unless you’re an Ostrich with your head firmly buried in the sand, you’ll be aware that New Zealand has a pervasive and growing poverty problem that is largely being ignored by the current government…
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ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
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The Coal Miners march to parliament tomorrow will be a political test for New Zealand’s Parliamentary Environmental Party the Greens.
Will they be up for the challenge?
Can the Greens make common cause with these workers?
Or will the Green Party MPs stand on the sidelines, defensive and impotent and leave the field free for the venal and opportunist, drill it, mine it, frack it lobby, to co-opt this workers movement for justice to their profit driven anti humanity ends?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7719822/Last-ditch-bid-to-save-mine-jobs
Will the Greens be on the steps of parliament tomorrow at lunchtime to greet the miners and their representatives?
Will the Greens stand with these workers in demanding that the government put serious money into investing in these workers and their families and saving their communities from the failure of the coal industry?
Will the Greens go further and confidently speak from the platform to argue the case that these communities are finished anyway if they stick with coal, and that this money would better instead be used to support these workers into long term viable above ground green industry jobs?
Will the Green MPs have the courage to stand up before this hard and admittedly sceptical audience to expose the coal industry’s lies that the enviromental movement is the anti-jobs and anti-worker lobby?
Will the Greens take this unique opportunity to point out to these mine workers facing unemployment and hardship for their families, that it is a glaring self evident fact, that it is the fossil fuel lobby that cares nothing for jobs or workers? (Just as the fossil fuel lobby couldn’t care less about the environment or even these workers safety if it gets in the way of making profits out them).
Jenny, what is your gripe with the Greens? You sure do appear to be prejudging them. Are you implying that Labour (whom you omit to mention) will be “on the job in force”? How about we wait until tomorrow comes!
Terry I have no gripe with the Greens. In fact I sincerely hope that they do very well tomorrow.
As for not mentioning Labour, (or National). When it comes to, deep sea drilling, or coal mining, or fracking, you could slip a cigarette paper between party policy between these two when it comes to supporting these outmoded and dangerous climate damaging industries. I expect them both to try to make political capital in promising these workers huge future expansion in coal mining in this country, when the facts are, that such promises are simply not sustainable.
As the parliamentary party for the environment, the Greens must have a different approach – Care for the natural environment, balanced with protection of the human environment.
My fear is that in a highly charged emotional atmosphere like this protest at the steps of parliament is likely to be, that the Greens may be intimidated in not even trying to make common cause with these workers. The danger being – if the Greens let their voice be pushed to the sidelines tomorrow, they will be made a scapegoat for the fossil fuel industry’s own inability to provide secure employment.
At the very least, the Greens need to be there, to be able to defend themselves from any attempts at low political misdirection and dishonest scapegoating, by political opportunists of the rightwing fossil fuel lobby.
Even better if the Greens can forcefully make their case for permanent and secure sustainable future proofed jobs that can give these communities a real future in a rapidly changing world.
It will be interesting to see what transpires.
Speaking truth to power
Matt McCarten hits one out of the park.
In the War Against Poverty meet a real Kiwi battler.
Read the full story on the Herald website on WHY why this man twice rode 4Km on a mobility scooter to smash WINZ’s office windows. He is a multiple-amputee publicising his hunger-strike, after brutal WINZ policies resulted in his starvation.
Unfortunately being the technophobe I am having had trouble finding the proper way to link to Matt McCarten’s full article.
So help me out here people…
Believe me – ya gotta read this story.
It has everything, Pathos, Bathos, drama, indomitable courage, and the overcoming of all obstacles to make a life.
Sam did not commit a meaningless act of vandalism, instead he decided to make a political statement.
Read why WINZ were too cowardly to lay charges against Sam, which is what he wanted, least his cause get the oxygen of publicity. Instead WINZ in continuing their policy of silently starving him, (and others), to death in quiet desperation, having trespassed him from their office.
Forget the Para-Olympians this guy is a real Kiwi hero. He deserves to be celebrated in verse and song.
His marathon should be rerun every year so that his campaign against injustice perfidy and greed in a land of plenty is never forgotten.
“Can you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men…..”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10835837
Hi Jenny,
I hope the above link to Matt’s column about Sam, from yesterday’s Herald works.
This article provides a bit of direct input from Sam.
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/news/hunger-strike-a-protest/1554152/
great post Jenny
oops, forgot (before a warming shower, brrrrgh!)
So Paul said, “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.'”
Thanks, Jenny, now you are getting back on track!
yeah, his story ran on 3news last night, what a trooper… whoever his case manager is, and the centre manager should face disciplinary hearings for cruelty and neglect… winz on the whole have a peculiar way of making you feel second class and it is unacceptable
Yeah but they will probably get a bonus usually. But someone will have to pay the piper for this getting out into the eyes of the public, probably the lowest on the totem pole, on to the dole with them, and not replaced due to savings target, so therefore making a saving at the same time. So really a win win for WINZ.
As for the rest of us? whats next?
‘eres wots next; closing the likes of McKenzie Residential School (along with disability exam support)-eugenics by a 1000 cuts?
Not a lot on new on the opposition parties websites since yesterday morning.
Nanaia Mahuta on the Labour Party site has a statement about the links between poverty and education:
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/poverty-hurting-our-kids%E2%80%99-education
No new posts on the Greens site, though the Green Feed on the right side of the screen has recent tweets
http://www.greens.org.nz/
– Julie Anne Genter on #justspeak camp for young people wanting a better justice system.
18 hours ago, Kevin Hague was grumpy because:
While I’ve been away someone has borrowed my bike, meaning I’ve spent 2hrs putting another one together for my ride
An NZ Greens tweet on marriage equality:
Marriage equality sacking is discrimination http://t.co/FBLVFKmA #nzpol
And Kevin Hague on the tobacco industry:
The more tobacco industry anti-plain packaging advertising I see, the more excited I am that we are onto a winner
On the NZ First site, Barbara Stewart has a post from a few days about students with disabilities.:
http://nzfirst.org.nz/news/students-learning-disabilities-snubbed-government
It is happening to students with disabilities in Aus too-Naplan test
Running late for a job, but here’s a good summary + link-fest on the major issue with the recent ENCODE paper:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/09/23/the-encode-delusion/
(Which I didn’t pick up fully as I skimmed the paper /herpderp)
Also I haz another science gripe, but work is at 9am.
I’m reposting my comment from Bloggers and ripping off content because I posted it late last night, I put a lot of work into it and I want as many people on here to see it as possible. I won’t make a habit of this:
I entered the text of each of the last five posts (skipping the General Debates, Open Mikes, Mental Health Breaks and re-posts of YouTube clips etc) on a number of blogs into this readability index calculator. I didn’t include the blog comments. Wikipedia gives a good explanation of what the Flesch-Kincaid test measures. The lower the reading ease, the more complex. A reading ease score of 0.0-30.0 is best understood by university graduates, while 60.0-70.0 should be easily understood by 15 year-olds and 90.0-100.0 by 11 year-olds. The grade level corresponds to the number of years of education required by a reader to understand a passage.
There seems to be a correlation between the level of comprehension required to understand a post and where the author sits on the political spectrum. It should be remembered, though, that simplicity is not necessarily a vice. Especially when trying to communicate with a large community and trying to persuade them to a particular point of view. Hemmingway, for example, liked short bold sentences.
Anyway, ranked from most complex to least:
Bowalley Road Grade: 15.8; Reading ease: 20
The Standard Grade: 14.4; Reading ease: 36.6
Gordon Campbell Grade: 14.2; Reading ease: 34.2
Bryce Edwards Grade: 13.8; Reading ease: 35.2
Frogblog Grade: 13.2; Reading ease: 38.8
Public Address Grade: 13; Reading ease: 40.2
Pundit Grade: 13; Reading ease: 41.2
Red Alert Grade: 13; Reading ease: 41.2
Tumeke Grade: 12.6; Reading ease: 40.6
John Armstrong Grade: 12.4; Reading ease: 40.2
John Roughan Grade: 12.4; Reading ease: 41
Whale Oil Grade: 11.6; Reading ease: 49.4
Kiwiblog Grade: 9.4; Reading ease: 53.8
A spreadsheet with links to the individual posts and their scores is here.
Pete also did a nice comparison example out of the Herald Online and Stuff 🙂
http://thestandard.org.nz/bloggers-and-ripping-off-content/comment-page-1/#comment-525188c
Lets not get too smart: if the “left” has to be more educated / literate / intelligent (whatever) to understand our blogs then just maybe we have cut out a large part of the audience we need?
workin on me parsimony
good to know. will keep short in time to come.
[ Flesch-Kincaid Grade level: 1. Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score: 101.]
Now thats interesting; Draco keeps referencing Bowally Road and having just read his article on
“Tolerating Islam” i am presently impressed; march on the fifth column
(people may consider the general abstinence from ethanol amongst followers as a Strength)
Josie Pagani for the left and Deborah Coddington for the right on pollie talk after 11am this morning radionz. Listen to the girls mud wrestle – just have to use your imagination. There might be nothing much that’s cerebral and illuminating from this two.
Radio NZ’s political spot just finished and I give credit where credit is due. Josie Pagani out-classed Deborah Coddington on all fronts. Some might say that wouldn’t be hard, but I was still impressed with the depth of her arguments. Deb baby came across quite shallow in comparison.
While I’ve contributed my share of criticism towards the Paganis, you have to be fair to Josie… she has been in a difficult place trying to debate on an equal footing with that bully boy Hooton.
Anne 7.1
Yes I was impressed with the points that Josie Pagani made. Deborah C was as expected. Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo? Pity he didn’t catch her and haul her off to his lair permanently.
Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo?
Yes, it was the one that died about six months ago. Forgotten his name already. He married the
former ACT president (forgotten her name too) who is currently running the Charter School programme set-up by Banksie boy.
She’s currently married to some fancy Wellington lawyer whose name also escapes me… 🙂
Anne
Got all of that. 😛
When China Rules The World
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_China_Rules_the_World:_The_End_of_the_Western_World_and_the_Birth_of_a_New_Global_Order
(testing link moderation)
China’s in trouble currently. Ongoing social unrest in the interior which is very rarely reported upon. Overoptimistic economic statistics unashamedly falsified. Western consumer demand for Chinese made products nosediving. And then there seem to be a massively wealthy Chinese elite class, a large number of whom seem to be little more than spendthrift kleptocrats. But it looks like the good times are ending as major Chinese frauds are coming to light.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-09-03/thieving-thieves
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/how-chinas-rehypothecated-ghost-steel-just-vaporized-and-what-means-world-economy
And of course its the ordinary people – even the younger well educated ones – who are getting the shaft from the people in charge. Tricking a younger generation with aspirational talk and then throwing them away.
http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/ant-tribe-china-university-grads-not-finding-jobs.16-02.html
The auto-moderator doesn’t like raw links which means you should be reading this.
sorry D. i know it shows my comparative ignorance, i only know how to copy and paste a link and i do not understand “this” instructions (all computerese to me)
if a helpful person with the time could iterate the necessary steps, i will be your friend long time 🙂
i only studied IT during a second degree (nursing; incomplete due to sociopolitical objections -they tend to bash medical doctors a bit which i found to be unbalanced, all things considered; anti-credentialism is merely a political position for me, i am a realist, most of the time anyway)
I just tried to post a step by step explanation of how to do it, but it is difficult to do because as soon as I put in the codes, the words turn blue and it doesn’t make sense.
I only learnt how to do this a month or so ago, I found this web page easy to understand…keep trying, once you get it, it is easy.
Just so you know…your post will look very messy before you post it, but once you click ‘submit comment’ the jumble disappears and your chosen words turn neatly blue.
I see what u mean , hey lp , i can’t ev
//(0-0)\\\
Bastard thing, c what i mean that was 6 of them sheez ur mean M8
No 4 did not work, ur steakling them M8!
If I didn’t know better , i’d guess @ the author of that script
From now on I’m gonna delimit with …..
‘skdlthewryijgoehwsjgkphsdfg;phsetor8ghs//////\\***&&&&*!$#$@%#$#!^~(*’
That’ll catch it M8!
Try spaces instead M8!
I just realiased that one worked M8! 🙂
Hey heres an idea for ya, might save ya some grief
Why don’t u use an xml object layer to catch the A tag, it returns and error etc it’s just a comment.
If ya want a hand just mail me the script
write in 20 dif languages
do regexp in my sleep M8!
Fixed a Chinese char laptop by pure feel once
It was all menu driven
is it C?, looks like strtok gone wrong too me.
if(*(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
or …
/* a basic strtok, non destructive */
while( *(stringvar++)!=0 ) { /*null term*/
if((char) *(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
}
copy to null…
while( *(var1) != 0 ) *(var2) = *(var1++);
Thankyou. will look into it. 🙂
anyway,
from the CNBC coverage of World Economic Forum: China: The Road Ahead (weather forecast)
(recently moved to an uninsulated house, and man, does it get cold quickly when the clouds come)
Martin Sorrell-2012 5-yr Plan about domestic consumption (market research emphasized)
Lee Kai-Fu-social media instrumental role in China’s reforms-“Schrodingers Cat”
(the authorities do permit freedom of speech on their version of Twitter) and watch it “underwater”
-the projection of colonialist past by the West will stoke fires of ultra-nationalism
(“The Rape of Tokyo”?)
Interesting: Li Daoku-social media disciplining the behaviour of officials and bureaucrats
China’s “Soft Power”-securing food and resources from areas like Latin America, Africa and M.E
Ramzan Kadyrov; now there is an interesting man (u gotta long way to go to approach him Gerry)
“Accent of Money” was excellent imo; plenty of Tulips being erected in Auckland
“Accent of Money”..Ferguson is a total apologist and poster boy for the status quo. Read his book on Empire, he contends that the benefits outweigh the pain. He is of course seeing it from top down, it is mighty murky looking down to the slaves level.
and “they” intend to keep the slaves heads down, nose to the grindstone
Can someone explain the gap in realities that a western mind can’t see, in a way that a western mind can understand, that the justifiable reply to Innocence of the Muslims is rioting and killing? I understand the basic insults, I don’t understand how they translate into the reaction we’re seeing.
Try here Uturn. It’s a complex situation with various interwoben tensions and power-plays and strands of resistance:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/2012918112920274722.html
Extract from the article:
Uturn: the western media driven propaganda (directed at us) says that the Muslim reaction is all around this video.
Of course that’s bullshit. As Carol suggests this is massively more complicated and has been simmering away close to a boil for many months. The much vaunted “Arab Spring” has left disillusionment and disarray while ongoing US support for dictators (and their replacements) as well as continual use of drone strikes and western military personnel in Muslim countries has angered.
i am not worthy 🙁
Carol, this is good stuff. The only point I would make is that rather than acting from the heart (so often a caring thing), they are understandably reacting out of raw, bloody, and long frustrated emotion.
Perhaps Uturn we in the “west” being very used to a cultural and lingual tradition that includes such things as “enlightenment thinking”. Logic based upon our cultural framing / premises are where we view this from. It makes no sense to me that because some “western” trouble maker insults the Prophet that a number of Islamics get beaten / killed, but obviously to them it makes sense. So perhaps the frame of reference for Islamics is different to us and we should be very aware of it when blundering into this type of scenario.
Have a read of some European Reformation history, you will not be surprised we used to burn heretics alive, and persecute on a faith basis up until the late 1700s. We in the “west” (despite the “Enlightenment”, and probably because of it) sent millions to the gulag or the death camps based upon some skued logic less than 60 years since. Maybe we examine ourselves a little?
Uturn,
How about the gap in peopl’es minds that they can’t understand just how “mapped” out all this “chaos” is.
Most human beings just want to get along, and exist in peace, while being able to provide some sene of security for themselves/family etc. Those with the guns, money and the ability to reek havoc in such ways to “attempt” to make it to look like its “organic” = That’s your gap!
interpretation of the scripture and latent hostility to US/Western oppression?
“Lawyers, Guns and Money”-Warren Zevon
Our Corporate Media lenses have been honed closely into every detail of chaos, but little discussion in the mainstream around all of those who haven’t reacted that way, the development this weekend of the militia’s being turfed out of their bases by more moderate groups, the mascinations going on in a play for the Western created power vacuum – vested interests made sure the right groups saw this obscure clip, or the fact that again we’re dealing with blowback, the people we armed turning the guns on us once we’ve helped them achieve their / our short term goal or the IMF’s Shock Doctrine agenda in these countries and how these populations feel about the same economic “liberalisation” (read theft) they thought they’d thrown out.
http://world.time.com/2012/09/22/the-revolt-of-benghazis-moderates-will-the-rest-of-libya-follow/
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/free-libya-crowds-in-benghazi-rally-against-militias-drive-al-qaeda-out-of-city.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NI14Dj01.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/sep/21/egypt-turmoil-distraction-imf-economic-agenda?CMP=twt_gu
this is an interesting video of a Muslim talking about the reaction from his perspective
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/calm-muslim-berates-violent-muslims-for-defaming-islam-and-being-suckers.html
Greenwald on spin
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/20/obama-officials-spin-benghazi-attack
and another Muslim on the Salifist extremism fanning the flames
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/tunisian-muslim-leader-warns-of-dangers-of-violent-fundamentalism.html
Some one insulted their Father bud.
Happens in a war torn country when you lose all your family.
Thanks for the links and insight, guys. Who needs the MSM when the TS team is on the case?
This is seems to be closer to the mainstream view from where I am in the Middle East:
‘Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and one of the world’s most respected Islamic jurists, has called for greater dialogue and tolerance over the growing challenges created by the explosive growth of social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Too often, Sheikh Ali said, internet users trusted the information they were given without checking the facts and the authenticity of sources.’
and
‘He has called for fellow believers to respond to recent controversial portrayals of Mohammed — which he said “spread hatred” — just like the prophet himself would, “through patience and wisdom.’
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/grand-mufti-calls-for-dialogue-about-the-internet
http://updatednews.ca/2012/09/23/egyptian-sunni-islam-leader-calls-for-peace/
excellent. social-networking nonsense will become increasingly state-moderated in our lifetimes, imo. What is going on at present is outraging
I like this video about the work of Edward Said and his concept of Orientalism.
Watched Keiser interview Mr Stallman re Open Source and what it really means. It is fascinating watching if you are attuned to the “corporate takeover” of our freedom.
http://maxkeiser.com/category/keiser-report-2/
A couple of questions / concepts from the show:
1. Banks are “debanking” in the US the bottom 20% of people as they “cost too much to service”…the same is probably happening here. So “Why did we the taxpayer worldwide bail out the banks, yes all 100% of us?????”
2. ISPs are being forced by legislation in the US which we agree to through our trade agreements etc to suspend users “suspected” of breaking the regs / law. So “Are we guilty until proven innocent, guilty but uncharged etc (all sorts of permutations)? ” All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
Its a corporate kleptocracy. It been around for a while, but in the last 10 years it has taken on mammoth proportions. In the US there is no division between the political class and the corporate class.
The introduction of account fees in the 90s was a form of ‘debanking’. Pay your way or go somewhere else was the philosophy.
All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Correct, but the redress we have, seems to have been “bred” out of people, they seem to not see/want to see or understand what is going on around them, and what it will mean in coming years.
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
And all the while people nerdle about hoping that one day it will all miraculously change, without them having to get off their arses.
IMO, one of the downsides to an overly complex society is that people really don’t know what’s going on around them because it is too complex. This opens the way for the corruption and dictatorship we see today* as these immoral actions can easily be hidden within the complexity.
* We see it today because it’s become so commonplace over the decades that it can no longer be hidden.
Bored 11
Being compliant and being corrupt – there is probably not a great degree between them. The hint of an after politics directorship, consultancy etc may be enough to sway the decision in favour of the corporate and bye bye first thoughts of service to the people and the country.
Elected dictatorship. Our representatives no longer represent us – if they ever did. They now represent the rich and the corporates.
BTW, which actual post were you referring to?
Oh, it was this one.
The downward spiral of our education system continues: http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/national-standards-defy-logic.html
Thanks DK, an excellent link.
The page just vanished before – closed by remote server and a list of addresses with the word standard in them.
And on Stuff comes the headline, Key: ‘Ignorance takes us nowhere’ Just for a moment I was thinking he was talking about the government’s policy on poverty, or climate change, or maybe John Banks….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7721069/Key-on-National-Standards-Ignorance-takes-us-nowhere
Even Peter Williams (MSM) has been instructed to utter-“Oil prices are set to double in the next decade” …ridin’ along on my push-bike baby…
The Rebels have moved their Command Centre from the Turkish border into Syria
“Revolution” – John Butler Trio
“Walk the World”- Heather Nova
suns out, better do some gardening. Have a great day, wherever you all are (unless you are a Nact supporter, then Just do the best you can i s’pose)
BREAKING NEWS: GCSB intercepted Dotcom’s communications:
PM launches inquiry saying he was only informed of this a couple of days ago. I thought the PM was always kept informed of such things?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7722082/PM-orders-Dotcom-spy-inquiry
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836179
Is this a movie Sir PJ will be rushing to direct for his Warners’ mates?
Key being transparent for a change.
Not really! Key has only launched an investigation by the Government Communications Security Bureau because he has to do something. The GCSB is his baby and any results could be highly questionable. As Ira Rothken said; “It all depends on what the results are,” and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is little to no transparency involved at all.
The finger can only be pointed at Key. I now know where the threshold is with Key. I do not think it is the diversion Key wants concerning Banks.
I do not disagree with your comment either.
you may have considered my poetic emphasis on the primacy of Prophets then
(blessings and peace be upon their names)
Prophecy-meta-physics-values-ethics-behaviour-ethics-values-metaphysics-Prophecy
(well, i am still at peace with that, although “true” philosophers may find it too simple)
i am only a gardener, after all, which is what i am off to do now 🙂
Will wonders never cease! Lunch ended up all over my keyboard, when I read the Stuff article on this, still laughing but not really surprised having had some dealings with people from that agency.
The Herald has a longer article – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836179
As Poisson says at 17 below, what a mad hatters tea party!
And Shearer is calling Key on it – for once pretty quick off the mark:
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/key-must-come-clean-on-his-knowledge-of-dotcom
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1209/S00364/key-must-come-clean-on-his-knowledge-of-dotcom.htm
And NZ First also has a press release out.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1209/S00362/pm-shows-mega-disregard-to-ministerial-roles.htm
As you say, for once Shearer is quick of the mark and a well worded press release which gets right to the heart of the matter – the fact that Key as PM is the responsible Minister and is supposed to sign off on all intercepts.
Question Time tomorrow will be interesting, but I expect that Key will try and fob off questions on the grounds that it is a matter before the High Court and/or an investigation is underway. Hopefully Key’s claim to have know nothing until the day before the raid in his interview on Campbell Live will come back to haunt him. Must watch CL tonight – Campbell’s quisical look at the end of that interview has always had me wondering what else he knew but was holding back on.
Hope the “Ignorance gets us nowhere” line is also played back on Key!
Also liked the NZF press release which takes a different tack to Shearer’s. Peters will be loving it – and yet some people think that NZF could work with National next term – don’t think so, imo.
Yes, it’s either, Key was not telling the truth (Labour) or he has been slack and failed to carry out effective oversight of the GCSB (NZ First)
Exactly. Stuff now has an updated article saying the Dotcom’s lawyers say it is too early to know how this will affect his case. Halfway down the article also states the Judge Winklemann has called another hearing on Wednesday on the search warrants….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7722082/Dotcom-lawyers-eye-spy-inquiry
Key will probably have to resort to the “bit sloppy” line.
There’s no way he’ll admit lying when he said he’d never heard of Dotcom. Even though that’s the more likely reason.
Already it does not ring true that Key had not heard about dot com. He has to be fibbing, big ones too, in the vicinity of liar liar pants on fire fibs …
Big ups to you mickysavage, for picking the clusterfuck potential in this right from the start.
I think both Labour and NZ First are right.
Remember back to the Goff situation (about the Mossad briefing in August 2011) and the SIS; Key is the SIS minister. Key just does not learn
Winston wins Quote of the Day:
“Mr Key appears not to care about the security of New Zealanders, and is instead more concerned with photo opportunities, three-way handshakes at rugby games, and prancing down fashion runways.”
This is going to be bigger then Ben Hur its being picked up US blogs (faster the mainstream it seems) it will go viral. Key needs a distraction ( A trade off ) Solid Energy perhaps? it needs equivalence weighting.To much negative news and its only Monday.
Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.
Surely the question is – Why now, and where is the pressure coming from.
Carol, a man who does not “read” important reports is just as likely to “hear nothing” (unless selecting only that which is complimentary).
He is as the PM is the head of the intelligence services in NZ.
Also both bomber and Idiot/Savant have asked on Twitter if our Governor General has responsibility as he was in charge of GCSB at the time.
http://www.tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/was-our-new-governor-general-involved.html
key said no at the press conference.
Another issue is that during the cross examination of the Police task force officer in charge of the operation,Davidson (dc lawyer) asked what was the ongoing inter officer communications,and from where was the operation being directed from ,he refused to answer and the reasons (where adjourned to chambers) and subsequently suppressed.
Curiouser and curiouser!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7722082/PM-orders-Dotcom-spy-inquiry
There is a lot more to come on this or to put it another way the saga of mad hatters tea party is a feast to be had.
Interview with Nicky Hager on Checkpoint this evening, in which he gives his assessment of the issue:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2533518/john-key-says-a-top-level-inquiry-is-under-way.asx
Frustratingly, it will be unlikely that we will know the full story. But Hager does say that Key has been a willing partner with the US on security issues.
Can’t wait to hear policy of the next Labour/Greens/Winston Government as to who is going to pay for all the largess once the TOW deals have been settled, so far and in the future.
This will be along with more money for everybody by way of new Winz benefits, along with new child benefits.
School meals (not only breakfast)
Keeping coal mines open (and not earning).
Keeping Railways and workshops open..
New minimum wage –
Keeping all schools open and reducing class ratio.
Reducing the exchange rate by control.
Paying for water, air, and flora and fauna.
No fracking or mineral exploration (no new coal mines).
Changing the fishing quota and not allowing foreign crewed vessels.
Paying for Auckland’s rail links and new lines.
Reducing fuel costs.
Getting rid of Overseas Banks.
And continuing to fund taxpayer money to Christchurch (to those uninsured also).
Am sure other expectations can be explored.
Well, we could stop borrowing $330 million a week to subsidise the rich for starters. Then we can probably afford most of the things on your list, Fortran.
Also please add buying Fisher & Paykal appliances and maybe the crafar farms after sale and also buying back the public share of the any assets. Quite a bit really.
1billion for scf
Actually, that’s quite easy. Print the money and tax appropriately.
Mmmm. Tax cuts for the rich versus all the items on your list. Let me think. Mmmmm
Sounds OK to me.
Fartrain! It will work better than the brighter future
School meals < $19million
Railway work shops open< $20million
New minimum wage will increase job numbers treasury figures and increase tax take!
Reducing exchange rate will increase jobs profits and tax take
Paying for water right wing councils already want to some are!
Why have new coal mines when you are closing them now!
Fish and crews means our fish stocks will stay higher making them more sustainable more money for our economy in the long run!
Rail links and line will mean we can keep Infrastructure costs down and are between 18 and 50 times cheaper than private cars that's not including the cost of owning and maintaining a car!
Like the above reducing fuel costs will bring down our balance of payments deficit making our currency cheaper and more competitive!
Getting rid of overseas banks that won't happen they are way to powerful
We are already paying for CHCH we are also paying the interest on the $10 billion bill!
Im constantly amazed as to how Keys govt in the house refer to the faults of the previous govt as being Labours when they ,National, are the previous govt or was the election such a non event that they still feel no sense of responsibility for the shit they are dumping on those who have no way forward under this second term of right wing bullshit that is so far out of date in its policies that america will probably have to take us over to make sure we are still on the page over where we live in the world .
How can Key profess that he has not read the police report on Banks , is he not the minister in charge of the SIS ? Hello .
Then we have Bennett and her continual bee in her bonnet policies .Does she forget that poor people need a break from their toddlers as we as the rich and being poor walkin them to a child care and broadening the kids outlook cant be too costly because it only takes seven years to set a childs behaviour for life
How fucked up is her sense of values ?
America take us over? Who knows? It looks very much like they will have troops stationed here soon.
Interesting that Phil Goff reckons that NZ should not give up the independence developed since the nuclear free stance. And he reckons the National government won’t go that far either:
http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/09/24/visit-by-leon-panetta/
Rejecting permanent stationing is good, but it leaves things open to temporary stationing of US troops here.
Democracy and Human Rights….Phil shows he has actually lost his mind completely!
Send in the drones Goff they call him these days….Thats what Phil means when he refers to democracy and human rights.As I have posted some time back, Phil was on the radio saying that America should drone Syria, he was positively begging them to do so!
Piss off Phil you career leech, have the UN not offered you the crony career politician role yet!
Please, nooooooooooooooooooooo! That just must not happen…
I urge readers to take half an hour and read journalist Keith Hunter’s website story COUQ and his invitation to ex- Detective inspector Bruce Hutton to sue.
http://www.hunterproductions.co.nz/?page=news#COPS1
The really murky stuff begins at episode 10.
Hunter’s book should be getting nationwide attention.
Something is very wrong here. Our media are suspiciously silent on recent developments in NZ’s greatest judicial disgrace.
very sad this matter ( i choose not to watch the “investigator ” . his delivery puts me off
(same as that fool minority-basher Wishart; read a couple of his books and thought puh lease already!)
Agreed re Wishart, but Wishart is a serial conspiracy theorist, this appears to be a deliberate attempt to seriously mislead the NZ public, using public money, and the most likely instigators would appear to be the NZ police.
Ignoring child poverty won’t make it go away
Unless you’re an Ostrich with your head firmly buried in the sand, you’ll be aware that New Zealand has a pervasive and growing poverty problem that is largely being ignored by the current government…
350 jobs gone at Spring Creek, 65 at Huntly East. Bastards.
Your too kind TRP. Soon according to RWNJ’s a large part of the west coast will be useless blugers.
When there are no jobs it makes it very easy to control the movement of people out of an area you might want them gone from eh!
very insightful muzza
Infographic: Financialised Pretend and Extend described in one easy picture
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2012/09-2/20120923_cric.png