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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Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
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Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
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The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
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A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
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The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
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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