Sacha Baron Cohen on Letterman show, 15.8.09 (WARNING: It’s disgusting.)
Imagine if there’d been vacuous TV talkshows in the Third Reich…
August 15th, 2009
It’s 1942. Brave little Germany is under the terrorist threat posed by the continued existence of the Warsaw ghetto, which all thoughtful analysts, journalists and comedians agree is just a terrorist scourge that has to be eliminated. Mein host David Leitermann’s guest tonight is a zany Nazi comedian who’s fooled the desperate Jewish resistance in Poland into granting him an interview, then used this to further the Nazi state’s campaign of vilification against the Jewish resistance.
Imagine the chilling atmosphere of such an occasion. Imagine the braying of abuse, the obscene indifference to reality of the host and the murderous idiocy of the audience. Imagine laughter being elicited in the service of a totalitarian state.
Imagine something, in other words, like the following interview, which actually took place on CBS television the other day….
DAVID LETTERMAN: You interviewed a terrorist. SACHA BARON COHEN: Yeah, I interviewed a terrorist. LETTERMAN: How’d you do that? It can’t be EASY to find a terrorist! BARON COHEN: Well it’s not easy to get in touch with a terrorist. Your government has been trying to find one for the past nine years! [turns and mugs to audience, repeatedly raising eyebrows Groucho Marx-style] AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! LETTERMAN: Ha ha ha ha ha! You’re right! AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! BARON COHEN: To get in touch with the terrorist, I used a CIA contact. LEITERMANN:[spluttering with laughter] Bruno has a CIA contact!?!?!? AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! BARON COHEN: Yes. These were really nasty terrorists, from the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, the world’s leading suicide bombers. AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! LEITERMANN: Ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, now, what’s this clip we’re going to see from the movie? BARON COHEN: Here’s where I talk to the terrorist, and insult him, and he hasn’t got a CLUE what I was saying! AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
[Cue clip from show] BRUNO: Here’s a tip, you guys should lose the beards. Your King Osama looks like a dirty Santa Claus! CONTEMPTIBLE ARAB FALL-GUY:[to interpreter] What’s he saying? [End of clip]
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
[Hearty, sustained applause, general mirthfulness]
LETTERMAN: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! So funny, and so brave! Bruno opens this Thursday. Sacha Baron Cohen! AUDIENCE: Heil! Heil! Heil!…..
ALAN KALTER:[sotto voce] Am I the only one who’s noticed the guy’s unfunny? PAUL SHAFFER:[sotto voce] Somebody get a can of deodorant….
Was there an admission of defamation in the settlement?
I’m sure the lawyers made sure that no such admission was made. Maybe the hardline Israel shill Sacha Baron Cohen decided to part with a substantial sum of money simply as a humanitarian gesture to the Christian Palestinian peace activist group he so thoroughly derided and defamed. Or perhaps it was just another example of Baron Cohen’s brilliant “irony”.
Note how the Hollywood Reporter tries to minimize and distort the issue, turning it into a joke by running an accompanying feature called “18 of Hollywood’s Outrageous Entertainment Lawsuits”—as if it was a case about entertainment, rather than libel.
Otherwise your “found guilty” line might have taken you well within the territory of defamation, yourself.
I’ve already conceded that he wasn’t found guilty, and pointed out his humanitarian donation to the peace activist.
Now, will that be enough to stave off the lawyers?
Nope. At legal fees of hundreds or thousands of dollars an hour, settlements are often cheaper than successfully defending a suit.
In case you don’t recall your assertions, this case was supposed to be evidence that SBC was a “hardline Israel shill”. Now you can’t even prove he actually defamed anyone. And if he was factually wrong, his producers and himself might have been misled into thinking the guy was a terrorist by locals eager to pick up a commission.
You seem to have put a lot of structural load on that wee aluminium truss.
Okay, he traveled to the Occupied Territories and accidentally told lies about a Christian peace activist. He’s a moral and serious person, and it was all done for a laugh.
Not that there’s anything notable about the interview…
Really?
You don’t think there’s anything notable about someone humiliating and slandering a man for the sake of “entertainment”, and then slandering him further by repeating the lie on television?
The courts obviously were a lot less indulgent than you are.
Morrissey seems to think that calling the dude a terrorist was untrue (seems to be the case). If so it was defamation, fair enough. But the quantum leap seems to be that because the person who was apparently defamed was from the Levant, this means that SBC is a Zionist propagandist of the worst order.
And that’s assuming it wasn’t simply a frivolous lawsuit settled because it was the most cost-effective method of resolution.
But the quantum leap seems to be that because the person who was apparently defamed was from the Levant, this means that SBC is a Zionist propagandist of the worst order.
There is no “quantum leap” involved. The facts speak for themselves. In his zeal to deride, ridicule and demean the people in the Occupied Territories (not the gun-toting, violent illegal “settlers”, but the indigenous Arabs) Baron Cohen set up an interview with a Christian peace activist in Hebron and then pretended he had bravely interviewed a Muslim terrorist. I think that libeling a Christian peace activist like that is indeed propaganda of the worst sort.
…assuming it wasn’t simply a frivolous lawsuit…
I wonder if a malicious ideologue said that YOU were a terrorist and placed your life in peril like that, whether you would appreciate people laughingly speaking of your predicament as “frivolous”.
Assuming that I:
a) wasn’t a terrorist; or
b) had not misled the producers into thinking I was a terrorist so I got money;
then yes, the my lawsuit would be valid.
and if:
c) someone else had told the producers that I was a terrorist so they got a commission
then my lawsuit would be merely due to the fact that the producers hadn’t checked their informants’ bona fides.
But you have done nothing to say that b and c were false, even if I grant you that a is false. Which it almost certainly is, because terrorists aren’t known for suing for defamation.
And yeah, it’s a quantum leap to assume that one person’s being possibly defamed is indicative that SBC is a rabid Zionist propagandist.
Why don’t you just explain what you mean instead of expecting us to read your mind?
What? I’ve not only explained it exhaustively, I’ve posted a transcript* and the television clip itself.
All I saw was Cohen being interviewed about his movie. Tell me what I’m missing, if you can find the time.
I’m happy to go through it for you, and I assume you’re genuine.
You need to read the transcript. You’ll see that Sasha Baron Cohen—not pretending to be Bruno, but speaking as Sasha Baron Cohen—uses the word “terrorist” four times, and the term “suicide bombers”. He leads Letterman and the audience to believe that Abu Aita, a Christian peace activist, is a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and then shows a clip of himself as Bruno abusively interviewing Abu Aita, joking about “your king Osama” to the bewildered Palestinian.
There were real and serious repercussions for Abu Aita after this; not only was he libeled in front of the world, but he was suspected by the locals in the Occupied Territories of deliberately and knowingly participating in the unfunny charade.
You really should watch it, and read the transcript I provided. Then you’ll see why Sasha Baron Cohen handed over a huge amount of money to people he would otherwise see exterminated.
* Okay, okay, Te Reo, it segues (appropriately) into a Nazi rally at the end, but everything up to that is genuine.
He met Abu Aita and filmed his humiliation in Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank.
Your other fantasy, about the cunning Arab criminal masterminds duping the gullible English and Americans into thinking they were terrorists is beyond idiotic.
I was going to save this for tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait for you to open your present.
Just like all the other aliens here, regardless of who came first, this country is special.
All who wash up on these shores, or indeed, crash land to earth here, are special.
I truly believe if we unite behind what binds us rather than fight over what divides us, we can set an example and save the world from itself.
As a real al1en, to my extended kiwi family. Song six and the album’s title track @www.al1en.org
Human (R)evolution.
A particle tide, we glide and revolve and revolve and revolve.
Then gravity slides, collide and evolve and evolve and evolve.
Such a little thing, sailed the solar wind. Became the spark to a new evolution.
Such a pretty thing, could be anything. Could be the start of a new revolution.
We are home. We are arrived. We are the stardust that fell from the sky.
We are the face of this world come alive. We are the children born to survive.
The genesis tribes, divide and get old and devolve and dissolve.
Let unity bind, combine and evolve and evolve and evolve.
Such a simple thing, but it’s everything. It’s like the start of our own evolution.
Such a little thing, but we’re everything. We are the start of the Human revolution.
We are the hope. We are the light. We are the stardust caught on the tide.
We are the face of a world come undone. We are the children who sail round the sun.
We are the hope, the welcoming might. We are the stardust that blinds in night.
We are the fate of this world come undone. But we’re still the children borne from a sun.
The ninth track will go up tomorrow and is for my own and all other solo mums.
Merry xmas, Paula Bennett. 😉
Track seven is my Dr Evil song, and one I’ll send to One Direction unless the world pays me one million dollars 😆
Track eight, woke up at my desktop and it was playing. Thank you very much who or whatever.
And that’s only the half of it.
I started writing in April, and it turns out I’m as prolific as I am committed to my battle.
Just shows that with the right motivation, even al1ens can be aspirational, though I don’t think I’m what John had in mind.
James Galbraith recently said that “at the root of the crisis we find the largest financial swindle in world history”, where “counterfeit” mortgages were “laundered” by the banks.
As he has repeatedly noted, the economy will not recover until the perpetrators of the frauds which caused our current economic crisis are held accountable, so that trust can be restored. See this, this and this.
No wonder James Galbraith has said economists should move into the background, and “criminologists to the forefront.”
The bottom line is that the Departments of Justice and Treasury have it exactly backwards: by failing to prosecute criminal fraud, they are destabilizing the economy … and ensuring future crashes.
Over the years governments and the justice system have become less and less likely to prosecute banks and other white collar criminals when they breach the law. This is, of course, resulting in ever increasing amounts of such crime which is inevitably increasing the instability of the financial system.
Econoovbmists should move to the background. They are actually part of the problem. Economists deal with the question of how best to allocate resources and what system to use to do this. For most it is simpler still they believe the best system is capitalism so they then have a much narrower focus around which levers need to be pulled under capitalism to get the desired effect those running an economy is seeking.
What is instead needed is the skillset of a Business Analyst and not an Economist. A good Busiiness Analyst instead identifies the root of the problem that needs to be solved and starts from there. Another way to put this is that they identify the true and base requirement.
The root of the problem or base requirement is that we need a system to satisfy the needs and wants of human beings. The question then becomes how to we do this. Once this has been established (not a small exercise but it IS be a logical one) it can then be compared with where our current system is and what needs to change to meet the system derived from the base requirement.
Four years later, their story seems less like a tribute to upward mobility than a study of obstacles in an age of soaring economic inequality. Not one of them has a four-year degree. Only one is still studying full time, and two have crushing debts. Angelica, who left Emory owing more than $60,000, is a clerk in a Galveston furniture store.
Each showed the ability to do college work, even excel at it. But the need to earn money brought one set of strains, campus alienation brought others, and ties to boyfriends not in school added complications. With little guidance from family or school officials, college became a leap that they braved without a safety net.
The society has, quite simply, thrown away all that talent and, IMO, we’ll see such waste here in NZ as well and it’s that waste that prevents NZ from progressing as well as it should.
There is an”interesting” story doing the rounds of right wing blogs bagging Claire Curran and the Union for not handing out a hamper to someone not in the Union
What do they think unions are for, carrying the load for non members
I don’t think so!
Aye it shows the typical response by the right to the trade union movement. Of course they should share the benefits that the members have created and no way should they be forced to contribute …
The collection was organised by the union. If they didn’t want to pass on the proceeds to a scab, who can blame them? After all, passing on union benefits to non-union members is illegal in NZ under our employment law, so why shouldn’t it apply to other union activities?
“It seems” the only person claiming he’s been called a National Party supporting scab is a National Party supporter.
‘Mr Ingram said he was disappointed Mr Fenwick had contacted the Otago Daily Times instead of raising the matter with him. He did not see the list of recipients but said ”many” people who were not in the union got hampers and it was ”probably an oversight”.’
So perhaps the real headline is “Tory tells stories, other Tories listen.”
Enter the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Headed by a combination of independent media enthusiasts, journalists, and free speech activists (and in most cases, probably all of the above), the new organisation launched this past week, taking in over $100,000 before the end of its first week. While the financial blockade placed on Wikileaks initially inspired the organisation, its goals are much broader: The Foundation plans to leverage crowd power to fund a variety of journalism organisations focused on transparency. Selection will focus on organisations that do innovative work but may not receive enough public attention.
Visitors to the site choose the amount they wish to donate, and are presented with sliding bars that can be toggled to decide how much money goes to each of four organisations. In addition to Wikileaks, donors can give to MuckRock News, an organisation that helps citizens easily file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in the United States; The Uptake, a local journalism site focused on government transparency looking to go national; and The National Security Archive, an organisation with the lofty goal of expanding citizen access to government information.
Timm says that they plan to expand to include “a variety of innovative transparency and journalism organisations that tackle the problem of secrecy from different angles”, both in the United States and internationally.
MuckRock News has an article on the new foundation:
The just-launched Freedom of the Press Foundation has identified MuckRock as one of four news organizations that will benefit from its system of crowdsourced donations. The best-known of the four is WikiLeaks.
The foundation’s board is a who’s who of media activists, including Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow, Josh Stearns of Free Press and the journalist Glenn Greenwald, now with The Guardian.
“The Freedom of the Press Foundation can be a first step away from the edge of a cliff,” writes Dan Gillmor, author of We the Media and Mediactive. “But it needs to be recognized and used by as many people as possible, as fast as possible. And journalists, in particular, need to offer their support in every way. This is ultimately about their future, whether they recognize it or not. But it’s more fundamentally about all of us.”
continue to keep that “clit” hard karol 🙂 (well, that is a little bit n0rty i know), Hey, whatta ya gonna do? sit back and bend over forward? i been meditating on that n0rtiness today meslf: Oh Well 🙂
may have been “abuse”; may have been invited? ;): however, as i have described to a couple of pastors, sets one up for future blessings (lest we search in the Dark). no it wasn’t abuse :), (Nietzsche)
-(pastor said i was the first man he had met who came to Our Lord through Fred)
The high Court has given the Corrections Department and it’s Minister Ann Tolley a slap saying that the ban on prison inmates smoking is unlawful,
Having been challenged in the Court on the legality of the ban by an inmate of the maximum security Auckland Prison at Paremoremo it appears that the Minister has produced a ‘new’ set of regulations which She and the Corrections Department believe legitimize it’s stance as it appears that the High Court challenge to the legitimacy of the smoking ban only covered the ‘old’ set of regulations,
Obviously the inmate, (Arthur Taylor), who approached the High Court with the claim that the original regulations were not lawful can now repeat the whole process with a fair chance of having the High Court agree with Him,
Corrections this morning told RadioNZ National that should this occur the Minister will then pass legislation to overturn any Judges ruling upon the legality of the smoking ban,
A marvelous mis-use of the power of the Executive, lock up offenders in our jails and offend against them while you do so, when called to account simply retrospectively legislate your unlawful actions to be legal…
vv, LOLZ, i am not so sure about attaching the epithet ‘great’ to the pile atop my shoulders, although feel free to do so for yourself,
Incidently i know the inmate,(Arthur Taylor), quite well, and we managed to mis-spend quite a number of the years of our youth in the same institutions…
Just as an afterthought i have to wonder if the Minister of Corrections Ann Tolley came up with the ‘new’ set of regulations banning smoking in prisons after the paperwork had been filed at the High Court at Auckland challenging the legality of the original smoking ban,
If so, it would seem that Tolley has at least acted in a manner contemptuous of the High Court and more to the point has attempted to pervert the course of justice…
Just another thing to add to the list of court decisions that go against the nact govt,
‘Headline on the herald, ‘Prison smokes ban unlawful’
A judge has ruled a smoking ban is unlawful, – a victory for a career criminal
Arthur Taylor,who challenged it in court.
Corrections minister say’s it has been a great success and the govt will
change the law if it has to.
This brings me to believe that anything these happless generals bring in should
be tested in court,including their debilitating,discriminatory,oppressive welfare
changes next year,to name one.
Quote #1 “National are supported by small business people, but National’s interests are large corporate monopolies and the Party’s balancing act is to appeal to small business social morality while ignoring small business economic interests. Expect a lot more bennie bashing in 2013. ”
Quote #2 “Key’s ability to appeal to the anti-intellectualism of his supporters by dismantling the responsibilities of the Prime Ministership down to a pop culture youtube clip could come unstuck if we had a Jon Stewart type who could highlight this, sadly satire in this country is as dead as investigative journalism.”
What, over and above the cover up already put in place here!
Military bosses were told “it is important the RNZAF does not cover up” its illegal shipment of pyrotechnic canisters which endangered the lives of hundreds of passengers on an Air New Zealand flight.
Investigators found “a considerable number of larger organisational factors and preconditions” led to the safety breach. It also emerged the canisters flown to Canada were actually more dangerous than previously revealed. Neither was properly wrapped or had “safety pins” in place to stop accidental ignition, and one was damaged
“Too poor to buy electricity…” It doesn’t matter how many elements of truth you can cobble together if you’re not seeing the whole picture.
No-one is too poor to make electricity. The solutions to “third world problems” come from people in the developing world, not well-meaning citizens of the USA claiming that “the whole planet is our homeland”. Hubris much?
Ever been to a third world country? Or to somewhere without electricity….? If you had I doubt you would have made such a comment. Even though that is besidev the point. Try listening to the whole message….with an open mind, not just selecting one tiny part to focus in on, you might actually learn something OTV. Research a little on the history of US foreign policy. The overthrowing of democratically elected govts, the installation of dictators and what has happened thereafter and just ask one question – Why? The answer as with most things is to follow the money….
But just to be clear their are many many many people in the world without electricity, there are many people without things even more basic than that – try enough food and clean drinking water….. To pretty much say that if they don’t have elect ridiculous ricity it is their own fault is so beyond ridiculous it just isn’t funny. How are they supposed to get knowledge on how to create their own electricity? Perhaps you think they should use google? I’ll let you figure out the flaw there…
Now we know why the Xmas message is going out in 3D; the kill shot should be spectacular!
Just as an aside, the article reads like bs from start to finish. Big H? Really? More like the interview was conducted from the safety of Wapping and the interviewee was the hack’s typewriter.
Citing The Sun as valid source is a new low, even for you Morrissey. But at least we know have some idea of the gutters you go trawling around in to support your increasingly desperate accusations.
If your mother had been a ticking fruitcake, died in a blaze of press speculation, and you had always grown up knowing you were the spare, you might have some issues too – but only a spiteful little gimp like you with this weird obsession with famous people would be salivating at the prospect.
Merry Christmas to all who frequent TS; writers, commenters and even those who just read to to get another point-of-view. Off to Milford Sound to have Christmas with the whanau which I am looking forward to. Take care all and, if you are driving, be safe. All the best for 2013.
ahhh, before i forget to remember; locally there is some aquatic “desperation” apparently; “Desperado” (eagles shitting where they harvest) Welcome to water meterage in the “provinces”
“Americans are absolutely beside themselves, and very, very uptight.”
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Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
The Green Party is already delivering on its commitment for cleaner, climate-friendly transport through our Cooperation Agreement with the Government. ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Government is investing up to $10 million to support 30 of the country’s top early-career researchers to develop their research skills. “The pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system, including the research workforce. After completing their PhD, researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. Broken urban planning systems make for misery even in the best of times. If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as ...
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis will have independent eyes and ears across Oranga Tamariki over the next five months as the Government tries to change the work and practices of the ministry. The Government has created a Māori-led watchdog to oversee how the children's ministry, Oranga Tamariki, deals with parents and ...
Sacha Baron Cohen on Letterman show, 15.8.09 (WARNING: It’s disgusting.)
Imagine if there’d been vacuous TV talkshows in the Third Reich…
August 15th, 2009
It’s 1942. Brave little Germany is under the terrorist threat posed by the continued existence of the Warsaw ghetto, which all thoughtful analysts, journalists and comedians agree is just a terrorist scourge that has to be eliminated. Mein host David Leitermann’s guest tonight is a zany Nazi comedian who’s fooled the desperate Jewish resistance in Poland into granting him an interview, then used this to further the Nazi state’s campaign of vilification against the Jewish resistance.
Imagine the chilling atmosphere of such an occasion. Imagine the braying of abuse, the obscene indifference to reality of the host and the murderous idiocy of the audience. Imagine laughter being elicited in the service of a totalitarian state.
Imagine something, in other words, like the following interview, which actually took place on CBS television the other day….
DAVID LETTERMAN: You interviewed a terrorist.
SACHA BARON COHEN: Yeah, I interviewed a terrorist.
LETTERMAN: How’d you do that? It can’t be EASY to find a terrorist!
BARON COHEN: Well it’s not easy to get in touch with a terrorist. Your government has been trying to find one for the past nine years! [turns and mugs to audience, repeatedly raising eyebrows Groucho Marx-style]
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LETTERMAN: Ha ha ha ha ha! You’re right!
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
BARON COHEN: To get in touch with the terrorist, I used a CIA contact.
LEITERMANN: [spluttering with laughter] Bruno has a CIA contact!?!?!?
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
BARON COHEN: Yes. These were really nasty terrorists, from the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, the world’s leading suicide bombers.
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LEITERMANN: Ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, now, what’s this clip we’re going to see from the movie?
BARON COHEN: Here’s where I talk to the terrorist, and insult him, and he hasn’t got a CLUE what I was saying!
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
[Cue clip from show]
BRUNO: Here’s a tip, you guys should lose the beards. Your King Osama looks like a dirty Santa Claus!
CONTEMPTIBLE ARAB FALL-GUY: [to interpreter] What’s he saying?
[End of clip]
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
[Hearty, sustained applause, general mirthfulness]
LETTERMAN: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! So funny, and so brave! Bruno opens this Thursday. Sacha Baron Cohen!
AUDIENCE: Heil! Heil! Heil!…..
ALAN KALTER: [sotto voce] Am I the only one who’s noticed the guy’s unfunny?
PAUL SHAFFER: [sotto voce] Somebody get a can of deodorant….
———————————————————————————
Get into the spirit and dutifully laugh along with Letterman and his Pavlovian audience…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2GAwn7Xc0Q
You do, I hope, understand that SBC is in character. Yes?
You need to look at the video of the Letterman show. He was telling the lie as Sacha Baron Cohen. That’s why he was found guilty of libel.
really? “found guilty of libel”?
Normally these cases are settled with no judgement. Got any eviden- lol for a moment I forgot whom I was asking.
Sorry, you’re correct, McFliper. The slanderers settled out of court.
Was there an admission of defamation in the settlement? Links please.
Otherwise your “found guilty” line might have taken you well within the territory of defamation, yourself.
Was there an admission of defamation in the settlement?
I’m sure the lawyers made sure that no such admission was made. Maybe the hardline Israel shill Sacha Baron Cohen decided to part with a substantial sum of money simply as a humanitarian gesture to the Christian Palestinian peace activist group he so thoroughly derided and defamed. Or perhaps it was just another example of Baron Cohen’s brilliant “irony”.
Links please.
There you go…
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/david-letterman-sacha-baron-cohen-bruno-lawsuit–352162
Note how the Hollywood Reporter tries to minimize and distort the issue, turning it into a joke by running an accompanying feature called “18 of Hollywood’s Outrageous Entertainment Lawsuits”—as if it was a case about entertainment, rather than libel.
Otherwise your “found guilty” line might have taken you well within the territory of defamation, yourself.
I’ve already conceded that he wasn’t found guilty, and pointed out his humanitarian donation to the peace activist.
Now, will that be enough to stave off the lawyers?
Nope. At legal fees of hundreds or thousands of dollars an hour, settlements are often cheaper than successfully defending a suit.
In case you don’t recall your assertions, this case was supposed to be evidence that SBC was a “hardline Israel shill”. Now you can’t even prove he actually defamed anyone. And if he was factually wrong, his producers and himself might have been misled into thinking the guy was a terrorist by locals eager to pick up a commission.
You seem to have put a lot of structural load on that wee aluminium truss.
Okay, he traveled to the Occupied Territories and accidentally told lies about a Christian peace activist. He’s a moral and serious person, and it was all done for a laugh.
Have it your way.
No, that’s equally dumb. But because SBC probably made a dickish move it doesn’t mean that he’s a tool of Mossad’s propaganda wing, does it?
Oh, and didn’t he travel to Lebanon?
Nope, just as himself. Not that there’s anything notable about the interview, mind.
Not that there’s anything notable about the interview…
Really?
You don’t think there’s anything notable about someone humiliating and slandering a man for the sake of “entertainment”, and then slandering him further by repeating the lie on television?
The courts obviously were a lot less indulgent than you are.
Where’s the humiliation and slander? Are we watching the same video?
You are either drunk or stupid.
Why don’t you just explain what you mean instead of expecting us to read your mind?
All I saw was Cohen being interviewed about his movie. Tell me what I’m missing, if you can find the time.
Morrissey seems to think that calling the dude a terrorist was untrue (seems to be the case). If so it was defamation, fair enough. But the quantum leap seems to be that because the person who was apparently defamed was from the Levant, this means that SBC is a Zionist propagandist of the worst order.
And that’s assuming it wasn’t simply a frivolous lawsuit settled because it was the most cost-effective method of resolution.
Ah. And here’s me thinking he’s a particularly clever master of disguise when all along he was just a reptilian shape-shifter.
Cheated.
But the quantum leap seems to be that because the person who was apparently defamed was from the Levant, this means that SBC is a Zionist propagandist of the worst order.
There is no “quantum leap” involved. The facts speak for themselves. In his zeal to deride, ridicule and demean the people in the Occupied Territories (not the gun-toting, violent illegal “settlers”, but the indigenous Arabs) Baron Cohen set up an interview with a Christian peace activist in Hebron and then pretended he had bravely interviewed a Muslim terrorist. I think that libeling a Christian peace activist like that is indeed propaganda of the worst sort.
…assuming it wasn’t simply a frivolous lawsuit…
I wonder if a malicious ideologue said that YOU were a terrorist and placed your life in peril like that, whether you would appreciate people laughingly speaking of your predicament as “frivolous”.
Assuming that I:
a) wasn’t a terrorist; or
b) had not misled the producers into thinking I was a terrorist so I got money;
then yes, the my lawsuit would be valid.
and if:
c) someone else had told the producers that I was a terrorist so they got a commission
then my lawsuit would be merely due to the fact that the producers hadn’t checked their informants’ bona fides.
But you have done nothing to say that b and c were false, even if I grant you that a is false. Which it almost certainly is, because terrorists aren’t known for suing for defamation.
And yeah, it’s a quantum leap to assume that one person’s being possibly defamed is indicative that SBC is a rabid Zionist propagandist.
Why don’t you just explain what you mean instead of expecting us to read your mind?
What? I’ve not only explained it exhaustively, I’ve posted a transcript* and the television clip itself.
All I saw was Cohen being interviewed about his movie. Tell me what I’m missing, if you can find the time.
I’m happy to go through it for you, and I assume you’re genuine.
You need to read the transcript. You’ll see that Sasha Baron Cohen—not pretending to be Bruno, but speaking as Sasha Baron Cohen—uses the word “terrorist” four times, and the term “suicide bombers”. He leads Letterman and the audience to believe that Abu Aita, a Christian peace activist, is a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and then shows a clip of himself as Bruno abusively interviewing Abu Aita, joking about “your king Osama” to the bewildered Palestinian.
There were real and serious repercussions for Abu Aita after this; not only was he libeled in front of the world, but he was suspected by the locals in the Occupied Territories of deliberately and knowingly participating in the unfunny charade.
You really should watch it, and read the transcript I provided. Then you’ll see why Sasha Baron Cohen handed over a huge amount of money to people he would otherwise see exterminated.
* Okay, okay, Te Reo, it segues (appropriately) into a Nazi rally at the end, but everything up to that is genuine.
Morrissey, what was so hard about explaining that? None of that information was in the video, the transcript, or your comments until this one.
Not a fucking mind reader mate.
Morrissey, what was so hard about explaining that? None of that information was in the video, the transcript, or your comments until this one.
Not a fucking mind reader mate.
I hope it was of some help.
I’m sorry about calling you “drunk or stupid”; you know I didn’t mean it.
No worries, I’ve been called worse and often deserved it 😉
Merry Christmas.
Oh, and didn’t he travel to Lebanon?
He met Abu Aita and filmed his humiliation in Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank.
Your other fantasy, about the cunning Arab criminal masterminds duping the gullible English and Americans into thinking they were terrorists is beyond idiotic.
fair enough. I thought he said Beirut in the letterman clip, but what the hey.
And a merry Christmas to you and yours, McFliper.
I was going to save this for tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait for you to open your present.
Just like all the other aliens here, regardless of who came first, this country is special.
All who wash up on these shores, or indeed, crash land to earth here, are special.
I truly believe if we unite behind what binds us rather than fight over what divides us, we can set an example and save the world from itself.
As a real al1en, to my extended kiwi family. Song six and the album’s title track @www.al1en.org
Human (R)evolution.
A particle tide, we glide and revolve and revolve and revolve.
Then gravity slides, collide and evolve and evolve and evolve.
Such a little thing, sailed the solar wind. Became the spark to a new evolution.
Such a pretty thing, could be anything. Could be the start of a new revolution.
We are home. We are arrived. We are the stardust that fell from the sky.
We are the face of this world come alive. We are the children born to survive.
The genesis tribes, divide and get old and devolve and dissolve.
Let unity bind, combine and evolve and evolve and evolve.
Such a simple thing, but it’s everything. It’s like the start of our own evolution.
Such a little thing, but we’re everything. We are the start of the Human revolution.
We are the hope. We are the light. We are the stardust caught on the tide.
We are the face of a world come undone. We are the children who sail round the sun.
We are the hope, the welcoming might. We are the stardust that blinds in night.
We are the fate of this world come undone. But we’re still the children borne from a sun.
That’s why I always shine.
This.
Like! (now come and slice the cheese) 🙂
Thank you.
The ninth track will go up tomorrow and is for my own and all other solo mums.
Merry xmas, Paula Bennett. 😉
Track seven is my Dr Evil song, and one I’ll send to One Direction unless the world pays me one million dollars 😆
Track eight, woke up at my desktop and it was playing. Thank you very much who or whatever.
And that’s only the half of it.
I started writing in April, and it turns out I’m as prolific as I am committed to my battle.
Just shows that with the right motivation, even al1ens can be aspirational, though I don’t think I’m what John had in mind.
lovely 🙂
The Lie that Prosecuting Bank Fraud Will Destabilize the Economy Is What Is REALLY Destroying the Economy
Over the years governments and the justice system have become less and less likely to prosecute banks and other white collar criminals when they breach the law. This is, of course, resulting in ever increasing amounts of such crime which is inevitably increasing the instability of the financial system.
Yes, it appears that Too Big to Fail has now become Too Big to Jail. An unaccountable financial aristocracy.
Econoovbmists should move to the background. They are actually part of the problem. Economists deal with the question of how best to allocate resources and what system to use to do this. For most it is simpler still they believe the best system is capitalism so they then have a much narrower focus around which levers need to be pulled under capitalism to get the desired effect those running an economy is seeking.
What is instead needed is the skillset of a Business Analyst and not an Economist. A good Busiiness Analyst instead identifies the root of the problem that needs to be solved and starts from there. Another way to put this is that they identify the true and base requirement.
The root of the problem or base requirement is that we need a system to satisfy the needs and wants of human beings. The question then becomes how to we do this. Once this has been established (not a small exercise but it IS be a logical one) it can then be compared with where our current system is and what needs to change to meet the system derived from the base requirement.
For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall
Although it’s about upward social mobility and how it pretty much doesn’t exist any more I think the crucial point that it makes is this bit:
The society has, quite simply, thrown away all that talent and, IMO, we’ll see such waste here in NZ as well and it’s that waste that prevents NZ from progressing as well as it should.
There is an”interesting” story doing the rounds of right wing blogs bagging Claire Curran and the Union for not handing out a hamper to someone not in the Union
What do they think unions are for, carrying the load for non members
I don’t think so!
Aye it shows the typical response by the right to the trade union movement. Of course they should share the benefits that the members have created and no way should they be forced to contribute …
Really? It seems the hampers were donated by the public for those made redundant…
The collection was organised by the union. If they didn’t want to pass on the proceeds to a scab, who can blame them? After all, passing on union benefits to non-union members is illegal in NZ under our employment law, so why shouldn’t it apply to other union activities?
“It seems” the only person claiming he’s been called a National Party supporting scab is a National Party supporter.
‘Mr Ingram said he was disappointed Mr Fenwick had contacted the Otago Daily Times instead of raising the matter with him. He did not see the list of recipients but said ”many” people who were not in the union got hampers and it was ”probably an oversight”.’
So perhaps the real headline is “Tory tells stories, other Tories listen.”
In the light of the ways wikileaks was starved of funding, a new Freedom of the Press Foundation has been launched:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/20121222155259710309.html
MuckRock News has an article on the new foundation:
http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/12/for-muckrock-com-the-new-freedom-of-the-press-association-will-mean-more-muck-more-rocks/
Thanks for posting that – its great to see things starting to change for the better.
continue to keep that “clit” hard karol 🙂 (well, that is a little bit n0rty i know), Hey, whatta ya gonna do? sit back and bend over forward? i been meditating on that n0rtiness today meslf: Oh Well 🙂
may have been “abuse”; may have been invited? ;): however, as i have described to a couple of pastors, sets one up for future blessings (lest we search in the Dark). no it wasn’t abuse :), (Nietzsche)
-(pastor said i was the first man he had met who came to Our Lord through Fred)
The high Court has given the Corrections Department and it’s Minister Ann Tolley a slap saying that the ban on prison inmates smoking is unlawful,
Having been challenged in the Court on the legality of the ban by an inmate of the maximum security Auckland Prison at Paremoremo it appears that the Minister has produced a ‘new’ set of regulations which She and the Corrections Department believe legitimize it’s stance as it appears that the High Court challenge to the legitimacy of the smoking ban only covered the ‘old’ set of regulations,
Obviously the inmate, (Arthur Taylor), who approached the High Court with the claim that the original regulations were not lawful can now repeat the whole process with a fair chance of having the High Court agree with Him,
Corrections this morning told RadioNZ National that should this occur the Minister will then pass legislation to overturn any Judges ruling upon the legality of the smoking ban,
A marvelous mis-use of the power of the Executive, lock up offenders in our jails and offend against them while you do so, when called to account simply retrospectively legislate your unlawful actions to be legal…
@Bad12,Lol, It also looks like great minds think alike,they were posted at the same time 🙂
Nacts are the ‘cowboy warriors’ of NZ politics.
vv, LOLZ, i am not so sure about attaching the epithet ‘great’ to the pile atop my shoulders, although feel free to do so for yourself,
Incidently i know the inmate,(Arthur Taylor), quite well, and we managed to mis-spend quite a number of the years of our youth in the same institutions…
thats the “Right” for ya;
while i think of it, reform is not viable; we are back to the big R(evolution).
just keep sowing them seeds pa’
This government has only one policy toward the unfortunate, and that is “punish and punish again”, just as much as possible.
Just as an afterthought i have to wonder if the Minister of Corrections Ann Tolley came up with the ‘new’ set of regulations banning smoking in prisons after the paperwork had been filed at the High Court at Auckland challenging the legality of the original smoking ban,
If so, it would seem that Tolley has at least acted in a manner contemptuous of the High Court and more to the point has attempted to pervert the course of justice…
Just another thing to add to the list of court decisions that go against the nact govt,
‘Headline on the herald, ‘Prison smokes ban unlawful’
A judge has ruled a smoking ban is unlawful, – a victory for a career criminal
Arthur Taylor,who challenged it in court.
Corrections minister say’s it has been a great success and the govt will
change the law if it has to.
This brings me to believe that anything these happless generals bring in should
be tested in court,including their debilitating,discriminatory,oppressive welfare
changes next year,to name one.
Snap !!!…
Quote #1 “National are supported by small business people, but National’s interests are large corporate monopolies and the Party’s balancing act is to appeal to small business social morality while ignoring small business economic interests. Expect a lot more bennie bashing in 2013. ”
Quote #2 “Key’s ability to appeal to the anti-intellectualism of his supporters by dismantling the responsibilities of the Prime Ministership down to a pop culture youtube clip could come unstuck if we had a Jon Stewart type who could highlight this, sadly satire in this country is as dead as investigative journalism.”
http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/tumeke-political-review-2012-2013.html
Scott Yorke, please get onto #2
Military warned : No cover-ups
What, over and above the cover up already put in place here!
What a bloody shambles!
A big part of what is wrong with the world
http://www.trueactivist.com/gab_gallery/economic-hitmen-how-it-is-done/
“Too poor to buy electricity…” It doesn’t matter how many elements of truth you can cobble together if you’re not seeing the whole picture.
No-one is too poor to make electricity. The solutions to “third world problems” come from people in the developing world, not well-meaning citizens of the USA claiming that “the whole planet is our homeland”. Hubris much?
Ever been to a third world country? Or to somewhere without electricity….? If you had I doubt you would have made such a comment. Even though that is besidev the point. Try listening to the whole message….with an open mind, not just selecting one tiny part to focus in on, you might actually learn something OTV. Research a little on the history of US foreign policy. The overthrowing of democratically elected govts, the installation of dictators and what has happened thereafter and just ask one question – Why? The answer as with most things is to follow the money….
But just to be clear their are many many many people in the world without electricity, there are many people without things even more basic than that – try enough food and clean drinking water….. To pretty much say that if they don’t have elect ridiculous ricity it is their own fault is so beyond ridiculous it just isn’t funny. How are they supposed to get knowledge on how to create their own electricity? Perhaps you think they should use google? I’ll let you figure out the flaw there…
Perhaps you should take a look at the book instead. You could read it and then make up your own mind.
It’s been a big year for Prince Hal
Drinking, snorting coke, cavorting with prostitutes and now….
And now he’s killed a peasant…
Wonder if the Queen will incorporate this splendid news into her speech tomorrow…
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4711647/prince-harry-kills-first-taliban-chief.html
Now we know why the Xmas message is going out in 3D; the kill shot should be spectacular!
Just as an aside, the article reads like bs from start to finish. Big H? Really? More like the interview was conducted from the safety of Wapping and the interviewee was the hack’s typewriter.
+1
Have to agree with TRP – This article like so much of the *news* is totally staged BS!
Maybe he’s an “embedded journalist.”
With his or her tongue firmly embedded in Rupert Murdoch’s nether regions?
Don’t make jokes like that, Te Reo—Populuxe1 is lurking.
Why don’t they just call him Lieutenant Kijé and have done with it?
Citing The Sun as valid source is a new low, even for you Morrissey. But at least we know have some idea of the gutters you go trawling around in to support your increasingly desperate accusations.
Good Lord!
Talk about terminally bewildered.
If your mother had been a ticking fruitcake, died in a blaze of press speculation, and you had always grown up knowing you were the spare, you might have some issues too – but only a spiteful little gimp like you with this weird obsession with famous people would be salivating at the prospect.
Good Lord, you sound like a Sun four-page feature spread yourself!
I don’t mean to upset you, my friend.
I wish you a merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all who frequent TS; writers, commenters and even those who just read to to get another point-of-view. Off to Milford Sound to have Christmas with the whanau which I am looking forward to. Take care all and, if you are driving, be safe. All the best for 2013.
Blessings and a very merry Christmas to all!
Do they even know it’s Xmas Time?!
SANTA IS COMING…
Meanwhile, at ground level in Afghanistan….
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/us-soldier-pleads-guilty-to-urinating-on-afghan-bodies/story-e6freoo6-1226542198975
here is a seed that fell my way this morning;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinmonopolet
much more to share, yet i better go and collect my thoughts.
-“Silver Springs” (i shall be back)
Hebrews 1:2
1:7
Proverbs 10-
Hebrews 2:1,6,8,10,11,12,17,18.
-John (may God Bless you all tomorrow)
(crush that over some ice this season Judith as you watch the carnage unfold)
btw, Excellent work Mark. Story!!! (sooner you replace that colonialist clown the better) 🙂
ahhh, before i forget to remember; locally there is some aquatic “desperation” apparently; “Desperado” (eagles shitting where they harvest) Welcome to water meterage in the “provinces”
-why don’t you come to your senses?
“Americans are absolutely beside themselves, and very, very uptight.”
Was reading the Herald today, and this is full of total crap. Australia is the worst, every time I visit there I get searched. The US staff have always been polite to me, it seems that the Herald is pulling this whole article out of it’s ass. The US wouldn’t kick you out for spelling your name wrong, you would have to go out of your way to piss them off.