Merry Christmas to you and yours. I know for many times are tough and I am thinking of you, hoping joy will reach you. I will be blessed with the presence of our adult children and extended family Xmas day and am very conscious of how fortunate we are. This year we gifted to the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal rather than personal gifts and know this will be distributed to some in need. I believe this will remain a future family commitment at Xmas.
Most of all I wish for 2014 to be the turnaround year.
Thank you to all who contribute here. You are very much appreciated.
And to you LynWiper! Good idea re the Sallies Christmas Appeal too 🙂
“Most of all I wish for 2014 to be the turnaround year”.
This is the biggest wish and the biggest hope of all. Imagine, this time next year we could possibly have a shiny new government. Personally, I will be playing my part to make that happen.
be very careful when listening to the weasel-words of peters vis a vis coalition options after the next election..
..peters is now saying that he could ‘never be part of a govt that sold assets’..
..nor one that did not ‘support the rebuilding of the nz infrastructure’..
..so..i read that as..after the next election..should key promise not to sell any more assets in the ’14’-’17 govt..(easy for him to do..there is ‘no more worth selling’..remember..?..)
..and offer (whatever) that peters can point at and shout ‘infrastructure-rebuilding’..
..then winston peters will quite happily slide his shiny-suited arse into a key govt ministerial-limo..
The secret deal announced by the government today with the company James Hardie on leaky school buildings smacks of more corporate welfare.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved, yet it appears James Hardie will not be pursued. Another shonKey deal carefully announced on Xmas Eve so that it is brushed under the carpet.
Yep, but Leaky Building rehabilitation is providing economic growth…I reckon it is the only National Party initiative (Introducing the Building Act 1991) that is actually providing growth.
James Hardie are past masters at insulating their shareholders from liabilities like this. They were criminal in how they ring faced their Asbestos liabilities.
Letting them off on the schools scandal is an act of criminal negligence or corruption. Labour should be all over this.
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK47, has died aged 94. He was a remarkably modest guy, who was genuinely saddened by some of the uses the rifle was put to, but he designed a simple, cheap weapon that is still manufactured virtually unchanged from the original plans.
While the project was not completed till after WW2, the Kalashnikov helped liberate millions from the shackles of colonialism in the decades following.
At about 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2007, pilots wearing night vision goggles unleashed several Enhanced Paveway II smart bombs into his camp in eastern Colombia as officials in both capitals waited. Troops recovered only a leg. It appeared by its dark complexion to belong to Acacio, one of the few black FARC leaders. DNA tests confirmed his death.
[…]
Six weeks later, smart bombs killed Gustavo Rueda Díaz, alias Martin Caballero, leader of the 37th Front, while he was talking on his cellphone. Acacio’s and Caballero’s deaths caused the 16th and 37th fronts to collapse. They also triggered mass desertions, according to a secret State Department cable dated March 6, 2008, and released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks in 2010. This was just the beginning of the FARC’s disintegration.
To hide the use of the PGMs from public discovery, and to ensure maximum damage to a FARC’s leaders’ camp, the air force and U.S. advisers developed new strike tactics. In a typical mission, several A-37 Dragonflys flying at 20,000 feet carried smart bombs. As soon as the planes came within a three-mile “basket” of the target, a bomb’s GPS software would automatically turn on.
The Dragonflys were followed by several A-29 Super Tucanos, flying at a much lower altitude. They would drop a series of dumb bombs in a pattern nearby. Their blast pressure would kill anyone close in and also flatten the dense jungle and obscure the use of the smart bombs.
Then, low-flying, Vietnam-era AC-47 gunships, nicknamed Puff the Magic Dragon, would strafe the area with mounted machine guns, “shooting the wounded trying to go for cover,” according to one of several military officials who described the same scenario.
You believe that cocaine was the deciding factor in this high level of US military involvement?
And not erosion of US power in central America?
If you are serious in your belief that drug money and not political revolution was the aim, why didn’t the FARC just sit back and let the money roll in?
Its a lesson of Bernay’s treatise entitled Propaganda, yes. Another lesson is that the intellectual class is often more than happy to support war for imperial aims. Notice how the US isn’t smart bombing the leadership of Mexican drug cartels?
CV, what I’m saying is that FARC turned to the soft option of the drug trade, which, in turn, allowed the US to further attack them as part of the bogus war on drugs. It was a terrible strategic error on FARC’s behalf.
So you contend that if the FARC had not been linked to the cocaine trade, the US would not be providing precision munitions and intel to the Columbian Govt?
Of course, we both know that is a nonsense, given that the US does not smart bomb Mexican drug cartel leaders.
“So you contend that if the FARC had not been linked to the cocaine trade, the US would not be providing precision munitions and intel to the Columbian Govt?”
Nope. I contend that without the drugs, the US would have to make do with ‘unofficial’ support (ie CIA, NSA etc). With drugs in play, the US can come out of the shadows and directly support military action against them as well.
You appear not to understand how the Washington Post works.
The piece was either published with the tacit approval of the US gov in that it supported a desired narrative to be pushed out into the public sphere and hence contained a whole lot of sensitive information but via ‘authorised’ leaks.
Or the piece was published without the approval of the US gov and the journalist and editors have put together a huge and awesome piece of investigative journalism.
These two scenarios mean that your suggested conditionality around drugs allowing “out of the shadows” US direct military action is mistaken.
Again, there plenty of well armed drug cartels operating around Mexico which haven’t been blasted to smithereens by smart munitions, demonstrating that the drugs angle is merely incidental.
The infamous joint US-Colombia drug eradication strategy, Plan Colombia, recently resurrected under Plan Patriota, has been embraced by the Uribe administration and referred to in the DS policy. Although most armed groups now finance their operations through the drug economy, Uribe claims to fight the “war on drugs” and the “war on terror” simultaneously. Curiously, the government “negotiates” with those most directly involved in the drug trade, the AUC, while engaging in an all-out offensive with the minor players: left-wing guerrilla groups.
The right wing militias that control most of the Colombian cocaine production do not pretend to be a revolutionary movement. They obviously took your advice.
I see old Bomber has had another brain explosion, he clearly doesn’t like the “PublicAddress gender equal person” if his (now striked out) rant was any guide. Actually as rants go it was quite funny, TBH.
I suppose that is all you can really salvage from the whole sorry carry on.
I think Bomber’s main problem is that he’s more of a performer than a militant. If he calmed down a bit, counted to something like Avogadro’s number, and didn’t insist on having the first word, the last word, and most of those in between, he might achieve a lot more. As it stands, his contributions are not trivial and he deserves to be remembered for more than frothing at the mouth.
Xox
Interesting to see how MSM spin poverty as a worthy opportunity for ‘generosity’ from the haves.
Also how MSM spin rising interest rates as great for savers. And it’s only about 2%. It is really 2 percent on top of approx 5.5 percent, which is really about 36 percent! We don’t want the MSM to scare mortgage payers (or voters) do we?
Merry Christmas, God save the Queen, heaven help her subjects.
a wealthy cousin of mine posted on facebook that to show her children the true meaning of xmas so shes going to give poor people their old toys…but anyway, i’m looking forward to a cpl days off work & spending it with my wife & daughter. ram on!
North
” The ease is patent but what’s really appalling is that they just don’t see it. “Who me ? No way !”
True but the trouble is the NZ averages can’t/don’t see it either. The ‘Keys’ know and exploit that inability. Dunno what we can do about the average kiwi’s poor visual acuity.
From that article:
“Irreverent Cabinet Minister Paula Bennett has produced her own pink wine label on a chardonnay this Christmas called “Sip It Sweetie”.
Some will find their way into Christmas stockings, but most will be auctioned to fundraise for her campaign in Upper Harbour next year.
“A fruity little number, plenty of sass and spirit,” the label says.
“This classy chardonnay will impress at a barbecue, beach picnic or a fancy-pants dinner party. Good drinking now but even better after a third term.”
Suggest “A full-bodied plonk with a tarty after-taste. Won’t age well. Will be off within 12 months.”
Jesu H Christos – now I understand why I can’t listen to Nine-toNoon for any length of time.
The music talking-head critic sage commenting on how we CONSUME music FFS!
OFF!
I was listening to RNZ Concert FM news who quoted Sara Chatwin, “celebrity” psychologist. I’m guessing this is the same one. If so, she always seems to comment on the most on the most inane non issues facing the population.
It is true, just in my observations, that folks do seem to freak and obsess about Christmas day weather, especially the newspapers and TV news, but really, to tell us not to worry about it is another thing altogether. There are far greater issues facing the national psyche than the weather.
I’d be one of those people, but funnily enough only on work days. Can go without any caffeine all weekend, but have a grossly unnatural relationship with that first cup of coffee mon-fri…
as for the music on 9-no-one.
its all whining gamines, processed pap and noo noo heads who cant sing.
but the awful thing is that “THEY” think its wunnerful.
yetchhhhhhhh.
Where’d your computer come from? Government
Where’d the drugs you use come from? Most likely government.
And this applies to a hell of a lot of innovation over the last few centuries. The lesson we need to learn is that the private sector doesn’t do the innovation as we’ve been told over the last 30 to 40 years. More often than not, the private sector holds innovation back through the use of patents.
Yep, from what I’ve seen out of the TPP innovation is going to become even more difficult and the patent trolls are going to be even more of a problem.
Brewer denies journalist prompt
The councillor caught out on a junket to the Gold Coast declared the trip to officials – but concedes he may have done so after a call from a journalist.
Xox
Pity about the falling standards @ RNZ. Lead by Jim, and Kathryn. Hopefully Wallace will do some serious reading and thinking over the Summer break, ready to provide an informed and intelligent program. A worthy successor to Chris.
Indeed!
Just like this morning, the nicest man on Earth is about to get the OFF button. Currently playing – the most self-indulgent load of kaka you could ever hope to imagine. And if anyone ever accuses RNZ of left-wing bias, they only need check out his afternoon’s guests. The occasional leftie (for fairness and balance of course – likw Peter Elliot, maybe even Bernard Hickey) – other than that – what a pack of out-of-touch ‘experts’ ffs/
Mai: what’s the diff between living in wgtn and commuting to auckland, and living in auck and commuting to wgtn?
– Oh (to paraphrase) it’s so difficult getting the kids to school.
– It makes you realise that to win an election, you have to win Auckland.
All very twee.
There goes half RNZ’s budget on cheap Chardonnay – down the gullets of those ‘movers and shakers’ including some Squeaky Fromme TVNZ hasbeen.
Reasons given being just as valid in proposing Auckland be carved off as a separate country, and for all those Auckland expats moving to Queenstown (or Martinborough) to get away from it all (whereupon they attempt to develop, develop, develop and re-create the new wonderland).
I like Jim and Kathryn and I’m leftish thinking. They seem to be reasonably impartial to me. Middle road reasonably intelligent content except for the concessional bigotted comments of Boag or Farrar and I guess we have to put up with the silly empty rhetoric of Hooton as part of being a democracy. Often disappointed with, “i have to agree with Michelle” from Mike Williams who I guess is changing with the need to supplement his corporate retirement.
Generally I think Jim and Kathryn do a good job.
I enjoy Kathryn Ryan too Rodel and agree she’s fairly impartial. She has regularly pulled up Hooton on his more outrageous claims and on one occasion she shouted him down and almost threatened to pull the plug on him. She also has a good sense of humour and conducts her interviews in a very professional manner. You can’t really expect any more than that…
Indeed she and Mary Wilson on Check Point keep us well served with all the information of the day.
There was an interesting opinion piece in the Dom/Post this morning by Geoffrey Palmer.
I can’t find it online so I can’t give a link to it unfortunately.
It will, I suspect attract completely opposite views from thos on the right of politics to those on the left.
Those on the right will say, about the first part the GP has finally come to his senses and that in the second part that he has reverted to senility. To the left the first part will be anathema and the second that he is finally back to his sensible self.
The first part argues that referenda endanger our democratic system. He also says that democracies where they are used extensively the results have been disastrous and that the act that allows for CIR should be repealed. Governments are elected to govern. They should decide what to do and to get on with it.
Very sensible of the man say all right thinking people.
The second part, where he relapses into drooling idiocy, calls for extending the OIA, bringing in a written, entrenched constitution, better protection for Maori values and aspirations and more safeguards against government’s abuse of power. “Bah humbug” as Ebenezer Scrooge would say, and as all right thinking people would believe..
I wonder how many people here would agree with everything, or disagree with everything, the Geoffrey says?
The first part argues that referenda endanger our democratic system. He also says that democracies where they are used extensively the results have been disastrous and that the act that allows for CIR should be repealed. Governments are elected to govern. They should decide what to do and to get on with it.
Very sensible of the man say all right thinking people.
I don’t see anything particularly right wing about this view, and nor, frankly, do I see his point. In NZ CIRs are not binding on the government. They are designed to be a means whereby people can determine the view of the electorate. The way politics works, that means they will usually be about expressing a view the government of the day doesn’t like. It is form of, very civil indeed, disobedience.
calls for extending the OIA, bringing in a written, entrenched constitution, better protection for Maori values and aspirations and more safeguards against government’s abuse of power.
I notice mostly that your response only amounts to a ‘humbug’. Understandably I suppose, it’s hard to argue against any of that without looking like a fuckwit.
It worked!
As I expected someone who doesn’t agree with part one, but is thoroughly in favour of part two shows up.
Referenda. “nor do I see his point”, “people can determine the view of the electorate”
Constitution “Hard to argue against any of it”.
Now is there anyone who agrees with BOTH parts of his opinion piece or, alternatively, disagrees with BOTH parts.
About the only sensible thing I can remember about Geoffrey was a proposal to put an expiration date on legislation.
Now that might be a little impractical, but at the very least (as someone else on this site suggested), it should be mandatory for anything passed under urgency.
(Besides – it’d give the delightful Mai Chen a reason to commute to Wellington and pass on her apologies to the all important “The Panel” appearances – she could probably even claim on a taxi to get the kids to and from school).
Geoffrey has a knack of romanticising everything and being a thoroughly ‘well rounded fellow’ amongst those who aspire to be his peers.
Now a far cry from the Mt Vic-living Geo of old who was far more practical and in touch with reality.
Geoffrey former Mt Vic what ? Hope he never engaged the face-first molestation of the steep Hawker Street pavement as has apparently the fulsomely reasonable closet totalitarian Stephen Franks. As mirthfully reported by someone on TS recently.
Akshully I seem to recall that hilarious story was related by you Tim. It was real LOL stuff to a former resident in that very street. Poor Geoffrey. Poor Stephen. Poor Nation.
Further hilarity – Alwyn above talks “bah humbug” as though his know-it-all right wing twittiness doesn’t define it.
Considering the shenanigans with the GCSB in NZ, think about this allegedly “benign” filter instituted by Cameron in the UK that was only supposed to filter porn and in fact, not accidentally, filters a lot more and think what could be planned here in NZ:
Cameron’s problem, methinks, is that he’s thinking like an old-school (literally) authoritarian whereas todays digital natives might not have heard the cyberpunk slogan “Information wants to be free” because its thoroughly ingrained in them. A lot of young people at least are going to get and damned well play on the old man’s lawn whether he likes it or not. Especially if not.
EDMONTON – More than 75 environment officers who watched over oil industry activities left the provincial environment department this fall, to take higher paying jobs with the new industry-funded Alberta Energy Regulator. Another 75-plus are expected to leave in the spring.
In mid-November, the department also began handing over to the regulator thousands of files on oil industry activity pertaining to the Public Lands Act, according to documents obtained by the Journal.
This shift in staffing and the moving of years of files out of a government department to the new arm’s length regulator are key steps in the government’s plan, announced last spring, to create a more streamlined approval process for oil companies that wanted “one window” to get permits for new projects.
Previously, companies had to apply to the environment department for some permits and to the old regulator, the now defunct Energy Resources Conservation Board.
To achieve the “one window,” the provincial government handed over to the privately funded regulator responsibility for administering the Water Act, Public Lands Act, and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (dealing with spills) as they pertain to energy companies.
To ALL Standardistas, friends and foes, have a happy holiday season, a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and the best of wishes for the new year 2014, which will be highly important “DECISION YEAR” for all of us.
It was an at times stressful and difficult year that comes to an end, and the fight for social justice, and for common sense, sustainable, smart, constructive, fair and inclusive policies, will continue in 2014.
For those that suffer illness and disabilities, bear in mind, that WINZ will start a new regime in February 2014, which will include medical and work capability assessments – similar to the ones done by ATOS in the UK, for those sick and disabled on benefits. They will be using OUTSOURCED CONTRACTORS!
“Private contractors will be paid $650 an assessment to get thousands of New Zealand’s sick and disabled ready to return to work.”
“From February, Work and Income will pay private “medical assessors” to scrutinise sickness and disability beneficiaries who it believes can work.”
“The medical assessors will be paid $650 per assessment, which are expected to take about three hours, and are prompted to recommend lifestyle changes to help the beneficiary get a job, such as a “positive approach to life” and more time at the gym.”
“It is expected eventually 3000 disabled people a year will have to visit an assessor, who will judge their fitness for work and report back to Work and Income.
The scheme, revealed in a tender proposal, is part of the biggest welfare shake-up in decades, with the Government aiming to have 28,000 to 44,000 people off benefits by 2017, saving up to $1.6 billion.”
Also remember this, from the NZ Herald, 18 Nov. 2013:
“Winz apologises to sick woman placed on wrong benefit”
So if some had horrific experiences with WINZ’s “designated doctors” (some are true “hatchet doctors”), get ready for the next level of harassment!
Study up the ample information offered in the following publications, to get informed what is going on, and what it is all about. Do NOT forget, the new year will bring more challenges, and the enemy NEVER sleeps (Bennett and her nasty WINZ and MSD underlings):
Feel free to copy and paste, and use the links at convenient times. Enjoy your holidays or breaks for time being, and get ready for the firestorm on the welfare and national policy front in the coming years. Every voice and body will be needed, it all leading up to the most important election in recent New Zealand history!
This is one more issue that Labour needs to take a firm position on. It seems Jacinda and whoever took her place have taken Benefat’s recommendation to heart and zipped it.
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Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.read more ...
Below is a translation of the editorial in the June 24 round of weekly workplace bulletins issued all over France by the revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvriere. Last Saturday, 8,000 people took to the streets of Belfort (eastern France) to ...
Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...
Holly Lawford-Smith is a senior lecturer in political philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She’s currently writing a book about radical feminism. This article appeared on Feminist Current Academics should be standing together in defence of universities’ fundamental values: the ...
The Otago Daily Times has an in-depth article about the future of wind energy in New Zealand, and it is looking bright:The news that wind will play the leading role in New Zealand’s energy future was put up in lights ...
If the sight of schoolkids striking for a future has been filling you with hope, good news: they want you to join them on September 27:Students will take to the streets again demanding action on climate change, and this time ...
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
A new website has launched in response to recent RNZ reporting about Police in Dunedin unlawfully entering people’s homes and breath-testing them. “I was disgusted when I saw what they cops were doing in Dunedin. Their behaviour undermines all of ...
Hundreds of whanau and Maori leaders gathered at a hui in Mangere last weekend where they voted unanimously for an inquiry into Oranga Tamariki. The historic meeting called for a child welfare framework to be developed by Maori, for Maori. ...
The Head of the New Zealand Maori Council has called for the Government to hold an immediate investigation into the global cosmetics company Sephora after they were caught dumping waste hundreds and thousands of waste paper products embedded with ...
Simon Shepherd: The government says its agreement with farmers, that they should pay for agricultural emissions, is historic. But there's no agreement on how. One proposal says farmers should pay a 5 per cent emissions tax. Another suggests farmers ...
The O’Brien Institute for Public Health at Calgary University has just released their report on fluoridation. This institute has, up to now, been staunchly in favour of fluoridation. However, yesterday, with regards to fluoride’s effect on the brain, ...
July 19 (BusinessDesk) - The government is looking to tighten control and impose harsher penalties after the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak revealed cracks in the country's stock management system. ...
Kia Anga Mua Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi (KAM) has reached a pivotal milestone following a hui yesterday at Waitangi with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Government spent $133,530 on producing its ‘Wellbeing Budget’ document, a cost blowout largely driven by spending on graphic design and photography. The $133,530 price tag compares to $86,268 ...
Kahungunu Māori Language Awards. Nominations closed on 5 July 2019, and were judged by the Senior Management Team of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. The judges wish to acknowledge the very high calibre of all nominations received making it a very ...
High Court of Australia Judge, Justice Stephen Gageler, will address recent criticism of court judgment delays in Australia, at the University of Canterbury (UC) on 23 July at 6.15pm. ...
This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk New Zealand’s unprecedented “internet-native mass shooting” attack on two mosques, the New Caledonia independence referendum, Fiji’s general election and news media responses are featured in the latest Pacific Journalism Review being published next week. Analysis ...
Aldous Harding is coming back to New Zealand. In the lead-up to her shows, she spoke to The Spinoff about live TV, maturity, and the weirder interpretations of her songs.Aldous Harding is calling from her home in Wales. Only a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of Technology This weekend marks 50 years exactly since humans first walked on the Moon. It also marks Australia’s small but significant role in enabling NASA ...
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag.First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag.Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned ...
Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogsat the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ a close friend had said. ‘Then you’ll be able to tell if it is going to lead anywhere’: a short story by New Plymouth author Elizabeth Smither. Photography by Peter Black. ...
Opinion - The leadership visits are more interesting in that they serve as a spotlight on the two countries - politically, and on policy issues, writes Brigette Morten. ...
Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher: Children and Technology, Western Sydney University Instagram is running a social media experiment in Australia and elsewhere to see what happens when it hides the number of likes on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...
A poem by Miramar poet Geoff Cochrane.Channel HoppingStupa or Stuka?Weet-Bix or Welsh rabbit?Galactic aerodrome or Matchbox truck?*I’m young in my dreams, still young.*Beautiful Keanu’s wearing shades—antique shades with iodine-coloured lenses.*I’m young in my dreams, still young,and I still have some ...
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...
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 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury, $35)Fucking ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Griebsch, Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine, University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Sydney, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Recently reported cases of the often fatal bacterial infection ...
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...
Finance companies say they shouldn’t have to be ‘fit and proper’ even though in some cases they charge more than the planned clampdown on high cost lending. A group of finance companies that charges well over the government’s proposed cap on ...
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign Affairs and trade Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The new, ...
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIRO The role Australia played in relaying the first television images of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the Moon 50 years ago this July features in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndal Sleep, Research Fellow, Griffith University In Australia’s social security laws, the “couple rule” is used to determine if a person is in a relationship, tying access to Centrelink payments to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Walker, Lecturer (Management), Victoria University of Wellington We live in a society obsessed with performance. For both young and old, competitions, awards and rankings are an inescapable feature of life. How ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsty Volz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Of all the mantras for modernism, the one I think most befitting for Australian mid-century modern houses is L’esprit Nouveau – The New Spirit. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future, vaccination rates fall alarmingly, and construction industry encouraged to lower emissions.Snowmaking has saved the ski industry from disaster this year, after the weather ...
Open mike 24/12/2013 
Much like Tuvalu, the manmade climate change Cult love to tell people the Maldives is almost totally underwater. In fact the dishonest Maldives Govt d on the same bandwagon, believing they would receive billions of dollars aid from other Countries ...4 hours ago
As the entry on Wikipedia shows (and no, one doesn’t necessarily have to regard Wikipedia as the be-all and end-all of truth, because it isn’t on a great many things, to agree with the following): “…a fallacious argument that concludes ...7 hours ago
by Daphna Whitmore The story of how the world awoke to a big injustice is starting to be told. The Pacific Games held this month in Samoa is another chapter. On the podium was Laurel Hubbard, the giant transgender weightlifter, ...14 hours ago
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...1 day ago
This week, in the wake of National's opposition to even talking about reducing agricultural emissions and Simon Bridges' refusal to recognise that there is a climate emergency, I've been saying that National is unfit to govern. And it looks like ...1 day ago
Something I missed: not only did Youth MPs declare a climate emergency; they also launched a campaign to lower the voting age to 16:Youth Parliament week in Parliament has seen the establishment of Make it 16, a campaign to ...2 days ago
I have been reading and listening to the aftermath of Trump’s comments about the four female first term Democratic representatives, all of whom are “people of color.” I found the US coverage interesting both as evidence of partisanship and the ...2 days ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...3 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...3 days ago
4 days ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...5 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...5 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...1 week ago
2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...3 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...3 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...3 weeks ago
Image Credit: Blog Writing Tips. I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the ... 3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...5 days ago
A new website has launched in response to recent RNZ reporting about Police in Dunedin unlawfully entering people’s homes and breath-testing them. “I was disgusted when I saw what they cops were doing in Dunedin. Their behaviour undermines all of ...13 hours ago
The Government is ramping up policy and research work in the countdown to next year’s referendum on cannabis legalisation. ...4 hours ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk New Zealand’s unprecedented “internet-native mass shooting” attack on two mosques, the New Caledonia independence referendum, Fiji’s general election and news media responses are featured in the latest Pacific Journalism Review being published next week. Analysis ...11 hours ago
Aldous Harding is coming back to New Zealand. In the lead-up to her shows, she spoke to The Spinoff about live TV, maturity, and the weirder interpretations of her songs.Aldous Harding is calling from her home in Wales. Only a ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of Technology This weekend marks 50 years exactly since humans first walked on the Moon. It also marks Australia’s small but significant role in enabling NASA ...15 hours ago
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag.First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag.Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned ...16 hours ago
Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogs at the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...19 hours ago
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ a close friend had said. ‘Then you’ll be able to tell if it is going to lead anywhere’: a short story by New Plymouth author Elizabeth Smither. Photography by Peter Black. ...19 hours ago
Opinion - The leadership visits are more interesting in that they serve as a spotlight on the two countries - politically, and on policy issues, writes Brigette Morten. ...20 hours ago
Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...21 hours ago
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cherie Hugo, Teaching Fellow, Nutrition & Dietetics, Bond University The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety this week turned its attention to food and nutrition. The testimony of maggots in ...1 day ago
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...1 day ago
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...1 day ago
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...1 day ago
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...1 day ago
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...2 days ago
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...2 days ago
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...2 days ago
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...2 days ago
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...2 days ago
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...2 days ago
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...2 days ago
John Banks' former lives, vegetable-based insults in Auckland's mayoral race and metaphorical cabbage - James Elliott has it all. ...2 days ago
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...2 days ago
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...2 days ago
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan O’Connell, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne One-third of all preschools may lack a qualified teacher in the next four years if nothing changes, my new modelling shows. Currently, half of ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsty Volz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Of all the mantras for modernism, the one I think most befitting for Australian mid-century modern houses is L’esprit Nouveau – The New Spirit. ...2 days ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future, vaccination rates fall alarmingly, and construction industry encouraged to lower emissions.Snowmaking has saved the ski industry from disaster this year, after the weather ...2 days ago
A former MP and shock jock says Queenstown council’s making excuses in seeking a 35-year approval for sewer overflows. ...2 days ago
Merry Christmas to you and yours. I know for many times are tough and I am thinking of you, hoping joy will reach you. I will be blessed with the presence of our adult children and extended family Xmas day and am very conscious of how fortunate we are. This year we gifted to the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal rather than personal gifts and know this will be distributed to some in need. I believe this will remain a future family commitment at Xmas.
Most of all I wish for 2014 to be the turnaround year.
Thank you to all who contribute here. You are very much appreciated.
And to you LynWiper! Good idea re the Sallies Christmas Appeal too 🙂
“Most of all I wish for 2014 to be the turnaround year”.
This is the biggest wish and the biggest hope of all. Imagine, this time next year we could possibly have a shiny new government. Personally, I will be playing my part to make that happen.
be very careful when listening to the weasel-words of peters vis a vis coalition options after the next election..
..peters is now saying that he could ‘never be part of a govt that sold assets’..
..nor one that did not ‘support the rebuilding of the nz infrastructure’..
..so..i read that as..after the next election..should key promise not to sell any more assets in the ’14’-’17 govt..(easy for him to do..there is ‘no more worth selling’..remember..?..)
..and offer (whatever) that peters can point at and shout ‘infrastructure-rebuilding’..
..then winston peters will quite happily slide his shiny-suited arse into a key govt ministerial-limo..
..eh..?
..be in no doubt of that fact/political-reality..
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
The secret deal announced by the government today with the company James Hardie on leaky school buildings smacks of more corporate welfare.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved, yet it appears James Hardie will not be pursued. Another shonKey deal carefully announced on Xmas Eve so that it is brushed under the carpet.
Yep, but Leaky Building rehabilitation is providing economic growth…I reckon it is the only National Party initiative (Introducing the Building Act 1991) that is actually providing growth.
James Hardie are past masters at insulating their shareholders from liabilities like this. They were criminal in how they ring faced their Asbestos liabilities.
Letting them off on the schools scandal is an act of criminal negligence or corruption. Labour should be all over this.
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK47, has died aged 94. He was a remarkably modest guy, who was genuinely saddened by some of the uses the rifle was put to, but he designed a simple, cheap weapon that is still manufactured virtually unchanged from the original plans.
While the project was not completed till after WW2, the Kalashnikov helped liberate millions from the shackles of colonialism in the decades following.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25497013
Meanwhile…
At about 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2007, pilots wearing night vision goggles unleashed several Enhanced Paveway II smart bombs into his camp in eastern Colombia as officials in both capitals waited. Troops recovered only a leg. It appeared by its dark complexion to belong to Acacio, one of the few black FARC leaders. DNA tests confirmed his death.
[…]
Six weeks later, smart bombs killed Gustavo Rueda Díaz, alias Martin Caballero, leader of the 37th Front, while he was talking on his cellphone. Acacio’s and Caballero’s deaths caused the 16th and 37th fronts to collapse. They also triggered mass desertions, according to a secret State Department cable dated March 6, 2008, and released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks in 2010. This was just the beginning of the FARC’s disintegration.
To hide the use of the PGMs from public discovery, and to ensure maximum damage to a FARC’s leaders’ camp, the air force and U.S. advisers developed new strike tactics. In a typical mission, several A-37 Dragonflys flying at 20,000 feet carried smart bombs. As soon as the planes came within a three-mile “basket” of the target, a bomb’s GPS software would automatically turn on.
The Dragonflys were followed by several A-29 Super Tucanos, flying at a much lower altitude. They would drop a series of dumb bombs in a pattern nearby. Their blast pressure would kill anyone close in and also flatten the dense jungle and obscure the use of the smart bombs.
Then, low-flying, Vietnam-era AC-47 gunships, nicknamed Puff the Magic Dragon, would strafe the area with mounted machine guns, “shooting the wounded trying to go for cover,” according to one of several military officials who described the same scenario.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2013/12/21/covert-action-in-colombia/?hpid=z8
That really is amazing investigative journalism. You don’t often see that nowadays.
It is also a none-too subtle message that armed rebellion against a government that is allied to a super-power will leave you fucked.
Or stay away from peddling drugs while pretending to be a revolutionary movement.
You believe that cocaine was the deciding factor in this high level of US military involvement?
And not erosion of US power in central America?
If you are serious in your belief that drug money and not political revolution was the aim, why didn’t the FARC just sit back and let the money roll in?
Te Reo Putake
Your one line comment is direct & on target, and taken out Colonial Viper
A sentence always beat an essay.
Its a lesson of Bernay’s treatise entitled Propaganda, yes. Another lesson is that the intellectual class is often more than happy to support war for imperial aims. Notice how the US isn’t smart bombing the leadership of Mexican drug cartels?
Cheers, watching. An intellectual smart bomb?
CV, what I’m saying is that FARC turned to the soft option of the drug trade, which, in turn, allowed the US to further attack them as part of the bogus war on drugs. It was a terrible strategic error on FARC’s behalf.
So you contend that if the FARC had not been linked to the cocaine trade, the US would not be providing precision munitions and intel to the Columbian Govt?
Of course, we both know that is a nonsense, given that the US does not smart bomb Mexican drug cartel leaders.
although I wouldn’t be surprised if the US were giving mexico advisors and tech support, like with pablo escobar.
Yep that would be standard, regular FDA/ATF activity.
The food & drug administration? WTF? Surely you meant DEA?
Anyway, I was thinking more the cloak&dagger crowd as well, as they occasionally do.
lolz thanks, yeah I pulled the wrong alphabet out of the soup 😀
Although I should I add that pharmaceuticals are by a very wide margin the most abused drugs in the USA, not illicit narcotics…
“So you contend that if the FARC had not been linked to the cocaine trade, the US would not be providing precision munitions and intel to the Columbian Govt?”
Nope. I contend that without the drugs, the US would have to make do with ‘unofficial’ support (ie CIA, NSA etc). With drugs in play, the US can come out of the shadows and directly support military action against them as well.
You appear not to understand how the Washington Post works.
The piece was either published with the tacit approval of the US gov in that it supported a desired narrative to be pushed out into the public sphere and hence contained a whole lot of sensitive information but via ‘authorised’ leaks.
Or the piece was published without the approval of the US gov and the journalist and editors have put together a huge and awesome piece of investigative journalism.
These two scenarios mean that your suggested conditionality around drugs allowing “out of the shadows” US direct military action is mistaken.
Again, there plenty of well armed drug cartels operating around Mexico which haven’t been blasted to smithereens by smart munitions, demonstrating that the drugs angle is merely incidental.
Yup, Alvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos really are fighting a war on drugs.
/
The infamous joint US-Colombia drug eradication strategy, Plan Colombia, recently resurrected under Plan Patriota, has been embraced by the Uribe administration and referred to in the DS policy. Although most armed groups now finance their operations through the drug economy, Uribe claims to fight the “war on drugs” and the “war on terror” simultaneously. Curiously, the government “negotiates” with those most directly involved in the drug trade, the AUC, while engaging in an all-out offensive with the minor players: left-wing guerrilla groups.
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/296/1/
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/colombia-archives-61
The right wing militias that control most of the Colombian cocaine production do not pretend to be a revolutionary movement. They obviously took your advice.
Great piece documenting the Tsarnaev family.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/Page/Boston/2011-2020/WebGraphics/Metro/BostonGlobe.com/2013/12/15tsarnaev/tsarnaev.html
news story:..new pope to visit old pope to exchange xmas-greetings..
..what will they talk about..?
ed:..possible small-talk conversation/question:..
..old pope to new pope:..
“..so..how did the infallablity-transfer go..?
..eveything ok..?
..i do miss it..eh..?..”
..phillip ure..
I see old Bomber has had another brain explosion, he clearly doesn’t like the “PublicAddress gender equal person” if his (now striked out) rant was any guide. Actually as rants go it was quite funny, TBH.
I suppose that is all you can really salvage from the whole sorry carry on.
Oh dear. He doesn’t do much to promote unity and solidarity among the left does he. He has some issues to overcome I feel.
He’s made an apology now. But I agree, he’s pretty quick with the saying nasty shit about people. Quite a significant personal flaw that one.
I think Bomber’s main problem is that he’s more of a performer than a militant. If he calmed down a bit, counted to something like Avogadro’s number, and didn’t insist on having the first word, the last word, and most of those in between, he might achieve a lot more. As it stands, his contributions are not trivial and he deserves to be remembered for more than frothing at the mouth.
Xox
Interesting to see how MSM spin poverty as a worthy opportunity for ‘generosity’ from the haves.
Also how MSM spin rising interest rates as great for savers. And it’s only about 2%. It is really 2 percent on top of approx 5.5 percent, which is really about 36 percent! We don’t want the MSM to scare mortgage payers (or voters) do we?
Merry Christmas, God save the Queen, heaven help her subjects.
a wealthy cousin of mine posted on facebook that to show her children the true meaning of xmas so shes going to give poor people their old toys…but anyway, i’m looking forward to a cpl days off work & spending it with my wife & daughter. ram on!
Oh how easily the right wing slithers into hypocrisy:
“Gold Coaster” Cameron Brewer
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11177254
Then there’s “Prime Mournister” ShonKey Python. “I can’t recall but watch out for the Hone Monster……..”
And yet another……..Rodney “Love Perks” Hide.
The ease is patent but what’s really appalling is that they just don’t see it. “Who me ? No way !”
That’s exceptionalism, hubris, entitlement all wrapped up in one.
We’re supposed to respect these arseholes ???
North
” The ease is patent but what’s really appalling is that they just don’t see it. “Who me ? No way !”
True but the trouble is the NZ averages can’t/don’t see it either. The ‘Keys’ know and exploit that inability. Dunno what we can do about the average kiwi’s poor visual acuity.
I read this pathetic piece of fluff from Paula Bennett:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11176800
Then I saw this on TV1 last night:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/unprecedented-demand-food-parcels-5785669?autoStart=true
Tears of anger…
From that article:
“Irreverent Cabinet Minister Paula Bennett has produced her own pink wine label on a chardonnay this Christmas called “Sip It Sweetie”.
Some will find their way into Christmas stockings, but most will be auctioned to fundraise for her campaign in Upper Harbour next year.
“A fruity little number, plenty of sass and spirit,” the label says.
“This classy chardonnay will impress at a barbecue, beach picnic or a fancy-pants dinner party. Good drinking now but even better after a third term.”
Suggest “A full-bodied plonk with a tarty after-taste. Won’t age well. Will be off within 12 months.”
How was the cat persuaded to sit on the bottle?
Festive lolz. We needz them.
Took me a few minutes to latch on to that one. lolz. Thanks TM.
“Doesn’t go well with trout.”
Snigger…
Jesu H Christos – now I understand why I can’t listen to Nine-toNoon for any length of time.
The music talking-head critic sage commenting on how we CONSUME music FFS!
OFF!
Yes Radio New Zealand featured a psychologist this a.m. telling people that they wouldnt go mad if it rained on Xmas day.
???????
I was listening to RNZ Concert FM news who quoted Sara Chatwin, “celebrity” psychologist. I’m guessing this is the same one. If so, she always seems to comment on the most on the most inane non issues facing the population.
It is true, just in my observations, that folks do seem to freak and obsess about Christmas day weather, especially the newspapers and TV news, but really, to tell us not to worry about it is another thing altogether. There are far greater issues facing the national psyche than the weather.
I reckon some people would go mad without caffeine, even for a day. As for the weather it is not mid winter.
I’d be one of those people, but funnily enough only on work days. Can go without any caffeine all weekend, but have a grossly unnatural relationship with that first cup of coffee mon-fri…
as for the music on 9-no-one.
its all whining gamines, processed pap and noo noo heads who cant sing.
but the awful thing is that “THEY” think its wunnerful.
yetchhhhhhhh.
Jingle Bells – 1898
[audio src="http://ia700306.us.archive.org/24/items/Voices_of_Christmas_Past_1898_to_1922/03_SleighRidePartyJingleBells_vbr.mp3" /]
@ hook..
aww..!..c’mon..!..that elvis costello + roots song kicked arse/grooved along..
phillip ure..
Where’d your computer come from? Government
Where’d the drugs you use come from? Most likely government.
And this applies to a hell of a lot of innovation over the last few centuries. The lesson we need to learn is that the private sector doesn’t do the innovation as we’ve been told over the last 30 to 40 years. More often than not, the private sector holds innovation back through the use of patents.
And the TPP is a tool of corporates designed to stifle innovation even more. Its a push by rentier corporates back to pre-enlightenment times.
Yep, from what I’ve seen out of the TPP innovation is going to become even more difficult and the patent trolls are going to be even more of a problem.
loved this:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11177254
Brewer denies journalist prompt
The councillor caught out on a junket to the Gold Coast declared the trip to officials – but concedes he may have done so after a call from a journalist.
kind of sums up the whole odd business
Xox
Pity about the falling standards @ RNZ. Lead by Jim, and Kathryn. Hopefully Wallace will do some serious reading and thinking over the Summer break, ready to provide an informed and intelligent program. A worthy successor to Chris.
Indeed!
Just like this morning, the nicest man on Earth is about to get the OFF button. Currently playing – the most self-indulgent load of kaka you could ever hope to imagine. And if anyone ever accuses RNZ of left-wing bias, they only need check out his afternoon’s guests. The occasional leftie (for fairness and balance of course – likw Peter Elliot, maybe even Bernard Hickey) – other than that – what a pack of out-of-touch ‘experts’ ffs/
Mai: what’s the diff between living in wgtn and commuting to auckland, and living in auck and commuting to wgtn?
– Oh (to paraphrase) it’s so difficult getting the kids to school.
– It makes you realise that to win an election, you have to win Auckland.
All very twee.
There goes half RNZ’s budget on cheap Chardonnay – down the gullets of those ‘movers and shakers’ including some Squeaky Fromme TVNZ hasbeen.
Reasons given being just as valid in proposing Auckland be carved off as a separate country, and for all those Auckland expats moving to Queenstown (or Martinborough) to get away from it all (whereupon they attempt to develop, develop, develop and re-create the new wonderland).
I like Jim and Kathryn and I’m leftish thinking. They seem to be reasonably impartial to me. Middle road reasonably intelligent content except for the concessional bigotted comments of Boag or Farrar and I guess we have to put up with the silly empty rhetoric of Hooton as part of being a democracy. Often disappointed with, “i have to agree with Michelle” from Mike Williams who I guess is changing with the need to supplement his corporate retirement.
Generally I think Jim and Kathryn do a good job.
Am I missing something?
The Panel
I enjoy Kathryn Ryan too Rodel and agree she’s fairly impartial. She has regularly pulled up Hooton on his more outrageous claims and on one occasion she shouted him down and almost threatened to pull the plug on him. She also has a good sense of humour and conducts her interviews in a very professional manner. You can’t really expect any more than that…
Indeed she and Mary Wilson on Check Point keep us well served with all the information of the day.
Nah! Mary Wilson scares me!
There was an interesting opinion piece in the Dom/Post this morning by Geoffrey Palmer.
I can’t find it online so I can’t give a link to it unfortunately.
It will, I suspect attract completely opposite views from thos on the right of politics to those on the left.
Those on the right will say, about the first part the GP has finally come to his senses and that in the second part that he has reverted to senility. To the left the first part will be anathema and the second that he is finally back to his sensible self.
The first part argues that referenda endanger our democratic system. He also says that democracies where they are used extensively the results have been disastrous and that the act that allows for CIR should be repealed. Governments are elected to govern. They should decide what to do and to get on with it.
Very sensible of the man say all right thinking people.
The second part, where he relapses into drooling idiocy, calls for extending the OIA, bringing in a written, entrenched constitution, better protection for Maori values and aspirations and more safeguards against government’s abuse of power. “Bah humbug” as Ebenezer Scrooge would say, and as all right thinking people would believe..
I wonder how many people here would agree with everything, or disagree with everything, the Geoffrey says?
The first part argues that referenda endanger our democratic system. He also says that democracies where they are used extensively the results have been disastrous and that the act that allows for CIR should be repealed. Governments are elected to govern. They should decide what to do and to get on with it.
Very sensible of the man say all right thinking people.
I don’t see anything particularly right wing about this view, and nor, frankly, do I see his point. In NZ CIRs are not binding on the government. They are designed to be a means whereby people can determine the view of the electorate. The way politics works, that means they will usually be about expressing a view the government of the day doesn’t like. It is form of, very civil indeed, disobedience.
calls for extending the OIA, bringing in a written, entrenched constitution, better protection for Maori values and aspirations and more safeguards against government’s abuse of power.
I notice mostly that your response only amounts to a ‘humbug’. Understandably I suppose, it’s hard to argue against any of that without looking like a fuckwit.
It worked!
As I expected someone who doesn’t agree with part one, but is thoroughly in favour of part two shows up.
Referenda. “nor do I see his point”, “people can determine the view of the electorate”
Constitution “Hard to argue against any of it”.
Now is there anyone who agrees with BOTH parts of his opinion piece or, alternatively, disagrees with BOTH parts.
About the only sensible thing I can remember about Geoffrey was a proposal to put an expiration date on legislation.
Now that might be a little impractical, but at the very least (as someone else on this site suggested), it should be mandatory for anything passed under urgency.
(Besides – it’d give the delightful Mai Chen a reason to commute to Wellington and pass on her apologies to the all important “The Panel” appearances – she could probably even claim on a taxi to get the kids to and from school).
Geoffrey has a knack of romanticising everything and being a thoroughly ‘well rounded fellow’ amongst those who aspire to be his peers.
Now a far cry from the Mt Vic-living Geo of old who was far more practical and in touch with reality.
Geoffrey former Mt Vic what ? Hope he never engaged the face-first molestation of the steep Hawker Street pavement as has apparently the fulsomely reasonable closet totalitarian Stephen Franks. As mirthfully reported by someone on TS recently.
Akshully I seem to recall that hilarious story was related by you Tim. It was real LOL stuff to a former resident in that very street. Poor Geoffrey. Poor Stephen. Poor Nation.
Further hilarity – Alwyn above talks “bah humbug” as though his know-it-all right wing twittiness doesn’t define it.
Considering the shenanigans with the GCSB in NZ, think about this allegedly “benign” filter instituted by Cameron in the UK that was only supposed to filter porn and in fact, not accidentally, filters a lot more and think what could be planned here in NZ:
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/12/camerons-internet-filter-goes-far-beyond-porn-and-was-always-plan
Cameron’s problem, methinks, is that he’s thinking like an old-school (literally) authoritarian whereas todays digital natives might not have heard the cyberpunk slogan “Information wants to be free” because its thoroughly ingrained in them. A lot of young people at least are going to get and damned well play on the old man’s lawn whether he likes it or not. Especially if not.
What do you mean “planned”? It’s already in operation but it’s voluntary for the ISPs to use.
Softening up
Indeed; always smiling, always waving and hoping to be always welcomed.
http://roflposters.com/fascism-you-really-think-itll-be-this-obvious-205633/
The masses always cry out for their own enslavement
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QaBhnnSS9N8/TYRqMBmIh0I/AAAAAAAAAF8/ai57zTwFXK8/s1600/austrians.gif
The new Tsarists.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/22/geeks-for-monarchy/
The Harper fix.
EDMONTON – More than 75 environment officers who watched over oil industry activities left the provincial environment department this fall, to take higher paying jobs with the new industry-funded Alberta Energy Regulator. Another 75-plus are expected to leave in the spring.
In mid-November, the department also began handing over to the regulator thousands of files on oil industry activity pertaining to the Public Lands Act, according to documents obtained by the Journal.
This shift in staffing and the moving of years of files out of a government department to the new arm’s length regulator are key steps in the government’s plan, announced last spring, to create a more streamlined approval process for oil companies that wanted “one window” to get permits for new projects.
Previously, companies had to apply to the environment department for some permits and to the old regulator, the now defunct Energy Resources Conservation Board.
To achieve the “one window,” the provincial government handed over to the privately funded regulator responsibility for administering the Water Act, Public Lands Act, and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (dealing with spills) as they pertain to energy companies.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy-resources/More+than+Alberta+environmental+regulators/9318036/story.html?__lsa=d2c2-8c00
It seems that the Harper government wants to relive the Dark Ages, beginning with a real life reenactment of the burning of the library at Alexandria:
http://thetyee.ca/News/2013/12/23/Canadian-Science-Libraries/
Christmas would hardly be Christmas without this song:
To ALL Standardistas, friends and foes, have a happy holiday season, a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and the best of wishes for the new year 2014, which will be highly important “DECISION YEAR” for all of us.
It was an at times stressful and difficult year that comes to an end, and the fight for social justice, and for common sense, sustainable, smart, constructive, fair and inclusive policies, will continue in 2014.
For those that suffer illness and disabilities, bear in mind, that WINZ will start a new regime in February 2014, which will include medical and work capability assessments – similar to the ones done by ATOS in the UK, for those sick and disabled on benefits. They will be using OUTSOURCED CONTRACTORS!
Remember this:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/278489/tests-disabled-flawed-model
And this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9356043/Contractors-to-assess-sick-and-disabled-for-work
Extract from that last story at ‘stuff’:
“Private contractors will be paid $650 an assessment to get thousands of New Zealand’s sick and disabled ready to return to work.”
“From February, Work and Income will pay private “medical assessors” to scrutinise sickness and disability beneficiaries who it believes can work.”
“The medical assessors will be paid $650 per assessment, which are expected to take about three hours, and are prompted to recommend lifestyle changes to help the beneficiary get a job, such as a “positive approach to life” and more time at the gym.”
“It is expected eventually 3000 disabled people a year will have to visit an assessor, who will judge their fitness for work and report back to Work and Income.
The scheme, revealed in a tender proposal, is part of the biggest welfare shake-up in decades, with the Government aiming to have 28,000 to 44,000 people off benefits by 2017, saving up to $1.6 billion.”
Also remember this, from the NZ Herald, 18 Nov. 2013:
“Winz apologises to sick woman placed on wrong benefit”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11158863
So if some had horrific experiences with WINZ’s “designated doctors” (some are true “hatchet doctors”), get ready for the next level of harassment!
Study up the ample information offered in the following publications, to get informed what is going on, and what it is all about. Do NOT forget, the new year will bring more challenges, and the enemy NEVER sleeps (Bennett and her nasty WINZ and MSD underlings):
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15463-designated-doctors-%e2%80%93-used-by-work-and-income-some-also-used-by-acc/
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15264-welfare-reform-the-health-and-disability-panel-msd-the-truth-behind-the-agenda/
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15188-medical-and-work-capability-assessments-based-on-the-bps-model-aimed-at-disentiteling-affected-from-welfare-benefits-and-acc-compo/
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/13301-what-to-do-if-you-are-required-to-see-a-winz-designated-doctor/
Feel free to copy and paste, and use the links at convenient times. Enjoy your holidays or breaks for time being, and get ready for the firestorm on the welfare and national policy front in the coming years. Every voice and body will be needed, it all leading up to the most important election in recent New Zealand history!
This is one more issue that Labour needs to take a firm position on. It seems Jacinda and whoever took her place have taken Benefat’s recommendation to heart and zipped it.
Murray –
It is “Sip It Sweetie” now:
“Bennett: Sip It Sweetie and help my re-election campaign”
That is as much as the MSM and “DA Herald” has to say to it:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11176800
I am lost for words, but who out there gives a crap, I ask?
HISTORIC:
The Scorpions, so thoughtful:
Illapu – alleged Marxists, coming home after exile, who relates to that here?
Also: Tnagata Whenua do not forget your brothers and sisters in Chile, they are called Mapuche, they have lived there for centuries, but have had their lands and rights taken away, like your people. Some take a stand at least: