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notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, January 26th, 2017 - 101 comments
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The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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Trumpets started a #ThankYouTrump to honour Dear Orange Leader. Didn’t quite go as planned.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/thank-you-trump-twitter-rally_us_58884c75e4b0441a8f71db38?
Fantastic link that one Andre, thanks for sharing.
“For caring about popular votes and crowd sizes more than the American people #ThankYouTrump”
“#ThankYouTrump for freezing funding for science. Who needs innovation anyways?”
“#ThankYouTrump for freezing all regulations. Who wants educated and concerned people looking out for our health, the environment and stuff.”
Trump considering reinstating CIA black sites.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-prisons-idUSKBN15922L
And getting right back to torturing people, as a matter of policy.
McCain the old sea dog is all over it.
Still, re-gaining the ability to torture is just another lesson electing Trump was supposed to deliver to the left.
You’ve got a lot more confidence in McCain bringing some sort of reason into it all than I do. Hope you’re right and I’m wrong.
Nah. You’re right.
McCain’s showing more fight from Trump’s own team than most of the Dems are.
21 November 2016 – black sites, torture ☑
Aussie SBS reports that the Netherlands govt is opening a fund to enable access to birth control & abortions in “developing countries”:
This is how Trumpism inspires strengthened support for liberal and left wing activities and organisations outside the US.
The Netherlands has Trump’s number alright: https://www.facebook.com/zondagmetlubach/videos/1255295904562149/
Heh. thanks. Not so much “The Netherlands” per se, but a critic/satirist of both Trump and some Netherlands mainstream practices and politics.
Bravo
The money flows must not be halted!
How ‘independent’ are Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ)?
Pay the piper – call the tune’?
http://www.transparency.org.nz/Partners-and-Sponsors
Partners and Sponsors
Cornerstone Platinum
The Office of the Auditor General
NIS Gold
School of Government, VUW
Ministry for Justice
Statistics New Zealand
The Human Rights Commission
Ministry of Social Development
The Treasury
Inland Revenue
Department of Internal Affairs
Corrections
Department of Conservation
Ministry of Transport
Civil Aviation Authority
New Zealand Transport Authority
Maritime New Zealand
Te Puni Kokiri
The Ombudsman
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
The New Zealand Defence Force
NIS Silver
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
The Serious Fraud Office
Crown Law
NIS Bronze
NZ Public Service Association
Sponsors
The Gama Foundation
In Kind Donations
Bell Gully
VUW School of Government
PwC
Deloitte
KPMG
Human Rights Commission Launch Day
School of Government Institute for Governance and Policy Studies Wellington
Wellington Girls College
Thorndon New World
NZTE
Institute of Directors
BDO Spicers
Russell McVeagh
Chapman Tripp
Gibson Sheat
Susan Gluck-Hornsby
Chen Palmer
Juliet McKee
Claudia Orange
Te Papa
_________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-privatisation / anti-corruption campaigner’.
Future Independent MP for Mt Albert?
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
What’s wrong Stunned Mullet, you don’t like facts?
The odour of cat’s piss makes me doze off.
That’s very unpleasant slur, stunned mullet. Smearing a person by using what might seem to you clever words but is by general consensus, mean-spirited, is more suited to other blogs, such as K*w*blog and it’s ilk. That stuff hurts – do you mean to cause personal pain to someone who comments here? I’m guessing you don’t really. Maybe you haven’t thought it through.
FFS Robert have you ever met Penny, she has a hide like a wooly mammoth and if you haven’t noticed she is the ultimate in blogosphere spray and walk away.
I haven’t and I don’t subscribe to the tough-hide theory, aside from believing that some people can appear to have one. In any case, your way with words is more appreciated, by me anyway, when you use it to amuse, rather than abuse. That said, it’s not really my business at all. Mainly, the connection between what I read and my senses is very lively, so if you’d written something about roses, I’d smell them.
Very nice responses there Robert.
Idiot. She has written a very good and thoughtful post, and all YOU have to offer is abuse.
Thanks Penny.
The Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, in my view, isn’t worth the paper upon which it is written.
Seriously.
It’s not based upon measurable / objective yardsticks – but essentially the subjective opinions of anonymous businesspeople
How many people know that for the ten previous occasions that NZ was perceived to be ‘the least corrupt’ country in the world (sometimes 1st equal) – NZ hadn’t even ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)?
I’ve now attended five International Anti-Corruption Conferences, listened to and met experts, read voluminous material and ‘put my mind’ to the NZ corruption reality, and my opinion is considered.
In my view, New Zealand is a corrupt, polluted tax haven that needs a massive ‘clean up’.
Penny Bright
Proven ‘anti-privatisation / anti-corruption campaigner’.
2017 Independent candidate
Mt Albert by-election
Ok penny we will go with your index, purely impartial and no bias
Penny Bright makes a good point though, Blue. Talking about not being impartial and biased. Check out the who’s who of TINZ’s Board of Directors. It reeks of the National party.
<a href="http://www.transparency.org.nz/Governance
+1 Penny.
Malcolm Evans’ cartoon on the CIA.
A picture says more than a thousand words.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-26-at-9.15.13-AM-768×497.png
Thanks Paul – good one.
I’ll never forget Chile and its chilling aftermath after USA backed coup.
Zamechyatselno Paul (translation, very good in Russian)
Thanks for the education.
Ten out of 59 National MP’s are not seeking re-election, that’s quite a lot. Rejuvenation? Or leaving a sinking ship?
Either way an early election should be called, not sure why taxpayers are footing the bill for MP’s that don’t even want to be part of the government anymore.
Obviously have options outside of parliment not like labour career troughers where a return to union organiser or dental nurse assistant is not really that attractive
Prove it, Blue.
Just up this morning on Spinoff: an interesting long read of an interview of Laila Harre by Toby Manhire.
“‘I was the captain of the Titanic and I had to stay with the ship’: Laila Harré on the Internet-Mana debacle and rejoining Labour”
Laila Harre’s well considered views, grapple with the complexity of left wing parliamentary politics. There’s praise and criticism all round for Labour, the Greens and Internet-Mana.
She says she had realised well before the 2014 election day that The Internet Party was a bit of a doomed enterprise. However, she had still expected that she and Hone Harawira would good seats in parliament.
Harre talks about the Moment of Truth. She was MC, but still thought while on stage at the event, that there would be a further big reveal about Kim Dotcom’s email, which was publicly released before that day.
Like many, she thinks the other aspects about 5 eyes surveillance in NZ, revealed at the MoT was significant, but they got publicly over-shadowed by Kim Dotcom’s confusions about his own Big Reveal. Harre still thinks the KDC released email on the day, may have been authentic – she says it’s never fully been investigated.
Harre also talks a lot about her current membership of the Labour Party, seems to not be seeking a candidacy, and has both praise and criticisms for the current Labour Party.
hi carolyn, cheers for the link,
tis good news laila is back into politics.
could possibly hold my nose and vote for them.
Thanks, gsays.
Typo in my above comment. Should be:
However, she had still expected that she and Hone Harawira would
goodget seats in parliament.Also, I see investigative journo at NZH, David Fisher, is following up the Harre interview, with headlines about the Dotcom email, released just before the MoT, being authentic (allegedly).
Wonder if Fisher is aiming to pursue this further?
It seems Dotcom is still trying to pursue the issue via discovery in the courts.
Interesting interview
I see the interview attracted Julie-Anne Genter’s attention, resulting in her Twitter outburst.
And now the headlines.
So much for demonstrating how well the Greens and Labour are going to work together.
As for the rest of the interview, the following paragraphs struck a chord.
“My own conclusion is that it’s really not going to be possible to build an alternative party to Labour on the left. I guess coming to terms with the importance of Labour institutionally to our democratic fabric… The one pre-condition, it seems to me, to having a progressive, innovative government is to strengthen the Labour Party. There are other things that may or may not need to happen but that is one thing that absolutely must happen for that to be possible. So I think the priority is to rebuild public confidence in the Labour Party and inject new ideas and energy into the party.”
“I think the international evidence would very clearly point to the biggest risk being in social democrat parties not strongly connecting to their traditional base, and not strongly articulating their core policies around equality, wages, education, not being frightened of trade unions, all of that,” says Harré. “I just think the international evidence is overwhelmingly telling us that. And if anything I think it’s very clear that you take a much greater risk if you are not clear about where your base is.”
“I do think that there is a lack of appreciation within Labour – not necessarily at the senior levels, but possibly in some quarters – of their vulnerability. They’ve barely moved above 30% since 2014. That was their worst election result. And they can’t blame anyone else for that. It was a terrible campaign for Labour. I think there is a lack of appreciation about the real vulnerability of their position in the political framework.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/323140/'denials-of-a-housing-crisis-are-now-simply-lies‘
“Yes, homeowners vote more than renters, but that should not be the guide for good government and good policy. On housing, every government since the early 1990s has been a failure.
It is time the political classes took off their blinkers and actually delivered on their responsibilities.”
hmmm… whats the common denominator here?
The first 3000 days of National turned the economy from projected unending deficits into surplus The next 3000 days will see the further blossoming of the brighter future. The message is clear National equals prosperity The relentless negativity of the Left is countered by the massive house build and infrastructure growth that is all around. How can Labour ever get above 30%? People vote for change when times are rough. We are booming.
And they said breathing helium was harmless! I guess it’s knowing when to go back to air.
You forgot to add:
– low unemployment
– high gdp
– high polling
– high ‘right direction – wrong direction’ polling
– high population happiness
The test is all on the opposition to show that there’s a credible alternative that can sustain all of the above, AND:
– lower homelessness
– increase home ownership
– increase wages and salaries
– get better healthcare and schools
– protect water
Hi fisiani, and that’s not counting the 10 bridges in northland!
Do you really believe your BS Fisiani?
Hey everyone, I’m in the middle of writing a post that has a passing but important reference to John Key and I need a good succinct description of Key’s background that conveys his relative evilness in the world e.g. his work history in finance and connections with the power brokers in the world, but framed in more formal terms (I’d rather not use the shorthand word evil) . Anyone?
A money-market speculator for over a decade, his negotiable relationship with social decency was applied to his subordinates as well as the general public interest and earned him the title “the smiling assassin”.
It has been argued that Key had direct knowledge of the two-track Dirty Politics, orchestrated from/by his office staffer.
I heard some one describe him as a fair weather friend, which at the time I thought was a bit lame, however, after thinking about it, I think it really suits him.
A bit old fashioned, but a very damning insult to anyone who values loyalty and friendship.
and they called him smiling assasin? +1
Wiser folk than me say that you either serve god or Mammon
Weka – @ 11 – how about machiavellian !
Thanks everyone, I went a different route, but linked to this string of descriptions 🙂
The raising of the minimum wage debate gave me a moment to pause and recall the whole related issue of secondary tax. During the 2014 election Labour came out with a manifesto commitment to abolish secondary tax. A great policy announcement that I was pleased to hear. Secondary tax seems to just be a draconian measure to punish those the lowest incomes.
The national party response at the time (see link below) was to state they were already going ahead with the policy anyway and that the IRD Business Transformation plan will “address the PAYE system, including secondary tax and end-of-year square-ups.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/policies/10416636/Labour-to-axe-secondary-tax
And here we are, three years on and nothing has changed. Secondary tax is still in place and causing as much trouble as ever for hard-working low income earners. Labour need to point out things like this next time National respond to their policy announcements with such blatant untruths
You do realise I hope that everyone pays the same rate of tax whether they have 1, 2 or 3 jobs and tax is taxed on income not the amount of jobs you have. If because of secondary tax you pay more tax than you should be paying, you can claim it back at the end of the financial year from the IRD and you get your refund normally within 10 working days.
There is a fallacy that people think that by being on secondary tax you pay more tax but that is not the case.
Hi Blackcap. I do realise this. However the problem is that low income earners can’t afford to wait until the end of the year to have their correct net income amount squared up. They generally require that money week by week to purchase necessities. A simple fix would be to allow a tax code to exist for those working two jobs that are expected to earn under a certain amount and tax them each week appropriately.
According to the link above, we know that seemingly both National and Labour agree with this ^^ problem definition. We also know that National have had a chance to do something about it since the article was published and have done nothing.
Andrea Vance on Twitter saying Helen Clark has resigned according to “sources”, and she’s seeking clarification.
Edit: Stuff confirms. To stand down in April
Media have sourced from a staff email: https://www.yahoo.com/news/clark-step-down-undp-chief-april-230424622.html
Not a huge personal fan of Helen – but I have to say she has represented New Zealand extremely well and deserves the respect she has been given on the world stage.
I’m no fan, either. Not surprising she’s off after not getting the top job. Not in her nature to hang around after something like that.
Unlike John key, at least Helen Clark doesn’t run away, and she finishes out her terms of appointment.
What an amazing statement of fact. Of course its bullshit but there you go.
Remind me again – why was there a byelection in Mt Albert in 2009?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Albert_by-election,_2009
So are you making comments that are uneducated or just telling porkies?
Neither. Does truth hurt? BTW, Shearer wasn’t the Prime Minister.
What’s the real reason as to why PM elect John key dumped his PM responsibilities, after the Roskill by election and ran away before the term was over, just months out from a general election?
What the heck are you going on about – you said “at least Helen Clark doesn’t run away, and she finishes out her terms of appointment”
I just pointed out that what you are saying is bullshit.
Nothing to do with anything else. So – again you ignorant of the facts or just telling lies?
You know what I am on about, and what’s bullshit about finishing off her terms of appointment? Clark’s second term ends in April, that’s when she’s leaving.
OK – here is a simply yes / no question for you.
Did Helen Clarke finish off her term as Mt Albert MP after the 2008 election? (The one where she had an appointment until 2011?)
Yes – No?
Come on you can do it….
No, because she resigned from parliament after losing the 2008 election. It’s not like she was PM and resigned midway through the term like John key did.
The only thing she showed dogged determination over was her vicious and entirely unwarranted pursuit of the exiled Algerian parliamentarian Ahmed Zaoui.
She failed, of course.
nested replies at an end, so replying to Leftie here.
You know that an MP for Mt Albert is job as well and she had campaigned for it and won – so when she quit – she did do so through the term.
No matter how you try to spin it – she did, and your original comment is inaccurate.
Makes me laugh how hard people spin trying to get out of being caught posting bullshit.
Yes she quit because she lost the election and said at that time she was stepping down. How much “through of the term” was it James? So how inaccurate is my original comment really?
“How much “through of the term” was it James?”
So now its not that she dosnt finish off her terms – you are saying that she quits right at the start of it – so thats ok.
If she wasn’t prepared to take the job if she lost the PM role she should have gone list only and not stood for Mt Albert.
Either way – you are still wrong.
Did she have a crystal ball? Lol nah James, you are just splitting hairs. After losing the election, her time in NZ politics was over, she wasn’t going to do a Jenny Shipley.
What did you like better: her ruthless, dishonest and illegal pursuit of Ahmed Zaoui or her hateful rhetoric against Maori?
I think it’s a three-way tie alongside the continued decimation of what was left of our social welfare system following the Bolger/Shipley/Richardson demolition job of previous 9 years.
Good riddance.
Anyone taking a punt on the election date ? An announcement is due in a couple of weeks with the last legal date for a dissolution is Nov 18. I think they will play it safe and go later after the feel good budget is bedded in.
My pick is for Saturday November 4th.
Bennett needs to understand that fixing problems she’s personally experienced…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/88522319/government-promising-action-to-tackle-the-gender-pay-gap-in-2017
…doesn’t mean it’s okay to create problems she didn’t experience…
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/hon-paula-bennett-minister-of-hypocrisy/
Bennett’s analysis is truly beyond human comprehension.
”she had personally experienced the gender pay gap when working as a dishwasher and nurse aid.”
that whole article is just a vehicle for getting the poor girl made good meme out there, sound familiar ?
Can’t wait for the dirty politics stuff to come racing back to bite him in the bum…or more likely the jugular. The only question is whether it’s going to be when he knew about Dotcom, or the much cosier arrangement he had with Slater than he let on. Either way, my money’s on Key getting the legacy he deserves. It’s very important to the future of NZ that the official history of Key is as accurate as it can be.
Yes Bwaghorn, but it’s not going to work. Over 8 years of trampling over people without a care, no amount of Crosby
Textor reinvention is going to help Paula Bennett. The public won’t buy it. The damage has already been done.
What I want to know is how did Bennett manage to go to University when she was an unmarried mother ?
She must have had help other than the Solo mother payment.
My understanding is that her family were well off. She was not what a call a real solo mum.
She received what used to the Training Incentive Allowance that was paid to people getting a DPB or the invalid’s benefit who enroll in full-time study. It could be used to pay for tertiary fees for an undergraduate degree and in some cases post-graduate. Was a really successful programme. I’ve got a niece who was on the DPB and did a three year nursing course and has now been off the DPB and working as a nurse full time for a number of years now. A friend of hers did a law degree with the help of the TIA and now has her own family law firm. The TIA basically paid for the cost of studying – fees, books etc.
When Bennett became minister of social welfare one of the first things she did was abolish the Training Incentive Allowance. It was a wholly despicable thing for her to have done.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Bennett#Allegations_of_inconsistency
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/hon-paula-bennett-minister-of-hypocrisy/
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26012017/#comment-1292133
Yes and what was even more despicable:
when two young solo mums used the same allowance to do exactly what she did, and then had the allowance pulled by her… and then had the temerity to complain at the unfairness… she released their winz details including their income – all of which they were entitled to have.
Do you know if Labour’s promised to reinstate the TIA, Anne?
I seem to remember Labour promising to reinstate it in 2011. I’m guessing its still there and – along with other social policy – will be in this year’s election manifesto. It might be given a new name because pollies of all shades love to hoodwink voters into believing they have ‘exciting new ideas’ that have never been tried before. More often than not they get away with it because your average voter has such a poor political memory.
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/russian-cybersecurity-pro-who-worked-for-company-linked-by-us-to-election-hacks-charged-with-treason/
Quote” Founded in 1997 in Moscow, Kaspersky Lab is a cybersecurity and anti-virus provider present in almost 200 countries, and its products and technologies are used by over 300 million users. Kaspersky was recently accused by U.S. intelligence agencies of hacking into election data to help President Donald Trump win. Russia dismissed these allegations, and it is not clear if the arrests have any links to U.S. allegations.
Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russian security services and the internet, called the arrest of the Kaspersky manager “unprecedented.”
“It destroys a system that has been 20 years in the making, the system of relations between intelligence agencies and companies like Kaspersky,” he told The Associated Press. “Intelligence agencies used to ask for Kaspersky’s advice, and this is how informal ties were built. This romance is clearly over.”quote over
what do people make of this?
I get the impression that it’s the Russians who made the arrest, but it’s not clear from the article.
i know but its kind of odd? no? disappearing the evidence? 🙂
One article I read did say something about Putin et al covering their tracks after aiding Trump.
or this from NY Times (with all its biases), says this:
yep, that was my first impression.
The gist seems to be that it has to do with something outside the guy’s kaspersky employment. And an FSB official has also been arrested, which suggests that maybe it is what it says on the sticker.
Just read on another blog an interesting milestone, this is labour 3000th day in opposition, the greens must be nearing 20000, the green gig Is good if you can get it Mp salary, no responsibility and list mp to boot and little likely anything changing soon
So do you think opposition parties have no viable place in a democratic parliamentary system?
asking red if he thinks? not so any one would notice.
Hard to call labour and green an effective opposition, so tax payer ROI pretty poor, but hey only my and the majority opinion over 3000 days
But Blue, the majority didn’t vote for National. How effective was National when it was in opposition for over 3200 days?
Have you no idea the work Green MPs and other party list MPs do? Sitting on select committees, attending local events to engage with the community, being available to citizens in their local area to respond to their issues.
I was up at Warkworth recently when there was a big community event all over the main street. Julie Anne Genter was in front of the Green Party stall, and seemed to be in high demand to talk to locals. In contrast, the NZ First stall was pretty quiet. Genter seemed also to be getting more attention than the people on Labour & Nat stalls – at least in my short time there.
do you think Mrs. Bennet has earned her wages?
Do you think Mr. Smith has earned his wages?
What about the Housing Benefit Double Dipper from Dipton, the unelected wannabe Prime Minster of NZ Mr. Surplus Bill English.
What about the elected MP, one week notice, smiling Assassin John Key, i think he is still MP for something. He is earning his wages?
How about List MP Alfred Ngaro? Is he worth his pay?
and question, do you want to abolish the wages for MPs in opposition and would that also apply tot he National Party?
Yes on everything barring your Last point. Jeez a Little dig really touchedd a few raw nerves,I guess it’s been a long time, not sure how a fourth term by nstiondl is going to go down, mass apoplectic outrage 🙂
Lol no surprises with that answer from you Blue. Dreams are free, more than likely, you are going to get disappointed.
There are a range of Redline articles on Pike river here:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/pike-river-tragedy-without-end/