America is – there’s no other way of saying this – fucked! But . . . but . . . but you’ve gotta laugh!
Two short clips to set up your Sunday morning:
The first, from Bill Maher, was posted last night by Bruce, but with terrible sound sync. Donald Trump the con man. I particularly like: ‘At least with a used-car salesman, you get a car . . .”
And John Oliver on the Federal Budget. What a way to run a country!
A number of Conservatives running for the the party’s leadership have been outspoken about the problems they see in M-103.
Brad Trost said he could not support the motion because it “will only serve to strengthen extremist elements within the Muslim community itself that seek to preserve and promote their own form of hate and intolerance.” He added that any “serious plan to combat religious discrimination in Canada should include all faith groups, including Christians and Jews.”
Pierre Lemieux said that Canadians should be wary of the language in the motion.
“Do you have a valid concern about Islam? Do you disagree with Sharia Law? Uneasy about radical Islamic terrorism? The Liberals may very well classify you as Islamophobic,” he wrote in an email to supporters.
Lemieux, who called on supporters to pressure MPs to force a recorded vote on M-103, called it a “great day for accountability and for freedom of speech in Canada” when almost two dozen MPs stood up on Tuesday to demand such accountability.
Leadership contender Andrew Scheer also added his voice of opposition to the motion shortly before the vote, saying that it “could be interpreted as a step towards stifling free speech and legitimate criticism” of Islam.
“M-103 is not inclusive. It singles out just one faith. I believe that all religions deserve the same level of respect and protection,” he wrote in an email to supporters.
“I will be voting against it because I believe in Freedom of Speech,” he wrote.
Of course, something calling itself the “Liberal Party” should have been opposed to this in principle, and the idea of a “Muslim Liberal MP” is just ridiculous.
“…and the idea of a “Muslim Liberal MP” is just ridiculous.”
Why? Why could there not be liberally minded people who believe in Islam? In a religious sense, there can’t. But I am sure there are millions of Muslims around the world who, while agreeing with the basic tenets of Islam, differ on how the traditions and teachings should be applied to the practicalities of dealing with everyday life. Some more progressively than others. That has certainly appeared the to be the case for most of the Muslim people I have met and know.
Why could there not be liberally minded people who believe in Islam?
Because a liberal would recognise an ideology that consists of a bunch of arbitrary commands (“Put your arse in the air five times a day and make obeisance!” “Give to charity!” “Visit the town where Mohammad and his relatives have their business interests!” “Starve yourself at these appointed times!” “Don’t eat pork!” It’s a long list) and that proscribes freedom of expression (see punishment demanded for blasphemy) and freedom of conscience (punishment demanded for apostasy) is fundamentally, irredeemably illiberal.
There certainly are people who call themselves Muslim and liberal, but the two are incompatible – one way or another they’re fooling themselves, whether it’s in believing themselves liberals or believing themselves Muslims. Judging by this motion, Iqra Khalid falls into the first category.
Christianity’s also problematic for liberalism in that it’s predicated on God having authority over you and your body, but that difficulty’s at a fairly abstract level: the kind of prescriptions and proscriptions that make Islam fundamentally illiberal are at a practical and directly-experienced level.
Quite true, Milt. The problem we have, however, is that some of the most destructive and violent ideologues on the planet, including the likes of Tony Blair, George W. Bush, and of course one Donald J. Trump, regularly invoke the Christian scriptures to justify their violence. The results of their actions—just look at Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia—are anything but “fairly abstract.”
Well, first up that’s irrelevant what-aboutery. But, accepting your invitation to go off on a tangent: do you have some evidence for Blair, Bush and Trump’s military activities being based on religious ideology rather than ordinary old great power politics?
Blair and Bush were infamous for their sanctimonious invoking of religion to bolster their aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump claims the Bible is his favorite book. Like you, I see their religious posturing as mere cant, but that doesn’t change the fact that they, and other dangerous fanatics like Paul Ryan, continue to invoke Christianity as they go about their business.
I’m interested to see that you choose to claim that my calling you out for your hypocritical singling out of Muslim fanaticism is going “off on a tangent”. I would have thought that, to any reasonable person, pointing out a blinkered determination to excoriate only the crimes of Muslims, while ignoring the (far more destructive and widespread) crimes of Christians, was dealing with the heart of the issue, not tangential to it.
…they, and other dangerous fanatics like Paul Ryan, continue to invoke Christianity as they go about their business.
Yes, but you’re missing the bit where you explain how politicians invoking religion in support of their activities reflects anything useful about the characteristics of the religion in question.
… my calling you out for your hypocritical singling out of Muslim fanaticism…
I realise that’s the fantasy you’ve got going on in your head, but it bears no resemblance to my comment at 2.1 or the ones following. My claim was that liberalism and Islam are incompatible – do you have any comment about that other than pointless what-aboutery? I must admit I’d find it unusual if you did.
In your zeal to ridicule Muslims you claim that they are all required to obey the following command:
“Put your arse in the air five times a day and make obeisance!”
Yes, yes, yes, I know that you were simply trying to be funny, but that sort of thing makes you look like hatemongers such as Sam Harris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Leighton Smith, rather than someone who is “reasonably good at argument.”
I, in turn, have opinions on what your comments make you look like, but personal opinion doesn’t carry a lot of weight outside the opinionator’s own head.
I prefer arguments more explicitly stated. That one seems to be saying that a blanket declaration that Muslims can’t be liberals fails to take individual circumstances and philosophies into account, but that’s an assumption on my part. Arguments that leave you guessing at the meaning are not very good arguments.
So stupid is it not. Like a lot of other people, I was raised Christian. It was pretty obvious that the number of “Christians” in town bore no relationship to the number for whom being a Christian meant anything other than ticking a box on the census form and having somewhere to hold weddings and funerals. Along the same lines, 1940s Germany was full of fascists and 1920s – 1980s Russia was full of communists, but for quite a few of them it didn’t matter what was actually involved in being a communist or fascist. I’m talking about the people for whom the prescriptions and proscriptions of Islam actually count for something – it’s a much smaller number than 1.6 billion, just like the number of Christians in New Zealand when I was growing up was much smaller than 3 million.
You forget the billions of christians, muslims, and even communists who actually regularly read their respective books, agree in general with the contents, and try to follow the general gist of the entire text rather than elevating a few passages above others with extreme literalist interpretations.
So, you read a comment in which I point out that dilettantes aren’t really relevant to a discussion about the thing they’re idly dabbling in, and tell me I’m forgetting about all the dilettantes? The Muslim world is packed full of people who call themselves Muslim but pay little attention to what that actually means – it’s human nature, and also a natural consequence of making apostasy a terrible crime worthy of draconic punishments. Those people can perhaps be liberals, but only by ignoring what their religion is actually about – and we can tell from her sponsorship of this motion that Iqra Khalid is not one of those people.
Well, if most of the billion and a half people who call themselves Muslims thought the five pillars of Islam were suggestions only and the fact that God prescribed punishments for blasphemy and apostasy were a “general gist” sort of thing that no-one actually needed to pay attention to, from my perspective that would be totally fucking awesome, but unfortunately it bears no correspondence to reality.
Oh, I expect the proportion is probably pretty similar to the number of christians who think people should be stoned for various pointless but prescribed reasons.
If you’re imagining that the proportion of Muslims who reject fundamental tenets of Islam is similar to the proportion of Christians who imagine Jesus wanted them to stone people to death, you don’t have a very good grasp of what a religion is.
You’re peddling a thesis that Da’esh are the only Muslims who believe in the five pillars of Islam, punishments for blasphemy and apostasy, and the many other prescriptions and proscriptions of Islam. OK, that was probably hyperbole and your thesis is just that few Muslims actually believe it. Don’t be surprised that I don’t take your thesis very seriously, because it’s ridiculous.
It takes a very special kind of believer to believe in the literal truth of every single part of their hallowed documents, especially the bits that are contradictory or demonstrably inconsistent with the historical record.
Most believers can follow, say, the ten commandments and believe they came from god without believing that anyone who eats shrimp should be stoned to death for offending god, let alone insisting upon it and volunteering to do so.
You might argue “no true scotsman” would ever forget the words to “To a Mouse”, but the rest of the planet doesn’t really seem to have the same exceptionally narrow definition as you.
“No true Scotsman” my arse. Either there’s a definition of Muslim, or it’s a meaningless term and people should stop using it. And there isn’t any useful definition of “Muslim” that’s also compatible with any useful definition of “liberal.” Not unless we’ve reached the “a woman is someone who identifies as a woman” level of semantic idiocy, at least.
Anyway – like I said, it’s easy enough for a person who disbelieves the fundamental tenets of the Muslim faith to be a liberal. No argument there.
But your definition isn’t at all useful, as it’s made redundant by pre-existing terms for religious or specifically Islamic extremists.
Whereas you leave no term to describe the majority of the billion or so folks everyone but you (and ISIL) calls “Muslim”. Or “Christian”, for that matter.
At least the commenters here using “liberal” differently (economic vs social vs all permutations) are roughly even in number, but you seem to be the only one following a hardline definition.
When it comes to the crunch, language is about communication. If you insist on using nouns differently to the majority of people, there’s not much point to your contribution because your act of communicating can only lead to misunderstanding.
If you’re operating a definition of “Muslim” that doesn’t involve belief in the fundamental tenets of Islam, it’s you that’s using a noun differently from everyone else.
And when it comes to something calling itself “The Liberal Party,” it’s reasonable to assume they mean it the same way Wikipedia does.
If you’re operating a definition of “Muslim” that doesn’t involve belief in the fundamental tenets of Islam, it’s you that’s using a noun differently from everyone else.
Some tenets? All? Which bits are “fundamental tenets”? How deeply do you have to believe them? How literally do you have to believe them?
I’m using “Muslim” in the same way that wikipedia does when it says there are 1.6 billion of them whereas there are only a million or so members of ISIL/AQ/Al shabab etc. I guess everyone else wikipedia refers to is not a true Muslim because they’re not running around killing infidels and apostates.
The fundamental tenets are the five pillars of Islam, which you can look up for yourself. The absolute minimum is the shahadah, but that’s the basis for the lack of religious freedom in the Muslim world, so even the bare minimum effectively rules out liberalism.
As to the false dichotomy strawman you’re putting up (my argument supposedly based on anyone outside Da’esh et al not being a “real” Muslim), fuck knows how you came up with it but please stop.
Well, maybe there’s a version of liberalism which is compatible with believing that all humanity has been issued with a serious of arbitrary and irrational but nevertheless compulsory commands by a supreme and unquestionable supernatural authority and that these are the final commands ever to be issued by that authority, but I’m not familiar with that version – does it ring any bells for you?
Religion is what you believe. Liberalism is whether you think you can force your religion on everyone else. Which is why 99.99% of followers of all Abrahamic religions over much of the world don’t immediately run out and stone every fornicator they see. Sure, they believe their magic books, but they choose to not be a dick about it.
Liberalism and religion are both philosophy. Some philosophies are incompatible with others, depending upon their content. Whether individuals want to be dicks about something or not is irrelevant to that. Individuals are only relevant to the extent that an individual claiming to follow two incompatible philosophies is probably a bit confused about one or both.
So you’re right about how you define whether a person is an adherent of a particular religion, it’s just that few billion Christians and Muslims are “a bit confused” about what they claim to believe?
It doesn’t matter what a person believes or doesn’t believe, or who I might or might not define as a member of a particular religion. Those things remain irrelevant no matter how often you repeat them. What matters in this case is whether two particular philosophies are compatible or incompatible, and the one with a long list of illiberal features is not compatible with liberalism.
What? As witnessed by those bastions of liberalism, the Muslim countries of the world? We have an ideology that’s composed almost entirely of illiberal features (from the name “Submit” down through the list of prescriptions and proscriptions that are its only substance) and that has proved fundamentally illiberal everywhere its followers form a majority of the population. I find that pretty persuasive evidence that it’s not compatible with liberalism. For evidence to the contrary, you have… I’m not sure what. You know some Muslims and they’re OK blokes?
Given that many of those countries are in a continent that has Christian countries that are about as permissive as their Islamic neighbours, and given the liberalism of Russia or some areas of the US, I tend to wonder whether one religion is worse than another, or simply that regional culture has more to do with whether someone feels compelled to be a dick about it.
Especially when almost everyone seems to change their tunes and stop stoning folks when they get to more liberal regions, sometimes within the same damned country.
For the most part. “Liberal” doesn’t imply “left-wing” – there are plenty of liberals with very unpleasant politics, David Farrar probably being the most-familiar one to Standard readers.
I presume he is – politically, he comes across as one. I see where you’re going with this, but see my comment 2.1.1.1 above:
“There certainly are people who call themselves Muslim and liberal, but the two are incompatible – one way or another they’re fooling themselves, whether it’s in believing themselves liberals or believing themselves Muslims. Judging by this motion, Iqra Khalid falls into the first category.”
Groser might well be a third category: liberals who declared themselves Muslim so they could marry a Muslim, but don’t actually believe the bullshit they signed up to. From what I remember, Groser isn’t married to a Muslim any more, but he’s probably aware by now that it’s a cult not easily backed out of once you’re in – we non-Muslims wouldn’t give a shit if he committed apostasy, but at best it would seriously inconvenience his future dealings with Muslims. At worst he could be charged with an offence if he visited Indonesia or other Muslim countries. Much easier to just let it slide.
I will let it slide mainly because of your comment that you repeated twice:
There certainly are people who call themselves Muslim and liberal, but the two are incompatible – one way or another they’re fooling themselves, whether it’s in believing themselves liberals or believing themselves Muslims. Judging by this motion, Iqra Khalid falls into the first category.
To me this comes across as extremely judgemental and patronising or just plain ignorant of how others might reconcile concepts and beliefs that you find obviously irreconcilable and you thus deny offhand. To use and paraphrase a part-quote by John Searle in this context:
You’re entitled to whatever opinion of it you want to have. But it’s arguments that count – if you have some actual argument for how the tenets of Islam are compatible with liberalism, feel free to present them.
Very socially upwardly mobile and a follower of US Corporate policy and indoctrination, Key, English and Groser are disciples of Corporate America and the US Bankers. Loyal to the IMF and the Federal Reserve.
Why have the Jews been left out of this comparison of Monotheists?
In my case, because the comment was about a supposedly Liberal Muslim MP. Only Morrissey can tell you why he dragged another religion into it, and why that particular one.
In my view they are all as guilty, bigoted and delusionary as each other.
And you’re fully entitled to that view. Is there a reason other people should care? Your opinion matters only to you. Only what you can argue persuasively should matter to other people.
So who funds this endeavor? Who pays for a team of young men to travel the country in a tour bus? The answer resides in the organization behind the tour. Glittering Steel, LLC is a small production company located at the same address in Beverly Hills as Breitbart News and a number of other companies owned and supported by Trump-supporting Hedge funder Robert Mercer.
From Granny…. The lawyers who manage the process get more in fees than the victims… but thats just efficient capitalism under National I guess…
“The Ministry of Social Development spent more than a million dollars paying private lawyers to fight claims of abuse at a state-funded bootcamp on Great Barrier Island before finally settling with victims for $340,000.
Settlement with four claimants to proceedings, the last of which came in February, followed a 12-year battle in the courts which also saw the Ministry stuck with costs due to Legal Aid of $369,000.
Labour Party deputy leader Jacinda Ardern called the expense and delays extraordinary and questioned whether it was a just or wise use of taxpayer money.
“No one is going to look at a case like this – with extraordinary amounts spent on legal costs and small outcomes for victims – and think this is a good process,” she said.
Ardern said figures provided to her office showed $6.5m had been spent in total by MSD on external legal counsel fighting a handful of historic abuse cases over the past decade, with only one getting to trial.”
Abuse victims deserve that money (I mean the amount paid to the lawyers, not the trickle of piddle they are currently awarded). They suffer through the abuse, and then suffer again through the legal process which is super highly skewed towards the state / the abuser.
Worst abuse of all is that because many are considered “already damaged” the payout only reflects the additional damage. The reality is that abuse in this type of situation reinforces exsisting issues and makes further recovery almost impossible.
Taken to it’s extreme someone in a vegetative state, gang raped in care would be ineligible for any payout, because how can you prove that any damage occurred?
John Pilger being interviewed by Wallace Chapman right now!
RNZ National, Sunday 26 March 2017, 10.17 a.m.
As I suspected would happen, the callow Chapman has already been corrected twice by Pilger after making foolish and ill considered comments. But it’s still worth a listen…
Wallace speaks to award-winning journalist and filmmaker John Pilger about his latest film, The Coming War On China, which examines the increasing focus of the United States on the Asia-Pacific region.
You’ve chosen, for whatever reason, to cite something which is nothing more than a dishonest and ideologically driven attack on Pilger. It’s slightly more elevated in style, but not essentially different to the dyspeptic anti-Hager ranting we’ve heard from the likes of Mark Richardson, Leighton Smith and Mike Hosking over the last few days.
His sleazy insinuation that Pilger’s journalism is comparable to the methods of Goebbels is enough to instantly discredit him, but perhaps the best way of assessing the moral and intellectual credentials of David Hutt is to savour the casual indifference and brutality of the following….
Certainly what the United States did was a crime, but it was a crime committed decades ago.
You need to read more, and read thoroughly, Red Hand. And you need to read with discrimination.
Reading with discrimination to me means reading writers with different points of view. The Pilger interview shows his anti US bias. I chose the article because it exposes this.
You clearly chose that article because it attacked Pilger. He is not “anti-US”, as you claim, but anti-imperialist.
I believe in reading writers with different points of view, but not in citing them as any kind of authority if they are as flagrantly biased and contemptuous of the facts as David Hutt.
… the casual indifference and brutality of the following…
Context is your friend, Morrissey. In this case, the context is that the 40 minutes Pilger spends dwelling on the crime in question is irrelevant to a documentary supposedly about a coming war against China. So, not “indifference and brutality,” just “rational argument.”
From Hutt’s description, Pilger’s lengthy segment on the USA’s crimes against the Marshall Islands is simply framing. You need to introduce the bad guy and show him doing something evil, so the audience knows who the bad guy is and satisfies itself that Bad Guy is indeed a Really Terrible Person. It’s part of movie-making, albeit not usually part of documentary movies – but then, we are talking about John Pilger here.
So Pilger’s detailed history of American crimes against humanity in the region are not relevant? He should just ignore it, or better simply not know about it in the first place, like such outstanding journalists as Mike Hosking and Duncan Garner?
You’re concerned that a full contextualising of the conflict in the South China Sea makes the United States look like the bad guy. Sadly, that’s also the result if you contextualise the conflicts in Central and South America, in Indonesia, in the Philippines, in much of Africa.
I understand your concern. Context is not your friend, Milt, that’s for sure.
I’m not “concerned” about Pilger framing great-power politics as good guys vs bad guys, but it is mildly annoying and some of the dimmer bulbs among his fans seem to lap it up, so it’s worth a mention.
As a unforeseen consequence of (in particular) Auckland House prices, it has been noticed of quite a number of smaller spec builders are now being seen to be exiting the market and there are no new young replacement builders/tradies etc turning to the spec market.
Why ? To buy a section would cost $400k and then you have to manage and fund the process of the build. Banks are uncomfortable to fund such large loans in the vicinity of $1m. So we see less spec builders and the increase of “corporate/franchise” coys. active within the industry.
i went for a drive round Taupo the other day. The lake front is now Fast Food or Junk food alley. No beautiful old victorian buildings housing eateries and such, no Lonestar, Burgerfuel, KFC, McDo, Sierra Cafe etc etc.
The priciest real estate right by the lake front is essentially priced in such a matter that individual private businesses can’t afford the leases. And with this goes the fabled right of ‘choice’ and ‘free market’. But you can have crab food for $5 to go with your minimum wage.
And the Taupo council is happy for businesses to apply for Grants for up to 25000 a tick to locate their business to their fair town. Sadly so, this would not even cover a years worth of ground lease plus outgoings.
We are killing any and all business with these costs. Maybe we need to import some more cheap labour to make up for the lazy drug addled kiwis that are no good at business and work.
If it is anything like Auckland it seems to be a exploitation/immigration scam with food franchises… many of these places seem near empty of customers in Auckland and yet they are still paying exorbitant leases…. something doesn’t seem right.
It’s also driving others out of business. Place in Ponsonby, Auckland used to be a Baker’s Delight, been empty for nearly 2 years in a prime spot.
You have to wonder who owns it if they are willing to have it empty for nearly 2 years…
Someone was telling me they leased a place on Queen ST about 15 years ago, they paid $220,000 a year for the lease. Then you have to do the refit, then you have the rent increases… etc… etc… all is not well in NZ small businesses…
Apparently the Malls are very exploitative to the businesses.
As well as not being able to afford to buy our own houses under National.
We can’t afford to be tenants in our country.
And we can’t afford to run a business in our own country.
Michael Friedlander owns a lot of properties in and around Ponsonby – he’s been responsible for many businesses going to the wall, or at least leaving, as a result of exorbitant rents
Ponsonby in ten years will look like Downtown AKL. Friedlander is land banking and has been doing this systematically since at lest 20 years.
Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, Symond Street, K-Road etc…..all will simply become part of down town with the appropriate shit architecture cause nothing says progress like crap Plattenbau.
A chocolatier in AKL from whom i worked many many years ago, could not believe that Queen Street charged at much lease as Rive Gauche in Paris.
Malls are ludicrous. From the fixed opening hours, to the lack of toilets for staff only and the total lack of lunchspaces to the crap air to the noise pollution to the fact that people hang in Malls but actually spend very very little.
In NZ however it pays to keep rents so high as to be un-affordable and simply claim a loss on your property. IF you could not write of the loss a landlord might be ‘incentivesed’ so as to drop the rent to something the ‘market’ could pay.
And we are already tenants in this fair country. Very little really still belongs to NZ. Water, Electricity and land is all flogged of at bargain prices – get rich now while you can.
There have been some Property deals since Christmas that required offshore funding, to have failed due to the increased difficulty in being able to access the funds. With a few cases I am aware of where the contracted buyer vanished !! Perhaps they found out that they had paid too much, as if there was some appreciation in the property values all that would have happened was that it was on sold. Even if tax was paid better to pay that than incur a loss of the deposit.
One anticipates a flood of posts from the resident Assad/Putin apologists declaring that these fake western media propaganda outrage stories can’t be trusted, that the claims of civilian casualties are Da’esh propaganda, and we mustn’t let western governments’ support for jihadis interfere with this operation to liberate the people of Mosul…
Your sarcasm can’t cover up the fact that the United States and its vassal states (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom) have created and supported Da’esh, and are ultimately responsible for the carnage in the Middle East.
The people who design, manufacture and sell weapons are ultimately responsible.
No arms industry, no carnage.
You and others write about events as though they are due to the actions of states, avoiding the fact that they are due to the actions of people. People who design, manufacture, sell and buy weapons, recruit mainly men into military groups and train them to obey orders.
In the Pilger interview, he mentions an episode during the Cuba Missile Crisis in which a few people at the Kwajalein Base were moments from activating the launch of a nuclear armed missile. The US is an abstraction. Not a person with a code and means to activate it.
By personifying states the responsibility of individual human beings for events is avoided.
Do you really think I envisage “the United States” as an abstraction? Really?
And do you think those thriving arms industries in China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States would thrive if they were not massively supported by the governments of those states? Not those abstract governments that you’ve dreamed up, but real brutal regimes, run by nasty people like Trump, Netanyahu, Putin and Xi Jinping.
Yes, governments support arms industries, but are not essential to their existence.
Really? You think that (for example) cluster bombs would still have continued to be produced and exported if the United Kingdom, French, U.S., Russian and Israeli government had not supported their manufacture and use?
Labelling Trump, Netanyahu, Putin and Xi Jinping as “nasty people” is so silly !
Assad/Putin apologists declaring that these fake western media propaganda outrage stories can’t be trusted
Indeed the irrefutable evidence presented say by the NYT or the WP or the economist,routinely cited by progressives,suggest that one should never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Thanks for that, Poission. I suspect, however, that even if Psycho Milt bothers to click on those damning links you provide, it won’t dent his devotion to these sources on which he relies for the “arguments” at which he rates himself “reasonably good.”
it is truly time the world over to just build a legal frame work such as we have with alcohol and be done with the fake pious ‘but wont anyone think of the children’.
A good read although I did miss a reference to one of the best-known Utopias/Dystopias: Amazonia/Feminye [sp?].
Economic downturns make vulnerable people more vulnerable – and societies in trouble tend to retreat to an imagined past of certainty and stability. To put it another way: justice feels affordable in times of plenty, and starts to feel like a luxury in times of want.
Which is one thing I really miss: a government that makes you look up to the horizon.
I miss it because in my lifetime I haven’t seen it. S’cuse me going all Ernst Bloch.
Utopia is a favourite theme/concept of mine; I have written about it here on TS and even once submitted a writing for a Guest Post Utopian Musings: Companionship, Community, Compassion, Passion but it never saw the light of day; it was probably too lengthy – it was long – and/or just not good/interesting enough.
Personally, I am influenced by Zygmunt Bauman. According to him we now live “inside a Utopia” rather than “towards a Utopia”.
It is no coincidence that Utopia or Utopian thinking keeps reoccurring here on TS and elsewhere; it is (more than) a stubborn meme.
“The sex at least is mostly consensual, but an accusation of rape can follow from a girl who feels sexually used, or taken for granted, and who seeks to inflict some measure of vengeance (like in the case of Mattress Girl).”
women like pierson fuel rape culture!!! if a woman feels sexually used or taken for granted then as my close friend carol says she was raped!!!
George Webb (YouTube citizen journalist) deserves some kind of humanitarian award.
For a long time now he has been diligently sifting through Podesta (I think) emails via Wikileaks and uncovered the Clinton crime family maneuvers.
If you are new to George best to go back over the oldest YouTube’s you can find (he was subject to a YT take down a few months ago), probably the ones with the title “Where is Eric Braverman day__”. You need to do this in order to follow the more recent ones.
Think ratlines, drugs, mangos, children, organs, dodgy appointments with suspiciously high security clearance. Ugh.
“This investigation concluded that this may have resulted in civilian casualties but no evidence of this was established.”
But, but.. dude didn’t you fellas lose the copy of the report/investigation? Lol
Brownlee has had a busy afternoon, catching up with English and Keating prior to this article coming out. Just because they say it didn’t happen, does not mean that it did not happen.
The Defence Force will be in full damage mode. Nobody does “full damage mode” like the Defence Force. I spent 5 years as a civilian working on a Defence Force base in the late 80s and early 90s and it was an illuminating experience. Somebody found out I had been a supporter of the Labour’s Govt’s anti-nuclear legislation and I ended up under close watch night and day. Even my trips to and from my home to the base were monitored. Talk about excessive paranoia!
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...
Michael SchulsonWhen Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...
Rubbish In, Rubbish Out: Put all this together, and it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that anyone who responds positively to a pollster’s request to “answer a few questions” is just ever-so-slightly weird. Desperately lonely? Some sort of psephological train-spotter? Political party member primed to skew the poll for or against ...
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. Meanwhile, Climate Action Tracker has the shameful reality: those targets are insufficient:While New Zealand is showing leadership by having passed the world’s second-ever Zero Carbon Act in November 2019, under ...
The government introduced a Racing Industry Bill today. As an urban who horse racing as pointless-to-cruel, and gambling as a tax on stupidity and/or hope, this isn't normally a bill which would interest me in the slightest, beyond grumpiness at more government money for a dying industry. But there is ...
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he ...
Before The Birth: Israel’s most fervent supporters set their clocks ticking in Biblical times. They cite the kingdoms of David and Solomon as proof that, in the words of the Exodus movie’s theme-song: “This land is mine.” The majority of Israel’s backers, however, start their clocks in 1933 – the year Adolf ...
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...
When it was revealed that NZ First had tried to enrich itself from public office via the Provoncial Growth Fund, the Prime Minister assured us that everything was OK as Shane Jones, the Minister responsible for the fund, had recused himself. Except it seems that that recusal came very late ...
Today is a Member's Day, and probably the last one of the year. After the marathon of the End of Life Choice Act, most of the bills up for debate today are uncontentious. First up is the second reading of Chlöe Swarbrick's Election Access Fund Bill. This will be followed ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has reported back on the government's odious and tyrannical control orders bill. As expected, the fraudulent select committee process has made no significant changes (partly because they couldn't agree, but mostly because it was a stitch-up from the start, with no intention of ...
Yesterday, the government released its draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, which will be put to a non-binding referendum at the next election. I'm not a drug policy expert, but Russell Brown is, and he thinks its pretty good. And pretty obviously, it will be a massive improvement on the ...
As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Within quick succession, Countdown maths wizard and twitterer Rachel Riley, alleged comedian David Baddiel and prominent lawyer Andrew Julius have all expressed very similar opinions / ideas:
These #3billboards are going round London today, organised by ex-Labour people, horrified by what their party has become. Their principles haven’t changed, they’re ...
So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to declare a climate emergency:The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” as it urged all EU countries to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The vote came as scientists warned that the world may have already crossed ...
Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this, for many it is too late. The first question many people ask ...
Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
Around a million billion pass through you each second, almost all originating from our sun, but few of them are likely to interact with you enroute. I was reading in a physics magazine earlier in the week about the nature of neutrinos. These are extremely numerous elementary particles, but only ...
By Pallab GhoshThere’s value in covering new research advances, even when the underlying science is unsettled. But there are also risks.The recent announcement that scientists discovered water on the planet K2-18b, 110 light years away, prompted a media swoon. News stories, including a piece written by me, billed ...
I wrote this review a couple of years ago when I was still in the process of getting my head around the politics of transgenderism, and specifically the claim that intersex conditions lend support to the notion that sex is ‘socially constructed’. Since writing this review I have come across ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzHow much does our use of air travel contribute to the ...
Minor planet/asteroid (2309) Mr. Spock is named not for the character in Star Trek, but for a cat that was itself imperturbable, logical, intelligent and had pointed ears. In a preceding blog post I introduced one of my favourite asteroids, (2472) Bradman, and also mentioned (6581) Sobers amongst a few ...
Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
Anti-fluoride activists are rubbing their hands in glee over what they claim is “yet another study” showing fluoride harms the brains of children. But their promotion relies on IQ relationships which the paper’s authors acknowledge disappearing when outliers or other factors are considered. And they completely ignore other relationships ...
The feature below is the conclusion of A History of Economic Thought, whose author was a leading Marxist economist in Russia in the early 20th century, Isaac Ilyich Rubin. The book arose from a course he ran at Moscow University following the Russian Revolution. First published in Russian in 1929, ...
There are many thousands of asteroids with formal names, some humdrum but other more noteworthy (depending on your predilections). One of my favourites, the name of which I was involved in suggesting, is (2472) Bradman, named for the Australian cricketing great. As a minor planet (synonym: asteroid) spotter, I have ...
Tory manifesto: big on austerity, low on promise, non-existent on delivery. The Tories: the party so big on ambition they couldn't be arsed writing a manifesto. MLK: "I have a dream!"BJ: "I'll just have a nap." Labour: Broadband!Tories: Narrow minds! Labour have hope, dreams and ambition. The Tories will save ...
The Ministry of Health has announced that “people under the age of 50 travelling from New Zealand to Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji” are now on the list of national priorities for MMR vaccination. Given the outbreaks of measles in Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji, the Ministry of Health is ...
Hong Kong has been protesting for six months for, demanding democracy, human rights, and an end to police violence. Today, they went to the polls in district council elections - a low-level of government with virtually no power, similar to community boards in New Zealand. But while the positions themselves ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On Friday 22nd of November a curfew came into effect and troops were deployed on the streets, here in Bogota. It was the first time since September 1977 that a curfew had been imposed on the city. The decision was a cynical pre-planned ...
Meanwhile, while the government is planning to restore voting rights to prisoners, National is promising to turn our prisons into US-style slave-labour camps:The Opposition is proposing compulsory education, training or employment for prisoners who are serving sentences of two years or more. [...] On Sunday, National Party Leader Simon Bridges ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the second part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
Dalmeet Singh ChawlaIn 2008, psychologists proposed that when humans are shown an unfamiliar face, they judge it on two main dimensions: trustworthiness and physical strength. These form the basis of first impressions, which may help people make important social decisions, from who to vote for to how long a ...
Claas Kirchhelle, University of Oxford; Adam Roberts, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Andrew Singer, Centre for Ecology & HydrologyAntibiotics are among the most important medicines known to humankind, but we are running out of this crucial resource. Decisive action is needed if we are to retain access to ...
Things That Make You Go - Hmmmm: “All right. Let me come at this another way. I’m guessing that what you’ve got in that box contains names, dates, bank account numbers – all the details you need to put Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern squarely in the cross-hairs. So, the first ...
Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions ...
There are perennial arguments about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and in particular whether more than one shooter is required by the evidence (such as the Zapruder film). Those who know little about physics frequently claim that the sharp backwards motion of JFK’s head as ...
Apparently, some people enjoy washing their cars. Each to his or her own, I suppose. I mean, some people like duck shooting, some people follow Coronation Street, and some people’s idea of a good day out is to sit on a grass bank at Seddon Park and watch cricket all ...
Last week we learned that New Zealand First had apparently tried to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Today in Question Time Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had his ...
Finally, governments seem slowly to be beginning to act on climate change. But its not enough. While they're publicly signing up to targets, they're planning to destroy the world by continuing fossil fuel extraction:The world’s nations are on track to produce more than twice as much coal, oil and gas ...
Stuff has begun interviewing NZ First's secret donors, and it turns out that its as bad as we expected. They start with racing industry figure Garry Chittick, who is predictably grumpy about NZ First's coalition choices. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the list of pork NZ First has effectively given its ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
Sustainable New Zealand Welcomes the Government’s Announcement on Phasing Out Waste But Wants to See More Action on Building and Construction Waste ...
Our Seas Our Future welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s announcement that the Government is aiming to phase out another round of single-use hard plastics, made of PVC and Polystyrene. ...
The Fraudster exposes the life and crimes of a million dollar conwoman Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit’s latest documentary exposes the cautionary tale of a woman who ripped off New Zealand businesses and government agencies, and a justice ...
Press Release 8 December 2019 Auckland, 8 December 2019 : The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, presented the 262-page report on ‘Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’ to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet should make a policy decision tomorrow that Auckland’s car and container port must close by 31 December 2029, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...
The Absolute Book is one of our picks of the year and you should buy it for someone you love for Christmas. A story that sticks like a biddi-bid, Elizabeth Knox said on Twitter the other day. Here, she writes about the books that stuck in her own psyche – ...
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a ...
Frozen 2 is out, but more importantly the soundtrack is available for your kids to play on repeat. Sam Brooks ranks the songs by how likely it is that they’ll sing them into your face for the foreseeable future.Parents and caregivers, get your loins girded because Frozen 2 is here. The film ...
Five New Zealanders from across culturalspaces explain what it is they love about basketball.Historically, basketball has always held a relatively small but special in Aotearoa’s sporting landscape. The NBL was established in 1981, giving provinces the chance to duke it out for national supremacy. In 2002 the Tall Blacks ...
After 40 years at the frontline, the University of Otago's Professor Marie Crowe discusses her research on treatments beyond medicine to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like bipolar and depression. ...
Everything you need to know about the suspension of buses in Auckland and the industrial action standoff that it springs from.What’s going on?Yesterday saw the cancellation of thousands of bus trips and a lot of people standing around at Auckland bus stops looking puzzled after services operated by NZ Bus ...
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
“CEAC – University of Auckland asks ‘Can democracy survive’? Subject; Can democracy survive? https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/12/03/can-democracy-survive-.html Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated (CEAC) Press release 8th December ...
The Minister of Health’s announcement to appoint a new chair to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has come as a surprise and with some disappointment, especially given he had personally asked me to stand again with his confidence to continue in ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
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 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
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.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
A woman who went on a Tinder date with the man who murdered Grace Millane tells her story, and issues a warning to other women to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right.First published on Newshub.co.nzI went on a date with Grace Millane’s killer while her body lay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are bad news for Australian students, parents, employers and policymakers. Pretty much everyone. Australian 15-year-olds are now below the OECD average in mathematics, and our results in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders University It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...
The birthplace of the Labour Party is once again at the forefront of a new movement, this time harnessing the power of the collective to step away from coal towards a low carbon future.Blackball is a small place with a huge history. This week the town, 29 kilometres from Greymouth, ...
Life expectancy is increasing all the time, and now actuaries and retirement experts say young people need far more information on what they’ll need to do with their money if they live to 100. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The message from the Retirement Income Interest Group of the New ...
Open Mike 26/03/2017 
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...23 hours ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...1 day ago
Michael Schulson When Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...1 day ago
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...2 days ago
Newshub last night reported that Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi had apparently promised to help out a mate with an immigration issue. While its normal for people to approach MPs for assistance in this area, when you're a Minister, the rules are different: as the Cabinet Manual says, Ministers must "at ...2 days ago
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...2 days ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...3 days ago
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...3 days ago
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...3 days ago
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...6 days ago
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...7 days ago
Image credit: The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ... 1 week ago
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...1 week ago
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...3 days ago
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...5 days ago
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...3 hours ago
Sustainable New Zealand Welcomes the Government’s Announcement on Phasing Out Waste But Wants to See More Action on Building and Construction Waste ...2 hours ago
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...8 hours ago
After 40 years at the frontline, the University of Otago's Professor Marie Crowe discusses her research on treatments beyond medicine to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like bipolar and depression. ...13 hours ago
The National Party says tougher regulations on banks could cost families with a mortgage nearly $2000 extra per year. ...1 day ago
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...1 day ago
"The neighbour takes my hand and walks me over the concrete to my parent’s back door": a look inside Hell by Alisha Tyson. ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...2 days ago
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...2 days ago
The Government is investing up to $9 million in a project that it says will help Southland farmers use their land more sustainably. ...2 days ago
Donation legislation, the infinite monkey theory and the angriest man in NZ politics. Not to mention Paula Bennett's black-market oregano. ...2 days ago
You do not have to sacrifice short term returns in order to invest sustainably. ...2 days ago
Winston Peters says the NZ First foundation is similar to the National Party’s foundation. Here’s how it isn’t. ...2 days ago
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...2 days ago
The Finance Minister Grant Robertson won’t be drawn on how much new capital requirements for banks will hit consumers. ...2 days ago
Yet again, NZ schools have received a 'fail' when it comes to bullying but there could be an evidence-based solution. ...2 days ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...3 days ago
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...3 days ago
Sky Sport News presenter Kate King previews a massive weekend for Kiwi sportswomen ...3 days ago
A handy guide to all you need to know about impeachment. ...3 days ago
America is – there’s no other way of saying this – fucked! But . . . but . . . but you’ve gotta laugh!
Two short clips to set up your Sunday morning:
The first, from Bill Maher, was posted last night by Bruce, but with terrible sound sync. Donald Trump the con man. I particularly like: ‘At least with a used-car salesman, you get a car . . .”
And John Oliver on the Federal Budget. What a way to run a country!
https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight
Enjoy – but wring your hands too!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-24/canada-passes-blasphemy-bill-silence-critics-islam
A number of Conservatives running for the the party’s leadership have been outspoken about the problems they see in M-103.
Brad Trost said he could not support the motion because it “will only serve to strengthen extremist elements within the Muslim community itself that seek to preserve and promote their own form of hate and intolerance.” He added that any “serious plan to combat religious discrimination in Canada should include all faith groups, including Christians and Jews.”
Pierre Lemieux said that Canadians should be wary of the language in the motion.
“Do you have a valid concern about Islam? Do you disagree with Sharia Law? Uneasy about radical Islamic terrorism? The Liberals may very well classify you as Islamophobic,” he wrote in an email to supporters.
Lemieux, who called on supporters to pressure MPs to force a recorded vote on M-103, called it a “great day for accountability and for freedom of speech in Canada” when almost two dozen MPs stood up on Tuesday to demand such accountability.
Leadership contender Andrew Scheer also added his voice of opposition to the motion shortly before the vote, saying that it “could be interpreted as a step towards stifling free speech and legitimate criticism” of Islam.
“M-103 is not inclusive. It singles out just one faith. I believe that all religions deserve the same level of respect and protection,” he wrote in an email to supporters.
“I will be voting against it because I believe in Freedom of Speech,” he wrote.
Seems like it’s one of those feel-good “the House opposes bad things” statements rather than oppressive new legislation: http://globalnews.ca/news/3256675/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-anti-islamophobia-motion-making-waves-in-ottawa/.
Of course, something calling itself the “Liberal Party” should have been opposed to this in principle, and the idea of a “Muslim Liberal MP” is just ridiculous.
“…and the idea of a “Muslim Liberal MP” is just ridiculous.”
Why? Why could there not be liberally minded people who believe in Islam? In a religious sense, there can’t. But I am sure there are millions of Muslims around the world who, while agreeing with the basic tenets of Islam, differ on how the traditions and teachings should be applied to the practicalities of dealing with everyday life. Some more progressively than others. That has certainly appeared the to be the case for most of the Muslim people I have met and know.
Why could there not be liberally minded people who believe in Islam?
Because a liberal would recognise an ideology that consists of a bunch of arbitrary commands (“Put your arse in the air five times a day and make obeisance!” “Give to charity!” “Visit the town where Mohammad and his relatives have their business interests!” “Starve yourself at these appointed times!” “Don’t eat pork!” It’s a long list) and that proscribes freedom of expression (see punishment demanded for blasphemy) and freedom of conscience (punishment demanded for apostasy) is fundamentally, irredeemably illiberal.
There certainly are people who call themselves Muslim and liberal, but the two are incompatible – one way or another they’re fooling themselves, whether it’s in believing themselves liberals or believing themselves Muslims. Judging by this motion, Iqra Khalid falls into the first category.
Just like liberalism and Christianity, in other words.
Christianity’s also problematic for liberalism in that it’s predicated on God having authority over you and your body, but that difficulty’s at a fairly abstract level: the kind of prescriptions and proscriptions that make Islam fundamentally illiberal are at a practical and directly-experienced level.
Quite true, Milt. The problem we have, however, is that some of the most destructive and violent ideologues on the planet, including the likes of Tony Blair, George W. Bush, and of course one Donald J. Trump, regularly invoke the Christian scriptures to justify their violence. The results of their actions—just look at Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia—are anything but “fairly abstract.”
Well, first up that’s irrelevant what-aboutery. But, accepting your invitation to go off on a tangent: do you have some evidence for Blair, Bush and Trump’s military activities being based on religious ideology rather than ordinary old great power politics?
Blair and Bush were infamous for their sanctimonious invoking of religion to bolster their aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump claims the Bible is his favorite book. Like you, I see their religious posturing as mere cant, but that doesn’t change the fact that they, and other dangerous fanatics like Paul Ryan, continue to invoke Christianity as they go about their business.
I’m interested to see that you choose to claim that my calling you out for your hypocritical singling out of Muslim fanaticism is going “off on a tangent”. I would have thought that, to any reasonable person, pointing out a blinkered determination to excoriate only the crimes of Muslims, while ignoring the (far more destructive and widespread) crimes of Christians, was dealing with the heart of the issue, not tangential to it.
hi morrissey. just wanted to say me and my very close friend carol love your posts esp the satirical ones!
~ tui
Thanks for your kind words, Tui. Perhaps you and carol might like to pop round to Chez Breen for a glass of Pimms one of these days.
…they, and other dangerous fanatics like Paul Ryan, continue to invoke Christianity as they go about their business.
Yes, but you’re missing the bit where you explain how politicians invoking religion in support of their activities reflects anything useful about the characteristics of the religion in question.
… my calling you out for your hypocritical singling out of Muslim fanaticism…
I realise that’s the fantasy you’ve got going on in your head, but it bears no resemblance to my comment at 2.1 or the ones following. My claim was that liberalism and Islam are incompatible – do you have any comment about that other than pointless what-aboutery? I must admit I’d find it unusual if you did.
My claim was that liberalism and Islam are incompatible
The paradox is well known.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
To Psycho Milt: Do you paint your pictures with a broad or fine brush?
I don’t paint. I am, however, reasonably good at argument – do you have one of those?
In your zeal to ridicule Muslims you claim that they are all required to obey the following command:
Yes, yes, yes, I know that you were simply trying to be funny, but that sort of thing makes you look like hatemongers such as Sam Harris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Leighton Smith, rather than someone who is “reasonably good at argument.”
I, in turn, have opinions on what your comments make you look like, but personal opinion doesn’t carry a lot of weight outside the opinionator’s own head.
I, in turn, have opinions on what your comments make you look like….
Please share them with us. I’m sure they’re “rather good.”
Look at Johan’s question more carefully.. I see a metaphorical argument in it that you have deliberately ducked, PM.
I prefer arguments more explicitly stated. That one seems to be saying that a blanket declaration that Muslims can’t be liberals fails to take individual circumstances and philosophies into account, but that’s an assumption on my part. Arguments that leave you guessing at the meaning are not very good arguments.
One of the core concepts of Christianity, and many other religions for that matter, is free will.
lol
They thought occurs that you share your definition of “true Muslim” with groups such as ISIL, and nobody else on the planet.
A bit like the Brethren definition of “true Christian”. Most would disagree.
So stupid is it not. Like a lot of other people, I was raised Christian. It was pretty obvious that the number of “Christians” in town bore no relationship to the number for whom being a Christian meant anything other than ticking a box on the census form and having somewhere to hold weddings and funerals. Along the same lines, 1940s Germany was full of fascists and 1920s – 1980s Russia was full of communists, but for quite a few of them it didn’t matter what was actually involved in being a communist or fascist. I’m talking about the people for whom the prescriptions and proscriptions of Islam actually count for something – it’s a much smaller number than 1.6 billion, just like the number of Christians in New Zealand when I was growing up was much smaller than 3 million.
You forget the billions of christians, muslims, and even communists who actually regularly read their respective books, agree in general with the contents, and try to follow the general gist of the entire text rather than elevating a few passages above others with extreme literalist interpretations.
So, you read a comment in which I point out that dilettantes aren’t really relevant to a discussion about the thing they’re idly dabbling in, and tell me I’m forgetting about all the dilettantes? The Muslim world is packed full of people who call themselves Muslim but pay little attention to what that actually means – it’s human nature, and also a natural consequence of making apostasy a terrible crime worthy of draconic punishments. Those people can perhaps be liberals, but only by ignoring what their religion is actually about – and we can tell from her sponsorship of this motion that Iqra Khalid is not one of those people.
The trouble is that the people you and ISIL call “dilettantes”, pretty much the rest of the planet call “Muslims”.
Well, if most of the billion and a half people who call themselves Muslims thought the five pillars of Islam were suggestions only and the fact that God prescribed punishments for blasphemy and apostasy were a “general gist” sort of thing that no-one actually needed to pay attention to, from my perspective that would be totally fucking awesome, but unfortunately it bears no correspondence to reality.
Oh, I expect the proportion is probably pretty similar to the number of christians who think people should be stoned for various pointless but prescribed reasons.
If you’re imagining that the proportion of Muslims who reject fundamental tenets of Islam is similar to the proportion of Christians who imagine Jesus wanted them to stone people to death, you don’t have a very good grasp of what a religion is.
I’m not sure I have any grasp on how you, specifically, use nouns when it comes to belief systems.
You’re peddling a thesis that Da’esh are the only Muslims who believe in the five pillars of Islam, punishments for blasphemy and apostasy, and the many other prescriptions and proscriptions of Islam. OK, that was probably hyperbole and your thesis is just that few Muslims actually believe it. Don’t be surprised that I don’t take your thesis very seriously, because it’s ridiculous.
It takes a very special kind of believer to believe in the literal truth of every single part of their hallowed documents, especially the bits that are contradictory or demonstrably inconsistent with the historical record.
Most believers can follow, say, the ten commandments and believe they came from god without believing that anyone who eats shrimp should be stoned to death for offending god, let alone insisting upon it and volunteering to do so.
You might argue “no true scotsman” would ever forget the words to “To a Mouse”, but the rest of the planet doesn’t really seem to have the same exceptionally narrow definition as you.
“No true Scotsman” my arse. Either there’s a definition of Muslim, or it’s a meaningless term and people should stop using it. And there isn’t any useful definition of “Muslim” that’s also compatible with any useful definition of “liberal.” Not unless we’ve reached the “a woman is someone who identifies as a woman” level of semantic idiocy, at least.
Anyway – like I said, it’s easy enough for a person who disbelieves the fundamental tenets of the Muslim faith to be a liberal. No argument there.
But your definition isn’t at all useful, as it’s made redundant by pre-existing terms for religious or specifically Islamic extremists.
Whereas you leave no term to describe the majority of the billion or so folks everyone but you (and ISIL) calls “Muslim”. Or “Christian”, for that matter.
At least the commenters here using “liberal” differently (economic vs social vs all permutations) are roughly even in number, but you seem to be the only one following a hardline definition.
When it comes to the crunch, language is about communication. If you insist on using nouns differently to the majority of people, there’s not much point to your contribution because your act of communicating can only lead to misunderstanding.
If you’re operating a definition of “Muslim” that doesn’t involve belief in the fundamental tenets of Islam, it’s you that’s using a noun differently from everyone else.
And when it comes to something calling itself “The Liberal Party,” it’s reasonable to assume they mean it the same way Wikipedia does.
If you’re operating a definition of “Muslim” that doesn’t involve belief in the fundamental tenets of Islam, it’s you that’s using a noun differently from everyone else.
Some tenets? All? Which bits are “fundamental tenets”? How deeply do you have to believe them? How literally do you have to believe them?
I’m using “Muslim” in the same way that wikipedia does when it says there are 1.6 billion of them whereas there are only a million or so members of ISIL/AQ/Al shabab etc. I guess everyone else wikipedia refers to is not a true Muslim because they’re not running around killing infidels and apostates.
The fundamental tenets are the five pillars of Islam, which you can look up for yourself. The absolute minimum is the shahadah, but that’s the basis for the lack of religious freedom in the Muslim world, so even the bare minimum effectively rules out liberalism.
As to the false dichotomy strawman you’re putting up (my argument supposedly based on anyone outside Da’esh et al not being a “real” Muslim), fuck knows how you came up with it but please stop.
So anyone who does faith, prayer, charity, fasting and gets around to the pilgrimage, you count as a “real” muslim?
Why does someone being monotheistic rule out “liberalism”?
Well, maybe there’s a version of liberalism which is compatible with believing that all humanity has been issued with a serious of arbitrary and irrational but nevertheless compulsory commands by a supreme and unquestionable supernatural authority and that these are the final commands ever to be issued by that authority, but I’m not familiar with that version – does it ring any bells for you?
Yeah, classical liberalism will do.
Religion is what you believe. Liberalism is whether you think you can force your religion on everyone else. Which is why 99.99% of followers of all Abrahamic religions over much of the world don’t immediately run out and stone every fornicator they see. Sure, they believe their magic books, but they choose to not be a dick about it.
Liberalism and religion are both philosophy. Some philosophies are incompatible with others, depending upon their content. Whether individuals want to be dicks about something or not is irrelevant to that. Individuals are only relevant to the extent that an individual claiming to follow two incompatible philosophies is probably a bit confused about one or both.
lol
So you’re right about how you define whether a person is an adherent of a particular religion, it’s just that few billion Christians and Muslims are “a bit confused” about what they claim to believe?
It doesn’t matter what a person believes or doesn’t believe, or who I might or might not define as a member of a particular religion. Those things remain irrelevant no matter how often you repeat them. What matters in this case is whether two particular philosophies are compatible or incompatible, and the one with a long list of illiberal features is not compatible with liberalism.
Yes, that’s what you keep saying.
It’s just at odds with the way much of the planet seems to view those terms and actually practise their monotheism.
What? As witnessed by those bastions of liberalism, the Muslim countries of the world? We have an ideology that’s composed almost entirely of illiberal features (from the name “Submit” down through the list of prescriptions and proscriptions that are its only substance) and that has proved fundamentally illiberal everywhere its followers form a majority of the population. I find that pretty persuasive evidence that it’s not compatible with liberalism. For evidence to the contrary, you have… I’m not sure what. You know some Muslims and they’re OK blokes?
Given that many of those countries are in a continent that has Christian countries that are about as permissive as their Islamic neighbours, and given the liberalism of Russia or some areas of the US, I tend to wonder whether one religion is worse than another, or simply that regional culture has more to do with whether someone feels compelled to be a dick about it.
Especially when almost everyone seems to change their tunes and stop stoning folks when they get to more liberal regions, sometimes within the same damned country.
Do you consider National MPs liberals?
For the most part. “Liberal” doesn’t imply “left-wing” – there are plenty of liberals with very unpleasant politics, David Farrar probably being the most-familiar one to Standard readers.
O.k. let me be more specific: do you consider Tim Groser a liberal?
he is both an apostate and fundamentalist ie the duality being both a Moslem and a believer in the church of the hidden hand.
I presume he is – politically, he comes across as one. I see where you’re going with this, but see my comment 2.1.1.1 above:
“There certainly are people who call themselves Muslim and liberal, but the two are incompatible – one way or another they’re fooling themselves, whether it’s in believing themselves liberals or believing themselves Muslims. Judging by this motion, Iqra Khalid falls into the first category.”
Groser might well be a third category: liberals who declared themselves Muslim so they could marry a Muslim, but don’t actually believe the bullshit they signed up to. From what I remember, Groser isn’t married to a Muslim any more, but he’s probably aware by now that it’s a cult not easily backed out of once you’re in – we non-Muslims wouldn’t give a shit if he committed apostasy, but at best it would seriously inconvenience his future dealings with Muslims. At worst he could be charged with an offence if he visited Indonesia or other Muslim countries. Much easier to just let it slide.
I will let it slide mainly because of your comment that you repeated twice:
To me this comes across as extremely judgemental and patronising or just plain ignorant of how others might reconcile concepts and beliefs that you find obviously irreconcilable and you thus deny offhand. To use and paraphrase a part-quote by John Searle in this context:
You’re entitled to whatever opinion of it you want to have. But it’s arguments that count – if you have some actual argument for how the tenets of Islam are compatible with liberalism, feel free to present them.
Very socially upwardly mobile and a follower of US Corporate policy and indoctrination, Key, English and Groser are disciples of Corporate America and the US Bankers. Loyal to the IMF and the Federal Reserve.
Why have the Jews been left out of this comparison of Monotheists?
In my view they are all as guilty, bigoted and delusionary as each other.
Correct!
Not to a tribesmen, however
Why have the Jews been left out of this comparison of Monotheists?
In my case, because the comment was about a supposedly Liberal Muslim MP. Only Morrissey can tell you why he dragged another religion into it, and why that particular one.
In my view they are all as guilty, bigoted and delusionary as each other.
And you’re fully entitled to that view. Is there a reason other people should care? Your opinion matters only to you. Only what you can argue persuasively should matter to other people.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency
He’s been busy.
So who funds this endeavor? Who pays for a team of young men to travel the country in a tour bus? The answer resides in the organization behind the tour. Glittering Steel, LLC is a small production company located at the same address in Beverly Hills as Breitbart News and a number of other companies owned and supported by Trump-supporting Hedge funder Robert Mercer.
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/mar/24/mercer-milo-tour/
From Granny…. The lawyers who manage the process get more in fees than the victims… but thats just efficient capitalism under National I guess…
“The Ministry of Social Development spent more than a million dollars paying private lawyers to fight claims of abuse at a state-funded bootcamp on Great Barrier Island before finally settling with victims for $340,000.
Settlement with four claimants to proceedings, the last of which came in February, followed a 12-year battle in the courts which also saw the Ministry stuck with costs due to Legal Aid of $369,000.
Labour Party deputy leader Jacinda Ardern called the expense and delays extraordinary and questioned whether it was a just or wise use of taxpayer money.
“No one is going to look at a case like this – with extraordinary amounts spent on legal costs and small outcomes for victims – and think this is a good process,” she said.
Ardern said figures provided to her office showed $6.5m had been spent in total by MSD on external legal counsel fighting a handful of historic abuse cases over the past decade, with only one getting to trial.”
Yep, it’s shocking alright.
Abuse victims deserve that money (I mean the amount paid to the lawyers, not the trickle of piddle they are currently awarded). They suffer through the abuse, and then suffer again through the legal process which is super highly skewed towards the state / the abuser.
Worst abuse of all is that because many are considered “already damaged” the payout only reflects the additional damage. The reality is that abuse in this type of situation reinforces exsisting issues and makes further recovery almost impossible.
Taken to it’s extreme someone in a vegetative state, gang raped in care would be ineligible for any payout, because how can you prove that any damage occurred?
Abuse in care is the ultimate dehumaniser.
John Pilger being interviewed by Wallace Chapman right now!
RNZ National, Sunday 26 March 2017, 10.17 a.m.
As I suspected would happen, the callow Chapman has already been corrected twice by Pilger after making foolish and ill considered comments. But it’s still worth a listen…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
Wallace speaks to award-winning journalist and filmmaker John Pilger about his latest film, The Coming War On China, which examines the increasing focus of the United States on the Asia-Pacific region.
David Hutt shows in this article how Pilger consistently glosses over China’s past crimes while dwelling on America’s.
http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/the-trouble-with-john-pilgers-the-coming-war-on-china/
You’ve chosen, for whatever reason, to cite something which is nothing more than a dishonest and ideologically driven attack on Pilger. It’s slightly more elevated in style, but not essentially different to the dyspeptic anti-Hager ranting we’ve heard from the likes of Mark Richardson, Leighton Smith and Mike Hosking over the last few days.
His sleazy insinuation that Pilger’s journalism is comparable to the methods of Goebbels is enough to instantly discredit him, but perhaps the best way of assessing the moral and intellectual credentials of David Hutt is to savour the casual indifference and brutality of the following….
You need to read more, and read thoroughly, Red Hand. And you need to read with discrimination.
Reading with discrimination to me means reading writers with different points of view. The Pilger interview shows his anti US bias. I chose the article because it exposes this.
You clearly chose that article because it attacked Pilger. He is not “anti-US”, as you claim, but anti-imperialist.
I believe in reading writers with different points of view, but not in citing them as any kind of authority if they are as flagrantly biased and contemptuous of the facts as David Hutt.
… the casual indifference and brutality of the following…
Context is your friend, Morrissey. In this case, the context is that the 40 minutes Pilger spends dwelling on the crime in question is irrelevant to a documentary supposedly about a coming war against China. So, not “indifference and brutality,” just “rational argument.”
From Hutt’s description, Pilger’s lengthy segment on the USA’s crimes against the Marshall Islands is simply framing. You need to introduce the bad guy and show him doing something evil, so the audience knows who the bad guy is and satisfies itself that Bad Guy is indeed a Really Terrible Person. It’s part of movie-making, albeit not usually part of documentary movies – but then, we are talking about John Pilger here.
So Pilger’s detailed history of American crimes against humanity in the region are not relevant? He should just ignore it, or better simply not know about it in the first place, like such outstanding journalists as Mike Hosking and Duncan Garner?
You’re concerned that a full contextualising of the conflict in the South China Sea makes the United States look like the bad guy. Sadly, that’s also the result if you contextualise the conflicts in Central and South America, in Indonesia, in the Philippines, in much of Africa.
I understand your concern. Context is not your friend, Milt, that’s for sure.
I’m not “concerned” about Pilger framing great-power politics as good guys vs bad guys, but it is mildly annoying and some of the dimmer bulbs among his fans seem to lap it up, so it’s worth a mention.
“Dimmer bulbs among his fans.” Oh that’s clever. Ouch. You’re so deft.
No, really.
Meh. The people who fall for stuff like that won’t exactly be masters of critical thinking, will they?
Accept it PM – America are the baddies.
That’s twice you’ve said
“great power politics”..
You’re good at arguing….Congratulations
Dimmer bulbs indeed!
As a unforeseen consequence of (in particular) Auckland House prices, it has been noticed of quite a number of smaller spec builders are now being seen to be exiting the market and there are no new young replacement builders/tradies etc turning to the spec market.
Why ? To buy a section would cost $400k and then you have to manage and fund the process of the build. Banks are uncomfortable to fund such large loans in the vicinity of $1m. So we see less spec builders and the increase of “corporate/franchise” coys. active within the industry.
nothing unforeseen about this.
i went for a drive round Taupo the other day. The lake front is now Fast Food or Junk food alley. No beautiful old victorian buildings housing eateries and such, no Lonestar, Burgerfuel, KFC, McDo, Sierra Cafe etc etc.
The priciest real estate right by the lake front is essentially priced in such a matter that individual private businesses can’t afford the leases. And with this goes the fabled right of ‘choice’ and ‘free market’. But you can have crab food for $5 to go with your minimum wage.
And the Taupo council is happy for businesses to apply for Grants for up to 25000 a tick to locate their business to their fair town. Sadly so, this would not even cover a years worth of ground lease plus outgoings.
We are killing any and all business with these costs. Maybe we need to import some more cheap labour to make up for the lazy drug addled kiwis that are no good at business and work.
If it is anything like Auckland it seems to be a exploitation/immigration scam with food franchises… many of these places seem near empty of customers in Auckland and yet they are still paying exorbitant leases…. something doesn’t seem right.
It’s also driving others out of business. Place in Ponsonby, Auckland used to be a Baker’s Delight, been empty for nearly 2 years in a prime spot.
You have to wonder who owns it if they are willing to have it empty for nearly 2 years…
Someone was telling me they leased a place on Queen ST about 15 years ago, they paid $220,000 a year for the lease. Then you have to do the refit, then you have the rent increases… etc… etc… all is not well in NZ small businesses…
Apparently the Malls are very exploitative to the businesses.
As well as not being able to afford to buy our own houses under National.
We can’t afford to be tenants in our country.
And we can’t afford to run a business in our own country.
Michael Friedlander owns a lot of properties in and around Ponsonby – he’s been responsible for many businesses going to the wall, or at least leaving, as a result of exorbitant rents
Ponsonby in ten years will look like Downtown AKL. Friedlander is land banking and has been doing this systematically since at lest 20 years.
Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, Symond Street, K-Road etc…..all will simply become part of down town with the appropriate shit architecture cause nothing says progress like crap Plattenbau.
A chocolatier in AKL from whom i worked many many years ago, could not believe that Queen Street charged at much lease as Rive Gauche in Paris.
Malls are ludicrous. From the fixed opening hours, to the lack of toilets for staff only and the total lack of lunchspaces to the crap air to the noise pollution to the fact that people hang in Malls but actually spend very very little.
In NZ however it pays to keep rents so high as to be un-affordable and simply claim a loss on your property. IF you could not write of the loss a landlord might be ‘incentivesed’ so as to drop the rent to something the ‘market’ could pay.
And we are already tenants in this fair country. Very little really still belongs to NZ. Water, Electricity and land is all flogged of at bargain prices – get rich now while you can.
To Herodotus: Are you telling us that the influx of dodgy money out of China has ended?
There have been some Property deals since Christmas that required offshore funding, to have failed due to the increased difficulty in being able to access the funds. With a few cases I am aware of where the contracted buyer vanished !! Perhaps they found out that they had paid too much, as if there was some appreciation in the property values all that would have happened was that it was on sold. Even if tax was paid better to pay that than incur a loss of the deposit.
Iraq suspends Mosul offensive after coalition airstrike atrocity.
One anticipates a flood of posts from the resident Assad/Putin apologists declaring that these fake western media propaganda outrage stories can’t be trusted, that the claims of civilian casualties are Da’esh propaganda, and we mustn’t let western governments’ support for jihadis interfere with this operation to liberate the people of Mosul…
Your sarcasm can’t cover up the fact that the United States and its vassal states (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom) have created and supported Da’esh, and are ultimately responsible for the carnage in the Middle East.
The people who design, manufacture and sell weapons are ultimately responsible.
No arms industry, no carnage.
You and others write about events as though they are due to the actions of states, avoiding the fact that they are due to the actions of people. People who design, manufacture, sell and buy weapons, recruit mainly men into military groups and train them to obey orders.
In the Pilger interview, he mentions an episode during the Cuba Missile Crisis in which a few people at the Kwajalein Base were moments from activating the launch of a nuclear armed missile. The US is an abstraction. Not a person with a code and means to activate it.
By personifying states the responsibility of individual human beings for events is avoided.
Your ignorance and naivete are breathtaking.
So you agree with what I wrote ?
Do you really think I envisage “the United States” as an abstraction? Really?
And do you think those thriving arms industries in China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States would thrive if they were not massively supported by the governments of those states? Not those abstract governments that you’ve dreamed up, but real brutal regimes, run by nasty people like Trump, Netanyahu, Putin and Xi Jinping.
The US is an abstraction, not a concrete reality. The ICC prosecutes individuals, not states.
Yes, governments support arms industries, but are not essential to their existence.
Labelling Trump, Netanyahu, Putin and Xi Jinping as “nasty people” is unnecessary I think.
Yes, governments support arms industries, but are not essential to their existence.
Really? You think that (for example) cluster bombs would still have continued to be produced and exported if the United Kingdom, French, U.S., Russian and Israeli government had not supported their manufacture and use?
Labelling Trump, Netanyahu, Putin and Xi Jinping as “nasty people” is so silly !
So how would YOU describe Trump or Netanyahu?
To Red Hand: “The US is an abstraction, not a concrete reality.” WTF?
I actually agree with most of what you write, apart from when you misconstrue my comments.
Please ignore that insult of mine at 7.1.1.1—I see you’re much smarter than that, and I withdraw and apologise.
Thanks, but no need to apologise. I did not intend to misconstrue your comments.
No, no, I insist! I was in the wrong, and on reflection, you didn’t misconstrue me; we simply disagreed.
Assad/Putin apologists declaring that these fake western media propaganda outrage stories can’t be trusted
Indeed the irrefutable evidence presented say by the NYT or the WP or the economist,routinely cited by progressives,suggest that one should never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7UNaooVAAAvQwV.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C667ZFHU8AAIqxI.jpg:large
Thanks for that, Poission. I suspect, however, that even if Psycho Milt bothers to click on those damning links you provide, it won’t dent his devotion to these sources on which he relies for the “arguments” at which he rates himself “reasonably good.”
Harrowing stuff..
Trafficked and enslaved: the teenagers tending UK cannabis farms
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/25/trafficked-enslaved-teenagers-tending-uk-cannabis-farms-vietnamese
it is truly time the world over to just build a legal frame work such as we have with alcohol and be done with the fake pious ‘but wont anyone think of the children’.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/90853933/after-denials-over-sas-raid-in-afghanistan-nzdf-admits-suspected-civilian-casualty
The NZDF and the Nat’s sounding like Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 is the 1960s comedy show……………..”what you believe………????”
I see the government is expected to make an announcement on an inquiry shortly.
A little feminist sic fi primer for the upcoming film The Handmaid’s Tale:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/25/dystopian-dreams-how-feminist-science-fiction-predicted-the-future
For those who can still imagine utopias, as well as dystopias.
there are very few around that would happily throw women under the bus in order to provoke change.
After all its only women, and they are not women.
A good read although I did miss a reference to one of the best-known Utopias/Dystopias: Amazonia/Feminye [sp?].
QFT
Which is one thing I really miss: a government that makes you look up to the horizon.
I miss it because in my lifetime I haven’t seen it. S’cuse me going all Ernst Bloch.
Utopia is a favourite theme/concept of mine; I have written about it here on TS and even once submitted a writing for a Guest Post Utopian Musings: Companionship, Community, Compassion, Passion but it never saw the light of day; it was probably too lengthy – it was long – and/or just not good/interesting enough.
Personally, I am influenced by Zygmunt Bauman. According to him we now live “inside a Utopia” rather than “towards a Utopia”.
It is no coincidence that Utopia or Utopian thinking keeps reoccurring here on TS and elsewhere; it is (more than) a stubborn meme.
TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh wait he’s white – it will be out of the news cycle in a day.
No wait, only coverage I’ve seen
Has the Sensible Sentencing Trust issued a statement supporting his actions yet?
LOL…though I shouldn’t
Really?.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/90795967/Army-veteran-aimed-to-make-statement-by-murdering-black-man
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11824225
Odd from head lines alone, seem like apologist crap to me. And not calling a spade a spade. Funny how white people have different rules.
Nice sinecure if you can get it
Cook 250 looks like the worst taxpayer rort since the Flag Consideration Project and/or Bill Douple Dipper English’s housing scam….
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1703/S00739/jenny-shipley-to-visit-whitianga-to-help-progress-cook-250.htm
i am so angry!!! this woman is a traitor!!!
http://www.oliviapierson.org/blog/rape-culture-carping
“The sex at least is mostly consensual, but an accusation of rape can follow from a girl who feels sexually used, or taken for granted, and who seeks to inflict some measure of vengeance (like in the case of Mattress Girl).”
women like pierson fuel rape culture!!! if a woman feels sexually used or taken for granted then as my close friend carol says she was raped!!!
~tui
Technically that isn’t the legal definition, but I get your point.
I see the blog in question links to WO – ‘nough said.
rwnj!
“If a woman feels taken for granted then she was raped”
wut?
@lprent
you probably know all this but interesting thing is I click on “replies” i get nothin BUT it i “open in new tab” they there, if that helps 🙂
George Webb (YouTube citizen journalist) deserves some kind of humanitarian award.
For a long time now he has been diligently sifting through Podesta (I think) emails via Wikileaks and uncovered the Clinton crime family maneuvers.
If you are new to George best to go back over the oldest YouTube’s you can find (he was subject to a YT take down a few months ago), probably the ones with the title “Where is Eric Braverman day__”. You need to do this in order to follow the more recent ones.
Think ratlines, drugs, mangos, children, organs, dodgy appointments with suspiciously high security clearance. Ugh.
quick, go self-investigate…
Defence Force, are unavailable for comment (stitching their story together),
Then they lose “the report”
but this, this takes the cake, news just in…
Keating said an ISAF investigation found that a gun sight malfunction on a helicopter resulted in several rounds falling short, missing the intended target and striking two buildings.
“This investigation concluded that this may have resulted in civilian casualties but no evidence of this was established.”
But, but.. dude didn’t you fellas lose the copy of the report/investigation? Lol
Brownlee has had a busy afternoon, catching up with English and Keating prior to this article coming out. Just because they say it didn’t happen, does not mean that it did not happen.
Was Wayne Mapp hallucinating?
A good journalist would be asking many questions by now.
The Defence Force will be in full damage mode. Nobody does “full damage mode” like the Defence Force. I spent 5 years as a civilian working on a Defence Force base in the late 80s and early 90s and it was an illuminating experience. Somebody found out I had been a supporter of the Labour’s Govt’s anti-nuclear legislation and I ended up under close watch night and day. Even my trips to and from my home to the base were monitored. Talk about excessive paranoia!
Congratulations National, you’ve selected a lazy, principle free idiot.
The National Party’s Whanganui electorate delegates have chosen Whanganui lawyer Harete Hipango to contest the September election.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11825896