Thd ferocity of the attack by the corporate media pit bulls like Soper, Armstrong and Hosking on Metiria would suggest her comments were a real threat to the owners of this country.
It would be better if they funded all beneficiaries to have access to internet/scanners and permit remote access for everyone. That way they could do without the guards/humiliation/lack of toilets/reception etc.
It would be better if beneficiaries never had to endure the human rights abusers at WINZ ever again. I don’t care whether they’re just following National Party orders or not.
Human rights abusers belong in court, not in offices.
Get rid of WINZ completely, have a UBI and have an Office of NZ Citizen Support which will be about citizens getting the help they need, and choosing what hours they are going to put in to help with NZ Social Infrastructure. All will be encouraged to do something they can manage, even an hour a week, and the able bodied and minded will be expected to do from 3-7 hours a week.
This would apply to all ages, and even to the bed-ridden or non-mobile who could do something small from home or hospice. If people want to live-long, then they can be integrated life-long in their society and not feel useless. This will be universal for anyone wishing to live in NZ full or part-time, and participate in public health ad other amenities whether they are receiving a pension or subsidy or not. Then the country has to recognise that all people drawing money from the government are contributing to society.
Parents will be learning at workshops etc. on human relationships, psychology, physical and mental oriented skills, child psychology through different ages, self-care and relief when needed, and efficient systems for running a house, also workshops on gardening, small woodwork and handyman jobs, and home focussed, cooking, cleaning, sewing and knitting. It will be called learned helpfulness, and be full of positive vibes. Parents without transport will be able to catch buses, jeepney-type or contracted taxis that come to the door, and make it easy to attend.
That would be a whole new start and the country would embrace its young people and parents. Most of our woe would go!
The money is not going to the guards though. They are at the bottom of the pile of any juicy contract. Unfortunately, some seek someone even less powerful to intimidate. They are just copying the bullying behaviour of the bosses.
WINZ do need to protect their staff – so it is not unreasonable that they have guards.
When I was young (18ish) I worked at what was then Social Welfare – (IT Side) – but was made to spend time at the counter to understand what it was like for customers.
I always remember the abuse a lot of staff received – sometimes from drunk or stoned people. When all the time trying to do the best they could to help.
IIRC, there have been two times over the last twenty odd years where WINZ staff have been killed. Both times was WINZ was refusing to help when the people actually needed help.
Well, the guards are effective against little old ladies. Wouldn’t have done shit against Tully, though.
But I’m not actually against guards on premises.
I’m against guards on the door demanding ID, receptionists who refuse to make an appointment when you’re in the goddamn branch and insist you call the call centre in order to make an appintment to speak to the person 4 metres away from both of you, long application forms, and a myriad of other pointless barriers placed between people in need and the assistance that can help them.
I didn’t know it was as bad as that. Government is doing its best it seems to keep the smelly humans away from the department offices that are supposed to help.
Eventually they will do everything through machines by machines and they can get on with whatever they think they should do with their time at the expense of our country if you can call it that by that time. More just a giant ‘waiting station’ or ‘people processor’.
A toxic mix of low wage growth and fast-rising rents
Two reports released within 24 hours of each other neatly summarise the state of New Zealand right now. They showed the wealth of the richest sprinting ahead with property values, while the poorest are struggling with stubbornly low wages and fast-rising housing costs. Bernard Hickey reports on a tale of two New Zealands.
This is what Stuff should have top of the page on their site. Instead they discuss the mental health of David Bains Mum (as offensive as it is out of date and irrelevant), and the fact Turei didn’t have a job during university but found time for political campaigns. God. This fucking country and it’s media.
Those subjects in the media indicate the shallow intellect of this country. We seem incapable of reflection, and self-correction. The national intellect instead revolves around judgment of others who haven’t got money, those who are struggling and who complain (persons of no standing), getting things for ourselves and then getting more, and the latest style in the various ways of displaying our persona to others.
Taking an interest in politics indicates dissatisfaction with the status quo which has been established by our betters. How dare Turei take this tone! Who does she think she is? And she hasn’t complied with all the requirements and filled out forms correctly. Disgraceful. And thinks it important to gain skills for a self-supporting life and to guide her child to the same ways for being responsible, pleasant, practical and socialised people.
We are like deviant bower birds who have adopted the habits of the shining cuckoo which leave their eggs and rearing of young to greywarblers’ nests. In winter they fly away to warmer climes like New Guinea so they are just irresponsible. Really they are like those immigrants who are making use of us and ripping us off as they go.
With that summary in mind it is understandable why we are in our present hole,
short of nests.
If you want to over hype the issue, then we both can.
I take it you have no problem with groups of people running into banks wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks or making kindergartens open spaces where the public are free to wonder in and out playing with kids?
I definitely think WINZ shouldn’t let groups of people running into their offices wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks. But since you brought it up, banks should now not let people wear hats in banks nor let elderly people bring in their wheelie shopping bags. Good idea there Chris, put it out there and see how that goes down. Oh, and all people who want to go into a bank have to show ID and prove they have a good reason for going in there. And if they get angry about being expected to do all those things, then they’re be put in a register that is shared with all the other banks.
It’s amazing the access Hooton gets. It really helps if you’re repeating the establishment line.
He gets all that airtime, yet a story about grandparents being humiliated by WINZ is shutdown.
Was Metiria’s questioning of the failing welfare state challenged by Hooton?
And Hooton was able to spout his toxic anti Labour anti Andrew bullshit like he does on 9 to noon. He gets it in then talks mildly about other matters on hand.
I think Banter is quite interesting in a basic raw way. Unlike the other smooth talk shows.
He’s now called “Michael Hooten” according to the listing. A new fun, loungy chat show bringing on a wringer who wants to demolish the Labour Party. I wonder what that does for the ratings..
There is no law that requires you to listen to him.
Are you really that much of a masochist that you have to torture yourself in this way?
Turn off the radio. Turn off the TV.
Get outside and sniff the flowers.
That’s exactly what I do alwyn. I was responding to dv’s link. We do not watch/listen to any of the commercial channels, and have not for several years because of their total toadying to the Natz ( which is precisely what they are paid to do).
Yep it it’s clause 7b of his employment contract, how did he survive under 9 years of labour with this clause I dont know, he’s real smart or labour are real dunces
Hosking still justifying his pay rate whilst refusing to disclose it.
Gosh he is getting old now, wonder what he would do for a job if removed from media? Maybe that’s his issue, that he doesn’t know how to do anything else but talk shite and support the local casino.
There must be a fellow staffers who have a good idea what Hosking is earning so why don’t they leak it? I’m picking his annual income is well over $1million per annum – maybe as high as $2million – and that’s without the additional perks. And we’re paying the bulk of that salary.
Setting aside the law which is frequently an ass, there’s no doubting who is the real criminal and it ain’t Metiria Turei. Hosking is fleecing tax-payers of millions of dollars for third rate performances on TV and radio and imo that is a far more serious crime than Metiria’s 2000 dollars per annum all those years ago.
“setting aside the law”. That’s the problem Anne. Do we all just go about our lives, setting aside the laws we don’t agree with, or like or that inconvenience us?
Sam C, that is what the vast majority of the well heeled do with rorting the system. They set aside the law by using lawyers and accountants etc.
Show me the tradie who doesn’t do jobs under the table and those who seek those savings etc etc . We are all guilty of it to some degree or other.
Someone dead at a railway station in Auckland which means a 3 hour wait for usual travellers as services are shut down. This is an unacceptably long time when it prevents the running of mass transport. I am assuming that it is largely to conduct a police investigation and take samples and photos from the site. There has to be a police investigation but the time taken to deal with the matter is far too long. There should be an emergency team that can deal with the matter so that there can be resumption of normal and necessary activity for others.
I have been told that sometimes road accidents and consequent closures have lasted far longer than required for police to deal with it, and that the attitude has been far from as expeditious as it should have been.
Right go for the emotional response. It is a very focussed one at any time, people are dying all the time and we don’t cancel the day and go home. What I am saying is the procedures need to speed up so people can attend to their work and other duties. Some of us have self-imposed duties to try and make the world a better place, and we have to get to work too. If we can get a change of heart in our government there will be less of these sad stats.
That is part of my point Rightly. Roads closed for 6-7 hours. Matters need to be attended to promptly. Also I have been told that in one case a road was left closed for hours after the important stuff was attended to.
In this case the body would need to be gathered up and handled carefully and considerately. Evidence gathered, 1 hour plus could hardly be avoided.
It needs to be kept to a minimum, the transport cleared as soon as reasonably possible. People are needed at work, they need work to get wages, the wages are earned by doing their job, and multiplied by hundreds, it is a great loss to businesses and individuals.
The more it happens, the more likely there will be more committing suicide or becoming stressed beyond return. Emotion and reason have to be balanced. It’s not something to be resigned and accepting about.
……..the topic I will focus on today, is the dangerous drift towards racial separatism in New Zealand, and the development of the now entrenched Treaty grievance industry. We are one country with many peoples, not simply a society of Pakeha and Maori where the minority has a birthright to the upper hand, as the Labour Government seems to believe.
I’m dizzy at reading this heady stuff from Don Brash in 2004. I’m looking forward to what Willie Jackson has to say on Saturday in Orewa Rotary. Ticket in handbag!
Peroxide Blonde
You seem to be colour oriented. Why blonde? And peroxide, is that a healthy treatment? It might be cancer producing as hair dyes and chemicals are very quick to penetrate skin layers. Do you think we should all look the same, and have one standard hair colour? Should it be blonde? Does everyone of importance have to be blonde? So many questions.
What if I like my racial separation, culture and look? Your link goes back to 2004. Many things and thoughts have occurred since Don Brash’s speech then. Are you having trouble adjusting to the new thoughts? Life is full of adjustments and choices and somewhere people have to find something worthwhile to believe in, something that allows for everyone to be respected and honoured.
Do you feel that Don Brash speaks for that, or for you alone and your cohort? How is that going to bring about a happy society where all are respected? Don’t you want that, and if not respect then do you want happy society, and if not happy, do you want a society, and if you don’t want that what sort of crap do you want going on around you?
Thank you Karen .Love the bit about Paula likes the way NZers give people a second chance. Doesn’t seem to apply if the person is in the Greens does it?
A ha well Gareth Morgan is the man to deal with him. I know who I’d rather have, and a few less cats, perhaps with micro chips. I don’t know what sort of chip N Smith needs but please someone find one suitable.
Checkpoint did a great job last night with its story of the chaos in the ICU unit at Dunedin Hospital. Only 6 ICU beds, just increased to 8 and there will be 10 in 13 months time where I heard someone say they need 18. Morning Report continued the story this morning saying “bumping” (where an operation is cancelled at the last minute due to lack of resources) is co common it has become a joke in the wards.
Another news story doing the rounds yesterday (at least on RNZ) was a report that said that poor people in Auckland now pay more than 50% of their income in housing costs.
Chronic public (not private) health under-funding and a housing crisis. Surely Labour’s no-tax-cuts to help solve these issues coupled with the Green’s more humane benefit regime will resonate on 23rd September?
‘Bumbling incompetence in management in public service’. Sounds like a spray of grumbling about everybody but ‘me’ being bumbling. I think it is a carry-on from the mantra of there being fat in the system, and cutting it out and getting a lean running machine will result in exponential gains in productivity etc.
When it comes to the public service try looking at Harrison and the psychopathic way she ran her manor. See below. ‘the caravan of love’. If the people could just get on with their jobs with adequate mentoring by managers they would achieve and be proud of their department’s efforts and effectiveness. All the rest is an excuse for ego-flashing.
Instead they can be prey to the machinations of human resources gurus with team building projects that bear no relation to their work. There are vanity projects meant to get compliance which can be expensive and involve considerable disruption to work and private life, going rock climbing for instance, something where you push yourself beyond your normal boundaries. Getting teamwork and compliance could be accomplished easier by giving them squaddie army drill and forming a marching team with flash uniforms performing at contests and high days an holidays.
Some business entities pay staff to do work day in the community for the community, but that is more private business. When you work in the government you are supposed to be doing that, so don’t have to put yourself out getting involved with the public in some helping way.
The public service has been degraded by the cult of neo liberalism and PR management and particularly the complete lack of trust in the public service workers and any agencies receiving government funds and input, The lack of acceptance of responsibility for proper and correct management of government, obssessive accoounting for every hour and every penny, unreasonably high targets, by targeting itself of chosen outcomes instead of overall performance to a mission and vision statement, and by the desire and determination of the neoliberal government to cut government to matchbox size and then set that alight, after its functions have been passed over to profit-making entities in the private sector.
The Greens have been doing uncharacteristically well – now a self-selected poll isn’t likely to be valid unless the numbers are very large – but Metiria’s stand is the best candidate to explain the result if it is not an artifact of poor sampling design.
Well of course she didn’t work you ass. She had a tiny baby. It’s a 24 hr job you know or perhaps you don’t know being an ignorant red-neck.
I won’t be wasting my time reading a crappy newshub (?) article but so what… if she did actively help out in a campaign. She probably stuffed envelopes somewhere with baby sleeping in her pram alongside her. Jesus, the bigotry and misogyny from these right wingers is mind boggling.
Even Mums with new born babes are allowed to go out and have a bit of social contact with other people.
I’m not making stuff up – you’re failing to extrapolate from the data – NZ now has the most unaffordable housing in the OECD. And far from the best wages.
Even the meanest intelligence can join those two dots to conclude that not owning a home predicates poverty.
You might recall Shamu (the economist, not the anthropocidal orca) used to maintain that renting was fine and this obsession with owning your own home didn’t matter. He has reversed that stance, in one of those rare (vanishingly rare among economists) instances of observation overturning theoretical bias.
So beneficiaries aren’t allowed to have lives? No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?
The irony here in the latest round of righties feeling offended is that she chose to spend her time doing politics. Quelle horreur that beneficiaries might have a political voice. And of course they haven’t, which is why we are in the situation we are today as a country, where for the first time in 30 years the political class have stepped up and given the underclasses an actual voice not just talked about them.
“No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?”
Of course not.
But you dont get to spend all your time going for government (which she was) then saying that she had no choice but to defraud the government for money.
If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.
But – thats her choice – stand for the serious party – and not work and defraud the government.
She didn’t spend all her time going for govt. She had a baby, was raising it and going to law school.
“If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.”
Yes, as I just said, you think that beneficiaries, esp solo mums, aren’t allowed to have spare time or consequently agency in how they spend that time or have fun or a life. You think that you should get to decide what is best for benes or solo mums.
Don’t worry, we get it, this has been the message for many decades now. It’s not new. Now that Turei is pushing back, it’s being exposed for the piece of shit values that it is.
This total denigration of Metiria by the right is to totally close down any analysis/discussion of the Greens humane social welfare policy. They will push this to the max. I’m surprised the Greens didn’t realise that this would happen, after all it is text book procedure to shoot the messenger.
Yes, and pretty sure they did realise this but decided it was worth the risk. That task now for lefties, progressives, and anyone who gives a shit, is to make sure the narrative gets changed permanently to one of beneficiaries are people too. There is so much in that that underpins all of neoliberalism.
Solo mums can do what they want just don’t expect society to fund it beyond the necessities, if they want more take ownership of your own life and make the right choices You don’t have the right to unilaterally decide you are above the law or determine what you feel what you are entitled to Tough but thats life No one owes you a living
aka “it’s better to starve then bend the rules”. Actually, more like, it’s better for those people over there that I hate to starve than for them to be helped. Works both ways.
The starving narrative is bs weka and you know it, like she had no other choices to avoid starvation, granny and indeed loses dad was going to sit by and let that happen as one example, get real
If you think there are no kids and parents and other benes in NZ that don’t routinely go without adequate food and nutrition, you are either extremely naive or extremely stupid. Much more likely is you are just a bigot who doesn’t give a shit.
In Meteria case it’s BS, don’t extrapolate my point, please also desist with standard left wing attack lines it gets a bit boring and is not an arguement , you forgot, projecting, hating the poor, only the left care , racist homophobic, mysoginist ( just to save you the time)
Self defeating there red. the necessities mean food and roof over your head. Which when national reduced the benefits by 25% meant the necessities were not covered. And she fudged it to get the necessities.
But sure live in you deserving and undeserving poor lala land. Where we have the western worlds largest homeless problem, growing poverty and the highest suicide rates.
No one owes you a living, so does that mean you support an end to inheritance laws?
To Red @9.3.1.1.3.
All I can say about your comment there is that you typify what is wrong with this Country.
Your total lack of empathy is telling.
Try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes for once.
defraud the government – what about apple? Not seeing you jump up and down about that. But a few hundred dollars, and it’s the end of the world. James go sort out your priorities mate, you’re in amoral land.
And sleep, James! Turei slept at times during the night when her baby was new-born, when she could have been seeking work!
Drag her into the courts, I say! Berate her for her idleness; sleeping when she could have been applying herself to lifting herself out of her self-made mire with a good yank on her boot-straps! James is right in thinking there’s no place in the ACT Party for Metiria!
It’s really interesting the media beat up against Meti, she’s fronted to questions by media, isn’t hiding, MSD are still to take action from a situation that happened near on 30 years ago, and on it goes.
Maybe since the law is so fickle on words, if Meti had described someone as a boarder rather than a flatmate, there would be no issue.
Now she is being slammed for doing voluntary work rather than paid work? Slammed for taking an interest in politics while studying because she realised some of our laws are archaic and wanted to take action to do something about it. How dare she! (sarc.)
Meanwhile… WHAT”S ON THE TAPES TODD? How’s that police investigation going? Why was the PM avoiding giving straight answers in question time yesterday? Why won’t you talk to media Todd?
Meanwhile… WHAT”S ON THE TAPES TODD? How’s that police investigation going? Why was the PM avoiding giving straight answers in question time yesterday? Why won’t you talk to media Todd?
QFT
The National Party supporters never question the actions of their own leaders which highlights their hypocrisy.
Mhmmm near on 30 years ago Sam, almost 3 decades, more than 2 decades, so near on 30 years ago, closer to 30 than 20.
Sam, what’s on the tapes? Once it is disclosed what is on the tapes, the public will be shocked. True story, NZ is a small place, especially the south island, confidentiality agreement prevents me from sharing more. JS
@ James So she shouldn’t have been involved in politics because she was poor? You would have her working at McDonalds while paying for childcare for her baby-that is for a pittance.
She was working unpaid for the public good by being involved in politics-that is a job. All power to her.
Whatever. Why the fuck didn’t she repay then go public. Fuck I’m so pissed off with fucking Turei !!!! I would normally vote Labour but the thought of this sanctimonious fucking fraudster in a Labour led governemnt really turns me off.
Audit Gerry’s term with CERA and you’ll find enough fraud to give him a ten stretch – Collin’s illegal kauri exports likewise. So why make a fuss about Metiria now? Hasn’t offended in decades – and small potatoes anyway.
Did she break your meme?
Or is it that the Gnats’ record is indefensible and she’s the only one you’ve figured out how to attack?
Hope your paying living wage to your lawn mowing teenager ie walking the talk and not avoiding paying tax to suppprt welfare system to keep your costs down
Or support the lifestyle she wanted and having a baby, that’s probably more closer to the truth and where she differs from the great majority of law abiding solo mums
I think you will find the majority after ruthinasia fudged the system. They had to. Another example of the economic disconnect from you lot. It’s outstanding how much in lala land you all are.
No issues with housing
No issues with homelessness
No issue with suicide
No issues with a welfare system paying below necessity
Just hate, and up on a pedestal telling the rest of us how to live.
The National candidate will be on the ballot paper, so people do have a choice. In contrast the Greens have actually puled their candidate in the expectation that all Green voters will vote for the Labour candidate.
So less choice on the left side than on the right.
Must be awesome to be the National candidate who gets to play patsy while your leader tells the National voters in your electorate to vote for some other guy. It takes a character like Paul Goldsmith to do it – someone who could write hagiographies of John Banks and Don Brash obviously doesn’t have any requirement for self-respect. I should be surprised National’s been able to find a second candidate so lacking in standards, but for some reason I’m not.
He doesn’t. Morrissey just has a serious problem when it comes to distinguishing between his personal prejudice and rational analysis. It’s not an uncommon problem, but tends to make for obviously and woefully incorrect comments.
Ok, so Labour don’t have any deal with any other party about not standing candidates or telling their voters to vote for other party’s candidates. Nor have they chosen to not stand in one of the marginal electorates. Glad we got that cleared up.
The Greens, who have almost never runs serious candidates in the seats, and afaik have never stood candidates in all seats, have chosen to not stand in certain seats for a range of reasons, including cost. But they have no deal with Labour and they haven’t told their voters to vote for other party’s candidates.
And you think this makes Labour and the Greens the equivalent of National telling its voters to vote for another party because that’s the only way it can govern?
Just to make it easy for your. If Labour really did want to do this, they’d have put Kelvin Davis high on the list and told TTT voters to seat vote Harawira and they’d have done a deal with the Greens to also not stand in TTT.
Morrissey – Doctors, dentists, accountants, business owners, school teachers, lawyers, policeman/woman, social workers, nurses, retirees – these are some of the good people i know in Epsom that you refer to as sheep – who the fuck are you to smear these good people just because they don’t agree with your political view.
The sheep are the ones who allowed themselves to be herded to vote—against all their better instincts—for the likes of such reprehensible, comical characters as Rodney Hide and the disastrous Jamie “Lock Up His Sisters” Whyte. I doubt many social workers, nurses, teachers or indeed anyone who is compos mentis would have obeyed the cup of tea directive.
1. Epsom is a very rich neighbourhood. It’s unlikely voting ACT goes very much against the instincts of many of its wealthier residents.
2. National supporters in Epsom are unlikely to feel dubious about satisfying the request “Please vote for the ACT candidate so that National gets an extra MP.”
Those poor bastards in epsom – ‘its not fair we vote for rubbish, we get rubbish and we are told off by the unwashed, unwaged and unworthy – what about us? Has anyone given a thought for how tough it is with 3 cars and only 2 drivers – why won’t someone fix that problem. It’s racist is what it is’.
The 8th synthetic cannabis death in a month. Fricken hell do something, poor kids are dying.
What’s the bet in a couple of weeks there will be a watered down drug action plan announced that doesn’t do anything but is spoken highly of in the medias.
I’ve been thinking about Diana and her boys. It really struck me how they had suppressed much emotions around the death of their mum and that by talking about that had helped them remember her and consolidate the loss and carry on with life. Imagine now being those boys and your mother had killed herself. There are a lot of kids, parents, siblings and friends dealing with the sudden loss of their loved ones. So much stuff to work through – the guilt, sadness and fear. How many people receiving assistance have killed themselves? No one counts them so we don’t know. How many kids dealing with the suicide of a parent who was receiving assistance? We don’t count them, we don’t know.
Interesting critique of the New Zealand Greens here.
Essentially, in Wellington they are great at getting elected, but really poor at getting anything Green actually done.
You’ve probably heard that Spanish pop record “Despacito” over the last few weeks, by a couple of Puerto Ricans called Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi. It’s the most popular piece of Latin nonsense since the gorgeous “Ketchup” song of fifteen years ago—indeed it’s now the most played song ever, in any language.
Among those who have heard it are supporters of the democratic government in Venezuela. One of them had the inspired idea of doing away with the inane original lyrics and turning it into an anthem of hope and support for democratic values…
Great idea, right? Improving a piece of dreck, recycling a piece of meretricious rubbish like “Despacito” is part of a timeless and honored tradition.
Sadly, however, the perpetrators of the original were not happy. Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have unleashed blimpish and confused outbursts against the democratic Venezuelan government: “Your dictatorial regime is a joke,” claimed Fonsi—or was it Daddy Yankee?—and the other one (Fonsi? Daddy Yankee?) claimed that “the Venezuelan people are crying out for their freedom.”
So what motivated these two Puerto Rican pop-putzes to indulge in the most absurd display of bewilderment since Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey declaimed at an awards ceremony? Well, just have a look at Daddy Yankee’s murky past: he’s a self-declared “Christian”, and a Republican, and voted for John McCain in 2008. You can be sure he’s a Rump supporter as well. He hates democracy…..
Luis Fonsi doesn’t seem to have any ideas about anything. I’m pretty sure all the energy of this anti-democracy rant comes from Daddy Yankee, and that Fonsi just follows his lead.
There are many thoughtful and well informed Puerto Rican commentators, such as Juan González, Ululy Martinez and Oscar Lopez Rivera. However, as is so often the case, the Puerto Ricans getting nearly all the publicity at the moment are—thanks to the political choices of the media—two unfeasibly ignorant, lazy, and stupid ones.
That’s a really important point. It means all that ‘debt’ upon a government’s books can be written off instantly while making no difference to the economy.
And to be picky, the absurd heading Mike Hosking: Metiria Turei should know – knowledge of a crime is a crime itself
means that a hell of a lot of criminal lawyers must be committing crime. By this measure Bill English is probably a criminal too.
Oh my – wanting to grow hemp – bad, medical cannabis – bad, and a side issue – will lose election. Purposing somthing that will not help one bit – election winner.
The sad part is people will swallow that crap whole.
Winston just asked in QT, if National were preparing to sell Transpower. WOW!
Denied of course by Joyce. Letter tabled.
Q6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements; if so, how?
Little was terrible this morning on breakfast with Jack Tame, the man has trouble putting coherent sentences together or thinking on his feet Surely the simple answer to Tame line of question to catch angry out in regard to what will dropping 30000 in immigration have on our GDp would have been, “nothing as per capita nothing will change” , little was right it was a stupid question but he got owned by Tame with a even more stupid lack of an answer and could not shut it down, beyond stuttering every labour policy and mother pie statement as an answer, must do better, epic fail
dad4 – you’ve stumbled into a decent blog-space here, accidentally, I’m sure and you’ll be feeling insecure and not a little bit alien!
Quick! Get back to Kiwiblog before you catch something! This place is awash with rational thinking and consideration: scoot!
RedLogix – my heart too, skipped a beat at the signature on the 7:53pm comment, and while I stand in awe at the elegant simplicity of dad’s comment, unencumbered as it is by any weight, depth or value, I clearly remember the path dad’s comments, when in train, take; the inevitable downward, pride-defying spiral that always ended with a graceless splat-landing and banishment by the moderators to place where dull mischief foments and flippery-feet flap.
Actually, it was Tuesday morning Red Tuesday the 25th. I saw that and I have got to agree, that little obnoxious prat, another Hoskins in the making definitely had a “gotcha” moment with Little. I don’t think little has problems in answering I think his main problem is he hasn’t a strong commanding voice. However wasn’t the little arseole smug about it, it was written all over his dial that said, ” aren’t I a clever little shit.”
Tried a similar exercise with Metiria Turei this morning didn’t he, and boy didn’t he come a cropper, she shut the little prat well and truly up and was he fucking pissed off about it his face was like thunder.
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
“As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Police, and family violence and sexual violence response services, it’s a good time to remind everyone what to do if they experience violence or are worried about others,” Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Senior Lecturer (Law), Southern Cross University Elon Musk is no stranger to news headlines. His purchase of Twitter and subsequent decision to rebrand the platform as X has seen it called “a true black mirror of the most worrying parts ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila The electoral commission in Vanuatu is trying its best to clear up some confusion with the voting process for tomorrow’s snap election. Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said this is due to the tight turnaround to deliver this election after Parliament ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma King, Senior Lecturer in French Studies, ARC DECRA Fellow in Screen Studies, Australian National University Universal Pictures In two of the biggest films released this summer, Gladiator II and Nosferatu, most actors seem to be speaking like they’re in a ...
Alex Casey reviews the first and possibly last ever musical biopic to star a CGI ape. Sometime over the fuzzy holiday break, I watched a Subway Take on Instagram which stuck with me. “Musician biopics should be illegal,” opined guest Charlene Kaye. “I’m so sick of the trope of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Whitcombe-Dobbs, Senior Lecturer in Child and Family Psychology, University of Canterbury After last year’s budget cuts to social services, including a NZ$14 million cut to early home visits, social services providers in New Zealand raised concerns about what the move would ...
COMMENTARY:By Maire Leadbeater Aotearoa New Zealand’s coalition government has introduced a bill to criminalise “improper conduct for or on behalf of a foreign power” or foreign interference that echoes earlier Cold War times, and could capture critics of New Zealand’s foreign and defence policy, especially if they liaise with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristine Crous, Senior Lecturer, School of Science and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University Researchers study leaves in the Daintree rainforest in North Queensland, Australia, using a canopy crane. Alexander Cheesman On the east coast of Australia, in tropical ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Baur, Professor, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney World Obesity Federation Obesity is linked to many common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease and knee osteoarthritis. Obesity is currently defined using ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology Sad, anxious or lacking in motivation? Chances are you have just returned to work after a summer break. January is the month when people are most likely to quit ...
Is warning people about police on Google Maps aiding your fellow citizens, or abetting dangerous drivers? Anna Rawhiti-Connell debates Anna Rawhiti-Connell.For over a decade, the navigation app Waze has used a crowdsourcing feature that allows you to report incidents on your route. With your phone plugged into Apple CarPlay ...
With dozens of Māori seats up for referendum, this year’s local elections will reveal where Aotearoa truly stands on representation.Last year, the government introduced legislation requiring all local authorities that had established Māori wards and constituencies to hold a referendum on these seats during this year’s local government elections. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Williams, Associate Professor, Griffith University, Griffith University Queensland’s Bruce Highway is a bit like a 1980s family sedan: dated, worn in places, and often more than a little dangerous. But it’s also a necessary part of life for people just trying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Collins, Research Fellow and Curator, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia South Australian Home Builders’ Club members at work.SAHBC collection S284, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia Australians are no strangers to housing crises. Some will even remember the crisis ...
A new report from Australian charity Action Aid reveals how the New Zealand banks’ Australian owners manage to sign up to international climate goals while continuing to fund fossil fuel companies. Most people in New Zealand bank with four large banks, all of which are owned by overseas companies. BNZ’s ...
The only way forward is for workers to build a new party that fights for the socialist reorganisation of society, on the basis of human need, not private profit. This is the program of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand and the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney MIA Studio We are surrounded by random events every day. Will the stock market rise or fall tomorrow? Will the next penalty kick in a soccer match go left or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Athena Lee, Lecturer and Researcher, Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research, Edith Cowan University When we think of writing systems we likely think of an Alphabetic writing system, where each symbol (letter) in the alphabet represents a basic sound unit, such ...
David Seymour has welcomed the huge amount of public interest in his controversial proposed law, explains The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Parliament's justice committee will find out tomorrow how many submissions were made on the Treaty Principles Bill after the deadline was extended by nearly a week after website issues. ...
A parent shares their experience and fears as public submissions are sought on the use of puberty blockers for gender-affirming care. Both the author and daughter’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.When my daughter Marie was born, everyone, including me, thought she was a boy. She started ...
Thrice thwarted previously, the Act Party’s Regulatory Standards Bill is set to pass in 2025, ushering in a new – and potentially controversial – era for government rule-making. Here’s everything you need to know. Before public submissions for the Treaty principles bill came to a close on Tuesday, a separate ...
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Summer reissue: Shortsightedness in kids is skyrocketing overseas. Is New Zealand next? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.“Hey bro, are you blind now?” ...
Summer reissue: Adopted in 1834 the first national flag of New Zealand (Te Kara o Te Whakaminenga o Ngā Hapū o Nu Tīreni) symbolises more than just necessity – it represents Māori autonomy and a legacy of self-determination that continues today.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying ...
While mediator Qatar says a Gaza ceasefire deal is at the closest point it has been in the past few months — adding that many of the obstacles in the negotiations have been ironed out — a special report for Drop Site News reveals the escalation in attacks on Palestinians ...
In our latest in-depth podcast investigation, Fractured, Melanie Reid and her team delve deep into a complex case involving a controversial medical diagnosis and its fallout on a young family. While Fractured is a forensic examination of this case here in New Zealand, the diagnosis that started it all is ...
While last year was termed the ‘year of elections’, 2025 will see some highly significant elections set to take place throughout the world that could have significant impacts on countries, their regions, and the wider global picture.AfricaThe presidential elections in Cameroon this October see the world’s oldest head of state ...
ANALYSIS:By Ali Mirin Indonesia officially joined the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa — consortium last week marking a significant milestone in its foreign relations. In a statement released a day later on January 7, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this membership reflected Indonesia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Imagine a gathering so large it dwarfs any concert, festival, or sporting event you’ve ever seen. In the Kumbh Mela, a religious festival held in India, millions of Hindu pilgrims come ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Motortion Films/Shutterstock You may have seen stories the Australian dollar has “plummeted”. Sounds bad. But what does it mean and should you be worried? The most-commonly quoted ...
Summer reissue: Lange and Muldoon clash, two days after the election. Our live updates editor is on the case. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gina Perry, Science historian with a specific interest in the history of social psychology., The University of Melbourne ‘Guards’ with a blindfolded ‘prisoner’.PrisonExp.org A new translation of a 2018 book by French science historian Thibault Le Texier challenges the claims of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Jordan, Professor of Epidemiology, The University of Queensland Peakstock/Shutterstock Many women worry hormonal contraceptives have dangerous side-effects including increased cancer risk. But this perception is often out of proportion with the actual risks. So, what does the research actually say ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiley Seymour, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Behaviour, University of Technology Sydney Vector Tradition/Shutterstock From self-service checkouts to public streets to stadiums – surveillance technology is everywhere. This pervasive monitoring is often justified in the name of safety and security. ...
South Islanders Alex Casey and Tara Ward reflect on their so-called summer break. Alex Casey: Welcome back to work Tara, how was your summer? Tara Ward: I’m thrilled to be here and equally as happy to have experienced my first New Zealand winter Christmas, just as Santa always intended. Over ...
It’s so bad inside that pensioners can’t bring in shopping trolleys.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/95092628/pensioner-told-by-work-and-income-guard-you-cant-leave-your-hat-on
national have taken every step to intimidate the unfortunate. Look carefully and there’s a juicy security contract behind those WINZ guards of course.
Thd ferocity of the attack by the corporate media pit bulls like Soper, Armstrong and Hosking on Metiria would suggest her comments were a real threat to the owners of this country.
And here’s the latest attack from the most vile of them all:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895130
Well, aside from Hooton.
It would be better if they funded all beneficiaries to have access to internet/scanners and permit remote access for everyone. That way they could do without the guards/humiliation/lack of toilets/reception etc.
It would be better if beneficiaries never had to endure the human rights abusers at WINZ ever again. I don’t care whether they’re just following National Party orders or not.
Human rights abusers belong in court, not in offices.
So true OAB.
Yes indeed
Get rid of WINZ completely, have a UBI and have an Office of NZ Citizen Support which will be about citizens getting the help they need, and choosing what hours they are going to put in to help with NZ Social Infrastructure. All will be encouraged to do something they can manage, even an hour a week, and the able bodied and minded will be expected to do from 3-7 hours a week.
This would apply to all ages, and even to the bed-ridden or non-mobile who could do something small from home or hospice. If people want to live-long, then they can be integrated life-long in their society and not feel useless. This will be universal for anyone wishing to live in NZ full or part-time, and participate in public health ad other amenities whether they are receiving a pension or subsidy or not. Then the country has to recognise that all people drawing money from the government are contributing to society.
Parents will be learning at workshops etc. on human relationships, psychology, physical and mental oriented skills, child psychology through different ages, self-care and relief when needed, and efficient systems for running a house, also workshops on gardening, small woodwork and handyman jobs, and home focussed, cooking, cleaning, sewing and knitting. It will be called learned helpfulness, and be full of positive vibes. Parents without transport will be able to catch buses, jeepney-type or contracted taxis that come to the door, and make it easy to attend.
That would be a whole new start and the country would embrace its young people and parents. Most of our woe would go!
It used to be called “night classes”.
The money is not going to the guards though. They are at the bottom of the pile of any juicy contract. Unfortunately, some seek someone even less powerful to intimidate. They are just copying the bullying behaviour of the bosses.
I think that a lot of the guards came in after the WINZ murders by Tully.
(For which a poster on here called him a hero) (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02092014/#comment-878213)
WINZ do need to protect their staff – so it is not unreasonable that they have guards.
When I was young (18ish) I worked at what was then Social Welfare – (IT Side) – but was made to spend time at the counter to understand what it was like for customers.
I always remember the abuse a lot of staff received – sometimes from drunk or stoned people. When all the time trying to do the best they could to help.
I doubt that it has gotten any better.
Well James it would be fair enough to say that you aren’t well known on this site for your empathy towards the poor.
Perhaps they needed the courage that being drunk or stoned gave them to actually deal with what they are going through and with (pre-)WINZ.
No wonder people get frustrated when the people they are dealing with are actually IT workers rather than social welfare workers.
Yep nightmare scenario having some it dick trying to bullshit about what they aren’t entitled to.
I wasnt actually doing case work.
Have you watched I Daniel Blake?
They wouldn’t need to if they treated people with respect and actually helped them rather than abused them.
Any evidence that the people who were shot had treated Tolly badly at al?
IIRC, there have been two times over the last twenty odd years where WINZ staff have been killed. Both times was WINZ was refusing to help when the people actually needed help.
He was homeless – they screwed him around instead of helping him.
Well, the guards are effective against little old ladies. Wouldn’t have done shit against Tully, though.
But I’m not actually against guards on premises.
I’m against guards on the door demanding ID, receptionists who refuse to make an appointment when you’re in the goddamn branch and insist you call the call centre in order to make an appintment to speak to the person 4 metres away from both of you, long application forms, and a myriad of other pointless barriers placed between people in need and the assistance that can help them.
I didn’t know it was as bad as that. Government is doing its best it seems to keep the smelly humans away from the department offices that are supposed to help.
Eventually they will do everything through machines by machines and they can get on with whatever they think they should do with their time at the expense of our country if you can call it that by that time. More just a giant ‘waiting station’ or ‘people processor’.
Meanwhile, on Newsroom, by Bernard Hickey:
This is what Stuff should have top of the page on their site. Instead they discuss the mental health of David Bains Mum (as offensive as it is out of date and irrelevant), and the fact Turei didn’t have a job during university but found time for political campaigns. God. This fucking country and it’s media.
Yep or why they cant say how many people recieving assistance have committed suicide.
Those subjects in the media indicate the shallow intellect of this country. We seem incapable of reflection, and self-correction. The national intellect instead revolves around judgment of others who haven’t got money, those who are struggling and who complain (persons of no standing), getting things for ourselves and then getting more, and the latest style in the various ways of displaying our persona to others.
Taking an interest in politics indicates dissatisfaction with the status quo which has been established by our betters. How dare Turei take this tone! Who does she think she is? And she hasn’t complied with all the requirements and filled out forms correctly. Disgraceful. And thinks it important to gain skills for a self-supporting life and to guide her child to the same ways for being responsible, pleasant, practical and socialised people.
We are like deviant bower birds who have adopted the habits of the shining cuckoo which leave their eggs and rearing of young to greywarblers’ nests. In winter they fly away to warmer climes like New Guinea so they are just irresponsible. Really they are like those immigrants who are making use of us and ripping us off as they go.
With that summary in mind it is understandable why we are in our present hole,
short of nests.
Oh the inhumanity
I agree the hat thing is a bit OTT, but have no problem with the trolley given the Ashburton tragedy.
Probably could do with a proper area to leave them though
Remember Aramoana? Probably should have stopped all single white men from living in small towns.
+1
It’s called common sense.
If you want to over hype the issue, then we both can.
I take it you have no problem with groups of people running into banks wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks or making kindergartens open spaces where the public are free to wonder in and out playing with kids?
I definitely think WINZ shouldn’t let groups of people running into their offices wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks. But since you brought it up, banks should now not let people wear hats in banks nor let elderly people bring in their wheelie shopping bags. Good idea there Chris, put it out there and see how that goes down. Oh, and all people who want to go into a bank have to show ID and prove they have a good reason for going in there. And if they get angry about being expected to do all those things, then they’re be put in a register that is shared with all the other banks.
What you call ‘common sense’ is more the stupidity, bigotry and arrogance of RWNJs.I
Channel surfing last night and there was hooton on the banter soapbox doing what he does best.
Wonder if lusk and eade appear as slater and williams have, it’s quite a DP roll call.
It’s amazing the access Hooton gets. It really helps if you’re repeating the establishment line.
He gets all that airtime, yet a story about grandparents being humiliated by WINZ is shutdown.
Was Metiria’s questioning of the failing welfare state challenged by Hooton?
And Hooton was able to spout his toxic anti Labour anti Andrew bullshit like he does on 9 to noon. He gets it in then talks mildly about other matters on hand.
I think Banter is quite interesting in a basic raw way. Unlike the other smooth talk shows.
He’s now called “Michael Hooten” according to the listing. A new fun, loungy chat show bringing on a wringer who wants to demolish the Labour Party. I wonder what that does for the ratings..
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/banter
HUH
Hosking says news reading is an artistic pursuit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11895125
So is he saying he makes up the news?
Thanks dv. Just listening to Hosking praise himself is spew inducing. How anyone can stand his superciliousness beggars belief.
There is no law that requires you to listen to him.
Are you really that much of a masochist that you have to torture yourself in this way?
Turn off the radio. Turn off the TV.
Get outside and sniff the flowers.
That’s exactly what I do alwyn. I was responding to dv’s link. We do not watch/listen to any of the commercial channels, and have not for several years because of their total toadying to the Natz ( which is precisely what they are paid to do).
Yep it it’s clause 7b of his employment contract, how did he survive under 9 years of labour with this clause I dont know, he’s real smart or labour are real dunces
Hosking still justifying his pay rate whilst refusing to disclose it.
Gosh he is getting old now, wonder what he would do for a job if removed from media? Maybe that’s his issue, that he doesn’t know how to do anything else but talk shite and support the local casino.
There must be a fellow staffers who have a good idea what Hosking is earning so why don’t they leak it? I’m picking his annual income is well over $1million per annum – maybe as high as $2million – and that’s without the additional perks. And we’re paying the bulk of that salary.
Setting aside the law which is frequently an ass, there’s no doubting who is the real criminal and it ain’t Metiria Turei. Hosking is fleecing tax-payers of millions of dollars for third rate performances on TV and radio and imo that is a far more serious crime than Metiria’s 2000 dollars per annum all those years ago.
“setting aside the law”. That’s the problem Anne. Do we all just go about our lives, setting aside the laws we don’t agree with, or like or that inconvenience us?
Is that what you’d propose?
Sam C, that is what the vast majority of the well heeled do with rorting the system. They set aside the law by using lawyers and accountants etc.
Show me the tradie who doesn’t do jobs under the table and those who seek those savings etc etc . We are all guilty of it to some degree or other.
P*** off you sanctimonious prick
That’s an ad hominem attack.
That’s what National seems to do all the time.
Probably does not need the money, a bit like Paul Henery who we all miss.
Someone dead at a railway station in Auckland which means a 3 hour wait for usual travellers as services are shut down. This is an unacceptably long time when it prevents the running of mass transport. I am assuming that it is largely to conduct a police investigation and take samples and photos from the site. There has to be a police investigation but the time taken to deal with the matter is far too long. There should be an emergency team that can deal with the matter so that there can be resumption of normal and necessary activity for others.
I have been told that sometimes road accidents and consequent closures have lasted far longer than required for police to deal with it, and that the attitude has been far from as expeditious as it should have been.
So a body on the line is a hold up,a body on the line is usually a suicide, real hindrance for someone.
Right go for the emotional response. It is a very focussed one at any time, people are dying all the time and we don’t cancel the day and go home. What I am saying is the procedures need to speed up so people can attend to their work and other duties. Some of us have self-imposed duties to try and make the world a better place, and we have to get to work too. If we can get a change of heart in our government there will be less of these sad stats.
First World Problem/Moan I suggest.
Perhaps think about the deceased’s family who will want answers to questions about why he/she died.
Takes time to gather that evidence – real life isn’t CSI – don’t solve cases in 5 minutes; between ad breaks.
And if the deceased is no longer complete it takes time to locate and treat the remains with dignity.
3 hours is pretty good i would have thought – often roads are closed for 6-7 hours.
That is part of my point Rightly. Roads closed for 6-7 hours. Matters need to be attended to promptly. Also I have been told that in one case a road was left closed for hours after the important stuff was attended to.
In this case the body would need to be gathered up and handled carefully and considerately. Evidence gathered, 1 hour plus could hardly be avoided.
It needs to be kept to a minimum, the transport cleared as soon as reasonably possible. People are needed at work, they need work to get wages, the wages are earned by doing their job, and multiplied by hundreds, it is a great loss to businesses and individuals.
The more it happens, the more likely there will be more committing suicide or becoming stressed beyond return. Emotion and reason have to be balanced. It’s not something to be resigned and accepting about.
……..the topic I will focus on today, is the dangerous drift towards racial separatism in New Zealand, and the development of the now entrenched Treaty grievance industry. We are one country with many peoples, not simply a society of Pakeha and Maori where the minority has a birthright to the upper hand, as the Labour Government seems to believe.
I’m dizzy at reading this heady stuff from Don Brash in 2004. I’m looking forward to what Willie Jackson has to say on Saturday in Orewa Rotary. Ticket in handbag!
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0401/S00220.htm
Peroxide Blonde
You seem to be colour oriented. Why blonde? And peroxide, is that a healthy treatment? It might be cancer producing as hair dyes and chemicals are very quick to penetrate skin layers. Do you think we should all look the same, and have one standard hair colour? Should it be blonde? Does everyone of importance have to be blonde? So many questions.
What if I like my racial separation, culture and look? Your link goes back to 2004. Many things and thoughts have occurred since Don Brash’s speech then. Are you having trouble adjusting to the new thoughts? Life is full of adjustments and choices and somewhere people have to find something worthwhile to believe in, something that allows for everyone to be respected and honoured.
Do you feel that Don Brash speaks for that, or for you alone and your cohort? How is that going to bring about a happy society where all are respected? Don’t you want that, and if not respect then do you want happy society, and if not happy, do you want a society, and if you don’t want that what sort of crap do you want going on around you?
This article by Graham Adam about Paula Bennett and her unsuitability for her role as Deputy PM is very good:
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/why-paula-bennett-is-trouble-for-the-national-party/
Thank you Karen .Love the bit about Paula likes the way NZers give people a second chance. Doesn’t seem to apply if the person is in the Greens does it?
And also doesn’t apply if the people are:
Homeless
Poor
Solo mothers
Solo fathers
Disabled
In fact, it only seems to apply to rich people and National ministers.
It’s not just second chances either – Nick Smith’s been given more lives than a herd of cats.
A ha well Gareth Morgan is the man to deal with him. I know who I’d rather have, and a few less cats, perhaps with micro chips. I don’t know what sort of chip N Smith needs but please someone find one suitable.
Checkpoint did a great job last night with its story of the chaos in the ICU unit at Dunedin Hospital. Only 6 ICU beds, just increased to 8 and there will be 10 in 13 months time where I heard someone say they need 18. Morning Report continued the story this morning saying “bumping” (where an operation is cancelled at the last minute due to lack of resources) is co common it has become a joke in the wards.
Another news story doing the rounds yesterday (at least on RNZ) was a report that said that poor people in Auckland now pay more than 50% of their income in housing costs.
Chronic public (not private) health under-funding and a housing crisis. Surely Labour’s no-tax-cuts to help solve these issues coupled with the Green’s more humane benefit regime will resonate on 23rd September?
Coupled with a bunch of POME wankers who gutter the NHS, are now siting in admin and top managerial roles in our hospital system.
This is privatization by making the public system fall over.
They should be called on this rubbish, ever day.
From DTB and I take issue with the below about public servants. https://thestandard.org.nz/how-much-is-mike-hosking-paid-by-tvnz/#comment-1357478
‘Bumbling incompetence in management in public service’. Sounds like a spray of grumbling about everybody but ‘me’ being bumbling. I think it is a carry-on from the mantra of there being fat in the system, and cutting it out and getting a lean running machine will result in exponential gains in productivity etc.
When it comes to the public service try looking at Harrison and the psychopathic way she ran her manor. See below. ‘the caravan of love’. If the people could just get on with their jobs with adequate mentoring by managers they would achieve and be proud of their department’s efforts and effectiveness. All the rest is an excuse for ego-flashing.
Instead they can be prey to the machinations of human resources gurus with team building projects that bear no relation to their work. There are vanity projects meant to get compliance which can be expensive and involve considerable disruption to work and private life, going rock climbing for instance, something where you push yourself beyond your normal boundaries. Getting teamwork and compliance could be accomplished easier by giving them squaddie army drill and forming a marching team with flash uniforms performing at contests and high days an holidays.
Some business entities pay staff to do work day in the community for the community, but that is more private business. When you work in the government you are supposed to be doing that, so don’t have to put yourself out getting involved with the public in some helping way.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/94917859/Fraudster-Joanne-Harrison-and-the-Ministry-of-Transports-caravan-of-love
and
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/92621016/clandestine-rendezvous-plotting-revealed-in-joanne-harrison-transport-ministry-fraud-case
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/6k2tpj/fyi_ministry_of_transport_has_put_all_the_joanne/
and
More in google under keywords – Joanne Harrison and team building in Transport
The public service has been degraded by the cult of neo liberalism and PR management and particularly the complete lack of trust in the public service workers and any agencies receiving government funds and input, The lack of acceptance of responsibility for proper and correct management of government, obssessive accoounting for every hour and every penny, unreasonably high targets, by targeting itself of chosen outcomes instead of overall performance to a mission and vision statement, and by the desire and determination of the neoliberal government to cut government to matchbox size and then set that alight, after its functions have been passed over to profit-making entities in the private sector.
That wasn’t me but DoublePlusGood.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/95110555/metiria-turei-campaigned-for-political-parties-but-didnt-work-while-committing-benefit-fraud
The story continues…. I dont think that this exactly strengthens her argument.
Unless the Greens increase their vote by 2% on polling day, the result will be pinned on Turei.
Not unfair I think.
And if that Green vote is strong, James’ll be singing Metiria’s praises from the roof-tops.
It may happen – there’s this anomalous poll that’s been running recently that hasn’t resulted in the traditional Gower gotcha story:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/new-zealand-election-2017-the-big-issues-have-your-say.html
The Greens have been doing uncharacteristically well – now a self-selected poll isn’t likely to be valid unless the numbers are very large – but Metiria’s stand is the best candidate to explain the result if it is not an artifact of poor sampling design.
Well of course she didn’t work you ass. She had a tiny baby. It’s a 24 hr job you know or perhaps you don’t know being an ignorant red-neck.
I won’t be wasting my time reading a crappy newshub (?) article but so what… if she did actively help out in a campaign. She probably stuffed envelopes somewhere with baby sleeping in her pram alongside her. Jesus, the bigotry and misogyny from these right wingers is mind boggling.
Even Mums with new born babes are allowed to go out and have a bit of social contact with other people.
Yep James and ilk I’ll have no fucken idea. Their paltry brains cannot compute probably because they are immature, sad, right wing wankers.
I have more idea than somebody who wont even read the link then makes false assumptions.
Yeah you probably aren’t sad are you – what a dim creep you are James.
No, really, you don’t.
Perhaps if you read it – she was actually standing for seats – not just stuffing envelopes.
Thats not just helping out.
Of course they are – and a good thing when they do.
Whats not OK is standing for parliament and committing fraud at the same time.
See – its the fraud bit that is the bad bit – you understand that right?
Political participation is a human right James.
You don’t lose it just because a useless far-right government dooms half the country to poverty.
oh, so HALF the country lives in poverty now, does it? Citation needed.
Home ownership is headed south of 50%.
This waster government has done nothing to deal with the trend – ergo half the country is in poverty or headed that way.
Try to keep up.
So not owning a home is now a sign of poverty, is it?
First I’ve heard of that being used as a measure. I’m trying to keep up, but it is difficult when you just keep making stuff up.
I’m not making stuff up – you’re failing to extrapolate from the data – NZ now has the most unaffordable housing in the OECD. And far from the best wages.
Even the meanest intelligence can join those two dots to conclude that not owning a home predicates poverty.
You might recall Shamu (the economist, not the anthropocidal orca) used to maintain that renting was fine and this obsession with owning your own home didn’t matter. He has reversed that stance, in one of those rare (vanishingly rare among economists) instances of observation overturning theoretical bias.
Try to keep up.
“Even the meanest intelligence can join those two dots to conclude that not owning a home predicates poverty.”
I disagree with your conclusion that not owning a home predicates poverty, which must mean I have no intelligence, according to you.
Cheer up – There may be a few abyssal flatworms that can still look up to you.
BWAHAHAHA
McGillicuddy Serious and ALCP campaigns are NOT the same as running for labgrnnat, by any stretch of the imagination.
Except, apparently, in a feverish tory’s warped little brain. Fuck, were you even being serious? Did you omit a sarc tag or smiley face, maybe?
So beneficiaries aren’t allowed to have lives? No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?
The irony here in the latest round of righties feeling offended is that she chose to spend her time doing politics. Quelle horreur that beneficiaries might have a political voice. And of course they haven’t, which is why we are in the situation we are today as a country, where for the first time in 30 years the political class have stepped up and given the underclasses an actual voice not just talked about them.
“No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?”
Of course not.
But you dont get to spend all your time going for government (which she was) then saying that she had no choice but to defraud the government for money.
If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.
But – thats her choice – stand for the serious party – and not work and defraud the government.
She didn’t spend all her time going for govt. She had a baby, was raising it and going to law school.
“If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.”
Yes, as I just said, you think that beneficiaries, esp solo mums, aren’t allowed to have spare time or consequently agency in how they spend that time or have fun or a life. You think that you should get to decide what is best for benes or solo mums.
Don’t worry, we get it, this has been the message for many decades now. It’s not new. Now that Turei is pushing back, it’s being exposed for the piece of shit values that it is.
This total denigration of Metiria by the right is to totally close down any analysis/discussion of the Greens humane social welfare policy. They will push this to the max. I’m surprised the Greens didn’t realise that this would happen, after all it is text book procedure to shoot the messenger.
Yes, and pretty sure they did realise this but decided it was worth the risk. That task now for lefties, progressives, and anyone who gives a shit, is to make sure the narrative gets changed permanently to one of beneficiaries are people too. There is so much in that that underpins all of neoliberalism.
+111
Solo mums can do what they want just don’t expect society to fund it beyond the necessities, if they want more take ownership of your own life and make the right choices You don’t have the right to unilaterally decide you are above the law or determine what you feel what you are entitled to Tough but thats life No one owes you a living
aka “it’s better to starve then bend the rules”. Actually, more like, it’s better for those people over there that I hate to starve than for them to be helped. Works both ways.
The starving narrative is bs weka and you know it, like she had no other choices to avoid starvation, granny and indeed loses dad was going to sit by and let that happen as one example, get real
If you think there are no kids and parents and other benes in NZ that don’t routinely go without adequate food and nutrition, you are either extremely naive or extremely stupid. Much more likely is you are just a bigot who doesn’t give a shit.
In Meteria case it’s BS, don’t extrapolate my point, please also desist with standard left wing attack lines it gets a bit boring and is not an arguement , you forgot, projecting, hating the poor, only the left care , racist homophobic, mysoginist ( just to save you the time)
At 9.3.1.1.3 you talked about solo mums. That’s what I am responding to.
If all you can do is post hatred against the poor, then yes I will keep pointing it out.
Boohoo poor red, can’t handle being called out on the narrow bigot he is. Boohoo, cry me a river.
Love how you know her situation 20 years ago better than she did and does, Red.
Self defeating there red. the necessities mean food and roof over your head. Which when national reduced the benefits by 25% meant the necessities were not covered. And she fudged it to get the necessities.
But sure live in you deserving and undeserving poor lala land. Where we have the western worlds largest homeless problem, growing poverty and the highest suicide rates.
No one owes you a living, so does that mean you support an end to inheritance laws?
To Red @9.3.1.1.3.
All I can say about your comment there is that you typify what is wrong with this Country.
Your total lack of empathy is telling.
Try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes for once.
defraud the government – what about apple? Not seeing you jump up and down about that. But a few hundred dollars, and it’s the end of the world. James go sort out your priorities mate, you’re in amoral land.
And sleep, James! Turei slept at times during the night when her baby was new-born, when she could have been seeking work!
Drag her into the courts, I say! Berate her for her idleness; sleeping when she could have been applying herself to lifting herself out of her self-made mire with a good yank on her boot-straps! James is right in thinking there’s no place in the ACT Party for Metiria!
It’s really interesting the media beat up against Meti, she’s fronted to questions by media, isn’t hiding, MSD are still to take action from a situation that happened near on 30 years ago, and on it goes.
Maybe since the law is so fickle on words, if Meti had described someone as a boarder rather than a flatmate, there would be no issue.
Now she is being slammed for doing voluntary work rather than paid work? Slammed for taking an interest in politics while studying because she realised some of our laws are archaic and wanted to take action to do something about it. How dare she! (sarc.)
Meanwhile… WHAT”S ON THE TAPES TODD? How’s that police investigation going? Why was the PM avoiding giving straight answers in question time yesterday? Why won’t you talk to media Todd?
QFT
The National Party supporters never question the actions of their own leaders which highlights their hypocrisy.
Glenys and Bill were talking about Todd. Todd took his recording to Bill to demand an explanation. Imo.
“Near on 30 years ago” would make it 1987. There you go, making shit up again.
You do understand that that particular language indicates that it’s not precisely accurate don’t… you?
Oh, wait…
RWNJ, is too stupid to understand basic language syntax.
Mhmmm near on 30 years ago Sam, almost 3 decades, more than 2 decades, so near on 30 years ago, closer to 30 than 20.
Sam, what’s on the tapes? Once it is disclosed what is on the tapes, the public will be shocked. True story, NZ is a small place, especially the south island, confidentiality agreement prevents me from sharing more. JS
@ James So she shouldn’t have been involved in politics because she was poor? You would have her working at McDonalds while paying for childcare for her baby-that is for a pittance.
She was working unpaid for the public good by being involved in politics-that is a job. All power to her.
So all those people who carry on about Turei faithfully declare all their taxable income to IRD then?
Im guessing some wont – but I agree that they should be prosecuted as well.
Dosnt make her actions right.
This is the level of ridiculous. James wants to prosecute the teenager who mows my lawns for doing cashies.
I would prefer to start with people that have committed multiple years of fraud and work our way down.
Sure, but you still want to go after the lawn-mowing teenager too. Because the rules are more important than the people.
Why not do it by scale James – the size of benefit ‘frauds’ is eclipsed by frauds like SCF and Apple’s tax evasion. Time is neither here nor there.
Whatever. Why the fuck didn’t she repay then go public. Fuck I’m so pissed off with fucking Turei !!!! I would normally vote Labour but the thought of this sanctimonious fucking fraudster in a Labour led governemnt really turns me off.
Gosh – big frothing frenzy.
Audit Gerry’s term with CERA and you’ll find enough fraud to give him a ten stretch – Collin’s illegal kauri exports likewise. So why make a fuss about Metiria now? Hasn’t offended in decades – and small potatoes anyway.
Did she break your meme?
Or is it that the Gnats’ record is indefensible and she’s the only one you’ve figured out how to attack?
And the solo Mums whose friends try to help out by paying them cash to do their housework.
again – I would prefer to start with people that have committed multiple years of fraud and work our way down.
Weak little James – let’s start with YOU.
James is perfect.
Yes – unless the facts and the law are involved – oh and courage, integrity and honesty – don’t want to mention those pesky concepts.
Value too, and moral relativity.
The IRS did that in the US for a while – turns out there’s a strong correlation between RW nutjobbery and tax evasion.
I’m with you on this one james. We’ll start with the National Party.
Hope your paying living wage to your lawn mowing teenager ie walking the talk and not avoiding paying tax to suppprt welfare system to keep your costs down
I do pay them a living wage.
No. Because I pay for their food and housing as well.
Prosecute everyone; only then can you be sure you’ve punished to ne’er-do-wells and skivers! ACT now!
Yes all of those tips, cash jobs, gifts etc.
Turei was trying to bring her income up to to a living wage so that she could support her baby-some crime that.
Or support the lifestyle she wanted and having a baby, that’s probably more closer to the truth and where she differs from the great majority of law abiding solo mums
I think you will find the majority after ruthinasia fudged the system. They had to. Another example of the economic disconnect from you lot. It’s outstanding how much in lala land you all are.
No issues with housing
No issues with homelessness
No issue with suicide
No issues with a welfare system paying below necessity
Just hate, and up on a pedestal telling the rest of us how to live.
What a great guy you are red, a great guy.
have u ever taken cash or a benefit that should have been declared and not declared it?
Red “probablicises”. A hush falls over the crowd. “Red’s problicising!” a small child whispers, awed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895215
Well – that came as a shock – or not.
Guess its smarter than a silly cup of tea.
Entirely as predicted. The Greens don’t stand in Ōhariū, National tell their voters to vote for Dunne.
Yep – at least National allow their voters to make a choice. Greens and Labour pull their candidate.
There is NO choice idiot – that is what billshitter is saying – vote THIS way if you want …
Marty mars,
At least try and be consistent.
The National candidate will be on the ballot paper, so people do have a choice. In contrast the Greens have actually puled their candidate in the expectation that all Green voters will vote for the Labour candidate.
So less choice on the left side than on the right.
Billshit.
The edict from Bill says it all – learn to read or listen please.
Must be awesome to be the National candidate who gets to play patsy while your leader tells the National voters in your electorate to vote for some other guy. It takes a character like Paul Goldsmith to do it – someone who could write hagiographies of John Banks and Don Brash obviously doesn’t have any requirement for self-respect. I should be surprised National’s been able to find a second candidate so lacking in standards, but for some reason I’m not.
What’s the name of the Green candidate that was pulled, and which electorate?
It would be very odd if Labour also pulled their candidate from Ōhāriu.
A message to the sheep of Ohariu and Epsom
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/95119031/english-calls-for-tactical-voting-in-epsom-ohariu-to-elect-support-party-leaders
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W19ZkFqGT-M/SWvN9B6coBI/AAAAAAAAAp0/5vZxk8xGxUk/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/Ram+harness+(SM).jpg
Don’t get the issue
It’s no different from the Labour working with the Greens or Maori working with Mana.
Neither the Greens nor Mana advocate incest.
http://www.spcs.org.nz/act-leader-jamie-whyte-stands-by-incest-comments-nz-herald/
I would never vote for ACT, but he doesn’t advocate incest.
Unless you want to post an article where he actually does
Unless you want to post an article where he actually does
I just did. in 12.1.1. Maybe you’d like to click on it?
It doesn’t advocate it
Unless I misread it. It says he doesn’t like it, but why should people intervene if between to consenting adults
“He said he was “very opposed” to incest.”
“I don’t think the state should intervene in consensual adult sex or marriage, but there are two very important elements here – consensual and adult”
Again. Where does he advocate incest?
He doesn’t. Morrissey just has a serious problem when it comes to distinguishing between his personal prejudice and rational analysis. It’s not an uncommon problem, but tends to make for obviously and woefully incorrect comments.
The bit where he says that the state shouldn’t intervene between consenting adults.
Where have Labour said don’t vote for our candidate vote for this GP/Mana candidate instead?
You don’t think not actually putting a candidate up so they don’t split the opposition votes is just as bad?
Where have Labour not put up a candidate?
They have worked with the Greens and and have agreed to not stand a Green candidate.
Unless you think this comes for free, then it is just as much collusion
Ok, so Labour don’t have any deal with any other party about not standing candidates or telling their voters to vote for other party’s candidates. Nor have they chosen to not stand in one of the marginal electorates. Glad we got that cleared up.
The Greens, who have almost never runs serious candidates in the seats, and afaik have never stood candidates in all seats, have chosen to not stand in certain seats for a range of reasons, including cost. But they have no deal with Labour and they haven’t told their voters to vote for other party’s candidates.
And you think this makes Labour and the Greens the equivalent of National telling its voters to vote for another party because that’s the only way it can govern?
Riiiight.
Just to make it easy for your. If Labour really did want to do this, they’d have put Kelvin Davis high on the list and told TTT voters to seat vote Harawira and they’d have done a deal with the Greens to also not stand in TTT.
Morrissey – Doctors, dentists, accountants, business owners, school teachers, lawyers, policeman/woman, social workers, nurses, retirees – these are some of the good people i know in Epsom that you refer to as sheep – who the fuck are you to smear these good people just because they don’t agree with your political view.
The sheep are the ones who allowed themselves to be herded to vote—against all their better instincts—for the likes of such reprehensible, comical characters as Rodney Hide and the disastrous Jamie “Lock Up His Sisters” Whyte. I doubt many social workers, nurses, teachers or indeed anyone who is compos mentis would have obeyed the cup of tea directive.
That’s high-grade bullshit, for two reasons:
1. Epsom is a very rich neighbourhood. It’s unlikely voting ACT goes very much against the instincts of many of its wealthier residents.
2. National supporters in Epsom are unlikely to feel dubious about satisfying the request “Please vote for the ACT candidate so that National gets an extra MP.”
Those poor bastards in epsom – ‘its not fair we vote for rubbish, we get rubbish and we are told off by the unwashed, unwaged and unworthy – what about us? Has anyone given a thought for how tough it is with 3 cars and only 2 drivers – why won’t someone fix that problem. It’s racist is what it is’.
The 8th synthetic cannabis death in a month. Fricken hell do something, poor kids are dying.
What’s the bet in a couple of weeks there will be a watered down drug action plan announced that doesn’t do anything but is spoken highly of in the medias.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895225
Twitter lolz.
“Potentially the greatest thread in the era of the Trump presidency” – Obama
https://twitter.com/GCSB_spy/status/889973598361763840
Oh, God! I laughed out loud while also feeling shame for taking pleasure in cruelty against the cognitively-challenged.
I wish I’d kept the tweet the other day about how many people googled Scaramouche.
That was the first thing I thought – “Oh, like in Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh, wait, that was Scaramouche.”
Trump could use a Rafael Sabatini superman about now.
I’ve been thinking about Diana and her boys. It really struck me how they had suppressed much emotions around the death of their mum and that by talking about that had helped them remember her and consolidate the loss and carry on with life. Imagine now being those boys and your mother had killed herself. There are a lot of kids, parents, siblings and friends dealing with the sudden loss of their loved ones. So much stuff to work through – the guilt, sadness and fear. How many people receiving assistance have killed themselves? No one counts them so we don’t know. How many kids dealing with the suicide of a parent who was receiving assistance? We don’t count them, we don’t know.
Interesting critique of the New Zealand Greens here.
Essentially, in Wellington they are great at getting elected, but really poor at getting anything Green actually done.
A Green credibility problem.
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=101313
Dos muy estúpidos músicos puertorriqueños
You’ve probably heard that Spanish pop record “Despacito” over the last few weeks, by a couple of Puerto Ricans called Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi. It’s the most popular piece of Latin nonsense since the gorgeous “Ketchup” song of fifteen years ago—indeed it’s now the most played song ever, in any language.
Among those who have heard it are supporters of the democratic government in Venezuela. One of them had the inspired idea of doing away with the inane original lyrics and turning it into an anthem of hope and support for democratic values…
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/remix-of-despacito-from-venezuela-s-president-nicolas-maduro-1008281667983
Great idea, right? Improving a piece of dreck, recycling a piece of meretricious rubbish like “Despacito” is part of a timeless and honored tradition.
Sadly, however, the perpetrators of the original were not happy. Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have unleashed blimpish and confused outbursts against the democratic Venezuelan government: “Your dictatorial regime is a joke,” claimed Fonsi—or was it Daddy Yankee?—and the other one (Fonsi? Daddy Yankee?) claimed that “the Venezuelan people are crying out for their freedom.”
So what motivated these two Puerto Rican pop-putzes to indulge in the most absurd display of bewilderment since Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey declaimed at an awards ceremony? Well, just have a look at Daddy Yankee’s murky past: he’s a self-declared “Christian”, and a Republican, and voted for John McCain in 2008. You can be sure he’s a Rump supporter as well. He hates democracy…..
http://hollowverse.com/daddy-yankee/
Luis Fonsi doesn’t seem to have any ideas about anything. I’m pretty sure all the energy of this anti-democracy rant comes from Daddy Yankee, and that Fonsi just follows his lead.
There are many thoughtful and well informed Puerto Rican commentators, such as Juan González, Ululy Martinez and Oscar Lopez Rivera. However, as is so often the case, the Puerto Ricans getting nearly all the publicity at the moment are—thanks to the political choices of the media—two unfeasibly ignorant, lazy, and stupid ones.
Jim Rogers predicts worst crash in his lifetime is on it’s way
Currency-issuing governments can keystroke their outstanding debt into oblivion
That’s a really important point. It means all that ‘debt’ upon a government’s books can be written off instantly while making no difference to the economy.
Who actually writes the bile that Hosking reads in his NZH column and video?
Why does he say at 2min08 “I hope I’m reading this right” if he wrote it himself? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895130
And to be picky, the absurd heading
Mike Hosking: Metiria Turei should know – knowledge of a crime is a crime itself
means that a hell of a lot of criminal lawyers must be committing crime. By this measure Bill English is probably a criminal too.
Bill English Is, “a criminal”. He rorted his accommodation allowance.
Something that would get most people sacked, and probably reported to the police.
Is this the start of the end of the combustion engine?
With Britain following France’s lead, it won’t be long before it is adopted by the entire E.U. as well so long as Merkel can withstand the pressure.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/25/britain-to-ban-sale-of-all-diesel-and-petrol-cars-and-vans-from-2040
Note also London is imposing a 10 Pound charge on hundreds of thousands of older vehicles – because they are far more likely to be more polluting.
Can we expect any party in New Zealand to propose such a move?
2040, bit late by then. If I buy a petrol car in 2039 someone will still be driving it 20 years later.
Oh my – wanting to grow hemp – bad, medical cannabis – bad, and a side issue – will lose election. Purposing somthing that will not help one bit – election winner.
The sad part is people will swallow that crap whole.
Maybe, when we’re all living in Auckland.
Winston just asked in QT, if National were preparing to sell Transpower. WOW!
Denied of course by Joyce. Letter tabled.
Q6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements; if so, how?
Winston’s question:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=196207
“Finance Minister Steven Joyce denies plans to sell off Transpower.”
Who knows. Might be a long term plan though Joyce says businesses are always putting up propositions. Mmmmm..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895459
Little was terrible this morning on breakfast with Jack Tame, the man has trouble putting coherent sentences together or thinking on his feet Surely the simple answer to Tame line of question to catch angry out in regard to what will dropping 30000 in immigration have on our GDp would have been, “nothing as per capita nothing will change” , little was right it was a stupid question but he got owned by Tame with a even more stupid lack of an answer and could not shut it down, beyond stuttering every labour policy and mother pie statement as an answer, must do better, epic fail
Right winger concern troll offers lefties advice about how to win election 🙄
Red’s bored and Red’s boring.
Bored people bore people.
The green party is doomed.
dad4 – you’ve stumbled into a decent blog-space here, accidentally, I’m sure and you’ll be feeling insecure and not a little bit alien!
Quick! Get back to Kiwiblog before you catch something! This place is awash with rational thinking and consideration: scoot!
Now now Robert, no need for the hasty. Seeing d4j back here has made me come all over nostalgic.
me too! (well not really).
RedLogix – my heart too, skipped a beat at the signature on the 7:53pm comment, and while I stand in awe at the elegant simplicity of dad’s comment, unencumbered as it is by any weight, depth or value, I clearly remember the path dad’s comments, when in train, take; the inevitable downward, pride-defying spiral that always ended with a graceless splat-landing and banishment by the moderators to place where dull mischief foments and flippery-feet flap.
Doomed I tell ye- Doomed! 👹
Actually, it was Tuesday morning Red Tuesday the 25th. I saw that and I have got to agree, that little obnoxious prat, another Hoskins in the making definitely had a “gotcha” moment with Little. I don’t think little has problems in answering I think his main problem is he hasn’t a strong commanding voice. However wasn’t the little arseole smug about it, it was written all over his dial that said, ” aren’t I a clever little shit.”
Tried a similar exercise with Metiria Turei this morning didn’t he, and boy didn’t he come a cropper, she shut the little prat well and truly up and was he fucking pissed off about it his face was like thunder.
Tame has been groomed for this role for years.