As I am the first (yay!) let me propose an idea… lets try have a day without Trump vs. Reality. Now I know I am guilty of prodding the pro-Trumpers but I never start these discussions.
Lets focus on how we can change NZ’s political landscape and where National has let us all down (i.e. with everything).
Also, I don’t know how many of you are hip-hop fans but this DJ Shadow ft. Run The Jewels is a monster of a tune with an epic video: https://vimeo.com/180016993
I have a problem. Felt sorry for a local black stray so have been leaving a small bowl of cat biscuits in the garage each evening. Trouble is, it must be an un-neutered tom and he’s started peeing on things in the garage. I can’t stop feeding him now because it would be cruel. I can’t adopt him (and have him done) as I have a large, beautiful ginger girl who sleeps 20 hours a day on her own sheepskin rug and would not allow another feline to set foot in her house. Now there’s another cat vying for the biscuit bowl and I’m worried I might become known as – God forbid – the “local cat lady”. 😯
Do you have a local cat rescue group? They can provide a trap, advice and support, and will probably pay for the neutering. They can probably rehome if the cat isn’t feral.
SPCA might help too. Or come vets have stray cat funds to get cats fixed. The big issue is to get it neutered so it doesn’t add to the feral cat population, and so it isn’t fighting with other cats.
Well, I’d go ahead and catnap him and have him done anyway. Even if he’s got a human slave elsewhere in the neighbourhood, it’s pretty antisocial for a tom to be freely wandering around in full possession of his nuts. Probably won’t stop him peeing on everything, tho. I s’pose to cover my ass I’d check with the local SPCA or Citizens Advice Bureau just what the laws were around that.
I’d go and build a little shelter outside the garage to put the food in, rather than letting him in the garage. Then if he got friendly over time, I’d consider seeing if I could introduce him into the house. There’s plenty of advice on the web how to introduce cats without them hating each other.
Same for the second stray.
It’s too late, you’re probably already the crazy cat lady. Own it.
Unless the number of people in your household outnumbers the number of cats, in which case you’ll probably be overheard talking to humans just as much as to felines.
But if you have pets in addition to the cats, especially exotic ones like huge rabbits or a llama, you’ll just be known as the family with the zoo.
Don’t forget the cat just regards you as ‘staff’. If you stop feeding it, it wont be cruel. The cat will just move on to the next free meal place (It’s probably got half a dozen around the neighbourhood anyway).
So there ya go. Problem solved.
Also, that it’s spraying, doesn’t mean it’s not neutered, just that it’s marking your garage as it’s own.
(It’s probably got half a dozen around the neighbourhood anyway).
Don’t think so Brigid. It was very thin. I’ve solved the spraying problem. It’s confined to a table and chair so I drape an old towel over them each day. Remove towel each morning and hang outside, then at end of week wash them and start over again.
I live opposite two schools and it is known people dump their cats there when they no longer want them or they’re shifting somewhere they can’t take them. Too lazy to take them to the SPCA or some other cat agency who might be able to re-home them.
I think I’d have had to admit to cat lady status about 20 years ago when I was feeding 8 strays! There seems to be a sign outside our house that only cats see that indicates a potential home as I have taken in many strays over the years – never once needed to go out and get a cat. I always trap them and get them neutered – it is the only way to control the cat population. Currently have three.
Hint for stopping cats spraying – get some citronella from the chemist and put a couple of drops into water then wipe the surface of anywhere the cat has sprayed. Cats hate the smell and will stop spraying in that area.
Thanks for that Karen. I will definitely try the citronella. It’s good for sprinkling into stagnant water (drains etc.) to prevent mosquitos from breeding too.
No they really don’t. John Key is popular PM that the people of NZ keep voting back in, is someone that manages to make NZ punch well above its weight, especially in trade, manages to maintain cordial relationships with many, much larger economies and will soon win his fourth election
Key resembles Trump – a shoddy charlatan with an interest in girls his daughter’s age, no vision for anything but self enrichment, and incapable of telling the truth about anything. They are media products – they don’t represent their people or anything of value.
“A normal person must
dismiss them with disgust
and weep for those who trusted them”
What kind of two bit analysis is that?; Key is an Investment Bankster at heart, and Clinton is a highly paid apparatchik of the Hedge Fund and Investment Banking Wall St crowd.
Seen Trumps new advisors? Steve Bannon from the alt-right movement (read alt-right as white nationalist, hardcore conservatives) and Darth Vader of the US media Roger Ailes (currently embroiled in major sexual harrasement scandals).
Not so much these days, young man. Key’s Net Favourability ratings are now pretty damn close to zero (meaning as many voters hold Unfavourable as Favourable views of him). Meanwhile, he’s now consistently polling below 40% as Preferred PM. So, basically, the thrill has gone for voters, he’s lost his Mojo (and saying But look at Andrew’s numbers ! won’t disguise this new, cold hard reality).
Having said that, it’s true that, by comparison with the deeply-disliked Hillary and Trumpie, Key’s mediocre ratings don’t look quite so bad.
You have just done exactly what swordfish said you would do and they’re right, it’s not disguising reality. Obviously Key is still ‘more popular’ but he’s trending down, which was exactly swordfish’s point that you’ve decided to ignore. So not so much antagonistic as it is a predictable distraction attempt.
Not really though I can how you might take that. Key is trending downwards yes but I think it really does matter to take into account the level from which hes descending in comparison to the level at which his opponents are currently at.
For instance if Key is at 40% and falling and little is at 7% and static then its going to take quite a while for Little and Key to be close and probably not before the next election
Actually I disagree on this (surprise surprise) the people who dislike Key have already made up their minds about this, same as the people who like Key and the rest of the population will just be going m’eh about it, I mean its The Edge they have form in doing stupid things anyway
“Yeah I know it sounds like an antagonistic reply”
I’ve never known you to be antagonistic, Puckers. You’re a relatively congenial, relaxed, laid back sort of a bloke. One might almost say: a kind of “Puckish Rogue”.
On the one hand, it’s self-evident that Key is well ahead in the Preferred PM stakes. But that’s just one measure. By no means a trivial matter, but arguably not the be-all and end-all either.
On net Favourability, Little has equalled or found himself marginally ahead of Key over the last 18 months. That’s not to say more people positively Favour Little than Key. They don’t. But more voters hold a positive rather than Negative view of Little (albeit with a fairly large Unsure component – which is natural for an Opposition Leader). By contrast, Key is now a Polariser in the way that Muldoon once was. He’s still Favoured by a marginally greater number of voters than Little is, but by the same token he’s also managed to alienate a significantly larger number of voters than the Opposition Leader.
So, at one and the same time, New Zealand’s answer to The Man of La Mancha manages to be both more popular than Little (larger %) and yet also more disliked (larger %).
Interestingly, Winnie’s moved back into Favourable territory in recent years. Voter perceptions of him had been quite negative during the latter part of the Clark Govt and early stages of Key’s first term. (Goes hand-in-hand, of course, with NZF’s recent revival)
Key’s net rating is now down in low single figures.
>
>
Reid Research – Leader Performance Ratings
(Key vs Clark at same stage in Govt cycle)
Net Positive Ratings
(Unfortunately, I don’t have much post-2013 Reid Research data for Key on this particular measure – just one or two bits and pieces. So, I’ll restrict it to Key’s first term)
…………………. John Key …. vs …… Helen Clark
2011 …………… + 55 …………………….. + 59 …………… 2002
2012 ……………. + 30 …………………… + 48 …………… 2003
2013 ……………. + 25 …………………… + 39 ……….. … 2004
So, you can see that Clark’s numbers were superior to Key’s and she wasn’t quite the polariser that some might assume. Mind you, probably fair to say she tended to be respected rather than liked.
I’m not sure it was Clark per se, that made the change.
There was:
a contentious or unpopular anti-smacking bill
The strange journey of Chris Carter
A pledge card that wasn’t the vote winner its authors imagined
Leader appeal or charisma can be important, but it cannot redeem conspicuous non-performance indefinitely.
Those candidates certainly tend to ruin ones faith in primaries as a way to choose candidates don’t they?
Perhaps you should nominate the people who you think should have been chosen.
Looking only at the people who did run I think the best choices would have been Martin O’Malley from Maryland and John Kasich from Ohio.
I don’t think you can suggest people who never attempted to get the nomination. Therefore I don’t count people like Senator Warren, who refused to run, or anyone who withdrew before the first primary.
Can we have an open, unrestricted primary system in New Zealand?
Imagine if anyone at all could vote in the election of a party leader, which is really the equivalent of the US Presidential primaries.
We would end up with John Key being elected as leader of the Labour Party as well as the National Party. It would probably give them a much better chance in the General Election of course.
Some States in the US used to allow this. In 1946 Earl Warren ran in, and won, the primaries of the Republican, Democrat and Progressive parties. He thus ran virtually unopposed in the election.
Primaries aren’t like voting for the leader of a party. There is no point to them in a parliamentary system.
Earl Warren was running for Governor, and cross-filing (running in more that one party primary) was abolished in 1959, so it’s a historical anomaly really.
They have them in the US for Congress don’t they Are you meaning to say it is not a parliamentary system?
“so it’s a historical anomaly really”
Well yes. You did notice that I said “Some States in the US used to allow this”. I didn’t want anyone to think it was still possible.
Yes, both houses of the Congress of the United States have primaries, and yes it is not a Parliamentary system, and yes, I was reiterating that cross-filing hasn’t worked like that for more than 50 years.
yep, you said… ho hum – so nice you want to get trump up to the speed of clinton (who you hate with a vengeance) – just shows how disconnected with reality you are.
Who is more likely to lead the USA into another war, Clinton who already has form in this area or Trump who it seems like he wants to move a more isolationist agenda?
trump is a liar with political inexperience, clinton is a liar with political experience – as cv notes above. Anyone trusting trump is delusional. To say he is more or less likely to do anything is really dreaming – he is a liar, a bigot, a shallow thinker, a kneejerker – oh and he won’t lead the yanks to war – total delusion and idiocy puck
Personally, I reckon Clinton and Trump are equally likely to increase US military combat deployments somewhere in the world, most likely Syria, but several spots in Africa and maybe the philipines.
My concern with Trump is that his lumbering oafishness and narcissistic bombast will spark a major confrontation between nuclear powers. If he doesn’t kick off india and pakistan, or nuke someone off his own bat, then his plan to boost NATO forces under different command structures increases the probability of a flashpoint between putin and EU.
Even though SthK and Japan will tell him to get fucked when he demands they build their own nukes, the fact that he even floated the idea means that he has no idea about the geopolitical situation he wants to be a key decisionmaker in.
So “start a war” is even odds. “Start the last war” and Trump is far more likely to do it that Clinton, imo.
“…Trump has said a lot of scary (and racist) things on the campaign trail, from calling undocumented immigrants rapists to saying he’d ban Muslims from the country to urging supporters at his rallies to attack protesters.
But his answer Tuesday night was especially terrifying; it revealed what it means to put an ignorant blowhard with a head full of jagged rocks in charge of enough munitions to blow up the entire world several times over.
Let’s go through his answer. If you didn’t see it in real time, know that you should experience the stomach-churning terror you feel when you climb that first hill on an especially tall roller coaster…
…Hewitt: “Of the three legs of the triad, though, do you have a priority? I want to go to Sen. Rubio after that and ask him.”
Trump: “I think – I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.”
The devastation is very important to him. That flailing nonsense is the best Trump can manage. A reasonably well-informed fifth grader could come up with something better.
The problem isn’t simply that Trump doesn’t have detailed plans to make sure our nuclear weapons are safely maintained. The problem is that he doesn’t understand even the most basic premise of a relatively simple question. He couldn’t muster a “I’ll make sure we have the most modern, best nuclear arsenal the world has ever seen,” because he didn’t know what he was being asked.
Imagine handing over the nuclear codes to a man with the comprehension skills of Donald J. Trump. Do you honestly believe he would understand the consequences of using them? Trump is obsessed with tough-guy machismo. How much provocation does he need to press that button?…”
Clinton is far more likely to start minor wars around the world (Syria, Libya, etc.) , and she is far more likely to accidentally start a big fucking war (China, Russia, both) with her neocons friends ramping up the rhetoric in order to raise both tensions and defense procurement contracts.
As for people saying that Trump is more likely to press the button.
Your ignorance is massive.
Obama has green lit the development of a whole new generation of “more useable” low yield precision nuclear weapons which are promised to – get this – cause less environmental damage.
Hillary and her neocon associates actually consider that a nuclear war might be winnable with these kinds of new weapons.
your opinions have very low cred in my book because of your fawning of trump – it has sort of coloured my view of even the things you write that make sense – for instance your cc posts when you support a denier – can’t compute that one and given up trying – btw the difference argument you use to justify the above are rubbish so please don’t waste space with it here.
btw – I just think you’ve jumped the shark – no personal animosity though, although you can pontificate a bit but then I have my own wee foibles too so all good 🙂
Hillary and her neocon associates actually consider that a nuclear war might be winnable with these kinds of new weapons.
Your link has absolutely nothing to do with that assertion, nor does it give any indication of what Clinton’s advice to Obama was while he was making that decision.
More to the point, in terms of threats to world peace how does the B21 package compare with Trump’s desire to discard the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?
“Several months ago, a foreign policy expert on the international level went to advise Donald Trump. And three times [Trump] asked about the use of nuclear weapons. Three times he asked at one point if we had them why can’t we use them,” Scarborough said on his “Morning Joe” program.
He seems stupider than Palin, if that were possible.
I guess the top brass of the military could choose to resign on the spot, rather than accede to his orders if they would put the US in greater danger.
Talking of Clinton, this funny clip was interesting. The zoomed in image of a Secret Service man standing beside Clinton and holding a thing which was allegedly an emergency hyperdermic. Off we go again on health issues. http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11700526
Drones were extremely dangerous machines which had the potential to kill people if they collided with a vehicle.
The razor sharp rotor blades could also inflict severe injury or death said X-craft Enterprises director Philip Solaris.
X-craft is a CAA approved drone operator providing emergency, forestry, commercial, farming and survey services using fixed wing and multi-rotor drones.
Solaris said pizza delivery by drones was a long way off due to strict Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations and health and safety laws.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges said the (Domino’s drone delivery) trial was a valuable opportunity for the CAA.
New aviation rules came into effect in August last year to regulate and enable the use of drones for recreational and commercial purposes in New Zealand.
CAA spokeswoman Philippa Lagan said because Domino’s application was under consideration, it could not comment publicly on it.
Domino’s will be able to fly pizza deliveries later this year if its application to carry out operation is approved, she said.
A decision was expected to be made in a few weeks’ time.
Al-Jazeera has a documentary on at the moment called Drone. It is about the scary manufacture and use by Obama and others of drones killing innocent civilians.
Henry interviewed some dick from Domino Pizza’s, who was explaining the new proposed drone delivery service. Henry asked this guy how would they be so accurate in the delivery and this twat said it uses military technology to make sure it gets to where it should go. On TV1 News last night prat Bridges was foaming at the mouth how WUNDEROUSE this was going to be.
An open message to Dominoe Pizza’s,
First, shove your Pizza’s right up your arse. Also, since a kid I have been a dead shot with a catapult, and my property is a no-fly zone.
G4S, which has provided security at the event for 20 years, is understood to be concerned about staff safety after Labour voted for a boycott over its prison contracts and links to Israel.
It follows a warning from Len McCluskey, the Unite boss, that the conference could be cancelled unless a provider is found urgently.
Sources close to the company warned that the short notice it was given and previous incidents at the event, including staff being spat at and verbally abused, made it impossible for G4S to accept the offer.
I’m personally not surprised they don’t want to do business with Labour
What’s even more surprising (actually no it’s not) is that Labour doesn’t have the expertise internally to conduct its own ad-hoc security operation, staffing and managing it via Labour supporting working class former security, police and armed forces personnel.
Hell, in the old days, you’d just put a couple of hundred Labour membership coal miners on the job. Not many of them around any more.
These days you need reasonable odds that your venue security know how to get someone out without braining them, won’t use their position as an opportunity to harrass people, and know how to spot a threat beyond “brown skin”.
Or at least have the reasonable expectation that your supplier has done those checks and training.
Dunno what the regulatory environment for venue security in the UK is though.
Indeed. In fact, if I were a corporate outfit like G4S I would try and ensure that the bureaucratic standards, health and safety regulations and paperwork requirements were so extensive that it basically snowed under every small security operator.
Yeah, damned safety regulations. Bureaucracy gone mad. What’s a little restraint asphyxia or neck injury between friends?
Large event with thousands of attendees. Party conferences are routinely the targets of protestors, and on occasion terrorists and nutbars with weapons. If security mishandle a situation there will be cameras there to record it and people willing to use it to humiliate the client organisation. The article linked to above said 100 security staff – most of those would be pulling long hours. They all need proper clothing and equipment. These days camera and operations staff will be needed. Communication protocols will need to be organised and integrated with the police and event centre management. Everyone needs a radio and spare batteries on a charger, frequencies can’t block each other, and probably a couple of different nets will be required. All staff will need to be aware and able to operate within the legal and media anvironment – no clocking off or being provoked by youtube wannabes.
Oh, and maybe knowing how to not deal with a suspicious device would be an advantage.
But yeah, let’s just recruit a few likely lads every morning, what could go wrong…
But in a new study, Australian researchers found that the exercise is doing more harm than good—when they compared girls in Australia who participated in the program to girls who did not, eight percent of the girls who carried the doll gave birth at least once while they were still in high school, compared with four percent of girls in the control group who never worked with the doll. Rates of pregnancy overall were higher in girls who used the infant simulator—nine percent had at least one abortion, where the control group’s rate was six percent.
” Movements for social change that want to win always take each temporary defeat as a learning experience, draw lessons from the failure, and change their tactics, strategy, and framing of the issue based on those lessons, then fling themselves back into the struggle with a better chance at victory. They also look at other movements that succeed and ask themselves, “How can we do the same thing with our cause?” Movements for social change that respond to failure by reaching for excuses and trying to convince themselves and everyone else that the battle could never have been won in the first place, on the other hand, get a shallow grave and a water-color epitaph.”
“And the movement against anthropogenic climate change? If you’ve been following along, dear reader, you’ll already have noticed that it fell victim to all four of the bad habits just enumerated—the four horsepersons, if you will, of the apocalyptic failure of radicalism in our time. It allowed itself to be distracted from its core purpose by a flurry of piggybacking interests; it got turned into a captive constituency of the Democratic Party; it suffers from a bad case of purity politics, in which (to raise a point I’ve made before) anyone who questions the capacity of renewable resources to replace fossil fuels, without conservation taking up much of the slack, is denounced as a denialist; and it has consistently pandered to the privileged, pursuing policies that benefit the well-to-do at the expense of the working poor. Those bad habits helped foster the specific mistakes I enumerated in my earlier post-mortem on climate change activism, and led the movement to crushing defeat.”
“Archdruid – by a long way the wankiest name ever for a blogger – is the biggest Cassandra out there. They revel in the idea of defeat, because it absolves them of agency and hence the responsibility for action in the actual world.
The climate change activists are winning. The deniers are a fringe who get ridiculed. Almost all world governments are aligned on goals that were never deemed agreeable. Who knows whether we meet them, but that’s a different point to persuasion. Spare me from this wank about “crushing defeat”.
Give yourselves a break on environmentalism as well. No MSM media outlet directly celebrates environmental destruction anymore.
Same goes for water quality in New Zealand – we are seeing a really rapid turnaround in commentary, and there’s more to come. Just reflect back to the kind of coverage environmentalists got in the 1980s and 1990s, not that long ago.
YOU are SO judgmental – and you base it on malformed understandings, deliberate mistruths and incomplete nay childish interpretations of what you think is coming up. Because let’s be honest, you haven’t really read much of the archdruid have you, the name even is anathema to you because of your christian beliefs. You know as little of JMG as you do the Māori King – yet you are oh so quick to try and put the boot in – sad and pathetic or just your loving belief system???
Happened to read this about Fox News’s Sean Hannity in the New York Times-
“Mr. Hannity’s show has all the trappings of traditional television news — the anchor desk, the graphics and the patina of authority that comes with being part of a news organization…..But because Mr. Hannity is “not a journalist,” he apparently feels free to work in the full service of his candidate without having to abide by journalism’s general requirements for substantiation and prohibitions…….”
TC yes but I think those on your list regard themselves as journalists (I dunno who Williams and Smith are).
The main difference being Hoskings has stated that he’s not a journalist so like Hannity he assumes carte lanche
“There was a record German budget surplus (18.5bn Euros and +1.2% of German GDP) after Q2 growth of 0.4%…. “The run of surpluses has allowed Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to increase state spending on roads, housing and digital infrastructure ahead of federal elections in 2017, while sticking to his goal of running a balanced budget.” (Reuters)”
A government that can do this would get my support. “increase state spending on roads, housing and digital infrastructure”, but in NZ prioritise state spending on education, housing and health. Get on with it !!!!!
I’d say thats possible because they don’t bribe their voters with tax breaks .
From wikipedia
”Income tax rate in 2015[edit]
No income tax is charged on the basic allowance, which is €8,354 for unmarried persons and €16,708 for jointly assessed married couples. Beyond this threshold, the marginal tax rate increases linearly from 14% to 24% for a taxable income of €13,469 (€26,938 for married couples). In the subsequent interval up to a taxable income of €52,881 (€105,762 for married couples), the marginal tax rate increases linearly from 24% to 42%. The last change of rates occurs at a taxable income of €250,730 (€501,460 for married couples) when the marginal tax rate jumps from 42% to 45%. The course of the marginal tax rate and the resulting average tax rate are depicted in the graph to the right.”
. How does she do It ? A confident list of alleged faults is held against Hillary, including hidden crimes, massive corruptions; money laundering, plus a highly retarded mind, coupled with constant (non proven) serious deformations of her self abused body and numerous illnesses.
It surprises me that Protestant Fundamentalist weirdos have not burned the witch at the stake.
It further surprises me that Hillary is condemned without defence here on The Standard.
But of course, New Zealand is full of rednecks that spend their life destroying competent women. They bash women up. Why,because unlike Hillary, they are perfect. Better than that, they are Males.
.
I don’t mind Hillary and out of all the contenders I hope she becomes president.
In the minds of the impressionable,Trump’s propagandist meme generator has successfully implanted ‘crooked Hillary’, ‘weak Hillary’, ‘mentally unstable Hillary’ and is now working on ‘sick Hillary’.
I wonder what’s the next adjective he’ll use? Oestrogenic? menopausal? OMG he might even call her womanly!
. I see the trolls have woken up. It amazes me that they don’t like women. Neither does their redneck hero.
.
. Their entire life is a fantasy. A two yr old fantasy.
.
Morally and ethically in serious default, both having committed, and been complicit in war crimes around the world
The Clinton cartel murder count is in the millions between them and their counterparts The Bush family cartel
If you’re comfortable sweeping what little you might have bothered to read regarding history under the mat, thats your choice, but don’t be so ridiculous as to use gender bias as a smear against those who can see the criminality oozing from every pore of Hillarys skin
Learn some techniques that can help you critically evaluate information in a more decerning manner
. The Trump could soon have his finger on the Nuclear Bomb.
. Then your tortured worries over Hillary could soon be over eh. Everything will be so much better One Two. Won’t it?
.You detest the Clintons. Who else do you loath. ? don’t be shy. Spit it out. Go on.
.
Three cheers for the loathers and the haters – rednecks all of them.
Talking about spooks in your iphone….(time to go back to landlines and watch out for strange men up telegraph poles?)…in other words keep your iphone under the sofa and OFF!
‘Apple upgrades security after alleged Israeli group’s spyware attack on Arab activist’
“A botched hack attempt using “sophisticated spyware package” allegedly tailored by an Israeli group on the iPhone of an Arab activist has triggered Apple to issue an “important” security update for its mobile operating system, iOS.
The attackers tried to lure Ahmed Mansoor, a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based human rights activist, with text messages embedding a suspicious link to “secrets” about detainees tortured in Arab jails.
Not a stranger to his government’s crackdown, from imprisonment and travel bans to spying, Mansoor did not take the bait, but instead sent it to the Canada-based security lab.
“It was a wise move,” Citizen Lab said in a release. “Mansoor’s unfortunate experiences are the gift that won’t stop giving.”…
…”If Mansoor clicked on that link with “secrets,” his iPhone would have been turned into a “sophisticated bugging device,” and UAE security agencies would be able to turn on his iPhone’s camera and microphone, record his and everything surrounding Mansoor.
“They would have been able to log his emails and calls — even those that are encrypted end-to-end. And, of course, they would have been able to track his precise whereabouts,” Citizen Lab said.
The developer behind what the Lookout team called “the most sophisticated attack we’ve seen on any endpoint” is believed to be an Israeli-based, US-owned NSO Group that speaks of itself as a “cyber war” company.
It is known to have participated in a similar attack on a Mexican journalist, who reported on corruption by Mexico’s head of state and an unknown target or targets in Kenya…
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…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
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As I am the first (yay!) let me propose an idea… lets try have a day without Trump vs. Reality. Now I know I am guilty of prodding the pro-Trumpers but I never start these discussions.
Lets focus on how we can change NZ’s political landscape and where National has let us all down (i.e. with everything).
Also, I don’t know how many of you are hip-hop fans but this DJ Shadow ft. Run The Jewels is a monster of a tune with an epic video:
https://vimeo.com/180016993
Happy Friday yo!
Sorry, I know you asked for a no-Trump day, but this is too good not to share.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ann-coulter-book-launch_us_57be9461e4b02673444e79f4?section=&
Doesn’t matter what I ask for – this is Open Mike. I have no control 🙂
Oh and Coulter is completely unhinged
How to ensure a day of debate focussed on Trump? Suggest we talk about other things* 😉
Herding cats mate.
*it was a good idea though, although I’m over talking about Nationall too. Talking about what we do is more attractive.
weka @*
Agree most effusively!
Herding cats is easy. All ya gotta do is manage their food.
Here’s a go. We’ll talk about cats.
I have a problem. Felt sorry for a local black stray so have been leaving a small bowl of cat biscuits in the garage each evening. Trouble is, it must be an un-neutered tom and he’s started peeing on things in the garage. I can’t stop feeding him now because it would be cruel. I can’t adopt him (and have him done) as I have a large, beautiful ginger girl who sleeps 20 hours a day on her own sheepskin rug and would not allow another feline to set foot in her house. Now there’s another cat vying for the biscuit bowl and I’m worried I might become known as – God forbid – the “local cat lady”. 😯
What to do?
That’s a tough one. It’s hard eh. You want to look after the poor creature but can’t realistically.
Makes me feel sad 🙁
Do you have a local cat rescue group? They can provide a trap, advice and support, and will probably pay for the neutering. They can probably rehome if the cat isn’t feral.
SPCA might help too. Or come vets have stray cat funds to get cats fixed. The big issue is to get it neutered so it doesn’t add to the feral cat population, and so it isn’t fighting with other cats.
Good advice there Weka.
Well, I’d go ahead and catnap him and have him done anyway. Even if he’s got a human slave elsewhere in the neighbourhood, it’s pretty antisocial for a tom to be freely wandering around in full possession of his nuts. Probably won’t stop him peeing on everything, tho. I s’pose to cover my ass I’d check with the local SPCA or Citizens Advice Bureau just what the laws were around that.
I’d go and build a little shelter outside the garage to put the food in, rather than letting him in the garage. Then if he got friendly over time, I’d consider seeing if I could introduce him into the house. There’s plenty of advice on the web how to introduce cats without them hating each other.
Same for the second stray.
It’s too late, you’re probably already the crazy cat lady. Own it.
*#&@%** 😡
You won’t be asking me for advice again?
Doubt it. 😀
Thanks to all for advice. It was an attempt to introduce some humour as per TheExtremist’s request. Will follow up the suggestions though.
I thought that was pretty good advice Andre.
Yes it was and I will probably follow up on it. I was responding to his last sentence @ 11:36 which was (I presume) as tongue in cheek as my response.
Anyway its kept the subject off the now boring Trump and Clinton debate and it seems to be working.:)
I reckon four or more cats is the level for local notability.
Two is fine 🙂
How many before you become the crazy cat guy? I’ve been as high as three and nobody said anything (that I know of).
Four again. I think it’s gender neutral.
Unless the number of people in your household outnumbers the number of cats, in which case you’ll probably be overheard talking to humans just as much as to felines.
But if you have pets in addition to the cats, especially exotic ones like huge rabbits or a llama, you’ll just be known as the family with the zoo.
Don’t forget the cat just regards you as ‘staff’. If you stop feeding it, it wont be cruel. The cat will just move on to the next free meal place (It’s probably got half a dozen around the neighbourhood anyway).
So there ya go. Problem solved.
Also, that it’s spraying, doesn’t mean it’s not neutered, just that it’s marking your garage as it’s own.
(It’s probably got half a dozen around the neighbourhood anyway).
Don’t think so Brigid. It was very thin. I’ve solved the spraying problem. It’s confined to a table and chair so I drape an old towel over them each day. Remove towel each morning and hang outside, then at end of week wash them and start over again.
I live opposite two schools and it is known people dump their cats there when they no longer want them or they’re shifting somewhere they can’t take them. Too lazy to take them to the SPCA or some other cat agency who might be able to re-home them.
I think I’d have had to admit to cat lady status about 20 years ago when I was feeding 8 strays! There seems to be a sign outside our house that only cats see that indicates a potential home as I have taken in many strays over the years – never once needed to go out and get a cat. I always trap them and get them neutered – it is the only way to control the cat population. Currently have three.
Hint for stopping cats spraying – get some citronella from the chemist and put a couple of drops into water then wipe the surface of anywhere the cat has sprayed. Cats hate the smell and will stop spraying in that area.
Thanks for that Karen. I will definitely try the citronella. It’s good for sprinkling into stagnant water (drains etc.) to prevent mosquitos from breeding too.
You’re a very nice person too Karen, people like you and Anne are heroes in my book. Thanks so much for the advice. 🙂
Abandoned and neglected animals need all the support that they can get. Like I said, you are a very nice person Anne 🙂
Ask Gareth Morgan
Yeah I wanted to talk about music to start with. Ah well
Music to Trump to cats to mosquitos. Not bad for a single sub-thread.
Actually, I came in to view the controversial, the trolling, etc, and was quite intrigued with this.
I’m still just gobsmacked that the best candidates the US can throw up (good choice of words) is Clinton v Trump
No way either of them should be anywhere near the presidency
Yes, they have much in common with the Key Kleptocracy.
No they really don’t. John Key is popular PM that the people of NZ keep voting back in, is someone that manages to make NZ punch well above its weight, especially in trade, manages to maintain cordial relationships with many, much larger economies and will soon win his fourth election
So no not much in common at all
Key resembles Trump – a shoddy charlatan with an interest in girls his daughter’s age, no vision for anything but self enrichment, and incapable of telling the truth about anything. They are media products – they don’t represent their people or anything of value.
“A normal person must
dismiss them with disgust
and weep for those who trusted them”
What kind of two bit analysis is that?; Key is an Investment Bankster at heart, and Clinton is a highly paid apparatchik of the Hedge Fund and Investment Banking Wall St crowd.
Hillary’s vices do not redeem Trump.
Exactly. Succinct and to the point.
Seen Trumps new advisors? Steve Bannon from the alt-right movement (read alt-right as white nationalist, hardcore conservatives) and Darth Vader of the US media Roger Ailes (currently embroiled in major sexual harrasement scandals).
John Key is a greedy, lying crook at heart and has shown being a money trader is not good PM material.
Yes, they really do. They both live on Planet Key for starters.
No, he’s destroying NZ as the increasing poverty and homelessness proves.
Through lies and deception to the people of NZ he makes it look like he’s maintaining cordial relationships.
Yes, they really do. They both live on Planet Key for starters.
– No they don’t
No, he’s destroying NZ as the increasing poverty and homelessness proves.
– Nope, increasing poverty is happening due to increasing population
Through lies and deception to the people of NZ he makes it look like he’s maintaining cordial relationships.
– No hes not a unionist
They both hold the same delusional mindset as Key so, yes they do.
Besides that it’s somewhat more complicated than that guess who’s got the immigration flood gates wide open?
I’ve never seen a union lie whereas there’s over 400 documented lies from John Key.
No, no, no and no, nope, nope and nope.
All a righty apologist needs to know in order to debate, nope, nope, nopedy-nope.
What other argument is fitting when someone talks of Planet Key?
More concerning are those who speak from Planet Key.
Young Master Puckers: “John Key is popular PM”
Not so much these days, young man. Key’s Net Favourability ratings are now pretty damn close to zero (meaning as many voters hold Unfavourable as Favourable views of him). Meanwhile, he’s now consistently polling below 40% as Preferred PM. So, basically, the thrill has gone for voters, he’s lost his Mojo (and saying But look at Andrew’s numbers ! won’t disguise this new, cold hard reality).
Having said that, it’s true that, by comparison with the deeply-disliked Hillary and Trumpie, Key’s mediocre ratings don’t look quite so bad.
Would you agree though that in comparison to any other leader of a NZ political party that he could still be considered popular and if not why not?
Yeah I know it sounds like an antagonistic reply but I am genuinely interested in your view on this
You have just done exactly what swordfish said you would do and they’re right, it’s not disguising reality. Obviously Key is still ‘more popular’ but he’s trending down, which was exactly swordfish’s point that you’ve decided to ignore. So not so much antagonistic as it is a predictable distraction attempt.
Not really though I can how you might take that. Key is trending downwards yes but I think it really does matter to take into account the level from which hes descending in comparison to the level at which his opponents are currently at.
For instance if Key is at 40% and falling and little is at 7% and static then its going to take quite a while for Little and Key to be close and probably not before the next election
The “smelly soap” thing is going to cling.
Actually I disagree on this (surprise surprise) the people who dislike Key have already made up their minds about this, same as the people who like Key and the rest of the population will just be going m’eh about it, I mean its The Edge they have form in doing stupid things anyway
“Yeah I know it sounds like an antagonistic reply”
I’ve never known you to be antagonistic, Puckers. You’re a relatively congenial, relaxed, laid back sort of a bloke. One might almost say: a kind of “Puckish Rogue”.
On the one hand, it’s self-evident that Key is well ahead in the Preferred PM stakes. But that’s just one measure. By no means a trivial matter, but arguably not the be-all and end-all either.
On net Favourability, Little has equalled or found himself marginally ahead of Key over the last 18 months. That’s not to say more people positively Favour Little than Key. They don’t. But more voters hold a positive rather than Negative view of Little (albeit with a fairly large Unsure component – which is natural for an Opposition Leader). By contrast, Key is now a Polariser in the way that Muldoon once was. He’s still Favoured by a marginally greater number of voters than Little is, but by the same token he’s also managed to alienate a significantly larger number of voters than the Opposition Leader.
So, at one and the same time, New Zealand’s answer to The Man of La Mancha manages to be both more popular than Little (larger %) and yet also more disliked (larger %).
Interestingly, Winnie’s moved back into Favourable territory in recent years. Voter perceptions of him had been quite negative during the latter part of the Clark Govt and early stages of Key’s first term. (Goes hand-in-hand, of course, with NZF’s recent revival)
The interesting thing about communicating through words only is how easy it is for the other person to get the wrong idea of what you’re saying.
That’s some good points, I don’t suppose you have Helen Clarks numbers handy because I’d assume she was quite…polarising herself?
>
UMR – Leader Favourability Ratings
(Key vs Clark at same stage in Govt cycle)
Net Positive Ratings
…………………..John Key…….vs……. Helen Clark
2013 …………… + 19 ………………………. + 30 ……………. 2004
2014 …………… + 27 ………………………. + 30………………2005
2015 … (1/2) .. + 19 ………………………. + 28 ……………. 2006…. (1/2)
2015 … (2/2) …+ 13 ………………………. + 22 ……………. 2006 …. (2/2)
Key’s net rating is now down in low single figures.
>
>
Reid Research – Leader Performance Ratings
(Key vs Clark at same stage in Govt cycle)
Net Positive Ratings
(Unfortunately, I don’t have much post-2013 Reid Research data for Key on this particular measure – just one or two bits and pieces. So, I’ll restrict it to Key’s first term)
…………………. John Key …. vs …… Helen Clark
2011 …………… + 55 …………………….. + 59 …………… 2002
2012 ……………. + 30 …………………… + 48 …………… 2003
2013 ……………. + 25 …………………… + 39 ……….. … 2004
So, you can see that Clark’s numbers were superior to Key’s and she wasn’t quite the polariser that some might assume. Mind you, probably fair to say she tended to be respected rather than liked.
I’m not sure it was Clark per se, that made the change.
There was:
a contentious or unpopular anti-smacking bill
The strange journey of Chris Carter
A pledge card that wasn’t the vote winner its authors imagined
Leader appeal or charisma can be important, but it cannot redeem conspicuous non-performance indefinitely.
She is/was a strong leader
Weak characters demand strong leaders. The biggest joke is on Russia.
Be still me heart I thought you were about to do Key V LIttle ratings.
Stuart, we can also add to that list,
The world turning to shit in rather spectacular fashion.
That would have taken out any third term government, of any stripe, in New Zealand.
Those candidates certainly tend to ruin ones faith in primaries as a way to choose candidates don’t they?
Perhaps you should nominate the people who you think should have been chosen.
Looking only at the people who did run I think the best choices would have been Martin O’Malley from Maryland and John Kasich from Ohio.
I don’t think you can suggest people who never attempted to get the nomination. Therefore I don’t count people like Senator Warren, who refused to run, or anyone who withdrew before the first primary.
Only 9% of eligible voters actually chose either of them. The primary system is incredibly flawed, they should all be open and unrestricted.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/01/us/elections/nine-percent-of-america-selected-trump-and-clinton.html?_r=0
Can we have an open, unrestricted primary system in New Zealand?
Imagine if anyone at all could vote in the election of a party leader, which is really the equivalent of the US Presidential primaries.
We would end up with John Key being elected as leader of the Labour Party as well as the National Party. It would probably give them a much better chance in the General Election of course.
Some States in the US used to allow this. In 1946 Earl Warren ran in, and won, the primaries of the Republican, Democrat and Progressive parties. He thus ran virtually unopposed in the election.
Primaries aren’t like voting for the leader of a party. There is no point to them in a parliamentary system.
Earl Warren was running for Governor, and cross-filing (running in more that one party primary) was abolished in 1959, so it’s a historical anomaly really.
They have them in the US for Congress don’t they Are you meaning to say it is not a parliamentary system?
“so it’s a historical anomaly really”
Well yes. You did notice that I said “Some States in the US used to allow this”. I didn’t want anyone to think it was still possible.
Yes, both houses of the Congress of the United States have primaries, and yes it is not a Parliamentary system, and yes, I was reiterating that cross-filing hasn’t worked like that for more than 50 years.
mean vid, sick tune, great ending
edit – reply to the extremist, but won’t let me
I know right. I’ve been a DJ Shadow fan since Endtroducing was released.
Go trump ( the Barbara Streisand affect, sorry 😀)
Trump is jackass but he does not pretend to be anything else, Hillary in turn is a completely different matter, allegedly corrupt to the core
As I said, Hillary has had 30 years practice hiding who she actually is and what she actually thinks. Trump is just getting started.
yep, you said… ho hum – so nice you want to get trump up to the speed of clinton (who you hate with a vengeance) – just shows how disconnected with reality you are.
CV hates Clinton so much his reality has warped into supporting a man who has a white nationalist as his campaign manager.
Who is more likely to lead the USA into another war, Clinton who already has form in this area or Trump who it seems like he wants to move a more isolationist agenda?
Trump is very thick with Putin.
I don’t want world war III, but I don’t want Putin overrunning eastern Europe like he’s just signed Ribbentrop II either.
trump is a liar with political inexperience, clinton is a liar with political experience – as cv notes above. Anyone trusting trump is delusional. To say he is more or less likely to do anything is really dreaming – he is a liar, a bigot, a shallow thinker, a kneejerker – oh and he won’t lead the yanks to war – total delusion and idiocy puck
You did note I stated “seems” didn’t you…
seems makes it seem like a nothing comment – I imbued more substance into it than that
nice that we agree 🙂 do you agree that we agree?
So who, in your opinion, is most likely to start a war, Clinton or Trump?
trump
Fair enough
come on mate – tell me about the screaming lambs now
I personally think that, due to her prior actions, Clinton would likely start a war before Trump
cool, we disagree – sorta good cos I struggle when I find I agree with anyone other than a righteous left winger
For what its worth I suspect there’s more then a few lefties that would probably agree with me on this
name 20
Personally, I reckon Clinton and Trump are equally likely to increase US military combat deployments somewhere in the world, most likely Syria, but several spots in Africa and maybe the philipines.
My concern with Trump is that his lumbering oafishness and narcissistic bombast will spark a major confrontation between nuclear powers. If he doesn’t kick off india and pakistan, or nuke someone off his own bat, then his plan to boost NATO forces under different command structures increases the probability of a flashpoint between putin and EU.
Even though SthK and Japan will tell him to get fucked when he demands they build their own nukes, the fact that he even floated the idea means that he has no idea about the geopolitical situation he wants to be a key decisionmaker in.
So “start a war” is even odds. “Start the last war” and Trump is far more likely to do it that Clinton, imo.
Outing people is seriously not cool but they know who they are
This sums up my view of trump and war
“…Trump has said a lot of scary (and racist) things on the campaign trail, from calling undocumented immigrants rapists to saying he’d ban Muslims from the country to urging supporters at his rallies to attack protesters.
But his answer Tuesday night was especially terrifying; it revealed what it means to put an ignorant blowhard with a head full of jagged rocks in charge of enough munitions to blow up the entire world several times over.
Let’s go through his answer. If you didn’t see it in real time, know that you should experience the stomach-churning terror you feel when you climb that first hill on an especially tall roller coaster…
…Hewitt: “Of the three legs of the triad, though, do you have a priority? I want to go to Sen. Rubio after that and ask him.”
Trump: “I think – I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.”
The devastation is very important to him. That flailing nonsense is the best Trump can manage. A reasonably well-informed fifth grader could come up with something better.
The problem isn’t simply that Trump doesn’t have detailed plans to make sure our nuclear weapons are safely maintained. The problem is that he doesn’t understand even the most basic premise of a relatively simple question. He couldn’t muster a “I’ll make sure we have the most modern, best nuclear arsenal the world has ever seen,” because he didn’t know what he was being asked.
Imagine handing over the nuclear codes to a man with the comprehension skills of Donald J. Trump. Do you honestly believe he would understand the consequences of using them? Trump is obsessed with tough-guy machismo. How much provocation does he need to press that button?…”
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/trumps-terrifying-nuke-answer-at-the-debate-should-end-his-campaign-but-it-wont-20151216
Clinton is far more likely to start minor wars around the world (Syria, Libya, etc.) , and she is far more likely to accidentally start a big fucking war (China, Russia, both) with her neocons friends ramping up the rhetoric in order to raise both tensions and defense procurement contracts.
As for people saying that Trump is more likely to press the button.
Your ignorance is massive.
Obama has green lit the development of a whole new generation of “more useable” low yield precision nuclear weapons which are promised to – get this – cause less environmental damage.
Hillary and her neocon associates actually consider that a nuclear war might be winnable with these kinds of new weapons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/science/as-us-modernizes-nuclear-weapons-smaller-leaves-some-uneasy.html
your opinions have very low cred in my book because of your fawning of trump – it has sort of coloured my view of even the things you write that make sense – for instance your cc posts when you support a denier – can’t compute that one and given up trying – btw the difference argument you use to justify the above are rubbish so please don’t waste space with it here.
btw – I just think you’ve jumped the shark – no personal animosity though, although you can pontificate a bit but then I have my own wee foibles too so all good 🙂
Your link has absolutely nothing to do with that assertion, nor does it give any indication of what Clinton’s advice to Obama was while he was making that decision.
More to the point, in terms of threats to world peace how does the B21 package compare with Trump’s desire to discard the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?
I think anyone who is talking about whether Clinton or Trump would be more likely to start a war, and especially anyone talking about their stance on nuclear weapons, needs to watch this interview:
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/03/trump-asks-why-us-cant-use-nukes-msnbcs-joe-scarborough-reports.html
He seems stupider than Palin, if that were possible.
I guess the top brass of the military could choose to resign on the spot, rather than accede to his orders if they would put the US in greater danger.
Extremist. That’s an exceptionally powerful fantastic new video/mini movie from DJ Shadow and run the jewels.
I put it up on my faceblab page yesterday instead of here because I thought some one might find it offensive.
This track is a banger!!! The video says alot about our useless elite powerful masters
I know right, a fucking smoking tune
Talking of Clinton, this funny clip was interesting. The zoomed in image of a Secret Service man standing beside Clinton and holding a thing which was allegedly an emergency hyperdermic. Off we go again on health issues.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11700526
Pen with seizure control medication.
hahahahahhahahahahhahaha.
Oh wait, you actually believe that.
Kind of strange they would hire a body guard that needs seizure meds though.
Hahahahaha
This will help:
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/learning-from-failure-modest.html
So will this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-colberts-tinfoil-hat-explains-gop-conspiracy-theories_us_57beb7a1e4b04193420d99f3?
A long way off or a few weeks away?
Drones were extremely dangerous machines which had the potential to kill people if they collided with a vehicle.
The razor sharp rotor blades could also inflict severe injury or death said X-craft Enterprises director Philip Solaris.
X-craft is a CAA approved drone operator providing emergency, forestry, commercial, farming and survey services using fixed wing and multi-rotor drones.
Solaris said pizza delivery by drones was a long way off due to strict Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations and health and safety laws.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges said the (Domino’s drone delivery) trial was a valuable opportunity for the CAA.
New aviation rules came into effect in August last year to regulate and enable the use of drones for recreational and commercial purposes in New Zealand.
CAA spokeswoman Philippa Lagan said because Domino’s application was under consideration, it could not comment publicly on it.
Domino’s will be able to fly pizza deliveries later this year if its application to carry out operation is approved, she said.
A decision was expected to be made in a few weeks’ time.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/83529739/dominos-using-drones-to-deliver-pizza-to-new-zealand-homes
Thoughts?
A sci fi tech guy called Solaris!
Universe just Moebius-ghosted its own machine.
Pizza delivery girl jobs on the line due to tech. Retraining I guess is the answer (lol)
My thoughts
Al-Jazeera has a documentary on at the moment called Drone. It is about the scary manufacture and use by Obama and others of drones killing innocent civilians.
Henry interviewed some dick from Domino Pizza’s, who was explaining the new proposed drone delivery service. Henry asked this guy how would they be so accurate in the delivery and this twat said it uses military technology to make sure it gets to where it should go. On TV1 News last night prat Bridges was foaming at the mouth how WUNDEROUSE this was going to be.
An open message to Dominoe Pizza’s,
First, shove your Pizza’s right up your arse. Also, since a kid I have been a dead shot with a catapult, and my property is a no-fly zone.
UK Labour boycotts G4S, G4S refuses to provide security for Labour Conference, Labour Conference may need to be cancelled
This is a first grade f-up in progress.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/25/labour-conference-in-peril-g4s-will-not-provide-security
Or it’s a conspiracy. Who gains from a canceled conference? Not Corbyn. Not the fresh wave of renewal washing through UK Labour.
A canceled conference is like dropping a fetid ten tonne liquid jobby into all of that.
No remits. No policy renewal/formulation/endorsement or whatever else happens at conferences.
By a quite remarkable coincidence, UK Labour’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson bares a striking resemblance to “a fetid ten tonne liquid jobby”
http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/640/media/images/55611000/jpg/_55611200_jex_1180646_de27-1.jpg
Ahem,*bears
Is it just me or is Watson vaguely reminiscent of a younger Gerry Browlee?
http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/632B/production/_86078352_tomwatsongetty.jpg
VS
http://www.radionz.co.nz/assets/news/40065/eight_col_original_1M1A2304.jpg?1436480017
No. They’re like two completely different green round things in a pod, Grant. 🙂
Or maybe …
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/83473000/jpg/_83473971_027536785-1.jpg
VS
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/media/10938533/gerry-brownlee-3-getty_w452.jpg
Or maybe even …
http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/E992/production/_88749795_88749592.jpg
VS
http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/6/w/z/7/3/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620×349.18fnlg.png/1454485815066.jpg
That’s twenty tonnes of shite between the two of them..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/25/labour-left-humiliated-after-g4s-turns-down-last-ditch-plea-to-p/
G4S, which has provided security at the event for 20 years, is understood to be concerned about staff safety after Labour voted for a boycott over its prison contracts and links to Israel.
It follows a warning from Len McCluskey, the Unite boss, that the conference could be cancelled unless a provider is found urgently.
Sources close to the company warned that the short notice it was given and previous incidents at the event, including staff being spat at and verbally abused, made it impossible for G4S to accept the offer.
I’m personally not surprised they don’t want to do business with Labour
What’s even more surprising (actually no it’s not) is that Labour doesn’t have the expertise internally to conduct its own ad-hoc security operation, staffing and managing it via Labour supporting working class former security, police and armed forces personnel.
Hell, in the old days, you’d just put a couple of hundred Labour membership coal miners on the job. Not many of them around any more.
Yeah.
These days you need reasonable odds that your venue security know how to get someone out without braining them, won’t use their position as an opportunity to harrass people, and know how to spot a threat beyond “brown skin”.
Or at least have the reasonable expectation that your supplier has done those checks and training.
Dunno what the regulatory environment for venue security in the UK is though.
Indeed. In fact, if I were a corporate outfit like G4S I would try and ensure that the bureaucratic standards, health and safety regulations and paperwork requirements were so extensive that it basically snowed under every small security operator.
Yeah, damned safety regulations. Bureaucracy gone mad. What’s a little restraint asphyxia or neck injury between friends?
Large event with thousands of attendees. Party conferences are routinely the targets of protestors, and on occasion terrorists and nutbars with weapons. If security mishandle a situation there will be cameras there to record it and people willing to use it to humiliate the client organisation. The article linked to above said 100 security staff – most of those would be pulling long hours. They all need proper clothing and equipment. These days camera and operations staff will be needed. Communication protocols will need to be organised and integrated with the police and event centre management. Everyone needs a radio and spare batteries on a charger, frequencies can’t block each other, and probably a couple of different nets will be required. All staff will need to be aware and able to operate within the legal and media anvironment – no clocking off or being provoked by youtube wannabes.
Oh, and maybe knowing how to not deal with a suspicious device would be an advantage.
But yeah, let’s just recruit a few likely lads every morning, what could go wrong…
OK I guess that G4S’s operational record to date inspires confidence to meet those complex requirements.
Better than a “couple of hundred Labour membership coal miners”, anyway.
Besides, haven’t heard anything too bad about their event security – it’s the prisoner treatment they get bagged for.
Nobody really cares how you mistreat prisoners, but if clients cancel a venue because their customers got roughed up, you lose a contract.
Can labour uk do anything without turning it into a cluster buck?
It’s the undead hand of Mandelson…
“Corrections has been ordered to reconsider its decision not to allow journalist Mike White to report on the first-ever meeting between Gerard Hope and Scott Watson.”
Good show chaps.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11700533
Surprise! Fake Babies Actually Make Kids Think Teenage Motherhood is Awesome
Oops 😈
Wanna win?
” Movements for social change that want to win always take each temporary defeat as a learning experience, draw lessons from the failure, and change their tactics, strategy, and framing of the issue based on those lessons, then fling themselves back into the struggle with a better chance at victory. They also look at other movements that succeed and ask themselves, “How can we do the same thing with our cause?” Movements for social change that respond to failure by reaching for excuses and trying to convince themselves and everyone else that the battle could never have been won in the first place, on the other hand, get a shallow grave and a water-color epitaph.”
It’s about climate change.
“And the movement against anthropogenic climate change? If you’ve been following along, dear reader, you’ll already have noticed that it fell victim to all four of the bad habits just enumerated—the four horsepersons, if you will, of the apocalyptic failure of radicalism in our time. It allowed itself to be distracted from its core purpose by a flurry of piggybacking interests; it got turned into a captive constituency of the Democratic Party; it suffers from a bad case of purity politics, in which (to raise a point I’ve made before) anyone who questions the capacity of renewable resources to replace fossil fuels, without conservation taking up much of the slack, is denounced as a denialist; and it has consistently pandered to the privileged, pursuing policies that benefit the well-to-do at the expense of the working poor. Those bad habits helped foster the specific mistakes I enumerated in my earlier post-mortem on climate change activism, and led the movement to crushing defeat.”
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/learning-from-failure-modest.html
“Archdruid – by a long way the wankiest name ever for a blogger – is the biggest Cassandra out there. They revel in the idea of defeat, because it absolves them of agency and hence the responsibility for action in the actual world.
The climate change activists are winning. The deniers are a fringe who get ridiculed. Almost all world governments are aligned on goals that were never deemed agreeable. Who knows whether we meet them, but that’s a different point to persuasion. Spare me from this wank about “crushing defeat”.
Give yourselves a break on environmentalism as well. No MSM media outlet directly celebrates environmental destruction anymore.
Same goes for water quality in New Zealand – we are seeing a really rapid turnaround in commentary, and there’s more to come. Just reflect back to the kind of coverage environmentalists got in the 1980s and 1990s, not that long ago.
YOU are SO judgmental – and you base it on malformed understandings, deliberate mistruths and incomplete nay childish interpretations of what you think is coming up. Because let’s be honest, you haven’t really read much of the archdruid have you, the name even is anathema to you because of your christian beliefs. You know as little of JMG as you do the Māori King – yet you are oh so quick to try and put the boot in – sad and pathetic or just your loving belief system???
Happened to read this about Fox News’s Sean Hannity in the New York Times-
“Mr. Hannity’s show has all the trappings of traditional television news — the anchor desk, the graphics and the patina of authority that comes with being part of a news organization…..But because Mr. Hannity is “not a journalist,” he apparently feels free to work in the full service of his candidate without having to abide by journalism’s general requirements for substantiation and prohibitions…….”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/business/media/sean-hannity-turns-adviser-in-the-service-of-donald-trump.html
And thought- one could substitute ‘Hoskings’ for ‘Hannity’.
just saying….
Or Henry, Gower, Soper, williams, smith etc etc
TC yes but I think those on your list regard themselves as journalists (I dunno who Williams and Smith are).
The main difference being Hoskings has stated that he’s not a journalist so like Hannity he assumes carte lanche
blanche
Contrast this news with the situation in NZ
“There was a record German budget surplus (18.5bn Euros and +1.2% of German GDP) after Q2 growth of 0.4%…. “The run of surpluses has allowed Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to increase state spending on roads, housing and digital infrastructure ahead of federal elections in 2017, while sticking to his goal of running a balanced budget.” (Reuters)”
A government that can do this would get my support. “increase state spending on roads, housing and digital infrastructure”, but in NZ prioritise state spending on education, housing and health. Get on with it !!!!!
I’d say thats possible because they don’t bribe their voters with tax breaks .
From wikipedia
”Income tax rate in 2015[edit]
No income tax is charged on the basic allowance, which is €8,354 for unmarried persons and €16,708 for jointly assessed married couples. Beyond this threshold, the marginal tax rate increases linearly from 14% to 24% for a taxable income of €13,469 (€26,938 for married couples). In the subsequent interval up to a taxable income of €52,881 (€105,762 for married couples), the marginal tax rate increases linearly from 24% to 42%. The last change of rates occurs at a taxable income of €250,730 (€501,460 for married couples) when the marginal tax rate jumps from 42% to 45%. The course of the marginal tax rate and the resulting average tax rate are depicted in the graph to the right.”
.
.Hillary Clinton.
. How does she do It ? A confident list of alleged faults is held against Hillary, including hidden crimes, massive corruptions; money laundering, plus a highly retarded mind, coupled with constant (non proven) serious deformations of her self abused body and numerous illnesses.
It surprises me that Protestant Fundamentalist weirdos have not burned the witch at the stake.
It further surprises me that Hillary is condemned without defence here on The Standard.
But of course, New Zealand is full of rednecks that spend their life destroying competent women. They bash women up. Why,because unlike Hillary, they are perfect. Better than that, they are Males.
.
I don’t mind Hillary and out of all the contenders I hope she becomes president.
In the minds of the impressionable,Trump’s propagandist meme generator has successfully implanted ‘crooked Hillary’, ‘weak Hillary’, ‘mentally unstable Hillary’ and is now working on ‘sick Hillary’.
I wonder what’s the next adjective he’ll use? Oestrogenic? menopausal? OMG he might even call her womanly!
As has been stated so many times, neither candidate is suitable . What a crazy thread today. How come rape culture didn’t pop up ?
‘
. + 100 Rodel
. I see the trolls have woken up. It amazes me that they don’t like women. Neither does their redneck hero.
.
. Their entire life is a fantasy. A two yr old fantasy.
.
.
Hillary and Bill Clinton are failed human beings!
Morally and ethically in serious default, both having committed, and been complicit in war crimes around the world
The Clinton cartel murder count is in the millions between them and their counterparts The Bush family cartel
If you’re comfortable sweeping what little you might have bothered to read regarding history under the mat, thats your choice, but don’t be so ridiculous as to use gender bias as a smear against those who can see the criminality oozing from every pore of Hillarys skin
Learn some techniques that can help you critically evaluate information in a more decerning manner
Your frequency is low
.
One Two
Nothing wrong with your counting.
. The Trump could soon have his finger on the Nuclear Bomb.
. Then your tortured worries over Hillary could soon be over eh. Everything will be so much better One Two. Won’t it?
.You detest the Clintons. Who else do you loath. ? don’t be shy. Spit it out. Go on.
.
Three cheers for the loathers and the haters – rednecks all of them.
.
.
Advice from Aunty Chooky
Talking about spooks in your iphone….(time to go back to landlines and watch out for strange men up telegraph poles?)…in other words keep your iphone under the sofa and OFF!
‘Apple upgrades security after alleged Israeli group’s spyware attack on Arab activist’
https://www.rt.com/usa/357233-apple-security-israeli-spyware/
“A botched hack attempt using “sophisticated spyware package” allegedly tailored by an Israeli group on the iPhone of an Arab activist has triggered Apple to issue an “important” security update for its mobile operating system, iOS.
The attackers tried to lure Ahmed Mansoor, a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based human rights activist, with text messages embedding a suspicious link to “secrets” about detainees tortured in Arab jails.
Not a stranger to his government’s crackdown, from imprisonment and travel bans to spying, Mansoor did not take the bait, but instead sent it to the Canada-based security lab.
“It was a wise move,” Citizen Lab said in a release. “Mansoor’s unfortunate experiences are the gift that won’t stop giving.”…
…”If Mansoor clicked on that link with “secrets,” his iPhone would have been turned into a “sophisticated bugging device,” and UAE security agencies would be able to turn on his iPhone’s camera and microphone, record his and everything surrounding Mansoor.
“They would have been able to log his emails and calls — even those that are encrypted end-to-end. And, of course, they would have been able to track his precise whereabouts,” Citizen Lab said.
The developer behind what the Lookout team called “the most sophisticated attack we’ve seen on any endpoint” is believed to be an Israeli-based, US-owned NSO Group that speaks of itself as a “cyber war” company.
It is known to have participated in a similar attack on a Mexican journalist, who reported on corruption by Mexico’s head of state and an unknown target or targets in Kenya…