UNITED STATES PUBLICLY CONDEMNS ISRAEL
National Radio, Wednesday 26 September 2012
In a great rush a few minutes ago, I turned on National Radio for the news and could hardly believe my ears: the U.S. has finally come out and condemned Israel, just as it eventually did with other protégés such as Suharto’s Indonesia, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and apartheid South Africa.
This is the only part I heard from the news broadcast: “President Obama said that if there is a case that should arouse protests across the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.”
No doubt we’ll be hearing more of this remarkable political and moral volte-face as the day goes on.
Here’s what our friend Morrissey transcribed from the radio: “President Obama said that if there is a case that should arouse protests across the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.”
“A regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.” That’s the Israeli regime.
No kidding! It’s also the NZ regime and every other country on the planet bar Switzerland. Obama was referring to Syria, Mozza was riffing on that. I’m starting to think you’re not really a Professor.
“It’s also the NZ regime and every other country on the planet bar Switzerland.”
That statement is either deliberately nonsensical, or simply dishonest.
“Obama was referring to Syria,”
The president was talking about “a regime” that “tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.” That describes Israel, which has done those things for a much longer time than Syria has.
“Mozza was riffing on that.”
To any non-ideologue of good faith who was listening, the condemnation of a regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments would have to be a condemnation of Israel. Of course, after the statement has been fed through the filter of hypocrisy, it only applies to officially designated enemies.
“I’m starting to think you’re not really a Professor.”
By gad, sir! I have a good mind to thrash you with a horse-whip, on the steps of your club.
Horse whipping eh? It’s the only language the likes of me understand!
Like it or not, it was a direct quote from Obama about Syria, not Israel, though as I pointed out, it could apply to pretty much any country. NZ, for example, did the first in Samoa, Parihaka, the Ureweras and elsewhere and that SAS soldier chappie who’s just retired got a VC for the latter.
(Just for the record, I’m anti-zionist and I believe in a two state solution, with the Palestinion people having a country with contiguous borders and a working port)
Some very good points there, my man. I think I’ll shelve the horse-whipping for the time being, seeing as you seem to be someone who might enjoy it a little too much for your own good.
Would you like me to put you in touch with like-minded people?
Can I just check that I’ve got Joyce and Blinglish right: basically, give up your legal rights, forget about protecting the environment, forsake the conservation estate and National Ltd™ will, maybe, provide some extra jobs . . . blackmail, divide and rule, with a touch of “serves you right”, is that how it goes?
Yep, but the important thing is the newly announced extension to the John Key Memorial Cycleway which will Joyce reckons will create at least a million jobs on the West Coast. I understand the route will now terminate inside the Spring Creek Mine, echoing the NZ economy’s disappearence down a deep, dark hole.
If you read the report, you’ll see that we at National Ltd cannot just “make some jobs” for you people. The only exception is when we say we can make some jobs. Those jobs are not jobs that can be worked, per se, they are ledger jobs for reporting purposes only. We have not read the report and don’t intend to, since we take our word. It’s about integrity. You see, it’s about the economy. We cannot go on redistributing tax payer money. This does not exclude us selling thing you own to our friends.
If you have any further questions, please make an appointment for Tuesday. We will be unexpectedly unavailable on Tuesday while we watch softball overseas. Nothing will happen between then and now, except for the stuff that is already happening, of which we have no knowledge.
Whilst watching the softball overseas can you please consider this “redistribution of taxpayer money”. If I stop paying tax do I still qualify? As a “citizen”. Do I have rights as a “citizen” or only as a taxpayer? Can you redistribute it to “citizens” or only those paying taxes? I really need to understand where I fit into your governments re distributive plans.
You are right to be humble, or at least meek. However, our lawyers have instructed us to tell you that this is no gaurantee you shall inherit the earth or the profits of your time under the National Ltd administration.
If you stop paying taxes, we will have you arrested, though this action may not be taken depending on the evaluation of your personal valuation you have yet to supply. We of course cannot view your valuation ourselves, or consider it’s contents. It is a matter of integrity. You will have to supply a certified viewer who will give us the signal by running over a person poorer than you, in a town of your choosing.
Going forward, we encourage your intent to not pay taxes, in principle, and this alone may enhance our reading of your personal valuation. As a Tradeable Work Unit, you qualify to pay us tax, but the rights of citizenship are unsure. What is citizenship? A ship made of buddhist cities? I bet I could find a lawyer who could say the opposite. Obligations on our part remain strictly defined. It is a matter of integrity, except in the case of you being unable to arouse our interest in your personal fortune or the poor person you run down surviving.
To avoid arrest the money has been ETed (I figured habeus corpus was at risk if I said it “was in the mail”. Recent events indicate the NZ Police dont quite “understand” the law). The IRD when presented with the extra payment charged me interest on not declaring this as provisional tax at the beginning of the FY, thereby defining my relationship as a taxpayer rather nicely (from their viewpoint). What was intriguing was that they had a copy of all my emails to you via GCSB, maybe they are watching you because you still talk to foreign criminal types who you used to work with.
I did take your advice: I ran down a rather rotund man with a German accent, injuring myself in the process. ACC state that they wont pay for my injuries because the gent was rather too large and should have been avoidable. My counter claim is that he was too big to avoid. Either way they are checking out my ACC levy via the aforementioned IRD. The vehicle went to the panel beater who suggested that I flag the insurance excess claim because the said German gent represents a credit risk and cant pay me for the “accident”. He was apparently formerly rich but by some dint of misfortune he met up with bad company (an MP from Epsom) and its been all downhill since. The insurance claim came back nicely, good riddance Mr B, we went bust with Christchuch, thanks for your money……
So in summary thank you for the explanation of my relationship with the state as a taxpayer: I keep paying, you transfer to your mates in Reemers who dont pay tax. With regard to citizenship I am now more informed: it is off to Greenland where plenty of new land becomes available weekly.
Thanks for your note. John is out of town and has left me in charge of correspondence and crises. If we could keep this on the hush hush, that would be good. Don’t worry about GCSB. Those guys are all pinstripes and salad lunches. Sorry to hear about the damage to your car. Germans, what have they ever given us?
Will be driving the new BMW home for Christmas. Plan to start a boutique brewery making Doppelbockbeir. Could be fun. Have you considered The South as a holiday destination? I could hook you up. Call me maybe?
Maybe the South will be good for a holiday: currently the beach in Greenland is unseasonably balmy. Even the bears have left. Do you still have penguins?
Pretty galling to hear last night the Minister of Economic Development blame the Forest and Bird Society for holding up jobs on the west cost because apparently they are stopping the whole of a plateau from being strip-mined. Actually encouraging the quarry-enclave economy to continue in New Zealand is no economic strategy and should simply embarrass him. But doubling down on making the West Coast more vulnerable to global unprocessed commodity prices such as coal is mind-spinningly dumb, and then offloading the blame to environmental defenders is just nasty.
Even worse for Minister of State owned Enterprises for not topping up Solid Energy to keep the Springfield Mine open. Not even bothering to run the ruler over social welfare and wider economic benefit costs vs keeping the mine going is bad. But holding out a cruel hope to turn miners into carpenters on the Christchurch rebuild that will never happen is reprehensible.
In reality mining on the West Coast will eventually become a thing of the past. We are at a point with the planets climate where we cant continue to burn fossil fuels regardless of the economic circumstance. As a consequence would it not be a clever move from a far sighted society to transition to a solid state economic model that does not rely upon depleting resources. Something todays and future generations can aspire to as viable and rewarding. Starting with the West Coast. Any ideas?
Latest MediaLens report released today. Follows the events of the protests across the ME.
Poses the question was the initial Embassy attack a concerted attack…
If so are the Mainstream media responsible for setting off a chain of religiously motivated protests around the world in an attempt to cover up an obvious failure in the Western intervention in the Middle east. What does this mean for the Syrian situation??
Quoted:
reporting suggested that the initial media consensus blaming a provocative film was false. The Telegraph noted:
‘A security guard wounded in the attack… has insisted it was a planned assault by Islamist fighters, and not a protest that got out of hand.
‘The guard, who works for a British firm, said there was no demonstration over a controversial anti-Islamic film before extremists stormed the compound in the eastern city of Benghazi.’
Matthew Olsen, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: ‘I would say [the four Americans] were killed in the course of a terrorist attack.’
What National have not been able to achieve…
Roads of National Significance – reduced, delayed and not wanted
Ultra Fast Broadband – not going to hit target dates
National Standards – up shit creek
Keeping NZdrs in NZ – record numbers moving to Australia
Thousands upon thousands of new jobs – increasing unemployment
Reaching parity with Australian wages – the gap geting wider
Restore integrity to government – John Banks is still a minister
Sale of assets to mum and dad investors – in a slow, uncontrolled decent into failure
Fiscally responsible government – increased government debt
Push to get people to invest in business – house prices increasing again
Earthquake recovery – people still living in damaged houses while slap-up dinners for business people and unqualified people/friends paid large sums for unskilled work.
What National have been able to achieve…
Restrictions on beneficiaries – affects the poor
Tax cuts for the rich – makes our country poorer
Reduced public service – makes public servants unemployed and poorer
Restrictive labour laws – forces the poor to stay in work and keep there mouths shut
Halved the Kiwisaver member tax credit
No national cycleway but disjointed cycleways
Fraction of the jobs promised by the national cycleway
ECE subsidies changed
Thousand more children living in welfare dependant homes
More children in poverty
Used our money to pay people sell our assets that we don’t want sold
Shifted $2 billion in wealth from taxpayers to SFC investors
Increased GST to remove more wealth from taxpayers
$400 million taken away from Working for Families
Lovely list…..its amazing how well Lord Haw Haw Key has managed to avoid the opprobrium.
PS Love the photostream picture of Betty Windsor with Shonkers.
thanks for sorting out linking tidiness for luddites like me guys 🙂
hookie; please forward me a blank cheque. today i am gonna try and find a free scholarship in my “field” of interest
NZ- a kiwi-Fruit Republic, dayo…dayaayo…daylight come and me wanna go home…
Obama startin to pound those war drums on Assad and Iran; catch a few more disillusioned Republicans i spose,
now Joyce wants to leverage Spring Creek losses to ‘get on up’ on the Denniston Plateau; what a callous, transparent, blind, optimist.
See! any body can intercept IT information in transit according to Martin Cocker of Netsafe.
China’s first aircraft carrier enters service-TWP
Christian Conservatives? – i pray they get a LIFE. Dawks! (stumbling blocks) who the freak do they think they are? God?
Christ was the most radical man the world had ever seen until the next great prophet (blessings and peace be upon his name)
and now, when i go to NEWS NOW .co.uk, i get a freakin Herald ad; ggod thing my breakfast had settled; too early int the day to throw up.
u can read all the herald has to tell in one front webpage; it sorta goes like this
crime
sex
corruption
sport
violence
social deterioration
gossip
celebrity
the worst government in my lifetime
health epidemics
poverty
blame the parents
tar the unions
crime
sex
corruption
sport
violence
gossip
drugs
celebrity
crime
sex….
Ultimately, the fading of democracy comes as little surprise. Neoliberal capitalism, already ascendant before the earthquake, has little interest in community participation, the environment, or very much besides economic gain. Rod Carr, a year on from his talk at TEDxEQCHCH, was telling staff members at the University to ‘dob in’ underperforming colleagues. A department strongly critical of the earthquake response, American Studies, has now been disestablished. Further cuts are ahead. Westfield, the owners of Riccarton Mall, has recommended to the City Council that it sells off its stock of social housing; the National government has recommended that the CCC sell its other assets. Brownlee has mobilized anti-Council sentiment to broaden the powers of CERA, an unelected body. The BNZ Tower, on the edge of Cathedral Square, has gained approval to rebuild to thirteen storeys, eliminating the possibility of a low-rise central city. The principles of the Draft Central City Plan, namely ‘community involvement’ and ‘business investment’, have never been placed in starker opposition. Government and business—the TEDxCHCH crowd—have staged a counter-revolution, using the language of ‘disaster capitalism’ to lock out the hopes and dreams of those who took part in the performance of democracy at CBS. Gerry Brownlee now fronts the advertising campaign for TEDxEQCHCH: Uncontained, which is scheduled for this September.
It seems the SAS needs a brand spanking new training facility South of Auckland. To be build by a foreign designer and ready to train our boys to work through battle scenarios on buses, trains and oil rigs. We are not allowed to know the budget and how big it’s going to be but it will be ready in 2015. Can you say US bases?
Ardmore is nicely convenient to Auckland too, which means when we have the “event” which will allow the permanent stationing of the mercenaries, they will be here quick smart.
High tech tooled up choppers, and jacked up psychos who love to blow things up and kill people, all just a stones throw away!
And right next to the commercial airport too, gee I hope all the live munitions in the area will not bother the jumbo jets!
I feel much safer already knowing that this facility will be so close by.
Commercial sensitivities = BS, and an open cheque!
WTF are they looking offshore for designers? I’m sure that any competent architect could do it after speaking with the SAS about they want in such a facility.
How to throttle protests.
How to storm a social housing complex.
How to breach a citizen advocacy clinic.
How to protect state property from the citizenry.
How to recover occupied assets of trans-national corporations.
“I frankly think that crisis initiation is very tough and it’s very hard for me to see how the US president can get us to war with Iran” says Israel lobbyist Patrick Clawson, who continues with a call for the mass murder of Americans, along the lines of the USS Maine, Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, USS Liberty, and (by implication) 9/11 orchestrated war-trigger events to get the President of the US to help Israel to start a war with Iran.
Not that he’s advocating a false flag of course! Well… maybe a sinking sub or something like that I mean “We’re in the game of using covert means against Iranians, we could get nasty about it”!!
Some well-dressed and well-spoken young protesters in Britain gatecrashed a farewell dinner for the boss of Britain’s Inland Revenue Department recently to protest against his close links with the regulated.
He was accused of signing off on a deal that saved Goldman Sachs £20m in tax payments and another which cut Vodafone’s tax bill from £8bn to £1.25bn.
Miners loose jobs, next day joyce is telling enviromentalists to pull their protests out of
the court system,to allow bathhurst to mine,there is something shonkey about this,
shonkey has shares in bank of america which funds loans to bathurst,shonkey opened
the bathhurst conference,why? this also needs some investigation,perhaps another
shonkey deal to be bought out into the public arena.
China now see Japanese aggression, the same aggression
Japanese for decades has used in whale hunting in
the southern oceans, as if Japan had a historical
right to hunt Whales in the Southern Hemisphere.
Atleast with European Whalers they came, and stayed,
married, and settled, what has Japan done but aggressively
seized resources.
It has worked out pretty well for them I reckon. And the loss of carriers at Midway was bad luck, fortunes of battle – but guaranteed in the long run Uncle Sam would pay for Japan’s defense while Mitsubishi, Toyota, Sanyo etc etc got on with the job. Ever read about a crooked Jap firm or product ???
Jap = quality and reliability.
Hmmmmm I think your memory is a little short. “Jap Crap” was a pretty accurate description of most Japanese manufactured consumer products up until the late 60’s/early 70’s.
And the loss of carriers at Midway was bad luck, fortunes of battle
Nope – the Americans knew the exact date and target of the Japanese attack, as well as the exact disposition of the enemy forces and order of battle.
The Japanese also decided to split their fleets up into smaller groups which could not support each other.
It has worked out pretty well for them I reckon.
Uh, you gotta be kidding. Hiroshima and Nagasaki for starters. What do you consider that acceptable collateral damage?
aerobubble 15
Different culture and tightened borders now – can’t compare with previous history. Also I understand there is some power group that wants to catch whales that has influence with their political leaders. Sort of like the SCF investors that got everything they wanted in NZ. Or did they? Near enough anyway. And the oil industry etc..
given the large number of state agencies with
search powers, one does need to ask the question
if evidence say discovered about ACC clients was
safe if the same ‘legal’ understanding has been
used to that against Dot Com.
It’s apparent that the GCSB routinely spies on the electronic communications of New Zealand citizens and residents. In doing so it grossly breaches our right to privacy and ignores the well defined laws it’s meant to adhere to. The lack of proper oversight and avenues for redress when things go wrong shows that the current system is not operating in the best interests of the country or its people. But what’s going to be done about the problem? Absolutely nothing while John Key is in charge…
Roll up and enjoy a great left versus right argument between Red Logix and Tighty Righty on
“Work” and the false economy of Bennett’s welfare reforms. Some good stuff gone down there.
The Whale has been doing some spouting about this analysis:
—–
[WO said:] I am proud that I am easier to read than other bloggers. But very upset to lose to Pinko in these ratings and ask for a recount.
…
Mr Bradbury’s legendary stream-of-conciousness, fifty line, single sentence paragraphs on the blog would have completely munted those stats. I’m guessing it wasn’t one of those days. I find them easy to read though – but that’s me.
Perhaps unsurprisingly Wha***** and Kiwib*** find themselves in the special class/remedial learners end of the spectrum. Indeed 🙂
well, heres my summary of a day through the looking glass;
‘in the house; 400 notifications to CYPFs a DAY-do the math
(poverty and poor human education; REPARENT)
I very comfortable listening to David Cunliffe speak; he speaks to the Worker.
Hollande requests UN enter Syria
Greece; Poverty takes hold of the middle classes, the middle classes disappearing
the “New Poor” coming to a bungalow near you.
see Key on 3; “ahhh, (residency publicity) that runs to the heart of the matter”; wotta Dick
Spain; ” load up…load up …those rubber bullets..”
Fonterra; “drop in forthcoming capital projects, farmers to hunker down”
fortunately at present,
a “hungry market” for arable crops, yet very climate contingent
btw, Tolley the Trolley did come to carry Key’s excuses
and it’s Good Night from Him, and it’s Good Night from me. 😉
The latest Roy Morgan is out (hat tip Gobsmacked on the ‘Polls’ post).
National 43.5, Maori Party 2.5%, ACT NZ 0.5% and United Future a big fat duck egg. Totalling 46.5%.
Support for Labour is 33% (up 2%); Greens are 11.5%, New Zealand First 5%, Mana Party 1.5%, totalling 51 percent. And this before the Dotcom cock up hit the news stands.
…And only 3% of New Zealanders think the Prime Minister has done a good job trying to sell privatisation. Dotcom also inferred there was more to come that will no doubt further discredit John Key… Talk about Hoist with his own petard.
Dotcom also inferred there was more to come that will no doubt further discredit John Key…
I was quite taken aback at Key’s appearance on TV tonight. He looked almost a shadow of his former self – drawn and hollowed out looking eyes. Methinks he’s not been getting his beauty sleep…
I wonder what he was really doing in the USA when he wasn’t watching his son’s base ball game.
Electorally, assuming the MP get 3, UF 1 and ACT 1, its game on.
55 seats Lab + Greens. Add in two seats for Mana (Tiger Mountain will be pleased!) for 57 positive votes. The lukewarm puddle of piss that passes for a Government right now can only muster 58.
Winston has the casting vote with six.
Note that I’ve assumed ACT win Epsom. If the Nats run a candidate who passes the critical test of a) being alive and b) no, that’s it, breathing and upright should do it, then Key only has 57. Lab/Green/NZF have a comfortable 4-6 seat majority.
It’s this kind of polling that will see the Maori Party wondering if its best to start cuddling up to Shearer. After all, Government’s where its at for them. What would be the point of the MP in opposition? It would be a death sentence to go down with Key.
I read that poll as saying that up to 85% of kiwis want a government somewhere between the centre right and the far right. I don’t feel encouraged by it at all.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has launched a broadside against the environmental opponents of The privately owned Denniston mine project. To do this Stephan Joyce has tried to draw a bow linking those who wish to stop the opening of the Dennistion mine, with the closing of the Spring Creek mine.
Everyone has been told this, including the Minister. Spring Creek is being closed because to the falling global price of commodities, especially coal, due to the recession and falling global demand.
The Minister is drawing a very long bow to suggest otherwise, and he knows this.
But he is doing it for a reason and his target is very clear.
For those of us concerned about climate change, to which burning coal is the single greatest contributor, it is an inescapable fact that we need to work with the West Coast communities that currently rely on coal as their mainstay industry….
On the other side….
Joyce and his fossil fuel mates are opportunistically trying to take advantage of the suffering of the West Coast workers and their communities to remove all environmental safeguards. Listen to his complaints about environmental “mitigations”, specifically his complaint against raising climate change. Joyce is a liar. The Minister is trying to get these workers on his side when it is he who is attacking them.
Blaming environmentalists for these job losses is a lie. This is clearly not the position in this case.
For misleading the public, the Green Party should be demanding that Joyce be forced to apologise in the house.
Because Spring Creek and Denniston are both coal exporting mines in competition with each other in a shrinking market, It is in the interests of the Spring Creek mine and the Greymouth community that Denniston never open.
Opening Denniston in the hope that coal prices will eventually recover. (dubious as this argument might be). Is the same argument being put by the workers and their union for keeping Spring Creek open. With the world slump in coal demand, to have in existence an already producing mine competing in the same area of the market, is a dagger in the heart of the Denniston project.
The publicly owned Spring Creek mine is in direct competition with the privately owned Denniston project.
The question must be asked;
With Solid Energy on the market – has possible private investor in Solid Energy, namely Bathhurst Resources, requested as a condition of sale that Spring Creek be closed?
Would an Official Information Request, if granted, reveal this?
Is Spring Creek being closed because it makes the Denniston project unviable?
Do, the underground workers of Spring Creek and the anti-coal lobby have a common interest in seeing that Denniston never opens?
Does the minister know this?
Is this the reason the Minister is trying to turn the Greymouth community’s anger against Solid Energy against the environmental opponents of Denniston?
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COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Hassan Vally, La Trobe UniversityWho doesn’t want to know if drinking that second or third cup of coffee a day will improve your memory, or if sleeping too much increases your risk of a heart attack? We’re invested in staying healthy and many of us are interested in reading ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Two secondary-school initiatives are being expanded as part of the Government’s plan to see more young New Zealanders take up a trade to help close the skills gap. This includes the largest single increase in Trades Academy places in recent years. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
Botany is an electorate that deserves a representative who is committed to their community which is the reason New Conservative has confirmed Elliot Ikilei as the candidate for the 2020 election. ...
Anyone who would like to submit an account of their experience of state care to the Māori Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki has 10 days left before submissions close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Shaw, Conservation Biologist, The University of Queensland This year, five of the seven Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were awarded to women. While this is a welcome development, the great majority of awards and prizes for science, technology, engineering and mathematics ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison seized the opportunity of his Jakarta weekend visit for Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s inauguration to obtain a meeting with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan. Morrison told a news conference he had come out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon O’Connor, Associate Professor in American Politics at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney During the 2016 US presidential campaign, people around the world were regularly reassured by election experts that Donald Trump was too outrageous to be elected president. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Leask, Professor, University of Sydney Your neighbour is telling you about his new baby. He feels nervous about vaccinating, and says he’s considering delaying Lucy’s vaccines. Your mother’s group is chatting about vaccines. One mother tells the group Jimmy isn’t vaccinated, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Associate Director – City Futures – Urban Policy and Strategy, City Futures Research Centre, Housing Policy and Practice, UNSW Low-income tenants in Australia are increasingly likely to be trapped in rental stress for years. New evidence from the Productivity Commission ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland In line with his usual practice, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed Donald Trump over the World Trade Organisation, criticising of China’s status in it as a “developing country”. Critics of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristal Spreadborough, Casual Academic, University of New England As the Australian premier season of The Masked Singer draws to a close, fans are listening hard to guess which celebrities remain behind the weird and wonderful costumes. Although the celebrities throw listeners a ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ First holds crucial party conference, roving AOS trial sparks concerns, and Mediaworks facing dramatic days ahead.The most pivotal political party in the country right now has held their annual conference, a year out from what will be a make ...
Five experts, all from countries with varying levels of cannabis legality, came to Auckland to speak on the benefits and costs of the drug before New Zealand’s cannabis referendum in 2020. Alice Webb-Liddall reports.While New Zealanders wait for the cannabis referendum in 2020, the government is working hard to draft ...
Protesting has brought about enormous social change in NZ. Will transformational groups emerge from the climate and Ihumātao protests? Trevor Richards hopes so. ...
Dr Olivier Jutel goes deep on blockchain, explaining why we should be cognisant of sweeping ideological claims masquerading as the technology of truth. ...
A psychiatric doctor who helps suicidal teenagers says the Ministry of Health’s suicide reduction plans miss much of the wider issue. We need to listen to affected communities, and equip them to make the changes they need, he writes.Last week, as I left yet another 3am crisis interview in ED ...
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Open mike 26/09/2012 
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NEWSFLASH!!!!
UNITED STATES PUBLICLY CONDEMNS ISRAEL
National Radio, Wednesday 26 September 2012
In a great rush a few minutes ago, I turned on National Radio for the news and could hardly believe my ears: the U.S. has finally come out and condemned Israel, just as it eventually did with other protégés such as Suharto’s Indonesia, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and apartheid South Africa.
This is the only part I heard from the news broadcast: “President Obama said that if there is a case that should arouse protests across the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.”
No doubt we’ll be hearing more of this remarkable political and moral volte-face as the day goes on.
Meanwhile, back to the books….
wotta u like? u satirist u.
“u satirist u”.
Nothing satirical about it. It seems our friend Morrissey took the president’s words as genuine.
The satire on view here is entirely by President Obama.
George W. Obama.
Pur the pipe down, Prof, Mozza was clearly being satirical. Obama was talking about Syria, obviously.
Here’s what our friend Morrissey transcribed from the radio: “President Obama said that if there is a case that should arouse protests across the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.”
“A regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.” That’s the Israeli regime.
No kidding! It’s also the NZ regime and every other country on the planet bar Switzerland. Obama was referring to Syria, Mozza was riffing on that. I’m starting to think you’re not really a Professor.
“It’s also the NZ regime and every other country on the planet bar Switzerland.”
That statement is either deliberately nonsensical, or simply dishonest.
“Obama was referring to Syria,”
The president was talking about “a regime” that “tortures children and fires rockets into apartments.” That describes Israel, which has done those things for a much longer time than Syria has.
“Mozza was riffing on that.”
To any non-ideologue of good faith who was listening, the condemnation of a regime that tortures children and fires rockets into apartments would have to be a condemnation of Israel. Of course, after the statement has been fed through the filter of hypocrisy, it only applies to officially designated enemies.
“I’m starting to think you’re not really a Professor.”
By gad, sir! I have a good mind to thrash you with a horse-whip, on the steps of your club.
Horse whipping eh? It’s the only language the likes of me understand!
Like it or not, it was a direct quote from Obama about Syria, not Israel, though as I pointed out, it could apply to pretty much any country. NZ, for example, did the first in Samoa, Parihaka, the Ureweras and elsewhere and that SAS soldier chappie who’s just retired got a VC for the latter.
(Just for the record, I’m anti-zionist and I believe in a two state solution, with the Palestinion people having a country with contiguous borders and a working port)
Yep.
Some very good points there, my man. I think I’ll shelve the horse-whipping for the time being, seeing as you seem to be someone who might enjoy it a little too much for your own good.
Would you like me to put you in touch with like-minded people?
here’s a link to what he said and what he was talking about. Welcome to realpolitik.
The relationship is definitely changing, this sort of thing would have been unheard of not very long ago.
US Envoys Stay Seated For Ahmadinejad’s UN Speech, Israel Walks Out Alone!
http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2012/09/25/us-envoys-stay-seated-for-ahmadinejads-un-speech-israel-walks-out-alone/
God bless Israel and Lebanon , let’s hope they finally recognise each others’ existence.
And before long, Israel will be condemning the U.S.?
thats funny!
It’s a tricky one, presedent Obama needs to do this, I doubt Israel will retaliate, it’s about opening the dialog at the moment.
.
Can I just check that I’ve got Joyce and Blinglish right: basically, give up your legal rights, forget about protecting the environment, forsake the conservation estate and National Ltd™ will, maybe, provide some extra jobs . . . blackmail, divide and rule, with a touch of “serves you right”, is that how it goes?
Thanks National Ltd™ – I’m lovin’ it.
Yep, but the important thing is the newly announced extension to the John Key Memorial Cycleway which will Joyce reckons will create at least a million jobs on the West Coast. I understand the route will now terminate inside the Spring Creek Mine, echoing the NZ economy’s disappearence down a deep, dark hole.
Ha! progress, I will pump up the tyres and add a parachute.
Sorry only the rich get Parachutes…. Golden ones!
If you read the report, you’ll see that we at National Ltd cannot just “make some jobs” for you people. The only exception is when we say we can make some jobs. Those jobs are not jobs that can be worked, per se, they are ledger jobs for reporting purposes only. We have not read the report and don’t intend to, since we take our word. It’s about integrity. You see, it’s about the economy. We cannot go on redistributing tax payer money. This does not exclude us selling thing you own to our friends.
If you have any further questions, please make an appointment for Tuesday. We will be unexpectedly unavailable on Tuesday while we watch softball overseas. Nothing will happen between then and now, except for the stuff that is already happening, of which we have no knowledge.
Dear John,
Whilst watching the softball overseas can you please consider this “redistribution of taxpayer money”. If I stop paying tax do I still qualify? As a “citizen”. Do I have rights as a “citizen” or only as a taxpayer? Can you redistribute it to “citizens” or only those paying taxes? I really need to understand where I fit into your governments re distributive plans.
Most humbly,
Mr Bored
Dear Mr Bored,
You are right to be humble, or at least meek. However, our lawyers have instructed us to tell you that this is no gaurantee you shall inherit the earth or the profits of your time under the National Ltd administration.
If you stop paying taxes, we will have you arrested, though this action may not be taken depending on the evaluation of your personal valuation you have yet to supply. We of course cannot view your valuation ourselves, or consider it’s contents. It is a matter of integrity. You will have to supply a certified viewer who will give us the signal by running over a person poorer than you, in a town of your choosing.
Going forward, we encourage your intent to not pay taxes, in principle, and this alone may enhance our reading of your personal valuation. As a Tradeable Work Unit, you qualify to pay us tax, but the rights of citizenship are unsure. What is citizenship? A ship made of buddhist cities? I bet I could find a lawyer who could say the opposite. Obligations on our part remain strictly defined. It is a matter of integrity, except in the case of you being unable to arouse our interest in your personal fortune or the poor person you run down surviving.
Stay humble, bottomfeeder,
National Ltd
Dear John,
To avoid arrest the money has been ETed (I figured habeus corpus was at risk if I said it “was in the mail”. Recent events indicate the NZ Police dont quite “understand” the law). The IRD when presented with the extra payment charged me interest on not declaring this as provisional tax at the beginning of the FY, thereby defining my relationship as a taxpayer rather nicely (from their viewpoint). What was intriguing was that they had a copy of all my emails to you via GCSB, maybe they are watching you because you still talk to foreign criminal types who you used to work with.
I did take your advice: I ran down a rather rotund man with a German accent, injuring myself in the process. ACC state that they wont pay for my injuries because the gent was rather too large and should have been avoidable. My counter claim is that he was too big to avoid. Either way they are checking out my ACC levy via the aforementioned IRD. The vehicle went to the panel beater who suggested that I flag the insurance excess claim because the said German gent represents a credit risk and cant pay me for the “accident”. He was apparently formerly rich but by some dint of misfortune he met up with bad company (an MP from Epsom) and its been all downhill since. The insurance claim came back nicely, good riddance Mr B, we went bust with Christchuch, thanks for your money……
So in summary thank you for the explanation of my relationship with the state as a taxpayer: I keep paying, you transfer to your mates in Reemers who dont pay tax. With regard to citizenship I am now more informed: it is off to Greenland where plenty of new land becomes available weekly.
Yours far less humbly
Mr B Esq.
Hello Mr. B Esq.,
Thanks for your note. John is out of town and has left me in charge of correspondence and crises. If we could keep this on the hush hush, that would be good. Don’t worry about GCSB. Those guys are all pinstripes and salad lunches. Sorry to hear about the damage to your car. Germans, what have they ever given us?
Will be driving the new BMW home for Christmas. Plan to start a boutique brewery making Doppelbockbeir. Could be fun. Have you considered The South as a holiday destination? I could hook you up. Call me maybe?
Bill E.
Dear Bill,
Maybe the South will be good for a holiday: currently the beach in Greenland is unseasonably balmy. Even the bears have left. Do you still have penguins?
B Esq
Uturn – key words, “of which we have no knowledge” – message for the day?
Shearer did some really good straight talk on the Key/Banks/English scandal just now on Morning Report.
If he keeps this up he could be leader of the opposition some day.
[audio src="http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20120926-0714-pm_under_pressure_over_dotcom_spy_scandal-048.mp3" /]
Thanks for that felix, ‘Dottie’ has really got them dazed and confused. Blinglish takes the fall? don’t think he likes Key enough to do that.
Shearer did way better than usual in terms of knowing his subject.
Could be?, that’s mean.
Thanks for the link as I missed it live. Yep, he’s definitely getting better. Agree re clear straight talk. Good to give credit where credit due 🙂
“Yep, he’s definitely getting better.”
In the same manner, Mr John Banks, who has not told any ooutrageous lies this week, is also “getting better.”
You are without doubt a man of infinite generosity, LynW.
felix – great, Shearer finally showed after nearly one year!!
Pretty galling to hear last night the Minister of Economic Development blame the Forest and Bird Society for holding up jobs on the west cost because apparently they are stopping the whole of a plateau from being strip-mined. Actually encouraging the quarry-enclave economy to continue in New Zealand is no economic strategy and should simply embarrass him. But doubling down on making the West Coast more vulnerable to global unprocessed commodity prices such as coal is mind-spinningly dumb, and then offloading the blame to environmental defenders is just nasty.
Even worse for Minister of State owned Enterprises for not topping up Solid Energy to keep the Springfield Mine open. Not even bothering to run the ruler over social welfare and wider economic benefit costs vs keeping the mine going is bad. But holding out a cruel hope to turn miners into carpenters on the Christchurch rebuild that will never happen is reprehensible.
Not to mention claiming the miners’ union opposed the new Denniston mine proposal, when the opposite is true.
In reality mining on the West Coast will eventually become a thing of the past. We are at a point with the planets climate where we cant continue to burn fossil fuels regardless of the economic circumstance. As a consequence would it not be a clever move from a far sighted society to transition to a solid state economic model that does not rely upon depleting resources. Something todays and future generations can aspire to as viable and rewarding. Starting with the West Coast. Any ideas?
You know, I wonder if SE’s retrenchment is more because union membership at the SOE’s is greater than among the privately owned coal companies?
Latest MediaLens report released today. Follows the events of the protests across the ME.
Poses the question was the initial Embassy attack a concerted attack…
If so are the Mainstream media responsible for setting off a chain of religiously motivated protests around the world in an attempt to cover up an obvious failure in the Western intervention in the Middle east. What does this mean for the Syrian situation??
Quoted:
reporting suggested that the initial media consensus blaming a provocative film was false. The Telegraph noted:
‘A security guard wounded in the attack… has insisted it was a planned assault by Islamist fighters, and not a protest that got out of hand.
‘The guard, who works for a British firm, said there was no demonstration over a controversial anti-Islamic film before extremists stormed the compound in the eastern city of Benghazi.’
Matthew Olsen, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: ‘I would say [the four Americans] were killed in the course of a terrorist attack.’
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=697:us-consulate-killings-spontaneous-religious-or-planned-political&catid=25:alerts-2012&Itemid=69
Shalom. and now the news..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/iconic-israeli-newspaper-maariv-faces-collapse-critics-allege-its-part-of-anti-media-blitz/2012/09/25/4345d464-0749-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html?
Feel free to add to this lists…
What National have not been able to achieve…
Roads of National Significance – reduced, delayed and not wanted
Ultra Fast Broadband – not going to hit target dates
National Standards – up shit creek
Keeping NZdrs in NZ – record numbers moving to Australia
Thousands upon thousands of new jobs – increasing unemployment
Reaching parity with Australian wages – the gap geting wider
Restore integrity to government – John Banks is still a minister
Sale of assets to mum and dad investors – in a slow, uncontrolled decent into failure
Fiscally responsible government – increased government debt
Push to get people to invest in business – house prices increasing again
Earthquake recovery – people still living in damaged houses while slap-up dinners for business people and unqualified people/friends paid large sums for unskilled work.
What National have been able to achieve…
Restrictions on beneficiaries – affects the poor
Tax cuts for the rich – makes our country poorer
Reduced public service – makes public servants unemployed and poorer
Restrictive labour laws – forces the poor to stay in work and keep there mouths shut
Halved the Kiwisaver member tax credit
No national cycleway but disjointed cycleways
Fraction of the jobs promised by the national cycleway
ECE subsidies changed
Thousand more children living in welfare dependant homes
More children in poverty
Used our money to pay people sell our assets that we don’t want sold
Shifted $2 billion in wealth from taxpayers to SFC investors
Increased GST to remove more wealth from taxpayers
$400 million taken away from Working for Families
Lovely list…..its amazing how well Lord Haw Haw Key has managed to avoid the opprobrium.
PS Love the photostream picture of Betty Windsor with Shonkers.
+1
Sums up capitalism quite well.
thanks for sorting out linking tidiness for luddites like me guys 🙂
hookie; please forward me a blank cheque. today i am gonna try and find a free scholarship in my “field” of interest
NZ- a kiwi-Fruit Republic, dayo…dayaayo…daylight come and me wanna go home…
Obama startin to pound those war drums on Assad and Iran; catch a few more disillusioned Republicans i spose,
now Joyce wants to leverage Spring Creek losses to ‘get on up’ on the Denniston Plateau; what a callous, transparent, blind, optimist.
See! any body can intercept IT information in transit according to Martin Cocker of Netsafe.
China’s first aircraft carrier enters service-TWP
Christian Conservatives? – i pray they get a LIFE. Dawks! (stumbling blocks) who the freak do they think they are? God?
Christ was the most radical man the world had ever seen until the next great prophet (blessings and peace be upon his name)
and now, when i go to NEWS NOW .co.uk, i get a freakin Herald ad; ggod thing my breakfast had settled; too early int the day to throw up.
u can read all the herald has to tell in one front webpage; it sorta goes like this
crime
sex
corruption
sport
violence
social deterioration
gossip
celebrity
the worst government in my lifetime
health epidemics
poverty
blame the parents
tar the unions
crime
sex
corruption
sport
violence
gossip
drugs
celebrity
crime
sex….
An post about Chch from the inside…
Ultimately, the fading of democracy comes as little surprise. Neoliberal capitalism, already ascendant before the earthquake, has little interest in community participation, the environment, or very much besides economic gain. Rod Carr, a year on from his talk at TEDxEQCHCH, was telling staff members at the University to ‘dob in’ underperforming colleagues. A department strongly critical of the earthquake response, American Studies, has now been disestablished. Further cuts are ahead. Westfield, the owners of Riccarton Mall, has recommended to the City Council that it sells off its stock of social housing; the National government has recommended that the CCC sell its other assets. Brownlee has mobilized anti-Council sentiment to broaden the powers of CERA, an unelected body. The BNZ Tower, on the edge of Cathedral Square, has gained approval to rebuild to thirteen storeys, eliminating the possibility of a low-rise central city. The principles of the Draft Central City Plan, namely ‘community involvement’ and ‘business investment’, have never been placed in starker opposition. Government and business—the TEDxCHCH crowd—have staged a counter-revolution, using the language of ‘disaster capitalism’ to lock out the hopes and dreams of those who took part in the performance of democracy at CBS. Gerry Brownlee now fronts the advertising campaign for TEDxEQCHCH: Uncontained, which is scheduled for this September.
http://keaandcattle.com/cultureandsociety/goodbye-letter-to-christchurch
i have said it before; that V.C is a VERY unhelpful man 🙁
It seems the SAS needs a brand spanking new training facility South of Auckland. To be build by a foreign designer and ready to train our boys to work through battle scenarios on buses, trains and oil rigs. We are not allowed to know the budget and how big it’s going to be but it will be ready in 2015. Can you say US bases?
Great, just what we need to guarantee New Zealand remaining a free country.
Ardmore is nicely convenient to Auckland too, which means when we have the “event” which will allow the permanent stationing of the mercenaries, they will be here quick smart.
High tech tooled up choppers, and jacked up psychos who love to blow things up and kill people, all just a stones throw away!
And right next to the commercial airport too, gee I hope all the live munitions in the area will not bother the jumbo jets!
I feel much safer already knowing that this facility will be so close by.
Commercial sensitivities = BS, and an open cheque!
QFT
WTF are they looking offshore for designers? I’m sure that any competent architect could do it after speaking with the SAS about they want in such a facility.
How to throttle protests.
How to storm a social housing complex.
How to breach a citizen advocacy clinic.
How to protect state property from the citizenry.
How to recover occupied assets of trans-national corporations.
Look stop telling them what to do bud, I want u too write out ten times ….
“I will not speak Evil to National” 🙂
The SAS have been based at Ardmore as long as I can remember. What is it exactly that’s “brand spanking new” about this base?
“I frankly think that crisis initiation is very tough and it’s very hard for me to see how the US president can get us to war with Iran” says Israel lobbyist Patrick Clawson, who continues with a call for the mass murder of Americans, along the lines of the USS Maine, Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, USS Liberty, and (by implication) 9/11 orchestrated war-trigger events to get the President of the US to help Israel to start a war with Iran.
Not that he’s advocating a false flag of course! Well… maybe a sinking sub or something like that I mean “We’re in the game of using covert means against Iranians, we could get nasty about it”!!
This is worth a look at Interest.co
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/61291/wednesdays-top-10-nz-mint-tax-avoidance-protesters-black-tie-pain-spain-mainly-around-
Some well-dressed and well-spoken young protesters in Britain gatecrashed a farewell dinner for the boss of Britain’s Inland Revenue Department recently to protest against his close links with the regulated.
He was accused of signing off on a deal that saved Goldman Sachs £20m in tax payments and another which cut Vodafone’s tax bill from £8bn to £1.25bn.
John Key receives a letter from a jilted lover: http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/dear-john-love-has-gone.html
Miners loose jobs, next day joyce is telling enviromentalists to pull their protests out of
the court system,to allow bathhurst to mine,there is something shonkey about this,
shonkey has shares in bank of america which funds loans to bathurst,shonkey opened
the bathhurst conference,why? this also needs some investigation,perhaps another
shonkey deal to be bought out into the public arena.
Indeed, it comes under the – Who are the major shareholders in Bathurst file…
followed by
Who has shares/interest in the major shareholders of Bathurst!
SNAFU
China now see Japanese aggression, the same aggression
Japanese for decades has used in whale hunting in
the southern oceans, as if Japan had a historical
right to hunt Whales in the Southern Hemisphere.
Atleast with European Whalers they came, and stayed,
married, and settled, what has Japan done but aggressively
seized resources.
Japan’s plans ran into problems off Midway in 1942
Yeah Japan was pretty much screwed from the time the US managed to break their naval code.
Choosing war against the USA was never going to work out well for Japan.
It has worked out pretty well for them I reckon. And the loss of carriers at Midway was bad luck, fortunes of battle – but guaranteed in the long run Uncle Sam would pay for Japan’s defense while Mitsubishi, Toyota, Sanyo etc etc got on with the job. Ever read about a crooked Jap firm or product ???
Jap = quality and reliability.
Hmmmmm I think your memory is a little short. “Jap Crap” was a pretty accurate description of most Japanese manufactured consumer products up until the late 60’s/early 70’s.
Nope – the Americans knew the exact date and target of the Japanese attack, as well as the exact disposition of the enemy forces and order of battle.
The Japanese also decided to split their fleets up into smaller groups which could not support each other.
Uh, you gotta be kidding. Hiroshima and Nagasaki for starters. What do you consider that acceptable collateral damage?
aerobubble 15
Different culture and tightened borders now – can’t compare with previous history. Also I understand there is some power group that wants to catch whales that has influence with their political leaders. Sort of like the SCF investors that got everything they wanted in NZ. Or did they? Near enough anyway. And the oil industry etc..
given the large number of state agencies with
search powers, one does need to ask the question
if evidence say discovered about ACC clients was
safe if the same ‘legal’ understanding has been
used to that against Dot Com.
Spooks – a law unto themselves
It’s apparent that the GCSB routinely spies on the electronic communications of New Zealand citizens and residents. In doing so it grossly breaches our right to privacy and ignores the well defined laws it’s meant to adhere to. The lack of proper oversight and avenues for redress when things go wrong shows that the current system is not operating in the best interests of the country or its people. But what’s going to be done about the problem? Absolutely nothing while John Key is in charge…
Roll up and enjoy a great left versus right argument between Red Logix and Tighty Righty on
“Work” and the false economy of Bennett’s welfare reforms. Some good stuff gone down there.
Yes, prism. Some comments have made a very good read, with various people, including RL & DTB providing some very good arguments and evidence.
Pete, stand up. Your stats on blog readability as posted on the Standard,
are getting some comment on other blogs. Tim Selwyn over at Tumeke put up a post on it this afternoon:
http://www.tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/and-you-thought-national-standards-were.html
Onya Pete!, we got a “Yeah Na M8” from Whaleoil M8!
Hey we should throw a party and invite them over M8.
Yeah Naa M8!
Pete: thumbs up mate. I’ll get the choir to do an extra chorus of the Red Flag for ya.
Cheers. It’s nice to be appreciated.
well, heres my summary of a day through the looking glass;
‘in the house; 400 notifications to CYPFs a DAY-do the math
(poverty and poor human education; REPARENT)
I very comfortable listening to David Cunliffe speak; he speaks to the Worker.
Hollande requests UN enter Syria
Greece; Poverty takes hold of the middle classes, the middle classes disappearing
the “New Poor” coming to a bungalow near you.
see Key on 3; “ahhh, (residency publicity) that runs to the heart of the matter”; wotta Dick
Spain; ” load up…load up …those rubber bullets..”
Fonterra; “drop in forthcoming capital projects, farmers to hunker down”
fortunately at present,
a “hungry market” for arable crops, yet very climate contingent
btw, Tolley the Trolley did come to carry Key’s excuses
and it’s Good Night from Him, and it’s Good Night from me. 😉
The latest Roy Morgan is out (hat tip Gobsmacked on the ‘Polls’ post).
National 43.5, Maori Party 2.5%, ACT NZ 0.5% and United Future a big fat duck egg. Totalling 46.5%.
Support for Labour is 33% (up 2%); Greens are 11.5%, New Zealand First 5%, Mana Party 1.5%, totalling 51 percent. And this before the Dotcom cock up hit the news stands.
…and before the job losses in the mines and Nuplex? Labour may have just hit the ‘there is an alternative to doing nothing’ button at the right time.
http://www.roymorgan.com/ Up to 23 September
…And only 3% of New Zealanders think the Prime Minister has done a good job trying to sell privatisation. Dotcom also inferred there was more to come that will no doubt further discredit John Key… Talk about Hoist with his own petard.
Dotcom also inferred there was more to come that will no doubt further discredit John Key…
I was quite taken aback at Key’s appearance on TV tonight. He looked almost a shadow of his former self – drawn and hollowed out looking eyes. Methinks he’s not been getting his beauty sleep…
I wonder what he was really doing in the USA when he wasn’t watching his son’s base ball game.
Electorally, assuming the MP get 3, UF 1 and ACT 1, its game on.
55 seats Lab + Greens. Add in two seats for Mana (Tiger Mountain will be pleased!) for 57 positive votes. The lukewarm puddle of piss that passes for a Government right now can only muster 58.
Winston has the casting vote with six.
Note that I’ve assumed ACT win Epsom. If the Nats run a candidate who passes the critical test of a) being alive and b) no, that’s it, breathing and upright should do it, then Key only has 57. Lab/Green/NZF have a comfortable 4-6 seat majority.
It’s this kind of polling that will see the Maori Party wondering if its best to start cuddling up to Shearer. After all, Government’s where its at for them. What would be the point of the MP in opposition? It would be a death sentence to go down with Key.
true, and instead of getting crumbs, they’ll get mango skins.
Better watch that your roof painting ass doesn’t get reported to Paula Benefit.
I read that poll as saying that up to 85% of kiwis want a government somewhere between the centre right and the far right. I don’t feel encouraged by it at all.
not sure if anyone else has drawn this comparison yet: Paula Bennett = Dolores Umbridge.
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Dolores_Umbridge
Also, every time she talks about ‘wrapping around’ all I can think of is the face-hugging alien in Alien.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has launched a broadside against the environmental opponents of The privately owned Denniston mine project. To do this Stephan Joyce has tried to draw a bow linking those who wish to stop the opening of the Dennistion mine, with the closing of the Spring Creek mine.
Minister Blames environmentalists for the closing of Spring Creek
The Forest and Bird Protection Society has branded Joyce’s comments as “mischievious” and “opportunistic”.
Let’s get this clear.
Everyone has been told this, including the Minister. Spring Creek is being closed because to the falling global price of commodities, especially coal, due to the recession and falling global demand.
The Minister is drawing a very long bow to suggest otherwise, and he knows this.
But he is doing it for a reason and his target is very clear.
For those of us concerned about climate change, to which burning coal is the single greatest contributor, it is an inescapable fact that we need to work with the West Coast communities that currently rely on coal as their mainstay industry….
On the other side….
Joyce and his fossil fuel mates are opportunistically trying to take advantage of the suffering of the West Coast workers and their communities to remove all environmental safeguards. Listen to his complaints about environmental “mitigations”, specifically his complaint against raising climate change. Joyce is a liar. The Minister is trying to get these workers on his side when it is he who is attacking them.
Blaming environmentalists for these job losses is a lie. This is clearly not the position in this case.
For misleading the public, the Green Party should be demanding that Joyce be forced to apologise in the house.
Because Spring Creek and Denniston are both coal exporting mines in competition with each other in a shrinking market, It is in the interests of the Spring Creek mine and the Greymouth community that Denniston never open.
Opening Denniston in the hope that coal prices will eventually recover. (dubious as this argument might be). Is the same argument being put by the workers and their union for keeping Spring Creek open. With the world slump in coal demand, to have in existence an already producing mine competing in the same area of the market, is a dagger in the heart of the Denniston project.
The publicly owned Spring Creek mine is in direct competition with the privately owned Denniston project.
The question must be asked;
With Solid Energy on the market – has possible private investor in Solid Energy, namely Bathhurst Resources, requested as a condition of sale that Spring Creek be closed?
Would an Official Information Request, if granted, reveal this?
Is Spring Creek being closed because it makes the Denniston project unviable?
Do, the underground workers of Spring Creek and the anti-coal lobby have a common interest in seeing that Denniston never opens?
Does the minister know this?
Is this the reason the Minister is trying to turn the Greymouth community’s anger against Solid Energy against the environmental opponents of Denniston?