I see the Herald’s editorial writers are now spluttering about politicians actually running the country rather than leaving it to faceless technocrats in the reserve bank. There is a consistant anti-democratic theme in the Herald’s editorials – democracy can only be allowed if it doesn’t change the existing elite structures in NZ.
Finding it difficult to access this site. It states Reason: Exceeded the maximum global requests per minute for crawlers or humans. This is untrue – could it be Matthew Hooton or some other reason!!
[lprent: Thanks I’d left that at 3 per minute froma single source while I was diagnosing the outages yesterday. Reset back to 15 per minute. ]
Some nameless person at the New Zealand Herald thinks either Labour or the Greens are going to have to support National after the 2014 election. And that person gets a salary to write this sort of stuff!
I don’t normally read anonymous postings on the internet, but yesterday’s NZ Herald editorial about the prospect of a “coalition of the losers” government forming post 2014 has been brought to my attention. It’s a topic that both Tim Watkin and I have posted on before, but the Herald’s treatment of it is so annoying that I’m revisiting it in a cut-paste-and-comment format.
There is discussion about investing in NZ enterprise and the Americas Cup great effort is an example of what we can do. We didn’t win but we were only about 50 seconds behind and the boat didn’t split in half.
We should be doing more ground breaking innovative stuff. We might even get a winning boat – or better make one that is sea-breaking for transporting our produce and carrying passengers when the price goes up on present transport.
What about encouraging investors to put 10% of their investments into new development and rising stars. Fun, excitement, being close to the action with regular updates on what may be happening in their portfolios. Investors made to feel important, and knowing there are risks but that they are up there with the smart ones who actually are exploring new products and ideas with a commercial promise. Get togethers with nibbles and large screens about ground-breaking stuff that we are attempting, doing, and what is being done internationally. Know more than your average NZr.
Get that excitement that people have felt about yachting and insert it into the country’s development, draw up rational scenarios and pilot plans, and light the touchpaper.
Ten thoughts….
i.) Put an Australia, a Brit, some US and NZer’s up against Team NZ and they win, sure isn’t that always the way? The wider the pool of talent and money wins.
ii.) 8 straight wins with two highly competitive boats, okay no that can happen, sure, its not like team NZ almost capsized, money has been know to buy…
iii.) Relief, America’s cup not going to Littleton.
iv.) The history of the America Cup is the history of rich rule twisting,
v.) WTF, a two point advantage, what were they trying to do, scruple team NZ by given Team USA a man down, its well known in football that a man down spurs the team to victory.
vi.) Ooops, sorry Key no 3% bounce.
vii.) Wow, those boats were mostly built in NZ,
viii.) As an expat living in NZ, I’m proud of my country men, and NZ for building boats to win in.
ix.) What no women on board?
x.) Why are these boats so expensive, had they been cheaper, there could be catamaran races all over the world? Those boats rock, and the rules would be able to be altered to maximize their coolness.
+1 Greywarbler….Great racing and great sport.!…seems like American aeronautics stablising technology won in the end though
….and all the more important why we should putting more investment into R&D, ICT and protecting intellectual copyright…… and not allowing it to be traded away with the TTPA.
Here i was thinking that TeamNZ was slowed down by the weight of all that filthy lucre, i could of sworn i heard the sound of screeching brakes in one of the races as Dean and the crew overtook the opposition boat,
Looking at the specs tho shows that Aotearoa aint fitted with brakes so we will just have to take it as Dean said, that it was a ‘mistake’ to not continue with the overtaking instead tacking off into bad air…
@bad12….yes it was a weird mistake…but I guess hindsight is not foresight?….but it still seemed a weird tack when one is speeding ahead at terrific rate of knots and seems to be winning (to amateurs at least)
….the one good thing about all this is that John key and Joyce don’t get their mugshots taken with the cup!….smile
Considering all the other ‘mistakes’ and trying not to be too critical, it would appear that either Dean aint the sailor everyone thinks He is, or…
Was interesting to listen to the bloke that built the American boat, He said on TV3 News tonight that the aero-nautical foiling gear was on the boat from the time it was built, makes me wonder how after all those months of testing that boat suddenly grew wings for the 2nd half of the regatta,
i have to ask myself if i was paid a million to win that cup how much would it take to make me lose it…
@bad 12…now you are getting confusing……It was fun in the first half ….and ‘all at sea’ and lots of ‘silly mistakes’ in the second half …..plus a big aeroplane booster gidget came into play…the hidden technological wizardry brought out by the Oracle multi billionaire…..
…although I prefer yachting races to rugby…. I certainly wouldn’t gamble on this one ….however I know one mad coot who is kicking himself he didnt….but hindsight is all (unless of course one has foresight)
i blame myself, ,my guilt therefore knows no bounds,(snigger), i commented the other week that their boat was a lemon and they couldn’t sail it for s**t,
Auckland council is talking about ways to honour team nz. As a ratepayer can I just say NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
they lost. They gave it their best shot… or is the idea for ratepayers to fork out for it so crowds will spend money in queen st? If thats the reason alex swny can pay.
Just watched ‘the Hairdo’ speaking in the Parliament with a motion of praise for ‘TeamNZ$’, time to regroup and get together an even better team says wee Petey,
i take that as code for lets toss even more of the taxpayers cash into the abyss, meanwhile in South Auckland another family moved into the garage out the back of a cousins place because of the dire shortage of State Houses…
…..said that the event had not only brought New Zealanders closer together but also MPs: “Somewhere in a bar in San Francisco it’s even brought Steven Joyce and Trevor Mallard together singing Dave Dobbyn songs like ‘Loyal’.”
Maryan Street has withdrawn her voluntary Euthanasia bill. Understandable, because in the election year the Right would jump on it like rabid dogs, and we’d be hearing of Labour’s termination camps for the elderly and similar rubbish to no end.
Yes extremely divisive, Slippery the PM is actually a supporter of euthanasia, one ex Australian Head of State actually went so far as to state He supports it as those wanting to euthanize were at the end of their useful economic life…
Just saw a great comment on stuff about Climate Change and thought I would share it here: “Why do so many who believe the Science on Global Warming deny the Science on Nuclear power, Fracking and Genetic Engineering? All the arguments on Scientific consensus, peer review, weight of evidence and data cherry picking work both ways. Either show consistency or accept others rights to the freedom of enquiry.”
Well hardly anyone died in those accidents, while millions of people die of cold because we don’t have enough global warming and they can’t afford the increased power prices due to the carbon taxes! 🙂
NZ butter went funny about the time of the 3 Mile Island….i think the Yanks exported it here and we called it ‘2 Flags’….housewives were complaining all over the country that their cakes were turning out funny….even although they had been using the same recipes for years….meanwhile back at 3 Mile Island cows were lying down with their legs in the air….and a lot of people felt a wee bit sick and were queuing up at the hospitals
….the Russians refused the butter and said the Americans should eat their own butter
….there was a film festival doco on it at the time….and that was around about the time we switched to margarine….
There is overwhelming consistency on scientific review on Climate Change – the main discrepancy is in the reporting and media space…. and the constant repetition of that 3% by comments such as yours.
By “Science on Nuclear power, fracking and genetic engineering” I guess you mean scientific studies on the safety of those three. Given the lack of impartiality of most of those studies, and their limited scope it is of no surprise to me that independent scientists think their conclusions are misguided.
Your call for consistency is admirable, you need to apply it to your examples.
One of the people in that photo looks very, very happy to be seen with the other.
Only one, mind.
And the newspaper was merciless in its description of New Zealand’s 38th Prime Minister.
“He is totally chuffed to bits, glowing nuclear pink with pleasure, at being snapped with the Queen in her private sitting room.
“She, on the other hand, has her head bowed, deep in thought. Perhaps she is having second thoughts about letting this galloping colonial clot through the front door?” the Daily Mail reported.
…
The Daily Mail said Key sounded like he was filing a report for TripAdvisor when he wrote “They were extremely generous hosts and we had a fantastic weekend.”
Didn’t take long for the British press to get the measure of him. What’s taking our lot so long?
They stuff the corgis after they have finished with them???? Made my day.. Is this the fate of all their visitors when they reach the end of the line..
JAYMAN
>>Well hardly anyone died in those accidents
FUKISHIMA
news.discovery.com/…/fukushima-radioactive-plume-reach-us-130901.h…
Sep 1, 2013 – The known death toll came to 15,848 with 3,305 missing
They just don’t know how to decommission, how much it costs to decommission, how to fund decommission or how to safely store contaminants that remain deadly toxic for many thousands of years.
While waiting for ultra efficient green energy sources, the smartest money is on building shit loads of wind turbines in the meantime, which to some may look unsightly, but as nimby arguments go, much less tumour inducing and easily removed.
And they’re struggling with how to warn the future.
The panel roughly defined the intended message with the following:
This place is a message… and part of a system of messages… pay attention to it!Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.
This place is not a place of honor…no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here… nothing valued is here.
What is here is dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
The danger is in a particular location… it increases toward a center… the center of danger is here… of a particular size and shape, and below us.
The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
The danger is to the body, and it can kill.
The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.
The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
You’d better find someone else to argue with. While I am trained in nuclear physics, I don’t like any of the current reactor designs. And nuclear is probably never an option for NZ. I like tidal and hydro and geothermal power. I’d like to go off the grid one day.
Because you can’t back up comments like “hardly anyone died in those accidents, while millions of people die of cold because we don’t have enough global warming”
“I am trained in nuclear physics”
And you can’t spell I’m a qualified fu*ktard and retarded climate change denier
You fool – you mised the 🙂 in message 12.1.1, where I was pretending to be a nuke proponent.
I did do nuclear physics for my science degree, and I have worked on a couple of nuclear accelerators and much engineering. I know how things can go wrong.
P.S. there are no climate change deniers. Nobody denies climate change.
If you say you were pretending to be a nuke proponent, and the 🙂 is an indicator of this, then I guess I have to take you at your word.
Next time I use the climate change denier tag I’ll be sure to preface it with ‘man made’ to avoid any misunderstanding, because we all know they exist.
What was that about the Yanks building them properly?
These designs date back to the start of the Vietnam War. And the Japanese operator has been cutting corners on operation and maintenance. Well, not so much cutting corners as simply lopping off whole limbs.
They all cut corners – the French have been caught falsifying fuel rod mesurements, the Brits shoot bits of plutonium on to their beaches and change the name of their nuke generator when it has an embarrassing accident.
I think a safe enough nuclear design will be invented in a few hundred years – around about the time fossil fuel starts getting expensive.
Probably because he agrees with what he chose to hear, or the spin the cetacean put on it. Just a guess, because I didn’t listen to it – I might have done were it not on the cetacean’s site.
I’m considering it possible that WJ would be intrigued by the supposed wider freedom that charter schools have, from a context of self determination (similar to Whanau Ora), rather than focusing strictly on how shit most of them are in practise.
Did they manage to address the issues around quality of education, I wonder.
nah mate, I prefer to minimise the tory crabs left in my cache. Saves them tracking me down via ip etc (no, I wouldn’t put that past the odious windbag).
If you have a non-propogandist link to the interview, I’d be intrigued to see how far off I am.
he’s claimed that he’s used his vast technical knowledge to access confidential information (the labour website, remember?). If he likes doing that, what more does he do – tracking cookies, maybe?
John Banks a mere scab on the rump of humanity, whats the betting like on the chances of Banks getting His second conviction in the district Court while a serving Minister of a Government, 50/50?, 75/25?…
Bolivia to sue United States for war crimes
Morales calls on Latin American nations to withdraw ambassadors
by ETHAN JURY, September 24, 2013
As the drive for “humanitarian” intervention in Syria has turned international attention towards the hypocrisy and violence of U.S. foreign policy, Bolivian president Evo Morales has announced his intent to file a lawsuit against the United States government for crimes against humanity.
The announcement came as a direct response to the denial of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s jet from entering U.S. airspace on his way to bi-lateral talks in China this week, and only two months after Morales’ own plane was forced to land in Vienna on suspicion that whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.
“The U.S. cannot be allowed to continue with its policy of intimidation and blockading of presidential flights,” stressed Morales during a press conference in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.
These latest transgressions come following the revelation of widespread spying on several Latin American countries by the National Security Association. Morales has called an emergency meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to address the issue of neo-colonial intimidation in the region, but his impending lawsuit is a wider condemnation of the impunity and violence of North American imperialism around the world.
“We are preparing a lawsuit against Barack Obama to condemn him for crimes against humanity,” said Morales. He has called for CELAC members to withdraw their ambassadors from the United States and for members of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) to boycott the next United Nations meeting.
The Obama administration has sent predator drones to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in Yemen and Pakistan, has defended the use of torture tactics on prisoners of war, and has continued to financially support the colonial state of Israel and other oppressive regimes. The administration’s recent drive for unilateral war on Syria highlights U.S. violations of international law in the interest of empire.
As the U.S. government continue to spread death and violence around the world, it will be crucially important for members of the world community to follow Bolivia’s example and stand in solidarity against the beast of imperialism.
Just got polled by Roy Morgan. Usual stuff – voting intentions for next year, NZ right track/wrong track. Most pressing issue facing the world. Where do I listen to the radio, etc. Took forever. One of us was doing the interview with english as a second language.
Colmar Brunton phoned me last week and asked for me by name. I was having dinner so I declined to answer their poll. I’m regretting that ever since. Damn damn damn. I usually decline only Curia. What was I thinking?
Team NZ Challenge cost- 110M Euro
Oracle US cost – that + 10%
-Source, Russel Coutts, RNZ Checkpoint.
was a learning experience; the crew that learnt the most, won. (limits on exchange parts etc), although it appears the parts sourced from NZ late in the piece contributed to the overall superiority of Oracle. Oh well… 😀
POS Tau Henare, your a real POS, Henare on 3 news tonight asked if He had any sympathy for the Parliaments cleaners who made submissions befor the select committee today on proposed labour law changes,
”If She doesn’t want the job She should give it to someone else”, hope your down the bottom of National’s list for the 2014 election Tau, that comment shows you for what you are, simply Scum…
Tua Henare is a sociopath who really has no place in NZ society – let alone Parliament.
He believes a toilet cleaner who broke down while giving evidence to a select committee because she’s fearful that a law change will put her job in jeopardy should “get another job”.
Angry, mean fwit. This man? is a disgrace.
P.S. This interview was in TV3 news but no link online as yet – will post if they put it up.
Promising free public transport has not been enough to win Auckland mayoral candidate John Minto a top score from youth organisation Generation Zero on that and issues such as climate change.
Mr Minto got a B grade, putting him above candidates John Palino (C+), Uesifili UNasa (C) and Penny Bright (E), but below Mayor Len Brown’s A-.
The group, which interviewed mayoral and council candidates focusing heavily on an alternative plan for a “congestion-free” network of public transport ahead of new roads, rated Mr Brown “a competent champion for getting Auckland’s transport moving in the right direction”.
But it found Mr Minto “overly focused on creating free public transport without showing a convincing understanding of implications.”
It marked Mr Palino down for weak support of its network plan, despite his showing enthusiasm for less reliance on more motorways.
Ms Bright’s E grade followed an alleged failure to answer most of the group’s 14 questions.”
____________________________________________________________________________
errrr….. I DID answer the Generation Zero questions, but I don’t think they liked my opposition to the corporate GREENWASH UN Agenda 21, which they apparently support?
How many people, and those in Generation Zero, in particular, actually understand that UN Agenda 21 is a massive corporate ‘GREENWASH’?
Sustainable Development in the 21st century (SD21)
Review of implementation of Agenda 21 and the Rio Principles
Agenda 21 did not address the interconnectedness of the various goals, because it was not “allowed” to examine the economic system itself.
Nor did it explore the fundamental drivers of sectoral and inter-country outcomes, which include:
• the role of corporations, and multi-national corporations (MNCs) in particular;
• the role and impacts of trade and globalisation;
• the role of international economic governance in helping steer the whole system;
_________________________________________________________
I may be many things but a ‘SHEEP’ is not one of them.
Like the global capitalist economic system is not controlled by multi-national companies?
DUH?
Like multi-national companies are not the main ones responsible for polluting and destroying the planet?
Through this corporate UN Agenda 21 ‘GREENWASH’ they try to spin it that the planet is a mess – that it’s we the peoples’ fault and it’s OUR job to clean up it up?
Wakey wakey folks!
Generation Zero supporters may like to ‘SEEK TRUTH FROM FACTS’ and check this out?
____________________________________________________________________________
If Generation Zero support UN Agenda 21 (which is my understanding) – then I am VERY proud of my ‘score’.
Also – how many Generation Zero supporters are aware that the root cause of corruption is privatisation?
That in 2010 – the global procurement market was $14 TRILLION – of which $2.5 TRILLION was estimated to be lost to bribery and corruption?
Don’t you think that $2,500 BILLION might help to feed, clothe, shelter and water a few poor people? (I got these figures from the 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference, which I attended, as an independent, anti-corruption ‘whistle-blower’ from New Zealand) .
It’s the wording that gets me – I shouldn’t have to figure out what they really mean…
Health Minister Tony Ryall said the Funded Family Care notice published today sets out the eligibility criteria and conditions for how disabled adults were to be allocated their share of $92 million in Government funding to employ family carers, who will be paid $13.75 an hour to look after them.
“The notice clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of the disabled person, the family member providing care, Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) organisations and the Ministry of Health,” Ryall said.
He said the Government had worked with representatives of the disability and carers’ community to develop the notice.
“If disabled people would like a family member to be their paid carer, they should read the notice and accompanying operational policy on the ministry website, and then contact their local NASC to be assessed.’’
If disabled people would ‘like’ to be cared for by a family member? (Actually, I reckon there are a whole heap of them who would ‘like’ to be able to care for themselves. I know I did when I had a long-term bout of disability).
All disabled people are fully aware of their responsibilities?
All disabled people can read a notice and operational policy?
All disabled people can contact pick up a phone / log on to the internet / get down the road to contact their local NASC?
So if disabled people can’t do one or more of these things they cannot be assessed. Why does Mr Ryall think they’re being cared for? Lifestyle choice?
Carers, who can help disabled people do some of these things, and do other of these things for them, are once again invisible to NAct in this press release.
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This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
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Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
As the world farewells visionary director David Lynch, we return to this 2017 piece by Angela Cuming about escaping into the haunting world of Twin Peaks. I was only 10 years old when Twin Peaks – and the real world – found me.Once a week, in the dark, I ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc C-Scott, Associate Professor of Screen Media | Deputy Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching, Victoria University Screenshot/YouTube The 2025 Australian Open (AO) broadcast may seem similar to previous years if you’re watching on the television. However, if you’re watching online ...
By Anish Chand in Suva A Fiji community human rights coalition has called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to halt his “reckless expansion” of government and refocus on addressing Fiji’s pressing challenges. The NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) said it was outraged by the abrupt and arbitrary reshuffling of ...
A selection of the best shows, movies, podcasts and playlists that kept us entertained over the holidays. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here.Leo (Netflix) My partner and I watched exactly one thing on the TV in our Japan accommodation while ...
Toby Manhire tells you everything you need to know ahead of season two of Severance.After an agonising wait – nearly three years between waffles, thanks to US actor and writer strikes and, some say, creative squabbles – Severance returns today, Friday January 17. For my money the first season ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 32-year-old mother of a one-year-old shares her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 32. Ethnicity: East Asian – NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talia Fell, PhD Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland The Los Angeles wildfires are causing the devastating loss of people’s homes. From A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton to an Australian family living in LA, thousands ...
The outgoing and incoming presidents have both claimed credit for the historic deal, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Finally, some good fucking news. The Friday Poem is back! Last year, The Spinoff leveled with its audience about the financial reality it faced and called for support from its audience. Some tough decisions were made at the time including cuts to our commissioning budget and the discontinuation of The ...
The soon-to-be deputy PM has already had a crucial win behind the scenes. First published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. Margaret Thatcher used to love prime minister’s questions. If you’re not familiar, the UK parliamentary system has a weekly procedure where the prime minister is subject to at least ...
Summer reissue: The current coalition not lasting beyond this parliamentary term is an idea that’s been seized on by its opponents. History suggests it’s unlikely – but not impossible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila More than 180,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes today with polls now open in Vanuatu. It is remarkable the snap election is even able to happen with Friday marking one month since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the ...
New Zealand needs to boost its productivity growth and become more attractive and accessible as a workplace in order to fix its labour market woes, a recruitment agency says.Commenting on new salary survey results from Robert Walters, Shay Peters, the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive, says the Government ...
Comment: When Newsroom’s editor Jonathan Milne invited me to write one of two special pieces for the summer break, I faced quite the conundrum. My options were to either review a work of non-fiction or write a column about hope and optimism for 2025.I initially misread Jonathan’s request to review ...
By Daniel Perese of Te Ao Māori News Māori politicians across the political spectrum in Aotearoa New Zealand have called for immediate aid to enter Gaza following a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, agreed yesterday, comes into effect on Sunday, January 19. Foreign Minister Winston Peters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Sherlock, Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University Australian-owned brand UGG Since 1974 has announced it will change its name to “Since 74” for sales outside Australia and New Zealand. There has been a long-running battle over the rights ...
The committee has agreed to split into two sub-committees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available. Each sub-committee will meet for 30 hours total, together making up 60 of the 80 planned hours of hearings. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Parmeter, Research scholar, Middle East studies, Australian National University The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to come into effect on Sunday, has understandably been welcomed by the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis are relieved that a process for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia Over the past several days, the world has watched on in shock as wildfires have devastated large parts of Los Angeles. Beyond the obvious destruction – to landscapes, homes, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Cairns, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, University of Sydney AtlasStudio/Shutterstock TikTok and Instagram influencers have been peddling the “Barbie drug” to help you tan. But melanotan-II, as it’s called officially, is a solution that’s too good to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor in Strategic Management, The University of Queensland A series of wildfires in Los Angeles County have caused widespread devastation in California, including at least 24 deaths and the destruction of more than 12,000 homes and structures. Thousands of residents ...
COMMENTARY:By Monika Singh The lack of women representation in parliaments across the world remains a vexed and contentious issue. In Fiji, this problem has again surfaced for debate in response to Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica’s call for a quota system to increase women’s representation in Parliament. Kamikamica was ...
What compels someone of significant status in society to break the law, repeatedly, might be the same reason I did as a poor teenager. Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, who left parliament a year ago today following revelations of shoplifting, is now at the centre of another shoplifting complaint. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology natamrli/Shutterstock Last week, social media giant Meta announced major changes to its content moderation practices. This includes an ...
"Gisborne has suffered from housing underdevelopment and a lack of supply, coupled with damage from severe weather events," Minister Tama Potaka says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marta Andhov, Associate Professor, Law School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Iconic Bestiary/Shutterstock They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But in the world of legal contracts, pictures can be worth even more by making complicated concepts more ...
Asia Pacific Report The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Egyptian, Palestinian and Israeli authorities to allow foreign journalists into Gaza in the wake of the three-phase ceasefire agreement set to to begin on Sunday. The New York-based global media watchdog urged the international community “to independently investigate ...
The agreement will ease Palestinians’ suffering, but international agencies will struggle to meet the massive need for humanitarian relief. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here. We start the World Bulletin’s year with a rare piece of ...
I see the Herald’s editorial writers are now spluttering about politicians actually running the country rather than leaving it to faceless technocrats in the reserve bank. There is a consistant anti-democratic theme in the Herald’s editorials – democracy can only be allowed if it doesn’t change the existing elite structures in NZ.
Today’s Open Mike popped up while I was busy below:
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25092013/#comment-701714
Finding it difficult to access this site. It states Reason: Exceeded the maximum global requests per minute for crawlers or humans. This is untrue – could it be Matthew Hooton or some other reason!!
[lprent: Thanks I’d left that at 3 per minute froma single source while I was diagnosing the outages yesterday. Reset back to 15 per minute. ]
Thanks Lyn. Fixed now.
America’s Cup is half empty.
http://redrave.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/americas-cup-is-half-empty.html
Hahahahah!
Very good post by Andrew Geddis on yesterday’s NZ Herald anonymous editorial. It begins:
some nameless person with a name starts with ‘John’ and ends up with an ‘an’ and has a ‘Rough’ in the middle would be my guess
Or Tim Murphy
There is discussion about investing in NZ enterprise and the Americas Cup great effort is an example of what we can do. We didn’t win but we were only about 50 seconds behind and the boat didn’t split in half.
We should be doing more ground breaking innovative stuff. We might even get a winning boat – or better make one that is sea-breaking for transporting our produce and carrying passengers when the price goes up on present transport.
What about encouraging investors to put 10% of their investments into new development and rising stars. Fun, excitement, being close to the action with regular updates on what may be happening in their portfolios. Investors made to feel important, and knowing there are risks but that they are up there with the smart ones who actually are exploring new products and ideas with a commercial promise. Get togethers with nibbles and large screens about ground-breaking stuff that we are attempting, doing, and what is being done internationally. Know more than your average NZr.
Get that excitement that people have felt about yachting and insert it into the country’s development, draw up rational scenarios and pilot plans, and light the touchpaper.
Ten thoughts….
i.) Put an Australia, a Brit, some US and NZer’s up against Team NZ and they win, sure isn’t that always the way? The wider the pool of talent and money wins.
ii.) 8 straight wins with two highly competitive boats, okay no that can happen, sure, its not like team NZ almost capsized, money has been know to buy…
iii.) Relief, America’s cup not going to Littleton.
iv.) The history of the America Cup is the history of rich rule twisting,
v.) WTF, a two point advantage, what were they trying to do, scruple team NZ by given Team USA a man down, its well known in football that a man down spurs the team to victory.
vi.) Ooops, sorry Key no 3% bounce.
vii.) Wow, those boats were mostly built in NZ,
viii.) As an expat living in NZ, I’m proud of my country men, and NZ for building boats to win in.
ix.) What no women on board?
x.) Why are these boats so expensive, had they been cheaper, there could be catamaran races all over the world? Those boats rock, and the rules would be able to be altered to maximize their coolness.
+1 Greywarbler….Great racing and great sport.!…seems like American aeronautics stablising technology won in the end though
….and all the more important why we should putting more investment into R&D, ICT and protecting intellectual copyright…… and not allowing it to be traded away with the TTPA.
Here i was thinking that TeamNZ was slowed down by the weight of all that filthy lucre, i could of sworn i heard the sound of screeching brakes in one of the races as Dean and the crew overtook the opposition boat,
Looking at the specs tho shows that Aotearoa aint fitted with brakes so we will just have to take it as Dean said, that it was a ‘mistake’ to not continue with the overtaking instead tacking off into bad air…
@bad12….yes it was a weird mistake…but I guess hindsight is not foresight?….but it still seemed a weird tack when one is speeding ahead at terrific rate of knots and seems to be winning (to amateurs at least)
….the one good thing about all this is that John key and Joyce don’t get their mugshots taken with the cup!….smile
Considering all the other ‘mistakes’ and trying not to be too critical, it would appear that either Dean aint the sailor everyone thinks He is, or…
Was interesting to listen to the bloke that built the American boat, He said on TV3 News tonight that the aero-nautical foiling gear was on the boat from the time it was built, makes me wonder how after all those months of testing that boat suddenly grew wings for the 2nd half of the regatta,
i have to ask myself if i was paid a million to win that cup how much would it take to make me lose it…
@bad 12…now you are getting confusing……It was fun in the first half ….and ‘all at sea’ and lots of ‘silly mistakes’ in the second half …..plus a big aeroplane booster gidget came into play…the hidden technological wizardry brought out by the Oracle multi billionaire…..
…although I prefer yachting races to rugby…. I certainly wouldn’t gamble on this one ….however I know one mad coot who is kicking himself he didnt….but hindsight is all (unless of course one has foresight)
i blame myself, ,my guilt therefore knows no bounds,(snigger), i commented the other week that their boat was a lemon and they couldn’t sail it for s**t,
After that they won all the races…
I wonder if John Key also goes by the name Darrell Read
Homegrown Fraudsters; we learn them well, and then they become bankers or Tory politicians.
Auckland council is talking about ways to honour team nz. As a ratepayer can I just say NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
they lost. They gave it their best shot… or is the idea for ratepayers to fork out for it so crowds will spend money in queen st? If thats the reason alex swny can pay.
+1 I mean, what the fuck? They lost, that’s it, go away.
Just watched ‘the Hairdo’ speaking in the Parliament with a motion of praise for ‘TeamNZ$’, time to regroup and get together an even better team says wee Petey,
i take that as code for lets toss even more of the taxpayers cash into the abyss, meanwhile in South Auckland another family moved into the garage out the back of a cousins place because of the dire shortage of State Houses…
…..said that the event had not only brought New Zealanders closer together but also MPs: “Somewhere in a bar in San Francisco it’s even brought Steven Joyce and Trevor Mallard together singing Dave Dobbyn songs like ‘Loyal’.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11130542
Give me strength …….
Time for Messiah-boy to rule out any contribution to ETNZ for another challenge.
Maryan Street has withdrawn her voluntary Euthanasia bill. Understandable, because in the election year the Right would jump on it like rabid dogs, and we’d be hearing of Labour’s termination camps for the elderly and similar rubbish to no end.
Yes extremely divisive, Slippery the PM is actually a supporter of euthanasia, one ex Australian Head of State actually went so far as to state He supports it as those wanting to euthanize were at the end of their useful economic life…
Just saw a great comment on stuff about Climate Change and thought I would share it here: “Why do so many who believe the Science on Global Warming deny the Science on Nuclear power, Fracking and Genetic Engineering? All the arguments on Scientific consensus, peer review, weight of evidence and data cherry picking work both ways. Either show consistency or accept others rights to the freedom of enquiry.”
Fukishima, Chernyobel, 3 Mile Island, safe as houses…
Well hardly anyone died in those accidents, while millions of people die of cold because we don’t have enough global warming and they can’t afford the increased power prices due to the carbon taxes! 🙂
@jayman….what about the cows?
@bad 12….re “safe as houses”
NZ butter went funny about the time of the 3 Mile Island….i think the Yanks exported it here and we called it ‘2 Flags’….housewives were complaining all over the country that their cakes were turning out funny….even although they had been using the same recipes for years….meanwhile back at 3 Mile Island cows were lying down with their legs in the air….and a lot of people felt a wee bit sick and were queuing up at the hospitals
….the Russians refused the butter and said the Americans should eat their own butter
….there was a film festival doco on it at the time….and that was around about the time we switched to margarine….
There is overwhelming consistency on scientific review on Climate Change – the main discrepancy is in the reporting and media space…. and the constant repetition of that 3% by comments such as yours.
By “Science on Nuclear power, fracking and genetic engineering” I guess you mean scientific studies on the safety of those three. Given the lack of impartiality of most of those studies, and their limited scope it is of no surprise to me that independent scientists think their conclusions are misguided.
Your call for consistency is admirable, you need to apply it to your examples.
Truly awful.
http://paulocanning.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-horrific-truth-of-kenya-terrorist.html?
Yes, they are.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/muslims-denounce-nairobi-mall-terrorist-attack-fox-news
John Key has been ridiculed as a “galloping colonial clot” for his photo shoot with the royal family in Balmoral:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9213754/Keys-royal-snaps-ruffle-feathers
One of the people in that photo looks very, very happy to be seen with the other.
Only one, mind.
Didn’t take long for the British press to get the measure of him. What’s taking our lot so long?
Lolz, Parliaments question time will be a treat of questions about Galloping Colonial Clots when Slippery gets back from the gallivant,
Pity there’s a 2 week recess coming up…
Yeah well he’s going to need a bit of a rest after his holiday I suppose
They stuff the corgis after they have finished with them???? Made my day.. Is this the fate of all their visitors when they reach the end of the line..
JAYMAN
>>Well hardly anyone died in those accidents
FUKISHIMA
news.discovery.com/…/fukushima-radioactive-plume-reach-us-130901.h…
Sep 1, 2013 – The known death toll came to 15,848 with 3,305 missing
15,848 with 3,305 missing
CHERNOBYL
http://www.globalresearch.ca/new-book-concludes-chernobyl-death-toll-985-000-mostly-from-cancer/20908
985,000
Glad it was only a few Jayman
Well that’s the Russians for you. The Yanks and Brits know how to build them properly.
Any other strawmen you’d like me to put up for you?
They just don’t know how to decommission, how much it costs to decommission, how to fund decommission or how to safely store contaminants that remain deadly toxic for many thousands of years.
While waiting for ultra efficient green energy sources, the smartest money is on building shit loads of wind turbines in the meantime, which to some may look unsightly, but as nimby arguments go, much less tumour inducing and easily removed.
And they’re struggling with how to warn the future.
The panel roughly defined the intended message with the following:
http://www.damninteresting.com/this-place-is-not-a-place-of-honor/
Very Interesting joe
The makings of a nightmare, and that’s the stuff they know about.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/14/3038814/yucca-mountain-wipp-wasteland-battle-entomb-nuclear-waste
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2012/Russia_reveals_dumps
Um – Fukushima reactors number 1,2 and 6 were supplied by General Electric.
What was that about the Yanks building them properly?
You’d better find someone else to argue with. While I am trained in nuclear physics, I don’t like any of the current reactor designs. And nuclear is probably never an option for NZ. I like tidal and hydro and geothermal power. I’d like to go off the grid one day.
just how “trained” exactly.
“You’d better find someone else to argue with”
Because you can’t back up comments like “hardly anyone died in those accidents, while millions of people die of cold because we don’t have enough global warming”
“I am trained in nuclear physics”
And you can’t spell I’m a qualified fu*ktard and retarded climate change denier
You fool – you mised the 🙂 in message 12.1.1, where I was pretending to be a nuke proponent.
I did do nuclear physics for my science degree, and I have worked on a couple of nuclear accelerators and much engineering. I know how things can go wrong.
P.S. there are no climate change deniers. Nobody denies climate change.
If you say you were pretending to be a nuke proponent, and the 🙂 is an indicator of this, then I guess I have to take you at your word.
Next time I use the climate change denier tag I’ll be sure to preface it with ‘man made’ to avoid any misunderstanding, because we all know they exist.
These designs date back to the start of the Vietnam War. And the Japanese operator has been cutting corners on operation and maintenance. Well, not so much cutting corners as simply lopping off whole limbs.
They all cut corners – the French have been caught falsifying fuel rod mesurements, the Brits shoot bits of plutonium on to their beaches and change the name of their nuke generator when it has an embarrassing accident.
I think a safe enough nuclear design will be invented in a few hundred years – around about the time fossil fuel starts getting expensive.
“and they can’t afford the increased power prices due to the carbon taxes!”
” in a few hundred years – around about the time fossil fuel starts getting expensive.”
Make your mind up 🙂
Affordable oil and gas disappears in 20-25 years, is my pick.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/09/john-banks-talks-willie-jackon-partnership-schools/#axzz2fePyI63t
Willie Jackson (that well-known mouth piece of the right) interviews John Banks, you’ll should listen
Why?
Probably because he agrees with what he chose to hear, or the spin the cetacean put on it. Just a guess, because I didn’t listen to it – I might have done were it not on the cetacean’s site.
I’m considering it possible that WJ would be intrigued by the supposed wider freedom that charter schools have, from a context of self determination (similar to Whanau Ora), rather than focusing strictly on how shit most of them are in practise.
Did they manage to address the issues around quality of education, I wonder.
“Just a guess, because I didn’t listen to it”
– Of course I understand, you have your opinions and you don’t want to hear anything that might ackshully change your mind…well done
nah mate, I prefer to minimise the tory crabs left in my cache. Saves them tracking me down via ip etc (no, I wouldn’t put that past the odious windbag).
If you have a non-propogandist link to the interview, I’d be intrigued to see how far off I am.
Yeah I’m sure he does that….
And you’d know that because…
he’s claimed that he’s used his vast technical knowledge to access confidential information (the labour website, remember?). If he likes doing that, what more does he do – tracking cookies, maybe?
You miight learn something about John Banks motivations
John Banks a mere scab on the rump of humanity, whats the betting like on the chances of Banks getting His second conviction in the district Court while a serving Minister of a Government, 50/50?, 75/25?…
Banks should be in prison.
Indeed.
/
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/25/56-years-after-littlerockusschoolssegregatedbyraceandclass.html
How on earth would you learn anything about what John Banks thinks by listening to him speak?
It all seems to be about privatising education provision.
Bolivia to sue United States for war crimes
Morales calls on Latin American nations to withdraw ambassadors
by ETHAN JURY, September 24, 2013
As the drive for “humanitarian” intervention in Syria has turned international attention towards the hypocrisy and violence of U.S. foreign policy, Bolivian president Evo Morales has announced his intent to file a lawsuit against the United States government for crimes against humanity.
The announcement came as a direct response to the denial of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s jet from entering U.S. airspace on his way to bi-lateral talks in China this week, and only two months after Morales’ own plane was forced to land in Vienna on suspicion that whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.
“The U.S. cannot be allowed to continue with its policy of intimidation and blockading of presidential flights,” stressed Morales during a press conference in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.
These latest transgressions come following the revelation of widespread spying on several Latin American countries by the National Security Association. Morales has called an emergency meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to address the issue of neo-colonial intimidation in the region, but his impending lawsuit is a wider condemnation of the impunity and violence of North American imperialism around the world.
“We are preparing a lawsuit against Barack Obama to condemn him for crimes against humanity,” said Morales. He has called for CELAC members to withdraw their ambassadors from the United States and for members of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) to boycott the next United Nations meeting.
The Obama administration has sent predator drones to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in Yemen and Pakistan, has defended the use of torture tactics on prisoners of war, and has continued to financially support the colonial state of Israel and other oppressive regimes. The administration’s recent drive for unilateral war on Syria highlights U.S. violations of international law in the interest of empire.
As the U.S. government continue to spread death and violence around the world, it will be crucially important for members of the world community to follow Bolivia’s example and stand in solidarity against the beast of imperialism.
http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/bolivia-to-sue-united-states.html
Just got polled by Roy Morgan. Usual stuff – voting intentions for next year, NZ right track/wrong track. Most pressing issue facing the world. Where do I listen to the radio, etc. Took forever. One of us was doing the interview with english as a second language.
tell us, do please.
Colmar Brunton phoned me last week and asked for me by name. I was having dinner so I declined to answer their poll. I’m regretting that ever since. Damn damn damn. I usually decline only Curia. What was I thinking?
You were hungry.
😀
Team NZ Challenge cost- 110M Euro
Oracle US cost – that + 10%
-Source, Russel Coutts, RNZ Checkpoint.
was a learning experience; the crew that learnt the most, won. (limits on exchange parts etc), although it appears the parts sourced from NZ late in the piece contributed to the overall superiority of Oracle. Oh well… 😀
POS Tau Henare, your a real POS, Henare on 3 news tonight asked if He had any sympathy for the Parliaments cleaners who made submissions befor the select committee today on proposed labour law changes,
”If She doesn’t want the job She should give it to someone else”, hope your down the bottom of National’s list for the 2014 election Tau, that comment shows you for what you are, simply Scum…
always a shocker that Tau.
Classy. At least he phrased it nicer than “The dole queue’s that way b*tch.” I guess.
[deleted]
[lprent: see http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26092013/#comment-702006 ]
http://memecrunch.com/meme/2LQU/oh-no-we-have-a-badass-over-here/image.png
Tua Henare is a sociopath who really has no place in NZ society – let alone Parliament.
He believes a toilet cleaner who broke down while giving evidence to a select committee because she’s fearful that a law change will put her job in jeopardy should “get another job”.
Angry, mean fwit. This man? is a disgrace.
P.S. This interview was in TV3 news but no link online as yet – will post if they put it up.
Story up now. Here’s the link
[deleted]
[lprent: Ban for 2 weeks for advocating violence (again) ]
was “friends’ with Mr Machete when some white-trash child abusers lived next door. Now I get frisked for ‘knives on record’ sigh. Husker Du. 😉
lol
one Jack is Master
What is the considered opinions of ‘The Standard’ folk, on UN Agenda 21?
Time for a bit more debate?
___________________________________________________________________________
Do ‘Generation Zero’ deserve an “E” (S) for “Environmental (Sheepishness)”?
For apparently supporting the corporate GREENWASH UN Agenda 21 – which I vigorously oppose?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11130105
Promising free public transport has not been enough to win Auckland mayoral candidate John Minto a top score from youth organisation Generation Zero on that and issues such as climate change.
Mr Minto got a B grade, putting him above candidates John Palino (C+), Uesifili UNasa (C) and Penny Bright (E), but below Mayor Len Brown’s A-.
The group, which interviewed mayoral and council candidates focusing heavily on an alternative plan for a “congestion-free” network of public transport ahead of new roads, rated Mr Brown “a competent champion for getting Auckland’s transport moving in the right direction”.
But it found Mr Minto “overly focused on creating free public transport without showing a convincing understanding of implications.”
It marked Mr Palino down for weak support of its network plan, despite his showing enthusiasm for less reliance on more motorways.
Ms Bright’s E grade followed an alleged failure to answer most of the group’s 14 questions.”
____________________________________________________________________________
http://localelections.generationzero.org.nz/…/penny-bright
errrr….. I DID answer the Generation Zero questions, but I don’t think they liked my opposition to the corporate GREENWASH UN Agenda 21, which they apparently support?
How many people, and those in Generation Zero, in particular, actually understand that UN Agenda 21 is a massive corporate ‘GREENWASH’?
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/…
Sustainable Development in the 21st century (SD21)
Review of implementation of Agenda 21 and the Rio Principles
Agenda 21 did not address the interconnectedness of the various goals, because it was not “allowed” to examine the economic system itself.
Nor did it explore the fundamental drivers of sectoral and inter-country outcomes, which include:
• the role of corporations, and multi-national corporations (MNCs) in particular;
• the role and impacts of trade and globalisation;
• the role of international economic governance in helping steer the whole system;
_________________________________________________________
I may be many things but a ‘SHEEP’ is not one of them.
Like the global capitalist economic system is not controlled by multi-national companies?
DUH?
Like multi-national companies are not the main ones responsible for polluting and destroying the planet?
Through this corporate UN Agenda 21 ‘GREENWASH’ they try to spin it that the planet is a mess – that it’s we the peoples’ fault and it’s OUR job to clean up it up?
Wakey wakey folks!
Generation Zero supporters may like to ‘SEEK TRUTH FROM FACTS’ and check this out?
____________________________________________________________________________
If Generation Zero support UN Agenda 21 (which is my understanding) – then I am VERY proud of my ‘score’.
Also – how many Generation Zero supporters are aware that the root cause of corruption is privatisation?
That in 2010 – the global procurement market was $14 TRILLION – of which $2.5 TRILLION was estimated to be lost to bribery and corruption?
Don’t you think that $2,500 BILLION might help to feed, clothe, shelter and water a few poor people? (I got these figures from the 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference, which I attended, as an independent, anti-corruption ‘whistle-blower’ from New Zealand) .
‘Her Warship’
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption/ anti-privatisation campaigner’
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/9214236/Wankerish_Ryall doesn’t get what disabled means
It’s the wording that gets me – I shouldn’t have to figure out what they really mean…
If disabled people would ‘like’ to be cared for by a family member? (Actually, I reckon there are a whole heap of them who would ‘like’ to be able to care for themselves. I know I did when I had a long-term bout of disability).
All disabled people are fully aware of their responsibilities?
All disabled people can read a notice and operational policy?
All disabled people can contact pick up a phone / log on to the internet / get down the road to contact their local NASC?
So if disabled people can’t do one or more of these things they cannot be assessed. Why does Mr Ryall think they’re being cared for? Lifestyle choice?
Carers, who can help disabled people do some of these things, and do other of these things for them, are once again invisible to NAct in this press release.
Crass.