Arctic ice melt could trigger uncontrollable climate change at global level.
Scientists warn increasingly rapid melting could trigger polar ‘tipping points’ with catastrophic consequences felt as far away as the Indian Ocean.
Arctic scientists have warned that the increasingly rapid melting of the ice cap risks triggering 19 “tipping points” in the region that could have catastrophic consequences around the globe.
The Arctic Resilience Report found that the effects of Arctic warming could be felt as far away as the Indian Ocean, in a stark warning that changes in the region could cause uncontrollable climate change at a global level.
Temperatures in the Arctic are currently about 20C above what would be expected for the time of year, which scientists describe as “off the charts”. Sea ice is at the lowest extent ever recorded for the time of year.
“The warning signals are getting louder,” said Marcus Carson of the Stockholm Environment Institute and one of the lead authors of the report. “[These developments] also make the potential for triggering [tipping points] and feedback loops much larger.”
The 13 impossible crises that humanity now faces.
From Trump to climate change, this multiheaded crisis presages collapse. And there’s no hope of exiting the ‘other side’ if political alternatives are shut down.
Please don’t read this unless you are feeling strong. This is a list of 13 major crises that, I believe, confront us. There may be more. Please feel free to add to it or to knock it down. I’m sorry to say that it’s not happy reading.
Humans ‘don’t have 10 years’ left thanks to climate change
There’s no point trying to fight climate change – we’ll all be dead in the next decade and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, a visiting scientist claims.
Guy McPherson, a biology professor at the University of Arizona, says the human destruction of our own habitat is leading towards the world’s sixth mass extinction.
Short term I believe Trump will de-escalate military tensions with Russia and China so the risk of super power war in the next couple of years has reduced. Other than that, we are in a dire situation and people are still running around pretending that we can still avoid 1.5 deg C and 2.0 deg C levels of warming.
When Trump cancels funding for data collection on the effects of climate change and puts it into space exploration want to come back and admit you were wrong?
But no president of the United States can go full on communists and stop the March of capitalism. I think it’s a mistake to view Trump as the most powerful man with in America.
“On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody — nobody knows who —made one of the craziest bets Wall Street has ever seen. The mystery figure spent $1.7 million on a series of options, gambling that shares in the venerable investment bank Bear Stearns would lose more than half their value in nine days or less. It was madness — “like buying 1.7 million lottery tickets,” according to one financial analyst.” …..
….”by the weekend, it was being knocked to its knees by the Fed and the Treasury, and forced at the barrel of a shotgun to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase (which had been given $29 billion in public money to marry its hunchbacked new bride) at the humiliating price of … $2 a share. Whoever bought those options on March 11th woke up on the morning of March 17th having made 159 times his money, or roughly $270 million. This trader was either the luckiest guy in the world, the smartest son of a bitch ever or…
more recent financial ‘news’ ….” At least 367 companies, or 73 percent
of the Fortune 500, operate one or more
subsidiaries in tax haven countries.
•
All told, these 367 companies maintain at
least 10,366 tax haven subsidiaries. http://ctj.org/pdf/offshoreshellgames2016.pdf …
Goldman Sachs
Group
987
Bahamas (1), Barbados (4), Bermuda (19), British Virgin Islands (6), Cayman Islands
(537), Channel Islands (17), Costa Rica (1), Cyprus (2), Gibraltar (1), Hong Kong
(19), Ireland (64), Isle of Man (3), Luxembourg (197), Mauritius (49), Monaco (1),
Netherlands (45), Panama (1), Singapore (18), Switzerland (2)
Morgan Stanley
669
Bermuda (4), Cayman Islands (280), Channel Islands (33), Cyprus (4), Gibraltar
(1), Hong Kong (18), Ireland (45), Luxembourg (76), Malta (1), Mauritius (16),
Netherlands (131), Singapore (58), Switzerland (2)
J.P. Morgan
Chase & Co.
385
Bahamas (7), Barbados (1), Bermuda (19), British Virgin Islands (9), Cayman Islands
(149), Channel Islands (18), Cyprus (1), Hong Kong (17), Ireland (13), Luxembourg
(61), Malta (13), Marshall Islands (3), Mauritius (33), Netherlands (12), Singapore
(25), Switzerland (4)
KKR
300
Cayman Islands (249), Channel Islands (6), Hong Kong (3), Ireland (19),
Luxembourg (9), Mauritius (5), Singapore (9)
Bank of New
York Mellon
Corp.
188
Bahamas (2), Bermuda (6), Cayman Islands (69), Channel Islands (13), Hong Kong
(2), Ireland (55), Luxembourg (16), Malta (1), Mauritius (1), Netherlands (18),
Singapore (4), Switzerland (1
Bank of
America Corp.
109
Bahamas (2), Bermuda (4), Cayman Islands (18), Channel Islands (13), Costa Rica
(1), Gibraltar (4), Hong Kong (3), Ireland (8), Luxembourg (13), Mauritius (6),
Netherlands (25), Netherlands Antilles (1), Singapore (8), Switzerland (3)
Clinton wasn’t going to do much about climate change, not with her corporate backing. It would be steady as she goes. Trump is the change agent, so even though he may be worse for climate change in the short term it puts us closer towards making the radical change we need.
I kinda agree with Maui – yes there is short term damage but Trump post reign might force radical change and awareness that the world needs.
Sometimes “thump thump” there is no climate change is easier to rebuttal than the democrats saying they want to do something, they get reports about the issues, they have media events – but the actually climate change doesn’t get done or is delayed by being put into a long ‘process’ with non binding requirements and governments are able to not do anything like the Key government buying polluting credits sorta converting it into a neoliberal process about money than actually about reducing emissions and doing quality research.
But the public and media are not up in arms, because it still looks like the governments are doing something.
You can’t have it both ways and expect to be taken seriously. Imo your support of denier trump shows any caring about cc from you is just crocodile tears. If trump could make money from cc he’d be on it like a rash. You don’t appear as dim as trump, you have less excuses for your deliberate ignorance.
I have never seen CV claim that Trump is good for dealing with Climate Change. He has only pointed out that HC would in fact be no better. Why do you see things so black and white, then put words into others’ mouths?
Perhaps someone could point out how disastrous Obama’s reign has been for actual climate change results. And despite his billions invested in solar power etc and lots of soothing talk about alternative energy. World now consistently over 400ppm, multiple years of record breaking temperatures during his term in office, no change in emissions trajectories, etc.
He’s the guy who greenlit deep sea oil drilling again after Deepwater Horizon ffs and the dems all fell into line behind him.
But somehow Demorats better than Repugs. They are on one count: creating the illusion of caring about climate change, despite their actual physical track record.
You cv the dude in dunners not denier trump. Getting pretend upset about the real and devastating effects of cc, whilst supporting even endorsing a cc denier who TWEETED that it was a hoax set up by the chinese, is incongruent imo.
Well, I got used to the incongruency because the real world is incongruent.
I’ve listened to a dozen or more Guy McPherson talks in the last few months and decided that Clinton versus Trump on the issue of climate change was like asking a WWII POW to choose between being held by the Germans, the Soviets, or the Japanese.
Multiple flavours of fuck all difference apart from the terminology.
At the point I wrote I was replying to both you and mickeysavage. Mickey said that, and it appeared to me that you were backing the same idea. You accuse CV of supporting ‘Denier Trump’. I have not seen that.
CV has always admitted Trump’s failings, but he sends you into an insane fury by giving info that suggests that HC is no better. CV is suggesting that it is not black and white. It appears to me that some cannot cope with that concept, choose their side, then regard all critics as supporters of the opponent. Life is not that simple. Kneejerks are.
He said ‘least suitable’ that is a long way from your made up lines. And I wasn’t writing about that at all so my ‘read’ line stands plus don’t make up stuff and say I’m putting words in someone elses mouth when that is not true it is just that you didn’t read the comments well enough – that is a kneejerk isn’t it?
cv has parroted trump supporter lines and links for months – AND he expressly used the ‘not 5ppm difference’ line as his defense when he says he believes in cc and trump is a declared denier. So all of that stuff you wrote is false – once again read instead of assuming or making stuff up eh.
I’m not in an insane fury now or then thanks – I can’t stand bullies and bullshitters like trump, cv and anyone else that does that.
Mate you’ve been an outstanding Clinton preferring bullyshamer last few months.
Me, I try not to use ugly demeaning labels and personal jibes against people who preferred Clinton.
As for Trump being a cc denier – well, I think he knows the truth about CC but he took campaign and policy positions of convenience. They won’t make even 5ppm of difference though.
Thanks cv – opposing fascist, racist misogynist 0.1%ers like trump and minitrumps like you makes me feel great. Yeah you do use smooth language often – just reminds me of 1984 really because the message behind the calm words is horrendously violent and disgusting imo – still it snared a few supporters for you on here eh so good strategy.
trump is a cc denier FACT he said it many times – sure he’s bullshitting now because even his peanut brain can work out that he is an idiot and the science is clear – oh and he might lose money on all of his billionaire property investments if they happen to be beside some water somewhere – yep a real man of the people that one LOL
Picking up the on-the-ground trends way ahead of time while the commentariat walk around in circles disconnected and lost in their own intellectual space.
Watching identity politics driven political correctness and self censoring stumble and fall over as a political force.
And now watching that same Clinton Preferring commentariat running around losing their minds and doubling down on their losing strategies instead of learning a single thing.
I’m happy to be an identity political, cc resilience building, hard leftie with a focus on equality. Like really happy.
I wouldn’t change a thing, as you wouldn’t for you,so we are both happy – cool again.
And I am also pleased we are on opposite sides of the political divide and we really are although you do seem to want to pretend sometimes but hey maybe it’s because you comment so prolifically here instead of a more natural home for your non left views. 🙂
I would say you do appear a bit cocky and that can lead to disappointment so a friendly heads up from a fellow dunners person.
I think that you also need to practise more careful reading comprehension (mainly with CV) and that it is strange that I like everything you have recently written apart from your virulent responses to CV. A message from CV brings out in you the same faults that you accuse me of.
I’m human. I do try not to let his stuff get under my skin. I can also get worked up with racists pretty strongly too. Anyway I’ll try to take your comments on board 🙂
– Trump closed the Democratic lead amongst African Americans by 7%.
– Trump closed the Democratic lead amongst Latinos by 8%.
– Trump closed the Democratic lead amongst Asian Americans by 11%.
– Trump increased the Republican lead amongst white voters by a negligible 1%.
So go ahead pick Donald Trump as the target of an anti-racist crusade, but in reality he did quite adequately with minorities and noticeably better than Mitt Romney in fact.
Trump will improve his performance further in 2020.
mate there are desperate people in all ethnicities – don’t you get that?
trump is a misogynist and a racist and a 0.1% billionaire real estate tycoon – that is all fact from his own twisted mouth – none of that is made up – HE SAID IT – do you get that? Sure now he’s backtracking and saying he didn’t mean it, different times, and so on. The truth of a person is what they actually do and not their political spin to keep the turkeys from getting restless.
please take this as the intrinsic power of the universe saying you are a fool for trusting trump – if you even do.
I don’t trust Trump at all. And although CV is sharp and well-informed, for the first time I think he is pushing it a bit with what I think is a tongue-in-cheek prediction about 2020. I think CV sometimes enjoys needling people – maybe because the debate gets too passionate.
it is the standard cv trick – doesn’t bother me because I needle him back.
I don’t think he is sharp or well informed and I’m pretty sure he knows I think that 🙂
Anyway, what is is and what will be will be.
I’m looking forward building the momentum to get rid of the gnats and key. And I’m looking forward to those who believe in left values, the left ethos to work together to throw the gnats and ALL of their supporters out – inside and outside parliament. But the truth is people here are getting as desperate as the usaians and key is a smooth liar like trump so unless we focus in on the real important bits then trouble. I don’t see any worthwhile contribution towards that cause coming from cv – the opposite in fact.
As you say, que sera sera. CV is very disillusioned with the left, but I don’t believe his criticisms mean he has turned right and no longer wants the left to have a positive influence.
And yes, he will also accelerate the implementation of charter schools, he will put conservative constitutional justices on to the Supreme Court, he will massively drop the tax rate on Apple and he will work with Russia to annhilate Islamic extremist militants in Syria.
Now we have an ultra-conservative veep and an alt-right named as advisor.
Bannon is a brilliant tactician who helped steer the Trump campaign to victory over Clinton.
And Pence is deeply conservative but also a very steady experienced hand with regards to the Republican house.
As for “alt-right” (ignoring the commentariat turning it into another in a long list of lefty smear terms) this phenomenon is exactly what was needed to up end the staid, neolib/neocon warmongering consensus of the Republican Party.
It is, as the term implies, a brand new alternative right wing.
Now, where is the alt-left phenomenon which is required to renew and reinvigorate the deeply status quo left.
Thanks for your concern, toryboy, but we can do without alt-left demagogues who match the alt-right for stupidity, bigotry, hate and fearmongering.
If we’re all very lucky, the latest blustering winds will blow themselves out without fucking the world up irreparably, and the deplorables (sorry, as you called them the “red meat” trump supporters) will be reduced to weeping and gnashing their teeth online.
The film ‘Netowrk’ predicted this dystopian future.
“Television is not the truth. Television’s a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business. ”
Hey Paul take Guy Mcpherson advise as a declared anarchist, its not worth worrying about, hope is pointless and destructive ( quoting Nietzsche) live for now, hence the media is doing exactlty that, so give them some credit
Also something to cheer you up schrodinger had his uereka moment on quantum mechanics after a conservation with Eisenstein in which Einstein pontificated that it is quite wrong to find theory on observable magnitude alone, Often the theory drives what is observed Maybe apply some of this to your daily observations and doom reports, Here is some good news, google it, recent research on Antarctic show ice cover no different that 100 years ago, scientist can alter plants to absorb way more carbon than inially thought, the planet is greening, likewise cement manufacturing is a large creator of carbon is now believed by scientist to absorb most of it back, NASA impossible engine lifts the game re space travel Not saying the world is in a good place but it’s not all bad, everything You are not an oracle and there is a lot of good
That we have multiple unstoppable climate change positive feedback loops now engaged? Yep.
On his specific time frames however, I think there is a lot of uncertainty there. But I do think livable habitat for humanity will be largely gone within the next 30 or so years and that global population levels will be down to ~1B within 100 years..
You’re being a bit too positive there CV!
I think with there being many more factors than just cc in play that Capitalism/ greed etc will see us perish sooner rather than later.
By survivors accounts and personal experience the way through is to have a plan. “being the best person you can be” has not been shown to work, as far as I know.
By the way, would “being the best person you can be” stop you eating a human corpse ?
that report refers to sea ice ,the increase of which is amply explained by the models and is a result of decreasing salinity due to continental ice melt….so hardly good news
In the Herald Geoffrey Miller points out John Key v Donald Trump – the five similarities.
1. Highly pragmatic – and willing to compromise
Like Trump, Key has a long history of pragmatism over ideology – dating back to his early days as Opposition leader when he replaced Don Brash. For both Key and Trump, it’s all about the art of the deal.
2. Both are independently wealthy
As high net worth individuals, neither Key nor Trump are dependent on politics for income or status. Both have involved a high degree of financial risk and failure, as well as ultimate reward.
3. Neither are career politicians
There is a growing proportion of career politicians, who seem more intent on securing long term lucrative employment than risking rock the political boat. Key and Trump both buck this trend.
4. Strange behaviour is part of their political brand
One of the hallmarks of John Key’s enduring personal popularity has been his anti-politician style. It works for many, and it repels others. He gets it wrong sometimes – ie pony tail pulling and prison jokes, but gets away with it. Trump’s behaviour problems have been more extreme but he has got away with it too, so far.
5. The answer is golf
Trump recently said: “Golf is a great game for getting to know people…you can never ever get to know people at lunch or dinner like you can on a golf course”. Key, like Trump, has recognised the function of golf as an elite pastime to cultivate connections with people who matter – as proven by his success in ultimate success in gaining a tee time with Obama.
So has New Zealand already been experiencing our Brexit/Trump for the past eight years?
1. Key is establishment.
2. Key supports neo-liberal global trade deals such as the TPP.
3. Key comes from big finance.
4. Key has sold the country to foreign interests.
And one unmentioned similarity.
Their dreadful way the behave towards women. Pony tail pulling and pussy grabbing misogynists.
Key’s been in parliament since 2002. 14 years makes him a career politician. Your list is full of crap and reminds of those people who tried to draw similarities between Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s assassinations.
In casting around you missed things like
1. Both have histories of assaulting females
2. Both are male
3. Both are right handed
Meanwhile the dissimilarities are greater.
1. Key was in opposition benches for 6 years
2. Key had full support of the party and was eased in.
3. Key had no public profile before being PM.
4. Age
5. Work experience
6. Inheritance of wealth
7.Upbringing
8. Place of birth
And thousands of others.
Petty George didn’t “solve” anything: he simply plagiarised Geoffrey Miller’s opinion. In fact his whole comment contains nothing original, just like every other comment he’s ever made.
By that definition TS is full of plagiarism then. I summarised an article, I identified the author and I linked to the source, similar to what others do here fifty or a hundred times a day. The sort of thing that keeps sites like this going amongst the stupidity of inane attacks.
Pete George – I read the Herald piece as just another of the never-ending ShonKey public relations spin. And I don’t think I’m wrong. He’s realised (ie his polling shows) there’s some sympathy for Trump “out there” in the world he doesn’t inhabit, and so his Crosby-Textor mates put together a similarity piece.
Yeah Jenny, what if poor Geoff got offended and everything? I think someone needs to write a lengthy blog post on how mean you’re being to Geoff. expressing your opinion like that.
So we can be certain that the TPPA was discussed. Key’s invitation to golf and talk with Obama comes after the Singapore round of negotiations in December, where the US adopted very heavy-handed negotiating tactics, giving very few concessions, and before the next meeting of Ministers in January.
Nah. A plateau and a minor softening for a while at the $600-$900 end.
Standart balancing in Auckland apartments, but we are a long, long way off from an oversupply.
We are also hugely under-built in retirement villages and other seniors housing in all our cities.
We may just have to admit that Key’s policies to soften the market carefully are working.
Agree Ad – on a visit to Auckland the other day, I saw that “scale of activity” and thought yes, this does sort-of show a “good” economy at work ….. we all know that’s bullsh-t but it keeps the money spinning in Auckland and people feel good at seeing it. All part of the ShonKey perception that everything is rosy.
– City Rail Link $3.4b of needed public transport
– Waterview SH20 tunnels $1.4b of needed motorway completion
– Hobsonville Land Co $400m or thereabouts for basically a model town
– National Convention Centre $700 m or thereabouts
– University of Auckland, AUT, and other campus rebuilds $500m
– Waterfront Co $700m
– Tamaki Development Co $260m
– Squillions more on water and sewer upgrades, rail upgrades, and new housing,
It’s not bullshit. It’s real.
You don’t have to like it.
But this is the most Keynesian National government since Muldoon. They are doing what they should; supporting the growth of Auckland as the commercial centre of New Zealand with public investment which in turn supports more private investment and achieves policy goals.
Ad @ 7.1.1. I didn’t mean that the actual building going on in Auckland is bullshit – that is very clearly real, and keeps the Auck economy booming.
What is bullshit is that its claimed to be part of a good productive economy – yes, its necessary buildings but it is not new production and its only sustainable because the govt is putting money into it. And its borrowing heavily to do so.
The govt is not putting money into new trading ventures, into research, into developing new ways to build a good economy nor is it putting money into health services or public education, or into regional development, and so on.
Its a bit like the re-build of Ch’ch – that helped our perception of the economy being good, but it was only replacement of what had already been there.
The Auckland build is necessary infrastructure because of greater population, not anything new or innovative – but it does keep the economy spinning around and provides jobs for some.
wohoo lucky fools get to shackle themselves to massive mortgages on unproductive assets . good way to keep the masses with their nose to the grind stone.
Interesting, market is starting to turn.
if I was a first home buyer I’d hang off for at least the next six months. especially if interest rates begin to climb, you’ll find a lot of “investors” under the pump and need to off load there properties fast which will cause quite a lot of downward pressure on the real estate market.
If Key achieves a soft landing for the Auckland housing market due to the variety of measures his government has put in place, it will be nothing short of a policy miracle.
If he achieves that, and the propertied class of Auckland don’t rise up against him, that will be a political miracle.
Both together would take his largest risk to a fourth term in power largely away.
Reading that article, does rather point to the market starting to turn, read almost like the real estate sector desperately trying to pump a bit of air in a deflating market.
Once it starts gaining momentum you’re going to see a real cooling off of the property market for the next year or two.
It will come back to life rather rapidly though because you still have the underlying issues of under supply and a growing Auckland population.
This down turn will clear out the multi property investor who’s over extended themselves trying to make quick profit off capital gain.
The average property owner in Auckland will be left unscathed, really starting to look good for a National outright win in 2017.
“One of the most significant and pernicious ways that members of the alt-right use trolling is to create a sincerity-proof chamber of distortion surrounding what their actual message is. They do this by pretending that what they’re really doing is satirically spoofing how progressives and members of the media view conservatives.”
So when it’s obvious what the plan is Weka why do people here indulge the trolls and allow discussion to be diverted and derailed so often?
There is no block button but people can use their own troll filter. Just imagine you’ve got troll-cancelling headphones (or glasses) on.
When I see certain names appear I just move on as I can’t be bothered to waste my time any further. Regular visitors to The Standard know who these people are, or recognise the same tactics under new names that pop up.
Please don’t give these people air. Ignore, don’t engage.
At the risk of not following my just-expressed advice: How do you infer that from what I said?
Same reaction for Pyscho Milt’s totally erroneous response.
I used troll in the throwaway, incorrect usage. I mean commenters with an agenda of diverting and derailing debate and causing confusion, who in my opinion and others, seem to have no real intention of genuinely debating.
I see ignoring as a perfectly legimate option. No-one is obliged to enter into debate with someone they consider has ulterior motives. It’s not being unwilling to argue a viewpoint or not being prepared to change yours, it can be a sensible option to choose not to play the game.
…why do people here indulge the trolls and allow discussion to be diverted and derailed so often?
Why do people here allow commenters Grey Area doesn’t like to post opinions Grey Area finds offensive? It’s one of those great mysteries of life that I guess will never be solved.
I try really hard to ignore them, and most of them time I can. But sometimes it’s just too hard to let a particularly harmful bit of bullshit stand unchallenged.
This is interesting – though more propaganda distribution, than trolling tactics. However, you do have to consider the motivations of the interviewee (who runs “Disinfomedia”, at least until his identity was revealed):
This is a right-wing issue. Sarah Palin’s famous blasting of the lamestream media is kind of record and testament to the rise of these kinds of people. The post-fact era is what I would refer to it as. This isn’t something that started with Trump. This is something that’s been in the works for a while. His whole campaign was this thing of discrediting mainstream media sources, which is one of those dog whistles to his supporters. When we were coming up with headlines it’s always kind of about the red meat. Trump really got into the red meat. He knew who his base was. He knew how to feed them a constant diet of this red meat.
We’ve tried to do similar things to liberals. It just has never worked, it never takes off. You’ll get debunked within the first two comments and then the whole thing just kind of fizzles out.
The mainstream media tried every angle of smear, stretched every truth, gave up all pretense of actual journalism, in their support of Clinton and undermining of Trump, over the last 6 months.
And large parts of the USA recognised it and turned them off.
This whole episode has been a business and professional disaster for these large corporates.
So much so now that the President-Elect of the United States is actively circumventing these mainstream media sites to talk directly to the American people.
Did you even read the linked article, CV? It was more about the; search for, and; interview with, someone who had been running a fake news organization (and whose words should thus be taken with a large amount of salt). Trump is only really mentioned as someone who took advantage of the credulity of the right-wing for his own purposes.
As for context; we could compare the billions in free advertising which the media gifted Trump by publicizing his antics for their own benefit. Compare to the long-sustained scrutinizing of the Clinton home email server (billions worth of attack ads for the Republican candidate). No charges for Clinton after the election, almost as if the entire thing was a beatup to create drama for the horse-race, and so fill the “news” space between ads.
Yes, in the end; most of the media had turned against Trump. Much in the same way that Baron Frankenstein turned against his Monster once he saw the mob with the pitchforks heading for his castle. In both cases, much too late.
I think you missed the wikileaks emails on how the Clinton campaign deliberately used its media contacts to elevate Trump whom they initially saw as an easily beatable “Pied Piper” fringe Republican candidate.
This was done in order to lock out serious competition like Jeb Bush and make the Republican party look extreme in the general election.
Actually, I didn’t mind the wikileaks emails; though I didn’t manage to get through them all. I do wish there had been a leak from the Trump camp though (even Stein & Johnson’s campaigns would have been interesting enough). I never really felt she had any authenticity to undermine though. Rather that the status quo was better than the status quo ante.
The media favoured Trump during the primaries, but slowly came around to condemning him as an actual candidate. If I recall correctly, all the polls showed that Trump was the only Republican that Clinton had a chance of beating, whereas Sanders would have wiped the floor with any of them.
“Journalists seemed unmindful that they and not the electorate were Trump’s first audience. Trump exploited their lust for riveting stories,”… The majority of Trump coverage was positive or neutral in all outlets studied, ranging from 63 percent by The New York Times to 74 percent by USA Today. [in June]…
in issue-related coverage of Clinton, an overwhelming 84 percent was negative in tone, the study found, compared with 43 percent for Trump, 32 percent for Cruz and just 17 percent for Sanders.
The media favoured Trump during the primaries, but slowly came around to condemning him as an actual candidate.
yes, but as wikileaks revealed, this early elevation of Trump by the mass media was part of a deliberate Clinton strategy to sideline ‘more serious’ Republican candidates like Jeb Bush.
I never find BM ads anything to a discussion, just takes up space in which someone might say something interesting. I guess that’s not precisely the same as trolling, more spamming.
Recently simple trolls like BM, PR, etc have pursued a policy of matiness and no personal abuse, just to avoid giving excuses for bans by moderators. As for the more subtle, deceptively destructive varieties, I wonder if we are not starting to see Reds under the beds. Very suitable accusation to make against somebody whose views one does not find convenient.
In Vino has a very accurate view of this issue, imo. Trolls like Puckish Rogue have adapted their behaviour to fit in but still maintain their intentions to subvert. Chumminess and self deprecation are tools of camouflage and our good natures are being cunningly exploited in a way that right wing commenters patrolling their own blogs, don’t allow. We need to sharpen up without becoming nasty. The best approach is to play the idea/strategy, not the man. That’s a more difficult route, but will improve understanding amongst everyone who comments here. Of course they’ll soon adapt to that strategy as well… 🙂
Beautifully written, Robert. It saddens me that some of our own side have opted for the quick gratification of the clever put-down involving personal abuse, thinking, I guess, that the end justifies the means. It does not help informative debate (nor do trolls). I have great sympathy for the moderators trying to deal with it all.
“If I was a troll wouldn’t I have been banned by now?”
Remind us how many times you’ve been banned and what for?
Personally I think your comments add to the site, but you do troll as well. It’s possible to troll within the site’s rules, because the site has a lot of latitude.
But the original comment wasn’t about trolling. It was about the behaviour and tactics of the alt-right. A completely different conversation that one, and I wouldn’t put what you do as even close to that. Whatever disagreements I have with your politics, you’re not a proto-fascist. It does present a problem for the right though, what to do about the co-option.
Creative tension is a vital ingredient for good debate, however if one party or other is insincere or intends to subvert, the feeling pervades the discussion and no one feels satisfied. That’s what we are sensing here, I reckon. Taking the wide view of any commenter here is easy; just click on their name and look at their comment history; like Leunig’s duck, it’ll show you.
If the establishment right wants to do something about the alt-right, they could stop providing them with shelter and sustenance, and instead they installed a rat-fucking unit in the Prime Minister’s office.
Andre: how is it the alt-right is doing a better and more efficient job of propagandising than the alt-radical-left?
I also note that outlets like VOX were so pro-Clinton campaign in the last few months they didn’t see a Trump victory coming until it smacked them in the face on Nov 8.
Articles like this demonstrate that they are still going through the stages of grief.
This is a fine summing up of the farcical and frightening persecution of Assange; I was even more impressed this time than I was when I read it last year.
Congratulations Lynn! And thanks to you, Xanthe, for bringing it to our attention again.
Thanks Xanthe. Lynn puts a pretty clear case of Swedish abuse of legal system. If they can get away with that with Assange, how many others in Sweden are abused?
MPs call for student allowance tax loopholes to be closed
(essentially people now can hide all their money into trusts and now look poor for tax purposes and be entitled to payments for genuinely poor students). That is why I support taxes like Robin Hood taxes so that people can’t use tax avoidance! Saying that just because someone parents are rich does not guarantee them to support their adult children at university!
essentially people now can hide all their money into trusts and now look poor for tax purposes and be entitled to payments for genuinely poor students).
It’s been like that for a long time. It’s how the truly rich in NZ always have less income than the top tax bracket.
This has been known for a long time as well and so we can only conclude that it’s that way now so that rich people can continue to rip off the country.
RT: Washington Post article on “sophisticated propaganda campaign” damaging Clinton’s election gets mocked
The Washington Post was blasted on social media for its latest hit-piece claiming a “sophisticated [Russian] propaganda campaign” influenced the US presidential election. Citing a Cold War think tank and an anonymous ‘anti-propaganda’ group, the piece used the word ‘propaganda’ 20 times.
Trends
Viral
The article references “independent researchers” who determined that Russian state media, including RT and Sputnik, produced misleading articles online with the purpose of “punishing Hillary Clinton, helping Republican Donald Trump and undermining faith in American democracy”.
The Twitterati were quick to accuse the media outlet, acquired by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2013, of hypocrisy.
Old fashioned news outlet that still believes in fact-checking and corrections when they get it wrong reports on subversion of news by propaganda and fake-news outlets. Gets ripped by propaganda and fake-news outfits that happily spread outright lies.
Sure, you can keep getting your news from these “old fashioned news outlets” which you claim believe in fact checking and issuing corrections, but then don’t complain about the biased and unfair coverage of the NZ Herald and the Dom Post eh.
Meanwhile, a huge proportion of Americans (ten to one) reckoned these unbiased old fashioned news outlets were completely in the tank for a Hillary Clinton win.
Perhaps they too have all had their minds contaminated by sophisticated Russian propaganda?
The American public thinks the media wants Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to win by an almost 10-to-1 margin, according to a new poll.
The Suffolk University/USA Today poll released Friday asks, “Who do you think the media, including major newspapers and TV stations, would like to see elected president: Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?”
Of the 1,000 adults surveyed, 75.9 percent answered Clinton, while just 7.9 percent picked Trump, the Republican nominee. Just more than 16 percent of respondents chose either “neither” or “undecided.”
BTW those numbers are from a USA Today/Suffolk poll. Reported in The Hill. Are they part of the sophisticated Russian propaganda machine now too, Andre?
CV
Russia Today and Ivandjiiski are the source of your rebuttal to the claim that Russian propaganda had a role in the election of Trump? I’m sure that they are completely unbiased (I’ve only read your RT excerpt, but it seems weak that their main source is social media outrage). But, yeah; the Washington Post is not unbiased either.
(I’ve only read your RT excerpt, but it seems weak that their main source is social media outrage)
When top independent journalists like Glenn Greenwald and Max Blumenthal are also ripping into this WaPo story (yes ok it is via Twitter admittedly) it tells me that it’s not all smoke and mirrors.
It never ceases to amaze me how one-sided we so called ‘enlightened’ people are when it comes to Western propaganda. Why ? It has been proven wrong so many times. Try a bit of balance and look at both sides. So many on this site will only accept the West’s version, as if it is the gospel truth(not).
Not unlike the faux-intelligentsia pretending that they are somehow too enlightened and too educated to be influenced by marketing campaigns, commercial branding, advertising etc.
When it is plainly obvious to everyone that they fall for it as hard as or even harder than most.
I’ve said before that I don’t see the BBC as much different to RT or Al Jazeera in terms of propaganda. They are all superior to anything on our television stations anyway. The thing is that Western media is much easier to access because it is written in English (translation isn’t quite the same), with an understanding of the concerns of the audience. The major problem I see is the tendency of people to seek out information that confirms their prejudices, and have to actively remind myself to be suspicious whenever I find myself in agreement with an information source.
I’m not so big on the; “look at both sides” idea of balanced reporting. Because that implies that both sides are sincerely representing their positions, denying the possibility of one being disingenuous. However, certainly don’t just accept the viewpoint of any one source as true without seeking independent verification.
LMFAO !!! The excuses some media are using to justify Hillarys loss, and all these ‘russian propaganda tools’ lolooloz no mention of the ‘american propaganda tools’ like Fox News etc.
Tooo funny. Wikileaks for the win… dang imagine people knowing the truth and making an informed decision.
Betcha Pepe Escobar is on ‘the list’ love his work.
Was thinking of you, Rosemary, wow, brilliant piece. Wondered if Gower knows someone affected, he was very emotional, even red eyed after the story, Most humane I’ve ever seen him, ever, was blown away by his reaction.
The outgoing government has been exploiting the families of those with disabilities, and it’s shocking. Even going so far as to change the law to try and prevent them from taking action while littering the way with red tape and ridiculous questions.
When someone is required to care for a person with a disability they should be paid to do so. If that person is a family member, then they should be paid, fairly, just the same as someone contracted to the state to do so.
Paying a family caregiver fairly would enable a better quality of life for the person with the disability. It’s a messed up system. Apparently a huge breach of human rights.
Highly recommended viewing, really moving stories. Much love to them all
TC and Cinny…thank you both for your thoughts…but please…avoid the handwringing (yeah, I know, its Paddy’s usual state.) and tears.
It is not the impairment that disables… it is how society treats the person with the impairment.
And those New Zealanders with disabilities who have been assessed as having high and very high care needs and who are not supported by ACC are treated like shit. Family carers are in many cases the best and often the safest option for support….and we are treated like shit.
In case its not obvious…there’s a recurring theme here….
Cliff is right…the Ministry of Health are a bunch of bastards and my partner and I wrote a letter that was published in a special interest group’s magazine in 2009 anticipating that the Government would do what they did with the PHDAct(2) 2013…we said then they were a bunch of miserable bastards.
Cliff, and Dianne and Margaret (from The Nation piece) are taking a real punt by going public like they have. The Misery of Health has had disabled people paralysed and struck mute with fear of punitive measures for over a decade…the reason I will personally post and comment in my own name about the Ministry’s crimes is that they can take nothing further from my tetraplegic partner and myself.
Thanks TC. There were a few gaps in the Sunday piece, but overall, (Paddy’s tearful handwringing aside ;-)) it reiterates how purely malicious the Misery of Health is.
The Nation piece…apart from the ‘pity porn’ intro from the studio crew (oh why do they do that???)…was brilliant. Those staunch women…asking for nothing but for the Ministry to do the right thing ,and looking dead into the camera and telling the Ministry… WE WON”T BACK DOWN!!!
The politicolinguists here on The Standard should read the ‘Funded Family Care Notice’, published in the NZ Gazette.
Bear in mind that this document is aimed at the disabled person….Johnny, Marita, Shane and Paul, who are the employers of their parent carers.
My most quoted piece from this devil’s work is the Ministry of Health’s definition of “good faith”. (footnotes)
“11 Good faith generally means to discuss with each other any matter which affects the delivery of the disability support services in an open way so that all matters are “on the table”, to be active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a good relationship, being responsive, providing information, and not doing anything that might mislead or deceive each other.”
The last thing the Misery did throughout this whole saga…16 years and two Governments… was act in ‘good faith’. They lied, they misrepresented, they grossly exaggerated. They took our expectations that they would treat us….the disabled person and their chosen family carer…with respect and consideration, and yes, perhaps a tad of fucking compassion and humanity, and trampled all over them. We will NEVER trust the Ministry of Health ever again.
How about that for being “active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a good relationship,”?
“With the amount of car accidents taking place in this country, any one of us could end up in this position.”
The Chairman….the people lucky enough to become members of the disability community as a result of a car accident will be covered by ACC.
A crip of a completely different species.
A species with legislated entitlements to treatment, rehabilitation, equipment, home modifications and care and support in their own home. Unlike their non ACC cousins…none of these entitlements are means or asset tested. They are entitled to care, and hence are entitled to choose family as their paid carers. The Human Rights Review Tribunal heard that over 50% of funded care through ACC is paid to family.
For significant permanent injuries there are lump sum payments…sometimes well over the $100,000 mark, and then there is the 80% of their pre accident earnings….or a cost of living/projected earnings living allowance which makes for a more comfortable life than a non ACC crip battling WINZ for the Supported Living payment.
If anyone is interested….the Miserly of Health and ACC got together back in 2012 and conducted a study into Spinal Cord Impairment.
When one considers that research shows that the household income for an ACC spinal impaired person is twice that of the household income of a non ACC spinal impaired person 30 months post incident….the picture for non ACC spinal impaired is pretty grim.
One area that particularly interests me is cement production. At the moment, cement production burns a lot of fossil fuel for process heat. But that process heat could easily come from zero-carbon electricity. Cement production also releases CO2 during the calcination process, but the resulting concrete reabsorbs most of that CO2 over its lifecycle. So by changing the process heat to zero-carbon, and capturing the CO2 produced during calcination, concrete production could actually become a tool for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Only the max CO2 levels achieved in the next 10 to 20 years matters.
The fact that concrete may reabsorb most of the CO2 released in its manufacture over say 50 to 100 years is largely irrelevant for this reason: if that additional CO2 tips our world into unstoppable positive feedback loops in the mean time.
This is what happens when governments impose austerity:
The number of hospital beds in England taken up by patients being treated for malnutrition has almost trebled over the last 10 years, in what charities say shows the “genuinely shocking” extent of hunger and poor diet.
Official figures reveal that people with malnutrition accounted for 184,528 hospital bed days last year, a huge rise on 65,048 in 2006-07. The sharp increase is adding to the pressures on hospitals, which are already struggling with record levels of overcrowding.
Critics have said the upward trend is a result of rising poverty, deep cutbacks in recent years to meals on wheels services for the elderly and inadequate social care support, especially for older people.
We’re seeing similar increases in poverty and rises in poverty related diseases under this government and yet they still have the gall to say that they’re managing the economy well.
“He has no background at all in any political activities. Never held office, been interested in office. He has no known political positions,” says Chomsky. “He’s basically a showman.”
Chomsky, who has spent decades critiquing US presidents, calls Trump an “ignorant, thin-skinned megalomaniac” and a “greater evil” than Hillary Clinton.
“Do you vote against the greater evil if you don’t happen to like the other candidate? The answer to that is yes,” says Chomsky, on Americans who cast their votes for third party candidates or simply stayed home on election day.
“If you have any moral understanding, you want to keep the greater evil out,” says Chomsky. “I didn’t like Clinton at all, but her positions are much better than Trump’s on every issue I can think of.”
Jesus, I imagine you’d be pretty pissed off with Chomsky for this, joe90.
After all, haven’t you spent the last few months angrily denouncing all criticism of Hillary as nothing more than diabolical Far Right smears ? (whilst screwing your eyes tight shut and sticking your fingers firmly in your ears)
I think you, and several others here who shall remain nameless, are deliberately, misunderstanding the stance of those rooting for Clinton over Trump. It is exactly as Chomsky says – read it carefully
“Do you vote against the greater evil if you don’t happen to like the other candidate? The answer to that is yes,” says Chomsky, on Americans who cast their votes for third party candidates or simply stayed home on election day.
“If you have any moral understanding, you want to keep the greater evil out,” says Chomsky. “I didn’t like Clinton at all, but her positions are much better than Trump’s on every issue I can think of.”
So Chomsky is completely aligned with what Joe has been saying. You twist his words to maintain anything else.
And there was a very dirty campaign run against Clinton (whether you liked her or not). In my opinion the head of FBI has a great deal to answer. As has the head of SIS here in NZ wrt the 2011 elections.
yep Macro – sad to someone like sordy going down this road of misrepresentation.
It still amazes me the thinking that thinks, ‘oh they don’t like trump because of everything he says, does, and is, so they must love clinton because she is standing against trump, and they don’t like trump’.
No wonder the world is going to hell in a handbasket with that sort of finking in play.
(1) My comment was premised on the assumption that Chomsky’s Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils argument was pretty bloody self-evident. In other words, I took it as read that anyone reading my comment would have been fully aware of Chomsky’s broader stance. My point lay elsewhere.
(2) Despite your assertions to the contrary, a number of those “rooting for Clinton over Trump” here (including joe 90) have taken a remarkably naïve innocent abroad” approach, using the deeply unconvincing apologetics of prominent Clintonistas in the US MSM to paint Our Hillary as whiter than white on a regular basis. A long way from Chomsky’s Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils argument.
(3) I’ve always had a lot of time for joe 90 (particularly his good sense on Israel-Palestine), which is why his ingénue naivity surrounding (dyed-in-the-wool-AIPAC-girl) Hillary was so (a) perplexing and (b) disappointing.
“It still amazes me the thinking that thinks, ‘oh they don’t like trump because of everything he says, does, and is, so they must love clinton because she is standing against trump, and they don’t like trump’.”
Furthermore – to argue against injustice – no matter where it is perpetuated is IMHO the morally right thing to do, and there was a vast amount of false news and misinformation and wrongful accusations levelled as much against Clinton as there ever was against Trump.
joe 90 was one of a number of commenters here specifically suggesting that all critiques of Hillary were entirely false. A long way from Chomsky’s Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils argument.
I certainly noticed, however, the precise reverse of what you’re suggesting – those critical of Hillary’s uber-Hawkish, pro-Aipac, Wall St/Corporate-shilling record (not to mention her ex post-facto enabling of Bill’s rape/abuse) being casually smeared as Trump fans.
no you are wrong, joe90 did not do that at all and I’m sure he will come and tell you that himself.
No one, and I read a lot of those posts and comments, tried to excuse anything bill clinton did. Sure a couple of times the haters put up fake accusations and insinuations and often they were rebutted from snoopes or someone – they were rebutted because they were out and out lies.
Yep someone having an insecure mail server verses someone who is a misoginist prick and a threat to the free world and wants to pull out of the Paris protocol and put money into spacecraft rather than measuring climate change I would totally go for the misogynist, climate change denier any time …
The real questions are WHY hjc needed a private server outside of official oversight. WHY she deleted tens of thousands of emails from it after receiving a subpoena to preserve all evidence. And WHY she then lied to the FBI and Congress about her actions.
Clue: it probably wasn’t for the convenience of being able to print documents more easily.
As for misogynist racist Presidents of the USA, even if Trump was all those things (which he isn’t) the US has done fine with many such Presidents before.
Re: climate change, Trump’s position on this is worse than Clinton’s but not materially so in terms of CO2 ppm outcomes.
In terms of being a “threat to the free world” – well, he is a change agent with regards to the existing Anglo-US global military imperial order. But that’s not the same thing.
And here’s a dose of reality for the Democratic Party in the USA. Under Barack Obama they have lost hundreds of elected legislators. They have lost 10 US Senators. They control outright only 7 states out of 50 in terms of state houses, senates and governors.
The Republicans control 26 states outright.
And shortly, the Supreme Court is going to get another conservative justice who will probably serve on the bench for the next 25 years.
Perhaps one day Democrats will learn that prioritising identity politics, political correct languaging and labelling people racists, misogynists, bigots and xenophobes has done nothing more than lead them to a near total nationwide political collapse.
1) Neither Clinton nor Trump nor Obama were (are) going to do anything effective about minimising climate change.
2) Yes there has been some pretty ghastly manipulation of electorate boundaries. Nevertheless the underlying mood can be identified by those elected officials where gerrymandering is not a factor. Republicans hold 31 state governorships and Democrats just 18. That’s 10 states down from when Obama took office.
And the Republicans still hold the balance of power in the Senate. Those positions aren’t as susceptible to gerrymandering.
BTW here is a good summary of the Democratic elected officials hemorrhaging under Obama. Around a thousand democratic legislators toast.
You can blame this mostly on “gerrymandering” or you can blame it mostly on the Democrats out of touch and in steep decline. I reckon the latter.
Then question why Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court was not voted on. If you think it is fair then I suggest you go back to basics.
Of course it was totally, utterly unfair. But it was also an absolutely brilliant political move by Mitch McConnell Republican senate leader. One that the Democrats had no reply to.
And because of this move, the Republicans may be able to confirm ~two Supreme Court positions during Trump’s first term, changing the balance of the Supreme Court for an entire generation.
Now figure this – Barack Obama remains one of the most popular 2 term presidents ever, at the end of his second term. But the states have decided that they now want something completely different to him.
riiight so the fake progressives should have backed an actual left wing progressive candidate? Would they still be fake if they did that? Oh the humanity!!!
You bubbling on about what lefties and so forth should do is hilarious. Your man is in – roll in that shit and rejoice!
Come on now, boys—play nicely. I think we can all agree that Hillary is awful, and Trump is awful. It’s silly to squabble over which is worse, when the real problem is: WHY THE HELL WAS HILLARY CLINTON THE CANDIDATE INSTEAD OF THE FAR MORE POPULAR, AND DECENT, BERNIE SANDERS?
“Who cares?” Well, you should—and so should anyone who was disturbed by the Democratic establishment’s dirty tricks.
Sadly for them, no one bought their nonsense about the Russians backing Trump. And, judging by their shrill but utterly unconvincing repetition of the smear, they obviously didn’t believe it themselves.
Do you not have even the slightest quiver of anxiety that Trump surrounds himself with his kins folk even at such important international meetings as the meeting with the Japanese PM? (His daughter Ivanka attended) That he involves his son-in-law in much of his decision making? Or that Kushner may end up with a role in the White House?
” A source close to Kushner told NBC News late Wednesday that he was considering whether to serve in the White House in a role along the lines of a special adviser or special counsel after being approached by Trump’s Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.”
This, even after the US amended the consitution following JFK’s appointment of his brother Robert as Attorney General? The nepotism law has a purpose – and that is to stop the formation of Dynastic tyranny. Trump, apparently, has no such qualms about such matters.
Says a bunch of precious Clinton Preferrers who for so long appeared to have absolutely no issue with Hillary Clinton following on from Bill Clinton into the West Wing to continue on a Clinton dynasty.
I don’t believe that I ever said that I had any dynastic problem with the Clintons. My main problem with her following on from Bill Clinton’s foot steps is that she would bring a known sexual predator back into the White House.
I think a few lefties had issues with that.
Did you or Macro ever say that there was a serious problem with having a Clinton political dynasty? I don’t think so but am happy to be corrected.
So you don’t/didn’t have dynastic issues with clinton – really. I’m surprised by that.
Personally the bush’s, the clinton’s, the Obama’s, the trump’s and any dynastic family presidential revolving door is not a great thing imo – but I cannot say I ever said it so – I did think that Michelle Obama would be great at the top but not because she was an Obama, more rather I think she is smart and effective and likeable.
She is suposedly to run her fathers company. And sits in on affairs of state between foreign countries. Had she done that when Trump is President you can expect an impeachment order the next day!
Norman Eisen, Chief Ethics Counsel for Barack Obama, views the current situation as dire. If Trump is permitted to be sworn in as president without selling his companies, he says, the country is facing a “wholesale oligarchic kleptocracy of a kind that we have never seen before in our history.”
Article 9 of the US constitution states:
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
This provision was specifically created to prevent the President, most of all, from being corrupted by foreign influences
The only thing that would have helped the US and the world in this was if every single democrat and worker voted Jill Stein. If you wanted the lesser evil, there it was. Clinton sure as hell wasn’t it.
Still, the increased speed of collapse of the US with Trump and his lot in charge will probably bring about some good even if it’s going to take longer.
more people suffering and dying earlier as their society splinters as the ‘increased speed of collapse’ occurs.
What about the environment? A speedy collapse is certain death to many species as exploitative destruction of the land and water and air intensifies as desperation bites hard.
I personally don’t know Noam Chomsky but I hazard a guess that it is not the pursuit of happiness that drives him.
Many talented & gifted people and tortured souls have created and delivered their best when they were not exactly in a ‘happy place’.
The ones that say they are “relaxed and comfortable” are the ones to watch; they try to lull you into a false slumber of relative comfort and privilege AKA “happiness” and almost without exception manipulate perceptions to maintain status quo. They create nothing, they remove the “creative tension” [thank you Robert Guyton], i.e. the spark and driver of human behaviour and creativity. They are suffocating.
Countries slashing their donations to Clinton Foundation
All happening now that Hillary Clinton won’t be in the White House. Coincidence? Zero Hedge (warning – fake news lol!) reports:
For months we’ve been told that the Clinton Foundation, and it’s various subsidiaries, were simple, innocent “charitable” organizations, despite the mountain of WikiLeaks evidence suggesting rampant pay-to-play scandals surrounding a uranium deal with Russia and earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti, among others.
Well, if that is, in fact, true perhaps the Clintons could explain why wealthy foreign governments, like Australia and Norway, are suddenly slashing their contributions just as Hillary’s schedule has been freed up to focus exclusively on her charity work. Surely, these foreign governments weren’t just contributing to the Clinton Foundation in hopes of currying favor with the future President of the United States, were they?
I imagine the imminent auditing and investigation of the organization, despite assurances to the contrary, has something to do with the donor dry-up too. At least Clinton structured her (alleged/ probable) corruption so that it was legally plausible as a charity. Trump is so far refusing to do even that much:
“the founders did not want any foreign payments to the president. Period.” This principle is enshrined in Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution, which bars office holders from accepting “any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.”… Trump’s businesses, foreign and domestic, “are receiving a stream of such payments.” A prime example is Trump’s new hotel in Washington DC which, according to Eisen, is “actively seeking emoluments to Trump: payments from foreign governments for use of the hotel.”…
This problem will be repeated “over and over” again with Trump’s other properties and business interests. The only way to cure this Constitutional violation is for Trump to sell his companies and set up a blind trust before he takes office… Thus far, Trump has not shown a willingness to do anything. Trump told the New York Times that he is under no obligation to set up a trust and he “could run my business perfectly, and then run the country perfectly.” Instead, he plans on having his adult children run the company while he retains ownership.
Trump told a room full of reporters that “the law is totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest.”…
Meanwhile, Trump has already sought to leverage the office of the presidency to pressure foreign governments to take actions that would improve his bottom line. Trump admitted that he asked a group of British politicians to kill a proposed wind farm he believed would mar the views at a golf course he owns in Scotland. He reportedly asked the president of Argentina to approve permits for a high-rise in Buenos Aires. (Trump denied the allegation, although his local partner announced the project was moving forward the next day.) Trump has also had his daughter Ivanka, who is supposedly managing his day-to-day business interests, sit in on meetings with heads of state.
Eisen views the current situation as dire. If Trump is permitted to be sworn in as president without selling his companies, he says, the country is facing a “wholesale oligarchic kleptocracy of a kind that we have never seen before in our history.”
“In the small town of Riverton and the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island is Robert and Robyn Guyton’s amazing 23-year-old food forest. The two-acre property has been transformed from a neglected piece of land into a thriving ecosystem.
Living the Change
This film was made as part of our Living the Change series. For this series we’re traveling around New Zealand making short documentary films about permaculture farms, tiny houses, and sustainable living.”
Ha! It’s a great little film, I reckon; the Happen Films people were lovely and their work awesome. The drone footage is cool too, and the music they chose as background, excellent. I’m pleased you enjoyed it, marty. The film went online last night and is attracting a lot of positive attention.
I was reading our local (community) paper this week too Robert (and I’m up in the north island), and a familiar name appeared with a whole half page on gardening. I thought to myself what is going on here, is Mr Guyton trying to take over the world or something! But seriously, it was very refreshing to see, I just hope fairfax who I think owns the local rag is paying you.
While dressed to help struggling tenants, this will help provide landlords with some security that tenants will be able to sustain further rent increases going forward.
And of course while dressed to help struggling families, increasing Working for Families entitlements will reduce wage pressure on employers.
The question is, will voters vote for the extra funding?
Interesting that John Key mentions fairness as a consideration.
The problem with Working for Families and the accommodation supplement is that they are not a given [no pun]; people have to apply for these and meet (strict) criteria. Would these “tweaks” reach all people, would they reach the people that need it the most?
In any case, this Government has not changed its dogmatic stance on surpluses, debt reduction, and debt relative to GDP.
IMO the simplest, fairest, and very effective thing to do would be to lower GST back to 12.5%. In addition, the minimum hourly wage could be increased above and beyond CPI and the living wage could be more encouraged for public servants, for example.
Mentioning fairness as a consideration is all part of the sales pitch.
And yes, it will be limited to those that can meet the set criteria.
As GST is a harder tax to avoid, it has its positives. But it does impact upon lower income earners harder. Perhaps an exemption can be made, say through the use of community cards and gold cards or something similar?
Hi, mauī, yes, world domination is my aim 🙂 I’ve no complaints about Fairfax, as they recompense me generously for my efforts, such as they are. The sharing of my writing across the local papers is a bonus, as far as I’m concerned, as it’s the message that’s important, in my view.
Ah cool, yeah go global, don’t believe what they say about this globalism thing being in trouble.. haha. I shall be giving the gardening page a second glance from now on!
Does Leggat not comprehend that it was his Labourness which got him his success in Porirua – the only success he’s ever known. Now that he’s ditched Labour and all the constituents who trusted him he’s known nothing but failure.
People who are aligned to the Labour cause actually genuinely take action about improving housing, about lifting incomes, about making sure that schools are properly funded, and our hospitals are properly funded.
“What they don’t do is go around looking for those on the highest incomes to back them – to challenge whoever because that’s all they want. Labour people, passionate Labour in their heart – they stick with Labour, they campaign on Labour issues, and for the Labour Party. Nick’s not one of those people.”
Bang on Andrew Little. You can add the names of Phil Quin and Josie Pagani. None of them lifted a practical finger for Labour except when they once aspired to be the personal beneficiaries.
+1 Anne, totally agree, and what was that BS in the Newshub article that said: “Mr Leggett had previously been tipped as a future leader of the party”
When was that? Never heard of that before, have you?
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Back in 2010, I wrote about the strange tale of the zombie ants, which do the bidding of their fungal overlords. (They’re not an isolated example; a range of parasites change their hosts’ behaviour. See here and here for example – though as you’ll find, the toxoplasmosis story may be ...
Shouldn't That Be: "Wrong White Crowd"? Rather than apportion guilt, would it not have been wiser for the makers of Land Of The Long White Cloud to accept that the Pakeha of 2019 are not – and never will be – “Europeans”? Just as contemporary Maori are not – and ...
One, Two, Many Truths: With the collapse of “actually existing socialism” in 1991, the universities of the West found themselves saddled with a new mission. With their ideological competitors now soundly defeated they were no longer required to demonstrate the superiority of capitalist values. Their job now was to cement ...
by the Council of Disobedient Women We call on the Council of Trade Unions to show some fortitude and take a stand with your sisters. Unionists know that there is a material world, otherwise workers could simply identify out of poverty. They could declare themselves Well Paid. Why stop ...
I spent some time reading the Regulatory Impact Statement and Bill of Rights Act advice for the government's odious control order scheme today. I am not impressed with either of them. Starting with the RIS, it is built on some pretty questionable assumptions. For example:Unless individuals have been convicted of ...
#NoFly: Walking the talk on climate change, by Shaun Hendy. BWB Texts, 2019. Reviewed by Robert McLachlan In June 2018, Swede Maja Rosén founded We stay on the ground with a pledge not to fly in 2019, and a goal of persuading 100,000 other Swedes to join her. In August, ...
We all know that NZ First is a party of and for old people who hate the young. But they've topped their previous pedophobia with a proposal that all young people be forced to do 100 hours community work:NZ First wants all young people to do 100 hours of community ...
A couple days ago the NZ Herald published a story with the headline, “Science says Bella Hadid is world’s most beautiful woman“, and followed up with the ridiculous statement that Supermodel Bella Hadid has been declared as the world’s most beautiful woman following a scientific study into what constitutes as ...
A Sustainable Proposition: With as much as 18 percent of the electorate declaring itself “undecided” about who to vote for, there is obviously plenty of space for a party like former Green Party member, Vernon Tava's, about-to-be-launched "Sustainable NZ Party" to move into. The most hospitable political territory for such ...
Keir Starmer has hinted that Labour might vote in favour of the Johnson government's shoddy deal, with the proviso that a second referendum is attached:Speaking to BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “We will see what that looks like but it makes sense to say that by whatever ...
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...
Dr Helen Waite, sports sociologist and former elite athlete, on the invasion of women’s sport by men and the anti-scientific and misogynist ideology used to rationalise it. ...
As Brexit comes to a grisly conclusion (perhaps) people on all sides are saying intemperate and uwise things. Some, like the Daly Mail, have been doing it for years.People as normally level headed as Jon Lansman are calling for automatic deselection of MPs who vote against a (likely) Labour three ...
I've got one source saying more Labour MPs than expected are mulling whether to vote for the deal - including names who were not on the letter to Juncker and Tusk— Emilio Casalicchio (@e_casalicchio) 17 October 2019 I've compiled a list of possible reasons why Labour ...
On Wednesday, the government was loudly telling us that it needed to legislate to allow it to impose "control orders" - effectively a parole regime, but imposed without charge, prosecution, conviction or real evidence - on suspected terrorists because they couldn't be prosecuted for their supposed crimes. Today, it turns ...
On Monday, the Hit and Run inquiry heard from NZDF's former director of special operations, who claimed that the defence Minister knew everything about the Operation Burnham raid. Today, the inquiry heard from that (former) Minister - and it turns out that he didn't know nearly as much as NZDF ...
Yoga gurus and cult leaders – I’ve seen a few. Two weeks ago, I unknowingly joined an alleged new-age cult at the Kāpiti coast, together with a giant kraken and some neatly dressed pensioners who would make any book club proud.They were among the two hundred people of all ages ...
The last decade has seen a trend of increasing weapons availability to police. Assault rifles. Tasers on every hip. Guns in cars. And following the march 15 massacre, pistols on every hip, all over the country. At the same time, its also seen an increase in the abuse of force: ...
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...
by John Edmundson The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) have recently reposted a February article, by Romany Tasker-Poland, explaining ISO’s position in the “trans rights” debate. It is available on their website and on their Facebook Page. The article sets out to explain why “socialists support trans rights”. It reads more ...
"Auckland City Mission: 10% of Kiwis experiencing food insecurity", RNZ, 16 October 2019:About half a million people are experiencing food insecurity, according to new research from the Auckland City Mission. Food insecurity, or food poverty, is defined as not having enough appropriate food. The City Mission said over the last ...
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...
There is plenty of evidence of the way the business mentality has permeated every level of society since the recrudescence of market liberalism 35 years ago. You only need to think of how citizens in need of help from their government, their state, their country, are now routinely described as ...
John MacCormickOver the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...
Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
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.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
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 ...
Journalist Andrew Dickens, reporting from the 2019 New Zealand First Conference, states that the Party once again proved “they are more than a sideshow”. In his op-ed article for NewstalkZB, Mr Dickens said he has always been an admirer of the Party, saying they are “a true centrist party”. “[NZ ...
New Zealand First's potential policy of compulsory community service for ages 15-19 years old has been getting support from those in the industry. A policy remit was passed during their recent Conference in Christchurch, gaining the support of a majority of its membership. Party leader Winston Peters has been talking ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the Party hopes to decide it’s stance pill testing at music festivals "before the season of concern", with festivals generally held during the summer months. Mr Peters' comments come in an interview with TVNZ's Q+A and follow a remit from the party's youth ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he has been told to be "alert" to potential cost blowouts for the light rail project in Auckland. Mr Peters said no such concerns were raised with him from ministerial colleagues, including Transport Minister Phil Twyford of the Labour Party. He suggested that ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First The Benefits of having New Zealand First in the Centre: Security, Experience & Balance 2.00pm, 20th October 2019 Ladies and Gentlemen Thank you all for your warm welcome to this, the party’s 26thConvention. Speaking on behalf of caucus colleagues, it’s great to ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Fletcher Tabuteau is travelling to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu this week to continue toadvance important bilateral relationships in our region consistent with thePacific Reset. Mr Tabuteau will engage in a range of bilateral meetings and visit New Zealand development ...
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 ...
Minister for Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, has selected Arihia Bennett MNZM, Chief Executive Officer of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, as the Te Puni Kōkiri appointed representative on the New Zealand-China Council. The New Zealand-China Council (the Council) was established in 2012 as a New Zealand led and funded organisation ...
Responsibility for processing the small number of Southern Response claims still to be settled will be transferred to EQC by the end of the year. “As claim numbers reduce, it no longer makes sense for the Crown to have two organisations processing the remaining Canterbury claims,” Grant Robertson says. “Since ...
Health Minister David Clark is encouraging Whanganui residents to take up the opportunity for free bowel screening, which can detect cancer early when it’s easier to treat. Over the next two years 12,000 Whanganui locals, aged 60 to 74 will be invited to participate in the National Bowel Screening ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio, heads to Oslo today to represent New Zealand at the sixth Our Ocean Conference, which is being hosted by the Norwegian Government from the 23-24 October. “The Our Ocean Conference mobilises real action on issues like marine plastic pollution and the impacts of ...
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 ...
Session 4: Pacific Connectivity – Youth, Media and New Opportunities Kia ora tatou katoa and Warm Pacific greetings to one and all. Representatives of Tainui, the local people of the land, or manawhenua – the indigenous peoples of this area – have welcomed you this morning in accordance with ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has some sobering reading to do over the coming weeks: an 88-page Senate report into the government-sponsored bill to repeal the medevac law that allow refugees and asylum seekers in Papua ...
Eric Crampton has fun imagining a version of MBIE that worried it could be subject to cartel criminalisation provisions for the anticompetitive regimes it has established. ...
Criminologist Antje Deckert has just completed a two-year study of how women offenders are portrayed in New Zealand newspapers. The results show that journalists are telling very different stories abut Māori and Pākehā. That our criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform and that we need to reduce the ...
China continues its march into the Pacific with a China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum in Samoa this week. Ahead of the forum, Beijing has signed seven new agreements with Samoa covering education, trade, e-commerce, investment, infrastructure and agriculture. China’s Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua heads his delegation in Apia ...
It might be tempting to yell, but there are more effective ways to talk to doubters about the value of vaccines, write Julie Leask and Maryke Steffens.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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debra Wain, Academic in Professional and Creaive Writing, Deakin University Why do we tell stories, and how are they crafted? In this series, we unpick the work of the writer on both page and screen. Anna Spargo-Ryan’s debut novel, The Paper House ...
The Movies, a documentary series that celebrates movies and their impact on culture, is available on TVNZ OnDemand today. Sam Brooks pulls some of the best quotes from its galaxy of stars.Ever wanted to get a snapshot of cinematic history without leaving the comfort of your couch, or even your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronald F Pol, Senior researcher NZ, La Trobe University Money laundering rarely gets as literal as the case in Thailand last week, where police raided homes of a ring suspected of laundering a billion baht (about A$48 million) of drug proceeds and ...
The NZTA chair has acknowledged the agency dropped the ball in its early handling of Auckland's light rail project, as the NZ Infra proposal grips ministers. ...
On Friday it was announced that Armed Offenders Squad patrols will be trialled in Counties Manukau, Waikato and Canterbury over the next six months. The data suggests this will increase police violence and unfairly target Māori, writes Emilie Rākete.Police Commissioner Mike Bush announced on Friday that cars of Armed Offender ...
This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Court’s judgment. It does not comprise part of the reasons for that judgment. The full judgment with reasons is the only authoritative document. The full text of the judgment and reasons ...
There’s something about the feeling of wind whipping my face that brings me out of my head and into the moment. Once a month we pedal as a group: recreating the feeling of childlike glee riding our bikes together, writes Helen King.The first bike I learned to ride belonged to ...
More than 10,000 school support staff around the country have begun two weeks of paid union meetings to discuss progress on pay equity, and next steps following the Ministry of Education's failure to present a collective agreement offer. ...
Government ministers are adamant New Zealand’s economic fundamentals are solid, unemployment is at a record low, growth is faster than in Australia, and the surplus in the government accounts and low debt present further opportunities to strengthen the economy. Yet, across the road from the Beehive, the view from the ...
Wellington's mayor-elect Andy Foster says talk about a recount is causing a "distraction" for the council at the start of their term, but the incumbent Justin Lester says it's essential for a democratic process. ...
Police Commissioner Mike Bush has today announced an independent review of the systems and processes NZ Police has in place to address complaints of bullying. ...
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry has formalised an integrated pathway for survivors to seek justice for the abuse they suffered in State care or in the care of faith-based institutions. ...
The small-claims mediation process is meant to give real people a voice, but the financial and emotional sacrifice just isn’t worth it, writes Jai BreitnauerWhen we moved to the semi-rural dreamland of Te Henga (Bethell’s Beach) in 2017, we couldn’t imagine that anything would be able to tarnish the beautiful ...
The New Zealand Bar Association welcomes a Court of Appeal decision which gives detailed guidance on sentencing people convicted of offences related to the importation, manufacture and supply of methamphetamine. ...
Methamphetamine (meth) dealers who can prove their own addiction caused their drug offending could have their sentences cut by 30 per cent, according to a landmark judgement released by the Court of Appeal. The role of an offender in a drug network ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Ananian-Welsh, Senior Lecturer, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland Australians picked up their morning papers yesterday to find heavily blacked-out text instead of front-page headlines. This bold statement was instigated by the “Your Right to Know” campaign, an ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney The slaughter of horses bred for racing in Australia, as revealed in the ABC’s investigation, highlights the challenge of what to do with racehorses when their careers are over. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carlina Black, PhD candidate, La Trobe University It’s a year since the national apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. While national apologies can acknowledge survivors, sorry is just the beginning. Access to healing is needed. Our research shows ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Hepburn, Director of the Centre for Energy and Natural Resources Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University Right now, two projects have been proposed to import gas from overseas to supply eastern Australia. This is an absurd prospect. Australia is a resource-rich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Pitman, Senior Research Fellow, Curtin University In a recent nation-wide survey by online tutoring company Cluey Learning, 75% of Australian senior students said their ATAR score would impact on the rest of their life. And more than 80% said a score ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shih-Wen Sue Chen, Senior Lecturer in Writing and Literature, Deakin University There is a new challenger to Disney’s hold on the global animation industry, and he is a Chinese demon child. [embedded content]Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child, from Chengdu Coco ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wellington’s new mayor faces difficult three years, Zero Carbon bill select committee report comes back, and extremist preacher barred from NZPartly because it was a widely unexpected result, the opening days of Wellington mayor Andy Foster’s tenure have been gripping. He ...
After her own troubled teenage years, Fran McEwen doesn't want to see other girls going through the same challenges. So she's running a race across a Middle Eastern desert to help them. ...
Laurence Fearnley, author of a best-selling novel about perfumes, proposes a radical new scheme in which people of refined noses set out together and establish a sniffing group. ...
A string of failures over the past 25 years has drawn attention to the quality of regulatory practice in NZ. Jeroen van der Heijden looks at what we can do differently. ...
Last night, the two titans of the cannabis referendum came together for their first televised debate on the issue – Paula Bennett and Chlöe Swarbrick.From a distance, Paula Bennett and Chlöe Swarbrick don’t feel like the most likely opponents. What with Paula Bennett recently-ish stating she would not seek re-election ...
Andrew Little’s terrorism suppression bill is facing two very different forms of resistance, from National and from the Greens. What is the legislation, and why is it controversial?What this then? The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill, introduced to parliament by the justice minister, Andrew Little, last Wednesday, seeks to introduce “a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Given her status as holding two vital Senate crossbench votes Pauline Hanson is at times, in the eyes of senior government figures, She Who Must Be Obeyed. And so it was last week, when Hanson ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says he'll be watching out for potential cost blow-outs for Auckland's light rail project, after warnings from a source within the transport industry. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University Fully Sikh, directed by Matt Edgerton, Perth’s Studio Underground The foyer is adorned with colourful fabric and bunting. We’re welcomed by the sounds of Indian music while members of the Sikh community offer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University Fully Sikh, directed by Matt Edgerton, Perth’s Studio Underground The foyer is adorned with colourful fabric and bunting. We’re welcomed by the sounds of Indian music while members of the Sikh community offer ...
New Zealand First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters with Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.Trying to make sense of the New Zealand First party can be difficult at the best of times. Political journalists and commentators attempt to work out where the party ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.TV3 sale Tim Batt (Metro): What if THREE’s problem isn’t TVNZ but… MediaWorks? Alex Braae ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Miller, Professor of Violence Prevention and Addiction Studies, Deakin University Over recent weeks, the alcohol industry has been drumming up mediadiscussion around Australia’s new drinking guidelines. Australia’s guidelines on alcohol consumption are under ongoing review by the National Health and ...
Extremist Baptist pastor Steven Anderson has just been blocked from entering New Zealand, making us the 34th country to reject his hate speech-filled sermons. American pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church has been denied entry to New Zealand on character grounds, putting a stop to his plans to ...
Twenty years ago Stephen Chbosky had a massive hit with coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Now the director/producer/scriptwriter is back with an epic, kid-centric horror. Early on in Stephen Chbosky’s frustrating new horror novel, Imaginary Friend, its seven-year-old protagonist Christopher is sitting down to watch his favourite cartoon, ...
Hold on to your sponge nubbins, New Zealand’s loveliest reality show Great Kiwi Bake Off is back for a second serving. Before the show’s return on November 3, Tara Ward takes a sneak peek at 2019’s contestants. Lay me down on a soft bed of whipped cream and swab my forehead with a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronald F Pol, Senior researcher NZ, La Trobe University Money laundering rarely gets as literal as the case in Thailand last week, where police raided homes of a ring suspected of laundering a billion baht (about A$48 million) of drug proceeds and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wilfred Wang, Lecturer, Communications & Media Studies, Monash University The Australian society has changed significantly since cemeteries in Victoria were planned and designed 150 years ago. But there haven’t been any major redevelopment or review of the community’s changing requirements for what ...
NZ Post’s failure to maintain an adequate postal voting infrastructure has been the subject of two submissions to Parliamentary Select Committees by the Postal Workers Union since the last Local Authority postal vote in 2016. The union maintained that ...
New Zealand honey growers appear to have so far avoided the heavy hand of the Australian government in their dispute with apiarists across the Tasman. ...
A downturn in Tourism Holdings' (THL) vehicle sales business in the United States is likely to have a material negative affect on its full year results, the company warns. ...
The troubled Auckland Light Rail project is back in the news again, and not for good reasons. So what does it all mean for transport and traffic congestion in New Zealand’s biggest city?What’s all this then?It seemed like such a good plan at the time. Over the course of 10 ...
Since taking office in this Govt, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has applied heft to NZ’s role in the Pacific. Now, 18 months on, he reflects on what has been achieved. Speaking to the NZ Institute of International Affairs, he said NZ is moving away from the donor-recipient dynamics of the ...
A white police officer who shot and killed an African American woman in her home in Fort Worth, Texas, in the presence of her eight-year-old nephew has been charged with murder after resigning from the force. The Fort Worth Police Department said its officers had been responding to a call from a neighbour, ...
Madeleine Chapman took her piano-playing nephew Harper to see the orchestra for the first time. Madeleine: When I was very small, I used to sit in the hallway at home with my closest siblings and we would ask our brother Bernard, a teenager at the time, to play songs on the ...
Otago-grown agricultural technology company Techion has cornered an international market. Its founder, Greg Mirams, explained how the internet of things and fast fibre broadband has transformed the way he does business.In a Dunedin bedroom in 1992, Greg Mirams invented Techion’s founding product: FEKPAKG2. It was developed to help local farmers ...
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 ...
Open Mike 26/11/2016 
There was another police chase in Christchurch this morning, resulting in a crash which killed one person and injured five more. Because someone died, the chase is being investigated by the Independent Police Conduct Authority. And based on previous reports by the IPCA, we know how it will go: the ...35 mins ago
Back in 2010, I wrote about the strange tale of the zombie ants, which do the bidding of their fungal overlords. (They’re not an isolated example; a range of parasites change their hosts’ behaviour. See here and here for example – though as you’ll find, the toxoplasmosis story may be ...5 hours ago
6 hours ago
by the Council of Disobedient Women We call on the Council of Trade Unions to show some fortitude and take a stand with your sisters. Unionists know that there is a material world, otherwise workers could simply identify out of poverty. They could declare themselves Well Paid. Why stop ...21 hours ago
Keir Starmer has hinted that Labour might vote in favour of the Johnson government's shoddy deal, with the proviso that a second referendum is attached:Speaking to BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “We will see what that looks like but it makes sense to say that by whatever ...1 day ago
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...3 days ago
Dr Helen Waite, sports sociologist and former elite athlete, on the invasion of women’s sport by men and the anti-scientific and misogynist ideology used to rationalise it. ...3 days ago
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...5 days ago
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.nz There is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...6 days ago
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...7 days ago
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, ...7 days ago
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 ...1 week ago
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 ...2 weeks ago
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 ...2 weeks ago
“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 ...2 weeks ago
Journalist Andrew Dickens, reporting from the 2019 New Zealand First Conference, states that the Party once again proved “they are more than a sideshow”. In his op-ed article for NewstalkZB, Mr Dickens said he has always been an admirer of the Party, saying they are “a true centrist party”. “[NZ ...2 hours ago
We're rebuilding our hospitals, protecting our oceans, and taking mental health seriously. ...4 days ago
Minister for Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, has selected Arihia Bennett MNZM, Chief Executive Officer of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, as the Te Puni Kōkiri appointed representative on the New Zealand-China Council. The New Zealand-China Council (the Council) was established in 2012 as a New Zealand led and funded organisation ...30 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has some sobering reading to do over the coming weeks: an 88-page Senate report into the government-sponsored bill to repeal the medevac law that allow refugees and asylum seekers in Papua ...20 mins ago
Eric Crampton has fun imagining a version of MBIE that worried it could be subject to cartel criminalisation provisions for the anticompetitive regimes it has established. ...36 mins ago
Criminologist Antje Deckert has just completed a two-year study of how women offenders are portrayed in New Zealand newspapers. The results show that journalists are telling very different stories abut Māori and Pākehā. That our criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform and that we need to reduce the ...53 mins ago
China continues its march into the Pacific with a China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum in Samoa this week. Ahead of the forum, Beijing has signed seven new agreements with Samoa covering education, trade, e-commerce, investment, infrastructure and agriculture. China’s Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua heads his delegation in Apia ...1 hour ago
Fonterra has increased its forecast farmgate milk price for the current dairy season, sighting strong demand for the co-op's milk. ...3 hours ago
The NZTA chair has acknowledged the agency dropped the ball in its early handling of Auckland's light rail project, as the NZ Infra proposal grips ministers. ...4 hours ago
By John Braddock, Socialist Equality Group 21 October 2019, original url: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/21/kiri-o21.html ...5 hours ago
Government ministers are adamant New Zealand’s economic fundamentals are solid, unemployment is at a record low, growth is faster than in Australia, and the surplus in the government accounts and low debt present further opportunities to strengthen the economy. Yet, across the road from the Beehive, the view from the ...6 hours ago
Otago can boast having the cleanest air in NZ but it’s not in the mountains of Central Otago or on the windswept beaches of Dunedin. ...6 hours ago
A government agency puts a scientist off-limits after the re-discovery of an oyster parasite. ...9 hours ago
Urgent action on climate change will be costly. But inaction could be four or five times more expensive, according to new climate accounting. ...10 hours ago
After her own troubled teenage years, Fran McEwen doesn't want to see other girls going through the same challenges. So she's running a race across a Middle Eastern desert to help them. ...10 hours ago
The uptake rate of a free whooping cough vaccine during pregnancy to protect newborns is described as dismal. ...10 hours ago
Laurence Fearnley, author of a best-selling novel about perfumes, proposes a radical new scheme in which people of refined noses set out together and establish a sniffing group. ...10 hours ago
A string of failures over the past 25 years has drawn attention to the quality of regulatory practice in NZ. Jeroen van der Heijden looks at what we can do differently. ...10 hours ago
Andy Foster was backed by Sir Peter Jackson for the Wellington mayoralty, but his election victory was about more than that. ...10 hours ago
A sudden change in the interpretation of how Immigration NZ makes decisions relating to partnership visas has been labelled racist and unjust. ...17 hours ago
Winston Peters has warned those serving their own 'egregious self-interests' in the Pacific. ...22 hours ago
New Zealand honey growers appear to have so far avoided the heavy hand of the Australian government in their dispute with apiarists across the Tasman. ...1 day ago
A downturn in Tourism Holdings' (THL) vehicle sales business in the United States is likely to have a material negative affect on its full year results, the company warns. ...1 day ago
A white police officer who shot and killed an African American woman in her home in Fort Worth, Texas, in the presence of her eight-year-old nephew has been charged with murder after resigning from the force. The Fort Worth Police Department said its officers had been responding to a call from a neighbour, ...1 day ago
Sobering news.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/25/arctic-ice-melt-trigger-uncontrollable-climate-change-global-level
Sobering news 2.
George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/25/13-crises-we-face-trump-soil-loss-global-collapse
Sobering news 3.
Guy McPherson.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/humans-dont-have-10-years-left-thanks-to-climate-change—scientist-2016112408
Short term I believe Trump will de-escalate military tensions with Russia and China so the risk of super power war in the next couple of years has reduced. Other than that, we are in a dire situation and people are still running around pretending that we can still avoid 1.5 deg C and 2.0 deg C levels of warming.
And Trump is the least suitable leader imaginable for dealing with climate change. So why support him?
because most Americans are not single issue voters, and if they were on the issue of climate change, Jill Stein would have won.
Also my rationale – which people around here seem to hate – is that there wasn’t (and isn’t) 5ppm difference between the Repugs and the Demorats.
I will admit that Clinton’s words on climate change was much nicer sounding to environmentalist ears, however.
Conspiracy theorists on right see our own govt & elite behind every incomprehensible outrage. Those pushing tinfoil from left see Trump.
When Trump cancels funding for data collection on the effects of climate change and puts it into space exploration want to come back and admit you were wrong?
Wrong: https://youtu.be/_GBnJNLoBuw
And wrong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX
And, no. I’m difinitley not wrong. I’ll put my forecasting skills up against yours any day my boy.
There is no doubt that Trump is powerful and he is 1 state legislature away from gaining the majority needed to amend the US constitution: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/18/republicans-build-on-their-dominance-in-state-legislatures.html
But no president of the United States can go full on communists and stop the March of capitalism. I think it’s a mistake to view Trump as the most powerful man with in America.
The march of corruption would be more apt ….
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/wall-streets-naked-swindle-20100405
“On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody — nobody knows who —made one of the craziest bets Wall Street has ever seen. The mystery figure spent $1.7 million on a series of options, gambling that shares in the venerable investment bank Bear Stearns would lose more than half their value in nine days or less. It was madness — “like buying 1.7 million lottery tickets,” according to one financial analyst.” …..
….”by the weekend, it was being knocked to its knees by the Fed and the Treasury, and forced at the barrel of a shotgun to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase (which had been given $29 billion in public money to marry its hunchbacked new bride) at the humiliating price of … $2 a share. Whoever bought those options on March 11th woke up on the morning of March 17th having made 159 times his money, or roughly $270 million. This trader was either the luckiest guy in the world, the smartest son of a bitch ever or…
more recent financial ‘news’ ….” At least 367 companies, or 73 percent
of the Fortune 500, operate one or more
subsidiaries in tax haven countries.
•
All told, these 367 companies maintain at
least 10,366 tax haven subsidiaries.
http://ctj.org/pdf/offshoreshellgames2016.pdf …
Goldman Sachs
Group
987
Bahamas (1), Barbados (4), Bermuda (19), British Virgin Islands (6), Cayman Islands
(537), Channel Islands (17), Costa Rica (1), Cyprus (2), Gibraltar (1), Hong Kong
(19), Ireland (64), Isle of Man (3), Luxembourg (197), Mauritius (49), Monaco (1),
Netherlands (45), Panama (1), Singapore (18), Switzerland (2)
Morgan Stanley
669
Bermuda (4), Cayman Islands (280), Channel Islands (33), Cyprus (4), Gibraltar
(1), Hong Kong (18), Ireland (45), Luxembourg (76), Malta (1), Mauritius (16),
Netherlands (131), Singapore (58), Switzerland (2)
J.P. Morgan
Chase & Co.
385
Bahamas (7), Barbados (1), Bermuda (19), British Virgin Islands (9), Cayman Islands
(149), Channel Islands (18), Cyprus (1), Hong Kong (17), Ireland (13), Luxembourg
(61), Malta (13), Marshall Islands (3), Mauritius (33), Netherlands (12), Singapore
(25), Switzerland (4)
KKR
300
Cayman Islands (249), Channel Islands (6), Hong Kong (3), Ireland (19),
Luxembourg (9), Mauritius (5), Singapore (9)
Bank of New
York Mellon
Corp.
188
Bahamas (2), Bermuda (6), Cayman Islands (69), Channel Islands (13), Hong Kong
(2), Ireland (55), Luxembourg (16), Malta (1), Mauritius (1), Netherlands (18),
Singapore (4), Switzerland (1
Bank of
America Corp.
109
Bahamas (2), Bermuda (4), Cayman Islands (18), Channel Islands (13), Costa Rica
(1), Gibraltar (4), Hong Kong (3), Ireland (8), Luxembourg (13), Mauritius (6),
Netherlands (25), Netherlands Antilles (1), Singapore (8), Switzerland (3)
……….
And have I got a political donation for you 😉 …. https://www.icij.org/offshore/leaked-records-reveal-offshore-holdings-chinas-elite#
Clinton wasn’t going to do much about climate change, not with her corporate backing. It would be steady as she goes. Trump is the change agent, so even though he may be worse for climate change in the short term it puts us closer towards making the radical change we need.
I kinda agree with Maui – yes there is short term damage but Trump post reign might force radical change and awareness that the world needs.
Sometimes “thump thump” there is no climate change is easier to rebuttal than the democrats saying they want to do something, they get reports about the issues, they have media events – but the actually climate change doesn’t get done or is delayed by being put into a long ‘process’ with non binding requirements and governments are able to not do anything like the Key government buying polluting credits sorta converting it into a neoliberal process about money than actually about reducing emissions and doing quality research.
But the public and media are not up in arms, because it still looks like the governments are doing something.
You can’t have it both ways and expect to be taken seriously. Imo your support of denier trump shows any caring about cc from you is just crocodile tears. If trump could make money from cc he’d be on it like a rash. You don’t appear as dim as trump, you have less excuses for your deliberate ignorance.
I have never seen CV claim that Trump is good for dealing with Climate Change. He has only pointed out that HC would in fact be no better. Why do you see things so black and white, then put words into others’ mouths?
Exactly.
Perhaps someone could point out how disastrous Obama’s reign has been for actual climate change results. And despite his billions invested in solar power etc and lots of soothing talk about alternative energy. World now consistently over 400ppm, multiple years of record breaking temperatures during his term in office, no change in emissions trajectories, etc.
He’s the guy who greenlit deep sea oil drilling again after Deepwater Horizon ffs and the dems all fell into line behind him.
But somehow Demorats better than Repugs. They are on one count: creating the illusion of caring about climate change, despite their actual physical track record.
You cv the dude in dunners not denier trump. Getting pretend upset about the real and devastating effects of cc, whilst supporting even endorsing a cc denier who TWEETED that it was a hoax set up by the chinese, is incongruent imo.
Well, I got used to the incongruency because the real world is incongruent.
I’ve listened to a dozen or more Guy McPherson talks in the last few months and decided that Clinton versus Trump on the issue of climate change was like asking a WWII POW to choose between being held by the Germans, the Soviets, or the Japanese.
Multiple flavours of fuck all difference apart from the terminology.
Yeah well if you are a doomer then guy would appeal. Just an iteration of disaster porn imo.
All of trumps rhetoric around change is fake because he isn’t considering cc. It is part of where the con comes in.
It is good imo that you are honest about your view of cc and your membership of doomer Inc. Thanks for that.
You’re always welcome.
Makes Obamas campaign slogan of Hope a total farce with his track record in this and other areas and of course the pipeline at Standing Rock.
I wasn’t saying that. How about you read instead of kneejerking to me – I’d appreciate it or even better make some actual argument.
At the point I wrote I was replying to both you and mickeysavage. Mickey said that, and it appeared to me that you were backing the same idea. You accuse CV of supporting ‘Denier Trump’. I have not seen that.
CV has always admitted Trump’s failings, but he sends you into an insane fury by giving info that suggests that HC is no better. CV is suggesting that it is not black and white. It appears to me that some cannot cope with that concept, choose their side, then regard all critics as supporters of the opponent. Life is not that simple. Kneejerks are.
He said ‘least suitable’ that is a long way from your made up lines. And I wasn’t writing about that at all so my ‘read’ line stands plus don’t make up stuff and say I’m putting words in someone elses mouth when that is not true it is just that you didn’t read the comments well enough – that is a kneejerk isn’t it?
cv has parroted trump supporter lines and links for months – AND he expressly used the ‘not 5ppm difference’ line as his defense when he says he believes in cc and trump is a declared denier. So all of that stuff you wrote is false – once again read instead of assuming or making stuff up eh.
I’m not in an insane fury now or then thanks – I can’t stand bullies and bullshitters like trump, cv and anyone else that does that.
Mate you’ve been an outstanding Clinton preferring bullyshamer last few months.
Me, I try not to use ugly demeaning labels and personal jibes against people who preferred Clinton.
As for Trump being a cc denier – well, I think he knows the truth about CC but he took campaign and policy positions of convenience. They won’t make even 5ppm of difference though.
Thanks cv – opposing fascist, racist misogynist 0.1%ers like trump and minitrumps like you makes me feel great. Yeah you do use smooth language often – just reminds me of 1984 really because the message behind the calm words is horrendously violent and disgusting imo – still it snared a few supporters for you on here eh so good strategy.
trump is a cc denier FACT he said it many times – sure he’s bullshitting now because even his peanut brain can work out that he is an idiot and the science is clear – oh and he might lose money on all of his billionaire property investments if they happen to be beside some water somewhere – yep a real man of the people that one LOL
You’re well on the way to becoming the very thing that you hate.
what’s it like?
It’s pretty good.
Picking up the on-the-ground trends way ahead of time while the commentariat walk around in circles disconnected and lost in their own intellectual space.
Watching identity politics driven political correctness and self censoring stumble and fall over as a political force.
And now watching that same Clinton Preferring commentariat running around losing their minds and doubling down on their losing strategies instead of learning a single thing.
cool
I’m happy to be an identity political, cc resilience building, hard leftie with a focus on equality. Like really happy.
I wouldn’t change a thing, as you wouldn’t for you,so we are both happy – cool again.
And I am also pleased we are on opposite sides of the political divide and we really are although you do seem to want to pretend sometimes but hey maybe it’s because you comment so prolifically here instead of a more natural home for your non left views. 🙂
I would say you do appear a bit cocky and that can lead to disappointment so a friendly heads up from a fellow dunners person.
I think that you also need to practise more careful reading comprehension (mainly with CV) and that it is strange that I like everything you have recently written apart from your virulent responses to CV. A message from CV brings out in you the same faults that you accuse me of.
I’m human. I do try not to let his stuff get under my skin. I can also get worked up with racists pretty strongly too. Anyway I’ll try to take your comments on board 🙂
NB compared to Obama/Romney (2012):
– Trump closed the Democratic lead amongst African Americans by 7%.
– Trump closed the Democratic lead amongst Latinos by 8%.
– Trump closed the Democratic lead amongst Asian Americans by 11%.
– Trump increased the Republican lead amongst white voters by a negligible 1%.
So go ahead pick Donald Trump as the target of an anti-racist crusade, but in reality he did quite adequately with minorities and noticeably better than Mitt Romney in fact.
Trump will improve his performance further in 2020.
Cool Marty. I am never quite sure about myself either…
mate there are desperate people in all ethnicities – don’t you get that?
trump is a misogynist and a racist and a 0.1% billionaire real estate tycoon – that is all fact from his own twisted mouth – none of that is made up – HE SAID IT – do you get that? Sure now he’s backtracking and saying he didn’t mean it, different times, and so on. The truth of a person is what they actually do and not their political spin to keep the turkeys from getting restless.
please take this as the intrinsic power of the universe saying you are a fool for trusting trump – if you even do.
I don’t trust Trump at all. And although CV is sharp and well-informed, for the first time I think he is pushing it a bit with what I think is a tongue-in-cheek prediction about 2020. I think CV sometimes enjoys needling people – maybe because the debate gets too passionate.
it is the standard cv trick – doesn’t bother me because I needle him back.
I don’t think he is sharp or well informed and I’m pretty sure he knows I think that 🙂
Anyway, what is is and what will be will be.
I’m looking forward building the momentum to get rid of the gnats and key. And I’m looking forward to those who believe in left values, the left ethos to work together to throw the gnats and ALL of their supporters out – inside and outside parliament. But the truth is people here are getting as desperate as the usaians and key is a smooth liar like trump so unless we focus in on the real important bits then trouble. I don’t see any worthwhile contribution towards that cause coming from cv – the opposite in fact.
As you say, que sera sera. CV is very disillusioned with the left, but I don’t believe his criticisms mean he has turned right and no longer wants the left to have a positive influence.
Well, as you say, let’s work for the left…
Yep. And they are figuring out that they owe the Democratic Party zero.
Yep. Yet the Left keeps harping on and on about what people SAY and how they SAY it.
Trump’s actually beginning to do political things. All we had previously were his words and his trail of dodgy dealings.
Now we have an ultra-conservative veep and an alt-right named as advisor.
He has said he’ll backtrack on some of his nuttier policies, and yet his proposed appointments suggest the world is in for a bumpy ride.
And yes, he will also accelerate the implementation of charter schools, he will put conservative constitutional justices on to the Supreme Court, he will massively drop the tax rate on Apple and he will work with Russia to annhilate Islamic extremist militants in Syria.
Bannon is a brilliant tactician who helped steer the Trump campaign to victory over Clinton.
And Pence is deeply conservative but also a very steady experienced hand with regards to the Republican house.
As for “alt-right” (ignoring the commentariat turning it into another in a long list of lefty smear terms) this phenomenon is exactly what was needed to up end the staid, neolib/neocon warmongering consensus of the Republican Party.
It is, as the term implies, a brand new alternative right wing.
Now, where is the alt-left phenomenon which is required to renew and reinvigorate the deeply status quo left.
Thanks for your concern, toryboy, but we can do without alt-left demagogues who match the alt-right for stupidity, bigotry, hate and fearmongering.
If we’re all very lucky, the latest blustering winds will blow themselves out without fucking the world up irreparably, and the deplorables (sorry, as you called them the “red meat” trump supporters) will be reduced to weeping and gnashing their teeth online.
Plenty of alt-radical-left bullyshamers to pick from.
awwww, do bigots not like having their prejudices named? They should be ashamed.
#sorrynotsorry
Meanwhile the msm focuses on the really important stuff.
The All Blacks’ holiday plans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11754383
The film ‘Netowrk’ predicted this dystopian future.
“Television is not the truth. Television’s a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business. ”
http://www.wnyc.org/story/how-network-predicted-todays-media-culture/
Hey Paul take Guy Mcpherson advise as a declared anarchist, its not worth worrying about, hope is pointless and destructive ( quoting Nietzsche) live for now, hence the media is doing exactlty that, so give them some credit
Also something to cheer you up schrodinger had his uereka moment on quantum mechanics after a conservation with Eisenstein in which Einstein pontificated that it is quite wrong to find theory on observable magnitude alone, Often the theory drives what is observed Maybe apply some of this to your daily observations and doom reports, Here is some good news, google it, recent research on Antarctic show ice cover no different that 100 years ago, scientist can alter plants to absorb way more carbon than inially thought, the planet is greening, likewise cement manufacturing is a large creator of carbon is now believed by scientist to absorb most of it back, NASA impossible engine lifts the game re space travel Not saying the world is in a good place but it’s not all bad, everything You are not an oracle and there is a lot of good
I don’t agree with McPherson on doing nothing.
That’s suits selfish people like you.
Yes dear
Yes dear
McPherson has NEVER said that individuals and communities should “do nothing.”
As far as I can tell he has a simple message – be the best person you can be for yourself, and for others.
It does concern me that his views encourage climate deniers to promote doing nothing.
I can’t work out if he is right or not.
McPherson isn’t responsible for the various delusions of climate change deniers.
For me, I simply realised that there was no difference between ‘doing nothing’ and ‘effectively doing nothing’.
Do you agree with his conclusions?
That we have multiple unstoppable climate change positive feedback loops now engaged? Yep.
On his specific time frames however, I think there is a lot of uncertainty there. But I do think livable habitat for humanity will be largely gone within the next 30 or so years and that global population levels will be down to ~1B within 100 years..
You’re being a bit too positive there CV!
I think with there being many more factors than just cc in play that Capitalism/ greed etc will see us perish sooner rather than later.
By survivors accounts and personal experience the way through is to have a plan. “being the best person you can be” has not been shown to work, as far as I know.
By the way, would “being the best person you can be” stop you eating a human corpse ?
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-historic-famines-caused-cannibalism.php
My plan is to keep the hell away from Auckland and the other big cities.
that report refers to sea ice ,the increase of which is amply explained by the models and is a result of decreasing salinity due to continental ice melt….so hardly good news
In the Herald Geoffrey Miller points out John Key v Donald Trump – the five similarities.
1. Highly pragmatic – and willing to compromise
Like Trump, Key has a long history of pragmatism over ideology – dating back to his early days as Opposition leader when he replaced Don Brash. For both Key and Trump, it’s all about the art of the deal.
2. Both are independently wealthy
As high net worth individuals, neither Key nor Trump are dependent on politics for income or status. Both have involved a high degree of financial risk and failure, as well as ultimate reward.
3. Neither are career politicians
There is a growing proportion of career politicians, who seem more intent on securing long term lucrative employment than risking rock the political boat. Key and Trump both buck this trend.
4. Strange behaviour is part of their political brand
One of the hallmarks of John Key’s enduring personal popularity has been his anti-politician style. It works for many, and it repels others. He gets it wrong sometimes – ie pony tail pulling and prison jokes, but gets away with it. Trump’s behaviour problems have been more extreme but he has got away with it too, so far.
5. The answer is golf
Trump recently said: “Golf is a great game for getting to know people…you can never ever get to know people at lunch or dinner like you can on a golf course”. Key, like Trump, has recognised the function of golf as an elite pastime to cultivate connections with people who matter – as proven by his success in ultimate success in gaining a tee time with Obama.
So has New Zealand already been experiencing our Brexit/Trump for the past eight years?
More details: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11754436
There are many differences as well.
1. Key is establishment.
2. Key supports neo-liberal global trade deals such as the TPP.
3. Key comes from big finance.
4. Key has sold the country to foreign interests.
And one unmentioned similarity.
Their dreadful way the behave towards women. Pony tail pulling and pussy grabbing misogynists.
Key’s been in parliament since 2002. 14 years makes him a career politician. Your list is full of crap and reminds of those people who tried to draw similarities between Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s assassinations.
In casting around you missed things like
1. Both have histories of assaulting females
2. Both are male
3. Both are right handed
Meanwhile the dissimilarities are greater.
1. Key was in opposition benches for 6 years
2. Key had full support of the party and was eased in.
3. Key had no public profile before being PM.
4. Age
5. Work experience
6. Inheritance of wealth
7.Upbringing
8. Place of birth
And thousands of others.
Pete George has just solved the countries problems by declaring the answer is golf.
That will increase the membership down at the club.
They will be thrilled sharing the greens and facilities with a discount membership rate so everyone can join.
They will need bigger car parks for all the people movers and vans.
The clubs and their current members are going to really get to know people and solve all those problems.
Petty George didn’t “solve” anything: he simply plagiarised Geoffrey Miller’s opinion. In fact his whole comment contains nothing original, just like every other comment he’s ever made.
By that definition TS is full of plagiarism then. I summarised an article, I identified the author and I linked to the source, similar to what others do here fifty or a hundred times a day. The sort of thing that keeps sites like this going amongst the stupidity of inane attacks.
Your tedious regurgitation does not keep this site going. The authors and moderators do.
If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say this is another of your feeble attempts to boost site visits at Yawnz.
Pete George – I read the Herald piece as just another of the never-ending ShonKey public relations spin. And I don’t think I’m wrong. He’s realised (ie his polling shows) there’s some sympathy for Trump “out there” in the world he doesn’t inhabit, and so his Crosby-Textor mates put together a similarity piece.
Jenny do you have any evidence of that? If not it’s quite offensive to Geoff Miller making things up like that.
Yeah Jenny, what if poor Geoff got offended and everything? I think someone needs to write a lengthy blog post on how mean you’re being to Geoff. expressing your opinion like that.
It’s just so unfair! 😆
Actually, it seems to be a great game to getting to know certain types of people – notably the psychopaths.
Obama plays 300th round of golf as POTUS
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-obama-plays-300th-round-of-golf-as-president/
So? That is 37 rounds a year or three every four weeks. He has put the time into the job. Dig out the time records and then try again.
The thread is about meeting people at the golfing range and how that can influence peoples actions.
Recall that one of the people who played golf with Obama was Key:
More shakes in Wellington.
4.6 this morning.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/2016p890807
Gee paul you are gloomy for this early on a Saturday morning.
Here is some good news for you – http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11755007
You think Auckland’s housing situation is good news.
My goodness, the Key fans are truly delusional.
I’m saying it’s changing – slowly – which is a good things. Nationals plan is starting to work.
would you have preferred it to stay the same ??
I concern myself with more pressing issues than how much you plan to make out of nth investment property.
Check out the state of the apartment market in cities like Sydney Melbourne New York London.
A crash is coming soon…
Nah. A plateau and a minor softening for a while at the $600-$900 end.
Standart balancing in Auckland apartments, but we are a long, long way off from an oversupply.
We are also hugely under-built in retirement villages and other seniors housing in all our cities.
We may just have to admit that Key’s policies to soften the market carefully are working.
Luckily I don’t have to admit any such thing as I am uninterested in the Auckland apartment market 😛
Come up for a visit and I’ll show you the scale of activity going on – much of it is underpinned by public money not private.
Cheers Ad 🙂
Agree Ad – on a visit to Auckland the other day, I saw that “scale of activity” and thought yes, this does sort-of show a “good” economy at work ….. we all know that’s bullsh-t but it keeps the money spinning in Auckland and people feel good at seeing it. All part of the ShonKey perception that everything is rosy.
Well, just from the public realm:
– City Rail Link $3.4b of needed public transport
– Waterview SH20 tunnels $1.4b of needed motorway completion
– Hobsonville Land Co $400m or thereabouts for basically a model town
– National Convention Centre $700 m or thereabouts
– University of Auckland, AUT, and other campus rebuilds $500m
– Waterfront Co $700m
– Tamaki Development Co $260m
– Squillions more on water and sewer upgrades, rail upgrades, and new housing,
It’s not bullshit. It’s real.
You don’t have to like it.
But this is the most Keynesian National government since Muldoon. They are doing what they should; supporting the growth of Auckland as the commercial centre of New Zealand with public investment which in turn supports more private investment and achieves policy goals.
Your biggest pressing issue is steering back at you in the mirror 😀
Too thick to even see the red lines under his spelling errors.
Facepalm. 🙄
You really are a waste of space Red.
Love 💕you to Ropo
National has a plan?? bwwaaahahahaha, please explain this said plan.
Ad @ 7.1.1. I didn’t mean that the actual building going on in Auckland is bullshit – that is very clearly real, and keeps the Auck economy booming.
What is bullshit is that its claimed to be part of a good productive economy – yes, its necessary buildings but it is not new production and its only sustainable because the govt is putting money into it. And its borrowing heavily to do so.
The govt is not putting money into new trading ventures, into research, into developing new ways to build a good economy nor is it putting money into health services or public education, or into regional development, and so on.
Its a bit like the re-build of Ch’ch – that helped our perception of the economy being good, but it was only replacement of what had already been there.
The Auckland build is necessary infrastructure because of greater population, not anything new or innovative – but it does keep the economy spinning around and provides jobs for some.
wohoo lucky fools get to shackle themselves to massive mortgages on unproductive assets . good way to keep the masses with their nose to the grind stone.
Interesting, market is starting to turn.
if I was a first home buyer I’d hang off for at least the next six months. especially if interest rates begin to climb, you’ll find a lot of “investors” under the pump and need to off load there properties fast which will cause quite a lot of downward pressure on the real estate market.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11724396
Next year or so could be a bit grim for the over extended property investor.
If Key achieves a soft landing for the Auckland housing market due to the variety of measures his government has put in place, it will be nothing short of a policy miracle.
If he achieves that, and the propertied class of Auckland don’t rise up against him, that will be a political miracle.
Both together would take his largest risk to a fourth term in power largely away.
Reading that article, does rather point to the market starting to turn, read almost like the real estate sector desperately trying to pump a bit of air in a deflating market.
Once it starts gaining momentum you’re going to see a real cooling off of the property market for the next year or two.
It will come back to life rather rapidly though because you still have the underlying issues of under supply and a growing Auckland population.
This down turn will clear out the multi property investor who’s over extended themselves trying to make quick profit off capital gain.
The average property owner in Auckland will be left unscathed, really starting to look good for a National outright win in 2017.
More cooling would be good.
But very very hard to do with the massive greenfield and brownfield growth going on.
Regional growth will also continue in Tauranga, Christchurch, and Central Otago.
Just as a matter of interest, James, how do you find anything about the melting Arctic to be cheerful about?
I try to be upbeat about most things. So I enjoy the longer warmer summers.
Possibly also balancing bad news re artic been offset by good new in Antartica
A climate denier.
My my…
Not at all, just not a sanctimonious. dooms day know all tosser
Hi Red. I missed the good news about Antarctica – can you tell me what that was?
Upbeat about catastrophic climate change…..
Wow.
Whereas you happily support the gloomy outcomes that National always bring about with their sociopathic policies.
@ James (7) … so you think Paul @ (6) should be jumping for joy over the earthquakes, a frightening fact of life for some Kiwis?
How trolls mess with people’s heads.
“One of the most significant and pernicious ways that members of the alt-right use trolling is to create a sincerity-proof chamber of distortion surrounding what their actual message is. They do this by pretending that what they’re really doing is satirically spoofing how progressives and members of the media view conservatives.”
http://www.vox.com/2016/11/23/13659634/alt-right-trolling
There’s lots more in the whole article. Sadly some of these techniques are even appearing here on The Standard.
Thanks, useful link. The politics of confusion. I agree about what is happening on ts.
So when it’s obvious what the plan is Weka why do people here indulge the trolls and allow discussion to be diverted and derailed so often?
There is no block button but people can use their own troll filter. Just imagine you’ve got troll-cancelling headphones (or glasses) on.
When I see certain names appear I just move on as I can’t be bothered to waste my time any further. Regular visitors to The Standard know who these people are, or recognise the same tactics under new names that pop up.
Please don’t give these people air. Ignore, don’t engage.
Yes, there is much less head pain just sticking to political perspectives which are congruent with your own ever-narrowing world view.
At the risk of not following my just-expressed advice: How do you infer that from what I said?
Same reaction for Pyscho Milt’s totally erroneous response.
I used troll in the throwaway, incorrect usage. I mean commenters with an agenda of diverting and derailing debate and causing confusion, who in my opinion and others, seem to have no real intention of genuinely debating.
I see ignoring as a perfectly legimate option. No-one is obliged to enter into debate with someone they consider has ulterior motives. It’s not being unwilling to argue a viewpoint or not being prepared to change yours, it can be a sensible option to choose not to play the game.
thanks for your explanation Grey Area, my knee did jerk a bit there, I must admit.
…why do people here indulge the trolls and allow discussion to be diverted and derailed so often?
Why do people here allow commenters Grey Area doesn’t like to post opinions Grey Area finds offensive? It’s one of those great mysteries of life that I guess will never be solved.
I try really hard to ignore them, and most of them time I can. But sometimes it’s just too hard to let a particularly harmful bit of bullshit stand unchallenged.
This is interesting – though more propaganda distribution, than trolling tactics. However, you do have to consider the motivations of the interviewee (who runs “Disinfomedia”, at least until his identity was revealed):
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/23/503146770/npr-finds-the-head-of-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
I think you’re missing the context here.
The mainstream media tried every angle of smear, stretched every truth, gave up all pretense of actual journalism, in their support of Clinton and undermining of Trump, over the last 6 months.
And large parts of the USA recognised it and turned them off.
This whole episode has been a business and professional disaster for these large corporates.
So much so now that the President-Elect of the United States is actively circumventing these mainstream media sites to talk directly to the American people.
Did you even read the linked article, CV? It was more about the; search for, and; interview with, someone who had been running a fake news organization (and whose words should thus be taken with a large amount of salt). Trump is only really mentioned as someone who took advantage of the credulity of the right-wing for his own purposes.
As for context; we could compare the billions in free advertising which the media gifted Trump by publicizing his antics for their own benefit. Compare to the long-sustained scrutinizing of the Clinton home email server (billions worth of attack ads for the Republican candidate). No charges for Clinton after the election, almost as if the entire thing was a beatup to create drama for the horse-race, and so fill the “news” space between ads.
Yes, in the end; most of the media had turned against Trump. Much in the same way that Baron Frankenstein turned against his Monster once he saw the mob with the pitchforks heading for his castle. In both cases, much too late.
I think you missed the wikileaks emails on how the Clinton campaign deliberately used its media contacts to elevate Trump whom they initially saw as an easily beatable “Pied Piper” fringe Republican candidate.
This was done in order to lock out serious competition like Jeb Bush and make the Republican party look extreme in the general election.
The Clinton strategy backfired on them.
http://www.salon.com/2016/11/09/the-hillary-clinton-campaign-intentionally-created-donald-trump-with-its-pied-piper-strategy/
Yes. And the daily drip of wikileaks emails undermined her positions and authenticity continuously.
Nevertheless, 76% of the American public picked up that the mass media were totally in the tank for a Hillary Clinton win. And many didn’t like it.
Actually, I didn’t mind the wikileaks emails; though I didn’t manage to get through them all. I do wish there had been a leak from the Trump camp though (even Stein & Johnson’s campaigns would have been interesting enough). I never really felt she had any authenticity to undermine though. Rather that the status quo was better than the status quo ante.
The media favoured Trump during the primaries, but slowly came around to condemning him as an actual candidate. If I recall correctly, all the polls showed that Trump was the only Republican that Clinton had a chance of beating, whereas Sanders would have wiped the floor with any of them.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/media-study-trump-helped-clinton-hurt-224300
yes, but as wikileaks revealed, this early elevation of Trump by the mass media was part of a deliberate Clinton strategy to sideline ‘more serious’ Republican candidates like Jeb Bush.
Backfired is an under statement CV.
This was nuclear for Clinton.
Yes mosa. I wonder if this campaign was the worst the Dems have ever run. It must be right up there – a total cock up.
Personally, I think there’s very few trolls on the standard.
I see disagreement, I don’t see trolling.
Any trolls that do show up get the big bold font rather quickly.
Do you not consider yourself a troll, BM?
Don’t confuse a standard centrist grumpie for a troll.
They are different species.
If the left and the greens don’t persuade people like BM to vote for them, they may as well shut up shop.
I never find BM ads anything to a discussion, just takes up space in which someone might say something interesting. I guess that’s not precisely the same as trolling, more spamming.
Not really.
If I was a troll wouldn’t I have been banned by now?
Recently simple trolls like BM, PR, etc have pursued a policy of matiness and no personal abuse, just to avoid giving excuses for bans by moderators. As for the more subtle, deceptively destructive varieties, I wonder if we are not starting to see Reds under the beds. Very suitable accusation to make against somebody whose views one does not find convenient.
In Vino has a very accurate view of this issue, imo. Trolls like Puckish Rogue have adapted their behaviour to fit in but still maintain their intentions to subvert. Chumminess and self deprecation are tools of camouflage and our good natures are being cunningly exploited in a way that right wing commenters patrolling their own blogs, don’t allow. We need to sharpen up without becoming nasty. The best approach is to play the idea/strategy, not the man. That’s a more difficult route, but will improve understanding amongst everyone who comments here. Of course they’ll soon adapt to that strategy as well… 🙂
Beautifully written, Robert. It saddens me that some of our own side have opted for the quick gratification of the clever put-down involving personal abuse, thinking, I guess, that the end justifies the means. It does not help informative debate (nor do trolls). I have great sympathy for the moderators trying to deal with it all.
“If I was a troll wouldn’t I have been banned by now?”
Remind us how many times you’ve been banned and what for?
Personally I think your comments add to the site, but you do troll as well. It’s possible to troll within the site’s rules, because the site has a lot of latitude.
But the original comment wasn’t about trolling. It was about the behaviour and tactics of the alt-right. A completely different conversation that one, and I wouldn’t put what you do as even close to that. Whatever disagreements I have with your politics, you’re not a proto-fascist. It does present a problem for the right though, what to do about the co-option.
Creative tension is a vital ingredient for good debate, however if one party or other is insincere or intends to subvert, the feeling pervades the discussion and no one feels satisfied. That’s what we are sensing here, I reckon. Taking the wide view of any commenter here is easy; just click on their name and look at their comment history; like Leunig’s duck, it’ll show you.
If the establishment right wants to do something about the alt-right, they could stop providing them with shelter and sustenance, and instead they installed a rat-fucking unit in the Prime Minister’s office.
Yet you are a blatant troll.
I’d suggest there are less trolls on this site then most comparable political sites, due in no small part to the moderators
And you a troll baiter so part of the problem
Says the master baiter.
Andre: how is it the alt-right is doing a better and more efficient job of propagandising than the alt-radical-left?
I also note that outlets like VOX were so pro-Clinton campaign in the last few months they didn’t see a Trump victory coming until it smacked them in the face on Nov 8.
Articles like this demonstrate that they are still going through the stages of grief.
Here is an interesting and well researched article from Dec 2015 about the fake prosecution of assange
http://theindicter.com/prosecutor-marianne-ny-is-just-embarrassing-the-swedish-legal-system/
Written by one lynn prentice of thestandard fame
This is a fine summing up of the farcical and frightening persecution of Assange; I was even more impressed this time than I was when I read it last year.
Congratulations Lynn! And thanks to you, Xanthe, for bringing it to our attention again.
Thanks Xanthe. Lynn puts a pretty clear case of Swedish abuse of legal system. If they can get away with that with Assange, how many others in Sweden are abused?
MPs call for student allowance tax loopholes to be closed
(essentially people now can hide all their money into trusts and now look poor for tax purposes and be entitled to payments for genuinely poor students). That is why I support taxes like Robin Hood taxes so that people can’t use tax avoidance! Saying that just because someone parents are rich does not guarantee them to support their adult children at university!
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/mps-call-for-student-allowance-tax-loopholes-to-be-closed-2016112515?ref=newshubFB
It’s been like that for a long time. It’s how the truly rich in NZ always have less income than the top tax bracket.
This has been known for a long time as well and so we can only conclude that it’s that way now so that rich people can continue to rip off the country.
RT: Washington Post article on “sophisticated propaganda campaign” damaging Clinton’s election gets mocked
https://www.rt.com/usa/368182-election-russia-propaganda-claim/
Zero Hedge, also singled out as a Russian propaganda tool also covered the story
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/washington-post-names-drudge-zero-hedge-anti-clinton-sophisticated-russian-propagand
It seems anyone who disagrees with the corporate mainstream media perspective is now part of a ‘sophisticated Russian propaganda tool.’
Old fashioned news outlet that still believes in fact-checking and corrections when they get it wrong reports on subversion of news by propaganda and fake-news outlets. Gets ripped by propaganda and fake-news outfits that happily spread outright lies.
Thank you for that excellent precis – nicely summed up.
Sure, you can keep getting your news from these “old fashioned news outlets” which you claim believe in fact checking and issuing corrections, but then don’t complain about the biased and unfair coverage of the NZ Herald and the Dom Post eh.
Meanwhile, a huge proportion of Americans (ten to one) reckoned these unbiased old fashioned news outlets were completely in the tank for a Hillary Clinton win.
Perhaps they too have all had their minds contaminated by sophisticated Russian propaganda?
BTW those numbers are from a USA Today/Suffolk poll. Reported in The Hill. Are they part of the sophisticated Russian propaganda machine now too, Andre?
http://thehill.com/media/303552-poll-public-overwhelmingly-thinks-media-is-in-the-tank-for-clinton
CV
Russia Today and Ivandjiiski are the source of your rebuttal to the claim that Russian propaganda had a role in the election of Trump? I’m sure that they are completely unbiased (I’ve only read your RT excerpt, but it seems weak that their main source is social media outrage). But, yeah; the Washington Post is not unbiased either.
When top independent journalists like Glenn Greenwald and Max Blumenthal are also ripping into this WaPo story (yes ok it is via Twitter admittedly) it tells me that it’s not all smoke and mirrors.
Just partially smoke and mirrors 😛
It never ceases to amaze me how one-sided we so called ‘enlightened’ people are when it comes to Western propaganda. Why ? It has been proven wrong so many times. Try a bit of balance and look at both sides. So many on this site will only accept the West’s version, as if it is the gospel truth(not).
It’s such a totally colonial attitude.
Not unlike the faux-intelligentsia pretending that they are somehow too enlightened and too educated to be influenced by marketing campaigns, commercial branding, advertising etc.
When it is plainly obvious to everyone that they fall for it as hard as or even harder than most.
I’ve said before that I don’t see the BBC as much different to RT or Al Jazeera in terms of propaganda. They are all superior to anything on our television stations anyway. The thing is that Western media is much easier to access because it is written in English (translation isn’t quite the same), with an understanding of the concerns of the audience. The major problem I see is the tendency of people to seek out information that confirms their prejudices, and have to actively remind myself to be suspicious whenever I find myself in agreement with an information source.
I’m not so big on the; “look at both sides” idea of balanced reporting. Because that implies that both sides are sincerely representing their positions, denying the possibility of one being disingenuous. However, certainly don’t just accept the viewpoint of any one source as true without seeking independent verification.
LMFAO !!! The excuses some media are using to justify Hillarys loss, and all these ‘russian propaganda tools’ lolooloz no mention of the ‘american propaganda tools’ like Fox News etc.
Tooo funny. Wikileaks for the win… dang imagine people knowing the truth and making an informed decision.
Betcha Pepe Escobar is on ‘the list’ love his work.
The Nation….TV3….Right now!!!!
Hear how the ‘worst piece of legislation in NZ history’ has affected NZ’s most vulnerable.
A heart-wrenching story, but one that needs to be highlighted nonetheless.
Check out Sunday tonight on TVNZ
Was thinking of you, Rosemary, wow, brilliant piece. Wondered if Gower knows someone affected, he was very emotional, even red eyed after the story, Most humane I’ve ever seen him, ever, was blown away by his reaction.
The outgoing government has been exploiting the families of those with disabilities, and it’s shocking. Even going so far as to change the law to try and prevent them from taking action while littering the way with red tape and ridiculous questions.
When someone is required to care for a person with a disability they should be paid to do so. If that person is a family member, then they should be paid, fairly, just the same as someone contracted to the state to do so.
Paying a family caregiver fairly would enable a better quality of life for the person with the disability. It’s a messed up system. Apparently a huge breach of human rights.
Highly recommended viewing, really moving stories. Much love to them all
http://www.newshub.co.nz/tvshows/thenation/are-family-carers-getting-a-fair-deal-2016112611
TC and Cinny…thank you both for your thoughts…but please…avoid the handwringing (yeah, I know, its Paddy’s usual state.) and tears.
It is not the impairment that disables… it is how society treats the person with the impairment.
And those New Zealanders with disabilities who have been assessed as having high and very high care needs and who are not supported by ACC are treated like shit. Family carers are in many cases the best and often the safest option for support….and we are treated like shit.
In case its not obvious…there’s a recurring theme here….
Cliff is right…the Ministry of Health are a bunch of bastards and my partner and I wrote a letter that was published in a special interest group’s magazine in 2009 anticipating that the Government would do what they did with the PHDAct(2) 2013…we said then they were a bunch of miserable bastards.
Cliff, and Dianne and Margaret (from The Nation piece) are taking a real punt by going public like they have. The Misery of Health has had disabled people paralysed and struck mute with fear of punitive measures for over a decade…the reason I will personally post and comment in my own name about the Ministry’s crimes is that they can take nothing further from my tetraplegic partner and myself.
Link is up
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/uncaring-bastards-health-ministry-slammed-over-treatment-elderly-man-cares-disabled-adult-children?auto=5225568796001
Thank you for the link TC, I missed Sunday tonight.
Glad this is issue is getting good coverage at present, the stories need to be told and solutions found. Because what is happening, is just wrong
Wrong indeed.
Lets hope the media continue to hold their feet to the fire. The Government need to correct this and they need to do it now.
Thanks TC. There were a few gaps in the Sunday piece, but overall, (Paddy’s tearful handwringing aside ;-)) it reiterates how purely malicious the Misery of Health is.
The Nation piece…apart from the ‘pity porn’ intro from the studio crew (oh why do they do that???)…was brilliant. Those staunch women…asking for nothing but for the Ministry to do the right thing ,and looking dead into the camera and telling the Ministry… WE WON”T BACK DOWN!!!
The politicolinguists here on The Standard should read the ‘Funded Family Care Notice’, published in the NZ Gazette.
https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2013-go6248
Bear in mind that this document is aimed at the disabled person….Johnny, Marita, Shane and Paul, who are the employers of their parent carers.
My most quoted piece from this devil’s work is the Ministry of Health’s definition of “good faith”. (footnotes)
“11 Good faith generally means to discuss with each other any matter which affects the delivery of the disability support services in an open way so that all matters are “on the table”, to be active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a good relationship, being responsive, providing information, and not doing anything that might mislead or deceive each other.”
The last thing the Misery did throughout this whole saga…16 years and two Governments… was act in ‘good faith’. They lied, they misrepresented, they grossly exaggerated. They took our expectations that they would treat us….the disabled person and their chosen family carer…with respect and consideration, and yes, perhaps a tad of fucking compassion and humanity, and trampled all over them. We will NEVER trust the Ministry of Health ever again.
How about that for being “active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a good relationship,”?
Good faith, my arse.
One can only imagine the daily struggle the disabled and their family carers go through, let alone having to battle for funding.
The unnecessary anger, frustration and despair it causes is outrageous.
They should be treated with respect and understanding.
Frankly, it sickens me. The Government should be doing its best to make life easier for them.
With the amount of car accidents taking place in this country, any one of us could end up in this position.
Putting it right is long overdue.
“With the amount of car accidents taking place in this country, any one of us could end up in this position.”
The Chairman….the people lucky enough to become members of the disability community as a result of a car accident will be covered by ACC.
A crip of a completely different species.
A species with legislated entitlements to treatment, rehabilitation, equipment, home modifications and care and support in their own home. Unlike their non ACC cousins…none of these entitlements are means or asset tested. They are entitled to care, and hence are entitled to choose family as their paid carers. The Human Rights Review Tribunal heard that over 50% of funded care through ACC is paid to family.
For significant permanent injuries there are lump sum payments…sometimes well over the $100,000 mark, and then there is the 80% of their pre accident earnings….or a cost of living/projected earnings living allowance which makes for a more comfortable life than a non ACC crip battling WINZ for the Supported Living payment.
If anyone is interested….the Miserly of Health and ACC got together back in 2012 and conducted a study into Spinal Cord Impairment.
This document, http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups/external_providers/documents/project/wpc119428.pdf has a chart on pages 83-85 which compares ACC supports with MOH supports.
When one considers that research shows that the household income for an ACC spinal impaired person is twice that of the household income of a non ACC spinal impaired person 30 months post incident….the picture for non ACC spinal impaired is pretty grim.
True. I overlooked that vital point.
Thanks for pointing out the disparity in the treatment of the two.
A few glimmers on the horizon for actively removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/11/25/3-new-studies-show-promise-carbon-capture/
One area that particularly interests me is cement production. At the moment, cement production burns a lot of fossil fuel for process heat. But that process heat could easily come from zero-carbon electricity. Cement production also releases CO2 during the calcination process, but the resulting concrete reabsorbs most of that CO2 over its lifecycle. So by changing the process heat to zero-carbon, and capturing the CO2 produced during calcination, concrete production could actually become a tool for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Only the max CO2 levels achieved in the next 10 to 20 years matters.
The fact that concrete may reabsorb most of the CO2 released in its manufacture over say 50 to 100 years is largely irrelevant for this reason: if that additional CO2 tips our world into unstoppable positive feedback loops in the mean time.
additional information
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/yes-concrete-pretty-much-terrible-climate-we-thought.html
This is what happens when governments impose austerity:
We’re seeing similar increases in poverty and rises in poverty related diseases under this government and yet they still have the gall to say that they’re managing the economy well.
Chomsky on the Ignorant, thin-skinned megalomaniac
.
“He has no background at all in any political activities. Never held office, been interested in office. He has no known political positions,” says Chomsky. “He’s basically a showman.”
Chomsky, who has spent decades critiquing US presidents, calls Trump an “ignorant, thin-skinned megalomaniac” and a “greater evil” than Hillary Clinton.
“Do you vote against the greater evil if you don’t happen to like the other candidate? The answer to that is yes,” says Chomsky, on Americans who cast their votes for third party candidates or simply stayed home on election day.
“If you have any moral understanding, you want to keep the greater evil out,” says Chomsky. “I didn’t like Clinton at all, but her positions are much better than Trump’s on every issue I can think of.”
“Chomsky. “I didn’t like Clinton at all …”
Jesus, I imagine you’d be pretty pissed off with Chomsky for this, joe90.
After all, haven’t you spent the last few months angrily denouncing all criticism of Hillary as nothing more than diabolical Far Right smears ? (whilst screwing your eyes tight shut and sticking your fingers firmly in your ears)
I think you, and several others here who shall remain nameless, are deliberately, misunderstanding the stance of those rooting for Clinton over Trump. It is exactly as Chomsky says – read it carefully
So Chomsky is completely aligned with what Joe has been saying. You twist his words to maintain anything else.
And there was a very dirty campaign run against Clinton (whether you liked her or not). In my opinion the head of FBI has a great deal to answer. As has the head of SIS here in NZ wrt the 2011 elections.
yep Macro – sad to someone like sordy going down this road of misrepresentation.
It still amazes me the thinking that thinks, ‘oh they don’t like trump because of everything he says, does, and is, so they must love clinton because she is standing against trump, and they don’t like trump’.
No wonder the world is going to hell in a handbasket with that sort of finking in play.
(1) My comment was premised on the assumption that Chomsky’s Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils argument was pretty bloody self-evident. In other words, I took it as read that anyone reading my comment would have been fully aware of Chomsky’s broader stance. My point lay elsewhere.
(2) Despite your assertions to the contrary, a number of those “rooting for Clinton over Trump” here (including joe 90) have taken a remarkably naïve innocent abroad” approach, using the deeply unconvincing apologetics of prominent Clintonistas in the US MSM to paint Our Hillary as whiter than white on a regular basis. A long way from Chomsky’s Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils argument.
(3) I’ve always had a lot of time for joe 90 (particularly his good sense on Israel-Palestine), which is why his ingénue naivity surrounding (dyed-in-the-wool-AIPAC-girl) Hillary was so (a) perplexing and (b) disappointing.
What marty says!
particularly
“It still amazes me the thinking that thinks, ‘oh they don’t like trump because of everything he says, does, and is, so they must love clinton because she is standing against trump, and they don’t like trump’.”
Furthermore – to argue against injustice – no matter where it is perpetuated is IMHO the morally right thing to do, and there was a vast amount of false news and misinformation and wrongful accusations levelled as much against Clinton as there ever was against Trump.
“What marty says !”
Re-read my point (2).
joe 90 was one of a number of commenters here specifically suggesting that all critiques of Hillary were entirely false. A long way from Chomsky’s Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils argument.
I certainly noticed, however, the precise reverse of what you’re suggesting – those critical of Hillary’s uber-Hawkish, pro-Aipac, Wall St/Corporate-shilling record (not to mention her ex post-facto enabling of Bill’s rape/abuse) being casually smeared as Trump fans.
no you are wrong, joe90 did not do that at all and I’m sure he will come and tell you that himself.
No one, and I read a lot of those posts and comments, tried to excuse anything bill clinton did. Sure a couple of times the haters put up fake accusations and insinuations and often they were rebutted from snoopes or someone – they were rebutted because they were out and out lies.
Nope. Consistently ABT.
Clinton set up an insecure, unofficial, email server to handle both her confidential SecState and private/personal business from.
As a bit of context, let’s recognise that the State Dept is used to setting up and and administering secure offsite private servers.
They do so for every US embassy and consulate in the world, scores and scores of them. They could have easily set one up for Hillary at her home.
But that’s not what Hillary Clinton wanted. She wanted something else.
This was a deliberate decision from her to hide her communications from official oversight and to hide her emails from official information requests.
And when asked about it, she lied about all of the above to the FBI and to Congress.
This pile of shit that she made herself was so high, and stunk so much, it buried her campaign in a defensive mode during the entire year.
Yep someone having an insecure mail server verses someone who is a misoginist prick and a threat to the free world and wants to pull out of the Paris protocol and put money into spacecraft rather than measuring climate change I would totally go for the misogynist, climate change denier any time …
You’re a lawyer MS.
The real questions are WHY hjc needed a private server outside of official oversight. WHY she deleted tens of thousands of emails from it after receiving a subpoena to preserve all evidence. And WHY she then lied to the FBI and Congress about her actions.
Clue: it probably wasn’t for the convenience of being able to print documents more easily.
As for misogynist racist Presidents of the USA, even if Trump was all those things (which he isn’t) the US has done fine with many such Presidents before.
Re: climate change, Trump’s position on this is worse than Clinton’s but not materially so in terms of CO2 ppm outcomes.
In terms of being a “threat to the free world” – well, he is a change agent with regards to the existing Anglo-US global military imperial order. But that’s not the same thing.
And here’s a dose of reality for the Democratic Party in the USA. Under Barack Obama they have lost hundreds of elected legislators. They have lost 10 US Senators. They control outright only 7 states out of 50 in terms of state houses, senates and governors.
The Republicans control 26 states outright.
And shortly, the Supreme Court is going to get another conservative justice who will probably serve on the bench for the next 25 years.
Perhaps one day Democrats will learn that prioritising identity politics, political correct languaging and labelling people racists, misogynists, bigots and xenophobes has done nothing more than lead them to a near total nationwide political collapse.
No the real question is why worry about this crap and work out which leader is going to do something about climate change. It aint Trump.
As for the loss of legislators read a bot about the gerrymander and corruption of the US electoral system that is happening and then blame Obama.
Then question why Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court was not voted on. If you think it is fair then I suggest you go back to basics.
Perhaps one day supposed lefties will learn that the right do not play by the rules.
1) Neither Clinton nor Trump nor Obama were (are) going to do anything effective about minimising climate change.
2) Yes there has been some pretty ghastly manipulation of electorate boundaries. Nevertheless the underlying mood can be identified by those elected officials where gerrymandering is not a factor. Republicans hold 31 state governorships and Democrats just 18. That’s 10 states down from when Obama took office.
And the Republicans still hold the balance of power in the Senate. Those positions aren’t as susceptible to gerrymandering.
BTW here is a good summary of the Democratic elected officials hemorrhaging under Obama. Around a thousand democratic legislators toast.
You can blame this mostly on “gerrymandering” or you can blame it mostly on the Democrats out of touch and in steep decline. I reckon the latter.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/democrats-lost-since-barack-obama-election-171598/
3)
Of course it was totally, utterly unfair. But it was also an absolutely brilliant political move by Mitch McConnell Republican senate leader. One that the Democrats had no reply to.
And because of this move, the Republicans may be able to confirm ~two Supreme Court positions during Trump’s first term, changing the balance of the Supreme Court for an entire generation.
Now figure this – Barack Obama remains one of the most popular 2 term presidents ever, at the end of his second term. But the states have decided that they now want something completely different to him.
What I reckon burns the faux-progressives deep into their souls late at night is that they KNOW that they could have easily beaten Trump.
All they needed to do was support an actual left wing progressive pro-working class candidate like Bernie Sanders.
Instead, the mass of middle of the road establishment minded Clinton Preferrers acted to deliver us President Elect Donald J Trump.
riiight so the fake progressives should have backed an actual left wing progressive candidate? Would they still be fake if they did that? Oh the humanity!!!
You bubbling on about what lefties and so forth should do is hilarious. Your man is in – roll in that shit and rejoice!
Going to watch a rerun Fox News election night coverage with a few beers this afternoon, it’s always good fun.
Especially the bit when Megyn Kelly announces that Wisconsin has gone for Trump and her blue wall has fallen in momentous fashion.
I’m sure you’ll have extra absorbent tissues handy for when Hail Trump comes in
The funniest lefty joke I’ve heard about that is of the Orangegrupenfuhrer.
The problem the Democrats have now is that Donald Trump is going to be a moderate who is determined to own the new middle ground of American politics.
a moderate just like adoof was…
do you think you’d ever do the stiff arm salute if you met him? trump that is
Come on now, boys—play nicely. I think we can all agree that Hillary is awful, and Trump is awful. It’s silly to squabble over which is worse, when the real problem is: WHY THE HELL WAS HILLARY CLINTON THE CANDIDATE INSTEAD OF THE FAR MORE POPULAR, AND DECENT, BERNIE SANDERS?
http://www.idiomartandgifts.com/idiom_all/no-brainer.jpg
the bernie meme – who cares – he didn’t run – he endorsed clinton – trump won – end of story.
“Who cares?” Well, you should—and so should anyone who was disturbed by the Democratic establishment’s dirty tricks.
Sadly for them, no one bought their nonsense about the Russians backing Trump. And, judging by their shrill but utterly unconvincing repetition of the smear, they obviously didn’t believe it themselves.
Do you not have even the slightest quiver of anxiety that Trump surrounds himself with his kins folk even at such important international meetings as the meeting with the Japanese PM? (His daughter Ivanka attended) That he involves his son-in-law in much of his decision making? Or that Kushner may end up with a role in the White House?
” A source close to Kushner told NBC News late Wednesday that he was considering whether to serve in the White House in a role along the lines of a special adviser or special counsel after being approached by Trump’s Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.”
This, even after the US amended the consitution following JFK’s appointment of his brother Robert as Attorney General? The nepotism law has a purpose – and that is to stop the formation of Dynastic tyranny. Trump, apparently, has no such qualms about such matters.
Says a bunch of precious Clinton Preferrers who for so long appeared to have absolutely no issue with Hillary Clinton following on from Bill Clinton into the West Wing to continue on a Clinton dynasty.
umm you had the dynastic problem with clinton (and trump hammered it) and now it’s all cool (cos it is a potential trump dynasty)
good you used the words ‘appeared to have’ – I think a few lefties had issues with that.
I don’t believe that I ever said that I had any dynastic problem with the Clintons. My main problem with her following on from Bill Clinton’s foot steps is that she would bring a known sexual predator back into the White House.
Did you or Macro ever say that there was a serious problem with having a Clinton political dynasty? I don’t think so but am happy to be corrected.
So you don’t/didn’t have dynastic issues with clinton – really. I’m surprised by that.
Personally the bush’s, the clinton’s, the Obama’s, the trump’s and any dynastic family presidential revolving door is not a great thing imo – but I cannot say I ever said it so – I did think that Michelle Obama would be great at the top but not because she was an Obama, more rather I think she is smart and effective and likeable.
Michelle Obama of the “when they go low, we go high” fame. She’s very likeable, like her husband.
Yep compared to her Trump is such a likeable person #sarc
her speeches were great and they did put trump under the blowtorch but the alt racist right don’t like people of colour, no matter how talented.
Better for Ivanka and that ten-year-old boy to make policy rather than the likes of Rudolf Giuliani and John Bolton.
Ivanka will have power in this administration and I would not be surprised if she decides she wants the top job at some point.
She is suposedly to run her fathers company. And sits in on affairs of state between foreign countries. Had she done that when Trump is President you can expect an impeachment order the next day!
Norman Eisen, Chief Ethics Counsel for Barack Obama, views the current situation as dire. If Trump is permitted to be sworn in as president without selling his companies, he says, the country is facing a “wholesale oligarchic kleptocracy of a kind that we have never seen before in our history.”
Article 9 of the US constitution states:
This provision was specifically created to prevent the President, most of all, from being corrupted by foreign influences
Seems flouting the law is a family thing.
http://crooksandliars.com/2016/11/russian-collaborator-trump-jr-met-russians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act
The only thing that would have helped the US and the world in this was if every single democrat and worker voted Jill Stein. If you wanted the lesser evil, there it was. Clinton sure as hell wasn’t it.
Still, the increased speed of collapse of the US with Trump and his lot in charge will probably bring about some good even if it’s going to take longer.
what good?
more people suffering and dying earlier as their society splinters as the ‘increased speed of collapse’ occurs.
What about the environment? A speedy collapse is certain death to many species as exploitative destruction of the land and water and air intensifies as desperation bites hard.
The change in attitude of the people as civilisation continues it’s inexorable collapse.
Not even Noam Chomsky would keep Noam Chomsky happy.
I personally don’t know Noam Chomsky but I hazard a guess that it is not the pursuit of happiness that drives him.
Many talented & gifted people and tortured souls have created and delivered their best when they were not exactly in a ‘happy place’.
The ones that say they are “relaxed and comfortable” are the ones to watch; they try to lull you into a false slumber of relative comfort and privilege AKA “happiness” and almost without exception manipulate perceptions to maintain status quo. They create nothing, they remove the “creative tension” [thank you Robert Guyton], i.e. the spark and driver of human behaviour and creativity. They are suffocating.
I prefer ‘not happy’ Chomsky any time.
+1 Incognito. My Diddums comment was aimed at Ad.
🙂
Diddums.
Countries slashing their donations to Clinton Foundation
All happening now that Hillary Clinton won’t be in the White House. Coincidence? Zero Hedge (warning – fake news lol!) reports:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/australia-joins-norway-it-cuts-clinton-foundation-donations-0
I imagine the imminent auditing and investigation of the organization, despite assurances to the contrary, has something to do with the donor dry-up too. At least Clinton structured her (alleged/ probable) corruption so that it was legally plausible as a charity. Trump is so far refusing to do even that much:
https://thinkprogress.org/electoral-college-trump-top-lawyers-8a8b6e0ca916#.tri6j5itn
“Are Carers Getting a Fair Deal?” The Nation today gives a pretty awful outline of the rotten way carers are treated – still.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/tvshows/thenation/are-family-carers-getting-a-fair-deal-2016112611
Robert Guyton – you are a star
“In the small town of Riverton and the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island is Robert and Robyn Guyton’s amazing 23-year-old food forest. The two-acre property has been transformed from a neglected piece of land into a thriving ecosystem.
Living the Change
This film was made as part of our Living the Change series. For this series we’re traveling around New Zealand making short documentary films about permaculture farms, tiny houses, and sustainable living.”
http://happenfilms.com/film/permaculture-food-forest/
Ha! It’s a great little film, I reckon; the Happen Films people were lovely and their work awesome. The drone footage is cool too, and the music they chose as background, excellent. I’m pleased you enjoyed it, marty. The film went online last night and is attracting a lot of positive attention.
Just shared it on fbook which is where I found it. Onya mate.
I was reading our local (community) paper this week too Robert (and I’m up in the north island), and a familiar name appeared with a whole half page on gardening. I thought to myself what is going on here, is Mr Guyton trying to take over the world or something! But seriously, it was very refreshing to see, I just hope fairfax who I think owns the local rag is paying you.
Wonderful to see the vision as described in the articles you have posted here, Robert
“A great little film” , indeed
Gratitude for the inspired desire to absorb further information regarding, natural restoration, and contributing to it, somewhere, somehow…
MM , great link
Tax cuts
Key hinted that he’s leaning towards tweaks to Working for Families and the accommodation supplement.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/key-families-first-in-line-for-tax-cuts-2016112613
While dressed to help struggling tenants, this will help provide landlords with some security that tenants will be able to sustain further rent increases going forward.
And of course while dressed to help struggling families, increasing Working for Families entitlements will reduce wage pressure on employers.
The question is, will voters vote for the extra funding?
I agree.
Interesting that John Key mentions fairness as a consideration.
The problem with Working for Families and the accommodation supplement is that they are not a given [no pun]; people have to apply for these and meet (strict) criteria. Would these “tweaks” reach all people, would they reach the people that need it the most?
In any case, this Government has not changed its dogmatic stance on surpluses, debt reduction, and debt relative to GDP.
IMO the simplest, fairest, and very effective thing to do would be to lower GST back to 12.5%. In addition, the minimum hourly wage could be increased above and beyond CPI and the living wage could be more encouraged for public servants, for example.
Mentioning fairness as a consideration is all part of the sales pitch.
And yes, it will be limited to those that can meet the set criteria.
As GST is a harder tax to avoid, it has its positives. But it does impact upon lower income earners harder. Perhaps an exemption can be made, say through the use of community cards and gold cards or something similar?
Hi, mauī, yes, world domination is my aim 🙂 I’ve no complaints about Fairfax, as they recompense me generously for my efforts, such as they are. The sharing of my writing across the local papers is a bonus, as far as I’m concerned, as it’s the message that’s important, in my view.
Ah cool, yeah go global, don’t believe what they say about this globalism thing being in trouble.. haha. I shall be giving the gardening page a second glance from now on!
With Shaw now a Green co leader, will his higher profile increase his support in the Wellington Central seat?
And if so, doesn’t this run the risk of further splitting the left’s vote, potentially allowing National to come through the middle?
Castro!
Cuba Libre!
RIP comrade
RIP Fidel.
Solidarity, comrade.
Rest in peace; a leader, a fighter and a survivor.
RIP Fidel. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953
Andrew Little rips Nick Leggat a new one.
Does Leggat not comprehend that it was his Labourness which got him his success in Porirua – the only success he’s ever known. Now that he’s ditched Labour and all the constituents who trusted him he’s known nothing but failure.
Long may that continue.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/nick-leggett-wasnt-true-labour—andrew-little-2016112615
From the link:
Bang on Andrew Little. You can add the names of Phil Quin and Josie Pagani. None of them lifted a practical finger for Labour except when they once aspired to be the personal beneficiaries.
+1 Anne, totally agree, and what was that BS in the Newshub article that said: “Mr Leggett had previously been tipped as a future leader of the party”
When was that? Never heard of that before, have you?
+1 Muttonbird
Love this 😈
this may never appear which would be a great pity because its the sort of informed rational comment that is desperately needed.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=74&jumival=17692