Seventy-one percent of Americans — almost exactly the percentage that thought Saddam was behind 9/11 —
-think that Iran has nuclear weapons.
It’s a small sample but it is consistent with polls over the last couple years –
– each one showing a majority believing Iran already has nukes – and almost nine out of ten Americans sure that Iran is seeking them.
Indeed talking with “respectable” liberals —
= the type who listen to NPR and watch Jon Stewart —
– I find repeatedly that even folks who don’t want to go to war assume that every reasonable American knows that Iran is on the brink of having nukes –
– if the regime doesn’t already have them.
What’s bizarre about this – other than the fact that there is no credible evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons – is that no one in a position of official authority is claiming it either!
Every report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, even when framed in a way to make Iran seem ominous –
– confirms the “non-diversion” of nuclear materials to weaponization purposes.
The CIA and intelligence community have consistently stood by the National Intelligence Estimate findings that Iran has not sought a nuclear weapon since 2003 –
– (and Iran doing so back then is only suspected based on very scant evidence produced by the Israeli government).
What’s more – in the last week or so – Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stressed that not only does Iran not have nuclear weapons; –
– there is no evidence that Iran even wants nuclear weapons!!..”
Tony Gibson on Radio New Zealand just threatened to sue individuals for alleged losses caused to the company by the industrial action. This has occurred in the past but not for many decades and usually marks the end of the possibility that mediation will solve things. By his comments he is clearly ruling out continuation of a union presence on his watch.
The increase in belligerence is marked. This will end in tears. It is time for Auckland Council to step up.
Well they have to get an increased return 2.2% compared with 18% Tauranga pathetic. It doesnt even cover the cost of capital in the business
. So leaves virtually nothing for Auckland rate payers not a good deal for Auckland Rate payers porductivity must improve, and costs come down. So its competitive with its nearest competition Tauranga.
Its very simple really a business restructure is required ,and that is what is under way ,and will happen
Anyone got the numbers of the cost per container unload maersk pay in East Coast of Oz vs AKL vs Tauranga.
I have read articles stating that it was about $200 less per container that she shipping companies pay in AKL, not sure about TAU.
Had this verified yesterday while down Teal Park, but can’t find the bleedin paperwork! ….
James, you must have them given your frenetic posting against PoAL here, and no-one wants to be caught lying people they dont know, out of their jobs do they James! . Or is your real name Cameron Brewer?
NZ ports have been dropping prices against each other, cutting each others throats in other words, while the shipping lines sit back, smile and rake in the extra profits.
Should be easy enough data to get hold of from the financials, assuming they are public domain.
Seems a little too convenient that the container unload costs have been dropping off, and PoAL CEO is ex Maersk…
James will just put this down to competition though.
God it must feel really good to demonise people he doesn’t even know, out of their conditions!
mr micky it seems that today New Zealanders have either forgotten or never learned the history of the labour movement here and what it was about and what things were like previously.
There is simply no understanding of the constant background almost sub-conscious push to drive wages down and the labour movements historic role in preventing that.
There is however lots of brainlessness. For example, if John Key wants to close the gap with Australia then perhaps he could learn a lesson from their strong labour movement and its positive effect there (you know, like higher wages relative to the entire economy)
A deliberate ignorance of the economic history of NZ has been fostered. The school curriculum has been gutted of references to vital turning points in NZ social and economic history (except for specific Treaty related issues).
You can’t be proud of what your country stands for if you don’t know anything about what it has achieved in the past, against the odds. Wouldn’t want people to think that NZ can stand on its own two feet against the tide, after all.
I’d suggest C.V. doesn’t know what he is writing about. For a start the decision about curriculum is largely outside the hands of politicians. On top of that is the fact that any radical politically inspired change would be resisted fiercely by the left leaning Teacher Union’s. As there hasn’t been any indication of this this is really something that happened in C.V’s little fantasy world.
As there hasn’t been any indication of this this is really something that happened in C.V’s little fantasy world.
You mean apart from the fact no high school pupil can relate anything about the history of the 40 hour week, the minimum wage or the origins of the NZ social security system?
Really? Schools no longer teach NZ’s recent history? Birth of the main political movements and the reasons for those? Surely not.
Yep. There is nothing in the NZ school curriculum on the Great Depression in NZ, for instance. Or any of the major waterfront strikes or major industrial actions. Or how National or Labour were formed or their histories. And certainly nothing on Think Big, Rogernomics etc.
High school economics does contain the usual bullshit neoliberal assumptions, price demand graphs etc, however.
There used to be. Fifth form history compared things like welfare state development and race relations here and overseas. Can’t remember doing strikes.
Note the new curriculum was largely done if not completely done under Labour.
Looking into this a bit further, it appears the curriculum has changed and is much less prescriptive than we might imagine. So it is up to students and teachers to decide what is studied in line with the themes and learning objectives of the the curriculum.
One of the themes is great events and another is differing perspectives. I’d have thought waterfront strike and 40 hour week fit firmly in that. If teachers aren’t teaching them, then perhaps the blame lies with the PPTA.
Not sure we should blame the curriculum, looking back over my school notes and texts a few years back I was struck by the conformist nature of the way it was taught and interpreted. That left me with no doubt as the desired outcome: we were to be conformist parrots ready to be sent out into the “real” world conforming to the prevalent status quo.
I have a kneejerk impulse to agree with the “grimmer” proposition, but my progressive aging could well be responsible for my perception that the little buggers get dumber every year 🙂
About 3 years ago, I saw a talk by the Te Ara historian Malcolm McKinnon about the neglect of the Great Depression in NZ by our academic historians.
He pointed out that there have been only two history books ever published on the topic (‘The Sugarbag Years’ and ‘The Slump’), both by Tony Simpson, who is not an academic.
This is fairly good proof of a general disinterest in this particular research topic in local universities.
By contrast, there have been oodles of books published about NZers in World War I & II.
I teach about the great depression in 5th form history. Sadly though history numbers seem to be down in many schools as students see it as a hard subject and would rather take something they perceive to be easier.
Easy Gos:
1.) Easy access to debt which was then used to speculate on the stock-market (The Fed Reserve (a privately run central bank) kept low interest rates and printed excessive money)
2.) Removal of that easy access to debt (higher interest rates and a decrease in printing of money) resulting in the fall of stock prices
So why doesn’t MUNZ counter with their own court case about bad faith bargaining on the part of POAL mickeysavage? It would be a nice bit of PR and place the POAL management on the back foot.
The trouble is MUNZ PR is appalling. Gary Parsloe’s pathetic attempt at denyinf any knowledge of a blacklisting was a good example of this. His replies just play in to the management of POAL’s hands.
The Labour Party, you say? Are they still around? Last I heard they had given up politics and diversified into selling concealed small arms or something.
Like the way we have an alleged blacklisted ship causing cost and disruption and all the usual suspects are ready with the lines……anyone got any proof this actually occurred and the irony is some of the extra cost comes from that outsourced labour in tauranga.
Have you noticed the traffic numbers on the Standard are really down. Are all the lefties out the country on overseas holidays? Contributing to Global warming oops I mean Cooling oops lets call it another name Climate Change
No, James, I’d say traffic’s down because of the tired shallow responses from reflex rightwing contrarians like you. Your fatuous remark about global warming should help you see what I mean, if you can bear to reread it.
Your comments neither convince nor entertain. There are occasional robust arguments made by commentators from the right so you might consider working out what they’ve got that you haven’t. If you can’t see the difference, then take a hint and pipe down.
Not sure where you’re getting “the traffic numbers” for the Standard.
Unless you’re just judging based on comments. I would suggest that the authors haven’t had a lot of time/interest in writing posts lately and also that the number of idiot rightwing trolls has dropped off so there aren’t as many pointlessly long threads going around in circles.
This goes to what I was stating the other day about MUNZ losing the PR battle. There was that ‘smoking gun’ evidence that suggested that POAL was engaged in bad faith bargaining. Instead of the court case around this being bigged up we have a situation being highlighted where MUNZ possibly being hauled before the courts for illegal behaviour.
Yeah blacklist the port and take it down. Ports cannot run without labour and its time POAL woke up that their confrontational approach will destroy themselves.
A better way of losing the PR battle I cannot think of. Perhaps sacrificing children on prime time television would do it.
You do realise that right leaning people like myself would love to see the Union attempt this because it would just serve to provide evidence for the whole ‘Union’s are wreckers’ meme.
Phillisophically I have nothing against the concept of Trade Unions. In fact they can be incredibly beneficial in helping facilitate effective labour markets.
That stated I dislike closed shops, their overtly political nature, and the way they can stiffle change. I myself would never belong to a Trade Union because of this. However I begrudge noone who has done so and even those who promote Union membership.
The biggest members are Fletchers, Steel & Tube, Todds, two bank CEOs progessive, and two major trucking companies. Most of its members are in professional services or self made entrepreneurs. Quite a lot of industry are not on it. That probably tells you why it has merged.
What gosman will not likely know vto, is that the Poal casual labour force have also joined the strike because they were told they were also going to be sacked…
Gosman uses diversion like “sacrificing children on TV”, but relishes in the destruction of wages/job security of the port workers, therefore likely adding children, he used as a half arsed bad crack, in a way which WILL lower their standard of living, and possibly lead to family stress, abuse poorer health etc
Seems Gosman really has something against children and those he does not even know.
In terms of numbers Muzza yup your right its simple. The shipping companies have openly stated it cost them $40 million per year to go to Auckland rather than Tauranga.
Thats why they are moving there not even a intellectual midget like yourself would believe they would move there if it was going to cost them more or would you?
“Intellectual Midget” – We must have met somewhere, i’ve heard the use of that phrase before!
Ok, so you go get the unload figures for the containers in Oz, and AKL/TAU, make sure you get the costs of the unloads per box starting from around 200/2001, and lets see where the revenue streams you use as the basis for your inaccurate percentages, to illustrate efficiency are declining for the PoAL eh James…Oh and dont forget to add the contract labour costs when trying to show how efficient taurangas labour model is eh jimmy!
Run along, you said its easy, so Ill give you an hour!
Muzza
No need to do it they are moving because it costs them less, and they turn the ships around quicker in Tauranga without the threat of Strike Action all the time. Greater minds than yours or mine have already done the numbers, and its better for them to be in Tauranga untill POAL is a stable working environment,with a much better work culture.
What we think doesnt change a thing they hold all the strings ,and the decisions have been made for sound reasons. The Union pharked up in a big way. I saw Helen Kelly in damage control mode the other night trying to turn things around far to late.
Speak for youself Jimmy, more cunning, or devious possibly, but nothing more than that. And Frankly if I have access to the full details to info that would clear the mess up, een someone of your challenged state , could put together a cogent counter strategy
Mind you, you have not answered the question, but nice try. The discussion is about the efficiency you claim, now to be related to the threat of stike action, which of course is you moving the goal posts isn’t it! You have been stating that PoT is more efficient than PoAL, but you have not provided the relevant data have you, and continue to make ignorant comments which affect the livlihoods of real people, who have families, and the inevitable social problems that flow from, situations such as these!
My main contention with all of this, is the lies. If the Poal/Auckland Coucil etc came out and said, we want to break the union, so we can sell off the port, or get rid of it so we can sell the land, I would still disagree with it, but at least there would be cards on the table! We don’t have that or anything like it!
Why do you feel its you are in a position to debate on subject that impact other people ability to earn a living James, really can you give an answer to that?
Where do you see the future being for NZ, int he drive to the bottom of the wages/living conditions game?
Muzza, poor young Jimmy Dipstick has not quite come to grips with a couple of dynamics here…
First, cutting wages is a zero sum game in terms of comparative competitiveness: he seems to think that if you cut the wage bill to become competitive your competitor wont do the same again….
Second, once the wages are cut I really think that the benefit will be passed on to you and me as the ultimate consumer of the services, really really really, the management wont take extra profits at all, really really really..Yeah right!
Muzza
Do I believe they want to sell the Port off no not at all. Do I believe they want to bust the Union completely no not at all
Do I believe they want modified behaviour from the Union and its workers absolutely ,and they have every right to do so they are holding a City to ransom.
Do I believe that long term with the growth predictions that POAL have, and with the land they want to reclaim it will be viable as well as asthetically pleasing to keep the Port in Auckland . I dont should go to Whangarei , but that is totally a different discusion
James again you have avoided the questions, well done!
Let me say it one last time, the problem is having to listen to bone heads such as yourself, and my mate who I spoke with yesterday taking a position against the warfies action, because of LIES!
PoAL is not inefficient James, as per the documentation of Transport NZ, and validated by way of a financial bonus to the warfies by the PoAL management.
Go and do some research into the statutory vehicles which direct the requirements of PoAL, go on I dare ya. Come back and have a proper conversation with some actual information. Ill even give you a hand. ACIL, of which PoAL is inside of , is classified as a PBE – Get on with it!
The Union are taking the only recourse they can on behlaf of their members whose security/livlihoods are under attack, because of lies James!
The truth is what is being held to ransom here, and the rediculous invididuals in the public, supported my the media, who are propagating those lies outwards, it is simply not good enough.
The Council are standing by watching the PoAL waste taxpayers money, and not stepping in to end dispute, instead they stand by, and let the public perception be ingained by the media, while real peoples lives are be farked with! This is not acceptable James, and anyone who bases an opinion or take a position on lack of information, as it relates to the jobs/income of other people, is simply too ignorant for words!
And as an example of how funtastic Housing NZ tenants will find the future 0800 number, I’ve been trying unsuccessfully for the last hour and a half to get through to studylink to find out exactly why I’ve been declined a student allowance after a “helpful” allowance declined letter. Instead I get told to “go online” and then told there’s too many incoming calls and hung up on.
3 years ago, even during peak times, I had no problems with this aside from a long-ish wait on the phone line for 30 minutes at most, possibly because the call centre hadn’t been gutted. And strangely, the WINZ 0800 number’s a hell of a lot easier to get through to…
/sigh
Oh well, there goes my day. Could be worse though, I could be trying to get through to IRD…
I dunno i had the ‘pleasure’ of dealing with the ird last week. Called them @ 7pm was on hold for 5min and sorted after 10min…. exceeded my expectations anyway
I had the same experience last week Nick – so frustrating and it made me really worry for those who are younger and less experienced trying to get through (I don’t mean you as I’m sure you know). Eventually I did and the person was helpful and fixed everything up – sortof. I am so sick of them pushing the website instead of answering the phone but I spose there are only three or so of them in the office now and likely to be two soon.
Finally got through! Really quick too, only got through two pages of the current novel.
And yeah, they’re generally really helpful (once you get through). All I need now is a doctor’s note certifying I can study fulltime and it’ll be sorted.
Now just to kill of that student overdraft with ANZ via a cheap-arse loan from BNZ (working next year, and fuck ANZ, how hard is it to provide a debit card and secure, 2 factor, internet banking?) before it eats me alive…
Unions are a necessary protection from shit head employers typically hiring venerable people at the minimum wage end of the employment market.
I spent several years as a delegate during the early 2000’s and it was an interesting and worthwhile experience.
Being in my early 20’s one thing that I did feel was that some of the older organisers were stuck in a bit of a time warp with regards to how to get things done. It was a very much us and them and fuck the bastards mentality which did no body any good imho.
I found personally our best success came through negotiation, patience and a dash of rat cunning to achieve our aims.
I get the feeling that the maritime union are still stuck in the past to some degree and fail to grasp that there are different ways to achieve their aims. There seems to have been very little strategic planning done with regards to what poal wants to achieve vs how they will respond. Instead they seem to just blunder headlong into the trap set.
They should have been far more organised with regards to the message they wanted to get across and I reckon far more cunning with regards to the types of industrial action taken.
“But let’s see how it goes. I’ve been around those sort of votes before when at the last moment they change,” he said.”
Yes thats right John you have been known to change your vote and stab someone in the back last minute…just like Julia did. No wonder you want to back the snake!
A friend passed on this post detailing how it really is under the National government and CERA after the Ch-Ch earthquakes:
A LITTLE THANK YOU
My shop and our home are now gone.
We received 5 hours to salvage items from the shop.
Everything in our apartment was destroyed in the demolition.
I would like thank those people who made it all happen,
and hope it never happens to you.
The person from civil defence who told be that my warehouse was destroyed when it was not even damaged.
The people from ERNI who never contacted me regarding salvage.
The policeman who accused me of being a looter while salvaging my possessions and who detained me under the civil defence regulations.
The USAR team and the policeman from NSW who took the Santa Claus from my shop and took each others photos with it posed beside wrecked cars.
The engineer from Wellington who insisted in being paid in $250 an hour in cash to facilitate access.
The civil defence employee who acted as safety officer and also insisted in being paid $100 an hour in cash.
The Army person who prevented me from salvaging items but told me I was welcome to pick through the rubble after demolition.
The person from CERA who removed the “approval for salvage” from my file.
The person from CERA who put the building on the urgent list and denied salvage during demolition.
All the people who never kept me informed of what was happening regards demolition and salvage and all those people who promised to get back to me who never did.
You all made this unpleasant episode in our lives just that little bit more unpleasant.
Our thoughts will always be with you.
What sort of Government demolishes a city and then holds the country to ransom to pay for the rebuild?
Who are the National party really working for? because it surely isn’t the people of New Zealand.
Wimp Walloping: Matthew Hooton demolishes Josie Pagani
National Radio, Monday 27 February 2012)
We’ve spoken before of the Bully-Wimp model for media commentators, which was exemplified by the Hannity-Colmes show on Fox News (which is no more). You know how it goes: an obnoxious neanderthal (Hannity) scowls continually and dominates a mealy-mouthed, desperate-to-please “liberal” (Colmes) who ends up agreeing (reluctantly at times) with everything the neanderthal says.
In a New Zealand context, the Hannity figure is played by (among others) Paul Holmes, Bill Ralston, Larry Williams, Matthew Hooton, John Bishop, John Barnett, Michele Boag.
The wimpish Hannity clone is simperingly played by (inter alia) Tim Watkin, David Slack, “Sir” Bruce Slane, Duncan Webb, John Pagani and his wife Josie Pagani.
National Radio listeners this morning were treated to a particularly excruciating wimp walloping, when National Party hollow man Matthew Hooton eviscerated the pathetic Josie Pagani on the “From the Left and From the Right” segment of Kathryn Ryan’s show.
Hooton, as usual, felt no compunction about using extreme and inaccurate language, and called the Auckland waterside workers “thuggish”. Instead of challenging him, or asking him to explain himself, Pagani slipped straight into her usual doormat role, and claimed that the workers had “scored a bit of an own goal” with the blacklisting threats—and then made a nonsense of her statement by admitting these claims came not from the striking union workers, but from overseas.
Hooton said something else of an extreme and debatable nature about unions, and Josie Pagaini couldn’t agree with him fast enough. “Yeah, I think that’s true,” she gushed, “and I think everybody agrees that has to change.”
Hooton did not concede a single point, and made many extreme and absurd statements, but Josie Pagani never contradicted him.
She’s desperate for him to like her, and obviously prepared agree with anything he says. She would be mortified to hear what Hooton says of her abilities, in private.
Can’t comment on the radio segment as I haven’t heard it yet, but I’m fascinated to learn you have private conversations with Matthew Hooten, Mozza. Can you tell us more about them, please?
Josie Pagani presented herself for further humiliation later in the day, when she and Bill Ralston were on Larry Williams’ ludicrous “Huddle” on NewstalkZB.
Unlike Hooton, who at least has a veneer of civility, Williams and Ralston were boorish and disrespectful of everything she said. There were three topics up for “discussion”…
The first issue was welfare changes. After a long and choleric rant by Ralston, Pagani tried to say something slightly contradictory. Williams broke in after she had spoken a couple of sentences: “No, no, no, no, no.
I forget what exactly the second issue was, but it ended exactly the same way, except the destroyer this time was Ralston, who rudely interrupted her and dismissed everything she had said.
After an ad break, the Huddle returned for the third and final issue: Lucy Lawless. By now, a gun-shy Josie Pagani had figured that if she couldn’t beat Ralston and Williams, she’d join them. “Why on EARTH would anyone want to listen to an ACTRESS?” she laughed, and then remained quiet as the men proceeded to pour scorn over the very idea of anyone protesting about anything.
Although her instincts are no doubt liberal left, Josie Pagani is regularly bullied by the likes of Hooton, Williams and Ralston, and ends up pathetically speaking like someone from the right. She is either too dim or too timid to do anything about it.
Jeez, Morrisey, shouldn’t the issue be the bullying you describe, not the response of the victim? You seem to be well chuffed at their behaviour, presumably because it allows you to continue it online.
Not. When Djokovic had it all over Nadal at Wimbledon last year, did people say Nadal was a “victim”? Or simply outclassed?
Pagani is not a “victim”. She is a political media performance professional who needs to be doing her frakking job when the media spotlight is on her, and if she can’t or won’t do it, she needs to step aside out of the media for someone who can. Maybe her husband?
did people say Nadal was a “victim”? Or simply outclassed?
I appreciate your point, but your analogy has a lot wrong with it: Nadal and Jokovic display style and grace, and they work hard at their profession. The opposite of all this is true of Messrs Williams and Ralston, and of Ms. Pagani.
I find Ralston and Larry Williams shallow and boorish. But now you tell me that transcribing a small fraction of their shallow, boorish on-air antics means that I am “chuffed at their behaviour”. That’s what I call drawing a long bow and missing your target by a good country mile.
presumably because it allows you to continue it online.
If Josie Pagani lacks the wit or the courage to defend herself against such crude bullies, that’s her own fault.
Privatizing the ACC work account was a disaster last time and will be again. There are no benefits to anyone by having competition in this sector as independent reports regularly show. However the value and benefits we get from ACC across all the areas covered depends on the work account to make it viable. There is no way a company running workplace insurance for profit and taking it to Australia can provide the same service for less than ACC can.
Like Charter School and asset sales it is ideology for the sake of ideology and I hope that the current delay becomes a permanent delay.
Hasn’t there been a significant reluctance of Insurance companies to get involved in ACC this time, in spite of the Government plan to increase user charges to allow the private insurers an easier run. The plan has stalled hasn’t it?
Christopher Hitchens has made a career out of offending polite society. Among his greatest hits are his observation that women aren’t funny, his pooh-poohing of the Haditha massacre, and his defense of the jailed Holocaust denier David Irving, who he hailed as a “great historian.” More recently, Hitchens has volunteered himself as the licker of Wolfowitz’s comb, claiming that the corrupt World Bank president “did nothing wrong.”
Hitchens has cast these seemingly untenable positions as “contrarian,” lending himself not only an air of intellectual bravado, but a veneer of integrity as well. Despite his myriad personal flaws and political contradictions, Hitchens has managed to appear principled by trafficking in opinions that consistently outrage conservatives and liberals alike. He poses as a maverick, an intellectually macho literary gun-slinger who loves nothing more than provoking the indignant howls of the madding crowd. For Hitchens, everything is sacred, and therefore, everything is fair game.
Those who have followed the trajectory of Hitchens’ career knew it was only a matter of time before he set his sights on religion. What better way to piss off (and on) the masses than to unleash a full-frontal assault on God himself? So to great fanfare and perhaps nobody’s surprise, Hitchens has produced God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, an atheist manifesto intended to supplement Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and (New Age torture fanatic) Sam Harris’ The End of Faith.
Hitchens spares no sacred cows in his latest work. He blasts religion as a form of child abuse, claims Jesus Christ never lived, and declares that those who give their children bar mitzvahs are “planning your and my destruction and the destruction of all hard-won human attainments.” The requisite attacks on Islam, so satisfying to his newfound neo-con pals, are also featured at length.
Hitchens’ book might be mean-spirited and even bigoted; little more than a barely legible screed larded with predictable arguments and a scattershot of pretentious literary references, but who can say its author is unprincipled? This is contrarianism, right?
Please.
God Is Not Great represents little more than the disingenous posturings of a certified fraudmeister who has openly cavorted with the most reactionary elements of the Christian right. If Hitchens had any principles at all – if he truly feared the cultural and political consequences of the encroachment of religion into public life – he would have used his still-considerable influence to support organizations and causes that shore up the wall between church and state and which defend the rights of non-believers. Instead, Hitchens has done exactly the opposite.
In the fall of 2005, Hitchens gladly accepted the invitation of the Family Research Council to speak before its Witherspoon Fellows. Hitchens subsequently regaled an audience of young Christian right cadres with excerpts from his book, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. For attending Hitchens’ lecture and participating in several similar events, the FRC’s Witherspoon Fellows received academic credit for study at Pat Robertson’s Regent University, a school that has placed 150 of its graduates in Bush administration posts.
Presumably Hitchens was aware of the mission of the James Dobson-founded Family Research Council. How could such an intellectual giant be unaware of the FRC’s charge to “promote the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society?” How could Hitchens have missed the FRC’s many “Justice Sunday” rallies staged at mega-churches and telecast across America to advance the confirmation of George W. Bush’s most theocracy-minded judicial picks? (To my knowledge, these rallies occured well after happy hour) And how could Hitchens have been ignorant to the FRC’s vitriolic crusade to ban abortion and undermine gay rights?
Regarding FRC President Tony Perkins’ ties to white supremacists, I would like to paraphrase Scripture and say, forgive Hitchens for he knows not what the hell he is doing. My well-publicized report detailing how Perkins once purchased the phone bank list of former Klan leader David Duke for the price of $82,500 and how he headlined a 2001 fundraiser for the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens had only been out for a few months. Maybe Hitchens was too busy dancing with Wolfowitz to read it.
But there is no excuse for Hitchens’ hypocrisy. With the release of God Is Not Great, Hitchens owes his readers an explanation for his appearance at the Family Research Council, the nerve center of a theocratic movement determined to weaken the foundations of constitutional democracy. Hitchens must explain why he accepted the FRC’s invitation to speak and whether he was paid for his appearance.
While awaiting Hitchens’ response, I will pray that in the future his version of the Straight Talk Express designates a driver.
Update: KKK paypal and friend of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens, Tony Perkins, has orchestrated the hacking of this post. In doing so, he has drawn greater attention to his links to and ideological support for white supremacists. The photo of Christopher Hitchens posing with the Family Research Council’s Witherspoon Fellows was scrubbed from FRC’s site today out of fear that I would link to it again. Not only does the FRC want to suppress Perkins’ links to white supremacists, it wants to suppress its own association with Hitchens. This begs the question: who embarrasses Perkins more, the Klan or Christopher Hitchens?
But there is no excuse for Hitchens’ hypocrisy. With the release of God Is Not Great, Hitchens owes his readers an explanation for his appearance at the Family Research Council, the nerve center of a theocratic movement determined to weaken the foundations of constitutional democracy. Hitchens must explain why he accepted the FRC’s invitation to speak and whether he was paid for his appearance.
Why on earth should someone refuse a speaking invitation because they disagree on an issue? That would be like someone refusing to talk to a Church group about flower arranging because they happen to be atheist. As for the KKK connection, just a guess, but even Hitch was omnipotent, so just maybe he didn’t know? Meh.
I did reread it and I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, I am fond of Hitch’s work – he was a brilliant stylist. His main flaw was that he was too principled – which meant he found himself unable to back down from positions when he should have known better – the Iraq War being a case in point. His take downs of Mother Teresa and other sacred cows were masterful. He wasn’t a fraud, he was simply more inclined to play the ball than the man in this case.
That should have been “wasn’t omnipotent” – fat fingers on a skinny Mac keyboard rather than a Freudian slip.
No, Hitch was extremely principled man. It’s just that sometimes his principles do not always sit well with your or mine – however this does not prevent him being an very civilised person. Even his ad hominem attacks tended to be well deserved.
His attack on Chomsky relates to the assertion that Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11. Such a claim is willfully absurd and anyone making it is making a fool of themselves.
Even his ad hominem attacks tended to be well deserved.
Oh? Like calling the mother of a dead U.S. soldier a “sob sister”? No doubt in your world she deserved that.
His attack on Chomsky relates to the assertion that Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11.
His foolish and groundless attack on Chomsky in 2001 was best summed up by Chomsky himself, speaking to Kim Hill on National Radio. Hitchens, he said, was simply “incoherent.”
Public displays of grief are always questionable – while his argument may not have been overly sensitive, it was sound. Soldiers do a job with the acknowledgment of risk. Wheteher or not I consider the war to have been gist or not, does not change that.
You are obviously a Chomsky groupie – therefore any further attempt at debating you is futile. You have already drunk the kool-aid.
Shhhh, Morissey – you bore me.
I’ve read most of Chomsky, both his neuro-linguistics work and his entries into political commentary. He should stick to his knitting as he makes enough mistaken generalisations there (the errors he makes vis a vis language acquisition are notorious).
I have read most of Hitchens too, and am certainly academically qualified to make judgments on him, and you are are just a mouse gnawing at a dead lion.
Now shoo.
And plaudits to her for being a celebrity who has a brain, and can talk intelligently about issues. Aside from a few honorable exceptions—Elvis Costello, Sean Penn, Vanessa Redgrave and Tilda Swinton—there isn’t much evidence that entertainers do anything as onerous as actually reading a book.
All you have to do is quickly glance at his wikipedia bio to begin to grasp how dodgy this goat-fucker is, and if you want a serious dose of “what the fuck?!” go a read through Orac’s various posts on him. And yet otherwise smart people (and everything in between) will still believe him…
Even when he’s pulling a fairly obvious scam of becoming “members” of his secret society.
And no, taxes on human stupidity aren’t a good thing, because there’s invariably negative results involved, such as poverty (loss of tax, social support costs, health costs) or disability and/or death in the case of alt.med “cures” for terminal diseases.
I was listening to her interview with Marcus Lush and it sounded like she all but pleaded with the police to rescue her.
I’m guessing she thought she’d turn up for a photo op, get hauled off by the police and then fly back to LA the next morning, turns out she had to spend three nights with dirty, smelly tree-huggers instead.
Corporates make money by eliminating jobs, not creating them. Soon we’ll have an economy where none of you worker types are needed. Well, next to none of you. Won;t that be an “efficient” future.
Eliminating jobs through technology isn’t the problem – replacing them is. Capitalists don’t like doing so because it means that they can’t cut wages and whinge about people not working.
Yellow pages was an accident waiting to happen…..telecom must’ve pissed itself at the dosh offered for effectively a brand.
I’ve no idea what the deal was in terms of accessing the core data that telecom owns that drives it so without it they are dead, then there’s the issue that from an IT perspective of transplanting a lung from one body to another.
I always thought the long term play was wait and buy it back for a fraction of sale price……a fool and his private equity money etc etc
Petition forms have been passed on to Labour MP Phil Twyford to present to the House – Tuesday 28 February 2012 – the petition that hopefully will help to force the resignation of John Banks ACT MP for Epsom?
The petition which requests:
“That the House conduct an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009″.
ie: How come ACT’s ‘one law for all’ (conveniently) didn’t apply to fellow former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd to current ACT Party Leader – MP for Epsom (and Minister of Regulatory Reform) John Banks, and former ACT Party Leader Don Brash, when they both signed the above-mentioned Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009, which contained untrue statements?
Arguably not a good look for New Zealand – ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the 2011 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’ to effectively have the balance of power held by a yet-to-be- charged ‘white collar’ criminal?
I’m sure you take your work home with you, too, you silly little mosquito.
And your obsessive worship of Pope Chomsky shows you to be a credulous and not overly broad or critical reader.
Enough. Shoo. Stop wasting both our time.
Where have I shown any sign of “worshipping” Chomsky? The only idolatry evident here is your paean (“masterful”…”extremely principled”…”too principled”…”very civilised”) to that choleric bag of bile you and other worshippers call “Hitch”.
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...
Michael SchulsonWhen Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...
Rubbish In, Rubbish Out: Put all this together, and it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that anyone who responds positively to a pollster’s request to “answer a few questions” is just ever-so-slightly weird. Desperately lonely? Some sort of psephological train-spotter? Political party member primed to skew the poll for or against ...
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. Meanwhile, Climate Action Tracker has the shameful reality: those targets are insufficient:While New Zealand is showing leadership by having passed the world’s second-ever Zero Carbon Act in November 2019, under ...
The government introduced a Racing Industry Bill today. As an urban who horse racing as pointless-to-cruel, and gambling as a tax on stupidity and/or hope, this isn't normally a bill which would interest me in the slightest, beyond grumpiness at more government money for a dying industry. But there is ...
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he ...
Before The Birth: Israel’s most fervent supporters set their clocks ticking in Biblical times. They cite the kingdoms of David and Solomon as proof that, in the words of the Exodus movie’s theme-song: “This land is mine.” The majority of Israel’s backers, however, start their clocks in 1933 – the year Adolf ...
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...
When it was revealed that NZ First had tried to enrich itself from public office via the Provoncial Growth Fund, the Prime Minister assured us that everything was OK as Shane Jones, the Minister responsible for the fund, had recused himself. Except it seems that that recusal came very late ...
Today is a Member's Day, and probably the last one of the year. After the marathon of the End of Life Choice Act, most of the bills up for debate today are uncontentious. First up is the second reading of Chlöe Swarbrick's Election Access Fund Bill. This will be followed ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has reported back on the government's odious and tyrannical control orders bill. As expected, the fraudulent select committee process has made no significant changes (partly because they couldn't agree, but mostly because it was a stitch-up from the start, with no intention of ...
Yesterday, the government released its draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, which will be put to a non-binding referendum at the next election. I'm not a drug policy expert, but Russell Brown is, and he thinks its pretty good. And pretty obviously, it will be a massive improvement on the ...
As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
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.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
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Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
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Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
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Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
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The feature below is the conclusion of A History of Economic Thought, whose author was a leading Marxist economist in Russia in the early 20th century, Isaac Ilyich Rubin. The book arose from a course he ran at Moscow University following the Russian Revolution. First published in Russian in 1929, ...
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Tory manifesto: big on austerity, low on promise, non-existent on delivery. The Tories: the party so big on ambition they couldn't be arsed writing a manifesto. MLK: "I have a dream!"BJ: "I'll just have a nap." Labour: Broadband!Tories: Narrow minds! Labour have hope, dreams and ambition. The Tories will save ...
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Hong Kong has been protesting for six months for, demanding democracy, human rights, and an end to police violence. Today, they went to the polls in district council elections - a low-level of government with virtually no power, similar to community boards in New Zealand. But while the positions themselves ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On Friday 22nd of November a curfew came into effect and troops were deployed on the streets, here in Bogota. It was the first time since September 1977 that a curfew had been imposed on the city. The decision was a cynical pre-planned ...
Meanwhile, while the government is planning to restore voting rights to prisoners, National is promising to turn our prisons into US-style slave-labour camps:The Opposition is proposing compulsory education, training or employment for prisoners who are serving sentences of two years or more. [...] On Sunday, National Party Leader Simon Bridges ...
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New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
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The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
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Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
New Zealand tertiary students with top grades and a passion for space will once again be offered the opportunity to work with the world’s best and brightest at NASA, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship are nominated by the Ministry of Business, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further support to Samoa in the wake of an ongoing measles outbreak in the country. Additional medical supplies and personnel, including a third rotation of New Zealand’s emergency medical assistance team (NZMAT), further nurse vaccinators, intensive care (ICU) specialists and Samoan-speaking medical professionals, will ...
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
“CEAC – University of Auckland asks ‘Can democracy survive’? Subject; Can democracy survive? https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/12/03/can-democracy-survive-.html Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated (CEAC) Press release 8th December ...
The Minister of Health’s announcement to appoint a new chair to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has come as a surprise and with some disappointment, especially given he had personally asked me to stand again with his confidence to continue in ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
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.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
A woman who went on a Tinder date with the man who murdered Grace Millane tells her story, and issues a warning to other women to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right.First published on Newshub.co.nzI went on a date with Grace Millane’s killer while her body lay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are bad news for Australian students, parents, employers and policymakers. Pretty much everyone. Australian 15-year-olds are now below the OECD average in mathematics, and our results in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders University It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...
The birthplace of the Labour Party is once again at the forefront of a new movement, this time harnessing the power of the collective to step away from coal towards a low carbon future.Blackball is a small place with a huge history. This week the town, 29 kilometres from Greymouth, ...
Life expectancy is increasing all the time, and now actuaries and retirement experts say young people need far more information on what they’ll need to do with their money if they live to 100. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The message from the Retirement Income Interest Group of the New ...
German politician Joschka Fischer has had a remarkable career. From street violence and helping to set up the Green party, he matured into the foreign minister and vice-chancellor of a united Germany, serving until 2005. His understanding of power politics led him to support the use of force in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison said it with a straight face, and repetition for emphasis. “I’m very pleased, very pleased, with the performance of all of my ministers,” he declared on Thursday. This ringing if unconvincing universal endorsement ...
PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD PLEA FOR URGENT CLIMATE ACTION 222 parents groups from 27 countries have released a heartfelt joint plea calling on negotiators at this year’s UN climate summit – COP25 – in Madrid to push for ambitious and urgent ...
Government proposals to overhaul insurance contract laws should make the whole process of taking out insurance easier and simpler to understand for consumers, says Financial Advice New Zealand. ...
Despite New Zealand First lobbying hard at the Cabinet table, the Finance Minister says the case to move Auckland's port operations north has not yet been made. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Tomnay, Assoc. Professor / Director of Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health, University of Melbourne Around one in six Australian women have had an abortion by their mid-30s. These women come from all age groups and demographics: some are mothers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland Reports this week about the demise of the Apostrophe Protection Society may have been greatly exaggerated. The Apostrophe Protection Society was set up in 2001 in the UK by retired journalist John Richards with ...
Open mike 27/02/2012 
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...8 hours ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...11 hours ago
Michael Schulson When Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...18 hours ago
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...1 day ago
Newshub last night reported that Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi had apparently promised to help out a mate with an immigration issue. While its normal for people to approach MPs for assistance in this area, when you're a Minister, the rules are different: as the Cabinet Manual says, Ministers must "at ...2 days ago
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...2 days ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...2 days ago
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...2 days ago
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...3 days ago
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...5 days ago
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...6 days ago
Image credit: The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ... 7 days ago
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...1 week ago
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...3 days ago
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...4 days ago
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...8 hours ago
The National Party says tougher regulations on banks could cost families with a mortgage nearly $2000 extra per year. ...9 hours ago
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...11 hours ago
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...14 hours ago
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...18 hours ago
"The neighbour takes my hand and walks me over the concrete to my parent’s back door": a look inside Hell by Alisha Tyson. ...21 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...1 day ago
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...1 day ago
The Government is investing up to $9 million in a project that it says will help Southland farmers use their land more sustainably. ...2 days ago
Donation legislation, the infinite monkey theory and the angriest man in NZ politics. Not to mention Paula Bennett's black-market oregano. ...2 days ago
You do not have to sacrifice short term returns in order to invest sustainably. ...2 days ago
Winston Peters says the NZ First foundation is similar to the National Party’s foundation. Here’s how it isn’t. ...2 days ago
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...2 days ago
The Finance Minister Grant Robertson won’t be drawn on how much new capital requirements for banks will hit consumers. ...2 days ago
Yet again, NZ schools have received a 'fail' when it comes to bullying but there could be an evidence-based solution. ...2 days ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...2 days ago
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...2 days ago
Sky Sport News presenter Kate King previews a massive weekend for Kiwi sportswomen ...2 days ago
A handy guide to all you need to know about impeachment. ...2 days ago
NZ is seeing an increasing number of retail 'events' imported from overseas - how long before our spending is exhausted? ...2 days ago
German politician Joschka Fischer has had a remarkable career. From street violence and helping to set up the Green party, he matured into the foreign minister and vice-chancellor of a united Germany, serving until 2005. His understanding of power politics led him to support the use of force in the ...2 days ago
Despite New Zealand First lobbying hard at the Cabinet table, the Finance Minister says the case to move Auckland's port operations north has not yet been made. ...2 days ago
The year has provided tests for the PM's party, government, and the country as a whole - but she is confident 2020 will bring success. ...2 days ago
Al Qaeda=Al CIAda
If you google the assertions made by this Syrian girl you will find they are supported by mainstream publications.
And here is more Mud stream media hype for the annihilation of Iran as it seems we have the “moral” duty to do so.
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/insinuation-as-war-propaganda/
“…Fast forward a decade to the current day.
Seventy-one percent of Americans — almost exactly the percentage that thought Saddam was behind 9/11 —
-think that Iran has nuclear weapons.
It’s a small sample but it is consistent with polls over the last couple years –
– each one showing a majority believing Iran already has nukes – and almost nine out of ten Americans sure that Iran is seeking them.
Indeed talking with “respectable” liberals —
= the type who listen to NPR and watch Jon Stewart —
– I find repeatedly that even folks who don’t want to go to war assume that every reasonable American knows that Iran is on the brink of having nukes –
– if the regime doesn’t already have them.
What’s bizarre about this – other than the fact that there is no credible evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons – is that no one in a position of official authority is claiming it either!
Every report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, even when framed in a way to make Iran seem ominous –
– confirms the “non-diversion” of nuclear materials to weaponization purposes.
The CIA and intelligence community have consistently stood by the National Intelligence Estimate findings that Iran has not sought a nuclear weapon since 2003 –
– (and Iran doing so back then is only suspected based on very scant evidence produced by the Israeli government).
What’s more – in the last week or so – Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stressed that not only does Iran not have nuclear weapons; –
– there is no evidence that Iran even wants nuclear weapons!!..”
(cont..)
phil-at-whoar.
The POAL dispute just got worse.
Tony Gibson on Radio New Zealand just threatened to sue individuals for alleged losses caused to the company by the industrial action. This has occurred in the past but not for many decades and usually marks the end of the possibility that mediation will solve things. By his comments he is clearly ruling out continuation of a union presence on his watch.
The increase in belligerence is marked. This will end in tears. It is time for Auckland Council to step up.
But they won’t… Its seems they are hell bent on the increased return regardless of cost.
Well they have to get an increased return 2.2% compared with 18% Tauranga pathetic. It doesnt even cover the cost of capital in the business
. So leaves virtually nothing for Auckland rate payers not a good deal for Auckland Rate payers porductivity must improve, and costs come down. So its competitive with its nearest competition Tauranga.
Its very simple really a business restructure is required ,and that is what is under way ,and will happen
hey james why do your numbers smell? Oh yeah you pulled them straight from your ass.
Anyone got the numbers of the cost per container unload maersk pay in East Coast of Oz vs AKL vs Tauranga.
I have read articles stating that it was about $200 less per container that she shipping companies pay in AKL, not sure about TAU.
Had this verified yesterday while down Teal Park, but can’t find the bleedin paperwork! ….
James, you must have them given your frenetic posting against PoAL here, and no-one wants to be caught lying people they dont know, out of their jobs do they James! . Or is your real name Cameron Brewer?
NZ ports have been dropping prices against each other, cutting each others throats in other words, while the shipping lines sit back, smile and rake in the extra profits.
Should be easy enough data to get hold of from the financials, assuming they are public domain.
Seems a little too convenient that the container unload costs have been dropping off, and PoAL CEO is ex Maersk…
James will just put this down to competition though.
God it must feel really good to demonise people he doesn’t even know, out of their conditions!
mr micky it seems that today New Zealanders have either forgotten or never learned the history of the labour movement here and what it was about and what things were like previously.
There is simply no understanding of the constant background almost sub-conscious push to drive wages down and the labour movements historic role in preventing that.
There is however lots of brainlessness. For example, if John Key wants to close the gap with Australia then perhaps he could learn a lesson from their strong labour movement and its positive effect there (you know, like higher wages relative to the entire economy)
A deliberate ignorance of the economic history of NZ has been fostered. The school curriculum has been gutted of references to vital turning points in NZ social and economic history (except for specific Treaty related issues).
You can’t be proud of what your country stands for if you don’t know anything about what it has achieved in the past, against the odds. Wouldn’t want people to think that NZ can stand on its own two feet against the tide, after all.
Really? Schools no longer teach NZ’s recent history? Birth of the main political movements and the reasons for those? Surely not.
I’d suggest C.V. doesn’t know what he is writing about. For a start the decision about curriculum is largely outside the hands of politicians. On top of that is the fact that any radical politically inspired change would be resisted fiercely by the left leaning Teacher Union’s. As there hasn’t been any indication of this this is really something that happened in C.V’s little fantasy world.
You mean apart from the fact no high school pupil can relate anything about the history of the 40 hour week, the minimum wage or the origins of the NZ social security system?
So you have evidence supporting this view that no high school pupil can relate that information?
I suspect not.
BTW if the curriculaum has changed who was responsible for implementing this change?
That, I suspect, has more to do with them being young and disinterested than it does with the curriculum.
Yep. There is nothing in the NZ school curriculum on the Great Depression in NZ, for instance. Or any of the major waterfront strikes or major industrial actions. Or how National or Labour were formed or their histories. And certainly nothing on Think Big, Rogernomics etc.
High school economics does contain the usual bullshit neoliberal assumptions, price demand graphs etc, however.
There used to be. Fifth form history compared things like welfare state development and race relations here and overseas. Can’t remember doing strikes.
Note the new curriculum was largely done if not completely done under Labour.
Looking into this a bit further, it appears the curriculum has changed and is much less prescriptive than we might imagine. So it is up to students and teachers to decide what is studied in line with the themes and learning objectives of the the curriculum.
One of the themes is great events and another is differing perspectives. I’d have thought waterfront strike and 40 hour week fit firmly in that. If teachers aren’t teaching them, then perhaps the blame lies with the PPTA.
shoot – back in 5th form English we read Man Alone. Now they don’t even teach about the GD in history?
Not sure we should blame the curriculum, looking back over my school notes and texts a few years back I was struck by the conformist nature of the way it was taught and interpreted. That left me with no doubt as the desired outcome: we were to be conformist parrots ready to be sent out into the “real” world conforming to the prevalent status quo.
Check out the universities. It’s even grimmer.
Really? Care to cite that? You have intimate knowledge of every course in every university in New Zealand? Bullshit.
I have a kneejerk impulse to agree with the “grimmer” proposition, but my progressive aging could well be responsible for my perception that the little buggers get dumber every year 🙂
About 3 years ago, I saw a talk by the Te Ara historian Malcolm McKinnon about the neglect of the Great Depression in NZ by our academic historians.
He pointed out that there have been only two history books ever published on the topic (‘The Sugarbag Years’ and ‘The Slump’), both by Tony Simpson, who is not an academic.
This is fairly good proof of a general disinterest in this particular research topic in local universities.
By contrast, there have been oodles of books published about NZers in World War I & II.
I teach about the great depression in 5th form history. Sadly though history numbers seem to be down in many schools as students see it as a hard subject and would rather take something they perceive to be easier.
Do you teach how it was manufactured?
Hard, really! I had to pick up a subject in 7th form, and saw history as as easy pass option, which is was.
How what was manufactured? The Great Depression? I didn’t realise there was a factory for that sort of thing. Amazing what they make nowdays.
Easy Gos:
1.) Easy access to debt which was then used to speculate on the stock-market (The Fed Reserve (a privately run central bank) kept low interest rates and printed excessive money)
2.) Removal of that easy access to debt (higher interest rates and a decrease in printing of money) resulting in the fall of stock prices
out of interest, how prescribed are the subjects? What proportion of kids would actually learn about the Great Depression these days?
According to cardassian below you are wrong. Not such an unusual occurance for you it is true. Just thought you would like to know.
lol – Gossy stoking the flames of a debate about which, yet again, he knows nothing.
Oooo, no – gosman never said anything, gossy just paraphrases what other people say, so if he paraphrases it wrong it’s the other person’s fault…
So why doesn’t MUNZ counter with their own court case about bad faith bargaining on the part of POAL mickeysavage? It would be a nice bit of PR and place the POAL management on the back foot.
The trouble is MUNZ PR is appalling. Gary Parsloe’s pathetic attempt at denyinf any knowledge of a blacklisting was a good example of this. His replies just play in to the management of POAL’s hands.
It’s time for the Labour Party leader to step up.
Or is he still “keeping his powder dry”?
The Labour Party, you say? Are they still around? Last I heard they had given up politics and diversified into selling concealed small arms or something.
Like the way we have an alleged blacklisted ship causing cost and disruption and all the usual suspects are ready with the lines……anyone got any proof this actually occurred and the irony is some of the extra cost comes from that outsourced labour in tauranga.
Have you noticed the traffic numbers on the Standard are really down. Are all the lefties out the country on overseas holidays? Contributing to Global warming oops I mean Cooling oops lets call it another name Climate Change
No, James, I’d say traffic’s down because of the tired shallow responses from reflex rightwing contrarians like you. Your fatuous remark about global warming should help you see what I mean, if you can bear to reread it.
Your comments neither convince nor entertain. There are occasional robust arguments made by commentators from the right so you might consider working out what they’ve got that you haven’t. If you can’t see the difference, then take a hint and pipe down.
Mint! Comment of the day, so far, Galaeandra.
Not sure where you’re getting “the traffic numbers” for the Standard.
Unless you’re just judging based on comments. I would suggest that the authors haven’t had a lot of time/interest in writing posts lately and also that the number of idiot rightwing trolls has dropped off so there aren’t as many pointlessly long threads going around in circles.
Interesting that the POAL is contemplating taking MUNZ to court over the supposed blacklisting of the Port.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10788307
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2511070/shipping-company-was-union-'threatened-to-blacklist‘.asx
This goes to what I was stating the other day about MUNZ losing the PR battle. There was that ‘smoking gun’ evidence that suggested that POAL was engaged in bad faith bargaining. Instead of the court case around this being bigged up we have a situation being highlighted where MUNZ possibly being hauled before the courts for illegal behaviour.
Yeah blacklist the port and take it down. Ports cannot run without labour and its time POAL woke up that their confrontational approach will destroy themselves.
Excellent C.V.
A better way of losing the PR battle I cannot think of. Perhaps sacrificing children on prime time television would do it.
You do realise that right leaning people like myself would love to see the Union attempt this because it would just serve to provide evidence for the whole ‘Union’s are wreckers’ meme.
Go learn about the labour movement and its history and achievements and place in society gosman. And also learn about the alternative to having one.
But I have vto.
Phillisophically I have nothing against the concept of Trade Unions. In fact they can be incredibly beneficial in helping facilitate effective labour markets.
That stated I dislike closed shops, their overtly political nature, and the way they can stiffle change. I myself would never belong to a Trade Union because of this. However I begrudge noone who has done so and even those who promote Union membership.
The Business Roundtable is a closed shop. Especially the way they stifle change for the better, and their overtly political agenda.
It would be the case if a Trade Union was forced to negotiate with a Business round table affiliated members only.
Which most of the big employers are.
The biggest members are Fletchers, Steel & Tube, Todds, two bank CEOs progessive, and two major trucking companies. Most of its members are in professional services or self made entrepreneurs. Quite a lot of industry are not on it. That probably tells you why it has merged.
I thought they were a closed shop full stop. Haven’t they gone out of existence?
What gosman will not likely know vto, is that the Poal casual labour force have also joined the strike because they were told they were also going to be sacked…
Gosman uses diversion like “sacrificing children on TV”, but relishes in the destruction of wages/job security of the port workers, therefore likely adding children, he used as a half arsed bad crack, in a way which WILL lower their standard of living, and possibly lead to family stress, abuse poorer health etc
Seems Gosman really has something against children and those he does not even know.
COCKHEAD!
Problem is an actual cockhead is capable of giving pleasure but no such possibility from Gossie
In terms of numbers Muzza yup your right its simple. The shipping companies have openly stated it cost them $40 million per year to go to Auckland rather than Tauranga.
Thats why they are moving there not even a intellectual midget like yourself would believe they would move there if it was going to cost them more or would you?
“Intellectual Midget” – We must have met somewhere, i’ve heard the use of that phrase before!
Ok, so you go get the unload figures for the containers in Oz, and AKL/TAU, make sure you get the costs of the unloads per box starting from around 200/2001, and lets see where the revenue streams you use as the basis for your inaccurate percentages, to illustrate efficiency are declining for the PoAL eh James…Oh and dont forget to add the contract labour costs when trying to show how efficient taurangas labour model is eh jimmy!
Run along, you said its easy, so Ill give you an hour!
Chop chop!
Muzza
No need to do it they are moving because it costs them less, and they turn the ships around quicker in Tauranga without the threat of Strike Action all the time. Greater minds than yours or mine have already done the numbers, and its better for them to be in Tauranga untill POAL is a stable working environment,with a much better work culture.
What we think doesnt change a thing they hold all the strings ,and the decisions have been made for sound reasons. The Union pharked up in a big way. I saw Helen Kelly in damage control mode the other night trying to turn things around far to late.
Chop Chop theres a good lad
Speak for youself Jimmy, more cunning, or devious possibly, but nothing more than that. And Frankly if I have access to the full details to info that would clear the mess up, een someone of your challenged state , could put together a cogent counter strategy
Mind you, you have not answered the question, but nice try. The discussion is about the efficiency you claim, now to be related to the threat of stike action, which of course is you moving the goal posts isn’t it! You have been stating that PoT is more efficient than PoAL, but you have not provided the relevant data have you, and continue to make ignorant comments which affect the livlihoods of real people, who have families, and the inevitable social problems that flow from, situations such as these!
My main contention with all of this, is the lies. If the Poal/Auckland Coucil etc came out and said, we want to break the union, so we can sell off the port, or get rid of it so we can sell the land, I would still disagree with it, but at least there would be cards on the table! We don’t have that or anything like it!
Why do you feel its you are in a position to debate on subject that impact other people ability to earn a living James, really can you give an answer to that?
Where do you see the future being for NZ, int he drive to the bottom of the wages/living conditions game?
Muzza, poor young Jimmy Dipstick has not quite come to grips with a couple of dynamics here…
First, cutting wages is a zero sum game in terms of comparative competitiveness: he seems to think that if you cut the wage bill to become competitive your competitor wont do the same again….
Second, once the wages are cut I really think that the benefit will be passed on to you and me as the ultimate consumer of the services, really really really, the management wont take extra profits at all, really really really..Yeah right!
In short Jimmy Dipsitck believes in fairy tales.
Muzza
Do I believe they want to sell the Port off no not at all. Do I believe they want to bust the Union completely no not at all
Do I believe they want modified behaviour from the Union and its workers absolutely ,and they have every right to do so they are holding a City to ransom.
Do I believe that long term with the growth predictions that POAL have, and with the land they want to reclaim it will be viable as well as asthetically pleasing to keep the Port in Auckland . I dont should go to Whangarei , but that is totally a different discusion
james111. What you believe is irrelevant. This is class war.
Double post
James again you have avoided the questions, well done!
Let me say it one last time, the problem is having to listen to bone heads such as yourself, and my mate who I spoke with yesterday taking a position against the warfies action, because of LIES!
PoAL is not inefficient James, as per the documentation of Transport NZ, and validated by way of a financial bonus to the warfies by the PoAL management.
Go and do some research into the statutory vehicles which direct the requirements of PoAL, go on I dare ya. Come back and have a proper conversation with some actual information. Ill even give you a hand. ACIL, of which PoAL is inside of , is classified as a PBE – Get on with it!
The Union are taking the only recourse they can on behlaf of their members whose security/livlihoods are under attack, because of lies James!
The truth is what is being held to ransom here, and the rediculous invididuals in the public, supported my the media, who are propagating those lies outwards, it is simply not good enough.
The Council are standing by watching the PoAL waste taxpayers money, and not stepping in to end dispute, instead they stand by, and let the public perception be ingained by the media, while real peoples lives are be farked with! This is not acceptable James, and anyone who bases an opinion or take a position on lack of information, as it relates to the jobs/income of other people, is simply too ignorant for words!
And as an example of how funtastic Housing NZ tenants will find the future 0800 number, I’ve been trying unsuccessfully for the last hour and a half to get through to studylink to find out exactly why I’ve been declined a student allowance after a “helpful” allowance declined letter. Instead I get told to “go online” and then told there’s too many incoming calls and hung up on.
3 years ago, even during peak times, I had no problems with this aside from a long-ish wait on the phone line for 30 minutes at most, possibly because the call centre hadn’t been gutted. And strangely, the WINZ 0800 number’s a hell of a lot easier to get through to…
/sigh
Oh well, there goes my day. Could be worse though, I could be trying to get through to IRD…
I dunno i had the ‘pleasure’ of dealing with the ird last week. Called them @ 7pm was on hold for 5min and sorted after 10min…. exceeded my expectations anyway
Good to hear, because last I heard, it was a pain in the arse to get through to them.
Still no luck with studylink though :/
I had the same experience last week Nick – so frustrating and it made me really worry for those who are younger and less experienced trying to get through (I don’t mean you as I’m sure you know). Eventually I did and the person was helpful and fixed everything up – sortof. I am so sick of them pushing the website instead of answering the phone but I spose there are only three or so of them in the office now and likely to be two soon.
Finally got through! Really quick too, only got through two pages of the current novel.
And yeah, they’re generally really helpful (once you get through). All I need now is a doctor’s note certifying I can study fulltime and it’ll be sorted.
Now just to kill of that student overdraft with ANZ via a cheap-arse loan from BNZ (working next year, and fuck ANZ, how hard is it to provide a debit card and secure, 2 factor, internet banking?) before it eats me alive…
Unions are a necessary protection from shit head employers typically hiring venerable people at the minimum wage end of the employment market.
I spent several years as a delegate during the early 2000’s and it was an interesting and worthwhile experience.
Being in my early 20’s one thing that I did feel was that some of the older organisers were stuck in a bit of a time warp with regards to how to get things done. It was a very much us and them and fuck the bastards mentality which did no body any good imho.
I found personally our best success came through negotiation, patience and a dash of rat cunning to achieve our aims.
I get the feeling that the maritime union are still stuck in the past to some degree and fail to grasp that there are different ways to achieve their aims. There seems to have been very little strategic planning done with regards to what poal wants to achieve vs how they will respond. Instead they seem to just blunder headlong into the trap set.
They should have been far more organised with regards to the message they wanted to get across and I reckon far more cunning with regards to the types of industrial action taken.
John Key backing Gillard….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10788309
“But let’s see how it goes. I’ve been around those sort of votes before when at the last moment they change,” he said.”
Yes thats right John you have been known to change your vote and stab someone in the back last minute…just like Julia did. No wonder you want to back the snake!
A friend passed on this post detailing how it really is under the National government and CERA after the Ch-Ch earthquakes:
A LITTLE THANK YOU
My shop and our home are now gone.
We received 5 hours to salvage items from the shop.
Everything in our apartment was destroyed in the demolition.
I would like thank those people who made it all happen,
and hope it never happens to you.
The person from civil defence who told be that my warehouse was destroyed when it was not even damaged.
The people from ERNI who never contacted me regarding salvage.
The policeman who accused me of being a looter while salvaging my possessions and who detained me under the civil defence regulations.
The USAR team and the policeman from NSW who took the Santa Claus from my shop and took each others photos with it posed beside wrecked cars.
The engineer from Wellington who insisted in being paid in $250 an hour in cash to facilitate access.
The civil defence employee who acted as safety officer and also insisted in being paid $100 an hour in cash.
The Army person who prevented me from salvaging items but told me I was welcome to pick through the rubble after demolition.
The person from CERA who removed the “approval for salvage” from my file.
The person from CERA who put the building on the urgent list and denied salvage during demolition.
All the people who never kept me informed of what was happening regards demolition and salvage and all those people who promised to get back to me who never did.
You all made this unpleasant episode in our lives just that little bit more unpleasant.
Our thoughts will always be with you.
What sort of Government demolishes a city and then holds the country to ransom to pay for the rebuild?
Who are the National party really working for? because it surely isn’t the people of New Zealand.
I bet they all fronted up to the memorial services and shed their crocodile tears for the TV cameras.
Wimp Walloping: Matthew Hooton demolishes Josie Pagani
National Radio, Monday 27 February 2012)
We’ve spoken before of the Bully-Wimp model for media commentators, which was exemplified by the Hannity-Colmes show on Fox News (which is no more). You know how it goes: an obnoxious neanderthal (Hannity) scowls continually and dominates a mealy-mouthed, desperate-to-please “liberal” (Colmes) who ends up agreeing (reluctantly at times) with everything the neanderthal says.
In a New Zealand context, the Hannity figure is played by (among others) Paul Holmes, Bill Ralston, Larry Williams, Matthew Hooton, John Bishop, John Barnett, Michele Boag.
The wimpish Hannity clone is simperingly played by (inter alia) Tim Watkin, David Slack, “Sir” Bruce Slane, Duncan Webb, John Pagani and his wife Josie Pagani.
National Radio listeners this morning were treated to a particularly excruciating wimp walloping, when National Party hollow man Matthew Hooton eviscerated the pathetic Josie Pagani on the “From the Left and From the Right” segment of Kathryn Ryan’s show.
Hooton, as usual, felt no compunction about using extreme and inaccurate language, and called the Auckland waterside workers “thuggish”. Instead of challenging him, or asking him to explain himself, Pagani slipped straight into her usual doormat role, and claimed that the workers had “scored a bit of an own goal” with the blacklisting threats—and then made a nonsense of her statement by admitting these claims came not from the striking union workers, but from overseas.
Hooton said something else of an extreme and debatable nature about unions, and Josie Pagaini couldn’t agree with him fast enough. “Yeah, I think that’s true,” she gushed, “and I think everybody agrees that has to change.”
Hooton did not concede a single point, and made many extreme and absurd statements, but Josie Pagani never contradicted him.
She’s desperate for him to like her, and obviously prepared agree with anything he says. She would be mortified to hear what Hooton says of her abilities, in private.
Can’t comment on the radio segment as I haven’t heard it yet, but I’m fascinated to learn you have private conversations with Matthew Hooten, Mozza. Can you tell us more about them, please?
Sorry, Te Reo but (to quote the great Sid Hudgens) my contacts are all off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.
Nice.
it wasn’t ‘from the left and from the right’..
..it was:..
..from the right..and from the far-right…
..josie ‘let’s not give any more money to beneficiary-families!’ pagani was speaking for the right..
..and hooton for the far-right…
phil-at-whoar.
Josie Pagani presented herself for further humiliation later in the day, when she and Bill Ralston were on Larry Williams’ ludicrous “Huddle” on NewstalkZB.
Unlike Hooton, who at least has a veneer of civility, Williams and Ralston were boorish and disrespectful of everything she said. There were three topics up for “discussion”…
The first issue was welfare changes. After a long and choleric rant by Ralston, Pagani tried to say something slightly contradictory. Williams broke in after she had spoken a couple of sentences: “No, no, no, no, no.
I forget what exactly the second issue was, but it ended exactly the same way, except the destroyer this time was Ralston, who rudely interrupted her and dismissed everything she had said.
After an ad break, the Huddle returned for the third and final issue: Lucy Lawless. By now, a gun-shy Josie Pagani had figured that if she couldn’t beat Ralston and Williams, she’d join them. “Why on EARTH would anyone want to listen to an ACTRESS?” she laughed, and then remained quiet as the men proceeded to pour scorn over the very idea of anyone protesting about anything.
Although her instincts are no doubt liberal left, Josie Pagani is regularly bullied by the likes of Hooton, Williams and Ralston, and ends up pathetically speaking like someone from the right. She is either too dim or too timid to do anything about it.
Jeez, Morrisey, shouldn’t the issue be the bullying you describe, not the response of the victim? You seem to be well chuffed at their behaviour, presumably because it allows you to continue it online.
Not. When Djokovic had it all over Nadal at Wimbledon last year, did people say Nadal was a “victim”? Or simply outclassed?
Pagani is not a “victim”. She is a political media performance professional who needs to be doing her frakking job when the media spotlight is on her, and if she can’t or won’t do it, she needs to step aside out of the media for someone who can. Maybe her husband?
“Maybe her husband?”
I think that pretty much proves my point, CV.
🙂
“Maybe her husband?”
He’s just as useless. Williams is the only one who ever calls Hoots on his bullshit.
[Mike] Williams is the only one who ever calls Hoots on his bullshit.
Actually, Laila Harre was more than a match for Hooton, and so was Andrew Campbell.
Both Paganis are worse than useless.
did people say Nadal was a “victim”? Or simply outclassed?
I appreciate your point, but your analogy has a lot wrong with it: Nadal and Jokovic display style and grace, and they work hard at their profession. The opposite of all this is true of Messrs Williams and Ralston, and of Ms. Pagani.
You seem to be well chuffed at their behaviour,
I find Ralston and Larry Williams shallow and boorish. But now you tell me that transcribing a small fraction of their shallow, boorish on-air antics means that I am “chuffed at their behaviour”. That’s what I call drawing a long bow and missing your target by a good country mile.
presumably because it allows you to continue it online.
If Josie Pagani lacks the wit or the courage to defend herself against such crude bullies, that’s her own fault.
You’re missing the point. You’re the bully, pal.
Could you explain how I’m the bully?
Right now, your analysis is pretty much on the level of, say, Larry Williams. In other words, risibly inadequate.
You identify with people you acknowledge are bullies and claim the recipient is at fault. You’re a sad wee fuck, Morrisey.
Could you point out just where (and more precisely, how) I “identify with” these bullies?
Also note that Hooten seems to think we vote for Prime Ministers.
He complains that the ALP are showing disregard for voters by treating the office of PM as just another party-appointed position.
Which in reality it is. (Technically appointed by the Crown via the GG, but that’s a mere formality).
Privatizing the ACC work account was a disaster last time and will be again. There are no benefits to anyone by having competition in this sector as independent reports regularly show. However the value and benefits we get from ACC across all the areas covered depends on the work account to make it viable. There is no way a company running workplace insurance for profit and taking it to Australia can provide the same service for less than ACC can.
Like Charter School and asset sales it is ideology for the sake of ideology and I hope that the current delay becomes a permanent delay.
Hasn’t there been a significant reluctance of Insurance companies to get involved in ACC this time, in spite of the Government plan to increase user charges to allow the private insurers an easier run. The plan has stalled hasn’t it?
The Contrarian Delusion: How Hitchens Poisons Everything
by MAX BLUMENTHAL
April 30, 2007
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/the-contrarian-delusion-h_b_47295.html
Christopher Hitchens has made a career out of offending polite society. Among his greatest hits are his observation that women aren’t funny, his pooh-poohing of the Haditha massacre, and his defense of the jailed Holocaust denier David Irving, who he hailed as a “great historian.” More recently, Hitchens has volunteered himself as the licker of Wolfowitz’s comb, claiming that the corrupt World Bank president “did nothing wrong.”
Hitchens has cast these seemingly untenable positions as “contrarian,” lending himself not only an air of intellectual bravado, but a veneer of integrity as well. Despite his myriad personal flaws and political contradictions, Hitchens has managed to appear principled by trafficking in opinions that consistently outrage conservatives and liberals alike. He poses as a maverick, an intellectually macho literary gun-slinger who loves nothing more than provoking the indignant howls of the madding crowd. For Hitchens, everything is sacred, and therefore, everything is fair game.
Those who have followed the trajectory of Hitchens’ career knew it was only a matter of time before he set his sights on religion. What better way to piss off (and on) the masses than to unleash a full-frontal assault on God himself? So to great fanfare and perhaps nobody’s surprise, Hitchens has produced God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, an atheist manifesto intended to supplement Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and (New Age torture fanatic) Sam Harris’ The End of Faith.
Hitchens spares no sacred cows in his latest work. He blasts religion as a form of child abuse, claims Jesus Christ never lived, and declares that those who give their children bar mitzvahs are “planning your and my destruction and the destruction of all hard-won human attainments.” The requisite attacks on Islam, so satisfying to his newfound neo-con pals, are also featured at length.
Hitchens’ book might be mean-spirited and even bigoted; little more than a barely legible screed larded with predictable arguments and a scattershot of pretentious literary references, but who can say its author is unprincipled? This is contrarianism, right?
Please.
God Is Not Great represents little more than the disingenous posturings of a certified fraudmeister who has openly cavorted with the most reactionary elements of the Christian right. If Hitchens had any principles at all – if he truly feared the cultural and political consequences of the encroachment of religion into public life – he would have used his still-considerable influence to support organizations and causes that shore up the wall between church and state and which defend the rights of non-believers. Instead, Hitchens has done exactly the opposite.
In the fall of 2005, Hitchens gladly accepted the invitation of the Family Research Council to speak before its Witherspoon Fellows. Hitchens subsequently regaled an audience of young Christian right cadres with excerpts from his book, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. For attending Hitchens’ lecture and participating in several similar events, the FRC’s Witherspoon Fellows received academic credit for study at Pat Robertson’s Regent University, a school that has placed 150 of its graduates in Bush administration posts.
Presumably Hitchens was aware of the mission of the James Dobson-founded Family Research Council. How could such an intellectual giant be unaware of the FRC’s charge to “promote the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society?” How could Hitchens have missed the FRC’s many “Justice Sunday” rallies staged at mega-churches and telecast across America to advance the confirmation of George W. Bush’s most theocracy-minded judicial picks? (To my knowledge, these rallies occured well after happy hour) And how could Hitchens have been ignorant to the FRC’s vitriolic crusade to ban abortion and undermine gay rights?
Regarding FRC President Tony Perkins’ ties to white supremacists, I would like to paraphrase Scripture and say, forgive Hitchens for he knows not what the hell he is doing. My well-publicized report detailing how Perkins once purchased the phone bank list of former Klan leader David Duke for the price of $82,500 and how he headlined a 2001 fundraiser for the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens had only been out for a few months. Maybe Hitchens was too busy dancing with Wolfowitz to read it.
But there is no excuse for Hitchens’ hypocrisy. With the release of God Is Not Great, Hitchens owes his readers an explanation for his appearance at the Family Research Council, the nerve center of a theocratic movement determined to weaken the foundations of constitutional democracy. Hitchens must explain why he accepted the FRC’s invitation to speak and whether he was paid for his appearance.
While awaiting Hitchens’ response, I will pray that in the future his version of the Straight Talk Express designates a driver.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/the-contrarian-delusion-h_b_47295.html
Update: KKK paypal and friend of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens, Tony Perkins, has orchestrated the hacking of this post. In doing so, he has drawn greater attention to his links to and ideological support for white supremacists. The photo of Christopher Hitchens posing with the Family Research Council’s Witherspoon Fellows was scrubbed from FRC’s site today out of fear that I would link to it again. Not only does the FRC want to suppress Perkins’ links to white supremacists, it wants to suppress its own association with Hitchens. This begs the question: who embarrasses Perkins more, the Klan or Christopher Hitchens?
Why on earth should someone refuse a speaking invitation because they disagree on an issue? That would be like someone refusing to talk to a Church group about flower arranging because they happen to be atheist. As for the KKK connection, just a guess, but even Hitch was omnipotent, so just maybe he didn’t know? Meh.
You need to read the article again, this time intelligently.
It seems to me that you have some sort of sick regard for that fraud. (The use of the worshipful moniker “Hitch” is the giveaway here.)
I did reread it and I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, I am fond of Hitch’s work – he was a brilliant stylist. His main flaw was that he was too principled – which meant he found himself unable to back down from positions when he should have known better – the Iraq War being a case in point. His take downs of Mother Teresa and other sacred cows were masterful. He wasn’t a fraud, he was simply more inclined to play the ball than the man in this case.
That should have been “wasn’t omnipotent” – fat fingers on a skinny Mac keyboard rather than a Freudian slip.
he was a brilliant stylist
True.
His main flaw was that he was too principled
Not true.
His take downs of Mother Teresa and other sacred cows were masterful.
Oh really? Have you read his splenetic and puerile attempt to demean Noam Chomsky in Hitch 22? How “masterful” was that?
He wasn’t a fraud, he was simply more inclined to play the ball than the man in this case.
“In this case”? It was an aberration, was it? Your assessment of Hitchens is indulgent and willfully blind.
No, Hitch was extremely principled man. It’s just that sometimes his principles do not always sit well with your or mine – however this does not prevent him being an very civilised person. Even his ad hominem attacks tended to be well deserved.
His attack on Chomsky relates to the assertion that Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11. Such a claim is willfully absurd and anyone making it is making a fool of themselves.
Even his ad hominem attacks tended to be well deserved.
Oh? Like calling the mother of a dead U.S. soldier a “sob sister”? No doubt in your world she deserved that.
His attack on Chomsky relates to the assertion that Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11.
His foolish and groundless attack on Chomsky in 2001 was best summed up by Chomsky himself, speaking to Kim Hill on National Radio. Hitchens, he said, was simply “incoherent.”
Public displays of grief are always questionable – while his argument may not have been overly sensitive, it was sound. Soldiers do a job with the acknowledgment of risk. Wheteher or not I consider the war to have been gist or not, does not change that.
You are obviously a Chomsky groupie – therefore any further attempt at debating you is futile. You have already drunk the kool-aid.
You are obviously a Chomsky groupie
I read him, yes. You obviously have not.
Your recycling of the “drunk the kool-aid” quip shows not only that you haven’t read Chomsky, but that you aren’t serious.
I doubt you’ve read much of Hitchens either. You certainly show no sign of reading him with any degree of acumen.
Shhhh, Morissey – you bore me.
I’ve read most of Chomsky, both his neuro-linguistics work and his entries into political commentary. He should stick to his knitting as he makes enough mistaken generalisations there (the errors he makes vis a vis language acquisition are notorious).
I have read most of Hitchens too, and am certainly academically qualified to make judgments on him, and you are are just a mouse gnawing at a dead lion.
Now shoo.
Lucy Lawless – Hero of the Week
In fact this award is for everybody involved in trying to save the Arctic. Keep up the good work.
And plaudits to her for being a celebrity who has a brain, and can talk intelligently about issues. Aside from a few honorable exceptions—Elvis Costello, Sean Penn, Vanessa Redgrave and Tilda Swinton—there isn’t much evidence that entertainers do anything as onerous as actually reading a book.
And in the great Kangaroo boxing match, the judges have scored it Gillard 71, Rudd 31. Both camps are claiming victory!
Use the Facebook App on Your Smart Phone? Congrats, their reading your TXTs!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6485221/Facebook-app-accessing-texts-report
Untrustworthy corporate scum of the Earth.
never ever ever trust someone or something that is bigger than you.
Like your parents?
Like elephants.
Also, be very wary of anything and anyone smaller than you, like spiders.
Yeah we’re pretty screwed if they put weapons on these
Fuckwit of the Week:
Kevin Trudeau
All you have to do is quickly glance at his wikipedia bio to begin to grasp how dodgy this goat-fucker is, and if you want a serious dose of “what the fuck?!” go a read through Orac’s various posts on him. And yet otherwise smart people (and everything in between) will still believe him…
Even when he’s pulling a fairly obvious scam of becoming “members” of his secret society.
And no, taxes on human stupidity aren’t a good thing, because there’s invariably negative results involved, such as poverty (loss of tax, social support costs, health costs) or disability and/or death in the case of alt.med “cures” for terminal diseases.
Mike Moore, NZ’s US Ambassador, showing his corporate sponsors colours yet again
A champion of the neoliberal freemarket cartel through and through
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10788367
And good Trilateral Man, as well..
Really batting for NZ that bastard!
Beat up churnalism.
http://www.wita.org/en/cev/1146
How very refreshing and admirable to see someone accept responsibility.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6487061/Engineer-breaks-down-accepts-blame
Look who it is…
lol much?
heh..!..that is funny..
..phil-at-whoar.
Some people learn over time. RWNJs keep the same wrong thoughts always.
Besides, she was paid to do a job – doesn’t mean that she believed in the product.
zOMFG I bet she drives a car too!!!
Oh fuck so do I. On roads.
That means I can’t ever complain about the government OR the oil industry.
Wow. What, twenty years decades ago? when very few people were talking peak oil, ocean acidification and the atmospheric worry was the ozone hole.
I was listening to her interview with Marcus Lush and it sounded like she all but pleaded with the police to rescue her.
I’m guessing she thought she’d turn up for a photo op, get hauled off by the police and then fly back to LA the next morning, turns out she had to spend three nights with dirty, smelly tree-huggers instead.
That’ll learn her.
You’re thinking of Russell Crowe.
For all his faults hes a damn fine actor, “At my signal, unleash hell”
I enjoyed that movie…”the time for honouring yourself is almost at an end…highness”
Are you allowed to enter the US with a conviction for burglary?
Yes, that’s how IMF and Goldman Sachs executives can freely travel to and from the US.
How the haunting happens on the Internet. Big brother was watching her. What a hoot!
Yellow Pages to cut 20% of its workforce
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6487927/Yellow-Pages-to-cut-125-jobs
Corporates make money by eliminating jobs, not creating them. Soon we’ll have an economy where none of you worker types are needed. Well, next to none of you. Won;t that be an “efficient” future.
Eliminating jobs through technology isn’t the problem – replacing them is. Capitalists don’t like doing so because it means that they can’t cut wages and whinge about people not working.
Yellow pages was an accident waiting to happen…..telecom must’ve pissed itself at the dosh offered for effectively a brand.
I’ve no idea what the deal was in terms of accessing the core data that telecom owns that drives it so without it they are dead, then there’s the issue that from an IT perspective of transplanting a lung from one body to another.
I always thought the long term play was wait and buy it back for a fraction of sale price……a fool and his private equity money etc etc
Petition forms have been passed on to Labour MP Phil Twyford to present to the House – Tuesday 28 February 2012 – the petition that hopefully will help to force the resignation of John Banks ACT MP for Epsom?
The petition which requests:
“That the House conduct an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009″.
ie: How come ACT’s ‘one law for all’ (conveniently) didn’t apply to fellow former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd to current ACT Party Leader – MP for Epsom (and Minister of Regulatory Reform) John Banks, and former ACT Party Leader Don Brash, when they both signed the above-mentioned Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009, which contained untrue statements?
Arguably not a good look for New Zealand – ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the 2011 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’ to effectively have the balance of power held by a yet-to-be- charged ‘white collar’ criminal?
For more background information – please feel free to check out http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz
Cheers!
Penny Bright
” that hopefully will help to force the resignation of John Banks ACT MP for Epsom?”
‘Tell her she’s dreamin’
We’ll see………………
🙂
Penny Bright
Funny how the people who talk about individual responsibility the most, are the ones who never take responsibility for anything.
LIAR WATCH
Populuxe1
The Standard, February 28, 2012
1.) “I’ve read most of Chomsky…”
2.) “I have read most of Hitchens too.”
I’m an academic, you dick. It’s my job.
I’m an academic, you dick.
You don’t write like one.
It’s my job.
You show no evidence of having done your job. Your comments on Chomsky are ludicrously ill-informed.
I’m sure you take your work home with you, too, you silly little mosquito.
And your obsessive worship of Pope Chomsky shows you to be a credulous and not overly broad or critical reader.
Enough. Shoo. Stop wasting both our time.
“obsessive worship of Pope Chomsky”
Where have I shown any sign of “worshipping” Chomsky? The only idolatry evident here is your paean (“masterful”…”extremely principled”…”too principled”…”very civilised”) to that choleric bag of bile you and other worshippers call “Hitch”.
You forgot “alcoholic”, “chain-smoker” and “occasional supporter of misbegotten wars”.
Gosh it’s easy to attack someone who’s dead, isn’t it?
We owe the dead nothing more than the truth.
Why would you think that I care if Hitchens or anyone else is an alcoholic or a smoker?