“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard.”
Marion Elliot-Said, better known as Poly Styrene, has died of cancer. She was one of the first woman to adopt punk and with the band X Ray Specs played raucous anti-establishment and anti-consumerist songs in the years when music mattered.
In later life, she entered a Krishna temple and wanted to be remembered for her spirituality. However, I guess this song will remain her legacy:
Oh. How sad. She can’t be that old. I remmeber her songs. Loved them at the time. I also remember seeing her perform at an anti-Nazi League rally. We could do with a bit of that protest energy now.
Pity I had to hear the news to go searching youtube to remember who she was and the bands music, and those days of listening to the original BFM as this was the only outlet for any alt music (There was later on a rebel radio station many years later on Waiheke for a year or so from memory ). Also back then the influence of the sax by many british bands of that time
RIP M.E.S.
Gangs are on the rise. Intimidation is rife. Hell even the PnS in
Hamilton is too intimidated to actually arrest the shoplifters
(either there’s no law against taking from a open shop without
paying or why?). When three men accompany a man who shoots into
the dark are not charged with manslaughter, you have to worry
about the laws of NZ. When ACT a supposed liberty loving party
decides to let a loophole in car noise stand, that gangs use
to intimidate home owners and move into an area. Whatever happened
to the seizure of property, if gang members assist one another in
criminal acts why are the houses they do it from, that assist
each other by being next door to each other not also seized.
When Housing New Zealand does not know how to eject tenants
whose friends, visitors, intimidate the street, how can you not think
that the gangs have infiltrated many of the political parties,
government social departments, and are slow removing, deregulating.
Come on! John Key has now decided to shake all the departments up,
so they are even more ineffective.
Its a break down in law and order, letting criminal use gangs,
create an economy that pushes young people into gang culture,
removes or reshuffles existing law and government departments
and inevitable create new ways for gangs to innovate their tactics
in the new vacuum. As The right keep saying, the market is
much better at innovating, and the left says the markets aren’t
always good for the citizens, when are we as a society going to
connect the dots?
[lprent: Fixed the e-mail and got rid of the dup comment. ]
if gang members assist one another in criminal acts why are the houses they do it from, that assist each other by being next door to each other not also seized.
Most Gang members rent the houses they live in.
When Housing New Zealand does not know how to eject tenants whose friends, visitors, intimidate the street, how can you not think that the gangs have infiltrated many of the political parties, government social departments, and are slow removing, deregulating. Come on!
Housing New Zealand cannot evict people for being in gangs. The Government, as much as it might like to, cannot evict people for being Maori either. They should not intimidate or interfere in peoples lives for who they are or what they do within the law. Perhaps you might support the new fascist regime, but most people don’t. Gangs are a symptom of a failing society. You can make changes so that gangs do not have disaffected people to recruit. You cannot get rid of gangs by evicting their members from their housing.
Zeebop. The National Party is a gang but a “respectable” one. They wear a patch but its in badge form. Their gang has an air of arrogance and intimidate all those who get in their way. They look out for each other and even build roads to keep other gang members happy. The Key to survival is to just agree with them and keep quiet and avoid eye contact.
People think the government does not have enough funds to pay for new infrastructure and would rather see user pays and public-private partnership options to finance future projects, new research shows.
The New Zealand Council of Infrastructure and Development’s Funding Infrastructure study says that given the gloomy economic climate, Kiwis don’t want the Government to borrow or increase taxes to fund infrastructure, with only 8 and 10 percent supporting the respective options.
Instead, 40 per cent of respondents prefer user-pays models, such as tolls on motorways, and 35 per cent want the private sector to be more involved through PPP in funding new infrastructure such as roads, public transport, ports and utilities
Some 18 per cent favour the partial sale of publicly owned assets, such as power companies, ports or airports, as funding source.
About 24 per cent say the government should not proceed with projects it did not have the money for.
Not sure if off the cuff survey responses will do justice to complex questions like these.
National have quite a way to go to get support for partial asset sales.
National have quite a way to go to get support for partial asset sales.
Who would have thought that ripping off our children and grandchildren in order to concentrate ownership of the nation\’s assets in the hands of the few and the rich, many of them foreigners, would be such a hard sell.
By the way mate trying to conflate the results from a survey on “user pays” with asset sales where “we all pay” is a serious over-reach.
Interesting PeteG. Wonder if respondents were able to give more than one answer to each question? That and that but not that.
500 being surveyed is a bit thin. And for ordinary folk like me each suggestion would require a fairly careful explanation to be adequately informed in order to give a fair answer.
“National have quite a way to go to get support for partial asset sales.” That is why Key needs Brash/Act to be “forced unwillingly” to go ahead with such sales.
(No way of getting quotes bold italics etc today?)
The New Zealand Council of Infrastructure and Developmentâs Funding Infrastructure
There’s your problem right there. It’s a right-wing think tank that starts off with a conclusion and then goes off to get/twist/spin the numbers to prove it.
I always thought the biggest flaw with carbon emissions agreements was that there was little incentive for the consuming countries to reduce consumption seeing as the counting was in production that was increasingly in developing countries with no restrictions of carbon emissions. Now there is a report out dealing with this scenario:
Cuts in carbon emissions by developed countries since 1990 have been cancelled out many times over by increases in imported goods from developing countries such as China, according to the most comprehensive global figures ever compiled.
Previous studies have shown the significance of “outsourced” emissions for specific countries, but the latest research, published on Monday, provides the first global view of how international trade altered national carbon footprints during the period of the Kyoto protocol.
Doesnât mention the *awkward* question about how many folks get trained and then disappear.
Disappear with their US paid for firearm, munitions, training, supplies, intel, pay (which probably doesn’t get stopped until someone figures out they have gone)…
Brian Easton has written an excellent piece in the Listener for the week April 30-May 6 2011 titled ‘Will the Budget be fair?
‘We object so strongly to having our own incomes further reduced by taxation that we think the incomes of pensioners should be reduced instead… In times of depression it is necessary to curtail the community’s consumption of many goods and services. Already people with large or moderate incomes have diminished their expenditure on many of the pleasant but unnecessary things which formerly they enjoyed. Most of them are, however, still tolerably comfortable. A great deal of money is spent on motor cars and holidays, on racing and other amusements. But rather curtail further expenditure of this kind, we think it will become necessary to reduce expenditure… [that] would be most advantageous to the whole community.
So wrote University of Otago professor Alan Fisher in 1932, satirising the attitudes of many of the elite as New Zealand struggles with the impact of the Great Depression.’
If you can lay your hands on this Listener do so because the whole piece is so on the money for our times and these are words to live by.
I got fed up with the Listener after it turned into a right wing rag that ran constant middle class angst stories about healthcare, crime, educational failure, material aspirations etc. In the end I sent them a letter telling them they were no longer on the purchase list.
Agreed completely. With Pamela Stirling and Joanne Black calling the shots what else would you expect. I remember when they dumped Gordon Campbell – according to Stirling it had nothing to do with politics, it was the business case. Some business case that involves dropping the best journalist the magazine had and consistent ‘award winner’.
If I read one more Listener cover story about how to improve my brain power I’ll be powerful enough to generate all of Christchurch’s electricity needs just by having a quick think (we’ve just had powercuts again here in the South of Christchurch).
Stirling and Black are self-satisfied twats but I like Easton’s articles. Gordon Campbell now has a weekly gig with the Kapiti Observer but it’s behind a paywall – he’s written some good articles holding the government’s feet to the fire.
Have a look for Brian Easton’s own website (I think it is in the blogroll in the reference sites – yep http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/ ). He often puts his columns and speeches up there.
The Fukushima Dai-Ichi station had 6,415 people on site that day. More than 5,500, like Matsumoto and Imamura, were subcontractors who reported to their clusters of offices in the plant for a head count.
From 1997 to 2000, Paul Fusco made repeated trips to the areas surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant. What was meant to be a quick visit turned into a long-term project as he found himself overwhelmed by the fate of the children born within the radiation zone of Chernobyl and the love that their caregivers provided. In this multimedia piece, featuring images from his trips, Fusco reflects on the horrific legacy of the Chernobyl disaster.
And wiki leaking all the relevant emails over the Act would probably be more effective than a low orbital ion cannon attack, given how stupid certain National and ACT MP’s are…
[EDIT] And what’s to bet someone brainless will take that teh wrong way.
ZeeBop – your post sounds like National Party electioneering to me
‘Law and order’ is one of their stated platforms and just like them you don’t provide any evidence to back up you claim that lawlessness is on the rise.
Gangs would have little traction in a New Zealand that valued its citizens, a New Zealand with decent pay and opportunities for all, a New Zealand where everyone has a voice in Parliament and a New Zealand that embraced pastimes other than money worship, witch hunts and scapegoating.
You claim that its a break down in law and order – I say its a break down of Democracy.
You would presumably put more people in prison where thanks to a new law they no longer have a voice when the problem is that people already feel so disenfranchised that they form alternative societies and hidden economies.
There is no escalating gang problem – there is however an escalating comprehension problem around what we need to do as a country to prevent more and more people falling by the wayside as the mainstream slavishly lusts after fools gold and in petty spite blames the poor and the weak for their discontent.
[was supposed to be posted as reply to 3 but refresh issues thwarted intent]
The OECD advice to us is get capital gains tax and that the present taxation system favours the wealthy. House prices have doubled in years 2002-2007 and for working people now in rented houses – the majority would find it impossible to buy at present. Think that\’s right. E&OE That is something that Don Brash wanted – less people putting their money into buying houses. Labour couldn\’t bring themselves to introduce the tax though new ideas of sweat equity etc got talked about (implemented?). Will National have the balls to introduce it even just one specially tailored to please their paymasters, and not hurt the average citizen too much?
Just noticed that the date on today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’s Open Mike is wrong. Either that or I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’ve been in an chocolate overdose based coma since Easter.
(and still haveing to duplicate post as the ani-spam is still freaking out, maaan.)
((maybe something to do with the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’installing components swflash.cab\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’ message running along the bottom?))
((maybe something to do with the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\âinstalling components swflash.cab\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\â message running along the bottom?))
Probably. I’ve just run a set of tests on several browsers (including with IE) on both servers, and I can’t get any errors with the anti-spam. Has anyone else had problems since I removed the javascript editor?
I had problems earlier today posting to the Horizon poll thread. Is it something to do with a timeout? It seems to work fine after a refresh and immediate paste and send, whereas if you spend some time writing the comment it won’t send.
Edit: And this short and quick comment worked fine.
Had a problem with this comment (previously). It came up with the same antispam word as a comment I just did previously. This antispam word is different so, fingers crossed …
They explained away the bone fractures, didnât ask what caused the lacerations, and called the hallucinations routine. Rather than blowing the whistle, medical professionals entrusted with the care of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay turned a blind eye when there were clear indications of abuse.
The profits from the RWC are probably overstated in order to dupe us into welcoming the income of great wealth. Overstated predictions
Just trying the shortened link.
I\’m wondering where the benny bashers are on this one. Looks like the poor old duck was in a Housing NZ unit & must have been claiming a benefit for many years. I feel sad for the life this woman had, and wondered if she received any help along the way with her addictions, but also a bit cynical about all these tributes. Drunk, abusive beneficiary? Nobody cares about you, unless you\’ve been sitting around long enough to become part of the view.
And Rodney was proudly proclaiming to Campbell that Act had democratic processes that would be followed….. after his ramming through of the supercity without consultation, he can claim to value democracy?
And as for Tweedle Dee…. a proven liar, and critical of Key, who, it seems will be happy to work with this resurrected ex National leader…. recreational fiction is more believable.
Brash got his talking points in, kindly letting labour know what he will be saying for the next 7 months.
300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, that’s 1.2Billion a month, all families know you don’t keep borrowing to fund regular spending.
Pretty predictable, but Labour need to get their own lines to kill this stuff.
Most people that have been governor of a reserve bank know that a country’s economy is not the same thing as a family’s checking account, so why does Brash want NZ to think it is?
Greece had brash style austerity forced on them, and it’s making their deficit worse not better. It hasn’t worked there, it hasn’t worked in Spain, it hasn’t worked in Ireland, it’s not working in Britain. It doesn’t solve the problem it’s aimed at solving.
When brash was the bought and paid for leader of national all he wanted to do was cut taxes on the rich and slash services for the rest of us. He claimed a surplus was theft. Now he’s the bought and paid for leader of ACT all he wants to do is cut taxes for the rich and slash services for the rest of us. He claims a deficit is like krypton. The only things that change are his excuses and the colour of the car his backers put him in.
300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week
Yep, onto it Pb, now we see the polling that produced the coup – \”$300/wk debt for every family\” and of course the old favourite \”One law for all\” relaunched by the original artist in the dulcet contemporary tones of \”We are all New Zealanders\” (even Australians if you listen again!)
One consolation: the polls must also show a narrowing gap to force this unpredictable old nag out of the stable so early. Not sure it\’ll run again, not with this dissipated old hack as jockey.
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Todayâs deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. âThe deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. âABAC helps ensure that APECâs work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Governmentâs prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealandâs local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. âGiven the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, itâs clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. âThe Battle at Te Ruapekapeka PÄ, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. âThe new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? â Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children â Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 â were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka â Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the worldâs population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayersâ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is âbullshit.â Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. Itâs a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealandâs Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngÄ Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. âNew Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology âThe lie outlasts the liar,â writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the âpost-truthâ era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, UNSW The views of women and men can differ on important gendered issues such as abortion, gender equity and government spending priorities. Surprisingly, however, average differences in sex ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer S. Hunt, Lecturer in National Security, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle In Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with COVID lockdowns. Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australiaâs export ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asha Bowen, Head, Skin Health, Telethon Kids Institute A year ago, in late January 2020, Australia reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, we have seen almost 29,000 confirmed cases and 909 deaths. As cases climbed in Australian cities in 2020, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Emeritus Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne Political pressure forced the federal government in 2017 â when Scott Morrison was treasurer â to call the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services sector. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Ellis, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle The Rise and Fall of Saint George is a story about place, belonging and community that taps into universal tensions of identity and faith in multicultural societies. Playing for ...
An in-depth analysis of media coverage of the euthanasia and cannabis referendums has found that while both sides of the euthanasia referendum were given reasonably fair and balanced coverage, the YES position in the cannabis debate received a heavily ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission Auckland has no plans to hand over the ownership of it assets under the government's planned water reforms, with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff saying his top priority is to ensure it stacks up for the city. Despite ...
Auckland Transport is putting nine new electric buses on the roads today, as it dramatically accelerates its plans to get rid of all its diesel buses â in a funding challenge to the council. Public transport operators are being told to not buy any more diesel buses or risk losing their council ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they find out exactly what we’re voting on in the cannabis referendum, and discover how legalising weed is a women’s issue.First published August 4, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
A principal analyst for the Climate Change Commission says more needs to be done to reduce agricultural emissions or the country will miss its methane targets. ...
Despite promises of improvement, questions remain about colonoscopy services in Otago and Southland.David Williams reports The apology, when it came, was fulsome. âOn behalf of the Southern DHB, I offer a sincere apology for lapses and inadequacies in colonoscopy services over the past several years,â district health board chair ...
New Zealand needs to be bold in making developers enhance the environment - not just limit its degradation, writes Stephen Knight-Lenihan All human activity should help restore the natural world. This is a concept that may resonate following the upheavals of 2020 and one which is beginning to appear in law. Imagine ...
Derek Challis, son of the legendary author Robin Hyde, died last Thursday. Michelle Leggott pays tribute He opens a suitcase and there they are, the precious manuscript notebooks written by his poet mother Iris Wilkinson aka Robin Hyde. We are in Dunedin for a Hyde conference. Yes, says Derek Arden ...
Former New Zealand gymnast Katya Nosova is now a champion bodybuilder, who was prepared to spend Christmas alone in quarantine to compete in the 'Olympics' of her sport. Katya Nosova was willing to do everything she could to pose on the world stage in her third Ms Olympia. Despite a ...
Concerts and some sports look likely to be on the move in Auckland after a big win for Eden Park â and politicians and officials may now want to win the public some control over the independent stadium. The advent of big concerts at Eden Park will, in all likelihood, mean ...
The issues political editor Justin Giovannetti will be keeping an eye on in 2021 (that have nothing to do with Covid-19).New Zealand will be busy in 2021. The border will remain closed to nearly all travellers and Covid-19 will continue to lead the news, but the country has a packed ...
A former case manager says that his experience working with beneficiaries suggests claims of a ‘complete shift’ in the service’s approach are laughable.A former Work and Income case manager who now works with beneficiaries engaging with the service has spoken out on a “toxic” culture which he says denies beneficiaries ...
ACC Minister Carmel Sepuloni must confirm whether the Government supports ACCâs apparent policy to make payouts for illegal overstayers , says the New Zealand Taxpayersâ Union . Union spokesman Jordan Williams says, âSince when was it ACC policy to ...
By RNZ News An independent panel says Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January to curb the initial covid-19 outbreak, and criticised the World Health Organisation (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until 30 January. The experts reviewing the global handling of the pandemic, ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Fijiâs NGO Coalition on Human Rights has called for stronger accountability and commitment to human rights at home in response to the country taking the world stage as the head of a UN body. The UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) elected Fijiâs ambassador Nazhat Shameem as ...
Danyl McLauchlan reviews Stuart Ritchie’s Science Fictions, which outlines the staggering systemic flaws in the funding and publication of scientific papers. Back in August of 2006 a number of New Zealand scientists were caught up in a media controversy about whether Māori had a genetic predisposition towards violent crime. It kicked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago America is currently experiencing its worst political and constitutional crisis since the civil war when the very survival of Abraham Lincolnâs government âof, by and for the peopleâ was at stake. On ...
Manaaki Rangatahi report that young people experiencing homelessness are being further traumatized within the emergency accommodation where they have sought safety. Often these environments are unsafe, and unsuitable for young people to live in, and rangatahi ...
Can you figure out which of the above is the real Jacinda Ardern? Probably! But one day, that might not be true.There are many reasons to believe the internet shouldn’t exist. Social media empires exerting, intentionally or not, their control over sovereign governments. Baby Shark. Your aunt on Facebook.It pains ...
The Point of Order Ministers on a Mission Monitor has flickered only fleetingly for much of the month. Â More than once, the minister to trigger it has been David Parker, who set it off again yesterday with an announcement that shows how he has been spending our money. He welcomed ...
Ban Bomb Day event at the New Brighton Pier, 9am, on January 22nd, 2021 January 22nd, 2021, marks the first day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) Enters into Force and becomes international law. Aotearoa NZ is one of the ...
Why are New Zealand’s 2 Minute Noodles called 3 Minute Noodles in the UK? It’s a puzzle that has taken hold of Dylan Reeve and refuses to let go.I’m a child of the 80s and 90s. I watched a lot of TV and was a big fan of aggressively marketed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonatan A Lassa, Senior Lecturer, Humanitarian Emergency and Disaster Management, College of Indigenous Futures, Arts and Society, Charles Darwin University News of storms battering parts of Queensland and the threat posed by Cyclone Kimi reminded me of a recent experience Iâd had. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the use of force to effect the arrest of a wanted offender in Auckland was justified and proportionate to the risk he posed. A man, who was well known to Police, was wanted by Police for an aggravated ...
A distinctly colonial institution, banking has long ignored te ao Māori. Teaho Pihama believes investment in tikanga Māori at Kiwibank can have significant, positive outcomes for Māori.In early 90s Tāmaki Makaurau, when Teahooterangi (Teaho) Pihama was growing up riding his bike around the streets of Kingsland until the streetlights came ...
Donald Trumpâs awful presidency expires at midday on Wednesday [US time] when Air Force One will have deposited him in Florida. He retreats to his Mar-a-Lago resort and Joseph R Biden Junior takes command of the White House. Trump’s has been an unpleasant presidency, brought about largely by his own ...
The New Zealand Union of Studentsâ Associations (NZUSA) has elected its National President for 2021. The election took place last Friday at an NZUSA Special General Meeting (SGM) in Wellington. Andrew Lessells, 22, was elected to serve as the National ...
Think twice before you accept that surprise school reunion invite, writes Chris Schulz.It started with a Facebook notification. A school reunion was being organised. It sounded fun, with a fancy dress party set to be held in the city where I grew up, Whanganui. I hadn’t seen some of my ...
Unlike the US, there is very little NZ precedent for politicians to issue discretionary pardons â creating a challenge for those like Prof Sean Davison who might have a humanitarian claim to mercy. ...
Schools have told the Education Review Office that some children lost 10 weeks of learning in last year's lockdowns, but the overall impact of the pandemic is still unclear. In a report based on surveys of thousand of students, teachers and principals during and after last year's national and Auckland ...
The government seems to still be in holiday mode when in the past two weeks alone we have had six homicides, countless firearms incidents, and police needing to arm themselves against gangs almost every second day," says Sensible Sentencing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Crawford, Associate Professor in Construction and Environmental Assessment, University of Melbourne Over the past few years, Australians have embraced online food delivery services such as UberEats, Deliveroo and Menulog. But home-delivered food comes with a climate cost, and single-use packaging is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland When the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia in March 2020, the Morrison government took bold and imaginative action. The most notable examples were its income support programs â JobKeeper, paying a A$750 weekly ...
Ocean Ute, which arrived at Port Taranaki yesterday, is the second live export ship to arrive in New Zealand this year. Taranaki Animal Rights Group has two demonstrations planned for today. A protest at midday and a vigil at 6.30pm tonight . The number ...
The Department of Corrections is well within its rights to refuse Jared Savageâs âGanglandâ book from being read by inmates and it is outrageous that resources and time are now potentially going to be wasted in court about it, says Sensible ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Cowling, Associate Professor – Information & Communication Technology (ICT), CQUniversity Australia Weâve probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Vice-chancellor’s fellow, La Trobe University The new trade minister, Dan Tehan, has been handed one of the Morrison governmentâs most demanding roles. Despite a lot of chest-thumping in government circles about the need to stand up to âChinese bullyingâ, Tehanâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Weinstein, Professorial Research Fellow, University of Adelaide Thereâs no question the rising rate of unemployment is one of the worst consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of Australians seeking work is heading towards 10%, almost double the pre-pandemic Australian average ...
“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard.”
Marion Elliot-Said, better known as Poly Styrene, has died of cancer. She was one of the first woman to adopt punk and with the band X Ray Specs played raucous anti-establishment and anti-consumerist songs in the years when music mattered.
In later life, she entered a Krishna temple and wanted to be remembered for her spirituality. However, I guess this song will remain her legacy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AS4bBEMT44
Oh. How sad. She can’t be that old. I remmeber her songs. Loved them at the time. I also remember seeing her perform at an anti-Nazi League rally. We could do with a bit of that protest energy now.
Only 53. Like Strummer, way to early to go. There\’s a couple of nice articles on the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/26/poly-styrene-dies-aged-53
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/apr/26/poly-styrene-x-ray-spex
Pity I had to hear the news to go searching youtube to remember who she was and the bands music, and those days of listening to the original BFM as this was the only outlet for any alt music (There was later on a rebel radio station many years later on Waiheke for a year or so from memory ). Also back then the influence of the sax by many british bands of that time
RIP M.E.S.
I followed the Guardian link and noticed, also, that Phoebe Snow has just died! Does anyone remember her?
What interesting women they both were!
Vicky
Can’t find the election results anywhere … đ
Gangs are on the rise. Intimidation is rife. Hell even the PnS in
Hamilton is too intimidated to actually arrest the shoplifters
(either there’s no law against taking from a open shop without
paying or why?). When three men accompany a man who shoots into
the dark are not charged with manslaughter, you have to worry
about the laws of NZ. When ACT a supposed liberty loving party
decides to let a loophole in car noise stand, that gangs use
to intimidate home owners and move into an area. Whatever happened
to the seizure of property, if gang members assist one another in
criminal acts why are the houses they do it from, that assist
each other by being next door to each other not also seized.
When Housing New Zealand does not know how to eject tenants
whose friends, visitors, intimidate the street, how can you not think
that the gangs have infiltrated many of the political parties,
government social departments, and are slow removing, deregulating.
Come on! John Key has now decided to shake all the departments up,
so they are even more ineffective.
Its a break down in law and order, letting criminal use gangs,
create an economy that pushes young people into gang culture,
removes or reshuffles existing law and government departments
and inevitable create new ways for gangs to innovate their tactics
in the new vacuum. As The right keep saying, the market is
much better at innovating, and the left says the markets aren’t
always good for the citizens, when are we as a society going to
connect the dots?
[lprent: Fixed the e-mail and got rid of the dup comment. ]
Zeebop
Most Gang members rent the houses they live in.
Housing New Zealand cannot evict people for being in gangs. The Government, as much as it might like to, cannot evict people for being Maori either. They should not intimidate or interfere in peoples lives for who they are or what they do within the law. Perhaps you might support the new fascist regime, but most people don’t. Gangs are a symptom of a failing society. You can make changes so that gangs do not have disaffected people to recruit. You cannot get rid of gangs by evicting their members from their housing.
Zeebop. The National Party is a gang but a “respectable” one. They wear a patch but its in badge form. Their gang has an air of arrogance and intimidate all those who get in their way. They look out for each other and even build roads to keep other gang members happy. The Key to survival is to just agree with them and keep quiet and avoid eye contact.
How to pay our way? User pays option the best: survey
Not sure if off the cuff survey responses will do justice to complex questions like these.
National have quite a way to go to get support for partial asset sales.
Who would have thought that ripping off our children and grandchildren in order to concentrate ownership of the nation\’s assets in the hands of the few and the rich, many of them foreigners, would be such a hard sell.
By the way mate trying to conflate the results from a survey on “user pays” with asset sales where “we all pay” is a serious over-reach.
A couple of ways to look at it:
– partial asset sales are even less popular than a partial Labour government so should be opposed
– partial asset sales are more popular than the Greens, Act, Maori Party and NZF combined, should none or all have an airing in parliament?
Both of those ways are utterly stupid.
It is PeteG after all.
SnoopDog is more popular than all those above options so according to PeteG\’s formula Snoop\’s the next to get representation in the House.
Specking to people from the UK PPP’s have been a disaster over their. STOP ASSET SALES .
Only 18% favour partial sales HA! there’s your answer. STOP ASSET SALES .
Who are ‘The New Zealand Council of Infrastructure and Development’ just a bunch of people pushing there own barrows like peteG. STOP ASSET SALES .
Interesting PeteG. Wonder if respondents were able to give more than one answer to each question? That and that but not that.
500 being surveyed is a bit thin. And for ordinary folk like me each suggestion would require a fairly careful explanation to be adequately informed in order to give a fair answer.
“National have quite a way to go to get support for partial asset sales.” That is why Key needs Brash/Act to be “forced unwillingly” to go ahead with such sales.
(No way of getting quotes bold italics etc today?)
There’s your problem right there. It’s a right-wing think tank that starts off with a conclusion and then goes off to get/twist/spin the numbers to prove it.
I always thought the biggest flaw with carbon emissions agreements was that there was little incentive for the consuming countries to reduce consumption seeing as the counting was in production that was increasingly in developing countries with no restrictions of carbon emissions. Now there is a report out dealing with this scenario:
An audit of the Police (read security forces) in Afghanistan reckons that it’s all corrupt and that the numbers on the payroll don’t reflect reality.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703856704576285380546943792.html
Doesn’t mention the *awkward* question about how many folks get trained and then disappear.
Sucks to be training and financing both sides eh? Clap louder though, we’re WINNING!
Disappear with their US paid for firearm, munitions, training, supplies, intel, pay (which probably doesn’t get stopped until someone figures out they have gone)…
Brian Easton has written an excellent piece in the Listener for the week April 30-May 6 2011 titled ‘Will the Budget be fair?
‘We object so strongly to having our own incomes further reduced by taxation that we think the incomes of pensioners should be reduced instead… In times of depression it is necessary to curtail the community’s consumption of many goods and services. Already people with large or moderate incomes have diminished their expenditure on many of the pleasant but unnecessary things which formerly they enjoyed. Most of them are, however, still tolerably comfortable. A great deal of money is spent on motor cars and holidays, on racing and other amusements. But rather curtail further expenditure of this kind, we think it will become necessary to reduce expenditure… [that] would be most advantageous to the whole community.
So wrote University of Otago professor Alan Fisher in 1932, satirising the attitudes of many of the elite as New Zealand struggles with the impact of the Great Depression.’
If you can lay your hands on this Listener do so because the whole piece is so on the money for our times and these are words to live by.
M. Went looking online Listener but most recent Easton column is for 5 April. Have to wait I guess as I have long since given up on the Listener.
I got fed up with the Listener after it turned into a right wing rag that ran constant middle class angst stories about healthcare, crime, educational failure, material aspirations etc. In the end I sent them a letter telling them they were no longer on the purchase list.
Yes, I feel the same way about the Listener. I am terribly disappointed with what it has become..
V.
Agreed completely. With Pamela Stirling and Joanne Black calling the shots what else would you expect. I remember when they dumped Gordon Campbell – according to Stirling it had nothing to do with politics, it was the business case. Some business case that involves dropping the best journalist the magazine had and consistent ‘award winner’.
If I read one more Listener cover story about how to improve my brain power I’ll be powerful enough to generate all of Christchurch’s electricity needs just by having a quick think (we’ve just had powercuts again here in the South of Christchurch).
Stirling and Black are self-satisfied twats but I like Easton’s articles. Gordon Campbell now has a weekly gig with the Kapiti Observer but it’s behind a paywall – he’s written some good articles holding the government’s feet to the fire.
Have a look for Brian Easton’s own website (I think it is in the blogroll in the reference sites – yep http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/ ). He often puts his columns and speeches up there.
A terrifying account of the Fukushima disaster.
The Fukushima Dai-Ichi station had 6,415 people on site that day. More than 5,500, like Matsumoto and Imamura, were subcontractors who reported to their clusters of offices in the plant for a head count.
more
The legacy of Chernobyl.
From 1997 to 2000, Paul Fusco made repeated trips to the areas surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant. What was meant to be a quick visit turned into a long-term project as he found himself overwhelmed by the fate of the children born within the radiation zone of Chernobyl and the love that their caregivers provided. In this multimedia piece, featuring images from his trips, Fusco reflects on the horrific legacy of the Chernobyl disaster.
From 11-12 I will be on Vinny Eastwood’s show. I will be talking about Derivatives, Credit default swaps, Andrew Krieger and John Key.
See you there!
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/hackers-threaten-parliament-s-website-4143047
Oh yes please.
And wiki leaking all the relevant emails over the Act would probably be more effective than a low orbital ion cannon attack, given how stupid certain National and ACT MP’s are…
[EDIT] And what’s to bet someone brainless will take that teh wrong way.
ZeeBop – your post sounds like National Party electioneering to me
‘Law and order’ is one of their stated platforms and just like them you don’t provide any evidence to back up you claim that lawlessness is on the rise.
Gangs would have little traction in a New Zealand that valued its citizens, a New Zealand with decent pay and opportunities for all, a New Zealand where everyone has a voice in Parliament and a New Zealand that embraced pastimes other than money worship, witch hunts and scapegoating.
You claim that its a break down in law and order – I say its a break down of Democracy.
You would presumably put more people in prison where thanks to a new law they no longer have a voice when the problem is that people already feel so disenfranchised that they form alternative societies and hidden economies.
There is no escalating gang problem – there is however an escalating comprehension problem around what we need to do as a country to prevent more and more people falling by the wayside as the mainstream slavishly lusts after fools gold and in petty spite blames the poor and the weak for their discontent.
[was supposed to be posted as reply to 3 but refresh issues thwarted intent]
The OECD advice to us is get capital gains tax and that the present taxation system favours the wealthy. House prices have doubled in years 2002-2007 and for working people now in rented houses – the majority would find it impossible to buy at present. Think that\’s right. E&OE That is something that Don Brash wanted – less people putting their money into buying houses. Labour couldn\’t bring themselves to introduce the tax though new ideas of sweat equity etc got talked about (implemented?). Will National have the balls to introduce it even just one specially tailored to please their paymasters, and not hurt the average citizen too much?
Just noticed that the date on today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’s Open Mike is wrong. Either that or I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’ve been in an chocolate overdose based coma since Easter.
(and still haveing to duplicate post as the ani-spam is still freaking out, maaan.)
((maybe something to do with the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’installing components swflash.cab\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’ message running along the bottom?))
Fifth attempt at posting this!!!
6th attempt
7th go
And it won’t let me email to sysop, either.
Thanks – fixed.
Ouch…. I will have another look this evening at the comment posting.
((maybe something to do with the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\âinstalling components swflash.cab\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\â message running along the bottom?))
Probably. I’ve just run a set of tests on several browsers (including with IE) on both servers, and I can’t get any errors with the anti-spam. Has anyone else had problems since I removed the javascript editor?
Yep, including today. It stil takes 2-3 tries to post eg that post I did on Gordon Campbell\’s article about Brash & Act.
And with this one – Firefox on Vista.
PS: It is easier since the reversion to the old form of commenting – the other one played havoc with link codes when the anti-spam didn’t work.
Ok. I’ll check the logs to see what failed with that one – the date/time + Ip should allow me to dig it out.
I had problems earlier today posting to the Horizon poll thread. Is it something to do with a timeout? It seems to work fine after a refresh and immediate paste and send, whereas if you spend some time writing the comment it won’t send.
Edit: And this short and quick comment worked fine.
Cheers, LP, no problems with this comment, so hopefully problem solved.
Had a problem with this comment (previously). It came up with the same antispam word as a comment I just did previously. This antispam word is different so, fingers crossed …
Is it just me or have all the options for Bold itallics quote and so on no longer visible/available?
Using Firefox on Mac.
LP turned it off yesterday.
Yep, so back to using basic html.
Pricks.
They explained away the bone fractures, didnât ask what caused the lacerations, and called the hallucinations routine. Rather than blowing the whistle, medical professionals entrusted with the care of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay turned a blind eye when there were clear indications of abuse.
What on earth is ‘routine hallucinations’ supposed to mean? I agree with you, Joe90… Che cazzo! Coglione… Bastardi!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4931107/UK-PM-signals-air-tax-reform-in-talks-with-Key
” “I’m eating for New Zealand,” he joked. ”
is it me or is that comment somewhat distasteful with today’s record use of foodbanks and rocketing supermarket prices
it’s just you
Middle of this decade is shaping up to be veeeeery interesting.
The profits from the RWC are probably overstated in order to dupe us into welcoming the income of great wealth.
Overstated predictions
Just trying the shortened link.
Damn Should have been Overstated Predictions
Damn again should have been http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10721722
a banker’s progress
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2011/04/03
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/national/4927850/Well-known-street-woman-dies
I\’m wondering where the benny bashers are on this one. Looks like the poor old duck was in a Housing NZ unit & must have been claiming a benefit for many years. I feel sad for the life this woman had, and wondered if she received any help along the way with her addictions, but also a bit cynical about all these tributes. Drunk, abusive beneficiary? Nobody cares about you, unless you\’ve been sitting around long enough to become part of the view.
John Key says only MPs can be Ministers. Is this true? I thought the PM could appoint anyone as a Minister.
Even an Opposition MP?
Or Bronagh?
Anyone at all, I thought. It’s a convention that they’re MPs from the PM’s party but I don’t know if it’s anything more than a convention.
Does anyone know? Can the PM appoint anyone as a Minister?
Anyone in Parliament. He can’t appoint Judy Bailey.
In the States, the Pres can appoint whoever he or she likes.
Ah, thanks. Bummer about Judy though.
Yes. Everything would be OK if we just had Judy.
Campbell’s got tweedledum, then tweedledee. Competing realities in such close proximity. Hope they’ve update the folks @CERN.
And Rodney was proudly proclaiming to Campbell that Act had democratic processes that would be followed….. after his ramming through of the supercity without consultation, he can claim to value democracy?
And as for Tweedle Dee…. a proven liar, and critical of Key, who, it seems will be happy to work with this resurrected ex National leader…. recreational fiction is more believable.
Just when you think some people had shuffled off…..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19473099@N05
Brash got his talking points in, kindly letting labour know what he will be saying for the next 7 months.
300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, that’s 1.2Billion a month, all families know you don’t keep borrowing to fund regular spending.
Pretty predictable, but Labour need to get their own lines to kill this stuff.
Most people that have been governor of a reserve bank know that a country’s economy is not the same thing as a family’s checking account, so why does Brash want NZ to think it is?
Greece had brash style austerity forced on them, and it’s making their deficit worse not better. It hasn’t worked there, it hasn’t worked in Spain, it hasn’t worked in Ireland, it’s not working in Britain. It doesn’t solve the problem it’s aimed at solving.
When brash was the bought and paid for leader of national all he wanted to do was cut taxes on the rich and slash services for the rest of us. He claimed a surplus was theft. Now he’s the bought and paid for leader of ACT all he wants to do is cut taxes for the rich and slash services for the rest of us. He claims a deficit is like krypton. The only things that change are his excuses and the colour of the car his backers put him in.
300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week, 300 Million a week
Yep, onto it Pb, now we see the polling that produced the coup – \”$300/wk debt for every family\” and of course the old favourite \”One law for all\” relaunched by the original artist in the dulcet contemporary tones of \”We are all New Zealanders\” (even Australians if you listen again!)
One consolation: the polls must also show a narrowing gap to force this unpredictable old nag out of the stable so early. Not sure it\’ll run again, not with this dissipated old hack as jockey.
I know! Apparently article three of the treaty says Australians are New Zealanders. What the fuck does that even mean?
And who is he supporting in the world cup?
Lying old goat is just aching to slash taxes for the few and assistance for the many.
Cops alleged to be planning armed raids against Te Whanau a Apanui in response to Petrobas protests.
http://mauistreet.blogspot.com/2011/04/terror-raids-in-te-whanau-apanui.html
http://mauistreet.blogspot.com/2011/04/terror-raids-in-te-whanau-apanui-2.html#comments
John has been having quite a lot of productive dinners recently.
Reports that his soirée with Cameron was full on and he has managed to discuss a lot of NZ issues. He is heading off to Paris to have dinner with Sarkozy where he expects to discuss New Zealand trade issues. All over dinner mind you as reported on RNZ this evening.
Strange when he has dinner in New Zealand with the likes of Impey he makes just passing comments and that he hadnât met with MediaWorkâs Brent Impey to discuss a $43 million Government loan at all.
‘…..Australian Police given standing ovation at airport…’ from John Keys ANZAC speech
PUKE – PUKE – DOUBLE PUKE
As long as any other option remains there is no place for foreign military or police on New Zealand\’s sovereign soil.
Our government has no authority to reassign its mandate or the execution thereof to an external party.
The people of New Zealand have the right to be shepherded by their own.
Trouble is the dog-eared politicians organising the shepherding are barking mad and not properly House trained.
No Welfare for Whalers This Year?
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-110426-1.html