See also….
No. 12: UK Min. of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of …the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11: Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10: Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9: NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8: Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question”
No. 7: Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6: NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.” (TV3 News, 24 April 2013)
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Once again, where is your evidence that the drones have not saved lives?
Obviously, killing people is costing a life. But on the flip-side, if you don’t kill a terrorist, they may go on to kill many many other people later on. Obviously the US believes they have evidence that this is the case.
Now, you’re free to call him a liar, but equally I am free to call you on that and ask for the evidence upon which you make that accusation. Without any evidence provided on your part, myself and others will have to judge your claim as simply a matter of “he-said she-said”.
Finally, I see that you use Barack Obama’s full name, including his middle name Hussein, when you have not done so for anyone else on your list, including the previous mention of Obama. I can only presume you’re trying to highlight his surname for the same sorts of reasons that nutbag righties do in the US.
who is which and who is what? Who kills the most people? Who kills the most civilians? Who has the biggest bombs? Who has the most weapons? Who has set off the most and biggest bombs? Who is an occupying force? Who has let off nuclear bombs? Which countrys populations are most at risk?
One “Lanthanide” is indulging herself, and no doubt irritating the rest of us, with her vile little games of cod-logic….
“Obviously, killing people is costing a life.”
But that is not so obvious, according to what you go on to assert, as you obediently channel the president of the United States.
“But on the flip-side, if you don’t kill a terrorist, they [sic] may go on to kill many many other people later on.”
You mean, if you don’t kill a Pakistani child, it may go on to kill many many other people later on. Following your logic, when these remotely operated drones kill an entire wedding party, as they have on several occasions in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, they are saving (using your obscene multiplier) hundreds, maybe thousands of lives. Ergo, the more of them we kill, the more of us (times five or six) we save.
The math is irrefutable! Madam, you are a cut-price A.C. Grayling! You are a Kiwi Christopher Hitchens! You are an Antipodean Alan Dershowitz! You should join the Sensible Sentencing Trust immediately; they think just like you.
“If you don’t kill a Pakistani, he or she may go to kill many many other people later on.” You could, of course, say the same thing about killing an American child. So why don’t you?
““If you don’t kill a Pakistani, he or she may go to kill many many other people later on.” You could, of course, say the same thing about killing an American child. So why don’t you?”
Ah you sad, straw man manipulating boobie – Lanth said “terrorist”, not “Pakistani”. Most of us understand those to be separate categories even if the sets overlap.
Ah you sad, straw man manipulating boobie – Lanth said “terrorist”, not “Pakistani”.
The Professor made it clear that he was translating Lanthanide’s weasel words into plain English.
Most of us understand those to be separate categories even if the sets overlap.
The sets overlap far more substantially and far more obviously when they are sets labelled “Terrorists” and “Americans”; using Lanthanide’s way of thinking, we should be sending unmanned drones into the mountains of West Virginia and the poorest parts of Texas, from where many of the young men carrying out things like the following are drawn…..
“No evidence”? “No evidence” of WHAT? Are you saying there is “no evidence” that the United States has killed, and continues to kill, civilians in these countries with unmanned drones?
You’re making a habit of this.
I make a point of correcting your silly and invalid complaints. That’s a chore, not a habit.
Also no hint as to why you suddenly changed tradition and mention Obama’s middle name.
Ahhhh…. we have a conspiracy theory! The ol’ “Mention the Middle Name” trick! Do you think I’m working for the Tea Party folks, perhaps? Or is it Donald Trump? Maybe I’m a Mossad operative! Whatever, it’s sinister, all right. No doubt about it….
I mean duh. You called him a liar, where’s the evidence that he’s lying. Where is the evidence that him saying “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.” is a lie?
Ahhhh…. we have a conspiracy theory! The ol’ “Mention the Middle Name” trick! Do you think I’m working for the Tea Party folks, perhaps? Or is it Donald Trump? Maybe I’m a Mossad operative! Whatever, it’s sinister, all right. No doubt about it….
So no explanation as to why you did it then. Obviously you must have had a reason, or you wouldn’t have done it. Unless you just do things for no reason at all, like call people liars.
Poor, desperate Lanthanide is choking on conspiracy theory overload. Better watch yourselves, fellow Standardistas, for we have a master of semiotics on the case, deconstructing every suspicious move we make….
Obviously you must have had a reason, or you wouldn’t have done it.
Let us know when the Space Shuttle returns to Planet Earth, will you, Lanthanide? Then we can send you off on your next assignment: parsing the suspicious way that John Key dresses…. http://static.stuff.co.nz/1233108507/577/246577.jpg
That exceptionally dark charcoal suit. That eggshell blue necktie—and did you notice how it’s suspiciously off-centre? Just a little bit, but there’s obviously a reason for it. And you’re JUST THE PERSON to ferret out the ugly truth!
Agree, felix. I saw Moz’s comment this morning but ignored it because it was so dull and obvious. But I’m really glad that Lanth pointed out the Tea Partyish use of the middle name, which I hadn’t spotted. Says a lot about Morrissey that he’s too chicken to defend himself for using a right wing meme. Because I’m charitable, I imagine it was an unthinking use of that tired old racist dog whistle.
And accusing others of conspiracy theories? Pot, meet world’s most self deluded kettle. That’s almost as funny as Moz saying the other day that he takes care to be accurate in his contributions.
Anyhoo, Moz. I’m keen to hear the answers to Lanth’s perfectly reasonable questions. Over to you.
Morrissey why won’t you put Lanth’s criticism to rest by putting up your evidence?
You and Lanthanide both know there is ample evidence that U.S. drones, operated in perfect safety by young men sitting in air-conditioned offices in Colorado, have killed and continue to kill, hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. You say I can “put Lanth’s criticism to rest” by posting up evidence of something she and everybody else on this forum knows is widespread and irrefutable. Has she heard of the word “Google”, perchance?
Filibustering is not criticism. Our dear friend is merely trying to take some control of this exchange by having me waste my time looking up links which are known and understood. Her tactic is as ridiculous as it is reprehensible.
Agree, felix. I saw Moz’s comment this morning but ignored it because it was so dull and obvious.
Good, you recognize that reminding people that Pres. Hopey Changey is a liar was a reiteration of the obvious. The rather mean “dull” slur is a matter of opinion; I’ll leave others to judge how much they respect yours on this matter.
But I’m really glad that Lanth pointed out the Tea Partyish use of the middle name, which I hadn’t spotted.
“Hadn’t spotted”!?! Oh, come ON, Te Reo! Is it drink? Have you been “mixing your medications”? Oh my God, please tell me you’re not experimenting with that marihuana!
While we’re on the topic of you not spotting things, you also failed to spot my use of a Sarah Palin zinger. Come ON, Te Reo!
Says a lot about Morrissey that he’s too chicken to defend himself for using a right wing meme. Because I’m charitable, I imagine it was an unthinking use of that tired old racist dog whistle.
Yep, as I pointed out to Lanthanide yesterday, I might be a Mossad spy as well. Be very afraid, Te Reo. And Lanthanide, I’d change my daily routine for the next fortnight or so, just to be safe….
L, forgive me, but you’re a bore. A Beltway bore. Dispositionally you and Morrissey are light years apart. Don’t let it worry you so. Seems Morrissey don’t give a fuck. Emulate that.
more Morrisey sock puppets … fuck you Breen you turd.
[lprent: nope, and don’t speculate. Next person I see doing it gets a weeks ban, and I will double it for each successive instance. I am tired of writing these notes. ]
Not sure how I’m a beltway bore, living in CHCH and having nothing more to do with politics than posting on this blog and voting in elections…
And yes, I realise Morrissey is much better in the words and thoughts department than I am – I freely admit it. But that doesn’t mean he gets to spout nonsense wherever he likes and then get away without backing up any of this thoughts or words with a skerrick of evidence.
Not sure how I’m a beltway bore, living in CHCH and having nothing more to do with politics than posting on this blog and voting in elections…
I don’t think you’re a bore, Lanthanide. In fact I find your posts to be interesting and very well argued, usually.
And yes, I realise Morrissey is much better in the words and thoughts department than I am – I freely admit it.
Actually, I don’t think you are being fair on yourself. I have never, ever thought that I am superior to you; if I had thought that, I would not bother to argue with you like I occasionally do.
But that doesn’t mean he gets to spout nonsense wherever he likes and then get away without backing up any of this thoughts or words with a skerrick of evidence.
I think you should look at my posts again, and then think again about whether I don’t back up what I write. I’m sure that what you say holds true in many instances, but in respect to what we’ve been disputing over the last few days, I think you’re being a little harsh.
Mana has shown the way small parties can successfully operate in government. Building a large campaign about an issue that they care about, both inside and outside parliament to pressure the main parties.
This pattern of operation is one that the Green Party has followed in their campaign against the partial privatisation of state assets. Which in my opinion has put the Nats programme under a lot of pressure.
National, in introducing their programme to “Feed the Kids”, were forced to address the question of childhood poverty under pressure from Mana and their allies, inside and outside parliament.
It is not a state run programme that Harawira outlined in his private members bill, (due to come up in July), being instead based on private and corporate charity rather than government aid. But still it is a major concession.
This is how with few MPs and little money, Rod Donald’s campaign for MMP won through, against a powerful and well funded conservative lobby with millions of dollars behind them.
The other strategy that small parties can adopt. Is the one followed by the Alliance and the Maori Party. That is trading principals away for influence, and so called, “seats at the top table”.
Your fundamental mistake is believing that CB and Reid reflect reality. They don’t, they reflect Tory wishful thinking (and in the last two elections, wish fulfilment). Labour and the Greens will be the next Government.
It’s not hope, it’s fact. Reid and CB always overestimate the right and minimise the left. The intention is to convince voters that elections are a ‘done deal’ so they don’t threaten the status quo. Sorry to see you buying in to it. The only poll that is even close to correct is the Roy Morgan and in recent months that has shown that a change is coming. Over to you now. Are part of the movement for change or are you just concern trolling?
Hmm, I don’t really think so. You’re basically saying that these media outlets go out of their way to commission a dodgy poll. I don’t think they do.
It doesn’t have to be blatant or outlandish manipulation. Anything from wording of the questions, to time of day calls are made, to areas called, will skew poll results. Also changing criteria for which responses might be kept and which might be discarded.
Notice how none of these polling companies release a detailed methodology of how each poll was actually conducted.
CV & Co,
Forget the semantics.
Stop the nit picking who/how of Pollsters.
Labour is doing no better under Shearer and Robertson that they did under Goff and King.
Labour cannot get over 33% with the current leadership coterie.
Many gigs people in the party are working hard on the policy and organisation change plans.
The public, the active voters and the lapsed voters will “like” some of our policies but never vote for Labour or vote at all al long as the leadership is seen to be playing a safe centrist “beltway” strategy rather than being strong gutsy leaders of the PAYE worker, the Maori, the Islanders, the new immigrants, the alienated and dispossed and the environmentalists.
As opposed to a statement that is completely correct (but only if we ignore those 2x% results for labour in the first half of the term, and the 34-35% labour results in the second half).
Reid polling in particular gives all the impression of simply reflecting the wishes of the National party acolyte that owns that particular polling organization,
National will have the numbers to govern alone is the ongoing constant message from Reid, the underlying ‘massage’ being that for those not wanting a National Party Government it’s a waste of time turning up at the polling booths on election day,
How well such ‘messaging’ works in the minds of those subjected to such ‘conditioning’ via their televisions is a matter of opinion,
I would this far out from November 2014 dare suggest that National’s chances of a third term of Government will be reliant upon the whim of NZFirst who themselves are hardly guaranteed 5% of the vote in 2014…
Pretty much – like their graph of poll results.
All through 2010/2011Reid put National at well above 50%. But for me the indicator of intentional bias is the chart itself – stops in feb 2013 as nats raise just above 50% on a slow decline since the election.
The last couple of results have been below 50%, haven’t they? Yet the chart on their website looks like they’re on an upswing. And the page has been like that for a while.
Shearer is lurching to the left to appease party activists (and keep his position) and is trying out a political civil union with a red headed Aussie.
The net effect of this you have Labour, Greens, Mana dancing around in the far left corner chasing the same votes.
This leaves the soft left and center voters drifting back into the Nats camp and keeping the Nats consistently high in the polls.
If Shearer wants to head further left that is fine. It is the same sex marriage with Norman that is killing Labour – every fruit loop pronouncement by Norman and Turei is seen as being automatically endorsed by Shearer.
This is scary for voters who are looking for economic stability and growth not a lurch to the luddite left.
Clark didn’t keep the Greens in a far and distant corner for no reason.
Careful. When the “far Left” win the election and the sky fails to fall on our heads, and in fact people start to prosper more (you must have heard that Labour-led governments always make a better job of the economy, according to the facts that is – debt down productivity up etc etc), they’ll start to say to themselves “this far Left business isn’t the hell Jimmie said it would be”.
The same sentiments were made prior to 2008 & 2011 – didn’t affect the outcome.
2014 looks to be heading the same way as the left can’t acknowledge that their policies are irrelevant to the current world economic climate.
Voters will vote for parties that cut their cloth to economic reality – not a harking back to a perceived golden yester year or uncontrollable social spending.
This is what is shown in the polls and Shearer would be better off to present an alternative policy platform that reflects this.
The GFC was to political economics what 9-11 was to the military – terrorist outlook, a game changer that needs to be factored in by political parties.
Aaah the right, constantly trying to make the GFC into a war type conflict, if that is the case, where are the war criminals that allowed it to happen?
No, Jimmie. You don’t get to change the reasons people vote one way or another. People (for the most part) vote for the party they feel will leave them better off. That’s why NZPower is such a vote winner: it will leave the vast majority better off – and the boost to the economy will even lift dullards like you.
Oh, and reality check, Labour = lower public debt, so blithering about “cutting the cloth” or whatever witless excuse for austerity you’re pushing this week won’t help you.
National are shit economic managers and the lying Prime Minister is dead meat.
The GFC was proof positive that mainstream economists have HFI WTF they’re talking about. Hell, the idiots couldn’t even predict excessive debt while it was happening in front of their eyes.
The ‘far left’, as you label the politics you fear, doesn’t ‘do’ parliamentary politics Jimmie. And last time I looked, the Greens, Labour and Mana were all making a tilt at being parliamentary representatives.
You are amusing, ”economic stability and growth”???, you mean the game of smoke and mirrors that the Member from Dipton is currently playing with the Government accounts is economic security,????, borrowing billions of dollars of monies in fiscal year 2011/2012 which will be spent into 2015/1016 is your view of ‘economic stability’,???
The only growth in the system is brought about by the earthquake recovery and the ongoing Auckland housing inflation which despite all the Member from Dipton’s weasel words is set to continue unabated and the blind among us have their heads buried in the sand over this National Governments ‘growth’ of an 80 odd billion dollar debt mountain…
Spot on, its all about keeping people out of the booths in 2014, a tactic that allowed them a very narrow victory in 2011 using a cup of tea and plenty of consistent MSM themes run by granny, tvnz and joyces former employ mediawonks radio live and tv3.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 5
Gormless you missed the results when that specific question was asked.
According to Paddy Gower when asked “Do you support the Labour/Greens policy to reform the power market?” a clear majority, 54 percent, said yes. Thirty-nine percent said no. The rest didn’t know.
Early days. See how it plays out. Getting all excited or despondent about polls in the middle of an electoral cycle is a fools game. But you asked a rhetorical question above: “Time to question the up-until-now unquestioned assumption that nationalising the power is electoral gold? “, in reply to which I pointed out that nearly a third of Nationals own supporters thought that, actually, NZ Power is electoral gold..
Here is a lift from Gowers commentary on the poll you reference.
Asked “Do you support the Labour/Greens policy to reform the power market?” a clear majority, 54 percent, said yes. Thirty-nine percent said no. The rest didn’t know.
But out of National voters, 29 percent said yes, supporting the Opposition’s policy.
So with these silly house value increases that are going on……
where has all the extra money come from to pay for this?
… let’s say 500,000 houses in Auckland alone, average value $500,000, equals $250,000,000,000 (that’s $250billion). And let’s say they have increased 10% in value = $2.5billion.
10% increase in value equals $25 billion (not 2.5). Let’s say 10% of houses sell each year. That equals $2.5 billion extra – where has all of that come from?
It’s mostly all mortgage debt created money. The amount of money released into the community is the same as the debt generated in the same instant. Of course, that debt starts accumulating interest immediately…basically we have a monetary system that our economy can never keep up with, and which we have to continuously grow just to keep still.
Just keep kicking that can down the road…with more money printing, bail outs, austerity for the poor, monetizing of debt, raising debt ceilings, treating debt as collateral you can loan more against, etc
The banks simply print it then lend it to you, as they hold an asset against it, your house is collateral.
Of-course they can only now lend out 5 times the money they have on deposit, so they must attract deposits, increasing the amount of money in circulation will work as people will cash up assets and put money in the bank later in life, around and around it goes, what a scam.
Of-course they can only now lend out 5 times the money they have on deposit, so they must attract deposits
Almost…my understanding is that they can lend as much as they want NOW, but have to go out and find the reserves required by regulations to sustain that lending within a month or two.
Hence occasionally you get the banks putting up posters saying Limited time only 90 days term deposits special rates!!! Because they are meeting some short term reserves shortfall.
What this means in practical terms is that if the private banks are short then the reserves are made up by the RB. That’s what the Overnight Rate (OCR) is all about. The banks will never be short on reserves ergo there is no limit to their lending.
So national party fixer Simon Lusk in yestrerdays SST has only just discovered the sort of people he is dealing with.
Lowbrow atavistic thugs. People with no ethcis, morals, principles or scruples.
Nobodies with money who want to be somebody.
People who need money to beat up on others.
They would prefer it if the law allowed them free reign with no comebacks but fortunately we live in a society governed by the rule of law.
Lusks cronies whaleoil and feeder hav self evident personality disorders such as avarice, gluttony and projecting their own foul desires on to others.
Its time to get shot of them and their party and the sooner the better.
Put dear DS up on a roof with a paintbrush and let him find out what real work is about. And make it a beneficiaries house he is painting but first clean the rust and old paint off by hand and brush, not high pressure water, and then he will have personally done some real good work in this world. The UN stuff was mainly for m-t-a (more than adequate) pay.
You should have said “there may be dead beat parents out there but FFS we are talking about 5 and 6 year old kids. We owe it to them to make sure they have enough food to at least be able to get an education at school. And if they are not being fed at home then we will get their home situation checked out. But how could you refuse to feed a 6 year old kid? What have they done to deserve this?”
On a more serious note, as lprent has alluded to…every soft Nat voter you gain this way, you’ll get a hardcore Labour voter stay at home or go to Greens/Mana.
It’s the leaking sieve strategy of electoral math.
Listening to RNZ radio political spot this morning. Matthew Hooton expounded, clearly and succinctly, the concerns expressed by many here re-the new GCSB legislation. He is now on record calling for an independent investigation as per that requested by Labour and the Greens.
I found their old website hard to navigate and confusing, and I’m a long-time netizen. I guess there’s a reason MSM websites look the way they do – because it’s functional.
hmmm, I think it’s less accessible, but maybe I was just used to the old site. To get to today’s Nine to Noon audio takes how many clicks? And having to manualy search through a whole page of programmes A to Z is pretty daft.
“I thought ipads, phones etc accessed different versions of websites.”
Only if the website designer has specifically made alternative versions of their websites (many cut-down ‘automatic’ mobile sites are terrible and people prefer to use the full site). This can add quite a bit of expense. It’s easier just to design a site that is mobile-friendly up-front and then not have the added expense of having to make a whole different one for mobile.
This site works fine on a iPad and my nexus7 in normal mode. But it is bloody difficult to make it work on any phone smaller than those oversized samsungs. I think that currently for anything with high text content, you do need a two modes.
‘Re-imaging’.
Nothing wrong with the old format – actually I preferred it. And the redevelopment was necessary (not) at a time when they’re tight on funds.
Sometimes I wonder who is running the place these days.
Once again the polls have shown, that parties that move to far from the centre will lose every election, labour and the greens are digging their own grave by playing the type of politics that they have over the past few months.
This is the most centred National government there has been in my life time. Labour and the greens are moving more to the left every day. They are making the same mistake the gop did in the usa election, trying to appeal to the extremists.
They should leave all extremist crap to united and act and TeMana.
Once again the polls have shown, that parties that move to far from the centre will lose every election, national are digging their own grave by playing the type of politics that they have over the past few months.
THE NEXT CANDIDATE for King Johnkey’s “Fuck you, I do what I want” dictatorial legislation?
Can they resist the urge to simply validate unlawful Legal Aid practises with a “nga nga nga can’t take me to court” act under urgency? Is anyone dumb enough to take bets on that?
Justice Tipping – 26 years as a judge of the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court. Look at what he had to say about this government’s fucking around with legal aid:
TV3 poll shows that 66% of National supporters are in favour of the Mana Movement precipitated Food for Kids programme the government is introducing, ShonKey Python cares to deny that Cabinet was split over the move. But good on that 66%.
34% of National Party supporters are OPPOSED ON PRINCIPLE.
Shonkey Python – “I can understand………that point of view” – or words to that effect.
Say that again – opposed to feeding starving kids – ON PRINCIPLE !
Karma, karma, karma, please, please, please deal to those bastards and their FUCKING PRINCIPLES in the cruellest fashion !
I wonder how many of the 34% delight in turning up at church on Sunday for their weekly wank ?
curiously, the same percentage 26% that were opposed to this is also the same percentage 26% that were opposed to legalising marijuana in that tv3 Vote programme last week.
Are these the same people?
Is it a solid immoveable core, sitting on their couch shaking their monstrous head saying “nope, not listening, don’t care, you’re wrong, I know, go away and get a real job.”
Yes North I agree – they have principles all right the bastards – the principle of moaning when something affects them otherwise everyone else can just fuck off.
In short, fuckwits, hardheads, no brains, “done well” white trash, scum really notwithstanding their ludicrous pretensions to style and class.
I so well recall a glowing sense of satisfaction, a sense that it was all so poetic, a sense that it was so just, when the Ceaucescus got theirs.
And this 34% are the societal apes who mouth cruelly against beneficiaries, denying this “underclass” human status. History has their travel well mapped.
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And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
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The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
The New Zealand Government says the Cook Islands must share more information about the deals it has signed with China, following the release of an ‘action plan’ in the face of protests in the Pacific nation’s capital.The Cook Islands government has also revealed plans to spend $3 million on a ...
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Comment: The recent attack by Destiny Church front groups on a Drag science show at Te Atatū library crossed a line. This wasn’t the first time that Brian Tamaki, the multimillionaire self-appointed ‘apostle’, has ordered acts of aggression against the queer community. Last year, Drag Story Time events were targeted, ...
Martina Salmon is well versed in the fast-paced action on a netball court, but even she was caught by surprise with the speed at which her career changed tack last year.Staying in the fast lane is only part of her drive this season.Fresh off a nine-day camp in Sydney with ...
Last night I may as well have been in Taihape. Or, closer to home, for me at least, somewhere in the Wairarapa. Or Tūrangi, even – which is near where we used to spend the summer when I was a child. For there was that same gorgeous small town feeling ...
Having Auckland’s food scraps dumped onto your rural backyard sounds scandalous, but in the North Island town of Reporoa there’s no fuss about the thousands of tonnes carted here every week.From the same site as one truck drops the waste, another truck picks up fertiliser to spread on local sheep ...
Negotiating rights over freshwater in Treaty settlement negotiations could have extended negotiations a decade, a Ngāi Tahu leader says.Tribal leaders, and its umbrella body, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, have taken the Attorney-General to court in a bid to have the Crown recognise its rangatiratanga (chiefly authority) over wai māori ...
Analysis: Poor safeguarding of New Zealanders’ data could be a widespread practice within the public service and certainly within the health system, according to the findings of an independent inquiry into allegations of misused census and Covid-19 vaccination information.The Public Service Commission’s review, led by consultant Pania Gray and former ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Stone, Principal Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Having dense breasts is a clear risk factor for breast cancer. It can also make cancers hard to spot on mammograms. Yet you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The National Anti-Corruption Commission will finally investigate whether six people referred to it by the royal commission into Robodebt engaged in corrupt conduct. This follows an independent reconsideration by former High Court judge Geoffrey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Last week in Europe, the United States sent some very strong messages it is prepared to upend the established global order. US Vice President JD Vance warned a stunned Munich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates on Tuesday, the first decrease in four years, saying inflationary pressures are easing “a little more quickly than expected”. However, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan Fels, Professor Allan Fels, Professor of Law, Economics and Business at the University of Melbourne and Monash University., The University of Melbourne Australia is creeping towards adding a divestiture power to its Competition and Consumer Act. Under such a law, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arjen Vaartjes, PhD Student, Quantum Physics, UNSW Sydney Dmitriy Rybin / Shutterstock What makes something quantum? This question has kept a small but dedicated fraction of the world’s population – most of them quantum physicists – up at night for decades. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Australia’s minister for home affairs announced on Sunday that the federal government has struck a deal with Nauru to “resettle” three non-citizens from what’s come to be known as the “NZYQ cohort”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University (From left to right): Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.German Federal Archives/Wikimedia Commons Ukraine ...
The purpose was to establish the facts and provide an independent assessment of government agency activity in relation to allegations that personal data may have been misused during the 2023 General Election. ...
Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said he is carefully reviewing the referrals raised in the two reports. That work will be done in the context the Privacy Act and the need to ensure individuals’ rights to privacy is protected and respected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhavna Middha, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The average Australian household size has decreased from 4.5 people per household in 1911 to 2.5 people in 2024. At the same time, the average house size has increased, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Page Jeffery, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney suriyachan/Shutterstock When the Australian government passed legislation in November last year banning young people under 16 from social media, it included exemptions for platforms “that are primarily for the purposes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leslie Roberson, Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland If you’ve ever been stopped by quarantine officers at the airport, you might think Australia’s international border is locked down like a fortress. But when it comes ...
Duncan Sarkies’ latest novel, Star Gazers, is about the collapse of democracy in a society of alpaca breeders. Here are some things his intensive research revealed. 1 How greed works, psychologicallyYes, I guess I already understood greed, but I could never understand why people who already have everything they ...
The proposed cuts would see only two full time Telehealth data and digital roles, and one Planning, Funding and Outcomes (PFO) role remain, reduced from 17 Telehealth support roles (including vacant roles). Roles proposed to be cut include Telehealth ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for Ministers to end funding for Te Kurahuna programmes and workshop grifters that have received millions in taxpayer funding, despite the Government’s supposed focus on cutting costs. ...
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 13: Barack Hussein Obama
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—President Hopey Changey defends the use of unmanned drones in Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/obama-drones_n_3327094.html
See also….
No. 12: UK Min. of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of …the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11: Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10: Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9: NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8: Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question”
No. 7: Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6: NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.” (TV3 News, 24 April 2013)
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Once again, where is your evidence that the drones have not saved lives?
Obviously, killing people is costing a life. But on the flip-side, if you don’t kill a terrorist, they may go on to kill many many other people later on. Obviously the US believes they have evidence that this is the case.
Now, you’re free to call him a liar, but equally I am free to call you on that and ask for the evidence upon which you make that accusation. Without any evidence provided on your part, myself and others will have to judge your claim as simply a matter of “he-said she-said”.
Finally, I see that you use Barack Obama’s full name, including his middle name Hussein, when you have not done so for anyone else on your list, including the previous mention of Obama. I can only presume you’re trying to highlight his surname for the same sorts of reasons that nutbag righties do in the US.
.
terrorist
guerilla
freedom fighter
resistance
opposition forces
defence forces
attack forces
coalition forces
who is which and who is what? Who kills the most people? Who kills the most civilians? Who has the biggest bombs? Who has the most weapons? Who has set off the most and biggest bombs? Who is an occupying force? Who has let off nuclear bombs? Which countrys populations are most at risk?
One “Lanthanide” is indulging herself, and no doubt irritating the rest of us, with her vile little games of cod-logic….
“Obviously, killing people is costing a life.”
But that is not so obvious, according to what you go on to assert, as you obediently channel the president of the United States.
“But on the flip-side, if you don’t kill a terrorist, they [sic] may go on to kill many many other people later on.”
You mean, if you don’t kill a Pakistani child, it may go on to kill many many other people later on. Following your logic, when these remotely operated drones kill an entire wedding party, as they have on several occasions in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, they are saving (using your obscene multiplier) hundreds, maybe thousands of lives. Ergo, the more of them we kill, the more of us (times five or six) we save.
The math is irrefutable! Madam, you are a cut-price A.C. Grayling! You are a Kiwi Christopher Hitchens! You are an Antipodean Alan Dershowitz! You should join the Sensible Sentencing Trust immediately; they think just like you.
“If you don’t kill a Pakistani, he or she may go to kill many many other people later on.” You could, of course, say the same thing about killing an American child. So why don’t you?
Grayling. sigh
Dershowitz. deeper sigh.
““If you don’t kill a Pakistani, he or she may go to kill many many other people later on.” You could, of course, say the same thing about killing an American child. So why don’t you?”
Ah you sad, straw man manipulating boobie – Lanth said “terrorist”, not “Pakistani”. Most of us understand those to be separate categories even if the sets overlap.
Ah you sad, straw man manipulating boobie – Lanth said “terrorist”, not “Pakistani”.
The Professor made it clear that he was translating Lanthanide’s weasel words into plain English.
Most of us understand those to be separate categories even if the sets overlap.
The sets overlap far more substantially and far more obviously when they are sets labelled “Terrorists” and “Americans”; using Lanthanide’s way of thinking, we should be sending unmanned drones into the mountains of West Virginia and the poorest parts of Texas, from where many of the young men carrying out things like the following are drawn…..
http://morallowground.com/2012/04/18/us-82nd-airborne-soldiers-posed-for-photos-with-body-parts-of-dead-afghan-resistance-fighters/
So no evidence then, Morrissey. You’re making a habit of this.
Also no hint as to why you suddenly changed tradition and mention Obama’s middle name.
So no evidence then, Morrissey.
“No evidence”? “No evidence” of WHAT? Are you saying there is “no evidence” that the United States has killed, and continues to kill, civilians in these countries with unmanned drones?
You’re making a habit of this.
I make a point of correcting your silly and invalid complaints. That’s a chore, not a habit.
Also no hint as to why you suddenly changed tradition and mention Obama’s middle name.
Ahhhh…. we have a conspiracy theory! The ol’ “Mention the Middle Name” trick! Do you think I’m working for the Tea Party folks, perhaps? Or is it Donald Trump? Maybe I’m a Mossad operative! Whatever, it’s sinister, all right. No doubt about it….
Evidence that he is lying, obviously.
I mean duh. You called him a liar, where’s the evidence that he’s lying. Where is the evidence that him saying “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.” is a lie?
So no explanation as to why you did it then. Obviously you must have had a reason, or you wouldn’t have done it. Unless you just do things for no reason at all, like call people liars.
Poor, desperate Lanthanide is choking on conspiracy theory overload. Better watch yourselves, fellow Standardistas, for we have a master of semiotics on the case, deconstructing every suspicious move we make….
Obviously you must have had a reason, or you wouldn’t have done it.
Let us know when the Space Shuttle returns to Planet Earth, will you, Lanthanide? Then we can send you off on your next assignment: parsing the suspicious way that John Key dresses….
http://static.stuff.co.nz/1233108507/577/246577.jpg
That exceptionally dark charcoal suit. That eggshell blue necktie—and did you notice how it’s suspiciously off-centre? Just a little bit, but there’s obviously a reason for it. And you’re JUST THE PERSON to ferret out the ugly truth!
🙄
Morrissey why won’t you put Lanth’s criticism to rest by putting up your evidence?
Until you do, the criticism stands.
Agree, felix. I saw Moz’s comment this morning but ignored it because it was so dull and obvious. But I’m really glad that Lanth pointed out the Tea Partyish use of the middle name, which I hadn’t spotted. Says a lot about Morrissey that he’s too chicken to defend himself for using a right wing meme. Because I’m charitable, I imagine it was an unthinking use of that tired old racist dog whistle.
And accusing others of conspiracy theories? Pot, meet world’s most self deluded kettle. That’s almost as funny as Moz saying the other day that he takes care to be accurate in his contributions.
Anyhoo, Moz. I’m keen to hear the answers to Lanth’s perfectly reasonable questions. Over to you.
Morrissey why won’t you put Lanth’s criticism to rest by putting up your evidence?
You and Lanthanide both know there is ample evidence that U.S. drones, operated in perfect safety by young men sitting in air-conditioned offices in Colorado, have killed and continue to kill, hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. You say I can “put Lanth’s criticism to rest” by posting up evidence of something she and everybody else on this forum knows is widespread and irrefutable. Has she heard of the word “Google”, perchance?
Anyway, since I always like to be obliging, even for people trying to irritate and fluster me, I’ll provide her with a few links. I know you’re already on top of this one, felix, but you might like to refresh your knowledge of this scandalous issue as well….
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/mit-s-noam-chomsky-obama-s-running-global-assassination-campaign
http://tribune.com.pk/story/555117/unhcr-chief-profoundly-disturbed-on-use-of-armed-drones-in-pakistan/
As a bonus, here’s a clip on the issue by one of the few rock bands with any conscience or intelligence….
And, not that they count, of course, but here’s what those towel-heads think about their country being targeted by remote-controlled robot planes….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/24/how-pakistanis-reacted-to-obamas-speech-on-drones/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57586008/angry-pakistanis-fight-to-end-u.s-drone-strikes/
Until you do, the criticism stands.
Filibustering is not criticism. Our dear friend is merely trying to take some control of this exchange by having me waste my time looking up links which are known and understood. Her tactic is as ridiculous as it is reprehensible.
Agree, felix. I saw Moz’s comment this morning but ignored it because it was so dull and obvious.
Good, you recognize that reminding people that Pres. Hopey Changey is a liar was a reiteration of the obvious. The rather mean “dull” slur is a matter of opinion; I’ll leave others to judge how much they respect yours on this matter.
But I’m really glad that Lanth pointed out the Tea Partyish use of the middle name, which I hadn’t spotted.
“Hadn’t spotted”!?! Oh, come ON, Te Reo! Is it drink? Have you been “mixing your medications”? Oh my God, please tell me you’re not experimenting with that marihuana!
While we’re on the topic of you not spotting things, you also failed to spot my use of a Sarah Palin zinger. Come ON, Te Reo!
Says a lot about Morrissey that he’s too chicken to defend himself for using a right wing meme. Because I’m charitable, I imagine it was an unthinking use of that tired old racist dog whistle.
Yep, as I pointed out to Lanthanide yesterday, I might be a Mossad spy as well. Be very afraid, Te Reo. And Lanthanide, I’d change my daily routine for the next fortnight or so, just to be safe….
himself*, his*, etc.
L, forgive me, but you’re a bore. A Beltway bore. Dispositionally you and Morrissey are light years apart. Don’t let it worry you so. Seems Morrissey don’t give a fuck. Emulate that.
more Morrisey sock puppets … fuck you Breen you turd.
[lprent: nope, and don’t speculate. Next person I see doing it gets a weeks ban, and I will double it for each successive instance. I am tired of writing these notes. ]
Not sure how I’m a beltway bore, living in CHCH and having nothing more to do with politics than posting on this blog and voting in elections…
And yes, I realise Morrissey is much better in the words and thoughts department than I am – I freely admit it. But that doesn’t mean he gets to spout nonsense wherever he likes and then get away without backing up any of this thoughts or words with a skerrick of evidence.
Not sure how I’m a beltway bore, living in CHCH and having nothing more to do with politics than posting on this blog and voting in elections…
I don’t think you’re a bore, Lanthanide. In fact I find your posts to be interesting and very well argued, usually.
And yes, I realise Morrissey is much better in the words and thoughts department than I am – I freely admit it.
Actually, I don’t think you are being fair on yourself. I have never, ever thought that I am superior to you; if I had thought that, I would not bother to argue with you like I occasionally do.
But that doesn’t mean he gets to spout nonsense wherever he likes and then get away without backing up any of this thoughts or words with a skerrick of evidence.
I think you should look at my posts again, and then think again about whether I don’t back up what I write. I’m sure that what you say holds true in many instances, but in respect to what we’ve been disputing over the last few days, I think you’re being a little harsh.
Congratulations to Hone Harawira and the Mana Party are due. They have wrung a major concession from the Nacts.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/8719431/Food-in-schools-programme-imminent-PM
Mana has shown the way small parties can successfully operate in government. Building a large campaign about an issue that they care about, both inside and outside parliament to pressure the main parties.
This pattern of operation is one that the Green Party has followed in their campaign against the partial privatisation of state assets. Which in my opinion has put the Nats programme under a lot of pressure.
National, in introducing their programme to “Feed the Kids”, were forced to address the question of childhood poverty under pressure from Mana and their allies, inside and outside parliament.
It is not a state run programme that Harawira outlined in his private members bill, (due to come up in July), being instead based on private and corporate charity rather than government aid. But still it is a major concession.
This is how with few MPs and little money, Rod Donald’s campaign for MMP won through, against a powerful and well funded conservative lobby with millions of dollars behind them.
The other strategy that small parties can adopt. Is the one followed by the Alliance and the Maori Party. That is trading principals away for influence, and so called, “seats at the top table”.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
What is Labour doing differently under Shearer that is any different from what it did under Goff?
National 48% on average between Colmar Brunton and Reid Polls.
Labour 33%.
No change.
Since 2008.
Your fundamental mistake is believing that CB and Reid reflect reality. They don’t, they reflect Tory wishful thinking (and in the last two elections, wish fulfilment). Labour and the Greens will be the next Government.
Tedium: TRP saying the same thing over and over again and hoping the polls are wrong.
It’s not hope, it’s fact. Reid and CB always overestimate the right and minimise the left. The intention is to convince voters that elections are a ‘done deal’ so they don’t threaten the status quo. Sorry to see you buying in to it. The only poll that is even close to correct is the Roy Morgan and in recent months that has shown that a change is coming. Over to you now. Are part of the movement for change or are you just concern trolling?
“The intention is to convince voters that elections are a ‘done deal’ so they don’t threaten the status quo. ”
Hmm, I don’t really think so. You’re basically saying that these media outlets go out of their way to commission a dodgy poll. I don’t think they do.
Also, the latest Roy Morgan is in line with the current results from Reid and CB, yet was taken before the budget.
It doesn’t have to be blatant or outlandish manipulation. Anything from wording of the questions, to time of day calls are made, to areas called, will skew poll results. Also changing criteria for which responses might be kept and which might be discarded.
Notice how none of these polling companies release a detailed methodology of how each poll was actually conducted.
CV & Co,
Forget the semantics.
Stop the nit picking who/how of Pollsters.
Labour is doing no better under Shearer and Robertson that they did under Goff and King.
Labour cannot get over 33% with the current leadership coterie.
Many gigs people in the party are working hard on the policy and organisation change plans.
The public, the active voters and the lapsed voters will “like” some of our policies but never vote for Labour or vote at all al long as the leadership is seen to be playing a safe centrist “beltway” strategy rather than being strong gutsy leaders of the PAYE worker, the Maori, the Islanders, the new immigrants, the alienated and dispossed and the environmentalists.
‘coterie’; it’s an ‘in’ word.
8-D
Hi Elizabeth
+1
http://www.roymorgan.com/morganpoll/new-zealand/voting-intention-summary
You naughty Roman TRP, the Roy Morgan figures show how National has been consistently on 44-47% while Labour has been between 30% and 33%.
You seem to take a Cosby-Textor approach to reiterating a false statememt hoping it will become an accepted “fact”.
Naughty boy.
As opposed to a statement that is completely correct (but only if we ignore those 2x% results for labour in the first half of the term, and the 34-35% labour results in the second half).
You wait to meet your Roy Morgan maker this week, McFlock.
🙂
Phew 🙂
Heh, Labour at 35% nice winning figure
In mmp, yes.
Hence the nats now being “well behind”. They are short of friends.
hey once the Greens are closer to 20% the winning figure for Labour can drop to 30%
I’m happy either way. Lab30 grn15 mana10 even merrier
Solipsism: do not adjust your perception, reality is at fault.
Reid polling in particular gives all the impression of simply reflecting the wishes of the National party acolyte that owns that particular polling organization,
National will have the numbers to govern alone is the ongoing constant message from Reid, the underlying ‘massage’ being that for those not wanting a National Party Government it’s a waste of time turning up at the polling booths on election day,
How well such ‘messaging’ works in the minds of those subjected to such ‘conditioning’ via their televisions is a matter of opinion,
I would this far out from November 2014 dare suggest that National’s chances of a third term of Government will be reliant upon the whim of NZFirst who themselves are hardly guaranteed 5% of the vote in 2014…
Pretty much – like their graph of poll results.
All through 2010/2011Reid put National at well above 50%. But for me the indicator of intentional bias is the chart itself – stops in feb 2013 as nats raise just above 50% on a slow decline since the election.
The last couple of results have been below 50%, haven’t they? Yet the chart on their website looks like they’re on an upswing. And the page has been like that for a while.
Lots of things different.
Shearer is lurching to the left to appease party activists (and keep his position) and is trying out a political civil union with a red headed Aussie.
The net effect of this you have Labour, Greens, Mana dancing around in the far left corner chasing the same votes.
This leaves the soft left and center voters drifting back into the Nats camp and keeping the Nats consistently high in the polls.
If Shearer wants to head further left that is fine. It is the same sex marriage with Norman that is killing Labour – every fruit loop pronouncement by Norman and Turei is seen as being automatically endorsed by Shearer.
This is scary for voters who are looking for economic stability and growth not a lurch to the luddite left.
Clark didn’t keep the Greens in a far and distant corner for no reason.
Careful. When the “far Left” win the election and the sky fails to fall on our heads, and in fact people start to prosper more (you must have heard that Labour-led governments always make a better job of the economy, according to the facts that is – debt down productivity up etc etc), they’ll start to say to themselves “this far Left business isn’t the hell Jimmie said it would be”.
And bang! Your bubble bursts and it’s empty. 😀
The same sentiments were made prior to 2008 & 2011 – didn’t affect the outcome.
2014 looks to be heading the same way as the left can’t acknowledge that their policies are irrelevant to the current world economic climate.
Voters will vote for parties that cut their cloth to economic reality – not a harking back to a perceived golden yester year or uncontrollable social spending.
This is what is shown in the polls and Shearer would be better off to present an alternative policy platform that reflects this.
The GFC was to political economics what 9-11 was to the military – terrorist outlook, a game changer that needs to be factored in by political parties.
Aaah the right, constantly trying to make the GFC into a war type conflict, if that is the case, where are the war criminals that allowed it to happen?
No, Jimmie. You don’t get to change the reasons people vote one way or another. People (for the most part) vote for the party they feel will leave them better off. That’s why NZPower is such a vote winner: it will leave the vast majority better off – and the boost to the economy will even lift dullards like you.
Oh, and reality check, Labour = lower public debt, so blithering about “cutting the cloth” or whatever witless excuse for austerity you’re pushing this week won’t help you.
National are shit economic managers and the lying Prime Minister is dead meat.
2008?
I think your mind is playing tricks on you.
The GFC was proof positive that mainstream economists have HFI WTF they’re talking about. Hell, the idiots couldn’t even predict excessive debt while it was happening in front of their eyes.
NFI
Yeah, yeah, typos happen.
😛
rarer when you type with two fingers in the air. 😀
Can you how spending more money on health, and keeping hospitals open is uncontrollable social spending?
What hospitals do you want to close?
Would you close hospitals to cut taxes?
What do you think of the US health system?
The ‘far left’, as you label the politics you fear, doesn’t ‘do’ parliamentary politics Jimmie. And last time I looked, the Greens, Labour and Mana were all making a tilt at being parliamentary representatives.
You are amusing, ”economic stability and growth”???, you mean the game of smoke and mirrors that the Member from Dipton is currently playing with the Government accounts is economic security,????, borrowing billions of dollars of monies in fiscal year 2011/2012 which will be spent into 2015/1016 is your view of ‘economic stability’,???
The only growth in the system is brought about by the earthquake recovery and the ongoing Auckland housing inflation which despite all the Member from Dipton’s weasel words is set to continue unabated and the blind among us have their heads buried in the sand over this National Governments ‘growth’ of an 80 odd billion dollar debt mountain…
LOL
All the changes that we’ve seen has come from the left. The conservatives want what was in the past.
It’s not the political-left that are the Luddites, it’s the political-right.
yes, that is what ‘conservatism’ is about. Lord, we need new stripped nuts!
Spot on, its all about keeping people out of the booths in 2014, a tactic that allowed them a very narrow victory in 2011 using a cup of tea and plenty of consistent MSM themes run by granny, tvnz and joyces former employ mediawonks radio live and tv3.
Time to question the up-until-now unquestioned assumption that nationalising the power is electoral gold?
http://www.reidresearch.co.nz/TV3+POLL+RESULTS.html
Gormless you missed the results when that specific question was asked.
According to Paddy Gower when asked “Do you support the Labour/Greens policy to reform the power market?” a clear majority, 54 percent, said yes. Thirty-nine percent said no. The rest didn’t know.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Poll-Labour-Greens-close-gap-on-National/tabid/1607/articleID/299191/Default.aspx#ixzz2UQssagj6
Well, it won’t matter if they never get elected.
But it will if they do. What is your point exactly?
My point, exactly, is that people do not like Labour and, therefore, will not vote for them.
I see you’ve ignored the result I’ve referenced below that nearly a third of National supporters think NZ power is a good idea.
But what does that matter, Clockie if, as a result, this will not induce them to vote for the Labour Party?
You’re absolutely right. The Left will implement the policy only after winning the election.
Early days. See how it plays out. Getting all excited or despondent about polls in the middle of an electoral cycle is a fools game. But you asked a rhetorical question above: “Time to question the up-until-now unquestioned assumption that nationalising the power is electoral gold? “, in reply to which I pointed out that nearly a third of Nationals own supporters thought that, actually, NZ Power is electoral gold..
Oh and by the way Gormless I left a reply on OM26/5 re your comment about Act and Mana.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26052013/#comment-638963
“My point, exactly, is that people do not like Labour and, therefore, will not vote for them.”
And some people do like Labour, and do vote for them. What was your point again?
So isn’t that a damnation on Shearer that voters still prefer National despite supporting Shearer’s flagship policy?
Seen the Pundit poll of polls? Familiar with the concept of a “trend”?
Keep up the smug confidence Toryboys, but get ready to spend election night sobbing in a corner.
Here is a lift from Gowers commentary on the poll you reference.
Asked “Do you support the Labour/Greens policy to reform the power market?” a clear majority, 54 percent, said yes. Thirty-nine percent said no. The rest didn’t know.
But out of National voters, 29 percent said yes, supporting the Opposition’s policy.
“Shearer, Shearer” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBQf7prs9EM
Nice
How about this one
That works…
Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViizSNV3fgs
Empty self out
“Culture sucks down words
Itemise loathing and feed yourself smiles
Organise your safe tribal war
Hurt maim kill and enslave the ghetto.”
Beautiful song marty.
So true mate one of my favorites.
“Life lies a slow suicide
Orthodox dreams symbolic myths
From feudal serf to spender
This wonderful world of purchase power”.
So with these silly house value increases that are going on……
where has all the extra money come from to pay for this?
… let’s say 500,000 houses in Auckland alone, average value $500,000, equals $250,000,000,000 (that’s $250billion). And let’s say they have increased 10% in value = $2.5billion.
Where has that $2.5 billion come from?
oops, me numbers are a bit up the buhai…
10% increase in value equals $25 billion (not 2.5). Let’s say 10% of houses sell each year. That equals $2.5 billion extra – where has all of that come from?
It’s mostly all mortgage debt created money. The amount of money released into the community is the same as the debt generated in the same instant. Of course, that debt starts accumulating interest immediately…basically we have a monetary system that our economy can never keep up with, and which we have to continuously grow just to keep still.
Yep. The world’s largest ponzi scheme.
If it is unsustainable, which it is, then where and when will it all end? And what happens to our savings? And what happens to our assets?
And why do our politicians never ever address this fatal flaw in our system, driving itself straight off the cliff?
Just keep kicking that can down the road…with more money printing, bail outs, austerity for the poor, monetizing of debt, raising debt ceilings, treating debt as collateral you can loan more against, etc
The banks simply print it then lend it to you, as they hold an asset against it, your house is collateral.
Of-course they can only now lend out 5 times the money they have on deposit, so they must attract deposits, increasing the amount of money in circulation will work as people will cash up assets and put money in the bank later in life, around and around it goes, what a scam.
Almost…my understanding is that they can lend as much as they want NOW, but have to go out and find the reserves required by regulations to sustain that lending within a month or two.
Hence occasionally you get the banks putting up posters saying Limited time only 90 days term deposits special rates!!! Because they are meeting some short term reserves shortfall.
The Reserve Bank is the lender of Last Resort.
What this means in practical terms is that if the private banks are short then the reserves are made up by the RB. That’s what the Overnight Rate (OCR) is all about. The banks will never be short on reserves ergo there is no limit to their lending.
Because anything with QE2 in it is suspect:
So national party fixer Simon Lusk in yestrerdays SST has only just discovered the sort of people he is dealing with.
Lowbrow atavistic thugs. People with no ethcis, morals, principles or scruples.
Nobodies with money who want to be somebody.
People who need money to beat up on others.
They would prefer it if the law allowed them free reign with no comebacks but fortunately we live in a society governed by the rule of law.
Lusks cronies whaleoil and feeder hav self evident personality disorders such as avarice, gluttony and projecting their own foul desires on to others.
Its time to get shot of them and their party and the sooner the better.
hookie, wheres da missing link. 😉
UK “6 hours of gas left in the country” shortage was artificial: corporates held back gas inventories and let prices double
Who would’ve thought eh.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/24/energy-suppliers-held-back-gas-uk
No, surely not.
The free market is always self-correcting and equilibrialising. Isn’t it?
Or is this yet another example of free market deregulation religious orthodoxy being completely blown apart?
Like Pike River, dairy farming, the NZX, housing, leaky housing, financial system, … what else is left?
It’s capitalism producing monopolies and oligopolies and cartels that remove power from the people and put it in private hands.
More proof that Labour is right-wing:
Pretty sure I’ve heard similar from National and National supporters as well, definitely heard it from Dunne.
FFS. Basically it’s Labour and National in lockstep. Same perspective, same framing, same assumptions.
Put dear DS up on a roof with a paintbrush and let him find out what real work is about. And make it a beneficiaries house he is painting but first clean the rust and old paint off by hand and brush, not high pressure water, and then he will have personally done some real good work in this world. The UN stuff was mainly for m-t-a (more than adequate) pay.
I think there is something wrong with your brain, Draco.
Thinking that the first place, the first opportunity, for children to be feed is at home during breakfast time is a right-wing position? Wow.
I agree.
Or at least I would if your comment bore any relation whatsoever to what Draco quoted.
Dear David Shearer
You should have said “there may be dead beat parents out there but FFS we are talking about 5 and 6 year old kids. We owe it to them to make sure they have enough food to at least be able to get an education at school. And if they are not being fed at home then we will get their home situation checked out. But how could you refuse to feed a 6 year old kid? What have they done to deserve this?”
Triangulating on bigots will not work Labour.
Must…convert…National voters…must…
On a more serious note, as lprent has alluded to…every soft Nat voter you gain this way, you’ll get a hardcore Labour voter stay at home or go to Greens/Mana.
It’s the leaking sieve strategy of electoral math.
Len Brown is a fucking cunt !
[lprent: make a point to explain the abuse. Otherwise I tend to start making a moderators point about pointless abuse. ]
go away
Credit where credit is due:
Listening to RNZ radio political spot this morning. Matthew Hooton expounded, clearly and succinctly, the concerns expressed by many here re-the new GCSB legislation. He is now on record calling for an independent investigation as per that requested by Labour and the Greens.
Thanks Anne, but I don’t think I articulated it very well. Prefer this summary of the issues: http://www.nbr.co.nz/report
Anne I do hope you are right in this, and that it wasn’t a mistake of communication because of his de-reticulated articulation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/8719374/Couples-800-debt-spirals-into-70-000
Money lenders are exactly like drug dealers – get people hooked and when they can’t keep up move in and take all their shit.
They use the exact same strategy writ large on whole countries these days.
Yep, and with conservatives in power the country laps up the debt.
What has happened to RNZ’s website?
Looking more like an MSM website…. curious.
‘choo not pleased with the ‘new look’ karol?
I’m pleased with the access to content. The bright colours are a bit hard on my eyes – a bit tacky looking on my monitor.
I found their old website hard to navigate and confusing, and I’m a long-time netizen. I guess there’s a reason MSM websites look the way they do – because it’s functional.
Yes. The navigation has improved on the new look site. I also like their bit on transparency about audience research.
hmmm, I think it’s less accessible, but maybe I was just used to the old site. To get to today’s Nine to Noon audio takes how many clicks? And having to manualy search through a whole page of programmes A to Z is pretty daft.
Why are they not using drop down menus?
Their search engine still sucks majorly.
Don’t mind the actual look though 🙂
Drop down menus (especially hover-over ones) suck for touch-based devices.
Do you mean the drop down is not user friendly, or that they get in the way (so you can’t just ignore them)?
I thought ipads, phones etc accessed different versions of websites.
“I thought ipads, phones etc accessed different versions of websites.”
Only if the website designer has specifically made alternative versions of their websites (many cut-down ‘automatic’ mobile sites are terrible and people prefer to use the full site). This can add quite a bit of expense. It’s easier just to design a site that is mobile-friendly up-front and then not have the added expense of having to make a whole different one for mobile.
This site works fine on a iPad and my nexus7 in normal mode. But it is bloody difficult to make it work on any phone smaller than those oversized samsungs. I think that currently for anything with high text content, you do need a two modes.
Yes I find it difficult to use on my wee phone – so I stick to the laptop where the recent comments show.
Yeah. Drop down menu are kind of dead in a touch based world. I get irritated with the ones in the back end of WordPress.
But does that mean you can just ignore them? Or do they get in the way?
If the site is designed so that you *must* use the drop-down menus to do anything, then it basically becomes unusable with a touch-screen device.
If the drop-down menus simply speed things up, then if you can’t use them, you must logically do things the ‘slow way’ instead – which is irritating.
They should use sphinx search. That really works well for search…
‘Re-imaging’.
Nothing wrong with the old format – actually I preferred it. And the redevelopment was necessary (not) at a time when they’re tight on funds.
Sometimes I wonder who is running the place these days.
Once again the polls have shown, that parties that move to far from the centre will lose every election, labour and the greens are digging their own grave by playing the type of politics that they have over the past few months.
National must be grinning ear to ear.
you wish.
“Once again the polls have shown, that parties that move to far from the centre will lose every election,”
How do you explain the current government then?
This is the most centred National government there has been in my life time. Labour and the greens are moving more to the left every day. They are making the same mistake the gop did in the usa election, trying to appeal to the extremists.
They should leave all extremist crap to united and act and TeMana.
This is the most centred National government there has been in my life time.
IDIOT.
The guys an emotional infant, so maybe he’s speaking the truth.
FIFY
Why do I get the feeling, on every single Brett Dale post, that he knows nothing about ANYTHING?
cos you are discerning Morrissey
“pay rates rising slower than a year ago, job growth still down” etc etc
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8722531/Wages-up-job-down-growth-still-down
THE NEXT CANDIDATE for King Johnkey’s “Fuck you, I do what I want” dictatorial legislation?
Can they resist the urge to simply validate unlawful Legal Aid practises with a “nga nga nga can’t take me to court” act under urgency? Is anyone dumb enough to take bets on that?
Nope, and nope.
Justice Tipping – 26 years as a judge of the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court. Look at what he had to say about this government’s fucking around with legal aid:
http://my.lawsociety.org.nz/news/justice-andrew-tippings-final-sitting-speech
TV3 poll shows that 66% of National supporters are in favour of the Mana Movement precipitated Food for Kids programme the government is introducing, ShonKey Python cares to deny that Cabinet was split over the move. But good on that 66%.
34% of National Party supporters are OPPOSED ON PRINCIPLE.
Shonkey Python – “I can understand………that point of view” – or words to that effect.
Say that again – opposed to feeding starving kids – ON PRINCIPLE !
Karma, karma, karma, please, please, please deal to those bastards and their FUCKING PRINCIPLES in the cruellest fashion !
I wonder how many of the 34% delight in turning up at church on Sunday for their weekly wank ?
Overall, 74% say yes to Breakfast in Schools.
meanwhile, we have a massive crisis with suicide rates, youth suicide rate highest in the developed world.- Peter Dunne.
and, with the dollar climbing against the Aussie, our export sector relatively weak (Ganesh Nana) and interest rates on the rise to 7%…
they better be on their knees.
as OAK reminds us, “careful what you wish for”. 😎
curiously, the same percentage 26% that were opposed to this is also the same percentage 26% that were opposed to legalising marijuana in that tv3 Vote programme last week.
Are these the same people?
Is it a solid immoveable core, sitting on their couch shaking their monstrous head saying “nope, not listening, don’t care, you’re wrong, I know, go away and get a real job.”
Don’t forget the ’10 people’ ending their lives every day part, wonder why?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1305/S00150/unemployed-kiwi-youth-rate-no-cause-for-celebration.htm
Yes North I agree – they have principles all right the bastards – the principle of moaning when something affects them otherwise everyone else can just fuck off.
In short, fuckwits, hardheads, no brains, “done well” white trash, scum really notwithstanding their ludicrous pretensions to style and class.
I so well recall a glowing sense of satisfaction, a sense that it was all so poetic, a sense that it was so just, when the Ceaucescus got theirs.
And this 34% are the societal apes who mouth cruelly against beneficiaries, denying this “underclass” human status. History has their travel well mapped.