The closing of iPredict is probably a good step for political democracy in NZ.
For years, Hooton, Farrar, Slater and other right-wingers played with this site mercilessly, jacking up National’s chances in general. More recently, a few on the left have put some decent money in, and we’ve shown that contrary to their publicity about thousands of punters coming up with results – these polls, bets or trades- can be swayed by just one person, for days on end. Most of the predictions are lightly traded, and a few are actively monitored by the right, to keep them in trim.
In the Northland byelection, leftie bets on Winston Peters were strong on iPredict, and National’s wilted away under the onslaught. I knew weeks before the byelection, that National had already given up on their candidate. I even made a good profit.
Since then, iPredict has been noticeably quiet with no press releases, and why? Ongoing money has been used to pull back National’s chances of winning in 2017, so any report would have been damaging to National/Act. And we all can guess that Matthew Hooton did the closeoffs for these reports from his Exceltium office, at a time of his choosing, and after some predictions were ‘adjusted’. But for a good few days recently, Labour bets swamped National’s, used up all their shorts and pretend bets that they’d placed without any money backing them. Never reported.
Of course, the board of Victoria University allowed all this to happen too, and some of them are fairly right-wing, to the extent that they are members of USA think-tanks.
Good riddance to iPredict, this is another tool that National can’t use with their next election campaign.
I enquired of someone I know who is involved with iPredict what he thought of your opinions about the site, and whether your suggestions were accurate.
He said his answer were best be summed up here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL2DH-nKBeA
alwyn, please tell me which parts of my post are wrong.
Prof Neil Quigley is/was on the Vic Uni board in question, and he’s a member of a USA think tank. He’s carving up Waik Uni parking spaces and charging parking fees to staff members, effectively a pay decrease, at the moment.
I had a big hand in overriding National’s bets a few weeks ago. This was probably the first time their position had been overtaken in years, probably scary for them. I have proof of the National-leaning predictions being modified quite a bit in the minutes just before closeoff, on several occasions since early 2014. At the time, Exceltium was closing off the reports at changing days/times of their own choosing, ‘pro bono’. The last scoop closeoff in June 2015 was at an unspecified time and by an unspecified party. How can that be relied on?
iPredict should have had a proper disinterested third party closing off the reports, not an extreme right-wing person like Exceltium’s owner, Matthew Hooton. And, they should be reporting at least every month between elections. Why don’t they let someone like me close it off? That would be fun.
I’ve seen big shorting or supporting bets disappear as soon as they are accessed, that’s because they were placed there when the person had cash reserves, but they are not charged against their account until they are called in. So National people have been placing heaps of fake bids over time, and their people probably ran multiple accounts too. I never did.
I noticed a response to taunting bids that would upset National politicos within a few minutes, at most hours of the day or night. They were certainly there watching and responding in a consistent way.
When the reports were done, they were couched in such a way as to support National if at all possible. If they couldn’t say that it looks like National will take out the next election, they just don’t report.
Of course, even when the Scoop/press reports don’t come out, politicians do look at the prediction figures, and make some conclusions. Closer to elections there have been TV items, and daily reports to the press.
It appears to me that iPredict’s purpose was fundamentally to support National and neoliberal policies in NZ. If it couldn’t do that consistently, it needed to be shut down.
Please provide proof that the people you name made the contracts you claim.
All you have to do is provide proof of the details of the contracts entered into by Hooton, Farrar and Slater.
Don’t just claim that ” So National people have been placing heaps of fake bids over time, and their people probably ran multiple accounts too”.
You have to able to prove who it was and that they happened. Otherwise it is “Only dreaming”.
You need details you can prove or they are only things you “think” might be true. ie “Dreams”.
You are a real smartarse alwyn. Obviously everyone is anonymous on iPredict. Except when they brag about how they’re gaming the system, like Farrah and Slater did, on record. Who else supports National predictions related to winning by bets in the hundreds, bets that later prove imaginary as they’ve spent their $2500 allocation for the six months on that account? The bids keep coming in, they’ve just started another account.
Hooton is the most obvious person to be playing with the bids just before a report closeoff. You’d have to be placing opposing bets to notice it, so that’s just a few lefties who would know. I’m telling you, when the time of the closeoff was notified at the foot of the press release, often some crucial power-sharing bids were heavily modified a few minutes earlier, always in National’s favour. Bloody rogue.
iPredict is doomed – there will be cash flying out of there because no-one cares what the site reports anymore, it’s obvious it was mostly pro-National bullshit.
That is all the claim of “dreaming” says. There is no attempt to verify the identity of the people involved with iPredict. To identify certain individuals and to go into detail about what they are meant to be doing is impossible to know. I could probably set up an account in the name of David Farrar and no one would ever know who it really was.
Your proposals may actually be true. However neither you nor I can possibly know. Saying things like “Who else supports” and “Hooton is the most obvious” doesn’t prove it. It is only an opinion aka “dream”.
It is a little like my own musings about why reporters regularly claimed that David Cunliffe had a MBA from Harvard when he actually had an MPA. There seemed to be far to many giving MBA for it to be a coincidence. I hypothesised a reason but it was only my idea. I couldn’t possibly know whether it was actually true. That is the same as what you are doing.
alwyn, you’re clutching at straws now. Cunliffe always said officially he had an MPA, not his fault if some dopey press renamed it as a similar more well-known degree. But the scale of iPredict is a lot bigger, this is a site politicos had a lot to do with at crucial times of the election cycle. You have not explained your point of view that it was all right for someone like the heavily biased Matthew Hooton to write up the critical reports on iPredict, and why, if his time is so valuable, he’s done that for free. Nicky Hager provided evidence of emails that prove the concept of National bloggers gaming the site. The book didn’t stop that from happening, but it slowed them up. Over a year later, they’ve all seen the writing on the wall, and conceded the site has passed its use-by date.
Simple and effective political action. Brunel University invites anti-welfare bigot to speak, so the students attend en masse and when she starts stalking they stand and turn their backs on her. After a minute they walk out.
Mike Field on RADIONZ this morning talking about odd things going on in Fiji. But outstanding to me is that while Fiji has long been sending troops for peacekeeping
actually the UN is behind in paying its dues to Fiji to the tune of $30 million.
This is a lot to a small country, which has regarded those duties for the UN as being a source of needed revenue. The USA is spending trillions on its Middle East Boys-Own-Adventures-Gone-Wrong. The USA is a big contributor to the UN, which is based in the USA in the middle of New York and is a big money maker for New York. So UN should pay up to the countries smaller than New York, who have far less resources than that city in that country. (New York City population 2013 8.406 million, Fiji Islands population 0.9 million 2014 est.)
What will amuse me more is if come election time the extra exposure that Ardern has got from the rights mischief making helps tip shitkey out of office..
What’s really amazing is if you look past the packaging and delivery to actual policy positions, Trump is actually … um …the least unpalatable of what’s on offer from the Republicans.
If you disagree, please tell us which of the Republican candidates you prefer over Trump and why.
The point here is that the health of our payments system, which underpins the real economy, depends on the lending decisions and risk taking of private banks, (even though the more banks lend and the more risks they take the more potential profits they can make). Accordingly, the success of the current monetary system is ultimately dependent on whether the government intervenes when banks fail.
Deposit insurance and too big to fail give banks a layer of protection from their respective actions. This system allows for profits to be privatised but losses to be socialised. It thus engenders a certain level of moral hazard, where banks take on more risk knowing that someone else will bear the burden of those risks.
My bold.
When we have a close look at the present banking system we can see both the massive subsidies that the banking system gets from the state and the vulnerabilities built into it that force the state into bailing out the banks.
A Government-commissioned report aimed at attracting more investment into New Zealand’s growing food and beverage sector says about a quarter of the sector is already foreign-owned.
Food and beverage (F&B) exports account for 46 per cent of all goods and services exports – $30.7 billion of the $66.2 billion total in 2014.
So on Radio Live we got more of the mentally semi retired “political commentators” Michelle Bo(a)g and Josie Pagani(ni) present their supposedly “well informed” and “enlightening” opinions on the topics of the week, actually rather making a mockery of their “profession” as commentators.
Firstly Josie repeated that nonsense that it was about 50 years since a NATO country shot down a “Russian” jet (commenting on the shooting down of a jet at the border with Syria two days ago). While the details about that more recent incident continue to be argued about between Turkey and Russia, the earlier incident she must have meant was actually 62 years ago, over Korea, during the end of the Korean war. The US was there not so much active as part of NATO, but as a nation on another war front, far away from the North Atlantic and Europe, where NATO had declared its strategic interests, and the plane shot down was a SOVIET Union air-force plane. The US did there not represent NATO, nor was it simply a “Russian” plane that was shot down, but we know how the MSM treat facts, do we not? So it proved again, how NZ self appointed, opinionated “commentators” parrot off what they hear and read in some media reports, without doing their own home-work, and yet they get plenty of air-time to spread their ill-informed drivel over the radio or TV.
But re the “Russians” or “Soviets”, they were not always that fussy about shooting down planes that came near their air-space, even civilian jets, e.g. two Korean civilian airliners, carrying hundreds of ordinary traveler. See that among other “downings” of civilian airliners by various forces over the decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliner_shootdown_incidents
Then on Radio Live there was discussion about the threat of ISIS, and Michelle Boag defended “other cultures” and “their rules” or laws, when Josie brought Saudi Arabia into the discussion. So the Sharia based laws used in Saudi Arabia, although not that pleasant, particularly for her as a woman, were what we cannot do anything about and have to basically accept, Michelle commented.
Beheadings are apparently done in an “orderly fashion” when it comes to a “different law following” nation we do trade with, but it is appalling when done by ISIS. Now that is a really convincing argument, I suppose to build a strong and convincing front of opposition to that terror organisation.
Then it went on later, to the “flag referendum”, and Josie shared her preference for that white fern on a black background, although it was not favoured for certain reasons (maybe being a bit similar to flags ISIS often use).
That is what passes for “informed commentary” on Radio Live these days, and I did not even go into other stuff not worth listening to: http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx
(Play the slots after 11 am on Friday, 27 Nov. 2015)
Those two women should in my view not be allowed near a microphone to comment on serious matters!
Another being me. Every diabetic in the country has cause to celebrate whenever one of these old-school dogmatists quits and makes room for people who may be less committed to the failed orthodoxy of the past. The current dietary recommendations for diabetics are still appalling recipes for making the condition worse, and improvement can only come with the retirement of Toomath’s generation of doctors, nutritionists and dieticians.
I know you’re being sarcastic, but seriously, that is the most important reason no progress has been made. I’ve been enduring their dogma since I got type-1 diabetes in the mid-80s, and I’m well pissed off about the years of failed efforts to control blood sugar that I went through before learning that their advice was making things worse rather than better. The fact that the current government rejects advice from people like Toomath is one of its very few good points.
It is actually type 2 diabetes (not type 1) which is associated with obesity and it is true that almost one third of NZ adults are obese. You two should try dealing in facts and specifics rather than trying to insult someone who has been trying to help… Shameful really.
Psycho Milt and Weka are continuing a long and dishonorable history of contempt for experts. Some years ago Raybon Kan and Gary McCormick, those leading intellectuals, were up to the same thing…..
The dietary advice is the same for both Type 1 and Type 2. Facts and specifics: the dietary advice is to eat little of the kinds of foods that don’t raise your blood glucose level significantly, and instead to eat lots of the kinds of foods that do. High blood glucose levels = high insulin responses, and insulin is among other things the hormone in charge of storing fat. Little expertise is required to understand it.
“It is actually type 2 diabetes (not type 1) which is associated with obesity and it is true that almost one third of NZ adults are obese. You two should try dealing in facts and specifics rather than trying to insult someone who has been trying to help… Shameful really.”
I know that the connectiong is between obesity and type 1 diabetes. I’m rejecting the notion of 1 in 3. I’m happy to talk facts so why don’t you start with posting the evidence for 1 in 3?
Milt is right. The official advice on fat and diet has been wrong for a long time.
The one redeeming feature of Hoots is that he’s never really liked John Key – oft trying to spin him as left wing such as on ninetonoon and elsewhere.
Its probably more that Key has managed to be more effective in spinning bullshit than Hoots has. How dare that plebian Phil Stein be more convincing and believable to Joe Everidge Public than the highly sophisticated legend-in-his-own-mind Mr Hooten – it’s just not right!
Its just a bloody big shame that whilst Hooten can see through our Dear Leader, and has done from the start, the public don’t seem to have yet.
He should really be careful what he wishes for though – he’ll do himself out of a job.
Hooton usually moans about Key because Hooton believes Key wasted political capital by not making more unpopular policies palatable, he thinks Key has been too safe.
Former CIA analyst Paul Buchanan, who runs an intelligence analysis consultancy called 36th Parallel Assessments, called the featuring of the New Zealand flag as “an omen of things to come”.
“The moment we announced we were going to send troops into the training role we put ourselves on their radar scope. I’m not surprised at all we figure, even briefly. I think (authorities) have to take it seriously, as small as the reference is.”
Well, many of us did say that sending troops to the ME would make NZ a target and now we’re a target.
Maybe that is Cameron’s dilemma as well. Cursed if you join in. Cursed if you don’t.
(By the way interesting to scan the complement of flags shown on the link. Colour. Simplicity. Geometry.)
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The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
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The closing of iPredict is probably a good step for political democracy in NZ.
For years, Hooton, Farrar, Slater and other right-wingers played with this site mercilessly, jacking up National’s chances in general. More recently, a few on the left have put some decent money in, and we’ve shown that contrary to their publicity about thousands of punters coming up with results – these polls, bets or trades- can be swayed by just one person, for days on end. Most of the predictions are lightly traded, and a few are actively monitored by the right, to keep them in trim.
In the Northland byelection, leftie bets on Winston Peters were strong on iPredict, and National’s wilted away under the onslaught. I knew weeks before the byelection, that National had already given up on their candidate. I even made a good profit.
Since then, iPredict has been noticeably quiet with no press releases, and why? Ongoing money has been used to pull back National’s chances of winning in 2017, so any report would have been damaging to National/Act. And we all can guess that Matthew Hooton did the closeoffs for these reports from his Exceltium office, at a time of his choosing, and after some predictions were ‘adjusted’. But for a good few days recently, Labour bets swamped National’s, used up all their shorts and pretend bets that they’d placed without any money backing them. Never reported.
Of course, the board of Victoria University allowed all this to happen too, and some of them are fairly right-wing, to the extent that they are members of USA think-tanks.
Good riddance to iPredict, this is another tool that National can’t use with their next election campaign.
I enquired of someone I know who is involved with iPredict what he thought of your opinions about the site, and whether your suggestions were accurate.
He said his answer were best be summed up here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL2DH-nKBeA
And if, say, the poster was right would the person you know at ipredict admit it to you and would you then post that here?
alwyn, please tell me which parts of my post are wrong.
Prof Neil Quigley is/was on the Vic Uni board in question, and he’s a member of a USA think tank. He’s carving up Waik Uni parking spaces and charging parking fees to staff members, effectively a pay decrease, at the moment.
I had a big hand in overriding National’s bets a few weeks ago. This was probably the first time their position had been overtaken in years, probably scary for them. I have proof of the National-leaning predictions being modified quite a bit in the minutes just before closeoff, on several occasions since early 2014. At the time, Exceltium was closing off the reports at changing days/times of their own choosing, ‘pro bono’. The last scoop closeoff in June 2015 was at an unspecified time and by an unspecified party. How can that be relied on?
iPredict should have had a proper disinterested third party closing off the reports, not an extreme right-wing person like Exceltium’s owner, Matthew Hooton. And, they should be reporting at least every month between elections. Why don’t they let someone like me close it off? That would be fun.
I’ve seen big shorting or supporting bets disappear as soon as they are accessed, that’s because they were placed there when the person had cash reserves, but they are not charged against their account until they are called in. So National people have been placing heaps of fake bids over time, and their people probably ran multiple accounts too. I never did.
I noticed a response to taunting bids that would upset National politicos within a few minutes, at most hours of the day or night. They were certainly there watching and responding in a consistent way.
When the reports were done, they were couched in such a way as to support National if at all possible. If they couldn’t say that it looks like National will take out the next election, they just don’t report.
Of course, even when the Scoop/press reports don’t come out, politicians do look at the prediction figures, and make some conclusions. Closer to elections there have been TV items, and daily reports to the press.
It appears to me that iPredict’s purpose was fundamentally to support National and neoliberal policies in NZ. If it couldn’t do that consistently, it needed to be shut down.
Please provide proof that the people you name made the contracts you claim.
All you have to do is provide proof of the details of the contracts entered into by Hooton, Farrar and Slater.
Don’t just claim that ” So National people have been placing heaps of fake bids over time, and their people probably ran multiple accounts too”.
You have to able to prove who it was and that they happened. Otherwise it is “Only dreaming”.
You need details you can prove or they are only things you “think” might be true. ie “Dreams”.
You are a real smartarse alwyn. Obviously everyone is anonymous on iPredict. Except when they brag about how they’re gaming the system, like Farrah and Slater did, on record. Who else supports National predictions related to winning by bets in the hundreds, bets that later prove imaginary as they’ve spent their $2500 allocation for the six months on that account? The bids keep coming in, they’ve just started another account.
Hooton is the most obvious person to be playing with the bids just before a report closeoff. You’d have to be placing opposing bets to notice it, so that’s just a few lefties who would know. I’m telling you, when the time of the closeoff was notified at the foot of the press release, often some crucial power-sharing bids were heavily modified a few minutes earlier, always in National’s favour. Bloody rogue.
iPredict is doomed – there will be cash flying out of there because no-one cares what the site reports anymore, it’s obvious it was mostly pro-National bullshit.
Is “smart” the right word to use for Alwyn?
That is all the claim of “dreaming” says. There is no attempt to verify the identity of the people involved with iPredict. To identify certain individuals and to go into detail about what they are meant to be doing is impossible to know. I could probably set up an account in the name of David Farrar and no one would ever know who it really was.
Your proposals may actually be true. However neither you nor I can possibly know. Saying things like “Who else supports” and “Hooton is the most obvious” doesn’t prove it. It is only an opinion aka “dream”.
It is a little like my own musings about why reporters regularly claimed that David Cunliffe had a MBA from Harvard when he actually had an MPA. There seemed to be far to many giving MBA for it to be a coincidence. I hypothesised a reason but it was only my idea. I couldn’t possibly know whether it was actually true. That is the same as what you are doing.
alwyn, you’re clutching at straws now. Cunliffe always said officially he had an MPA, not his fault if some dopey press renamed it as a similar more well-known degree. But the scale of iPredict is a lot bigger, this is a site politicos had a lot to do with at crucial times of the election cycle. You have not explained your point of view that it was all right for someone like the heavily biased Matthew Hooton to write up the critical reports on iPredict, and why, if his time is so valuable, he’s done that for free. Nicky Hager provided evidence of emails that prove the concept of National bloggers gaming the site. The book didn’t stop that from happening, but it slowed them up. Over a year later, they’ve all seen the writing on the wall, and conceded the site has passed its use-by date.
If I’ve helped in that process, I’m very pleased.
Update on Ukraine situation
http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/7296/vital-jbsfc
Pfft, that was so 2014. People only care about Paris now.
Simple and effective political action. Brunel University invites anti-welfare bigot to speak, so the students attend en masse and when she starts stalking they stand and turn their backs on her. After a minute they walk out.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/katie-hopkins-brunel-university-students-stage-mass-walk-out-at-debate-as-columnist-speaks-a6749456.html
Embarrassing.
Mike Field on RADIONZ this morning talking about odd things going on in Fiji. But outstanding to me is that while Fiji has long been sending troops for peacekeeping
actually the UN is behind in paying its dues to Fiji to the tune of $30 million.
This is a lot to a small country, which has regarded those duties for the UN as being a source of needed revenue. The USA is spending trillions on its Middle East Boys-Own-Adventures-Gone-Wrong. The USA is a big contributor to the UN, which is based in the USA in the middle of New York and is a big money maker for New York. So UN should pay up to the countries smaller than New York, who have far less resources than that city in that country. (New York City population 2013 8.406 million, Fiji Islands population 0.9 million 2014 est.)
http://www.womensweekly.co.nz/latest/celebrity/jacinda-arderns-island-paradise-17402
So that’ll be another percentage point or two for Jacinda
“There’s more to me than just my looks!!!!”
I’m just waiting for the first “Key fears Ardern” post
That’s awesome she can take over in 2025 when Little moves on to the presidents role after 8 years as pm.
Now thats a good laugh for the weekend, good to see some lefties have a sense of humour
What will amuse me more is if come election time the extra exposure that Ardern has got from the rights mischief making helps tip shitkey out of office..
Well wish in one and crap in the other and see what fills up first I guess
Finally, New Zealand animals strike back!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11552259
I’d like to think that this….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/290700/trump-mocks-disabled-reporter
would spell the end of this fwit’s tilt at the US Presidency.
He is described as being teflon coated…just like Someone Else….
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/trump-criticised-mocking-disabled-reporter-151126132428310.html
Careful what you wish for, Rosemary.
What’s really amazing is if you look past the packaging and delivery to actual policy positions, Trump is actually … um …the least unpalatable of what’s on offer from the Republicans.
If you disagree, please tell us which of the Republican candidates you prefer over Trump and why.
Can we prefer a democat?
Reform 101: Why do we want to redefine money? (Post 1)
My bold.
When we have a close look at the present banking system we can see both the massive subsidies that the banking system gets from the state and the vulnerabilities built into it that force the state into bailing out the banks.
A Government-commissioned report aimed at attracting more investment into New Zealand’s growing food and beverage sector says about a quarter of the sector is already foreign-owned.
Food and beverage (F&B) exports account for 46 per cent of all goods and services exports – $30.7 billion of the $66.2 billion total in 2014.
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/nz-food-firms-quarter-owned-by-foreigners-2015112507#ixzz3sdvn4VoD
Selling the goose that laid the golden egg?
What percentage of the sector do we want to maintain ownership of?
Does Labour have a bottom line in this regard?
Should they?
Thoughts?
So on Radio Live we got more of the mentally semi retired “political commentators” Michelle Bo(a)g and Josie Pagani(ni) present their supposedly “well informed” and “enlightening” opinions on the topics of the week, actually rather making a mockery of their “profession” as commentators.
Firstly Josie repeated that nonsense that it was about 50 years since a NATO country shot down a “Russian” jet (commenting on the shooting down of a jet at the border with Syria two days ago). While the details about that more recent incident continue to be argued about between Turkey and Russia, the earlier incident she must have meant was actually 62 years ago, over Korea, during the end of the Korean war. The US was there not so much active as part of NATO, but as a nation on another war front, far away from the North Atlantic and Europe, where NATO had declared its strategic interests, and the plane shot down was a SOVIET Union air-force plane. The US did there not represent NATO, nor was it simply a “Russian” plane that was shot down, but we know how the MSM treat facts, do we not? So it proved again, how NZ self appointed, opinionated “commentators” parrot off what they hear and read in some media reports, without doing their own home-work, and yet they get plenty of air-time to spread their ill-informed drivel over the radio or TV.
Here is one of those poorly written media reports from the US media:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/11/24/the-last-time-a-russian-jet-was-shot-down-by-a-nato-jet-was-in-1952/
Russia was part of the USSR, but not THE USSR!
But re the “Russians” or “Soviets”, they were not always that fussy about shooting down planes that came near their air-space, even civilian jets, e.g. two Korean civilian airliners, carrying hundreds of ordinary traveler. See that among other “downings” of civilian airliners by various forces over the decades:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliner_shootdown_incidents
Yet the US have their own dark chapters in history to answer for, besides of the bombing of a hospital in Afghanistan not long ago:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/19/vinc-j19.html
Then on Radio Live there was discussion about the threat of ISIS, and Michelle Boag defended “other cultures” and “their rules” or laws, when Josie brought Saudi Arabia into the discussion. So the Sharia based laws used in Saudi Arabia, although not that pleasant, particularly for her as a woman, were what we cannot do anything about and have to basically accept, Michelle commented.
As for that law upheld in Saudi Arabia, and also often commented on here on TS, we know what that means:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_system_of_Saudi_Arabia
Beheadings are apparently done in an “orderly fashion” when it comes to a “different law following” nation we do trade with, but it is appalling when done by ISIS. Now that is a really convincing argument, I suppose to build a strong and convincing front of opposition to that terror organisation.
Then it went on later, to the “flag referendum”, and Josie shared her preference for that white fern on a black background, although it was not favoured for certain reasons (maybe being a bit similar to flags ISIS often use).
That is what passes for “informed commentary” on Radio Live these days, and I did not even go into other stuff not worth listening to:
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx
(Play the slots after 11 am on Friday, 27 Nov. 2015)
Those two women should in my view not be allowed near a microphone to comment on serious matters!
Just more govt shills ticking 2 boxes. Pushing nact themes and turning away the objective thinkers from RNZ.
I was having a lovely tranquil day until I read Scott Yorke’s latest ‘work of art’.
http://imperatorfish.com/2015/11/27/kittens-at-work/
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/290689/despairing-obesity-battler-quits-fight
Ah well all that time, effort and money for nought
Sadly there will be a few celebrating…
Katherine Rich being one
Another being me. Every diabetic in the country has cause to celebrate whenever one of these old-school dogmatists quits and makes room for people who may be less committed to the failed orthodoxy of the past. The current dietary recommendations for diabetics are still appalling recipes for making the condition worse, and improvement can only come with the retirement of Toomath’s generation of doctors, nutritionists and dieticians.
Yeah that will be the real reason why no progress has been made. Nothing to do with govts dragging the chain and resources.
I know you’re being sarcastic, but seriously, that is the most important reason no progress has been made. I’ve been enduring their dogma since I got type-1 diabetes in the mid-80s, and I’m well pissed off about the years of failed efforts to control blood sugar that I went through before learning that their advice was making things worse rather than better. The fact that the current government rejects advice from people like Toomath is one of its very few good points.
+1
Also, it’s pretty hard to take someone seriously who thinks that 1 in 3 NZ adults are obese (I assume RNZ got that from her).
It is actually type 2 diabetes (not type 1) which is associated with obesity and it is true that almost one third of NZ adults are obese. You two should try dealing in facts and specifics rather than trying to insult someone who has been trying to help… Shameful really.
Psycho Milt and Weka are continuing a long and dishonorable history of contempt for experts. Some years ago Raybon Kan and Gary McCormick, those leading intellectuals, were up to the same thing…..
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11032011/#comment-306974
The dietary advice is the same for both Type 1 and Type 2. Facts and specifics: the dietary advice is to eat little of the kinds of foods that don’t raise your blood glucose level significantly, and instead to eat lots of the kinds of foods that do. High blood glucose levels = high insulin responses, and insulin is among other things the hormone in charge of storing fat. Little expertise is required to understand it.
“It is actually type 2 diabetes (not type 1) which is associated with obesity and it is true that almost one third of NZ adults are obese. You two should try dealing in facts and specifics rather than trying to insult someone who has been trying to help… Shameful really.”
I know that the connectiong is between obesity and type 1 diabetes. I’m rejecting the notion of 1 in 3. I’m happy to talk facts so why don’t you start with posting the evidence for 1 in 3?
Milt is right. The official advice on fat and diet has been wrong for a long time.
Bryce Edwards says that Matthew Hooton writes that “Joyce associates openly talking about leadership change.”
(Saw on Twitter but not sure how to link.)
https://twitter.com/bryce_edwards/status/670076952099864576?t=1&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&sig=f73d655ab8fa4645ad3f57b16b2cf1cf908a59f0&al=1&refsrc=email&iid=24548c104eaf4fb08c3e938d36219398&autoactions=1448594904&uid=2555959843&nid=244+1489
Hmmmm so openly no one in the media knew til Hoots tweeted.
He has been very quiet recently
Busy plotting leadership change?
Well he did turn on Key after Key “lied” about Hoots.
You know the Right, they dont mind Key lying about anything… except them
The one redeeming feature of Hoots is that he’s never really liked John Key – oft trying to spin him as left wing such as on ninetonoon and elsewhere.
Its probably more that Key has managed to be more effective in spinning bullshit than Hoots has. How dare that plebian Phil Stein be more convincing and believable to Joe Everidge Public than the highly sophisticated legend-in-his-own-mind Mr Hooten – it’s just not right!
Its just a bloody big shame that whilst Hooten can see through our Dear Leader, and has done from the start, the public don’t seem to have yet.
He should really be careful what he wishes for though – he’ll do himself out of a job.
Hooton usually moans about Key because Hooton believes Key wasted political capital by not making more unpopular policies palatable, he thinks Key has been too safe.
NZ features in Isis’ latest propaganda video
Well, many of us did say that sending troops to the ME would make NZ a target and now we’re a target.
Maybe that is Cameron’s dilemma as well. Cursed if you join in. Cursed if you don’t.
(By the way interesting to scan the complement of flags shown on the link. Colour. Simplicity. Geometry.)
key will probably come on henry on Monday to tell us that this is another reason we need to change the flag so as to confuse Isis.
Lol
John Key will see it as a badge og honour and will wilfully ignore which came first…
His rhetoric and eagerness to do whatever the yanks want or Isis including our flag.
Of course the real issue is that they could differentiate between our flag and australias
“Well, many of us did say that sending troops to the ME would make NZ a target and now we’re a target.”
The price for being in the club.
The price paid by ordinary Kiwis being sent over there; our elites as usual pay no price for their stupidity and senility.
Can keep track of the number of Referendum votes received here:
http://www.elections.org.nz/events/referendums-new-zealand-flag-0/voting-first-referendum/voting-statistics
About 370,000 so far for 4 days,