“So the key things that the current government has to tackle are strategic – to look as though they are in charge at the time of the 2020 election and not just battling the rising pressures. Here is what I would do immediately.
First, there is a need for a strategic policy group, probably in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and separate from the already existent policy advisory group which deals with the short-term crises. Given the daily turmoil, I have no problems with the Prime Minister having such a short-term group. But within government there is no overarching medium and long term policy thinking”
The one area of this government that does have strong plans is the urban spatial frameworks, through transport and housing. The main question is whether they will be in long enough to confirm them.
and I made the same point myself days ago….the transport and housing plans i would suggest are in themselves incomplete but importantly are not part of a comprehensive plan….employment, taxation, inequality, immigration. trade, population even…..if we are going to transform our economy (and society) its a wee bit more than some tram tracks and prefab housing.
The Coalition have the ideal person in Jacinda Adern to take people with them but she needs a plan to sell.
Great just what we need. Yet another little group of nodding heads, drawing six figure salaries and preparing another ‘report’ on how to tell citizens to live their lives.
Like every other trough established by this government, it will have no power or relevance.
The only committee that has any power is the committee of 2 – Ardern and Peters.
you said “First, there is a need for a strategic policy group”
Yes a ‘summit between the three coalition Parties’ – would be a very strong issue to first do here so the Government can then clearly set about honouring all their promises made pre-election such as;
1/ Tackling the Climate change effects.
We still see the trucking lobby increasing truck use and no real regional rail being used as we in the provinces need trucks off our second class narrow winding roads as tjhey are now so dangerous and being destroyed by constant heavier trucks wrecking them as they increase the transport CO2 emmissions where rail would be lowering the CO2 levels.
2/ Secondly; – need the Government to restore the “free to air TV channel for Public affairs investigative jouralism as we Nationnal Party media is sending negative meessages about the new Labour co-alition Government andn that will harm our cause to get the issues aired on TV in a open and free from bias manner and those two issues are among the urgently needed issues to deal with right now.
you will note the quotation marks….the point I believe Brian Easton is making is that its all very well for the Coalition to address the problems (of which there are many) as they arise, but like previous administrations there is no overarching strategy (other than vague feel good slogans) ….if anything of substance is to be achieved, including reelection then this Gov needs to devote some energy (and PDQ) to strategic planning rather than wasting it all on firefighting….i’d suggest that its best opportunity to achieve this is with the Carbon Neutral 2050 policy due to be released early next year….but that is being led by a Minister outside Cabinet and support party member and is only a few months away so is it likely to provide such?
“Should I say something about the quality of people in the strategic policy group? Is it necessary to say that while they need to be sympathetic to a transformative government, the emphasis has to be on competence rather than political correctness? Perhaps I have to, for the government’s record thus far has to scatter an awful lot of politically correct incompetents through its advisory committees (but no more than predecessor governments).”
The last bit deserves repeating.
“….for the government’s record thus far has to scatter an awful lot of politically correct incompetents through its advisory committees (but no more than predecessor governments).”
We spoke at length to the Climate change “zero carbon” committee ‘team”‘ when they came to Napier and held their ‘road show’ last month.
We used another emission problem that the comittee had not yet considered yet.
That was about the ‘elephant in the room’ about the other large freight road transport emissions that were so badly affecting our climate and that was the “yyre dust emissions of small plastic particles that are shedding from truck tyres at an alarming rate that is now found on the ice caps and that black dust is now exellerating the melting of the ice caps.
The whole panel was shunned like a mullet, and said they never throught of that as being a problem and now said they do so we hope they will now curtail road freight in favour of regional rail freight as trains dont use tyres and only steel wheels.
Subject ; Tyre dust is another form of plastic so use rail it has steel wheels non-polluting. – ‘ Carbon emissions.’
When you drive your car don’t forget that tyres are made from plastic too!!!
So tyre dust is being spread all around the roads and into our water as we drive. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2017-002.pdf
quote;
3. Tyres: abrasion while driving Tyres get eroded when used. The particles are formed from the outer parts of the tyre and consist of a matrix of synthetic polymers, namely Styrene Butadiene Rubber (approximately 60%), in a mix with natural rubber and many other additives (Sundt et al., 2014). Tyre dust will then either be spread by the wind or washed off the road by rain. In this study, losses of synthetic rubber are considered but losses of natural rubber are not.
There is no reliable information on the transfer of microplastics from tyres to the world’s oceans. Both Norwegian and Swedish researchers have pointed out that a large fraction of particles found in the sea seem to originate from car tyres (Essel et al., 2015; Sundt et al., 2014).
End.
Finally, the long term best solution is to use far more rail freight and passenger services to give funding to upgrade the rail network in all our regions to expand rail freight/passenger services.
Rail and reducing pollution are key areas of any strategy IMO. I’d like to think that the electrification and expansion (at least of use) of the entire rail network could form part of an interconnected strategy….but one that is detailed, at least broadly costed and which has a timeline not deferred to some indeterminate future.
We need to use solar panel backup power on wagons of freight trains and ‘reserve generation power systems’ (direct drive generators on the rail drive system) to also complete partical or total electricifation of rail use to caputure the way forward for even the most ardent opposers of rail use.
Electric EV vehicles use these systems now so should trains use them.
The new BMW EV models now have solar panels on the roof of their new EV models.
yes sorry and thanks for that here read this explosive Auckland infrustructure report commioned for that region shows that tyre dust with brake and cluth dust are very high air pollution emitters so trucks with 34 tyres on each track and use braking and clutch use very often in our own “residential zones ” are damaging the health and wellbeing of many of us all.
Trucks are industrial activities that should be kept far away from our residental zones where high populations reside. No to any industrial activities near our residential zones please NZTA government here our call.
The post you replied to may not be the most clearly articulated of all time, but it would nonetheless take some pretty rank stupidity to get out of it what you did.
Idiot number 2, step on up!
Did you miss the part where the original idiot talked about he national party media? Then demanded a free to air tv channel that is free from bias but only presented views the original idiot agrees with?
My problem with your suggestions is that a government funded tv channel should only air views you approve of. Hardly bias free as you seem to imagine it would be. It would only be right wing bias free. Which
One of the failures of the current Labour-led government, is the lack of urgency and limited expertise they have provided for revitalising public service media. It should have had high priority.
Maybe Robertson has has got more contacts in the corporate media who he can feed lines/info to, and that he doesn’t have any similar contacts in RNZ?
Public service media, at arms length from government, free from bias, and that holds all political parties and MPs to account, is absolutely necessary to democracy. Some non public service media journos also do that.
However, corporate media puts much more focus on cheerleading private enterprise, and capitalist values, and pollies who support those things.
I think I have to disagree with a free to air TV channel even though I would like one myself. I have two children in there twenties and thirties and both do not even have TV Aerials and none of their friends watch free to air TV, its really the older generation who watch it and they are unlikely to change the way they vote.
Have a look at what TVNZ is doing – massive expansive of free to view online TV programmes and movies.
That is what a public service TV channel can do – freeview plus ondemand viewing online.
Clare Curran has totally ignored what can be done with TVNZ. It’s not just about current affairs. TVNZ ondemand has an LGBT stream, it has Scanadanavian TV programmes, it has documentaries, it has express shows available ondemand the same week as in the US, and I suspect it is pulling in some younger viewers.
Yes, the imaginary leader as portrayed in the first testament is indeed cruel and tyrannical. Perhaps this goes part of the way to explaining the Zionists’ behaviour.
If the state of Israel isn’t a Jewish state, as it’s not anti-Semitic to criticise it, then how can any logical person support theocracy over democracy?
Non- sequitur. Firstly, the state of Israel does not represent all Jews, and secondly, Israel has pretty well made itself a theocracy by giving privilege to only those who believe in the God of the first testament. Are there any Jewish atheists who are Israeli citizens? This puts the religion pretty well in control, regardless of whether the politicians are church officials.
I’ll stick with the first non-sequitur, then. Although it intrigues me that Christians who are atheists tend not to regard themselves as Christians. (Apart from the few like Loyd Geering..) I must study your link to see how atheism links with the Jewish religion.
Well, what a nicey-nicey read. lots of concerns like ours about whether religion should be taught in schools, etc, but not one mention of how atheistic, secular Israelis justify their occupation of Palestinian territory.
It seems to me that atheistic, secular Jews can no longer maintain the argument that God Almighty Himself awarded the land to the Jews as the first testament claims. So upon what is their claim based? Sheer racism and ‘might is right’?
Or the even more tenuous one that they are not a theocracy? Are the Palestinians a theocracy?
1/ “White Helmets and the their families….” sort of gives the lie to the Assad regime claim that these are all foreign jihadists, don’t you think?
2/ With reports that White Helmet personal are being detained at government checkpoints. Taking the option of passing through regime lines to rebel held areas is not an option for members of the White Helmets because this is what awaits them.
1. So, Israel….as a humanitarian gesture upon request…spontaneously and within a handful of hours time window….rounded up some 800 White Helmets and their families….
Israel, being the humanitarians that they are, shooting children, women, men, medics, animals etc in Palestine…do a 180 and ‘rescue’ … who exactly…so what does Israels hypocrisy point likely point to…
That Israel have been operating inside Syria an extended period of time, Jenny…that is what it points to…
Then the humanitatians they are…do not take one single ‘rescued’ person…not a single one…
Instead, the ‘rescued’ are being distributed like isis/al nusra cells openly to western nations…
The alleged events to not pass the weakest sniff test…
#2. Someone is lying…rescuers or sponsored moderate terror agents…
As well as all their victims killed and maimed also feel sorry for the jews who have the zionist regime aggressively “representing them” constantly in the media, against their will.
As Jews, we reject the myth that it’s antisemitic to call Israel racist
by Rebecca Vilkomerson, The Independent, 23 July 2018
A worldwide coalition of Jewish groups has issued a joint statement condemning attempts to stifle criticism of Israel with false accusations of antisemitism….
“In recent days members of the Dáil, the main law-making body in the Irish parliament, have passed a bill which will mean no more money goes into exploiting and using the coal, oil and gas which are among the principal drivers of global climate change.”
Pity NZ Government are having some upset about their meek movements to cut oil eploration. Perhaps they should cut all funding to the petroleum industry that National set up.
The rain it raineth every day upon the just and unjust fella,
But more upon the just because
The unjust took the just’s umbrella!
Go, Labour Coalition, the new unjust. And keep the umbrella up rain or shine to
protect against bird droppings from the just – this time a kookaburra (a laughing jackass).
Howard yabbering here is another example of us co-ordinating with Australia as if we are on equal terms while they cherry-pick out criminals who have learned their habits in Australia. Bet most of them are Maori or brownies not whities. It’s an affront to our free country which aims for equality.
But equality with Australia is an uneasy see saw. They sent their army into native land to organise or control Aborigines. This country had the police militarised and went after Tuhoe.)
(Some of our egregious fraudsters live in Oz. But they committed their crimes in NZ so that mightn’t count there.) Thdugj h they were so worried by\\about an ordinary crim that he wasn’t allowed over the Ditch to saw farewell to his dying mother.(
Two petty (on my part, I admit) things about John Howard:
1. He shares his birthday date (26 July) with Jacinda Ardern. He turned 79 on Thursday; she turned 38 – a difference of 41 years (= Simon Bridges’ age.)
2. The last listing in his very long Wikipedia bio – In 2017, Howard endorsed a “No” vote in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and joined the campaign against same-sex marriage.
During the negotiations somebody (most likely Winston) held a ‘gun’ to their heads and threatened to ‘sue’ them if they made NZF a better offer than Labour. They caved in and the rest is history, as they say. Yeah, ‘forced’ they were 😉
John Howard still has questions to answer about his role in the overthrow of Gough Whitlam.
He was deputy prime minister under Malcolm Fraser in the ensuing government.
Is Max DJ-ing at the National Annual Conference and playing that winning tune Lose Yourself again and again? Where is Max? And Jason??
Are Sir John and Barack in the country to play a round of golf?
It is the same old (mostly white) faces from the past in the same old place, the Sky City Convention Centre for National.
All so disappointingly predictable; so sad to see the once mighty self-entitled born-to-rule politicians wallowing in self-pity and withering away in the Hellish pit that is known as Opposition.
What an ass old Rat Eyes is becoming in his old age just as well that Tracey Watkins didn’t ask the Mad Monk for his two shillings worth on last years election.
Interestingly the only policy bridges mentions is reinstating charter schools. But that was an ACT policy was it not? It’s almost as if National have been using ACT as a front to intoduce policy at arms length…
As an aside I see Paul goldsmith has been getting a lot of airtime (for someone who has preferred invisibility) lately, perhaps they’re getting ready to shove Seymour under the bus in epsom.
Hooch It’s almost as if National have been using ACT as a front to intoduce policy at arms length…
I think you have hit the nail here. In one blow too without hitting your thumb!
At long last the global media are crawling out from their hidey-holes and acknowledging the disastrous effects of Climate Change. It should have happened years ago but better late than never:
They’ve finally stopped hedging their bets on the basis that the CC Deniers of yesteryear were worthy of equal attention. Since they weren’t sure which side was going to win the argument (as if it was a political or ideological issue) they erred on the side of caution and avoided using the term. The same can be said of most governments.
Heads should roll based on gross stupidity and neglect.
Tragically and criminally, they have started writing too late for us to mitigate many of the impacts of industrial capitalism.
The deaths of millions lie at the hands of the corporate media.
No doubt the right wingers will still bury their arses in the sand until the water level surprasses their ability to breath under water or sand and either they snuff their lives out or they get on board with us and get serious about curtailing the carbon emissions of trucks and use rail.
cleangreen
I am suprised that you underrate the actions of the entitled wealthy to climate change spread and rise, you are usually more direct. I hope you will get your local transport issues and climate change and lost opportunities to mitigate proverty dealt to quickly and intelligently.
To escape climate change (cc) effects the comfortable will attempt to save themselves; they will climb on other’s bodies like desperate people escaping a cellar fire or a stadium stampede, or they will divest others of their resources and leave them with no defences or way of exiting. This is not hyperbole, it is observable from past events, and can be forecast from the tone and behaviour of those in positions of power today. Where there is leadership it often is puny and lacking in determination and practicality and psychology of human behaviour.
True but we can change that if we work to do so. Just started reading The Case for a maximum wage. Which is actually a misnomer as he’s actually talking about a maximum income set as a multiple of the minimum wage:
A far simpler and much bolder approach – and the approach that these pages advocate – would be to set a new income maximum as a multiple of the existing minimum wage. Any income above that multiple would face a tax set at 100 percent.
He thinks that such a system gets buy in from everyone and thus the rich won’t be able to get rid of it the same way that they got rid of high tax rates.
EDIT:
I like the point he makes here:
What could we do? We could narrow our initial focus, from societies writ large to a pivotal single element within our societies: the corporate enterprise. These enterprises largely determine who gets what in our modern nations. Down through the years, progressive tax rates have traditionally sought to redistribute the income that corporations have so unequally predistributed. But, egalitarians are now asking, why give this inequality a head start? We need to do more, they argue, than redistribute income. We need to much more equally predistribute it.
The path to a “maximum wage” begins with this predistribution.
I have come to the conclusion that there is a no default setting in humans that wuill be happy to say enough at any advanced wage structure. Happiness is a warm gun? (Beatles)
I think it is only poor people that appreciate the advantage of each $ of wage rise. In business studies they used to talk about ‘hygiene’ as somethingto do finding ways to reward and incentivise high earners when they became ‘ blase’ types who already had everything.
Getting buy-in from people with Affluenza for capping their wages could be like stopping elephants drunk on excesses of fermented fruit. You can imagine!
It’s not going to be easy but it does need to be done.
As the author points out we had much better distribution and equality when top tax rates were high because it got to the point that having a higher income made no difference because of the high tax rates and so more was given to the workers.
This way also gets buy in from the rich as when the minimum income goes up so does their maximum income.
It’s just going to be difficult putting such a system in place.
DTB
Yes. Well I did note that business studies were aware of the problem of satiation with top execs. So perhaps some sort of sideways promotion so they feel they have progressed even though the increase is income is foregone because it has gone into tax.
What if their top tax percentages go into an investment fund that helps to finance small, progressive, innovative businesses that advance the country’s sustainable industry or something. I think there is a crowd now called No. 8 Wire that does something like that. If the top bananas regard investing in the infrastructure and services that help with welfare a waste going into a bottomless pit, perhaps they could be satisfied to see the top percentage/s being used for development of small ‘fireflies’.
The business-mania that sweeps over everyone and rains leaflets emblazoned with gold dollars onto every gathering of Commerce enables the fish farm industry to keep harping on about their exponential growth prospects even though they know that fish farms lead to pollution and disease of both the farmed and wild fish.
But, but the world is crying out for our fish. And will pay big money for it.
Oh well all right then. Go ahead and don't worry, we will have some technology to clean up after you. We will breed bigger fish that like it or grow seaweed that will process it and magically make all clean and clear again. And don't forget to talk about employment to be offered, Which needs to be over 50 at least I should think, to sound attractive enough and kill off support for informed protest,
/sarc, but not very.
More private industry taking over public resources and not paying anything to the public for the risk as well as getting corporate welfare of $3 million plus from government to boot. When it all goes wrong, don’t worry the public and environment will suffer to pay for it.
Lots of bad press about these salmon farms and the food they feed them which is often from aggressively taking from ocean ecosystems which is a turn off.
I used to eat this salmon but for some reason as well as the above concerns, the quality has got worse and worse, not sure if it is the salmon, what they are eating, where they are processing it, or how old it is or some other process like freezing it and defrosting it incorrectly. The texture is wrong.
Am wondering if Arctic salmon often cheaper and processed in Denmark is a better bet as at least have the EU regulations on quality?
Interesting saenz. From personal point of view, I want to eat a bit more salmon in my diet as part of thinning my blood intelligently, trying. Will look up references mentioned.
Re the quality of “farmed” salmon. It’s to do with reduced muscle tone from having the pens in still water, the fish don’t have to work for a living.
Early on the farms were located where there was a reasonable tidal flow to disperse the waste, but this got expensive because the pens would break free or get damaged, so they moved to stiller water. Hence quality went down and effects went up. There’s also big variations in quality of what they are fed.
If you get down South, compare the quality of product from the different operations in the McKenzie. Some are in the flowing canals, some are in calm backwaters.
Graeme
I will have to look at this to understand it properly. But I glanced at the
report from Radionz and they were talking about getting into faster flowing deeper sea water so wouln’t they get the same problem they had before with cages breaking away. I think they are havering. (Old Scottish word that has stayed in my brain., sort of means ‘having people on, talking to confuse.)
Graeme
I would like to make an ethical choice to die when I choose but am not allowed to do that by supposedly well-meaning individuals and groups.
That is something useful that I would do, but am prevented from doing it.
Giving up animal flesh – fish, chicken, red or white meat is not something that I can concentrate at present, it is the possibility of losing my vision that is concentrating my mind at present. Also I want to keep my health so I can continue having ability to work for a better future than the very bad scenario we are sinking into and that takes up all my energy and fills my thoughts.
I am old and haven’t many years of intelligent life left. I don’t know if or when dementia will strike me. I think and write here and in the community trying to help the young needy, and promote understanding and assist others demonstrate to the wider public their ways of coping with the disaster that is underlying NZs complacent rock star economy.
So don’t toss simplistic single ideas at me that don’t help me in my efforts to manage my way through the confusing set of barriers erected to prevent good management by our government, central and local.
The single line comment that derails the comment being replied to is common on this blog. It s actually derisory about the problem that a commenter has raised and doesn’t attempt to discuss the matter. If something comes up that isn’t just a tendentious rerun of a continuing disagreement, it deserves more than a throwaway line.
Sorry Graeme
I got your comment mixed with that from Grey Area. Excuse is having eyesight problems at moment. And didn’t check to see whose moniker was on the relevant comment. Sorry again.
And Grey Area thank you, not, for your flip reply. How grey are you?
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O) and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg were sued on Friday in what could be the first of many lawsuits over a disappointing earnings announcement by the social media company that wiped out about $120 billion of shareholder wealth.
Of course $120 billion wasn’t really wiped out – it didn’t exist in the first place and is part of the bludging aspect of capitalism that’s destroying society.
Interesting that your comment came just after earlier discussion on fishfarming problems.
It has been said that the stock exchange behaves like a school of fish turning and twisting in a slick, fast moving mass as predators loom. They are full of hot air anyway in the SX as you mention. And our employment hangs on their feelings of confidence – or flatulence! Makes you larf really don’t it. In a dismal sort of way.
Of course $120 billion wasn’t really wiped out – it didn’t exist in the first place and is part of the bludging aspect of capitalism that’s destroying society.
The same applies to QV; the whole FIRE economy vitally depends on it – it is their raison d’être.
If not invented by capitalists, paper value (profit & loss) surely is one of their most loved and abused instruments.
To grasp what is going on in the world right now, we need to reflect on two things. One is that we are in a phase of trial runs. The other is that what is being trialled is fascism – a word that should be used carefully but not shirked when it is so clearly on the horizon. Forget “post-fascist” – what we are living with is pre-fascism.
[…]
To see, as most commentary has done, the deliberate traumatisation of migrant children as a “mistake” by Trump is culpable naivety. It is a trial run – and the trial has been a huge success. Trump’s claim last week that immigrants “infest” the US is a test-marketing of whether his fans are ready for the next step-up in language, which is of course “vermin”. And the generation of images of toddlers being dragged from their parents is a test of whether those words can be turned into sounds and pictures. It was always an experiment – it ended (but only in part) because the results were in.
‘Devious’ infants
And the results are quite satisfactory. There is good news on two fronts. First, Rupert Murdoch is happy with it – his Fox News mouthpieces outdid themselves in barbaric crassness: making animal noises at the mention of a Down syndrome child, describing crying children as actors. They went the whole swinish hog: even the brown babies are liars. Those sobs of anguish are typical of the manipulative behaviour of the strangers coming to infest us – should we not fear a race whose very infants can be so devious? Second, the hardcore fans loved it: 58 per cent of Republicans are in favour of this brutality. Trump’s overall approval ratings are up to 42.5 per cent.
What a tasteless, crass but totally predictable comment by the president of the National Party at their conference to the gathered faithful to slaver over.
‘National Party President Peter Goodfellow has mounted an attack on Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters, saying National had “dodged a whisky-swilling, cigarette-smoking, double-breasted and irrational bullet”.’ Of course no National MPs ever frequent Bellamys to have a tipple or two or sneak out for a fag or two either. I’m no N Z First voter or supporter, but for better or worse they are part of the present coalition so be it. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12097023
It just goes to show they haven’t learned a damned thing.
Come the next election there’s a good chance that they will once again have to negotiate with Winston or someone who likes him. But not, the nats will call him names and bitch about how unfair democracy is.
I give them as much sympathy as they give people who need benefits to live: none at all. Just contempt, scorn, and low regard. Goodfellow may be, but bad politician.
Fanatics fuck things up in Vino the majority of every religion want peace love and prosperity the minority want to rule and cause division uncivilised fools.
The national party displayed there true values when they had that fallout with Winston Peters all those years ago and they showed it on there election campaign with the word lazy don’t want to work don’t want to work those words of bill’s were directed at tangata whenua . And there next move was to try and throw Winston under the bus.
Then the aggressors switch hats and act as a victim when they lost the seemingly un lose able election .I see this behavior all the time the aggressor switch hats at the blink of the eye and cry foul.
The big picture is one cannot go around displaying arrogance and think that your culture and thoughts are the only ones that counts why . because you end up with no m8. Well here you go national The Maori Language and culture is get a revival not just in Aotearoa but right around Papatuanuku Kia kaha tangata whenua this fact gives me a sore face Ka kite ano link below.
The big picture is the sandflys are upset that there national m8 are warming the back benches. This is the party that gave them laws to do what ever they want and not be held accountable for there actions they change the bail laws so one can be locked up with out a crime been proven that’s room for deception I say how well they say plead guilt and you will get a lesser charger they don’t care that the charge will stuff up the person life just so long as they get more credit for a promotion. national also made it harder to get a fair trial by making legal aid harder to get what.s the consequences Its a breach of human rights to a fair trial that’s one of the consequence of those changes.The other is they get more leverage to get a guilty plee more cridits for a pay rise.
The sandflys won’t like it that there prison muster has lowered by 500 because to ECO MAORI the law changes the sandflys lobbied for were designed to make it easier for them to lock up people full stop. Ana to kai Ka kite ano
If the sandflys try anything against my offspring I will appel it to the highest court of te whenua to get justice that’s the law of te whenua. Ka kite ano
I just read a story in North and South mag on Matt Robertson he was a Alince mp the year is 2001 this will seam like last century to some but to ECO Maori its just yesterday. Here are some of the truth full statement he made it’s only the poor common people who go to jail.
We have the second recorded for the most people’s locked up in jail the most was USA half the people in prison are Maori the highest group of people are male 15 to 24 age groups. He also states that to some they are just numbers but to him there’s are OUR babys that we are locking up someone’s son And I totally agree with that statement the young are easily lead to make mistake. It cost $50.000 to lock up someone in those days 18 years later its dubble $100.000.
He has figures that show if we invest in early intervention it’s is %50 more likely to change the Mokopunas future for the better than waiting till the are being changed with a crime so 70 % for early intervention to 15% when they are in the system. So what’s the big picture equality shear the putea that Aotearoa gives us more equaly and all the bad stats will go down Its not Rocket science people it’s common sense to do this and this is what our Coalition Government is doing at the minute. Ka kite ano
Kia kaha Joseph Parker you did us proud.
It stinks that the opperstion did not get more points taken of for a head but I didn’t realise that was part of boxing rules makes a mockery of the sport.
Just like the systems in Atoearoa.
Ka kite ano
Here we go the European Union is going to stamp out demarcat elections voter beening minupulate by there computers IE being sold lies by target ad verts the kumara never tells how sweet it is Ka pai. Eco Maori could see that happening tangata being sold lies like the one we’re the people are coned into believing a billion are has their best interests at heart come on Ana to kai
Ka kite ano link below PS all government should do the same most common tangata are so trust worthy they trust what’s being feed to them because they would not deceive anyone on that scale
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I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...
Crime Pays for the PoliticiansThis morning, Paul Goldsmith, the Minister who wants Te Reo Maori scrubbed, announced that prisoners who are serving terms of less than 3 years be barred from voting. From left, Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith & Mental Health Minister Matt DooceyNZ’s Electoral Review ...
Well, I can't see and I can't hearThey've burnt out all the feelingsAnd I never been so crazy, and it's just my second yearFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basin, prison bedSongwriter: Don Walker.The coalition parties are mulling the austerity budget they will soon put to the ...
First, hats off to Tory Whanau. Her decision to bow out and run for the Māori ward instead, putting the city’s future above her personal ambition, is commendable. Facing a torrent of personal abuse and a council mired in chaos, she still delivered on water investment, cycleways, and housing reforms. ...
Trump Kills A Sure-ThingIn Canada, the Conservatives fell from a 21 point lead a few months ago to a decisive loss yesterday. The Canadian Liberals are ~ 2 to 3 seats short of a majority, which means PM Mark Carney but will still need to work through opposition parties ...
Australia’s cost-of-living election has a khaki tinge and an uneasy international tone. You know defence is having an impact when a political party promises to raise taxes to buy more military kit, and makes defence ...
The Waitākere Ranges, a stunning natural taonga west of Auckland, are at the heart of a brewing controversy that’s exposing the ugly underbelly of New Zealand’s political discourse. A proposed deed of acknowledgement, grounded in the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008, aims to establish a joint decision-making committee with ...
I spoke last night with Simplicity Chief Economist and Head of Policy about the Government's latest budget policy tightening, the risks for infrastructure investment and a potential dampening of GDP growth.He points out that the Government has cut capital expenditure so far in the current financial year, rather than ...
The Ukrainian air force went to war against invading Russian forces in February 2022 with just 125 combat aircraft concentrated at around a dozen large bases. Given Russia’s overwhelming deep-strike advantage—hundreds of deployed warplanes and ...
Briefly this morning: Nicola Willis rules out charities tax or any tax hike to reduce budget deficit. She’s focused instead on spending cuts. There are 1,000 at-risk kids without a social worker, NZ Herald reports.Housing shortages are a factor in high-risk sex offenders being put out early into uncontrolled community ...
Truly, these are tough times for our nation’s leaders. In future, how on earth are they going to find the sort of money they’ve been happy to throw at landlords, tobacco companies, and wealthier New Zealanders ever since they got elected? On Defence, how are they going to find those ...
A couple of months ago now I wrote a post about the new set of discount rates government agencies are supposed to use in undertaking cost-benefit analysis, whether for new spending projects or for regulatory initiatives. The new, radically altered, framework had come into effect from 1 October last year, ...
Huawei dominates Indonesia’s telecommunication network infrastructure. It won over Indonesia mainly through cost competitiveness and by generating favour through capacity-building programs and strategic relationships with the government, and telecommunication operators. But Huawei’s dominance poses risks. ...
Democracy and the liberal tradition have long been seen as among the most basic tenets of the American way of life. They are also the main reason the West has for the past 80 years ...
Nicola Willis continues to compare the economy to a household needing to tighten its belt to survive. Photo: Getty Images The key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, April 29 are: Nicola Willis today announced a cut in the Government’s new spending ...
The Herald had another announcement today about a new solar farm being officially opened - this time the 63MW Lauriston solar farm in Canterbury. It is of course briefly "NZ’s biggest solar farm", but it will soon be overtaken by Kōwhai park at Christchurch airport (168MW) and Tauhei (202MW), both ...
I woke this morning to the shock news that Tory Whanau was no longer contesting the Wellington mayoralty, having stepped aside to leave the field clear for Andrew Little. Its like a perverse reversal of Little's 2017 decision to step aside for Jacinda - the stale, pale past rudely shoving ...
In a pre-Budget speech this morning the Minister of Finance announced that this year’s operating allowance – the net amount available for new initiatives – was being reduced from $2.4 billion to $1.3 billion (speech here, RNZ story here). Operating allowance numbers in isolation don’t mean a great deal (what ...
Of the two things in life that are certain, defence and national security concern themselves with death but need to pay more attention to taxes. Australia’s national security, defence and domestic policy obligations all need ...
The Coalition of Chaos is at it again with another half-baked underwhelming scheme that smells suspiciously like a rerun of New Zealand’s infamous leaky homes disaster. Their latest brainwave? Letting tradies self-certify their own work on so-called low-risk residential builds. Sounds like a great way to cut red tape to ...
Perfect by natureIcons of self indulgenceJust what we all needMore lies about a world thatNever was and never will beHave you no shame don't you see meYou know you've got everybody fooledSongwriters: Amy Lee / Ben Moody / David Hodges.“Vote National”, they said. The economic managers par excellence who will ...
The Australian Defence Force isn’t doing enough to adopt cheap drones. It needs to be training with these tools today, at every echelon, which it cannot do if it continues to drag its feet. Cheap drones ...
Hi,Just over a year ago — in March of 2024 — I got an email from Jake. He had a story he wanted to tell, and he wanted to find a way to tell it that could help others. A warning, of sorts. And so over the last year, as ...
Back in the dark days of the pandemic, when the world was locked down and businesses were gasping for air, Labour’s quick thinking and economic management kept New Zealand afloat. Under Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson, the Wage Subsidy Scheme saved 1.7 million jobs, pumping billions into businesses to stop ...
When I was fifteen I discovered the joy of a free bar. All you had to do was say Bacardi and Coke, thanks to the guy in the white shirt and bow tie. I watched my cousin, all private school confidence, get the drinks in, and followed his lead. Another, ...
The Financial Times reported last week that China’s coast guard has declared China’s sovereignty over Sandy Cay, posting pictures of personnel holding a Chinese flag on a strip of sand. The landing apparently took place ...
You might not know this, but New Zealand’s at the bottom of the global league table for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and the National government’s policies are ensuring we stay there, choking the life out of our clean energy transition.According to the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Global EV Outlook, we’ve ...
We need more than two Australians who are well-known in Washington. We do have two who are remarkably well-known, but they alone aren’t enough in a political scene that’s increasingly influenced by personal connections and ...
When National embarked on slash and burn cuts to the public service, Prime Minister Chris Luxon was clear that he expected frontline services to be protected. He lied: The government has scrapped part of a work programme designed to prevent people ending up in emergency housing because the social ...
When the Emissions Trading Scheme was originally introduced, way back in 2008, it included a generous transitional subsidy scheme, which saw "trade exposed" polluters given free carbon credits while they supposedly stopped polluting. That scheme was made more generous and effectively permanent under the Key National government, and while Labour ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
The news of Virginia Giuffre’s untimely death has been a shock, especially for those still seeking justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Giuffre, a key figure in exposing Epstein’s depraved network and its ties to powerful figures like Prince Andrew, was reportedly struck by a bus in Australia. She then apparently ...
An official briefing to the Health Minister warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are: There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 ...
We should have been thinking about the seabed, not so much the cables. When a Chinese research vessel was spotted near Australia’s southern coast in late March, opposition leader Peter Dutton warned the ship was ...
Now that the formalities of saying goodbye to Pope Francis are over, the process of selecting his successor can begin in earnest. Framing the choice in terms of “liberal v conservative” is somewhat misleading, given that all members of the College of Cardinals uphold the core Catholic doctrines – which ...
A listing of 30 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 20, 2025 thru Sat, April 26, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
Let’s rip the shiny plastic wrapping off a festering truth: planned obsolescence is a deliberate scam, and governments worldwide, including New Zealand’s, are complicit in letting tech giants churn out disposable junk. From flimsy smartphones that croak after two years to laptops with glued-in batteries, the tech industry’s business model ...
When I first saw press photos of Mr Whorrall, an America PhD entomology student & researcher who had been living out a dream to finish out his studies in Auckland, my first impression, besides sadness, was how gentle he appeared.Press released the middle photo from Mr Whorrall’s Facebook pageBy all ...
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...
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. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...
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: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...
Photo by Beth Macdonald on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat with myself, and regular guests climate correspondent and on climate ...
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Broadcasting, Tākuta Ferris, and MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, are demanding the Government significantly increase its investment in Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025. The call comes following the release of the network’s 2025 Social Value Report at an event today, attended by MP ...
The National Party’s announcement to reinstate a total ban on prisoner voting is a shameful step backwards. Denying the right to vote does not strengthen society — it weakens our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Voting is not a privilege to be taken away — it is a ...
Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...
The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to ...
Right‑wing ministers are waging a campaign to erase Māori health equity by tearing out its very foundations. ACT’s Todd Stephenson dismisses Treaty‑based nursing standards as “off‑track distractions” and insists nurses only need “skill and a kind heart,” despite clear evidence that cultural competence saves lives. Health Minister Simeon Brown’s funding cuts, hiring ...
The Green Party has renewed its call for the Government to ban the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone products, as the CTU launches a petition for the implementation of a full ban. ...
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Cornell, Research Fellow, Flinders University shutterstockbeeboys/Shutterstock It would be impossible at this stage in the election campaign to be unaware that housing is a critical, potentially vote-changing, issue. But the suite of policies being proposed by the major parties largely ...
Unless your workplace is already utopia – and we haven’t come across one yet – there is a good reason for all union members to come to this hui. Union members and delegates from many different unions and workplaces have told us why they and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Daria Nipot/Shutterstock Australia’s headline inflation rate held steady at a four-year low of 2.4% in the March quarter, according to official data, adding to the case for ...
Our targets aren’t ambitious enough. Supported by seven independent experts, we’re arguing that the targets are not aligned with what’s required to limit warming to 1.5°C, and the Commission didn’t carry out its analysis in the way the law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Micah Boerma, Researcher, School of Psychology and Wellbeing, University of Southern Queensland Nitinai Thabthong/Shutterstock One of the highlights of the school year is an overnight excursion or school camp. These can happen as early as Year 3. While many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Edwell, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Macquarie University SvetlanaVV/Shutterstock Something tells me US president Donald Trump would love to be a Roman emperor. The mythology of unrestrained power with sycophants doing his bidding would be seductive. But in fact, ...
It is an unjustifiable limit on the electoral rights of New Zealand citizens that will disproportionately harm Māori, writes law lecturer Carwyn Jones.The government has announced that it intends to resurrect the ill-conceived, Bill of Rights-breaching blanket ban on prisoner voting. This policy was previously implemented by a law ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 30, 2025. Locked up for life? Unpacking South Australia’s new child sex crime lawsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Criminologist, CQUniversity Australia Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock It’s election time, which means the age old ...
“The promise was for this to be revenue neutral, to reduce congestion and improve efficiency. But if the funds can be spent elsewhere, we’ll call it what it is—another tax.” ...
With just a few days to polls-time, Ben McKay joins Toby Manhire to chat about the Albo v Dutto denouement. This Saturday Aussies will (compulsorily) head to the polls. At the start of the year, Labor under Anthony Albanese was staring down the barrel of defeat and the first one-term ...
Palestinians do not have the luxury to allow Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small, but important, step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed, writes Dr Ilan PappéANALYSIS:By Ilan Pappé Responses in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle Loquellano/Pexels Did you start 2025 with a promise to eat better but didn’t quite get there? Or maybe you want to branch out from making the same meal every week ...
“New Zealand is now running the worst primary deficit of any advanced economy. Net core Crown debt has exploded from $59 billion in 2017 to a projected $192 billion this year.” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago GettyImagesGetty Images Is it possible to reconcile increased international support for Ukraine with Donald Trump’s plan to end the war? At their recent meeting in London, Christopher Luxon and his British ...
John Campbell’s new TVNZ+ docuseries is a gripping and unsettling look at how Destiny Church has amassed money and power – and why its growing aggression should alarm us all.As I sat down for dinner with my fiancée last Friday night, we faced the age-old question of deciding what ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Graci Kim, author of new middle grade novel, Dreamslinger.On 7 April Graci Kim announced on her social media channels that she wasn’t going to be touring the ...
Access Community Health support workers will strike from 12-2pm on Thursday, 1 May - International Workers’ Day - the same day as senior doctors and Auckland City Hospital’s perioperative nurses will also walk off the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monica Gagliano, Research Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology, Southern Cross University Zenit Arti Audiovisive Earth’s cycles of light and dark profoundly affect billions of organisms. Events such as solar eclipses are known to bring about marked shifts in animals, but do ...
By Reza Azam Greenpeace has condemned an announcement by The Metals Company to submit the first application to commercially mine the seabed. “The first application to commercially mine the seabed will be remembered as an act of total disregard for international law and scientific consensus,” said Greenpeace International senior campaigner ...
No good thing ever lasts and this week, the Samoan call was lost to the corporate world forever. Everybody’s heard a cheehoo before. Certainly if you’ve ever been in the vicinity of two or more Samoans, you’ll have heard one whether you wanted to or not. It soundtracks every sports ...
The largest iwi in Aotearoa has yet to settle its Treaty claim. As debate continues, Pene Dalton makes the case for clarity and courage. And settlement. Ngāpuhi is the largest iwi in Aotearoa, with over 180,000 people connected by whakapapa – and our population is growing. That growth brings pride ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Garrow, Editorial Web Developer This federal election, both major parties have offered a “grab bag” of policy fixes for Australia’s stubborn housing affordability crisis. But there are still two big policy elephants in the room, which neither side wants to touch. ...
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Analysis - Nothing is certain in politics, and Labor could still lose the election as polls are known to get it wrong in Australia, writes Corin Dann. ...
The associate education minister has appealed for mayors’ support on improving school attendance. But should it really be part of their job, asks Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Mayors unimpressed by Seymour’s call to arms Associate education ...
Multinational Methanex’s Kiwi subsidiary has claimed to be unprofitable and paid no tax in New Zealand for the past two years – yet found the cash to pay a $70 million dividend to its Vancouver-based parent company this year.The dividend is disclosed in a note to this month’s Methanex NZ ...
“So the key things that the current government has to tackle are strategic – to look as though they are in charge at the time of the 2020 election and not just battling the rising pressures. Here is what I would do immediately.
First, there is a need for a strategic policy group, probably in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and separate from the already existent policy advisory group which deals with the short-term crises. Given the daily turmoil, I have no problems with the Prime Minister having such a short-term group. But within government there is no overarching medium and long term policy thinking”
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/what-should-the-government-be-doing
At last a commentator points out the obvious….whats the plan?
I did a post on the same thing on July 22nd.
The one area of this government that does have strong plans is the urban spatial frameworks, through transport and housing. The main question is whether they will be in long enough to confirm them.
and I made the same point myself days ago….the transport and housing plans i would suggest are in themselves incomplete but importantly are not part of a comprehensive plan….employment, taxation, inequality, immigration. trade, population even…..if we are going to transform our economy (and society) its a wee bit more than some tram tracks and prefab housing.
The Coalition have the ideal person in Jacinda Adern to take people with them but she needs a plan to sell.
Great just what we need. Yet another little group of nodding heads, drawing six figure salaries and preparing another ‘report’ on how to tell citizens to live their lives.
Like every other trough established by this government, it will have no power or relevance.
The only committee that has any power is the committee of 2 – Ardern and Peters.
Nothing else means anything.
We can take it then that you dont think strategic planning is necessary or desirable?
You can take it that the right wing thinks consideration of evidence, consultation and deliberation, are superfluous.
As Wayne Mapp said once. “This is not how we do policy in New Zealand”.
Pat
you said “First, there is a need for a strategic policy group”
Yes a ‘summit between the three coalition Parties’ – would be a very strong issue to first do here so the Government can then clearly set about honouring all their promises made pre-election such as;
1/ Tackling the Climate change effects.
We still see the trucking lobby increasing truck use and no real regional rail being used as we in the provinces need trucks off our second class narrow winding roads as tjhey are now so dangerous and being destroyed by constant heavier trucks wrecking them as they increase the transport CO2 emmissions where rail would be lowering the CO2 levels.
2/ Secondly; – need the Government to restore the “free to air TV channel for Public affairs investigative jouralism as we Nationnal Party media is sending negative meessages about the new Labour co-alition Government andn that will harm our cause to get the issues aired on TV in a open and free from bias manner and those two issues are among the urgently needed issues to deal with right now.
you will note the quotation marks….the point I believe Brian Easton is making is that its all very well for the Coalition to address the problems (of which there are many) as they arise, but like previous administrations there is no overarching strategy (other than vague feel good slogans) ….if anything of substance is to be achieved, including reelection then this Gov needs to devote some energy (and PDQ) to strategic planning rather than wasting it all on firefighting….i’d suggest that its best opportunity to achieve this is with the Carbon Neutral 2050 policy due to be released early next year….but that is being led by a Minister outside Cabinet and support party member and is only a few months away so is it likely to provide such?
In any government, the first year is their ideologically strongest.
Both in beliefs and in polls it goes down from here.
If that is true then it dosnt bode well does it?
No.
“Should I say something about the quality of people in the strategic policy group? Is it necessary to say that while they need to be sympathetic to a transformative government, the emphasis has to be on competence rather than political correctness? Perhaps I have to, for the government’s record thus far has to scatter an awful lot of politically correct incompetents through its advisory committees (but no more than predecessor governments).”
The last bit deserves repeating.
“….for the government’s record thus far has to scatter an awful lot of politically correct incompetents through its advisory committees (but no more than predecessor governments).”
Brian Easton…
Pat,
We spoke at length to the Climate change “zero carbon” committee ‘team”‘ when they came to Napier and held their ‘road show’ last month.
We used another emission problem that the comittee had not yet considered yet.
That was about the ‘elephant in the room’ about the other large freight road transport emissions that were so badly affecting our climate and that was the “yyre dust emissions of small plastic particles that are shedding from truck tyres at an alarming rate that is now found on the ice caps and that black dust is now exellerating the melting of the ice caps.
The whole panel was shunned like a mullet, and said they never throught of that as being a problem and now said they do so we hope they will now curtail road freight in favour of regional rail freight as trains dont use tyres and only steel wheels.
Subject ; Tyre dust is another form of plastic so use rail it has steel wheels non-polluting. – ‘ Carbon emissions.’
When you drive your car don’t forget that tyres are made from plastic too!!!
So tyre dust is being spread all around the roads and into our water as we drive.
https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2017-002.pdf
quote;
3. Tyres: abrasion while driving Tyres get eroded when used. The particles are formed from the outer parts of the tyre and consist of a matrix of synthetic polymers, namely Styrene Butadiene Rubber (approximately 60%), in a mix with natural rubber and many other additives (Sundt et al., 2014). Tyre dust will then either be spread by the wind or washed off the road by rain. In this study, losses of synthetic rubber are considered but losses of natural rubber are not.
There is no reliable information on the transfer of microplastics from tyres to the world’s oceans. Both Norwegian and Swedish researchers have pointed out that a large fraction of particles found in the sea seem to originate from car tyres (Essel et al., 2015; Sundt et al., 2014).
End.
Finally, the long term best solution is to use far more rail freight and passenger services to give funding to upgrade the rail network in all our regions to expand rail freight/passenger services.
Rail and reducing pollution are key areas of any strategy IMO. I’d like to think that the electrification and expansion (at least of use) of the entire rail network could form part of an interconnected strategy….but one that is detailed, at least broadly costed and which has a timeline not deferred to some indeterminate future.
Pat very good analogy of the way forward.
We need to use solar panel backup power on wagons of freight trains and ‘reserve generation power systems’ (direct drive generators on the rail drive system) to also complete partical or total electricifation of rail use to caputure the way forward for even the most ardent opposers of rail use.
Electric EV vehicles use these systems now so should trains use them.
The new BMW EV models now have solar panels on the roof of their new EV models.
Yes
Not withstanding the health impacts to human beings and other life, from the toxic dust ge generated by break pads as well as tyres…
One two,
yes sorry and thanks for that here read this explosive Auckland infrustructure report commioned for that region shows that tyre dust with brake and cluth dust are very high air pollution emitters so trucks with 34 tyres on each track and use braking and clutch use very often in our own “residential zones ” are damaging the health and wellbeing of many of us all.
Trucks are industrial activities that should be kept far away from our residental zones where high populations reside. No to any industrial activities near our residential zones please NZTA government here our call.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul_Kennedy4/publication/259756890_Kennedy_PC_Gadd_J_Moncrieff_I_2002_Emission_Factors_for_Contaminants_Released_by_Motor_Vehicles_in_New_Zealand_Report_prepared_by_Kingett_Mitchell_Ltd_and_Fuels_Energy_Management_Group_Ltd_for_Ministr/links/00b4952da26a69dc47000000/Kennedy-PC-Gadd-J-Moncrieff-I-2002-Emission-Factors-for-Contaminants-Released-by-Motor-Vehicles-in-New-Zealand-Report-prepared-by-Kingett-Mitchell-Ltd-and-Fuels-Energy-Management-Group-Ltd-for-Min.pdf
http://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/0/B0D63B72C7235954CC257F800004BBD5/$file/health-impact-transport-phac.pdf
A free to air, government funded tv station, free from bias but doesn’t criticise the government?
The stupidity of left leaning voters astounds me. How’s your subscription to that bastion of free press, pravda?
The post you replied to may not be the most clearly articulated of all time, but it would nonetheless take some pretty rank stupidity to get out of it what you did.
Idiot number 2, step on up!
Did you miss the part where the original idiot talked about he national party media? Then demanded a free to air tv channel that is free from bias but only presented views the original idiot agrees with?
I can only suggest you read it again.
three cent biscuit….. aka tuppence shrewsbury….. do you really think calling people idiots is helping you? Good luck with that.
Tuppence Shrewsbury is a right wing advocate are you not.
So the corporate owned media dont critisise the government?
That is a lie as the ‘commecial media do what their paymasters tell them to do so your theory is bunk.
They do. And what’s wrong wth that?
My problem with your suggestions is that a government funded tv channel should only air views you approve of. Hardly bias free as you seem to imagine it would be. It would only be right wing bias free. Which
One of the failures of the current Labour-led government, is the lack of urgency and limited expertise they have provided for revitalising public service media. It should have had high priority.
Maybe Robertson has has got more contacts in the corporate media who he can feed lines/info to, and that he doesn’t have any similar contacts in RNZ?
Public service media, at arms length from government, free from bias, and that holds all political parties and MPs to account, is absolutely necessary to democracy. Some non public service media journos also do that.
However, corporate media puts much more focus on cheerleading private enterprise, and capitalist values, and pollies who support those things.
I think I have to disagree with a free to air TV channel even though I would like one myself. I have two children in there twenties and thirties and both do not even have TV Aerials and none of their friends watch free to air TV, its really the older generation who watch it and they are unlikely to change the way they vote.
Have a look at what TVNZ is doing – massive expansive of free to view online TV programmes and movies.
That is what a public service TV channel can do – freeview plus ondemand viewing online.
Clare Curran has totally ignored what can be done with TVNZ. It’s not just about current affairs. TVNZ ondemand has an LGBT stream, it has Scanadanavian TV programmes, it has documentaries, it has express shows available ondemand the same week as in the US, and I suspect it is pulling in some younger viewers.
This is one major act of terrorism that won’t get any coverage in the Western media.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180727-breaking-israel-storms-al-aqsa-compound-during-friday-prayers-shots-fired/
Add it to the list of Israeli agression and the continued 2 fingers to the world over occupied territories.
Netanyahu is a war monger with USA backing….this only goes one way.
More like the last bastion of freedom against the tyrannical demands of the followers of an imaginary leader
Yes, the imaginary leader as portrayed in the first testament is indeed cruel and tyrannical. Perhaps this goes part of the way to explaining the Zionists’ behaviour.
If the state of Israel isn’t a Jewish state, as it’s not anti-Semitic to criticise it, then how can any logical person support theocracy over democracy?
Non- sequitur. Firstly, the state of Israel does not represent all Jews, and secondly, Israel has pretty well made itself a theocracy by giving privilege to only those who believe in the God of the first testament. Are there any Jewish atheists who are Israeli citizens? This puts the religion pretty well in control, regardless of whether the politicians are church officials.
Many Israelis consider themselves to be secular or atheists. Not exactly a theocracy.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-live-in-Israel-and-be-an-atheist
I’ll stick with the first non-sequitur, then. Although it intrigues me that Christians who are atheists tend not to regard themselves as Christians. (Apart from the few like Loyd Geering..) I must study your link to see how atheism links with the Jewish religion.
Well, what a nicey-nicey read. lots of concerns like ours about whether religion should be taught in schools, etc, but not one mention of how atheistic, secular Israelis justify their occupation of Palestinian territory.
It seems to me that atheistic, secular Jews can no longer maintain the argument that God Almighty Himself awarded the land to the Jews as the first testament claims. So upon what is their claim based? Sheer racism and ‘might is right’?
Or the even more tenuous one that they are not a theocracy? Are the Palestinians a theocracy?
Global coverage of the Israeli lead ‘humanitarian rescue’ of the emmy award winning White Helmets was given…
Somewhat inconsistent and selective coverage eh…
What were your thoughs about the spontaneous and daring rescue of the assets known as the White Helmets, Jenny ?
2 thoughts;
1/ “White Helmets and the their families….” sort of gives the lie to the Assad regime claim that these are all foreign jihadists, don’t you think?
2/ With reports that White Helmet personal are being detained at government checkpoints. Taking the option of passing through regime lines to rebel held areas is not an option for members of the White Helmets because this is what awaits them.
1. So, Israel….as a humanitarian gesture upon request…spontaneously and within a handful of hours time window….rounded up some 800 White Helmets and their families….
Israel, being the humanitarians that they are, shooting children, women, men, medics, animals etc in Palestine…do a 180 and ‘rescue’ … who exactly…so what does Israels hypocrisy point likely point to…
That Israel have been operating inside Syria an extended period of time, Jenny…that is what it points to…
Then the humanitatians they are…do not take one single ‘rescued’ person…not a single one…
Instead, the ‘rescued’ are being distributed like isis/al nusra cells openly to western nations…
The alleged events to not pass the weakest sniff test…
#2. Someone is lying…rescuers or sponsored moderate terror agents…
There is a growing wave of repulsion around the world to the actions of the imperialist apartheid Zionist regime.
+1 Jenny, TC, One Two, Ed
As well as all their victims killed and maimed also feel sorry for the jews who have the zionist regime aggressively “representing them” constantly in the media, against their will.
As Jews, we reject the myth that it’s antisemitic to call Israel racist
by Rebecca Vilkomerson, The Independent, 23 July 2018
A worldwide coalition of Jewish groups has issued a joint statement condemning attempts to stifle criticism of Israel with false accusations of antisemitism….
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/antisemitisim-jews-israel-labour-party-bds-jewish-coalition-palestine-a8458601.html
yup they’ll be getting up to a fair bit of that.
They got plenty of allies in the MSM. The playbooks been refined since Glenn Becks incursions.
Probably some of the finest work about in this field given the resources.
Ireland spurns fossil fuel investments.
“In recent days members of the Dáil, the main law-making body in the Irish parliament, have passed a bill which will mean no more money goes into exploiting and using the coal, oil and gas which are among the principal drivers of global climate change.”
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2018-07-26/ireland-spurns-fossil-fuel-investments/
Pity NZ Government are having some upset about their meek movements to cut oil eploration. Perhaps they should cut all funding to the petroleum industry that National set up.
+1 cleangreen, Paaparakauta
National win the 2017 election for the 47th time 😆
https://stuff.co.nz/national/politics/105828141/nationals-loss-unfair-unjust–former-australian-pm
“Howard got *rapturous applause when he labelled the election result “disappointing and unjust and unfair”.”
* when raptors clap their wings
The rain it raineth every day upon the just and unjust fella,
But more upon the just because
The unjust took the just’s umbrella!
Go, Labour Coalition, the new unjust. And keep the umbrella up rain or shine to
protect against bird droppings from the just – this time a kookaburra (a laughing jackass).
Yes and Kookaburras laugh before rain!!
Howard yabbering here is another example of us co-ordinating with Australia as if we are on equal terms while they cherry-pick out criminals who have learned their habits in Australia. Bet most of them are Maori or brownies not whities. It’s an affront to our free country which aims for equality.
But equality with Australia is an uneasy see saw. They sent their army into native land to organise or control Aborigines. This country had the police militarised and went after Tuhoe.)
(Some of our egregious fraudsters live in Oz. But they committed their crimes in NZ so that mightn’t count there.) Thdugj h they were so worried by\\about an ordinary crim that he wasn’t allowed over the Ditch to saw farewell to his dying mother.(
Howard’s yet another moron to thick to understand mmp it would appear.
Two petty (on my part, I admit) things about John Howard:
1. He shares his birthday date (26 July) with Jacinda Ardern. He turned 79 on Thursday; she turned 38 – a difference of 41 years (= Simon Bridges’ age.)
2. The last listing in his very long Wikipedia bio – In 2017, Howard endorsed a “No” vote in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and joined the campaign against same-sex marriage.
Says it all to me.
I quite enjoyed this by-line:
*Tracy Watkins: After being forced into opposition, National is rolling out the big guns [my bold]
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/105807472/tracy-watkins-after-the-pain-of-last-years-defeat-national-is-rolling-out-the-big-guns
During the negotiations somebody (most likely Winston) held a ‘gun’ to their heads and threatened to ‘sue’ them if they made NZF a better offer than Labour. They caved in and the rest is history, as they say. Yeah, ‘forced’ they were 😉
John Howard still has questions to answer about his role in the overthrow of Gough Whitlam.
He was deputy prime minister under Malcolm Fraser in the ensuing government.
John Howard – so knowledgeable about how democracy works with MMP. He should do, under Aussie fPtP, he was part of a Coalition Government.
Could either the Liberal or National parties ever have been able to form a government on their own?
Aus Labor must be seething after decades of unfairness!
Howard is getting doddery….in Australia labour is the largest party- were they robbed?
Coalition Government is :
Liberal Party
National party
Liberal national party (qld)
Country Liberals ( NT)
WA Nationals
Is Max DJ-ing at the National Annual Conference and playing that winning tune Lose Yourself again and again? Where is Max? And Jason??
Are Sir John and Barack in the country to play a round of golf?
It is the same old (mostly white) faces from the past in the same old place, the Sky City Convention Centre for National.
All so disappointingly predictable; so sad to see the once mighty self-entitled born-to-rule politicians wallowing in self-pity and withering away in the Hellish pit that is known as Opposition.
100% The right wing are a sorry lot.
Not sorry enough by a long chalk.
What an ass old Rat Eyes is becoming in his old age just as well that Tracey Watkins didn’t ask the Mad Monk for his two shillings worth on last years election.
Interestingly the only policy bridges mentions is reinstating charter schools. But that was an ACT policy was it not? It’s almost as if National have been using ACT as a front to intoduce policy at arms length…
As an aside I see Paul goldsmith has been getting a lot of airtime (for someone who has preferred invisibility) lately, perhaps they’re getting ready to shove Seymour under the bus in epsom.
Hooch
It’s almost as if National have been using ACT as a front to intoduce policy at arms length…
I think you have hit the nail here. In one blow too without hitting your thumb!
And there DP driven electoral wins were all totally above board.
At long last the global media are crawling out from their hidey-holes and acknowledging the disastrous effects of Climate Change. It should have happened years ago but better late than never:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/extreme-global-weather-climate-change-michael-mann
Yes. At last.
Even the words cc appeared in the Herald.
“Climate change is supercharging a hot and dangerous Northern Hemisphere summer.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12096744
They’ve finally stopped hedging their bets on the basis that the CC Deniers of yesteryear were worthy of equal attention. Since they weren’t sure which side was going to win the argument (as if it was a political or ideological issue) they erred on the side of caution and avoided using the term. The same can be said of most governments.
Heads should roll based on gross stupidity and neglect.
Tragically and criminally, they have started writing too late for us to mitigate many of the impacts of industrial capitalism.
The deaths of millions lie at the hands of the corporate media.
Anne,
No doubt the right wingers will still bury their arses in the sand until the water level surprasses their ability to breath under water or sand and either they snuff their lives out or they get on board with us and get serious about curtailing the carbon emissions of trucks and use rail.
cleangreen
I am suprised that you underrate the actions of the entitled wealthy to climate change spread and rise, you are usually more direct. I hope you will get your local transport issues and climate change and lost opportunities to mitigate proverty dealt to quickly and intelligently.
To escape climate change (cc) effects the comfortable will attempt to save themselves; they will climb on other’s bodies like desperate people escaping a cellar fire or a stadium stampede, or they will divest others of their resources and leave them with no defences or way of exiting. This is not hyperbole, it is observable from past events, and can be forecast from the tone and behaviour of those in positions of power today. Where there is leadership it often is puny and lacking in determination and practicality and psychology of human behaviour.
Missed this one back in March:
That’s around three times the average wage of ~$50,000
If that is the optimal point then we should probably cap incomes just above that.
NZ equals = a low wage economy. equals = slave labour economy. equals a unhappy place.
True but we can change that if we work to do so. Just started reading The Case for a maximum wage. Which is actually a misnomer as he’s actually talking about a maximum income set as a multiple of the minimum wage:
He thinks that such a system gets buy in from everyone and thus the rich won’t be able to get rid of it the same way that they got rid of high tax rates.
EDIT:
I like the point he makes here:
My bold.
I have come to the conclusion that there is a no default setting in humans that wuill be happy to say enough at any advanced wage structure. Happiness is a warm gun? (Beatles)
I think it is only poor people that appreciate the advantage of each $ of wage rise. In business studies they used to talk about ‘hygiene’ as somethingto do finding ways to reward and incentivise high earners when they became ‘ blase’ types who already had everything.
Getting buy-in from people with Affluenza for capping their wages could be like stopping elephants drunk on excesses of fermented fruit. You can imagine!
It’s not going to be easy but it does need to be done.
As the author points out we had much better distribution and equality when top tax rates were high because it got to the point that having a higher income made no difference because of the high tax rates and so more was given to the workers.
This way also gets buy in from the rich as when the minimum income goes up so does their maximum income.
It’s just going to be difficult putting such a system in place.
DTB
Yes. Well I did note that business studies were aware of the problem of satiation with top execs. So perhaps some sort of sideways promotion so they feel they have progressed even though the increase is income is foregone because it has gone into tax.
What if their top tax percentages go into an investment fund that helps to finance small, progressive, innovative businesses that advance the country’s sustainable industry or something. I think there is a crowd now called No. 8 Wire that does something like that. If the top bananas regard investing in the infrastructure and services that help with welfare a waste going into a bottomless pit, perhaps they could be satisfied to see the top percentage/s being used for development of small ‘fireflies’.
The mean household income in NZ in 2017 was $107000…lots of unhappy people out there.
The business-mania that sweeps over everyone and rains leaflets emblazoned with gold dollars onto every gathering of Commerce enables the fish farm industry to keep harping on about their exponential growth prospects even though they know that fish farms lead to pollution and disease of both the farmed and wild fish.
But, but the world is crying out for our fish. And will pay big money for it.
Oh well all right then. Go ahead and don't worry, we will have some technology to clean up after you. We will breed bigger fish that like it or grow seaweed that will process it and magically make all clean and clear again. And don't forget to talk about employment to be offered, Which needs to be over 50 at least I should think, to sound attractive enough and kill off support for informed protest,
/sarc, but not very.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018655326/could-salmon-farming-become-the-new-dairy
More private industry taking over public resources and not paying anything to the public for the risk as well as getting corporate welfare of $3 million plus from government to boot. When it all goes wrong, don’t worry the public and environment will suffer to pay for it.
Lots of bad press about these salmon farms and the food they feed them which is often from aggressively taking from ocean ecosystems which is a turn off.
I used to eat this salmon but for some reason as well as the above concerns, the quality has got worse and worse, not sure if it is the salmon, what they are eating, where they are processing it, or how old it is or some other process like freezing it and defrosting it incorrectly. The texture is wrong.
Am wondering if Arctic salmon often cheaper and processed in Denmark is a better bet as at least have the EU regulations on quality?
Interesting saenz. From personal point of view, I want to eat a bit more salmon in my diet as part of thinning my blood intelligently, trying. Will look up references mentioned.
Re the quality of “farmed” salmon. It’s to do with reduced muscle tone from having the pens in still water, the fish don’t have to work for a living.
Early on the farms were located where there was a reasonable tidal flow to disperse the waste, but this got expensive because the pens would break free or get damaged, so they moved to stiller water. Hence quality went down and effects went up. There’s also big variations in quality of what they are fed.
If you get down South, compare the quality of product from the different operations in the McKenzie. Some are in the flowing canals, some are in calm backwaters.
Graeme
I will have to look at this to understand it properly. But I glanced at the
report from Radionz and they were talking about getting into faster flowing deeper sea water so wouln’t they get the same problem they had before with cages breaking away. I think they are havering. (Old Scottish word that has stayed in my brain., sort of means ‘having people on, talking to confuse.)
You could of course make an ethical choice to not eat animal flesh at all.
Graeme
I would like to make an ethical choice to die when I choose but am not allowed to do that by supposedly well-meaning individuals and groups.
That is something useful that I would do, but am prevented from doing it.
Giving up animal flesh – fish, chicken, red or white meat is not something that I can concentrate at present, it is the possibility of losing my vision that is concentrating my mind at present. Also I want to keep my health so I can continue having ability to work for a better future than the very bad scenario we are sinking into and that takes up all my energy and fills my thoughts.
I am old and haven’t many years of intelligent life left. I don’t know if or when dementia will strike me. I think and write here and in the community trying to help the young needy, and promote understanding and assist others demonstrate to the wider public their ways of coping with the disaster that is underlying NZs complacent rock star economy.
So don’t toss simplistic single ideas at me that don’t help me in my efforts to manage my way through the confusing set of barriers erected to prevent good management by our government, central and local.
The single line comment that derails the comment being replied to is common on this blog. It s actually derisory about the problem that a commenter has raised and doesn’t attempt to discuss the matter. If something comes up that isn’t just a tendentious rerun of a continuing disagreement, it deserves more than a throwaway line.
Sorry Graeme
I got your comment mixed with that from Grey Area. Excuse is having eyesight problems at moment. And didn’t check to see whose moniker was on the relevant comment. Sorry again.
And Grey Area thank you, not, for your flip reply. How grey are you?
Facebook is sued after stock plunge ‘shocked’ market
Of course $120 billion wasn’t really wiped out – it didn’t exist in the first place and is part of the bludging aspect of capitalism that’s destroying society.
Interesting that your comment came just after earlier discussion on fishfarming problems.
It has been said that the stock exchange behaves like a school of fish turning and twisting in a slick, fast moving mass as predators loom. They are full of hot air anyway in the SX as you mention. And our employment hangs on their feelings of confidence – or flatulence! Makes you larf really don’t it. In a dismal sort of way.
The same applies to QV; the whole FIRE economy vitally depends on it – it is their raison d’être.
If not invented by capitalists, paper value (profit & loss) surely is one of their most loved and abused instruments.
Why are there no black Koch brothers?
That is an interesting question put forward by Center for Public Integrity.
What do people think, why is that?
Why are not rich Maori here funding far right groups?
The yanks fear black kochs most of all.
There are some in the Maori Moneyocracy, supporting right wing economics.
Annette Sykes has written about them.
Yeah, but not far right hate groups.
Damn sad.
http://thehill.com/homenews/398727-feminist-protest-movement-founder-found-dead-in-apartment
Lol Winnie skewering Bennett – ‘they go for the smallest and weakest one …’ lol classic.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/105828141/fresh-hostilities-erupt-between-winston-peters-and-national
Did you set the alarm clock?
No, I thought you set the alarm clock.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/07/ancient-worms-being-brought-back-to-life-by-russians.html
Well, this is a fucking scary read.
To grasp what is going on in the world right now, we need to reflect on two things. One is that we are in a phase of trial runs. The other is that what is being trialled is fascism – a word that should be used carefully but not shirked when it is so clearly on the horizon. Forget “post-fascist” – what we are living with is pre-fascism.
[…]
To see, as most commentary has done, the deliberate traumatisation of migrant children as a “mistake” by Trump is culpable naivety. It is a trial run – and the trial has been a huge success. Trump’s claim last week that immigrants “infest” the US is a test-marketing of whether his fans are ready for the next step-up in language, which is of course “vermin”. And the generation of images of toddlers being dragged from their parents is a test of whether those words can be turned into sounds and pictures. It was always an experiment – it ended (but only in part) because the results were in.
‘Devious’ infants
And the results are quite satisfactory. There is good news on two fronts. First, Rupert Murdoch is happy with it – his Fox News mouthpieces outdid themselves in barbaric crassness: making animal noises at the mention of a Down syndrome child, describing crying children as actors. They went the whole swinish hog: even the brown babies are liars. Those sobs of anguish are typical of the manipulative behaviour of the strangers coming to infest us – should we not fear a race whose very infants can be so devious? Second, the hardcore fans loved it: 58 per cent of Republicans are in favour of this brutality. Trump’s overall approval ratings are up to 42.5 per cent.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375
Watching TV1 News, was that Sir Les Patterson at the National Party Conference? Has anyone seen him and John Howard in the same room at the same time?
Came across this singer (below) watching “The Spinoff TV”
What a tasteless, crass but totally predictable comment by the president of the National Party at their conference to the gathered faithful to slaver over.
‘National Party President Peter Goodfellow has mounted an attack on Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters, saying National had “dodged a whisky-swilling, cigarette-smoking, double-breasted and irrational bullet”.’ Of course no National MPs ever frequent Bellamys to have a tipple or two or sneak out for a fag or two either. I’m no N Z First voter or supporter, but for better or worse they are part of the present coalition so be it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12097023
It just goes to show they haven’t learned a damned thing.
Come the next election there’s a good chance that they will once again have to negotiate with Winston or someone who likes him. But not, the nats will call him names and bitch about how unfair democracy is.
I give them as much sympathy as they give people who need benefits to live: none at all. Just contempt, scorn, and low regard. Goodfellow may be, but bad politician.
Fanatics fuck things up in Vino the majority of every religion want peace love and prosperity the minority want to rule and cause division uncivilised fools.
The shame of the National Party – coming home to roost:
Warm Hearts: All Kiwi kids deserve a fair go – NZ Herald
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid…
The national party displayed there true values when they had that fallout with Winston Peters all those years ago and they showed it on there election campaign with the word lazy don’t want to work don’t want to work those words of bill’s were directed at tangata whenua . And there next move was to try and throw Winston under the bus.
Then the aggressors switch hats and act as a victim when they lost the seemingly un lose able election .I see this behavior all the time the aggressor switch hats at the blink of the eye and cry foul.
The big picture is one cannot go around displaying arrogance and think that your culture and thoughts are the only ones that counts why . because you end up with no m8. Well here you go national The Maori Language and culture is get a revival not just in Aotearoa but right around Papatuanuku Kia kaha tangata whenua this fact gives me a sore face Ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/google-disney-maori-new-zealand
The big picture is the sandflys are upset that there national m8 are warming the back benches. This is the party that gave them laws to do what ever they want and not be held accountable for there actions they change the bail laws so one can be locked up with out a crime been proven that’s room for deception I say how well they say plead guilt and you will get a lesser charger they don’t care that the charge will stuff up the person life just so long as they get more credit for a promotion. national also made it harder to get a fair trial by making legal aid harder to get what.s the consequences Its a breach of human rights to a fair trial that’s one of the consequence of those changes.The other is they get more leverage to get a guilty plee more cridits for a pay rise.
The sandflys won’t like it that there prison muster has lowered by 500 because to ECO MAORI the law changes the sandflys lobbied for were designed to make it easier for them to lock up people full stop. Ana to kai Ka kite ano
If the sandflys try anything against my offspring I will appel it to the highest court of te whenua to get justice that’s the law of te whenua. Ka kite ano
I just read a story in North and South mag on Matt Robertson he was a Alince mp the year is 2001 this will seam like last century to some but to ECO Maori its just yesterday. Here are some of the truth full statement he made it’s only the poor common people who go to jail.
We have the second recorded for the most people’s locked up in jail the most was USA half the people in prison are Maori the highest group of people are male 15 to 24 age groups. He also states that to some they are just numbers but to him there’s are OUR babys that we are locking up someone’s son And I totally agree with that statement the young are easily lead to make mistake. It cost $50.000 to lock up someone in those days 18 years later its dubble $100.000.
He has figures that show if we invest in early intervention it’s is %50 more likely to change the Mokopunas future for the better than waiting till the are being changed with a crime so 70 % for early intervention to 15% when they are in the system. So what’s the big picture equality shear the putea that Aotearoa gives us more equaly and all the bad stats will go down Its not Rocket science people it’s common sense to do this and this is what our Coalition Government is doing at the minute. Ka kite ano
Kia kaha Joseph Parker you did us proud.
It stinks that the opperstion did not get more points taken of for a head but I didn’t realise that was part of boxing rules makes a mockery of the sport.
Just like the systems in Atoearoa.
Ka kite ano
Here we go the European Union is going to stamp out demarcat elections voter beening minupulate by there computers IE being sold lies by target ad verts the kumara never tells how sweet it is Ka pai. Eco Maori could see that happening tangata being sold lies like the one we’re the people are coned into believing a billion are has their best interests at heart come on Ana to kai
Ka kite ano link below PS all government should do the same most common tangata are so trust worthy they trust what’s being feed to them because they would not deceive anyone on that scale
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/28/democracy-threatened-malicious-technology-eu-fighting-back
And what do you know the person who set up Cambridge analytical is a friend of the national party. Cheats like two peas in a pod Ka kite ano
As I walk around Atoearoa and read MSM I can see the ECO MAORI effect all I can say is that its positive for the common tangata. Kia kaha Ka kite ano