Anyone know what's going on with "An average kiwi" from the sidebar? I vaguely recall they have been there for quite a while, and used to have genuinely leftie commentary, if not particularly insightful or interesting. But a few months back it seems all the old stuff was wiped and a new collection of way OTT climate denier trolling is being put up.
Is my vague recollection about their prior leftiness wrong? Or has Hosking hijacked that blog? Or have they decided to try for something like Ben Uffindell's "The civilian" kinda vibe (and spectacularly failed)?
What a shameful day in our history, where mainly children and young people “protested” about something they have no understanding of and that is mostly nothing but a hoax of proportions never seen before in human history.
We had an old man with a placard telling us we needed to repent and ask for divine intervention. Later he was on the street with a number of teenage schoolboys for about half an hour. When I walked slowly by to catch the word he was being asked about Noah and the Ark I thought.
I think your perception of their "leftness" might have been wrong in the first place. (A hint might even be in the name) I sometimes find friends, colleagues and even family can be full of surprises at times – and its often just a conflict between ego and comfyness versus humility and compassion.
Yep, well despite my belief that both Helen Clark and Jacinda Adhern may go down in history as two of NZ's best PM's (in the context of the era they operate in), I have a dearly loved family member who thinks she's 'so left', and who is comfy and 'in-tune', that Jacinda cannot be critiQUed in any way. The same held true when H1 and H2 held power.
Whereas there are a number of things the current coalition can be critiqued for. [One has just popped up on RNZ this morning to do with an RSE scheme – where I'm left thinking "Hello! Earth to INZ", and where the pollies were warned. Probably for many of the same reasons there are now deep and meaningful investigations over things like sexual abuse allegations.
(Holding one's breath – like I'm trying to do – can often result in getting death)
OK for you sad political junkies out there like me and who have a cool hour to burn, here are a couple of the best journalists (Michael Tracey, Aaron Maté ) on the current scene in the US, giving a pretty good over view of the upcoming Dem impeachment of Trump,…love it or hate it.
Wanna give us a brief too long;didn't watch? Is there anything more than Mate's usual recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to Dem-hating convergence moonbats?
Wow, I'm impressed. He's in the exalted company of the very few Repugs that can even muster the courage to mutter that kind of mouse squeak of disapproval.
lol he goes on to say he called it "inappropriate" to distinguish it from Russiagate which was based on a "concoction".
@ cfive minutes he's saying they should just pass a motion of censure and that predicating international aid upon whether your opponents face sham investigations is not at all worthy of impeachment.
Did you watch the whole thing? (you're quite the sucker for punishment). Was there anything there that might cause me to learn something that doesn't fit with my allegedly preconceived narrative?
No I did the dirty trick of watching for a couple of minutes after the comment mauī brought up, just to see the context. I don't really like youtube videos. Essays and suchlike can be skim-read over the waffly bits and you can quickly find the crux of the matter. But YT talkfests are just watching people wank, and you can't flip through it to see if there are any good bits.
@mauī, "but hey he's probably just a republican posing as a journo" WTF, half the people on this seemed site have lost semblance of balance and critical thinking in their hatred of Trump.
Hi Adrian, yes it is a neoliberal left feeding frenzy of the likes we saw with Russiagate, Saddam, Syria, etc. No wonder people are turning to alternative news sites to get some rational news.
Yes good link thanks, I also like the analogy made by Aaron mate' when he pointed out that Nixon wasn't impeached (he resigned before impeachment) for his illegal bombing in Cambodia that ended in one of the most horrific genocides this century, no he was impeached for stepping over the line against the DNC.
And worst of all, of course now the primaries are going to lose their focus on real issues of importance and now be dominated by this bullshit, but I guess a lot of very rich and powerful people will not be at all sad to see that shift of focus happen.
@Andre, Exactly what are Aaron Maté's "usual recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to Dem-hating convergence moonbats? " I assume you mean the parts where he pushed back against your nutty Russian conspiracy and won the 2019 Izzy Award “for outstanding achievement in independent media” for his efforts.
@Andre, There is hardly much point is taking the time and effort to do that for you or your other entrenched brethren here, you obviously have switched off all critical thinking capacity that you may have once had on this subject.
Now I know you are in so deep you are not aware of this, but I am here to tell you this for your (and some others on this site) own good, you all have for a while now, been acting and sounding exactly like the nutty Republican's and Tea Party fanatics over Trump as they did over Obama…how does that make you feel?, I would hope it might give you pause for thought at the least.
It's time you lot took a long hard look in the mirror.
Yep, Moscow Mitch will likely just Garland the trial.
Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, … and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint … Judges of the supreme Court, …
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.
The language to me appears to be quite strong on requiring the Senate to at least go through the process of considering a president's nominee to the Supreme Court, but McTurtle just blew off that obligation.
Whereas the language around the Senate actually holding a trial seems much more optional if they feel like doing it.
After the coup which even Stratfor's chief, George Friedman , described as the most blatant coup in history, important positions in Ukraine were stuffed with American players
Not only was Joe Biden's son, Hunter, chucked out of the Naval Reserve a month earlier for cocaine use, given a plum job on the Burisma board..
"A family friend of then Secretary of State John Kerry also joined Burisma’s board. U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto got a Ukrainian contract soon after the overthrow. And the first, post-coup Ukrainian finance minister was an American citizen, a former State Department official, who was given Ukrainian citizenship the day before she took up the post."
Yeah I thought about going into the Hunter stuff, but knew that was probably another waste of time…these fanatics will actually defend Hunter Biden (who has zero experience) getting $50,000 p/m from Burisma, while a heavy hitter like Ken Frazier is on the board on the largest energy company in the world, Exxon for $30,000 p/m, including stock awards…
So deeply and insanely partisan they're ready to turn a blind eye to the facts of Democrat corruption .The whole bloody political mess the US has sunk into is because of this amoral partisanship. Corruption is on all sides, as Jimmy Carter says "It's an oligarchy now"
When I see terms like Repugs, the Orange shit stain etc,moonbats…what does that even mean, except its an ugly insult meant to shut down debate, I really turn off.
Be better or you're just the same as your opponent is what I say
Pretty slanted – claims no evidence of collusion – all those Mueller witnesses who pled guilty did so to benefit a Democrat conspiracy then? Pathetic.
There's good reason to consider impeachment a Pandora's box, bringing everything down into the mud where Trump tends to prosper. If it doesn't swing a few Republican senators the exercise may prove costly.
The Gulen/Turkey thing and the Trump/Russia thing are different deals, though they share a common factor – Erdogan's coup resulted in a pivot away from the US, and a consequent expansion of the Russian sphere. The destabilization of Saudi may well be directed at similar ends.
Aljazeera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31teSjuN26o UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been dealt another blow in his push for an early election. The House of Commons speaker says under current rules it will not be possible to go to the polls before October 31 – the day Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. Parliament has met for the second day since the Supreme Court ruled its suspension as unlawful. Meanwhile, the EU's lead negotiator, Michael Barnier, says the bloc is still waiting for new plans from the United Kingdom. Al Jazeera's Charlie Angela has more from London. –
A waka flotilla is being welcomed at Cape Runaway, as it arrives in New Zealand for the Tuia 250 celebrations.
The va'a moana Fa'afaite i te Ao Mā'ohi. Photo: Tahiti Voyaging Society
More than $20 million is being spent on events and resources to mark the 250 years since James Cook first landed in New Zealand, but it will also include commemorations of the first Polynesian waka that arrived in New Zealand 800 years ago.
"For untold centuries after the boundaries of the Pacific had been peopled by man, these islands remained isolated and unoccupied save by land shells, insects, reptiles, and birds. Even the native flora was meagre as regards potential food for man. The coconut palm, the banana, and the breadfruit, now so characteristic of the oceanic flora, awaited human transport. The westerly winds and the constant trades blew over empty seas, for no primitive navigator had yet dared to raise a matting sail to waft him to waiting islands. Years after countless years, the Pleiades rose on the eastern horizon, but no man hailed their coming with dance and song as the sign of the new year. The stars rose and travelled across the sky, but no craft groped its way across unknown waters by their aid. The moon waxed and waned, but its phases went unstudied. Fish spawned, increased, and went their unhampered way through reef channels into silent and unlit lagoons. The Ocean Maid in her tumultuous moods vented her wrath against inanimate rock and reef, for no conqueror had yet appeared to mark her heaving bosom with the wake of the voyaging canoe or to dig into her yielding body with the dripping blade of the deep-sea paddle. Pedestrians had reached the eastern bounds of the Asiatic corridor and could walk no farther. The hanging skies to the east of the Fijis remained unpierced. Beyond the eastern horizon, earth, sea, and sky awaited the coming of a breed of men who not only had an effective form of ocean transport but who had the courage to dare and both the will and the skill to conquer. The uncharted seas awaited the coming of the Polynesian navigators. "
Brexit –
Forage holding forth about the wonders of going Brexit as he progresses his great money-making scheme using the whole of the UK. What a heist!
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49859818 Nigel Farage warns Boris Johnson over 'reheated Brexit deal' He then criticised Labour's "policy of uncontrolled mass immigration". The party also unveiled some policy plans, but little detail, including scrapping HS2 and inheritance tax. The UK is due to leave the EU on 31 October.
UK parliament rejects second bid for early election
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been dealt another blow in his push for an early election. The House of Commons speaker says under current rules it will not be possible to go to the polls before October 31 – the day Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. Parliament has met for the second day since the Supreme Court ruled its suspension as unlawful. Meanwhile, the EU's lead negotiator, Michael Barnier, says the bloc is still waiting for new plans from the United Kingdom. Al Jazeera's Charlie Angela has more from London. –
Is it possible for the Republicans to nominate the position of a different candidate for President other than Trump? (They wouldn't of course but could they?)
“I write to urge the House Judiciary Committee to take appropriate action to investigate recent reports about Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and to hold Mr. Kavanaugh accountable for his prior conduct and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Harris wrote in a letter, dated Sept. 17, to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).
Sorry if I did something wrong in my piece on Brexit moderator. I did it again with large address codes taken out. Both still in mod. Any hope of releasing when there time?
MOSCOW — Russia has voiced hope that the U.S. administration wouldn't publish private conversations between the two nations' presidents, like it did with Ukraine
Yarp – the squirming is increasing – the scarlett pimple from hell restlessly paces…
With impeachment proceedings against Trump under way, further reports emerged of White House efforts to limit access to transcripts of conversations with other countries. Trump’s phone calls with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian president Vladimir Putin were also tightly restricted, according to former administration officials quoted by CNN and the New York Times.
The Washington Post reported that further restrictions were placed on details from a 2017 meeting between Trump, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and ambassador Sergei Kislyak, in which Trump is reported to have said he was not bothered by Moscow interference in the 2016 election because the US did the same kind of thing in other countries. The White House limited access to the remarks to “an unusually small number of people”, the Post said, after speaking to three former officials. The president had already been accused of sharing highly sensitive information on the Islamic State movement during the meeting.
The 16-year-old Swede met privately with the Canadian prime minister but later told a news conference with local indigenous leaders that he was “not doing enough” to curb greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
“My message to all the politicians around the world is the same. Just listen and act on the current best available science,” she said.
So, within a few days Li Zhu/Andy Lin had appointed people on opposite sides of a very public controversy to represent him on two albeit separate property court actions.
It wasn’t likely to end well, which is possibly why Zhu didn’t tell either man about the other’s appointment – or mention that there were two cases against him.
So the racists coup organisers in Venezuela have been found out as being in bed with Colombian narco gangs. Gotta love the blantancy of free market capitalism.
God bless the Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodríguez for going to the UN and standing up to these evil bastards and their US backers. And for point out the economic terrorism being done to Venezuela.
Scientists feel they are getting close to important understandings about schizophrenia. If they can it will be so great to prevent the difficulties that your aunt went through. Too late for her but hope for the future.
RIP Jack Lasenby, author of childrens and young adult books. One of his characters was wily packhorse Harry Wakatipu.
Funny nonsense stories from a talking horse living in rural New Zealand, written by master storyteller Jack Lasenby. Harry Wakatipu is a lazy, bad-tempered packhorse and the biggest liar in the history of the Vast Untrodden Ureweras. He's hopeless and needy and greedy and never does his share of the work. He's 'a machine for the ingesting and digesting of condensed milk', according to Biff Piddington.
The Lies of Harry Wakatipu is a collection of fantastic stories – like how the first wasps got into New Zealand, or how the Kaingaroa wild horses got there in the first place or how Freddy Stromboli could walk under a Merino wether without taking off his hat, or how the deer culler's mother stopped the Hopuruahine River. It's true, just ask Harry Wakatipu.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Anyone know what's going on with "An average kiwi" from the sidebar? I vaguely recall they have been there for quite a while, and used to have genuinely leftie commentary, if not particularly insightful or interesting. But a few months back it seems all the old stuff was wiped and a new collection of way OTT climate denier trolling is being put up.
Is my vague recollection about their prior leftiness wrong? Or has Hosking hijacked that blog? Or have they decided to try for something like Ben Uffindell's "The civilian" kinda vibe (and spectacularly failed)?
I see what you mean. Fruit loop city limits.
At the CHCH march yesterday I saw a placard: "MAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX"
They walk among us.
We had an old man with a placard telling us we needed to repent and ask for divine intervention. Later he was on the street with a number of teenage schoolboys for about half an hour. When I walked slowly by to catch the word he was being asked about Noah and the Ark I thought.
Tough they probably drive a gas guzzling tank rather than walk.
I think your perception of their "leftness" might have been wrong in the first place. (A hint might even be in the name) I sometimes find friends, colleagues and even family can be full of surprises at times – and its often just a conflict between ego and comfyness versus humility and compassion.
I like the thing you say: "a conflict between ego and comfyness versus humility and compassion."
Yep, well despite my belief that both Helen Clark and Jacinda Adhern may go down in history as two of NZ's best PM's (in the context of the era they operate in), I have a dearly loved family member who thinks she's 'so left', and who is comfy and 'in-tune', that Jacinda cannot be critiQUed in any way. The same held true when H1 and H2 held power.
Whereas there are a number of things the current coalition can be critiqued for. [One has just popped up on RNZ this morning to do with an RSE scheme – where I'm left thinking "Hello! Earth to INZ", and where the pollies were warned. Probably for many of the same reasons there are now deep and meaningful investigations over things like sexual abuse allegations.
(Holding one's breath – like I'm trying to do – can often result in getting death)
While advances are growing keep your breath in short pants.
I agree. Problem is, and frustrations are, that often the least worst option is never going to be progressive, or transformational, or kind.
But – we'll see what rips. In the case of the example I mentioned (one of many), there'll be casualties, and they'll be the least deserving.
OK for you sad political junkies out there like me and who have a cool hour to burn, here are a couple of the best journalists (Michael Tracey, Aaron Maté ) on the current scene in the US, giving a pretty good over view of the upcoming Dem impeachment of Trump,…love it or hate it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jvkcggffs0
Wanna give us a brief too long;didn't watch? Is there anything more than Mate's usual recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to Dem-hating convergence moonbats?
Bernie is backing the attempt to impeach Trump.
Even Tulsi is backing the impeachment investigation. That's half her support gone right there.
Mainstream sell outs lol
One of the first things Maté says is that what Trump did was inappropriate… but hey he's probably just a republican posing as a journo 🙄
Wow, I'm impressed. He's in the exalted company of the very few Repugs that can even muster the courage to mutter that kind of mouse squeak of disapproval.
lol he goes on to say he called it "inappropriate" to distinguish it from Russiagate which was based on a "concoction".
@ cfive minutes he's saying they should just pass a motion of censure and that predicating international aid upon whether your opponents face sham investigations is not at all worthy of impeachment.
Did you watch the whole thing? (you're quite the sucker for punishment). Was there anything there that might cause me to learn something that doesn't fit with my allegedly preconceived narrative?
No I did the dirty trick of watching for a couple of minutes after the comment mauī brought up, just to see the context. I don't really like youtube videos. Essays and suchlike can be skim-read over the waffly bits and you can quickly find the crux of the matter. But YT talkfests are just watching people wank, and you can't flip through it to see if there are any good bits.
Yeah, video is such a slow medium for conveying information. 5 or 10 minutes of reading gets you the same info transfer as an hour of video.
But video is great if you just want to get your emotions manipulated without thinking critically about the content. Entertainment, not facts.
@mauī, "but hey he's probably just a republican posing as a journo" WTF, half the people on this seemed site have lost semblance of balance and critical thinking in their hatred of Trump.
Hi Adrian, yes it is a neoliberal left feeding frenzy of the likes we saw with Russiagate, Saddam, Syria, etc. No wonder people are turning to alternative news sites to get some rational news.
As usual it take a non-hysterical writer like Lauria to nail it. I particularly like the first section. (I fear the link is wasted on most of the commentariat however…) https://consortiumnews.com/2019/09/26/what-isnt-mentioned-about-the-trump-ukraine-scandal-the-routine-corruption-of-us-foreign-policy/
Yes good link thanks, I also like the analogy made by Aaron mate' when he pointed out that Nixon wasn't impeached (he resigned before impeachment) for his illegal bombing in Cambodia that ended in one of the most horrific genocides this century, no he was impeached for stepping over the line against the DNC.
And worst of all, of course now the primaries are going to lose their focus on real issues of importance and now be dominated by this bullshit, but I guess a lot of very rich and powerful people will not be at all sad to see that shift of focus happen.
@Andre, Exactly what are Aaron Maté's "usual recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to Dem-hating convergence moonbats? " I assume you mean the parts where he pushed back against your nutty Russian conspiracy and won the 2019 Izzy Award “for outstanding achievement in independent media” for his efforts.
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/3/headlines/2019_izzy_awards_honor_earth_island_journal_laura_flanders_aaron_mate_dave_lindorff
So Mate doesn't make any points substantial enough to condense into a brief too long;didn't watch?
@Andre, There is hardly much point is taking the time and effort to do that for you or your other entrenched brethren here, you obviously have switched off all critical thinking capacity that you may have once had on this subject.
Now I know you are in so deep you are not aware of this, but I am here to tell you this for your (and some others on this site) own good, you all have for a while now, been acting and sounding exactly like the nutty Republican's and Tea Party fanatics over Trump as they did over Obama…how does that make you feel?, I would hope it might give you pause for thought at the least.
It's time you lot took a long hard look in the mirror.
Still not got any reasons to offer why someone should give up an hour to watch your clip? Not even a teeny-tiny morsel of a hint?
Watch it because you might learn something…even if it doesn't sit nicely with your preconceived narrative…try it some time.
Even if the House votes by a simple majority to Impeach, the Senate isnt obliged to even consider it for the 'trail' part.
Based on Mitch McConnell s style …he will just ignore it
Chump will be dead before any of this bites him directly. Still a poke in the ego. Might also swing some Repug support away.
Yep, Moscow Mitch will likely just Garland the trial.
Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution:
Article 1 Section 3 Clause 6 of the Constitution:
The language to me appears to be quite strong on requiring the Senate to at least go through the process of considering a president's nominee to the Supreme Court, but McTurtle just blew off that obligation.
Whereas the language around the Senate actually holding a trial seems much more optional if they feel like doing it.
"Yep, Moscow Mitch" my point exactly..ref comment 2.1.3.1.1
For those with less than an hour, here's some detail on the Ukrainian twists and turns: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/09/27/giuliani-trump-ukraine-005098
this is kinda cool/easy to digest..
an audiobook-reader reads the transcript of the whistleblowers allegation to/for you..
ttps://boingboing.net/2019/09/27/professional-audiobook-narrato.html
I can't believe the lack of focus on what was actually happening around that time
https://www.newcoldwar.org/stratfor-chiefs-most-blatant-coup-in-history-interview-from-dec-2014/
After the coup which even Stratfor's chief, George Friedman , described as the most blatant coup in history, important positions in Ukraine were stuffed with American players
Not only was Joe Biden's son, Hunter, chucked out of the Naval Reserve a month earlier for cocaine use, given a plum job on the Burisma board..
"A family friend of then Secretary of State John Kerry also joined Burisma’s board. U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto got a Ukrainian contract soon after the overthrow. And the first, post-coup Ukrainian finance minister was an American citizen, a former State Department official, who was given Ukrainian citizenship the day before she took up the post."
Read further
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/09/26/the-untold-story-of-the-trump-ukraine-scandal-the-routine-corruption-of-us-foreign-policy/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-family-business-11569271216
Aint collective amnesia grand ?
Yeah I thought about going into the Hunter stuff, but knew that was probably another waste of time…these fanatics will actually defend Hunter Biden (who has zero experience) getting $50,000 p/m from Burisma, while a heavy hitter like Ken Frazier is on the board on the largest energy company in the world, Exxon for $30,000 p/m, including stock awards…
https://www.streetinsider.com/SEC+Filings/Form+DEF+14A+EXXON+MOBIL+CORP+For%3A+May+29/15362664.html#toc686227_6
So deeply and insanely partisan they're ready to turn a blind eye to the facts of Democrat corruption .The whole bloody political mess the US has sunk into is because of this amoral partisanship. Corruption is on all sides, as Jimmy Carter says "It's an oligarchy now"
When I see terms like Repugs, the Orange shit stain etc,moonbats…what does that even mean, except its an ugly insult meant to shut down debate, I really turn off.
Be better or you're just the same as your opponent is what I say
Pretty slanted – claims no evidence of collusion – all those Mueller witnesses who pled guilty did so to benefit a Democrat conspiracy then? Pathetic.
There's good reason to consider impeachment a Pandora's box, bringing everything down into the mud where Trump tends to prosper. If it doesn't swing a few Republican senators the exercise may prove costly.
This outfit is a good source on Russian ops – the so-called 'independent journalist' sites are pretty degraded on the whole.
I thought Cohen and Manafort pled guilty to financial crimes, not working with Russia….
Some of the convictions coming out of the Mueller investigation are now coming unstuck .
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/25/judge-overturns-guilty-verdicts-bijan-rafiekian-1510719
It also looks like Flynn may have been tricked in to making a false confession
The Gulen/Turkey thing and the Trump/Russia thing are different deals, though they share a common factor – Erdogan's coup resulted in a pivot away from the US, and a consequent expansion of the Russian sphere. The destabilization of Saudi may well be directed at similar ends.
Latest Brexit – Forage is keeping on with his giant money-making business deal, using the whole of UK. What a heist!!
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49859818
Nigel Farage warns Boris Johnson over 'reheated Brexit deal'
Aljazeera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31teSjuN26o
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been dealt another blow in his push for an early election. The House of Commons speaker says under current rules it will not be possible to go to the polls before October 31 – the day Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. Parliament has met for the second day since the Supreme Court ruled its suspension as unlawful. Meanwhile, the EU's lead negotiator, Michael Barnier, says the bloc is still waiting for new plans from the United Kingdom. Al Jazeera's Charlie Angela has more from London. –
Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe – Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish – Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera – Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ #AlJazeeraEnglish #Brexit #UKParliament
This is awesome.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/399812/waka-flotilla-to-be-welcomed-in-bay-of-plenty
A waka flotilla is being welcomed at Cape Runaway, as it arrives in New Zealand for the Tuia 250 celebrations.
The va'a moana Fa'afaite i te Ao Mā'ohi. Photo: Tahiti Voyaging Society
More than $20 million is being spent on events and resources to mark the 250 years since James Cook first landed in New Zealand, but it will also include commemorations of the first Polynesian waka that arrived in New Zealand 800 years ago.
Te Rangi Hiroa ( Vikings of the sunrise )
"For untold centuries after the boundaries of the Pacific had been peopled by man, these islands remained isolated and unoccupied save by land shells, insects, reptiles, and birds. Even the native flora was meagre as regards potential food for man. The coconut palm, the banana, and the breadfruit, now so characteristic of the oceanic flora, awaited human transport. The westerly winds and the constant trades blew over empty seas, for no primitive navigator had yet dared to raise a matting sail to waft him to waiting islands. Years after countless years, the Pleiades rose on the eastern horizon, but no man hailed their coming with dance and song as the sign of the new year. The stars rose and travelled across the sky, but no craft groped its way across unknown waters by their aid. The moon waxed and waned, but its phases went unstudied. Fish spawned, increased, and went their unhampered way through reef channels into silent and unlit lagoons. The Ocean Maid in her tumultuous moods vented her wrath against inanimate rock and reef, for no conqueror had yet appeared to mark her heaving bosom with the wake of the voyaging canoe or to dig into her yielding body with the dripping blade of the deep-sea paddle. Pedestrians had reached the eastern bounds of the Asiatic corridor and could walk no farther. The hanging skies to the east of the Fijis remained unpierced. Beyond the eastern horizon, earth, sea, and sky awaited the coming of a breed of men who not only had an effective form of ocean transport but who had the courage to dare and both the will and the skill to conquer. The uncharted seas awaited the coming of the Polynesian navigators. "
That's an epic!
Thanks for that Poission. Pure poetry (if I may call it so) and visually beautiful.
Wow. They are works of art. I hope they are going to travel to other parts of the country, too.
Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug.
http://nautil.us/blog/dragons-memory–navigating-the-globe-using-only-your-wits
via
https://www.metafilter.com/143656/To-navigate-you-must-be-brave-and-you-must-remember-Mau-Piailug
this, too
https://www.metafilter.com/168131/We-Know-the-Way-The-Art-of-Polynesian-Wayfinding
Brexit –
Forage holding forth about the wonders of going Brexit as he progresses his great money-making scheme using the whole of the UK. What a heist!
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49859818
Nigel Farage warns Boris Johnson over 'reheated Brexit deal'
He then criticised Labour's "policy of uncontrolled mass immigration".
The party also unveiled some policy plans, but little detail, including scrapping HS2 and inheritance tax.
The UK is due to leave the EU on 31 October.
Aljazeera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31teSjuN26o
UK parliament rejects second bid for early election
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been dealt another blow in his push for an early election. The House of Commons speaker says under current rules it will not be possible to go to the polls before October 31 – the day Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. Parliament has met for the second day since the Supreme Court ruled its suspension as unlawful. Meanwhile, the EU's lead negotiator, Michael Barnier, says the bloc is still waiting for new plans from the United Kingdom. Al Jazeera's Charlie Angela has more from London. –
Is it possible for the Republicans to nominate the position of a different candidate for President other than Trump? (They wouldn't of course but could they?)
They're doing their best to hand it to tRump.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries#Cancellation_of_state_caucuses_or_primaries
Things are escalating …
Presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) called for a formal impeachment inquiry into Brett Kavanaugh on Friday in the wake of a new sexual misconduct claim against the Supreme Court justice.
“I write to urge the House Judiciary Committee to take appropriate action to investigate recent reports about Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and to hold Mr. Kavanaugh accountable for his prior conduct and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Harris wrote in a letter, dated Sept. 17, to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-impeachment-inquiry-brett-kavanaugh_n_5d8dfcf0e4b0ac3cdda72110
Sorry if I did something wrong in my piece on Brexit moderator. I did it again with large address codes taken out. Both still in mod. Any hope of releasing when there time?
A warning from the boss?
MOSCOW — Russia has voiced hope that the U.S. administration wouldn't publish private conversations between the two nations' presidents, like it did with Ukraine
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/kremlin-says-it-hopes-u-s-would-not-release-trump-n1059446?
Yarp – the squirming is increasing – the scarlett pimple from hell restlessly paces…
bullshit time over
so refreshing.
aint globalised markets great….if money's no object
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/27/number-of-foreigners-buying-uk-golden-visa-rises
Dodgy developer ropes in help from unfortunately-related sources: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/24/824481/how-whale-oil-rivals-found-themselves-on-the-same-side
So the racists coup organisers in Venezuela have been found out as being in bed with Colombian narco gangs. Gotta love the blantancy of free market capitalism.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/13/juan-guaido-faces-questions-over-links-to-organised-groups
God bless the Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodríguez for going to the UN and standing up to these evil bastards and their US backers. And for point out the economic terrorism being done to Venezuela.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1048012
My Auntie died this morning at 70 years of age. She suffered severe Paranoid Schizophrenia from the age of 15.
Wherever she is now, I hope she is finally at peace and free from her tormented mind ❤️.
So do I Fireblade.Life for her must have been a torment at times Very sad.
Scientists feel they are getting close to important understandings about schizophrenia. If they can it will be so great to prevent the difficulties that your aunt went through. Too late for her but hope for the future.
Rugby dis-enthusiasts avert your gaze.
Japan establish their reputation as giant killers.
19-12 to Japan against 2nd ranked Ireland.
RIP Jack Lasenby, author of childrens and young adult books. One of his characters was wily packhorse Harry Wakatipu.
Funny nonsense stories from a talking horse living in rural New Zealand, written by master storyteller Jack Lasenby. Harry Wakatipu is a lazy, bad-tempered packhorse and the biggest liar in the history of the Vast Untrodden Ureweras. He's hopeless and needy and greedy and never does his share of the work. He's 'a machine for the ingesting and digesting of condensed milk', according to Biff Piddington.
The Lies of Harry Wakatipu is a collection of fantastic stories – like how the first wasps got into New Zealand, or how the Kaingaroa wild horses got there in the first place or how Freddy Stromboli could walk under a Merino wether without taking off his hat, or how the deer culler's mother stopped the Hopuruahine River. It's true, just ask Harry Wakatipu.
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/the-lies-of-harry-wakatipu-paperback/12527834
https://nzbooks.org.nz/1994/literature/tall-tales-and-truths-from-an-underrated-writer-judith-holloway/
Yes please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8h88H4-0xQ&feature=youtu.be