Even if nobody involved actively hates him, nobody saw the problem, or if they did see the problem nobody cared enough about his image to point it out.
TV camera shows close up of what looks like a normal size desk, clever.
In fact a lot of other presidents have probably done it to get round things when travelling or whatever.
Trumps problem is he is an arsehole and easy pickings now, with no power anymore, so someone gets to photo it and show how the "fake" works at his expense.
Imagine there were a lot lining up to do it given his staff loyalty.
But this isn't an improvised setting while travelling. He's at the freaking white house. Dude could have actually sat at a normal sized desk, instead of a side table.
Not everything has to be done behind the Resolute Desk, but shiiiiit…
Looking at more photos (lots more on the twitter thread), it looks like it's a silly chair with short legs much more than a silly desk. Most people sitting at that desk look normal, and the top of their thigh is more or less at the rails underneath. But there's a pic of some other dude looking just as weird, it looks like he's in the same chair, and the top of his thigh is way below the rails.
edit: I’m also curious about what looks like a lot of white powder was sprinkled around, then someone just barely started to vacuum it up before getting shooed out. It could be just how the light reflects off the lie of the rug, but it looks the same from a bunch of different angles and weird reflections from carpet usually change at different angles.
Interesting about the desk. A lot of it does seem to be the chair – it looks like dolt45 is sitting an inch or two lower than Obama? But then dolt is also leaning forward bigly in the side shot.
But the combo of the open jacket and big empty space around him just make it look so much more silly.
I'm happy to report his spell has broken. I no longer live within the existential dread of having that fool as leader of the free world. I do not viscerally react to headlines with his name in them, I no longer click, I no longer care.
I will take great delight in seeing him gone. I will relish the further milestones of election ratification and Biden stepping into office.
My schadenfreude is not yet sated, but Trump is now about as interesting as a shit on the sidewalk. I will enjoy watching the GOP trying to explain their sedition as they fall to recrimination, blame and fractious infighting.
repug party brought us nixon and sarah palin before trump. they have no shame, and will be like cochroachs, even stepping on them wont stop them from returning.
Look Andre you are in the right company as usual …Wall St love your new guy as much as you..no wait.. that's right, they loved Trump too, maybe it turns out Trump and Biden have more interests in common than the media would have us believe….could it be that just their delivery is a little different…?
Dow climbs 310 points as investors cheer transition to Biden administration
I am somewhat disturbed by his (repeated) claims that america will now ‘again 'lead the free world'.
I feel we could be in for some more regime-change/bombings…
(all in the name of 'freedom'..of course..)
and of course..like j. ardern…he is a neoliberal-incrementalist..
and it seems they are 'ruling'.. for now and the foreseeable future..
and disaster has been good for both biden and ardern…
he got in because he isn't trump..
and ardern was saved from having to explain the woeful experience/performance/promise-non-delivery of her first term..by the virus.
and we are all the losers..
(and on a personal note.. i am surprised@ how bummed out I am ..by how all this is turning out..I had no expectations of biden..but I did hold out some hope for ardern…it's clearly time to pack that away again ..)
@ Andre (1) … Like Trump's presidency, the WH furnishings, as exampled by the kindergarten desk, are dwindling with him. The buffoon looks more ridiculous than ever in that picture.
Yep interesting read. One thing struck me though -the assumption that we will go back to high immigration in the near future. Why? given that
-so far GDP per head has stayed pretty constant so there are no economic gains
-it has had very negative economic consequences around housing supply and wage suppression plus adding to infrastructure costs.
-it has increased the competition for starter jobs by a massive amount.
-wage suppression has sent our best and brightest offshore
-workforce automation is well on the way so we are likely just importing surplus labour
-immigration is so high in some areas that it pretty much looks like a wave of colonisation
I'd say that there is a much better case for limiting it severely and dare I say it moving on some of the 267000 visa holders still hanging around here could do a lot for the current house prices. World population is expected to drop I believe is going to drop over this century. The sooner we go for a stable state the better we will cope,
id agree but strongly suspect the need to feed the credit bubble will have immigration back asap…even if its done on the quiet…it is after all the only economic strategy they can imagine.
Re Clapton.."I am shocked, shocked, to learn that Clapton is a right-wing asshole"… personally I think just about everything he has done post Cream has been either bland or boring and usually lacking any real substance (with very the occasional glimmer of brilliance)…unlike Jack Bruce who although had his ups and downs, put out some real bangers post Cream including this great LP…
True that, Baker and Bruce now there is a formidable rock rhythm section if there ever was one…probably (IMO) the best Clapton ever sounded was because he had these guys were pushing him along so hard.
So E.C. was happy to indulge in a bit of cultural appropriation, and end up doing very well out of it, but not to give house-room to the originators of said culture? Hmm …..
It's a glaring inconsistency that surely needs to be addressed.
I will trot out that now typical word 'unprecedented'. We've not had this situation before as we've not had travel curtailed in such a manner. So the response should get a bit of wiggle room as the government adjust while throwing patches at it.
I'd expect they ask industry to pay living wages. I'd hope?
If the government could be trusted to act, it wouldn't be so bad – but they can't. They pushed through an epic failure on freshwater, and got it Greenwashed. Wouldn't have taken much in the way of effort or funding to make it real – but no – our rivers will run with shit till I die of old age. Same will prove true with this – lazy, corrupt politicians posturing for an international audience instead of serving their constituency.
The shame of it – to be led by such an odious group of self-serving expletives.
"Why is it that the government is always missing in action for NZ workers?"…that is an easy question to answer, it is because the New New Zealand Labour party stopped having even any pretence to being a "workers" party in 1984 when the body of the party was taken over by a new aggressive ideological disease known as free market neo liberlisim…
Which is why here in Hasting Hawkes Bay our newly elected and John Key lovin', opportunist Labour representative Anna Lorke is a better fit in todays Labour NZ than Helen Kelly would have been…think about that for a moment, a sad but true reality for the Left wing in NZ today to somehow over come.
The higher payment demanded for the incoming work force would have been set at that rate to ensure that the growers were not said to be undercutting willing workers here in NZ. The fact that they can afford to pay higher wages and still remain profitable, if that is the case, will be noticed by our workers and a reason for them to make a successful case for higher wages next season.
Plus some sort of sharing arrangement, so that in good seasons they get a bonus, and in bad seasons, or when the market prices go against them they do not get the bonus. I think that would seem fair to them and keep them coming back each season, hoping for a good one this year.
So let me get this right…are you are saying that Labours sneaky plan is that the NZ orchard industries have to pay a living wage to imported unskilled labour so as not to be seen as undercutting the (not) living wage payed to NZ workers…
Fuck the local horticultural industries, those aresholes have been cycnically using imported labour to undermine wage growth for New Zealand workers for decades, all the while making huge profits and buying up all the locally owned family orchards all the while…it's revolting, and of course all this is done with NZ Labours blessing…yuk.
"Fuck the local horticultural industries, those aresholes have been cycnically using imported labour to undermine wage growth for New Zealand workers for decades, all the while making huge profits"
Bloody oath
I stayed at a camping ground in Kerikeri a few summers ago. PEP workers crammed themselves into one of the units. They washed their clothes in the fetid river that flowed through the grounds.
A North Carolina donor who gave $2.5 million to a group promising to help President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the general election is now suing to get his money back.
Fred Eshelman, who has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans in 2020, according to Federal Election Commission data, says in his lawsuit that the organization True the Vote had not fulfilled the conditions of his monetary gift.
In a final minute issued yesterday, commissioners Sir William Young and Jacqui Caine said evidence and submissions by public sector chief executives and current and former ministers would be subject to non-publication orders for 30 years.
National security was cited as a reason for the suppressions…
Translation: Yeah, we f***ed up big time so we're gonna keep some things secret.
Yes, there can be compelling reasons for the suppression of certain information, but I wonder how many people over the decades have been denied justice on the grounds that the information sought that would enable them to achieve it… cannot be divulged for "security concerns".
I have much empathy for members of the Muslim community who have been so adversely affected by what happened.
I'm gonna make a wild guess here….a cover-up of the bleeding incompetence of our spooks..in missing all the signals put out by the killer…that would be high on my list of reasons..
(I guess they were too busy spying on environmentalists..)
Not just the official spooks Phillip ure. It's across several government agencies including the police. In fact the police have been at it for decades under the guise of a Special Branch unit which we don't get to hear much about.
We now have what will probably be the biggest test of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Labour Government – the assassination of yet another Iranian scientist, obviously by state actors. No doubt, POTUS will have plausible deniability but the other actor is pretty obvious. So far, there has been no criticism of the continued commissions of war crimes victimising Palestinians. However, striking the match to cause a Middle East inferno is in a totally different realm. It is past time for the mouse to roar!
When you talk about that stuff how about putting the link. I hadn’t caught up with the assassination of Iranian scientists – you say 'another' one. And state actors – who exactly? The Iranian state of the USA?
Mossad, if that was who assasinated the Iranian nuclear boffin, timed it nicely. It happened on the same day that the (Belgian) trial started of four Iranians caught planning a bomb attack on an Iranian opposition rally near Paris (2 years ago). One of the Iranians, Assadollah Assadi, was a diplomat based in the Iranian embassy in Vienna. the Israelis and the mullhas have similar ethics (none), but the Israelis have more sophisticated murder weapons that take out individals they don't like rather than indiscriminate attacks on crowds.
edit
Labour should be looking out for the people who labour not for great rewards and who are not in the glamour spotlight. Miners, parents, people who stand out in the rain and do important stuff, go up power poles in bad weather, and so on. They used to but becoming managers and distancing themselves from the raw physical has become the norm, and the workers have become the exception to be considered. How did things get so arse-up? Was it just The Third Way?*
Sir Michael Parkinson known for great tv interviews on his steadfast Dad who did the hard yards.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018774816/sir-michael-and-mike-parkinson-like-father-like-son …he enlisted his son Mike, who reshaped the book and gave it a definition.
“He started writing about the miners themselves, about the job itself, what it was about, and brought it a different kind of a serious and beautifully written account of this extraordinary tribe of men who went in a hole in the ground, like my father, and 40 years later emerged pneumoconiosis and died.”Reflecting on his research for the book, Mike said there were two things that particularly horrified him – the physical aspects of the job and working in darkness.
"The awful thing about them was they were a forgotten people, everything happened underground," he said. "If you drove past them you would only see the pit head workers, you wouldn't understand that beneath that, 1000 metres under your ground, people were working in unimaginable conditions."
It was a job that broke men physically, mentally and spiritually, he said. "And the one thing it did to my grandfather, it may have diminished him physically but it never broke him mentally, it never broke him spiritually and that is an extraordinary testament to him."
Above all, he took on the difficult job out of love for his family. "He loved the two of us beyond measure, he treated both of us with a great respect and love. He never raised a finger to me," Sir Michael said. He got to experience the nature of his father's work at about 14 or 15, when he was taken down into the pit.
"I've never been so frightened in my life," he said. "What appalled me most of all was the scene that they worked in. My father worked in a scene that was about three-foot, maybe a bit less than that." To start work he had to crawl on his stomach for around an hour and then he would work for another eight or nine hours, "digging coal on his belly".
"He never ever complained and all he could think of was to make myself and my mum happy, for that would have been his greatest fulfilment in life."
When we get really tired of The Third Way, are we then going to turn in a hairpin curve and go back in the other direction that we have been distancing ourselves from?
https://elephantinthelab.org/the-return-to-science-at-the-turn-of-modernity/
An old yet powerful principle has emerged from the COVID-19 crisis. It was introduced to the West in the writings of Carl G. Jung, and has its roots in the works of the pre-Socratic Greeks: enantiodromia (enantios – opposite and dromos – running course) (Jung 1968). Put simply, this means when something is pushed to the extreme, it tends to turn into its opposite. There is more than one way to conceptualize this principle, as the idea of the coincidence of opposites has had some form of cultural expression throughout the world.
When the classical Greek thinker Heraclitus alluded to it, he described it in the form of a natural process of equilibrium, in which cold things warm up and warmer things cool down. Later it found a voice in Plato, and then Hegel’s dialectic. In Daoism, the principle was given the shape of the yin-yang symbol, in which contrasting forces complement each other in an eternal cycle, bringing forth the sacred balance upon which the world rests.
The riddles presented in these ancient writings are very similar: they all imply that opposing powers are impregnated with the seeds of their own reconciliation. Jung was deeply intrigued by this philosophical strand and used the term prominently to mark a psychical phenomenon. In his observation, the dominance of a radical propensity in conscious life over a long time rouses the unconscious opposite that has been festering below the surface. For him, this overarching dualism was a nearer, personal phenomenon, reflected in one’s struggle with the self.
Jung’s notion of the archetype of the shadow symbolizes the unconscious invisible properties of an individual’s personality that are not integrated with their conscious identity. A subtle implication contained here is towards the analogy of the good wolf and the bad wolf, the clash between the known and the unknown, the struggle within as the image of the struggle without.
The third way is a cargo cult. It ascribes special status to business people that is really only possessed by a tiny fraction of them, the innovators. Innovators are capable of solving their own problems, so they don't need political influence.
The rest greatly enjoy lobbying rights, which they immediately abuse, destroying hard fought left gains like steady work hours, penal rates and so forth. Carried on to its inevitable conclusion, you get insanity like a Labour immigration minister de facto endorsing slave ships, and the party apparatus mobilising to defend the practice.
Third way politics is only possible for the comfortably deluded and the actually corrupt. Workers won't have a bar of the nonsense – employer dishonesty is always in their face and at their expense.
Third way politics is only possible for the comfortably deluded and the actually corrupt. Workers won't have a bar of the nonsense – employer dishonesty is always in their face and at their expense.
That is why Jeremy Corbyn was pricked in the back by Labour Party officials, so that his 'life blood' slowly trickled away, not knifed, that would be too direct and obvious. The sly way of fooling most of the people, most of the time is the middle-way. The Blairites who did Corbyn down are Middle-Way proponents. His enthusiasts tended to be young and from the working class, or so I understand. So they were not to be encouraged. Future prosperity for the middle class is more important than embracing all to float upwards supporting each other.
Are these the opposites – Middle-Way or Middle-Earth. Hobbits or bad habits?
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
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Maybe he thought it would make him look like he actually is the 6'2" he falsely claims, that even his elevator shoes don't get him to?
https://twitter.com/MongolianMisfit/status/1332118811353501699
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-tiny-desk-meme_n_5fc0a552c5b68ca87f8319b6
That is actually quite a clever set-up by whoever was doing the staging for the speech, or what ever.
It's a bit like the bogroll on his shoe as he walked up the steps to Airforce One.
Even if nobody involved actively hates him, nobody saw the problem, or if they did see the problem nobody cared enough about his image to point it out.
Pretty much.
TV camera shows close up of what looks like a normal size desk, clever.
In fact a lot of other presidents have probably done it to get round things when travelling or whatever.
Trumps problem is he is an arsehole and easy pickings now, with no power anymore, so someone gets to photo it and show how the "fake" works at his expense.
Imagine there were a lot lining up to do it given his staff loyalty.
But this isn't an improvised setting while travelling. He's at the freaking white house. Dude could have actually sat at a normal sized desk, instead of a side table.
Not everything has to be done behind the Resolute Desk, but shiiiiit…
Yeah. I apologise. I Googled the actual footage and as you say, it is as was actually shown on the peoples telly.
Sorry. Just assumed that it was a behind the camera snapshot of how they make shit look real.
I was wrong 🙂 He is again, just a fricken idiot.
Edit: Pretty funny though. It is like the dude has run out of any semblence of dignity!
Looking at more photos (lots more on the twitter thread), it looks like it's a silly chair with short legs much more than a silly desk. Most people sitting at that desk look normal, and the top of their thigh is more or less at the rails underneath. But there's a pic of some other dude looking just as weird, it looks like he's in the same chair, and the top of his thigh is way below the rails.
https://twitter.com/Mantia/status/1332184158882340866
edit: I’m also curious about what looks like a lot of white powder was sprinkled around, then someone just barely started to vacuum it up before getting shooed out. It could be just how the light reflects off the lie of the rug, but it looks the same from a bunch of different angles and weird reflections from carpet usually change at different angles.
The Obama ones look just as funny tbf
The carpet looks like a velvet or something.
Interesting about the desk. A lot of it does seem to be the chair – it looks like dolt45 is sitting an inch or two lower than Obama? But then dolt is also leaning forward bigly in the side shot.
But the combo of the open jacket and big empty space around him just make it look so much more silly.
I'm happy to report his spell has broken. I no longer live within the existential dread of having that fool as leader of the free world. I do not viscerally react to headlines with his name in them, I no longer click, I no longer care.
I will take great delight in seeing him gone. I will relish the further milestones of election ratification and Biden stepping into office.
My schadenfreude is not yet sated, but Trump is now about as interesting as a shit on the sidewalk. I will enjoy watching the GOP trying to explain their sedition as they fall to recrimination, blame and fractious infighting.
repug party brought us nixon and sarah palin before trump. they have no shame, and will be like cochroachs, even stepping on them wont stop them from returning.
Sharpie not included. Saves the walls from being scribbled on.
Look Andre you are in the right company as usual …Wall St love your new guy as much as you..no wait.. that's right, they loved Trump too, maybe it turns out Trump and Biden have more interests in common than the media would have us believe….could it be that just their delivery is a little different…?
Dow climbs 310 points as investors cheer transition to Biden administration
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/stock-market-news-today-biden-transition-yellen-value-rotation-economy-2020-11?r=US&IR=T
Joe Biden to rich donors: "Nothing would fundamentally change" if he's elected
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-nothing-would-fundamentally-change-if-hes-elected/
Huff Post Reporter: Biden's documented history of trying to cut social security
The only thing biden will solve..is trump..
'cos he sure as hell is no agent of change..
I am somewhat disturbed by his (repeated) claims that america will now ‘again 'lead the free world'.
I feel we could be in for some more regime-change/bombings…
(all in the name of 'freedom'..of course..)
and of course..like j. ardern…he is a neoliberal-incrementalist..
and it seems they are 'ruling'.. for now and the foreseeable future..
and disaster has been good for both biden and ardern…
he got in because he isn't trump..
and ardern was saved from having to explain the woeful experience/performance/promise-non-delivery of her first term..by the virus.
and we are all the losers..
(and on a personal note.. i am surprised@ how bummed out I am ..by how all this is turning out..I had no expectations of biden..but I did hold out some hope for ardern…it's clearly time to pack that away again ..)
@ Andre (1) … Like Trump's presidency, the WH furnishings, as exampled by the kindergarten desk, are dwindling with him. The buffoon looks more ridiculous than ever in that picture.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300168640/heres-why-you-shouldnt-believe-what-youre-told-about-the-housing-market
Headline says it all…while not complete it at least points the fingers in the right directions.
Yep interesting read. One thing struck me though -the assumption that we will go back to high immigration in the near future. Why? given that
-so far GDP per head has stayed pretty constant so there are no economic gains
-it has had very negative economic consequences around housing supply and wage suppression plus adding to infrastructure costs.
-it has increased the competition for starter jobs by a massive amount.
-wage suppression has sent our best and brightest offshore
-workforce automation is well on the way so we are likely just importing surplus labour
-immigration is so high in some areas that it pretty much looks like a wave of colonisation
I'd say that there is a much better case for limiting it severely and dare I say it moving on some of the 267000 visa holders still hanging around here could do a lot for the current house prices. World population is expected to drop I believe is going to drop over this century. The sooner we go for a stable state the better we will cope,
id agree but strongly suspect the need to feed the credit bubble will have immigration back asap…even if its done on the quiet…it is after all the only economic strategy they can imagine.
Privilege is no obstacle to covidiocy.
https://twitter.com/nomoremister/status/1332341563826057216
Re Clapton.."I am shocked, shocked, to learn that Clapton is a right-wing asshole"… personally I think just about everything he has done post Cream has been either bland or boring and usually lacking any real substance (with very the occasional glimmer of brilliance)…unlike Jack Bruce who although had his ups and downs, put out some real bangers post Cream including this great LP…
Cream was nothing without Mr Baker.
True that, Baker and Bruce now there is a formidable rock rhythm section if there ever was one…probably (IMO) the best Clapton ever sounded was because he had these guys were pushing him along so hard.
I actually watched that g. baker doc the other day..and would recommend spending the time..
wow, that was good thanks
you are correct in that clapton largely blanded out after cream..(much of his latter stuff I will run from the room to avoid..)
and yep..!..he is a far-right/racist p.o.s..
So E.C. was happy to indulge in a bit of cultural appropriation, and end up doing very well out of it, but not to give house-room to the originators of said culture? Hmm …..
Why is it that the government is always missing in action for NZ workers?
Unions question why local fruit-pickers haven't been offered living wage, like foreigners (msn.com)
RSEs will get the living wage – but kiwis deserve the same.
Who the hell do our feckless MPs think they are supposed to be working for?
Who the hell do our feckless MPs think they are supposed to be working for?
The centre holds.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/decision-2020/nz-sees-red-labours-landslide-jacindas-vow-all-kiwis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(poem)
It's a glaring inconsistency that surely needs to be addressed.
I will trot out that now typical word 'unprecedented'. We've not had this situation before as we've not had travel curtailed in such a manner. So the response should get a bit of wiggle room as the government adjust while throwing patches at it.
I'd expect they ask industry to pay living wages. I'd hope?
If the government could be trusted to act, it wouldn't be so bad – but they can't. They pushed through an epic failure on freshwater, and got it Greenwashed. Wouldn't have taken much in the way of effort or funding to make it real – but no – our rivers will run with shit till I die of old age. Same will prove true with this – lazy, corrupt politicians posturing for an international audience instead of serving their constituency.
The shame of it – to be led by such an odious group of self-serving expletives.
"Why is it that the government is always missing in action for NZ workers?"…that is an easy question to answer, it is because the New New Zealand Labour party stopped having even any pretence to being a "workers" party in 1984 when the body of the party was taken over by a new aggressive ideological disease known as free market neo liberlisim…
Which is why here in Hasting Hawkes Bay our newly elected and John Key lovin', opportunist Labour representative Anna Lorke is a better fit in todays Labour NZ than Helen Kelly would have been…think about that for a moment, a sad but true reality for the Left wing in NZ today to somehow over come.
Turn Labour Left!
The higher payment demanded for the incoming work force would have been set at that rate to ensure that the growers were not said to be undercutting willing workers here in NZ. The fact that they can afford to pay higher wages and still remain profitable, if that is the case, will be noticed by our workers and a reason for them to make a successful case for higher wages next season.
Plus some sort of sharing arrangement, so that in good seasons they get a bonus, and in bad seasons, or when the market prices go against them they do not get the bonus. I think that would seem fair to them and keep them coming back each season, hoping for a good one this year.
So let me get this right…are you are saying that Labours sneaky plan is that the NZ orchard industries have to pay a living wage to imported unskilled labour so as not to be seen as undercutting the (not) living wage payed to NZ workers…
Fuck the local horticultural industries, those aresholes have been cycnically using imported labour to undermine wage growth for New Zealand workers for decades, all the while making huge profits and buying up all the locally owned family orchards all the while…it's revolting, and of course all this is done with NZ Labours blessing…yuk.
Turn Labour Left!
"Fuck the local horticultural industries, those aresholes have been cycnically using imported labour to undermine wage growth for New Zealand workers for decades, all the while making huge profits"
Bloody oath
I stayed at a camping ground in Kerikeri a few summers ago. PEP workers crammed themselves into one of the units. They washed their clothes in the fetid river that flowed through the grounds.
Itinerant workers = second class citizens.
People who call others second class = shit.
You missed my point entirely.
I'm not calling them second class citizens; the industry defines them as that and treats them as though they are.
Things not going too well.
https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1332378809660809225
[…]
https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1332407600558841857
That's nice of them.
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1332471453430788096
edit: funnier by the minute
A North Carolina donor who gave $2.5 million to a group promising to help President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the general election is now suing to get his money back.
Fred Eshelman, who has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans in 2020, according to Federal Election Commission data, says in his lawsuit that the organization True the Vote had not fulfilled the conditions of his monetary gift.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/27/fred-eshelman-sues-pro-trump-true-vote-election-lawsuits/6440272002/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-mosques-terror-attack-evidence-suppressed-by-royal-commission-for-30-years/UL3B4DJWB7FMNJ7YE3FUZ5R6X4/
Translation: Yeah, we f***ed up big time so we're gonna keep some things secret.
Yes, there can be compelling reasons for the suppression of certain information, but I wonder how many people over the decades have been denied justice on the grounds that the information sought that would enable them to achieve it… cannot be divulged for "security concerns".
I have much empathy for members of the Muslim community who have been so adversely affected by what happened.
It does beg the question of what it is that has to be concealed.
Poor policy, and a bad precedent.
I'm gonna make a wild guess here….a cover-up of the bleeding incompetence of our spooks..in missing all the signals put out by the killer…that would be high on my list of reasons..
(I guess they were too busy spying on environmentalists..)
Not just the official spooks Phillip ure. It's across several government agencies including the police. In fact the police have been at it for decades under the guise of a Special Branch unit which we don't get to hear much about.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/damning-report-confirms-government-agencies-used-private-investigators-for-spying/O5EBZZCGCT4NVZITQJLZQ6X7PE/
And don’t forget the revelations of police spying for political purposes:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/760466/The-activist-who-turned-police-informer
And chasing Maori round the bush.
If the evidence must be suppressed, who was the report written for?
Obviously not the hoi polloi who might be interested in how and why the Muslim community was not protected from murdering extremists
For commenters serious about knowing all about stuff.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018774523/the-history-of-nz-s-reserve-bank-governors
Here is a little Christmas present for the musically inclined. Bill Bailey and adaptable musicians with cow bells 'doing ' The Swan (I think he said).
Amazing dude Bill Bailey.
Seen him live a couple of times. Apparently one of a few with perfect pitch
We now have what will probably be the biggest test of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Labour Government – the assassination of yet another Iranian scientist, obviously by state actors. No doubt, POTUS will have plausible deniability but the other actor is pretty obvious. So far, there has been no criticism of the continued commissions of war crimes victimising Palestinians. However, striking the match to cause a Middle East inferno is in a totally different realm. It is past time for the mouse to roar!
When you talk about that stuff how about putting the link. I hadn’t caught up with the assassination of Iranian scientists – you say 'another' one. And state actors – who exactly? The Iranian state of the USA?
Some reading for you greywarshark:
Latest assassination of Iranian scientist and Previous
Iranian president points finger at Israel after assassination of top military scientist near Tehran
Trump Sought Options for Attacking Iran to Stop Its Growing Nuclear Program
Iraq fears Donald Trump's final weeks could see confrontation between US and Iran
Google to your hearts content, information, opinions and comments abound. The only question is, what will Minister Mahuta do?
Mossad, if that was who assasinated the Iranian nuclear boffin, timed it nicely. It happened on the same day that the (Belgian) trial started of four Iranians caught planning a bomb attack on an Iranian opposition rally near Paris (2 years ago). One of the Iranians, Assadollah Assadi, was a diplomat based in the Iranian embassy in Vienna. the Israelis and the mullhas have similar ethics (none), but the Israelis have more sophisticated murder weapons that take out individals they don't like rather than indiscriminate attacks on crowds.
We modern humans are so clever we cut ourselves. Every country seems to be dragging a burden of disgraceful actions behind it like an ankle chain.
Thanks for the links. I will read and try not to digest.
The Red tsunami carries on in the provinces. Go Tasman! 13-12.
edit
Labour should be looking out for the people who labour not for great rewards and who are not in the glamour spotlight. Miners, parents, people who stand out in the rain and do important stuff, go up power poles in bad weather, and so on. They used to but becoming managers and distancing themselves from the raw physical has become the norm, and the workers have become the exception to be considered. How did things get so arse-up? Was it just The Third Way?*
Sir Michael Parkinson known for great tv interviews on his steadfast Dad who did the hard yards.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018774816/sir-michael-and-mike-parkinson-like-father-like-son
…he enlisted his son Mike, who reshaped the book and gave it a definition.
“He started writing about the miners themselves, about the job itself, what it was about, and brought it a different kind of a serious and beautifully written account of this extraordinary tribe of men who went in a hole in the ground, like my father, and 40 years later emerged pneumoconiosis and died.”Reflecting on his research for the book, Mike said there were two things that particularly horrified him – the physical aspects of the job and working in darkness.
"The awful thing about them was they were a forgotten people, everything happened underground," he said. "If you drove past them you would only see the pit head workers, you wouldn't understand that beneath that, 1000 metres under your ground, people were working in unimaginable conditions."
It was a job that broke men physically, mentally and spiritually, he said.
"And the one thing it did to my grandfather, it may have diminished him physically but it never broke him mentally, it never broke him spiritually and that is an extraordinary testament to him."
Above all, he took on the difficult job out of love for his family.
"He loved the two of us beyond measure, he treated both of us with a great respect and love. He never raised a finger to me," Sir Michael said.
He got to experience the nature of his father's work at about 14 or 15, when he was taken down into the pit.
"I've never been so frightened in my life," he said. "What appalled me most of all was the scene that they worked in. My father worked in a scene that was about three-foot, maybe a bit less than that."
To start work he had to crawl on his stomach for around an hour and then he would work for another eight or nine hours, "digging coal on his belly".
"He never ever complained and all he could think of was to make myself and my mum happy, for that would have been his greatest fulfilment in life."
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way
Baron Anthony Giddens – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Giddens#Biography
When we get really tired of The Third Way, are we then going to turn in a hairpin curve and go back in the other direction that we have been distancing ourselves from?
https://elephantinthelab.org/the-return-to-science-at-the-turn-of-modernity/
An old yet powerful principle has emerged from the COVID-19 crisis. It was introduced to the West in the writings of Carl G. Jung, and has its roots in the works of the pre-Socratic Greeks: enantiodromia (enantios – opposite and dromos – running course) (Jung 1968). Put simply, this means when something is pushed to the extreme, it tends to turn into its opposite. There is more than one way to conceptualize this principle, as the idea of the coincidence of opposites has had some form of cultural expression throughout the world.
When the classical Greek thinker Heraclitus alluded to it, he described it in the form of a natural process of equilibrium, in which cold things warm up and warmer things cool down. Later it found a voice in Plato, and then Hegel’s dialectic. In Daoism, the principle was given the shape of the yin-yang symbol, in which contrasting forces complement each other in an eternal cycle, bringing forth the sacred balance upon which the world rests.
The riddles presented in these ancient writings are very similar: they all imply that opposing powers are impregnated with the seeds of their own reconciliation. Jung was deeply intrigued by this philosophical strand and used the term prominently to mark a psychical phenomenon. In his observation, the dominance of a radical propensity in conscious life over a long time rouses the unconscious opposite that has been festering below the surface. For him, this overarching dualism was a nearer, personal phenomenon, reflected in one’s struggle with the self.
Jung’s notion of the archetype of the shadow symbolizes the unconscious invisible properties of an individual’s personality that are not integrated with their conscious identity. A subtle implication contained here is towards the analogy of the good wolf and the bad wolf, the clash between the known and the unknown, the struggle within as the image of the struggle without.
But what is the opposite of Third Way?
Trump (ism)
Traditional democracy.
The third way is a cargo cult. It ascribes special status to business people that is really only possessed by a tiny fraction of them, the innovators. Innovators are capable of solving their own problems, so they don't need political influence.
The rest greatly enjoy lobbying rights, which they immediately abuse, destroying hard fought left gains like steady work hours, penal rates and so forth. Carried on to its inevitable conclusion, you get insanity like a Labour immigration minister de facto endorsing slave ships, and the party apparatus mobilising to defend the practice.
Third way politics is only possible for the comfortably deluded and the actually corrupt. Workers won't have a bar of the nonsense – employer dishonesty is always in their face and at their expense.
That is why Jeremy Corbyn was pricked in the back by Labour Party officials, so that his 'life blood' slowly trickled away, not knifed, that would be too direct and obvious. The sly way of fooling most of the people, most of the time is the middle-way. The Blairites who did Corbyn down are Middle-Way proponents. His enthusiasts tended to be young and from the working class, or so I understand. So they were not to be encouraged. Future prosperity for the middle class is more important than embracing all to float upwards supporting each other.
Are these the opposites – Middle-Way or Middle-Earth. Hobbits or bad habits?