Open mike 28/11/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 28th, 2020 - 60 comments
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60 comments on “Open mike 28/11/2020 ”

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  1. Andre 1
    28 November 2020 at 7:44 am

    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

    • Chris T 1.1
      28 November 2020 at 8:34 am

      That is actually quite a clever set-up by whoever was doing the staging for the speech, or what ever.

      • McFlock 1.1.1
        28 November 2020 at 2:52 pm

        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.

        • Chris T 1.1.1.1
          28 November 2020 at 3:20 pm

          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.

          • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1
            28 November 2020 at 5:00 pm

            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…

            • Chris T 1.1.1.1.1.1
              28 November 2020 at 5:14 pm

              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!

            • Andre 1.1.1.1.1.2
              28 November 2020 at 5:59 pm

              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.

              • Chris T …
                28 November 2020 at 6:07 pm

                The Obama ones look just as funny tbf

              • McFlock …
                28 November 2020 at 7:29 pm

                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.

    • WeTheBleeple 1.2
      28 November 2020 at 8:48 am

      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.

    • Adrian Thornton 1.4
      28 November 2020 at 10:09 am

      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

      • Phillip ure 1.4.1
        28 November 2020 at 10:33 am

        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 &#039lead 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 ..)

    • mary_a 1.5
      28 November 2020 at 3:01 pm

      @ 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.

  2. Pat 2
    28 November 2020 at 9:31 am

    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.

    • RedBaronCV 2.1
      28 November 2020 at 11:46 am

      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,

      • Pat 2.1.1
        28 November 2020 at 1:02 pm

        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.

    • Adrian Thornton 3.1
      28 November 2020 at 10:20 am

      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…

      • joe90 3.1.1
        28 November 2020 at 10:33 am

        Cream was nothing without Mr Baker.

        • Adrian Thornton 3.1.1.1
          28 November 2020 at 10:58 am

          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.

        • Phillip ure 3.1.1.2
          28 November 2020 at 11:13 am

          I actually watched that g. baker doc the other day..and would recommend spending the time..

        • Ric Stacey 3.1.1.3
          28 November 2020 at 9:29 pm

          wow, that was good thanks

      • Phillip ure 3.1.2
        28 November 2020 at 11:11 am

        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..

    • Obtrectator 3.2
      28 November 2020 at 3:23 pm

      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 …..

  4. Stuart Munro 4
    28 November 2020 at 10:30 am

    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?

    • arkie 4.1
      28 November 2020 at 10:54 am

      Who the hell do our feckless MPs think they are supposed to be working for?

      She acknowledged voters who had switched allegiances from National.

      "For those amongst you who may not have supported Labour before… to you I say thank you. We will not take your support for granted."

      She said Labour would be a party which works for "every New Zealander".

      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)

    • WeTheBleeple 4.2
      28 November 2020 at 11:02 am

      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?

      • Stuart Munro 4.2.1
        28 November 2020 at 12:10 pm

        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.

    • Adrian Thornton 4.3
      28 November 2020 at 11:11 am

      "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!

      • greywarshark 4.3.1
        28 November 2020 at 11:24 am

        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.

        • Adrian Thornton 4.3.1.1
          28 November 2020 at 11:41 am

          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!

          • Brigid 4.3.1.1.1
            28 November 2020 at 12:45 pm

            "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.

            • WeTheBleeple 4.3.1.1.1.1
              28 November 2020 at 7:16 pm

              People who call others second class = shit.

              • Brigid …
                29 November 2020 at 12:46 pm

                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.

  6. Anne 6
    28 November 2020 at 11:10 am

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-mosques-terror-attack-evidence-suppressed-by-royal-commission-for-30-years/UL3B4DJWB7FMNJ7YE3FUZ5R6X4/

    Excerpt from report:

    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.

  8. greywarshark 8
    28 November 2020 at 1:14 pm

    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).

    • Chris T 8.1
      28 November 2020 at 6:37 pm

      Amazing dude Bill Bailey.

      Seen him live a couple of times. Apparently one of a few with perfect pitch

  9. aom 9
    28 November 2020 at 6:46 pm

    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!

  10. mac1 10
    28 November 2020 at 8:37 pm

    The Red tsunami carries on in the provinces. Go Tasman! 13-12.

  11. greywarshark 11
    28 November 2020 at 10:09 pm

    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.

    • Sacha 11.1
      28 November 2020 at 10:22 pm

      But what is the opposite of Third Way?

      • Pat 11.1.1
        29 November 2020 at 8:15 am

        Trump (ism)

      • Stuart Munro 11.1.2
        29 November 2020 at 11:10 am

        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.

        • greywarshark 11.1.2.1
          29 November 2020 at 1:26 pm

          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?

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    It Takes A Train To Cry: Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    Chris Trotter writes –  New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    Mr Bombastic: Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • “Comity” versus the rule of law
    In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Aotearoa: a live lab for failed Right-wing socio-economic zombie experiments once more…
    Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder. In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    1 week ago

  • Water is at the heart of farmers’ struggle to survive in Benin
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére Sosou Market gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • At a time of media turmoil, Melissa had nothing to proclaim as Minister – and now she has been dem...
    Buzz from the Beehive   Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    Good evening –   Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure.  The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
    The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
    The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
    Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
    Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
    The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say.  “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
    Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
    Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Speech – Eid al-Fitr
    Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government saves access to medicines
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff.    “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Pharmac Chair appointed
    Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Taking action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
    Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says.  “Every day, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New sports complex opens in Kaikohe
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Diplomacy needed more than ever
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.    “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address, Buttes New British Cemetery Belgium
    Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service.  It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – NZ National Service, Chunuk Bair
    Distinguished guests -   It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders.   Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
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