The tikanga of mana is at stake. We will not stand idly by and allow the mana of the Minister of Education, the Honourable Hekia Parata, her people, our people to be manipulated and trampled on. We, Dr Apirana Mahuika, Sir Toby Curtis, Sir Mark Solomon, Raniera Tau, Willie Te Aho, Awanuiarangi Black, Tiwha Puketapu, Naida Glavish, Sir Tamati Reedy and Pem Bird caution NZEI that they are putting their hard earned excellent reputation earned over a sustained period of time on the line and for what purpose?
The International Summit is the most prestigious educational event on the world calendar, a huge coup for our Minister of Education, Hekia Parata…
“The event brings together education ministers and leaders of national teachers’ federations and teachers’ unions from jurisdictions that, according to the OECD’s 2012 PISA survey results, have high-performing or rapidly-improving school systems”
I hope National gets the answers to the three questions whic are the focus of the summit
“The three questions that this Summit will focus on are:
How can high quality teachers and leaders be attracted into and retained in schools of the greatest need?
What are the levers for achieving equity in increasingly devolved education systems?
How are learning environments created that meet the needs of all children and young people?"
I can’t work that one out, they haven’t really explained why they are upset, they have only said that they are upset…. and into such a vacuum goes ………
But whenever the word “honour” appears in the speech of someone uppity or otherwise then one should be very wary. “Honour” is but an empty tub which will hold whatever is tossed into it ..
Who they represent anyway? Not the ordinary Maori , surely. Aren’t they all Maori aristocracy? You know, those people who have done well for themselves from the settlements that were supposed to benefit many more people than they did in reality.
Every child deserves a chance in life, but more than one in four Kiwi kids live in poverty. That inequality is the biggest hurdle to educational success.
The Government is putting millions into highly paid “new roles” for some principals and teachers, but ignoring child poverty. It has rejected a living wage for low paid support staff such as teacher aides, who directly support students with the greatest needs.
If you agree that tackling inequality must be the #1 priority in New Zealand, and that there must be a Living Wage for Learning for kids and education workers, come and join us to show your support!
Will be nice if we can have a warm-up piece today on The Standard, alerting peeps to the nationwide TPPA demo tomorrow? Sorry, I haven’t got much time at the moment to draft a piece but I have lotsa suggestions and a big mouth.
Doesn’t have to be a long, original piece for now but just a general announcement or notice pointing people to the various places around the country tomorrow at 1pm:
“After four years, the corporate deal of the century – aka the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – is still being negotiated in secret.
“The TPPA puts our sovereignty at risk, violates our democratic right to decide our own future, and wastes taxpayers’ money that should be spent on social, not corporate, welfare.
“It needs to stop. Now.”
As I thought I heard or read someone saying: make it big as it may be our last time to do this!
Done, but even something straight forward is not that quick. I think some of the links are not working that well – then I got an urgent personal email that needs attending to.
I’m speechless – very sad and disturbing. There are some excellent people in that group, including one of the authors of Te Whariki, the fabulous ece curriculum. I want to know where their voices have been as they’ve watched the systematic destruction of our education system under this government. No use talking about mana now, we’ve already shamed ourselves
And the eroding of the education system doesn’t stop at 16. Did you know for instance, that if you only give a party vote, but leave the electorate vote blank, that the ballot paper is void?
Te reo kupapa. They are probably looking at starting iwi charter schools. A few of them must still be going for knighthoods. Thank god that a new generation of leaders is growing, that has nothing in common with this sad lot.
The Carter Holt Harvey price-fixing case raises a question: what has happened to the proposal to make cartel behaviour a criminal offence? The company was fined $1.85 million by the High Court for price fixing in the Auckland commercial timber market, though its actions were described as being at the lower end of offending. The bill proposing criminal sanctions for serious cartel offending has been stuck in Parliament for almost a year and the Government has shown no interest in passing it. It seems unlikely anything will change before the election.”
from MBIE website
“The Minister of Commerce introduced the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2011 into Parliament on 13 October 2011.
One of the principle objectives of the amendment Bill is to introduce criminal sanctions for hard-core cartel behaviour.
Hard-core cartels are formed when rival firms agree to not compete with each other by fixing prices, restricting output, allocating markets or rigging bids. Cartels allow firms to raise their prices above the competitive level without fear of losing customers to rivals. This increases the profits of cartel participants but does not benefit consumers.”
Introduced by Simon Power… and then he left… and then it languished under… Steven Joyce and Craig Foss
” Commerce committee report
On 13 May 2013, the Commerce Committee tabled its report on the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. ”
Sanctions proposed
“The penalty regime
The bill introduces criminal sanctions for individuals and companies. For an individual, the maximum sanction would be seven years’ imprisonment. For a body corporate, the sanctions are the same as the current level of sanctions: a fine set at the greater of either $10 million or three times the value of the commercial gain, if it can be ascertained. If the gain cannot be ascertained, the sanction will be 10 per cent of annual turnover.”
”
Craig Foss
14 May, 2013
Select Committee reports back on Cartels Bill
Commerce Minister Craig Foss today welcomed the Commerce Select Committee report on a Bill to encourage pro-competitive collaboration.
The Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill promotes economic growth by enabling pro-competitive collaboration between firms, while also deterring hard-core cartel conduct.
“This Bill forms an important part of the Government’s Business Growth Agenda and our ambitious goal to increase the ratio of exports to GDP to 40 per cent by 2025,” says Mr Foss.
“It will enable collaborative arrangements that can help businesses innovate and tap into overseas markets. This will be a welcome change for New Zealand’s export industries.
“At the same time the Bill takes a strong stance against hard-core cartel conduct like price fixing and bid rigging and introduces criminal sanctions for egregious behaviour.
“These activities will not be tolerated and anyone engaging in them will be treated the same way as tax evaders, fraudsters and other white collar criminals,” says Mr Foss.”
“..will be treated the same way as tax evaders, fraudsters and other white collar criminals..”
generally ignored..?..unless un-ignorable..?
..and does anyone think we will ever see any words/actions of/on (from any party?) on the (depending who you talk to) $1.5 billion – $5 billion in criminally-evaded taxes..?
..each and every year..?
..can i offer a possible path to a solution..?
..a carrot-stick themed ‘solution’..?
..how about offering a three month amnesty..?
..wherein the guilty can come forward..and just have to pay the taxes owing..with no penalties..
..and after that amnesty-period lapses..
..promise task-forces/going gangbusters over all those caught..
..(with tandem ramping-up-penalties legislation..?..)
..i reckon that’d flush out quite a bit of that ‘criminally-avoided’ tax revenue..
..(and we do need the money..eh..?..so we can start to put things right/prepare for the future..)
..(and of course..those in this govt who we look to do this are foss-the-hapless..
..and the pompadoured-one..dunne…
..so..we’ll get s.f.a. action on this from these two clowns..
..that you can take to the bank..)
..(and just practising my psychic-abilities here..
..i’m gonna make the call that a majority..(and by quite a margin..)..
..wd be from the rich/elites..
..most of who vote in their wallet-interests..
..and tick national/act in the ballot-box..
..so for only this reason..foss-the-hapless/dunne will not offend their support-base..
..that is far more important..than trying to claw back all that nicked money..)
For some reason I haven’t been able to access the home page of The Standard for a few days, although I can go to subsidiary pages like this one. Is this happening to others and if so, does anyone know why?
Try pressing Shift+F5 to force a cache refresh on your browser. I saw that on my table this morning as well probably because I wasn’t able to load the page at the Pickering lecture yesterday.
‘National has developed a media network incorporating the Whale Oil website, Kiwiblog and commentators Matthew Hooton and Michelle Boag.
They have been feeding the media appetite for short, sharp crises to fill online news space.
It is Labour’s job to counter National’s influence over the news agenda. But it does not have many of its own partisans in the media; the left-leaning website The Daily Blog does not have an audience to compare with Whale Oil.’
His round-up also mentions the planned pay-wall at the herald, which I haven’t seen confirmed as definite (although I probably have just missed it) previously. It starts later this year.
Amusing. For some strange reason we never get mentioned in any of the mainstream media unless they absolutely have to. I guess it is because we don’t act like news media because of our focus on being a internet forum – ie comments.
BTW: does anyone else have problems getting any comments on the NZ Herald articles? As far as I can tell, none of mine since about 2012 have made it through. I guess they don’t like our ocassional posts on them 😈
Not mentioning The Standard was a major omission from Drinnan. The Daily Blog seems to have scant connections with Labour so was an odd inclusion in that context.
”The Daily Blog seems to have scant connections with Labour so was an odd inclusion in that context.”
While I agree the Standard should have been mentioned, it’s not just about Labour.
Unlike the largely homogeneous right, the left has developed a healthy pluralism of parties.
The issue is a lack of decent left-wing pundits in the media cycle.
Good point. But there are a number of authors over there who have Labour membership. Me for instance.
It could have been a simple editing mistake. After all both of the sites start with the word “The”. 😈
But I suspect that it is pretty deliberate. There are sites that the news media never likes to mention. For instance the Transport blog and this one. We’re somewhat harder to spin as being the clowns of the internet.
Bryce Edwards does like linking to your site a bit eh?
The Daily Blog attempts a popular appeal – Standard talks to itself IMO.
The Daily Blog comments are less nutty.
He was challenged on it by other journalists too. Odd and superficial. Some traditional journalists don’t give much weight to people using pseudonyms, I don’t know if that’s why he thinks TDB is more significant.
I don’t know how Bryce chooses his links but he seems to be including more and more sources for his links, he used to be more selective. I look for different angles on things. Writing blog posts is quite different to commenting on blogs – mickysavage is a good example of that here, his approach is quite different to what it used to be. He’s now someone I look out for.
gee..pg..imagine if you did something like commentaries on q-time..or something..
..edwards-the-younger would link to ya so much more than even he does now..eh..?
..he’d be all over you like a rsh..
..and with yr observational-powers/quick wit..
..i’m sure such a commentary from you wd b a treat..
(and cd u discount the persistant/ongoing rumours that the heavy/serial-linking to yer exercises in the fatuous/irrelevant/boring/bleeding-obvious..by edwards-the-younger..
..are down to full-body-massages..followed by a beard rubdown..?
..administered by yr (fill-blank) self..?
..and while we are at it..
..have you ever owned/touched/read a copy of mein kamp…?
..wot with yr own ‘struggle’..eh..?
..he too..was misunderstood/laughed at..in the early days..
..but he showed them..!
..eh pete..?..
..and do you currently have any plans/desires/aspirations..
… to annex invercargill..?
..(nb..the above is all ‘rumours’..unfounded-suppositions..
The Daily Blog attempts a popular appeal – Standard talks to itself IMO.
Not really. We talk between activists on the left and to the people interested in activists on the left – it is in the about. Obviously something John isn’t into. I guess his view of media is more about entertainment than effectiveness (at least that is what I see when I read many of his stories).
The Daily Blog comments are less nutty.
That is because they are extremely and silently censored (which is why they are so few). It conforms to the same ethos that NZ Herald follows in their comment policy so I can see why he’d feel more comfortable with it.
But he is right, we primarily exist to allow the left to talk amongst each other whereas The Daily Blog is designed to allow some people on the left to present a ethos to a wider public. Of course you’d have to ask yourself which is more effective at a political level.
That’s a good point on censorship at The Daily Blog. Discussion is obviously not a priority there.
We’ve had a few wee skirmishes here about moderation but I’ve said elsewhere a number of times at least it’s all out in the open, I’ve never been secretly censored here . It seems to be common practice at TDB and it’s happened to me. Martyn seems to be trying to be an alternative to MSM but he mimics their strict opinion and message control. Like anywhere that’s his call.
When the outcome is that one party is publicly humiliated and earns a reputation for banality that follows him to this day, that’s not a “skirmish”. It’s a rout.
Mine get published about 60% of the time, but take a couple of days to get through moderation even if I am posting within the hour after an article is published.
The reason The Standard is not mentioned is not “strange” at all. It is however quite stupid.
It’s purely because the authors here are pseudonymous. The MSM like to be hypocritical in having their own (completely) anonymous editorials, but won’t deign to mention TS because apparently you have to have a publicly identifiable name otherwise your opinion somehow doesn’t mean anything.
Makes no difference for legal liabilities but the journo’s are so in love with their late 20th century fetish for individual fame (spurred by TV) that they have forgotten the whole of the 19th/20th century journalistic ethos and why it was there. The only residual is the editorials.
Drinnan should have also included Rachel Glucina, the Herald’s gossip columnist – and friend of Slater’s who is also deep in with the smear campaign against KDC. But probably she is too close to home, being a fellow Herald columnist.
Yep. It seems to me that they must have sat down with the powers that be. Slater was told to stop being such a dick and tone things down and Glucina was told that she was going to get out of the socialite pap news and start breaking stories. She has further .com news in her latest column at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personalities/news/article.cfm?c_id=72&objectid=11227811
Lolz more snide innuendo from the Herald(National Party disinformation service),shows just how much the Beehives 9th floor lives in fear of the bloke,(i have the sneaking suspicion that the 9th floor have a private investigator/SIS on the road sniffing out DotComs ‘back-story’,
Laughable is the pic of DotCom in the ‘Kraut lid’, who would have thunk it, a German lampooning a German,(i have been hanging out for DotCom to do a full on Sergeant Shultz while live on the TV news),
The pic down the bottom of Rachel Glaucoma’s column of the Kohanga Kids having fun with Trev is a total cutey…
well..that disempowering of a past demon by mocking..
…was part and parcel of that show..?..surely..?
..(the war was recent enough for most watchers..at most only one generation removed from the actual conflict..)
..(disclaimer:..i have ‘loved’ a german..and my son is half-german..
..and ..as an aside..i think he was speaking for his savvy-generation..when he instantly called ‘bullshit!’ on the false equivalence of the dotcom/mein kamp story/beat-up..)
..and surely..of far more prurient-interest wd be the off-stage lifestyle of the lead actor in hogans’ heroes..bob crane..?
Yes i have had the odd look on the Doktor’s(Edwards),daily roundup of politics via the Herald online and on most occasions, even when there are multiple posts running on a topic at the Standard Bryce chooses to not mention this instead directing readers to the branches of the sewer,
People are ‘lead’, often easily, the Doktor, dare i say with deliberation???, doesn’t mention the Standard too often, in my opinion, simply as a means of keeping people from reading the Standard, if His links consistently direct people to ‘wail-oil’ and ‘kiwi-smog’ then if they have no knowledge of the Standard they are likely to keep going to those sites if they are seeking further knowledge of ‘political happenings’ than that which is provided by the mainstream media,
To a certain extent, in a cutting off the nose to spite the face exercise, the political parties of the left spend no amount of energy mentioning the Standard, ala Slippery the Prime Ministers major ‘Slurp’ directed in Blubber boy and ‘wail oil’s’ direction recently choosing instead to promote their own web-sites which have far less debate and thus tend to be pretty party-centric and, again in my opinion,are a bit of a bore,
In an ideal world, in the interests of growing ‘the left’ we would see Labour/Green/Mana websites prominently displaying links to both the Standard and the Daily Blog,(having not looked for a while i do not know if any of them do this now)…
The Bryce Edwards round-up started as a chronicle of topical political stories and columns, including issues simmering away in the regions, and off-beat bloggers. It covered many different stories and issues in one edition. However, now Edwards is trying to capture/create the narrative, and each one is overly long, and too focused on beltway media/topics.
As Karol pointed out recently, Edwards even took to Twitter to commission pieces from bloggers on a set topic! This is media as echo chamber, rather than reflecting the actual confusion and complexity of life.
And Edwards focus is very much about politics as a game – party strategies, headline grabbers, polling issues, etc. – little about close examination of policies.
Amusing in the Herald’s online version this morning is the befor and after of Colon Craig said to have been dieting in preparation for the 2014 election,
The befor version,(much to my surprise), looks remarkably like a run of the mill picture of a normal human being,
The ‘after’ one tho gives me a picture that could be used as an example of Colon having been kidnapped by aliens at some point in time and whisked off for a quick ‘probing’, seems ‘the probe’ must have been set to ‘suction samples’ when the aliens ‘must watch’ favorite TV show came on inter-galactic TV and they left Colon on the ‘table’ for too long while they watched it,
The mad staring eyes remind me of ‘speed’ addicts strung out on what the medical profession used to prescribe to tired overweight Mums back in the 60’s,(but that’s another story)…
The Parliament is in recess until April 8th,(i think), so unless Labour are planning to release major policy there isn’t much happening to get them into the news,
David Cunliffe was in the far North on Monday or Tuesday and i should imagine that any number of MP’s will be out there in the electorate holding meetings with ‘interest groups’ something Helen Clark did with zeal befor becoming Prime Minister,
i should imagine that Labour release a flurry of ‘press releases’ on everything of interest, or not, on a regular basis, media apathy or bias would then account for such not seeing the light of day,
Hopefully either David Cunliffe and/or Grant Robertson are preparing a series of questions that skewer Slippery the Prime Minister, at question time to keep the PM’s ‘gifts’ to charity, the National Party, firmly in the headlines once the Parliament resumes…
I hope they don’t let collins and parata, oh and adams off the hook. What’s happened to bennett, is she keeping her powder dry? Just saw in comments in herald that ‘frannie’s columns were like love letters to shay key’. So sad, but so true. She needs to get out more.
Well, at least some MPs will be out here in the electorate. From today’s item:
‘The entire Labour Party caucus will descend on Wairarapa on March 31. All 34 Labour MPs will visit Wairarapa to meet with locals at afternoon venues to discuss development, jobs, health and housing.
Labour leader David Cunliffe describes the event as an “away caucus”, to hear the voice of the people first-hand.
“I believe government must act with the people, not for the people. That can only be achieved by getting out and about, not sitting behind a desk at Parliament.” ‘
I hope they are smarter than the Green Party were a few years ago. They held a conference in the Wairarapa. It was over the weekend and they went up from Wellington on Friday night.
Being publically enthusiastic about public transport they all went up on the evening train. They got there early and took most of the available seats. Thus when the people who travel on it every day after working in Wellington got there no seats were left and the regular passengers had to stand for the trip. The Green Party never thought to tell the Railways ahead of time so that more carriages might have been added.
I know two people who were on the trip, both of whom were, until that time, Green Party members. They resigned and as far as I know they never re-joined.
I can’t imagine that the Labour MPs will be travelling on the train of course. I hope they don’t take a taxi each and at least will share some.
Glen Innes had the highest capital gain on three-bedroom houses with an annualised 18.9 per cent, and Mount Wellington had the best gain on apartments at 16.2 per cent…
Is that the impact of the new mini fletchers town for the first home buyer with 650k? Or the sell off of state houses?
“An old, old Soviet story repeating itself,” Boris Akunin, a novelist who signed the opposition petition, wrote in an email when asked about the war of words.
“It’s just that under Stalin, if a prominent cultural figure dared to protest he’d be shot; under Brezhnev he’d be imprisoned; now he just risks losing state donations and having to travel economy class — but this often proves enough,” Mr. Akunin wrote. “It’s a fascinating sight to watch people make this moral choice.”
Auckland Mayor Len Brown has been accused of acting with a conflict of interest at a council committee meeting today.
Veteran anti-corruption campaigner Penny Bright was attempting to read out letters from the police in regard to a complaint against Mayor Brown, but he refused to let her speak and ordered security staff to remove Bright from the venue.
Speaking later from Auckland police station, Bright told InvestigateDaily that the mayor had taken direct action on a matter he was directly implicated in, and she believed he had a clear conflict of interest in trying to prevent members of the public from speaking about him.
Bright being removed. PHOTO: Cr Dick Quax
(Photo: Dick Quax)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PENNY BRIGHT
(“The letter from Police that conflicted Auckland Mayor Len Brown tried to stop me reading at the Auckland Council Governing Body meeting Thursday 27 March 2014 “)
“I have discussed this matter with Graham McCready, and am considering taking a private prosecution for assault against the security guards, and Mayor Len Brown as a party to the assault,” says Penny Bright.
“If you think that I am going to put up with being censored and assaulted – now twice within 5 weeks – for attempting to expose corrupt conflicts of interest at Auckland Council – THINK AGAIN!”
“In my considered opinion, Auckland Council is rotten to the core with corrupt conflicts of interest, but I will NOT be silenced as an anti-corruption ‘whistle-blower’. ”
Still want to defend Auckland Mayor Len Brown ????????
I was merely pointing out the likely result of the battle you are choosing to fight.
I suspect that the len brown “conflict of interest” is a pile of bunk, and that your removal by security staff was done with proper legal authority and without striking or doing you bodily harm (crimes act s56 if I recall correctly from my security days). But most of all, I suspect that the rates reporting requirements you are choosing to lose your home over will not substantially change the practise or effectiveness of democracy (or lack thereof) in Auckland.
Not that I care too much, being at the other end of the country.
Okay kiddies.
Homework for the weekend is getting out your pens and papers and writing to your MP’s and asking why charter schools are getting taxpayer money.
If they dont reply then write letters to your local newspaper telling on them.
Its time to make the wonks start earning their money!
It seems that the upcoming rallies against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that will be happening all over NZ tomorrow are effectively being ignored by mainstream media?
FYI!
SAT 29 MARCH: JOIN THE NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO STOP THE TPPA
It’s not likely to have been much more than a minor factor in the year to February 2014 visitor arrival numbers, despite the speculative analysis in the article.
Also, the problem with these kinds of campaigns is that it’s difficult to establish if they create new arrivals or simply shift timing or, much less tangibly, just add yet another minor reason for visiting with a correspondingly limited marginal effect.
Let us not forget that the reason New Zealanders know so much about Dotcom is because he is the target of a major investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Few other organisations on the planet possess the investigative capabilities of the FBI and even fewer are as sensitive when it comes to institutional failure and humiliation. But, failure and humiliation are precisely what lies in store for the FBI should Dotcom succeed in delaying the extradition procedures initiated against him by the US Attorney-General long enough to allow an electorally successful Internet Party to negotiate favourable political interventions on his behalf.
I would have thought that promoting this as a deliberate aim of the Internet Party will not help their current efforts to distance the party from Dotcom.
And Chris promoting deliberate political intervention in an extradition as a condition of supposed coalition support is quite astounding.
I’m confused. Which party do you think Trotter is speaking on behalf of? I thought Trotter saw himself more as a fairly independent leftie commentator and analyst – one that often provides critical views that often upset other lefties.
It looks to me like he is talking on behalf of a general left, but I don’t think promoting a party’s electoral aim as to politically intervene in an extradition will help the Internet Party nor the left.
The Internet Party are trying to establish a perception of independence from Dotcom, that is hard enough already without political/legal deals being promoted as a deliberate aim.
If I was Labour or Greens or Mana I’d be wanting to have nothing to do with any suggestion like this. Russel Norman is one of the more astute politicians on the left, and he saw the dangers Dotcom and his party posed to the chances of the left.
Best you stop now then Pete. That’s two comments from you in this thread in which you – by your own standard – promote the IP’s electoral aim as to politically intervene in an extradition.
The fungal algae called ‘Rock Snot’ is known to attach itself to many things as a means of travel and is thus able to move from place to place and pop up in places gaining a toehold only later to infect the whole area…
…. and in other matters ……
Does anyone else think (given NZ’s search and rescue capability, 6 x P3K2’s et al) that its contribution to MH370 is actually rather fuckin pathetic?
I’m of the belief that the NZ Defence Force’s future lays in peaceful contributions – such as search and rescue, responding to natural disasters, etc.
We seem to have given JUST enough to earn this miserly gubbamint some Browlee points (covered in shit as they inevitably are), and JUST enough to earn the Philistine itchim smetchim smoozim ideologically, parrot fashioned ‘learnings’, kaholic, commoditised principles-for-sale, red-dirt brown-eyed Jonkahism a few points on the ‘ta-neshnool- stage?’.
It is rather pathetic though …. I mean these fukwits run the gauntlet (due to PS cutbacks) with bio-diversity (think PSA, etc., etc., etc.) daily – and they do so with ‘Defense’ (which should actually JUST be devoted to CIVIL defense).
But this single Orion – with crews that appear to need close to 24hrs to change over is fucking pathetic.
It’s especially so, since of all the world’s capability ….. NZ (along with OZ – to actually a LESSER extent) are accustomed to the 40’s latitude that till now has been on the agenda.
But yeah, but nah, but yeah but nah – not worth it aye. wod ear va …. snot gunna make goldin boiii look sgoood es scccchhhhmoooxin in a fifrint hemsphere.
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Northern Ireland is the Alabama of the UK: a backwards region where women and gay people are denied fundamental rights. But Westminster has just decided to fix that:MPs have voted resoundingly to extend same-sex marriage and access to abortion to ...
There's a problem with "synthetic cannabis", and not just the one you think. It's the name.We're in the midst of a wave of news stories that link synthetic drugs to serious harm, through deadly road accidents and accidental overdoses (which ...
Ranjit Kauri, The Dancing Maharani and Other Stories, Swansea, Head and Heart, 2019, £6.99; reviewed by Don Franks Working people are not the same country to country. Our struggles for a better life take place in surroundings of very different ...
Let's Do Them! All Jacinda Ardern has to do to clinch the 2020 General Election is frighten the bejesus out of the electorate by describing in the most graphic terms imaginable what will happen to all the positive beginnings her ...
It may be that we have all misinterpreted the somewhat surprising “bromance” between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. It has been all too easy to assume that it is Kim who is cosying up to Trump rather than the ...
by Michael Roberts So the full circle is completed. The corrupt pro-business conservative New Democracy party in Greece that was ousted by the anti-capitalist Syriza party in 2015 has been returned to office in yesterday’s general election, with an outright ...
When the Australian government passed a series of new spy laws over the last few years, they pinky-promised that they wouldn't use them to spy on journalists and subvert freedom of the press. They lied:The anti-encryption laws passed by the ...
From 1975 to 1989, the spy agencies of South America's right-wing military dictatorships cooperated in Operation Condor, a joint campaign of extermination against the continent's left. Roughly 400,000 people were imprisoned, 30,000 disappeared, and 60,000 murdered - kidnapped, tortured, executed, ...
When she was standing for office, Jacinda Ardern promised she would take abortion out of the Crimes Act. And to be fair, there was some early action on that, with an immediate referral of the issue to the Law Commission ...
When the government introduced the Zero Carbon Bill, people rightly asked what they planned to do to reduce transport emissions, which basicly had no policy at all other than the ETS. Today, they responded, announcing a "feebate" system which would ...
At almost every level, the problem with medicinal cannabis is a lack of good information. In the US, FDA regulations make it hard to research. Most doctors aren't familiar with what research there is and most patients don't know either. ...
Redline is critical of Corbyn for his political weaknesses, but he’s no anti-Semite. There is no substance to the McCarthyist witch-hunt being run by the right wing, and the pro-Israel lobby inside and outside the Labour Party in the UK. ...
The government's billion trees program is the sort of policy which could make a real difference to our emissions and the fight against climate change. But climate scientist Jim Salinger isn't convinced:The Forestry Minister Shane Jones' one billion trees won't ...
Last month the government was celebrating another surplus. Meanwhile, children are starving:One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health. It found ...
Show Me The Money! The alternative to state funding of infrastructure is, of course, to fund it by taking on massive amounts of private debt. On this issue, at least, Auckland mayoral challenger, Tamihere, has some solid points to make. ...
If we are to avoid making the earth uninhabitable, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to practically nothing over the next decade. But that will still leave us with the problem of the carbon we have already emitted, which ...
Former Waikato DHB CEO Nigel Murray allegedly misused public funds, spending more than $120,000 of public money on unjustified travel. He was forced to resign and the Serious Fraud Office began an investigation. But despite the SFO finding that the ...
Jeremy Corbyn, we are told, is being advised – not least by his deputy (as well as by some of his would-be successors) – that he must come “off the fence” on the Brexit issue if he wants to bolster ...
The End of Life bill has been read a second time and is now heading for the House for further debate. Personally, I support the proposal. I don't ever epect to take advantage of the Bill's provisions myself, but as ...
Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.read more ...
Below is a translation of the editorial in the June 24 round of weekly workplace bulletins issued all over France by the revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvriere. Last Saturday, 8,000 people took to the streets of Belfort (eastern France) to ...
Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...
Holly Lawford-Smith is a senior lecturer in political philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She’s currently writing a book about radical feminism. This article appeared on Feminist Current Academics should be standing together in defence of universities’ fundamental values: the ...
The Otago Daily Times has an in-depth article about the future of wind energy in New Zealand, and it is looking bright:The news that wind will play the leading role in New Zealand’s energy future was put up in lights ...
If the sight of schoolkids striking for a future has been filling you with hope, good news: they want you to join them on September 27:Students will take to the streets again demanding action on climate change, and this time ...
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...
To express concern about foreign ownership and control in New Zealand is often to invite accusations of xenophobia and economic illiteracy. It is worthwhile, therefore, to rehearse the grounds for that concern, and to explore the various forms it can ...
It must be a day ending in Y because the Guardian - remember when it used to be a good paper1 - is running another spurious story about Corbyn's leadership being threatened over anti-Semitism.The headline the Guardian runs is: "MPs tell ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 23 through Sat, June 29, 2019 Editor's Pick When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and ...
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...
First way – the state, Keynesian demand management, the working class as the base of support. Second way – free-market, reduce the scope of the state and cut taxes, relative indifference to social justice. Third Way – well that's the ...
E15 is a London-based housing campaign that arose from the eviction of a group of young working-class mothers from a homeless hostel in 2013. Cat Wiener, through her work with the Revolutionary Communist Group, helped get Focus E15 up and ...
Going Upstairs: If we accept the LGBTQI+ community’s untrammelled right to advance their understanding of love, then we must also accept Israel Folau’s right to articulate his own simplistic and inadequate interpretation of the Christian religion.ONE OF THE FIRST things ...
So, some Labour MPs and peers have written Corbyn a letter complaining about the re-admission of loudmouth MP Chris Williamson, who had been suspended over allegations he made anti-Semitic comments.Never mind the Guardian's typically biased headline that Corbyn is facing ...
When the NZDF was asked to release US information on Operation Burnham which would have revealed how the villagers died, they refused, claiming that the US objected. So, Nicky Hager and Deborah Manning requested it in the US, under that ...
Statistics New Zealand has released a new report on New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions, with a sectoral breakdown shown how much is caused by different sectors of the economy. The data is crystal clear: half our emissions are caused by ...
Another day, another IPCA report finding police misbehaviour, this time in relation to police beating a suspect in Huntly in 2017. But despite a finding that officers used excessive force, the police as usual refused to prosecute their own. But ...
Compare And Contrast: One of the reasons so many powerful forces combined to oust the Third Labour Government was its obvious determination to move beyond progressive rhetoric and embrace progressive action. When assessing the behaviour of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Please find attached embargoed copies of two media statements from the Interim Climate Change Committee http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1907/Embargoed_Interim_Climate_Change_Committee_Accelerated_electrification_MEDIA_STATEMENT.pdf ...
Greenpeace Executive Director, Dr Russel Norman, has reacted with disbelief that the Government’s latest climate proposal includes an option for dairy to voluntarily deal with their emissions over the next six years. ...
This week’s “Youth Parliament” is an expensive waste of time that promotes taxpayer-funded junketeering, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . “We shouldn’t be training kids on the joys of the trough,” says Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones admitted on Q+A tonight that the state of New Zealand’s infrastructure planning is “dismal” and the government needs to get on with building “rather than writing more reports about it.” ...
DairyNZ has released its submission on the Zero Carbon Bill and is calling on the Government to revise the methane target in the Bill to one that does not put at risk New Zealand’s world-leading dairy sector. Farm profit could ...
July 15 (BusinessDesk) - Foreign Minister Winston Peters will have bi-lateral meetings with two of US president Donald Trump's most hawkish defence and security advisers in a five day trip to Washington D.C. ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero are calling for Members of Parliament to show political courage as the Zero Carbon Bill goes through the crucial Select Committee process. ...
Annual net migration was provisionally estimated at 50,200 (± 800) in the year ended December 2018 compared with 52,600 in the previous year, Stats NZ said today. ...
New Zealanders have the opportunity to contribute to the government’s Review of Retirement Income Policies, including questions around Superannuation and KiwiSaver. Submissions are now open for the Review, being run by the Commission for Financial ...
Yesterday at Mataatua Marae the Tamaki Makaurau Electorate of the Māori party congratulated Rangi Mclean who was appointed to the Vice president Tāne role of the party nation-wide executive. ...
The funding crisis facing the disability sector has become more urgent following the disturbing news that the Ministry of Health will not increase contract prices for providers this year, the New Zealand Disability Support Network said today. ...
The growing number of working poor is an alarming indicator that the regulatory Minimum Wage does not cut it said Closing the Gap spokesperson Peter Malcolm. ...
Historic hui gives overwhelming agreement for a Māori Inquiry The inquiry into state run Oranga Tamariki will be led by whanau, kaimahi and Māori leaders. ...
Drug infiltration into our maximum security prisons is putting prisoners and staff at unnecessary risk, and one tool that would be of huge benefit is a full body scanner. ...
The Socialist Equality Group is hosting a protest rally in Cuba Street, Wellington (at the intersection with Left Bank) on Sunday 14 July at 2:30pm to oppose the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and to ...
Simon Shepherd: The National Party proposed its own medicinal cannabis scheme last year. Its Health Spokesperson, Michael Woodhouse, says it shouldn’t have been ignored. So I began by asking him what his problem is with the government’s proposed regime. ...
Countries around the world are also dealing with medicinal cannabis. Britain legalised it last year, but the uptake has been slow. Neurologist Professor Mike Barnes wrote the report that convinced UK lawmakers it was a good idea. He's coming here ...
Simon Shepherd: Green MP Chloe Swarbrick’s name has become synonymous with drug reform, so following years of campaigning for safe, public access to medicinal cannabis, what does she think of the government’s new plan? Well, Chloe Swarbrick joins me ...
Social Credit is calling for a Government enquiry into the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board over it's handling of the Sarah Preece attack in 2017 and its subsequent report. ...
An overwhelming response sees Māori from across the country pouring into Māngere today. The call for action came from Māori leadership concerned with the practice of tamariki removals by the state. Whānau, experts, and highly skilled Māori from ...
Responding the announcement of a $2.37 million loan from the Provincial Growth Fund to a Northland berry farm, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “Why couldn’t this business get a loan from the bank? If no bank was ...
Multicultural NZ is delighted to congratulate former Gisborne Mayor, Meng Foon, who has been appointed as New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner. ...
Award-winning broadcaster, Waatea has been selected by North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to exclusively livestream the historic Māori-led Inquiry on Oranga Tamariki. ...
“The Peace Movement sends an urgent call to Winston Peters to reject any US demands for New Zealand participation in patrolling the Persian Gulf and Straits of Hormuz. New Zealand should have nothing to do with any war on the ...
More than 50 senior non-commissioned officers from militaries in the Asia-Pacific Region gathered this week in Auckland for a conference hosted by the New Zealand Army. ...
The addition of an absurd Treaty of Waitangi clause in the Plant Varieties Act raises the question whether “Maoridom” will claim royalties on new plant varieties, Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson Casey Costello said today. ...
What are we going to do about District Health Boards? News this week that the Government is looking at a further bail-out of cash-strapped Boards to help reduce their deficits has raised afresh questions about the sustainability of the current ...
Legal proceedings were filed in the Wellington High Court this week to have certain blocks of land at Shelly Bay returned to the ownership of Taranaki Whānui iwi. The land in issue is currently the proposed site for a high ...
Heart Kids, the only charity which supports families of heart children, acknowledges the fear and distress of families who have voiced their concern over paediatric cardiac services in New Zealand. ...
The government’s reluctance to front up about support for mentally traumatised mosque shooting survivors has shined a spotlight on the limitations of ACC, writes RNZ’s Veronica Schmidt.The difficulty with being held up as a symbol of empathy and compassion is ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Two school girls from East Java, Aeshnina Azzahra (alias Nina), 12, and Zahira Zade, 11, have sent hand-written protest letters to US President Donald Trump over the dumping of toxic plastic waste in Indonesia. The ...
Jacinda Ardern needs to make a stand for the things she says her Government believes in, despite the public preference for strong, dominant and often otherwise repugnant politicians. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentClimate change Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern defends ‘laughable’ ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Options for getting agriculture into ETS unveiled, leading academic savages billion trees programme, and OIO approves Westland Milk sale. A historic day for climate change policy in New Zealand, with agriculture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sumeet Walia, Senior Lecturer and Vice Chancellor’s Fellow, RMIT University What better way to build smarter computer chips than to mimic nature’s most perfect computer – the human brain? Being able to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney Debates about constitutional change in Australia inevitably raise the poor success rate of referendums. Only eight out of 44 attempts have ever succeeded ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Whitehouse, Bennett Chair of Autism, Telethon Kids Institute, Univeristy of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Therapies given to infants before they receive a diagnosis of autism may lead to important ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Fobert, Research Associate, Flinders University Clownfish achieved worldwide fame following Finding Nemo, but it turns out these fish don’t do so well in the spotlight. Our research, published in Biology Letters, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Pollack, Associate Professor, University of Sydney Someone we know recently told us about a team-building event that proved anything but. The chief executive who arranged it loved mountain biking. So he ...
Oskar Howell travels to Otorohanga to interview Danielle Hawkins, author of When It All Turns to Custard, over a delicious two-course home-cooked lunch. ...
Dreamed of traveling long term, but at a loss about how to afford it? Here’s how Kristin Hall and her partner managed it (spoiler: involves a lot of brown rice and cabbage).*Scroll to the end for an important note about ...
Daniel Ziffer’s rollicking account of Australia’s Royal Commission into banking is a jaw-dropping laundry list of scandals, heartbreaking stories, and ‘gotcha’ moments.The Haynes Commission was set up in 2017 to inquire into and report on misconduct in the Australian banking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Harry Hobbs, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has announced that the state will begin a conversation about a pathway to treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mair Underwood, Lecturer in Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Queensland Months after a public breakup with her husband, the politician Barnaby Joyce, Natalie Joyce made news when she displayed her “new” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brittany Huber, Postdoctoral researcher, Swinburne University of Technology Most (80%) Australian parents worry children spend too much time with screens. But what children are doing on and off screen matters more than ...
A local photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ requesting they work “unpaid” on Married At First Sight NZ. A wedding photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ on Reddit after the production company requested that they work for ...
How ANZ Bank fought for more than three years to keep its role in New Zealand’s biggest Ponzi scheme quiet and stop a regulator telling out-of-pocket investors the details. ...
Sam Brooks reviews Mean Mums, the new sitcom from Three that manages to make putting a great show together look easy.When it premiered as part of Three’s Pilot Week last year, I called Mean Mums the winner of the bunch. Nearly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Last week on this podcast we talked to Ken Wyatt about the government’s plan for a referendum – hopefully this parliamentary term – to recognise ...
Imagine if we treated our native birds with as little care as we do our precious fish stocks, writes ecologist Stella McQueen.Earlier this year, 900 at-risk native mudfish were relocated to make way for a wastewater development. But despite a ...
For when toast or cereal just doesn’t cut it, but you don’t have the time or inclination to do any actual cooking, try this. If I ever cook rice (or grains of any kind) for dinner, I often make extra to ...
For their latest ageing episode, Hilary Barry joins the On the Rag team to talk wrinkle creams, menopause and why people still think she is Jeremy Wells’ mum. This month’s episode of On the Rag is all about ageing. Time ravages ...
The Auditor-General's investigators are to look into the National Party's complaints about taxpayer funding being used to underwrite KiwiBuild homes. ...
Its rolling slate of cringey jokes and meaningless trivia is a familiar sight wherever there’s a captive audience – but what the hell is Giggle TV? Johnny Crawford looks into the tweet-stealing, wife joke-telling phenomenon.If you’ve spent any time in ...
COMMENTARY:By Yamin Kogoya in Auckland More than 50 years of “torture” has been inflicted on the Papuan people by the Indonesian government. With the complicity of Western governments, great fear has been put in the hearts and minds ...
It’s landlords who are finding themselves out in the cold as property managers begin to walk away from clients who haven’t insulated their rentals, reports Don Rowe.Two weeks after the first of New Zealand’s healthy homes deadlines, property managers are ...
Event date and time: Friday, July 26, 2019 – 17:00–18:30JOIN US for this Pacific Media Centre‘s smorgasbord “launch” mid-winter fono and celebration for: + Two new documentaries on climate change and media freedom + The ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Tuesday’s contentForeign affairs and trade Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): US ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Monday’s contentOranga Tamariki, state care of children, adoption Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): Māori ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Senior research fellow, Southern Cross University Humans’ distant ancestor Australopithecus africanus had a unique approach to raising their young, as shown in our new research published today in Nature. Geochemical ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au You might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joyce Y.M. Nip, Senior lecturer, Department of Media and Communications; Department of Chinese Studies, University of Sydney As China grows more powerful and influential, our New Superpower series looks at what this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trent Yarwood, Infectious Diseases Physician, Senior Lecturer, James Cook University and, The University of Queensland This year’s flu season is off to an early start, with 144,000 confirmed cases so far in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Todd Denham, PhD Candidate, School of Global, Urban & Social Studies, RMIT University Governments are looking to fast rail services to regional cities to relieve population pressures in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. ...
Open mike 28/03/2014 
Open mike is your post.
The Interim Climate Change Committee's report on Action on agricultural emissions: Evidence, analysis and recommendations was finally released today, and as you might guess from the title, it is recommending that we actually act, rather than let farmers keep ...21 hours ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...22 hours ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...1 day ago
Later this month, thousands of people are expected to march to parliament as part of the #HandsOffOurTamaraki movement. At its heart, the movement is about preserving whānau and demanding that the state stop removing children from their whānau, hapū and iwi. ...2 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The recent statements made by the former FARC commander, Carlos Lozada (legal name Julian Gallo), where, from his seat in Congress, he praised the Colombian Army demonstrate how low the farianos have sunk. Lozada began by ...3 days ago
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...3 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...6 days ago
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Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...2 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...2 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...2 weeks ago
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Blog Writing Tips. I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the ... 2 weeks ago
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...3 weeks ago
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...3 weeks ago
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
Statistics New Zealand has released a new report on New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions, with a sectoral breakdown shown how much is caused by different sectors of the economy. The data is crystal clear: half our emissions are caused by ...3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...1 day ago
Fonterra and the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council have today released their submissions on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. ...22 mins ago
The government’s reluctance to front up about support for mentally traumatised mosque shooting survivors has shined a spotlight on the limitations of ACC, writes RNZ’s Veronica Schmidt.The difficulty with being held up as a symbol of empathy and compassion is ...19 mins ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Two school girls from East Java, Aeshnina Azzahra (alias Nina), 12, and Zahira Zade, 11, have sent hand-written protest letters to US President Donald Trump over the dumping of toxic plastic waste in Indonesia. The ...51 mins ago
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Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
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So now according to iwi leaders we teachers are supposed to shut up and say nothing even if we see the continual eroding of our education system.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/nzei-protest-action-tramples-honour-our-nation/5/185968
From the above:
The tikanga of mana is at stake. We will not stand idly by and allow the mana of the Minister of Education, the Honourable Hekia Parata, her people, our people to be manipulated and trampled on. We, Dr Apirana Mahuika, Sir Toby Curtis, Sir Mark Solomon, Raniera Tau, Willie Te Aho, Awanuiarangi Black, Tiwha Puketapu, Naida Glavish, Sir Tamati Reedy and Pem Bird caution NZEI that they are putting their hard earned excellent reputation earned over a sustained period of time on the line and for what purpose?
The International Summit is the most prestigious educational event on the world calendar, a huge coup for our Minister of Education, Hekia Parata…
Un-freaking-believable.
so much for the value of children…
is the summit not open to everyone?
“The event brings together education ministers and leaders of national teachers’ federations and teachers’ unions from jurisdictions that, according to the OECD’s 2012 PISA survey results, have high-performing or rapidly-improving school systems”
I hope National gets the answers to the three questions whic are the focus of the summit
“The three questions that this Summit will focus on are:
How can high quality teachers and leaders be attracted into and retained in schools of the greatest need?
What are the levers for achieving equity in increasingly devolved education systems?
How are learning environments created that meet the needs of all children and young people?"
I can’t work that one out, they haven’t really explained why they are upset, they have only said that they are upset…. and into such a vacuum goes ………
But whenever the word “honour” appears in the speech of someone uppity or otherwise then one should be very wary. “Honour” is but an empty tub which will hold whatever is tossed into it ..
Agree. It appears to demand respect on the basis of lineage rather than actions, of which I am wary.
I’m sure that you’ll find that the National Party is quite happy with this sort of arse licking from Maori leaders.
Who they represent anyway? Not the ordinary Maori , surely. Aren’t they all Maori aristocracy? You know, those people who have done well for themselves from the settlements that were supposed to benefit many more people than they did in reality.
The conference is in Wellington today and tomorrow.
It wasn’t that easy to find info on the NZEI protest – it’s for a living wage, and precedes the TPPA demo tomorrow in Auckland, and is at the same time as the TPPA demo in Wellington.
From the Daily Blog:
So the protest is looking out for the children and the iwi leaders are looking out for their status…….
I know where the respect goes ..
+1
+1
Will be nice if we can have a warm-up piece today on The Standard, alerting peeps to the nationwide TPPA demo tomorrow? Sorry, I haven’t got much time at the moment to draft a piece but I have lotsa suggestions and a big mouth.
I have kept thinking that this morning. But too much coding and too many comments for moderation for me to do it.
Doesn’t have to be a long, original piece for now but just a general announcement or notice pointing people to the various places around the country tomorrow at 1pm:
http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/march-29-nationwide-day-of-action-against-the-tppa/
“After four years, the corporate deal of the century – aka the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – is still being negotiated in secret.
“The TPPA puts our sovereignty at risk, violates our democratic right to decide our own future, and wastes taxpayers’ money that should be spent on social, not corporate, welfare.
“It needs to stop. Now.”
As I thought I heard or read someone saying: make it big as it may be our last time to do this!
Done, but even something straight forward is not that quick. I think some of the links are not working that well – then I got an urgent personal email that needs attending to.
Let me know if there’s any other errors.
It was great. Are you sure you and lprent are not machines? And you both helped sort out their links in the process too.
Yes, I was thinking about it, while trying to get on with some other things in my life that need attending to.
Ugh…how divorced from the people that they purport to represent can that list of iwi ‘leaders’ get?
Give them time and I’m sure that they’ll make their way to Planet key.
I’m speechless – very sad and disturbing. There are some excellent people in that group, including one of the authors of Te Whariki, the fabulous ece curriculum. I want to know where their voices have been as they’ve watched the systematic destruction of our education system under this government. No use talking about mana now, we’ve already shamed ourselves
And the eroding of the education system doesn’t stop at 16. Did you know for instance, that if you only give a party vote, but leave the electorate vote blank, that the ballot paper is void?
Not many people are educated to realise that.
Te reo kupapa. They are probably looking at starting iwi charter schools. A few of them must still be going for knighthoods. Thank god that a new generation of leaders is growing, that has nothing in common with this sad lot.
The Internet Party already has a burgeoning membership… and Jokyhen and his inner circle will no doubt have access to all the registrations as well.
Ooops. As Hagrid might say “I should na said that.”
From the NZ Herald this morning
“Cartel questions
The Carter Holt Harvey price-fixing case raises a question: what has happened to the proposal to make cartel behaviour a criminal offence? The company was fined $1.85 million by the High Court for price fixing in the Auckland commercial timber market, though its actions were described as being at the lower end of offending. The bill proposing criminal sanctions for serious cartel offending has been stuck in Parliament for almost a year and the Government has shown no interest in passing it. It seems unlikely anything will change before the election.”
from MBIE website
“The Minister of Commerce introduced the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2011 into Parliament on 13 October 2011.
One of the principle objectives of the amendment Bill is to introduce criminal sanctions for hard-core cartel behaviour.
Hard-core cartels are formed when rival firms agree to not compete with each other by fixing prices, restricting output, allocating markets or rigging bids. Cartels allow firms to raise their prices above the competitive level without fear of losing customers to rivals. This increases the profits of cartel participants but does not benefit consumers.”
Introduced by Simon Power… and then he left… and then it languished under… Steven Joyce and Craig Foss
” Commerce committee report
On 13 May 2013, the Commerce Committee tabled its report on the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. ”
Sanctions proposed
“The penalty regime
The bill introduces criminal sanctions for individuals and companies. For an individual, the maximum sanction would be seven years’ imprisonment. For a body corporate, the sanctions are the same as the current level of sanctions: a fine set at the greater of either $10 million or three times the value of the commercial gain, if it can be ascertained. If the gain cannot be ascertained, the sanction will be 10 per cent of annual turnover.”
”
Craig Foss
14 May, 2013
Select Committee reports back on Cartels Bill
Commerce Minister Craig Foss today welcomed the Commerce Select Committee report on a Bill to encourage pro-competitive collaboration.
The Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill promotes economic growth by enabling pro-competitive collaboration between firms, while also deterring hard-core cartel conduct.
“This Bill forms an important part of the Government’s Business Growth Agenda and our ambitious goal to increase the ratio of exports to GDP to 40 per cent by 2025,” says Mr Foss.
“It will enable collaborative arrangements that can help businesses innovate and tap into overseas markets. This will be a welcome change for New Zealand’s export industries.
“At the same time the Bill takes a strong stance against hard-core cartel conduct like price fixing and bid rigging and introduces criminal sanctions for egregious behaviour.
“These activities will not be tolerated and anyone engaging in them will be treated the same way as tax evaders, fraudsters and other white collar criminals,” says Mr Foss.”
“..will be treated the same way as tax evaders, fraudsters and other white collar criminals..”
generally ignored..?..unless un-ignorable..?
..and does anyone think we will ever see any words/actions of/on (from any party?) on the (depending who you talk to) $1.5 billion – $5 billion in criminally-evaded taxes..?
..each and every year..?
..can i offer a possible path to a solution..?
..a carrot-stick themed ‘solution’..?
..how about offering a three month amnesty..?
..wherein the guilty can come forward..and just have to pay the taxes owing..with no penalties..
..and after that amnesty-period lapses..
..promise task-forces/going gangbusters over all those caught..
..(with tandem ramping-up-penalties legislation..?..)
..i reckon that’d flush out quite a bit of that ‘criminally-avoided’ tax revenue..
..(and we do need the money..eh..?..so we can start to put things right/prepare for the future..)
..(and of course..those in this govt who we look to do this are foss-the-hapless..
..and the pompadoured-one..dunne…
..so..we’ll get s.f.a. action on this from these two clowns..
..that you can take to the bank..)
..(and just practising my psychic-abilities here..
..i’m gonna make the call that a majority..(and by quite a margin..)..
..wd be from the rich/elites..
..most of who vote in their wallet-interests..
..and tick national/act in the ballot-box..
..so for only this reason..foss-the-hapless/dunne will not offend their support-base..
..that is far more important..than trying to claw back all that nicked money..)
a 3 min animation..and i gave it a must-watch rating..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/everything-wrong-with-humanity-animation_n_5037496.html
For some reason I haven’t been able to access the home page of The Standard for a few days, although I can go to subsidiary pages like this one. Is this happening to others and if so, does anyone know why?
Try shift+ refresh
Try pressing Shift+F5 to force a cache refresh on your browser. I saw that on my table this morning as well probably because I wasn’t able to load the page at the Pickering lecture yesterday.
worked thanks!
Interesting John Drinnan piece in the Herald today on what Labour’s up against in the media:
‘National has developed a media network incorporating the Whale Oil website, Kiwiblog and commentators Matthew Hooton and Michelle Boag.
They have been feeding the media appetite for short, sharp crises to fill online news space.
It is Labour’s job to counter National’s influence over the news agenda. But it does not have many of its own partisans in the media; the left-leaning website The Daily Blog does not have an audience to compare with Whale Oil.’
His round-up also mentions the planned pay-wall at the herald, which I haven’t seen confirmed as definite (although I probably have just missed it) previously. It starts later this year.
Amusing. For some strange reason we never get mentioned in any of the mainstream media unless they absolutely have to. I guess it is because we don’t act like news media because of our focus on being a internet forum – ie comments.
BTW: does anyone else have problems getting any comments on the NZ Herald articles? As far as I can tell, none of mine since about 2012 have made it through. I guess they don’t like our ocassional posts on them 😈
Not mentioning The Standard was a major omission from Drinnan. The Daily Blog seems to have scant connections with Labour so was an odd inclusion in that context.
”The Daily Blog seems to have scant connections with Labour so was an odd inclusion in that context.”
While I agree the Standard should have been mentioned, it’s not just about Labour.
Unlike the largely homogeneous right, the left has developed a healthy pluralism of parties.
The issue is a lack of decent left-wing pundits in the media cycle.
Good point. But there are a number of authors over there who have Labour membership. Me for instance.
It could have been a simple editing mistake. After all both of the sites start with the word “The”. 😈
But I suspect that it is pretty deliberate. There are sites that the news media never likes to mention. For instance the Transport blog and this one. We’re somewhat harder to spin as being the clowns of the internet.
Bryce Edwards does like linking to your site a bit eh?
I asked John about it.
He was challenged on it by other journalists too. Odd and superficial. Some traditional journalists don’t give much weight to people using pseudonyms, I don’t know if that’s why he thinks TDB is more significant.
I don’t know how Bryce chooses his links but he seems to be including more and more sources for his links, he used to be more selective. I look for different angles on things. Writing blog posts is quite different to commenting on blogs – mickysavage is a good example of that here, his approach is quite different to what it used to be. He’s now someone I look out for.
gee..pg..imagine if you did something like commentaries on q-time..or something..
..edwards-the-younger would link to ya so much more than even he does now..eh..?
..he’d be all over you like a rsh..
..and with yr observational-powers/quick wit..
..i’m sure such a commentary from you wd b a treat..
(and cd u discount the persistant/ongoing rumours that the heavy/serial-linking to yer exercises in the fatuous/irrelevant/boring/bleeding-obvious..by edwards-the-younger..
..are down to full-body-massages..followed by a beard rubdown..?
..administered by yr (fill-blank) self..?
..and while we are at it..
..have you ever owned/touched/read a copy of mein kamp…?
..wot with yr own ‘struggle’..eh..?
..he too..was misunderstood/laughed at..in the early days..
..but he showed them..!
..eh pete..?..
..and do you currently have any plans/desires/aspirations..
… to annex invercargill..?
..(nb..the above is all ‘rumours’..unfounded-suppositions..
..not likely to be a ‘fact’ amongst it..eh..?..
..a total multi-orifice pluck..
..much like wot u always ‘pen’..eh..?
..wot edwards-the-younger serially links to..
..by you..
..eh..?..)
Not really. We talk between activists on the left and to the people interested in activists on the left – it is in the about. Obviously something John isn’t into. I guess his view of media is more about entertainment than effectiveness (at least that is what I see when I read many of his stories).
That is because they are extremely and silently censored (which is why they are so few). It conforms to the same ethos that NZ Herald follows in their comment policy so I can see why he’d feel more comfortable with it.
But he is right, we primarily exist to allow the left to talk amongst each other whereas The Daily Blog is designed to allow some people on the left to present a ethos to a wider public. Of course you’d have to ask yourself which is more effective at a political level.
That’s a good point on censorship at The Daily Blog. Discussion is obviously not a priority there.
We’ve had a few wee skirmishes here about moderation but I’ve said elsewhere a number of times at least it’s all out in the open, I’ve never been secretly censored here . It seems to be common practice at TDB and it’s happened to me. Martyn seems to be trying to be an alternative to MSM but he mimics their strict opinion and message control. Like anywhere that’s his call.
“Skirmishes”. 😆
When the outcome is that one party is publicly humiliated and earns a reputation for banality that follows him to this day, that’s not a “skirmish”. It’s a rout.
standard talks to itself…
and WO doesnt?
i guess mr drinnan can just relate more to the commenters at wo, which speaks volumes.
All of my comments to the NZHerald have been published.
I guess it must be personal then. My charming personality isn’t working? 🙂
Mine get published about 60% of the time, but take a couple of days to get through moderation even if I am posting within the hour after an article is published.
i don’t always check back..but none published to date..that i’ve seen..
..i think i’ll open a ‘comments not published by the herald’ category…@ whoar..
..cd b some humour to be milked from it..
..my latest was to trevett..having a long haw-haw..!..at her holding the death-rites over any mana/dotcom alliance-lite deal..
..i checked..that clearly failed whatever tests/guidelines are used..
(rule 3..comments must not mock columnists..(no matter how deserved such mocking may be..)
The reason The Standard is not mentioned is not “strange” at all. It is however quite stupid.
It’s purely because the authors here are pseudonymous. The MSM like to be hypocritical in having their own (completely) anonymous editorials, but won’t deign to mention TS because apparently you have to have a publicly identifiable name otherwise your opinion somehow doesn’t mean anything.
Ah that could be correct. That is silly.
Makes no difference for legal liabilities but the journo’s are so in love with their late 20th century fetish for individual fame (spurred by TV) that they have forgotten the whole of the 19th/20th century journalistic ethos and why it was there. The only residual is the editorials.
Drinnan should have also included Rachel Glucina, the Herald’s gossip columnist – and friend of Slater’s who is also deep in with the smear campaign against KDC. But probably she is too close to home, being a fellow Herald columnist.
Yep. It seems to me that they must have sat down with the powers that be. Slater was told to stop being such a dick and tone things down and Glucina was told that she was going to get out of the socialite pap news and start breaking stories. She has further .com news in her latest column at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personalities/news/article.cfm?c_id=72&objectid=11227811
Lolz more snide innuendo from the Herald(National Party disinformation service),shows just how much the Beehives 9th floor lives in fear of the bloke,(i have the sneaking suspicion that the 9th floor have a private investigator/SIS on the road sniffing out DotComs ‘back-story’,
Laughable is the pic of DotCom in the ‘Kraut lid’, who would have thunk it, a German lampooning a German,(i have been hanging out for DotCom to do a full on Sergeant Shultz while live on the TV news),
The pic down the bottom of Rachel Glaucoma’s column of the Kohanga Kids having fun with Trev is a total cutey…
is hogans heroes ok cos we know its mocking germans????
well..that disempowering of a past demon by mocking..
…was part and parcel of that show..?..surely..?
..(the war was recent enough for most watchers..at most only one generation removed from the actual conflict..)
..(disclaimer:..i have ‘loved’ a german..and my son is half-german..
..and ..as an aside..i think he was speaking for his savvy-generation..when he instantly called ‘bullshit!’ on the false equivalence of the dotcom/mein kamp story/beat-up..)
..and surely..of far more prurient-interest wd be the off-stage lifestyle of the lead actor in hogans’ heroes..bob crane..?
..whoar..!
V interesting… doesnt mention herald editorial choice to put labours economic policy announcement on p21 does he?
He forgot to mention the herald!
Yes i have had the odd look on the Doktor’s(Edwards),daily roundup of politics via the Herald online and on most occasions, even when there are multiple posts running on a topic at the Standard Bryce chooses to not mention this instead directing readers to the branches of the sewer,
People are ‘lead’, often easily, the Doktor, dare i say with deliberation???, doesn’t mention the Standard too often, in my opinion, simply as a means of keeping people from reading the Standard, if His links consistently direct people to ‘wail-oil’ and ‘kiwi-smog’ then if they have no knowledge of the Standard they are likely to keep going to those sites if they are seeking further knowledge of ‘political happenings’ than that which is provided by the mainstream media,
To a certain extent, in a cutting off the nose to spite the face exercise, the political parties of the left spend no amount of energy mentioning the Standard, ala Slippery the Prime Ministers major ‘Slurp’ directed in Blubber boy and ‘wail oil’s’ direction recently choosing instead to promote their own web-sites which have far less debate and thus tend to be pretty party-centric and, again in my opinion,are a bit of a bore,
In an ideal world, in the interests of growing ‘the left’ we would see Labour/Green/Mana websites prominently displaying links to both the Standard and the Daily Blog,(having not looked for a while i do not know if any of them do this now)…
The Bryce Edwards round-up started as a chronicle of topical political stories and columns, including issues simmering away in the regions, and off-beat bloggers. It covered many different stories and issues in one edition. However, now Edwards is trying to capture/create the narrative, and each one is overly long, and too focused on beltway media/topics.
As Karol pointed out recently, Edwards even took to Twitter to commission pieces from bloggers on a set topic! This is media as echo chamber, rather than reflecting the actual confusion and complexity of life.
And Edwards focus is very much about politics as a game – party strategies, headline grabbers, polling issues, etc. – little about close examination of policies.
there is a bit of that about..eh..?
..the (seemingly) deliberate ignoring of some relevant publications – by some publications..
..funny that..
..eh..?
..sometimes ya really wonder ‘why?’..
Amusing in the Herald’s online version this morning is the befor and after of Colon Craig said to have been dieting in preparation for the 2014 election,
The befor version,(much to my surprise), looks remarkably like a run of the mill picture of a normal human being,
The ‘after’ one tho gives me a picture that could be used as an example of Colon having been kidnapped by aliens at some point in time and whisked off for a quick ‘probing’, seems ‘the probe’ must have been set to ‘suction samples’ when the aliens ‘must watch’ favorite TV show came on inter-galactic TV and they left Colon on the ‘table’ for too long while they watched it,
The mad staring eyes remind me of ‘speed’ addicts strung out on what the medical profession used to prescribe to tired overweight Mums back in the 60’s,(but that’s another story)…
Even more disturbing:
http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/nation-certain-this-picture-should-be-used-but-unsure-how/
😈
Puts me in mind of that old show
Land of the giants…
He does look like he’s in a Guillermo del Toro film.
Yes!
was that shot..late at nite..?
..in western springs park..?
..whoar..!
Nice!!! look at the two faces one side light the other dark…
Reminds me of this…
https://twitter.com/TerrifyingPosts/status/418486573546881025/photo/1/large
Doesn’t the new Colon bear a striking resemblance to Frank Spencer?
Ha ha ..colon……. snort.
and allusions to anal violation and drug abuse …. haha ha
well, if you add “by aliens” to the end of that, it does seem to have the necessary juxtaposition for comedic composition.
Surely not that funny requiring a series of Ha ha’s,a wry smile would have sufficed…
Is it just me or has Labour made absolutely no impact this week?
I was kinda waiting for some electrifying education policy given most of the worlds education leadership are in town.
Why are we leaving the field to Dotcom for a whole week? Come on Cunliffe the field is open.
Yes, but on the other hand, no major cock-ups from Labour this week, which is nice.
The Parliament is in recess until April 8th,(i think), so unless Labour are planning to release major policy there isn’t much happening to get them into the news,
David Cunliffe was in the far North on Monday or Tuesday and i should imagine that any number of MP’s will be out there in the electorate holding meetings with ‘interest groups’ something Helen Clark did with zeal befor becoming Prime Minister,
i should imagine that Labour release a flurry of ‘press releases’ on everything of interest, or not, on a regular basis, media apathy or bias would then account for such not seeing the light of day,
Hopefully either David Cunliffe and/or Grant Robertson are preparing a series of questions that skewer Slippery the Prime Minister, at question time to keep the PM’s ‘gifts’ to charity, the National Party, firmly in the headlines once the Parliament resumes…
I hope they don’t let collins and parata, oh and adams off the hook. What’s happened to bennett, is she keeping her powder dry? Just saw in comments in herald that ‘frannie’s columns were like love letters to shay key’. So sad, but so true. She needs to get out more.
Well, at least some MPs will be out here in the electorate. From today’s item:
‘The entire Labour Party caucus will descend on Wairarapa on March 31. All 34 Labour MPs will visit Wairarapa to meet with locals at afternoon venues to discuss development, jobs, health and housing.
Labour leader David Cunliffe describes the event as an “away caucus”, to hear the voice of the people first-hand.
“I believe government must act with the people, not for the people. That can only be achieved by getting out and about, not sitting behind a desk at Parliament.” ‘
Link: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11227278
I hope they are smarter than the Green Party were a few years ago. They held a conference in the Wairarapa. It was over the weekend and they went up from Wellington on Friday night.
Being publically enthusiastic about public transport they all went up on the evening train. They got there early and took most of the available seats. Thus when the people who travel on it every day after working in Wellington got there no seats were left and the regular passengers had to stand for the trip. The Green Party never thought to tell the Railways ahead of time so that more carriages might have been added.
I know two people who were on the trip, both of whom were, until that time, Green Party members. They resigned and as far as I know they never re-joined.
I can’t imagine that the Labour MPs will be travelling on the train of course. I hope they don’t take a taxi each and at least will share some.
Possibly cos all they wld be asked about is mein kampf
Glen Innes had the highest capital gain on three-bedroom houses with an annualised 18.9 per cent, and Mount Wellington had the best gain on apartments at 16.2 per cent…
Is that the impact of the new mini fletchers town for the first home buyer with 650k? Or the sell off of state houses?
Same as the old boss….
.
“An old, old Soviet story repeating itself,” Boris Akunin, a novelist who signed the opposition petition, wrote in an email when asked about the war of words.
“It’s just that under Stalin, if a prominent cultural figure dared to protest he’d be shot; under Brezhnev he’d be imprisoned; now he just risks losing state donations and having to travel economy class — but this often proves enough,” Mr. Akunin wrote. “It’s a fascinating sight to watch people make this moral choice.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/world/europe/soviet-echoes-in-call-for-artists-to-back-crimea-policy.html
You won’t read this on the Daily Blog – or Whaleoil!
(I’m banned from commenting on both – seems neither Cameron Slater nor Martyn Bradbury can ‘handle the truth’? 🙂
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
FYI
27 March 2014
http://www.investigatemagazine.co.nz/Investigate/4922/len-brown-faces-conflict-of-interest-allegation/
Len Brown faces conflict of interest allegation
Auckland Mayor Len Brown has been accused of acting with a conflict of interest at a council committee meeting today.
Veteran anti-corruption campaigner Penny Bright was attempting to read out letters from the police in regard to a complaint against Mayor Brown, but he refused to let her speak and ordered security staff to remove Bright from the venue.
Speaking later from Auckland police station, Bright told InvestigateDaily that the mayor had taken direct action on a matter he was directly implicated in, and she believed he had a clear conflict of interest in trying to prevent members of the public from speaking about him.
Bright being removed. PHOTO: Cr Dick Quax
(Photo: Dick Quax)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PENNY BRIGHT
(“The letter from Police that conflicted Auckland Mayor Len Brown tried to stop me reading at the Auckland Council Governing Body meeting Thursday 27 March 2014 “)
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/nzppsltd%40gmail.com/144e2c8f108b7d12?projector=1
“I have discussed this matter with Graham McCready, and am considering taking a private prosecution for assault against the security guards, and Mayor Len Brown as a party to the assault,” says Penny Bright.
“If you think that I am going to put up with being censored and assaulted – now twice within 5 weeks – for attempting to expose corrupt conflicts of interest at Auckland Council – THINK AGAIN!”
“In my considered opinion, Auckland Council is rotten to the core with corrupt conflicts of interest, but I will NOT be silenced as an anti-corruption ‘whistle-blower’. ”
Still want to defend Auckland Mayor Len Brown ????????
If wishart giving you coverage doesn’t give you food for thought, I reckon nothing will.
Seriously, you are probably going to lose your house. And you’ll moan about it, but it’ll be your own damned fault.
So you don’t support citizens LAWFUL rights to ‘open, transparent and democratically-accountable local government’ McFlock?
Penny Bright
Well you certainly don’t: in fact your determination to waste Council time and money impedes, not enhances, citizens’ lawful rights.
I have no idea whether you have a point or not.
I was merely pointing out the likely result of the battle you are choosing to fight.
I suspect that the len brown “conflict of interest” is a pile of bunk, and that your removal by security staff was done with proper legal authority and without striking or doing you bodily harm (crimes act s56 if I recall correctly from my security days). But most of all, I suspect that the rates reporting requirements you are choosing to lose your home over will not substantially change the practise or effectiveness of democracy (or lack thereof) in Auckland.
Not that I care too much, being at the other end of the country.
Death-row-inmate-freed-after-nearly-50-years-in-prison.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Death-row-inmate-freed-after-nearly-50-years-in-prison/tabid/417/articleID/337737/Default.aspx#comment-1307208415
This example alone shows a very good reason why death penalty should be banned in the world.
Okay kiddies.
Homework for the weekend is getting out your pens and papers and writing to your MP’s and asking why charter schools are getting taxpayer money.
If they dont reply then write letters to your local newspaper telling on them.
Its time to make the wonks start earning their money!
It seems that the upcoming rallies against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that will be happening all over NZ tomorrow are effectively being ignored by mainstream media?
FYI!
SAT 29 MARCH: JOIN THE NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO STOP THE TPPA
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=a606f10a8e&e=400b29f860
) .
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JOIN THE NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO STOP THE TPPA
Saturday 29 March, 1pm
Contact the organisers of your local event if you can help or
chris.zack if you want to start something where there is a gap.
Posters and leaflets, templates for placards, and other resources are
all on the website
(
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) or will be soon.
It would be great to have lots of colour and creativity – there will
be ideas from other international actions on the TPPA on the website
too.
Join the banner- and placard-making day in Auckland on Saturday 22nd.
Contact chris.zack
Protest Locations (from North to South)
Hokianga
Kohukohu at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/498005333646108/ (
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karo.hohaia
Whangarei
Clock Museum, Town Basin at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/685644708146440/ (
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banjamin
Auckland
1:00 pm Aotea Square
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ben.bungy
Hamilton
Garden Place at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/181743182030503/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=682a61fc10&e=400b29f860
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kellyk79
Taranaki
Puke Ariki Landing at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/181486005379363/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=7bddaeb73c&e=400b29f860
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Tauranga
Red Square at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/680840758623364/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=229dc90ffb&e=400b29f860
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martins.3000
Whanganui
Silver Ball Sculpture on the Riverfront 1pm walk up to Majestic Square
https://www.facebook.com/events/230952810411676/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=7313e76b50&e=400b29f860
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Palmerston North
The Square at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/552515774835798/ (
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sue
Wellington
Cuba Street, bucket fountain at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/228635500656767/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=8b5ab38717&e=400b29f860
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koruconsulting
Nelson
venue TBD at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/643470822377621/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=80efa1f085&e=400b29f860
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gregfullmoon013
tomandgray
Christchurch
114 Cashel St at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/605044852899708/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=d9c3d49539&e=400b29f860
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suthy2
Geraldine
South Canterbury on the T junction of Cox and Talbot Street at 1:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/181743182030503/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=69558ad4b8&e=400b29f860
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Invercargill
Wachner Place @ 1:00
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More places in process of being organised. Email us if you’d like to
be involved: chris zack
Queenstown
https://www.facebook.com/events/697921693558864/ (
http://itsourfuture.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=e7aa47758f&e=400b29f860
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Napier
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Timaru
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Dunedin
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9879231/Hobbits-a-boost-for-NZ-tourism
some good news for the weekend 🙂
Are you one Puckish Rogue…
i wonder if the low end wages in tourism have gone up as a result… or in film in nz…
Well, here’s the TNZ report on the jan-March, 2013 effect of the campaign associated with the Hobbit trilogy.
It’s not likely to have been much more than a minor factor in the year to February 2014 visitor arrival numbers, despite the speculative analysis in the article.
Also, the problem with these kinds of campaigns is that it’s difficult to establish if they create new arrivals or simply shift timing or, much less tangibly, just add yet another minor reason for visiting with a correspondingly limited marginal effect.
Chris Trotter:
I would have thought that promoting this as a deliberate aim of the Internet Party will not help their current efforts to distance the party from Dotcom.
And Chris promoting deliberate political intervention in an extradition as a condition of supposed coalition support is quite astounding.
[Fixed your block quote – MS]
I’m confused. Which party do you think Trotter is speaking on behalf of? I thought Trotter saw himself more as a fairly independent leftie commentator and analyst – one that often provides critical views that often upset other lefties.
It looks to me like he is talking on behalf of a general left, but I don’t think promoting a party’s electoral aim as to politically intervene in an extradition will help the Internet Party nor the left.
The Internet Party are trying to establish a perception of independence from Dotcom, that is hard enough already without political/legal deals being promoted as a deliberate aim.
If I was Labour or Greens or Mana I’d be wanting to have nothing to do with any suggestion like this. Russel Norman is one of the more astute politicians on the left, and he saw the dangers Dotcom and his party posed to the chances of the left.
“Russel Norman is one of the more astute politicians on the left, and he saw the dangers Dotcom and his party posed to the chances of the left
My bold – is this a fact, PG – or is this your opinion? If a fact, please provide a link to verify this.
🙄
He’s speaking for himself.
He’s not “promoting” anyone.
And nobody cares what you’d do.
You have even less credibility than trotter.
PG has less credibility than a Coca Cola ad, hang on better add an ”in my opinion” or He will be demanding a link…
So writing about it = promoting it?
Best you stop now then Pete. That’s two comments from you in this thread in which you – by your own standard – promote the IP’s electoral aim as to politically intervene in an extradition.
Yes this thinking by PG is a revelation – speaking about a politician or party is promoting it.
“Chris promoting…”
🙄
Are there any depths to which this weasel asshole will not sink?
The fungal algae called ‘Rock Snot’ is known to attach itself to many things as a means of travel and is thus able to move from place to place and pop up in places gaining a toehold only later to infect the whole area…
…. and in other matters ……
Does anyone else think (given NZ’s search and rescue capability, 6 x P3K2’s et al) that its contribution to MH370 is actually rather fuckin pathetic?
I’m of the belief that the NZ Defence Force’s future lays in peaceful contributions – such as search and rescue, responding to natural disasters, etc.
We seem to have given JUST enough to earn this miserly gubbamint some Browlee points (covered in shit as they inevitably are), and JUST enough to earn the Philistine itchim smetchim smoozim ideologically, parrot fashioned ‘learnings’, kaholic, commoditised principles-for-sale, red-dirt brown-eyed Jonkahism a few points on the ‘ta-neshnool- stage?’.
It is rather pathetic though …. I mean these fukwits run the gauntlet (due to PS cutbacks) with bio-diversity (think PSA, etc., etc., etc.) daily – and they do so with ‘Defense’ (which should actually JUST be devoted to CIVIL defense).
But this single Orion – with crews that appear to need close to 24hrs to change over is fucking pathetic.
It’s especially so, since of all the world’s capability ….. NZ (along with OZ – to actually a LESSER extent) are accustomed to the 40’s latitude that till now has been on the agenda.
But yeah, but nah, but yeah but nah – not worth it aye. wod ear va …. snot gunna make goldin boiii look sgoood es scccchhhhmoooxin in a fifrint hemsphere.