Open mike 28/06/2014
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7:00 am, June 28th, 2014 - 202 comments
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- NZ economy’s strong momentum will support rebound from Delta outbreak; COVID fund replenishedThe economy showed strong momentum in the period leading up to the recent Delta COVID-19 outbreak, which bodes well for a solid economic rebound, Grant Robertson said. GDP rose 2.8 percent in the June quarter, following on from a 1.4 percent increase in the previous March quarter. This was a ...5 days ago
- Projects create benefits into the futureMaking a well-known lake swimmable and helping to halt the decline of the endangered hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins are among a suite of new projects being supported by the Government’s Jobs for Nature programme across the southern South Island, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “It’s no secret that many of our most ...5 days ago
- Opening statement for Whāriki Indigenous Small Business RoundtableKei ngā tōpito e wha o te āo e rere ana te mihi maioha ki a koutou nō tawhiti, nō tata mai e tāpiri ana ki tēnei taumata kōrero mo te ao hokohoko arā mā ngā pākihi mo ngā iwi taketake Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa – Pai Mārire. ...5 days ago
- New members appointed to KāpuiaThe Government is adding four additional members to Kāpuia, the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch mosques. “I’m looking forward to having Pamela MacNeill, Huia Bramley, Melani Anae and Katherine Dedo join Kāpuia and contribute to this group’s ...5 days ago
- Timeline confirmed for Emissions Reductions PlanCabinet has agreed to begin consulting on the Emissions Reduction Plan in early October and require that the final plan be released by the end of May next year in line with the 2022 Budget, the Minister of Climate Change, James Shaw confirmed today. “Cabinet’s decision allows organisations and communities ...5 days ago
- Pay parity pathway for early learning teachers confirmedPay parity conditions and higher funding rates for education and care services will come into force on 1 January, 2022, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins confirmed today. The Government signalled this work in Budget 2021. “From 1 January, 2022, centres opting into the scheme will receive government funding and be ...5 days ago
- Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Conference 2021Kia Ora tatau katoa. Ka tuku mihi ki nga nēhi, He pou Hauora o Aotearoa, E ora ai tatou. Whakatau mai I runga i te kaupapa o te ra Te NZNO conference. Tena koutou tena koutou Tena tatou katoa Good morning, and thank you inviting me ...6 days ago
- Government investment in farmer-led catchment groups sweeps past 150 mark171 catchment groups have now been invested in by the Government 31 catchment groups in the Lower North Island are receiving new support More than 5,000 farmers are focussed on restoring freshwater within a generation through involvement in catchment groups Government investment in on-the-ground efforts by farmers to improve land ...6 days ago
- Fight to protect kauri on trackThe Government is pitching in to help vital work to protect nationally significant kauri forests in Auckland, Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan says. “Ensuring the survival of these iconic trees for future generations means doing everything we can to prevent the potential spread of kauri dieback disease,” Kiri Allan said. ...7 days ago
- Joint statement of Mr Bernard Monk; Hon Andrew Little, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry,...[Note: The Parties have agreed on terms to fully and finally settle the proceeding and will jointly issue the below statement.] At the heart of this litigation are the lives of the 29 men tragically lost at the Pike River mine on 19 November 2010 and to whom we pay ...7 days ago
- More financial support for businessesToday’s decision to keep Auckland in a higher COVID Alert Level triggers a third round of the Wage Subsidy Scheme which will open for applications at 9am this Friday. “The revenue test period for this payment will be the 14th to the 27th of September. A reminder that this is ...1 week ago
- Aotearoa New Zealand provides further humanitarian support for AfghanistanAotearoa New Zealand is providing a further $3 million in humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “There is significant humanitarian need in Afghanistan, with the crisis disproportionately affecting women and girls,” said Nanaia Mahuta. The UN has estimated that 80% of the quarter of a million ...1 week ago
- Innovative te reo prediction tool announced in Te Wiki o Te Reo MāoriA new Māori language prediction tool will play a key role in tracking our te reo Māori revitalisation efforts, Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson announced today. He Ara Poutama mō te reo Māori (He Ara Poutama) can forecast the number of conversational and fluent speakers of te reo Māori ...1 week ago
- Further Government support for people to access food and essential itemsThe Government is responding to need for support in Auckland and has committed a further $10 million to help people access ongoing food and other essential items, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced today. This latest tranche is targeted at the Auckland region, helping providers and organisations to distribute ...1 week ago
- Half a million Pfizer vaccines from DenmarkThe Government has secured an extra half a million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from Denmark that will start arriving in New Zealand within days, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “This is the second and larger agreement the Government has entered into to purchase additional vaccines to meet the ...1 week ago
- Inland Revenue providing essential COVID support for businessesInland Revenue is seeing increased demand for Resurgence Support Payments and other assistance schemes that it administers, but is processing applications quickly, Revenue Minister David Parker said today. David Parker said the Resurgence Support Payment, the Small Business Cashflow (loan) Scheme and the Wage Subsidy are available at the same ...1 week ago
- New Zealand marks 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacksNew Zealand is expressing unity with all victims, families and loved ones affected by the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, and all terrorist attacks around the world since, including in New Zealand. “Saturday marks twenty years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, which killed nearly 3,000 people ...1 week ago
- Speech to SPREP Environment MinistersTalofa Honourable Ulu of Tokelau Faipule Kelihiano Kalolo Tēnā koutou katoa and warm Pacific greetings from Aotearoa to your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. The new science released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on 8 August paints an alarming picture of the projected impacts of climate change on the ...1 week ago
- Additional Resurgence Support Payments to support businessBusinesses affected by higher Alert Levels will be able to apply for further Resurgence Support Payments (RSP). “The Government’s RSP was initially intended as a one-off payment to help businesses with their fixed costs, such as rent. Ministers have agreed to provide additional payments to recognise the effects of an ...1 week ago
- More Dawn Raids scholarships announcedDetails of the ‘Manaaki New Zealand Short Term Training Scholarships’, a goodwill gesture that follows the Government’s apology for the Dawn Raids of the 1970s, were released today by Pacific Peoples Minister Aupito William Sio. “These scholarships that are targeted to the Pacific will support the kaupapa of the Dawn Raids’ ...1 week ago
- One-way quarantine-free travel for RSE workers starting in OctoberOne-way quarantine-free travel for Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu starts in October New requirement for RSE workers to have received their first vaccination pre-departure, undertake Day 0 and Day 5 tests, and complete a self-isolation period of seven days, pending a negative Day 5 ...2 weeks ago
- Govt boosts Pacific suicide prevention supportApplications have opened for the Pacific Suicide Prevention Community Fund as the Government acts to boost support amid the COVID delta outbreak. “We know strong and connected families and communities are the most important protective factor against suicide and this $900,000 fund will help to support this work,” Health Minister ...2 weeks ago
- Govt parks the expiry of licenses, WoFs and regosAs a result of the Delta outbreak, driver licences, Warrants of Fitness (WoFs), Certificates of Fitness (CoFs), vehicle licences (‘regos’) and licence endorsements that expired on or after 21 July 2021 will be valid until 30 November 2021, Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced today. “While this extension won’t officially ...2 weeks ago
- COVID-19 community fund to provide support for vulnerable women and girlsMinister for Women Jan Tinetti today announced a $2 million community fund that will provide support for women and girls adversely affected by COVID-19. “We know that women, particularly those who are already vulnerable, are disproportionally affected by the kind of economic disruption caused by COVID-19,” Jan Tinetti said. ...2 weeks ago
- Next phase of support for Fiji’s COVID-19 response announcedA further NZ$12 million of support for Fiji’s COVID-19 response has been announced by Foreign Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today. The package builds on previous tranches of assistance Aotearoa New Zealand has provided to Fiji, totalling over NZ$50 million. “Fiji remains in a very challenging position in their response to ...2 weeks ago
- Robotic asparagus harvester aimed at addressing industry challengesThe Government is backing a $5 million project to develop a commercial-scale autonomous robotic asparagus harvester, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. The Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFF Futures) is contributing $2.6 million to the project. Project partner Robotics Plus Limited (RPL) will build on a prototype asparagus ...2 weeks ago
- Additional Pfizer vaccines to arrive tomorrowMore than a quarter of a million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine are on their way from Spain to New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. The additional doses will arrive in Auckland on Friday morning to help meet the current surge in demand for vaccination. “It’s been ...2 weeks ago
- Young people to have their voices heard in Youth Parliament 2022The dates and details for Youth Parliament 2022 have been announced today by Minister for Youth Priyanca Radhakrishnan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Youth Parliament is an opportunity for 141 young people from across Aotearoa New Zealand to experience the political process and learn how government works. ...2 weeks ago
- Boosting support for tertiary students affected by COVID-19Students facing a hard time as a result of COVID-19 restrictions will continue to be supported,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. The Government is putting a further $20 million into the Hardship Fund for Learners, which will help around 15,000 students to stay connected to their studies and learning. ...2 weeks ago
- COVID-19: Immediate relief available for Māori and iwi organisationsThe Government has reprioritised up to $5 million to provide immediate relief to vulnerable whānau Māori and communities during the current COVID-19 outbreak Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson announced today. The COVID-19 2021 Whānau Recovery Fund will support community-driven, local responses to gaps in access and provision of critical ...2 weeks ago
- Who gives a tweet about MIQ misery
The government’s choice of a randomised electronic queue for the distribution of 3,000 MIQ rooms yesterday had one surprising benefit. It showed just how many New Zealanders were desperate enough to stand in e-line – more than 26,000 according to Stuff. It also reminds us that while ministers and ...3 hours ago - New Zealand government takes a calculated risk to relax Auckland’s lockdown while new cases contin...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Applied Mathematics, University of Canterbury Fiona Goodall/Getty Images The decision to move Auckland to alert level 3 from midnight on Tuesday is a calculated risk by the government. New daily cases in Auckland have stayed stubbornly ...6 hours ago - COVID will likely shift from pandemic to endemic — but what does that mean?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lara Herrero, Research Leader in Virology and Infectious Disease, Griffith University Most people are wondering when and how the COVID pandemic will end and there are still no easy answers. The word “endemic” is regularly mentioned, especially among public health leaders and ...6 hours ago
- Why you shouldn’t make a habit of doing a ‘just in case’ wee — and don’t tell your kids to...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer King, Honorary Clinical Lecturer, University of Sydney Shutterstock We’ve all done done a quick “just in case” wee before heading out or because we’re passing the bathroom. If you’re a parent, you might have also told the kids to ...7 hours ago
- Why is southeast Asia so concerned about AUKUS and Australia’s plans for nuclear submarines?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Tasmania The announcement of a new strategic alliance between Australia, the US and UK (AUKUS) has caught many by surprise. Besides France, which reacted with fury over Australia’s scrapping of a major submarine deal ...8 hours ago
- Relief for Auckland – more rules for Mangatangi
Aucklanders can breathe a sigh of relief stepping down to Alert Level 3, but for a small community in Waikato it's back to Alert Level 4, for now Cabinet has decided to move Auckland out of lockdown at 11.59pm on Tuesday after it received advice that there is "no significant ...8 hours ago - Coalition gains a point in Newspoll, but Morrison slides back into net negative ratingsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Joel Carrett This week’s Newspoll, conducted September 15-18 from a sample a little over 1,500, gave Labor a 53-47 lead, a one-point gain for the Coalition since ...10 hours ago
- Australia’s COVID plan was designed before we knew how Delta would hit us. We need more flexibilit...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Lukas Coch/AAP The great economist John Maynard Keynes, when accused of inconsistency on some policy, is credited with saying: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you ...10 hours ago
- ‘No other people popular like Franco Cozzo in Melbourne’: a new film explores his colorful, hard...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Nichols, Senior Lecturer – Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Sharmill Films Review: Palazzo di Cozzo, directed by Madeleine Martiniello Every Melburnian over 40, and many under, knows (or thinks they know) who Franco Cozzo is. He rose to ...11 hours ago
- Whiteness in the time of COVID: Australia’s health services still leaving vulnerable communities b...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Menzel, Assistant Professor – First Nations Health, Bond University Due to the ongoing effects of colonisation, First Nations peoples often experience socio-economic disadvantage and health inequality. The pandemic has no doubt worsened these conditions for some. In addition, the health ...11 hours ago
- The way out of Alert Level Four Covid confinement (it seems) is to get arrested and be freed on rema...
The Beehive website has been focused on Covid-related news in recent days – each of the last four press statements from ministers is related to Covid-19 issues and, for good measure, we can include a statement which arrived in our email in-tray yesterday from Peeni Henare which has not yet ...11 hours ago - End funding to the Kahukura program
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling for the Government to end funding to the Kahukura meth rehab program after a devastating analysis of the program from Judge Russell Collins. Executive Director the Union Jordan Williams says, “The ...12 hours ago - Closing the digital divide requires ‘constant attention’, say education experts
Each day of lockdown is exacerbating the digital divide for many, but experts say the answers will be found in the communities worst affected.The divide between the digital haves and have-nots continues to be one of the major fallouts from this pandemic, according to education minister Chris Hipkins. Despite more ...12 hours ago - The desperate crowd in the MIQ lobby
With the unveiling of the MIQ virtual lobby booking system this morning, Kiwis trying to get home are starting to wonder if they ever actually will A few weeks ago, the announcement of a virtual lobby and queue system coming to the MIQ booking system got hopes up worldwide ...12 hours ago - “Purpose-built MIQ facilities are urgently needed”The Opportunities Party (TOP) says the Government must not waste any more time and provide facilities that are fit-for purpose for the long-term management of this persistent virus. “25,000 Kiwis are trapped overseas and unable to return because ...13 hours ago
- The Spinoff Covid tracker: 15 live graphs that tell the story of delta in AotearoaEverything you need to know about how the Covid-19 pandemic is tracking in New Zealand, through regularly updated data visualisations.The Spinoff Covid tracker brings together all the relevant Covid data – cases, tests, vaccination and mobility – in one place.The aim of this page is to show the numbers in ...13 hours ago
- Australian students say they understand global issues, but few are learning another language compare...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Richardson, Research Director, Surveys and International Assessments, Australian Council for Educational Research students More Australian 15 year olds feel they are familiar with global issues such as climate change, migration, causes of poverty and equality between men and women than ...13 hours ago
- TOP says purpose-built MIQ Facilities are urgently needed“25,000 Kiwis are trapped overseas and unable to return because we have severely limited MIQ spaces. 25,000 Kiwis unable to see terminally ill loved ones, unable to celebrate milestones with friends and families, and unable to return to live in ...13 hours ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – September 20 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. You can sign up to NZ Politics Daily as well as New Zealand Political Roundup columns for free here. Today’s content AUKUS, foreign affairs, trade Audrey Young (Herald): Preparing ...14 hours ago
- All the locations of interest on an interactive NZ map, sorted by exposure time and date of listingView all places of interest on the maps below, and sort by both the dates of potential exposure and the days when added. Plus: a searchable table with all locations. Built by the Spinoff’s head of data, Harkanwal Singh.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid story depends on support from Members. ...14 hours ago
- Whanganui racetracks sees half a dozen greyhounds injuredAt a racing meet last Wednesday, six dogs were injured at the Whanganui greyhound racing track. Two of the dogs suffered broken legs, with a third suspected. Two of the dogs are undergoing x-rays to confirm. ...14 hours ago
- How the pandemic propelled these home cooks to social media stardomLooking to spice up their weeknights, cooped-up New Zealanders have been seeking culinary inspiration on their phones, and these three clever cooks have capitalised. Greeting her 29,000 followers with a peppy “It’s Friday!” Polly Markus, of Miss Polly’s Kitchen, gestures enthusiastically at the camera while explaining her latest creation.Describing the meal, ...14 hours ago
- Health reforms: Wider role for pharmacistsTo mark World Pharmacists Day on 25 September, the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand is calling for the Government to ensure a wider range of healthcare services are available at your local pharmacy. According to Professor Rhiannon Braund, president ...15 hours ago
- Waikato cases throw wrench into Govt's works
Analysis: Three new cases in the Waikato and the spectre of more than a week of community transmission have derailed the Government's likely decision to move Auckland to Level 3, Marc Daalder reports With the Cabinet poised to move Auckland down to Level 3 after the country's longest ever Level ...15 hours ago - The battle of Highland Park: Supermarkets stand-off despite public promise
Supermarkets in stand-off despite public promise to Commerce Commission ...15 hours ago - NZ Left Out of the AUKUS Military InitiativeThe recently announced military alliance between the United States, the United Kingdom, and the government of Australia is related to strategic and vital sales of naval weapons capability and not a unique new defence strategy. ...15 hours ago
- The hunt for New Zealand’s best meal kit delivery serviceJihee Junn crunches the numbers on a recent study comparing the biggest players in the meal kit game. As a single, childless individual who doesn’t really mind filling up on five bowls of oatmeal a day, I can’t say I’ve ever been one to fully embrace the meal kit movement. But ...16 hours ago
- Undersea internet cables connect Pacific islands to the world. But geopolitical tension is tugging a...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda H A Watson, Research Fellow, Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University Cable coming ashore from a ship. Coral Sea Cable System If you’ve ever emailed a resort in Fiji or Vanuatu about that long-awaited holiday, it’s likely your email travelled ...16 hours ago
- Why unions support vaccination — but not employer mandatesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne The American union movement has split over President Joe Biden’s proposal for companies with more than 100 employees to vaccinate their workforces against COVID-19. With increasing numbers of employers mandating COVID-19 ...16 hours ago
- People dropped whisky into their noses to treat Spanish flu. Here’s what else they took that would...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Martyr, Lecturer, Pharmacology, Women’s Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia Shutterstock We’re researching COVID-19 in a fast-paced world with new data becoming available all the time. We track which interventions work well and which ones ...17 hours ago
- Yes, Australia is buying a fleet of nuclear submarines. But nuclear-powered electricity must not com...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Science, Griffith University Shutterstock The federal government on Thursday announced a landmark defence pact with the United States and United Kingdom that involves this nation acquiring nuclear-powered submarines. The question of nuclear submarines in ...17 hours ago
- Delayed graduations, no formals — the class of 2021 has had a hell of a year. They need mental hea...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caroline Hunt, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Sydney Shutterstock In August this year, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published research charting the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of young people. In the first ...17 hours ago
- The fraying tempers and fracturing resolve of Victoria’s endless lockdownThe state of Victoria has now spent almost two months in lockdown, its seventh since the pandemic began. It’s little surprise that the mood has turned so dark in recent days, writes Joe Nunweek, a New Zealander based in MelbourneI got home to Aotearoa from Narrm for a few weeks’ ...17 hours ago
- Level change at risk from three cases in Waikato
Three new Covid cases just outside the Auckland boundaries prompt a call for Auckland's Level 4 lockdown to be extended and to include the Waikato A testing centre is being set up at a marae in the Waikato settlement of Kaiaua today after three community cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in ...17 hours ago - The path to 90% vaccinationIt’s possible we won’t be able to get there, but the country has a target and the promise of doing away with level four lockdowns in the future, Justin Giovannetti writes in The Bulletin.The country’s vaccine programme now has a semi-official target of 90%. The director-general of health says we should ...17 hours ago
- Live updates, September 20: Alert level decision to be announced as Covid confirmed in WaikatoWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for September 20, by Stewart Sowman-Lund. Say hello at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz.Today’s agenda 1pm: The latest delta Covid case numbers will be revealed by the Ministry of Health in a press release. We’ll be looking for two crucial things: the number of unlinked cases and whether the ...17 hours ago
- NZX posts big gain, awaits rare IPO
Business & Investing: Index changes boost the NZX, Stride announces only the third IPO of the year, plus all eyes on this week's Fonterra full year result ...19 hours ago - Newsroom daily crossword, Monday 20 September19 hours ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 20 September19 hours ago
- Meng Foon: In times of crisis we need to look deeply in the mirror The easier it is for us to dehumanise others and see them as anonymous or two-dimensional caricatures, the easier it is for us to turn them into targets of our own unexamined frustrations, writes race relations commissioner Meng Foon.Most of us here in Aotearoa New Zealand, I think, care about ...20 hours ago
- If we want to reach 90% vaccination, we need to change up our strategyStuart Nash has staked a case of wine on 90% of New Zealanders being vaccinated by the end of the year. Communications specialist Samson Samasoni explains why the minister won’t be winning this bet any time soon. In July 1988, Andy Mochan was shaken awake by explosions and alarms on an ...20 hours ago
- The quiet figure behind New Zealand's APEC success
Vangelis Vitalis on the privilege and responsibility of hosting the major forum. ...20 hours ago - The police detective who writes novels
A South Auckland detective on his writing career I spend my days as a Police detective in south Auckland; I don’t feel the need to write about it too. My books are a variety of action thrillers, spy thrillers, post-apocalyptic thrillers…you get the picture. I write a bit of crime, ...20 hours ago - Luuka's extreme plan for a fifth Olympics
There's unfinished business for four-time Olympian whitewater paddler Luuka Jones, who wants to learn from her mistakes in Tokyo, aim for Paris 2024, and try out an exhilarating new boat for size. It took Luuka Jones a while to stop kicking herself – her own words - after falling short in her ...20 hours ago - Climate opportunities lost
How New Zealand blew its chance to arrest climate change New Zealand’s now seen three decades of rising emissions. But 30 years ago, we were almost carbon neutral for carbon dioxide. We had a chance to turn it all around, but political mistakes, missed opportunities, and creeping climate scepticism, meant ...20 hours ago - Hope for the best, prepare for the burst: Akld readies for alert level drop
Amid uncertainty over widening Delta outbreak, some workers are hesitant about dropping Covid alert levels ...20 hours ago - On the money: Kate Sheppard and the making of a NZ feminist iconANALYSIS: By Katie Pickles, University of Canterbury In 1992 four New Zealand icons (and the queen) appeared on new banknotes. Part of creating national identity, these notable citizens were chosen to represent the pinnacles of achievement. Āpirana Ngata, Edmund Hillary, Ernest Rutherford and Kate Sheppard — all in circulation so ...24 hours ago
- NZ delta’s tail is ‘long and tough’, says PM Jacinda ArdernRNZ News As Auckland waits to hear if it will move down an alert level this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has assured New Zealand the level four lockdown is having an impact, even with a small rise in case numbers in the past two days. Ardern and Director of ...24 hours ago
- AUKUS pact strikes at heart of Pacific nuclear-free regionalismBy Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific reporter Australia’s new security pact with the US and the UK has touched a nerve at the core of Pacific regionalism. The AUKUS alliance, announced by leaders of the three countries last week, finds them seeking strategic advantage in the Indo-Pacific region with a focus ...24 hours ago
- New Caledonia extends lockdown – covid death toll now 24RNZ Pacific The New Caledonian government has extended the current lockdown as well as the curfew, until October as the covid-19 pandemic worsens. On Thursday, seven deaths from covid-19 were recorded, the heaviest daily toll since the discovery of the first indigenous cases of the disease on September 6. It ...24 hours ago
- Papua’s KNPB accuses Jakarta of using military post attack to criminalise themAsia Pacific Report newsdesk The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) claims that an attack on a military post in Maybrat regency earlier this month is being used as a pretext to “force the KNPB into a corner” and to criminalise them, reports Suara Papua. The September 2 attack on Kisor ...24 hours ago
- Covid-19 red alert over PNG ‘super spreader’ independence eventsBy Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Ten people have died from Papua New Guinea’s covid-19 pandemic and 203 new cases were reported in five days from September 9 as National Pandemic Response Deputy Controller Dr Daoni Esorom made a red alert call on Independence Day “super spreader” events. “Papua New ...24 hours ago
- Fiji government sacking of chief statistician branded ‘shameful’By Christine Rovoi, RNZ Pacific journalist Questions have been raised about why the head of Fiji’s Bureau of Statistics was fired by the Bainimarama government this week. Kemueli Naiqama recently published this year’s household income and expenditure survey that showed three quarters of Fiji’s poorest people are indigenous Fijians, or ...24 hours ago
- View from The Hill: For Morrison AUKUS is all about the deal, never mind the nicetiesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison, whose COVID face masks have the Australian flag emblazoned on them, likes to talk about “the Australian way” of doing things and Australian values. But it is not “the Australian way” to secretly ...1 day ago
- With a post-lockdown Victoria in sight, the more we can contain transmission now, the easier the roa...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Bennett, Chair in Epidemiology, Deakin University Victoria’s roadmap out of lockdown, released today, marks an important milestone. It’s a clear commitment to delivering on the National Plan, and provides much-needed clarity on where we are heading and what the next few ...1 day ago
- Christian Porter quits cabinet, refusing to find out who gave him money for legal costsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra AAP/Lukas Coch Industry Minister Christian Porter has been forced to resign from cabinet after declining to seek and provide to Scott Morrison the names of the anonymous benefactors who have helped fund his ...1 day ago
- World leaders return to United Nations with focus on pandemic, climate
World leaders are returning to the United Nations in New York this week with a focus on boosting efforts to fight both climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, which last year forced them to send video statements for the annual gathering. ...1 day ago - Peace Group Welcomes New Zealand’s Ban On Australian Nuclear SubmarinesThe New Zealand Government’s announced continuation of its anti-nuclear policy, which will ban any future Australian nuclear submarines from entering New Zealand waters or ports, has been welcomed by long term peace activists, the International ...1 day ago
- Land taken by government officials won't be returned to Taihape school – ministerTreaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little says farmland taken away by government officials will not be returned to Taihape Area School. ...1 day ago
- Government announces $36m investment in Covid-19 research fundThe government will invest $36m into infectious disease research to aid with the Covid-19 pandemic response and prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks. ...1 day ago
- The safe bet and the cash cache: imprest supplyThe House: MPs have been arguing about imprest supply recently. Partly, that argument assumes you don't understand what it is. You're about to. ...2 days ago
- Live updates, September 19: Will Auckland move to level three on Wednesday?Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for September 19. Auckland is currently at alert level four, the rest of NZ level two. Our coverage of the Covid response depends on members’ contributions. Click here to learn more.8.30am: Will Auckland move to level three on Wednesday? The factors that will drive ...2 days ago
- Time to review asylum-seeker support
Bernard Sama explains why - and how - we must strengthen mental wellbeing in the entire refugee status determination procedure in New Zealand As an advocate for people seeking asylum and refugee rights generally in New Zealand, I was devastated to learn the terrorist who carried out the attack at LynnMall ...2 days ago - An ode for .. the Wānaka wankers
New Zealand's unelected poet laureate composes an ode for the two most shamed people in New Zealand The Wānakers From the sighing mangrove swamps of the North, did the young lovers flee; whence scrofulous humours didst afflict their City, that intemperate hub of commerce. Reluctant were our libertines ...2 days ago - The Sunday Essay: On keeping a notes appIn a world of curated social media feeds, Sharon Lam revisits the beautiful chaos of her notes app.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New ZealandOriginal illustration by Sofia Drescher“Since the note is in my notebook, it presumably has some meaning to me.” So began Joan ...2 days ago
- Lydia Wevers: On readingAn accomplished academic, a public intellectual and a brilliant writer, Lydia Wevers was also an insatiable reader. Here Lloyd Jones introduces excerpts from her essay on reading, which he commissioned for his Four Winds Press imprint.The New Zealand writing and reading community lost a committed stalwart with the death of ...2 days ago
- On the seasonal joy of onion weedThis garlicky blossom is the ubiquitous queen of springtime. Charlotte Muru-Lanning explains why you should get out and find yourself a bunch, and what to do with it.Consider the onion family. We all know the brown onion practically runs the marae kitchen, shallot is definitely the perfectionist cousin with a ...2 days ago
- Is it time for a Cobb & Comeback?Down from 37 at its peak, there are now just eight Cobb & Co branches in New Zealand. With plans afoot to return the chain to its former glory, Georgia Munn swings open the red saloon doors to see if the childhood favourite has still got it.Whatever happened to Cobb ...2 days ago
- Curia political poll is grim news for the Nats – but its measure of enthusiasm for “Aotearoa” ...
The New Zealand Herald was not alone in reporting on the discomforting results for National in the latest Curia opinion poll and the petition mounted by Maori Party leaders to have the name ... 2 days ago - Live updates, September 18: Pākehā discharged without conviction more often than MāoriWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for September 18. Auckland is currently at alert level four, the rest of NZ level two. Our coverage of the Covid response depends on members’ contributions. Click here to learn more.Coming up today The latest delta outbreak case numbers will be released via a ...3 days ago
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LOL. Go for it, John!
Do the left a favour, for at least 3 out of four of these. I think Ian Lees Galway has been doing a good job, though.
Yes I like Iain, he is an accessible Labour electorate MP (one of the few “provincial” Labour ones around at the moment), and he has been doing a great job of building the Palmerston North electorate back up as a well organised Labour stronghold.
“National’s strategy could disrupt Labour’s efforts to maximise the party vote, given that the survival of those MPs could hinge on them campaigning for the electorate vote instead to keep their political careers afloat. ”
Um, isn’t the risk that National’s strategy could disrupt their own efforts to maximise their own party vote? See what happens when journalists recycle press releases; their critical faculties wither and die. They become husks of their former selves, mere jonolists.
And that’s assuming that their “former selves” were anything to write about in the first place.
Vance: “Key will use his speech tomorrow to make the first of a series of policy announcements between now and the election campaign proper getting under way, when National is expected to start rolling out policy at the rate of one a day. ”
One a day? Dump at that rate and they will all end up in the dump – unread!
I suspect that “unread” is exactly the way National prefer their policies.
They’ll just be bullet pointed sheets of A4 that even the dumbest idiots will be able to read. It’s not as if they’ll have facts or logic to back them up – just ideology.
Look at this bullshit spin……
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10208604/Grim-times-at-justice-ministry
Justice Secretary Andrew Bridgman – ‘‘People see the broader vision and the strategy … but they don’t see how the plan connects them in their day to day activity. That’s why they don’t see the ministry succeeding and they don’t feel valued how they want to be valued.’’
How about – “people don’t feel valued because all they see is spin……..they DON’T see any broader vision nor any strategy…….” ?
Remind me…….who’s the minister ?
I can confirm that working conditions at the Ministry are terrible. Personally, I can’t see why anyone would work there given the poor pay and patronizing management style.
The PSA reps really earn their money, it would be much worse without their heroic efforts.
@ North Sounds like management speak as taught in some university course.
Dunedin Green Party Campaign Launch today 3pm at the railway station. Candidates; Metiria Turei (Dn Nth), Shane Gallagher (Dn Sth) & Chris Ford (List) will be speaking, plus musicians, photobooth, and afternoon tea.
Even if you haven’t RSVPd, it’s a fairly big space so there should be room for anyone who happens to be in town this avo (and isn’t just coming along to disrupt the event).
https://www.facebook.com/GreenPartyDunedin2014
Cool. Hope it goes well.
(apologies for the double-posting – this from the fag-end of yesterdays’ epic-thread..
..but i feel these are questions that need addressing..both by labour..and the greens..)
so..all those drone-killings targeted from waihopai..
..means the blood of all those innocent-of-anything civilians/men/women/children is on keys’ hands..
..(i hope he has strong soap/disinfectant/dream-suppressors..he won’t get away with that one..)
..and he is doing it all..in our name..as our ‘leader’..
..will cunnliffe do any different..?
..or will he still allow the americans to use waihopai to help target their drone-strikes..?
..and will green-ministers be in cabinet-solidarity with that..?
..whoar..!
..eh..?
..what price that bmw..?
Phillip, you’re slipping, there’s a newspaper poll out that favors dope decriminalization, i would have thought you would have been onto it first thing…
ha! Next time stamp 7:54am
@ bad..heh..!..snap..!
..but believe it or not..i consider our govt aiding in the butchering of entirely innocent of anything men/women/children at the behest of the fucken americans..
..to be a more important issue than dope-reform..
..and it actually horrifies me that i see the prospect of a lab/green govt continuing to have a hand in those killings/murders..
..to my mind..that would be..by any definition..’evil’..
..(and would..you’d think..?..
..have the likes of keith locke spinning in his retirement..)
Labour is definitely opposed to it. I am pretty sure Greens and InternetMANA are too.
This is what Mr Cunliffe said about it. He is very clear about the issue you have raised. Listen to it from about 04:00 onwards:
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/no-evidence-donations-david-cunliffe-video-6009562
thank you for that clem..some of that was reassuring..
..but useless journo that she is..woods never asked him about five-eyes spooking all over us..and our (admitted by key) role in those drone-strikes..
..and then at 8 mins cunnliffe went on at some length on our ‘good’ relationship with america..
..but the fact is merica wd consider it very unfriendly of nz to pull back from giving them the full-support they have enjoyed with (satrap) key..
..so the questions are still unanswered..i feel..
I don’t think it would be too difficult to have good relations with USA but at the same time be more independent and preserving our freedom and sovereignty at the same time. Like so many countries are able to do at present. Whole scale snooping as revealed by Edward Snowden and Julian Assange should definitely be stopped while legitimate warranted security oversight could be allowed as long as they are with legally approved by legislation and judiciary.
And Philip’s election smear campaign against Labour and the Greens continues unabated. 🙄
what you call ‘smear-campaign’..i call valid-questions..
..i take it you wd be happy/’relaxed’ with green-ministers getting this blood on their hands..?
..in yr name..?
..them being ministers is more important..?
If I said you were like a cracked record, you’d probably try to smoke it.
Just far too one dimensional to be taken seriously.
If you’re not smearing and really want the answers, write to DC and MT/RN and ask.
well..as i haven’t raised this subject before..hardly’ cracked-record’..
..and i think these are questions that should be asked/answered in the public domain..
..’cos as far as i can see..
..internet/mana are the only contender in this election..
..with a policy of tearing up that five-eyes spying agreement..
..and ending our role in these killings..
..and i think that will matter to many new zealanders..
..i think many are horrified at what john key has been doing in our name/to the detriment of our international reputation..
..and in secret..
..and that many labour/green supporters wd be as horrified as me at the idea of ‘their’ parties in government..
..just continuing our role in this killing at the behest of america..
..(and no..to ‘smoking it’..my crack-days are long gone..long unlamented..)
Your Labour/green bashing is as laughable and boringly predictable as those on the right. Congratulation if you wanted to be seen as the whaleoil of the lunatic left – You won.
Write to the party leaders, ask their stances and report back here.
More of the same vitriol and invective will just confirm the suspected.
Contact details:
Email: david.cunliffe@parliament.govt.nz
Email: metiria.turei@parliament.govt.nz
Email: russel.norman@parliament.govt.nz
i don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions..
..cunnliffe will continue to support ‘our important relationship with america’..
..and has made no mention of ending that five-eyes arrangement..
..and the greens will be bound by cabinet-solidarity..
..so the killings will continue..
..what else do you need to know..
(and i know how adept you are at ignoring uncomfortable-facts..yr ‘but i only eat them’ response to the facts of flesh-consumption yesterday..
..highlighted that..)
You should have highlighted this part of the quote too…
“though if I had to, I’d be quite capable of getting my hands bloody, if it were ultimately either me or them, I’d eat fluffy wuffy kittens and puppy tail stew”
“i don’t need to write to them to know the answers”
That’s why I called bs smear artist, thanks for backing me up.
yawn..!..see ya..!
Philip, DC is doing a q&a here, do you want me to link to your question to him, or are you going to be asking it yourself?
…I see you have already asked, but a bit of a bottle job with the phrasing…. whoar…eh?…
So … you have questions that “you feel need addressing” – so much so you post them in two separate Open Mikes – but you also “don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions”?
It looks like you just want to be constantly associating Labour and the Greens with drone strikes, which pretty much fills the criteria for a smear campaign.
‘constantly’..?
..get a grip..!
..i mentioned it last nite..and today..
..and you don’t think it is a valid question..?
..you don’t care if the drone killings continue or not..?
..and yes..i will keep asking..until we get the answers…
“i don’t need to write to them to know the answers to those questions..”
phil, I have read and wandered on past your prolific and monotonous postings of late, but seriously dude!
Are you now claiming a David Carter inspired prescience ?
lol
didn’t Carter take the skill from phil?
no..just a reading of what has happened up until now..
..do you think i am wrong..?
Up until NZ banned nuclear warships, we allowed nuclear warships.
So Phillip, maybe directing a couple of questions to those you are so willing to admonish, is not really that unreasonable of a suggestion.
sorry..i don’t get/understand the relevance of yr nuke-ships reference..
..and these are not personal/idiosyncratic-questions..
..they are questions with a high public-interest to many on the left..
..i just happen to be asking the questions..
Sorry Phillip, but if you cannot discern the obvious relevance to your statement I quoted, maybe there are more important questions like why do you feel so qualified to cast judgement on such complex issues?
I am not going to enter a prolonged debate on this so don’t expect a reply to your reply, but if you really need the thing laid out for you, here it is.
If no-one inside or outside of Government made the effort to change policy, it is fair to assume that policy would not change.
to your refusal to ask those who would be making the policies;
If when given the means and opportunities to ask those who are in a position to change their policies, you refuse to accept, how do you expect them to be aware that you feel the policy is in need of change?
way to attack the messanger..eh..?
..you another one who doesn’t give a fuck if we are killing for america..?
..and go look at the cunnliffe-thread..
..the questions are asked there..
..and stop being a total fucken wanker..
..while you are at it..eh..?
..and i see you swerve from the question..
‘….do you think i am wrong..?..’
..are these questions that should not be asked of an incoming govt..?
..in yr mind..?
..and what will make these questions even more urgent..
..is that i am picking the upcoming snowden-dump will reflect as poorly on the clark govt..as it will on key..
..and that the stance of any future labour govt. will come sharply into focus..
..after that snowden-spook-dump..
..so no..i won’t shut-up/stop asking publicly..for public answers…
(and colour me dumb..
“..Up until NZ banned nuclear warships, we allowed nuclear warships..”
..but no..i can’t see the reading you are putting on the above fact’..as per it being at all relevant to what i am asking..)
..and yr chosen moniker is ‘freedom’..eh..?..that’s funny..!..
..quite selective..yr ‘freedom’ advocacy..eh..?
..innocent drone-strike victims don’t quite make the grade..?
..eh..?
“And Philip’s election smear campaign against Labour and the Greens continues unabated.”
Not to worry, Jenny is back.
I don’t deny the commitment isn’t laudable, but in this case, that’s about it.
@phillip Key’s whole life is a dream. Something to do with being relaxed all the time, he doesn’t have anything to dream about when he actually goes to sleep.
The words signifying nothing came to mind. I find on google it’s from Macbeth and the quotes from it are all so descriptive and apt for either Key and/or the NACTS!
Shakespeare was brilliant, very knowing and had writing skills and vocabulary par excellence!
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/quotes-quotations-play-macbeth.htm
Here are some. The first applies if his support did aid drone strikes.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” Macbeth Quote (Act II, Sc. II).
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself, and falls on the other.” – ( Quote Act I, Scene VII).
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Macbeth Quote (Act I, Scene V).
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. – ( Quote Act I, Scene I).
“I bear a charmed life”. Macbeth Quote (Act V, Sc. VIII).
and
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Macbeth Quote (Act V, Scene V).
warbler..!
..yr introducing kultcha into the bar-room brawl that is open-mile..
..we’ll all have to pull our socks up now..
@phillip
You and I can fight and chew gum at the same time better than those others and while balancing our beers on our heads.
To the bridge Horatius —
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatius_Cocles! There is a picture here of a Horatius that I don’t match up to, so hope you do.
Savage words traded P.Ure and T.Allen…….well……a bit o’ The Bard kindly tossed in by ‘Warbler……happy ending.
We are united. Dedicated to throwing off the cloak of falseness and foulness which pervades governance. In ShonKey Python land.
Our Sydney-based spin doctor William Shakespeare exposes it seminally…….“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Macbeth Quote (Act I, Scene V).
Well done ‘Warbler getting all that together. Entertaining on top of soooo true !
@North
You have got me thinking – ‘our Sydney based’ – would Fred Dagg still take an interest in our little farm? We must seem pretty funny from over in OZ. Should we send him a new black singlet, for nostalgic wearing and tell him we love him and would like to hear from him. See what he says? Anyone know his feelings on this?
Fred Dagg could do a passable lampooning of ShonKey Python actually. Especially the ‘global statesman’ persona the big wank tries to affect after a week affixed kissing gourami-like to Obama’s arse. Heard him simpering on in the TVOne News about the “inner sanctum” of the “kitchen cabinet”……..which is apparently where the decision re The Colon will be made. What a pretensious ponce !
there is an interesting poll in the herald on cannabis law reform..showing a seachange of sorts in attitudes to that issue..
..and the surprise/takeaway for me was that 45% of national party voters support decriminalisation/legalisation of pot..(!)
..well..!..knock me over with a big-bud..eh..?
Closet tokers and dopers all, and, if Jackie Blue the ex-National MP is to be considered ”run of the mill” there’s quite a bit of family ”biffo” occurring in the feral upper-class of the National Parties ranks…
and that cross-ideological support for law-change..must strengthen the hand of the internet party –
..you’d think..?
..as that wd tap into that cross-ideological support..
..and win them more votes than a wishy-washy pot-policy will..
..and cd well draw support/votes from ‘soft’-nattys..who wd never take that step too far..of voting green…
i must admit Phillip to not having given the issue much thought at all recently, along with alcohol, dope is off the menu here at the Mansion,
Obviously i favor a simple blanket decriminalization of Marijuana be that growing for personal use or possession for personal use,
The codicil to that would have to be some pretty harsh penalties imposed upon anyone who for whatever reason allowed/caused those under 18 to get their hands on the ‘stash’,
My view is the responsibility for youngsters not getting stoned befor a legal age would have to rest upon the adult who legally possessed the supply, even to the point where it could be shown that the kids had sussed the stash and half inched all or part of it,
As a non-smoker who possesses quite a body of knowledge surrounding plant growth and also possesses a pile of 600’s along with an array of other stuff that some would describe as a comprehensive kit i am supremely relaxed as to the time-frame a Law change could be conceivably seen in this country…
when the law does change..we should go into business..
..you can grow a high-quality boutique-brand…’bad’ wd be a good name for it..(‘nz-bad’..?..)
..and i’ll take care of the branding/marketing/retail end of things..
..and we’ll go 50/50..
..whaddayareckon..?
Lolz Phillip, i reckon you are my friend about half a decade too late, if you search the records back about there you will find tales of a million dollar tinny house being busted in Porirua,
Despite malicious rumors spread by my many enemies i (laughingly) deny any involvement what-so-ever in having ever been any part of the supply chain all or in part for this particular enterprise,
My innocence shines not quite as brightly as the winter sun does upon this very fine Winter’s day but shine it does,
Your offer Phillip of 50/50 as part of such a business relationship is also ludicrous, given Legislation that allowed such legal production i would have to be entirely dull not to have sufficient skills to be able to both grow and retail the product,
My best offer in a situation where production was legalized would have to be a discount rate of minus fifty dollars on the accepted current price of a bulk buy in terms of O’s…
Your skills are not in doubt good sir, its always a question of level of motivation and interest 😉
As a good Socialist the question here is usually about Needs,(not necessarily always personal)weighed against Risks…
ah well..it’s a roadside-stall for you then..
..i was thinking on a somewhat grander scale..
..and i think/hope the retail price will drop significantly when those blackmarket-pressures ease..
.and that control the grower currently has..will end..
..and the competition will be fierce..(with ‘quality on its’ own becoming a ‘given’..)
..which means branding/marketing etc will come into its’ own importance..
..but..a stall it is…
“which means branding/marketing etc will come into its’ own importance”
That’s right, and why The Al1en’s triangular Trichome space cakes are out of this world.
“that control the grower currently has..will end”
Nope, because unlike your posts, quality always trumps quantity. 😉 😆
Your pricked ego Phillip simply results in you posting of the dull as attempted wit, your marketing skills are questionable to say the least,
IF you have a million viewers over there at your ‘attention whore’ web-page without the income to justify the effort i would suggest said marketing skills are zero,
Of course as in the dope world ‘quality’ of writing in the case of your website would tend to be the benchmark of the ability to produce revenue from ones efforts but even the Herald manages to generate some revenue from its efforts so i would doubt your possession of satisfactory skills in either area,
Given such a failure on your part i hardly need concern myself with your ego-centric notions of being some form of marketing guru and should i wish to indulge myself in the pursuit we have previously been discussing i can assure you that one text invitation to coffee to one individual from among a number of individuals on my phone list,(which for the life of me doesn’t appear to exist in this particular house-hold) would remove from my presence within the hour any amount i would care to produce…
gosh bad12 you must learn to address pertinent points without ‘beating around the bush’! 😈
Lolz CV, spose i could have just printed a terse bullshit instead, however i do like to drag those i am in conversation with into the byzantine alleyways of my mind in the hope that they too might catch a dose of what ails me,
We all would then be said to be conversing from the benefit of a level playing field…
have you always had these radical mood-swings..?
..and were you an ugly-drunk..?
i fail to ascertain a mood swing of any sort evident in my writing this day Phillip, perhaps the shit you have been spewing forth has somewhat clouded the crystal ball you seem to be using to divine my mood,
Well no must be the answer to your second question, i was always at the time pretty drunk,
You could tho test your theory of my ugliness by buying me a 40oz Black Label and then hanging about whilst i imbibed of the whole container…
pass..!
So what are you waiting for?
People don’t effect change by sitting back and whining; they effect change by getting up and working.
BOYCOTT it, the NZHerald that is, if you have a subscription, cancel it, convince your friends and relatives to either cancel their subscriptions or not to buy the vicious piece of rubbish from the gas station or wherever their habit has them doing so,
Complaining to the press council or sending emails to the Herald itself is a pointless exercise, as one commenter showed us yesterday when the contents of an email were repeated here and ‘the Editor’, obviously taking the piss, spat back at the complaint referring to an ”un-sourced” code of journalistic ethics,
My opinion says that the whole Liu/Labour non-donations fiasco was deliberate, people who with deliberation spread such lies as propaganda are never going to apologize or retract their lies and we all are simply pissing into the wind if we have any expectation that they will,
PUNISH them, hit the NZHerald where it will hurt, Boycott the utter garbage gutter rag that it is and convince everyone you know to do the same,
The up-coming Labour Party Conference should spread that message throughout the membership, the time for complaining is over, give the NZHerald a message it cannot fail to understand, Hit them in the pocket, do not buy the product….
re herald:..just go online for it..stop buying it..!
..and i always feature anything they may have that is worth reading/of note..anyway..
..(or just worthy of a serious slagging..c.f…hewitsons’ dismal interview of harre..today..
..i just posted the headline..and then just ripped into it..
..really really dire..even for her..and that is saying something..
..you walk away from it with the sum total of yr human-knowledge increased not a jot..)
Mr Liu may feel like he’s lost quite a bit of face due to the way labour has used him for political point scoring.
So hardly surprising,he’s after a bit of utu.
Also, if the herald is going behind a pay well, the majority of its subscribers will be of a blue shade so it would make sense to target their stories at the people who buy/subscribe to their publication.
Stupidly, you seem to hold to a belief that the Herald possesses some form of comprehensive statement from Liu that details 100,s of thousands of dollars of donations to Labour,
Your refusal to entertain the notion that the Herald may have been the one to ”Inflate” a small donation,(to a rowing club), into that claim of 100’s of 1000’s is charming yet childishly lacking in intelligence,
The latest sum arrived at by the Herald is now $38,000, the claim is that this is a revised figure from further information given by Liu to the Herald,
i have no belief that Liu has given the Herald any ”further” information as i have little belief that the Herald is in possession of a comprehensive statement from Liu which details such supposed gifts,
My belief until such time as the Herald provides ”Proof”, as in the printing of these supposed statements from Liu to the Herald, is that a Journalist, or, Journalists have simply concocted this whole sordid mess of lies with deliberation….
It keeps on coming … they seem to have a direct line from Liu or someone who speaks English or someone who speaks for him … how else could they possibly know he has hired Paul Davison QC to lead “a team of advisers” to ward off any fight with Labour ? This does threaten death by a thousand cuts … and I hope Blip is reading .. just heard Key on The Nation say all he said in US was that there was a donation of $38,000! oh dear .. ruined my morning and I had to turn him off.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11283405
More slime from Slippery, the quote from the Amerikan sojourn was that the donations from Liu to Labour were six figure sums…
Key is a craven coward! Happy to dish as much dirt as he can but scuttles away like a cockroach to hide under the nearest log when he is caught out in his lies and smears against people who he deems to be his enemy, then creeps out with a different persona which he uses until the crap that he created dies down. I don’t remember him quoting a figure of $38,000.00. That figure has only just been come to by the mathematical geniuses at nz herald, from alleged information quoting revised figures. He mentioned $15,000.00 for a book that now never gets mentioned. He also said he knew there was a lot more to come, smirk, smirk. Now he says he doesn’t know any details of Liu’s alleged donations and never has. Mr Liu must realise that all this distraction has been engineered by key and his sycophantic invertebrates to discredit Cunliffe as this is the ONLY way he has any chance of winning the next election. Dirty tricks is all he knows.
Labour never used him for political point scoring – they just pointed out that National were taking bribes and he was one of the people who seemingly tried to bribe National.
Yep, it’s going to turn into an echo chamber on a par with WhaleOil. No journalistic integrity and stories made up out of whole cloth.
There is a man in our parliament whose name sounds exactly like “camcorder” and no-one ever makes fun of it.
Sometimes I’m embarrassed to be a New Zealander.
that’s ‘cos it’s old/retro-tech..
…which makes it even funnier!!
While all the smearing in the Herald is going on, Dita De Boni has something important to say about how New Zealanders see themselves in the world.
The first comment on the article is right on the button too, imo.
i think that if key in his role of eager-satrap/wingman to obamas’ imperial-adventures..
..thinks this has gone un-noticed by those third world countries essential to nz getting a seat on the security council..
..i think he is dreaming..
..and i will be very surprised/having to admit ‘i wuz wrong!’..
..if we do get that placement..
I agree with you.
I’ve noticed how the NActs have lately taken any opportunity to mention Labour began this process. It’s like they’re not keen to take credit for the cost on an allmighty failure themselves.
As I wrote to Dita, she is lucky to be able to tell what John Key thinks NZ’s Foreign Policy is. His opinion keeps changing according to who his audience is. Shifty?
Key’s and National’s foreign policy has always been to kiss US arse.
Interesting call from Hilary Clinton today giving Australia a slap for expecting the US to defend it but at the same time giving China considerable preferences. Any simularities to NZ??!! Key has the same feet on separating icebergs. What happens on D-Day?!
That first comment was spot on. I’m kinda hoping that a lot of people are waking up to the fact that we’re losing our way just so that Key and, by association, National can kiss US president arse.
FYI
8:15 Kent Greenfield RNZ NAT
Kent Greenfield is Professor of Law and Law Fund Research Scholar at Boston College Law School. He is the author of the 2011 book, The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits (Biteback Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-84954-307-1).
Worth a listen.
Sorry folks – audio not yet up at the time of this comment
The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits Amazon link
Sounds like an interesting book.
Does any one know what has happened to slatters court case?
There has be nothing reported for a while.
Blubber boy has apparently asked for time out while he grows a leg to stand on,(there is also no truth to the rumor that It has been forced to find a new kindergarten to attend having been excluded from attending because of a number of violent incidents)…
Not his long hair?
Decision reserved I believe and will be released in due course.
and in similar vein, does anyone know what happened at Liu’s sentencing on his domestic violence charges guilty please ? thx
Rumor has it that He will apply for diversion after making an anonymous six figure donation to the victim…
Sentencing has not yet taken place and is scheduled for 22 August, according to TVNZ.
Sorry for the long Google link; must re-educate myself how to shorten these.
http://www.google.co.nz/url?url=http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/businessman-linked-appears-in-court-5996668&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=L1urU6CcIoapkAXc_YH4Bg&ved=0CBYQFjAA&sig2=WdwvsfqWaf-JMcGR1U50wA&usg=AFQjCNFoz5CxXXVOVKWSwtRa7GS0r1HYDA
PS – I actually replied to your earlier query on this on 26 June with this link as I was also interested as to when sentencing was due.
thx VV .. I missed yr first one.
Jared Savage just doesn’t quit does he? Today’s article Lui hires QC to deal with any action from Labour.
Which contains the following:
“Labour Party general secretary Tim Barnett confirmed that a lawyer for the party had contacted Liu’s legal counsel but was yet to receive a substantive reply.
“The Labour Party has no dispute with Mr Liu because we have seen no evidence that he has published false information about us.””
And this is the output of the editor of investigative reporting?
Would it not be cheaper for Liu just to release his Herald statement to Lab?
I don’t really think the Liu is the problem. He doesn’t have his own publishing company – that I know of.
The error is entirely the result of the Herald journalists and editors that wrote and allowed such unsubstantiated information to be published – time and again – without providing the information necessary to Labour to investigate those claims.
I was interested to see that article as what it indicates IMO is that possibly legal action is being contemplated by Labour – by the party management, keeping Cunliffe out of it.
However, I agree that the Herald (rather than Jared Savage per se) just aren’t quitting, as evidenced by their editorial yesterday (now with over 300 comments, most scathing of the Herald).
In the Editorial, reference is made to further clarification this weekend on Lui’s statement (cannot remember the exact wording) which appeared to signal that The Herald has not given up.
This is possibly reinforced by a tweet from Tim Murphy about 6pm last night
“Donghua Liu – seems like some premature claims of the story ‘unravelling’ have been going on …”
So, watch this space.
But isn’t the unravelling about what had already been printed last week? The damage to the Labour Party was done with unsubstantiated allegations centred around 2007. The complaint is not with Mr Liu is it? It is with whoever planted the story with the Herald and the Herald for printing it.
Correct. Deflections on to Liu are completely misguided. He’s merely another private citizen. It’s the media institution of the NZ Herald which needs to be held to account.
I agree with you, that the real complaint should be with whoever planted the story etc, rather than Liu per se.
However, imo it could be well impossible (and possibly very disasterous) at this point to try to take a complaint of any sort, including legal action, against the Herald, or the National Party.
Liu could well be the weak link – in light of the statements he is purported to have made (although we have yet to see the hard copy) that he has donated equally to Labour and National – and that he is not liking being a political pawn in the battle between the two (cannot remember the exact words).
Pure speculation on my part, but putting pressure on Liu could lead to disclosures as to what (and who) influenced him to make his original early May statement, how this statement apparently found its way to Key shortly thereafter, and finally to the Herald some weeks later. Any such disclosures could then allow action to be taken against these other parties.
No court action sure, a front page apology should suffice 🙂
VV@11.2.1.2. 100+
Of course they haven’t given up. They’ve lost a lot of cred and they need to get something on Labour now or they are toast.
But anything they publish from now on needs to have iron-clad proof or they will be laughed off the newstands.
This could go one of two ways – either the HOS has something tomorrow (that’s where they dump all the legally dodgy stuff) or they will actually attempt to verify whatever rubbish they are being fed and will attack again when they are ready.
It’s beginning to get irritating, can’t even read the weekend ‘paper in peace now. The Herald reporters are still persisting with the sly insinuations about David Cunliffe
Savage added this bit….
“The Herald last week revealed Mr Cunliffe wrote a letter for Liu’s residency application, despite previous denials.”
(did he even deny that… don’t recall him being asked that exact question)
Armstrong just had to add these sly digs when talking about Parker…
“David Parker’s authority and influence as Labour’s deputy leader and finance spokesman has been on the rise as much as David Cunliffe’s has been on the wane.”
And…
“He will be able to blame a combination of factors for that, ranging from the current pick-up in economic growth being of huge electoral benefit to National to Cunliffe’s string of mistakes.”
Neither story was even about David Cunliffe and they still put the boot in. WTF is wrong with these people?
They’re putting the boot in trying to influence the election in National’s favour.
Labour policy pushes back against employers importing cheap labour to undercut Kiwis
Bloody good move, Red Team.
https://www.labour.org.nz/media/policy-focuses-high-skills-high
Ah that is very good to hear, thanks CV
I was doing seasonal work around 1999-2000 and was pretty shocked how much rent was being charged by orchard owners to workers coming in from other districts – it had gone from free rent years earlier, to charging fairly standard amount (from memory, around $80 per room at that time) however this was for a shared room with at least one other person this seemed like a real rort being conducted by orchard owners. it severely undercut the affordability of doing the job and quality of life while doing it – which for shed-work was at the very minimum wage. It was with a great deal of frustration that I heard about the schemes introduced a few years later (or perhaps it was around that same time) of importing cheap labour. Glad to hear that Labour are addressing an erroneous and damaging approach that I suspect they introduced. As the press release conveys importing cheap labour obviated the need to address the wage levels and rorts being conducted by the owners of orchards and fairly well pushed job opportunities away from New Zealanders.
They did introduce them and it is good to see them now realising that they were badly implemented and need fixing. This is possibly the first thing that they’ve actually got right so far.
Thanks for confirming that
the nation has done a worthwhile piece on the missing-million voters…
Yes and there will be tens of thousands just like the lady non voter interviewed that are going to vote this time because she wants a new PM/Government.
Key being interviewed by Gower ended on John Key saying 2015 is about changing the New Zealand flag. It wouldn’t surprise if he decides on a new star spangled banner design. How can people take this guy serious when the changing of the flag is important to him. If he was a real leader he would first drop the British monarchy and call for our independence and change the flag as part of the deal..
Only need 75,000 of those missing voters to turn up and vote LAB/GR/IMP, while 75,000 NAT voters decide to stay home. That would be a decisive win for the Left.
The vindictive Principal of St John’s College? Can you punish a lad for winning the right to his hair style?
“But the school put its foot down and told Lucan he wouldn’t be attending the school ball, and when he showed up with his boots for first XV rugby practice earlier this week, he was told he couldn’t train. ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/10209394/Lucans-hair-battle-hits-ball-plans
It is obvious that the Ministry of Education must step in to this affray, first drawing up a specific code surrounding hair that all schools must adhere to,(exclusion from any school activity being outlawed),and second, having provision to remove Principals for breaching any kids basic human rights,
Disgust is the best descriptive i can muster here without leaving a trail of abuse where the Principal in question has in effect shown His or Her contempt for the Court by devising what can only be seen as further punishments for the kid in question for the parents decision to dare to question the power this particular Principal wields in His/Her particular little Potentate,
There is NO evidence that the length or style of a students hair has any negative effect on their ability or their class’s ability to learn…
I heard that there are class photos from the school from the 1970’s – with boys who have even longer hair. Basically, the school administration needs to get on with doing its job of providing education, not punishment.
My guess is that the new Principal wanted to set a standard of no nonsense boss-ship and boxed himself into a corner and is now trying to regain the lost face. And probably support the teacher who sent the lad to the Principal in the first place.
This is exactly what I thought – especially given the school earlier trying to claim that his long hair was a cause of “disruption”. Nope, the school being inflexible wankers about a trivial rule is what’s causing the disruption.
Chris Miller at The Little Pakeha has a great post about the case:
http://www.thelittlepakeha.net/2014/06/27/hair/
it cd be worthwhile tracking down teenage photos of that now principal..
..to see just how long his hair was in the 70’s…
..but first..he should be fired..
Wonder how much it cost the school to lawyer-up to defend its master-of-the-universe bullshit ? Who’s the shitty little punk here ?
I’ll put my money on it being the solipsistic “School (me) WILL be obeyed !” principal. Not the kid. The more I see the more I applaud him and his family. Piss off immature and spiteful principal man/boy. And the self important social climbing wannabes on your board.
“No you can’t go to the ball…….no you’re not welcome at training……so there !”
Soooo Ugly-Step-Sister ! Reminds me of the idiot big-fish-little-pond bully, the headmaster at my own school ……..50 years ago.
There’s been a bit of this lately. The git state school principal in Whangarei who thought it unremarkable to stigmatise pupils whose parents hadn’t met school charges by excluding them from their classes. “Sit in the hall like on detention boys…..this is for your own good….”
he has to be short-listed for wanker-of-the-year..
Caption under photo: “HAIRLINE FRACTURE: An old photograph showing St John’s College board of trustees member, Byron Fergus (back row, middle), with long hair while he was a student at the school in 1988.
Oops. So the rules have changed have they? Possibly.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11283669
thanks 4 that..i am laughing like a drain here..
..and have thrown it up on whoar..
..what a wanker…!
..(he ‘won’t comment’ on the photo..understandable really..eh..?
..what cd he fucken say..?.
..heh..!..)
It’s high school… such a meaningless thing to get up in arms about but probably seems really important when you are there and trying to assert your individuality within those constraints like uniforms and all that, it becomes such a silly concern when you leave.
Better parents would have advised the kid to balance a meaningless assertion of individuality with the reality that it would disrupt a huge part of his school year.
Also could have been better handled by the school, ball and 1st XIV should have been used off the bat instead of suspension (as the judge suggested).
Actually, this oppressive rule shouldn’t even be there.
And the hypocritical dick who used to have long hair at the same school, but who is now on the Board of Trustees and who chaired the disciplinary committee, he definitely shouldn’t be there. Lameass.
Hooton on The Nation could be edited and played as a political advert for National. Hooton watch the replay and read the minds of what the rest of the panel are thinking in your final lines of spin.
Backing up Joyce’s snake oil about many of the non voters in National seats last time were actually National voters is total crap. If you were a left voter in one of these safe seats your hardly inspired to turn up to vote as ya not going to roll the electorate candidate are you? Labour done themselves no favours by not running a ‘strongly focused party vote strategy.’ Don’t worry our mate McCarten will see to the party vote messaging this time. Now go down a triple shot java to wake your delusional head up on how to come across credible.
Yep. The labour get out the vote effort tends to happen in strong labour seats or marginal seats. For instance in Tamaki there is a rich vein of labour support in Glen Innes but the local party struggles to get them out. Those people must be really put off voting by the apparent overwhelming sign of National’s strength in the area and I am not surprised that they did not vote last time.
Yeah, Glen Innes / Point England / Panmure seem to comprise a little blob of Red in a vast sea of East Auckland Blue. Also perhaps (to a somewhat lesser extent) nearby Edgewater in the far west of Williamson’s Pakuranga seat – orange in 2005, light blue in 08 and 11, but that’s in a deeply dark blue seat.
I’ve noticed in my research a few Labour enclaves (surrounded by suburbs as blue as a new tattoo) where turnout seems to have declined markedly. Among the deeply Tory northern suburbs of Whangarei, for instance, is a little oasis of Red – the (presumably state house and strongly maori) little suburb of Otangarei (almost cut off from its inherently Tory neighbours by a bend in the river that surrounds the suburb on three sides). In 2005 Labour won 150 votes out of a total of 213. In 2011 it received 60 out of 114. The Nat vote, meanwhile, barely changed – a grand total of 11 votes in 2005 and 10 votes 2011.
This river you mention: Are you sure it’s not a moat?
at a packed National conference with smiling faces everywhere. National is working for a better New Zealand.
Wait – a “better New Zealand”? Did the “Brighter” one already turn up? For whom?
A pack of jackals at a National Party conference two facedly smiling everywhere working for squeezing themselves the better part of the wealth of New Zealand from the pockets of the working class…
+111
Full of shadowy, shady representatives of the cabinet club there to lean on their puppets in power. Making sure their ‘so called donations’ are repaid ten fold with lucrative political favours.
Nationals 2014 election campaign slogan should be;
“Who pays the piper calls the tune”
Hang about – does that ‘better New Zealand’ refer to one of improving conditions or rather is it poor English for referring to a New Zealand that is good for people who bet – speculators?
Considering National’s political approach that would have to be option b – a New Zealand that advantages speculators.
That might be o.k for those who already have capital (hence the smiles – high on making money on money) – but it is disastrous for the functioning of a healthy society or of any hope of social mobility -i.e. getting out of ruts. The rich get richer the poor get poorer and the middle go backwards under National. Vote left to stop this rort.
FizzyAnus you really should have a day off from The Standard and apply yourself where you’re most needed. At the Crooks’ Convention flogging off FizzyAnus Kits to the insufficiently fizzy anused. Most of whom can be identified by that compulsive tick, that helpless flashing of cocktail party grimaces you call smiles.
Without checking that sounds very much like (a) the denial of the society of the school to a member of that society on the grounds that he has challenged (and won). That MUST be wrong if not actually unlawful, and (2) a public gesture of contempt for Justice Collins’ ruling.
I heard again the song Money Money from Cabaret this morning on Radionz with Liza Minelli and Joel Grey and it is such a sharply satirical clever tuneful song that it would be excellent to have a recording of it that someone should start playing at every NACT gathering before they can throw you out. (Health warning – watch out for Gerry Brownlee, Chief Bouncer but all NACTs would be able at attack positions and feints whether male or female.)
Here is youtube – very good performance by both of them and funny. Money Money
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q
Lyrics
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/l/lizaminnelli20267/moneymoney538511.html
Money…Money
Money makes the world go around
…the world go around
…the world go around.
Money makes the world go around
It makes the world go ’round.
A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound.
Is all that makes the world go around
That clinking, clanking sound…
Can make the world go ’round
If you happen to rich
And you feel like a night’s entertainment
You can pay for a gay escapade.
If you happen to be rich and alone
And you need a companion
You can ring (ting-a-ling) for the maid.
If you happen to be rich
And you find you are left by your lover,
And you moan and you groan quite a lot
You can take it on the chin,
Call a cab and begin to recover
On your 14-karat yacht! WHAT!?
Money makes the world go around….
Of that we both are sure…
rasberry sound on being poor!
Money money money money…
When you haven’t any coal in the stove
And you freeze in the winter
And you curse to the wind at your fate.
When you haven’t any shoes on your feet,
Your coat’s thin as paper,
And you look 30 pounds underweight
When you go to get a word of advice
From the fat little pastor,
He will tell you to love evermore.
But when hunger comes to rap,
rat-a-tat rat-a-tat at the window
knock knock (at the window)
Who’s there? (hunger) oh, hunger!!
See how love flies out the door…
For, money makes the world go around….
The clinking, clanking sound of…
Get a little, get a little
Money money money money…
Mark, a yen, a buck or a pound,
That clinking, clanking, clunking sound,
Is all that makes the world go ’round,
It makes the world go ’round!
That wouldn’t be the bully-thug Gerry Brownlee who bashed up on some really old protestor fulla at some National Party do some years ago ?
I like these songs coming out, thanks – we could fill a whole album 🙂
force a front page rewrite
Key is a craven coward! Happy to dish as much dirt as he can but scuttles away like a cockroach to hide under the nearest log when he is caught out in his lies and smears against people who he deems to be his enemy, then creeps out with a different persona which he uses until the crap that he created dies down. I don’t remember him quoting a figure of $38,000.00. That figure has only just been come to by the mathematical geniuses at nz herald, from alleged information quoting revised figures. He mentioned $15,000.00 for a book that now never gets mentioned. He also said he knew there was a lot more to come, smirk, smirk. Now he says he doesn’t know any details of Liu’s alleged donations and never has. Mr Liu must realise that all this distraction has been engineered by key and his sycophantic invertebrates to discredit Cunliffe as this is the ONLY way he has any chance of winning the next election. Dirty tricks is all he knows.
Key himself proudly announced a little while ago, that he keeps a chunk of dirty tricks material in his top drawer to be unleashed at a later time. An admission like that, coming from a prime minister, is so very shameful. He has tried to make our democracy, politics, way of life pretty mean and dirty.
Plus Matthew Hooton last week spraying a figure of $300,000 that would soon ‘come to light’ around teh internet. Not so much these days.
Fleetstreet Hacks present their new hit-piece single
Tell Them Lies,
take it away guys ……
Each time you turn the page
you swear that we’ve rearranged just a line or two
Close them, close them, close those eyes
But when we find a way
to twist the truth then sure we deceive you too
Tell them, tell them, tell those lies
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
(Tell them lies, tell them, tell them lies)
Read it all it’s between the lines
(we can hide, we can really hide)
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
Although it’s in the plans
I hope that you understand
there’s a reason why
Close them, close them, close those eyes
So much to report on
But we get off making it up
as we go along
Tell them, tell them, tell them lies
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
(Tell them lies, tell them, tell them lies)
Read it all it’s between the lines
(we can hide, we can really hide)
Tell them lies
Tell them sweet little lies
-apologies to Fleetwood Mac-
+1 Cool!
Great! Did you come up with this? OK for all and sundry to use as satire?
yup
there was more but some of it was a bit personal
(note: any song satire i put up is my own work unless stated otherwise)
just realised that answer might not be entirely clear…
yes, it is my work, use it however you wish.
I will clearly state when it is not my work
Were my eyes deceiving me today while watching “The Nation”? Tony Ryall was interviewed and was shown to have a decidedly elongated and “pointed” noggin! Was a trick camera being used, maybe stolen from a travelling carnival? I’ve never seen his head look like that before. It was really really strange, we were laughing so much we didn’t hear one word he said – no worries, I’m sure we didn’t miss much! Anyone else see it?
i saw that…!
..i couldn’t stop looking at it…
..he looked like an extra from that cone-head movie…
..and i had an urge to get some little hoops..and see if i could throw them..
..to land on the cone..
..and if he was in a scrum..he cd inflict some serious injuries..
‘my eye..! he poked out my eye with his cone..!’..
wow what a day at National Party conference. good news after good news and plans for even better news if we get three more years.
Well, you’re a demonstrated liar, so you would say that. Repeatedly. Obviously trying to convince yourself of something…
🙄
wow what a day at National Party conference. good news after good news—
Look out fellas—there’s a moron loose on the board.
Right Fis, you should get ten more years, in a maximum security institution for promoting economic and social vandalism…
@fishyanis
you wont get three more years,
two months and then you are goneburger.
byeeeeeee…
You need to add ‘only’ like in;
“If only we get three more years” which after Sept you will be saying;
If only we had gotten three more years.
Chin up chap Christmas is over!
Fisi you need to stop reading that tabloid rag “nz herald” it’s going to end in tears.
“house of cards” kevin spacey reminds me of teflon John
WANT BLAIR GONE AS “PEACE ENVOY”?
HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Friday 27th June 2014 will mark the seventh year that Tony Blair has served as the Quartet Representative to the Middle East. This is an urgent call to end this insult to the region’s people by having him sacked as the so-called “Peace Envoy.”
SEVEN REASONS FOR SEVEN YEARS
To mark the occasion, here are seven reasons to #SackBlair for the seven years he has been in the role.
1) War = Peace?! Tony Blair and George W Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq destroyed an entire Middle Eastern society.
2) Pro-Israeli bias Both as Prime Minister and Envoy, Blair has shown a consistent and blatant bias towards Israel.
3) 7 years bad luck for Palestine The last seven years have shown Blair either incapable or unwilling to achieve anything meaningful for the Palestinian people.
4) Conflict of interest? The way Blair works, it is often unclear where his envoy role ends and his business interests begin.
5) Peace Envoy = Warmonger?! Since his appointment Blair has repeatedly called for yet more Middle Eastern wars – in Iran, Syria and now Iraq again.
6) Living like a V.I.P. – on our V.A.T. As Envoy Blair has luxuriated in Jerusalem’s poshest hotel at the taxpayer’s expense, while families in the Occupied Territories struggle to feed their children.
7) Advising autocrats Alongside his envoy role, Blair has been hiring himself out to tyrants with histories of human rights abuses.
THIS IS OUR TIME
With Tony Blair’s outrageous comments and Iraq in flames across the news, there’s no better time than now to launch this campaign.
Professor Chomsky, British MPs from both major parties and three former UK ambassadors to the Middle East already support our campaign. Now it’s your turn….
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/ban-ki-moon-sack-tony-blair-as-the-middle-east-peace-envoy
+100%. The Guardian has all the gruesome details today of his current conflicts of interest… a crook beyond imagining in fact. Chief fomenter in fact if you follow the dots.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/27/tony-blair-conflict-interests-middle-east
Yep. Even made membership of Parliamentary Labour Friends of Israel compulsory for any Labour MP who wanted to make it to high office back in the late 90s / early-mid zeros.
Astounding that this piece of shit was ever allowed to become leader.
Clean storage: These scientists are making an organic, water-based battery for the power grid
Sounds good. This is the type of innovation we need.
But the secret of their success?
Yep, government funding.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful especially in the home solar panel industry. Some installers suggest having a storage system as well as an overflow back to the grid. But lead batteries? Mmm!
then there is the tofu-model..
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/breakthrough-in-solar-panel-manufacture-promises-cheap-energy-within-a-decade-9563136.html
From Mother Jones a hint that Catholic church rules about birth control and gay marriage etc may be revisited by the Vatican. Probably little would change in Western societies but….
“On Pope Francis’ orders, the Vatican will convene an urgent meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people’s lives….The run-up to the synod has been extraordinary in itself, a departure from usual practice that some say is a mark of the pope’s radical new leadership style, and a canny tactic to defuse dissent over potential reforms.
….Within a few months of his election last year, Francis directed every diocese in the world to survey local attitudes on family and relationships and report back to the Vatican, a canvassing of a sort that few of the faithful can recall previously..
….Taking the public temperature also brings tactical advantages. Nobody at the Vatican will be surprised to learn that vast numbers of Catholics disobey its ban on premarital sex and birth control, or that some are in gay partnerships. Setting down those realities irrefutably on paper, however, could strengthen a bid by Francis to soften the church’s official line and put pressure on bishops inclined to resist, including some in the United States and many in Asia and Africa, conservative areas where the church has been growing….”
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/04/pope-francis-convenes-vatican-synod-family-and-sex
Really good mood at National Party today
lol
So everyone obviously failed to read the memo about overconfidence, then. Not suprising, given that tories are more likely to be morons.
By the way, did you think to ask your colleagues in the research unit for help finding evidence to back up your lie?
who fronted with the mogadons then?
Not surprising. They’re creaming at the expense of the young and the working poor, and getting away with it.
Must be blimming riveting, you seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time reporting on how happy you are. Bet you’re actually bored rigid.
@ fis…
..good quality cocaine..?
..the right just looove cocaine…
..it feeds directly into their omniscience/superiority-fantasies..
Remembering Bobby Womack.
chrs 4 that…
A playlist I’ve been listening to today.
This is a few years old now but still relevant – especially the bit about how selling state assets has left us worse off.
If we want to make our society better then we need to return our economy to full NZ ownership.
“If we want to make our society better then we need to return our economy to full NZ ownership.”
First nz economy has never been in full NZ ownership, so we cannot return to such a place given that we were never there.
Perhaps you could then request say to David Cunliffe tomorrow that as a suggested policy all the funds from nz super, EQC, ACC and other govt investment funds to be solely invested in nz as a start – good luck there.
Did you have anything intelligent to say?
Instead which is increasing in frequently here, when challenged attack those who challenge instead why not put up and justify your position. You made a statement back it up.
Supply-side economics … http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/nq/2014/06/26/
Plutocracy to Idiocracy.
.
A quick refresher: In 1995, after winning a majority in the House for the first time in forty years, one of the first things the new Republican House leadership did was gut Congress’s workforce. They cut the “professional staff” (the lawyers, economists, and investigators who work for committees rather than individual members) by a third. They reduced the “legislative support staff” (the auditors, analysts, and subject-matter experts at the Government Accountability Office [GAO], the Congressional Research Service [CRS], and so on) by a third, too, and killed off the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) entirely. And they fundamentally dismantled the old committee structure, centralizing power in the House speaker’s office and discouraging members and their staff from performing their own policy research. (The Republicans who took over the Senate in 1995 were less draconian, cutting committee staff by about 16 percent and leaving the committee system largely in place.) Today, the GAO and the CRS, which serve both House and Senate, are each operating at about 80 percent of their 1979 capacity. While Senate committee staffs have rebounded somewhat under Democratic control, every single House standing committee had fewer staffers in 2009 than in 1994. Since 2011, with a Tea Party-radicalized GOP back in control of the House, Congress has cut its budget by a whopping 20 percent, a far higher ratio than any other federal agency, leading, predictably, to staff layoffs, hiring and salary freezes, and drooping morale.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaugust_2014/features/the_big_lobotomy050642.php?page=all
there is a cool movie on maori tv @ 7.30..’mt zion’..
..and reggae fans should take note..
Counties boy here, from way back. Saw it when it came out. Captured the people and lifestyle beautifully… and a side of Pukekohe rarely seen. The reggae was cool as too bro
i went to that marley concert..
Just under the surface running through the whole fillim, countless stereotypes of a negative nature, the only thing absent a KFC or Macca’s, along with a whole violin concert of touchy feelies to signify nobility,
Good to see the brown brothers in fillim tho, despite my criticism, the next one on is more topical,but, the thugby is going to interrupt,
Did Bob even visit the Marae out at Puke, i know of one He had a great time at down here, even playing His favorite game wif the kids out on the road well into the night…
chrs 4 that link..i hadn’t seen that footage before..
..and i’ll have to send it to my daughter..
..she was three yrs old when i took her to see marley @ western springs…
Dam! Just heard that Peter Fry finishes next Saturday night. What a shame. We have now lost so many announcers that could speak in voices that everyone could understand with a measured pace and without the frenetic pace that announcers are now required to speak. I would be surprised if Peter was wanting top leave more likely the station is determined to remove every trace of intelligent great sounding people.
Only one left as far as I know.
This is a real loss. Peter Fry is a wonderful presenter. Surely he wasn’t forced to leave? If so something is very wrong at RNZ.
Peter Fry’s tone is one of kindness and he takes a genuine interest in the requests, dedications, and messages, often to elderly and sick listeners. A real public service.
Don’t know what happened to “weekend social”, but this is stuff worth noting, Selena, bombastic singer and talent, sadly killed too early by bullets from some acquaintance, or so, years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcF-XQZ_dpA
This was her LAST concert, a friend recommended it, and I find it good, but it is not “revolutionary”, to be honest. But culture and passion deserve recognition, whether revolutionary or less so, enjoy!
A tribute by Jennifer Lopez:
Reflections and thoughts from a friendly nation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQqpQzIuAFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiEJaacYjbY
Salvador Allende, murdered by his own soldiers or security services, paid for by the CIA, the murder of a nation, you can say.
Disgusting, it is, what happened in many countries in Latin America, like in Chile, and the people were denied a voice, there with a military raid, we have not got there yet, we are “just manipulated”. But the threat and danger is the SAME, we are seized, corrupted and “bought” by forces of global scale “multinationals”, and their servant power player, one John Key.
It is time for Kiwis to bloody wake up, I mean the wider public, to the corruption, the manipulation and selling out of what this country supposedly stands for. It is a corrupt society here, I have ample information, that reaches even into the levels of supposed “Offices of Parliament”, like the Office of Ombudsmen, the Privacy Commissioner, the Health and Disability Commissioner, they are ALL compromised and CORRUPTED by the system in place.
YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHTS HEARD AND MET under this corrupt system that abounds and rules in this rotten country. You are misled and dumbed down, to believe this is a “democracy” and that this place follows the “rule of law”. NO, learn another thing, this is a lying system, with old boys and girls networks, it is no less corrupt than many countries in Latin America. I know!
I have taken issues to said offices, for myself and others, and they all “strangely” do not even follow natural justice, they use “discretion” to degrees, it is a FARCE, the law applied here. To really get “justice”, you are forced to go to the High Court and swear you pay thousands of dollars if you lose your claim and proceedings. You are “fucked” in this rotten country, and if you believe this is a just” and “honest” society, you are brainwashed and an IDIOT!
Sorry to be so damned blunt, that is NZ Aotearoa RAW, and even Labour will NOT change the truth, that is why I will NOT vote them.
It is time for a damned waking up and a revolution in this docile place, if only some would have the bloody courage, it is a total disgrace, how manipulated and bought this country and society has become under one John Key, a TRAITOR of principles and human values.
Make a damned difference, dear readers, wake the hell up, and vote this bastard OUT, and his gang of corrupt and manipulative self serving business players. Thank you, RIP.
Zombies on the Walls: Why Does So Much New Abstraction Look the Same?
Neo-liberalism and the 1% strike again.
WE are SCREAMING for justice, where is it in NZ Aoteaora???
Why is the Left in NZ so damned shy to not shout it out, we want JUSTICE, EQUALITY and WORKERS’ RIGHTS, what is so damned “embarrassing” about all this???
Is there a “left” remaining in this country???
Or is this all about the “last fire sale” of what is “left” nailed here???
PASSION, is not found easily, not in NZ, I am afraid:
Revolution requires ready minds and souls and bodies, we have NONE of it here, they are mostly easily “bought” for favours, forget it, forget election 2014, it is a LOST game, with lost souls and lost players.
Bah, bah, bah, is the message, commercial advertising is sending the messages, no doubt here, hand over your brain at the counter, you may get a discount for picking it up in a “pickled” state. Best of luck, you do NOT deserve it, lazy brains.
Hi xtasy, Sometimes you write well and sometimes you write.
Repeto, repeto:
WHEN DO PEOPLE HERE DAMNED GET IT????
It must be frustrating to see National ride so high in the polls. It must mean people are thick. Wrong.• National values are as follows
Loyalty to our country, its democratic principles and our Sovereign as
Head of State
• National and personal security
• Equal citizenship and equal opportunity
• Individual freedom and choice
• Personal responsibility
• Competitive enterprise and rewards for achievement
• Limited government
• Strong families and caring communities
• Sustainable development of our environment
Now that deserves over 50%.
I took a taxi after the Nat conference and convinced the Somalian taxi driver to change his vote from Labour to National in just ten minutes. Someone has lied to him that national hated the poor.
National do hate the poor. National claiming to have those values is as big a lie as when you said Cunliffe had promised labour would be on more than 40% by the election
Hilarious. The only thing on the list that National are doing is the “limited government” bit, though not the sense of “limited” that you thought of when you typed it. The rest they are either ignoring, or doing the opposite.
@ fisiani
LABOUR’S PRINCIPLES SET OUT MORE CLEARLY than Nat’s abstract sound bite BS:
The Labour Party accepts the following democratic socialist principles:
Now that deserves 100%!
I would like to meet that Somalian taxi driver of yours to see what propaganda, spin, lies and BS you peddled to him in your sound bites in just 10 minutes of the highway ride.
He told me that he would convince his entire extended family to change to the party that is giving him free doctors visits for under 13’s, literacy classes, insulated homes, pensions at 65 and wages rising twice faster than inflation. That’s actually 6 Labour votes now voting National. He pledged his word and we shook on the deal.
Some people will say anything to get a pushy ‘salesman’ type away from their front doorstep. I trust you have just been ‘had’ Fisiani.
You do realise most of those are actually Labour ‘s socialist policies stolen by your RWN job National crooks to fool the gullible, while continuing with their agenda to be the party that really works for the benefit of the wealthy, right?
The usual generalised sound-bites there. I don’t think this government has been for strong families and caring communities at all. This government policy has been to fragment low income families and keep wages low. They’ve said as much in public. It’s “good” for the economy.
You can keep your other statements but don’t try to say low income communities have been supported by this government’s policies.
It’s insulting.