Open mike 28/09/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 28th, 2012 - 171 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

171 comments on “Open mike 28/09/2012 ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    28 September 2012 at 7:22 am

    I thought a note of thanks should be posted to lprent and the authors for the Standard.

    It provides a number of us the opportunity to put news items up for discussion and the subsequent nuanced analysis and contributions of knowledge and experience that occurs certainly helps my thinking on issues.

    Some, repeat some, efforts by RWNJs helps to challenge, although normally reinforce my thoughts.

    It is surprising how the collective thoughts that result then seeps out into Parliament and into the media.

    Long live the Standard! 

    • deuto 1.1
      28 September 2012 at 7:47 am

      I totally agree with your comments, ms, and add my thanks. The Standard has been and remains a ‘lifeline’ to me over some torrid times in recent years. Reading it and occasionally commenting has become a part of daily life.

    • marsman 1.2
      28 September 2012 at 8:04 am

      Hear hear micky. Like deuto, for me The Standard is what keeps me sane during this nasty patch of governmentitis. The Shipley years made me utterly depressed but with this identikit Shonkey plunderfest I feel strengthened by like-minded people on this site. Well done The Standard!!!

    • LynW 1.3
      28 September 2012 at 8:45 am

      The Standard has certainly been my sanctuary in disillusioned times. I wholeheartedly agree with ms and also offer my gratitude to those who contribute ensuring healthy, well informed and sourced debate on critical issues. Most encouraging of all for me is knowing there is a collective social conscience with NZ’s best interests at heart. Thank you.

      • ianmac 1.3.1
        28 September 2012 at 8:55 am

        Me too. As I live a long way away from big cities the Standard is an important link with the real world. Some of the opposing views are also important. Don’t want to become as one eyed as the wrong Right team!

    • r0b 1.4
      28 September 2012 at 11:05 am

      Thanks all – comments both above and below – we’re feeling the love!

    • BloodyOrphan 1.5
      28 September 2012 at 11:09 am

      Bloody well said M8!, good people.

  2. Chris 2
    28 September 2012 at 8:25 am

    I too would like to thank The Standard.It is only recently that I have decided to try to become more politically aware in order to make sense of the insidious rot that is eroding our country. I have found The Standard to be invaluable with its(mostly) impartial commentary and breaking down of information to people like myself who get bogged down with the whys and wherefores,so that we can get a glimmer of true understanding of Parliament and its workings.I hope to be able to come to unbiased opinions instead of only dislke of personalities, through logical thinking.However it will take me some time to be able to look at key and cronies without wanting to slap the lot of them!I am deeply saddened at the state of our beautiful country and its more vulnerable citizens.

  3. kiwi_prometheus 3
    28 September 2012 at 8:46 am

    Otago Daily Times >

    The Family Violence Death Review:

    “New Zealand mothers kill more children than any other group in society and men are victims of domestic violence as often as women, a police investigation has found.

    University of Otago Professor David Fergusson, an expert on domestic violence, said the public perception that men were the perpetrators of most domestic violence was the result of biased publicity.

    “The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do,” Mr Fergusson said. ”

    Well, well, well. So much for the feminist propaganda meme “Men are the problem”. No doubt they will be working over time to bury this one or twist it to fit their feminist orthodoxy.

    • BloodyOrphan 3.1
      28 September 2012 at 9:00 am

      Any thought on why? , how can we as a civilised people build a system that will stop these events from happening?

      Or would you prefer too bitch some more

      • kiwi_prometheus 3.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 9:13 am

        “Or would you prefer too bitch some more”

        I believe neo classical economics is a failed ideology that has exacerbated the divide between rich and poor. Every time the reports/stats come out showing increasing poverty and accumulation of even more wealth by the ultra rich, the Free marketers work over time to bury it.

        You going to accuse me of bitching again, BloodyOrphan?

    • karol 3.2
      28 September 2012 at 9:10 am

      And let’s look behind the headlines to some of the facts, which show some gender differences;

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7726347/Family-violence-death-toll-revealed

      The report, which did not include all deaths that occurred during that period, found 15 out of 33 child victims were killed by their mums.

      Five newborn babies were killed by women who concealed their pregnancies, while six children were killed by their mothers prior to them committing suicide.
      …
      More than 80 per cent of women’s deaths were a result of partner violence – compared to 29 per cent of men – representing 57 per cent of all adult family violence deaths.

      Women (65 per cent) and children (91 per cent) were commonly killed by people who lived in the same house.

      While men (48 per cent) were mostly killed by people outside their immediate family.

      Yes, women can be violent, but women are still more often victims of male violence than vice versa. And much of the female violence is by mothers against children. It looks like the result of women in positions where they feel unable to live up to the pressures on them to care for children in circumstances which make that difficult.

      • kiwi_prometheus 3.2.1
        28 September 2012 at 9:27 am

        I think the professor put it best:

        “The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do”

        That message is not in keeping with feminist orthodoxy.

        “It looks like the result of women in positions where they feel unable to live up to the pressures on them to care for children in circumstances which make that difficult.”

        There you go, a very sympathetic treatment you give there to women offenders – after insisting men are more violent than women.

        Are you a feminist, karol?

        • karol 3.2.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 11:12 am

          Yes, I’m a feminist, KP. We come in different varieties. I never say “men are the problem”. Many men work to change things for the better. But we still live in a predominantly patriarchal society, in which the balance of power in most situations benefits a lot of men.

          Society is the problem.

          I’m also left wing, and there are some women, in various contexts, who have more power than some men.

          It’s not a straightforward situation where any one demographic group are responsible for all our problems.

          But you seem to want to oversimplify things…. and you seem to like to attack feminists/feminism.

        • QoT 3.2.1.2
          28 September 2012 at 6:34 pm

          probably perpetrate more assaults

          probably pepetrate more assaults

          [citation needed]

      • Bored 3.2.2
        28 September 2012 at 9:59 am

        Karol, something I did not mention below was that we also mapped out assaults by people unknown to each other prior to the assault…almost exclusively male.

        I suspect the figures for womens assaults of relatives / family etc are highly biased by their predominance in roles as the domestic caregivers etc, along with the resultant proximity and stresses. In our current version of society / economy men don’t get so exposed to this.

    • Bored 3.3
      28 September 2012 at 9:16 am

      KP, some comments:

      Years back I was research assistant with open access to Police files mapping acts of violence reported to the Police, and transposing the addresses of the assaulted and assailant, and gathering data etc. From memory we recorded:
      * there was no socio economic bias on location of domestic assaults.
      * the vast majority of domestic assaults reported were by males.
      * women often assaulted their partners BUT these cases rarely went to court.
      * assaults with significant injury were almost exclusively perpetrated by males.

      From the Police notes we surmised that there was a high bias amongst males to not report or want to pursue acts of violence by females: they were often reported by third parties. So yes women assaulted men. Remembering this was years ago but I do not recall significant reports of assaults against children or seniors. What I suspect this represents is a different attitude at the time which thankfully has changed.

      On the type of violence in domestic disputes the significant things I recall recording were the capacity of males for extreme violence (no female equivalence), and the amount of (female) verbal abuse from partners that these men blamed for their offending. (Before anybody objects to me saying this remember we were researching, not drawing conclusions.., that was not our job).

      So to your comment about feminist propaganda: women have every reason to fear male violence, we males have a good track record as offenders. The significant difference is that we males are usually far better at dishing out the rough stuff than women. The absolute necessity for safe places like Womens Refuges for victims of male violence attests to this.

      If feminists have made a big issue of male violence it is because they need to: there is an easy way to shut them up….we males should stop doing the violence.

      • BloodyOrphan 3.3.1
        28 September 2012 at 9:21 am

        Well said Bored, I myself could sit there all day while they wail away on me wouldn’t even blink.
        If I on the other hand threw one punch, they’d likely be in hospital or dead.

      • kiwi_prometheus 3.3.2
        28 September 2012 at 9:34 am

        Like the professor said:

        “The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do,”

        Not exactly in keeping with the feminist meme – ‘men are the problem’.

        • Bored 3.3.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 9:51 am

          KP the reason I went to some length to reply was your final line: So much for the feminist propaganda meme “Men are the problem”. No doubt they will be working over time to bury this one or twist it to fit their feminist orthodoxy.

          You may wish to consider that that particular meme being fronted by a particularly vociferous group is very necessary. Feminists have called a spade a spade. They should be applauded for this. They have the bravery to face mens reaction to force the change.

          If you have a positive meme on this violence issue (i.e. any substantive female violence against men and children) I will support you: I suspect feminists would do the same.

          • kiwi_prometheus 3.3.2.1.1
            28 September 2012 at 10:16 am

            “Feminists have called a spade a spade…They should be applauded for this.”

            No, they have distorted the issue to fit their extremist ideology.

            Here’s just one small snippet from a leading feminist luminary ->

            “The newest variations on this distressingly ancient theme center on hormones and DNA: men are biologically aggressive; their fetal brains were awash in androgen; their DNA, in order to perpetuate itself, hurls them into murder and rape.” (Andrea Dworkin, Letters >From a War Zone, Dutton Publishing, 1989, p. 114)”

            Is that your idea of calling a spade a spade is it? Is that part of the feminist ” positive meme ” to use your words?

            You are looking like another fembot to me, bored.

            • Bored 3.3.2.1.1.1
              28 September 2012 at 10:26 am

              Me a fembot? Thats very amusing. You need to read some rather robust exchanges I have had recently with QOT etc. Hope she is having a laugh at this.

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                28 September 2012 at 10:34 am

                Well QoT is a Category 5 manhater, lol.

                I certainly have been laughing at her fantasy fiction graphic design – seems she’s trying to style herself as a tough girl lesbian with a “Girl With The Dragoon Tattoo” attitude.

                You’re what’s called a “useful idiot”, bored.

                • alex …
                  28 September 2012 at 12:12 pm

                  @KP – Calling Bored a useful idiot eh? Well, at least he is useful. You on the other hand…

                  • Me …
                    28 September 2012 at 12:20 pm

                    Me- is drained, tired, sad, depressed, ill, fed up, lonely, miserable, beaten up, abused, lied too, hated, fat, lethargic and bullied.

                    That is Me.

                    Sorry I aint 100%.

                    It is kind of hard to be 100% when your body is ill and your mentally exhausted.

            • Jokerman 3.3.2.1.1.2
              28 September 2012 at 11:24 am

              ignore extremists like Dworkin, imo

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                28 September 2012 at 11:32 am

                To ignore Dworkin is to ignore Feminism, numbers like her are the Godmothers of the movement.

                You can’t separate out the ideology from the protagonists.

                Its like saying I ignore Friedman, but I’m a believer in neo classical economics.

                • Pascal's bookie …
                  28 September 2012 at 11:48 am

                  Its like saying I ignore Friedman, but I’m a believer in neo classical economics.

                  Leaving aside the lulz contained in you lecturing people about What A Proper Feminist Thinks, (which is a big deal because those lulz are epic in nature), your analogy is pretty whack.

                  First up, ‘neo classical economics’ is to ‘economics’ as ‘feminism’ is to ?

                  Looks like a category error could be in play there.

                  Second up, by way of labouring the point;

                  ‘It’s like saying I ignore the Pope even though I’m a christian’

                  or

                  ‘I ignore Friedman even though I don’t believe in a command economy’

                  or

                  ‘I ignore Sta1in even though I’m an atheist’

                  ad infinitum

              • Bored …
                28 September 2012 at 4:33 pm

                Never heard of Dworkin before. Just read the wiki, did she have a rough time! Her life experiences would really have politicised her. Some would call it choices, others circumstance but when you read of her experiences you understand the reaction. Extreme perhaps, but hell what a response.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.3.2.1.1.3
              28 September 2012 at 11:54 am

              No, they have distorted the issue to fit their extremist ideology.

              No they haven’t. The research has consistently shown that men do more and worse violence than women.

              • KJT …
                28 September 2012 at 12:26 pm

                No it doesn’t. It shows that domestic violence is more often from women.

                Violence outside the home is, mostly, young males attacking each other. Crimes such as rape by strangers are, actually, not that common.

                Violence committed by males is often worse because of , generally, greater strength.

                Which means that males have a duty to make sure they do not harm people with that strength. There I agree with the feminists.

                However I suspect a lot of domestic violence is because of stress, which affects women carers more, because they are more overworked and involved in family/childcare.

                Rather than fighting about who does what, it would be better to try and find ways of reducing the causes, and stresses which lead to violence.

                Taking steps to stop many people becoming poorer and more powerless would help.

            • QoT 3.3.2.1.1.4
              28 September 2012 at 6:37 pm

              leading feminist luminary … Andrea Dworkin

              Oh believe me, Bored, I am pissing myself laughing.

              Take it away, manboobz.

        • BloodyOrphan 3.3.2.2
          28 September 2012 at 10:08 am

          What is the masculin personality and does it live in Men exclusively?

          Is that what you’re asking KP? , and “Men are the problem” make any more sense ?

          You’re right it’s not about gender it’s about peronality, and how would you describe a “Feminist” personality. If you break the word down it means Activist Women.

          Activism is an aggressive form of communication, and aggression is in the definition sense of the word more “Masculin”

          So the real statement should read “Violent People are the problem” and a Feminist wouldn’t usually argue that.

          • kiwi_prometheus 3.3.2.2.1
            28 September 2012 at 10:28 am

            “how would you describe a “Feminist” personality. If you break the word down it means Activist Women.”

            Your “Activist Women” are gender bigots. Here’s some more hate speech from their movements top dogs:

            “[Rape] is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear.” (Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Secker & Warburg, 1975, p. 6) ”

            “If life is to survive on this planet, there must be a decontamination of the Earth. I think this will be accompanied by an evolutionary process that will result in a drastic reduction of the population of males. People are afraid to say that kind of stuff anymore.” (from a 2001 interview with What Is Enlightenment magazine [referencing] Mary Daly, Quintessence…Realizing the Archaic Future: A Radical Elemental Feminist Manifesto, Beacon Press, 1998)”

            “Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women’s bodies.” (Andrea Dworkin, Letters From a War Zone, Dutton Publishing, 1989)”

            “Whatever they may be in public life, whatever their relations with men, in their relations with women, all men are rapists and that’s all they are. They rape us with their eyes, their laws, their codes.” (Marilyn French, The Women’s Room, Summit Books, 1977)”

            “Some women today believe that men are well on their way to exterminating women from the world through violent behavior and oppressive policies.” (Marilyn French, The War Against Women, Ballantine Books, 1992, p. 200)”

            “The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race.” (The Future–If There Is One–Is Female, 1982) – Gearhart, Sally Miller

            • BloodyOrphan 3.3.2.2.1.1
              28 September 2012 at 10:33 am

              Well said bud, welcome to the world of “Denial”
              Those women are expressing what they experience every day, a personal perpective if you like.
              And yes their chosen perspective forces them to see those things everyday.
              So what are you trying to say about them bud?
              At least they are transparent in their aggression.
              (i.e. We can see them coming)

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                28 September 2012 at 10:37 am

                You’re obviously in denial about Feminist ideology.

                Why don’t want to state your position on any of those statements above by leading feminists?

                • BloodyOrphan …
                  28 September 2012 at 10:40 am

                  Na bud, like I said “Well said”, they are Bigots.

                  And my position is they are in denial about their perspective in life.

                  They say they are fighting for equality and then want to decimate the numbers of men, obviously not civilised. They are just more power trippin humans.

                  Many Many people are like that.

                  And ya can just leave it at “They’re a bunch of biggots”, we dont need proof of an everyday thing bud.

                  And yes I do support the Feminist activism, why?,
                  Because innocent people who are feminine, need to be aware of the dangers, which are many.

                  • kiwi_prometheus …
                    28 September 2012 at 11:29 am

                    You’re making out that they are just an isolated group of discredited nobodies.

                    Wrong.

                    They are leading feminist intellectuals and activists.

                    Because of their gender bigotry efforts, men are perceived constantly as violent and dangerous perpetrators against women and children.

                    But as the professor pointed out:

                    “the public perception that men were the perpetrators of most domestic violence was the result of biased publicity.”

                    • BloodyOrphan …
                      28 September 2012 at 12:11 pm

                      “result of biased publicity”
                      I’d say it was the result of the ambigous meaning of the word “Man”, it’s based on Observational statistics and real life interpretation after all.

                      “You’re making out that they are just an isolated group of discredited nobodies”
                      The size of the group is irrelevant, it’s about impact on civilisation, more “Reactionary” than anything.
                      And no these r my observed opinions of the world, im a bit of a minimalist.

            • BLiP 3.3.2.2.1.2
              28 September 2012 at 10:38 am

              .

              Pat . . . Pat . . . is that you?

            • Draco T Bastard 3.3.2.2.1.3
              28 September 2012 at 12:05 pm

              You’ve gone out and picked up the most extreme examples that could find haven’t you? (Or, I suspect, are repeating what you’ve found on feminist hating blogs) Here, try this post on (T/W). I think you’ll find that most feminists don’t match what you believe.

            • QoT 3.3.2.2.1.4
              28 September 2012 at 8:37 pm

              Hey folks, you know what’s hilarious? Entirely without meaning to, in my comment above this one I linked to a Manboobz post which debunks almost every single one of these “quotes” k_p has provided!

              I know, it’s a shock to all of us that k_p is mindlessly copy-pasting misogynist sp*m, but I’m sure in time, with sufficient grief counselling, we’ll get over it.

    • Dr Terry 3.4
      28 September 2012 at 11:00 am

      Alright, kp, just let us recogise that ALL VIOLENCE is not a good thing!

    • Draco T Bastard 3.5
      28 September 2012 at 11:34 am

      I have NFI how the ODT got a headline of Children most often killed by mothers (ScreenShot) when their second sentence says:

      The Family Violence Death Review, released today by police, found mothers were responsible for 45 per cent of children killed by domestic violence.

      Last time I looked 45% was less than half and is thus not “most”. What the report says is:

      Martin and Pritchard found that children in their first year of life were most likely to be killed by a natural parent, with mothers frequently suspected of killing a baby in the first four weeks of life and fathers frequently suspected of killing an older baby in the 1-12 month age group (2010: 49). Fathers and stepfathers were more often the perpetrator as the child grew older (Ibid).

      Labour’s women’s affairs spokeswoman Sue Moroney said the report showed “police must resume reporting full family violence statistics so we can get the full picture”.

      That bit I agree with. Full recording and reporting is always needed.

      Of course, if you want to get a better idea of what the report says then I suggest you read it (PDF). A quick skim is telling me the facts are completely different from anything actually reported. The MSM and Family First seem to be going for a sensationalist approach.

      • McFlock 3.5.1
        28 September 2012 at 12:06 pm

        I think that the ODT editors go to the same Misogynists’ Anonymous meetings as KP.

        • Bored 3.5.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 2:09 pm

          McF, I could not possibly comment as I am now (courtesy of KP) a “fembot”. Its been quite fun, gives me a very different perspective. I am thinking of sending my mother along to the M Anon meeting, a voice so soft, a tongue like a razor.

          Having read the report (thanks Draco) I think we need to send the ODT and KP of to a remedial reading course.

      • insider 3.5.3
        28 September 2012 at 2:24 pm

        You’ve never heard of brothers, sisters, grandparents and the ubiquitous ‘partners’ Draco? I’d never have seen you as the archetype nuclear family proponent 🙂

      • QoT 3.5.4
        28 September 2012 at 6:38 pm

        Easy, they’re going from a simple majority basis, not a plurality. Makes for saucier headlines.

      • weka 3.5.5
        28 September 2012 at 7:43 pm

        Looks like there is an attempt to redefine domestic violence. I’m not sure that women who have hidden a pregnancy killing their new born babies should be viewed in the same category as a man who habitually beats his wife, and controls her behaviour so she cannot leave him. If we want solutions, then those two things need to be understood and dealt with differently.

        Likewise, from what I remember of the international research, stats showing men are just as likely to experience domestic violence as women used definitions of violence much broader than what we are used to, so that lesser violence was included alongside full out physical violence and hyper control (death threats etc). 

        • rosy 3.5.5.1
          28 September 2012 at 8:54 pm

          Agree, Weka. It is redefining domestic violence. And there is no way the tragedy of a hidden pregnancy can be considered in this redefining. Defining crime or even accident by outcome is almost always ridiculous (e.g. theft s theft whether it be $5 or $5,000 and a drink driving death is different to badly maintained car causing death), it needs to be defined more (but not exclusively) by cause.

          Of course there are huge problems in how people handle relationships and this is way beyond urgently needing to be addressed – for both women and men. Men do have a responsibility to control their violence, especially against those smaller and weaker than they are, because they cause vastly more physical damage. I suggest that women made powerless through domestic violence are more likely to transfer that powerlessness and violence to their children, and children to each other, and clearly they can carry that through to their own adult behaviour. It has been argued

          that for men aggression is `a means of exerting control over other people when they feel the need to reclaim power or self-esteem’. For women it is `a temporary loss of control caused by overwhelming pressure and resulting in guilt’… For women it is a failure of self-control, for men a means of imposing control and one which rarely results in guilt.

          Also, research shows [pdf] up to 35% of children who witness or experience violence suffer from diminished aspirations – their world view narrows as does their hopes for their future – depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts, dissociation, withdrawal, truancy, inability to be happy, helplessness and hopelessness, sleep disorders, skin disorders and other stress related illnesses. This can be worse for children who witness domestic violence than for children who are beaten themselves. Adolescents who witness domestic violence are more likely to drop out of school, exhibit deviant and anti-social behaviour, abuse alcohol and drugs, and imitate the relationships they were exposed to (although this is not inevitable).

          IMO, until the scourge of domestic violence is addressed by cause, statistics like this cannot stand alone as a snapshot of violent and tragic family behaviour.

    • Jokerman 3.6
      28 September 2012 at 11:39 am

      well, here is a personal anecdote for ya’s.

      -When we were primary-school age, our “mother” would “punish” us (read project, and discharge all her anger and “disgust”) upon us by regularly holding an arm so we could not escape and beating us all over our bodies with a hearth-brush or leather strap)
      -i still have the scar-tissue on the back of my head where she broke a Temuka plate over it as a teenager
      -she regularly verbalised “she wished she never bloody had us” and “wished we were dead”
      -she maintained the authority of fear by threatening placement in Social Welfare home
      -i could go on, and on, and on, but i have chosen to forget now, most of the time, Forgive, and i am hungry for some Fish and Chips.

      I have studied childhood physical, emotional and psychological Abuse, and it is a rabid cancer upon our society, increasing every day under the pressures of poverty and poor education in what it is to be human Being.

      • Bored 3.6.1
        28 September 2012 at 2:35 pm

        The mention of being scarred by a “Temuka plate”…sent a shiver of deep seated pleasure up my spine. A true NZ bludgeon, home made plates and weaponry. South Canterbury no less, pre finance types. Our plates and bowls, not some imported stuff but true NZ made tableware…those were the days. Must say your mother sounded like she creatively wielded it in the true international human style, but you possess a true NZ generated scar. Might we preserve you as a living exhibit to the benefits of import control.

        PS She should not have done it.

      • prism 3.6.2
        28 September 2012 at 3:33 pm

        What would help in times of parental depression and/or rage is for parenthood to have a high standing in the community, along with realistic understanding of the ongoing demands on parents that can play havoc with kindly feelings. And with more friendly understanding to parents, a helpline where stressed parents could ring and get practical kindly help not the sort of command and control that some nurses and judgmental social workers give. A great way to relieve parents’ stress, get a new approach and feel affirmed.

        Plus, let’s go wild, the chance for parents to put their name down for a day out with their kids in a very cheap $1 and perhaps free, organised outing if they are poor and on their own. It’s very different from that now. Not every parent would need or want this but it would be there for emergencies at no cost. The cost is a substitution for the bypassed later problems at school etc which would be much more costly.

        The leather strap, the hairbrush, the temuka plate (ooh they are as sturdy as railway cups) they all hurt and better ways need to be found.

        • Anne 3.6.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 8:20 pm

          urggh… don’t remind me of the old railway cups and the ghastly tea/coffee that swilled around inside them. Add to that the cold meat pie and the stale piece of fruitcake and I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.

          • prism 3.6.2.1.1
            28 September 2012 at 8:51 pm

            Anne
            Hey hey there. Those pieces of kiwiana probably formed the foundations for many a small country town and provided inspiration for one of our folk songs Taumarunui on the main trunk line by Peter Cape. See Friday social and link to some good versions.

      • rosy 3.6.3
        28 September 2012 at 8:58 pm

        Yeah, Jokerman – sometimes you’ve got to choose to forget just to get by, and if something triggers a return of the memories, to just let them flow through and then forget again. I know I can’t go through life letting those who did harm control my memories as well.

    • weka 3.7
      28 September 2012 at 11:00 pm

      “So much for the feminist propaganda meme “Men are the problem”.”

      Dude, you’re the only one pushing that meme, which of course is really nothing more than an anti-feminist agenda – ooh look, all feminists hate men so nothing they say or do has any value.

      Yawn. 

  4. Stephen Doyle 4
    28 September 2012 at 8:52 am

    As an avid Standard lurker and occasional poster, I am impressed by the quality of most of the postings. My only caveat would be that we all complain, but rarely offer an alternative solution.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      28 September 2012 at 12:13 pm

      True but coming up with a solution does take a long time and, most importantly, needs some idea as to what the problem is – i.e, the complaining.

      Knee-jerk reaction, which is what we get from some people, often leaves things worse off. It’s a solution but one that often only addresses one part of the problem and doesn’t take into account anything else and thus is something that we don’t want.

  5. ianmac 5
    28 September 2012 at 9:01 am

    Interesting to hear a Minister (Williamson)on Morning Report with a full head of steam letting strip about the failings of Mr Shirtcliffe in regards to the failed Christchurch building, yet there is a deafening silence about the Spying (Kimgate?) failures. From the Government at least.
    Good to hear the MSM echoing the need for a full enquiry. (Wonder if the Report released by the PM was the entire report?)

    • BloodyOrphan 5.1
      28 September 2012 at 9:07 am

      “Wonder if the Report released by the PM was the entire report?)”

      It probably was, these people live on undisclosed info, they write reports too cover their arses, NO OTHER REASON, they don’t give a shit about NZers and New Zealand Law.

      They were born and bred by the likes of ShonKey to do their bidding, nothing else.

    • Armchair Critic 5.2
      28 September 2012 at 9:20 am

      I wonder if this is the distraction from the Banks/dotcom/school closure/redundancies snafu?
      When I heard that the police were investigating further I assumed, incorrectly, that they would investigate the designers, because they had been found to be primarily responsible for the collapse. But this is not the case.
      Mr Shirtcliff, who seems to be very economical with the truth, seems from the evidence to have had only a minor part, at worst, in the collapse. while I have no problem with him being investigated, it seems to me that it is a poor way of solving the question of who was actually responsible for the collapse of the CTV building.

    • prism 5.3
      28 September 2012 at 10:08 am

      ianmac 5
      Are you thinking that we are likely to find that Shirtcliffe is dealt to as a way of attracting attention from the spying debacle?

      • ianmac 5.3.1
        28 September 2012 at 11:07 am

        Hadn’t really thought of that. Just that Government Ministers are often silent even when matters are pressing, like the Spy thing, but eloquent over some miserable wretch alleged cheat. Perhaps Williamson or other Minister should be shouting the need to bring Spy cheats to justice?
        You and Armchair might be right about the distraction though as it has become the ritual for Government these days.

  6. Blue 6
    28 September 2012 at 9:17 am

    Is it just me, or is the Herald’s shilling for National becoming more and more blatant?

    I first noticed it when that stupid story about ‘bigger classes shown to be better’ article popped up over the weekend, and now the Herald has run two prominent beneficiary bashing stories that I’ve noticed this week about people who live in ‘million dollar state houses’.

    So much for not becoming a trashy tabloid. ‘It’s only a format change’ should be the next Tui billboard.

    • alwyn 6.1
      28 September 2012 at 12:27 pm

      If you read the story about the very valuable houses you would have seen that it was Annette King who was calling for the houses to be sold.
      Surely she isn’t asking for State assets to be sold? Has David whatever approved the change in policy?
      Surely, also, it cannot be a Labour MP who is indulging in what you would define as “beneficiary bashing”?

      • BloodyOrphan 6.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 12:44 pm

        BANANA Republic, they’re trying to incease a transaction accounts value, and won’t regulate because of treaties with foreign governments.

      • Te Reo Putake 6.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 12:46 pm

        Oh, dear, Alwyn, that’s not up to your usual standard. Housing NZ selling one house to buy or build 3 or 4 more is nothing unusual. However, if they sold off half the house to people resident overseas who will never live in it but who demand half the rental income, then there would be a useful corrollory with the Asset Theft program.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.2
      28 September 2012 at 12:29 pm

      The NZHerald was a trashy tabloid before the format change.

  7. framu 7
    28 September 2012 at 9:23 am

    just a question here – does anyone else keep getting a failed load on the standard using google chrome?

    happens on a regular basis to me (kind of one day per week or there abouts) – main page loads (whether thats a cached version or not im not sure) – but a post wont load once clicked on.

    Firefox works everytime

    using win7, latest version of chrome and firefox

  8. captain hook 8
    28 September 2012 at 9:35 am

    haS LEN BROWN MADE ANY MOVES TO FIRE THE MANAGeMENT of POAL yet.

    • muzza 8.1
      28 September 2012 at 9:58 am

      No, and he won’t because he can’t!

      Welcome to democracy NZ style!

    • The Voice of Reason 8.2
      28 September 2012 at 10:59 am

      Asking the same question in Open Mike every day and ignoring the answer makes you look like a particularly stupid troll, captain hook. Time to move on, eh?

  9. Penny Bright 9
    28 September 2012 at 10:18 am

    PROTEST AGAINST JOHN KEY!!
    TODAY! Friday 28 September 2012 (from 11am?)
    Lincoln Green, 159 Lincoln Rd, Henderson

    Auckland Action Against Poverty is calling supporters to participate in a picket of an upcoming charity lunch that John Key will be attending. The lunch aims to raise money for a new children’s ward at Waitakere hospital.

    We think it is highly ironic that John Key is raising money for kids when Govt welfare changes will play a huge factor in creating even more child poverty, ill health and homelessness.

    This picket will be child/family friendly.
    For more information you can get in touch at;

    contact@aaap.nz
    chris.zack@aaap.org.nz
    sarah.thompson@aaap.org.nz
    http://www.aaap.org.nz

    Google map of the location here: http://tinyurl.com/9yljmaj

    • mike e 10.1
      28 September 2012 at 2:53 pm

      Also Spain’s agriculture sector is in deep trouble drought!

      • Bored 10.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 4:37 pm

        You will also find that the agricultural trouble has to do with the cost of energy: they have vast areas of glasshouses that need heating and transport fuel to get tomatoes to Oslo mid winter.

  11. Dr Terry 11
    28 September 2012 at 11:09 am

    Key apologising over Dotcom mess-up. He is apologising for the conduct of others (who surely act under his oversight). When did he last apologise for his own misconduct? He slides out from under by scapegoating his “friends”. Am a little disappointed that Dotcom readily accepted this kind of an apology.

  12. ianmac 12
    28 September 2012 at 11:16 am

    I was in Spain recently and although there were few signs of disaster the people we met were friendly ordinary folk with the same needs as anyone anywhere. The police presence in Madrid was phenomenal. We timed the frequency as being no more than 4 minutes before another policeman or police car was visible in the city streets.
    The prospects for the people are pretty awful, but locals in the South believed that the local Governance was rife with graft and bribery and corruption. A massive rethink of official integrity was desperately needed they said. Just sad.

    • ianmac 12.1
      28 September 2012 at 11:19 am

      Oops Spain was for Jokerman @10

    • BloodyOrphan 12.2
      28 September 2012 at 11:43 am

      They need too regulate as well, welcome to the BANANA republic spain and greece and everyone else who signed that freakin thing, when’s the next round of sanctions on IRAN gonna hit?,
      How many months do we have before our exchange rate permanently goes down 2%?
      Maybe they didn’t read it M8!,
      They shoulda had a HUI about it M8!
      Is that Civilised BILL ENGLISH?!

  13. ianmac 13
    28 September 2012 at 12:39 pm

    The Green Party has asked the police to investigate the GCSB’s illegal spying on Kim Dotcom saying the agency appears to have broken the same law under which Prime Minister John Key laid his “Teapot Tapes” complaint.

    Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said yesterday’s report into the incident by Inspector General of Intelligence and Security Paul Neazor clearly concluded that the Government Communications Security Bureau’s (GCSB) actions in the case were illegal. Mr Key has also publicly acknowledged that too.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10837132

  14. Jackal 14
    28 September 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Dotcom spy debacle timeline

    It would be good to see the GCSB, the Prime Minister and his deputy held to account for what is at least gross incompetence, if not a conspiracy to breach the law…

    • Mary 14.1
      28 September 2012 at 1:04 pm

      Yes, but how? The Greens have just made a complaint to the police but I don’t think the cops will be very happy about investigating the GCSB, let alone prosecuting them. In any case breaking the law, as we all know, means nothing.

      What we really want to show is that Key has lied. That’s the golden egg that we should be looking for.

      • BloodyOrphan 14.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 1:26 pm

        I think the answer is those reports are biased in a way that they can’t interpret, and for the sake of lives have stepped back.

        It’s a new organisation only been in existence for a couple of years.
        They need qualified people to think it through for them, but as always they refuse to pay the ones that do the real work, and compensate secretaries doing the minutes because they’re as corrupt of soul, and thieving as they are
        (no offense David Shearer it’s not a universal thing I’m sure).

      • Jackal 14.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 1:36 pm

        The cops won’t be very happy with the Prime Minister trying to blame them for the “mistake” either. In fact I think Police commissioner Peter Marshall will look very unfavorably on that. The courts will in most cases uphold the law, which incidentally is why much of the information has been released so far. Even some of the crowns pet judges are starting to question the excuses Key has been making.

        I do point out a number of inconsistencies that show Key has lied, but unfortunately the only way to categorically show there’s been a breach of law by Key is if the warrant he undoubtedly signed to allow the GCSB to spy on New Zealand resident’s surfaces. This is unlikely because it isn’t subject to any government act to make it public. Without that, Key can continue to obfuscate and hide behind feigned ignorance.

        • insider 14.1.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 1:58 pm

          The Police were running the KDC show. They had been working on it for months and provided the advice that he was a non resident and so able to be surveilled by GCSB. Why would Marshall be upset at that being pointed out (apart from general embarassment that they got it wrong again)? He should be angry with his senior managment.

          None of this information has come out because of courts ‘upholding the law’ in any special or unusual way. Did the court reject the English certificate? Did it question the status of the surveillance? Did it instigate Neazor report?

          • BloodyOrphan 14.1.2.1.1
            28 September 2012 at 2:09 pm

            It’s gauranteed he questioned it, but it would be based on gut reactions from Newbies.
            “He has something to hide” would’ve been the only real fact.
            They should’ve said he has a guilty conscience.

          • Jackal 14.1.2.1.2
            28 September 2012 at 2:39 pm

            I would say that a Lawyer specifically appointed by Judge Winkleman to look into the matter and the resulting documents that have been made public despite Bill English trying to suppress that information is something special. Paul Davison QC is obviously earning his bread and butter.

            If you accept that OFCANZ gave GCSB an assurance that Dotcom and Bram van der Kolk were not NZ residents, then you have a point. However no document I’ve seen confirms this? In contrast, the police planning document clearly outlines that Dotcom was a NZ resident. That document would have been available at the briefing held on 19 January 2012 at Police National Headquarters, 180 Molesworth Street Wellington, which GCSB operatives attended.

            You’re saying that OFCANZ informed GCSB that they were not NZ residents after GCSB operatives had already received information to show they were residents? That contradiction should have made them double check the status of their targets.

            Passing the buck down the chain of command is an age old practice.

            • insider 14.1.2.1.2.1
              28 September 2012 at 6:21 pm

              Judges don’t appoint defence lawyers. Davison works for kdc. But I agree that it probably was his questioning that got the thought juices going somewhere in govt about the legality of the surveillance.

              Neazor said police told gcsb. If he is wrong take it up with him.

              Resident has the common and legal angles. There are plenty of people living and working nz without resident status. Neazor clearly says they knew he was resident (ie living in nz) and had some form of visa but not that he was a permanent resident, and so protected. They were wrong in their understanding of his status.

          • McFlock 14.1.2.1.3
            28 September 2012 at 2:47 pm

            Why were the GCSB content to take immigration status advice from the police? Surely it’s the GCSB’s job to ensure they comply with the law?  
                 
            The police made a cockup in establishing the status, sure. Or probably just hadn’t updated their files, depending on how long the investigation had gone on for/the file was open. But it was the GCSB’s job to check for themselves, not assume that it was okay.
               
            This is a check that’s a fundamental part of preserving our freedom as citizens and residents of NZ. That means it’s shit you check yourself, rather than hoping that other people have done it properly for you.

            • BloodyOrphan 14.1.2.1.3.1
              28 September 2012 at 2:54 pm

              All the “Word of mouths” and “Off the Records” added up to them acting outside the law.

              It’s a misdmeanor offense for an unqualified person, which can have a critical, life altering repercussion on the people involved (that they have no comprehension of, because it’s “Not Their Job” to judge.)

              • Jackal …
                28 September 2012 at 3:04 pm

                But they (hopefully qualified GCSB agents) are judging all the time in choosing who to spy on. Your other point I agree with… The penalties involved in a breach of the Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003 (PDF) are quite simply pathetic!

                • BloodyOrphan …
                  28 September 2012 at 3:07 pm

                  It’s the coal face “Trying to hide that judgement” that screws it up, the opperative loses perspective.
                  Why’d they start going on about Guns for instance?
                  I’d expect that ACT had as much thought as a “Free Lunch” it’ll be completely unqualified, which means it doesn’t allow for the above reactions, and having people (Captains) in place to deal with them, this organisation appears to be based on a clerical office and it should be based on “Real Life” police work.

              • McFlock …
                28 September 2012 at 3:20 pm

                It’s not a misdemeanor offence to unlawfully intercept communications – up to 2 years imprisonment.
                     
                 

                • BloodyOrphan …
                  28 September 2012 at 3:22 pm

                  Fair enough, but it’s an offence you can virtualy expect from a “NewBie” everytime.
                  They obviously didn’t read that .pdf either.

                  • McFlock …
                    28 September 2012 at 3:27 pm

                    I work with confidential data.
                    From day one of employment we reinforce the mantra of confidentiality. And in some areas sign documentation to that effect. We have statutory obligations (well, everyone does to greater or lesser degrees). And we consistently manage to work within those restrictions.  
                               
                    If we can manage it, the GCSB should be able to manage it, too. This case points to a lack of responsibility at every level of the organisation, minister down.

        • Bored 14.1.2.2
          28 September 2012 at 2:39 pm

          Under the Westminster system there is a well established tradition of Ministerial Responsibility with attendant resignations…..

          • BloodyOrphan 14.1.2.2.1
            28 September 2012 at 2:42 pm

            Those come down the the Individual understandings of the MP’s themselves.
            Some indeed needed to be “Thrown Out”, denial is not an acceptable answer at some point.
            What does “Honourable” mean to these denialists?

      • Dr Terry 14.1.3
        28 September 2012 at 7:46 pm

        Mary – Has he ever stopped lying? Problem is that people are now so accustomed to it. “What’s new?”

      • OneTrack 14.1.4
        28 September 2012 at 11:37 pm

        So, you dont care that a government department may have broken the law, you just want to “get key”. ok.

        • McFlock 14.1.4.1
          28 September 2012 at 11:57 pm

          You mean the government department that key directly controls broke the law, yet he claims he had no knowledge of what they were doing when they did it? 
                
           

  15. BloodyOrphan 15
    28 September 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Blatant Hyprocisy and the outcome is starving children and bene bashing.
    Nothing civilised there.
    Why?, some freakin contract they signed whilst wearing a freakin blindflold M8!
    And the Stupid thing?, those countries would probably laugh at them and say “Do it b4 it’s 2 L8! M8!”
    They wont even petition the UN to stop the embargoes for crying out load …. spineless.

  16. Draco T Bastard 16
    28 September 2012 at 2:17 pm

    At least the Australian government seems to be beginning to understand the limits of the “free-market”:

    Communications minister Stephen Conroy has threatened to fund a new submarine link between Australia and the US out of the National Broadband Network budget if international pricing does not fall to reasonable levels.

    Meanwhile, in NZ, private enterprise failed to bring about a new cable:

    A proposal to build a new submarine cable system linking Australia and New Zealand with the United States has folded after failing to reach the $US400 million in funding required to build the cable.

    Pacific Fibre, a New Zealand-based venture from three entrepreneurs, confirmed plans to close its doors, scrapping plans to build the 13,000-kilometre, 5.1 terabit per second cable between Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles.

    If we want to get what we need then we can’t leave it to the private profiteers as doing so will ensure that we won’t get it.

    • insider 16.1
      28 September 2012 at 2:21 pm

      Pacific Fibre failed because prices were too low and excess capacity too high for them to make money…Would you like prices to rise and volumes to be restricted to subsidise them Draco?

      • mike e 16.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 2:43 pm

        Outsider bullshit that was their excuse The US government was making it to expensive to bring the cable ashore in California !
        The regulatory authorities wanted to charge a $ 140 million a year just to link into existing networks

        • Draco T Bastard 16.1.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 3:18 pm

          The regulatory authorities wanted to charge a $ 140 million a year just to link into existing networks

          Got a link for that?

      • Draco T Bastard 16.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 3:21 pm

        Actually, I’d like good international bandwidth at good prices which can only be supplied through government ownership. You may not have noticed but the restrictions are coming due to private ownership and reliance upon profiteering.

    • BloodyOrphan 16.2
      28 September 2012 at 2:28 pm

      The ultimate end result of the “Internet” boom,
      Those $ values get reclaimed from the only real thing involved, in this case a opticle cable.
      People will always look for the reality of somethings’ existence if they indeed intend to profit or control it.

      One of the adavantages of the current “Open Market” approach to our broadband is that it minimises the impact of this “The Telcos Own It” reality.

      But it would limit the R&D and growth budgets.

      • mike e 16.2.1
        28 September 2012 at 2:46 pm

        Bloody Orphin Stephen Joyce has just handed Vodafone and Telecom the only UFB contracts taking our telco’s straight back to monopoly status after labour cracked the previous cartel!

        • BloodyOrphan 16.2.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 2:49 pm

          Yeah true, but if you approach those Telcos in a certain context (i.e “Ownership”), they are oblidged to give you a wholesale rate, it’s just another link in the chain, but it’s a gauranteed one that small business can use to get a leg up.

        • Draco T Bastard 16.2.1.2
          28 September 2012 at 3:19 pm

          Telecommunications is a natural monopoly and as such should be one – a state owned one. It’s how you keep prices down.

          • BloodyOrphan 16.2.1.2.1
            28 September 2012 at 4:02 pm

            Assuming the state is civilised and transparently accountable, I’d agree with that.

            But utlimately there is no difference, and what you are talking about is enforcement, which can happen in the private sector just as easily, if thought through and applied appropriately.

            • Colonial Viper 16.2.1.2.1.1
              28 September 2012 at 4:07 pm

              Of course there is a difference: where do the profits flow? To the people of NZ, or to overseas shareholders?

              And enforcement is far easier if the Board and senior management act according to the priorities of the nation, not according to the priorities of private equity.

              Assuming the state is civilised and transparently accountable, I’d agree with that.

              Which private corporations are civilised and transparently accountable? Perhaps they should be held to the same standard as the state?

              • BloodyOrphan …
                28 September 2012 at 4:09 pm

                True, but Taxes will theoretically offset that, if they are profitable and operating within civilised boundries.
                Yes they should be held to those standards, which is why I say it’s about enforcement/ethic.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  28 September 2012 at 4:15 pm

                  Taxes will recover less than 30% of their profits! What are you talking about?

                  That infrastructure should be publicly owned so that 100% of the monies return to our citizens.

                  Yes they should be held to those standards, which is why I say it’s about enforcement/ethic.

                  Please tell me the enforcement mechanisms and bodies you propose to effectively do this.

                  • BloodyOrphan …
                    28 September 2012 at 4:17 pm

                    Ya still have too run the company bud, in the end, it’s actually the same fiscal balance, usually painfully reached I might add.

                    Why should I think it through for those maggots M8!, unless you cats pay me, no way, think it through for yourselves.

                    Fiscally equivalent On the books is what I mean. all we need to do is increase the Tax rate.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      28 September 2012 at 4:18 pm

                      How can it be the “same fiscal balance” when the economic surplus generated gets pumped off to overseas owners, instead of remaining in NZ?

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  28 September 2012 at 5:37 pm

                  Yes they should be held to those standards, which is why I say it’s about enforcement/ethic.

                  It’s harder to enforce those standards on a private firm because of the privacy that the firm has which the state service doesn’t.

          • Bored 16.2.1.2.2
            28 September 2012 at 4:26 pm

            Draco, be very very careful re natural monopoly…..trust me, I understand telco networks end to end, have done since before TCPIP was in underpants. The natural monopoly bit refers to the ability to deliver to the users home / work etc…the capital cost is very high….we refer to that bit as the local loop (currently copper, soon to be fibre). That’s where the capital cost is biggest so if it is a natural monopoly it has more to do with economies of scale and who can afford to build it….hence the government here being asked to fork out.

            In the network itself where natural monopolies may not exist. You can build multiple layers of service provision with different price points all dependent on the delivery type, pricing model (and cost of billing). Yes you could run this part as a monopoly but it does not need to be a natural one.

            • Draco T Bastard 16.2.1.2.2.1
              28 September 2012 at 5:47 pm

              In the network itself where natural monopolies may not exist.

              You can have multiple backbones but there’s no point as doing so just adds complexity, the expense that comes with it and unnecessarily uses more of the limited resources.

              That’s where the capital cost is biggest so if it is a natural monopoly it has more to do with economies of scale and who can afford to build it….hence the government here being asked to fork out.

              And if Telecom hadn’t been sold off the surplus that Telecom would have generated could have been put into the network and thus the government wouldn’t now be having to pay up for the FttH network.

              • insider …
                28 September 2012 at 5:59 pm

                .if you can (and we doe) have multiple backbones its hardly a natural monopoly is it? And wireless adds to that.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  28 September 2012 at 10:17 pm

                  Did you note the extra expense that having competition adds? Did you notice the added use of limited resources?

                  This is basic infrastructure that we’re talking about and so having competition in it doesn’t actually provide any benefit – it just adds to the costs. And that’s what makes it a natural monopoly.

              • Colonial Viper …
                28 September 2012 at 6:00 pm

                Basically, core social and economic infrastructure needs to be publicly owned and operated in the public good.

                Every business and every house hold needs internet. Therefore internet supply should be considered a utility for the social good.

                • insider …
                  28 September 2012 at 6:08 pm

                  All it takes is a mobile phone to access the net. This is not a major social policy issue in the days of $29 browser enabled phones.

                  • weka …
                    28 September 2012 at 10:54 pm

                    Mobile phone coverage isn’t universal. 

                    Mobile data rates are prohibitive for many people.

                    Lots of internet can’t be done easily or effectively on a mobile phone.

                    etc. 

    • karol 17.1
      28 September 2012 at 4:49 pm

      Good post, gr, and one which I largely agree with. I’m for the integration of emotion and political perspectives, with well reasoned arguments based on verifiable evidence. It’s a fine line to tread.

      Also, I think Unforgettable is disappointing. I have a long relationship with detective fiction in book and on screen, and appreciate a good story centred on a female detective. But Unforgettable really does lack heart.

      I miss those pre-neoliberal, down-at-heel, rough-edged gumshoes, often in conflict with the establishment. Southland is good though.

      • Reagan Cline 17.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 6:19 pm

        “verifiable evidence” like distinctive skull shape, facial appearance and eye colour are associated with uber und untermenschen ?

      • Dr Terry 17.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 7:55 pm

        SIR Peter Gluckman, please! He is favoured by Key (an adviser) – of course he is dangerous!

        • karol 17.1.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 8:08 pm

          Well the blog post linked to is not flattering about Gluckman. I have no idea why RC replied to me in that way.

    • Reagan Cline 17.2
      28 September 2012 at 6:26 pm

      Prof Gluckman probably finds good evidence in his own work and others that how we are as we are can be modified by altering our genetic material.
      Nothing too dangerous here surely ?

    • Draco T Bastard 17.3
      28 September 2012 at 6:46 pm

      Richard Taylor and Len Richards have described the way that the Otahuhu Railway Workshops became, in the sixties and seventies, the ‘working class university of New Zealand’, as mechanics and sparkies formed study groups and held constant debates about social and political issues.

      And that is the type of thing that I’m thinking about here.

      Some things though, need more than a single person and the resources that that person has to create and so we also need to encourage and broaden peoples networking which is another use for having a PC and internet connection in every house that will allow people of the same interests to connect with each other and thus take a cooperative and creative approach to researching and producing what they want to produce.

      Larger capital expenditure such as research facilities/libraries would be community based.

      Modernised somewhat but it’s what I envision should be happening in an engaged society. People getting together to brainstorm rather than leaving it to faceless corporations.

    • Jokerman 17.4
      28 September 2012 at 10:04 pm

      Very Good 🙂

  18. captain hook 18
    28 September 2012 at 3:59 pm

    yep.

  19. Rosie 19
    28 September 2012 at 4:39 pm

    Sadly, yet another “Are you serious ?” moment from our wise and benevolent (not) govt:

    NZ is the only country inlcuded on an international panel to vote against saving endangered dolphins, including our very own Maui’s dolphin………Go figure……..

    http://www.greens.org.nz/newsletters/greenweek/greenweek-dolphin-watch-paid-parental-leave-and-tim-burton-caterpillars

  20. captain hook 20
    28 September 2012 at 4:58 pm

    listning to Jim Mora now and Jane Clifton is using an interrogative at the end of every sentence.
    Just like Mark Sainsbury on Close up.
    this is a form of bullying that has gone on for far too long and it is about time for all the crusty old hacks (and the POAL managment) to get the boot and some sort of integrity and service re- introduced.

  21. Jokerman 21
    28 September 2012 at 5:32 pm

    ewe know where these are going!
    http://www.oamarumail.co.nz/news/big-mobs-go-missing/1561965/
    yippee yi aye..yippie yi oh…

    (been appearing like N.Z’s going all Wild, Wild West fer some time pa….)

  22. McFlock 22
    28 September 2012 at 5:55 pm

    Cracked has a handy list for rich people. Some of the tories here might find it helps them win friends and influence people…

  23. jimgreen 23
    28 September 2012 at 8:20 pm

    I saw this the other day and wanted to barf.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7726694/Schwarzenegger-backs-new-politics

    Arnie is about as non-partisan as the smug business analysts we have to sit through on th 6 o’clock news. Check him out providing an introduction to a series on Milton Friedman

  24. Dv 24
    28 September 2012 at 10:09 pm

    John Key says people need to be held to account for the collapse of the CTV building,

    Held to account
    O really

  25. Draco T Bastard 25
    28 September 2012 at 10:22 pm

    Missed this:

    Meanwhile, in the real world, they’re unlawfully arresting teenagers and denying them their basic rights:

    Two Upper Hutt teenagers have told of their humiliating and traumatising ordeal at the hands of police, who arrested and strip-searched the pair before locking them up for 36 hours.

    And, no, the pair weren’t the people the police were looking for.

    • fatty 25.1
      28 September 2012 at 10:36 pm

      I’m sure those cops were just doing their job.
      They were probably the wrong people, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
      (non-Pakeha, in a poor area, in 2012)

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  • Ticket To Anywhere

    You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 hours ago
  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    19 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
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    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
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    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
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    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
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    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
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    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
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    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
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    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
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    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
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    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
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    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
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    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
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    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
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    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
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    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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