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.
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.
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!!!
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.
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!
The same here, a daily visit is the way to get the day going.
Even Bryce had nice things to say about us.
the blogosphere is fairly scathing of Justice Neazor’s report. At the extreme end, The Standard blogsite has the angriest commentary – see, for example, Key fails to guard the guardians and What does Key have to gain by lying?
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.
“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.
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?
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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’.
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.
“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?
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.
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’
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.
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.
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.
“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
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)
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
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).
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.
-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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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?)
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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”?
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.
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.
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?
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;
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.
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.
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.
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?!
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.
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…
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.
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).
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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!
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ?
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.
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……..
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.
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
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.
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)
Hipkins says the Government was doing “too much too fast”. Now it’s praying clearing the decks will also clear the way to a better election result. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: He’s done it. New PM Chris Hipkins has ‘cleared the decks’ of all manner of flotsam and ...
A deeply-statistically-flawed poll the other day reported that 43.8 percent do not trust the National Party leader. I say deeply-statistically-flawed because it can be empirically proven that this data is non-correct.Let me show my working.The Newshub-Reid Research poll asks 1,000 random New Zealanders what they reckon. Thus we can infer ...
Hipkins held his expected bonfire of the policies today, ditching the RNZ/TVNZ merger, punting hate speech legislation to the Law Commission (which basicly means it will never happen), and dumping the "bougie dole" social insurance scheme. But along the way, he also shitcanned a key part of the government's emissions ...
Fonterra’s farmers will be relieved that prices in the Global Dairy Trade auction this week have rebounded – up 3.2% across the board. It is the first rise since December 6 The index had fallen 2.8% on January 3 and 0.1% on January 17, to kick off 2023 on a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Announcements on the provision of aid – to Auckland, Turkey and Syria – are recorded on the Beehive website today along with a statement from the PM about his flying visit to Australia. This was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, enabling him ...
There’s a 19th century flavour to National’s “social investment” strategy, in that it aims to seek capital from philanthropists and charitable organisations – some of them having their own religious agendas- to fund and deliver the provision of social services. Beyond that point, the details are remarkably scarce. Regardless, “social ...
Karl du Fresne writes – The jury has returned its verdict, and it’s emphatic. New Zealanders want the country’s name left as it is. In a Newshub-Reid Research poll, respondents were asked what they thought New Zealand should be known as. Fifty-two percent wanted the country to be ...
Poorly-managed diabetes results in amputations and other expensive hospital treatments – an example of how charging patients to access their medication ends up costing more in the long run. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The phrase ‘penny wise and pound foolish’ is one that applies across much of the Government’s approach to ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes- In recent decades the Labour Party has lost its traditional connection with working-class voters, becoming more of a middle-class party of liberalism. This is especially true of Labour’s historic connection with working-class Māori. This is a constituency that the party used to monopolise. ...
In recent decades the Labour Party has lost its traditional connection with working class voters, becoming more of a middle class party of liberalism. This is especially true of Labour’s historic connection with working class Māori. This is a constituency that the party used to monopolise. But ever since the ...
Hi,I wanted to thank everyone who responded to A New Day, a New Cease & Desistover the last five days or so. So many readers have brushed up against MLMs — and they’re something I want to push further into. Did I hear from good old Jonathan Callinan, the ...
As the planet continues to cook, extreme weather events like those we experienced over the last two weeks are set to become more frequent. How we plan our cities to mitigate the risks of climate change will inevitably be more salient going forward, and that will only increase over time. ...
TLDR: For paying subscribers, here’s the key scoops, breaking news and key links I’ve picked up this morning, as at 6.40 am, including:the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its official cash rate to a 10-year high and warned of more hikes to come, which was more hawkish than expected; RBABP ...
A year ago this week we saw the headline “Mask-wearing 17-year-old egged by aggressive convoy protesters”. As the protestors settled in for their long campout in opposition to vaccination requirements they demonstrated their commitment to standing up for the rights of the individual by verbally abusing, and throwing eggs at, ...
Chris Hipkins has become New Zealand’s 41st prime minister following Ardern’s unexpected resignation—perhaps the bold and unpredictable move Labour needed to improve its election chances. Just six days into his premiership and Labour had its first lead over National in thirteen weeks. National has had a largely uninterrupted run of ...
Good people can come into your life imperceptibly. It can seem they’re just there one day being remarkable. Nat Torkington, for instance.We were both online from the early days, I’m assuming that’s where we first connected; maybe in the UseNet newsgroups, or maybe later through Public Address.But it was when ...
One of New Zealand’s biggest electricity generators, Genesis Energy, has given the go-ahead for a large solar farm near Lauriston on the Canterbury Plains, an hour’s drive south of Christchurch. It is part of Genesis’ strategy of replacing thermal baseload with renewable generation – a mix of wind and solar. ...
Buzz from the Beehive We found just one fresh announcement on the Beehive website this morning, when we made our first visit since 4 February. It was posted in the name of Nanaia Mahuta, our Minister of Foreign Affairs, and explained why she was not at Waitangi at the weekend. ...
Hipkins is doing the right thing for New Zealanders already living in Australia, but there’s now a growing risk of a fresh surge of net emigration of frustrated young Kiwis across the Tasman. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Employers here in Aotearoa are desperate to keep their best-trained, most-productive ...
This post contains two guest posts from readers, both of which were sent to us after the flooding on Friday 27 January, both of which discuss how we handle our stormwater. This is a guest post from Ed Clayton, who’s written for us before about Auckland’s relationship with freshwater, ...
TLDR: For paying subscribers, here’s the key breaking news, scoops and links I’ve found since 4 am this morning, as of 7 am, including:A 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 in Turkey near its border with Syria; ReutersMetService has warned a new cyclone is forming north of Aotearoa that ...
The politics of Waitangi and the Treaty evident over the weekend have moved into a new space. The politics of Waitangi and the Treaty evident over the weekend have moved into a new space. There is a new wave of Maori activism, which sees the Treaty as a living ...
Originally published by The Hill After decades of failure to pass major federal climate legislation, Congress finally broke through last year with the Inflation Reduction Act and its close to $400 billion in clean energy investments. Energy modeling experts estimated that these provisions would help the U.S. cut its carbon pollution ...
Apology Accepted? “I dropped the ball on Friday, I was too slow to be seen …The communications weren’t fast enough – including mine. I’m sorry for that.”–Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.HOW OFTEN do politicians apologise? Sincerely apologise? Not offer voters the weasel words: “If my actions have offended anyone, then I ...
At first blush, Christopher Luxon’s comment at the parliamentary powhiri at Waitangi this year sounded tone deaf. The Leader of the Opposition in talking about the Treaty of Waitangi described New Zealand as “a little experiment”. It seemed to diminish the treaty and the very idea of our nation. Yet ...
THE (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding. BRIAN EASTON writes: Co-governance cannot be derived from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not use the word. It ...
A brief postscript to yesterday’s newsletter…Watching the predawn speeches just now, the reverence of those speaking and the respectful nature of those listening under umbrellas in the dark. I felt a great sadness at the words from Christopher Luxon last evening still in my head. The singing in the dark accompanied ...
by Don Franks While on holiday,I stayed a few days in Scotland with a friend who showed me one of the country’s great working-class achievements. It was a few miles out of central Edinburgh, a huge cantilever bridge across the river Forth. The Forth Bridge was the first major structure ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic and ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 29, 2023 thru Sat, Feb 4, 2023. Story of the Week Social change more important than physical tipping points1.5-degree Goal not plausible Photo: CLICCS / Universität Hamburg Limiting global ...
So Long - And Thanks For All The Fish: In the two-and-a-bit years since Jacinda Ardern’s electoral triumph of 2020, virtually every decision she made had gone politically awry. In the minds of many thousands of voters a chilling metamorphosis had taken place. The Faerie Queen had become the Wicked ...
Look at us here on our beautiful islands in the South Pacific at the start of 2023, we have come so far.Ten days ago we saw a Māori Governor General swearing in our new PM and our first Pasifika Deputy PM, ahead of this year’s parliament where they will be ...
The Herald’s headline writers are at it again! A sensible and balanced piece by Liam Dann on the battle against inflation carries a headline that suggests that NZ is doing worse than the rest of the world. Check it out and see for yourself if I am right. Is this ...
Photo by Anna Demianenko on UnsplashTLDR: Here’s my longer reads and listens for the weekend for sharing with The Kaka’s paying subscribers. I’ve opened this one up for all to give everyone a taste of the sorts of extras you get as a full paying subscriber.Subscribe nowDeeper reads and listens ...
Hello from the middle of a long weekend where I’m letting the last few days unspool, not ready, not yet, to give words to the hardest of what we heard.Instead, today, here are some good words from other people.Mother CourageWhen I wrote last year about Mum and Dad’s move to ...
Workers Now is a new slate of candidates contesting this year’s general election. James Robb and Don Franks are the people behind this initiative and they are hoping to put the spotlight on working people’s interests. Both are seasoned activists who have campaigned for workers’ rights over many decades. Here is ...
Buzz from the Beehive Politicians keen to curry favour with Māori tribal leaders have headed north for Waitangi weekend. More than a few million dollars of public funding are headed north, too. Not all of this money is being trumpeted on the Beehive website, the Government’s official website. ...
Insurers face claims of over $500 million for cars, homes and property damaged in the floods. They are already putting up premiums and pulling insurance from properties deemed at high risk of flooding. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: This week in the podcast of our weekly hoon webinar for paying subscribers, ...
Our Cranky Uncle Game can already be played in eight languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. About 15 more languages are in the works at various stages of completion or have been offered to be done. To kick off the new year, we checked with how ...
The (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding.Co-governance cannot be derived from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not use the word. It refers to ‘government’ on ...
It’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump on this link for our chat about the week’s news with special guests Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and Auckland City Councillor Julie Fairey, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which ...
In March last year, in a panic over rising petrol prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government made a poor decision, "temporarily" cutting fuel excise tax by 25 cents a litre. Of course, it turned out not to be temporary at all, having been extended in May, July, ...
This month’s open thread for climate related topics. Please be constructive, polite, and succinct. The post Unforced variations: Feb 2023 first appeared on RealClimate. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two fresh press releases had been posted when we checked the Beehive website at noon, both of them posted yesterday. In one statement, in the runup to Waitangi Day, Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis drew attention to happenings on a Northland battle site in 1845. ...
It’s that time of the week again when I’m on the site for an hour for a chat in an Ask Me Anything with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump in for a chat on anything, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which are set to cost insurers and the Government well over ...
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Work on the TVNZ/RNZ public media entity to stop; Radio NZ and NZ on Air to receive additional funding Social insurance scheme will not proceed this term The Human Rights (Incitement on Ground of Religious Belief) Amendment Bill to be withdrawn and not progressed this term. The matter to be ...
The Government is providing a $5 million package of emergency support to help businesses significantly affected by the recent flooding in Auckland. This includes: $3 million for flood recovery payments to help significantly affected businesses $1 million for mental wellbeing support through a boost to the First Steps programme $1 ...
The Government’s Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated to support people displaced by the severe flooding and landslips in the Auckland region, Housing Minister Megan Woods says. “TAS is now accepting registrations for people who cannot return to their homes and need assistance finding temporary accommodation. The team will work ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, reflecting the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “New Zealand has no closer partner than Australia. I was pleased to ...
New Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...
An historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...
The Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
The Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
There’s a storm a’brewing on Treasure Island, and Alex and Jane are here to break it all down. The fans are rocked by a new team member, and the faves face the consequences of their Dame’s early morning strolls. Matty McLean is playing his heart out, Susan’s eyelids are inverted ...
It’s only week two, but already our fans and faves are feeling the strain. Tara Ward power ranks. Like a pair of Josh Kronfeld’s undies sent out to sea, our Treasure Island castaways have found themselves bobbing around on choppy waters. This was a tense week that saw one contestant ...
Chris Hipkins’ policy purge gives far more insight into how he will govern than the reshuffle he announced last week. Hate speech, biofuels, media mergers and social insurance have been dumped in the worthy, but not important bin, writes political editor Jo Moir. The front bench under Chris Hipkins’ leadership ...
You might be able to solve a delivery problem by cutting the number of packages you send. But is that enough, wonders Toby Manhire. If there’s one thing Chris Hipkins isn’t afraid of, it’s repeating himself to make the point. The first three sentences of his statement unveiling the policy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sathana Dushyanthen, Academic Specialist & Lecturer in Cancer Sciences & Digital Health| Superstar of STEM| Science Communicator, The University of Melbourne CDC/Unsplash Australians aged 18 and over will be eligible for a COVID booster from February 20 if they have ...
The state-owned radio broadcaster will keep its independence and get a cash injection after the Government scrapped the proposal to merge it with TVNZ Normal transmission has resumed for the country’s media industry. RNZ and TVNZ will remain as separate entities and the bogeyman of a monolithic public media entity ...
The EMA is relieved the Government has dedicated $5m to support Auckland businesses impacted by the recent flooding. Chief Executive Brett O’Riley says that is consistent with discussions the EMA and the Auckland Business Roundtable had been having with ...
The prime minister has unveiled what he calls a ‘new direction’ for the Labour government, and it involves launching a wrecking ball into Jacinda Ardern’s extensive policy programme. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports from parliament.We knew something was coming, but we perhaps weren’t expecting quite so much policy carnage at parliament ...
Organisations directly affected by this afternoon’s announcement that the media merger will not go ahead have issued statements in response, with a common thread of welcoming clarity after months of uncertainty and speculation. RNZ chair Jim Mather said: “Media in New Zealand is being challenged by rapidly changing commercial models, the ...
The decision to halt legislation that would bring religious grounds into existing hate speech rules, pending a referral to the Law Commission, has been rebuked by Amnesty International NZ. “We are deeply disappointed and frustrated that the government is taking so long to strengthen the country’s legislation against incitement to ...
The biggest private sector union in Aotearoa New Zealand, E tū, is concerned by the Prime Minister’s announcement today that the New Zealand Income Insurance Scheme (NZIIS) will be delayed indefinitely. The announcement was part of the new Prime ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has welcomed the Government’s decision to take the proposed social insurance scheme off the table for the rest of this parliament but has warned against bringing back similar proposals in future. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
NZ On Air welcomes the decision from Cabinet today providing certainty for the public media sector. “Our funding strategy is flexible and future-focused, and we are able to quickly respond both to audience and media environment changes, without being ...
In an email to staff distributed shortly after Chris Hipkins’ announcement that the media merger will be scrapped, RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson has said: “It is good to have clarity after recent uncertainty.” The boost in funding for RNZ, details of which are to be determined, was “an endorsement ...
Pāmu is committed to reducing its climate impact through emissions reduction and strengthening climate resilience through adaption. Doubling down on its commitment , the state-owned enterprise has now signed a second sustainability-linked loan, ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is delighted at the news that the TVNZ/RNZ media merger is to be scrapped. Taxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “Our former Chairman, a former TVNZ board member, Barrie Saunders was among the first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin O’Connor, Professor of Cultural Economy, University of South Australia Federal Labor is engaged in urgent reform, making up for the “lost decade” under the Coalition. The Voice, industrial relations, climate change, universities, health, Asian-Pacific diplomacy, research and development are all undergoing ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has announced the end of the planned merger of TVNZ and RNZ. It’s been in the works for more than three years and was set to be up and running this year. However, speaking at a post-cabinet press conference this afternoon, Hipkins confirmed it would not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julia Talbot-Jones, Senior lecturer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Shutterstock/Dr Ajay Kumar Singh As New Zealand’s new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins embarks on reprioritising policies to focus on “bread and butter issues”, the details of the contentious ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Labour’s reorientation to working class MāoriPolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. In recent decades the Labour Party has lost its traditional connection with working class voters, becoming more of a middle class party of liberalism. This is especially true of Labour’s historic connection with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Shutterstock ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. Within two months of its release it reached 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application ever launched. Users are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Madden, Adjunct Professor, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock This week’s ABC Four Corners investigation revealed the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), or tribunals determining such complaints, allowed a number ...
It appears the proposed merger of TVNZ and RNZ will indeed be scrapped in under an hour’s time. A source from within the media industry has told Te Ao Māori News that the planned entity has been abandoned by the government as new prime minister Chris Hipkins attempts to reign ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Bianca de Marchi/AAP The New South Wales government has embraced a sweeping set of reforms to the state’s massive poker machine business. These reforms are centred on ...
At a magnitude of 7.8, this week’s horrific earthquake near the Turkish border was 177 times stronger than Christchurch’s in 2011. This week an extremely large earthquake occurred in the southeast of Turkey, near the border with Syria. Data from seismometers which measure shaking of the ground caused by ...
In the life-cycle of a reader we bet it’s the childhood reading memories that matter most. Here are Unity’s bestselling books for January.AUCKLAND1 Sleepy Kiwi by Kat Quin (Tikitibu, $20, babies) A bold, black and white board book for newborns and up.2 Midnight Adventures of Ruru and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock The Albanese government’s housing package moved a step closer to delivery with the recent release of draft legislation. The bills are expected ...
It’s Wednesday, February 8 and welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates – coming to you today from Wellington. I’m Stewart Sowman-Lund, reach me on [email protected] What you need to know Chris Hipkins will chair the first meeting of his new cabinet. He will front a post-cabinet press ...
It’s been a rough ride since Louisa Opeteia hopped out of bed to find herself standing in a rising tide, but she’s grateful for the little things: a hot meal and the helping hands of friends, family and kind strangers.Friday morning, January 27. Louisa Opetaia of Māngere noticed the ...
Paved-over rivers, covered-up shorelines and filled-in wetlands reemerged during Auckland’s devastating deluge – taking the city 200 years back into the past.Tāmaki Makaurau’s recent flooding has stirred up plenty of kōrero about our biggest city. Architecture and urban planning professor Timothy Welch reminded us that we built Auckland in ...
PM Chris Hipkins is back in Wellington after his big day in Canberra. He’s chairing the first meeting of his new cabinet after last week’s reshuffle. That reshuffle saw ministers like Andrew Little and Peeni Henare demoted, while newer players like Ayesha Verrall soared up the ranks. According to the ...
Whittaker’s are putting five special “Ed-ition” blocks of their classic milk chocolate on Trade Me, with all proceeds going to help the Auckland flood relief. What makes it a special Ed-ition? The fact that pop star Ed Sheeran has come onboard, providing a selfie for the packaging and signing the ...
In the digital age, online activity can be a conduit for abusive behaviours. But secure digital tools can also offer a lifeline for victims. It’s no secret that New Zealand has a family violence epidemic, with one third of women physically or sexually assaulted by a partner over their lifetimes. ...
Thousands of people mistakenly paid the government’s cost of living payment have chosen not to repay it. And while the department responsible for sending out that money won’t say whether it’s disappointed by the lack of repayments, the prime minister was happy to express his views. Stuff has today revealed ...
A pair of Auckland councillors have leveraged the city’s flood disaster to protest government’s legislation enabling more medium density housing. Hayden Donnell says our elected representatives would be better off pointing the finger at themselves. As residents across her ward worked to clean out their waterlogged houses, Mt Eden-Puketāpapa councillor ...
Researchers from the University of Otago are “strongly” recommending the $5 fee to get a prescription filled be removed as a “simple way to reduce health inequities”. A new study has found removing the fee could significantly reduce the number of hospital admissions and length of hospital stays. The findings, published ...
We’ve known since the earliest moments of Chris Hipkins’ premiership that some of the unwieldy policy agenda of Jacinda Ardern was up for the chop. And now, about two weeks since being sworn in, the prime minister has confirmed the chopping block will be on display at today’s 3pm post-cabinet ...
The death toll for the quake that hit Turkey and Northern Syria may reach 20,000. For Syrians, the quake has struck a population already overwhelmed by the impacts of war, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full ...
Norton, a leading Cyber Safety brand of Gen, today published the New Zealand findings from a global study about online dating, associated scams, and attitudes about online stalking. The 2023 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report (NCSIR), conducted online ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University The United States’ shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina over the weekend points to international security affairs being on a knife edge. It follows ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Liknaitzky, Head of Clinical Psychedelic Research, Monash University Collaborative care teams will need to be established for safe treatment.Author provided A few days ago, the Australian drug regulator – the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) – surprised experts around the world ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kimberley Crofts, Doctoral Student, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock The decline of the coal industry means 17 mines in the New South Wales Hunter Valley will close over the next two decades. More than 130,000 hectares of ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Sparkes, Senior Lecturer (Media Studies and Production), University of Southern Queensland Disney When it was released 25 years ago, James Cameron’s Titanic was enormous. It made stars of its two leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Reviews overwhelmingly heaped ...
AI writing tools are free, easy to use and already everywhere. But is it cheating to use them to help write an essay? Shanti Mathias spoke to New Zealand academics about AI’s place in education.When California company Open AI released its ChatGPT tool to the public last November, social ...
Chris Hipkins’ first overseas trip as prime minister heralded few surprises. But, as Stewart Sowman-Lund reports from Canberra, that’s exactly what he will have wanted. It’s been just two weeks since Chris Hipkins was sworn in as prime minister, a fortnight that has seen him deal with devastating flooding, formalise ...
The Green Party wants the government to double the maximum amount it is paying out to flood-affected Aucklanders, through the Civil Defence payments. ...
The money the health system has to fight Covid-19 in the first half of 2023 is less than half of what it had in the second half of 2022, Marc Daalder reports Staff on the Covid-19 response have been terminated or quietly reassigned to other health issues as funding to ...
Bow and arrow hunting There was a certain time of year I really used to live for: camping over the Christmas break. I was 15 in the Christmas of 1976 and up to that point I'd shot a heap of goats and smaller game, but the thought of maybe getting ...
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Chris Hipkins’ first offshore trip as leader went without a hitch, albeit with a low bar to clear. The challenge now is ensuring that Australian rhetoric around expat rights becomes reality, while Hipkins himself needs to figure out his own foreign policy agenda. Sam Sachdeva reports, in Canberra. Given the ...
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By Ian Chute in Suva Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) board chairman Ajay Bhai Amrit says he has receipts to prove former FBC chief executive officer Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum received an annual package of $387,790 including benefits and entitlements. He said this worked out to $32,315 a month and that the board ...
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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!
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.
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!!!
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.
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!
The same here, a daily visit is the way to get the day going.
Even Bryce had nice things to say about us.
the blogosphere is fairly scathing of Justice Neazor’s report. At the extreme end, The Standard blogsite has the angriest commentary – see, for example, Key fails to guard the guardians and What does Key have to gain by lying?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10837185
Thanks all – comments both above and below – we’re feeling the love!
Bloody well said M8!, good people.
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.
Yes, Chris, me too!!
” standin on shaky ground…”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10837149
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.
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
“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?
Nup, I enjoyed reading that 🙂
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
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.
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?
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.
probably perpetrate more assaults
probably pepetrate more assaults
[citation needed]
[citation unavailable]
[’cause it’s bullshit]
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.
Yes, Bored, I agree with most (if not all) of what you have said here.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
@KP – Calling Bored a useful idiot eh? Well, at least he is useful. You on the other hand…
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.
ignore extremists like Dworkin, imo
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.
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
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.
No they haven’t. The research has consistently shown that men do more and worse violence than women.
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.
An expression of “Powerless” perhaps
I’ve never seen any research that shows that, everything I’ve seen shows that men are the perpetrators more often. Got any links?
leading feminist luminary … Andrea Dworkin
Oh believe me, Bored, I am pissing myself laughing.
Take it away, manboobz.
🙂
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.
“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
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)
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?
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.
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.”
“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.
.
Pat . . . Pat . . . is that you?
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.
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.
Alright, kp, just let us recogise that ALL VIOLENCE is not a good thing!
I have NFI how the ODT got a headline of Children most often killed by mothers (ScreenShot) when their second sentence says:
Last time I looked 45% was less than half and is thus not “most”. What the report says is:
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.
I think that the ODT editors go to the same Misogynists’ Anonymous meetings as KP.
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.
+1
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 🙂
Easy, they’re going from a simple majority basis, not a plurality. Makes for saucier headlines.
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).
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
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.
Yes. 😉
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.
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.
Larf! wotta u like u 4×2 of humour you 🙂
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.
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.
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.
Yep those old railway cups are treasured collectors items now!!!
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.
😉
“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.
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.
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.
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?)
“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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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”?
BANANA Republic, they’re trying to incease a transaction accounts value, and won’t regulate because of treaties with foreign governments.
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.
The NZHerald was a trashy tabloid before the format change.
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
It’s something to do with cached cockies bud, I re installed FFox to fix it
haS LEN BROWN MADE ANY MOVES TO FIRE THE MANAGeMENT of POAL yet.
No, and he won’t because he can’t!
Welcome to democracy NZ style!
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?
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;
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.aaap.org.nz
Google map of the location here: http://tinyurl.com/9yljmaj
Welcome to the BANANA Republic Penny, keep fightin the good fight.
I wish I’d known before I left home today. I was in the vicinity & would have dropped by, Penny.
Spain in More Trouble senors ( and senoritas) areebe..areeeba
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/09/spain-is-in-trouble.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29
Also Spain’s agriculture sector is in deep trouble drought!
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.
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.
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.
Oops Spain was for Jokerman @10
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?!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10837132
got it Ta!
meanwhile..back at the bat-cave..
some EXCELLENT educational news (march on the fifth column on the fifth estate)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10837052
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…
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.
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).
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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!
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.
?
It’s not a misdemeanor offence to unlawfully intercept communications – up to 2 years imprisonment.
Fair enough, but it’s an offence you can virtualy expect from a “NewBie” everytime.
They obviously didn’t read that .pdf either.
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.
Yes it does, absolutely agree, no where near enough thought applied.
Or was the right thought appplied, and then over-ruled by political considerations?
True, when it comes down too it, several people are facing 2 years inside.
Under the Westminster system there is a well established tradition of Ministerial Responsibility with attendant resignations…..
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?
Mary – Has he ever stopped lying? Problem is that people are now so accustomed to it. “What’s new?”
So, you dont care that a government department may have broken the law, you just want to “get key”. ok.
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?
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.
WTF are you on about?
“Free trade agreements with foreign powers”
At least the Australian government seems to be beginning to understand the limits of the “free-market”:
Meanwhile, in NZ, private enterprise failed to bring about a new cable:
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.
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?
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
Got a link for that?
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.
What restrictions are there? There is excess capacity.
For now but there won’t be if the FttH gets installed.
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.
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!
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.
Telecommunications is a natural monopoly and as such should be one – a state owned one. It’s how you keep prices down.
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.
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.
Which private corporations are civilised and transparently accountable? Perhaps they should be held to the same standard as the state?
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.
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.
Please tell me the enforcement mechanisms and bodies you propose to effectively do this.
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.
How can it be the “same fiscal balance” when the economic surplus generated gets pumped off to overseas owners, instead of remaining in NZ?
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.
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.
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.
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.
.if you can (and we doe) have multiple backbones its hardly a natural monopoly is it? And wireless adds to that.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Peter Gluckman: a dangerous man?
http://www.readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/what-dangerous-davies-could-teach-chris.html
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.
“verifiable evidence” like distinctive skull shape, facial appearance and eye colour are associated with uber und untermenschen ?
SIR Peter Gluckman, please! He is favoured by Key (an adviser) – of course he is dangerous!
Well the blog post linked to is not flattering about Gluckman. I have no idea why RC replied to me in that way.
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 ?
And that is the type of thing that I’m thinking about here.
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.
Very Good 🙂
yep.
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
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.
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….)
Sheep rustling…. wonder who does the fencing.
Cracked has a handy list for rich people. Some of the tories here might find it helps them win friends and influence people…
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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM0MwN8BQbg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
John Key says people need to be held to account for the collapse of the CTV building,
Held to account
O really
Missed this:
And, no, the pair weren’t the people the police were looking for.
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)