Scrolling further down, I see that (as far as I can tell with their tortured grammar) Slippery believes that the Sandy Hook shootings and Boston Marathon bombing were “theatre”.
It looks like buying shares in aluminium foil manufacturers will be a good investment.
Hate to sound like im wearing one rino but have you seen and heard the facts of sandy hook ? theres some very wierd stuff gone down there even taking into account the imput from the more dedicated conspiracy theorists and the fact america is a wierd place anyway for example didnt you find it strange that the parents wernt allowed to see the bodies of their slain children ??
Has anyone else noticed what appears to be a deliberate propaganda campaign from the press on housing? These insulting ‘anyone can buy a house if they work hard’ articles have been appearing at regular intervals for quite some time in both major ‘papers. They’re patently misleading to the extent it can’t be just poor research IMO.
The observant will have noticed these articles are puff pieces that don’t fit the stories, they fail to reveal that the house buyer received financial assistance from another party(s). The real message in most of them is that if you don’t have a sugar daddy you’ll not be able to buy a house but they cynically invert that to say the opposite.
the twenty one year old wellingtonians started saving for his house at 7 years old? Or did his parents start.
I actually have nothing against this. I often wonder why parents don’t start a savings account for their kids immediately after birth. Put in 5 bucks a week/month and by the time the kids are of age they have a bit of cash there. This however demands some discipline from the parents to not touch the money if the need arises.
In saying that, getting a mortgage is one thing, being able to then to service it without fault is another thing altogether.
So by the time then man is 35 he may have lost a job, has married and has a child with special needs, has had an accident that left him or his wife with special needs and voila…….he may loose his house.
This is what annoys me about the house porn in the Herald, the easiest thing is getting the mortgage, its the keeping up with the payments, rates, insurance, and upkeep of the property that kills many especially in times of no job security, climate change, etc etc etc. What looked feasible when signing up to it may turn out to be impossible ten years later.
Sabine the general idea is to critique the story, first against what you know and then ask a few pertinent questions from what the story doesn’t say but should.
For starters a student on a low income would not get a mortgage of that size by himself, the banks require you have an income commensurate with the size of the mortgage. Then there’s the fact the ‘house’ was quoted as a “two-flat property” and mentioned a friend as a partner. It’s a fair bet the partner had the financial resources to clinch the deal and I can’t see how that translates into this guy buying his own house.
What i am trying to say is that in terms of commitment over the years getting a deposit together may be the easiest thing. Its the thirty years + of paying that mortgage off where one has not much control over.
So one can get help form parents, may have an inheritance form a grand parent, may team up with half a dozen of mates etc etc etc and eventually scrapes together the requirements of the bank and gets the mortgage, but then that mortgage needs to be paid. Another 30 years of negotiation ahead, this time with the family (what are needs what are wants), the business friends (are they still friend friend or do you need to pay them out), divorce can kill the house dream for ever, sickness, unemployment etc etc etc.
But as i have stated on other such stories is simply that the Guy has not bought a house, he has bought a mortgage and until that mortgage is paid in full he has no house, the bank has. He only has an arse full of debt and a very uncertain future ahead re climate change, changing work conditions, diminishing social net etc etc.
so maybe some of the young today really do only see their going ahead on the back of a mortgage.
The deposit isn’t the easiest part Sabine, that’s what prevents most low income people from buying their own home.
The formula with property is pretty consistent; the difference between rent and mortgage is roughly what you can save for the deposit. Once you buy you can stop saving and put the dosh towards the mortgage which itself is saving.
The main problem people have today is that inflation on deposits and mortgages is higher than wage inflation so they can’t catch up.
This guy didn’t really save a deposit, it looks more like he chipped in on a business deal. The article is dishonest IMO.
I’m afraid I can’t see your point Sabine. Mine was that the press appear to be running a deliberate misinformation campaign. The article was written for a reason and it carries a message, my view was the message is false and deliberately so.
It’s interesting reading the comments on that last story. Clearly few people actually read the article through, most seemed to have absorbed the headline & the jerking knee may have stopped them reading further.
OK he saved 40k. That is note worthy and well done.
BUT there is no way he would be able to borrow 500k (gv of 640k on a minimal odd job income.
Some one has guaranteed the loan.
He worked on his parents farm.
Yes. There’s also other clues in the article that suggest the picture the paper is painting, ie all it takes is hard work & saving to buy a house, is pure fabrication.
I’d question why they’re doing these regular articles, I’ve read at least a dozen from both major dailies that all convey the same false message. How did they get this guys (non) story in the first place?
I suspect you’re right on the money there McFlock, the RE industry must spend a fortune on advertising in the ‘papers & probably demand their pound of flesh in return.
Having recently been down the track of saving for a house and trying to get a mortgage I find these puff pieces insulting and infuriating.
Yeah, these puff pieces are another sign that the market is getting jitterey. The industry is resorting to spin and bullshit to try and maintain market confidence.
Because that’s what it’s all about, confidence that there will be a buyer there tomorrow who will pay more than you paid yesterday.
DH; depends whether you think the media’s job is to reflect or challenge society. If the former, then I’d say that story is a reflection of a rundown deluded market economy.
To suggest that money changed hands in order to run the story is a little idiotic.
The yarn reflects the commercial zeitgeist, sadly.
And a dozen stories from both major dailies over the past few years of the asset credit boom is tiny, given that the proportion of stories now that deal with the housing market is significant. It’s in the news in some form every day.
No-one has said money changed hands to run the story Robertina, you assumed that and incorrectly so. The suggestion was that advertisers who spend big money have some influence over the publisher.
A job of the media is to ensure a reasonable semblance of balance in their reporting. With these articles they’re failing to do so and the imbalance is so obvious it appears to be deliberate misinformation.
One of us has read it wrong then Robertina. McFlock’s post was made as a reply to mine in which I asked the question of how the press found out about the guy buying the house.
In that context I took her/his comment to mean a PR firm may have been engaged to find such feelgood stories and feed them to the press. That doesn’t suggest money changed hands to actually run the story.
Well, you also suggested RE companies demanded a pound of flesh in demand for ad spend, as well as agreeing with McFlock that a PR agency was likely paid to plant stories.
No doubt you mean well. But it’s no different from righties whinging about the likes of the substandard unconsented rentals series on Newshub.
And a series with follow ups like the one on Newshub has way more impact than a one-off yarn.
Oh, I don’t think the paper was bribed to print the story.
Not every paper is like the one I know of that, when informed of a small cultural group’s anniversary, offered to do a puff piece if the group bought some advertising space.
But the recent flurry of good news stories that roll the property bubble in glitter is an interesting phenomenon which I doubt has occurred spontaneously.
.
.How did we get here !
To those who Love New Zealand
.
There is only one message to be noted from this past 8 years in New Zealand.
That is, this Government and its supporters have Shipwrecked Finance; Housing; Rentals; Assets and Morals (mostly dishonesty but also corruption and cronyism).
They are the worst ever managers of a once fine Nation.
The managers are: Nationals, Act, Maori Party, United Future.
.
A toxic Lot of bad Managers – with a ragtail of supporters who could have saved NZ from the havoc.
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There is only one message to be noted from this past 8 years in New Zealand.
That is, this Government and its supporters have Shipwrecked Finance; Housing; Rentals; Assets and Morals (mostly dishonesty but also corruption and cronyism).
It’s not just over the last 8 years but the last thirty. It just happens that it’s got a lot worse over the last 8 years.
good. He was elected as an independent, he should have stayed an independent all along. If he would have run as an independent we would not have the current mess in the States as he would have won the election down pat.
In saying that, he can give Hillary a good time going to the social democratic left that the US needs and want.
Well that throws a spanner in the works for the Democrats. Maybe they should have been more compromising on policy to retain Bernie… instead of their big gamble, Bernie will fall into line and kow tow to bankers and Wall St and abandon his ideals…
I actually think it is the best that could happen to the Democratic Party. Sometimes people have to be dragged into the right direction, no matter how much the kick and scream.
There are some really big elections coming up re Senate and Congress. Bernie Sanders will have his work cut out for him. And his supporters too if they still want to change the system.
Claim: Sen. Bernie Sanders left the Democratic Party during the DNC (possibly as part of the #Demexit protest).
mostly false
WHAT’S TRUE: Sen. Bernie Sanders told reporters that when he returns to the Senate, it will be as an Independent; Sanders was elected as an Independent.
WHAT’S FALSE: Sanders did not formally “leave” the Democratic Party, nor did he do so in protest.
[…]
The story made it sound as though Sanders had left the party in protest over “DNCLeaks,” which revealed that the Democratic National Committee apparently worked to sabotage his candidacy. A 26 July 2016 Wall Street Journal story provided more context:
Bernie Sanders said he plans to return to the Senate as an independent, despite winning 13 million votes in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary contest.
“I was elected as an independent; I’ll stay two years more as an independent,” Mr. Sanders said.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Politics breakfast on Tuesday, Mr. Sanders also said the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee doesn’t go far enough in fixing the situation and that more staff members need to leave following embarrassing disclosures of thousands of internal emails.
“We need a DNC which has as very different direction,” he said. “I honestly don’t know many of the people there. But my guess is we’re going to need new leadership, a new direction and new personnel.”
Asked after the event whether Mr. Sanders considers himself a Democrat or an independent, a campaign aide said, “He ran for president as a Democrat but was elected to a six-year term in the Senate as an independent.”
So while it’s true Sanders was returning to his Senate seat as an Independent, it is not true that he “left the party” to protest any leaked information.
A couple of things Ad makes that difficult. The desire for Vermont to have an independent voice. If Green, loses that independance – I know Greens can argue they are independant, but it’s more complex than that. Also as Colonial Viper so crudely puts it, guns. Vermont is a big 2nd ammendment state, and a big arms producer.
I’d say ballot issues as well. With this proviso that Vermont is one state which sees this as an issue, and is actively doing somthing about it.
Actually A cool web site is http://ballot-access.org Shows just how bent and twisted this issue is in the USA, with the duleolopy fighting every step of the way to keep people, and voices out.
I think Jill is more concerned in expanding the Green’s right across the country rather than winning a seat for herself. So that would be the last, and probably the biggest roadblock.
There is a wealth of great ideas out there coming from commenters on various blogs. I wish I had written this myself as it is food for thought. Just substitute NZ for USA:
“No-one discusses whether there should be a taxation system which says:
1. If you treat your workers right, you will pay a lower rate of corporation tax and dividends will be entirely free of tax. But if you treat your workers badly, your corporation tax rate will go up on a sliding scale the worse you treat your workers and your shareholders dividends will be taxed at higher rates too.
2. If you retain jobs in this country rather than outsource them to low cost economies overseas, you will pay lower rates of taxation, as we, the Government, don’t have more people needing state aid. We will not punish you for letting products for foreign markets be manufactured in those foreign markets, as you will be being a good corporate citizen overseas too in that scenario.
3. We will reduce your corporation tax if you make investments in plant and offices which reduce your energy bills to zero. We want America to be a country with efficient and effective infrastructure, so we will modify the tax system to reflect that.
4. We will reduce your taxation burden if you can demonstrate an ongoing use of suppliers in the developing world who treat their own workers well, since this will reduce our requirements to spend money on foreign aid to ease our consciences.
5. As financial services organisations, we will reduce your tax rates if you invest a greater amount of your available funds in the USA economy, up to a suitable ceiling, since efficient asset allocation may indicate that significant overseas investment is appropriate. This is because a financial services industry is a service industry to America, not a bunch of pigs with their trotters in the trough……
6. We will tax higher those who replace humans with robots, since they expect the state to subsidise such people. We expect all companies using robots to automate the preparation of all their financial statements with attendant loss of salary for the Finance Director and numerous other financial staff. This will be particularly true in all Wall Street Firms who should see the loss of high paid jobs just as much as on Main Street………
This is not a final solution, but a set of ideas to be discussed.
The principle is how you integrate morality into corporate economics and government taxation policy.
What is critical is that you distinguish between big companies perfectly capable of doing these things and young companies struggling to survive.
It’s not simple, but unless people engage in this manner, nothing will change.”
B Corporations already have a lower tax rate in some US states if they meet the criteria, – some for the reasons you have outlined.
They have a fairly stringent rubric of societal, environment and cooperative measures that need to be met.
This kind of model could be used as a method to encourage smaller sustainable local businesses while ensuring larger, multi-national still pay reasonable levels of tax.
Some of you may recall a comment I made about Trump and Cruz being like professional wrestlers because their language, moves, and narratives are so precise.
Here’s Gordon Campbell doing the long version, building on the same idea from Roland Barthes:
Yelena Isinbayeva breaks down in tears in front of Putin
2 time Russian Olympic pole vault gold medallist addresses the Russian Olympic team on the lawless, arbitrary injustice foisted on to Russian athletes who have been collectively banned from the Rio Olympic games without individual evidence and without individual recourse to appeal.
Ruining the dreams of many athletes about to perform in the first, or the last, Olympic games of their careers.
Hi PR. She’s not arguing that drug cheats should not be banned. But she does talk about the arbitrary, political and unfair action to ban Russian athletes who have passed their drug tests and how clean athletes are not getting any opportunity to state their case and appeal this collective punishment.
While I have some sympathy for her if shes clean, and being that shes Russian that’s a very big call, I have more for the athletes that have missed out
Come on Colonial Viper, the olympic games have been a political football since their inception. And I don’t mean the revived games, the original games were as much politics, as sport. I’m sure we get the idea that politics as a spectator sport, because of the olympic games.
Just let the games go, who cares, it’s just a case of who got the better masking agents anyway. And this time Russia did not invest enough in that – sorry for them. Who remembers anyone who won anyway, the only reason I remember John Walker, is his slow descent into far right wingnut.
Mallard says it’s because he wants to be the speaker of the next parliament and being a list MP makes it easier to act impartially and avoid conflicts of interest..
Like most Labour MPs his only political ground has been denouncing National. Long ago they gave up advocating policies for the poor, the oppressed and marginalised. They can go to hell. Mallard argued strongly for Labour to retain the benefit cuts imposed by Ruth Richardson in the early 1990s. He argued the need for “incentives” to pressure those on benefits to find work as hard as he argued against extending the Working for Families assistance package to the poorest children in New Zealand.
As a senior Labour MP Mallard must shoulder a lot of the blame for the 175,000 children Labour left living in Poverty in 2008 despite three successive terms of a Labour government in times of marvellous economic conditions.
As Minister of Education he will be remembered for going out of his way to congratulate Cambridge High School for its exceptional NCEA pass rates (subsequently found to be bogus) and his closing of dozens of schools in small communities through the country. National has never had a regional growth strategy but neither has it had a regional annihilation strategy such as that employed by Mallard as he cut the heart from dozens of small kiwi communities.
For the last eight years in opposition Mallard has been one of Labour’s dead-wood MPs who have stayed in parliament to prevent the party changing direction from the dogmatic right-wing economic agenda he espoused and advocated all his political career.
<The parade of useful idiots, the bankrupt liberal class that long ago sold its soul to corporate power, is now led by Sen. Bernie Sanders. His final capitulation, symbolized by his pathetic motion to suspend the roll call, giving Hillary Clinton the Democratic nomination by acclamation, is an abject betrayal of millions of his supporters and his call for a political revolution.
I like ‘the humanist report’ but don’t watch it that often. A friend sent this link so I watched, and really enjoyed. For those who find the whole USA elections hard to fathom, later in the show he explains some aspects of the electoral system and why it needs to be replaced with somthing more democratic. Most of that stuff is common place for us, as we have a large dose of proportional representation.
The first part is an attack from Dan Savage on Jill Stein. Please note the heavy use of curse language from Savage here. Followed by a comprehensive rebuttal. What I like about this, if you have difficulty understanding some of the criticisms around the two party system, or how the stranglehold actually works on the USA – ‘the humanist report’ covers quite succinctly some of those issue.
“More homeless people in Auckland could soon go straight from the streets into their own apartments or houses instead of being shuffled through emergency shelters or state housing under a new Government-backed move.”
IMO it helps to address the “one size fits all approach” and will make a positive difference.
Just thought I’d re-post a comment I’ve just made on Danyl’s Dim Post because it addresses a common misunderstanding among some of the local punditry:
Danyl: “Key is actually less popular than his party nowadays”
Bloke who refers to himself as ‘swordfish’: I’m not quite so sure about that. It’s a common assumption (Matthew Hooton, amongst others, has emphasised it), but I think Nat/Key support is actually a damn sight closer than a number of pundits realise.
No one I’ve read seems to realise that the Party-Vote support figures (in both the One News Colmar Brunton and Newshub Reid Research Polls) exclude those unlikely to vote as well as the Undecided – hence a smaller base than the sample as a whole.
Whereas, crucially, the Preferred PM stats take the entire sample as their base. In the last CB, for example, Party-Vote base was 1245 / Preferred PM base was 1509. Once you re-calculate, looks to me like the Nats were only a smidgen higher than Key himself.
One of the fundamentals it is said that defines a society is not just how it treats its most vunerable citizens but also how it treats its animals who are in most cases just as reliant on humans too protect them whether they are domesticated, farm stock or are housed in a zoo or wildlife park.
One of the most appalling acts of cruelty to be made public this year was the case of the bobby calves who were tortured and butchered by someone who was responsible for their care and welfare.
This man was charged and appeared in court and was sentenced yesterday to ten months home detention.
When i saw this footage i could not believe that someone could be this cruel and in human and oblivious to the suffering of these poor creatures who had done nothing to this scumbag to warrant this behaviour and butchery and savagery he meeted out to them and that if he can do this too animals who cant defend themselves what is too stop him doing this too vunerable humans.
I was sure that once the judge saw the cruelty involved it would warrant a prison sentence but no, home detention.
We have an animal welfare act much good it does the animals it is supposed too protect when the sentences handed out are in no way a deterrent or punish the offenders, it sends the message that animals have no value, feel no pain or fear and that as living creatures they have no rights at all.
The judge in this case had an opportunity too send a clear message here and failed miserably.
The SPCA wont feel vindicated by this decision and the judge has no compassion or human decency or responsibility too do whats right in this case.
Totally agree mosa especially since it seems this cruelty has been going on since foreva As a kid in the sixties i was very aware as was our whole family that my father would not touch any meat or by product coming from bobby calves like gelatine for ex. His experiences working in freezing works and butcheries in his younger life meant also that he had a personal commitment to never hurting or killing any animal again such was his disgust of what he had observed .Theres no excuse for this shit and no excuse for the judge either that i can think of .Did he say why he was so lenient ?
Thanks Weston for your input.
The news report on this was short and i didnot hear the judges ruling.
Does anybody else out there feel revulsion for this type of behaviour and want too see tougher sentences for this type of cruelty or is it in the scheme of things not that important ?
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Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The United States shares the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression.ANALYSIS: By Chris Hedges The billionaires, Christian fascists, grifters, psychopaths, imbeciles, narcissists and deviants who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has secured bipartisan support for a major new regime covering political donations and spending, after making significant concessions. The government agreed to increase the proposed threshold above which donations must be disclosed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
By Patrick Decloitre,RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future. These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode ...
As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Print, Professor of Education, University of Sydney A federal parliamentary inquiry has just recommended civics and citizenship become a compulsory part of the Australian Curriculum, which covers the first year of school to Year 10. The committee also recommended a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Claire Baylis, author of Dice and guest at the forthcoming HamLit programme at the Hamilton Arts Festival. The book I wish I’d writtenMy mind seems surprisingly unwilling ...
The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan McElhone, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash University A London court has found Sam Kerr not guilty of the racially aggravated harassment of Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell. As captain of the Australian women’s national soccer team, Kerr was widely condemned when ...
Could iwi and hapū be the unexpected solution to the government’s asset dilemma? David Seymour pressured the prime minister into an unwelcome conversation, and in the couple of weeks since the Act leader raised the issue in his state of the nation speech, privatisation has shifted from absent in the ...
Human rights advocates must uphold human dignity, rights and justice, while rejecting the discriminatory tactics we oppose, writes Taimor Hazou.Two weeks ago the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) launched a campaign inviting New Zealanders to call a hotline if they suspected an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier that had ...
Immigration New Zealand figures shows more people have been looking at the ETA and visitor visa pages on the website, however fewer people have applied to come or to extend their stay. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology Debris on the surface of Mars from the Perseverance mission, captured on April 19 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech In his inauguration speech in January, United States President Donald Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alix Woolard, Senior Research Fellow, The Kids Research Institute Australia Stock Unit/Shutterstock Have you ever asked someone how their day was, or been chatting casually with a friend, only to have them tell you a horrific story that has left you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Quentin Grafton, Australian Laureate Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Roper RiverChris Ison/Shutterstock Water is now a contested resource around the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fight playing out over the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Turner, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, The University of Queensland Matej Kastellic/ Shutterstock As we head towards the federal election, both sides of politics are making a point of criticising universities and questioning their role in the community. ...
Alex Casey examines the perils of having your period at a music festival. It was right after Clairo’s swooning set that Sarah* knew it was time. She was on the second day of her period at Auckland’s Laneway festival, and braved the portaloos to empty her menstrual cup and change ...
A battle between health officials and local councils is heating up, as one government party seeks to change the rules. The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund explains. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
A must read over on the Daily Blog. Go to ” the horror of Turkey” and scroll down to Slippery’s comment.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/27/the-horror-of-turkey/#comment-346502
[lprent: Try using links. Right click on the date of the comment and copying the link. Then paste it here. You will get the link above. ]
Scrolling further down, I see that (as far as I can tell with their tortured grammar) Slippery believes that the Sandy Hook shootings and Boston Marathon bombing were “theatre”.
It looks like buying shares in aluminium foil manufacturers will be a good investment.
Hate to sound like im wearing one rino but have you seen and heard the facts of sandy hook ? theres some very wierd stuff gone down there even taking into account the imput from the more dedicated conspiracy theorists and the fact america is a wierd place anyway for example didnt you find it strange that the parents wernt allowed to see the bodies of their slain children ??
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has made white nationalism fashionable. But the notion of white identity is based not only on bigotry but on pseudo-history: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/07/kendrick-smithymans-rebuke-to-trump.html
Like Farage found it’s an easily held core of support.
Angry, racist, looking for someone to blame with negligible critical thought process so a few slogans and some passionate rhetoric gets them on board.
Like Farage, trumps unlikely to have to deal with the consequences either.
Awesome Scott thanks
Has anyone else noticed what appears to be a deliberate propaganda campaign from the press on housing? These insulting ‘anyone can buy a house if they work hard’ articles have been appearing at regular intervals for quite some time in both major ‘papers. They’re patently misleading to the extent it can’t be just poor research IMO.
Stuff ran this one a week ago;
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/82318579/Anyone-can-buy-a-house-in-four-years-broker-says
Now this one…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/82571726/wellington-man-becomes-home-owner-at-21-after-saving-since-he-was-7
The observant will have noticed these articles are puff pieces that don’t fit the stories, they fail to reveal that the house buyer received financial assistance from another party(s). The real message in most of them is that if you don’t have a sugar daddy you’ll not be able to buy a house but they cynically invert that to say the opposite.
the twenty one year old wellingtonians started saving for his house at 7 years old? Or did his parents start.
I actually have nothing against this. I often wonder why parents don’t start a savings account for their kids immediately after birth. Put in 5 bucks a week/month and by the time the kids are of age they have a bit of cash there. This however demands some discipline from the parents to not touch the money if the need arises.
In saying that, getting a mortgage is one thing, being able to then to service it without fault is another thing altogether.
So by the time then man is 35 he may have lost a job, has married and has a child with special needs, has had an accident that left him or his wife with special needs and voila…….he may loose his house.
This is what annoys me about the house porn in the Herald, the easiest thing is getting the mortgage, its the keeping up with the payments, rates, insurance, and upkeep of the property that kills many especially in times of no job security, climate change, etc etc etc. What looked feasible when signing up to it may turn out to be impossible ten years later.
Sabine the general idea is to critique the story, first against what you know and then ask a few pertinent questions from what the story doesn’t say but should.
For starters a student on a low income would not get a mortgage of that size by himself, the banks require you have an income commensurate with the size of the mortgage. Then there’s the fact the ‘house’ was quoted as a “two-flat property” and mentioned a friend as a partner. It’s a fair bet the partner had the financial resources to clinch the deal and I can’t see how that translates into this guy buying his own house.
What i am trying to say is that in terms of commitment over the years getting a deposit together may be the easiest thing. Its the thirty years + of paying that mortgage off where one has not much control over.
So one can get help form parents, may have an inheritance form a grand parent, may team up with half a dozen of mates etc etc etc and eventually scrapes together the requirements of the bank and gets the mortgage, but then that mortgage needs to be paid. Another 30 years of negotiation ahead, this time with the family (what are needs what are wants), the business friends (are they still friend friend or do you need to pay them out), divorce can kill the house dream for ever, sickness, unemployment etc etc etc.
But as i have stated on other such stories is simply that the Guy has not bought a house, he has bought a mortgage and until that mortgage is paid in full he has no house, the bank has. He only has an arse full of debt and a very uncertain future ahead re climate change, changing work conditions, diminishing social net etc etc.
so maybe some of the young today really do only see their going ahead on the back of a mortgage.
The deposit isn’t the easiest part Sabine, that’s what prevents most low income people from buying their own home.
The formula with property is pretty consistent; the difference between rent and mortgage is roughly what you can save for the deposit. Once you buy you can stop saving and put the dosh towards the mortgage which itself is saving.
The main problem people have today is that inflation on deposits and mortgages is higher than wage inflation so they can’t catch up.
This guy didn’t really save a deposit, it looks more like he chipped in on a business deal. The article is dishonest IMO.
DH, i am speaking generally. Not only for poor people.
Poor people should have access to a government loan as Paula Bennett had.
I am speaking of Joe and Jane Ordinary New Zealanders.
As for people now buying houses together with the option of selling it later on in order to raise a deposit to then buy their own mortgage.
I’m afraid I can’t see your point Sabine. Mine was that the press appear to be running a deliberate misinformation campaign. The article was written for a reason and it carries a message, my view was the message is false and deliberately so.
It’s interesting reading the comments on that last story. Clearly few people actually read the article through, most seemed to have absorbed the headline & the jerking knee may have stopped them reading further.
OK he saved 40k. That is note worthy and well done.
BUT there is no way he would be able to borrow 500k (gv of 640k on a minimal odd job income.
Some one has guaranteed the loan.
He worked on his parents farm.
Mort ca $2000 per month
Yes. There’s also other clues in the article that suggest the picture the paper is painting, ie all it takes is hard work & saving to buy a house, is pure fabrication.
I’d question why they’re doing these regular articles, I’ve read at least a dozen from both major dailies that all convey the same false message. How did they get this guys (non) story in the first place?
I suspect it’s real estate agents paying a pr firm. As soon as the market cools off there will be a sharp drop in estate agents’ incomes.
As long as they can hold off government intervention, the more money they can fleece out of NZ and overseas speculators.
Anyone buying a first home right now is in serious danger of going under water if the government does anything effective about the home shortage.
I suspect you’re right on the money there McFlock, the RE industry must spend a fortune on advertising in the ‘papers & probably demand their pound of flesh in return.
Having recently been down the track of saving for a house and trying to get a mortgage I find these puff pieces insulting and infuriating.
Yeah, these puff pieces are another sign that the market is getting jitterey. The industry is resorting to spin and bullshit to try and maintain market confidence.
Because that’s what it’s all about, confidence that there will be a buyer there tomorrow who will pay more than you paid yesterday.
Yes, it’s all a big confidence game
DH; depends whether you think the media’s job is to reflect or challenge society. If the former, then I’d say that story is a reflection of a rundown deluded market economy.
To suggest that money changed hands in order to run the story is a little idiotic.
The yarn reflects the commercial zeitgeist, sadly.
And a dozen stories from both major dailies over the past few years of the asset credit boom is tiny, given that the proportion of stories now that deal with the housing market is significant. It’s in the news in some form every day.
No-one has said money changed hands to run the story Robertina, you assumed that and incorrectly so. The suggestion was that advertisers who spend big money have some influence over the publisher.
A job of the media is to ensure a reasonable semblance of balance in their reporting. With these articles they’re failing to do so and the imbalance is so obvious it appears to be deliberate misinformation.
You need to read the thread again. The suggestion was that a PR firm was paid to plant the story and you agreed with that suggestion.
One of us has read it wrong then Robertina. McFlock’s post was made as a reply to mine in which I asked the question of how the press found out about the guy buying the house.
In that context I took her/his comment to mean a PR firm may have been engaged to find such feelgood stories and feed them to the press. That doesn’t suggest money changed hands to actually run the story.
Well, you also suggested RE companies demanded a pound of flesh in demand for ad spend, as well as agreeing with McFlock that a PR agency was likely paid to plant stories.
No doubt you mean well. But it’s no different from righties whinging about the likes of the substandard unconsented rentals series on Newshub.
And a series with follow ups like the one on Newshub has way more impact than a one-off yarn.
Oh, I don’t think the paper was bribed to print the story.
Not every paper is like the one I know of that, when informed of a small cultural group’s anniversary, offered to do a puff piece if the group bought some advertising space.
But the recent flurry of good news stories that roll the property bubble in glitter is an interesting phenomenon which I doubt has occurred spontaneously.
.
.How did we get here !
To those who Love New Zealand
.
There is only one message to be noted from this past 8 years in New Zealand.
That is, this Government and its supporters have Shipwrecked Finance; Housing; Rentals; Assets and Morals (mostly dishonesty but also corruption and cronyism).
They are the worst ever managers of a once fine Nation.
The managers are: Nationals, Act, Maori Party, United Future.
.
A toxic Lot of bad Managers – with a ragtail of supporters who could have saved NZ from the havoc.
.
It’s not just over the last 8 years but the last thirty. It just happens that it’s got a lot worse over the last 8 years.
Breaking news, Bernie has left the democrats!!!
good. He was elected as an independent, he should have stayed an independent all along. If he would have run as an independent we would not have the current mess in the States as he would have won the election down pat.
In saying that, he can give Hillary a good time going to the social democratic left that the US needs and want.
Well that throws a spanner in the works for the Democrats. Maybe they should have been more compromising on policy to retain Bernie… instead of their big gamble, Bernie will fall into line and kow tow to bankers and Wall St and abandon his ideals…
I actually think it is the best that could happen to the Democratic Party. Sometimes people have to be dragged into the right direction, no matter how much the kick and scream.
There are some really big elections coming up re Senate and Congress. Bernie Sanders will have his work cut out for him. And his supporters too if they still want to change the system.
Meanwhile, Snopes –
Claim: Sen. Bernie Sanders left the Democratic Party during the DNC (possibly as part of the #Demexit protest).
mostly false
WHAT’S TRUE: Sen. Bernie Sanders told reporters that when he returns to the Senate, it will be as an Independent; Sanders was elected as an Independent.
WHAT’S FALSE: Sanders did not formally “leave” the Democratic Party, nor did he do so in protest.
[…]
The story made it sound as though Sanders had left the party in protest over “DNCLeaks,” which revealed that the Democratic National Committee apparently worked to sabotage his candidacy. A 26 July 2016 Wall Street Journal story provided more context:
So while it’s true Sanders was returning to his Senate seat as an Independent, it is not true that he “left the party” to protest any leaked information.
http://www.snopes.com/bernie-sanders-leaves-the-democratic-party/
Would Jill Stein have a good shot at his Vermont Senate seat when he retires?
If she likes guns and farmers. Otherwise, no hope.
A couple of things Ad makes that difficult. The desire for Vermont to have an independent voice. If Green, loses that independance – I know Greens can argue they are independant, but it’s more complex than that. Also as Colonial Viper so crudely puts it, guns. Vermont is a big 2nd ammendment state, and a big arms producer.
I’d say ballot issues as well. With this proviso that Vermont is one state which sees this as an issue, and is actively doing somthing about it.
http://ballot-access.org/?s=vermont
Actually A cool web site is http://ballot-access.org Shows just how bent and twisted this issue is in the USA, with the duleolopy fighting every step of the way to keep people, and voices out.
I think Jill is more concerned in expanding the Green’s right across the country rather than winning a seat for herself. So that would be the last, and probably the biggest roadblock.
That’s very honourable.
I would hope for her that she goes for a Senate seat. Maybe Oregon or Washington would be a better shot.
The US needs the Greens with a voice in the Senate. The have leveraged their small voice in the Australian Senate to good effect.
Crudely put it? Heh I prefer “succinctly” lol
One thing I really like about John Oliver, is when he is on, he is ON!!
Don’t use our songs.
that whole episode was something special
There is a wealth of great ideas out there coming from commenters on various blogs. I wish I had written this myself as it is food for thought. Just substitute NZ for USA:
“No-one discusses whether there should be a taxation system which says:
1. If you treat your workers right, you will pay a lower rate of corporation tax and dividends will be entirely free of tax. But if you treat your workers badly, your corporation tax rate will go up on a sliding scale the worse you treat your workers and your shareholders dividends will be taxed at higher rates too.
2. If you retain jobs in this country rather than outsource them to low cost economies overseas, you will pay lower rates of taxation, as we, the Government, don’t have more people needing state aid. We will not punish you for letting products for foreign markets be manufactured in those foreign markets, as you will be being a good corporate citizen overseas too in that scenario.
3. We will reduce your corporation tax if you make investments in plant and offices which reduce your energy bills to zero. We want America to be a country with efficient and effective infrastructure, so we will modify the tax system to reflect that.
4. We will reduce your taxation burden if you can demonstrate an ongoing use of suppliers in the developing world who treat their own workers well, since this will reduce our requirements to spend money on foreign aid to ease our consciences.
5. As financial services organisations, we will reduce your tax rates if you invest a greater amount of your available funds in the USA economy, up to a suitable ceiling, since efficient asset allocation may indicate that significant overseas investment is appropriate. This is because a financial services industry is a service industry to America, not a bunch of pigs with their trotters in the trough……
6. We will tax higher those who replace humans with robots, since they expect the state to subsidise such people. We expect all companies using robots to automate the preparation of all their financial statements with attendant loss of salary for the Finance Director and numerous other financial staff. This will be particularly true in all Wall Street Firms who should see the loss of high paid jobs just as much as on Main Street………
This is not a final solution, but a set of ideas to be discussed.
The principle is how you integrate morality into corporate economics and government taxation policy.
What is critical is that you distinguish between big companies perfectly capable of doing these things and young companies struggling to survive.
It’s not simple, but unless people engage in this manner, nothing will change.”
B Corporations already have a lower tax rate in some US states if they meet the criteria, – some for the reasons you have outlined.
They have a fairly stringent rubric of societal, environment and cooperative measures that need to be met.
This kind of model could be used as a method to encourage smaller sustainable local businesses while ensuring larger, multi-national still pay reasonable levels of tax.
Some of you may recall a comment I made about Trump and Cruz being like professional wrestlers because their language, moves, and narratives are so precise.
Here’s Gordon Campbell doing the long version, building on the same idea from Roland Barthes:
http://werewolf.co.nz/2016/07/gordon-campbell-on-why-the-opinion-polls-for-key-and-trump-defy-gravity/
Not a bad summation actually
On a lighter note if you really want to know what is (and isn’t) then watch this:
Its from Max Landis (son of John) and its very informative (and entertaining)
Hard case PR.
As an aside, bob mould, american axeman for husker du and sugar, spent a few years ‘writing’ scenarios for WWE.
He found it really satisfying.
The attempt to get Jeremy Corbyn removed from the leadership ballot by the courts has failed: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/28/jeremy-corbyn-fights-off-court-challenge-labour-leadership-ballot So his opponents have not been granted an easy ride back to what they think of as normal.
Toby Morris’ brilliant Rent Rage vent….
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-rent-rage
Brilliant!
Yelena Isinbayeva breaks down in tears in front of Putin
2 time Russian Olympic pole vault gold medallist addresses the Russian Olympic team on the lawless, arbitrary injustice foisted on to Russian athletes who have been collectively banned from the Rio Olympic games without individual evidence and without individual recourse to appeal.
Ruining the dreams of many athletes about to perform in the first, or the last, Olympic games of their careers.
Does she have the same tears for the dreams of other athletes that’ve been denied medals by those on peds?
Hi PR. She’s not arguing that drug cheats should not be banned. But she does talk about the arbitrary, political and unfair action to ban Russian athletes who have passed their drug tests and how clean athletes are not getting any opportunity to state their case and appeal this collective punishment.
While I have some sympathy for her if shes clean, and being that shes Russian that’s a very big call, I have more for the athletes that have missed out
Come on Colonial Viper, the olympic games have been a political football since their inception. And I don’t mean the revived games, the original games were as much politics, as sport. I’m sure we get the idea that politics as a spectator sport, because of the olympic games.
Just let the games go, who cares, it’s just a case of who got the better masking agents anyway. And this time Russia did not invest enough in that – sorry for them. Who remembers anyone who won anyway, the only reason I remember John Walker, is his slow descent into far right wingnut.
Sure; just making a point about how the western empire of chaos operates against its opposition.
The sad political career of Trevor Mallard.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/29/the-sad-political-career-of-trevor-mallard/
Mallard says it’s because he wants to be the speaker of the next parliament
What utterly shameless entitlement. Unfortunately he’s not the only one.
John Minto’s last line rings sadly true:
It’s too much to expect him to resign – he still has a few more stops at the trough ahead of him.
The 1 Percent’s Useful Idiots
by Chris Hedges
<The parade of useful idiots, the bankrupt liberal class that long ago sold its soul to corporate power, is now led by Sen. Bernie Sanders. His final capitulation, symbolized by his pathetic motion to suspend the roll call, giving Hillary Clinton the Democratic nomination by acclamation, is an abject betrayal of millions of his supporters and his call for a political revolution.
Read it all here.
https://off-guardian.org/2016/07/28/the-1-percents-useful-idiots/
Reading this is saddening, for sure.
I like ‘the humanist report’ but don’t watch it that often. A friend sent this link so I watched, and really enjoyed. For those who find the whole USA elections hard to fathom, later in the show he explains some aspects of the electoral system and why it needs to be replaced with somthing more democratic. Most of that stuff is common place for us, as we have a large dose of proportional representation.
The first part is an attack from Dan Savage on Jill Stein. Please note the heavy use of curse language from Savage here. Followed by a comprehensive rebuttal. What I like about this, if you have difficulty understanding some of the criticisms around the two party system, or how the stranglehold actually works on the USA – ‘the humanist report’ covers quite succinctly some of those issue.
Enjoy
Announced today by Paula Bennett, a new approach to assist with housing the homeless called “Housing First Programme”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11683905
“More homeless people in Auckland could soon go straight from the streets into their own apartments or houses instead of being shuffled through emergency shelters or state housing under a new Government-backed move.”
IMO it helps to address the “one size fits all approach” and will make a positive difference.
If only they’d address the structural causes too. The emphasis on evidence is encouraging. I wonder if it will survive Cabinet Club.
That said, I won’t be in any way surprised if this turns out to be usual combinations of lie and rort.
Just thought I’d re-post a comment I’ve just made on Danyl’s Dim Post because it addresses a common misunderstanding among some of the local punditry:
Danyl: “Key is actually less popular than his party nowadays”
Bloke who refers to himself as ‘swordfish’: I’m not quite so sure about that. It’s a common assumption (Matthew Hooton, amongst others, has emphasised it), but I think Nat/Key support is actually a damn sight closer than a number of pundits realise.
No one I’ve read seems to realise that the Party-Vote support figures (in both the One News Colmar Brunton and Newshub Reid Research Polls) exclude those unlikely to vote as well as the Undecided – hence a smaller base than the sample as a whole.
Whereas, crucially, the Preferred PM stats take the entire sample as their base. In the last CB, for example, Party-Vote base was 1245 / Preferred PM base was 1509. Once you re-calculate, looks to me like the Nats were only a smidgen higher than Key himself.
Sharp
Razor !
One of the fundamentals it is said that defines a society is not just how it treats its most vunerable citizens but also how it treats its animals who are in most cases just as reliant on humans too protect them whether they are domesticated, farm stock or are housed in a zoo or wildlife park.
One of the most appalling acts of cruelty to be made public this year was the case of the bobby calves who were tortured and butchered by someone who was responsible for their care and welfare.
This man was charged and appeared in court and was sentenced yesterday to ten months home detention.
When i saw this footage i could not believe that someone could be this cruel and in human and oblivious to the suffering of these poor creatures who had done nothing to this scumbag to warrant this behaviour and butchery and savagery he meeted out to them and that if he can do this too animals who cant defend themselves what is too stop him doing this too vunerable humans.
I was sure that once the judge saw the cruelty involved it would warrant a prison sentence but no, home detention.
We have an animal welfare act much good it does the animals it is supposed too protect when the sentences handed out are in no way a deterrent or punish the offenders, it sends the message that animals have no value, feel no pain or fear and that as living creatures they have no rights at all.
The judge in this case had an opportunity too send a clear message here and failed miserably.
The SPCA wont feel vindicated by this decision and the judge has no compassion or human decency or responsibility too do whats right in this case.
Totally agree mosa especially since it seems this cruelty has been going on since foreva As a kid in the sixties i was very aware as was our whole family that my father would not touch any meat or by product coming from bobby calves like gelatine for ex. His experiences working in freezing works and butcheries in his younger life meant also that he had a personal commitment to never hurting or killing any animal again such was his disgust of what he had observed .Theres no excuse for this shit and no excuse for the judge either that i can think of .Did he say why he was so lenient ?
Ewww Rio….
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/rio-doc-warns-2016-olympic-athletes-will-literally-be-swimming-in-human-crap_072016
Can someone tell me why there are three comments here with no reply icons under them ?
reached the nesting limit of replies.
Each reply is indented so you can follow threads, but if you did that infinitely each comment would end up being three chars wide and
har
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ead
Thanks Weston for your input.
The news report on this was short and i didnot hear the judges ruling.
Does anybody else out there feel revulsion for this type of behaviour and want too see tougher sentences for this type of cruelty or is it in the scheme of things not that important ?