Do you believe that the current path the Greens have taken has party wide consensus or do you think it’s what Trotter said that it’s being lead by the ex -Alliance wing within the party.
BM is showing an intense in the Green Party right now; potential supporter?
It might take another courageous action by The Green Party; Metiria in particular seems to have captured BM’s imagination (and perhaps, heart) to bring him across and I feel confident there’s more to come from them and certainly, I sense BM’s stirring. He’ll be welcomed with open arms.
I just have a sneaking suspicion we’re about to see the Greens split in two,
Turei on one side and Shaw on the other.
Quite a high chance you might see the Shaw led faction integrating with Gareth Morgans Top party and becoming the new face of the greens movement while the Turei faction reverts back into the Alliance party.
I just have a sneaking suspicion we’re about to see the Greens split in two,
Turei on one side and Shaw on the other.
It’s important to distinguish between “sneaking suspicion” and “wildly implausible wishful thinking” when you’re commenting – helps avoid looking silly.
“…it’s not hard to come to the conclusion…”
This is a truism from BM; he finds it’s very, very easy to come to conclusions, based on fluff that collects in his head, the thinnest of ideas that everyone else would struggle to entertain. “James is Metiria’s love child!”, BM concludes, having seen the two of them wearing matching Green Party rosettes!. The Green Party and Greenpeace are the same person: an inescapable conclusion reached by BM after noticing a similarity in their titles, though he was unable to pin down exactly what it is they have in common; the twin-“e’s”? The big “G”? Despite the struggle, BM still had no trouble coming to the conclusion.
I would have expected her to mention it if Labour’s leaders had subsequently authorised the somewhat erratic Willie to change from that position and notify the Greens accordingly.
Cripes if National are working on this skill it will be something really useful in a few years as our normal water course dry up through irrigation up the river, or are drawn off to be bottled and sent off to wealthier or other
luckier countries which can access our pure water while we are left with the rest. So National and their dowsing will be a leading professional group.
It is pretty irrelevent for the democrats (and for the post that you dropped it into as a diversion) – yes.
But you are completely deluded if you think that it didn’t happen, and more importantly that it won’t happen again.
Now I am sure that you don’t want to hear this, but you’ll note that congress has in the last few days in a rare bit of bipartisanship gone and extended the sanctions against Russia for this and Russia’s invasion of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine using proxy forces. While they we at it, they also made it harder for Trump to use any executive powers to reduce them. That is a pretty clear signal about who and what the senators and congress members think went on.
From what I understand, all western nations (including here) and those on Russian borders are gearing themselves up to deal with similar attacks and political interference in the future. It was bad enough when the CIA was doing this kind of juvenile crap back in the 1950s and 60s and getting to deal with those fuckwits then. But the Russians lack even the CIA level of finesse. Much like you do.
I think that the sanctions need to be increased and deepened until Russia decides that doing this plausible deniability crap is counter productive regardless how well it plays out for their internal audience and gullible fools elsewhere.
Do you think congress will apply sanctions on Russia by banning Russian exports of weapons grade uranium to the US? or prohibiting the import of Russian heavy lift rockets which are required to lift us military satellites into orbit?
The effects of sanctions by the us congress do not effect us companies they effect European countries and they are not happy ie
On Wednesday, German Foreign Ministry warned that Berlin “could not accept” the US using sanctions against Russia as a tool of industrial policy.
There is no evidence that Russia had any influence on the election debacle of 2016.
If you choose to accept the assurances of the likes of liars like James Clapper and his colleagues, well good on you. You’re in the distinguished company of such intellectual luminaries and moral exemplars as John McCain and Boris Johnson.
I agree with you that Russia’s actions in the Ukraine are reprehensible and criminal, but if there are to be sanctions against Russia, then what measures do you think should be taken against the United States, Britain and France for what they have done and are continuing to do in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, and Syria?
So? I don’t need any particular evidence to form an opinion. I only need the words of Putin who has as good as admitted the attacks on Crimea, eastern Ukraine, several cyber attacks in the baltic countries and the “private citizens” who attacked the US election.
You forgot several other overt power plays by China in the South China Sea and a quite a few other plays. But the point about the US, China, Britian, France, and just about everyone else apart from the Pakistani and Israeli intelligence is that they tend to do their shit in public where it can bee seen and discussed. The US was probably involved with the Israelis in targeting the Stux worm into Iran
Russia is the only significiant power that still does much of its shit work covertly..
Quite simply you’d have to be a moron or a completely gullible fool to not look back over the history of Russian interactions over the last decade with upfront denials, and subsequent admission of maybe being involved to not see the pattern of their behaviour.
That is why they need more sanctions because the fuckwits seem to need to keep the costs of trying fuck around covertly pointed out to them. Like my handling of trolls, I’d have exactly the same view for any other idiot nations or politicians who aren’t up front about what they are doing.
Yup the cyber security experts all seem to agree its Russian funded attacks on ukraines govt departments and its power grid. They’re determined to weaken the Ukraine by all measures possible.
It’s suggested this is putins way of saying to the US ‘look what we can do’ as they’ve been effectively proving out their malware and techniques for power network disruption which has the US rightly nervous. Because that same malware has already been found in US power grids.
Xanthe… that was such a dismissive and arrogant comment I thought I’d go and read the source by the “independent forensic investigator.” It says that the file transfer was around 23 MB/s and “unlikely to have been downloaded over the internet” https://theforensicator.wordpress.com/guccifer-2-ngp-van-metadata-analysis/
This does not mean that Russian computer experts weren’t involved in the theft of the DNC data. It just suggests that the files may have been downloaded directly off the LAN so the theft may have been via access to the LAN.
Notwithstanding that, LTE is now pervasive across each of the four major carrier networks in the USA. Best ‘average’ download speeds are around 22 MB/s.
So, you’d be happy for sanctions to be placed upon the US and other members of the Five-Eyes because of their meddling in a sovereign nations democracy?
The espionage order for “Non Ruling Political Parties and Candidates Strategic Election Plans” which targeted Francois Holland, Marine Le Pen and other opposition figures requires obtaining opposition parties’ strategies for the election; information on internal party dynamics and rising leaders; efforts to influence and implement political decisions; support from local government officials, government elites or business elites; views of the United States; efforts to reach out to other countries, including Germany, U.K., Libya, Israel, Palestine, Syria & Cote d’Ivoire; as well as information about party and candidate funding.
Or is it only the Russian’s meddling that should get such sanctions because they lack even the CIA level of finesse?
I am not sure I would call Noam Chomsky a gullible fool – his is a very interesting take on the situation and deserves some attention. He believes that entente with Russia is the one good thing that Trump has achieved.
Sadly, Marcus, there is an element on this normally excellent blog which is prone to accepting anything it is told by those in “authority”. Terms like “gullible fool” are routinely used to write off the likes of Noam Chomsky, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Jeremy Scahill, Robert Fisk, John Pilger and anyone else who dares to contradict the (evidence-free) assertions of the CIA and the GCHQ and their host of loyal media megaphones.
Vide….
So? I don’t need any particular evidence to form an opinion.
Watching Lisa Owen’s interview with Willie Jackson this morning was an exercise in self control (as in not turning off the tellie and run screaming from the room). Determined and aggressive questioning may have a point when someone’s trying to hide something, but what did she think she was up to this time? He was perfectly willing to answer her in full – and the fact that she didn’t let him complete a whole sentence rather demonstrated that she was more interested in kicking up a storm than in acquiring knowledge.
Yuck – she was like an old crow, pecking and pointing and the more open and reasonable he got the worse she got! It was just an exercise in point scoring. That’s not journalism
Just like last week. I’m afraid Lisa Owen has succumbed to Lisa Owen.
After all, we’re all more interested in Lisa Owen and how clever she thinks she is than we are in the person being interviewed.
She’s a legend
What’s her been an older women got to do with it re your reference to an old crow, ageism sexism in one hit
[Like an old crow is not the same as is an old crow. Seeing as how I’m sure you’re perfectly aware of that, I’m taking you’re comment as deliberate shit stirring. Come back tomorrow to discover the length of your ban.] – Bill
[Playing silly buggers and disregarding a ban was really stupid. Permanent.] – Bill
Looking at this headline in the Herald this morning brought back a memory from my distant past – I probably was quite young at the time, but living not all that far from Taupo there was a fair bit of angst at the time about how Keith Holyoake purchased this property. It’s obviously been an ‘astute’ purchase as the family now stands to make a very sizable return on the sale, when it happens. The name Comber also rings a bell – I think, and I stand to be corrected that he is/was Kiwi Keith’s son in law and was also a Nat MP back in the day. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11896259
The election is really highlighting the deep divisions in society. It is quite distressing to consider the lack of mutual respect between different groups of people. (I am certainly as guilty as anyone of heaping abuse on members of the current government.) I also think it is in the interest of Tory governments to maintain these divisions lest their voters who ask the question “What will I get out of a government?” instead ask the question “What does the community need from a government?”
The difficulty is how to reach the hearts of Tory voters and raise their awareness of the human plight of others. Most of them have got, somewhere, deep down, a sense of decency and fair play. I am sure that Metiria tapped into a few of those. However the rich white male who seems to have more regard for his dog than most other people is a harder nut to crack. My small experience with this type seems to show that the environment is perhaps the only common ground of agreement as long as the word “green” never comes in to the conversation. There seems to be little understanding of the merits of our country bothering to make any effort on global warming,
I have been picking up plastic and other rubbish of my local beach on a daily basis for about 2 years. My contribution is no doubt insignificant when considered on a global scale, but I know that if this was done on every beach in the world, it would make a difference. We need to somehow reach the “why bother” people on an emotional level if we are to create a more pleasant, caring and unified society.
Hi ttm, walking behind a kitchen manager one day as a young chef, he stooped to pick up an onion skin and put it in the bin.
That act had a profound effect on me.
Leaving a rugby match many moons later, someone dropped a program, instead of remonstrating, I picked it up and put it in the bin.
Hoping it may have an effect on someone behind me.
Long winded I know, but don’t under estimate your actions on the beach.
Pakistan plunges into uncertainty as PM Nawaz Sharif ousted
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Friday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from public office over long-running corruption allegations, a decision that ousted him from the premiership for the third time.
The ruling saw political uncertainty take hold in Pakistan once again, with Cabinet dissolved and the country left without a sitting prime minister.
As the verdict was announced in Islamabad, hundreds of opposition supporters in the capital and in northwestern Peshawar rushed into the street handing out sweets, beating drums, and chanting “Go Nawaz Go” in celebration.
But in Lahore, capital of Sharif´s power base of Punjab province, sporadic protests broke out, with his supporters burning tyres, blocking streets and chanting “We don´t accept this decision”.
General elections are scheduled for next year, but Sharif now falls short of becoming the first premier to complete a full five-year term.
The allegations against the prime minister spiralled from the Panama Papers leak last year, which sparked a media frenzy over the lavish lifestyles and luxury London property portfolio of the Sharif dynasty.
Those claims prompted an investigation which said there was a “significant disparity” between the family´s income and lifestyle, and unearthed fresh claims over Sharif´s links to companies based in the United Arab Emirates.
….”
Watching Newshub tonight, it seem as if Imran Khan may get his long held wish to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. God/Allah only knows how long his tenure will be before he in turn gets turfed out.
8.35 a.m. Bill Mitchell: modern monetary theory
An emerging school of economics, called modern monetary theory, says
government surpluses can be a bad thing and a country with a fiat currency can never run out of money. Professor of Economics Bill Mitchell explains how that can work.
Mr Amano said such technology was effective in a range of fields, such as health, agriculture or the environment….
[The community’s deputy director Cameron Diver] says nuclear technology could be applied to improve soil quality, in the fight against cancer and to trace marine pollution….
Also in attendance was the French overseas minister Annick Girardin who pushed for France’s further integration into the region.
There was a NZRadio report about 6 pm today on Tagata o Te Moana 30 odd minutes report, on the inability of Pacific Islands to cope with plastic. When some have disasters like hurricanes and need water it arrives in plastic bottles but no agency then takes those away again. There is no place or way to handle this rubbish. They have been known to collect them from one side of an island where plastic has accumulated, and been taken to the other side and dumped back in the water again.
Yesterday I made a comment in the thread re rail transport and I made the claim that the Government was in the pocket of the Road Transport Forum. During this morning’s Q and A session Dr Raymond Miller from Auckland University went even further. He said that the “little known lobby group” has been led since its inception in 1992 by former Transport Ministers. It was also pointed out that the two biggest truck operators in the country (Mainfreight and Toll) don’t actually belong to the forum because their companies are integrated with rail. A further revelation was that the proposed “East West” corridor in Auckland is the least justifiable, the most expensive and the least cost effective of the ten options the government considered. All of this should be hammered out by all parties opposed to the current government over the next eight weeks. We are being led by a bunch of charlatans.
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
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Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
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Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
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Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
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The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
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Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
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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. ...
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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, ...
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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. ...
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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. ...
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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 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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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After reading this it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that the MOU is dead and the Greens are now charting their own course.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/07/29/escape-velocity-the-greens-rocket-out-of-labours-gravity/
Agreed.
Do you believe that the current path the Greens have taken has party wide consensus or do you think it’s what Trotter said that it’s being lead by the ex -Alliance wing within the party.
I do not know.
I am aware, however, that Metiria’s actions have fired up many of many friends to vote for the Greens.
BM is showing an intense in the Green Party right now; potential supporter?
It might take another courageous action by The Green Party; Metiria in particular seems to have captured BM’s imagination (and perhaps, heart) to bring him across and I feel confident there’s more to come from them and certainly, I sense BM’s stirring. He’ll be welcomed with open arms.
Lol, yeah that’s the one.
I just have a sneaking suspicion we’re about to see the Greens split in two,
Turei on one side and Shaw on the other.
Quite a high chance you might see the Shaw led faction integrating with Gareth Morgans Top party and becoming the new face of the greens movement while the Turei faction reverts back into the Alliance party.
“I just have a sneaking suspicion…”
Lol, yeah that’s the one.
Lolz, Crosby Textor scraping the bottom of the barrel when that’s all they’ve got.
Gollum calling Sam a sneak comes to mind.
Yep bm doing the cleaning now – must have been demoted for poor performance I think.
I think that the likelihood of that happening is up there with Don Brash becoming the leader of the National Party again.
On facebook someone pointed out that Don Brash appeared to be agreeing with NZ First and some of its more covertly racist supporters (which like the spinoff author, I have never seen when reporting on their conferences). My only thought about that had the words “kiss of death” in it.
My thoughts on your idea of a green split has the phrases “wishful thinking” and “politically naive” in it.
I just have a sneaking suspicion we’re about to see the Greens split in two,
Turei on one side and Shaw on the other.
It’s important to distinguish between “sneaking suspicion” and “wildly implausible wishful thinking” when you’re commenting – helps avoid looking silly.
Dream on BM
“After reading this it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that the MOU is dead and the Greens are now charting their own course.”
Only if you don’t understand what the MoU is, or what MMP is. Or you believe that the GP will get enough votes on their own to govern.
Or you’re a right wing wind up merchant invested in undermining the left by spreading bullshit wherever you can.
Umm I pick the last one. Man this lad shows his ignorance about politics and the greens every time he comments.
“…it’s not hard to come to the conclusion…”
This is a truism from BM; he finds it’s very, very easy to come to conclusions, based on fluff that collects in his head, the thinnest of ideas that everyone else would struggle to entertain. “James is Metiria’s love child!”, BM concludes, having seen the two of them wearing matching Green Party rosettes!. The Green Party and Greenpeace are the same person: an inescapable conclusion reached by BM after noticing a similarity in their titles, though he was unable to pin down exactly what it is they have in common; the twin-“e’s”? The big “G”? Despite the struggle, BM still had no trouble coming to the conclusion.
That’s a description to frame.
…you’re a right wing wind up merchant invested in undermining the left by spreading bullshit wherever you can.>/i>
Gee, wonder what Colonel Trotter makes of Willie Jackson making up an unsanctioned policy on the telly for Greens to give up Maori electorate seats to Labour?: http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2017/07/interview-willie-jackson.html
What makes you think it’s unsanctioned?
What makes you think it’s not?
I don’t think either way.
See Metiria’s response to producer Tim Watkin: https://twitter.com/metiria/status/891082826837143552
I would have expected her to mention it if Labour’s leaders had subsequently authorised the somewhat erratic Willie to change from that position and notify the Greens accordingly.
Yes, and from what I’ve seen today that makes sense (all I saw yesterday was the WJ interview).
“Ignited by the fiery exhaust of the Green’s policy rocket”
Go Greens, you incendiary things!
As opposed to dowsed by the watery farts of National policy
Flaming hell, what next!
Who knows?-what does dowsed mean?
It means to find water usually with the aid of a forked stick.
Crikey, it gets worse. Robert you could please tell me where james fits into all this,=-if he does at all.
I expect, as indicated, James is at home working it out with a pencil…
Which immediately brings to mind the question:
“Did you hear about the constipated mathematician?
Worked it out with a pencil.”
Cripes if National are working on this skill it will be something really useful in a few years as our normal water course dry up through irrigation up the river, or are drawn off to be bottled and sent off to wealthier or other
luckier countries which can access our pure water while we are left with the rest. So National and their dowsing will be a leading professional group.
Dowsed? Doused?
It was such a base working class comment anyway dontcha know.
Plus we all know Gnats don’t fart anyway
Thank you all. Things have been clarified in my mind somewhat.
And sadly, instead of countering this madness, much of the Democratic Party’s “leadership” spends its time chasing the chimera of Russian “meddling”.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
It is pretty irrelevent for the democrats (and for the post that you dropped it into as a diversion) – yes.
But you are completely deluded if you think that it didn’t happen, and more importantly that it won’t happen again.
Now I am sure that you don’t want to hear this, but you’ll note that congress has in the last few days in a rare bit of bipartisanship gone and extended the sanctions against Russia for this and Russia’s invasion of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine using proxy forces. While they we at it, they also made it harder for Trump to use any executive powers to reduce them. That is a pretty clear signal about who and what the senators and congress members think went on.
From what I understand, all western nations (including here) and those on Russian borders are gearing themselves up to deal with similar attacks and political interference in the future. It was bad enough when the CIA was doing this kind of juvenile crap back in the 1950s and 60s and getting to deal with those fuckwits then. But the Russians lack even the CIA level of finesse. Much like you do.
I think that the sanctions need to be increased and deepened until Russia decides that doing this plausible deniability crap is counter productive regardless how well it plays out for their internal audience and gullible fools elsewhere.
Do you think congress will apply sanctions on Russia by banning Russian exports of weapons grade uranium to the US? or prohibiting the import of Russian heavy lift rockets which are required to lift us military satellites into orbit?
The effects of sanctions by the us congress do not effect us companies they effect European countries and they are not happy ie
On Wednesday, German Foreign Ministry warned that Berlin “could not accept” the US using sanctions against Russia as a tool of industrial policy.
http://www.dw.com/en/new-us-russia-sanctions-bill-risks-eu-anger/a-39867060
There is no evidence that Russia had any influence on the election debacle of 2016.
If you choose to accept the assurances of the likes of liars like James Clapper and his colleagues, well good on you. You’re in the distinguished company of such intellectual luminaries and moral exemplars as John McCain and Boris Johnson.
I agree with you that Russia’s actions in the Ukraine are reprehensible and criminal, but if there are to be sanctions against Russia, then what measures do you think should be taken against the United States, Britain and France for what they have done and are continuing to do in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, and Syria?
So? I don’t need any particular evidence to form an opinion. I only need the words of Putin who has as good as admitted the attacks on Crimea, eastern Ukraine, several cyber attacks in the baltic countries and the “private citizens” who attacked the US election.
You forgot several other overt power plays by China in the South China Sea and a quite a few other plays. But the point about the US, China, Britian, France, and just about everyone else apart from the Pakistani and Israeli intelligence is that they tend to do their shit in public where it can bee seen and discussed. The US was probably involved with the Israelis in targeting the Stux worm into Iran
Russia is the only significiant power that still does much of its shit work covertly..
Quite simply you’d have to be a moron or a completely gullible fool to not look back over the history of Russian interactions over the last decade with upfront denials, and subsequent admission of maybe being involved to not see the pattern of their behaviour.
That is why they need more sanctions because the fuckwits seem to need to keep the costs of trying fuck around covertly pointed out to them. Like my handling of trolls, I’d have exactly the same view for any other idiot nations or politicians who aren’t up front about what they are doing.
The pattern of their behaviour or the pattern of ‘western’ accusations? Which of the two has more connection to reality?
You know I’m of of those supposedly “gullible fools” you adore…or maybe I’m one of those deeply cynical bastards.
Anyway. The sooner the USA bans beds that don’t come all the way down to the floor, the better 😉
Yup the cyber security experts all seem to agree its Russian funded attacks on ukraines govt departments and its power grid. They’re determined to weaken the Ukraine by all measures possible.
It’s suggested this is putins way of saying to the US ‘look what we can do’ as they’ve been effectively proving out their malware and techniques for power network disruption which has the US rightly nervous. Because that same malware has already been found in US power grids.
Here is a rather more informed view of the “russian hack”
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/07/24/intel-vets-challenge-russia-hack-evidence/
Frankly i am surprised at your naievity on this matter,
Xanthe… that was such a dismissive and arrogant comment I thought I’d go and read the source by the “independent forensic investigator.” It says that the file transfer was around 23 MB/s and “unlikely to have been downloaded over the internet” https://theforensicator.wordpress.com/guccifer-2-ngp-van-metadata-analysis/
This does not mean that Russian computer experts weren’t involved in the theft of the DNC data. It just suggests that the files may have been downloaded directly off the LAN so the theft may have been via access to the LAN.
Notwithstanding that, LTE is now pervasive across each of the four major carrier networks in the USA. Best ‘average’ download speeds are around 22 MB/s.
I wonder what lprent’s view is on this?
So, you’d be happy for sanctions to be placed upon the US and other members of the Five-Eyes because of their meddling in a sovereign nations democracy?
Or is it only the Russian’s meddling that should get such sanctions because they lack even the CIA level of finesse?
I am not sure I would call Noam Chomsky a gullible fool – his is a very interesting take on the situation and deserves some attention. He believes that entente with Russia is the one good thing that Trump has achieved.
Sadly, Marcus, there is an element on this normally excellent blog which is prone to accepting anything it is told by those in “authority”. Terms like “gullible fool” are routinely used to write off the likes of Noam Chomsky, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Jeremy Scahill, Robert Fisk, John Pilger and anyone else who dares to contradict the (evidence-free) assertions of the CIA and the GCHQ and their host of loyal media megaphones.
Vide….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-29072017/#comment-1359085
Watching Lisa Owen’s interview with Willie Jackson this morning was an exercise in self control (as in not turning off the tellie and run screaming from the room). Determined and aggressive questioning may have a point when someone’s trying to hide something, but what did she think she was up to this time? He was perfectly willing to answer her in full – and the fact that she didn’t let him complete a whole sentence rather demonstrated that she was more interested in kicking up a storm than in acquiring knowledge.
Yuck – she was like an old crow, pecking and pointing and the more open and reasonable he got the worse she got! It was just an exercise in point scoring. That’s not journalism
Just like last week. I’m afraid Lisa Owen has succumbed to Lisa Owen.
After all, we’re all more interested in Lisa Owen and how clever she thinks she is than we are in the person being interviewed.
She’s a legend
What’s her been an older women got to do with it re your reference to an old crow, ageism sexism in one hit
[Like an old crow is not the same as is an old crow. Seeing as how I’m sure you’re perfectly aware of that, I’m taking you’re comment as deliberate shit stirring. Come back tomorrow to discover the length of your ban.] – Bill
[Playing silly buggers and disregarding a ban was really stupid. Permanent.] – Bill
Spitting hairs bill, unfortunately Wont be able to make your announcement tomorrow but I hope you enjoy the power and suspense
Red – please try not to make literate people wince. The difference between ‘been’ and ‘being’ really counts. Against you.
I guess your not wincing then Vino 😀
Looking at this headline in the Herald this morning brought back a memory from my distant past – I probably was quite young at the time, but living not all that far from Taupo there was a fair bit of angst at the time about how Keith Holyoake purchased this property. It’s obviously been an ‘astute’ purchase as the family now stands to make a very sizable return on the sale, when it happens. The name Comber also rings a bell – I think, and I stand to be corrected that he is/was Kiwi Keith’s son in law and was also a Nat MP back in the day. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11896259
Yes, Ken Comber was Keith Holyoake’s son-in-law and also an MP. Goodness – I’ve just looked him up – he’s been dead since 1998 – didn’t even reach 60!
Seem to remember kiwi keiths tar sealed road to property when every one else was driving on dirt roads,–nothings changed.
Ahhh, that’s it The decrypter – there was something murky about that property.
Maybe another instant kiwi citizen has made an offer she can’t refuse.
The election is really highlighting the deep divisions in society. It is quite distressing to consider the lack of mutual respect between different groups of people. (I am certainly as guilty as anyone of heaping abuse on members of the current government.) I also think it is in the interest of Tory governments to maintain these divisions lest their voters who ask the question “What will I get out of a government?” instead ask the question “What does the community need from a government?”
The difficulty is how to reach the hearts of Tory voters and raise their awareness of the human plight of others. Most of them have got, somewhere, deep down, a sense of decency and fair play. I am sure that Metiria tapped into a few of those. However the rich white male who seems to have more regard for his dog than most other people is a harder nut to crack. My small experience with this type seems to show that the environment is perhaps the only common ground of agreement as long as the word “green” never comes in to the conversation. There seems to be little understanding of the merits of our country bothering to make any effort on global warming,
I have been picking up plastic and other rubbish of my local beach on a daily basis for about 2 years. My contribution is no doubt insignificant when considered on a global scale, but I know that if this was done on every beach in the world, it would make a difference. We need to somehow reach the “why bother” people on an emotional level if we are to create a more pleasant, caring and unified society.
Hi ttm, walking behind a kitchen manager one day as a young chef, he stooped to pick up an onion skin and put it in the bin.
That act had a profound effect on me.
Leaving a rugby match many moons later, someone dropped a program, instead of remonstrating, I picked it up and put it in the bin.
Hoping it may have an effect on someone behind me.
Long winded I know, but don’t under estimate your actions on the beach.
PAKISTAN SUPREME COURT ‘SACKS’ PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER FOR CORRUPTION!
(Imagine our NZ Supreme Court doing that! 🙂
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/219619-Panama-leaks-Nawaz-Sharif-survives-as-SC-refers-graft-case-to-NAB
Pakistan plunges into uncertainty as PM Nawaz Sharif ousted
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Friday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from public office over long-running corruption allegations, a decision that ousted him from the premiership for the third time.
The ruling saw political uncertainty take hold in Pakistan once again, with Cabinet dissolved and the country left without a sitting prime minister.
As the verdict was announced in Islamabad, hundreds of opposition supporters in the capital and in northwestern Peshawar rushed into the street handing out sweets, beating drums, and chanting “Go Nawaz Go” in celebration.
But in Lahore, capital of Sharif´s power base of Punjab province, sporadic protests broke out, with his supporters burning tyres, blocking streets and chanting “We don´t accept this decision”.
General elections are scheduled for next year, but Sharif now falls short of becoming the first premier to complete a full five-year term.
The allegations against the prime minister spiralled from the Panama Papers leak last year, which sparked a media frenzy over the lavish lifestyles and luxury London property portfolio of the Sharif dynasty.
Those claims prompted an investigation which said there was a “significant disparity” between the family´s income and lifestyle, and unearthed fresh claims over Sharif´s links to companies based in the United Arab Emirates.
….”
We may have a buyer for the Holyoake place.
Don’t ask for what you wish for.
Not a single Pakistani Prime Minister has actually left office by being voted out.
That is no measure of a good democracy.
No doubt his family was corrupt. They should pay ill-gotten gains back.
But now, as usual, the Pakistani Army will get ready to stage the usual coup, and usurp the power of the ordinary person to vote their governments in.
Courts should not rule over democratic mandates like this.
Watching Newshub tonight, it seem as if Imran Khan may get his long held wish to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. God/Allah only knows how long his tenure will be before he in turn gets turfed out.
Tomorrow morning RNZ Wallace Chapman:
8.35 a.m. Bill Mitchell: modern monetary theory
An emerging school of economics, called modern monetary theory, says
government surpluses can be a bad thing and a country with a fiat currency can never run out of money. Professor of Economics Bill Mitchell explains how that can work.
Nuclear power in the Pacific – is this going to help them?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/335990/iaea-signs-deal-with-pacific-community
The International Atomic Energy Agency has signed a deal with the Pacific Community or SPC to provide nuclear technology to the Pacific region.
This was announced in Noumea by the head of the agency Yukiya Amano and follows the formal signing of an agreement in Vienna last month.
Mr Amano said such technology was effective in a range of fields, such as health, agriculture or the environment….
[The community’s deputy director Cameron Diver] says nuclear technology could be applied to improve soil quality, in the fight against cancer and to trace marine pollution….
Also in attendance was the French overseas minister Annick Girardin who pushed for France’s further integration into the region.
There was a NZRadio report about 6 pm today on Tagata o Te Moana 30 odd minutes report, on the inability of Pacific Islands to cope with plastic. When some have disasters like hurricanes and need water it arrives in plastic bottles but no agency then takes those away again. There is no place or way to handle this rubbish. They have been known to collect them from one side of an island where plastic has accumulated, and been taken to the other side and dumped back in the water again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
and
Heat wave
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms16101
and
Killing Oz Barrier Reef
https://nuclear-news.net/category/1-nuclear-issues/environment-1-nuclear-issues/oceans/
and
Oil deals with Russia and Exon and Trump?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlY6g6X8D0Y
and
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/oceans-under-the-microscope.html
Jul 21, 2017 – Around 95% of the Earth’s oceans are still unexplored – in fact, we know less about the deep sea than we do about space. But although vast swathes of the …
and …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/oceanography/
and
Leatherback turtles and plastic
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090315224258.htm
and
Capturing the spectrum
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170711220514.htm
and
Worried about cigarette smoke in the car – rush hour worse.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170721135331.htm
Yesterday I made a comment in the thread re rail transport and I made the claim that the Government was in the pocket of the Road Transport Forum. During this morning’s Q and A session Dr Raymond Miller from Auckland University went even further. He said that the “little known lobby group” has been led since its inception in 1992 by former Transport Ministers. It was also pointed out that the two biggest truck operators in the country (Mainfreight and Toll) don’t actually belong to the forum because their companies are integrated with rail. A further revelation was that the proposed “East West” corridor in Auckland is the least justifiable, the most expensive and the least cost effective of the ten options the government considered. All of this should be hammered out by all parties opposed to the current government over the next eight weeks. We are being led by a bunch of charlatans.
The East-West truckway had six options of which the worst option was chosen and whose projected cost has blown out to $1.8b: https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/06/13/economics-east-west-link/
Haven’t watched Q&A yet but perhaps Miller was talking about the ten options in the initially-suppressed Third Main rail case (which also affects the need for the extra trucking motorway): https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/07/28/third-main-business-case-un-redacted-version/