James Clapper CIA head says that the media needs to stop blaming Russia for the DNC email hacks
Some 30,000 Democratic National Committee emails were released by WikiLeaks last Friday, exposing the Democratic National Committee’s bias in favor of Hillary Clinton.
After the release, Clinton’s campaign accused Russia of meddling in the 2016 election campaign. Despite lacking any proof to substantiate their claims, a number of US media outlets picked up the ball and repeated the accusations, claiming Russians had hacked into the DNC’s computer servers and leaked emails to WikiLeaks in order to help the Donald Trump campaign.
Speaking on Thursday, Clapper said that Americans need to stop blaming Russia for the hack, telling the crowd that the US has been running in “reactionary mode” when it comes to the numerous cyber-attacks the nation is continuously facing.
“I’m somewhat taken aback by the hyperventilation on this,” Clapper said, as cited by the Washington Examiner.
“I’m shocked someone did some hacking,” he added sarcastically, “[as if] that’s never happened before.”
On the topic of the DNC, here is some weekend reading (it’s long, but seems thorough). I’ve only scratched the surface, but this is from the conclusions:
Based on this work, Election Justice USA has established an upper estimate of 184 pledged delegates lost by Senator Bernie Sanders as a consequence of specific irregularities and instances of fraud. Adding these delegates to Senator Sanders’ pledged delegate total and subtracting the same number from Hillary Clinton’s total would more than erase the 359 pledged delegate gap between the two candidates. EJUSA established the upper estimate through exit polling data, statistical analysis by precinct size, and attention to the details of Democratic proportional awarding of national delegates. Even small changes in vote shares in critical states like Massachusetts and New York could have substantially changed the media narrative surrounding the primaries in ways that would likely have had far reaching consequences for Senator Sanders’ campaign.
B. RECOMMENDATIONS
…
Finally, we wish to bring the reader’s attention to three simple reforms that would eliminate the mere possibility of the vast majority of fraud types demonstrated or evidenced in this report:
1) Exclusive use of hand-counted paper ballots in all future US elections.
2) Automatic voter registration, with same-day party affiliation switching as a mandatory
condition for all elections that are publicly funded.
3) Restoration of voting rights legislation which would ensure adequate access to polling sites.
Election Justice USA maintains that these recommendations for future elections, contrary to common claims, save taxpayer money.
Having each state’s electoral college votes assigned proportionally according to the % that candidates receive in their state, would also be huge. (And allow fractions of electoral votes up to 1 decimal point eg. NY State could have 20.3 of its electoral college votes go Democratic, 5.6 go Republican, 2.1 Greens, 1.0 Libertarian ).
The US system would benefit greatly from a STV type system. Multiple cases parties blame third party candidates for vote splitting causing overall loss (and probably not incorrectly in some of them).
Hot on the heels of the recently-released LSE study documenting acute anti-Corbyn bias throughout the UK MSM over the last 12 months, a new analysis claims online and television media showed “clear and consistent bias” against Jeremy Corbyn at the start of the present Labour leadership coup,
Also accuses the BBC of giving twice as much airtime to Corbyn’s critics than to his supporters on some programmes during the crisis.
The exclusive study from The Media Reform Coalition and Birkbeck, University of London, analysed TV and online news during the 10 days after the wave of resignations from Corbyn’s shadow cabinet following the Brexit vote in late June … Measuring how much airtime and online coverage was focused on the embattled leader’s allies and opponents, the research found “a marked and persistent imbalance in favour of sources critical of Jeremy Corbyn, the issues that they sought to highlight, and the arguments they advanced.”
As veteran broadcaster, film-maker and Left activist, Paul Mason, has argued, for all its faults “The old BBC would have taken evidence like this seriously. The pre-Hutton BBC would not have let it happen”.
– 465 online articles and 40 prime time news bulletins assessed
– Twice as much airtime given to critical, rather than supportive voices
– Huge imbalance in favour of issues pushed by Corbyn critics on early evening BBC and ITV bulletins – especially pronounced in headline stories
– Strong tendency within BBC main evening news for reporters to use pejorative
language when describing Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters
– Domination of views opposed to the Labour leadership in all but one of the online
outlets sampled, and across both left and right-leaning titles
– Online-only news sites relatively balanced in their coverage, as well as the BBC online
Truth comes out about child abuse. Has an ugly truth about it so expect this to be ignored when the next case hits the media. Default back to that right wing mantra personal responsibility.
I read that article, and I generally accept what the writer says but also think there is more to it. Our big, gadget-designing heads mean that we are born very vulnerable and also have reduced instinct in comparison to, say, a cat. Consequently, we learn how to look after children through community participation and observation. Uprootedness robs people of the conditions under which they learn. In the 20’s, the answer to this problem was Plunket, which offered method and support, and whatever we think of their method now, far less children died from their parents’ inadequacies. More genuine support and less vilification would go a long way toward reducing the harm done to children in NZ.
As a Pākehā I am sorry that this has happened. As colonialists we can’t go and turn the clock back, but each country can work with colonised peoples to ameliorate the damage. This starts, of course, with an acknowledgment of the harm that was done to indigenous nations and communities over time.
I broadly agree with Olwyn about practical support and education, but we also need to go further continue to tackle the institutional and personal discrimination and poor life chances that create more external stresses on indigenous families everywhere. Some of these stresses cross over with other communities, however I can see how the history of colonisation creates a more difficult dynamic that requires more complex solutions. But you’re right. Every time this road gets taken, the bigots come out and turn tragic reality into a political football.
ho hum the same tired old excuses…colonization …maori wernt allowed to speak their own language 100 years ago…maori were really nice to their kids before pakehas came along…..excuses excuses .Nobodies gonna deny maori wernt disinfranchised by white merchants but only the religious ones would have ADVOCATED the beating of children.Surely we are all humans with exactly the same brain and with exactly the same powers of reasoning ability whether we are black white or rainbow coloured .Violence begets violence and if there is four times as many maori in jail today as any other race it has far more to do with maori beating their kids four times as much than for any other reason i.m.h.o.
It’s not for the coloniser to dismiss the continuing impact of his actions on the colonised. In fact it’s incredibly stupid to accord the slightest respect to that analysis. It is such a cover for prejudice.
Prejudice ? nope Like i said violence is violence and beating your kids is the same act no matter if you are black white or rainbow coloured .It is the same no matter what culture you live in because man is the same the world over . Violence is a human problem and humans are the most violent species on earth .I.m.o. its nothing to do with colonizing its about not visiting the sins of the father onto the child again and again and again .
Don’t you want to ask why might there be more abuse in that culture? If Māori still had their lands intact, and had food, environmental and cultural stability, do you really think we would be getting these horrific stories? I don’t think we would.
What were levels of violence like when Māori had all their lands intact? What are levels of violence like in areas post Treaty settlement vs pre Treaty settlement?
Yes, there was pre european inter tribal violence and mass migration into different regions. I just wonder if europeans played by fair rules from the beginning, then maybe Māori could have united without the major social disadvantages they have now.
Obviously post treaty settlement not all Māori see any benefit from the millions given.
You don’t think that Teina Pora’s compensation should be inflation adjusted then? Just paid out the lower sum in the dollars of today, instead of the worth of the dollars from say 20 years ago?
Everyone knows that you have to inflation adjust dollar values from the past because current day dollars are not worth as much.
$20B is a relatively small amount of money, less than 10% of what the Govt spends in a single 3 year term, and a much more suitable amount for compensation IMO.
Over $1 billion sounds like such a huge sum but in the scheme of things it is not.
An example, Canterbury DHB received more than $1.2 billion under population-based health funding in 2015/16 – one year’s funding.
Everyone even today suffers from pressure and stress of one kind or another but still its a choice of whether we take it out on the kids or not and maori do not have a monopoly on family violence .Violence against families is a problem within our pacific island neighbors too although it tends to be reported as violence against women ie wives .If someone cut down all my peach trees and ruined my ability to sustain myself of course id be fucked off id wanna kill those fuckers but i guess unless i was completely out of my mind id hope i wouldnt take it out on the kids .whatever you say about past wrongs etc isnt it still a matter of parental responsibility ?By the way in case you think im coming at this out of a holier than thau attitude i freely admit to as a young parent lashing out at my kids ive booted them wacked their arses and clipped them arround the ears but that was forty years ago and i grew up about the same time .I realized that i was repeating the same stuff that was done to me as a kid that i was saying things like “stop crying or ill give you something to cry about “.Thank goodness for sue bradfords bill putting the issue into legislation because the collective will in regards with whats ok to do to your kids would still just be a matter of whether there was a piece of alkathene handy for a good number of the population .!!!
The bill would give “draconian” power to the commission, King said.
Council chief executive Richard King said the government was forcing the Auckland model on the rest of the country.
The Invercargill City Council is calling on Southland’s councils and members of parliament to unite and stand up for local democracy by opposing the Better Local Services Bill.
Water supply, waste water and transport could be taken from council control and put into council-controlled organisations under the bill.
The commission would have the power to force councils to join existing council-controlled organisations and to transfer functions and powers between councils.
The bill would also remove council’s ability to appoint elected members as directors of multiply-owned council-controlled organisations. That would mean the public would have no say around the board table, King said.
Deputy Mayor Darren Ludlow said the potential for a reduction in local democracy was unacceptable. Proposed council-controlled organisations will increase costs, not efficiencies, he said
Shadbolt said the bill, in his view, should be called the “Crushing of Local Government Democracy and Seizing Control of Their Assets Bill”.
Tim Shadbolt is entirely correct in what he says here and it’s wonderful to see/hear him taking a position on this – like a sleeping giant rousing from his slumber 🙂
. “The more things change the more they stay the same”
. It is not actually true. However the USA never changes.
. Each American is a Hollywood Star. Because life is a fiction fantasy.
. Each American politician and President bombs (sometimes nuclear) any race on the planet that it wishes. Supported by the American philosophy of acquisition, greed and fear. VIOLENCE is the core of the United States of America. Clothed with Disney infantalism.
They shamelessly murder hundreds of thousands of innocent men women and children. Year by Year. Although they have never won a war since they lost Korea 1948. They keep trying to win year after year.
So, Trump and Clinton are just Hollywood productions. Trotted out like Cinema reruns.
.
…recently we have been having our own New Zealand film festival using DVDs from a local DVD shop…and New Zealand films are just fantastic …compared with much Hollywood lightweight floss and gloss and effects … Many New Zealand films have real psychological depth, original drama, sensitivity and are an aesthetic visual feast
When the MSM starts going for one metanarrative over another, it’s really really hard to reverse:
“Greatness regained” beaten by “Love Trumps Hate”
” Ecstasy of communal fear” beaten by “Light out of darkness”
“Patriotism and regionalism” is still winning against “unity and common strength”
This is fantastic for the meme battles; I’m waiting for God to be invoked more often.
Normally, grand narratives are grand because what they narrate is the work of the social imaginary itself.
But today, the left and the right get to expose them as democratic weapons to display and deploy. It’s no mere theatre, although it’s certainly that. It is the contest for symbolic and actual power.
“Those in the Labour Party who do not share the Socialist principles of Momentum routinely accuse it of bullying, of abuse and of orchestrating disruption in local party meetings. Evidence for such accusations is not offered, for such behaviour does not customarily identify itself with Corbyn or Momentum. For instance, a brick was notoriously thrown through the window of the local office of Angela Eagle who, for a few days, was expected to run against Corbyn for the leadership. No individual was ever identified as the perpetrator. And what was even more pertinent was that the window was not of Eagle’s office but of a politically neutral staircase on the other side of the building. Nonetheless, it was widely taken as read that this act illustrated the villainy of Momentum.”
Interesting…
It gets worse really
“Carole Malone in The Mirror[9] accused “thugs acting in Corbyn’s name” of making death threats to Angela Eagle and to her fellow MP Luciana Berger. Berger promptly responded in a tweet that “the man who sent me those messages has nothing to do with @uklabour”, but Malone issued no correction or apology. The hate that columnists like Malone loudly deplore instead fuels their own carelessly damaging prose.”
.
Kevin – thankyou for linking to a great piece of observational writing by W Stephan Gilbert. !
Each of the players stripped to the bone. Blair – the Thatcherite – Kinnock a demented democratic turncoat Lord. Smith a despicable narcissist. Eagle a Liar about her silly window. and on and on.
Jeremy Corbyn, the most respected member of Parliament; the least selfish and the least grasping fingers of any member of Parliament – throughout his 33yrs service.
The Press hate him; The Tories hate him and ridicule him; The Labour Party of which he is Leader hate him with pathetic slander and appalling self aggrandisement.
His 123 appearance supporting “Remain” as against lazy Labour colleagues hardly opening their lips in support of “Remain”. The Eagle girl did 15 appearances for “Remain”.
As W Stephan Gilbert closes his superb article he states:
.
“The greatest difficulty that the anti-Corbyn MPs, the media and the Tories all share is a fact that they simply cannot stomach: Jeremy Corbyn is the most popular politician in Britain.”
I see the Corbyn leadership battle as the worlds ground zero for the re-establishment of socialism as the political force that will bring us back from the brink of economic catastrophe.
Neo-liberalism is dead and that corpse needs to be buried so deep there is no chance of a resurrection. Even Grant Roberston in his Q&A (?) interview last weekend said that in his eyes ‘trickle-down’ (neo-liberal) economics is dead and cited the IMF and World Bank who also say the same.
I believe Corbyn will be re-elected with a larger majority than before. Whether those Tory-Lites in the PLP jump before or after will be interesting.
A real left-wing alternative, who would have thought that 18 months ago!
Thanks Paul, a good thoughtful article, especially the wise words taken from Tony Benn: “Perhaps the hardest thing for politicians to understand, is that government no longer rotates entirely around parliament and the old cycle of inner-party policy formulation – intense electoral propaganda, voters’ mandate and legislative implementation – important as they are. Winning an election without winning the argument may well frustrate at least a part of your purpose; and conversely winning an argument may be sufficient to solve certain problems by creating an atmosphere favourable to the achievement of your objectives…Anyone aspiring to political leadership who really wishes to shape the society in which he lives has now got to devote a part, and probably a majority, of his time and skill and effort to persuading people, and listening in return to what is said to him.” The distinction between winning the election and winning the argument is very pertinent.
“Local gangs were only bit players in the meth trade, and the focus should be on harm reduction, rather than punishment, Detective Superintendent Virginia Le Bas told the Drug Foundation meeting on Friday.”
On the face of it, looks like police have conceded that drug policy isn’t working and a change of direction is needed.
“She said only a few people in New Zealand profited from meth, much of which came from China, Hong Kong, Mexico, and now Canada and Thailand.
Some gang members or associates were themselves part of a “vulnerable community” getting exploited in the meth trade, said Le Bas, national manager of the organised crime unit.
“It’s about reducing the harm. It’s not about removing gangs out of our society,” she told an audience of gang members, police, social workers and healthcare professionals in Wellington. ”
Or, the whole thing’s got that out of control the gangs are asking for police help to contain the mess?
Yeah, there is a function in the w3 total cache that isn’t working correctly. It is meant to cache except for specific page fragments – like personal replies. Seems a bit flakey. Might replace with a async jQuery.
Unfortunately my great nephew (age 5 or 6) was determined to get me to reprogram his meter high robot. Or failing that, to bypass the password on his iPad that his mother won’t tell him so he could get youtube back again. I am ‘horrible’ sitting tonight..
I will get to it in the morning if I can’t figure it out now silence has reaffirmed itself.
“Some are calling 2016 the ‘year of terror’. The recent spate of violence and death has been roundly condemned – this is as it should be. What to do about it is an entirely different question. Does the West have a double standard on what terrorism means?
CrossTalking with Adel Darwish, Catherine Shakdam, and Max Abrahms.”
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
This year has been a big one for me personally and professionally. The firm won the Litigation and Disputes Resolution Firm of the year award on November 28 and I was an Excellence Finalist in the category of firm leader for a firm with under 100 staff. I was also ...
Opinion: In 2024, 64 countries were scheduled to hold different types of national elections this year for an array of offices.Some of these, of course, were more democratic than others, but it made for a bumper year for election nerds like me.Incumbents had a bad year – more than three ...
Pacific Media Watch Five Palestinian journalists have been killed in a new Israeli strike near a hospital in central Gaza after four reporters were killed last week, reports Al Jazeera citing authorities and media in the besieged enclave. The journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel were covering events near al-Awda ...
RNZ Pacific A large 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila , shortly after 3pm NZT today. The US Geological Survey says the quake was recorded at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles). Locals have been sharing footage of serious damage to infrastructure ...
By Victor Barreiro Jr in Manila Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, has condemned the state of Israel on Christmas Eve for its relentless attacks on Gaza that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. “I can’t think of any other people in the world who live in darkness ...
By Cheerieann Wilson in Suva Veteran journalist and editor Stanley Simpson has spoken about the enduring power of storytelling and its role in shaping Fiji’s identity. Reflecting on his journey at the launch of FijiNikua, a magazine launched by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on Christmas Eve, Simpson shared personal anecdotes ...
Summer reissue: From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter ...
Summer reissue: David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. Doug (I’ll call him ...
Summer reissue: I watched all 46 of Tom Cruise’s films over the past 12 months. The question on everyone’s lips: why?The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...
Summer reissue: In recent years, checking online for a green tick has become a necessary habit for Aucklanders heading to the beach. Shanti Mathias tags along with the team tasked with testing the water for pollution – and figuring out how to stop it. The Spinoff needs to double the ...
Summer reissue: After two decades of promised redevelopment, Johnsonville Shopping Centre remains neglected and half empty. Joel MacManus searches for answers in the decaying suburban mall. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter ...
Comment: I’ve been digging up dirt over the past few weekends. I plan to dig up more over summer.As global geo-politics heats up, I’ve impulsively turned to tending my wee patch of the world. The world is complex and messy. But I’m determined my quarter acre won’t be. Apparently, this is ...
Winston Peters was 47 when he founded NZ First. David Seymour is 41. “It’s probably unlikely I’ll still be in Parliament when I’m 47,” he tells Newsroom.“I always said, I have no intention of being a Member of Parliament when I’m 70-something.”In saying that, Seymour has already exceeded his own ...
Asia Pacific ReportSilent Night is a well-known Christmas carol that tells of a peaceful and silent night in Bethlehem, referring to the first Christmas more than 2000 years ago. It is now 2024, and it was again a silent night in Bethlehem last night, reports Al Jazeera’s Nisa Ibrahim. ...
Summer resissue: Has the country changed all that much in three decades? Loveni Enari compares his two New Zealands. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Summer reissue: Alex Casey goes on a killer journey aboard the Tormore Express.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It was a dark and ...
Summer reissue: Speed puzzling is like a marathon for the mind – intense, demanding, surprisingly exhausting. But does turning it into a sport destroy it as a relaxing pastime? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
Summer reissue: In October, we counted down the top 100 New Zealand TV shows of the 21st century so far (read more about the process here). Here’s the list in full, for your holiday reading pleasure. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Summer reissue: Told in one crucial moment from every year, by The Spinoff’s founder Duncan Greive. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.2014: An ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 25 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mike Smith’s “ambitious” climate claim against Attorney-General Judith Collins.Smith, a Māori climate activist, and Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu elder, appealed a High Court decision that found his claims against the Crown – that its action on climate change was inadequate – untenable.The Appeal Court’s ...
Trish McKelvey is listed 139 times in the index of the New Zealand women’s cricket tome The Warm Sun On My Face, authored by Trevor Auger and Adrienne Simpson.She wrote the foreword for the book and headlines two chapters addressing crucial events in the evolution of the sport.McKelvey’s appointment as New Zealand ...
Summer reissue: The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please ...
Summer reissue: You really won’t guess how it ends. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published October 4, 2024. Parliament’s Economic Development, Science ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary-Rose McLaren, Professor of Teaching and Learning and Head of Program, Early Childhood Education, Victoria University Collin Quinn Lomax/ Shutterstock Some years ago, my daughter was set a maths problem: how much does it cost to drive a family of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine E. Wood, Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Swinburne University of Technology Asier Romero/ Shutterstock Christmas is coming, and with it many challenges for parents of young children. You likely have one festive event after another, late nights, party ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Nicole Driessen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Radio Astronomy, University of Sydney Tayla Walsh/Pexels With billions of children around the world anxiously waiting for their presents, Father Christmas (or Santa) and his reindeer must be travelling at breakneck speeds to deliver them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Higgins, Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University Feeling unsure about your child going to a sleepover is completely normal. You might be worried about how well you know the host family, how they manage supervision or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Exactly 50 years ago, on Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin and left a trail of devastation. It remains one of the most destructive natural events in Australia’s history. Wind ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Irmine Keta Rotimi, Doctoral Candidate, Marketing and International Business department, Auckland University of Technology Videos of children opening boxes of toys and playing with them have become a feature of online marketing – making stars out of children as young as two. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Nicholas, Lecturer in Dance and Performance Science, Edith Cowan University Tatyana Vyc/Shutterstock Once the end-of-year dance concert and term wrap up for the year it is important to take a break. Both physical and mental rest are important and taking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kit MacFarlane, Lecturer, Creative Writing and Literature, University of South Australia Capitol Records For those looking to introduce some musical conflict into the holidays, Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart remains a great choice in its 15th anniversary – like it ...
Opinion: It was February 2024 when my friends started getting in touch with me to suggest I run for the Tauranga City Council mayoralty. At the time, the council was governed by four Government-appointed commissioners, who had been in their roles since 2021. Their terms were coming to an end ...
James Clapper CIA head says that the media needs to stop blaming Russia for the DNC email hacks
https://www.rt.com/usa/353840-us-intelligence-hyperventilation-dnc-hack/
On the topic of the DNC, here is some weekend reading (it’s long, but seems thorough). I’ve only scratched the surface, but this is from the conclusions:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6J1ecILnk3UUy1KZ2FUT29iQ1E/view?pref=2&pli=1
These would be very nice changes
Having each state’s electoral college votes assigned proportionally according to the % that candidates receive in their state, would also be huge. (And allow fractions of electoral votes up to 1 decimal point eg. NY State could have 20.3 of its electoral college votes go Democratic, 5.6 go Republican, 2.1 Greens, 1.0 Libertarian ).
The US system would benefit greatly from a STV type system. Multiple cases parties blame third party candidates for vote splitting causing overall loss (and probably not incorrectly in some of them).
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-29/australia-headed-for-recession-next-year,-professor-keen-says/7674154
It can be avoided – temporarily – by piling more debt into the system in order to get a bit more cash into the economy…
Hot on the heels of the recently-released LSE study documenting acute anti-Corbyn bias throughout the UK MSM over the last 12 months, a new analysis claims online and television media showed “clear and consistent bias” against Jeremy Corbyn at the start of the present Labour leadership coup,
Also accuses the BBC of giving twice as much airtime to Corbyn’s critics than to his supporters on some programmes during the crisis.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jeremy-corbyn-media-bias-bbc_uk_579a3cd7e4b06d7c426edff0?edition=uk&utm_hp_ref=uk
As veteran broadcaster, film-maker and Left activist, Paul Mason, has argued, for all its faults “The old BBC would have taken evidence like this seriously. The pre-Hutton BBC would not have let it happen”.
Executive Summary of Report
– 465 online articles and 40 prime time news bulletins assessed
– Twice as much airtime given to critical, rather than supportive voices
– Huge imbalance in favour of issues pushed by Corbyn critics on early evening BBC and ITV bulletins – especially pronounced in headline stories
– Strong tendency within BBC main evening news for reporters to use pejorative
language when describing Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters
– Domination of views opposed to the Labour leadership in all but one of the online
outlets sampled, and across both left and right-leaning titles
– Online-only news sites relatively balanced in their coverage, as well as the BBC online
Truth comes out about child abuse. Has an ugly truth about it so expect this to be ignored when the next case hits the media. Default back to that right wing mantra personal responsibility.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/82586709/Faces-of-Innocents-High-rates-of-child-abuse-among-Maori-can-be-traced-back-to-colonisation-academic-says
I read that article, and I generally accept what the writer says but also think there is more to it. Our big, gadget-designing heads mean that we are born very vulnerable and also have reduced instinct in comparison to, say, a cat. Consequently, we learn how to look after children through community participation and observation. Uprootedness robs people of the conditions under which they learn. In the 20’s, the answer to this problem was Plunket, which offered method and support, and whatever we think of their method now, far less children died from their parents’ inadequacies. More genuine support and less vilification would go a long way toward reducing the harm done to children in NZ.
Excellent comment, Olwyn. That vulnerability, the reason for it and the communal responsibility to cover for it are exactly the point, imo.
Thanks Robert 🙂
+100 Olwyn
It is an ugly truth.
As a Pākehā I am sorry that this has happened. As colonialists we can’t go and turn the clock back, but each country can work with colonised peoples to ameliorate the damage. This starts, of course, with an acknowledgment of the harm that was done to indigenous nations and communities over time.
I broadly agree with Olwyn about practical support and education, but we also need to go further continue to tackle the institutional and personal discrimination and poor life chances that create more external stresses on indigenous families everywhere. Some of these stresses cross over with other communities, however I can see how the history of colonisation creates a more difficult dynamic that requires more complex solutions. But you’re right. Every time this road gets taken, the bigots come out and turn tragic reality into a political football.
ho hum the same tired old excuses…colonization …maori wernt allowed to speak their own language 100 years ago…maori were really nice to their kids before pakehas came along…..excuses excuses .Nobodies gonna deny maori wernt disinfranchised by white merchants but only the religious ones would have ADVOCATED the beating of children.Surely we are all humans with exactly the same brain and with exactly the same powers of reasoning ability whether we are black white or rainbow coloured .Violence begets violence and if there is four times as many maori in jail today as any other race it has far more to do with maori beating their kids four times as much than for any other reason i.m.h.o.
It’s not for the coloniser to dismiss the continuing impact of his actions on the colonised. In fact it’s incredibly stupid to accord the slightest respect to that analysis. It is such a cover for prejudice.
Prejudice ? nope Like i said violence is violence and beating your kids is the same act no matter if you are black white or rainbow coloured .It is the same no matter what culture you live in because man is the same the world over . Violence is a human problem and humans are the most violent species on earth .I.m.o. its nothing to do with colonizing its about not visiting the sins of the father onto the child again and again and again .
Don’t you want to ask why might there be more abuse in that culture? If Māori still had their lands intact, and had food, environmental and cultural stability, do you really think we would be getting these horrific stories? I don’t think we would.
What were levels of violence like when Māori had all their lands intact? What are levels of violence like in areas post Treaty settlement vs pre Treaty settlement?
Yes, there was pre european inter tribal violence and mass migration into different regions. I just wonder if europeans played by fair rules from the beginning, then maybe Māori could have united without the major social disadvantages they have now.
Obviously post treaty settlement not all Māori see any benefit from the millions given.
In inflation adjusted dollars, the value of Treaty settlements to date is well over $1 billion.
In your opinion. What difference, if any, in levels of violence has this massive financial wealth made?
What difference to levels of violence, if any, would another $1 billion in Treaty settlements make?
Inflaton proofed is a false position because the settlement are paid in the dollars of the day.
Down south the settlement paid was less than 3% of the actual real value of the land .
Inflation proof is a false position?
What do you mean?
A $100M settlement in 1996 is worth way way more financially than a $100M settlement in 2016.
So what
they got the money when they got it
You don’t think that Teina Pora’s compensation should be inflation adjusted then? Just paid out the lower sum in the dollars of today, instead of the worth of the dollars from say 20 years ago?
Everyone knows that you have to inflation adjust dollar values from the past because current day dollars are not worth as much.
Are you thick?
Ngāi Tahu got 170m. Not the equivalent today’s dollar inflation adjusted figure. They got 170m.
As for your first paragraph – wow you’re starting to sound like trump now too.
Hi MM,
CPI adjusted that 1997 settlement of $170M is worth $248M in todays dollars.
Which sounds about right, given that $170M back in 1997 is worth way more financially than the same numerical $170M today.
I hope the little games amuse you. Pick on another group there are plenty to choose from.
You could inflation adjust 20b the low estimated value of what was taken.
$20B is a relatively small amount of money, less than 10% of what the Govt spends in a single 3 year term, and a much more suitable amount for compensation IMO.
Over $1 billion sounds like such a huge sum but in the scheme of things it is not.
An example, Canterbury DHB received more than $1.2 billion under population-based health funding in 2015/16 – one year’s funding.
So $1B to $2B is not that much money in the scheme of things.
Would another $1B to $2B funding make much more difference if the first $1B to $2B have not?
Everyone even today suffers from pressure and stress of one kind or another but still its a choice of whether we take it out on the kids or not and maori do not have a monopoly on family violence .Violence against families is a problem within our pacific island neighbors too although it tends to be reported as violence against women ie wives .If someone cut down all my peach trees and ruined my ability to sustain myself of course id be fucked off id wanna kill those fuckers but i guess unless i was completely out of my mind id hope i wouldnt take it out on the kids .whatever you say about past wrongs etc isnt it still a matter of parental responsibility ?By the way in case you think im coming at this out of a holier than thau attitude i freely admit to as a young parent lashing out at my kids ive booted them wacked their arses and clipped them arround the ears but that was forty years ago and i grew up about the same time .I realized that i was repeating the same stuff that was done to me as a kid that i was saying things like “stop crying or ill give you something to cry about “.Thank goodness for sue bradfords bill putting the issue into legislation because the collective will in regards with whats ok to do to your kids would still just be a matter of whether there was a piece of alkathene handy for a good number of the population .!!!
The bill would give “draconian” power to the commission, King said.
Council chief executive Richard King said the government was forcing the Auckland model on the rest of the country.
The Invercargill City Council is calling on Southland’s councils and members of parliament to unite and stand up for local democracy by opposing the Better Local Services Bill.
Water supply, waste water and transport could be taken from council control and put into council-controlled organisations under the bill.
The commission would have the power to force councils to join existing council-controlled organisations and to transfer functions and powers between councils.
The bill would also remove council’s ability to appoint elected members as directors of multiply-owned council-controlled organisations. That would mean the public would have no say around the board table, King said.
Deputy Mayor Darren Ludlow said the potential for a reduction in local democracy was unacceptable. Proposed council-controlled organisations will increase costs, not efficiencies, he said
Shadbolt said the bill, in his view, should be called the “Crushing of Local Government Democracy and Seizing Control of Their Assets Bill”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/82637635/southland-mps-and-councils-urged-to-fight-against-legislation-attacking-local-democracy
Thoughts?
“Thoughts?”
after you….
I concur. Councils and members of parliament should unite and oppose this Bill.
On the face of it, +1.
Go tim shadbolt
Tim Shadbolt is entirely correct in what he says here and it’s wonderful to see/hear him taking a position on this – like a sleeping giant rousing from his slumber 🙂
Is this just a back door method for privatization since the amalgamation model has failed after Wellington and Hawkes Bay?
..coming from a council that handed its water services over to a multinational corporation — ie Veolia Water…
Shadbolt and Ludlow should be looking in the mirror here.
”I wish I had that power, man, that would be power.”
Perhaps little man Trump was being sarcastic, but it’s another disturbing sign of what may lie ahead. Good piece in Columbia Journalism Review:
http://www.cjr.org/opinion/donald_trump_hacking_nsa_russia_snowden.php?utm_content=buffer04c11&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Thanks for this Robertina.
Unfortunately I don’t think he was being sarcastic.
. “The more things change the more they stay the same”
. It is not actually true. However the USA never changes.
. Each American is a Hollywood Star. Because life is a fiction fantasy.
. Each American politician and President bombs (sometimes nuclear) any race on the planet that it wishes. Supported by the American philosophy of acquisition, greed and fear. VIOLENCE is the core of the United States of America. Clothed with Disney infantalism.
They shamelessly murder hundreds of thousands of innocent men women and children. Year by Year. Although they have never won a war since they lost Korea 1948. They keep trying to win year after year.
So, Trump and Clinton are just Hollywood productions. Trotted out like Cinema reruns.
.
+1
Good summation.
OT.. an interesting viewpoint. Something to think about.
Get rid of Hollywood
…recently we have been having our own New Zealand film festival using DVDs from a local DVD shop…and New Zealand films are just fantastic …compared with much Hollywood lightweight floss and gloss and effects … Many New Zealand films have real psychological depth, original drama, sensitivity and are an aesthetic visual feast
The NZHerald picks up on the darkness of Trump and puts him into a little historical context:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11684369
When the MSM starts going for one metanarrative over another, it’s really really hard to reverse:
“Greatness regained” beaten by “Love Trumps Hate”
” Ecstasy of communal fear” beaten by “Light out of darkness”
“Patriotism and regionalism” is still winning against “unity and common strength”
This is fantastic for the meme battles; I’m waiting for God to be invoked more often.
Normally, grand narratives are grand because what they narrate is the work of the social imaginary itself.
But today, the left and the right get to expose them as democratic weapons to display and deploy. It’s no mere theatre, although it’s certainly that. It is the contest for symbolic and actual power.
And interesting read from a Corbyn insider:
https://off-guardian.org/2016/07/29/the-originis-of-labours-civil-war/
“Those in the Labour Party who do not share the Socialist principles of Momentum routinely accuse it of bullying, of abuse and of orchestrating disruption in local party meetings. Evidence for such accusations is not offered, for such behaviour does not customarily identify itself with Corbyn or Momentum. For instance, a brick was notoriously thrown through the window of the local office of Angela Eagle who, for a few days, was expected to run against Corbyn for the leadership. No individual was ever identified as the perpetrator. And what was even more pertinent was that the window was not of Eagle’s office but of a politically neutral staircase on the other side of the building. Nonetheless, it was widely taken as read that this act illustrated the villainy of Momentum.”
Interesting…
It gets worse really
“Carole Malone in The Mirror[9] accused “thugs acting in Corbyn’s name” of making death threats to Angela Eagle and to her fellow MP Luciana Berger. Berger promptly responded in a tweet that “the man who sent me those messages has nothing to do with @uklabour”, but Malone issued no correction or apology. The hate that columnists like Malone loudly deplore instead fuels their own carelessly damaging prose.”
Off Guardian has lots of interesting articles.
.
Kevin – thankyou for linking to a great piece of observational writing by W Stephan Gilbert. !
Each of the players stripped to the bone. Blair – the Thatcherite – Kinnock a demented democratic turncoat Lord. Smith a despicable narcissist. Eagle a Liar about her silly window. and on and on.
Jeremy Corbyn, the most respected member of Parliament; the least selfish and the least grasping fingers of any member of Parliament – throughout his 33yrs service.
The Press hate him; The Tories hate him and ridicule him; The Labour Party of which he is Leader hate him with pathetic slander and appalling self aggrandisement.
His 123 appearance supporting “Remain” as against lazy Labour colleagues hardly opening their lips in support of “Remain”. The Eagle girl did 15 appearances for “Remain”.
As W Stephan Gilbert closes his superb article he states:
.
“The greatest difficulty that the anti-Corbyn MPs, the media and the Tories all share is a fact that they simply cannot stomach: Jeremy Corbyn is the most popular politician in Britain.”
. Again thankyou Kevin.
No problem.
http://www.off-guardian.com and http://www.thecanary.co are daily reading for me.
I see the Corbyn leadership battle as the worlds ground zero for the re-establishment of socialism as the political force that will bring us back from the brink of economic catastrophe.
Neo-liberalism is dead and that corpse needs to be buried so deep there is no chance of a resurrection. Even Grant Roberston in his Q&A (?) interview last weekend said that in his eyes ‘trickle-down’ (neo-liberal) economics is dead and cited the IMF and World Bank who also say the same.
I believe Corbyn will be re-elected with a larger majority than before. Whether those Tory-Lites in the PLP jump before or after will be interesting.
A real left-wing alternative, who would have thought that 18 months ago!
In the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/30/new-zealand-schoolgirls-skip-class-because-they-cant-afford-sanitary-items
Thanks Paul, a good thoughtful article, especially the wise words taken from Tony Benn: “Perhaps the hardest thing for politicians to understand, is that government no longer rotates entirely around parliament and the old cycle of inner-party policy formulation – intense electoral propaganda, voters’ mandate and legislative implementation – important as they are. Winning an election without winning the argument may well frustrate at least a part of your purpose; and conversely winning an argument may be sufficient to solve certain problems by creating an atmosphere favourable to the achievement of your objectives…Anyone aspiring to political leadership who really wishes to shape the society in which he lives has now got to devote a part, and probably a majority, of his time and skill and effort to persuading people, and listening in return to what is said to him.” The distinction between winning the election and winning the argument is very pertinent.
Sorry I posted that comment in the wrong place – it was meant as a response to Kevin at 9.
..and the middle class kiwi mum and dad property investors and power company shareholders laugh all the way to the bank…
You know it’s not often I completely agree with Boomer.
Here is one of those rare times I think he is 100% right.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/30/how-about-we-rename-the-ministry-of-social-development/
Hello, where’s this heading….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/82107482/dont-get-high-on-meth-hype-top-cop-and-drug-war-critic-says
“Local gangs were only bit players in the meth trade, and the focus should be on harm reduction, rather than punishment, Detective Superintendent Virginia Le Bas told the Drug Foundation meeting on Friday.”
On the face of it, looks like police have conceded that drug policy isn’t working and a change of direction is needed.
“She said only a few people in New Zealand profited from meth, much of which came from China, Hong Kong, Mexico, and now Canada and Thailand.
Some gang members or associates were themselves part of a “vulnerable community” getting exploited in the meth trade, said Le Bas, national manager of the organised crime unit.
“It’s about reducing the harm. It’s not about removing gangs out of our society,” she told an audience of gang members, police, social workers and healthcare professionals in Wellington. ”
Or, the whole thing’s got that out of control the gangs are asking for police help to contain the mess?
The site has its caching all turned back on – so it is quite a lot faster according to the remote sites.
However I’m now running a image optimization of about 14500 images which is sucking up a couple of cores and slowing the system down 😈
Cheers
Lynn
Looks a bit like Bernie actually won, and the DNC are merrily riding roughshod over truth, justice and the American way…
https://youtu.be/L0v9tvIYpfU
test comment of the time
The replies tab is borked.
Firefox 47.0 in Win10.
Yeah, there is a function in the w3 total cache that isn’t working correctly. It is meant to cache except for specific page fragments – like personal replies. Seems a bit flakey. Might replace with a async jQuery.
Unfortunately my great nephew (age 5 or 6) was determined to get me to reprogram his meter high robot. Or failing that, to bypass the password on his iPad that his mother won’t tell him so he could get youtube back again. I am ‘horrible’ sitting tonight..
I will get to it in the morning if I can’t figure it out now silence has reaffirmed itself.
‘Wave of terror’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/353858-global-terrorism-violence-spreading/
“Some are calling 2016 the ‘year of terror’. The recent spate of violence and death has been roundly condemned – this is as it should be. What to do about it is an entirely different question. Does the West have a double standard on what terrorism means?
CrossTalking with Adel Darwish, Catherine Shakdam, and Max Abrahms.”