Thanks Draco for making this brilliant speech available to us. What other current politician could match such well constructed and inspiring words? Shearer will try, but come nowhere close. Imagine someone like Key attempting to deliver a speech of this quality! Laughable! Here is a way ahead, full of promise and policy. How is it that a man of such exceedingly high intelligence is not leading the Labour opposition?
I guess the media will not notice this event of today!
“Neo-Liberalism is based on the idea that itâs a dog-eat-dog world. Neo-Liberalism is based on the idea that greed is good, that weâre all locked in an economic life-and-death-struggle with each other. Neo-Liberalism says that compassion is for suckers. Neo-Liberalism says that if the world is going to the dogs, it might as well be the top dogs. Indeed, to borrow from Oliver Stoneâs Wall Street, not only is greed good, âitâs legal.âÂ
Nah mate I think your judgement is too harsh. NZ politics hasn’t seen this kind of identification and analysis of neoliberal failures for a long time.
Does it suggest the brand new paradigms that we need? Nope it does fall short there. Mimicking a strategy that scandanavian countries successfully used during a massive resource, financial and energy boom is not necessarily going to work for us, in this time.
And that’s where the likes of us come in to push and educate so that the citizens force the pollies to take heed. And to realise also that the pollies are never going to accomplish that much of the change required.
I look forward to the posts on Kiwiblog and Whaleoil condemning Aussie talkback host Alan Jones’s latest vicious attack on Julia Gillard. Won’t be long now …
After months of being massacred from the sky, rebel forces are encroaching on the borders of at least one government controlled airfield.
This has created a conundrum for the rebel fighters. Being close to the airfield allows them to shoot at these aircraft when they are the most vulnerable to light weapons, either on the ground, or at taking off and landing.
The rebels say they will overun the base eventually. But what should they do with the aircraft?
Destroy them?
Or use them against the regime?
And what would the Western Powers do if the revolutionary forces get hold of jet aircraft?
Already Western Powers have threatened to intervene if Assad’s gas weapons threaten to fall into rebel hands.
Western leaders have also expressed fears that if effective anti-aircraft weapons, particularly any potent shoulder fired anti aircraft heat seeking missiles, got into the hands of the rebel fighters that this could change the balance of power in the Middle East.
Because of these fears the West have been content to let Assad bomb and strafe defenceless Syrian suburbs and towns without mercy.
The huge civilian casualties doesn’t stir them but the thought of powerful anti aircraft weapons in the hands of the “Arab Street” sends a chill down their spine. The threat being that such a change in the balance of power could spiral beyond their control ending the long standing Western Imperium in the Middle East, toppleing all the well armed despotic puppet states that are the bolster to that power.
Jenny you were doing so well there for a while too, focussing on the local issues like PoAL.
Perhaps keep focus on what you understand clearly, and on which will have greater impact here in NZ.
I’m sure all the innocent Syrians executed by the FSA Death Squads (Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi, US/UK/French sponsored), would not miss your inability to comprehend what is nearer to the actual situtation in Syria, which pretty much means you condone their deaths!
I find it fascinating that Jenny is trying to position the Western military powers as being at least tacit backers of Assad. When all the arms and funding going to the foreign fighters who have infiltrated the “Free Syria Army” is coming through countries who have close military and financial ties with the US and UK.
As you state muzza, including Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and also Turkey.
Yep. Iran and Syria have very close ties. If the US and Israel is to increase their military and financial leverage over Iran, taking Syria down will be very helpful.
Suicide bombing against Syrian military HQ caught on camera
Notice how the van carrying the explosives is still being driven as it is detonated. Suicide bombings like this mark an ugly turning point in this conflict, and demonstrate the influence that foreign jihadi and islamist fighters are having on the tactics of the Free Syrian Army.
Poor bastards, Thanks Netenyahu, ya set another one off.
It’s his bloody words they would’ve been “programmed” by society too watch for.
In a moment of loss they spoke to the Taliban, and what would they be saying?
Suicide bombings like this mark an ugly turning point in this conflict, and demonstrate the influence that foreign jihadi and islamist fighters are having on the tactics of the Free Syrian Army.
Colonial Viper
More racist and Islamaphobic bullshit from you CV.
CV, where is your evidence of all the weapons and support you lyingly claim that the rebels are getting from the West? If the Syrian rebels were getting all the support and weapons you claim, they wouldn’t need suicide bombers.
In an asymmetric conflict between two heavily unequal forces, on one hand a powerful conventional modern army and on the other a poorly armed insurgent force – in desperation, the much weaker military force finding themselves at a serious military disadvantage in munitions and equipment, have resorted to suicide attacks. Examples of this can be cited in almost every major military conflict. In the invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 2006 suicide attacks have been cited as the main factor in the Israeli conventional army’s defeat at the hands of the paramilitary forces of Hezbollah. Hezbollah found through bitter experience that, in that heavily asymmetric conflict, if they sent ten fighters against a similar number of IDF, that they would lose 9 out of 10 Lebanese volunteers for 1 Israeli soldier, (if that). With the use of suicide bomber volunteers, that statistic could be reversed. These attacks were so effective, it was said that a column of modern Merkava tanks could be halted at the sound of an approaching dirt-bike.
Most of Israel’s casualties in that war were Merkava tank crews.
As a result in Lebanon these desperate suicide attacks against the Israeli invaders became known as “the poor man’s nuclear bomb“.
The reason this asymetric tactic was called the poor man’s nuclear weapon, is because while a professional army can afford to pay soldiers to kill for them. Professional armies can’t afford to pay soldiers enough to die for them.
Despite the racist depiction of this phenomenon as the result of fanatic religious fundamentalism unique to Islamists. In extremis it has also been practiced by largely secular forces as well. The mainly secular insurgents of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka relied heavily on this tactic.
In Syrian history, Jules Jammal a Christian Syrian naval officer who grew up near Homs was a defender in the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by the combined Western forces of Israel, Britain and France. In 1956 Jules Jammal volunteered to become a suicide bomber, to sink a french war ship.
Jammal is considered a hero in both Syria and Egypt, receiving official military honours from both governments on his sacrifice.
For his actions Jamal was also awarded the medal of St Peter and St Paul from the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
Streets in Syria and Egypt are still named after this Arab Christian hero.
Unfortunately due to the sheer inhuman military brutality of the Assad regime and it’s reliance on it’s fully modernly equipped army and airforce to suppress the rebellion, pitted against the woeful lack of powerful weapons by the insurgents, this desperate tactic may become more common in Syria.
Sadly true, which is why society has to speek Life Positive messages.
War and Destruction will only amplify the situation.
They’d be better off building a “Homeless” muslim compund and trying to help these people.
But who’d trust them?
Not me at this point that’d be 4 sure.
The Christian ethic of Universal Understanding and acceptance has a lot of merit for the middle east in general.
I’d love to see some links to what you’re saying re suicide attacks against tanks by Hezbollah. especially the motorcycle thing. I’m not saying it’s not true, but it does seem unlikely. usually you’d use shaped charges or ambush with rpgs against tanks, neither of which things Hezbollah are short of.
Hezbollah are a serious outfit of course. The fear is that they will be getting involved in Syria soon, deeply uncomfortable with the rise of wahhibist organisation like AQ in the insurgency.
CV, where is your evidence of all the weapons and support you lyingly claim that the rebels are getting from the West? If the Syrian rebels were getting all the support and weapons you claim, they wouldnât need suicide bombers.
Keep pushing for and glamourising your war.
But what is happening in Syria is a proxy war and a foreign invasion, not a popular uprising. Unless its a popular uprising which isn’t that popular because the bloody thing has been going on for well over a full year now.
As for evidence of where the FSA is getting support from, I have posted multiple links previously, which you have patiently ignored. The conflict in Syria is essentially a power struggle and proxy war driven on by foreign powers and foreign fighters. That’s what you’re supporting Jenny.
Let’s try this now:
Syriaâs Secular and Islamist Rebels: Who Are the Saudis and the Qataris Arming?
What is remarkable is that this substantial strip of âfreeâ Syria has been patched together in the past 18 months by military defectors, students, tradesmen, farmers and pharmacists who have not only withstood the Syrian armyâs withering fire but in some instances repelled it using a hodgepodge of limited, light weaponry. The feat is even more amazing when one considers the disarray among the outside powers supplying arms to the loosely allied band of rebels.
Thanks for this CV.
Finally, you are starting to supply links to more than outright propaganda and lies, or half baked Washington beltway gossip and ignorant and bigoted smears. Maybe you are beginning to get an inkling into the real nature of this people’s revolt. Here’s hoping anyway.
Private Saudi and Qatari backers with some assistance from within the Turkish state, are trying to buy influence among the revolutionaries. Playing favourites, giving support to some and not others. Trying to influence the out come of the revolution.
There is no surprise here.
They realise that the rebels are on the right side of history, but they want to influence the rebels eventual victory, to retrieve the most gain for themselves. However their jockeying for position could be doing more harm than good to the resistance, and rather than end the war, prolong it.
…..as TIME reported in June, a secretive group operates something like a command center in Istanbul, directing the distribution of vital military supplies believed to be provided by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and transported with the help of Turkish intelligence to the Syrian border and then to the rebels. Further reporting has revealed more details of the operation, the politics and favoritism that undermine the task of creating a unified rebel force out of the wide array of groups trying to topple the Assad regime.
My emphasis
Apart from the disorganising effect of the “control room”, in supplying weapons to some and not others. Even the support they have given to their favourites is parsimonious at best.
âWe felt that the sides giving us support werenât on the same page,â says the control-room member from eastern Syria. âThey started having side meetings with some groups.â Still, he says, âwhat is most important is that the guys receive weapons. Whether that is via an operations room or directly, we donât care. Nobody knows the truth from the talk,â he says. âWe have been lied to [by the international community], and we have lied to the guys inside, saying weapons would arrive in a week, in 10 days, and months have passed and some areas havenât received supplies. So unless I see it, and see it distributed, even I donât believe it.â
In the town of Bdeeta in Idlib province â which happens to be the hometown of Riad al-Asâaad â rebel fighters complain bitterly about the lack of assistance. âWe are licking our plates. We beg for salt,â says Abu Marâiye, who heads the Martyrs of Ibditha group in the tiny town, home to some 2,000 people. âItâs not enough. Even the weapons that arrive, itâs like a drop, just enough so the fighting continues, so we can kill each other but not win.â
(The FSA is nominally headed by Riad al-Asâaad, who is based in Turkey. Neither Asâaad nor his chief FSA rival General Mustafa Sheikh are party to the Istanbul control room that supplies and arms rebels who operate under the FSA banner. The two men each have their own sources of funding and are independently distributing money and weapons to selected FSA units.)
WIMP -WALLOPING: Two Jackals tear apart David Shearer
Beleaguered Labour Party leader David Shearer made another dreadful, stuttering, bumbling, wandery appearance on TV3’s The Nation yesterday. In the face of a couple of aggressive young right wing journalists, Shearer was unconvincing and hesitant throughout. He often seemed confused and, fatally, seemed to be woolly-minded about economic policy and currency questions. This weakness only fed the aggression of his interrogators.
At one point, Shearer said, quite rightly, that the National Standards for primary and intermediate schools were not credible data.
“It’s just the UNIONS that say that!” scoffed the Fairfax journalist John Hartevelt.
Now, this was a perfect opening for a strong and confident politician to tear Hartevelt a new one; he could have pointed out that the group that Hartevelt sniffingly dismissed as “the unions” is actually comprised of virtually all of the nation’s teachers and educational theorists. In other words, “the unions” are people who, unlike John Hartevelt, are serious, informed and credible when it comes to talking about education.
But Shearer’s response was a lame, “That’s not true,” not followed up by any argument at all.
On Radio New Zealand National’s Mediawatch programme this morning, Hartevelt is currently getting a grilling by Colin Peacock over his shoddy release of the ropey National Standards figures. When he is contradicted and challenged, Hartevelt is anything but authoritative. What a pity the Labour Party lacks a leader prepared or able to do the same thing.
He didn’t even need to defend the unions, he just needed to say “Look, John, you yourself have stated that the data doesn’t reflect quality, isn’t moderated, and can’t be used to draw meaningful conclusions between different schools. So obviously that’s incorrect.”
But that would involve being quick off the mark and bolshy enough to defend your viewpoints.
And he should have defended the unions at the same time: “let’s not forget that our teacher unions were amongst the first experts to correctly point out the glaring flaws in National Standards, well before many other commentators caught up with the facts.”
Looking forward to hearing Shearer defending himself when his speechwriter gets on to it in that fantastic newsletter called “Shearer Stays”, oops, “Shearer Says”.
I’m calling “this week we held the government to account on National Standards data, and continued to champion the rights of parents and teachers and communities to do what’s best for their children and their children’s children.”
I wonder if he’s figured out why the sickness bene on the roof story was a gift to right wing nut jobs yet.
OK, so he stood around and looked the other way while Hartevelt put the boot into working people, but at least he managed not to spit in anyone’s face this time.
Yes I too watched in numb horror, Has no-one in the Labour party worked it out yet??? Or maybe they have. BUT when we have a pull apart after the 2014 debacle that will be the election where the NZ Labour Party comes a woeful 3rd with fuck all seats behind a confident Green Party and A thieving NACT party in for the final round of theft and incompetence.
We will be able to point the finger at OLD and PAST IT politicians clinging on with their fingertips. Pushing their own private agendas, just so they can suck at the public teat for another 3 years where they will have to do fuck all to get the money they are supposed to EARN!
Now we all know who these old and past it ones are, so a little nudging in to the retirement rather than defeat.camp would be good.
And will someone please please point out to shearer and his backers (Robertson) included is that he is not, and never will be, Prime Minister material, and neither are they, simply by the damage they have let happen to NZ, and it’s economy. By their self interest.
Again, refer to today’s speech by the enlightened Cunliffe – compare and contrast with Shearer and you will wonder what the hell has gone wrong with the Labour Party!
I think the “Delegation” style of leadership has definite merit
While David Shearer hasn’t hit his straps yet, the example they set for NZ is a formidable one.
Anyone of 5 different people should be able to step into his shoes without any qualms by the end of this year.
Which five do you have in mind? I can think of two with enough profile, skill and experience for the job but not five. I can’t even get as far as three.
Shearer has to carry the discussion regarding the exchange rate. I throw my hands up there has been an identified issue yet all the solutions are to give the responsibility to the RB for the solutions. If they have some ides how to correct the issue them come out and inform us. I think either that they have no idea of a solution or the consequences are as bad as the what they are trying to solve.
So by expecting the RB to fix the problem who directs them, especially as DS does not want “politicians to run the exchange rate.” !!! “Good grief” as Charlie Brown would say. After the GCSB being unrestricted in their actions now DS wants another govt. dept. in the RB to also be unrestricted.
US military documents categorise Assange and Wikileaks as “enemies of the United States”
THE US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States – the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency.
Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with “communicating with the enemy”, a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death.
CV 7
On radionz this morning a report on food sharing and political discussion in the USA has presented an interesting picture of USA repressive attitudes. The group has a slogan food not bombs and this is making authorities extremely sensitive, saying that they can approve food distribution but there must be no banners with political messages. In fact one political commentator said they were a subversive influence that was undermining the USAs ability to get citizens to respond to possible attacks on the country from its enemies.
They started off giving out food, vegetarian and vegan only, in the park where the Occupy groups began their protest. Free speech and free food are at the least embarrassing, particularly to very liberal politicians who are quite negative because it draws attention to their inadequacies, and at the most regarded as highly dangerous by the fear and war exponents in the USA who want to occupy the hearts and minds of their people.
It’s a serious problem. 21st century NZ is going to have to walk a fine line between the interests and politics of two great Pacific powers. China and the USA. I’ve got little faith that our current crew can get it right for our magnificent, but very small, country.
Maybe. The unexpected is usually what happens though, and in retrospect it is seen as inevitable. Like the rise of Prussia – or England or Japan for that matter. Somewhere out there !
THE US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States â the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency.
Oh my giddy aunt. Nutmegs! Seriously, Assange has reason to be worried…
His short answer is that he believes that the four boxes needed can be ticked and that there will be a case to answer.
Will take a long time but interesting.
have a listen to Cat (Yusaf Islam) Stevens’ ‘The Very Best Of ‘…i can’t keep it in…no …i can’t keep it in…gotta let it out…oh..i gotta let it out…(sans grass, regretably, yet THIS TOO MUST PASS)
Murray McCully stands up in the UN and criticises lack of action to aid the Syrian people and refers to the veto which has been utilised by China and Russia. Wonder if we will ever hear a criticism of USA policies from him? Not now we are the dingy dinghy again.
Janice 9.1
McCully probably was better than Jokey as he might start a world war with some inappropriate remark. McCully I am sure, knows more about the issues than Jokey Hen who also doesn’t want to mess up his fine financial fund mind with annoying matters better left to other people. The responsibility on a NZ PM is sooo wide, heavy and stressful. You just wouldn’t have a clue!
I see that Murry McCully spoke on the importance of Israel and Palestine leaders talking again. They actually live very close to each other. Sounds a bit Sarah Palinish. Does that mean that I was wrong that he was a waste of time really because of biasing his speech on USA concerns. No, here is some background to the USA relationship and aid to Israel. Mostly google headings that offer the information I was looking for. The links don’t come up live.
First a Wikipedia summary of a book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy on whether the USA lobby for Israel is mainly wealthy Jewish people. (There are likely to be some biased blogs on this subject so I think that a researched book would give a reliable view.) The book is by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Israel_Lobby_and_U.S._Foreign_Policy
On military aid USA Israel –
**IsraelâUnited States relations – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsraelâUnited_States_relations
Almost all U.S. aid to Israel is now in the form of military assistance, while in the past it … Strong congressional support for Israel has resulted in Israel’s receiving …
**US Aid to Israel and the Palestinians
ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html
The U.S. is providing Israel with at least $8.2 million each day* in military aid and … Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts …
**Tempering Iron Dome: US may spend $680 million on Israeli missile …
rt.com/news/us-israel-military-aid-iron-dome-637/
21 Apr 2012 â The US could fork out $680 million on strengthening the Israeli Iron Dome rocket shield. …
(Obama and Israel)
**U.S., Israel Build Military Cooperation – WSJ.com
online.wsj.com/…/SB1000142405274870332100457542727255005…
14 Aug 2010 â U.S. military aid to Israel has increased markedly this year. … Obama felt the increased military support is necessary to assure Israel’s security …
(Jewish extensive reference to it) –
**http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
Here’s an interesting item on how the USA paranoia about attacks has caused it to look for guidance from the paranoic Israelis.
**http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/31/opinion/la-oe-blackwill-israel-20111031
This one has moving pics on the topics and an academic opinion that the UN structure assists USA to act in Israel’s interests
**http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/29/264033/dozens-of-insurgents-killed-in-aleppo/
This one has interesting points
**http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/15/the_politically_incorrect_guide_to_us_interests_in_the_middle_east
I was reasonably pleased with McCully’s response on Syria and Israel/Palestine. I don’t think the latter was Sarah Palinish at all – perhaps a little flat-footed in a plain-spoken way, but not actually idiotic a la Palin.
Thanks Dv – good blog from Local Bodies. This quote from Dv link at 11.1
In the days when the Education Ministry was a Department, and had less political interference, it was managed by some astute and forward thinking individuals. Clarence Beeby and Bill Renwick were hugely instrumental in shaping the philosophies and pedagogical approach that led us to being one of the top education systems in the world.
That has all changed. We now have imports that haven’t the excuse of being cheap – Lesley Longstone recently in the news because of the shakeup of our school system is said to be receiving $600,000 p.a. You can’t help thinking that we have a cringe factor alive and well in NZ that we can’t find suitable candidates for such positions. And those working their way up in a Department with consequent institutional knowledge are likely to be elbowed out during some internecine change and so we lose our experienced people who care about NZ and get these moving generic managers who make us bow and scrape to their supposedly superior knowledge. (Must be, they’re from overseas you know.)
Here is some info on Ms Longstone. If you want source get it yourself, I’m tired.
“Lesley Longstone has 25 years’ experience in the education and employment sectors in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia, and she understands the economic importance of education and its contribution to the broader skills agenda.
Ms Longstone has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sheffield.
Ed Milliband, UK Labour Leader: Either the banking sector makes sweeping changes or we will force bank break ups
Frakkin’A. This is what we are talking about people. However, the City of London financial centre holds such vast political power and influence in the UK, I hope Milliband can stay the course.
By the way, it is no co-incidence that the Lehman collapse, Bernie Madoff’s multi-billion dollar ponzi scheme, the massive theft from MF Global account holders, near infinite leverage/shadow rehypothecation collateral rorts and many more frauds originated in City of London financial operating centres.
Ed Miliband will make his boldest, most controversial policy commitment since becoming Labour leader on Sunday when he pledges to force the break-up of Britain’s biggest banks unless they agree to revolutionise their operations and put ordinary customers first.
In an interview with the Observer, the Labour leader says he will confront the City of London with what is seen as the nuclear option for reform if the banks fail to separate their “casino” investment operations from services to account-holders, savers and businesses.
It’s not daylight savings this weekend is it? The clock on my computer has gone forward an hour but it uses an international clock and I’m not sure they’ve been right since the govt changed the date of DST and didn’t tell the rest of the world.Â
I suppose it’s a chance to reset all the clocks to the same time. I use five digital clocks and they all end up out of sync within 2 or 3 weeks. The computer is the only true one because it resets when I go online. Did time used to be this odd when we had analog clocks?
I’m perturbed that you’re finding that with your digital clocks. There is absolutely no reason for even a cheap digital clock to gain or lose more than 1 minute a month, and that is being generous.
I’d blame sloppy cheap electronics design or componentry. A good quality quartz mechanical watch will often perform to +/- 2 minutes per year.
Grant Wormald didn’t just give evidence that was inconsistent; he clearly perjured himself in a court of law. He said to his knowledge there was no other agencies involved in the surveillance of Mr Dotcom, knowing full well that the GCSB was involved. In fact he attended a meeting on December 14 with GCSB operatives. For him to say he wasn’t aware of their involvement is an obvious lie, made under oath, and the Detective Inspector should be held to account…
So now its the weekend and still no earthshaking distractions for Shonky to hide behind, He has got to working with Bennet on something, as Parata is now a liability.
About the best thing they could start with would be a “Closed Door” meeting with the captain of those men, and yeah I mean you bud.
If they know the ground you were walking they can direct their efforts properly.
Otherwise they can’t target the people in question.
(Understandably reticent I’d imagine ur response too be, but think about it, it may help
From the sound of things the two Geoffs from Labour and Cunliffe would be the men to talk too)
The problem is obviously at the top, and the only way to find the top is to start at the bottom.
(No Offense Brother)
Nothing has changed in 35 years when it comes to cops committing perjury in court as the police have not been made accountable even after Chief Justice Elias from the Supreme Court has become involved. An effing joke.
The Nuremberg defence has substantive problems both for Wormald and his boss.
If he invokes the ND he (Knowing it was incorrect) he still could have made a moral judgement, hence it only limits the remedies.The other part is it transfers accountability up the food chain (it increases the value of remedies to his superiors)
Fastest code in the West babe đ
Machine code ‘C’ if ya lookin for name.
Use a var to trigger the Daemon break…
if( brkVar ) break;
}
Remember 0 it true
All you Aucklanders enjoying the almost exclusively chemical skies today…go on, step outside, take a look up, and ponder the marvel that is the “clouds” up there today…Notice the textures and the shapes, really not quite right are they…
Oh, and yes I took the footage of the plane dumping over AKL again today at midday, heading south, right over the middle of the city…
Thats three times I have seen it, and twice I have filmed it. Someone on this island knows WTF is going on!
Yes I saw a narrow elongated ‘cloud’ over the North Shore – must have been around 2.30 -3.00pm. Took it to be the ragged remains of a contrail probably at around 20,000 ft.
I know an Air NZ flight captain (the partner of a family member) and was tempted to contact him for a bit of a razz… you’ve been dumping fuel have you?
Hey Marty, the only “theory” I subscribe to about it, is that somethings going on, we are not being told “in public” at least. I prefer to take the most obvious about a situation, which is, there is something being sprayed in our skies, only complete idiots would contest that now. The what and why, become the obvious next questions, and there is lots of stuff which can assist with that. Ive not done any lab tests etc so wont speculate on those….
I have filmed the planes 2 times now, and that is not any commercial arline route on a sunday. Just checked the official commercial routes again and times of arrivals and departures at Wellington and Christchurch today that might mean a flight heading southerly direction at such height could return on, and nothing would match, again this time either!
If you could see the sky up here today, even the hardest skeptic , would be doing well to explain the state of AKL’s skies!
I struggle with this one mainly because of explanations that are based on someone/group doing it to us for their sinister ends – but those ends, that I have heard, don’t make sense. Maybe I’m just not mad enough to comprehend their madness đ
Marty it need not be sinister in nature, but whatever they are doing, the results/expectations, may or may not be understood. They are spraying shit into the sky, and if you could see Auckland today you would know exactly what I am talking about, and if you saw what I saw, its likely the only way people can understand. I was not skeptical, but before I saw the planes, wondered if there was a simpple explantion, now having seen them so many times, and filmed it, there is not a shred of doubt they are spraying.
I hope you never see them down your way dude!
See my comment about the 320pm return srpay leg, and I have taken film and pics all afternoon from my area of AKL. The sky is an absolute mess of chemical shit today, grrrrr.
EDIT @ Weka – I’m not going to upload them, as have no facility that I would want to use. The May 6 footage I took, I gave to someone to pass on, who posted it online.
All good muzza, many have noted the same thing down here which is why I’ve heard a bit about it, and I’ve seen a few videos and seen them here and in Auckland. I’m not saying they aren’t true and I hope you crack it wide open – I just can’t work out any type of ‘why’ that makes sense to me. I spose I put it to one side really and concentrate on stuff like the proposed open cast mine on the Denniston Plateau, it feels like I might be able to work with others and stop that atrocity – not sure I can say the same about the spraying. Kia kaha.
Hey Marty, good on you with the mines and things, locally we all definitely can get “hands on” so to speak, and hands on, is whats required, not just at the keyboard either đ
Sorry muzza, but it’s not good enough. Fair enough that you have concerns, but without accessible evidence it’s all just another conspiracy theory. I have no interest in watching 2 minutes of the Auckland sky without any context or explanation. Someone needs to put together some credible information and present it in ways that people can read and understand. Not saying that has to be you, but I don’t really see the point in speculating about phenomena without any useful analysis that is backed up by evidence. Or at least not scarey phenomena. It just makes people worry but gives them nowhere to go.
No need to apologise for yourself Weka., I can understand your position, as I too would also like to know why planes are spraying, because the question has gone past, perhaps thats whats going on.
Why do you & others keep saying that someone should put together, and there is no evidence, there is plenty out there from all around the world Weka, what would you consider evidence or a well put togther case, over an above what is already being done…
Certainly I would agree that without seeing the planes for oneself, seeing what is coming from the planes are obvioulsy NOT vapour (con) trails, then seeing the clear blue day that was AKL yesterday, and on May 6, turning into a mesh of god knows what, followed by the predictable shit weather.
Perhaps there is nothing in it Weka, I can’t say either way, all I am saying is that I know what I saw, and have seen, and what it did to our days on May 6 and yesterday.
If what I post panics you, then don’t read it, and if you are not up to doing some reading etc about geo-enginerring, then youre not in any position to say there is no evidence or that someone should put some together!
The problem muzza is that most information presented about chemtrails is done so by either whackjobs or people who have almost zero critical thinking skills. I have an appreciation for whackjobs in society but they’re not people I go to for facts. People with very poor critical thinking skills bother me more, because they use the internet to push their ill formed ideas in ways that don’t help much and probably do some damage.Â
I don’t consider you to be either of those two things, and have been interested in your story of what you see in the skies (have read previous threads), but until you present some evidence it’s just an interesting story.
I’m not panicked by the chemtrail stuff, just pissed off at how it gets debated. We have enough stressful shit to deal with on the planet at the moment without adding to the load with information that is designed to alarm but has no back up.Â
“if you are not up to doing some reading etc about geo-enginerring, then youre not in any position to say there is no evidence or that someone should put some together!”
I disagree. Part of critical thinking is learning who to trust and why. I don’t have to understand every phenomena on the planet to such detail because I have the skills to read people who do have that detail and I can sift out the wheat from the chaff. That’s on both sides of an argument (I can point you to poor thinking on both sides of the Ken Ring debate for instance).Â
I also tend to not trust people who only reference youtube. Video is a good way of getting a message across, but it’s generally a crap way of providing verifiable evidence (not least because it can’t reference easily).
And I definitely have low opinion of websites that use obvious propoganda tecniques. This site, which pops up number one in google for ‘chemtrail’ is classic
It’s designed to appeal to people who think of themselves as woken up (the big banner), and to hook in other people by using emotive fearmongering. I’m much less likely to take something seriously that feels the need to SHOUT AT ME how stupid I am if I don’t believe what it says.
It’s also hard to take anything seriously that purports that human-made CC has been ‘exposed as a hoax’. Whatever one thinks about CC, ‘exposed as a hoax’ ain’t what’s been happening, and that phrase suggests that the website people don’t have a very good understanding of science or the politics of science.
That website also considers that a high number of google hits = proof of theory. That’s just stupid.
If the chemtrail crowd want to be taken seriously, how hard would it be to put up a website that explains the issues in a clear, rational way that lay people can understand?
Â
I also tend to not trust people who only reference youtube.
Weka, which way to you want it? – Asking me if I am going to post the video online but don’t trust people who post on YT. I would be happy to send you the raw footage if you like, but again its still my video with no context for you, because you were not here, and not see what was happening with your own eyes.
I do tend to agree with you, that seeing video gives little context, which is why I DONT post what I have, because its very easy for people to blow it off, as you have been doing. My contention is not to state what is going on, I can’t do that, because I don’t know for sure what they are spraying, only that I have seen, and filmed the spraying multiple times now, that I fly planes, and have spent most of my life looking at the sky, and that our skies have changed in a way that I can’t believe people in AKL do not notice!
You’re not in AKL either obviously, as otherwise you would have some more specific comments on my posts, and I notice that there was no response from anyone in AKL, (not that it means anything in hard terms, it would be good to hear other locals thoughts – If they saw it).
Out of interst, how do you develop your sense of who/what you can trust? – Here is a tip, if you think you can develop it as a skill, you don’t have it naturally, which has its limitations. Sure you will be able to sort the wheat from the chaff, the critical thinking and general intelligence will assist there, but instinctively there will always be a gap.
Muzza, I said I tend not to trust people who only reference youtube. And gave valid reasons why. This doesn’t mean video isn’t useful, just that it’s not usually in and of itself proof in situations like this.
I’m not in Auckland, hence my original question about posting your footage online. I really don’t know what you are talking about and the visuals would be interesting if you can post a comparison with what you think are not chemtrails.
 My contention is not to state what is going on, I canât do that, because I donât know for sure what they are spraying, only that I have seen, and filmed the spraying multiple times now, that I fly planes, and have spent most of my life looking at the sky, and that our skies have changed in a way that I canât believe people in AKL do not notice!
Yes, I’m aware that you are trying to just describe what you see, rather than post theory about what is going on and why. It’s one of the reasons I read what you write on this.
But if you keep doing that repeatedly without any further support people will get bored or annoyed and switch off. How will that help?
“(not that it means anything in hard terms, it would be good to hear other locals thoughts â If they saw it).”
You could for instance get methodical. Open a wordpress blog, without all the conspiracy dramatics, and post your observations and photos/stills. Ask Aucklanders to join you, and post what they are seeing. Give them times and directions of where to look. Moderate heavily to keep out the conspiracy theory stuff. Write short, easily accessible pieces about why you think x plane is doing y activity, and what is unusual about it. Likewise, post about the differences you are seeing the sky compared to 5 years ago, 10, 20 etc.
Â
I have never (and that means never EVER) seen any quantified evidence that would demonstrate that any CONTRAIL that appears in the sky is anything more than a normally over-expanded jet exhaust operating in an atmospheric area where the water density is already high (almost saturated), and the passing of the jet engine through that atmospheric condition has caused the high water density to be condensed into visible exhaust plumes.
That would be atmosphere that resembles Auckland’s most of the friggen time.
A “broad church”: we’ll make room for both Right Wing voters and Left Wing voters inside Labour
Great that’s been finally cleared up.
Mr Shearer said the party was doing well. âBut will we have some changes later on? Quite possiblyâ he said. He wouldnât say whether that would be before the end of the year. He said he disagreed with the claim earlier this year by Economic Development spokesman, David Cunliffe that voters who deserted Labour did so because they partyâs policies as not very different to Nationalâs.
However he said there was room for Mr Cunliffe inside Labour because it was âa broad churchâ.
âThere are many people who vote Labour from what you might call left and to the right as well.
âIt’s a broad church and what we’re looking for is to be a party for all New Zealanders, not just one of the other.â
Since the present lowering of crime rates can be connected to better social services and education provided to today’s teenagers over the period of the last Labour government, I am unfortunately confident in predicting rising crime levels in about five years or so as the rejected primary school children of today hit their teenage years under the punitive benefit and education policies of our wonderful present government. One can only hope the crime will hurt those presently benefiting from the low tax rates for the rich introduced by the same government, but crime always hurts the poor before it hurts those with big walls and money to hire security guards.
This video includes 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). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
âFollow the moneyâ is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left  Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes –Â I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes –Â Parliamentâs speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes â The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline âSenior Kingâs Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.:Â âMany of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] eachâ, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands arenât ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliamentâs speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of MÄori Land) Amendment Bill (HĹŤhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing MÄori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
 Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion âinvestmentâ in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes –Â Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and appliedâŚÂ Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliamentâs Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECDâs chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changesâintroducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, Â “Oranga Tamarikiâs governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealandâs foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealandâs foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech:Â AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This weekâs announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House â but itâs not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand:Â The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasuryâs forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when â during an interview on RNZâs Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? âIt's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their âfutureâ amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected â and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers â as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP â critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori âstrenuouslyâ objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to âtheirâ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Councilâs District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion âThis House Believes British Museums are not Very Britishâ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP HĹŤhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of MÄori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of MÄori land. ...
A senior, highly respected Kingâs Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga MÄori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealandâs growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesnât know or care about the frontline cuts sheâs making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. Â ...
Todayâs Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and itâs only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. âThis is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. âThe government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicineâ, said Ayesha Verrall âThis is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoonâs interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour childrenâs spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te PÄti MÄori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonightâs court decision to overturn the summons of the Childrenâs Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about MÄori without evidence, says Te PÄti MÄori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âThe judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last yearâs severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labourâs environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our countryâs most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te PÄti MÄori Justice Spokesperson, TÄkuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, MÄori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Â Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Â Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Â Ladies and gentlemen -Â Â In diplomacy, we often speak of âcloseâ and âlong-standingâ relations. Â ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. âThe medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. âWellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. âWith 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. âWe are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayersâ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in TairÄwhiti and Hawkeâs Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealandâs engagement with the region.  The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu.  âNew Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealandersâ security and wellbeing. âCongratulations to this yearâs recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealandâs defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealandâs digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. Â âThe immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Governmentâs school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealandâs next Ambassador to the United States of America.  âOur relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,â Mr Peters says.  âNew Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. âNew Zealand was built on gold, itâs in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is âan Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhereâ and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. âThis is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASAâs Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. âOur Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECDâs latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its membersâ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli.  ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Councilâs Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today.  "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Councilâs Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today.  Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. âThese reforms are long overdue. New Zealandâs insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. âThree years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. âBeing able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canadaâs refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ânext moveâ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Childrenâs Commissioner. âThe Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.    âThe coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. âOur Governmentâs thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening â  Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealandâs foreign policy, weâd like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âCreating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northlandâs marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. âThis is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the countryâs total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. âThe beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ĺ-RÄkau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mĹ Ĺ-RÄkau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ĺ-RÄkau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Governmentâs plan to supercharge New Zealandâs EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four â and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Governmentâs plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âI have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People â Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who wonât cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed â Australiaâs big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make â and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this yearâs Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served âwokeâ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australiaâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash Weâve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guineaâs deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of âreckless economic managementâ that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape âmust stop lying to the people of Papua New Guineaâ, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoaâs booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish Iâd writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. âFollow the moneyâ is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a âcatastrophic humanitarian situationâ. Rafah was âsignificantâ because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. Itâs 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canadaâs largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayersâ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayersâ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Ministerâs office. Taxpayersâ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. Itâs power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, thereâs the rich list and the powerful âc-suiteâ list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeerâs phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gaddâs story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didnât have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail â those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Whatâs all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boyâs body was found the day he died. Lachieâs body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucyâs brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where âhe had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didnât get inâ. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Aucklandâs water woes. This is how itâll work. New Zealandâs pipes are munted. Theyâre cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. Itâs a big, ...
Opinion: âAs time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.â This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate â and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,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 8 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and sheâs having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, itâs not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Womenâs International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the âcruel and barbaric use of forceâ in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The leagueâs open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australiaâs resources industry. The project will fund âthe first comprehensive map of whatâs ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their studentsâ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to ârepair colonial violenceâ and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year â and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. Thatâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the governmentâs legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
David Cunliffe is putting out a new speech today.
Hopefully something that starts to show what Labour-Green economic management might look like.
Cool. Where?
Laingholm Community Hall 2:30 pm.
Thanks, Micky. Pity I’ll be working then.
If someone going along would be kind enough to give us the after-action report đ
It’s here.
Thanks Draco for making this brilliant speech available to us. What other current politician could match such well constructed and inspiring words? Shearer will try, but come nowhere close. Imagine someone like Key attempting to deliver a speech of this quality! Laughable! Here is a way ahead, full of promise and policy. How is it that a man of such exceedingly high intelligence is not leading the Labour opposition?
I guess the media will not notice this event of today!
I enjoyed David’s comments about neo-liberalism.
“Neo-Liberalism is based on the idea that itâs a dog-eat-dog world. Neo-Liberalism is based on the idea that greed is good, that weâre all locked in an economic life-and-death-struggle with each other. Neo-Liberalism says that compassion is for suckers. Neo-Liberalism says that if the world is going to the dogs, it might as well be the top dogs. Indeed, to borrow from Oliver Stoneâs Wall Street, not only is greed good, âitâs legal.âÂ
No it’s not. It’s just more BaU and we know, or we should anyway, that BaU doesn’t work as the increasing poverty in this country proves.
Nah mate I think your judgement is too harsh. NZ politics hasn’t seen this kind of identification and analysis of neoliberal failures for a long time.
Does it suggest the brand new paradigms that we need? Nope it does fall short there. Mimicking a strategy that scandanavian countries successfully used during a massive resource, financial and energy boom is not necessarily going to work for us, in this time.
And that’s where the likes of us come in to push and educate so that the citizens force the pollies to take heed. And to realise also that the pollies are never going to accomplish that much of the change required.
Go David Cunliffe !
It’s probably the first truly definitive attack on neo-liberalism world wide.
The problem with labels in general is they detract from the core thinking that derived them.
Add a couple of years and it becomes the label that drives them, when that happens it’s time to whatch out for the “Evil Ones”.
interest politics? minority politics? particular politics? singular politics? classification politics?
equation politics
-Excalibur (like the palm of our hands)
oops, forgot the categorical imperative in hurry-Kant
(work in progress)
now, Soren Kierkegaard; there is a thoughtful man.
I look forward to the posts on Kiwiblog and Whaleoil condemning Aussie talkback host Alan Jones’s latest vicious attack on Julia Gillard. Won’t be long now …
You hate Alan Jones too? Then you might like to watch him getting publicly humiliated on television by Chopper Read….
NOT!
Syria
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/rebels-make-gains-in-blunting-syrian-air-attacks/
After months of being massacred from the sky, rebel forces are encroaching on the borders of at least one government controlled airfield.
This has created a conundrum for the rebel fighters. Being close to the airfield allows them to shoot at these aircraft when they are the most vulnerable to light weapons, either on the ground, or at taking off and landing.
The rebels say they will overun the base eventually. But what should they do with the aircraft?
Destroy them?
Or use them against the regime?
And what would the Western Powers do if the revolutionary forces get hold of jet aircraft?
Already Western Powers have threatened to intervene if Assad’s gas weapons threaten to fall into rebel hands.
Western leaders have also expressed fears that if effective anti-aircraft weapons, particularly any potent shoulder fired anti aircraft heat seeking missiles, got into the hands of the rebel fighters that this could change the balance of power in the Middle East.
Because of these fears the West have been content to let Assad bomb and strafe defenceless Syrian suburbs and towns without mercy.
The huge civilian casualties doesn’t stir them but the thought of powerful anti aircraft weapons in the hands of the “Arab Street” sends a chill down their spine. The threat being that such a change in the balance of power could spiral beyond their control ending the long standing Western Imperium in the Middle East, toppleing all the well armed despotic puppet states that are the bolster to that power.
The consequences could be far reaching
Trouble is, Jenny, they do nothing about Israel’s continual bombing of Gaza; it’s a bit much to expect them to do anything about Syria.
Sad, but true, Morrissey.
Jenny you were doing so well there for a while too, focussing on the local issues like PoAL.
Perhaps keep focus on what you understand clearly, and on which will have greater impact here in NZ.
I’m sure all the innocent Syrians executed by the FSA Death Squads (Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi, US/UK/French sponsored), would not miss your inability to comprehend what is nearer to the actual situtation in Syria, which pretty much means you condone their deaths!
I find it fascinating that Jenny is trying to position the Western military powers as being at least tacit backers of Assad. When all the arms and funding going to the foreign fighters who have infiltrated the “Free Syria Army” is coming through countries who have close military and financial ties with the US and UK.
As you state muzza, including Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and also Turkey.
You forgot Iran.
Yep. Iran and Syria have very close ties. If the US and Israel is to increase their military and financial leverage over Iran, taking Syria down will be very helpful.
Suicide bombing against Syrian military HQ caught on camera
Notice how the van carrying the explosives is still being driven as it is detonated. Suicide bombings like this mark an ugly turning point in this conflict, and demonstrate the influence that foreign jihadi and islamist fighters are having on the tactics of the Free Syrian Army.
I’d say that was accidental. That was definitely not the place anyone would want to set off a bomb.
Poor bastards, Thanks Netenyahu, ya set another one off.
It’s his bloody words they would’ve been “programmed” by society too watch for.
In a moment of loss they spoke to the Taliban, and what would they be saying?
More racist and Islamaphobic bullshit from you CV.
CV, where is your evidence of all the weapons and support you lyingly claim that the rebels are getting from the West? If the Syrian rebels were getting all the support and weapons you claim, they wouldn’t need suicide bombers.
In an asymmetric conflict between two heavily unequal forces, on one hand a powerful conventional modern army and on the other a poorly armed insurgent force – in desperation, the much weaker military force finding themselves at a serious military disadvantage in munitions and equipment, have resorted to suicide attacks. Examples of this can be cited in almost every major military conflict. In the invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 2006 suicide attacks have been cited as the main factor in the Israeli conventional army’s defeat at the hands of the paramilitary forces of Hezbollah. Hezbollah found through bitter experience that, in that heavily asymmetric conflict, if they sent ten fighters against a similar number of IDF, that they would lose 9 out of 10 Lebanese volunteers for 1 Israeli soldier, (if that). With the use of suicide bomber volunteers, that statistic could be reversed. These attacks were so effective, it was said that a column of modern Merkava tanks could be halted at the sound of an approaching dirt-bike.
Most of Israel’s casualties in that war were Merkava tank crews.
As a result in Lebanon these desperate suicide attacks against the Israeli invaders became known as “the poor man’s nuclear bomb“.
The reason this asymetric tactic was called the poor man’s nuclear weapon, is because while a professional army can afford to pay soldiers to kill for them. Professional armies can’t afford to pay soldiers enough to die for them.
Despite the racist depiction of this phenomenon as the result of fanatic religious fundamentalism unique to Islamists. In extremis it has also been practiced by largely secular forces as well. The mainly secular insurgents of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka relied heavily on this tactic.
In Syrian history, Jules Jammal a Christian Syrian naval officer who grew up near Homs was a defender in the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by the combined Western forces of Israel, Britain and France. In 1956 Jules Jammal volunteered to become a suicide bomber, to sink a french war ship.
Jammal is considered a hero in both Syria and Egypt, receiving official military honours from both governments on his sacrifice.
For his actions Jamal was also awarded the medal of St Peter and St Paul from the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
Streets in Syria and Egypt are still named after this Arab Christian hero.
Unfortunately due to the sheer inhuman military brutality of the Assad regime and it’s reliance on it’s fully modernly equipped army and airforce to suppress the rebellion, pitted against the woeful lack of powerful weapons by the insurgents, this desperate tactic may become more common in Syria.
Sadly true, which is why society has to speek Life Positive messages.
War and Destruction will only amplify the situation.
They’d be better off building a “Homeless” muslim compund and trying to help these people.
But who’d trust them?
Not me at this point that’d be 4 sure.
The Christian ethic of Universal Understanding and acceptance has a lot of merit for the middle east in general.
I’d love to see some links to what you’re saying re suicide attacks against tanks by Hezbollah. especially the motorcycle thing. I’m not saying it’s not true, but it does seem unlikely. usually you’d use shaped charges or ambush with rpgs against tanks, neither of which things Hezbollah are short of.
Hezbollah are a serious outfit of course. The fear is that they will be getting involved in Syria soon, deeply uncomfortable with the rise of wahhibist organisation like AQ in the insurgency.
They disable the track with hand grenades, and they are charging a tank, one way trip usually.
And then shoot the rpgs’s etc
đ the ‘tide is turning’
Jenny said:
Keep pushing for and glamourising your war.
But what is happening in Syria is a proxy war and a foreign invasion, not a popular uprising. Unless its a popular uprising which isn’t that popular because the bloody thing has been going on for well over a full year now.
As for evidence of where the FSA is getting support from, I have posted multiple links previously, which you have patiently ignored. The conflict in Syria is essentially a power struggle and proxy war driven on by foreign powers and foreign fighters. That’s what you’re supporting Jenny.
Let’s try this now:
Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/09/18/syrias-secular-and-islamist-rebels-who-are-the-saudis-and-the-qataris-arming/#ixzz27vx9txpb
Still no effective anti-aircraft weapons
Thanks for this CV.
Finally, you are starting to supply links to more than outright propaganda and lies, or half baked Washington beltway gossip and ignorant and bigoted smears. Maybe you are beginning to get an inkling into the real nature of this people’s revolt. Here’s hoping anyway.
Private Saudi and Qatari backers with some assistance from within the Turkish state, are trying to buy influence among the revolutionaries. Playing favourites, giving support to some and not others. Trying to influence the out come of the revolution.
There is no surprise here.
They realise that the rebels are on the right side of history, but they want to influence the rebels eventual victory, to retrieve the most gain for themselves. However their jockeying for position could be doing more harm than good to the resistance, and rather than end the war, prolong it.
Apart from the disorganising effect of the “control room”, in supplying weapons to some and not others. Even the support they have given to their favourites is parsimonious at best.
(The FSA is nominally headed by Riad al-Asâaad, who is based in Turkey. Neither Asâaad nor his chief FSA rival General Mustafa Sheikh are party to the Istanbul control room that supplies and arms rebels who operate under the FSA banner. The two men each have their own sources of funding and are independently distributing money and weapons to selected FSA units.)
WIMP -WALLOPING: Two Jackals tear apart David Shearer
Beleaguered Labour Party leader David Shearer made another dreadful, stuttering, bumbling, wandery appearance on TV3’s The Nation yesterday. In the face of a couple of aggressive young right wing journalists, Shearer was unconvincing and hesitant throughout. He often seemed confused and, fatally, seemed to be woolly-minded about economic policy and currency questions. This weakness only fed the aggression of his interrogators.
At one point, Shearer said, quite rightly, that the National Standards for primary and intermediate schools were not credible data.
“It’s just the UNIONS that say that!” scoffed the Fairfax journalist John Hartevelt.
Now, this was a perfect opening for a strong and confident politician to tear Hartevelt a new one; he could have pointed out that the group that Hartevelt sniffingly dismissed as “the unions” is actually comprised of virtually all of the nation’s teachers and educational theorists. In other words, “the unions” are people who, unlike John Hartevelt, are serious, informed and credible when it comes to talking about education.
But Shearer’s response was a lame, “That’s not true,” not followed up by any argument at all.
On Radio New Zealand National’s Mediawatch programme this morning, Hartevelt is currently getting a grilling by Colin Peacock over his shoddy release of the ropey National Standards figures. When he is contradicted and challenged, Hartevelt is anything but authoritative. What a pity the Labour Party lacks a leader prepared or able to do the same thing.
god, that’s depressing.
He didn’t even need to defend the unions, he just needed to say “Look, John, you yourself have stated that the data doesn’t reflect quality, isn’t moderated, and can’t be used to draw meaningful conclusions between different schools. So obviously that’s incorrect.”
But that would involve being quick off the mark and bolshy enough to defend your viewpoints.
And he should have defended the unions at the same time: “let’s not forget that our teacher unions were amongst the first experts to correctly point out the glaring flaws in National Standards, well before many other commentators caught up with the facts.”
Looking forward to hearing Shearer defending himself when his speechwriter gets on to it in that fantastic newsletter called “Shearer Stays”, oops, “Shearer Says”.
I’m calling “this week we held the government to account on National Standards data, and continued to champion the rights of parents and teachers and communities to do what’s best for their children and their children’s children.”
I wonder if he’s figured out why the sickness bene on the roof story was a gift to right wing nut jobs yet.
OK, so he stood around and looked the other way while Hartevelt put the boot into working people, but at least he managed not to spit in anyone’s face this time.
Yes I too watched in numb horror, Has no-one in the Labour party worked it out yet??? Or maybe they have. BUT when we have a pull apart after the 2014 debacle that will be the election where the NZ Labour Party comes a woeful 3rd with fuck all seats behind a confident Green Party and A thieving NACT party in for the final round of theft and incompetence.
We will be able to point the finger at OLD and PAST IT politicians clinging on with their fingertips. Pushing their own private agendas, just so they can suck at the public teat for another 3 years where they will have to do fuck all to get the money they are supposed to EARN!
Now we all know who these old and past it ones are, so a little nudging in to the retirement rather than defeat.camp would be good.
And will someone please please point out to shearer and his backers (Robertson) included is that he is not, and never will be, Prime Minister material, and neither are they, simply by the damage they have let happen to NZ, and it’s economy. By their self interest.
Again, refer to today’s speech by the enlightened Cunliffe – compare and contrast with Shearer and you will wonder what the hell has gone wrong with the Labour Party!
I think the “Delegation” style of leadership has definite merit
While David Shearer hasn’t hit his straps yet, the example they set for NZ is a formidable one.
Anyone of 5 different people should be able to step into his shoes without any qualms by the end of this year.
Which five do you have in mind? I can think of two with enough profile, skill and experience for the job but not five. I can’t even get as far as three.
Realistically I guess it’ll be all the major portfolios or shadow portfolios.
Shearer has to carry the discussion regarding the exchange rate. I throw my hands up there has been an identified issue yet all the solutions are to give the responsibility to the RB for the solutions. If they have some ides how to correct the issue them come out and inform us. I think either that they have no idea of a solution or the consequences are as bad as the what they are trying to solve.
So by expecting the RB to fix the problem who directs them, especially as DS does not want “politicians to run the exchange rate.” !!! “Good grief” as Charlie Brown would say. After the GCSB being unrestricted in their actions now DS wants another govt. dept. in the RB to also be unrestricted.
True, it comes back to that bleedin “Open Market” crap, needs to rethink that one pronto
US military documents categorise Assange and Wikileaks as “enemies of the United States”
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-calls-assange-enemy-of-state-20120927-26m7s.html#ixzz27cjH9qSk
CV 7
On radionz this morning a report on food sharing and political discussion in the USA has presented an interesting picture of USA repressive attitudes. The group has a slogan food not bombs and this is making authorities extremely sensitive, saying that they can approve food distribution but there must be no banners with political messages. In fact one political commentator said they were a subversive influence that was undermining the USAs ability to get citizens to respond to possible attacks on the country from its enemies.
They started off giving out food, vegetarian and vegan only, in the park where the Occupy groups began their protest. Free speech and free food are at the least embarrassing, particularly to very liberal politicians who are quite negative because it draws attention to their inadequacies, and at the most regarded as highly dangerous by the fear and war exponents in the USA who want to occupy the hearts and minds of their people.
It’s a serious problem. 21st century NZ is going to have to walk a fine line between the interests and politics of two great Pacific powers. China and the USA. I’ve got little faith that our current crew can get it right for our magnificent, but very small, country.
Maybe. The unexpected is usually what happens though, and in retrospect it is seen as inevitable. Like the rise of Prussia – or England or Japan for that matter. Somewhere out there !
yes, and no. nothing new under the sun
Oh my giddy aunt. Nutmegs! Seriously, Assange has reason to be worried…
Graeme Edgler on Public Address has an intriguing dissection of the charge brought to the Police over the “spying” on Kim Dotcom compared to the investigation of teapot tapes.
http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/kim-dotcom-vs-the-teapot-tapes/
His short answer is that he believes that the four boxes needed can be ticked and that there will be a case to answer.
Will take a long time but interesting.
now, here is an empathetic point of entry..:)
SCHOPENHAUER ROCKS
just in case one is hard of hearing,
SCHOPENHAUER ROCKS
so do Led Zeppelin and Patti Smith.
have a listen to Cat (Yusaf Islam) Stevens’ ‘The Very Best Of ‘…i can’t keep it in…no …i can’t keep it in…gotta let it out…oh..i gotta let it out…(sans grass, regretably, yet THIS TOO MUST PASS)
Murray McCully stands up in the UN and criticises lack of action to aid the Syrian people and refers to the veto which has been utilised by China and Russia. Wonder if we will ever hear a criticism of USA policies from him? Not now we are the dingy dinghy again.
Other countries had their head of state speaking, but I guess as there wasn’t a suitable baseball game Key sent the poisonous dwarf.
Janice 9.1
McCully probably was better than Jokey as he might start a world war with some inappropriate remark. McCully I am sure, knows more about the issues than Jokey Hen who also doesn’t want to mess up his fine financial fund mind with annoying matters better left to other people. The responsibility on a NZ PM is sooo wide, heavy and stressful. You just wouldn’t have a clue!
I see that Murry McCully spoke on the importance of Israel and Palestine leaders talking again. They actually live very close to each other. Sounds a bit Sarah Palinish. Does that mean that I was wrong that he was a waste of time really because of biasing his speech on USA concerns. No, here is some background to the USA relationship and aid to Israel. Mostly google headings that offer the information I was looking for. The links don’t come up live.
First a Wikipedia summary of a book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy on whether the USA lobby for Israel is mainly wealthy Jewish people. (There are likely to be some biased blogs on this subject so I think that a researched book would give a reliable view.) The book is by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Israel_Lobby_and_U.S._Foreign_Policy
On military aid USA Israel –
**IsraelâUnited States relations – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsraelâUnited_States_relations
Almost all U.S. aid to Israel is now in the form of military assistance, while in the past it … Strong congressional support for Israel has resulted in Israel’s receiving …
**US Aid to Israel and the Palestinians
ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html
The U.S. is providing Israel with at least $8.2 million each day* in military aid and … Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts …
**Tempering Iron Dome: US may spend $680 million on Israeli missile …
rt.com/news/us-israel-military-aid-iron-dome-637/
21 Apr 2012 â The US could fork out $680 million on strengthening the Israeli Iron Dome rocket shield. …
(Obama and Israel)
**U.S., Israel Build Military Cooperation – WSJ.com
online.wsj.com/…/SB1000142405274870332100457542727255005…
14 Aug 2010 â U.S. military aid to Israel has increased markedly this year. … Obama felt the increased military support is necessary to assure Israel’s security …
(Jewish extensive reference to it) –
**http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
Here’s an interesting item on how the USA paranoia about attacks has caused it to look for guidance from the paranoic Israelis.
**http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/31/opinion/la-oe-blackwill-israel-20111031
This one has moving pics on the topics and an academic opinion that the UN structure assists USA to act in Israel’s interests
**http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/29/264033/dozens-of-insurgents-killed-in-aleppo/
This one has interesting points
**http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/15/the_politically_incorrect_guide_to_us_interests_in_the_middle_east
I was reasonably pleased with McCully’s response on Syria and Israel/Palestine. I don’t think the latter was Sarah Palinish at all – perhaps a little flat-footed in a plain-spoken way, but not actually idiotic a la Palin.
Perhaps they needed to get McCully out of the country so Trev could have an uninterupted couple of days with Murray’s ex girlfriend?
đ
Murray McCully is a non-entity
I DO NOT accept Keys apology about the govt behavior in the dot come fiasco.
Dy – the point is that Key DID NOT apologise for himself, he generously apologised for his own minions!
Her Tui Billboards are surrounded by neon lights!
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/hekia-parata-is-listeningyeah-right.html
This is an earlier blog by Dave that is worth reading as well about the way the ministry treated Moera school in the north over ‘poor’ NCEA result.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/lesley-longstone-management-style.html
DV 11.1 (By the way its Moerewa spell it right.)
Thanks Dv – good blog from Local Bodies. This quote from Dv link at 11.1
That has all changed. We now have imports that haven’t the excuse of being cheap – Lesley Longstone recently in the news because of the shakeup of our school system is said to be receiving $600,000 p.a. You can’t help thinking that we have a cringe factor alive and well in NZ that we can’t find suitable candidates for such positions. And those working their way up in a Department with consequent institutional knowledge are likely to be elbowed out during some internecine change and so we lose our experienced people who care about NZ and get these moving generic managers who make us bow and scrape to their supposedly superior knowledge. (Must be, they’re from overseas you know.)
Here is some info on Ms Longstone. If you want source get it yourself, I’m tired.
“Lesley Longstone has 25 years’ experience in the education and employment sectors in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia, and she understands the economic importance of education and its contribution to the broader skills agenda.
Ms Longstone has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sheffield.
Good Work P.; freakin Philistines!
Ed Milliband, UK Labour Leader: Either the banking sector makes sweeping changes or we will force bank break ups
Frakkin’A. This is what we are talking about people. However, the City of London financial centre holds such vast political power and influence in the UK, I hope Milliband can stay the course.
By the way, it is no co-incidence that the Lehman collapse, Bernie Madoff’s multi-billion dollar ponzi scheme, the massive theft from MF Global account holders, near infinite leverage/shadow rehypothecation collateral rorts and many more frauds originated in City of London financial operating centres.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/sep/29/ed-miliband-british-banks
What they really need to so is to stop the banks creating money. Do that and they’ll collapse all by themselves.
Excellent Viper
It’s not daylight savings this weekend is it? The clock on my computer has gone forward an hour but it uses an international clock and I’m not sure they’ve been right since the govt changed the date of DST and didn’t tell the rest of the world.Â
Yep it is, clocks moved forward at 2am.
Thanks. Are they tying that to the last weekend in Sept?
I suppose it’s a chance to reset all the clocks to the same time. I use five digital clocks and they all end up out of sync within 2 or 3 weeks. The computer is the only true one because it resets when I go online. Did time used to be this odd when we had analog clocks?
I’m perturbed that you’re finding that with your digital clocks. There is absolutely no reason for even a cheap digital clock to gain or lose more than 1 minute a month, and that is being generous.
I’d blame sloppy cheap electronics design or componentry. A good quality quartz mechanical watch will often perform to +/- 2 minutes per year.
yeah I find it weird myself. One is a cheapo clock but there is a cell phone and car stereo both of a decent enough quality to keep time properly.
personally, i do not wear a watch. Time đ
and Being (emancipate ourselves)
No excuse for police perjury
Grant Wormald didn’t just give evidence that was inconsistent; he clearly perjured himself in a court of law. He said to his knowledge there was no other agencies involved in the surveillance of Mr Dotcom, knowing full well that the GCSB was involved. In fact he attended a meeting on December 14 with GCSB operatives. For him to say he wasn’t aware of their involvement is an obvious lie, made under oath, and the Detective Inspector should be held to account…
…and if he was ordered to lie, then that is a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Ouch! Duck and fucking cover John Key.
Ouch indeed. Big blast zone on this one.
So now its the weekend and still no earthshaking distractions for Shonky to hide behind, He has got to working with Bennet on something, as Parata is now a liability.
At this point I’d be inclined to bring an Army General in to arbitrate it all.
There’s too much confusion about the command structure and what can and can’t be said.
If these men are indeed playing “Board Room” games, then as u say we have a very serious problem.
About the best thing they could start with would be a “Closed Door” meeting with the captain of those men, and yeah I mean you bud.
If they know the ground you were walking they can direct their efforts properly.
Otherwise they can’t target the people in question.
(Understandably reticent I’d imagine ur response too be, but think about it, it may help
From the sound of things the two Geoffs from Labour and Cunliffe would be the men to talk too)
The problem is obviously at the top, and the only way to find the top is to start at the bottom.
(No Offense Brother)
Nothing has changed in 35 years when it comes to cops committing perjury in court as the police have not been made accountable even after Chief Justice Elias from the Supreme Court has become involved. An effing joke.
The Nuremberg defence has substantive problems both for Wormald and his boss.
If he invokes the ND he (Knowing it was incorrect) he still could have made a moral judgement, hence it only limits the remedies.The other part is it transfers accountability up the food chain (it increases the value of remedies to his superiors)
Exaclty, the buck stops with Key if he uses that defence.
More code snipets I remembered for LPRent …
While( true ) {
for( *var=*inVar; *var!=’ ‘; var++){ … } /*simple word finder */
}
switch( true ) {
case( *var=='<' && (*var+1=='a' ||*var+1=='A') : /*A Tag*/
{ … }
default: /* Anything else */
{ … }
}
Fastest code in the West babe đ
Machine code ‘C’ if ya lookin for name.
Use a var to trigger the Daemon break…
if( brkVar ) break;
}
Remember 0 it true
Which means if( var==0 ) {} runs faster than if( var==1 ) {}
1 = voltage = heat = slower cylcles in cpu/memory
And if you don’t have “True” use 1 i.e while(1) {}
All you Aucklanders enjoying the almost exclusively chemical skies today…go on, step outside, take a look up, and ponder the marvel that is the “clouds” up there today…Notice the textures and the shapes, really not quite right are they…
Oh, and yes I took the footage of the plane dumping over AKL again today at midday, heading south, right over the middle of the city…
Thats three times I have seen it, and twice I have filmed it. Someone on this island knows WTF is going on!
And at 320pm, just seen and filmed the return leg of the spray plane, was out over the Waitemata Harbour heading north.
I can’t have been the only Aucklander on here to have seen this today, its that bloody obvious…
Yes I saw a narrow elongated ‘cloud’ over the North Shore – must have been around 2.30 -3.00pm. Took it to be the ragged remains of a contrail probably at around 20,000 ft.
I know an Air NZ flight captain (the partner of a family member) and was tempted to contact him for a bit of a razz… you’ve been dumping fuel have you?
Hey muzza which theory do you subscribe to
to dumb down
to reduce libido
other
Hey Marty, the only “theory” I subscribe to about it, is that somethings going on, we are not being told “in public” at least. I prefer to take the most obvious about a situation, which is, there is something being sprayed in our skies, only complete idiots would contest that now. The what and why, become the obvious next questions, and there is lots of stuff which can assist with that. Ive not done any lab tests etc so wont speculate on those….
I have filmed the planes 2 times now, and that is not any commercial arline route on a sunday. Just checked the official commercial routes again and times of arrivals and departures at Wellington and Christchurch today that might mean a flight heading southerly direction at such height could return on, and nothing would match, again this time either!
If you could see the sky up here today, even the hardest skeptic , would be doing well to explain the state of AKL’s skies!
I struggle with this one mainly because of explanations that are based on someone/group doing it to us for their sinister ends – but those ends, that I have heard, don’t make sense. Maybe I’m just not mad enough to comprehend their madness đ
Marty it need not be sinister in nature, but whatever they are doing, the results/expectations, may or may not be understood. They are spraying shit into the sky, and if you could see Auckland today you would know exactly what I am talking about, and if you saw what I saw, its likely the only way people can understand. I was not skeptical, but before I saw the planes, wondered if there was a simpple explantion, now having seen them so many times, and filmed it, there is not a shred of doubt they are spraying.
I hope you never see them down your way dude!
See my comment about the 320pm return srpay leg, and I have taken film and pics all afternoon from my area of AKL. The sky is an absolute mess of chemical shit today, grrrrr.
EDIT @ Weka – I’m not going to upload them, as have no facility that I would want to use. The May 6 footage I took, I gave to someone to pass on, who posted it online.
All good muzza, many have noted the same thing down here which is why I’ve heard a bit about it, and I’ve seen a few videos and seen them here and in Auckland. I’m not saying they aren’t true and I hope you crack it wide open – I just can’t work out any type of ‘why’ that makes sense to me. I spose I put it to one side really and concentrate on stuff like the proposed open cast mine on the Denniston Plateau, it feels like I might be able to work with others and stop that atrocity – not sure I can say the same about the spraying. Kia kaha.
Hey Marty, good on you with the mines and things, locally we all definitely can get “hands on” so to speak, and hands on, is whats required, not just at the keyboard either đ
Kia kaha to you too bro
muzza, I don’t understand your reason for not uploading these pictures.
Can you explain the problem? I’m sure someone here will help.
Hi Felix, I didn’t give a reason – Ill most likely forward todays stuff on again for posting, same as I did with the May 6 footage.
I wont have been the only person in AKL who saw it today, from your posts your not in AKL??
No not in AKL but have seen some interesting stuff in the sky here too. Is the May 6 footage still online somewhere we can see it?
Edit: Just google or youtube search Auckland chemtrails, you will find some stuff
ta
Sorry muzza, but it’s not good enough. Fair enough that you have concerns, but without accessible evidence it’s all just another conspiracy theory. I have no interest in watching 2 minutes of the Auckland sky without any context or explanation. Someone needs to put together some credible information and present it in ways that people can read and understand. Not saying that has to be you, but I don’t really see the point in speculating about phenomena without any useful analysis that is backed up by evidence. Or at least not scarey phenomena. It just makes people worry but gives them nowhere to go.
No need to apologise for yourself Weka., I can understand your position, as I too would also like to know why planes are spraying, because the question has gone past, perhaps thats whats going on.
Why do you & others keep saying that someone should put together, and there is no evidence, there is plenty out there from all around the world Weka, what would you consider evidence or a well put togther case, over an above what is already being done…
Certainly I would agree that without seeing the planes for oneself, seeing what is coming from the planes are obvioulsy NOT vapour (con) trails, then seeing the clear blue day that was AKL yesterday, and on May 6, turning into a mesh of god knows what, followed by the predictable shit weather.
Perhaps there is nothing in it Weka, I can’t say either way, all I am saying is that I know what I saw, and have seen, and what it did to our days on May 6 and yesterday.
If what I post panics you, then don’t read it, and if you are not up to doing some reading etc about geo-enginerring, then youre not in any position to say there is no evidence or that someone should put some together!
Kia kaha
The problem muzza is that most information presented about chemtrails is done so by either whackjobs or people who have almost zero critical thinking skills. I have an appreciation for whackjobs in society but they’re not people I go to for facts. People with very poor critical thinking skills bother me more, because they use the internet to push their ill formed ideas in ways that don’t help much and probably do some damage.Â
I don’t consider you to be either of those two things, and have been interested in your story of what you see in the skies (have read previous threads), but until you present some evidence it’s just an interesting story.
I’m not panicked by the chemtrail stuff, just pissed off at how it gets debated. We have enough stressful shit to deal with on the planet at the moment without adding to the load with information that is designed to alarm but has no back up.Â
“if you are not up to doing some reading etc about geo-enginerring, then youre not in any position to say there is no evidence or that someone should put some together!”
I disagree. Part of critical thinking is learning who to trust and why. I don’t have to understand every phenomena on the planet to such detail because I have the skills to read people who do have that detail and I can sift out the wheat from the chaff. That’s on both sides of an argument (I can point you to poor thinking on both sides of the Ken Ring debate for instance).Â
I also tend to not trust people who only reference youtube. Video is a good way of getting a message across, but it’s generally a crap way of providing verifiable evidence (not least because it can’t reference easily).
And I definitely have low opinion of websites that use obvious propoganda tecniques. This site, which pops up number one in google for ‘chemtrail’ is classic
http://chemtrailsnorthnz.wordpress.com/opinions-regarding-the-functions-of-chemtrailsstratospheric-aerosol-geoengineering/
It’s designed to appeal to people who think of themselves as woken up (the big banner), and to hook in other people by using emotive fearmongering. I’m much less likely to take something seriously that feels the need to SHOUT AT ME how stupid I am if I don’t believe what it says.
It’s also hard to take anything seriously that purports that human-made CC has been ‘exposed as a hoax’. Whatever one thinks about CC, ‘exposed as a hoax’ ain’t what’s been happening, and that phrase suggests that the website people don’t have a very good understanding of science or the politics of science.
That website also considers that a high number of google hits = proof of theory. That’s just stupid.
If the chemtrail crowd want to be taken seriously, how hard would it be to put up a website that explains the issues in a clear, rational way that lay people can understand?
Â
Â
Are you going to put the video and details up online?
Weka, which way to you want it? – Asking me if I am going to post the video online but don’t trust people who post on YT. I would be happy to send you the raw footage if you like, but again its still my video with no context for you, because you were not here, and not see what was happening with your own eyes.
I do tend to agree with you, that seeing video gives little context, which is why I DONT post what I have, because its very easy for people to blow it off, as you have been doing. My contention is not to state what is going on, I can’t do that, because I don’t know for sure what they are spraying, only that I have seen, and filmed the spraying multiple times now, that I fly planes, and have spent most of my life looking at the sky, and that our skies have changed in a way that I can’t believe people in AKL do not notice!
You’re not in AKL either obviously, as otherwise you would have some more specific comments on my posts, and I notice that there was no response from anyone in AKL, (not that it means anything in hard terms, it would be good to hear other locals thoughts – If they saw it).
Out of interst, how do you develop your sense of who/what you can trust? – Here is a tip, if you think you can develop it as a skill, you don’t have it naturally, which has its limitations. Sure you will be able to sort the wheat from the chaff, the critical thinking and general intelligence will assist there, but instinctively there will always be a gap.
I’ll check the website out, i’ve not heard of it.
Muzza, I said I tend not to trust people who only reference youtube. And gave valid reasons why. This doesn’t mean video isn’t useful, just that it’s not usually in and of itself proof in situations like this.
I’m not in Auckland, hence my original question about posting your footage online. I really don’t know what you are talking about and the visuals would be interesting if you can post a comparison with what you think are not chemtrails.
 My contention is not to state what is going on, I canât do that, because I donât know for sure what they are spraying, only that I have seen, and filmed the spraying multiple times now, that I fly planes, and have spent most of my life looking at the sky, and that our skies have changed in a way that I canât believe people in AKL do not notice!
But if you keep doing that repeatedly without any further support people will get bored or annoyed and switch off. How will that help?
“(not that it means anything in hard terms, it would be good to hear other locals thoughts â If they saw it).”
You could for instance get methodical. Open a wordpress blog, without all the conspiracy dramatics, and post your observations and photos/stills. Ask Aucklanders to join you, and post what they are seeing. Give them times and directions of where to look. Moderate heavily to keep out the conspiracy theory stuff. Write short, easily accessible pieces about why you think x plane is doing y activity, and what is unusual about it. Likewise, post about the differences you are seeing the sky compared to 5 years ago, 10, 20 etc.
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Or you could just with basic physics:
That would be atmosphere that resembles Auckland’s most of the friggen time.
A “broad church”: we’ll make room for both Right Wing voters and Left Wing voters inside Labour
Great that’s been finally cleared up.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/shearer-hints-front-bench-shake-ck-129842
Very Sad.
” I’ll publish right or wrong: Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.”
-Byron
“What all the wise men have promised, has not happened, and what all the damn fools said would happen has come to pass”
-Lamb (ironically enough)
“Thus hath the candle singed the moth. Oh, these deliberate fools!”
-The Merchant of Venice
“And all our yesterdays have lighted fools”
-Measure for Measure
“oh this ship of fools”
-Bob Seger
Since the present lowering of crime rates can be connected to better social services and education provided to today’s teenagers over the period of the last Labour government, I am unfortunately confident in predicting rising crime levels in about five years or so as the rejected primary school children of today hit their teenage years under the punitive benefit and education policies of our wonderful present government. One can only hope the crime will hurt those presently benefiting from the low tax rates for the rich introduced by the same government, but crime always hurts the poor before it hurts those with big walls and money to hire security guards.