Bruce Logan in the Herald promotes the “dangerous fantasy” of Israeli Zionist exceptionalism. Which holds that the calculated, systematic dehumanisation of Palestinians is of course quite the right approach. A curse on your apartheid Logan.
Because (to Logan) all Muslims (Palestinians, people of West bank/Gaza) are murderous terrorists – too much time wasted trying to “appease the unappeasable” Palestinians.
trying to “appease the unappeasable” Palestinians. Zionists.
Maybe Logan is with the ‘Flaxmere Christian Fellowship’ whom are marching on Parliament today, calling on the outgoing government to reject Muzzas decision.
I guess they all forgot about the genocide of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, the control of any building supplies, food, medicine, water etc going into Gaza. Effectively starving the citizens and preventing them from rebuilding their lives after Israel bombed their hospitals, schools, homes etc in the conflict a few years back.
Sounds like the 70 people marching today are just fine with murder, selective Christians they are, obviously ignorant of the ten commandments that they claim to live by. Do not murder, but it’s just fine to support Israel murdering Palestinians.
It’s simply incredible how much death religion has caused, and even more concerning that some cannot see through the facade.
That’s Israeli Zionist exceptionalism for you Cinny. It can paint a blowfly as a butterfly. Who the hell is Apartheid Logan anyway ? This person ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Logan
If so, why does the Herald conceal the Old Testament credentials of its writer ? Just so that, you know, the reader might ‘understand’.
Dang, Bruce Logan is almost 80, and appears to be a writer of religious opinionated propaganda.
It should be law to disclose the political, religious views etc on any opinion article, maybe a link to the authors bio as well. But in this case there is nothing, nada and the Herald does not allow comment, that creates concealed censorship.
“It should be law to disclose the political, religious views etc on any opinion article, maybe a link to the authors bio as well”.
Do you really mean this?
If so why should it apply only to articles in a newspaper? The better read blogs get nearly as many views as some of the newspapers and could be nearly as influential.
After all, it is an opinion you are expressing there isn’t it?
Do you plan to start putting your full name, and a disclaimer giving details of your beliefs when you put any comments on this blog?
If this was required I suspect that 99% of the comments on this, and most other blogs would vanish instantly. Most commenters appear to value their anonymity.
Yup, if there is no way to comment, then a disclaimer would be appropriate. Many news agencies do so already, such as bio’s on their reporters, or a sentence about the reporter by their name on the article.
For example so and so is a Professor at Massey etc etc
By in this instance, it’s just simply
By Bruce Logan.
Alwyn I’m not talking about disclosure of comment makers on blogs, such as you and I.
I’m talking about disclosure of authors of opinion pieces loosely disguised as articles published in nation wide news papers especially if comments are disabled, some call that transparency.
Mmm – does describing yourself as a Christian mean you hold a certain set of beliefs about God, etc., or does it imply that you try to live an ethical life? As the daughter of a Methodist minister I used to get quite exercised about this. In my teenage years I used to tell my parents that I knew more ‘Christians’ at school who had never darkened the doors of a church than I ever found in the church congregation
I feel that if you are willing to label oneself one should walk the talk as well, otherwise it really is just superficial to satisfy someone elses ideals.
Such as calling oneself a Muslim, Buddist, Christian etc but not living the life of one. It’s interesting how many people say what others want to hear to simply avoid any drama. And then again there is much wisdom in choosing ones battles. Everyone is different as are their ideals and ideas, knowledge and such.
Personally we just live by one rule at ours… simple and ancient it is.. Ye harm none do what ye will (that includes harming oneself)
Yuck. Coincidentally a friend started spouting anti Islamic rethoric to me yesterday. Of the Dr bill Warner type – so I watched warners video and most of brigette gabriel vid too.
Hate speech is so off especially when facts are used to bolster the narrative not as the narrative. Bigotry is just so yuck.
But it is important to know what they think to counter it – the lies, the hated, and their real motivation – FEAR.
Apartheid Logan’s motivation is good – ‘Maxim Institute’s mission statement is “to foster ideas and leadership that enable freedom, justice and compassion to flourish in New Zealand” ‘
Noam Chomsky: Israel’s Response to the United
Nations Resolution on Palestine Is ‘Hysterical’
A victory for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
By Ken Klippenstein / AlterNet December 28, 2016
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution 14-0 condemning all Israeli settlements on Palestinian land as having “no legal validity” and amounting to “a flagrant violation under international law.” The resolution goes on to note that Israeli settlements pose “a major obstacle to the vision of two States living side-by-side in peace and security.”
This represents the first UNSC resolution in almost eight years concerning Israel and Palestine, and the first in over 35 years regarding the issue of Israeli settlements. Typically the U.S. would veto resolutions critical of Israel, but in this case, the Obama administration opted to abstain, in effect allowing the resolution to pass.
For comment, AlterNet contacted Noam Chomsky, famed linguist, dissident and professor emeritus of MIT. Chomsky said of the resolution, “The UNSC resolution is essentially the same as UNSC 446, March 1979, passed 12-0-3. The main difference is that then two countries joined the U.S. in abstaining. Now the U.S. stands against the world; and under Trump, in even more splendid isolation, on much more crucial matters as well.”
Following the UNSC resolution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly responded by announcing a halt to his government’s funding contributions to numerous U.N. institutions. Netanyahu called the resolution “a disgraceful anti-Israel maneuver” and blamed it on an “old-world bias against Israel.” Furthermore, he vowed to exact a “diplomatic and economic price” from the countries that supported it.
Shortly thereafter, Netanyahu made good on his threats by personally refusing to meet with the foreign ministers of the 12 UNSC members that voted for the resolution and ordering his Foreign Ministry to limit all working ties with the embassies of those 12 nations. He also summoned the ambassadors to the Foreign Ministry for a personal reprimand over the vote—including, in a highly unusual move, the U.S. ambassador.
Asked about Netanyahu’s response, Chomsky told AlterNet, “The hysterical reaction in Israel and in Congress (bipartisan) reflects their sharp shift to the right in the years since, and the whole incident illustrates quite interesting shifts in world order.”
Palestinian rights advocates have quipped that Israel’s suspension of relations with the UNSC member nations that voted for the resolution—powerful countries including the U.K. and France—has effectively realized a goal of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. AlterNet contacted Omar Barghouti, one of the founders of the BDS movement, to see what he thought of this assessment. Barghouti replied, “This unanimous resolution, despite its many flaws in addressing basic Palestinian rights, has dealt Israel’s colonial designs a serious blow that will inadvertently, yet significantly, enhance the impact of the BDS movement in isolating Israel academically, culturally, economically and otherwise.”
“Israel’s delusional hubris and surreal threats to punish the U.N. and the world indicate above everything else how deeply alarmed it is at fast becoming an international pariah, as apartheid South Africa once was.”
Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian-American founder of the Electronic Intifada, told AlterNet that Israel’s use of diplomatic sanctions against the UNSC member states contradicted its vocal opposition to sanctions advocated by the BDS movement. Abunimah said, “It’s sort of amusing to Israel try to impose sanctions and punish the whole world for this decision…Israel claims that sanctions are illegitimate as a tool except of course when Israel is the one wielding them, whether it’s against Iran or whether against the countries that displeased it.”
…keep Trump too busy with international disputes for him to unleash on the domestic front…
Sounds like an eminently sensible idea.
Btw, the story goes… it was the UK who encouraged NZ to sponser the UN resolution just passed. Looks like UK/US/Aussie/Canada/various European countries and maybe others are collaborating on the vexed question of the two recalcitrant leaders, Putin and Trump.
CV…..Kia Ora Koe !
Yes and it’s a powerful lobby. Golda Meir went to the US either near the end of WW2 or not long
after. Raised $US39 mill’
in around a month. Apartheid Logan’s Loon Tune is grist for its mill.
Is it a surprise? The Australian government’s attitude to Australia’s indigenous population is not a lot different than that of the Israeli government’s attitude to its indigenous population.
“The Australian government’s attitude to Australia’s indigenous population” (or any one else for that matter) ” is not a lot different than that of the Israeli government’s attitude to its indigenous population.”
FIFY
🙂
My ‘ooops’ was related to the fact I had included Aussie as part of the conspiracy, and then included Netanyahu on the undesirable list of leaders. Aussie clearly were not part of the conspiratorial UN/Israel affair.
Apart from that yes, their track record concerning their own indigenous race is appalling. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why they’re keeping out of the argument.
keep Trump too busy with international disputes for him to unleash on the domestic front perhaps
Trump will have a Republican Congress to take care of domestic matters for him. Actually I would say it is more likely that Trump will permit Congress quite a lot of rope to do what they like as long as they don’t encroach on things he values, or things he wants personally to oversee or to harm his re-election.
The danger of Obama’s moves in these areas is that it cuts both ways – at some stage in the future there will be a Democrat again about to enter the White House and as Obama appears to have ignored the unspoken conventions around the transition between US administrations then I’m sure Trump (& the Republicans) will now not feel obligated in their turn (not that I think Trump will be feel particularly bound by conventions anyway).
I doubt Obama fears the GOP controlled Congress in the same way he (and the establishment) fear what Trump may attempt….they are after all the same players he has been dealing with for the past 8 years and they understand the rules of the game….unlike Trump, as he has already amply demonstrated.
And why would I want to be a racist bigot?
However, I reserve the right to call a fool, a fool, when I see one.
I can assure your most esteemed personage, that when drafting papers for Cabinet, I somehow managed to write in a suitably mature and respectful manner.
Trump’s not a “fool.” You may not like his personality, you may not like his manners, you may not like his style, you may not like his politics, but none of that makes him a “fool.”
He’s forced the CEOs of Lockheed Martin and Boeing to publicly announce that they will slash the cost of major procurement projects (the F-35 and Air Force One projects).
He’s lined up foreign investors and CEOs to say that they will create, protect or bring back thousands of jobs to the USA.
And now, US consumer confidence has hit its highest level in fifteen years.
So as I said, I understand that you may not like his manners, style or politics, but Trump is no “fool.”
🙄
Gezz! You really have swallowed the magic juice. CV – I’m sorry for you.
So Business confidence is up – whoop de doo!
But what of the appointment of a fool to his cabinet who wants to see even the most crappy wage they now get in the states go even lower? No body will be able to buy anything anyway. Yeah I guess the businesses will all be rubbing their hands waiting to drop wages to slave levels – but it will come back to bite them very hard on the bum.
If he thinks that he can run the most powerful country in the world by twitter at 3 am in the morning, (without advice from more experienced and knowledgeable people) and not cause a war or serious diplomatic muddle in the process, then he is a stupid idiot.
As for his appointed cabinet – the less said about that bunch of cronies and non-science dull brains the better.
He surrounds himself with ignorance and incompetence in public governance – (running a company – however successfully or not – is not the same as running a country).
If he had any sense, or intelligence, he would not have chosen the pack of incompetents he has.
Nothing is going to end well out of the Chump “presidency”
The Democratic Party will under estimate Trump at their own peril.
It already cost them the election.
If he thinks that he can run the most powerful country in the world by twitter at 3 am in the morning, (without advice from more experienced and knowledgeable people) and not cause a war or serious diplomatic muddle in the process, then he is a stupid idiot.
Unless you understand *why* he is tweeting how can you possibly understand the implications of *what* he is tweeting?
You don’t seem to understand that the states chose change.
That by definition, means doing things differently. Get up to speed. Russia, China and Iran are. I believe they will work it out fine.
Unless you understand *why* he is tweeting how can you possibly understand the implications of *what* he is tweeting?
Oh I know why he is tweeting.. and I fully understand the implications. – And so do his “advisors”. The problem is – he doesn’t understand the implications!.
We have a situation brewing at the moment where China is just biding its time until after the 20th Jan.
Instead of spending all your time reading RT – I suggest you read some of the editorials in China’s “Global Times”. The central Govt sponsored newspaper.
China has so far practiced restraint at Trump’s provocations as he’s yet to enter the White House…. But this attitude won’t last too long after he officially becomes the U.S. president, were he still to treat China in the manner he tweeted today.
and
We shall harbor no illusions, and get ready to wrist-fight with Trump.
and
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, without mentioning Trump’s name, said that whoever tries to destroy China’s core interests would shoot themselves in the foot.
I don’t see that is all pally wally and the snubbing his of nose at the One China policy has certainly angered Beijing. They may well decide that Taiwan is to be annexed forthwith. I don’t see that as a peaceful outcome.
So forgive me if I don’t wear your rose coloured glasses when it comes to viewing the “brilliance” of D Trump.
You didn’t note the multiple confrontations between US and Chinese military forces under Obama?
And the rising rhetoric China has been using against Obama’s actions?
Trump hasn’t been sending bombers and destroyers to harass what China sees as its own territory. Obama has though.
Why so nervous now?
Oh I know why he is tweeting.. and I fully understand the implications. – And so do his “advisors”. The problem is – he doesn’t understand the implications!.
Trump believes he is the big “I Am”.
He is nothing but a spoilt brat, who loves to shoot his mouth off, and show he is “The Boss”. Just look at the way he behaved to those on “The Apprentice” and how he loved to say “You’re Fired!” Throwing his weight about, is what he loves best. Hence his ill conceived tweets whenever something is not to his liking – he reacts without thinking, and seldom rationally. I’m not the only one to notice this – there are the reports of psychiatrists who also note this inconsistent and reactionary behaviour and are concerned enough to go public on the matter.
And yes I fully understand what the implications of some of these tweets may be. I doubt that he does. Bullies seldom have any idea of the damage they do to others lives. Even his own advisors are having difficulty trying to keep up and rationalise his behaviour. As for the the down stream consequences we shall just have to wait and see. He has not shown any appreciation to date, that the task of being responsible for the lives of 320 million people is a somewhat different to running a fleet of Hotels.
As for the growing tension in the South China Sea – the acts of aggression are not of the US but from China, and they are becoming more blatant in their show of force by the day. The US on the other hand, has in fact withdrawn bases from the area.
As for the growing tension in the South China Sea – the acts of aggression are not of the US but from China, and they are becoming more blatant in their show of force by the day. The US on the other hand, has in fact withdrawn bases from the area.
If you are correct in your perspective then the Obama/Clinton “pivot to Asia” has proven to be a failure and Trump inherits the emboldened China and foreign policy mess that the Obama White House created.
Trump believes he is the big “I Am”.
He is nothing but a spoilt brat, who loves to shoot his mouth off, and show he is “The Boss”.
Your analysis is not far short of two dimensional amateur armchair psychotherapy.
As for having a big ego and a big mouth. That’s what the electorate wanted and that’s what they have got. And they are common politicians’ traits, after all.
I have said elsewhere – you may not like his style, his manners or his politics, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he is not highly capable in many different dimensions.
The president-elect oompah-loompah who used a presidential primary debate to reassure voters that his penis size was acceptable was merely being “highly capable” when he reversed 40-odd years of delicate prc-us-taiwan diplomatic waltzes by accepting a single phone call.
The South China Sea dance has been going on for decades: China pushes its boundaries out into international sea and air corridors, someone pushes back with a flight or a ship. China then sends planes or ships out to push back against the pushback. Sometimes there’s a collision, but that’s expected and handled. Fuck, they even make each other’s airfields available for emergency landings. And if things get too hot, they plug a trade discount or whatever and everybody acts a bit casual, because nobody wants a war.
But challenging the one china policy in regards to Taiwan is like trying to touch China’s balls. It’s a really sensitive area, and well outside the regular diplomatic shoving match. That’s why only idiots do it. Or multi-dimensional capables, of course.
I predict that there will be a political landslide next year. The social justice principles of a Bill English led government will resonate in South Auckland and far beyond. Trying to demonise the PM did not work for the last eight years and certainly will not work next year. National are aiming for 60% at the election but may have to settle for less this time. Already there is talk about what Bill would offer the few sensible Greens. Winston is deteriorating even more rapidly and he and both his likely possible successors could comfortably unite with a Bill English led National. Winston may reach election 2017 but has no chance of reaching 2020.
This could lead to to a major realignment of politics and my pick is a Multi-Party Government comprising National (above50%), NZF, Greens, MP, UF and ACT comprising 75% of cast votes.
I predict that fisiani’s comment, having the depth of a cigarette paper, the substance of halitosis and interest value of belly button lint, will fade from the consciousness of any reader unfortunate enough to have looked at it, even before that reader can produce a sigh of resignation at the thought that fisiani feels driven to publish vacuous comments like this, even during the holiday season, when most others let rest their particular disfunctions. Give it a rest, fis.
You hear a lot about this so called social investment approach by Bill English as if it is an item marketed to the public by the National Party. This is a strategy to paint Bill as soft and caring. In reality English has presided over some alarming increases of statistics around social harm since the mid 1990s. His social investment approach nothing but a further redistribution of increasingly scarce resources earmarked for public spending. There’s certainly no evidence to show it is working on any other level.
I think the people of South Auckland see that, and with the withdrawal of National from campaigning in Auckland, their dumping of the housing portfolio, the appointment of Bennett as Auckland issues minister, and their admission of defeat in tackling the problems faced by Aucklanders, I predict the city will fall to Labour in a big way in 2017.
This re-branding of Bill English is interesting and certainly seems to have taken a few people in like yourself, and Jarrod Gilbert who seems to be enthralled by Bill English even though more of his mates are locked up than ever before.
Gilbert’s latest puff piece on Bill’s approach (can’t be bothered finding it) admits but skirts around the huge increase in the prison muster under this government and the equally huge spend on new prisons. Quite how incarcerating more and more disadvantaged people equates to social investment I do not know, and it seems the media doesn’t care to ask.
NZ has a staggering welfare dependency problem, and our entire approach towards welfare has to change. Too many NZ’ers are trapped in long term welfare dependency, and social spending has to be directed towards addressing that.
Lots of people assert that it exists, otherwise there’d be nothing on the spoon that feeds you.
What they have failed to do is demonstrate that it exists, and is not yet another racist rear-guard action that attempts to resuscitate the notion of the “undeserving” poor. Or yet another artifact of right wing hate speech. As the reference I provided finds: ‘the welfare rolls are not filled with the chronically dependent”.
In the NZ context, Gordon Campbell points out that:
Looking across all forms of benefits, 61.4 % of recipients are benefit dependent for four years or less. Only 14.3 % are on benefits for more than ten years – and since those figures include people with chronic physical and mental disabilities, the ratio of those staying on benefits because it is a “lifetime, lifestyle choice’ is lower again.
In short, it exists to divert attention from the causes of poverty and inequality, so that right wingers don’t ever have to face their personal responsibility for the victims of your racism and bigotry.
I think you are racist scum with no original thoughts of your own. Let’s agree to disagree.
Zero is lower than 14.3. You have no basis other than hate-speech for your assertion that the number is mounting.
You are a racist lying parrot with nothing of value or originality to say. If I wanted to read National Party lies I’d go to their website. Let’s agree to disagree.
In your mind: Campbell provides no statistics for the alleged dependents. Lower than 14.3 can be anything from zero to 14.2. It is not evidence, no matter how hard you want it to be.
“Lower than 14.3 can be anything from zero to 14.2.”
You making shit up again. If it was zero, he would have said zero, or not even mentioned the category. Instead he said ‘lower again’. Even your own references make you look like an idiot.
If he couldn’t measure it because there aren’t any figures he’d say “lower than”. If he could measure it he’d give the figure.
You’re the one asserting that welfare dependency exists. It’s up to you to prove it does. The fact that various people also think it does is evidence of nothing.
Personally, I think you fixate on it and the other right wing lies Gordon Campbell lists because you can’t handle your personal responsibility for the effects of your witless beliefs.
Not necessarily. But if the figure was zero, it is most likely he wouldn’t have even mentioned it, or would have said it was ‘zero’. Personally I think you posted something that you thought supported your argument without understanding what it actually said.
“There’s a big clue in the fact that Campbell describes them as “myths”. ”
Now you’re evading. That’s not what Campbell says in the point we’re discussing, and it’s not what Campbell says in his commentary. You’re clearly struggling to keep up.
If you ‘click’ (that’s something you can do with your ‘mouse’) on the word in blue – “myths” – in my comment it will take you to the article. Then ‘read’ the ‘headline’.
Oh, and don’t forget that reading is a skill you struggle with. Read it a few times.
I’m going to reset, Bloke, because you’re being slippery.
In your first reference in this discussion, you quoted this:
“Looking across all forms of benefits, 61.4 % of recipients are benefit dependent for four years or less. Only 14.3 % are on benefits for more than ten years – and since those figures include people with chronic physical and mental disabilities, the ratio of those staying on benefits because it is a “lifetime, lifestyle choice’ is lower again.”
I note you gave no link. Leaving that side, you quoted this in support of your denial of welfare dependency. Yet your own quote states that 14.3% are on benefits for more than 10 years, and that there is a further group who are on benefits as a “lifetime, lifestyle choice”.
Those comments directly contradict you seeming ignorance of welfare dependency.
“They mean the author thinks they (the alleged dependents that you can provide no evidence of) might be apocryphal. Myths, even.”
Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps the author is using phrases commonly used without actually passing judgement. It’s irrelevant to your evasion. The author acknowledges there is welfare dependency. Your own reference.
The Social Investment strategy has gone too far when they are put severe pressure on people with mental health issues into employment. Even the most ordinary job will put extraordinary strain on these people and they will end up with worse health issues than ever before. Who is going to help them when they are either sacked or have to quit. Blinglish only ever sees money when he quantifies human beings, everybody has a price tag, his strategy to dig deep into the the well of people who are on benefits is poor judgment and ill advised. We will end up with very ill people out of work and without money and support. Shame on Blinglish for his disgraceful attitude towards the unwell.
Absolutely typical – an 18 page double spaced booklet with more pictures than words to solve all the nation’s social problems – get real- this is a pile of rubbish with discernible internal faults. (quite apart from the external ones) The time line shows only Nact governments giving this any space but the text implies that Labour wanted this too…
And it is essentially rubbish. Nact governments and their policies have caused a great number of these problems,
getting rid of unions dumbed wages down,
only funding rent support payments to private landlords instead of mixing this with state owned housing
etc etc
The real dependency problem is corporations that depend on governments to collect taxes and throw them at lousy private sector schemes “to replace government”
There was sod all to read but there were pictures as well – to simplify the issues for the right of centre individuals no doubt.
Still the point is – the dire circumstances of many individuals is the result of Right Wing policy settings not individual failure.
But with so many corporates and right wing individuals trapped by government dependency (whether it’s a high paying government appointment or a favourable contract for public services) we could use the social investment approach to assess their level of social harm and charge them accordingly.
The evidence for Redbaron’s claim is obvious once you understand what the self-attribution fallacy is. I know you cannot understand how or why, so pretend it doesn’t exist or doesn’t count.
“The evidence for Redbaron’s claim is obvious once you understand what the self-attribution fallacy is.”
No, that’s not good enough. The claim ” the dire circumstances of many individuals is the result of Right Wing policy settings not individual failure” is not my claim, and it is very specific. I would expect there be some evidence. The SAF is not evidence; it is a theory which has it’s own limitations.
The doubling of child poverty between 1984 and today, for example. Wayne Mapp tells us that the 1990s National Party he was a member of increased inequality deliberately.
Whereas you wail your ignorance and denial on a blog.
“The doubling of child poverty between 1984 and today, for example. ”
Setting side the validity of the data you have to use to justify that claim, that isn’t evidence. Child poverty has, for example, increased in Sweden, which is the sort of social democratic country I have seen you and others praise.
“The reason I ask is Mapp’s confession that it was done deliberately by the National Party he was a member of.”
Even you’re telling the truth (which is always questionable), even if Mapp is telling the truth, how do you explain the fact that Mapp was only in government for 6 of the last 32 years?
The official unemployment statistic fell earlier this year as a result of the way it is measured. This is well-documented. It’s sad that you believe that changes anything on the ground.
Unemployment has been dropping for some time. That is based on official data. If all you have left is arguing over the data, you’ve lost. With unemployment falling, and employment rising, the population growth argument you’ve put up is bollocks.
If all you have is claiming credit for a change from inches to millimetres it’s no wonder you vote for incompetence and cruelty. I disagree with the lies you were spoon-fed.
USA is leading here:
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — It will be a happy New Year indeed for millions of the lowest-paid U.S. workers. Nineteen states, including New York and California, will ring in the year with an increase in the minimum wage.
Massachusetts and Washington state will have the highest new minimum wages in the country, at $11 per hour.
California will raise its wage to $10.50 for businesses with 26 or more employees. New York state is taking a regional approach, with the wage rising to $11 in New York City, to $10.50 for small businesses in the city, $10 in its downstate suburbs and $9.70 elsewhere. Some specific businesses — fast-food restaurants and the smallest New York City businesses — will have slightly different wage requirements.
“This $1.50 increase, I cannot even comprehend or tell you how important this will be,” said Alvin Major, a New York City fast-food worker. The 51-year-old father of four helped lead the fight for the increase in his state, one of several successful efforts by fast-food workers and other low wage workers around the country. “The price of food has gone up. Rent has gone up. Everything has gone up. … This will make a difference for so many people.”
New Zealand has a higher minimum wage than any of these US states. In fact as a percentage of average wages NZ is one the highest in the OECD.
Since 2008 the minimum wage has gone up at nearly three times the inflation rate.
However as a gesture in election year it could go from $15.25 to $16.00, rather than say $15.75.
Presumably Labour is going to go for at least $18.00 as part of their campaign strategy. Or if they want a different number at the front, $20.00. That would certainly have people taking notice. But it has risks. A 30% increase in the minimum wage might be seen as economically reckless. But since Standardnistas want a more left wing Labour Party, surely $20.00 for the minimum wage would be proof of that.
There is another ‘fish-hook’ with the minimum wage in the US. I was recently in the US, and I was told by service workers (restaurant waiters) that their minimum wage was actually under $3, but was topped up by tips. The employee had to pay any shortfall between their hourly wage + tip and the MW, but this meant they didn’t effectively earn the MW + tips. When I first heard this I couldn;t believe it, so I checked with several staff and they all confirmed this was the case.
Since when did you prostrate yourself at the feet of Treasury? And did you see in your own link that the Department of Labour point out that an increase DOES cost jobs. Second time today your own link has contradicted your own opinion, Bloke. Well done.
“Thank you for confirming that you cannot understand the point.”
I’ll leave that to others. Frankly it seems clear to me you over reached, and then didn’t have the intelligence to realise it, or the grace to admit it.
A flaccid response that utterly fails to address the point. You need to do more homework, Go read National’s website and regurgitate it all over yourself some more.
I chose $20.000 because it is close to the “living wage” (very slightly higher) but with the advantage that it is a memorable figure.
Just campaigning on the “living wage” will not get cut through. Voters have to ask the question, what does it mean? As a general rule if you have to explain the policy, you have lost much of your audience. If the slogan was “$20, the living wage” then in four words the policy is fully explained. Whats not to like about simplicity?
If Labour wants to campaign on the “living wage” as the minimum, then they should go for it. The voters will judge.
Be prepared to have the Paula Bennett solo -mum sob story to be mentioned at every possible chance.Also get ready for Sir John in the new years honors list.
It’s election year.
Dependable Southlander, Solo mother, Not Sir John but more likely Saint John, Refreshed Cabinet, Housing boom, homelessness cured, poverty abolished, rising prosperity and all conquering all Blacks.
Then there’s Angry Andy lumbered with the nutty Greens. Could be a landslide.
“fund the National party in secret”
You have any evidence at all for this wild claim?
Something in the last 5 years will do.
Thought not. Just wild accusations with nothing at all to back them up.
Unions endorse the political parties that best support the workers rights. They are a voice for working people and their families. http://www.union.org.nz/
If ACT or National are upset about that, maybe they should support our workers a bit better?
There sure are a few corporates on the outgoing governments party donation lists, so much more becomes clear as one reads certain names.
dependable southlander or westie chick in cheap leopard print
solo mother – or in Mike hoskins speak silly women who could not keep that aspirin between her legs with useless parents resulting in her having a child she could not afford – thus domestic purpose benefit dole bludger
student – or domestic purpose benefit dole bludger studying some liberal social degree on some tax payer funded trinket to keep her welfed.
home owner – or doestic purpose benefit dole bludger studying some liberal social degree who buys a home with a taxpayer funded goverment hand out
Minister – who did nothing ever other then help dismantle the widowers benefit (the one that kept John Keys mother in bread and butter), dismantle the domestic purpose benefit into something called the solo parent benefit (now with work requirements at age 3 of the child – something no one ever asked of the dole bludger), dismantle the study aid that she received to study a social liberal degree, dismantle any government aid to buy a house, dismantle state housing one house at a time, dismantle the sick benefit – now people who used to be on the widowers benefit or the sick benefit must be on a job seekers benefit.
yeah, she is gonna be loved, and her story as a single mother who made herself without the help of anyone is gonna wash down lovely with the masses.
the best that women can do is stay in wellington and collect some more tax payer funded largesse while she can.
Quote” A Mormon who said his “heart sank” when he heard that the church’s beloved Tabernacle Choir will perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration has launched a petition to urge the group not to go to Washington, D.C.
“I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The thought of this choir and Mormonism being forever associated with a man who disparages minorities, brags about his sexual control of women, encourages intolerance and traffics in hate speech and bullying, was unacceptable,” Randall Thacker said in a statement. “I immediately knew there were probably thousands of people who felt the same way, so I created the space on Change.org for like-minded Mormons and their friends to share their feelings.”
About 215 of the choir’s 360 members are expected to perform at the inauguration, church officials have told The Salt Lake City Tribune.
By Thursday evening, nearly 19,000 people had signed the petition, which is seeking 25,000 signatures. The petition urges the Mormon Tabernacle Choir not to perform for an “incoming president who has demonstrated sexist, racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic behavior that does not align with the principles and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Most of the signatures are from LDS members around the world, according to Thacker, a lifelong member of the church.
The petition also encourages people to call and write the church to give their reasons for signing. Several mention that Trump’s values are incompatible with Mormonism or that the church should never become associated with politics. One quips: Conservative rocker “Ted Nugent and the choir? I don’t think so!” Another writes: “Horrible values. Separation of church and state. Pay your taxes.” Quote End.
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s 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 it’s 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. “This 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. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori 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 veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The 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 year’s 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, Labour’s 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 country’s 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 Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ 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 Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori 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 Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s 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. “This 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 country’s 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. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau 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 Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I 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 – 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 ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
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ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s 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 ...
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Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
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A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11774448
Bruce Logan in the Herald promotes the “dangerous fantasy” of Israeli Zionist exceptionalism. Which holds that the calculated, systematic dehumanisation of Palestinians is of course quite the right approach. A curse on your apartheid Logan.
Because (to Logan) all Muslims (Palestinians, people of West bank/Gaza) are murderous terrorists – too much time wasted trying to “appease the unappeasable” Palestinians.
trying to “appease the unappeasable”
Palestinians.Zionists.FIFLogan
That opinion piece was crazy.
Maybe Logan is with the ‘Flaxmere Christian Fellowship’ whom are marching on Parliament today, calling on the outgoing government to reject Muzzas decision.
I guess they all forgot about the genocide of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, the control of any building supplies, food, medicine, water etc going into Gaza. Effectively starving the citizens and preventing them from rebuilding their lives after Israel bombed their hospitals, schools, homes etc in the conflict a few years back.
Sounds like the 70 people marching today are just fine with murder, selective Christians they are, obviously ignorant of the ten commandments that they claim to live by. Do not murder, but it’s just fine to support Israel murdering Palestinians.
It’s simply incredible how much death religion has caused, and even more concerning that some cannot see through the facade.
That’s Israeli Zionist exceptionalism for you Cinny. It can paint a blowfly as a butterfly. Who the hell is Apartheid Logan anyway ? This person ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Logan
If so, why does the Herald conceal the Old Testament credentials of its writer ? Just so that, you know, the reader might ‘understand’.
Dang, Bruce Logan is almost 80, and appears to be a writer of religious opinionated propaganda.
It should be law to disclose the political, religious views etc on any opinion article, maybe a link to the authors bio as well. But in this case there is nothing, nada and the Herald does not allow comment, that creates concealed censorship.
“It should be law to disclose the political, religious views etc on any opinion article, maybe a link to the authors bio as well”.
Do you really mean this?
If so why should it apply only to articles in a newspaper? The better read blogs get nearly as many views as some of the newspapers and could be nearly as influential.
After all, it is an opinion you are expressing there isn’t it?
Do you plan to start putting your full name, and a disclaimer giving details of your beliefs when you put any comments on this blog?
If this was required I suspect that 99% of the comments on this, and most other blogs would vanish instantly. Most commenters appear to value their anonymity.
Yup, if there is no way to comment, then a disclaimer would be appropriate. Many news agencies do so already, such as bio’s on their reporters, or a sentence about the reporter by their name on the article.
For example so and so is a Professor at Massey etc etc
By in this instance, it’s just simply
By Bruce Logan.
Alwyn I’m not talking about disclosure of comment makers on blogs, such as you and I.
I’m talking about disclosure of authors of opinion pieces loosely disguised as articles published in nation wide news papers especially if comments are disabled, some call that transparency.
Transparency has a dark side too
http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25832
Byung-Chul Han seems to be confused about the difference between transparency, as in open and democratic government, and privacy.
We citizens have every right to inspect and criticise what governments are doing.
The reverse situation does not apply.
The reverse situation applies because government keeps an eye on citizens
http://www.nzsis.govt.nz/our-work/
And criticises what citizens do and say
https://www.hrc.co.nz/your-rights/race-relations-and-diversity/
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Censorship-in-New-Zealand
Mmm – does describing yourself as a Christian mean you hold a certain set of beliefs about God, etc., or does it imply that you try to live an ethical life? As the daughter of a Methodist minister I used to get quite exercised about this. In my teenage years I used to tell my parents that I knew more ‘Christians’ at school who had never darkened the doors of a church than I ever found in the church congregation
I feel that if you are willing to label oneself one should walk the talk as well, otherwise it really is just superficial to satisfy someone elses ideals.
Such as calling oneself a Muslim, Buddist, Christian etc but not living the life of one. It’s interesting how many people say what others want to hear to simply avoid any drama. And then again there is much wisdom in choosing ones battles. Everyone is different as are their ideals and ideas, knowledge and such.
Personally we just live by one rule at ours… simple and ancient it is..
Ye harm none do what ye will (that includes harming oneself)
In an earlier opinion piece on Israel in the Herald they printed a few words about the author;
• Hagai El-Ad is executive director for B’Tselem, an Israeli organisation for human rights in the occupied territories.
But in the piece by Bruce Logan, there is nothing but his name, I wonder why that is?
Yuck. Coincidentally a friend started spouting anti Islamic rethoric to me yesterday. Of the Dr bill Warner type – so I watched warners video and most of brigette gabriel vid too.
Hate speech is so off especially when facts are used to bolster the narrative not as the narrative. Bigotry is just so yuck.
But it is important to know what they think to counter it – the lies, the hated, and their real motivation – FEAR.
Logan is a right wing christian bigot. First director of the Maxim Institute.
Say no more.
In 1986, Bruce Logan tried to have the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker banned. He’s not simply a bigot, he’s a loon.
To make matters worse, he was actually working as an English teacher at the time.
Let’s be charitable Wyndham.
Apartheid Logan’s motivation is good – ‘Maxim Institute’s mission statement is “to foster ideas and leadership that enable freedom, justice and compassion to flourish in New Zealand” ‘
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Institute
Noam Chomsky: Israel’s Response to the United
Nations Resolution on Palestine Is ‘Hysterical’
A victory for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
By Ken Klippenstein / AlterNet December 28, 2016
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution 14-0 condemning all Israeli settlements on Palestinian land as having “no legal validity” and amounting to “a flagrant violation under international law.” The resolution goes on to note that Israeli settlements pose “a major obstacle to the vision of two States living side-by-side in peace and security.”
This represents the first UNSC resolution in almost eight years concerning Israel and Palestine, and the first in over 35 years regarding the issue of Israeli settlements. Typically the U.S. would veto resolutions critical of Israel, but in this case, the Obama administration opted to abstain, in effect allowing the resolution to pass.
For comment, AlterNet contacted Noam Chomsky, famed linguist, dissident and professor emeritus of MIT. Chomsky said of the resolution, “The UNSC resolution is essentially the same as UNSC 446, March 1979, passed 12-0-3. The main difference is that then two countries joined the U.S. in abstaining. Now the U.S. stands against the world; and under Trump, in even more splendid isolation, on much more crucial matters as well.”
Following the UNSC resolution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly responded by announcing a halt to his government’s funding contributions to numerous U.N. institutions. Netanyahu called the resolution “a disgraceful anti-Israel maneuver” and blamed it on an “old-world bias against Israel.” Furthermore, he vowed to exact a “diplomatic and economic price” from the countries that supported it.
Shortly thereafter, Netanyahu made good on his threats by personally refusing to meet with the foreign ministers of the 12 UNSC members that voted for the resolution and ordering his Foreign Ministry to limit all working ties with the embassies of those 12 nations. He also summoned the ambassadors to the Foreign Ministry for a personal reprimand over the vote—including, in a highly unusual move, the U.S. ambassador.
Asked about Netanyahu’s response, Chomsky told AlterNet, “The hysterical reaction in Israel and in Congress (bipartisan) reflects their sharp shift to the right in the years since, and the whole incident illustrates quite interesting shifts in world order.”
Palestinian rights advocates have quipped that Israel’s suspension of relations with the UNSC member nations that voted for the resolution—powerful countries including the U.K. and France—has effectively realized a goal of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. AlterNet contacted Omar Barghouti, one of the founders of the BDS movement, to see what he thought of this assessment. Barghouti replied, “This unanimous resolution, despite its many flaws in addressing basic Palestinian rights, has dealt Israel’s colonial designs a serious blow that will inadvertently, yet significantly, enhance the impact of the BDS movement in isolating Israel academically, culturally, economically and otherwise.”
“Israel’s delusional hubris and surreal threats to punish the U.N. and the world indicate above everything else how deeply alarmed it is at fast becoming an international pariah, as apartheid South Africa once was.”
Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian-American founder of the Electronic Intifada, told AlterNet that Israel’s use of diplomatic sanctions against the UNSC member states contradicted its vocal opposition to sanctions advocated by the BDS movement. Abunimah said, “It’s sort of amusing to Israel try to impose sanctions and punish the whole world for this decision…Israel claims that sanctions are illegitimate as a tool except of course when Israel is the one wielding them, whether it’s against Iran or whether against the countries that displeased it.”
…….
Read more…
http://www.alternet.org/world/chomsky-israels-response-unsc-hysterical
DANG ! BREAKING NEWS… it’s all on like Donkey Kong, Obama sure is making his exit known, once again this changes everything.
US expels Russian diplomats over cyber attacks
RT report for contrast
first the Israelis and now the Russians…….keep Trump too busy with international disputes for him to unleash on the domestic front perhaps
…keep Trump too busy with international disputes for him to unleash on the domestic front…
Sounds like an eminently sensible idea.
Btw, the story goes… it was the UK who encouraged NZ to sponser the UN resolution just passed. Looks like UK/US/Aussie/Canada/various European countries and maybe others are collaborating on the vexed question of the two recalcitrant leaders, Putin and Trump.
I wish them every success.
Edit: Add Netanyahu to the list.
Ooops… Australia has announced it does not support the UN resolution. That figures. They’ve elected the most right wing govt. in their history.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/321462/australia-doesn't-back-un's-israel-action
Typical. They want it both ways.
Both the Australian Coalition and Labor Parties have been thoroughly compromised by the pro-Zionist lobby.
CV…..Kia Ora Koe !
Yes and it’s a powerful lobby. Golda Meir went to the US either near the end of WW2 or not long
after. Raised $US39 mill’
in around a month. Apartheid Logan’s Loon Tune is grist for its mill.
Is it a surprise? The Australian government’s attitude to Australia’s indigenous population is not a lot different than that of the Israeli government’s attitude to its indigenous population.
“The Australian government’s attitude to Australia’s indigenous population” (or any one else for that matter) ” is not a lot different than that of the Israeli government’s attitude to its indigenous population.”
FIFY
🙂
My ‘ooops’ was related to the fact I had included Aussie as part of the conspiracy, and then included Netanyahu on the undesirable list of leaders. Aussie clearly were not part of the conspiratorial UN/Israel affair.
Apart from that yes, their track record concerning their own indigenous race is appalling. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why they’re keeping out of the argument.
Thanks, Macro. I hadn’t forgotten Australia’s shameful treatment of refugees, but had just restricted my focus for that one comment.
The UK you say? Must be on the verge of a big arms deal.
Trump will have a Republican Congress to take care of domestic matters for him. Actually I would say it is more likely that Trump will permit Congress quite a lot of rope to do what they like as long as they don’t encroach on things he values, or things he wants personally to oversee or to harm his re-election.
The danger of Obama’s moves in these areas is that it cuts both ways – at some stage in the future there will be a Democrat again about to enter the White House and as Obama appears to have ignored the unspoken conventions around the transition between US administrations then I’m sure Trump (& the Republicans) will now not feel obligated in their turn (not that I think Trump will be feel particularly bound by conventions anyway).
I doubt Obama fears the GOP controlled Congress in the same way he (and the establishment) fear what Trump may attempt….they are after all the same players he has been dealing with for the past 8 years and they understand the rules of the game….unlike Trump, as he has already amply demonstrated.
a loose political cannon.
Anyone willing to bet that there will be 35 US diplomats expelled from Russia by Monday?
I expect they have their bags packed already…
Why spoil a good relationship?
The Chump will overturn the expulsions in a few weeks so it’ll be all sweet.
Do you refer to Obama as ‘The Chimp’?
You’ve made claims of holding ‘senior positions’, yet write your thoughts in a juvenile manner
And why would I want to be a racist bigot?
However, I reserve the right to call a fool, a fool, when I see one.
I can assure your most esteemed personage, that when drafting papers for Cabinet, I somehow managed to write in a suitably mature and respectful manner.
Response !!!!! Macro. I take it that was the cabinet of ’36…….
Trump’s not a “fool.” You may not like his personality, you may not like his manners, you may not like his style, you may not like his politics, but none of that makes him a “fool.”
What he says and does, does remind quite a few that he is a fool imo.
He’s forced the CEOs of Lockheed Martin and Boeing to publicly announce that they will slash the cost of major procurement projects (the F-35 and Air Force One projects).
He’s lined up foreign investors and CEOs to say that they will create, protect or bring back thousands of jobs to the USA.
And now, US consumer confidence has hit its highest level in fifteen years.
So as I said, I understand that you may not like his manners, style or politics, but Trump is no “fool.”
🙄
Gezz! You really have swallowed the magic juice. CV – I’m sorry for you.
So Business confidence is up – whoop de doo!
But what of the appointment of a fool to his cabinet who wants to see even the most crappy wage they now get in the states go even lower? No body will be able to buy anything anyway. Yeah I guess the businesses will all be rubbing their hands waiting to drop wages to slave levels – but it will come back to bite them very hard on the bum.
Consumer confidence is up to the highest level in 15 years.
That’s what the Trump election has done.
(You seem to like the term “fool”.)
You have to ask yourself a very simple question. Will Trump’s appointees run their own typical corporatist Republican agenda?
Or will they do what they have been appointed for: run the populist Trump Agenda.
Yes, it is yet to be seen but I am betting that they will run the Trump Agenda. Or be fired.
If he thinks that he can run the most powerful country in the world by twitter at 3 am in the morning, (without advice from more experienced and knowledgeable people) and not cause a war or serious diplomatic muddle in the process, then he is a stupid idiot.
As for his appointed cabinet – the less said about that bunch of cronies and non-science dull brains the better.
He surrounds himself with ignorance and incompetence in public governance – (running a company – however successfully or not – is not the same as running a country).
If he had any sense, or intelligence, he would not have chosen the pack of incompetents he has.
Nothing is going to end well out of the Chump “presidency”
The Democratic Party will under estimate Trump at their own peril.
It already cost them the election.
Unless you understand *why* he is tweeting how can you possibly understand the implications of *what* he is tweeting?
You don’t seem to understand that the states chose change.
That by definition, means doing things differently. Get up to speed. Russia, China and Iran are. I believe they will work it out fine.
NZ will have to as well.
Unless you understand *why* he is tweeting how can you possibly understand the implications of *what* he is tweeting?
Oh I know why he is tweeting.. and I fully understand the implications. – And so do his “advisors”. The problem is – he doesn’t understand the implications!.
We have a situation brewing at the moment where China is just biding its time until after the 20th Jan.
Instead of spending all your time reading RT – I suggest you read some of the editorials in China’s “Global Times”. The central Govt sponsored newspaper.
and
and
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, without mentioning Trump’s name, said that whoever tries to destroy China’s core interests would shoot themselves in the foot.
I don’t see that is all pally wally and the snubbing his of nose at the One China policy has certainly angered Beijing. They may well decide that Taiwan is to be annexed forthwith. I don’t see that as a peaceful outcome.
So forgive me if I don’t wear your rose coloured glasses when it comes to viewing the “brilliance” of D Trump.
You didn’t note the multiple confrontations between US and Chinese military forces under Obama?
And the rising rhetoric China has been using against Obama’s actions?
Trump hasn’t been sending bombers and destroyers to harass what China sees as its own territory. Obama has though.
Why so nervous now?
How is it that you know any of this?
Trump believes he is the big “I Am”.
He is nothing but a spoilt brat, who loves to shoot his mouth off, and show he is “The Boss”. Just look at the way he behaved to those on “The Apprentice” and how he loved to say “You’re Fired!” Throwing his weight about, is what he loves best. Hence his ill conceived tweets whenever something is not to his liking – he reacts without thinking, and seldom rationally. I’m not the only one to notice this – there are the reports of psychiatrists who also note this inconsistent and reactionary behaviour and are concerned enough to go public on the matter.
And yes I fully understand what the implications of some of these tweets may be. I doubt that he does. Bullies seldom have any idea of the damage they do to others lives. Even his own advisors are having difficulty trying to keep up and rationalise his behaviour. As for the the down stream consequences we shall just have to wait and see. He has not shown any appreciation to date, that the task of being responsible for the lives of 320 million people is a somewhat different to running a fleet of Hotels.
As for the growing tension in the South China Sea – the acts of aggression are not of the US but from China, and they are becoming more blatant in their show of force by the day. The US on the other hand, has in fact withdrawn bases from the area.
If you are correct in your perspective then the Obama/Clinton “pivot to Asia” has proven to be a failure and Trump inherits the emboldened China and foreign policy mess that the Obama White House created.
Your analysis is not far short of two dimensional amateur armchair psychotherapy.
As for having a big ego and a big mouth. That’s what the electorate wanted and that’s what they have got. And they are common politicians’ traits, after all.
I have said elsewhere – you may not like his style, his manners or his politics, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he is not highly capable in many different dimensions.
That showed you, macro. 🙂
The president-elect oompah-loompah who used a presidential primary debate to reassure voters that his penis size was acceptable was merely being “highly capable” when he reversed 40-odd years of delicate prc-us-taiwan diplomatic waltzes by accepting a single phone call.
The South China Sea dance has been going on for decades: China pushes its boundaries out into international sea and air corridors, someone pushes back with a flight or a ship. China then sends planes or ships out to push back against the pushback. Sometimes there’s a collision, but that’s expected and handled. Fuck, they even make each other’s airfields available for emergency landings. And if things get too hot, they plug a trade discount or whatever and everybody acts a bit casual, because nobody wants a war.
But challenging the one china policy in regards to Taiwan is like trying to touch China’s balls. It’s a really sensitive area, and well outside the regular diplomatic shoving match. That’s why only idiots do it. Or multi-dimensional capables, of course.
Trump plays 7D chess. You’re not expected to keep up
Everyone else at the table is playing poker. And they’re all armed.
I’m glad no one offered to take me up on the bet.
Getting caught in moderation bummer – everything in moderation especially moderation.
Lionel Nation: how to be a truth warrior
The tenth day around Christmas – quotes about friendship.
I predict that there will be a political landslide next year. The social justice principles of a Bill English led government will resonate in South Auckland and far beyond. Trying to demonise the PM did not work for the last eight years and certainly will not work next year. National are aiming for 60% at the election but may have to settle for less this time. Already there is talk about what Bill would offer the few sensible Greens. Winston is deteriorating even more rapidly and he and both his likely possible successors could comfortably unite with a Bill English led National. Winston may reach election 2017 but has no chance of reaching 2020.
This could lead to to a major realignment of politics and my pick is a Multi-Party Government comprising National (above50%), NZF, Greens, MP, UF and ACT comprising 75% of cast votes.
*YAWN*
I predict that fisiani’s comment, having the depth of a cigarette paper, the substance of halitosis and interest value of belly button lint, will fade from the consciousness of any reader unfortunate enough to have looked at it, even before that reader can produce a sigh of resignation at the thought that fisiani feels driven to publish vacuous comments like this, even during the holiday season, when most others let rest their particular disfunctions. Give it a rest, fis.
Stop the ad hominems that clearly breach policy and try to explain what is actually wrong with my sensible post.
“what is actually wrong with my sensible post” –
In such an event where is the mechanism to turf this cozy coalition out, at need? Which legislation applies?
Is this the start of yet another 1000 year reign?
Is NZ, so nostalgically in love with FPP, going to tolerate so fuzzy an arrangement?
The details, fisiani – are notably absent from your sensible post.
However, dreams are still free.
Please enjoy the coming year.
You hear a lot about this so called social investment approach by Bill English as if it is an item marketed to the public by the National Party. This is a strategy to paint Bill as soft and caring. In reality English has presided over some alarming increases of statistics around social harm since the mid 1990s. His social investment approach nothing but a further redistribution of increasingly scarce resources earmarked for public spending. There’s certainly no evidence to show it is working on any other level.
I think the people of South Auckland see that, and with the withdrawal of National from campaigning in Auckland, their dumping of the housing portfolio, the appointment of Bennett as Auckland issues minister, and their admission of defeat in tackling the problems faced by Aucklanders, I predict the city will fall to Labour in a big way in 2017.
This re-branding of Bill English is interesting and certainly seems to have taken a few people in like yourself, and Jarrod Gilbert who seems to be enthralled by Bill English even though more of his mates are locked up than ever before.
Gilbert’s latest puff piece on Bill’s approach (can’t be bothered finding it) admits but skirts around the huge increase in the prison muster under this government and the equally huge spend on new prisons. Quite how incarcerating more and more disadvantaged people equates to social investment I do not know, and it seems the media doesn’t care to ask.
If you want to understand the SI approach, this is an excellent resource https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/nz/Documents/public-sector/What-is-social-investment-nz.pdf. That material shows that the SI approach is a conversation this country has been having since 1997.
NZ has a staggering welfare dependency problem, and our entire approach towards welfare has to change. Too many NZ’ers are trapped in long term welfare dependency, and social spending has to be directed towards addressing that.
First you need to demonstrate that welfare dependency exists, because you are a racist parrot with zero credibility.
Stupid Racist denies welfare dependency.
http://igps.victoria.ac.nz/WelfareWorkingGroup/Downloads/Final%20Report/WWG-Final-Recommendations-Report-22-February-2011.pdf
http://www.nzcpr.com/understanding-welfare-dependency/
http://ips.ac.nz/publications/files/e3b5e3549a1.pdf
http://www.ssc.govt.nz/bps-reducing-dependence
Lots of people assert that it exists, otherwise there’d be nothing on the spoon that feeds you.
What they have failed to do is demonstrate that it exists, and is not yet another racist rear-guard action that attempts to resuscitate the notion of the “undeserving” poor. Or yet another artifact of right wing hate speech. As the reference I provided finds: ‘the welfare rolls are not filled with the chronically dependent”.
In the NZ context, Gordon Campbell points out that:
In short, it exists to divert attention from the causes of poverty and inequality, so that right wingers don’t ever have to face their personal responsibility for the victims of your racism and bigotry.
I think you are racist scum with no original thoughts of your own. Let’s agree to disagree.
” the ratio of those staying on benefits because it is a “lifetime, lifestyle choice’ is lower again.”
So even your own quote agrees that it exists. Well done Bloke. Another time you have been proven wrong. The number is mounting.
Zero is lower than 14.3. You have no basis other than hate-speech for your assertion that the number is mounting.
You are a racist lying parrot with nothing of value or originality to say. If I wanted to read National Party lies I’d go to their website. Let’s agree to disagree.
“Zero is lower than 14.3. You have no basis other than hate-speech for your assertion that the number is mounting.”
The number that is mounting is the number of times I’ve caught you out.
Here’s a summary of your latest gaffe:
“What they have failed to do is demonstrate that it exists, ”
“the ratio of those staying on benefits because it is a “lifetime, lifestyle choice’ is lower again.”
Talk about foot in mouth.
Yawn. I disagree with the propaganda you were spoon-fed.
” I disagree with the propaganda you were spoon-fed.”
There was no propaganda. Just you contradicting your self.
In your mind: Campbell provides no statistics for the alleged dependents. Lower than 14.3 can be anything from zero to 14.2. It is not evidence, no matter how hard you want it to be.
Maninthemiddle demonstrating basic innumeracy again.
“Lower than 14.3 can be anything from zero to 14.2.”
You making shit up again. If it was zero, he would have said zero, or not even mentioned the category. Instead he said ‘lower again’. Even your own references make you look like an idiot.
If he couldn’t measure it because there aren’t any figures he’d say “lower than”. If he could measure it he’d give the figure.
You’re the one asserting that welfare dependency exists. It’s up to you to prove it does. The fact that various people also think it does is evidence of nothing.
Personally, I think you fixate on it and the other right wing lies Gordon Campbell lists because you can’t handle your personal responsibility for the effects of your witless beliefs.
Everything you write here confirms that.
” If he could measure it he’d give the figure.”
Not necessarily. But if the figure was zero, it is most likely he wouldn’t have even mentioned it, or would have said it was ‘zero’. Personally I think you posted something that you thought supported your argument without understanding what it actually said.
There’s a big clue in the fact that Campbell describes them as “myths”. Do you know what a myth is? After all, your mind is crippled by them.
“There’s a big clue in the fact that Campbell describes them as “myths”. ”
Now you’re evading. That’s not what Campbell says in the point we’re discussing, and it’s not what Campbell says in his commentary. You’re clearly struggling to keep up.
It’s only the headline. I think you’re full of shit and hate, and everything you write confirms it.
Get over it.
“It’s only the headline.”
No it’s not. A few days ago you denied welfare dependency even existed. Your credibility is shot.
If you ‘click’ (that’s something you can do with your ‘mouse’) on the word in blue – “myths” – in my comment it will take you to the article. Then ‘read’ the ‘headline’.
Oh, and don’t forget that reading is a skill you struggle with. Read it a few times.
I’m going to reset, Bloke, because you’re being slippery.
In your first reference in this discussion, you quoted this:
“Looking across all forms of benefits, 61.4 % of recipients are benefit dependent for four years or less. Only 14.3 % are on benefits for more than ten years – and since those figures include people with chronic physical and mental disabilities, the ratio of those staying on benefits because it is a “lifetime, lifestyle choice’ is lower again.”
I note you gave no link. Leaving that side, you quoted this in support of your denial of welfare dependency. Yet your own quote states that 14.3% are on benefits for more than 10 years, and that there is a further group who are on benefits as a “lifetime, lifestyle choice”.
Those comments directly contradict you seeming ignorance of welfare dependency.
Notice the ” quote marks around the phrase “lifetime, lifestyle choice”.
Do you know what they mean? I doubt it. After all, English comprehension isn’t your strong-point.
They mean the author thinks they (the alleged dependents that you can provide no evidence of) might be apocryphal. Myths, even.
“They mean the author thinks they (the alleged dependents that you can provide no evidence of) might be apocryphal. Myths, even.”
Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps the author is using phrases commonly used without actually passing judgement. It’s irrelevant to your evasion. The author acknowledges there is welfare dependency. Your own reference.
The Social Investment strategy has gone too far when they are put severe pressure on people with mental health issues into employment. Even the most ordinary job will put extraordinary strain on these people and they will end up with worse health issues than ever before. Who is going to help them when they are either sacked or have to quit. Blinglish only ever sees money when he quantifies human beings, everybody has a price tag, his strategy to dig deep into the the well of people who are on benefits is poor judgment and ill advised. We will end up with very ill people out of work and without money and support. Shame on Blinglish for his disgraceful attitude towards the unwell.
I’m not sure what you describe would be part of a SI approach. Do you have an example?
Racists like you need government sponsored amygdalectomies. That would be a social investment that would return dividends galore.
Anti-Semites like you should get back on your meds.
🙄
Absolutely typical – an 18 page double spaced booklet with more pictures than words to solve all the nation’s social problems – get real- this is a pile of rubbish with discernible internal faults. (quite apart from the external ones) The time line shows only Nact governments giving this any space but the text implies that Labour wanted this too…
And it is essentially rubbish. Nact governments and their policies have caused a great number of these problems,
getting rid of unions dumbed wages down,
only funding rent support payments to private landlords instead of mixing this with state owned housing
etc etc
The real dependency problem is corporations that depend on governments to collect taxes and throw them at lousy private sector schemes “to replace government”
Obviously you didn’t even read it.
There was sod all to read but there were pictures as well – to simplify the issues for the right of centre individuals no doubt.
Still the point is – the dire circumstances of many individuals is the result of Right Wing policy settings not individual failure.
But with so many corporates and right wing individuals trapped by government dependency (whether it’s a high paying government appointment or a favourable contract for public services) we could use the social investment approach to assess their level of social harm and charge them accordingly.
” the dire circumstances of many individuals is the result of Right Wing policy settings not individual failure.”
Evidence?
The fact that all the right wing propaganda on the subject is based on the self-attribution fallacy.
May I suggest we don’t feed the rwnj trolls in 2017.
Evidence?
Evidence.
” the dire circumstances of many individuals is the result of Right Wing policy settings not individual failure.”
Evidence?
Yes: the self-attribution fallacy is a well-known phenomenon that accounts for the things right wingers believe about individual success and failure.
Read about it and discover the evidence for yourself.
“Read about it and discover the evidence for yourself.”
I’m really not interested in the inner workings of your imagination. I am asking for evidence for RedBaron’s claim.
The evidence for Redbaron’s claim is obvious once you understand what the self-attribution fallacy is. I know you cannot understand how or why, so pretend it doesn’t exist or doesn’t count.
You probably deny climate physics too.
“The evidence for Redbaron’s claim is obvious once you understand what the self-attribution fallacy is.”
No, that’s not good enough. The claim ” the dire circumstances of many individuals is the result of Right Wing policy settings not individual failure” is not my claim, and it is very specific. I would expect there be some evidence. The SAF is not evidence; it is a theory which has it’s own limitations.
The doubling of child poverty between 1984 and today, for example. Wayne Mapp tells us that the 1990s National Party he was a member of increased inequality deliberately.
Whereas you wail your ignorance and denial on a blog.
“The doubling of child poverty between 1984 and today, for example. ”
Setting side the validity of the data you have to use to justify that claim, that isn’t evidence. Child poverty has, for example, increased in Sweden, which is the sort of social democratic country I have seen you and others praise.
Did right wing scum in Sweden do it deliberately?
“Did right wing scum in Sweden do it deliberately?”
Now you’re just being silly.
The reason I ask is Mapp’s confession that it was done deliberately by the National Party he was a member of.
So I was thinking that Sweden probably has scum like you and him too.
“The reason I ask is Mapp’s confession that it was done deliberately by the National Party he was a member of.”
Even you’re telling the truth (which is always questionable), even if Mapp is telling the truth, how do you explain the fact that Mapp was only in government for 6 of the last 32 years?
He was a member of the 1996 government and is in a better position to know than you are.
“He was a member of the 1996 government and is in a better position to know than you are.”
He was in government for 6 of the last 32 years. Hardly significant.
Oh? I thought we had record low unemployment etc etc.
Record high employment.
The inevitable consequence of population growth.
Not if jobs aren’t being created. And with unemployment dropping, your petty little argument collapses.
The official unemployment statistic fell earlier this year as a result of the way it is measured. This is well-documented. It’s sad that you believe that changes anything on the ground.
Unemployment has been dropping for some time. That is based on official data. If all you have left is arguing over the data, you’ve lost. With unemployment falling, and employment rising, the population growth argument you’ve put up is bollocks.
If all you have is claiming credit for a change from inches to millimetres it’s no wonder you vote for incompetence and cruelty. I disagree with the lies you were spoon-fed.
Get over it.
It isn’t a change from inches to millimetres. The way we measure unemployment is based on an international standard. If you don;t like it, tough.
Yes, I know you believe that very very hard. I don’t: get over it.
I love it I love it ! FizzyUnis. Or as says a Saudi person I know ……….”I Lick It Alot!”
You’re still licking it I see Fez.
Am current rating the chances of a National Government at the end of next year at 3:2. This is well down on my previous estimates.
However, if National play the shell game that I expect, Labour will have nothing to respond with and National’s odds will go up to 3:1 for.
Also, Greens to have near zero possibility of reaching 14%.
USA is leading here:
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — It will be a happy New Year indeed for millions of the lowest-paid U.S. workers. Nineteen states, including New York and California, will ring in the year with an increase in the minimum wage.
Massachusetts and Washington state will have the highest new minimum wages in the country, at $11 per hour.
California will raise its wage to $10.50 for businesses with 26 or more employees. New York state is taking a regional approach, with the wage rising to $11 in New York City, to $10.50 for small businesses in the city, $10 in its downstate suburbs and $9.70 elsewhere. Some specific businesses — fast-food restaurants and the smallest New York City businesses — will have slightly different wage requirements.
“This $1.50 increase, I cannot even comprehend or tell you how important this will be,” said Alvin Major, a New York City fast-food worker. The 51-year-old father of four helped lead the fight for the increase in his state, one of several successful efforts by fast-food workers and other low wage workers around the country. “The price of food has gone up. Rent has gone up. Everything has gone up. … This will make a difference for so many people.”
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Pay-to-rise-for-millions-as-19-states-increase-10825088.php
Take note Bill….
New Zealand has a higher minimum wage than any of these US states. In fact as a percentage of average wages NZ is one the highest in the OECD.
Since 2008 the minimum wage has gone up at nearly three times the inflation rate.
However as a gesture in election year it could go from $15.25 to $16.00, rather than say $15.75.
Presumably Labour is going to go for at least $18.00 as part of their campaign strategy. Or if they want a different number at the front, $20.00. That would certainly have people taking notice. But it has risks. A 30% increase in the minimum wage might be seen as economically reckless. But since Standardnistas want a more left wing Labour Party, surely $20.00 for the minimum wage would be proof of that.
There is another ‘fish-hook’ with the minimum wage in the US. I was recently in the US, and I was told by service workers (restaurant waiters) that their minimum wage was actually under $3, but was topped up by tips. The employee had to pay any shortfall between their hourly wage + tip and the MW, but this meant they didn’t effectively earn the MW + tips. When I first heard this I couldn;t believe it, so I checked with several staff and they all confirmed this was the case.
A gradual increases in the MW, as NZ has been doing, is sensible, but the evidence linking increases in MW rates to job losses is powerful. http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-evidence-is-piling-up-that-higher-minimum-wages-kill-jobs-1450220824.
Powerful enough for Treasury to point out that it doesn’t exist.
The difference between you and them is that you are a racist Quisling wailing your denial on a blog.
Since when did you prostrate yourself at the feet of Treasury? And did you see in your own link that the Department of Labour point out that an increase DOES cost jobs. Second time today your own link has contradicted your own opinion, Bloke. Well done.
Oh, and here’s more:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/03/22/proof-perfect-that-the-minimum-wage-costs-jobs-from-new-york/#71f6eab816a0
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/04/01/higher-minimum-wages-cost-jobs-shrink-the-economy-and-make-everyone-poorer/#2f879ad2694b
Yawn. Right wing lies aren’t evidence of anything. Treasury is but one of many sources saying the same thing.
You are a racist lying parrot with nothing of value or originality to contribute. If I wanted to read National Party lies I’d go to their website.
Let’s agree to disagree.
Treasury say no, DoL say yes. As do many other sources.
But the reason you believe it is that you uncritically swallow any right wing lie you’re spoon-fed.
The reason I believe what I believe is because I trust my sources. And I don’t contradict myself of make shit up, like you do.
In your mind.
Thanks for confirming my estimation of your critical faculties.
“In your mind.”
No, in writing. Here on this blog. You make shit up Bloke.
That would be you using “pwned” arguments in direct violation of site policy. It means nothing.
“That would be you using “pwned” arguments in direct violation of site policy. ”
Not at all. I can prove you make up shit. Your claim recently about Likud is one example.
The fact that you cannot understand why saying “if you do that it will be a declaration of war” is a threat is on you. Own it.
“The fact that you cannot understand why saying “if you do that it will be a declaration of war” is a threat is on you.”
The fact that you can’t understand that Netanyahu’s words referred to NZ’s actions, not Likud’s is on you.
😆
Thank you for confirming that you cannot understand the point.
“Thank you for confirming that you cannot understand the point.”
I’ll leave that to others. Frankly it seems clear to me you over reached, and then didn’t have the intelligence to realise it, or the grace to admit it.
You can’t compare us with the USA as their tax(es) regime is totally different.
If the minimum wage is that good, how come 40% of those in poverty are actuall WORKING? (These are called the “working poor”.)
Get e clue, Wayne, starting here:
http://www.inequality.org.nz/understand/
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/307458/10-percent-richest-kiwis-own-60-percent-of-nz's-wealth
http://www.closingthegap.org.nz/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/68600911/income-inequality-how-nz-is-one-of-the-worst-in-the-world
There is a good reason it’s called a “Living Wage”:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/77378686/New-Zealand-living-wage-rate-of-19-80-to-kick-in-July-1
Hell, try te Google… here ya go, fixed it for ya https://www.google.co.nz/?gws_rd=ssl#q=inequality+in+New+Zealand
What fairy-tale right wing conservative all white country do you live in?
You equate inequality with poverty. The two are not necessarily mutually entangled.
They are both caused by inadequate income. That close enough for you?
Wrong. Two people can have different incomes yet both be on adequate incomes. This is something that the left just cannot grasp.
A flaccid response that utterly fails to address the point. You need to do more homework, Go read National’s website and regurgitate it all over yourself some more.
Let’s get this straight. Are you suggesting the only acceptable society to you is one where everyone receives the same incomes?
No. What kind of complete fuckwit would think that.
So, which part of this statement do you no agree with:
” Two people can have different incomes yet both be on adequate incomes. “
There is a third category: those who don’t have adequate income. Homeless working families, for example.
That, and the obvious fact that you don’t understand how inequality works. No, I’m not going to do your homework for you. Google it.
That depends entirely on the level of the living wage, not some arbitrary increase to the minimum wage.
As soon as you let go of why we have a minimum wage, you get into the “why not make it a gazillion dollars” bullshit.
A left wing government would put the minimum wage at a living wage level, whatever that might be.
McFlock,
I chose $20.000 because it is close to the “living wage” (very slightly higher) but with the advantage that it is a memorable figure.
Just campaigning on the “living wage” will not get cut through. Voters have to ask the question, what does it mean? As a general rule if you have to explain the policy, you have lost much of your audience. If the slogan was “$20, the living wage” then in four words the policy is fully explained. Whats not to like about simplicity?
If Labour wants to campaign on the “living wage” as the minimum, then they should go for it. The voters will judge.
Thanks for your concern.
Australia’s Get Up Movement has been very effective this year. It’s a great model of mobilising ordinary citizens
https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/core-member-2016/2016-reportback/2016-s-most-memorable-moments?t=XnYqZiw07&utm_content=16427&utm_campaign=Our_movement_in_action&utm_source=blast&utm_medium=email
Be prepared to have the Paula Bennett solo -mum sob story to be mentioned at every possible chance.Also get ready for Sir John in the new years honors list.
It’s election year.
Dependable Southlander, Solo mother, Not Sir John but more likely Saint John, Refreshed Cabinet, Housing boom, homelessness cured, poverty abolished, rising prosperity and all conquering all Blacks.
Then there’s Angry Andy lumbered with the nutty Greens. Could be a landslide.
…and you haven’t even mentioned our German friends latest noises about playing sugar daddy to anyone stupid enough to take his cash.
At least he gives openly rather than all the RWNJ who fund the National party in secret.
“fund the National party in secret”
You have any evidence at all for this wild claim?
Something in the last 5 years will do.
Thought not. Just wild accusations with nothing at all to back them up.
Ummm Alwyn here is the proof that some fund the National party in secret
There is such a thing as Donations Protected from Disclosure. Seems RWNJs love to do it with both ACT and the outgoing government. MPledger was correct.
http://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/donations_protected_from_disclosure_-_general_election_2014.pdf
Donations Protected from Disclosure Paid Out
–
July 2012 to June 2015
ACT New Zealand
26 March 2014
$43,350
The New Zealand National Party
26 March 2014
$43,350
The New Zealand National Party
30 May 2014
$86,350
Conservative Party
30 May 2014
$10,000
ACT New Zealand
27 June 2014
$43,000
http://www.elections.org.nz/parties-candidates/registered-political-parties/party-donations/donations-protected-disclosure
Some more spreadsheets for you
Kisses Cinny xxx
Chump change compared with the massive sums spent by unions against the wishes of their members.
Try and spin it anyway you can Fisiani but ….
Unions endorse the political parties that best support the workers rights. They are a voice for working people and their families.
http://www.union.org.nz/
If ACT or National are upset about that, maybe they should support our workers a bit better?
There sure are a few corporates on the outgoing governments party donation lists, so much more becomes clear as one reads certain names.
http://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/national_return_of_donations_and_loans_2014.pdf
That’s so wrong as to be utterly laughable. Much like most of what you post.
Oh I have no problem with him giving. It’s the ones who will prostitute themselves for the wealth of a rich criminal that I despise.
dependable southlander or westie chick in cheap leopard print
solo mother – or in Mike hoskins speak silly women who could not keep that aspirin between her legs with useless parents resulting in her having a child she could not afford – thus domestic purpose benefit dole bludger
student – or domestic purpose benefit dole bludger studying some liberal social degree on some tax payer funded trinket to keep her welfed.
home owner – or doestic purpose benefit dole bludger studying some liberal social degree who buys a home with a taxpayer funded goverment hand out
Minister – who did nothing ever other then help dismantle the widowers benefit (the one that kept John Keys mother in bread and butter), dismantle the domestic purpose benefit into something called the solo parent benefit (now with work requirements at age 3 of the child – something no one ever asked of the dole bludger), dismantle the study aid that she received to study a social liberal degree, dismantle any government aid to buy a house, dismantle state housing one house at a time, dismantle the sick benefit – now people who used to be on the widowers benefit or the sick benefit must be on a job seekers benefit.
yeah, she is gonna be loved, and her story as a single mother who made herself without the help of anyone is gonna wash down lovely with the masses.
the best that women can do is stay in wellington and collect some more tax payer funded largesse while she can.
Alex Jones finally snaps (who would have thought he’d last this long?). The Gloves Come Off: Media Tycoon Alex Jones to Sue Facebook and Wash Post
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/12/no_author/no-mr-nice-jones/
this is funny.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/petition-mormon-tabernacle-choir-trump-inauguration_us_5865b505e4b0de3a08f7ded4
Quote” A Mormon who said his “heart sank” when he heard that the church’s beloved Tabernacle Choir will perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration has launched a petition to urge the group not to go to Washington, D.C.
“I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The thought of this choir and Mormonism being forever associated with a man who disparages minorities, brags about his sexual control of women, encourages intolerance and traffics in hate speech and bullying, was unacceptable,” Randall Thacker said in a statement. “I immediately knew there were probably thousands of people who felt the same way, so I created the space on Change.org for like-minded Mormons and their friends to share their feelings.”
About 215 of the choir’s 360 members are expected to perform at the inauguration, church officials have told The Salt Lake City Tribune.
By Thursday evening, nearly 19,000 people had signed the petition, which is seeking 25,000 signatures. The petition urges the Mormon Tabernacle Choir not to perform for an “incoming president who has demonstrated sexist, racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic behavior that does not align with the principles and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Most of the signatures are from LDS members around the world, according to Thacker, a lifelong member of the church.
The petition also encourages people to call and write the church to give their reasons for signing. Several mention that Trump’s values are incompatible with Mormonism or that the church should never become associated with politics. One quips: Conservative rocker “Ted Nugent and the choir? I don’t think so!” Another writes: “Horrible values. Separation of church and state. Pay your taxes.” Quote End.
The rich just keep getting richer.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11774884
Thats what happens when you have investments Paul.