"It's understood there've been moves against the MP at a national and local level, with two other nominations. Ms Wall missed out on promotion when Labour came into power despite securing gay marriage, its only big win in opposition".
"1 NEWS understands a deal has been signed off, moving her higher up the party list, ensuring her return to parliament. Tonight, Labour announced Arena Williams has been selected as the party's candidate for Manurewa. The lawyer and mum-of-two is of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Tūhoe and Ngai Tahu descent." And a lawyer.
Watching the story One News ran last night, I was intrigued to see Matt McCarten appear twice – carefully avoiding any reference to stalinism. Well done, stealth is essential. Dame Marilyn Waring: "She'd better be high enough on the list!"
I imagined the spectre of an elderly sisterhood marching against the Labour Party, banners waving, during the election campaign, may have flickered briefly in the tiny wee minds of the stalinists, before they reassured themselves that no, that couldn't happen.
Linda Clark this morning on RNZ, talking with Richard Harman and Jim Mora: "Helen Clark kept files on all sorts of people." Well, obviously. Stalinism 1.01 😆
the principles of communism associated with Joseph Stalin, characterized especially by the extreme suppression of dissident political or ideological views, the concentration of power in one person, and an aggressive international policy.
The thing the Labour government needs is support for David Parker who is overworked and one of the few competent Ministers they have, and also for Andrew Little who has been pretty ineffectual in the role of Justice, Courts, and Treaty of Waitangi stuff.
The Labour Party needs more lawyers. Mostly that's because law is the core business of Parliament.
Arena Williams brings Auckland networks that the Labour party otherwise doesn't have.
You'll also notice Kris Fa'afoi going onto the list in Mana. That's a majority of over 10,000.
The replacement there is Barbara Edmonds. Barbara is a bona fide legal tax specialist. It's pretty apparent that Deborah Russell hasn't made much policy headway in tax reform at all, so Labour definitely needs help in that department.
So no, it's not a Leninist conspiracy. It's just targeted renewal, in safe seats, to get more of what the Labour Party needs in parliament.
You should expect to see more renewal movement in the next 2 months.
Dr Webb is a pretty high profile lawyer, as are Kiri Allan and Willow-Jean Prime, not to mention the Deputy PM. Assuming all return in 2020, Labour will be very well served. Getting more talent through is very important, but it's not like the current caucus is bereft.
Also, I think Little has been excellent when NZ First has let him.
I accept that premise Ad but wonder if it can't be achieved in a less divisive way. Deborah Russell has been finding her feet this term in government and suspect she's just coming into her own now. Helen Clark had a low profile during her first term in parliament too.
I think it was Keith Holyoake who used to warn incoming newbies to "hold their noses during their first term and learn how parliament operates before jumping into the fray" – words to that effect anyway. Wise advice given the many complexities of parliamentary life.
I'm curious about the underlying reasons for the Louisa Wall affair. On the surface it smacks of a clash between ideological/religious conservatism and a whiff of identity politics in the shape of a strong Maori woman MP who also happens to be gay.
It is said that Louisa does not suffer fools gladly. Helen Clark didn't either but she learnt to manage her 'affliction' as I can personally attest to… when once many years ago I decided to be too clever by half at a local meeting. She put me in my place neatly and without rancour. A lesson well learnt that I never repeated. 😀
Honestly this is the best time to cut out the low performers.
At 55%+ polling Labour in parliament is about to be flooded with a whole phalanx of new MPs.
With that volume of intake you want to ensure there aren't any weak ones; any low performers who aren't achieving much.
And anyone except Labour Ministerial staff would accept that most of the current crop aren't that good. Only insiders would recognise a Labour Minister beyond the top five.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only invigorate the Labour Party – it's an opportunity to get the talent pipeline so good that National is waiting until 2029 before it even gets a sniff.
On the surface it smacks of a clash between ideological/religious conservatism and a whiff of identity politics in the shape of a strong Maori woman MP who also happens to be gay.
'On the surface' from what little has come out of the Thorndon bubble over recent years it seems to have far more to do with being a team player than which social groupings the person may belong to. Low cabinet ranking also a function of that despite obvious smartness and ability to reach across parties when progressing that signature achievement.
My (third hand) understanding is that she was pushing some identity politics stuff too hard and insulting people simply for holding a different opinion.
That is what I suspected. It's not the first time it has happened in the Labour Party either.
Back in the 1970s and early 1980s there was a small group of women who were overly aggressive with their views. [The meme 'identity politics' was not part of the vocabulary then.] Instead of attracting other women to the cause they actually turned quite a few of them off. I was one of them.
You don't win battles by forcing your views on to other people. You gently persuade them over time.
Edit
The Labour Party needs more pragmatic idealists. Lawyers per se, but they do not necessarily have the sense to go with driving good laws. They normally just work within them. Workers from all levels of society who are thoughtful and practical and care about people and our small business that binds the nation are needed.
So a mix of politician types is needed, provided they can see beyond neolib to the field beyond. They would go to where the grass is actually greener and there is enough for all who are keen enough to walk over and chew their cuds, and take time to talk about getting opportunities and setting limits and bringing the people to education on how we need to live in the 21st century and find value in ourselves and satisfaction as we do work within a thoughtful, kind, sustainable society.
Could Labour manage this? Might take them out of their well-paid comfort zone.
lol – the thing about lawyers and politics is principles. They don't have any. And no – that's not a gratuitous swipe. Many a lawyer will punt for the legal path over the unlawful path, even where the unlawful path is principled and the legal one an arse that might leave you with an uneasy conscience that needs salved to escape or deny a world of regret. Just ask Andrew Little.
The lawyers that have been chosen for these two seats are lawyers of strong principle. You need to look at their work to demonstrate how they apply principle within policy to decisionmaking frameworks.
If you're making a swipe against Minister Little as a lawyer as well as Minister, for being unlawful, you need to back that up.
A very good lawyer does not necessarily a good politician make, Ad. That's my point.
If a lawyer is presented with a situation where they can be correct in law, they will tend to let that outweigh any principled actions that might contravene the law.
Taking a legally correct route in relation to wildcat strikes over health and safety may or may not ring any bells for you.
I haven't seen any informed explanation of what's behind this dispute, but somehow you can confidently put it down to Wall being in conflict with a Stalinist faction within Labour. Is that based on some evidence you've seen and we haven't? Or is it just the Internet having no shortage of blowhards?
Or is it an observer deducing the theoretical possibility on the basis of the behavioural evidence cited? Gosh, so many questions, so little time to explore the answers.
"Wall was a list MP before winning the seat after Labour veteran George Hawkins retired in 2011. She is best known for getting the marriage equality bill passed into law. She also chairs the health select committee and is a former Silver Fern and Black Fern."
"She received high-profile support this week from Dame Marilyn Waring who, writing in the Herald, said Wall was a national and international figure with a major profile. "She is highly regarded by a large number of significant women leaders, by our nation's sporting community, by community activists and by the nation's LGBTIQ community."" https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12335909
"Waring rejected reported comments that Wall was a "polarising" figure in the Labour caucus. "I was subject to the same criticisms," said the former National MP. "Time has a way of showing that critical thinkers on the inside improve a Government's performance, especially when there are weak opposition parties in Parliament." Labour president Claire Szabo will be running the selection meeting."
So you will be dead keen to provide your own explanation of all this, eh? Go for it. Explain why Labour's president felt the necessity to travel to the local selection and take charge of their process. Then explain why stalinists never do total control (so that proves she ain't stalinist).
Did you give it an actual go and fail to select the text that's the quote and then click the button with the quote marks (it's centre right, between the smiley face and the Source button)? Or is it all just a bit too much of a new tricks/old dog situation?
Not ruling out the latter possibility totally, but I actually forgot. I'm doing concreting concurrently, so I come & scan comments in between stints of that.
I did make the decision to change, and will enact that. Maybe not today tho. And to the other couple of commentors above, I call it as I see it. I did cite the evidence that made me see it that way.
Are you trying to suggest that subjective impressions aren't valid in political commentary? Better have a go at Andre, then, whose technicolour impressions of Trump often colour the scenery here. But no, I bet you aren't serious or consistent in your judgments. Just doing knee-jerk stuff, brain disengaged.
I'm trying to suggest the readability of what you contribute would be improved by making it clearer what content is yours and what is quoted from elsewhere. With improved readability there is likely to be improved understanding and engagement and less sniping snark.
When it comes to the situation in Manurewa with Louisa Wall and the broader Labour party, I have no particular information or insight or experience that might make my reckons have any value. Nor have I any stake in the outcome. So on that topic, any comment I might make would be just random internet noise, which I don't really want to add to.
Yeah, all good. Just to clarify to you & Sacha, owning personal impressions is a good point but evidence cited in support of a theory is something else again. It's a valuable political lesson when indicating a dark side. Just as comments here keep stressing how Trump's banalities indicate a dark side.
History has shown us that the dark side of the left is more of a threat to the people than the dark side of the right. Last time we addressed this point I proved it by citing how all four of the greatest political mass-murderers in the 20th century originated in leftist political organisations. Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
You do not like the left. We get that. Sadly it means you reach for Stalin or Idi Amin at the slightest sign of unease. Perhaps you would be happier somewhere like Kiwibog?
At this point I usually remind folks that I share leftist values, ideals, aspirations. You may recall some of those instances. I'm motivated to help raise consciousness around the typical ways leftists defeat themselves. I believe doing so enhances the common good. If they were to figure it out by themselves, I wouldn't have to.
Re Kiwibog, the miasma produced by the political ecology there always seems too lame, toxic often, distasteful otherwise. Rightists ought to be able to do better but never seem to even try…
Last time we addressed this point I proved it by citing how all four of the greatest political mass-murderers in the 20th century originated in leftist political organisations.
Indeed. How do you know when a political philosophy has gone too far?
It is a question of boundaries, and on this the right we understand that racial superiority and fascism put a player out of bounds. On the left it seems the more radical and disruptive the idea, the more virtuously it's treated; which makes the left very unlikeable at times.
Didn't quite follow that, can you try a rephrasing of the point. Trust seems to be the achilles heel in leftist political orgs (back-stabbing) but the chaos in National currently suggests it may be rife with factionalism too. In the USA the right seems to have become likewise riven with factions in recent years.
In the old days factions were identified via ideology. Not easy to do that nowadays. If political psychologists weren't useless an explanation deriving from depth psychology would be available.
Gadaffi saying he was going to "hunt terrorists house to house " prompted the UN no fly zone in Libya that culminated in the barbaric hunting and killing of Gadaffi "We came, we saw , he died" And the nation destroying chaos that is now Libya.That was Obama/Clinton
Now we have Trump
"US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that many Secret Service agents were "just waiting for action'' and ready to unleash "the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen"
Four experts say now is the time to usher in systemic economic change.
Leftist & rightist mainstreamers: no way! Over our dead bodies!
Yeah, probably.
One prominent policy blueprint with a deep time horizon is the European Commission’s European Green Deal, which offers several ways to support the communities and businesses most at risk from the current crisis.
COVID-19 reflects a broader trend: more planetary crises are coming. If we muddle through each new crisis while maintaining the same economic model that got us here, future shocks will eventually exceed the capacity of governments, financial institutions, and corporate crisis managers to respond. Indeed, the “coronacrisis” has already done so.
Stating the obvious doesn't work with mainstreamers. They know they've got the numbers to make denial and resistance effective.
The Club of Rome issued a similar warning in its famous 1972 report, The Limits to Growth, and again in Beyond the Limits, a 1992 book by the lead author of that earlier report, Donella Meadows. As Meadows warned back then, humanity’s future will be defined not by a single emergency but by many separate yet related crises stemming from our failure to live sustainably. By using the Earth’s resources faster than they can be restored, and by releasing wastes and pollutants faster than they can be absorbed, we have long been setting ourselves up for disaster.
Mainstreamers: Look, we've been rolling our eyes at this stuff for half a century. Who cares about future generations? Only the Greens, and they don't matter.
Rather than simply reacting to disasters, we can use the science to design economies that will mitigate the threats of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pandemics. We must start investing in what matters, by laying the foundation for a green, circular economy that is anchored in nature-based solutions and geared toward the public good.
Yeah, way to go. Ignore the political left & right. They're determined to remain clueless forever.
Dennis, I hope you don't mind but I reformatted your comment. I find how you format comments now makes it hard to read and understand what you are saying, so I wanted to see if separating out your words from the quotes made a difference.
Okay, I'll have a go at that. Looks like it introduces more space around the quotes and I can see how it could seem more easy to read to some. I'm habituated to traditional denser text formatting & probably need to get over it.
When I first started reading leftist writing it was the late 1960s. I couldn't believe how long their paragraphs were! Eyes glazing over before I got even half-way and I'd been reading constantly all my life so was adept and routinely scored above 95% in English exams. No wonder they never got traction with the masses…
That's interesting. No, I don't mind that alteration, and am sympathetic to the problem you encounter. My style recycles traditional print format, and dates from the '80s – I agree new tech requires communication styles to evolve. I will take this advice on board. Will see if I can adopt that new style.
future shocks will eventually exceed the capacity of governments, financial institutions, and corporate crisis managers to respond.
That's taken as a read. But what is their collective responsive capabilities when we're talking about the end of capitalism (which any non-growth economic model entails)?
Corporations + government + financial institutions fighting for their existence as entities (ie, the people who benefit from their existence fighting) versus a largely dis-empowered populace in the path of those future shocks becoming increasingly distracted by just trying to stay alive …
They hang on for the first few rounds, and the odds move in their favour….until climate wipes them out alongside the rest of us.
I frequently disagree with Frank on things, but think gratitude is in order that we have people who will put up arguments whether we agree with them or not. Otherwise it's an echo chamber, and potentially a boring one.
I disagree with Bob most of the time but I like how he has arguments plural, not just the same one over and over (to which a therapist might be a better answer). Worst kind of echo chamber.
Me too, on a functional relevance basis. Often significant stuff emerges during the course of the day. Working commentators can't be expected to comment until after the evening meal.
The other functional point is that threads on open mike meander and new stuff gets lost to the attention of many readers once there's an abundance. Issues can therefore get a fresh start on the later platform.
No, a few more people have commented on its demise.
What I liked about it is the opportunity to refresh the discussions at the end of the day or comment on a development that has come out of maybe the 6pm news. Add to that some of us don't always get the time to indulge at length during the day. Even retirees have other things to do.
How about a rule that if you have commented on Open Mike after noon you are not allowed to bless Daily Review with your reckons? Might encourage fresh voices.
Just scheduled a Post for tomorrow. Not my best ever, but I was long overdue for one. I’ve got too many half-finished ones and then I lose interest or they get overtaken by developments or events.
I totally understand, looking at my list of unfinished posts 😳 I'm trying to teach myself to put the posts up even if I am not completely satisfied with them.
reflecting on that a bit more. I started writing posts after covid hit and then not posting them because it was harder to tell in those early days what was useful or even ok to write*. Now it's more like yes I could say these things but is this what I really want to be saying? Do people want to be reading? What are we even doing? lol. I'm sure the election will sharpen my focus again.
Covid was and still is hugely confusing and scary. I had many things on my mind but decided to stick closely to the facts and the science that was rapidly evolving. As soon as economics and politics became involved – they always go hand-in-hand – the story became murkier and harder to follow and comment on.
BLM is too emotionally charged to have a sensible conversation about on this blog IMHO. Whatever I’d say, it would not make one iota of difference to what’s happening and likely to be taken the wrong way as Taika Waititi has found out.
John Wight has written an excellent article about the murder of George Floyd and the recurrent theme of racism in U.S history.
Born out of genocide, raised through slavery, the U.S. is an imperialist rogue state.
'Chauvin with his knee on the neck of a supine George Floyd was the acme of the evil of white supremacy. He was the overseer with his knee on the neck of a runaway slave. He was the the slaveowner’s whip, the lynch mob’s noose, the prison guard’s boot. In other words, Chauvin symbolised in those eight minutes the entire legacy and long history of racial oppression in country that was born in genocide and developed and nourished for two centuries on the back of the African slave trade."
Not a betting man (and I know it doesn’t portend anything) but occasionally I check the markets for the odds on our election.
They’ve all pretty much blown out for Labour in the week since Muller took over.
In the UK William Hill is paying 1/7 for Labour to form government after the election versus 9/2 for National.
In Australia, Sportsbet has Labour at 1.14 versus the Nats at 5.50. Going into Covid the odds were pretty even. They have opened a second market on the likelihood of Labour to govern in its own right (with no support partners regardless of whether they’re needed or not) currently paying 1.50 for Labour to NOT form government in its own right versus 2.25 for them to do so.
Seems like the alt-right and white supremacists are seizing on a gifted opportunity to create trouble and further division in a troubled country.
“Let’s be very clear, the situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd,” he added.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said most of the arrests made last night were of people from out of state and while “there’s a group of folks that are sad and mourning,” he said “there seems to be another group that are using Mr. Floyd’s death as a cover to create havoc.”
Department of Safety Commissioner John Harrington said they are contact-tracing the arrested and added that an investigation is underway about white nationalist groups posting online to encourage their members to use the protests as a cover to create chaos.
He said some of the 40 arrests made in the Twin Cities Friday night were of people linked to white supremacist groups and organized crime.
“The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. “They are coming largely from outside the city outside the region to prey on everything we have built.”
I think if you threw a stone in any crowd you'd hit another faction, there's even people with bows and arrows ffs. And the leader tweets while the place burns.
From the Fox News politics front page (scan down) – runs as a news clip without it's own page. The presenter interviews a legal adviser to explore the viability of Trump's attempt.
He flags a likely constitutional issue (separation of powers) in respect of the question of whether the exec order is in breach of the act of congress he is attempting to get around.
He ends by saying Twitter needs to decide what it will do when it grows up. After alerting us to media policy inconsistency by Twitter (owner/managers) and citing examples to validate his reasoning.
So in a time of very challenging employment uncertainty the National Party wants the government to bring back the 90 day fire-at-will laws for medium and large employers. They want to increase uncertainty for stressed out NZ workers? Just who is advising these losers?
ACT wants a 12 month trial period and 3 year minumum wage freeze..
If these clowns had their way, we would have the US system of at will employment where you could be just sacked at any time for any reason, and that if you turned up at work and found your password didnt work, that meant you were sacked.
COVID has provided the once in a life time opputunity for employers and businesses to slash their wage bill by 20%.
a) The 90 day trial period is still there for employers with 19 or less people, as Labour didn't fulfill their promise to get rid of it.
b) Do you mind posting some stats on how many of your claimed workers were "fired at will" and how many got work they would have otherwise not got due to risk to the employer of them being crap without it?
As always, the onus on satisfactorily employing staff lies on the employer doing their due diligence during and after the interviewing process. If they fuck up, tough, they had their chance.
Having said that, I'm okay with a trial period, though not three months, more like a couple of weeks at most. Any employer that needs, or waits, until day 89 to find out it hasn't worked out is a bit of a wanker.
Background of the new police commissioner. Interesting interview in which his faith is mentioned numerous times but we don't find out exactly what it is based on. This and other articles have also outlined his career trajectory. While his background and education are nothing particularly unusual at some point he seems to have entered a career path that even the most competent could only dream about. Was he being groomed as a future commissioner and if so by whom ? Can’t quite put my finger on it but there is something that feels not quite comfortable?
by a group called "50 shades of green". This included signs calling the government "c***s", the "make Ardern go away" placards, MAGA caps, and suchlike.
It's a mixture of self-pity, whataboutery and special pleading, with the actual argument very difficult to discern. He seems like an excellent fit with National's existing caucus, in other words.
I know we are generally supposed to be opposed to private spaceflight, SpaceX and Elon Musk, but this was pretty impressive, and good to see something positive happen for a change.
Jeez, got cops driving into people, there's footage of some shop owner being beaten to death by mob, batman, it's a real mess. I watched the doco LA92 a few months back but this is a whole new level of cray cray.
Gripped by disease, unemployment and outrage at the police, America plunges into crisis
[…]
“The threads of our civic life could start unraveling, because everybody’s living in a tinderbox,” said historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley.
Barbara Ransby, a historian at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a longtime political activist, said the toll of the coronavirus outbreak made long-standing racial inequities newly stark. Then, images of police violence made those same disparities visceral.
There are always tensions. There have always been upset people and violence has happened.
The emotional state of the country is in an unusual place with the pandemic. The many media platforms means everyone has access to attitude forming material. Something dramatic happens and what you rely on is rationality, resilience, respect and trust in systems and leadership.
There has been burning in the streets over a couple of days. Over a couple of years there have been fires burning rationality, respect and trust. Welcome to Trump's America.
"When the law not merely fails to guarantee the safety of life and property, but directly threatens both, the subject is absolved from obedience to it, and civil society collapses."(Paul Johnson: "The Offshore Islanders", 1972)
He was writing about the causes of the misleadingly-termed Great Rebellion which led to the English Civil War of the 1640s. But the sentiment is relevant in any age or society. By all means do what's necessary to curb out-of-town looters seizing chances for mayhem. That most emphatically does not include charging down a peaceful residential street loosing off missiles at people on their own properties going about their lawful occasions. State-supported terrorism doesn't altogether too strong a term for this appalling behaviour.
Isn’t it interesting how our woke media criticism the Nats supposed lack of diversity on it’s front bench but not the Greens lack of gender diversity? In their Party List there is one male and seven females.Would the woke media be criticising a front bench of seven men and one women?
Standing for being an MP would be attractive to more men if there was more power attached to the job.
Our current Prime Minister is building the Labour Party list with young and talented women. Over three terms there's just a chance they will collectively get to redefine how power is exercised in Parliament full stop.
Three men in the top ten, ten in the top twenty. Want to know how long we had the reverse or less? Yeah, when the balance of power in society has been redressed the Greens can revisit their gender equity policy.
Meh. They are all capable and won their selection on merit. Wake me up to care about it when men are under-represented overall in positions of power and capable male candidates are routinely shoved aside to make room for time-serving female drones.
You are trolling and posted the same ‘query’ over at KB today. The answer was provided and to be more precise, it was answered in great detail by Graeme Edgeler on KB on 16 April. Something tells me that you do not care and do not have the slightest interest in the answer/explanation. It is a sure sign of you being a stupid little troll. You can prove me wrong, of course, but I won’t hold my breath.
‘This is how we feel every day’ – protester compares violence in LA to racial inequality in society
“This is what it’s like to walk down the streets. It’s chaos. I’m afraid every time a police officer drives past me.”
I was a fairly surprised this evening to hear my 78yr old dad defending the protesters going nuts on the street. In his view it was because the same people were being treated the same way for multiple decades, it wasn't getting better, and they've had enough.
That's not usual for my dad who is usually a NZFirst voter.
Your dad is 4 years my senior, but I think a lot of us septuagenarians would share a similar viewpoint. We grew up with the powerful film "To Kill a Mockingbird" and read the book. We saw and read "Black Like Me" the true story of John Howard Griffin who darkened his skin and travelled through the segregated US south. And many more. We saw the tyranny of the KKK and similar groups. Lived through the 60's and witnessed, via television and radio, the civil rights movement and heard Martin Luther King and probably sang "We shall overcome". And saw the slow dismantling of segregation in the south.
On the 28 August 1963 Martin Luther King in his famous "I have a Dream" speech said'
We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd.
Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.
The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.
I know that there are people all across this country who are suffering tonight. Suffering the loss of a loved one to intolerable circumstances, like the Floyd family, or to the virus that is still gripping our nation. Suffering economic hardships, whether due to COVID-19 or entrenched inequalities in our system. And I know that a grief that dark and deep may at times feel too heavy to bear.
I know.
And I also know that the only way to bear it is to turn all that anguish to purpose. So tonight, I ask all of America to join me — not in denying our pain or covering it over — but using it to compel our nation across this turbulent threshold into the next phase of progress, inclusion, and opportunity for our great democracy.
We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged, but we cannot allow our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted, but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us.
As President, I will help lead this conversation — and more importantly, I will listen. I will keep the commitment I made to George’s brother, Philonise, that George will not just be a hashtag. We must and will get to a place where everyone, regardless of race, believes that “to protect and serve” means to protect and serve them. Only by standing together will we rise stronger than before. More equal, more just, more hopeful — and that much closer to our more perfect union.
How the police endanger us and why we need to find an alternative
Alex S. Vitale The End of Policing (Verso, 2017)
Recent years have seen an explosion of protest against police brutality and repression—most dramatically in Ferguson, Missouri, where longheld grievances erupted in violent demonstrations following the police killing of Michael Brown. Among activists, journalists, and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself. “Broken windows” practices, the militarization of law enforcement, and the dramatic expansion of the police’s role over the last forty years have created a mandate for officers that must be rolled back.
This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice—even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve.
In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives—such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction—has led to reductions in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing.
Reviews
“The End of Policing combines the best in academic research with rhetorical urgency to explain why the ordinary array of police reforms will be ineffective in reducing abusive policing. Alex Vitale shows that we must move beyond conceptualizing public safety as interdiction, exclusion, and arrest if we hope to achieve racial and economic justice.”
– Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Professor, CUNY Graduate Center, Co-Founder of Critical Resistance, author of Golden Gulag
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
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The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
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Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
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There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
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The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
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Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
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The saga of Louisa Wall vs the Labour stalinist faction: "After nine years as the MP, Ms Wall has thrown in the towel over what's been called a "vicious" in-house fight for her seat." https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/louisa-wall-has-list-seat-deal-see-her-return-parliament-despite-bowing-labour-s-manurewa-candidate-race
"It's understood there've been moves against the MP at a national and local level, with two other nominations. Ms Wall missed out on promotion when Labour came into power despite securing gay marriage, its only big win in opposition".
"1 NEWS understands a deal has been signed off, moving her higher up the party list, ensuring her return to parliament. Tonight, Labour announced Arena Williams has been selected as the party's candidate for Manurewa. The lawyer and mum-of-two is of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Tūhoe and Ngai Tahu descent." And a lawyer.
Watching the story One News ran last night, I was intrigued to see Matt McCarten appear twice – carefully avoiding any reference to stalinism. Well done, stealth is essential. Dame Marilyn Waring: "She'd better be high enough on the list!"
I imagined the spectre of an elderly sisterhood marching against the Labour Party, banners waving, during the election campaign, may have flickered briefly in the tiny wee minds of the stalinists, before they reassured themselves that no, that couldn't happen.
Linda Clark this morning on RNZ, talking with Richard Harman and Jim Mora: "Helen Clark kept files on all sorts of people." Well, obviously. Stalinism 1.01 😆
Stalinism
[ stah-luh-niz-uh m ]SHOW IPA
noun
the principles of communism associated with Joseph Stalin, characterized especially by the extreme suppression of dissident political or ideological views, the concentration of power in one person, and an aggressive international policy.
Yeah right /cue Tui advert
But doesn't Wall herself go to the extremes at times? She could be being hoist on her own petard!
Louisa Wall has been prominent in her support for marriage equality and transgender rights. Are those the "extremes" to which you refer?? Do tell…
The thing the Labour government needs is support for David Parker who is overworked and one of the few competent Ministers they have, and also for Andrew Little who has been pretty ineffectual in the role of Justice, Courts, and Treaty of Waitangi stuff.
The Labour Party needs more lawyers. Mostly that's because law is the core business of Parliament.
Arena Williams brings Auckland networks that the Labour party otherwise doesn't have.
You'll also notice Kris Fa'afoi going onto the list in Mana. That's a majority of over 10,000.
The replacement there is Barbara Edmonds. Barbara is a bona fide legal tax specialist. It's pretty apparent that Deborah Russell hasn't made much policy headway in tax reform at all, so Labour definitely needs help in that department.
So no, it's not a Leninist conspiracy. It's just targeted renewal, in safe seats, to get more of what the Labour Party needs in parliament.
You should expect to see more renewal movement in the next 2 months.
that makes more sense. Doesn't explain why there was conflict, but does show up the TVNZ piece as useless.
Dr Webb is a pretty high profile lawyer, as are Kiri Allan and Willow-Jean Prime, not to mention the Deputy PM. Assuming all return in 2020, Labour will be very well served. Getting more talent through is very important, but it's not like the current caucus is bereft.
Also, I think Little has been excellent when NZ First has let him.
I accept that premise Ad but wonder if it can't be achieved in a less divisive way. Deborah Russell has been finding her feet this term in government and suspect she's just coming into her own now. Helen Clark had a low profile during her first term in parliament too.
I think it was Keith Holyoake who used to warn incoming newbies to "hold their noses during their first term and learn how parliament operates before jumping into the fray" – words to that effect anyway. Wise advice given the many complexities of parliamentary life.
I'm curious about the underlying reasons for the Louisa Wall affair. On the surface it smacks of a clash between ideological/religious conservatism and a whiff of identity politics in the shape of a strong Maori woman MP who also happens to be gay.
It is said that Louisa does not suffer fools gladly. Helen Clark didn't either but she learnt to manage her 'affliction' as I can personally attest to… when once many years ago I decided to be too clever by half at a local meeting. She put me in my place neatly and without rancour. A lesson well learnt that I never repeated. 😀
Oops… Holyoake's comment was "breathe through your noses".
Okay. Some might say the former is more appropriate but………
Honestly this is the best time to cut out the low performers.
At 55%+ polling Labour in parliament is about to be flooded with a whole phalanx of new MPs.
With that volume of intake you want to ensure there aren't any weak ones; any low performers who aren't achieving much.
And anyone except Labour Ministerial staff would accept that most of the current crop aren't that good. Only insiders would recognise a Labour Minister beyond the top five.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only invigorate the Labour Party – it's an opportunity to get the talent pipeline so good that National is waiting until 2029 before it even gets a sniff.
We are going to tilt this country for good.
'On the surface' from what little has come out of the Thorndon bubble over recent years it seems to have far more to do with being a team player than which social groupings the person may belong to. Low cabinet ranking also a function of that despite obvious smartness and ability to reach across parties when progressing that signature achievement.
My (third hand) understanding is that she was pushing some identity politics stuff too hard and insulting people simply for holding a different opinion.
That is what I suspected. It's not the first time it has happened in the Labour Party either.
Back in the 1970s and early 1980s there was a small group of women who were overly aggressive with their views. [The meme 'identity politics' was not part of the vocabulary then.] Instead of attracting other women to the cause they actually turned quite a few of them off. I was one of them.
You don't win battles by forcing your views on to other people. You gently persuade them over time.
Edit
The Labour Party needs more pragmatic idealists. Lawyers per se, but they do not necessarily have the sense to go with driving good laws. They normally just work within them. Workers from all levels of society who are thoughtful and practical and care about people and our small business that binds the nation are needed.
So a mix of politician types is needed, provided they can see beyond neolib to the field beyond. They would go to where the grass is actually greener and there is enough for all who are keen enough to walk over and chew their cuds, and take time to talk about getting opportunities and setting limits and bringing the people to education on how we need to live in the 21st century and find value in ourselves and satisfaction as we do work within a thoughtful, kind, sustainable society.
Could Labour manage this? Might take them out of their well-paid comfort zone.
lol – the thing about lawyers and politics is principles. They don't have any. And no – that's not a gratuitous swipe. Many a lawyer will punt for the legal path over the unlawful path, even where the unlawful path is principled and the legal one an arse that might leave you with an uneasy conscience that needs salved to escape or deny a world of regret. Just ask Andrew Little.
The lawyers that have been chosen for these two seats are lawyers of strong principle. You need to look at their work to demonstrate how they apply principle within policy to decisionmaking frameworks.
If you're making a swipe against Minister Little as a lawyer as well as Minister, for being unlawful, you need to back that up.
A very good lawyer does not necessarily a good politician make, Ad. That's my point.
If a lawyer is presented with a situation where they can be correct in law, they will tend to let that outweigh any principled actions that might contravene the law.
Taking a legally correct route in relation to wildcat strikes over health and safety may or may not ring any bells for you.
Yes agree with that.
…Louisa Wall vs the Labour stalinist faction:
I haven't seen any informed explanation of what's behind this dispute, but somehow you can confidently put it down to Wall being in conflict with a Stalinist faction within Labour. Is that based on some evidence you've seen and we haven't? Or is it just the Internet having no shortage of blowhards?
Or is it an observer deducing the theoretical possibility on the basis of the behavioural evidence cited? Gosh, so many questions, so little time to explore the answers.
"Wall was a list MP before winning the seat after Labour veteran George Hawkins retired in 2011. She is best known for getting the marriage equality bill passed into law. She also chairs the health select committee and is a former Silver Fern and Black Fern."
"She received high-profile support this week from Dame Marilyn Waring who, writing in the Herald, said Wall was a national and international figure with a major profile. "She is highly regarded by a large number of significant women leaders, by our nation's sporting community, by community activists and by the nation's LGBTIQ community."" https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12335909
"Waring rejected reported comments that Wall was a "polarising" figure in the Labour caucus. "I was subject to the same criticisms," said the former National MP. "Time has a way of showing that critical thinkers on the inside improve a Government's performance, especially when there are weak opposition parties in Parliament." Labour president Claire Szabo will be running the selection meeting."
So you will be dead keen to provide your own explanation of all this, eh? Go for it. Explain why Labour's president felt the necessity to travel to the local selection and take charge of their process. Then explain why stalinists never do total control (so that proves she ain't stalinist).
Is that based on some evidence you've seen and we haven't?
So that's a "No" then. Could have saved yourself a few paras.
Why use a few well chosen words when you can bore for England?
Or is it an observer deducing the theoretical possibility on the basis of the behavioural evidence cited?
No, it's clearly not that, as it was asserted as fact, not offered as a theoretical possibility. "Behavioural evidence" was also lacking.
So you will be dead keen to provide your own explanation of all this, eh?
Er, no, I won't. Not without some evidence to base an explanation on. That's my point.
Okay, I'll have a go at that. 3.2.1.2 at 11:42 am
Did you give it an actual go and fail to select the text that's the quote and then click the button with the quote marks (it's centre right, between the smiley face and the Source button)? Or is it all just a bit too much of a new tricks/old dog situation?
Not ruling out the latter possibility totally, but I actually forgot. I'm doing concreting concurrently, so I come & scan comments in between stints of that.
I did make the decision to change, and will enact that. Maybe not today tho. And to the other couple of commentors above, I call it as I see it. I did cite the evidence that made me see it that way.
Are you trying to suggest that subjective impressions aren't valid in political commentary? Better have a go at Andre, then, whose technicolour impressions of Trump often colour the scenery here. But no, I bet you aren't serious or consistent in your judgments. Just doing knee-jerk stuff, brain disengaged.
Best to own your subjective impressions as what they are rather than dress them up as 'evidence'. Nothing wrong with "I believe".
I'm trying to suggest the readability of what you contribute would be improved by making it clearer what content is yours and what is quoted from elsewhere. With improved readability there is likely to be improved understanding and engagement and less sniping snark.
When it comes to the situation in Manurewa with Louisa Wall and the broader Labour party, I have no particular information or insight or experience that might make my reckons have any value. Nor have I any stake in the outcome. So on that topic, any comment I might make would be just random internet noise, which I don't really want to add to.
Yeah, all good. Just to clarify to you & Sacha, owning personal impressions is a good point but evidence cited in support of a theory is something else again. It's a valuable political lesson when indicating a dark side. Just as comments here keep stressing how Trump's banalities indicate a dark side.
History has shown us that the dark side of the left is more of a threat to the people than the dark side of the right. Last time we addressed this point I proved it by citing how all four of the greatest political mass-murderers in the 20th century originated in leftist political organisations. Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
You do not like the left. We get that. Sadly it means you reach for Stalin or Idi Amin at the slightest sign of unease. Perhaps you would be happier somewhere like Kiwibog?
At this point I usually remind folks that I share leftist values, ideals, aspirations. You may recall some of those instances. I'm motivated to help raise consciousness around the typical ways leftists defeat themselves. I believe doing so enhances the common good. If they were to figure it out by themselves, I wouldn't have to.
Re Kiwibog, the miasma produced by the political ecology there always seems too lame, toxic often, distasteful otherwise. Rightists ought to be able to do better but never seem to even try…
Last time we addressed this point I proved it by citing how all four of the greatest political mass-murderers in the 20th century originated in leftist political organisations.
Indeed. How do you know when a political philosophy has gone too far?
It is a question of boundaries, and on this the right we understand that racial superiority and fascism put a player out of bounds. On the left it seems the more radical and disruptive the idea, the more virtuously it's treated; which makes the left very unlikeable at times.
Didn't quite follow that, can you try a rephrasing of the point. Trust seems to be the achilles heel in leftist political orgs (back-stabbing) but the chaos in National currently suggests it may be rife with factionalism too. In the USA the right seems to have become likewise riven with factions in recent years.
In the old days factions were identified via ideology. Not easy to do that nowadays. If political psychologists weren't useless an explanation deriving from depth psychology would be available.
Hitler. Leftish?
Gadaffi saying he was going to "hunt terrorists house to house " prompted the UN no fly zone in Libya that culminated in the barbaric hunting and killing of Gadaffi "We came, we saw , he died" And the nation destroying chaos that is now Libya.That was Obama/Clinton
Now we have Trump
"US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that many Secret Service agents were "just waiting for action'' and ready to unleash "the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/300024659/trump-threatens-to-set-vicious-dogs-on-george-floyd-protesters-at-white-house
Time for the UN Security Council to be involved? Or the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to be invoked?
In a parallel universe Xi says "Trump must go "
And promises arms and funding to freedom fighters in Minneapolis
"I stand with the American people "says Putin
Ominous weapons????
Is Trump going to nuke them????
Or maybe twitter them!!!
Maybe he's planning to get his Space Farce team onto it and deploy their new Super Duper Missile on them.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trumps-super-fast-and-super-duper-missile-confusion-2020-5?r=US&IR=T
Nice Andre
I like this quote from that article—
"Trump is well known for serving up nonsensical word salads, and this was no exception,” Reif said."
Or maybe the ominous weapon is Covid!!!
Don't underestimate what Trump is building in receptive minds, and look at him as a sideshow obscuring the action behind the theatre curtain.
Easy to forget this is the employed clown not the circus owners.
People are so easily distracted by the big red
hatnose.Leftist & rightist mainstreamers: no way! Over our dead bodies!
Yeah, probably.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/a-green-reboot-after-the-pandemic/
Stating the obvious doesn't work with mainstreamers. They know they've got the numbers to make denial and resistance effective.
Mainstreamers: Look, we've been rolling our eyes at this stuff for half a century. Who cares about future generations? Only the Greens, and they don't matter.
Yeah, way to go. Ignore the political left & right. They're determined to remain clueless forever.
4.9% / 5.1%
That reboot better start looking attractive.
Labourites starting to get nervous 😉
🙂 🙂 🙂
Dennis, I hope you don't mind but I reformatted your comment. I find how you format comments now makes it hard to read and understand what you are saying, so I wanted to see if separating out your words from the quotes made a difference.
Works way better for me, thanks.
Dennis, there is a button with quote marks on the editor toolbar when you are assembling your comments. Please use it.
oh good. Made a big difference to me too.
Okay, I'll have a go at that. Looks like it introduces more space around the quotes and I can see how it could seem more easy to read to some. I'm habituated to traditional denser text formatting & probably need to get over it.
When I first started reading leftist writing it was the late 1960s. I couldn't believe how long their paragraphs were! Eyes glazing over before I got even half-way and I'd been reading constantly all my life so was adept and routinely scored above 95% in English exams. No wonder they never got traction with the masses…
Thank you. Comprehension on screen is lower than in print without extra spacing.
That's interesting. No, I don't mind that alteration, and am sympathetic to the problem you encounter. My style recycles traditional print format, and dates from the '80s – I agree new tech requires communication styles to evolve. I will take this advice on board. Will see if I can adopt that new style.
Thanks Dennis. I found it much easier to get the nuance in what you were saying once I could easily separate the quotes from your own words.
I've started writing a post in response 🙂
future shocks will eventually exceed the capacity of governments, financial institutions, and corporate crisis managers to respond.
That's taken as a read. But what is their collective responsive capabilities when we're talking about the end of capitalism (which any non-growth economic model entails)?
Corporations + government + financial institutions fighting for their existence as entities (ie, the people who benefit from their existence fighting) versus a largely dis-empowered populace in the path of those future shocks becoming increasingly distracted by just trying to stay alive …
They hang on for the first few rounds, and the odds move in their favour….until climate wipes them out alongside the rest of us.
Lotsa fuckery going on.
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1266741059163389952
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1266741059163389952.html
https://twitter.com/Freeyourmindkid/status/1266598693647638528
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1266598693647638528.html
edit:
https://twitter.com/whartonrigby/status/1266200742727016449
That footage of the guy in black wearing a gas mask calmly smashing windows was very chilling, night of broken crystal indeed.
COINTELPRO.
The boot fits.
https://twitter.com/Cooperstreaming/status/1266734581538893826
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-economy-crashing-quote/
https://twitter.com/AthenaCloud/status/1266732638372593665
https://www.facebook.com/bobby.headbird/videos/10104359133179255/?d=n
How about starting the open mikes at a random time each day (maybe 8am pm 60mins) so that different people get to be the first poster?
Nah, it's fine the way it is. I've programmed the autoscroll to kick in if there's a green avatar at the top.
+100 scroll
Truth hurts. Best to avoid both. 😎
I just scroll past all posts by Dennis Frank …too long…usually irrelevant or a distraction from the real issues. Very close to trolling.
No you don't. You often respond, and agree more than disagree. Be honest!
I frequently disagree with Frank on things, but think gratitude is in order that we have people who will put up arguments whether we agree with them or not. Otherwise it's an echo chamber, and potentially a boring one.
I disagree with Bob most of the time but I like how he has arguments plural, not just the same one over and over (to which a therapist might be a better answer). Worst kind of echo chamber.
That's you added to the 2034 killer zinger list 😆
We had "Daily Review" which appeared around 5:30 pm Mon. to Fri., but it was canned at the start of Lockdown and hasn't reappeared.
Just seems to be you and me Anne, mourning the demise of Daily Review!
Me too, on a functional relevance basis. Often significant stuff emerges during the course of the day. Working commentators can't be expected to comment until after the evening meal.
The other functional point is that threads on open mike meander and new stuff gets lost to the attention of many readers once there's an abundance. Issues can therefore get a fresh start on the later platform.
I liked the review too even if I don't participate in it.
No, a few more people have commented on its demise.
What I liked about it is the opportunity to refresh the discussions at the end of the day or comment on a development that has come out of maybe the 6pm news. Add to that some of us don't always get the time to indulge at length during the day. Even retirees have other things to do.
I miss Daily Review too.
How about a rule that if you have commented on Open Mike after noon you are not allowed to bless Daily Review with your reckons? Might encourage fresh voices.
Same here. Bring back Daily Review please.
Meh. Daily Review just diluted threads and repeated stuff that was already covered in Open Mike. But maybe a Night Owls post would be good, from 8 pm
That’s my usual dinner time, 8:00 PM. I’d suggest a Midnight Oil (MO) post but then I’d have to schedule and monitor it 🙁
Midnight Oil Review. That'd be you, me and McFlock.
We could do worse.
🙂
Just scheduled a Post for tomorrow. Not my best ever, but I was long overdue for one. I’ve got too many half-finished ones and then I lose interest or they get overtaken by developments or events.
I totally understand, looking at my list of unfinished posts 😳 I'm trying to teach myself to put the posts up even if I am not completely satisfied with them.
Off to have a read now 🙂
reflecting on that a bit more. I started writing posts after covid hit and then not posting them because it was harder to tell in those early days what was useful or even ok to write*. Now it's more like yes I could say these things but is this what I really want to be saying? Do people want to be reading? What are we even doing? lol. I'm sure the election will sharpen my focus again.
*same with BLM right now too.
Covid was and still is hugely confusing and scary. I had many things on my mind but decided to stick closely to the facts and the science that was rapidly evolving. As soon as economics and politics became involved – they always go hand-in-hand – the story became murkier and harder to follow and comment on.
BLM is too emotionally charged to have a sensible conversation about on this blog IMHO. Whatever I’d say, it would not make one iota of difference to what’s happening and likely to be taken the wrong way as Taika Waititi has found out.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/121686071/george-floyd-taika-waititi-under-fire-for-black-lives-matter-comments
It makes it very hard to moderate, at times, but luckily, the commentariat has been exemplary 🙂
Bring on the Election, I say!
Me too.
How the Minister Of Truth (a.k.a. D Cummings) rewrites the past on his blog, to make himself seem ultra-prescient.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/30/dominic-cummings-boris-johnson-evil-geniuses-hardly-lazy-incompetent
A longish piece, but well worth sticking with.
John Wight has written an excellent article about the murder of George Floyd and the recurrent theme of racism in U.S history.
Born out of genocide, raised through slavery, the U.S. is an imperialist rogue state.
'Chauvin with his knee on the neck of a supine George Floyd was the acme of the evil of white supremacy. He was the overseer with his knee on the neck of a runaway slave. He was the the slaveowner’s whip, the lynch mob’s noose, the prison guard’s boot. In other words, Chauvin symbolised in those eight minutes the entire legacy and long history of racial oppression in country that was born in genocide and developed and nourished for two centuries on the back of the African slave trade."
The Murder of George Floyd — White Supremacy’s War on Black America Rolls on
Not a betting man (and I know it doesn’t portend anything) but occasionally I check the markets for the odds on our election.
They’ve all pretty much blown out for Labour in the week since Muller took over.
In the UK William Hill is paying 1/7 for Labour to form government after the election versus 9/2 for National.
In Australia, Sportsbet has Labour at 1.14 versus the Nats at 5.50. Going into Covid the odds were pretty even. They have opened a second market on the likelihood of Labour to govern in its own right (with no support partners regardless of whether they’re needed or not) currently paying 1.50 for Labour to NOT form government in its own right versus 2.25 for them to do so.
Oh fuck.
https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266618525600399361
https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266786725185142784
https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266786161143537669
https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266789497842393088
(Linda Tirado on TS)
Seems like the alt-right and white supremacists are seizing on a gifted opportunity to create trouble and further division in a troubled country.
https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-officials-link-arrested-looters-to-white-supremacist-groups/
Surprise…
https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1266788911939977217
White supramacists and KKK types have been infiltrating US police forces for decades.
They have swapped the burning crosses and white hoods for badges and pepper spray.
Seems to me like a lot of angry young people of all different races involved in the chaos. But hey blame it on the alt-right.. or next why not Russia?
I think if you threw a stone in any crowd you'd hit another faction, there's even people with bows and arrows ffs. And the leader tweets while the place burns.
Because people that were very fine people, on both sides, right.
/
"Trump targets social media companies in new executive order "
From the Fox News politics front page (scan down) – runs as a news clip without it's own page. The presenter interviews a legal adviser to explore the viability of Trump's attempt.
He flags a likely constitutional issue (separation of powers) in respect of the question of whether the exec order is in breach of the act of congress he is attempting to get around.
He ends by saying Twitter needs to decide what it will do when it grows up. After alerting us to media policy inconsistency by Twitter (owner/managers) and citing examples to validate his reasoning.
So in a time of very challenging employment uncertainty the National Party wants the government to bring back the 90 day fire-at-will laws for medium and large employers. They want to increase uncertainty for stressed out NZ workers? Just who is advising these losers?
Mediocre business managers and owners who lack the ability to select good staff, that's who.
ACT wants a 12 month trial period and 3 year minumum wage freeze..
If these clowns had their way, we would have the US system of at will employment where you could be just sacked at any time for any reason, and that if you turned up at work and found your password didnt work, that meant you were sacked.
COVID has provided the once in a life time opputunity for employers and businesses to slash their wage bill by 20%.
a) The 90 day trial period is still there for employers with 19 or less people, as Labour didn't fulfill their promise to get rid of it.
b) Do you mind posting some stats on how many of your claimed workers were "fired at will" and how many got work they would have otherwise not got due to risk to the employer of them being crap without it?
Sad when we set the bar so low that employers will only take workers on if they can get rid of them.
That implies that workers are treated as disposable in this country and have no value.
As always, the onus on satisfactorily employing staff lies on the employer doing their due diligence during and after the interviewing process. If they fuck up, tough, they had their chance.
Having said that, I'm okay with a trial period, though not three months, more like a couple of weeks at most. Any employer that needs, or waits, until day 89 to find out it hasn't worked out is a bit of a wanker.
Background of the new police commissioner. Interesting interview in which his faith is mentioned numerous times but we don't find out exactly what it is based on. This and other articles have also outlined his career trajectory. While his background and education are nothing particularly unusual at some point he seems to have entered a career path that even the most competent could only dream about. Was he being groomed as a future commissioner and if so by whom ? Can’t quite put my finger on it but there is something that feels not quite comfortable?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300003371/national-portrait-andrew-coster–top-cop
I was giving it a thought on what those with spare cash to buy shares with, what type of shares they will buy?
For some current share holders it will be like a crash, depending on what they have invested in
I expect people will still invest in residential property as people always need a home.
Commodities such as gold, lithium etc i.e. the elements of an electrical world.
Oil and airline shares were never any good for the planet.
There has to be a better way in extracting gold without the damage it causes.
The largest gold mines are rubbish dumps in developed countries.
National have picked Mike Butterick as their candidate for Wairarapa, a seat they hold.
In the pre-Covid days, you might remember the angry protest march on Parliament
by a group called "50 shades of green". This included signs calling the government "c***s", the "make Ardern go away" placards, MAGA caps, and suchlike.
The group is (was?) led by Butterick.
Here's his speech (I think from the same event).
It's a mixture of self-pity, whataboutery and special pleading, with the actual argument very difficult to discern. He seems like an excellent fit with National's existing caucus, in other words.
He does indeed. An "actual argument" is that the townies and their arts fucking festivals and delicatessens mainly leach off agriculture to survive.
Damn them for adding value. Milk powder forever!
Scoop forgot to add Mike's protest to his bio.
Space X mission launched this morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gmvUPTdoP4
I know we are generally supposed to be opposed to private spaceflight, SpaceX and Elon Musk, but this was pretty impressive, and good to see something positive happen for a change.
Safer out in space than in the USA at present. And I would have thought a Covid free NZ pretty good news lately.
200 years.
https://twitter.com/ericabuddington/status/1266531249914601472
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1266531249914601472.html
Things are going well.
https://twitter.com/breaking911/status/1265839057994764288
https://twitter.com/dailydigger19/status/1266146984513191944
https://twitter.com/jeffgoodell/status/1266869845972463618
https://twitter.com/Gingersonfire/status/1266884702519955456
Jeez, got cops driving into people, there's footage of some shop owner being beaten to death by mob, batman, it's a real mess. I watched the doco LA92 a few months back but this is a whole new level of cray cray.
The headline of a failed state.
Gripped by disease, unemployment and outrage at the police, America plunges into crisis
[…]
“The threads of our civic life could start unraveling, because everybody’s living in a tinderbox,” said historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley.
Barbara Ransby, a historian at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a longtime political activist, said the toll of the coronavirus outbreak made long-standing racial inequities newly stark. Then, images of police violence made those same disparities visceral.
http://archive.li/4p9JH (wapo)
There are always tensions. There have always been upset people and violence has happened.
The emotional state of the country is in an unusual place with the pandemic. The many media platforms means everyone has access to attitude forming material. Something dramatic happens and what you rely on is rationality, resilience, respect and trust in systems and leadership.
There has been burning in the streets over a couple of days. Over a couple of years there have been fires burning rationality, respect and trust. Welcome to Trump's America.
In the land of the free and the home of the brave, residents must stay inside their homes or the National Guard will shoot you.
https://www.twitter.com/tkerssen/status/1266921821653385225
"When the law not merely fails to guarantee the safety of life and property, but directly threatens both, the subject is absolved from obedience to it, and civil society collapses." (Paul Johnson: "The Offshore Islanders", 1972)
He was writing about the causes of the misleadingly-termed Great Rebellion which led to the English Civil War of the 1640s. But the sentiment is relevant in any age or society. By all means do what's necessary to curb out-of-town looters seizing chances for mayhem. That most emphatically does not include charging down a peaceful residential street loosing off missiles at people on their own properties going about their lawful occasions. State-supported terrorism doesn't altogether too strong a term for this appalling behaviour.
wow…
Isn’t it interesting how our woke media criticism the Nats supposed lack of diversity on it’s front bench but not the Greens lack of gender diversity? In their Party List there is one male and seven females.Would the woke media be criticising a front bench of seven men and one women?
is it interesting? I must admit I've yet to look up the definition of "woke", but I don't think I really care.
I'm confident it has nothing to do with our media. But yes, meh.
I did look up the meaning once and still don't understand what it means. I don't care either because its a silly word.
Standing for being an MP would be attractive to more men if there was more power attached to the job.
Our current Prime Minister is building the Labour Party list with young and talented women. Over three terms there's just a chance they will collectively get to redefine how power is exercised in Parliament full stop.
Just maybe it's time for that.
Three men in the top ten, ten in the top twenty. Want to know how long we had the reverse or less? Yeah, when the balance of power in society has been redressed the Greens can revisit their gender equity policy.
Meh. They are all capable and won their selection on merit. Wake me up to care about it when men are under-represented overall in positions of power and capable male candidates are routinely shoved aside to make room for time-serving female drones.
You are trolling and posted the same ‘query’ over at KB today. The answer was provided and to be more precise, it was answered in great detail by Graeme Edgeler on KB on 16 April. Something tells me that you do not care and do not have the slightest interest in the answer/explanation. It is a sure sign of you being a stupid little troll. You can prove me wrong, of course, but I won’t hold my breath.
Wise – "the Nats supposed lack of diversity on it’s front bench" does not suggest a good faith intent.
Well, since the purpose of trolling is to rark up responses, it has to be conceded that was actually a fairly successful troll.
The whetstone is always ready for trolls and with the upcoming Election my tolerance levels are lowering.
Scythe away..
Ooh that's right election season is banning season .
Lprent usually shows no mercy ,great fun to watch.
Actually what our "woke media" did was … wait for it … ask the National leader some questions. The horror, the mind control!
They couldn't have predicted the hilarity of the answers.
Global deaths in 2020 from different causes:
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/2562261/
pretty crazy watching covid jump up like that.
But hey, it's just a flu, no need for worry. /sarc
‘This is how we feel every day’ – protester compares violence in LA to racial inequality in society
“This is what it’s like to walk down the streets. It’s chaos. I’m afraid every time a police officer drives past me.”
https://abc7.com/video/embed/?pid=6222259
I was a fairly surprised this evening to hear my 78yr old dad defending the protesters going nuts on the street. In his view it was because the same people were being treated the same way for multiple decades, it wasn't getting better, and they've had enough.
That's not usual for my dad who is usually a NZFirst voter.
Your dad is 4 years my senior, but I think a lot of us septuagenarians would share a similar viewpoint. We grew up with the powerful film "To Kill a Mockingbird" and read the book. We saw and read "Black Like Me" the true story of John Howard Griffin who darkened his skin and travelled through the segregated US south. And many more. We saw the tyranny of the KKK and similar groups. Lived through the 60's and witnessed, via television and radio, the civil rights movement and heard Martin Luther King and probably sang "We shall overcome". And saw the slow dismantling of segregation in the south.
On the 28 August 1963 Martin Luther King in his famous "I have a Dream" speech said'
Those words could be echoed today
https://twitter.com/Namixcv/status/1266378273161768964
Statement by Joe Biden
Thanks Macro. I'm impressed with that statement.
How the police endanger us and why we need to find an alternative
Alex S. Vitale The End of Policing (Verso, 2017)
Recent years have seen an explosion of protest against police brutality and repression—most dramatically in Ferguson, Missouri, where longheld grievances erupted in violent demonstrations following the police killing of Michael Brown. Among activists, journalists, and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself. “Broken windows” practices, the militarization of law enforcement, and the dramatic expansion of the police’s role over the last forty years have created a mandate for officers that must be rolled back.
This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice—even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve.
In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives—such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction—has led to reductions in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing.
Reviews
“The End of Policing combines the best in academic research with rhetorical urgency to explain why the ordinary array of police reforms will be ineffective in reducing abusive policing. Alex Vitale shows that we must move beyond conceptualizing public safety as interdiction, exclusion, and arrest if we hope to achieve racial and economic justice.”
– Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Professor, CUNY Graduate Center, Co-Founder of Critical Resistance, author of Golden Gulag
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing