Two things stood out here
– there is no pressure on the parent who does a runner and these are largely male
– that one in two adult women will be in sole charge of a family at some point in their adult lives.
Now, the been there done that group of women, with a few exceptions like PB, are unlikely to be too impressed with the benefit hounding going on and women vote on the left.
Just how much would it cost the labour party to show at least some loyalty to a large group of their demographic and at least oppose some of the hounding. FFS some of it, like sending out letters to people’s 16 year old daughters telling them to go onto contraception aren’t even policies that it will cost anything to reverse ever – they just violate the civil rights of a young girl who has had no say in her domestic situation whosoever.
And, I am repeating myself here, if this is such a good idea for 16 year old girls to get these letters, then perhaps some voluntary group should receive a grant to write letters to all 16 year old girls on the same topic, even the daughters of Nact politicians.
I like this young woman! She is at the center of the “Topless Jihad” – a global protest where women bare their breasts rebelling against female oppression after Amina Tyler posted topless pictures of herself with “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honor” written in Arabic.
Obviously this is found to be highly objectionable so her family shipped her off to a psych ward stating publically that she was suicidal and that is why she has posted the pics.
Dear Author: I am a Muslim woman and think Amina’s protest is entirely culturally relevant in post-revolution Tunisia. Read the writing on Amina’s body: “My body is mine, not somebody’s honor” in Arabic. No protest that was universally loved and agreed with changed the world for the better. Please stop speaking for “everyday Muslims” such as myself. We can do without the sweeping generalizations about the “West” and “Islam”. They are simplistic and silly – even from someone taking on this native informant role. Muslim (or western) societies are not homogenous.
1. Required EQC to immediately shut down all external email systems – there will be no emails going into the organisation and none will be sent out.
2. Required EQC to immediately shut down all business-to-business systems and data exchanges as well as access into EQC systems by external parties.
3. Asked the Government’s Chief Information Officer Colin MacDonald to investigate and oversee the solutions for issues relating to information management within EQC.
I had to laugh (otherwise I would cry), so now instead of EQC doing nothing Gerry Brownlee has made it mandatory.
I would say the leaks are in all likelyhood deliberate, sent by staff disgruntled with the underhand way eqc is dealing with claims. Either that or they have some seriously incompetent staff with access to data that they really shouldnt. ( ala winz kiosks)
Wondered about just how accidental the EQC leaks really were Cricklewood.
And were the amounts of compensation listed on the released documents actually being given to the claimants or being with-held?
Coal Free Mangatawhiri and Auckland Coal Action are joining forces on Monday to protest Fonterraʼs proposed new coal mine beside state highway 2.
Protesters will gather from 2pm at Mangatawhiri south of Auckland for the roadside rally protesting Fonterraʼs proposed new Mangatangi Mine.
They hope to engage with people queued in traffic on SH2 on their way back to Auckland.
Local residents, iwi and supporters from Auckland will be calling for ʻno new coalʼ and making the point that ʻcoal cooks the climateʼ in an awareness raising campaign against the proposed mine.
Public submissions on resource consents for the mine, closed this week with Waikato Regional Council and Waikato District Council. Hundreds of submissions were sent in by local residents, iwi and others opposing the proposed new coal mine at Mangatawhiri.
The resource consent applications were made by Fonterraʼs coal mining subsidiary Glencoal Energy Ltd, which is seeking consents for an open cast mine on farmland at Mangatawhiri right beside SH2.
If the mine goes ahead it will be highly visible to anyone driving along SH2. The mine is intended to produce 120,000 tonnes of coal a year to supply the Fonterra dairy factories at Waitoa, Hautapu and Te Awamutu. Fonterraʼs nearby Kopako coal mine is predicted to close in 2014.
Instead of opening a new coal mine in a farming community, locals believe Fonterra should phase out coal in favour of locally available cleaner burning, wood waste.
At the time of the farmer vote to turn Fonterra into a shareholding corporation there was severe misgivings that farmers, particularly less well off share milkers who had no vote, and whose incomes are reliant on milk prices would suffer, and so it is.
Fonterra directors’ failure to use the dairy giant’s stellar first half earnings to increase the full-year dividend guidance has confirmed predicted tension between farmer and external-investor interests in the new capital structure.
Stuff.co.nz
As farms become corporate factories with out roofs that increase profits, by driving down the livelihoods of the producers. Less sharemilkers will enter the industry, resulting in bigger farms staffed with employees, who like most NZ workers over the last three decades will have declining incomes. While, year after year, in favour of better shareholder returns, profits continuously exceed previous records. That is, until the whole top heavy edifice topples over as the profit bubble bursts under the combined weight of lack of skilled farmers without any commitment to the land, and less forgiving climatic conditions that will make farming less productive and rural life harsher for those doing it at the milk face.
Critics of the hybrid capital structure predicted a tug of war over earnings between external investors wanting a strong dividend and farmers needing the highest possible milk price to secure their livelihoods.
This week’s half-year result was the first time Fonterra’s financial performance has been put under the microscope by sharemarket analysts, and those predictions proved true.
Forsyth Barr’s Andy Bowley said the size of the profit Fonterra managed to generate came as a big surprise to most market analysts.
Stuff.co.nz
The move to squeeze more out of farmers in favour of profits, may have some unforeseen (read forseen) outcomes.
Asked for his response to directors leaving the dividend unchanged at 32c, Bowley said: “I think two things. One, that the second half of the year will be much more challenging for them because of a number of factors including higher input costs (read climate change fueled drought) which will pressure the margins in some of their businesses.
Yeh I saw this too and it was a prefectly predictable outcome. Even at the time it was obvious that the Fonterra managers were going back and back with the proposals no matter how often the farmers voted them down. It was very much in management interests I imagine, to have two groups with vested interests, Farmers and bond holders to play off against each other, for their own gain and ultimately the sort of gain that comes from stock market listing and moving the whole lot into overseas ownership.
Mind you most of them vote for the Nact’s too, be careful what you wish for perhaps?
More legislation written for corporations and against the rights of our people to protest.
Masked as protecting us from our own “reckless and dangerous” behaviour and delivered by the Glove Puppet from Tauranga, Simon Bridges.
Parroting prepared lines, statements that were shameless begging the question and all with a deadpan face the Glove Puppet from Tauranga presented restrictions on our right to protest mineral and oil exploration off our coast.
– http://www.3news.co.nz/Crackdown-on-anti-drilling-protesters/tabid/423/articleID/292432/Default.aspx
Bridges also, when asked, pretty much ruled out putting the O and G revenue into an investment fund (like in other oil rich nations). Which means all this money is going to be frittered on tax cuts.
More from the Bank Bailout U$K Austerity Class War:
Disability rights activist Susan Archibald, in Edinburgh, said: ‘We have heard talk about “strivers and skivers”.
‘One person can be a striver one day and then get made redundant. Will they be a skiver the next day? That’s how easy it happens.’
“John McArdle, from anti-disability discrimination campaign Black Triangle, said: ‘Every day our campaign receives more messages from desperate people who are on the brink of suicide.
‘This government is killing disabled people, and we must stand together and say enough is enough.’
Have seen this really interesting report on ChristChurch in the http://www.wsws.org website. It’d be good to if we could comment and/or criticise on it?
“Residents face bitter winter in New Zealand’s quake-hit city”
“Residents of the New Zealand city of Christchurch, devastated by the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that killed 185 people in February 2011, are facing a bitter winter. While the National Party government, city council and business investors concentrate on rebuilding the central business district, thousands of people, particularly those in working class suburbs, are into their third year of unresolved social stress and personal dislocation.” http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/30/nzch-m30.html
The Money Market’s P@mp John Yankee continues to flog off this Nation’s commonwealth (Asset Sales) and our ability to help and support our own people. The Market in the end does not mind if you end up in a workhouse. 🙁
This from our colleagues working hard to oppose workfare:
In one of his most disgusting manoeuvres yet, last week Iain Duncan Smith laid legislation to rewrite history to stop the 225,000 people who were sanctioned on his unlawful workfare schemes being able to reclaim what they are due.
To make matters worse, the bill is being rushed through parliament; the second reading; committee stage; and third reading are all scheduled for one day: this Tuesday.
As if this wasn’t outrageous enough, Labour have indicated that they will support the Bill.
“The savage attacks on benefits for unemployed, low paid workers, single parents and disabled which will push millions further into poverty and despair.
The vicious attacks on those in the rented sector whose landlords charge huge rents but who now face a cap in their Housing Benefit which is seeing families evicted and shipped out of London to find cheaper accommodation around the country.
The disgusting Bedroom Tax which will force council and social landlord tenants who claim Housing benefit and have a spare room to either pay more rent or downsize to a smaller home. This will hit 600.000 tenants. Tory Welfare minister responsible for this bedroom tax is Lord Freud who has a plush 4 bedroom London home as well as an 8 bedroom mansion elsewhere.”
Kyle Bass runs Hayman Capital. Here he talks about Japan’s impending financial/demographic implosion (including 10 finance ministers in just the last 5 years).
Not pretty. He makes several references to future severe social discontent as a result.
“Bank of Cyprus depositors could lose up to 60% of their savingsCypriot finance officials say initial losses will be 37.5%, but up to 22.5% more could be taken if bank needs further capitalisation
But, but , but TPTB said Cyrpian banks were over-flowing with dirty Russian money, where is it then!
After an initial estimate that the capital controls would be in place for a matter of days, the government then warned later in the week they could last for as long as a month.
Capital controls will not be coming off, the accounts will be empty before that happens!
Capital controls in Iceland remain in place more than five years after its economic crisis.
And a finger in the eye for Iceland, balance is important in the MSM!
So, a year and a half until the next general election, and the Labour party are still shitting on their own doorstep, mired in a fantasy land game plan to win (bribe) back 5% of the middle ground they think will open the door to the treasury.
Dumb arses.
The win is in the numbers who didn’t vote last time.
Bollocks to the sensibilities of centre right politics of nothingness.
Go left, that man.
If the nat’s are the worst negotiators, then NZ Labour must surely rank as worst political strategists, ever.
Labour must surely rank as worst political strategists, ever
Not necessarily. The way I see it, this is strategy which is wanted by the *internationalists*, and being rolled out effectively, by giving the NACT a free ride, to what could easily be another 3 years.
As if it matters in real terms who the government is, the decline will continue, as the *foreign owners*, like any good hedge, control both sides of bet!
Try viewing Labour’s actions and strategy from the standpoint of it’s present as a centrist middle class party. One which is focussed on continuing (but socially moderating) the political economic status quo, while appealing to the top 1/3 of income earners.
When you do that it’s approach becomes entirely consistent and coherant.
I’m sure someone believes in what they’re doing, somewhere, playing the game like they are, but whatever the outcome (crushing defeat 😉 ), watching the cogs turn is like them cleaning a hammer with a walnut.
I can’t believe parties facing another three years in opposition aren’t out there getting those stay at home voters interested, engaged and motivating change, unless like said, they don’t really care about the majority of kiwis and pay lip service to the plight facing New Zealanders.
Time for that new left wing party idea to crop up again.
But seriously, what answers has political science given us in the last 20 years? The other area to defund is economics, finance and financial engineering.
Yeah, when I think about it CV none worth listening to and to be honest once I’ve sorted out who the unhinged ideologues are and who’s worth listening to I reckon the most astute and nuanced appraisals are usually to be found buried in comments threads.
I thought the Mayflower was one of the first four ships to get to America. They did that on sail I thought. Maybe I am not up with the modern ideas that now it is okay to have a major negative oil spill event every five years or so. Just part of the risk profile engineered in using the modern equipment and modern efficiencies of corporations as accepted by the modern governments.
You made the allegation, so the burden of proof is yours. Don’t expect me to assist you.
Slander is what this massive hole is all about. Slander was also the issue that was being discussed just before I was moderated into posting on open mike.
Ugly, you’re the one talking about “non-harm paedophilia” as if there is such a thing.
Context is everything. The original context was girls 13 and over who were repeatedly soliciting.
If these girls were being harmed, these who was forcing them?
And I suggest that this comment implies you think 13 year old girls can give valid informed consent to have sex with an elderly tv star.
Why are you bringing up Saville now? He is dead, had nothing to do with the South Auckland flap.
Just like you brought up fantasing.
Just like you brought up NABMLA.
You’re just slinging shit to divert from the fact that you’ve got no argument.
I reckon your comments are proof enough. You seem to think that harm can only result from force. And the original point wasn’t about slander, it was about appropriate responses to revelations that adults are paying to screw children. If you reckon a possible slander against yourself is more important, then that also says much about you.
You seem to think that harm can only result from force.
I don’t think that.
And the original point wasn’t about slander, it was about appropriate responses to revelations that adults are paying to screw children.
O.K. Slander is important because it was the issue that was being discussed just before I was moderated into posting on open mike. It would be too convenient for you if I just dropped the issue.
if these girls were being harmed, these who were focing them?
Assuming you meant “then who was forcing them”, why are you raising force if force at the time is irrelevant to harm?
slander is a falsehood, right? What falsehood did I utter? You’re arguing that sex between a thirteen year old and a sixty year old can be consensual for the child, are you not?
McFlock, force is relevant because without anyone forcing the girls the most likely explanation is that they were soliciting of their own free will. The fact that they were doing this repeatedly suggests that they were not being harmed, so non-harm paedophilia is not an oxymoron like you said it was.
Like Redlogix said, paedophilia usually refers to pre-pubescent children, but in the rape culture thread it was also used in the context of older men having sex with teenage girls.
Your falsehood was:
Actually, I brought up an organisation that defends child rape. Like you do.
You couldn’t show proof of your allegation, your argument was:
I reckon your comments are proof enough
So McFlock, do you think that you can slander other people and just get away with it?
Frankly, a kid in the lower half of their teens is a child. Legally, as well.
Secondly, children can’t consent or do a contract. They have issues with impulse control, abstraction, and long term planning.
Thirdly, there are economic and other power issues at play in the case of prostitution, and sex in general. These are marked when one party is adult and the other is not. Both adults, fair enough, both can give informed consent all else being equal. Both kids, well both can be making the same mistake if it appears consensual. But an adult and a kid? Any adult with the interests of the child as a concern would bail based on the power imbalance implicit in the relationship.
Secondly, children can’t consent or do a contract.
In general this is true not because they are not able to reach an agreement, but because they are under the power of another, i.e. their parents.
In the case the South Auckland girls the parental power argument isn’t so solid: either the girls are under the power of their parents which makes the parents responsible, or they are not (ie the family is dysfunctional), in which agreement and contract may be possible.
It’s got nothing to do with being under the power of their parents.
Kids can’t give informed consent because they lack experience, information and the ability to process that with long term objectives taken into full consideration.
Just to spell it out: kids, including young teens, cannot consent to sex.
Sex without consent is rape.
You argue that young teens at the very least (you’ve been cagey on the exact age cutoff where you regard any sex=rape) can consent to sex.
That is a defense of child rape.
Just to spell it out: kids, including young teens, cannot consent to sex.
You are wrong, they can consent if the understand what is involved.
Consent. A concurrence of wills. Voluntarily yielding the will to the proposition of another; acquiescence or compliance therewith. Agreement; the act or result
of coming into harmony or accord. Consent is an act of reason, accompanied with deliberation, the mind weighing as in a balance the good or evil on each side.
You are confusing uninformed consent with actual consent. Knowing someone who was manipulated into “consenting” sex by adults when she was a young teen, and seeing the issues she’s dealt with over the years in no small part due to those experiences, I say that you are deluding yourself. Severely. I don’t know if your reasons are nutty or nefarious, but I sure know “uninformed consent at the time” in no way equals “no-harm sex “.
What you argue for doesn’t exist. And if it did, it would be indistinguishable from apparent but uninformed consent, so essentially you’re arguing that it’s not rape unless harm occurs in subsequent years. Which is pretty pointless moral guidance for someone considering sticking his elderly dick in a 13 year old girl.
I’m interested because the issues of sexual predators, family, and protection are closely related to the conflict between legislation and the law of the land. Most people are unaware of how the system misleads them about the nature of the law. The system takes the privilege of oath from the common law but it also denies that the source of this privilege exists.
Television (was) New Zealand is dropping BBC News which used to come on at off-peak hours, which one would think was a triumph for pragmatic, responsible, budget conscious services. It’s to be replaced by – infomercials. Or to put it another way Info-unmercifuls. Recommendation -Only to be watched in an alcoholic haze. If want to know more Radionz’s Mediawatch today.
Also being dropped by Television NZ (spit) – teletext function. It’s been serving NZ’s for 30 years and is particularly useful for older people. Hence why it is being dropped. Who gives a f..k for older people, they aren’t the advertisers preferred demographic which is – 15 to 55? after that you’re history old codgers!
John Drinnan broke the news of the dropping of BBC World on Friday. Its sad, but is thanks to the government chopping the TVNZ charter and telling it to make more idiot TV to make money (amazing how the same people who moan about our education system being ‘dumbed down’ seem fine with it happening to our television)..
As for Teletext, it was a damn good service. Not only did it provide captions for the deaf, but it provided information services to the general public with very low overheads, via simple RF signal, to a teletext capable TV (which cost a few hundred dollars). It would be way easier for a farmer in Marokopa to look up the weather on teletext than to use his smartphone or tablet.
and you condemned paedophilia” – that’s fucken right, I did, unlike you I don’t think raping children is a-okay
Paedophilia and raping children are two different things. In the original argument the paedophilia involved teenage girls as young as 13 soliciting. They were not crying rape, they were doing business.
You and your ‘law’ mates are the lowest scum around – twisting so that you can increase your self interest, and as for the not paying taxes you are just as selfish and self interested as the big fat corporate pigs who don’t pay tax by slime-ing out of it.
People and corporations don’t have the same status in law. Corporations owe their existence to the state, people do not. It’s not unfair to refuse to give money to something that is of no benefit to you.
What it means, North, is that corporations are subject to the law of the state, but people not subject to it. But people in a common law jurisdiction are still subject to the law of the land.
do you pay GST ugly or don’t they have that tax in canada?
I suppose you don’t utilise any of the services that society provides, you know, because you don’t pay tax lol
and as for your line “they were not crying rape” well, enough has been written about that and obviously it doesn’t fit with your morals, beliefs, or actions as evidenced in the threads discussing it. I am not surprised you don’t get what so many have tried to explain to you – it doesn’t fit with your self interest does it?
I don’t pay GST, the shop does. I pay the marked price.
Society doesn’t implement the taxation scheme, the state does.
Get a grip marty, you’re ranting.
A beautiful day with mokos so no chance to check TS but I did get to see that prissy little ex-crown prosecutor (you know that shit-arsed wee type, witheringly socially retarded, mock angelic) Simon Bridges on Q + A this morning.
Yeah, he’s the messenger boy with the the news that this corporate-tending-to-facist-if-necessary government is gonna take a hard line with people who “endanger saftey” in protest around foreign rape of our resources.
A black lie of course but your final proof that this government is traitorous. “But they broke the law”. Yeah, right. A law created by a devious harlot of a government which in one out of ten parts has it’s heart outside New Zealand and inside the pockets of the ilk of its leader. The nine out of ten parts are mediocre self-seekers and cargo-cult thickos who follow Key because they believe they could be him one day.
On this day of all days for Christ’s Sake, it’s only gonna make the hard folks go harder. That’s the big joke of it. The world ain’t the Tauranga District Court sitting in its indictable jurisdiction wee Simon. Where you jump up and down with your petty points and strut out of court in the conviction that you’re shit-hot. And where success is winning and when you win that’s ALWAYS justice, definitionally.
It’s been occurring to me for some time that sooner or later there is going to be significant civil unrest in this country. Bring it on Simon Bitch ! Pathetic, atrocious, little ex-crown prosecutor.
I do it all of the time on a android nexus7 with chrome with android. I have noticed that the javascript on my old iPad1 is crap for anything to do with javascript.
But I’ll check. Could you provide any more info about what OS you’re using?
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I never mentioned anythingAbout the songs that I would singOver the summer, when we'd go on tourAnd sleep on floors and drink the bad beerI think I left it unclearSong: Bad Beer.Songwriter: Jacob Starnes Ewald.Last night, I was watching a movie with Fi and the kids when I glanced ...
Last night I spoke about the second inauguration of Donald Trump with in a ‘pop-up’ Hoon live video chat on the Substack app on phones.Here’s the summary of the lightly edited video above:Trump's actions signify a shift away from international law.The imposition of tariffs could lead to increased inflation ...
An interesting article in Stuff a few weeks ago asked a couple of interesting questions in it’s headline, “How big can Auckland get? And how big is too big?“. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really answer those questions, instead focusing on current growth projections, but there were a few aspects to ...
Today is Donald J Trump’s second inauguration ceremony.I try not to follow too much US news, and yet these developments are noteworthy and somehow relevant to us here.Only hours in, parts of their Project 2025 ‘think/junk tank’ policies — long planned and signalled — are already live:And Elon Musk, who ...
How long is it going to take for the MAGA faithful to realise that those titans of Big Tech and venture capital sitting up close to Donald Trump this week are not their allies, but The Enemy? After all, the MAGA crowd are the angry victims left behind by the ...
California Burning: The veteran firefighters of California and Los Angeles called it “a perfect storm”. The hillsides and canyons were full of “fuel”. The LA Fire Department was underfunded, below-strength, and inadequately-equipped. A key reservoir was empty, leaving fire-hydrants without the water pressure needed for fire hoses. The power companies had ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has been one of the most effective critics of the government, pointing out repeatedly that its racist, colonialist policies breach te Tiriti o Waitangi. While it has no powers beyond those of recommendation, its truth-telling has clearly gotten under the government's skin. They had already begun to ...
I don't mind where you come fromAs long as you come to meBut I don't like illusionsI can't see them clearlyI don't care, no I wouldn't dareTo fix the twist in youYou've shown me eventually what you'll doSong: Shimon Moore, Emma Anzai, Antonina Armato, and Tim James.National Hugging Day.Today, January ...
Is Rwanda turning into a country that seeks regional dominance and exterminates its rivals? This is a contention examined by Dr Michela Wrong, and Dr Maria Armoudian. Dr Wrong is a journalist who has written best-selling books on Africa. Her latest, Do Not Disturb. The story of a political murder ...
The economy isn’t cooperating with the Government’s bet that lower interest rates will solve everything, with most metrics indicating per-capita GDP is still contracting faster and further than at any time since the 1990-96 series of government spending and welfare cuts. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short in ...
Hi,Today is the day sexual assaulter and alleged rapist Donald Trump officially became president (again).I was in a meeting for three hours this morning, so I am going to summarise what happened by sharing my friend’s text messages:So there you go.Welcome to American hell — which includes all of America’s ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkI have a new paper out today in the journal Dialogues on Climate Change exploring both the range of end-of-century climate outcomes in the literature under current policies and the broader move away from high-end emissions scenarios. Current policies are defined broadly as policies in ...
Long story short: I chatted last night with ’s on the substack app about the appointment of Chris Bishop to replace Simeon Brown as Transport Minister. We talked through their different approaches and whether there’s much room for Bishop to reverse many of the anti-cycling measures Brown adopted.Our chat ...
Last night I chatted with Northland emergency doctor on the substack app for subscribers about whether the appointment of Simeon Brown to replace Shane Reti as Health Minister. We discussed whether the new minister can turn around decades of under-funding in real and per-capita terms. Our chat followed his ...
Christopher Luxon is every dismal boss who ever made you wince, or roll your eyes, or think to yourself I have absolutely got to get the hell out of this place.Get a load of what he shared with us at his cabinet reshuffle, trying to be all sensitive and gracious.Dr ...
The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health's unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa. ...
Hi,Last night one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, TikTok, became inaccessible in the United States.Then, today, it came back online.Why should we care about a social network that deals in dance trends and cute babies? Well — TikTok represents a lot more than that.And its ban and subsequent ...
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the nightAnd rub my achin' old eyesIs that a voice from inside-a my headOr does it come down from the skies?"There's a time to laugh butThere's a time to weepAnd a time to make a big change"Wake-up you-bum-the-time has-comeTo arrange and re-arrange and ...
Former Health Minister Shane Reti was the main target of Luxon’s reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees ...
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...
Yesterday’s demotion of Shane Reti was inevitable. Reti’s attempt at a re-assuring bedside manner always did have a limited shelf life, and he would have been a poor and apologetic salesman on the campaign trail next year. As a trained doctor, he had every reason to be looking embarrassed about ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 12, 2025 thru Sat, January 18, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
After another substantial hiatus from online Chess, I’ve been taking it up again. I am genuinely terrible at five-minute Blitz, what with the tight time constraints, though I periodically con myself into thinking that I have been improving. But seeing as my past foray into Chess led to me having ...
Rise up o children wont you dance with meRise up little children come and set me freeRise little ones riseNo shame no fearDon't you know who I amSongwriter: Rebecca Laurel FountainI’m sure you know the go with this format. Some memories, some questions, letsss go…2015A decade ago, I made the ...
In 2017, when Ghahraman was elected to Parliament as a Green MP, she recounted both the highlights and challenges of her role -There was love, support, and encouragement.And on the flipside, there was intense, visceral and unchecked hate.That came with violent threats - many of them. More on that later.People ...
It gives me the biggest kick to learn that something I’ve enthused about has been enough to make you say Go on then, I'm going to do it. The e-bikes, the hearing aids, the prostate health, the cheese puffs. And now the solar power. Yes! Happy to share the details.We ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Can CO2 be ...
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has delivered a refreshed team focused on unleashing economic growth to make people better off, create more opportunities for business and help us afford the world-class health and education Kiwis deserve. “Last year, we made solid progress on the economy. Inflation has fallen significantly and now ...
Veterans’ Affairs and a pan-iwi charitable trust have teamed up to extend the reach and range of support available to veterans in the Bay of Plenty, Veterans Minister Chris Penk says. “A major issue we face is identifying veterans who are eligible for support,” Mr Penk says. “Incredibly, we do ...
A host of new appointments will strengthen the Waitangi Tribunal and help ensure it remains fit for purpose, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says. “As the Tribunal nears its fiftieth anniversary, the appointments coming on board will give it the right balance of skills to continue its important mahi hearing ...
Almost 22,000 FamilyBoost claims have been paid in the first 15 days of the year, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The ability to claim for FamilyBoost’s second quarter opened on January 1, and since then 21,936 claims have been paid. “I’m delighted people have made claiming FamilyBoost a priority on ...
The Government has delivered a funding boost to upgrade critical communication networks for Maritime New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand, ensuring frontline search and rescue services can save lives and keep Kiwis safe on the water, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand has ...
Mahi has begun that will see dozens of affordable rental homes developed in Gisborne - a sign the Government’s partnership with Iwi is enabling more homes where they’re needed most, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka attended a sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of earthworks for 48 ...
New Zealand welcomes the ceasefire deal to end hostilities in Gaza, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Over the past 15 months, this conflict has caused incomprehensible human suffering. We acknowledge the efforts of all those involved in the negotiations to bring an end to the misery, particularly the US, Qatar ...
The Associate Minster of Transport has this week told the community that work is progressing to ensure they have a secure and suitable shipping solution in place to give the Island certainty for its future. “I was pleased with the level of engagement the Request for Information process the Ministry ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he is proud of the Government’s commitment to increasing medicines access for New Zealanders, resulting in a big uptick in the number of medicines being funded. “The Government is putting patients first. In the first half of the current financial year there were more ...
New Zealand's first-class free trade deal and investment treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been signed. In Abu Dhabi, together with UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and accompanying investment treaty ...
The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, which shows the highest level of general business confidence since 2021, is a sign the economy is moving in the right direction, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “When businesses have the confidence to invest and grow, it means more jobs and higher ...
Events over the last few weeks have highlighted the importance of strong biosecurity to New Zealand. Our staff at the border are increasingly vigilant after German authorities confirmed the country's first outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in nearly 40 years on Friday in a herd of water buffalo ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee reminds the public that they now have an opportunity to have their say on the rewrite of the Arms Act 1983. “As flagged prior to Christmas, the consultation period for the Arms Act rewrite has opened today and will run through until 28 February 2025,” ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Analysis - There needs to be recognition of the significant risks associated with focusing on mining and tourism, Glenn Banks and Regina Scheyvens write. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Andriana Syvanych/Shutterstock Most of us are fortunate that, when we turn on the tap, clean, safe and high-quality water comes out. But a senate inquiry ...
Analysis: Try as they might, Christopher Luxon and his partners in NZ First have been unable to distance themselves from the division caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, hampering the potential for further progress in areas where the Prime Minister believes the Crown and tangata whenua can collaborate.While the celebration ...
The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dog the National Party despite Luxon's repeated efforts to communicate the legislation will not go beyond second reading. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julia Richardson, Professor of Human Resource Management, Head of School of Management, Curtin University Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock US President Donald Trump has called time on working from home. An executive order signed on the first day of his presidency this week requires all ...
The prime minister says he can mend the relationship with Māori after the bill is voted down, and he would refuse a future referendum in the next election's coalition negotiations. ...
Forest & Bird will continue to support New Zealanders to oppose these destructive activities and reminds the Prime Minister that in 2010, 40,000 people marched down Queen Street, demanding that high-value conservation land be protected from mining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Glenn Banks, Professor of Geography, School of People, Environment and Planning, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University Getty Images Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s state-of-the-nation address yesterday focused on growth above all else. We shouldn’t rush to judgement, but at least ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services has declared an HIV outbreak. Dr Ratu Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu announced 1093 new HIV cases from the period of January to September 2024. “This declaration reflects the alarming reality that HIV is evolving faster than our current services can cater for,” ...
Acting PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says the ACT proposals would take money from public services and funnel it towards private providers. Privatisation will inevitably mean syphoning money off from providing services for all to pay profits ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudio Bozzi, Lecturer in Law, Deakin University Shutterstock On his way to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to officially open a new US$3.6 billion (A$5.8 billion) deepwater ...
A new poem by Zoë Deans. Fleeced just call me Hemingway because I’m earnest get it? I’m always falling for it, always saying “really?” mammal-eyed me, begging for the next epiphany, gagging for the magic, hot for sweetness and spring. tell me the stories of the world bounding along all ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (Piatkus, $38) “Get your leathers, we have dragons to ride,” goes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Toby Murray, Professor of Cybersecurity, School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne Before the end of its first full day of operations, the new Trump administration gutted all advisory panels for the Department of Homeland Security. Among these was ...
Pacific Media Watch The Al Jazeera Network has condemned the arrest of its occupied West Bank correspondent by Palestinian security services as a bid by the Israeli occupation to “block media coverage” of the military attack on Jenin. Israeli soldiers have killed at least 12 Palestinians in the three-day military ...
An A-to-Z cheat sheet to help you keep up with the awards chat this year.It’s hard to stay on top of awards buzz here in Aotearoa, especially when all the announcements tend to happen when we’re all off the grid and at the beach. The Golden Globes, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lowe, Chair in Contemporary History, Deakin University After many years of heated debate over whether January 26 is an appropriate date to celebrate Australia Day – with some councils and other groups shifting away from it – the tide appears to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Whiterod, Science Program Manager, Goyder Institute for Water Research Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Centre, University of Adelaide Nick Whiterod Murray crayfish once thrived in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. The species was found everywhere from the headwaters of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Hargreaves, Senior Learning Advisor, University of Southern Queensland There are two verses to Advance Australia Fair, but do you know the second? Probably not. It’s in our citizenship booklet, Our Common Bond, suggesting Aussies know it and new citizens could be ...
We round up the best of the homegrown content coming to your screens this year. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. 2025 is a brand new year, and with it comes a brand new year of television and films. While the local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Bridgewater, Adjunct Professor in Conservation, University of Canberra Getty Images/Servais Mont Existing policies to tackle environmental challenges fail to take into account that biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution are intertwined crises and produce compounding and intensifying impacts. Policy ...
Following the obscene spectacle of Trump’s inauguration, in which he enunciated his far-right agenda including mass deportations and imperialist expansionism, New Zealand’s politicians are pitching to “work with” Washington as closely as ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 50-year-old who volunteers at an op shop explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 50. Ethnicity: NZ European. ...
The country can’t afford to lose any more skilled workers - the reforms Minister Reti will now drive will only succeed if the Government properly respects and values the existing workforce who now face more uncertainty on top of a year of restructuring. ...
Minister Nicola Willis and the Commerce Commission are set to put big retailers, not just supermarkets, under scrutiny The post Govt to crack down on retail monopolies appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Kelsey Teneti is blossoming in the Black Ferns Sevens. Contracted since 2020 she hardly got a look in until after the Paris Olympics in July 2024. In the first two tournaments of the 2024-25 SVNS series, Teneti ran amok as New Zealand made the final in Dubai and captured the title ...
A rolling maul of policy announcements has been promised to attract foreign investment, explains The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Yesterday I tried to link to this post on the prime real estate that is Open Mike post #1… so, finally getting the attention it deserves here it is:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/03/30/the-myths-and-lies-about-the-domestic-purposes-benefit/
Two things stood out here
– there is no pressure on the parent who does a runner and these are largely male
– that one in two adult women will be in sole charge of a family at some point in their adult lives.
Now, the been there done that group of women, with a few exceptions like PB, are unlikely to be too impressed with the benefit hounding going on and women vote on the left.
Just how much would it cost the labour party to show at least some loyalty to a large group of their demographic and at least oppose some of the hounding. FFS some of it, like sending out letters to people’s 16 year old daughters telling them to go onto contraception aren’t even policies that it will cost anything to reverse ever – they just violate the civil rights of a young girl who has had no say in her domestic situation whosoever.
And, I am repeating myself here, if this is such a good idea for 16 year old girls to get these letters, then perhaps some voluntary group should receive a grant to write letters to all 16 year old girls on the same topic, even the daughters of Nact politicians.
I like this young woman! She is at the center of the “Topless Jihad” – a global protest where women bare their breasts rebelling against female oppression after Amina Tyler posted topless pictures of herself with “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honor” written in Arabic.
Obviously this is found to be highly objectionable so her family shipped her off to a psych ward stating publically that she was suicidal and that is why she has posted the pics.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/amina-tyler-supporters-set-topless-jihad-day-april-4-article-1.1301311#ixzz2P3LzC9D8
Best pic is Amina extending her two fingers, topless, with the words, “fuck your morals”.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/03/30/april-4th-defend-amina/
Kiaora AWW
Here is another perspective worth reflecting on.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/8486908/Why-protests-must-be-culturally-appropriate
This comment is from Stuff’s blog:
Dear Author: I am a Muslim woman and think Amina’s protest is entirely culturally relevant in post-revolution Tunisia. Read the writing on Amina’s body: “My body is mine, not somebody’s honor” in Arabic. No protest that was universally loved and agreed with changed the world for the better. Please stop speaking for “everyday Muslims” such as myself. We can do without the sweeping generalizations about the “West” and “Islam”. They are simplistic and silly – even from someone taking on this native informant role. Muslim (or western) societies are not homogenous.
Hold onto your hats CHCH.
“The Government has taken three steps:
1. Required EQC to immediately shut down all external email systems – there will be no emails going into the organisation and none will be sent out.
2. Required EQC to immediately shut down all business-to-business systems and data exchanges as well as access into EQC systems by external parties.
3. Asked the Government’s Chief Information Officer Colin MacDonald to investigate and oversee the solutions for issues relating to information management within EQC.
I had to laugh (otherwise I would cry), so now instead of EQC doing nothing Gerry Brownlee has made it mandatory.
I would say the leaks are in all likelyhood deliberate, sent by staff disgruntled with the underhand way eqc is dealing with claims. Either that or they have some seriously incompetent staff with access to data that they really shouldnt. ( ala winz kiosks)
Wondered about just how accidental the EQC leaks really were Cricklewood.
And were the amounts of compensation listed on the released documents actually being given to the claimants or being with-held?
Media Release
Coal Free Mangatawhiri and Auckland Coal Action
Saturday 30th March 2013
Roadside Coal Protest at Mangatawhiri
Coal Free Mangatawhiri and Auckland Coal Action are joining forces on Monday to protest Fonterraʼs proposed new coal mine beside state highway 2.
Protesters will gather from 2pm at Mangatawhiri south of Auckland for the roadside rally protesting Fonterraʼs proposed new Mangatangi Mine.
They hope to engage with people queued in traffic on SH2 on their way back to Auckland.
Local residents, iwi and supporters from Auckland will be calling for ʻno new coalʼ and making the point that ʻcoal cooks the climateʼ in an awareness raising campaign against the proposed mine.
Public submissions on resource consents for the mine, closed this week with Waikato Regional Council and Waikato District Council. Hundreds of submissions were sent in by local residents, iwi and others opposing the proposed new coal mine at Mangatawhiri.
The resource consent applications were made by Fonterraʼs coal mining subsidiary Glencoal Energy Ltd, which is seeking consents for an open cast mine on farmland at Mangatawhiri right beside SH2.
If the mine goes ahead it will be highly visible to anyone driving along SH2. The mine is intended to produce 120,000 tonnes of coal a year to supply the Fonterra dairy factories at Waitoa, Hautapu and Te Awamutu. Fonterraʼs nearby Kopako coal mine is predicted to close in 2014.
Instead of opening a new coal mine in a farming community, locals believe Fonterra should phase out coal in favour of locally available cleaner burning, wood waste.
ENDS
A Farmer’s cooperative turns into a corporation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/8485681/Investor-tensions-evident-in-Fonterra
At the time of the farmer vote to turn Fonterra into a shareholding corporation there was severe misgivings that farmers, particularly less well off share milkers who had no vote, and whose incomes are reliant on milk prices would suffer, and so it is.
As farms become corporate factories with out roofs that increase profits, by driving down the livelihoods of the producers. Less sharemilkers will enter the industry, resulting in bigger farms staffed with employees, who like most NZ workers over the last three decades will have declining incomes. While, year after year, in favour of better shareholder returns, profits continuously exceed previous records. That is, until the whole top heavy edifice topples over as the profit bubble bursts under the combined weight of lack of skilled farmers without any commitment to the land, and less forgiving climatic conditions that will make farming less productive and rural life harsher for those doing it at the milk face.
The move to squeeze more out of farmers in favour of profits, may have some unforeseen (read forseen) outcomes.
Yeh I saw this too and it was a prefectly predictable outcome. Even at the time it was obvious that the Fonterra managers were going back and back with the proposals no matter how often the farmers voted them down. It was very much in management interests I imagine, to have two groups with vested interests, Farmers and bond holders to play off against each other, for their own gain and ultimately the sort of gain that comes from stock market listing and moving the whole lot into overseas ownership.
Mind you most of them vote for the Nact’s too, be careful what you wish for perhaps?
More legislation written for corporations and against the rights of our people to protest.
Masked as protecting us from our own “reckless and dangerous” behaviour and delivered by the Glove Puppet from Tauranga, Simon Bridges.
Parroting prepared lines, statements that were shameless begging the question and all with a deadpan face the Glove Puppet from Tauranga presented restrictions on our right to protest mineral and oil exploration off our coast.
– http://www.3news.co.nz/Crackdown-on-anti-drilling-protesters/tabid/423/articleID/292432/Default.aspx
Surely this would be unconstitutional and the right to protest protected if this was tested in law by the courts..
New Zealand has no constitution.
Bridges also, when asked, pretty much ruled out putting the O and G revenue into an investment fund (like in other oil rich nations). Which means all this money is going to be frittered on tax cuts.
This vexes me so.
Bridges has been through the rinse, and is likely as anyone else inside Parliament to actually believe in what he’s representing!
West Auckland my foot!
More from the Bank Bailout U$K Austerity Class War:
Disability rights activist Susan Archibald, in Edinburgh, said: ‘We have heard talk about “strivers and skivers”.
‘One person can be a striver one day and then get made redundant. Will they be a skiver the next day? That’s how easy it happens.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301575/Axe-bedroom-tax–Thousands-protesters-join-demonstrations-cut-benefits.html
“John McArdle, from anti-disability discrimination campaign Black Triangle, said: ‘Every day our campaign receives more messages from desperate people who are on the brink of suicide.
‘This government is killing disabled people, and we must stand together and say enough is enough.’
Have seen this really interesting report on ChristChurch in the http://www.wsws.org website. It’d be good to if we could comment and/or criticise on it?
“Residents face bitter winter in New Zealand’s quake-hit city”
“Residents of the New Zealand city of Christchurch, devastated by the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that killed 185 people in February 2011, are facing a bitter winter. While the National Party government, city council and business investors concentrate on rebuilding the central business district, thousands of people, particularly those in working class suburbs, are into their third year of unresolved social stress and personal dislocation.”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/30/nzch-m30.html
The Money Market’s P@mp John Yankee continues to flog off this Nation’s commonwealth (Asset Sales) and our ability to help and support our own people. The Market in the end does not mind if you end up in a workhouse. 🙁
http://benefitjustice.wordpress.com/ More on the U$K situation likely to come here too. 🙁
”
Workfare
March 18, 2013
This from our colleagues working hard to oppose workfare:
In one of his most disgusting manoeuvres yet, last week Iain Duncan Smith laid legislation to rewrite history to stop the 225,000 people who were sanctioned on his unlawful workfare schemes being able to reclaim what they are due.
To make matters worse, the bill is being rushed through parliament; the second reading; committee stage; and third reading are all scheduled for one day: this Tuesday.
As if this wasn’t outrageous enough, Labour have indicated that they will support the Bill.
Tell your MP to vote against these outrageous attempts to rewrite history and rob people of £130 million in benefit repayments with this one minute online form: http://action.pcs.org.uk/page/speakout/ask-your-mp-to-stop-the-government-changing-the-law-on-workfare”
“The savage attacks on benefits for unemployed, low paid workers, single parents and disabled which will push millions further into poverty and despair.
The vicious attacks on those in the rented sector whose landlords charge huge rents but who now face a cap in their Housing Benefit which is seeing families evicted and shipped out of London to find cheaper accommodation around the country.
The disgusting Bedroom Tax which will force council and social landlord tenants who claim Housing benefit and have a spare room to either pay more rent or downsize to a smaller home. This will hit 600.000 tenants. Tory Welfare minister responsible for this bedroom tax is Lord Freud who has a plush 4 bedroom London home as well as an 8 bedroom mansion elsewhere.”
UK Labour is still enmeshed in Blairism. Doesnt look to be getting out anytime soon.
Looks to me like Thatcherism is still strong. Making beneficiaries work for corporate megastores for free? Welcome back to the 10th century.
“Looks to me like Thatcherism is still strong”
I’d take Blairism over Thatcherism any century.
There really isn’t that much difference between the two. Both thrive on neoliberal claptrap.
Kyle Bass runs Hayman Capital. Here he talks about Japan’s impending financial/demographic implosion (including 10 finance ministers in just the last 5 years).
Not pretty. He makes several references to future severe social discontent as a result.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/30/bank-of-cyprus-depositors-lose-savings
“Bank of Cyprus depositors could lose up to 60% of their savingsCypriot finance officials say initial losses will be 37.5%, but up to 22.5% more could be taken if bank needs further capitalisation
But, but , but TPTB said Cyrpian banks were over-flowing with dirty Russian money, where is it then!
Capital controls will not be coming off, the accounts will be empty before that happens!
And a finger in the eye for Iceland, balance is important in the MSM!
More lies and BS, see how this all works!
So, a year and a half until the next general election, and the Labour party are still shitting on their own doorstep, mired in a fantasy land game plan to win (bribe) back 5% of the middle ground they think will open the door to the treasury.
Dumb arses.
The win is in the numbers who didn’t vote last time.
Bollocks to the sensibilities of centre right politics of nothingness.
Go left, that man.
If the nat’s are the worst negotiators, then NZ Labour must surely rank as worst political strategists, ever.
Not necessarily. The way I see it, this is strategy which is wanted by the *internationalists*, and being rolled out effectively, by giving the NACT a free ride, to what could easily be another 3 years.
As if it matters in real terms who the government is, the decline will continue, as the *foreign owners*, like any good hedge, control both sides of bet!
I’ll rephrase my perspective for the benefit of your world view:
As a lefty voter, NZ Labour must surely rank as worst political strategists, ever.
Try viewing Labour’s actions and strategy from the standpoint of it’s present as a centrist middle class party. One which is focussed on continuing (but socially moderating) the political economic status quo, while appealing to the top 1/3 of income earners.
When you do that it’s approach becomes entirely consistent and coherant.
I’m sure someone believes in what they’re doing, somewhere, playing the game like they are, but whatever the outcome (crushing defeat 😉 ), watching the cogs turn is like them cleaning a hammer with a walnut.
I can’t believe parties facing another three years in opposition aren’t out there getting those stay at home voters interested, engaged and motivating change, unless like said, they don’t really care about the majority of kiwis and pay lip service to the plight facing New Zealanders.
Time for that new left wing party idea to crop up again.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/why-politicians-are-sensi_b_2978297.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
An honest politician is one who stays bought, or why we are not allowed democracy on anything important, like the economy, and inequality!
And just make sure that no one knows WTF is going on, de-fund polsci.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/21/senate-votes-defund-political-science-research-save-tuition-assistance-budget-bill
But seriously, what answers has political science given us in the last 20 years? The other area to defund is economics, finance and financial engineering.
Yeah, when I think about it CV none worth listening to and to be honest once I’ve sorted out who the unhinged ideologues are and who’s worth listening to I reckon the most astute and nuanced appraisals are usually to be found buried in comments threads.
“I reckon the most astute and nuanced appraisals are usually to be found buried in comments threads.”
And now on live TV during question time, 2pm, channel 22 🙂
Pipe ruptures, who’d a thunk it.
http://www.katv.com/story/21831082/oil-spill-in-mayflower-near-lake-conway-subdivision-evacuated
I thought the Mayflower was one of the first four ships to get to America. They did that on sail I thought. Maybe I am not up with the modern ideas that now it is okay to have a major negative oil spill event every five years or so. Just part of the risk profile engineered in using the modern equipment and modern efficiencies of corporations as accepted by the modern governments.
open-mike 28/03
To: McFlock
You made the allegation, so the burden of proof is yours. Don’t expect me to assist you.
Slander is what this massive hole is all about. Slander was also the issue that was being discussed just before I was moderated into posting on open mike.
Context is everything. The original context was girls 13 and over who were repeatedly soliciting.
If these girls were being harmed, these who was forcing them?
Why are you bringing up Saville now? He is dead, had nothing to do with the South Auckland flap.
Just like you brought up fantasing.
Just like you brought up NABMLA.
You’re just slinging shit to divert from the fact that you’ve got no argument.
I reckon your comments are proof enough. You seem to think that harm can only result from force. And the original point wasn’t about slander, it was about appropriate responses to revelations that adults are paying to screw children. If you reckon a possible slander against yourself is more important, then that also says much about you.
What you reckon isn’t proof, it’s opinion.
I don’t think that.
O.K. Slander is important because it was the issue that was being discussed just before I was moderated into posting on open mike. It would be too convenient for you if I just dropped the issue.
Assuming you meant “then who was forcing them”, why are you raising force if force at the time is irrelevant to harm?
slander is a falsehood, right? What falsehood did I utter? You’re arguing that sex between a thirteen year old and a sixty year old can be consensual for the child, are you not?
McFlock, force is relevant because without anyone forcing the girls the most likely explanation is that they were soliciting of their own free will. The fact that they were doing this repeatedly suggests that they were not being harmed, so non-harm paedophilia is not an oxymoron like you said it was.
Like Redlogix said, paedophilia usually refers to pre-pubescent children, but in the rape culture thread it was also used in the context of older men having sex with teenage girls.
Your falsehood was:
You couldn’t show proof of your allegation, your argument was:
So McFlock, do you think that you can slander other people and just get away with it?
This is all beginning to sound rather familiar.
Frankly, a kid in the lower half of their teens is a child. Legally, as well.
Secondly, children can’t consent or do a contract. They have issues with impulse control, abstraction, and long term planning.
Thirdly, there are economic and other power issues at play in the case of prostitution, and sex in general. These are marked when one party is adult and the other is not. Both adults, fair enough, both can give informed consent all else being equal. Both kids, well both can be making the same mistake if it appears consensual. But an adult and a kid? Any adult with the interests of the child as a concern would bail based on the power imbalance implicit in the relationship.
Even if it were legal.
In general this is true not because they are not able to reach an agreement, but because they are under the power of another, i.e. their parents.
In the case the South Auckland girls the parental power argument isn’t so solid: either the girls are under the power of their parents which makes the parents responsible, or they are not (ie the family is dysfunctional), in which agreement and contract may be possible.
It’s got nothing to do with being under the power of their parents.
Kids can’t give informed consent because they lack experience, information and the ability to process that with long term objectives taken into full consideration.
Wrong again,. it is important for contracts.
SUI JURIS. One who has all the rights to which a freemen is entitled; one who is not under the power of another, as a slave, a minor, and the like.
2. To make a valid contract, a person must, in general, be sui juris. Every one of full age is presumed to be sui juris. Story on Ag. p. 10.
I think you might need a newer legal text. Preferably one that deals with new zealand law.
Just to spell it out: kids, including young teens, cannot consent to sex.
Sex without consent is rape.
You argue that young teens at the very least (you’ve been cagey on the exact age cutoff where you regard any sex=rape) can consent to sex.
That is a defense of child rape.
You are wrong, they can consent if the understand what is involved.
Consent. A concurrence of wills. Voluntarily yielding the will to the proposition of another; acquiescence or compliance therewith. Agreement; the act or result
of coming into harmony or accord. Consent is an act of reason, accompanied with deliberation, the mind weighing as in a balance the good or evil on each side.
You are confusing uninformed consent with actual consent. Knowing someone who was manipulated into “consenting” sex by adults when she was a young teen, and seeing the issues she’s dealt with over the years in no small part due to those experiences, I say that you are deluding yourself. Severely. I don’t know if your reasons are nutty or nefarious, but I sure know “uninformed consent at the time” in no way equals “no-harm sex “.
Wrong again. I said “if they understand what is involved”, which implies informed consent.
Why is it that slanderers refuse to admit they are wrong, but try to divert with straw men and other fallacies?
Sex with under-16s is against New Zealand law. Legally there is no possibility of informed consent.
Arguing you believe in some other philosophy of life does not negate that. Why are you so interested in the topic?
Ah, the “no true rapist” argument.
What you argue for doesn’t exist. And if it did, it would be indistinguishable from apparent but uninformed consent, so essentially you’re arguing that it’s not rape unless harm occurs in subsequent years. Which is pretty pointless moral guidance for someone considering sticking his elderly dick in a 13 year old girl.
Handle, the legality of it is based on fictions.
I’m interested because the issues of sexual predators, family, and protection are closely related to the conflict between legislation and the law of the land. Most people are unaware of how the system misleads them about the nature of the law. The system takes the privilege of oath from the common law but it also denies that the source of this privilege exists.
It is OK to want to protect others without needing an elaborate belief system to justify that. Did you have a particular 13-year old in mind?
Television (was) New Zealand is dropping BBC News which used to come on at off-peak hours, which one would think was a triumph for pragmatic, responsible, budget conscious services. It’s to be replaced by – infomercials. Or to put it another way Info-unmercifuls. Recommendation -Only to be watched in an alcoholic haze. If want to know more Radionz’s Mediawatch today.
Also being dropped by Television NZ (spit) – teletext function. It’s been serving NZ’s for 30 years and is particularly useful for older people. Hence why it is being dropped. Who gives a f..k for older people, they aren’t the advertisers preferred demographic which is – 15 to 55? after that you’re history old codgers!
John Drinnan broke the news of the dropping of BBC World on Friday. Its sad, but is thanks to the government chopping the TVNZ charter and telling it to make more idiot TV to make money (amazing how the same people who moan about our education system being ‘dumbed down’ seem fine with it happening to our television)..
As for Teletext, it was a damn good service. Not only did it provide captions for the deaf, but it provided information services to the general public with very low overheads, via simple RF signal, to a teletext capable TV (which cost a few hundred dollars). It would be way easier for a farmer in Marokopa to look up the weather on teletext than to use his smartphone or tablet.
I think the teletext system was affected by needing updates on its equipment, and TVNZ weren’t prepared to invest in this updating.
All of which is being replaved by Freeview.
open mike 28/03
To: Marty Mars
Paedophilia and raping children are two different things. In the original argument the paedophilia involved teenage girls as young as 13 soliciting. They were not crying rape, they were doing business.
People and corporations don’t have the same status in law. Corporations owe their existence to the state, people do not. It’s not unfair to refuse to give money to something that is of no benefit to you.
What the fuck does the last paragraph of your post at 17 mean, Ugly Truth ? It is utterly unintelligible.
I’m a bit hoha with your pronouncements on “law”. You seem always to get it very wrong.
What it means, North, is that corporations are subject to the law of the state, but people not subject to it. But people in a common law jurisdiction are still subject to the law of the land.
What do you think that I get wrong?
do you pay GST ugly or don’t they have that tax in canada?
I suppose you don’t utilise any of the services that society provides, you know, because you don’t pay tax lol
and as for your line “they were not crying rape” well, enough has been written about that and obviously it doesn’t fit with your morals, beliefs, or actions as evidenced in the threads discussing it. I am not surprised you don’t get what so many have tried to explain to you – it doesn’t fit with your self interest does it?
I don’t pay GST, the shop does. I pay the marked price.
Society doesn’t implement the taxation scheme, the state does.
Get a grip marty, you’re ranting.
lol you pay the marked price – what a hero.
btw have you tried the old agree and ask a question line with the legal system yet?
A beautiful day with mokos so no chance to check TS but I did get to see that prissy little ex-crown prosecutor (you know that shit-arsed wee type, witheringly socially retarded, mock angelic) Simon Bridges on Q + A this morning.
Yeah, he’s the messenger boy with the the news that this corporate-tending-to-facist-if-necessary government is gonna take a hard line with people who “endanger saftey” in protest around foreign rape of our resources.
A black lie of course but your final proof that this government is traitorous. “But they broke the law”. Yeah, right. A law created by a devious harlot of a government which in one out of ten parts has it’s heart outside New Zealand and inside the pockets of the ilk of its leader. The nine out of ten parts are mediocre self-seekers and cargo-cult thickos who follow Key because they believe they could be him one day.
On this day of all days for Christ’s Sake, it’s only gonna make the hard folks go harder. That’s the big joke of it. The world ain’t the Tauranga District Court sitting in its indictable jurisdiction wee Simon. Where you jump up and down with your petty points and strut out of court in the conviction that you’re shit-hot. And where success is winning and when you win that’s ALWAYS justice, definitionally.
It’s been occurring to me for some time that sooner or later there is going to be significant civil unrest in this country. Bring it on Simon Bitch ! Pathetic, atrocious, little ex-crown prosecutor.
Don’t mention the chemtrails, he’s the minister for climate change issues. 😉
north
+1
Me too.
Turned the TV off. Couldn’t even bear to look at the supercilious little toad. He reminds me of a youthful Tony Ryall.
lprent just wondering if there’s a way to edit a comment posted from a tablet using chrome?
I do it all of the time on a android nexus7 with chrome with android. I have noticed that the javascript on my old iPad1 is crap for anything to do with javascript.
But I’ll check. Could you provide any more info about what OS you’re using?
Young Simon had a wee laugh (hehe) on his Facebook page at the idea of slapping the interviewer. Screenshots are lovely things. What a scumbag.