Tom Scott on RNZ saying he thought Nisbet’s cartoon was not funny and that he, Tom Scott, did not target the vulnerable. Apparently he’s drawn a cartoon about the cartoon. If someone knows where to find this online, can they put the link here?
I guess I missed the press release from the SST that expressed outrage about their manifestly inadequate sentencing and the criminals keeping their homes instead of paying reparations to the people they stole from.
I’m fine with home detention for non-violent offenders. It’s just a pity that they get to keep theirs rather than having them confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Under normal circumstances, I don’t see much point in custodial sentences. In cases such as this, though, I can see one compelling argument to lock these guys up. Conditions inside prison will never improve as long as they’re full of poor brown people. The more rich white motherfuckers locked up, the better, at least until we see real change.
The Herald is worried Doug G might lose his knighthood and wonders if that’s fair. If my reading is correct its not because the offending had nothing to do with the reason he got a knighthood. You know, we wouldn’t have this ‘problem’ of deknighting if we didn’t knight in the first place.
Agreed. Certainly give him the chance to do the right thing.
Clearly the title means something and by associating the title with a investment company there was an expectation of greater diligence, that the titled person would safeguard their honored status. It stands therefore that the title should be given up, or taken off them.
Dr Norman will speak at the conference in Christchurch tomorrow and is expected to take a hard-hitting stance on the Government’s passing of legislation that his party feel are unconstitutional.
I’m not a fan of “Harvey” Norman, but credit where it’s due, he seems to have come a ways since he was overwhelmingly voted into coventry by party members on Frogblog when he was trying to justify voting for the CERA outrage.
Also interesting is that most sessions of the upcoming party AGM will be held behind closed doors to facilitate members being able to freely air differences of opinion without fear of the media misrepresenting such openness as evidence of the party split asunder. This seems to be a move away from the pan-party trend of conferences being mere show ponies, with all the important decision making done by the elite few amongst themselves without reference to the membership.
The cartoons were stereotyping Polynesians as spending their money on cigarettes and gambling.
“That is wrong … Some parents living in poverty do their very, very, very best to feed their children, and probably don’t even rely on food in schools and other things,” Ms Devoy said.
It’s funny how her bigotry leaks out when she’s trys to look like she is doing her job.
Note also, that as race relations commissioner, she focusses on poverty rather than racism, which downplays the racist nature of the cartoons.
There is tho a small ray of hope yet for the Dame, She deserves 1 brownie point for at least holding the press conference and giving that offensive little rag a slagging,
i see Her point about Her acting from within the legislation which governs Her role and it has become more than obvious that the legislation needs a serious make-over,
Down here in the gutter the over-monied red neck scum cannot really insult us with their snippets of abuse as such will enter the ‘culture’ and simply be lampooned as is every other insult directed our way…
On the same subject i just listened to an interview with the ex editor of Wellington’s Dom-Post, (a complete fucking non-entity whose name is irrelevant), He defends the racist slurs cast in that particular cartoon on the basis that a lot of people might hold the same views as it expressed,
It’s easy to see why i do not and will not even stoop to reading that particular newspaper and to insert any further comment about such commentary and the scum at RadioNZ giving such views oxygen would have me run the risk of publishing comments directly intended to incite violence….
The Press has an article toady about Nisbet and illustrates it’s text with two Nisbet cartoons.
One clearly shows Eastern Christchurch to be unkempt and poorly maintained (obviously a deliberate slight on it’s less well off residents) and the other clearly denigrates red headed people, showing them as criminal incompetents.
The government, i.e. Steven Joyce, is obviously hellbent on destroying the credibility of public institutions, especially ones like the office of Race Relations conciliator.
Last night I had the good fortune to attend a talk by Nicole Foss, editor of the Automaticearth on the subject o the current financial turbulence. To say the least she was a most informative and persuasive presenter, an intellect the size of a planet.
In reflection the largest contribution Foss makes is to effectively cancel any precepts of ongoing BAU, the contention that we can return to some prior point and distribute the pie equitably forever. That is a common concept on this blog, what Foss indicates is that the pie we divide is diminishing and will do so alarmingly. Which for me throws into stark relief the dilemma of the Left, “we only need to divide the shares of industrial civilisation fairly”.
I did not hear any left or right partisanship from Foss, no ideology, just a cold hard stare at where we are and where we are going (delivered with warmth). Time for us to wake up and see reality as it is, and to remake our world to fit the new reality. In old terms, to cut our cloth to match.
Massive rate of quality failures in recent solar panels now expected
For those who understand the irony of using up irreplaceable rare earth materials and fossil fuel energies to try and create sustainable renewable energy sources…and then have free market pressures cause this to happen.
“we only need to divide the shares of industrial civilisation fairly”.
We can’t do that as there’s too many people. About 6 billion too many.
Some countries and regions may be able to do that though as they themselves aren’t yet over populated and their resources haven’t yet been completely stripped. To do it though they need to stop all immigration, go to a steady state economy and implement full democracy. This representative democracy that only represents the richest will only continue to make things worse.
Think of it this way TC. We’re on a sinking ship. There aren’t enough lifejackets and lifeboats to go around. What do you think is a fair way to allocate saving of lives?
No. Not at all.
So you are suggesting only New Zealand should stop all immigration. Great idea. I look forward to the rest of the world not allowing NZer’s emigrating to their countries.
Isn’t your attitude to human beings who weren’t lucky enought to be born in our two islands, the same as the rich’s attitude to the poor.
They have the attitude that they are entitled to be rich for no other reason they were born into privilige.
You seem to share that attiude towards foreigners as in they can get fucked as long as we are happy.
The only way humanity will survice is with a global solution where all humans are treated equally. We can’t (as the rich do) put up a big wall around NZ and tell everyone else to fuck off. That will work for a while until desperation sets in.
You seem to share that attiude towards foreigners as in they can get fucked as long as we are happy.
Nope. Just practical realities. We can’t maintain 7 billion people at a reasonable living standard this means that there will be starvation, there will be poverty and that those countries that can will have to stop all immigration. Those that can’t, well, they’ll have war.
The only way humanity will survice is with a global solution where all humans are treated equally.
The problem is that there isn’t a global solution or, to be more precise, the global solution is what I described above.
We could have gone for the everyone treated equally and no poverty bit in about the 1950s. The 1970s it was probably still possible but the West wanted more and more people to fuel growth so that the banksters could be paid and the rest of the world, well, who knows what they wanted but what they got was more and more people.
We can’t (as the rich do) put up a big wall around NZ and tell everyone else to fuck off.
Actually, we can do that (it’s a rather difficult swim to get here) and there won’t be any desperation as we have the resources that we need. Well, there won’t be any as long as we get rid of the rich and their delusional socio-economic system.
Nice sounding principles, let’s see how NZ citizens vote on those policies once they see house prices, jobs, school places, hospital beds being taken up by a million, two million, three million new arrivals.
And DTB is right. I think we’ve overshot the planet’s long term carrying capacity by approx 6B people. So after you take in 3M of them and destroyed your own societal structures, there’s still 5997M who are going to be in dire straits.
Don’t worry Draco – The eugenics teams are hard at work, ensuring that one way or another, the herd will be culled, significantly, and sooner than later!
The Contrarian – Yup, some people are born in unfortunate places, under unfortunate circumstances.
Large enough numbers of them are already born, and living in NZ, and apparently there is little, to no appetite to address the existing levels of poverty/inequality, as such there is no room for those who are not already here, and in need of help!
Muzz and TContrary, I don’t think Draco is being eugenicist or otherwise…the reality we face is that we may be among-st the 6 billion surplus and the cold hard reality wont be a cull as opposed to a long drawn out famine / pestulence / war…you know, the standard bad bits. Might even reach supply demand equilibrium in economics talk with regard to food supply….Four horseman territory, DTB might merely be expressing some prescience.
Capitalism is killing thousands of kids a day now, so what’s new.
There is enough to go round now provided we planned sustainably and fairly.
Occupy was half there, it targetted the 1% but couldnt mobilise the 99%
Socialism is the only survival strategy both in terms of humanity and nature (which in my book is the same thing).
Marx not Malthus!
Hi Ennui – Yes, I’m quite sure Draco was not a proponent of eugenics.
I do not buy into the, *overpopulation* theory, at face value. However under current systems, manufactured scarcity, created by the *capitalist model*, has lead people to believe, that 7b, is *overpopulated*.
For one, I am quite certain that technologies are being suppressed , which would allow humanity to remove the noose of mining and burning fuels extracted from the earth, why would they not be with-held from the rest of us!
Clean technology, life enhancing, sustaining models which could enable the flourishing of humanity, in ways which most people, simply can’t, or dare not consider. I prefer consider such notions almost daily, because its clear to me, the path we have been forced onto, and are currently on, will be the path which leads to the end, there will be no turning back, its simply not part of the plan!
Just live each day, as best as we all can, as honestly as possible, and ignore the noise, which most of what masquerades as life, actually is.
I actually think (from intuition as opposed to any empirical information) that 7 billion is unsupportable. Technology and manufactured scarcity are human issues.
My own viewpoint is that a world that has set energy budget (solar) linked to an amazingly complex biosystem linked to an amazingly complex biosphere….we humans tend to get carried away with our won importance in the scheme of things. Our worst habit is to try and “tame nature” with our technology and to expect the result will sit in isolation. Seven billion of us and our technologies may be in bat short term, natures innings lasts much longer and they bat last.
However under current systems, manufactured scarcity, created by the *capitalist model*, has lead people to believe, that 7b, is *overpopulated*.
That’s not capitalism promoting that idea but the cold hard facts of science.
For one, I am quite certain that technologies are being suppressed , which would allow humanity to remove the noose of mining and burning fuels extracted from the earth, why would they not be with-held from the rest of us!
That’s not capitalism promoting that idea but the cold hard facts of science.
Is it, is it really!
Think that through, then see if you can’t respond from another angle, because from where I see it, the capitalist system (which actually is in name only), is very much driving the destruction bus, nothing to do with the science at all, in fact they have become long since divorced, it would seem! If not, surely capitalism would have forced a change of direction, perhaps away from the mess we have now.
The other problem I see with science, is that it is an industry, and as such 100% controllable by the money masters, in many respects, just like the technology which goes with it, all very easy to keep under cornered!
I know that science types on here like to believe, their colleagues/industry will be the savior of humanity, well the irony is that they will have been, the reality though, that it will not have been for anything like, the greater good!
If science were going to be any such savior, it would be already, feel free to point to where the science will turn it all around…
because from where I see it, the capitalist system (which actually is in name only), is very much driving the destruction bus
Capitalism is driving the destruction. Agree with that. It needs perpetual exponential growth which is impossible but the science has said, for quite some time, that the earth cannot support the number of people already here at anything close to a western living standard.
If not, surely capitalism would have forced a change of direction, perhaps away from the mess we have now.
Capitalism can’t – see above.
If science were going to be any such savior, it would be already, feel free to point to where the science will turn it all around…
Why should I when I’m not the one who believes that science can? Science can do a lot but it can’t bypass physical limits.
Can you imagine what a nutbar like muzz would do with a backyard fusion generator? They’d immediately assume that the “caution: do not overclock or wire in series” stickers and associated safety devices were just The Man trying to keep people down, and the next thing you have is a ten megaton mushroom cloud.
And then imagine how many people on the planet are as nutty as muzz. Even if there’re only ten thousand of ’em in that ballpark, that’s still more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis.
TC – Because its not about the money, what part of that rather simple concept can’t people wrap their heads around, the *money*, is worthless, choking the life out of humanity on the other hand….
McFlock – Keep going, you may even come up with something original one day, let me know when you do, I’ll QA it.
Instead you waste your energy attempting to convince yourself, the things I post here carry no water at all, which is rather transparent, because who are you actually trying to convince here, and I have mentioned previously, that you don’t have the chops, for an online character analysis, even if you could piece togther the bits of personal info I discard from time to time…
Your transparency is no naked, you even respond, in affirmation of a comment by TC, when generally, you throw insults/abuse at that handle too!
Alex Capstick speaks plainly about corruption—Russian corruption, that is.
When will we hear the BBC talk plainly about Western corruption?
Friday 31 May 2013
Big news item of the day so far is the report by Boris Nemtsov and Leonid Martynyuk, alleging that Putinistas have stolen thirty billion dollars from funds for the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Just heard one Alex Capstick on the BBC talking about this. His item finishes with the observation that these contracts “have enriched only the oligarchs and President Putin’s cronies.”
That is no doubt true, and Capstick’s report was spot-on.
It is interesting, though, to note the thoroughness with which the BBC reports these Russian scandals. It is notable that, when it comes to Russian stories, the reporters speak in plain language, and rarely if ever go to official Russian government sources for “balance”. Dissenters and opposition figures are treated with respect, and generally believed.
Oddly, I can find not a single instance of Alex Capstick or any other BBC reporter ever saying in plain language that the billions of dollars of public money paid in contracts in Iraq “have enriched only the oil companies and President Bush’s cronies.”
The BBC is a rigorous and reliable source of information—when it comes to reporting on the crimes of official enemies.
I haven’t seen much about the obscenely rich in Brazil hoovering up the money for the World Cup and the Olympics. The State government of Rio is using both to shift a lot of land across to the private sector.
Brazil was awarded the FIFA World Cup, to be followed by the Olympic Games, two years apart, in what was an unprecendented offering, in modern times!
This is what you would call, exposure, of the intentions which lay in wait for Brasil, by the owners of the capitalist systems, which have locked in the demise, globally!
Ron Davies just died, he scored about 40 goals in one season (when the Premiership was Div One). In 1968 he scored 4 goals against a Manchester United side at Old Trafford. You would’nt see that today, the money has warped the whole event.
Hi Lynn, just got this message. I opened 5 ts pages in individual tabs (not an unusual amount for me). The fifth page loaded this message instead of ts page.
Your access to this site has been limited
Your access to this service has been temporarily limited. Please try again in a few minutes. (HTTP response code 503)
Reason: Exceeded the maximum number of page requests per minute for humans.
Important note for site admins: If you are the administrator of this website note that your access has been limited because you broke one of the Wordfence firewall rules. The reason you access was limited is: “Exceeded the maximum number of page requests per minute for humans.”.
If this is a false positive, meaning that your access to your own site has been limited incorrectly, then you will need to regain access to your site, go to the Wordfence “options” page, go to the section for Firewall Rules and disable the rule that caused you to be blocked. For example, if you were blocked because it was detected that you are a fake Google crawler, then disable the rule that blocks fake google crawlers. Or if you were blocked because you were accessing your site too quickly, then increase the number of accesses allowed per minute.
If you’re still having trouble, then simply disable the Wordfence firwall and you will still benefit from the other security features that Wordfence provides.
If you are a site administrator and have been accidentally locked out, please enter your email in the box below and click “Send”. If the email address you enter belongs to a known site administrator or someone set to receive Wordfence alerts, we will send you an email to help you regain access. Please read our FAQ if this does not work.
Dang. I will have to increase the limit. It was set to 10 page requests per minute – once every 6 seconds. Now increased to 15 – once every 4 seconds.
It is designed to restrict humans and bots flooding the system with page requests. It throttles them down to a acceptable level. I didn’t think that humans could flick up that number of pages in a minute. But I’d admit that I use tabs extensively myself and would hit the same issues on reopening a browser.
Further evidence that the basis for austerity measures is not even wrong (on the basis of causality) ie it is important to at least get the sign correct.
The interesting problem is that the basis for a number of policy initiatives by the incumbents are based on a series of schoolboy howlers, what confidence can we have in any policy initiatives?
El Gringo Yankey john’s mates are at it again robbing the commons to line their own pockets 🙂 Johnno’s former money factory Merrill Lynch are involved as well”
“Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch will also collect millions in fees from more junior roles in the sale.”
“Britain’s Largest Privatization in Over a Decade Underway
Banking giants Goldman Sachs, UBS to lead privatization of state-owned mail.”
Re U$K comment: “Hopefully, this will lead to mass anti-austerity riots. (I say riots because they’ll start off as massive, peaceful protests, but the police will use their usual dastardly tricks to ensure that the event turns ugly.)
A massive uprising is what it’s going to take to reverse the massive sell off of the commons that’s going on not only in the UK, but globally.”
The Artist taxi driver’s comment on the sell off of the Royal Mail in the U$K and who rules the World?
Who Rules The World? Johnno’s mates the bankers of course! Goldman Sachs in this instance, have their sticky money grubbing claws in the deal. Just like MRP all the millions paid to pin stripe bods to sell off our assets.
Why wasn’t Treaty Negotiations spokesperson’s role in the Labour Party given to Nanaia Mahuta by Shearer? Rino is just a newbie. Doesn’t Shearer’s understand the party needs both wings to fly?
Nanaia and Labour Waikato are being punished by Shearer for supporting Cunliffe.
That is why Rino got the spot.
The ABC gang hope that Nanaia will go away like Charles Chauvel. She is a fighter. She won’t let a bunch of second rate careerists get one over her.
If the MPs can’t sort out the parliamentary party and stop this destructive behaviour the the membership should.
Kim Hill is interviewing Alan Savory, 8am Sat morning. It’s promoted as being about restoring grasslands, but Savory has pioneered meat production on grassland while building fertility and soil (something we don’t currently do), and is very experienced in ecological farming (including tech we could adopt here).
I’m hoping he will also talk about biological/natural systems of carbon sequestration, a must listen for anyone interested in CC and how farming can be a positive solution to some of the CC problems (not just mitigating industrial farming negatives). Savory has a pretty good TED talk too.
Greets all!
Those who are fascinated with the political spectrum, past and present, may want to check out this series by Oliver Stone.
I cannot highly recommend it enough. Each episode focuses on certain periods of American presidencies (starting at Roosevelt and WW2) and the resulting policies/discrimination/chaos/jaw-dropping arrogance. A lot of it focuses on America’s Military-Industrial Complex
David Shearer says:
“I have appointed Shane Jones to the position of Māori Affairs spokesperson and also as associate Food Safety spokesperson given the importance of the food sector to Maori. “Rino Tirikatene will take over responsibility for Treaty Negotiations”
This is a blatant insult to Nanaia Mahuta, who has the mana, experience and intellectual grunt to fulfill this very important role.
This is a continuation of the ABC bullshit of Grant Robertson and his side-kick David Shearer.
This is the type of Sh2t that has Labour going nowhere in the polls.
I had though that the axe had been buried and that this silliness was a thing of the past.
Appointing Shane Jones to Maori Affairs will lose them some more of the Maori vote. I seriously ask myself if they want a Labour/Greens/Mana coalition to win the next election.
Well, based on the evidence (excepting NZ Power which may or may not be the start of a good thing), they expect the electoral tide to carry them over the line.
On 31 May 2013 the Electoral Commission board cancelled the registration of the United Future New Zealand (United Future) party at the party’s request in accordance with section 70 of the Electoral Act 1993.
Very interesting and not surprising given their previous declarations as to party membership (at least 500 are required) must have been stretching credibility and the testing the conscience of those making them.
It rasies some important questions about the operation of parliament given parties and party leaders receive recognition that entitles them to particular speaking rights and funding.
Standing Order 34 refers to :
34 Recognition of parties
(1) Every political party registered under Part 4 of the Electoral Act 1993, and in whose interest a member was elected at the preceding general election or at any subsequent by-election, is entitled to be recognised as a party for parliamentary purposes.
(2) Independent members, or members who cease to be members of the party for which they were originally elected, may be recognised, for parliamentary purposes,—
(a) as members of an existing recognised party if they inform the Speaker in writing that they have joined that party with the agreement of the leader of that party, or
(b) as a new party if they apply to the Speaker and their new party—
(i) is registered under Part 4 of the Electoral Act 1993, and
(ii) has at least six members of Parliament, or
(c) as members of a component party in whose interest those members stood as constituency candidates at the preceding general election if they inform the Speaker in writing that they wish to be so recognised.
(3) A party that has been recognised as a new party under paragraph (2)(b) loses its recognition if its membership falls below six members of Parliament.
(4) Any member who is not a member of a recognised party is treated as an Independent member for parliamentary purposes.
I for one will be very interested to see the next steps in this process.
RNZ has further information about this interesting turn of events:
“United Future says it has asked the commission to temporarily cancel the party’s registration until it confirms its party membership.
The cancelled registration does not have any bearing on the ability of Peter Dunne to continue to serve as an electorate MP, nor as a minister of the Crown.
However, the party will need to be re-registered before the 2014 election to be able to campaign for the party vote and to be eligible for the broadcasting allocation.
Party president Robin Gunston said on Friday that United Future is about a 100 paid-up members short at the moment and it could take about two months to recticfy.
Mr Gunston acknowledges the situation is embarassing for the party.”
A somewhat hopeful spin on the situation. I’m sure people will rushing to sort out their membership/join the party….not!
Can anyone tell me why David Shearer made Shane Jones Maori Spokesperson rather than Nania Mahuta?
I would have thought this is a great moment to eclipse the Maori Party with some serious mana that cuts across the motu, rather than Shane Jones who knows he should have been in the National Party with Wira Gardiner from day one.
Shane Jones in female-voter appeal is only fractionally less toxic than John Tamihere, and that’s saying something given the bile John generates.
Shane, if anything, should have been given fishing so he can grasp the industry he knows best, and then given Cunliffe something useful to do, with all due respect to the fishing industry.
Nania during the 2010 leadership speeches was radiant and dignified, and you don’t get to put those two words together too often with politicians. Neither apply to Shane Jones.
He has a parliamentary email address that is not hard to locate and use. Rather than project your own bias, do some research, ask him some hard questions and then let us know what you learn.
The point is that Messers Shearer and Robertson are publically sending messages to Nanaia Mahuta, her supporters and anyone else who dares to question them, that she and they are no longer welcome in the Labour Party.
Messers Shearer and Robertson are publically indicating that they prefer the likes on Jones, who sucks up appropriatley to the leadership over a candidate with integrity and respect who suppirted Cunliffe.
Messers Shearer and Robertson thus deserve to be publically challenged on their vindictive behaviour.
Jones in Maori Affairs upsets left leaning Maori and most women.
Jones in fishing upsets the Greens, anyone interested in workers’ rights, and most women.
I can only imagine that they’ve put him where they think he’ll do the least damage.
Look out! Nevil Breivik Gibson’s about! The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 31 May 2013
Today’s guests are Joe Bennett and the egregious National Business Review editor Nevil “Breivik” Gibson.
For the first few minutes of the fifteen-minute pre-show segment, there was the usual nervous forced jollity, as Susan Baldacci skimmed over stuff off the internet. Then she read out a piece about some lame-brained humorist in the United States, who has caused consternation with some tomfoolery which led to a police emergency. I missed the details, but the interesting bit was what Susan Baldacci said about the piece…
SUSAN BALDACCI: Now not all terrorists are, ahhhh, religious extremists. Some of them have other issues. JIM MORA: There wouldn’t be much of a sense of humor with that in America, what with the Boston bombings. SUSAN BALDACCI: No. JIM MORA: So he was a punctuation terrorist! JOE BENNETT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Perhaps Ms. Baldacci was playing a sly little game here; she is no doubt aware that Nevil Breivik Gibson wrote a mad editorial earlier this year, where he learnedly informed his thoughtful and discerning readers that all terrorism in the world was committed by Muslims. (That editorial was what earned this intellectual giant the honorary soubriquet of “Breivik”.) Gibson did not say anything on this occasion, however, and after Joe Bennett’s gale of laughter subsided, they went on to another important story.
Unfortunately, I have to leave Chez Breen now, so I will have to miss the rest of the program. I urge Standardistas to listen carefully to what Nevil Breivik Gibson says; although his recent appearances have been anodyne and uncontroversial, he is due for a big one.
Unfortunately, today there is no one on the program like Gordon McLauchlan to contest what he says, point out the vacuity of Breivik Gibson’s utterances and firmly put him in his place, as he did a few years ago in a memorable on-air arse-kicking.
UPDATE:
After the 4 o’clock news, Mora, in his introductory remarks, which have become infamous over the years for their horrible combination of sycophancy and dishonesty, calls Bennett “brilliant”, and Breivik Gibson “sagacious”.
I have a bad, bad feeling about this. Expect obscenity, shading into lunacy from Breivik Gibson, and lots of supportive guffawing from Joe Bennett and Jim Mora.
See you tomorrow, and enjoy the show, if you can stomach these self-important twits.
UPDATE!!!
Just before the 4:30 news break, Joe Bennett took exception to a particularly foolish contribution from Breivik Gibson. “You’re lucky I’m not in Auckland,” he shouted, only half-jokingly, “otherwise it would be gloves off!”
It was not the total mauling and humiliation that Gordon McLauchlan dished out, but Breivik Gibson was definitely taken aback. There was real tension for a few seconds.
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To Limit Another's Rights Is To Limit One's Own: Is it too much to expect senior members of our Government to be capable of explaining that we protect the rights of human-beings precisely because not even the most depraved act can cancel-out the fact that its perpetrator is also a ...
Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...
This section builds on Part 1 of this series to provide a theoretical basis for the final instalment (part 3 – to come). Self-determination: law or resurgence — or both? International law promotes the principal of equal treatment and self-determination, which includes peoples’ rights to freely pursue their social, cultural and ...
Everyone was outraged yesterday to learn that the Christchurch shooting accused had been able to send mail from prison to his Nazi fans, apparently pushing more hate. "How could this possibly happen", people asked. Simple: because New Zealand is a civilised country, and so we let prisoners send and receive ...
If we are to avoid dangerous anthropogenic climate change, we need to rapidly decarbonise our transport fleet. The good news: its starting to happen:The number of electric vehicles on New Zealand's roads have nearly tripled in the past two years. There are currently 15,453 registered electric vehicles (EVs), up ...
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...
Most economists agree that a currently slowing economy could do with some stimulus – and they would also agree that there is no shortage of infrastructure projects which could be brought to productive fruition with help from that stimulus. In view of the current practice of sub-contracting economic policy decisions ...
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
AN OPEN LETTER FOR SIGN ON BY ORGANISATIONS AND MOVEMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD, ALLIED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INEQUALITY. This letter was released at the UN Political Forum on 9 July, where the Sustainable Development Goal on inequality was reviewed. The purpose of the letter is to call out the ...
We asked a young gay science student and critic of trans ideology and the trans activists’ assault on women’s and gay rights to outline his views on Redline. Thanks to him for his article. by Cian Ó Catháin Gender identity ideology (Gender ID) is ripping through western society at full ...
The Environment Committee is currently hearing submissions on the Zero Carbon Bill, and Stuff is reporting on the submissions. Today, they're covering yesterday they heard from "NZ" Steel:NZ Steel has told MPs it may be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if changes aren't made to ...
Students are striking against climate change on September 27. And this time, they're asking everyone to join them:Students are taking to the streets, beaches and parks on 27 September, and we're inviting everyone to join us. That's right, this is an intergenerational issue, and you're all invited to put pressure ...
Peter McKenzie has a piece on Newsroom this morning about how local body politics is awash with property developer cash. 70% of all the donations in the 2016 Wellington mayoral election came from property developers. And its pretty obvious what they want in exchange:That’s particularly important in local government, according ...
Source: Unknown, twitter user Recently, I wrote a (relatively) short paper titled as above, to explore what self-determination could like in a practical sense. Maybe I’m a bit of an international trade truther or something, but I absolutely believe trade is at the heart of achieving peace and self-determination. Since ...
In the 1960s, after I had graduated with a first-class Oxford postgraduate law degree, I joined the British Foreign Office as the top entrant of my year. There, I worked for a couple of years on European affairs and was eventually posted to the Embassy in Brussels. After this exposure ...
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and ...
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
Last week, the ongoing democracy protests in Hong Kong saw a pro-Hong Kong student assaulted at the University of Auckland. The Chinese consulate in Auckland followed this up with a press release "express[ing] its appreciation to the students for their spontaneous patriotism" - effectively condoning the assault and inciting further ...
Only those who close their eyes and minds to the evidence can still be in any doubt that we are facing a climate change crisis. The evidence is conclusive that the world is not only getting inexorably hotter, but also that the rising temperatures are creating a number of other ...
Rural communities are wailing about forestry conversions "taking land out of production" and putting it into locking up carbon. Its driven purely by economics: there's more money and lower costs in carbon than in sheep or beef, and if carbon prices rise, there'll be more net money than dairy even. ...
This week, the government introduced its (underwhelming) Abortion Legislation Bill. And despite having negotiated the text of the bill through the coalition process, Winston Peters is now suggesting that he will demand a referendum on it:NZ First leader Winston Peters has hinted that his party may only support the Government's ...
Blowing-Up The House: Is Winston Peters planning to put himself at the head of all those New Zealanders who refuse to countenance the Coalition Government caving-in to the Ihumatao protesters? The most effective way of doing this would be to issue Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with an ultimatum. If she ...
Last night the police dramatically incresed their numbers at Ihumātao, shoving over protestors and threatening them with arrest. Despite police talk about the need to maintain "public order" and prevent a "breach of the peace", there appeared to be absolutely no justification for this: the protest camp is, was, and ...
A Cult, that many actors, politicians, and those with a low IQ are joining is sweeping across civilisation, with one main intention – ending humans reign on Earth. Starting as a well meaning though deeply flawed theory, that the Earth was warming due to mankind emitting greenhouse gasses, it was ...
Today's abortion reform announcement is just the latest in a long line of disappointing decisions or outright failures from the Labour government. The 90-day law. KiwiBuild. A capital gains tax. Climate change. Every time they make one of those decisions, we hope for better next time. No repeal of the ...
The Greens used their party conference over the weekend to push for a rent-to-own scheme, where people would be able to work towards home ownership by renting from the government. Its a sensible policy, and one which could make a real difference to home ownership rates. But its also basicly ...
by Daphna Whitmore Over the past fortnight, thousands of people have come to the Ihumātao land protest in South Auckland. On 23 July police prepared to evict a few dozen people who had maintained the encampment at Ihumātao for the past three years. As hundreds of supporters arrived the ...
The following article is translated from an article in Lutte de Classe (Class Struggle), the magazine of the French revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle). The United States’ blacklisting of the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, which took shape in Google’s ban on Huawei using its systems on its phones, marks a ...
There is a military phrase: “Full spectrum dominance”. It refers to the all-encompassing policy to dominate across all spheres of war. Lately, that has come to include the internet – in other words, cyberwarfare initiatives. That is in addition to land, sea, air and the like. Now, if ...
The IMF issued a Report on the state of the Economy as it is at present. Some of it points out significant issues that certainly warrant attention, but that we know already exist. Some of it is very much tied to the very obvious context of global concerns, that everyone ...
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...
Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the report of the Small Business Council will help maintain the momentum for innovation and improvements in the sector. Mr Nash has thanked the members of the Small Business Council (SBC) who this week handed over their report, Empowering small businesses to aspire, succeed ...
Extra Police officers are being deployed from Northland to Southland with the graduation of a new wing of recruits from the Royal New Zealand Police College. “The graduation of 78 constables today means that 1524 new constables have been deployed since the government took office,” says Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Wellington, 20 August 2019 — Lawyers for Vulnerable New Zealanders (LVNZ) has lent its support to the amendments proposed by MP Chris Penk to better protect vulnerable people from being coerced to end their lives under the End of Life Choice Bill, currently ...
The Government’s decision to establish and independent Parliamentary Budget Office, outside of Treasury, is a taxpayer victory and will improve democracy, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union . Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “It's ...
The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the cost-benefit analysis prepared by Ministry of Transport and used to advise Ministers on the Government’s Clean Car Standard and ‘Feebate’ policies has serious flaws which undermine justifications for the ...
The Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) welcomes new proposals for prison reform put forward by the Minister of Corrections and non-government organisations recently. ...
The New Zealand Maori Council has called on the nation to address all forms of racism and not to shy away from an honest conversation about where it’s taking hold. The call comes after the Nelson Club decided to keep a member after his comments became ...
Wellington (20 August 2019): The New Zealand Initiative enthusiastically welcomes the Coalition Government’s announcement of an Independent Parliamentary Budget Office. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Associate Finance Minister James Shaw ...
Drs Say No agree with Chris Penk’s amendment to protect vulnerable patients from coercion, although the organisation still maintains that no safe euthanasia legislation can ever be drafted and continues to urge MPs to defeat the End of Life Choice Bill. ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says the Northland Regional Corrections Facility is persisting with policies that are preventing it from achieving its full potential. ...
The second national hui in the Māori-led Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki concluded yesterday ahead of schedule after a capacity audience formally ratified the terms of reference that determines the scope and purpose of the independent investigation ...
Forest & Bird says WWF-NZ's plan for protecting Māui dolphins is based on testing unproven methods on a species that is almost extinct, and is urging the Government to reject the proposal. ...
Primary and intermediate school principals have voted to accept a new settlement from the Ministry of Education, which includes entrenched pay parity with secondary principals. ...
Police acknowledge the findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report into the 2014 search of a property belonging to Nicky Hager. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the Police's unlawful search of Nicky Hager's property in October 2014 resulted from an unwitting neglect of duty and did not amount to misconduct by any individual officer. Police policy at the ...
Tuesday, August 20: Greenpeace has labeled an overnight announcement by fishing company Sanford as a danger to Māui and Hector’s dolphins, and is calling on the Government to reject the ‘Sanford Plan’ immediately. ...
World Animal Protection describes an overnight announcement (19 August, embargoed until 6am 20 August), by fishing company Sanford as a cynical move to undermine growing support for full habitat protection for Māui and Hector’s dolphins. They called ...
When the combined tax on fuel hits over 50 percent in some parts of the country, it is hypocritical for the Government to blame corporates, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union . ...
A leading expert in suicide prevention has urged MPs not to confuse suicide with assisted dying as they consider the second reading of the End of Life Choice Bill. ...
Over the weekend Māoridom arrived in the Waikato for the annual Koroneihana Celebrations. Yesterday almost 300 attended a Hui in Hamilton to continue the Oranga Tamariki Review led by an independent Māori panel to coincide with the Koroneihana. The Hui confirmed ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) says the newly issued ‘price list’ for compensation of banned firearms reveals that haste in preparing the ban has led to an underestimation of the number of affected firearms and their value. ...
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis has admitted parts of the prison system are “extremely racist” and says that’s why the Government is asking Māori to work with it to make changes. ...
Ongoing drug-test sanctions contradicts Government’s rhetoric on drugs Reports that two-thirds of beneficiaries who fail drug tests are still having their benefit sanctioned contradicts the Government’s so-called health approach to drugs. Auckland ...
An Auckland Homelessness Collective is optimistic extra government support for sustaining tenancies signals a commitment to a multi-pronged approach to tackling homelessness. ...
Wanaka-based trust ONE New Zealand will be hosting six days of talks, workshops and hands-on activities with local and national experts to educate, inspire and enable grassroots action towards a sustainable future. ...
In last week’s episode of Politics in Full Sentences, David, Brooke and Ruwan discussed why Jacinda Ardern has been lecturing our friends overseas, why Andrew Little called ACT's three strikes law “fascism”, whether he will give prisoners the right to ...
“Community safety must be the paramount consideration when releasing an offender, and the only way for that to be achieved is for the offender to acknowledge their crimes.” ...
“District Health Boards are failing to foster a culture of distributed clinical leadership, despite its demonstrated benefits to the sector,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). ...
Ratepayers around Auckland were spitting out their morning coffees listening to Phil Goff’s incredible claims on breakfast radio today that this election is about ‘honesty’ and that Aucklanders can trust him on his promises. Auckland Ratepayers’ ...
The Hōkai Rangi plan for reducing Māori reoffending announced today fails to fulfil the Waitangi Tribunal’s recommendations, says justice organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. Minister Kelvin Davis announced the plan this morning, which aims ...
Waatea News at the invitation of the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency will exclusively broadcast the next Māori-led Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki starting today at 1pm. ...
Staff at the Ministry of Social Development say they are enthusiastic about the government’s $54 million investment in housing the homeless, with many describing it as a welcome change. ...
Today posters have gone up outside ANZ branches across New Zealand to expose ANZ’s sponsorship of an exclusive oil industry group, ‘The Petroleum Club’. The satirical posters play on ANZ’s recent ad campaigns, replacing the banks’ tagline ‘healthy ...
Imagine a country where children look forward to walking or cycling to school, parents arrive home safely, and the journeys we take for work or pleasure do more than leave us alive or uninjured, they also improve our lives. This is happening now in countries ...
Sunday, 18 August, 2019 - Environmental groups and well known New Zealanders are preparing to deliver a 55,000 strong petition to the steps of Parliament tomorrow, calling on the Government to protect the world’s smallest dolphin. ...
The Government’s proposed rescue plan must be strengthened because it is the last chance to save Māui dolphins from extinction and secure the future for Hector’s dolphins, Forest & Bird says. ...
Simon Shepherd: Roads, schools, hospitals, prisons, the building blocks that keep society functioning. And we don't have enough. It's called the infrastructure deficit and will be the focus of a major conference this coming week. The man charged with ...
New Zealand has been issued a stark challenge from Pacific leaders to dramatically upscale its action to address climate breakdown, Oxfam says, after a clear rallying cry from nations at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum. ...
Support for Recreational Dope Going ‘Up in Smoke’ Family First NZ is welcoming yet another poll showing plummeting support for legalising cannabis in New Zealand. The Horizon Research poll shows support for legalising has plummeted from 60% last ...
The prospect of ending wider cannabis prohibition looks increasingly unlikely. Over the last nine months, the percentage of New Zealanders who would vote for legalising the personal use of cannabis has declined at a near linear rate of around 10% per ...
“It’s disappointing that news out of the United States of hospitalisations linked to illegal street drugs is somehow seen as relevant to the New Zealand vaping scene,” says Ben Pryor, Director of Alt New Zealand – the largest Kiwi-owned vaping company. ...
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) welcomes the successful passing of Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill through parliament, by the New Zealand Government. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carly Osborn, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.What makes us cry? – Claudia, age 7.5, Victoria. Hi Claudia. Thank you for this very sensible ...
In the third episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect AI has on our lives, Te Aroha Grace talks to host Russell Brown about the Iwi Algorithm.Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below.To download this episode right click and save.At ...
Colson Whitehead won the 2017 Pultizer Prize for Fiction for The Underground Railroad, a depiction of slavery and resistance in 19th century Georgia. Now he’s back with a similarly grim premise, following two boys through the horrors of a real-life reform school in Florida. Our reviewer is Aaron Smale, whose ...
Two recent scientific discoveries rocked us to our fossily core, but there’s a bigger, more shocking story to be told. Who are the silhouette people? Tara Ward finds out. It’s been a big month for bones. First, New Zealand scientists uncovered evidence that a giant parrot once roamed the country around ...
From tennis champions to dance craze inventors, Scratched celebrates New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. This month, aerobics world champion and creator of Jump Jam, Brett Fairweather. Every New Zealander under the age of 30 knows at least one ...
Life in the wee hours could be made safer and better for business if New Zealand adopted the policies of cities such as Amsterdam, writes Natanael Rother.It would be insane to do the same thing over and over again and still expect different results. It’s a lesson those embroiled in ...
Stranger Things owns all the oxygen for period-piece teen TV, but Ireland’s impossibly charming Derry Girls deserves as much acclaim, writes Duncan Greive.There’s a reason why high school is the backdrop to so much fantastic television. That cusp between childhood and the adult world is ripe with dramatic possibility. Relationships ...
The Commerce Commission has released preliminary findings from its market study into the retail fuel market, finding it not as competitive as it could be. ...
We’ve become used to Samoan characters as peripheral bad guys. But from the tatau Sāmoa on his chest to his relationships with his aiga, Hobbs & Shaw showed us someone who is us. And he kicks arse.When I was growing up, there were hardly any Sāmoan or Polynesian faces on ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Māori prison strategy, prisoner voting 1News: Kelvin Davis admits parts of prison system ‘extremely racist’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hopkins, Lecturer in conservation biology and microbial ecology, Edith Cowan University As most of the science community knows, the climate emergency is here now. Weather extremes such as droughts and heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity and are measurably exacerbated ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Krystian Seibert, Industry Fellow, Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of Technology Over the weekend, Prime Minister Scott Morrison launched a new assault on the campaigning group GetUp. At the Liberal Party’s state conference in Adelaide, he said GetUp needed to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Archana Koirala, Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist, University of Sydney If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How does our blood fight viruses like chicken pox, sickness and colds? – Teddy, 5, Oxfordshire, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Hemer, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO The rise in sea levels is not the only way climate change will affect the coasts. Our research, published today in Nature Climate Change, found a warming planet will also alter ocean waves ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Owain Emslie, Associate, Grattan Institute Inheritances can have an enormous impact on finances and lives. Yet in Australia we know surprisingly little about who gets them and how big they are. New Grattan Institute research provides some answers. Inheritances are big and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Pitt, PhD candidate, UNSW In April 2020, Australia will mark 250 years since James Cook sailed into Kamay (later known as Botany Bay) on the Endeavour, kicking off a series of events that resulted in the British arriving and staying uninvited ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Law changes likely over prison mail system, sharp drops in Northland vaccinations, and PM still has no plans to visit Ihumātao.Law changes are looking likely over what mail prisoners can send and receive. One News has reported on the announcement made by ...
Is a second attempt at merging parts of Stuff and NZ Herald owner NZME planned, with a bid for political intervention to help the media industry? Tim Murphy reports. ...
How the NZ Superfund has drummed up $15 trillion to put pressure on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube giants over livestreaming following the Christchurch terror attacks. ...
Kiwi Jamie Greene has established herself as one of the fittest women on the globe in the fast-growing gruelling sport of CrossFit. And she wants to thank her runner sister for helping drive her. ...
Newsroom is delighted to welcome the University of Otago as our third university partner for the IdeasRoom section exploring issues of importance to society and the country’s future. ...
Who should decide how many more tourists fly into Queenstown and Wanaka? Journalist and former district councillor, Cath Gilmour, argues local residents should, not the airlines. ...
Phil Goff has kept a low profile compared with his headline-grabbing opponent in the early stages of the Auckland mayoral campaign. Hayden Donnell heads along to see if the mayor can win back the spotlight at his campaign launch.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to ...
Backed by businessman Eric Watson and launched in a blaze of publicity, online trader Fashbae disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. Now its founder is traversing the globe in a jeep. Business editor Maria Slade tries to keep up with events.It had it all. A suave multi-millionaire investor and ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Rioting broke out in Manokwari, West Papua, today as local people – mostly university students – protested against racial abuse of Papuan students in East Java, reports TheJakarta Post. The protesters blocked a number of major streets in the city this morning, cutting down ...
By Ben Bilua in Suva Multimedia skills and innovation are key to adapting to the changing media landscape, said US academic Professor Debora Wenger as newsmakers around the world continue to grapple with challenges arising from the transformation of technology and social media. Speaking to journalists at a regional ...
The new RBNZ seems to crave the limelight and be known for advocacy of new causes, and that has not impressed macroeconomics professor Robert MacCulloch. ...
The prime minister won't meet with Ihumātao protesters before Thursday - the deadline given by the group to stop them marching to her Auckland electorate office. ...
Cabinet ministers will discuss possible law changes to what mail can be received and sent by prisoners, after the accused Christchurch gunman was able to send mail to supporters. ...
The Catholic and Anglican churches are still considering quashing legal agreements that may prevent abuse survivors from giving evidence to the inquiry investigating historical abuse in care. ...
The new joint from the team behind one of Wellington’s favourite craft beer bars is dedicated to minimal-intervention, organic wine – and more exciting things are coming to the heritage building it’s housed in.Before the Cadbury factory opened in Dunedin in 1930, New Zealanders ate Cadbury chocolate made in England. ...
Alex Casey chats to Bree Tomasel about hosting Celebrity Treasure Island NZ, farting in the ZM studio and going viral on the regular. The most important thing you need to know about Bree Tomasel is not the fact that she peed her pants during Celebrity Treasure Island NZ, but the glee ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsAnalysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – The election race is on. The nominations process for local government positions has now closed, and the political campaign is officially underway. But does the public care? Will many of us even vote for any of the various mayoral or council ...
At Eden Park on Saturday night, the Wallabies were on the receiving end of a ruthless players’ revenge, writes Scotty StevensonThe rain came. It always seems to at Eden Park, just as the Wallabies warm up on the pitch, dreaming of ending a drought. It came from the west, the ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Michael Fallow (Stuff): Your council – what’s its job description? Dileepa Fonseka and ...
Protesters occupying land at Ihumātao will begin a four-hour hikoi to Mt Albert on Thursday to present a petition calling on the Prime Minister to visit the land. ...
Open mike 31/05/2013 
by Jan Rivers More than 30 years ago a Commission of Inquiry was held in New Zealand to investigate, amongst other things, whether women with cervical cancer were aware that they had been part of a research project and whether they were properly informed of the treatment options ...3 hours ago
Canada is having an election in the next few months, and (perhaps because their Prime Minister is so nice and reasonable) they have a party running on a platform of Trumpism and climate change denial. But there's a twist: the latter means that it will be illegal for anyone in ...6 hours ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...8 hours ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...2 days ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...2 days ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...4 days ago
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Tom Scott on RNZ saying he thought Nisbet’s cartoon was not funny and that he, Tom Scott, did not target the vulnerable. Apparently he’s drawn a cartoon about the cartoon. If someone knows where to find this online, can they put the link here?
The faces of criminals living off other people’s money.
I guess I missed the press release from the SST that expressed outrage about their manifestly inadequate sentencing and the criminals keeping their homes instead of paying reparations to the people they stole from.
Home detention.
What a joke!
I’m fine with home detention for non-violent offenders. It’s just a pity that they get to keep theirs rather than having them confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Under normal circumstances, I don’t see much point in custodial sentences. In cases such as this, though, I can see one compelling argument to lock these guys up. Conditions inside prison will never improve as long as they’re full of poor brown people. The more rich white motherfuckers locked up, the better, at least until we see real change.
The poor dears
/sarc
The original sentences were a joke and I glad that the Court of appeal is upping them.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10887532
The Herald is worried Doug G might lose his knighthood and wonders if that’s fair. If my reading is correct its not because the offending had nothing to do with the reason he got a knighthood. You know, we wouldn’t have this ‘problem’ of deknighting if we didn’t knight in the first place.
I think that Douglas has said that if his appealed failed he would hand in his Sir.
Agreed. Certainly give him the chance to do the right thing.
Clearly the title means something and by associating the title with a investment company there was an expectation of greater diligence, that the titled person would safeguard their honored status. It stands therefore that the title should be given up, or taken off them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10887551
I’m not a fan of “Harvey” Norman, but credit where it’s due, he seems to have come a ways since he was overwhelmingly voted into coventry by party members on Frogblog when he was trying to justify voting for the CERA outrage.
Also interesting is that most sessions of the upcoming party AGM will be held behind closed doors to facilitate members being able to freely air differences of opinion without fear of the media misrepresenting such openness as evidence of the party split asunder. This seems to be a move away from the pan-party trend of conferences being mere show ponies, with all the important decision making done by the elite few amongst themselves without reference to the membership.
God help us, Susan Devoy thinks some poor parents really do their very to feed their kids. Presumably, even some Polynesian parents.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8739113/Cartoons-no-joke-for-the-poor-Devoy
It’s funny how her bigotry leaks out when she’s trys to look like she is doing her job.
Note also, that as race relations commissioner, she focusses on poverty rather than racism, which downplays the racist nature of the cartoons.
There is tho a small ray of hope yet for the Dame, She deserves 1 brownie point for at least holding the press conference and giving that offensive little rag a slagging,
i see Her point about Her acting from within the legislation which governs Her role and it has become more than obvious that the legislation needs a serious make-over,
Down here in the gutter the over-monied red neck scum cannot really insult us with their snippets of abuse as such will enter the ‘culture’ and simply be lampooned as is every other insult directed our way…
On the same subject i just listened to an interview with the ex editor of Wellington’s Dom-Post, (a complete fucking non-entity whose name is irrelevant), He defends the racist slurs cast in that particular cartoon on the basis that a lot of people might hold the same views as it expressed,
It’s easy to see why i do not and will not even stoop to reading that particular newspaper and to insert any further comment about such commentary and the scum at RadioNZ giving such views oxygen would have me run the risk of publishing comments directly intended to incite violence….
The Press has an article toady about Nisbet and illustrates it’s text with two Nisbet cartoons.
One clearly shows Eastern Christchurch to be unkempt and poorly maintained (obviously a deliberate slight on it’s less well off residents) and the other clearly denigrates red headed people, showing them as criminal incompetents.
This guy Nisbet has a lot to answer for…..
Give her enough rope….
The government, i.e. Steven Joyce, is obviously hellbent on destroying the credibility of public institutions, especially ones like the office of Race Relations conciliator.
I firmly believe that the Government, i.e. Steven Joyce, should just go all out with the mockery project and appoint this guy as the next Human Rights Commissioner….
http://cdn.3news.co.nz/3news/AM/2013/3/23/291492/nationalfront-kylechapman.jpg?width=460
Last night I had the good fortune to attend a talk by Nicole Foss, editor of the Automaticearth on the subject o the current financial turbulence. To say the least she was a most informative and persuasive presenter, an intellect the size of a planet.
In reflection the largest contribution Foss makes is to effectively cancel any precepts of ongoing BAU, the contention that we can return to some prior point and distribute the pie equitably forever. That is a common concept on this blog, what Foss indicates is that the pie we divide is diminishing and will do so alarmingly. Which for me throws into stark relief the dilemma of the Left, “we only need to divide the shares of industrial civilisation fairly”.
I did not hear any left or right partisanship from Foss, no ideology, just a cold hard stare at where we are and where we are going (delivered with warmth). Time for us to wake up and see reality as it is, and to remake our world to fit the new reality. In old terms, to cut our cloth to match.
Interesting. Foss’s blog.
Foss on RNZ Saturday Morning on 24 March 2012
[audio src="http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20120324-0815-nicole_foss_global_finance_and_peak_oil-048.mp3" /]
THIS (thanks for the front line report, Ennui)
Massive rate of quality failures in recent solar panels now expected
For those who understand the irony of using up irreplaceable rare earth materials and fossil fuel energies to try and create sustainable renewable energy sources…and then have free market pressures cause this to happen.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-05-30/next-shoe-drop-shoddy-solar-panels-china
The good old embedded energy versus the future return…the equation of properly constructed always puts the embedded total as the greater.
We can’t do that as there’s too many people. About 6 billion too many.
Some countries and regions may be able to do that though as they themselves aren’t yet over populated and their resources haven’t yet been completely stripped. To do it though they need to stop all immigration, go to a steady state economy and implement full democracy. This representative democracy that only represents the richest will only continue to make things worse.
Stop all immigration?
So if you were born in the Sudan, sorry buddy, tough shit.
Think of it this way TC. We’re on a sinking ship. There aren’t enough lifejackets and lifeboats to go around. What do you think is a fair way to allocate saving of lives?
What, you’re so stupid as to think we can support everyone presently living in the Sudan on these small islands?
No. Not at all.
So you are suggesting only New Zealand should stop all immigration. Great idea. I look forward to the rest of the world not allowing NZer’s emigrating to their countries.
Or that if you could, you should?
Isn’t your attitude to human beings who weren’t lucky enought to be born in our two islands, the same as the rich’s attitude to the poor.
They have the attitude that they are entitled to be rich for no other reason they were born into privilige.
You seem to share that attiude towards foreigners as in they can get fucked as long as we are happy.
The only way humanity will survice is with a global solution where all humans are treated equally. We can’t (as the rich do) put up a big wall around NZ and tell everyone else to fuck off. That will work for a while until desperation sets in.
I don’t know, it might still work then.
Nope. Just practical realities. We can’t maintain 7 billion people at a reasonable living standard this means that there will be starvation, there will be poverty and that those countries that can will have to stop all immigration. Those that can’t, well, they’ll have war.
The problem is that there isn’t a global solution or, to be more precise, the global solution is what I described above.
We could have gone for the everyone treated equally and no poverty bit in about the 1950s. The 1970s it was probably still possible but the West wanted more and more people to fuel growth so that the banksters could be paid and the rest of the world, well, who knows what they wanted but what they got was more and more people.
Actually, we can do that (it’s a rather difficult swim to get here) and there won’t be any desperation as we have the resources that we need. Well, there won’t be any as long as we get rid of the rich and their delusional socio-economic system.
E is E
Nice sounding principles, let’s see how NZ citizens vote on those policies once they see house prices, jobs, school places, hospital beds being taken up by a million, two million, three million new arrivals.
And DTB is right. I think we’ve overshot the planet’s long term carrying capacity by approx 6B people. So after you take in 3M of them and destroyed your own societal structures, there’s still 5997M who are going to be in dire straits.
Don’t worry Draco – The eugenics teams are hard at work, ensuring that one way or another, the herd will be culled, significantly, and sooner than later!
The Contrarian – Yup, some people are born in unfortunate places, under unfortunate circumstances.
Large enough numbers of them are already born, and living in NZ, and apparently there is little, to no appetite to address the existing levels of poverty/inequality, as such there is no room for those who are not already here, and in need of help!
Simple really!
Muzz and TContrary, I don’t think Draco is being eugenicist or otherwise…the reality we face is that we may be among-st the 6 billion surplus and the cold hard reality wont be a cull as opposed to a long drawn out famine / pestulence / war…you know, the standard bad bits. Might even reach supply demand equilibrium in economics talk with regard to food supply….Four horseman territory, DTB might merely be expressing some prescience.
Capitalism is killing thousands of kids a day now, so what’s new.
There is enough to go round now provided we planned sustainably and fairly.
Occupy was half there, it targetted the 1% but couldnt mobilise the 99%
Socialism is the only survival strategy both in terms of humanity and nature (which in my book is the same thing).
Marx not Malthus!
Hi Ennui – Yes, I’m quite sure Draco was not a proponent of eugenics.
I do not buy into the, *overpopulation* theory, at face value. However under current systems, manufactured scarcity, created by the *capitalist model*, has lead people to believe, that 7b, is *overpopulated*.
For one, I am quite certain that technologies are being suppressed , which would allow humanity to remove the noose of mining and burning fuels extracted from the earth, why would they not be with-held from the rest of us!
Clean technology, life enhancing, sustaining models which could enable the flourishing of humanity, in ways which most people, simply can’t, or dare not consider. I prefer consider such notions almost daily, because its clear to me, the path we have been forced onto, and are currently on, will be the path which leads to the end, there will be no turning back, its simply not part of the plan!
Just live each day, as best as we all can, as honestly as possible, and ignore the noise, which most of what masquerades as life, actually is.
I actually think (from intuition as opposed to any empirical information) that 7 billion is unsupportable. Technology and manufactured scarcity are human issues.
My own viewpoint is that a world that has set energy budget (solar) linked to an amazingly complex biosystem linked to an amazingly complex biosphere….we humans tend to get carried away with our won importance in the scheme of things. Our worst habit is to try and “tame nature” with our technology and to expect the result will sit in isolation. Seven billion of us and our technologies may be in bat short term, natures innings lasts much longer and they bat last.
Nicely put, E!
That’s not capitalism promoting that idea but the cold hard facts of science.
Possibly but I don’t believe so.
Is it, is it really!
Think that through, then see if you can’t respond from another angle, because from where I see it, the capitalist system (which actually is in name only), is very much driving the destruction bus, nothing to do with the science at all, in fact they have become long since divorced, it would seem! If not, surely capitalism would have forced a change of direction, perhaps away from the mess we have now.
The other problem I see with science, is that it is an industry, and as such 100% controllable by the money masters, in many respects, just like the technology which goes with it, all very easy to keep under cornered!
I know that science types on here like to believe, their colleagues/industry will be the savior of humanity, well the irony is that they will have been, the reality though, that it will not have been for anything like, the greater good!
If science were going to be any such savior, it would be already, feel free to point to where the science will turn it all around…
Capitalism is driving the destruction. Agree with that. It needs perpetual exponential growth which is impossible but the science has said, for quite some time, that the earth cannot support the number of people already here at anything close to a western living standard.
Capitalism can’t – see above.
Why should I when I’m not the one who believes that science can? Science can do a lot but it can’t bypass physical limits.
“I am quite certain that technologies are being suppressed”
Why would an oil company suppress clean energy technology when they could patent it and make a fucking killing.
Can you imagine what a nutbar like muzz would do with a backyard fusion generator? They’d immediately assume that the “caution: do not overclock or wire in series” stickers and associated safety devices were just The Man trying to keep people down, and the next thing you have is a ten megaton mushroom cloud.
And then imagine how many people on the planet are as nutty as muzz. Even if there’re only ten thousand of ’em in that ballpark, that’s still more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis.
TC – Because its not about the money, what part of that rather simple concept can’t people wrap their heads around, the *money*, is worthless, choking the life out of humanity on the other hand….
McFlock – Keep going, you may even come up with something original one day, let me know when you do, I’ll QA it.
Instead you waste your energy attempting to convince yourself, the things I post here carry no water at all, which is rather transparent, because who are you actually trying to convince here, and I have mentioned previously, that you don’t have the chops, for an online character analysis, even if you could piece togther the bits of personal info I discard from time to time…
Your transparency is no naked, you even respond, in affirmation of a comment by TC, when generally, you throw insults/abuse at that handle too!
Here’s a window….
TC, unlike you, occasionally has a point worthy of consideration.
Alex Capstick speaks plainly about corruption—Russian corruption, that is.
When will we hear the BBC talk plainly about Western corruption?
Friday 31 May 2013
Big news item of the day so far is the report by Boris Nemtsov and Leonid Martynyuk, alleging that Putinistas have stolen thirty billion dollars from funds for the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Just heard one Alex Capstick on the BBC talking about this. His item finishes with the observation that these contracts “have enriched only the oligarchs and President Putin’s cronies.”
That is no doubt true, and Capstick’s report was spot-on.
It is interesting, though, to note the thoroughness with which the BBC reports these Russian scandals. It is notable that, when it comes to Russian stories, the reporters speak in plain language, and rarely if ever go to official Russian government sources for “balance”. Dissenters and opposition figures are treated with respect, and generally believed.
Oddly, I can find not a single instance of Alex Capstick or any other BBC reporter ever saying in plain language that the billions of dollars of public money paid in contracts in Iraq “have enriched only the oil companies and President Bush’s cronies.”
The BBC is a rigorous and reliable source of information—when it comes to reporting on the crimes of official enemies.
To find out the extent of the financial, as well as the humanitarian, crimes carried out in Iraq, serious people have learned to bypass official and biased outlets like the BBC, and go to sites like this….
https://www.globalpolicy.org/political-issues-in-iraq/corporate-contracts-7-6.html
I haven’t seen much about the obscenely rich in Brazil hoovering up the money for the World Cup and the Olympics. The State government of Rio is using both to shift a lot of land across to the private sector.
Brazil was awarded the FIFA World Cup, to be followed by the Olympic Games, two years apart, in what was an unprecendented offering, in modern times!
This is what you would call, exposure, of the intentions which lay in wait for Brasil, by the owners of the capitalist systems, which have locked in the demise, globally!
Ron Davies just died, he scored about 40 goals in one season (when the Premiership was Div One). In 1968 he scored 4 goals against a Manchester United side at Old Trafford. You would’nt see that today, the money has warped the whole event.
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Dang. I will have to increase the limit. It was set to 10 page requests per minute – once every 6 seconds. Now increased to 15 – once every 4 seconds.
It is designed to restrict humans and bots flooding the system with page requests. It throttles them down to a acceptable level. I didn’t think that humans could flick up that number of pages in a minute. But I’d admit that I use tabs extensively myself and would hit the same issues on reopening a browser.
Further evidence that the basis for austerity measures is not even wrong (on the basis of causality) ie it is important to at least get the sign correct.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/reinhart-rogoff-debunked_n_3361299.html
The interesting problem is that the basis for a number of policy initiatives by the incumbents are based on a series of schoolboy howlers, what confidence can we have in any policy initiatives?
El Gringo Yankey john’s mates are at it again robbing the commons to line their own pockets 🙂 Johnno’s former money factory Merrill Lynch are involved as well”
“Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch will also collect millions in fees from more junior roles in the sale.”
“Britain’s Largest Privatization in Over a Decade Underway
Banking giants Goldman Sachs, UBS to lead privatization of state-owned mail.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/30-4
Re U$K comment: “Hopefully, this will lead to mass anti-austerity riots. (I say riots because they’ll start off as massive, peaceful protests, but the police will use their usual dastardly tricks to ensure that the event turns ugly.)
A massive uprising is what it’s going to take to reverse the massive sell off of the commons that’s going on not only in the UK, but globally.”
The Artist taxi driver’s comment on the sell off of the Royal Mail in the U$K and who rules the World?
Who Rules The World? Johnno’s mates the bankers of course! Goldman Sachs in this instance, have their sticky money grubbing claws in the deal. Just like MRP all the millions paid to pin stripe bods to sell off our assets.
Why wasn’t Treaty Negotiations spokesperson’s role in the Labour Party given to Nanaia Mahuta by Shearer? Rino is just a newbie. Doesn’t Shearer’s understand the party needs both wings to fly?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10887596
Nanaia and Labour Waikato are being punished by Shearer for supporting Cunliffe.
That is why Rino got the spot.
The ABC gang hope that Nanaia will go away like Charles Chauvel. She is a fighter. She won’t let a bunch of second rate careerists get one over her.
If the MPs can’t sort out the parliamentary party and stop this destructive behaviour the the membership should.
Could it be she has a new baby, and that her family takes precedent over work?
Babies and families are common to many many MPs. You comment is trite.
Are you suggesting Nanaia did not want the role? You do not know Nanaia.
Kim Hill is interviewing Alan Savory, 8am Sat morning. It’s promoted as being about restoring grasslands, but Savory has pioneered meat production on grassland while building fertility and soil (something we don’t currently do), and is very experienced in ecological farming (including tech we could adopt here).
I’m hoping he will also talk about biological/natural systems of carbon sequestration, a must listen for anyone interested in CC and how farming can be a positive solution to some of the CC problems (not just mitigating industrial farming negatives). Savory has a pretty good TED talk too.
http://www.savoryinstitute.com/
Greets all!
Those who are fascinated with the political spectrum, past and present, may want to check out this series by Oliver Stone.
I cannot highly recommend it enough. Each episode focuses on certain periods of American presidencies (starting at Roosevelt and WW2) and the resulting policies/discrimination/chaos/jaw-dropping arrogance. A lot of it focuses on America’s Military-Industrial Complex
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1494191/
A little bird mentioned that this link might be of interest…
http://pastebin.com/s3LJTJ6B
Ah yes, I might set aside some time this weekend to take a look at this American history…
David Shearer says:
“I have appointed Shane Jones to the position of Māori Affairs spokesperson and also as associate Food Safety spokesperson given the importance of the food sector to Maori. “Rino Tirikatene will take over responsibility for Treaty Negotiations”
This is a blatant insult to Nanaia Mahuta, who has the mana, experience and intellectual grunt to fulfill this very important role.
This is a continuation of the ABC bullshit of Grant Robertson and his side-kick David Shearer.
This is the type of Sh2t that has Labour going nowhere in the polls.
I had though that the axe had been buried and that this silliness was a thing of the past.
Roberson/Shearer are silly silly boys.
Appointing Shane Jones to Maori Affairs will lose them some more of the Maori vote. I seriously ask myself if they want a Labour/Greens/Mana coalition to win the next election.
Well, based on the evidence (excepting NZ Power which may or may not be the start of a good thing), they expect the electoral tide to carry them over the line.
hahahhaha, I blame Pete George:
http://t.co/eB5WKDiCDT
And with one media release, a United Future becomes a lonely past…
or as someone else just said, “the end of an error”
Very interesting and not surprising given their previous declarations as to party membership (at least 500 are required) must have been stretching credibility and the testing the conscience of those making them.
It rasies some important questions about the operation of parliament given parties and party leaders receive recognition that entitles them to particular speaking rights and funding.
Standing Order 34 refers to :
34 Recognition of parties
(1) Every political party registered under Part 4 of the Electoral Act 1993, and in whose interest a member was elected at the preceding general election or at any subsequent by-election, is entitled to be recognised as a party for parliamentary purposes.
(2) Independent members, or members who cease to be members of the party for which they were originally elected, may be recognised, for parliamentary purposes,—
(a) as members of an existing recognised party if they inform the Speaker in writing that they have joined that party with the agreement of the leader of that party, or
(b) as a new party if they apply to the Speaker and their new party—
(i) is registered under Part 4 of the Electoral Act 1993, and
(ii) has at least six members of Parliament, or
(c) as members of a component party in whose interest those members stood as constituency candidates at the preceding general election if they inform the Speaker in writing that they wish to be so recognised.
(3) A party that has been recognised as a new party under paragraph (2)(b) loses its recognition if its membership falls below six members of Parliament.
(4) Any member who is not a member of a recognised party is treated as an Independent member for parliamentary purposes.
I for one will be very interested to see the next steps in this process.
RNZ has further information about this interesting turn of events:
“United Future says it has asked the commission to temporarily cancel the party’s registration until it confirms its party membership.
The cancelled registration does not have any bearing on the ability of Peter Dunne to continue to serve as an electorate MP, nor as a minister of the Crown.
However, the party will need to be re-registered before the 2014 election to be able to campaign for the party vote and to be eligible for the broadcasting allocation.
Party president Robin Gunston said on Friday that United Future is about a 100 paid-up members short at the moment and it could take about two months to recticfy.
Mr Gunston acknowledges the situation is embarassing for the party.”
A somewhat hopeful spin on the situation. I’m sure people will rushing to sort out their membership/join the party….not!
So, as Peter Dunne is no longer leader of a party does that mean he gets a pay cut?
Unfortunately not. His salary as a Minister of the Crown is unaffected by this latest embarrasing event.
Can anyone tell me why David Shearer made Shane Jones Maori Spokesperson rather than Nania Mahuta?
I would have thought this is a great moment to eclipse the Maori Party with some serious mana that cuts across the motu, rather than Shane Jones who knows he should have been in the National Party with Wira Gardiner from day one.
Shane Jones in female-voter appeal is only fractionally less toxic than John Tamihere, and that’s saying something given the bile John generates.
Shane, if anything, should have been given fishing so he can grasp the industry he knows best, and then given Cunliffe something useful to do, with all due respect to the fishing industry.
Nania during the 2010 leadership speeches was radiant and dignified, and you don’t get to put those two words together too often with politicians. Neither apply to Shane Jones.
Why don’t you ask him?
He has a parliamentary email address that is not hard to locate and use. Rather than project your own bias, do some research, ask him some hard questions and then let us know what you learn.
Nordy you Roman
The point is that Messers Shearer and Robertson are publically sending messages to Nanaia Mahuta, her supporters and anyone else who dares to question them, that she and they are no longer welcome in the Labour Party.
Messers Shearer and Robertson are publically indicating that they prefer the likes on Jones, who sucks up appropriatley to the leadership over a candidate with integrity and respect who suppirted Cunliffe.
Messers Shearer and Robertson thus deserve to be publically challenged on their vindictive behaviour.
Asked Shearer then? No…..thought not. Keep projecting your ignorance…. it provides a good laugh.
Jones in Maori Affairs upsets left leaning Maori and most women.
Jones in fishing upsets the Greens, anyone interested in workers’ rights, and most women.
I can only imagine that they’ve put him where they think he’ll do the least damage.
Can anyone tell me why David Shearer made Shane Jones Maori Spokesperson rather than Nania Mahuta?
I’m sure that Mr Jones will make a good fist of it.
(Geddit?)
Naughty Morrissey !
Shane would say “a two-hands of it”…….regardless.
Look out! Nevil Breivik Gibson’s about!
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 31 May 2013
Today’s guests are Joe Bennett and the egregious National Business Review editor Nevil “Breivik” Gibson.
For the first few minutes of the fifteen-minute pre-show segment, there was the usual nervous forced jollity, as Susan Baldacci skimmed over stuff off the internet. Then she read out a piece about some lame-brained humorist in the United States, who has caused consternation with some tomfoolery which led to a police emergency. I missed the details, but the interesting bit was what Susan Baldacci said about the piece…
SUSAN BALDACCI: Now not all terrorists are, ahhhh, religious extremists. Some of them have other issues.
JIM MORA: There wouldn’t be much of a sense of humor with that in America, what with the Boston bombings.
SUSAN BALDACCI: No.
JIM MORA: So he was a punctuation terrorist!
JOE BENNETT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Perhaps Ms. Baldacci was playing a sly little game here; she is no doubt aware that Nevil Breivik Gibson wrote a mad editorial earlier this year, where he learnedly informed his thoughtful and discerning readers that all terrorism in the world was committed by Muslims. (That editorial was what earned this intellectual giant the honorary soubriquet of “Breivik”.) Gibson did not say anything on this occasion, however, and after Joe Bennett’s gale of laughter subsided, they went on to another important story.
Unfortunately, I have to leave Chez Breen now, so I will have to miss the rest of the program. I urge Standardistas to listen carefully to what Nevil Breivik Gibson says; although his recent appearances have been anodyne and uncontroversial, he is due for a big one.
Unfortunately, today there is no one on the program like Gordon McLauchlan to contest what he says, point out the vacuity of Breivik Gibson’s utterances and firmly put him in his place, as he did a few years ago in a memorable on-air arse-kicking.
UPDATE:
After the 4 o’clock news, Mora, in his introductory remarks, which have become infamous over the years for their horrible combination of sycophancy and dishonesty, calls Bennett “brilliant”, and Breivik Gibson “sagacious”.
I have a bad, bad feeling about this. Expect obscenity, shading into lunacy from Breivik Gibson, and lots of supportive guffawing from Joe Bennett and Jim Mora.
See you tomorrow, and enjoy the show, if you can stomach these self-important twits.
UPDATE!!!
Just before the 4:30 news break, Joe Bennett took exception to a particularly foolish contribution from Breivik Gibson. “You’re lucky I’m not in Auckland,” he shouted, only half-jokingly, “otherwise it would be gloves off!”
It was not the total mauling and humiliation that Gordon McLauchlan dished out, but Breivik Gibson was definitely taken aback. There was real tension for a few seconds.
Respect to Joe Bennett!