Chhour needs to go
Written By:
Date published: 10:52 am, August 16th, 2024 - 24 comments
It is a shame that Ipredict is not still around. Otherwise I would be putting money on Chhour being the first to go.
Lester Levy: “Significant, Not Painless” Changes Needed
Written By:
Date published: 10:08 am, August 16th, 2024 - 14 comments
Lester Levy gave a keynote address this weak signalling painful, strong medicine is needed for Health NZ. But his claims contradict frontline staff and experts.
Open mike 16/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 16th, 2024 - 35 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 15/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 15th, 2024 - 36 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Open mike 15/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 15th, 2024 - 77 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 14/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 14th, 2024 - 6 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Mountain Tui: Luxon’s $1000 A Week Is His “Entitlement”. Just Not Yours.
Written By:
Date published: 1:06 pm, August 14th, 2024 - 32 comments
When Luxon claimed $1000 a week of tax-free, taxpayers money for accommodation, because he didn’t want the 2 free properties he was offered, he said he was entitled to it. But according to the government, all beneficiaries now require harsher rules or risk having their entitlements stripped. Yet only ~5% aren’t compliant and last quarter, 1500 were cut off. What do the numbers say?
Open mike 14/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 14th, 2024 - 87 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 13/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 13th, 2024 - 31 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Mountain Tui: Beneficiary sanctions & targets don’t add up
Written By:
Date published: 1:23 pm, August 13th, 2024 - 9 comments
The jobseeker beneficiary sanctions and targets are not adding up. It also inflicts a lack of dignity and shame on recipients at a time when austerity is actively increasing unemployment.
Calculated cruelty
Written By:
Date published: 12:44 pm, August 13th, 2024 - 36 comments
National has engaged in more performative and calculated cruelty designed to make some poor people’s lives worse and all so that the Government can feed its base.
Open mike 13/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 13th, 2024 - 56 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 12/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 12th, 2024 - 20 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
NZ not attending Nagasaki event, insists decision unrelated to Israel invite snub
Written By:
Date published: 1:41 pm, August 12th, 2024 - 27 comments
New Zealand’s decision to stay away from the event in Nagasaki paying tribute to victims of the city’s 1945 nuclear bombing called outrageous.
Open mike 12/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 12th, 2024 - 38 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
What does this Government have against Te Ao Māori?
Written By:
Date published: 10:24 am, August 11th, 2024 - 28 comments
Te Ao Māori forms an increasingly important part of our cultural identity. And most of us realise this and celebrate it. This Government’s stance is at odds with this increasingly strong consensus.
Open mike 11/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 11th, 2024 - 62 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Gender Essentialists Hate the Olympics
Written By:
Date published: 9:53 am, August 10th, 2024 - 157 comments
The Olympics are a real persistent problem for gender essentialists.
Open mike 10/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 10th, 2024 - 7 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 09/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 9th, 2024 - 24 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
We should have kept the power company shares
Written By:
Date published: 8:19 am, August 9th, 2024 - 29 comments
Shane Jones, went onto radio yesterday and pledged a solution to high power prices. What are his chances and why are we in this mess?
Open mike 09/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 9th, 2024 - 18 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 08/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 8th, 2024 - 10 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
English rising anti-fascism
Written By:
Date published: 10:55 am, August 8th, 2024 - 68 comments
This is more hope than I have felt about humans in a long time
Open mike 08/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 8th, 2024 - 53 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 07/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 5:30 pm, August 7th, 2024 - 54 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Maritime Union v Willis
Written By:
Date published: 12:16 pm, August 7th, 2024 - 49 comments
National’s decision to cancel the replacement Cook Strait ferry project is developing into a full blown political crisis for the Government with estimates that it could cost the Crown up to a billion dollars and with further costs to come.
Don’t give me culture, I’m not hearing you Chris
Written By:
Date published: 11:19 am, August 7th, 2024 - 18 comments
“Don’t give me culture, I’m not hearing you Rob. I can buzz around like a Beehive boy, but I’d like to see you do my job”
Luxon is numerically illiterate
Written By:
Date published: 8:45 am, August 7th, 2024 - 5 comments
National has been caught out yet again using dubious analysis of data to justify policy.
Israel is in Serious Trouble
Written By:
Date published: 8:36 am, August 7th, 2024 - 18 comments
Israel’s failure to solve its own problems, its weakening democratic institutions, fraying civil patience, massive wastage of global patience and U.S. aid, and inability to plan for civic success following military conflict, point to a country in very serious trouble with no apparent way out.
Open mike 07/08/2024
Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, August 7th, 2024 - 44 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
- The great lunch debate
Would you call fried chicken and chips at 10am ‘lunch’?“I try and keep as regular a schedule as I can, but that will translate a bit weirdly when I’m on shift work,” says reporter Finn Blackwell, who’s often found in RNZ’s breakroom well before noon, feasting on anything from a ...1 week ago - The Secret Diary of .. Sheriff Seymour
Monday Sheriff Seymour rode his white horse through the beautiful tree-lined streets of the wealthiest suburb in Dodge, and arrived at the mansion of one of the richest men in the whole state.He rang the doorbell. A servant led him to an oak-panelled room, and gestured for him to sit.He ...1 week ago
- The case for COPs (even this one)
Every day this week, COP29 has managed to spark international headlines for all the wrong reasons.First, the eight hour agenda fight over what, actually, diplomats will spend time negotiating this year.Then on Tuesday the President of Azerbaijan, which is hosting COP29 in the capital Baku, called oil and gas a ...1 week ago
- The Weekend: In defence of Auckland’s ‘incredibly’ expensive Christmas tree
Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on the week that was. This week I hosted The Spinoff’s Year In Review live event In Wellington. Everything went remarkably well, and you can attend the same (but maybe more refined) event in Auckland on December 11. The welcoming crowd in Wellington even wanted more of ...1 week ago - ‘Really worried’: What Now’s Chris Kirk on smuggling gunge out of New Zealand
The What Now and Brain Busters presenter takes us on a trip down TV memory lane. Growing up, Chris Kirk was a huge fan of What Now. Every Sunday morning, he would wake up early to watch Carolyn Taylor and Jason Fa’afoi entertain the nation, delighting in every chaotic, gunge-filled ...1 week ago
- The case of the cursed bread: An excerpt from Una Cruickshank’s The Chthonic Cycle
The Chthonic Cycle by Una Cruickshank is a compelling series of essays that explore a wide range of fascinating and unexpected subjects. This excerpt, from an essay called ‘Les Tigres’, tells the story of a massed hallucination event in 1951, France. On a hot August day in 1951, 280 people ...1 week ago
- The slowest city in the world is on the brink of change
New Zealander Tasha Black relays what it’s like in post-revolution Bangladesh from an eight-hour traffic jam in Dhaka. It’s Friday night on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the traffic is stuck. Trucks, auto-rickshaws, private cars, buses, all stuck. A stationary ambulance futilely spins its red and blue lights. It’s ...1 week ago
- The Nobel Prize in Not Beating Up Your Kids
On the most extraordinary human achievements you’ll never, ever notice, and possibly shouldn’t celebrate. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members. We’re all in therapy these days, everyone in the Veja-heeled milieu I find myself ...1 week ago
- ‘Theatrical, chaotic and romantic’: Heidi Simpson’s perfect weekend playlist
Indie-pop darling Heidi Simpson shares her perfect weekend playlist. Heidi Simpson is a singer, tune maker, pop music believer and certified cool girl. The Tāmaki Makaurau native typically muses on Saturday nights and the emptiness between waiting for something to happen, but her recently released single ‘Best Kept Secret’ is ...1 week ago
- The Kiwi world champions you’ve heard too little about
The Paddle Ferns are back on top of the world after winning the Canoe Polo World Championships for the second time in eight years.It’s a growing sport that combines kayaking and ball-handling skills in a contact team game, played either indoors or out, with five players a sideSeventeen countries competed ...1 week ago
- Short story: I’ll ask my sister, by Marilyn Duckworth
A chatter of small brown birds rose up from the crippled tree at the street’s end. Muttering. She was reminded of the local Council who were still grumpily debating problems, including those of street verges. Some home owners had been taking it upon themselves to make cheeky personal use of ...1 week ago
- Apec’s ‘elephant in the room’
As business leaders and politicians discussed the major economic issues facing the world at Apec’s annual CEO Summit, there was an unignorable “elephant in the room”, as one moderator put it.Donald Trump’s name was rarely mentioned by the speakers, yet the potential impact of his second term in power was ...1 week ago
- Censorship Is Alive And Well In New Zealand
“What this looks like to us is censorship of anyone who tries to disagree with this Government, which causes a chilling effect” says Cooper Legal Senior Associate, Lydia Oosterhoff. ...1 week ago - Raw Politics: MPs face-off over the Great Divide
Parliament saw two historic days this week, one of great solemnity and unity, the other a raucous and high-stakes stand-off between political foes over the Treaty of Waitangi.Raw Politics looks first at the volatile reception for Act’s Treaty Principles Bill at its first reading, how parties performed to their voting ...1 week ago
- In Cold Water is a must-see for true crime fans
A new documentary series tells the story of a former Napier councillor accused of murder in Canada. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In 2010, New Zealander Peter Beckett was on holiday in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, enjoying a relaxing afternoon fishing on ...1 week ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘FREE TRAMPOLINE’ by Sophie van Waardenberg
A new poem by by Sophie van Waardenberg. FREE TRAMPOLINE If I could, I’d praise the world— how this, how that, how the darling other— but all I do is sit down, hang on, come home. It has to be enough. On the walk from the station all the sidewalk ...1 week ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending November 15
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Zest: Climbing From Depression to Philosophy by Daniel Kalderimis (Ugly Hill Press, $40) Kalderimis ...1 week ago
- The rebuilding of Fazerdaze
Following the release of her sophomore album Soft Power, Amelia Murray (Fazerdaze) tells Alex Casey about heading south and rediscovering herself. Fazerdaze is back in Morningside, but everything has changed. “It’s so strange to be back, ” she says softly, gesturing out of The Spinoff’s office window at the drizzly ...1 week ago
- Where does kai come from? Learning in the māra
Lucinda Bennet reflects on appreciating vegetables and learning through doing. This is an excerpt from our food newsletter, The Boil Up. When you pull a carrot from the ground, there’s a certain sound it makes, a kind of “pop” as the tip detaches from the root cap. It’s something you can ...1 week ago
- The cost of being: A lawyer with two kids, a mortgage and a love of good meat
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 42-year-old lawyer shares how he and his family approach their finances. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Male. Age: 42. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Lawyer with two ...1 week ago
- Watch live: New Zealand vs Australia in the Trans-Tasman Scrabble Challenge
In an Antipodean first, the Bledisloe Cup of Scrabble is streaming live on YouTube all weekend. Here’s how to watch and everything else you need to know. What’s all this then? It’s Scrabble as you’ve never seen it before! Unless you already watch Scrabble online, in which case it’s Scrabble ...1 week ago
- Treaty Principles Bill will greatly damage National’s relationship with Māori – former minister
This article first appeared at rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission.There is no doubt the Treaty Principles Bill will greatly damage National’s relationship with Māori, former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says.The legislation passed its first reading on Wednesday afternoon, but not before extraordinary scenes of opposition that led to the Speaker suspending ...1 week ago
- How the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill played out
And why one former MP, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin, says John Key would never have allowed this to happen. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...1 week ago
- Carol Hirschfeld could be in line for top TVNZ role
The big-cost out strategy at TVNZ could see former news presenter Carol Hirschfeld emerge as a front runner to head both the news and programming departments The post Carol Hirschfeld could be in line for top TVNZ role appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- When home is where the work is, city design should fall in line
Opinion: The pandemic-induced WFH shift is altering the fabric of our built environments, offering unique opportunities to change how we work and live The post When home is where the work is, city design should fall in line appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- All 14 malls in Christchurch ranked from worst to best
To celebrate Christchuch Anniversary Day, Joseph Harper ranks every mall in the ‘garden city’. This is the first in the Malls of New Zealand series, where we rank the malls in major centres. Next week: Auckland. When I was growing up in pre-quake Ōtautahi, people used to say that the ...1 week ago
- The climate and human rights crises are indelibly intertwined
At the Cop29 climate conference, the host country’s president called oil a ‘gift of god’. But for many people all over the world, it is in fact a curse. Maria Armoudian, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations, explains. In the first week of the United Nations international climate ...1 week ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 15 November
The post Daily crossword, Friday 15 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Rocketlab’s Māhia launches linked to Israeli military intelligence
Space Minister Judith Collins is urged to revoke or decline Rocketlab applications with possible links to the war in Gaza The post Rocketlab’s Māhia launches linked to Israeli military intelligence appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- This week’s bestselling books – November 15
FICTION1 The Songbirds of Florence by Olivia Spooner (Hachette, $37.99)A free copy of the author’s latest historical novel – set in 1942, in Egypt, where Kiwi women are sent to provide respite to weary soldiers returning from the front line – was up for grabs in last week’s giveaway contest. Readers were asked to say ...1 week ago
- Havana’s clean sweep in memory of dad
As Havana Hopman walked off the gymnastics floor, her ribbon trailing behind her, she turned her tear-filled eyes to the roof and whispered: ‘Thank you’.It was the final day of the national gymnastics championships in Palmerston North, and for Hopman – New Zealand’s top rhythmic gymnast for the past four ...1 week ago
- Pacific staring down ‘twin storms’ of debt and climate disaster
A ‘vicious cycle’ sees Pacific nations take on debt to recover from disasters, underinvest in resilience and suffer more damage as a result The post Pacific staring down ‘twin storms’ of debt and climate disaster appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Uniformed Defence Force Should Not Be Used As Strike Breakers
“In a modern liberal democracy, any deployment of the armed forces in employment relations is a drastic step, and should be avoided at all costs,” said Wagstaff. ...2 weeks ago
- House suspended as haka interrupts first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill
Speaker Gerry Brownlee has suspended the House of Representatives after a haka, led by Te Paati Māori and performed by members in the public gallery, interrupted the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill. As thousands continue to protest and hīkoi around Aotearoa, the first reading of the Treaty Principles ...2 weeks ago
- Review: Crowded House gets Ōtautahi breaking the rules
Last night at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch, Crowded House did the unthinkable – they got a polite New Zealand concert crowd to break the rules. Here’s something I’ve observed about concert attendance in the north vs the south. Where most Aucklanders will bustle in just as the main act takes ...2 weeks ago
- The case for reading books about animals wearing clothes
In light of Gloriavale’s reluctant acceptance of Winnie-the-Pooh, Claire Mabey argues in favour of the wider canon of anthropomorphic animal literature. There is nothing more bleak than the banning of books and the curtailment of reading. Control what people read and you control what they think, and how they behave. ...2 weeks ago
- Coldplay and 57,000 babies at Eden Park
Review: Everything happens all at once at Coldplay’s sold-out show. About 15 minutes into Music of the Spheres, I realised that we were all just big babies. When Coldplay emerged for their first song, our compostable plastic wristbands lit up around Eden Park, delighting us all. Minutes later, Chris Martin ...2 weeks ago
- Dear Donald, here’s why you should cut NZ a break in the tariff torrent
Ten irrefutable reasons for the incoming president to exempt plucky little New Zealand from import tax hikes. The former and future president, Donald J Trump, has been re-elected on a platform pledging new and universal import tariffs of 10%-20%. The challenge for New Zealand politicians and officials is to somehow ...2 weeks ago
- Help Me Hera: Why do I only befriend people nobody else can stand?
How do I end this cycle of misery, once and for all? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera How do I break a lifelong pattern of forming close friendships with people that nobody else can stand? Ever since I was about 12, I have had a succession of very ...2 weeks ago
- On the frontlines of Hīkoi mō te Tiriti
Thousands converged on Auckland, the day before the first reading of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...2 weeks ago
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