Random Politics

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Ab

Still a dramaqueen attention whore though

They all seem made for each other.

[xor]

Originally Posted by Ab

i can see your mistake

I suppose it's more of a willingness of labour to push the whole equal outcomes thing rather than choosing people who are up to the job that I have a problem with.

[fixed_truth]

I'm fine with affirmative action in certain contexts, it's just that Labour doesn't actually have a serious problem with female representation so a strict proportional requirement like this is daft. A more relaxed one like the Greens where they allow 60-40 either way would be a better choice.

Yes the political system is structured in a way which makes it harder for women to participate, but imo it would be better to look at changing the associated barriers i.e., access to childcare, flexible hours, video conferencing vs travel to Wellington etc.

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by CCS

Good ol' Mad Flange. How we laughed!

The final part of the saga:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11868133

LOL - "Judas of Orewa!"

[Lightspeed]

This whole Qatar business is an interesting development.

Five countries cut links with Qatar

It seems like the Saudi's don't like a moderate news source coming out of the middle east. Doesn't look like Mahmoud Hussein will be getting out of his Egyptian prison any time soon. When it comes to violent military groups and violent ideology, Saudi Arabian has no moral authority, and it's obvious.

[Lightspeed]

I'm not sure what I'd do if we lost Al Jazeera. It would be a shock TBH. Where else can you find that calibre of 24h world news coverage?

[Lightspeed]

Mr Trump and other US officials participated in a traditional sword dance during the trip in which he called on Muslim countries to stand united against Islamist extremists and singled out Iran as a key source of funding and support for militant groups.

You guys find this scary, right? Uniting with the real key source of militant funding to fight some patsy dressed up as the same is clearly the work some dark forces attempting to solidify their power base. The world doesn't need this shit, we're in a deep enough hole as it is.

[crocos]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

I'm not sure what I'd do if we lost Al Jazeera. It would be a shock TBH. Where else can you find that calibre of 24h world news coverage?

If you can ignore the spin, RT is often pretty good, but agreed - still not a patch on Al J.

[Lightspeed]

At least Qatar is in a very good position to supply their own narrative to the world, via Al Jazeera. Everyone will know what Qatar thinks the world ought to know.

It's interesting what the Saudi squad hope to get Qatar to concede. It's not like Qatar is especially weak, unless it is?

[fixed_truth]

Labour (UK) seem pretty happy about losing an election.

[Ab]

credit where it's due, Jezza has looked pretty strong in the past couple of weeks. He's crushed every interview I've seen.

[Lightspeed]

Damn, that was a harsh burn on Teresa May and company by the Scottish First Minister.

[Lightspeed]

Trump is making bank on this Qatar business, one way or another. He seems to be saying what suits the Saudis. The rest of the US government, including the White House, are saying something else.

[The Edge]

Making bank?

[Lightspeed]

Getting something significant. Money, influence, promises, business opportunities. Whatever it was, Trump made a deal.

[Lightspeed]

The UK and French elections have been somewhat of a relief.

[Lightspeed]

So do people see a connection between the London attacks and the Grenfell fire?

As I see it on one hand you've got the genuine concerns of vulnerable groups being ignored to devastating consequence, as well as circumstances where such concerns can emerge in the first place. On the other hand you've got individuals and groups growing out of these communities who are exploiting civil society's vulnerability to unsophisticated attacks, especially by those who don't care what happens to them.

Grenfell didn't occur in isolation. There will be untold number of problems being ignored, the number whose lives have been devastated greatly eclipsing that of Grenfell. They're just much much harder to get a sense of.

Civil society only works when all its participants have a stake in it. At the moment people are being excluded and ripped off in volume.

I don't really understand how this is mostly ignored or disregarded in politics and journalism. The contemporary idea of terrorism seems to have been constructed in a way that disavows what the described behaviour is in response to.

[Ab]

We've reached Peak Labour.

http://politik.co.nz/en/content/politics/1124/

Someone at Labour thought it would be a good idea to import a bunch of overseas students as unpaid campaign labour and put them up in shitty unsanitary accommodation in Auckland. Because the words "overseas students" and "unpaid labour" and "unsanitary accommodation in Auckland" are totally innocuous and no-one could be expected to think that this would reflect badly on Labour.

[CCS]

Is that how Labour looks after vulnerable people?

[Ab]

#labourcamp

[BoyWonder]

"Fellows will be instructed in the fundamentals of a successful campaign"

If 9 years in opposition is classed as success then sure, go ahead and sign up. No reason to question how well this will go at all.

[ZoSo]

So how many of their own policies does that shit on? 6+?
Hilarious.

[fixed_truth]

Originally Posted by Ab

Someone at Labour thought it would be a good idea to import a bunch of overseas students as unpaid campaign labour and put them up in shitty unsanitary accommodation in Auckland. Because the words "overseas students" and "unpaid labour" and "unsanitary accommodation in Auckland" are totally innocuous and no-one could be expected to think that this would reflect badly on Labour.

Sounds like ex chief of staff Matt McCarten fucked it up. But yeah even though political intern programmes aren't unusual it does make them look like hypocrites. Was probably pitched as a way to save money lol

The scheme broke off from the main party in mid-May when Auckland Labour head Matt McCarten ended his employment with the Labour Party. McCarten renamed it "Campaign for Change" and the organisation was formally separated from the party.

But several Auckland Labour party staff were still involved, Labour branding was used on promotional materials, and the volunteer work was intended to boost Labour support.

It is understood the extent of the operation and its failings became apparent at around the same time McCarten's contract was not renewed.

Unpaid student says scheme not Labour's fault, describes squalid conditions

[Ab]

Right on schedule, just as National is looking shaky on something, in rides Labour to save the day.

Update: Farrar opines that if the interns are receiving free accommodation, that's immigration fraud:

it looks like either Labour has arranged 85 work visas for its unpaid fellows while campaigning to reduce the number of work visas for unskilled jobs or Labour has been complicit in a huge case of immigration fraud.

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/06/ha...ion_fraud.html

[Lightspeed]

Yay, vote Green.

[Ab]

Thanks to last week's quick visit I actually can this time around.

[StN]

For more LOLs it seems Mr McCarten was going to get the unions to pay the $240000 cost of having them here.

#Theytookourjerbs

[[Malks] Pixie]

Man what a cluster fuck. Unpaid internships need to be done away with, never seen one that isn't just hands down exploitation. Of course it doesn't help that no one seems to be able to work out if these were internships, fellowships or volunteers.

It's almost like Labour are trying to directly ruin NZs reputation as an international education destination. I get political one-up-manship but usually that means doing better than the other party, not trying to be even worse (and National had made some good stabs at killing our rep).

[CCS]

So... the Labour party imported these students to do work New Zealanders could do, despite wanting to cut back on immigration in areas where NZers should do the work. They're not paying these kids anything, which makes it look like they don't actually believe in the living wage. As far as I can tell, the interns have to pay for their flights here and what they get in return is it "will stand out on your CV". WOW!

So what's the amazing experience they'll be getting? "leading phonebanks, coordinating volunteer schedules, leading trainings, organising doorknocking groups, attending local Auckland political events, and assisting the organisers with daily office functions" and "from knocking on doors to recruiting volunteers to using the party's campaign software- but will progress quickly and ultimately may build and train their own teams and lead campaign activity across Auckland." Sounds like something money can't buy! "Some of the people who flown here to do political experience were instead tasked with cooking, Dunne said." Well fuck. You pay to fly from the US to NZ to get some experience with ground roots campaigning and... they get you cooking in shitty conditions? Oh great. You could volunteer for the Democratic party and get better experience.

But what about the other perks? They must make it all worthwhile, right?

"Brochures with Labour Party branding promised lectures from Helen Clark, Andrew Little, and Jacinda Ardern, as well as one-on-one facetime with high up operatives and phone calls with the Democratic National Committee in the US."

"When she arrived in early June it became clear that this was not going to be happening"

Such luminaries of the political world! Stuff say "Helen Clark won't be speaking to the students." The Herald says "The party might use webinars for the talks, he said." Labour Party president Andrew Kirton, one of those who was supposed to be giving a speech said "That was not something I was aware of from head office"

Oh man. there must be some silver lining to this dark cloud, right? I mean, they at least have decent living conditions?

"I tried to get in contact with them to check where we had been staying. They had originally told me we were going to be staying on top of the headquarters."

"I got taken to the marae, and that was probably the most shocking part there. I was under the impression there were going to be like 30 people there. I got there and there are probably more like 80.

"We were staying in this huge warehouse with little cubicles made of posterboard. Some people had real mattresses but I had just a little foam insert."

So it sounds like a total scam insofar as they were promised amazing experience and contacts but live in shitty conditions and perform donkey work for free. Exploiting migrants, in other words. Oh, possibly also this is also immigration fraud.

"The Labour Party announced a policy aimed at cutting down on international student visas a few weeks ago, saying cowboy operators were bringing students in and providing substandard educational opportunities." So this "fellowship" as an education opportunity is pretty fucking substandard. It's hard to get any more substandard than this.

[CCS]

Originally Posted by Ab

Thanks to last week's quick visit I actually can this time around.

Don't even joke about voting for Green. A vote for Green is a vote for Labour. I don't know who IS worth voting for at the moment. Maori Party maybe? They don't seem to have done anything embarrassing lately.

[blynk]

I will sit here and wait for the scorn, but I am seriously looking into The Opportunities Party.

[CCS]

Because why?

[Ab]

It demands a Herculean effort to shift the spotlight from a scandal engulfing a government MP, but New Zealand Labour’s shonky intern scheme might just have done it, writes Toby Manhire.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/22...s-own-fuck-up/

Bonus points to the original article title revealed in the URL, "Labour's incredible campaign for change, i.e. changing the subject to its own fuckup"

[Lightspeed]

I'm hoping the kids vote for TOP. We need a jump in the youth vote.

I don't believe politicians run government. I'm pretty sure public servants who keep their jobs regardless of who is in power do the real leg work. At least in a mature democracy like ours.

Politians determine who gets what, they don't provide expertise, organisational ability or experience. After all the current government has made it clear knowledge and insight are not things that matter.

[ZoSo]

Top actually deserves a vote for their Cannabis Reform policy that doesn't seem to pander to alcoholic wowsers.

ps. Extra lols for seeing union lackeys piss away another 100k to labour. How dumb are these people.

[[Malks] Pixie]

TOP terrify me. They have one or two interesting policies but the rest are a screaming mess of tech start-up rhetoric, heavily digested and shat out into a stinking pile of techno-utopianism with a side order of laissez-faire hope that the market will solve everything. Even his arguments about a UBI are structured as to how it benefits business.

I do agree we need a massive jump in the youth vote, at very least so that the saner parties start actually pandering to their demographic.

[The Edge]

I dunno why, I just can't stand Gareth Morgan. I don't think he'll be getting my vote.

[Ab]

https://www.facebook.com/Campaign-Fo...1175959766513/

must...pretend...it...never....happened

[CCS]

Labour, the party of workers rights, lead by a former union boss:

This is verging on satire, but sadly it is true. The Labour Party who SAY they want to 1) Crack down on student immigrants 2) Improve conditions for workers and 3) Train and employ more New Zealanders…Have 85 foreign students working on their campaign in crappy conditions, and when the students complained they were forced to sign non disclosure agreements. I wish I was making this up.

What it shows is that the Labour Party don’t really believe what they say about immigration, labour laws, or putting New Zealanders first (in some cases that’s kind of good) but instead will say anything their pollsters tell them to get elected…

-David Seymour FB

Lols provided by

[Lightspeed]

Yeah, well, National is *actually* causing harm to the whole country. The vulnerable cop it the worst, but plenty will do what they can to make the rest of us feel that pain. The billions National is spending on prisons won't change that.

So what'evs. I'll still take a nanny state over the current demented granny state.