This is the Night Gaunts, an incredible New Zealand ska band from the North Shore who are channeling ‘pakeha ska’ as a sound.
Check them out…
…their Facebook site is here. Great ska tunes for Summer.
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SBW grows again in mana by highlighting dead Syrian Children
I thought SBW amazing sportsmanship in consoling a losing player was amazing…
…I thought his handing over of his medal to a kid who was tackled by a security guard was beautiful…
…but it’s his incredible journey with the amazing Mike McRoberts to Syria that cements SBW as a real hero…
Sonny Bill Williams was ‘ignorant’ of refugee crisis before visiting Lebanon
All Black Sonny Bill Williams says spending time at a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon has made him realise how “ignorant” of the refugee crisis he was.The sporting superstar is currently visiting a temporary settlement in Faida, Bekaa Valley, working with Unicef to bring awareness to the conditions Syrian children and families are living in after escaping their war-torn country.
…and his latest decision to post the pictures of dead Syrian children on his twitter account just proves the strength and courage of his commitment. Most NZers like their rugby stars stupid and shackled to John Key like a pet, so Sonny Bill Williams constant leadership in ethics and morality will make many feel uncomfortable. NZers don’t like to think at the best of times making SBWs stance even more impressive.
We finally have a sporting hero who is as conscious as they are physical.
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Activists to tell Warkworth Rodeo; “Stop the Bullying” – Direct Animal Action
This week on New Year’s Day, animal rights activists from the group Direct Animal Action will demonstrate outside the Warkworth Rodeo.
The activists plan to display large photographic images showing animal cruelty documented at the Warkworth rodeo and at other rodeos across New Zealand.
They want the government to implement a nationwide ban on rodeo.
“Investigations carried out by activists all over the country have shown time and again that animal suffering at rodeos is actually the norm. This just isn’t acceptable,” says Direct Animal Action spokesperson Kathleen Lafferty.
“Rodeos are legalised cruelty and animals shouldn’t have to suffer for our entertainment,”
“We want the government to ban rodeo in our country. With even parts of the U.S. now banning rodeo, it’s actually an embarrassment that we’re falling so far behind overseas trends,”
“We’re planning a peaceful demonstration on New Year’s Day and we’re hoping that rodeo-goers won’t get confrontational with us,” says Ms. Lafferty.
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Women’s Rights Movie Shows Much to Be Done – Pay Equality Coalition
Today’s release of the movie Suffragette serves as a reminder that women are fighting similar fights to last century says the Pay Equity Coalition.
“Although New Zealand was the first country to give all women the right to vote, 25 years ahead of their British counterparts, Kate Sheppard and her supporters would be shocked by how little progress has been made on pay equity in New Zealand in the past 121 years,” says Pay Equity Coalition spokesperson Angela McLeod.
“The gap between men and women’s pay, as measured by average hourly pay is 14%, according to the New Zealand’s 2015 Annual Income Survey and it hasn’t budged much in the past ten years.
“The gender pay gap is due partly to the fact that women working in predominately “female occupations” such as care giving, teachers’ aides and midwives are paid less than men in “male occupations” such as construction and engineering.
“Even though women may have as great or greater skills and responsibilities, for example needed for looking after the welfare of the elderly, children, and babies and their mothers, women have traditionally been paid less.
“Caring responsibilities can involve life and death decisions, yet because they have been seen as inherent “female” traits, they have been undervalued in pay packets.
“Women deserve pay equity, as upheld in the recent Court of Appeal decision “Terranova v Service and Food Workers Union and Bartlett”. The court held that in female-dominated work the Equal Pay Act 1972 requires equal pay for work of equal value, not simply the same pay for the same work.
“Job comparisons need to be based on the skills, responsibilities, conditions of work, the degree of effort and relevant work conditions of the employment. Once these comparisons are made between predominately “female occupations” and predominately “male occupations”, and women can expect to see equity in pay.
“We can’t think of a better New Year’s resolution by the Government, in the spirit of ‘Suffragette’ than a commitment to closing the gender pay gap,” says Ms McLeod
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Why I’m Not Celebrating The Martin Shkreli Arrest. Much.
Ok, so the title’s a little misleading. I guffawed when news of Shkreli’s arrest came to my attention – as, seemingly, did just about everyone else on my corner of the internet.
If you’ve just joined us, and were living in heretofore blissful ignorance as to who and what Shkreli was … allow me to disabuse you. Remember that pharmaceuticals investment exec from a few months back who massively jacked up the price of a vital medication (by about five thousand percent) – and then appeared ready to “fight the whole internet” when people asked him to relent?
Few men in modern times have inspired such widespread revulsion. On the (American) political spectrum, everyone from Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump appeared to believe he was a nasty, entitled piece of work – and arguably more than a little evil.
Pro-tip: when even The Trump thinks you’re acting like a “spoiled brat”, you’ve gone so far over the line they might as well build a wall over it.
So – at least initially – the fact that one hundred percent of people who’ve bought the latest Wu Tang Clan album are now in federal custody seemed like a cause for celebration.
But then I sat down and thought about the situation … and something just didn’t add up.
People were talking about how Shkreli’s arrest was evidence of “karma” in action. And while that’s certainly an amusing and narratively appropriate thought (to say nothing of the added levity that this comes less than a week after the whole Wu Tang fiasco), the evidence unfortunately doesn’t bear this out.
Shkreli’s being done for securities fraud. The charges he’s facing are for offences which he committed in the late 2000s and early 2010s. He’s not in custody for the vile acts of pharma-profiteering which earned him a hefty score in public opprobium and reviled infamy earlier this year.
Those outrages aren’t illegal. Hence why (with the possible exception of some amusing Tinder rejections) he wasn’t really punished for them.
Ripping off a few multi-millionaire investors, however, was against the law. And he’ll very likely suffer some reasonably serious consequences for it. (Which may play out quite positively for his purported future rap career – Shkreli’s gone from shoehorning the truth by claiming he’s hard and got cred because … get this … “I sell drugs!” to potentially facing jail)
And that’s the problem here.
Why?
Think about it this way:
All this jubilation about Shkreli’s arrest misses the point that the *wrong* crime is being punished.
Because according to the American legal system, it’s apparently entirely a-ok for one self-declared gangsta-capitalist to extort ordinary people by holding them hostage for the price of their vitally needed medicine.
But taking from the wealthy rather than the unhealthy? That’ll get the book thrown at you.
See how this is an inequitable situation?
Now don’t get me wrong. Investment fraud is a serious issue, and those Shkreli has misled possess every right to demand justice. But in all the noise and self-congratulatory hubbub about Shkreli’s arrest for securities fraud, there’s a very real danger that we lose sight of the real issue here: the pressing need for serious reform in how America (and thus, much of the rest of the world) does pharmacy and drug-selling.
Shkreli made his money (the non-Ponzi scheme parts of it, anyway) by exploiting FDA loopholes. Those loopholes still exist.
And ‘Big Pharma’ is probably quite pleased Shkreli’s now out of their game. His balls-out no-holds-barred approach to shameless profiteering by maliciously manipulating drug-prices is pretty much how many of the big guys in the industry make their millions anyway. The only difference was how brazen and bereft of sound PR Shkreli was about it.
Now that Shkreli’s presumably more worried about his own court-case than bailing out errant rappers from prison, he’ll presumably have less time, energy and effort to inadvertently and incandescently (to say nothing of “indecently”) highlight how the pharmaceutical industry operates.
That’s why Shkreli’s arrest *can’t* be the end of the conversation. We haven’t “won” anything – not really, at any rate. If anything, the fact he’s now in custody simply strengthens a perception being deliberately fostered by others in the pharmaceutical industry that Shkreli was a rogue and a ‘bad egg’ – rather than a shining, stinking embodiment of conscience-free profiteering to which they all blandly aspire; and to some extent partake in. Getting jubilant about his comeuppance changes the focus to minor-retribution rather than attempting to force real systemic change
So have a laugh at some of the many – and glorious – Shkreli-memes that are presently circulating the Internet. They’re quite funny – and needless to say, eminently well deserved.
But remember: Shkreli’s emphatically just the tip of the iceberg. He represents an extreme – but not the exception – of industry practice. And his arrest changes nothing.
For meaningful change to occur, the entire system needs to be put in the dock – not just one public bete-noir fraudster who got caught with his hand in the till.
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GUEST BLOG: Arthur Taylor – A Christmas Cake in Prison
Well everyone, here is a picture of the Christmas Cakes we never got before Christmas. Corrections informed us the day before Christmas that they were “out of stock”. This is despite them being pre-ordered by the men well in advance and knowingly available at many stores, even after Christmas.
The Cakes averaged up to $3 – 5 more for the men to buy them from Corrections and as some of the men are on the minimum rate of $2.72 a week they saved for a very long time to be able to afford them.
$2 a week goes out for the hireage of the TV’s so that was a lot of weeks the men sacrificed other items to be able to have the cake.
Its not the cake itself that is most important, but what it means to the men in here. Its a human reminder of home and family and Corrections themselves know that connections to family and humanity keep people from committing even more crimes in here, and out, or worse still taking their own lives.
Something Corrections likes to keep very quiet… the growing number of suicides inside the Prison walls.
Despite this latest bungle the men here cooked their own cakes and made their own ice-cream.. prison recipe of course, using what they had at hand and felt appreciative that Corrections reversed its original decision and allowed them to be unlocked to be able to call loved ones at home.
We all know these problems aren’t just affecting the men in here, these problems are rife in society as a whole. Lets not forget that many of the underlying reasons these men started on the path they are on is because of the factors in our society which are known to make a person more likely to commit crime.
Poverty, poor health, violence, State care, Poor housing, low wages.
No excuses for the crimes committed, yet it’s evidenced in other countries that when you address the societal factors which lead people to desperate acts to feed their family, the crime and imprisonment rates drop and the whole of society becomes happier and healthier.
Its more than a Christmas Cake, its a demonstration of the value these men place on their families and a small slice of humanity and how little Corrections can see how important that is.
Arthur Taylor is TDBs blogger inside prison – he is a prisoner rights activist.
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TheDailyBlog.nz Top 5 News Headlines Wednesday 30th December 2015
5:
Extreme Weather Continues to Ravage Parts of U.S.
Extreme weather fueled by climate change continues to ravage parts of the United States. Severe flooding across the South caused two barges to sink in Mississippi while a road collapsed in South Carolina. In Wichita, Kansas, powerful winds forced a passenger jet carrying 160 people off the runway. Meanwhile, officials in Missouri say four international soldiers who were in the state for training are among the flooding victims. Their car was swept away as they drove.
Democracy Now!
4:
Barack Obama will defend the Paris climate change agreement and forge ahead on his environmental agenda until his final days in the White House, according to analysts. And there is very little Obama’s opponents in Congress can do to stop him – unless they win the elections and install a Republican in the White House in 2017.
Republicans’ initial attempts to derail the Paris agreement fell flat, with Congress failing to deliver on threats to cut off climate aid to developing countries or block the deal.
But Obama still has a fight on his hands – from lawsuits and new resolutions intended to undermine the Paris agreement – during an election year which could give an unusual degree of attention to climate change.
The Guardian
3:
Why Isis fights
Jihadi fighters in Iraq and Syria reveal the apocalyptic motivations of the militant movement that has hijacked the Syrian uprising – and transformed the Middle East
The Guardian
2:
2015 Was a Huge Year for Weed — and 2016 Will Be Even Bigger
There’s an old adage in American politics: “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” While it might hold true for presidential campaigns — the last candidate to reach the White House without winning the state was John F. Kennedy in 1960 — stoners in the US can only hope that the saying doesn’t apply to marijuana legalization.
In November, a whopping 64 percent of Ohio voters rejected Issue 3, a ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational cannabis for adults 21 and over. The result was the opposite the national trend: 58 percent of Americans now say weed should be legal, an all-time peak in public support for the right to get high.
The fatal flaw in Ohio’s proposal was that it would have created the world’s first marijuana oligopoly by granting exclusive rights to grow the state’s legal weed to a handful of wealthy backers, including NBA legend Oscar Robertson, former boy-band member Nick Lachey, and a descendent of President William Howard Taft. Much like an overly potent pot brownie, the prospect of a select few reaping all of the profits from legalization was simply too much for the state’s voters to stomach.
Vice News
1:
Iraq PM’s helicopter takes ISIL ground fire in Ramadi
Iraq’s prime minister visited the city of Ramadi on Tuesday, a day after claiming its capture from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after a months-long siege by the armed group.
A source told Al Jazeera that ISIL fighters on the ground opened fire with small-arms on Haider al-Abadi’s helicopter, but were too far out of range to do any damage. Abadi arrived safe and sound with the province’s top military commander at the Anbar University complex in the city’s southern outskirts.
Iraqi forces on Monday raised the national flag above the main government complex in Ramadi after days of deadly fighting against ISIL. But there were still pockets of resistance in and around the city, the army said.
“The prime minister and the head of the armed forces Dr Haider al-Abadi visits the liberated city of Ramadi,” Abadi posted on his Twitter account.
Aljazeera
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The Daily Blog Open Mic Wednesday 30th December 2015
Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.
Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.
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So the Paris Climate talks were a ‘success’ were they?
Beyond all the self congratulatory bullshit spouted by National, the Greens, Greenpeace, Generation Zero etc etc that the Paris Climate talks were a success is the grim reality that the planet is now experiencing rapid climate change and that the measures agreed to will do nothing to stop us hitting tipping points.
The NGOs and environmental movements need a feel good message to keep their followers believing – the truth is that the planet is super heating and the effects are here and now.
Take a look around the world right now…
Army called in as floods continue to devastate northern England
Warmest Christmas since records began in US
Fires, floods and more wild weather
Britain overwhelmed by widespread flooding
Christmas Eve tornadoes ravage South US
Death toll climbs in Dallas area after tornadoes, flooding
Mass evacuations from South American flood
Southern California wildfire burns 1200 acres, closes 101 highway
Victorian bushfires destroy more than 100 homes
So yeah, while it’s great to have all the environmental NGOs pat themselves on the back, the planet burns. The Paris Climate Talks were a gross failure, they are the equivalent 0f Neville Chamberlain proclaiming, ‘Peace in our time’ after signing a peace treaty with Adolf Hitler.
We need to be on a war footing to fight Climate Change, instead we have multiple Nero’s on the roof fiddling while Rome burns.
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TheDailyBlog.nz Top 5 News Headlines Monday 28th December 2015
5:
Army called in as floods continue to devastate northern England
The army and emergency services were deployed in towns and cities across the north of England on Sunday to lead recovery efforts as devastating floods continued to bring chaos to thousands of homes and businesses. Three major cities were hit, as well as scores of towns and villages, forcing the evacuation of thousands in what David Cameron described as an unprecedented situation.
The Guardian
4:
Two killed after Chicago police called to domestic disturbance
In a city already troubled by allegations of police misuse of force, a Chicago police officer shot and killed a male college student and a mother of five, both black, on Saturday morning following a report of a domestic disturbance.
The police department of the nation’s third-largest city is under a federal civil rights investigation for its use of deadly force and officer discipline. A recently released video of the shooting death of a black teenager by a white officer in 2014 has led to multiple protests, with activists calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation.
Aljazeera
3:
Camp Speicher massacre trial begins in Iraq
The trial has begun in Iraq of 36 men accused of involvement in one of the worst atrocities carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
Human rights groups have accused the Iraqi government of cutting corners in the run-up to Sunday’s hearings, but families of the 1,500 soldiers who were captured and killed are demanding justice.
ISIL killed the men after taking them prisoner at Camp Speicher, a former US base outside the city of Tikrit, during its June 2014 offensive in western Iraq.
Their remains were buried in mass graves and only discovered after Iraqi government forces recaptured the area in April this year.
The group posted pictures of the men being led away by its fighters and shot dead in ditches shortly after the massacre.
Of the 1,500 victims, only 400 have been found and many of those killed are still missing and families are still waiting to bury their loved ones.
Al Jazeera spoke to Tamkeen al-Moussawi, whose son Karar was killed during the massacre.
“The government keeps saying it will capture those who killed our sons. But I still have not received the remains of my dead son and the perpetrators have not been brought to justice,” Moussawi said.
“We want justice to be served quickly.”
Aljazeera
2:
Sanders Would Dominate Money Race With Small Donor Matching Funds
Bernie Sanders would now have raised almost $100 million more than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton if the U.S. electoral system provided public matching funds for small donors, according to a report by U.S. PIRG, a federation of the state-level, activist groups founded by Ralph Nader in the 1970s.
The report examines how 2016 presidential candidates would fare under a campaign financing system similar to that of New York City, which matches small donations to local candidates with additional public money at a six-to-one ratio. For example, if someone gives $10 to a candidate for the New York City Council, the city provides an additional $60, so the candidate receives $70 total.
Sanders’ presidential campaign has raised $40.0 million through the third quarter of 2015. However, with a six-to-one match of public funds for small donations, Sanders would receive an additional $203.7 million, for a total of $243.7 million. Clinton has raised $76.1 million under the current system — but because a far larger percentage of her contributions has been from large donors, she would receive only $73.1 million in matching funds, for a total of $149.2 million.
The Intercept
1:
Meet Auckland’s would-be mayors
Victoria Crone, Phil Goff and Mark Thomas have all launched bids for the Auckland mayoralty, and in a video interview for RNZ’s Outspoken, Auckland reporter Todd Niall asks them about their vision of the future.
RNZ
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The Daily Blog Open Mic Monday 28th December 2015
Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.
Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.
TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com