Appalling men and great art

Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, November 27th, 2017 - 49 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, art, Deep stuff, film, Media, music - Tags:

Great to see more and more bad men being taken down with sex scandals, more damaged women standing up for themselves and each other.

It’s like a little bit of a catchup for all of the times women were shamed out of the film industry.

But can appalling people make great art?

Caravaggio                        – Murderer

Painter Edgar Degas        – Anti-Jewish

See: Linda Nochlin, “Degas and the Dreyfus Affair: Portrait of the Artist as Anti-Semite”, in Norman L. Kleebatt, ed., The Dreyfus Affairs: Art, Truth, and Justice, (Berekely, Calif., 1987).

Poet TS Eliot                      – Anti-Jewish

Poet Ezra Pound             – Anti-Jewish, Fascist

Pablo Picasso                  – Of his seven relationships with women, two went mad as a result of his misogyny and two committed suicide

Poet Lord Byron              – Incest

Playwright Jean Genet     – Thief

Opera composer Richard Wagner              – Anti-Jewish

Don’t even talk to me about Gustav Flaubert. Or the Medicis and their Renaissance patronage of art. OMG.

Multiple film directors in the 1970s            – Cruelty to animals particularly horses

The Los Angeles suburb of Hollywood has turned movies into the greatest art form of the twentieth century, but it would be hard to describe it as a high island of moral virtue.

What’s worse, sex crime is the driver of the artistic imagination in a great percentage of films, and of course in most detective fiction. More broadly, the transgressive imagination and how it feeds, reproduces, and amplifies sex and crime as thrilling fun, remains the core engine of our popular culture.

(I’m not proposing Don Burke of Burke’s Backyard fame as high art, and he’s probably not going to work in that industry again after this)

Would these men have made great work if their great crimes had been exposed? In summary mostly they got away with it and mostly people knew about it.

I’m hoping at some point there will be some criminal charges successfully prosecuted and sentenced on one of the big sex scandals going through the U.S. entertainment industry. This surge now going through the U.S. is continuous with that ongoing through Britain with its great Police investigation Operation Yewtree and the further ongoing independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

Otherwise without real charges sticking in a criminal court it is going to run a high risk of going the same way as the inchoate Occupy and Black Lives Matter movements and simply be a passing faded echo of the great liberative struggles of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Until then, the cultural machine of all kinds of people good and bad making great things for us grinds on, bloodied but unbowed.

49 comments on “Appalling men and great art ”

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  1. One Anonymous Bloke 1
    27 November 2017 at 1:56 pm

    Would these men have made great work if their great crimes had been exposed?

    No, someone else would have.

    • Phil 1.1
      27 November 2017 at 3:46 pm

      EXACTLY

      How many great artists/creators/performers have we lost before their best work because they were victims of abuse within their industry or profession?

      I’ll wager it’s many many many more people than the number of ‘great men’ who abused them.

  2. marty mars 2
    27 November 2017 at 2:11 pm

    It’s all subjective. Even the crimes that they supposedly did are subjective, let alone some value in their art.

  3. Andre 3
    27 November 2017 at 2:14 pm

    I’m often struck by how frequently those who achieve great things also inflict great damage to those close to them. Not just in art, but across all fields of human endeavour. I suspect top-end achievers that that are also mentally healthy and well-balanced are the exception, not the rule. I suppose the drive needed for that top-level achievement is inherently unbalancing.

    But yeah, hopefully more exposure of the damage these people do will push at least some of them to find some way to release their demons that doesn’t involve harming others.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1
      27 November 2017 at 2:32 pm

      how frequently those who achieve great things also inflict great damage to those close to them.

      I wonder how frequent it actually is, given the amplification that excess public interest provides. There’s nothing newsworthy about quiet stable genius, and there’s nothing individual about the quality of a movie, or theatre production: they’re team efforts.

      • Andre 3.1.1
        27 November 2017 at 2:56 pm

        I had grandparents that were at the very top of their field. Stories about how they treated my dad and aunt growing up make me relieved I was the next generation after. That stuff doesn’t appear in google searches about them.

        I have acquaintances that have worked with Nobel prizewinners. The stories about private personal behaviour are somewhat unpleasant, even though their public reputations are fairly good.

        The only field where I’ve interacted with top-of-the-world achievers was sporting, and that contact was somewhat limited (due to my lack of talent in that sport). But even so, the majority of them I quickly learned I wanted to keep well clear of them, and it was only a small minority I enjoyed hanging out with.

        To be sure, none of the private stories I’ve heard come close to rising to the level of Weinstein or Spacey or Trump etc, but they’re still enough I’m relieved it’s stories I’m hearing, not something I’m experiencing.

        Probably “inflict great damage” is a crap way to put it. But my (very limited) experience of top achievers agrees with the stories I’ve heard – most of them are not nice to be around.

  4. Psycho Milt 4
    27 November 2017 at 2:52 pm

    Appreciation of art is about what you like. If you can’t like something until you’ve conducted an examination of its creator’s ethics and prejudices, it’s you that’s broken, not the art.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 4.1
      27 November 2017 at 3:01 pm

      When you like a certain artist’s work, and then discover their ethics and prejudices, it’s normal for that to affect how you feel about their work.

      • In Vino 4.1.1
        27 November 2017 at 6:15 pm

        I disagree. I liked certain pieces of music after I listened to them a few times, and still like them just as much despite learning later on that the composer had attributes I did not admire. The music remains an independent work for me.
        Regardless of whether it was composed by a genocidal homophobic paedophilic right-wing leper.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 4.1.1.1
          27 November 2017 at 8:16 pm

          I didn’t say it was ubiquitous, I said it’s “normal”. For what it’s worth I think your position falls into the “normal” range of reactions too.

          I see Rolf Harris artworks have dropped in value.

    • McFlock 4.2
      27 November 2017 at 3:15 pm

      Yeah, but the context of the art expands our appreciation of it, and includes the factors that influenced its creator.

      Jacques Louis David being the classic example – started as a chocolate box-style painter for the French nobility, foments revolution with works like Oath of the Horatii, promises to stand by Robespierre but is sick that day (lol), does a humble self portrait to get his arse out of jail, paints Marat as a revolutionary JC in his sacrifice, and ends up painting one of the most famous and fawning pictures of Napoleon. A massive cock, but with great big brass balls (which were not permitted to be buried in France).

      Another example is Louis CK – his film that got nuked included him doing an act of which he was accused in real life. Sort of changes the experience of the scene.

      Or Roman Polanski or Oliver Stone (The Pianist and Platoon respectively). The knowledge of what they experienced feeding in to their work does add another level to the movie, I think. But then there’s the other context of Polanski…

      • Shona 4.2.1
        27 November 2017 at 3:38 pm

        Polanski admitted his crime and pleaded guilty and was convicted ,he served his time albeit at a weekend holiday camp style prison for nearly 2 years. Good behaviour had that sentence commuted until the due date. ( like a probationary period) At 11 pm of the day his sentence lapsed an elected county judge known to be a racist and an anti semite chose to recall him and make him carry out the rest of his sentence at a medium security jail, no leave. The USA justice system is shit and it sucks big time. It is so effing corrupt. His victim was sexually experienced offered to him by her mother( she should have been prosecuted) and has never blamed him for anything.I don’t blame Polanski for bolting. Polanski is a genius his childhood was a nightmare of surviving the Warsaw ghetto and eventually getting to the USA to pursue his undoubted greatness. The film industry would be much much less without his directorial vision.Only Kubrick comes close.

        • McFlock 4.2.1.1
          27 November 2017 at 5:43 pm

          Didn’t his 13yo victim sue him?

        • Lara 4.2.1.2
          28 November 2017 at 8:34 am

          “His victim was sexually experienced”

          should be:

          “his 13 year old victim was already abused”

          There. Fixed it for you.

          FFS

          13 year olds are CHILDREN. Adults having sex with children? Pedophiles.

          And you don’t have to have that 13 year old grow up and publicly state they were abused to believe it’s abuse. FFS.

          • Shona 4.2.1.2.1
            28 November 2017 at 9:55 am

            In the doco I saw and base my opinion on the victim herself claimed to be 15 at the time. Who do you believe?She has never claimed to have been traumatized . Her mother is the abuser and the pimp.Many of have us have experienced sexual abuse and continued to be happy functioning people. Abuse is not the end of the world.It is how you deal with it that matters not the fact that it happened.

            • McFlock 4.2.1.2.1.1
              28 November 2017 at 11:54 am

              Given that the victim was 13 at the time of the offending, you probably should watch more than one doco before adopting a firm position.

            • Lara 4.2.1.2.1.2
              28 November 2017 at 12:08 pm

              “Abuse is not the end of the world.It is how you deal with it that matters not the fact that it happened.”

              Way to go to minimise the effect of sexual abuse of kids.

              Nope. Not bloody buying it Shona. No, it’s not the end of the world as you so blithely put it. But it’s a very big deal.

              Saying “it’s how you deal with it” puts the onus on victims of abuse to just get over it. It’s like saying that the trauma and ongoing issues they’re dealing with are their fault, they just somehow choose to not deal with it the right way.

              I was abused at 13. I’m a happy and highly functioning person, but I still deal with the effects of abuse decades later.

      • Psycho Milt 4.2.2
        27 November 2017 at 3:53 pm

        Yeah, those are good examples. None of the things I’ve read about David would lead you to the conclusion he was a top bloke, but I like his paintings. I laughed a lot at Louis CK’s comedy, particularly the stand-up – it would be hypocritical to now pretend that it wasn’t funny. And I’ve enjoyed various Polanski movies, which didn’t somehow become bad movies by virtue of me finding out Polanski did some bad stuff.

        • McFlock 4.2.2.1
          27 November 2017 at 4:33 pm

          Bad movies and comedy? Nope, not necessarily.
          Uncomfortably close to real life offending? yep. That skews the perception of the art, and art is all about perception.

          Watching The Jazz Singer without knowing the context of the makeup probably makes it a better movie.

  5. McFlock 5
    27 November 2017 at 3:01 pm

    It is a recurring sadness to me that my favourite film, Casablanca, was directed by Michael Curtiz (whose filming of Noah’s Ark drowned three actors and injured dozens of others just 15 years earlier).

    But at least he, and Byron for that matter (who also tried to purchase/”marry” a 12y.o. Greek girl, if I recall correctly), died well before I was born. I’m not contributing to their income by watching or reading their work.

    The more recent ones… bugger.

  6. rhinocrates 6
    27 November 2017 at 3:23 pm

    It touches on what Robert Hughes called the “Therapeutic Fallacy” of art – ie., that art is supposed to be uplifting, good for you etc. It in argument put forward by fundamentalist Christians to suppress any radical statement or critique of social norms as they wished them to be determined. I tend to think of art as being cathartic or critical instead.

    I’m likewise rather uncomfortable with an ad hominem being applied to a work of art. Few artists, and virtually none from other times and cultures will meet our bourgeois western standards of morally good behaviour.

    I don’t mean that as a free pass for bad behaviour by any person – expose and condemn the behaviour of of bad people pour encourager les autres by all means, but engage with art on its own terms – I’m with Oscar Wilde on that one.

  7. rhinocrates 7
    27 November 2017 at 3:34 pm

    There’s this discussion between Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said on Wagner. Both agree that Wagner was an appalling man – and he would have hated them respectively as a Jew and a Palestinian – but both love Wagner’s music.

    Scroll down to the last third for direct discussion, but earlier on they point out that art exists to be interpreted – in static form by the observer and in performance by the performers and the audience together.

    https://www.west-eastern-divan.org/news/wagner-ideology-barenboim-said-in-conversation/

  8. adam 8
    27 November 2017 at 3:40 pm

    Just wondering why you used anti-jewish Ad? The term seems a tad underdone in particular when you talk about wagnar who was solidly anti-semitic in action and thought. He and pound, both engaged in anti-semitism, as it relates to propaganda and promotion of violence against religious, cultural or ethnic jews.

  9. Bill 9
    27 November 2017 at 4:43 pm

    Appalling people can do great things, and great people can do appalling things (be it in the arts or sciences of whatever).

    And sure, once called out or exposed as appalling, the “great person” may no longer be considered “great” (or at least not as great) and their appalling things remain. Hmm.

    So people can be both great and appalling depending on the time of their lives, or events in their lives we look at, and the things they’ve done remain great or appalling…assuming that what constitutes “great” and “appalling” is universally accepted – which isn’t the case.

    There are people. There are things. We make of it all what we will.

  10. Morrissey 10
    27 November 2017 at 4:48 pm

    Byron could have run for the ACT Party.

  11. Cinny 11
    27 November 2017 at 5:46 pm

    With Art I’ve this outlook, if it makes you feel something, whether it be love, disgust, fear, amazement etc it is art. Art should make you feel, if it doesn’t it is not art.

    Art is a form of expression, perhaps art is the only way SOME artists can communicate, maybe some are unable to have a conversation.

    Then there is ego, that sense of entitlement that destroys lives… the don’t you know who I am??!! Now spread your legs or whatever (sorry to be crass but I’m sure you know where I’m coming from).
    Combine ego with manipulation and power, then people cross the line, add a bit of talent and fame in there and many blind eyes are turned and it sucks. The twisted artists should be held accountable just like anyone else, just because they are an amazing artist does not mean they are allowed to get away with being an arsehole.

    That being said, by crikey there are some freaks out there. Good post, I didn’t know there were that many weirdo artists, thanks for the info.

    Went to a Pablo Picasso exhibition in Sydney a number of years back it was amazing, just because he was a perve doesn’t change the fact he was a great artist. But if he leveraged his talent to manipulate others then he is a nasty person, but is still a great artist and his nastiness should not be hidden away just because he is a great artist.

    My favourite artwork is that of Erte

  12. Macro 12
    27 November 2017 at 8:56 pm

    Talking of Sex Scandals…
    Perhaps the greatest Non Sex Scandal was John Ruskin and his marriage to Effie Gray.

    • Cinny 12.1
      27 November 2017 at 10:28 pm

      Macro, just did the google, that was a really interesting story.

      • Macro 12.1.1
        27 November 2017 at 10:43 pm

        Yes Poor Effie – Actually there is a really good movie written and part directed by Emma Thompson on “Effie” If you get a chance to watch it, its well worth the time. We were in UK earlier this year and visited many art galleries and inthe lake district where Ruskin’s house – just down the road from Beatrix Potter’s and Arthur Ransom’s. Saw a lot of Ruskin and Mallais’ work.

        • Cinny 12.1.1.1
          27 November 2017 at 11:02 pm

          Cheers Macro, have been looking for good film to watch, will have to check it out.

          You and yours would have had a wonderful time over there exploring, that should always happen, what a neighbourhood eh, Beatrix, Ruskin and Ransom, hard case.

  13. greywarshark 13
    27 November 2017 at 10:50 pm

    Art for the politically interested, the man is – Escher, things going down are going up and around and going there and coming out somewhere over there.

    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jun/20/the-impossible-world-of-mc-escher
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher
    http://www.mcescher.com/about/biography/

    And bike art?
    Shared bike dump in China. A good idea ruined by competition?
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/25/chinas-bike-share-graveyard-a-monument-to-industrys-arrogance

    • Cinny 13.1
      27 November 2017 at 11:14 pm

      Escher is incredible. How about those bikes… that’s nuts, that’s reality, insane.
      Must show my girls in the morrow, thanks for sharing those links Grey.

  14. greywarshark 14
    27 November 2017 at 11:31 pm

    NZ creativity and how there is always someone who knows the price of it but not the real value.
    Edward Bullmore’s art
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/latest-edition/6595622/Art-scandal-valuable-works-go-missing

    Have you heard of USA Crumb?
    Interesting cartoon art – Robert Crumb – unusual.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crumb

    • joe90 14.1
      28 November 2017 at 12:37 am

      I was15 when I found Crumb and Fritz the Cat.

      • greywarshark 14.1.1
        28 November 2017 at 12:19 pm

        I read about his non-standard family life and see how his stuff would be different than the norm for the outliers.

        I think I was trying to express what Space Monkey has in the considered comment below.

  15. vto 15
    28 November 2017 at 6:13 am

    This is not surprising and has been noticed with other genders too. For example, there is a significantly larger number of rude and crude women today yet they still manage to punch out all the good and amazing things that women do.

  16. SpaceMonkey 16
    28 November 2017 at 10:07 am

    I have come late to this discussion but my thoughts for what they’re worth…

    The creative artist in whatever form they manifest their creative output often plays within a complex web of light and dark, colour and shade and in discovering it the artist frequently has a foot in two camps – one in what we might call the acceptable part of society (a necessary bridge between the artist and the audience) while the other stands firmly in everything else, in whatever form that may take. That everything else is frequently dark and dangerous, pushing against all that society says is right (or wrong), daring the artist to challenge everything from themselves to the world around them.

    To me, the greatest artists have dived the deepest, faced the most intense darkness, and gone to hell and back that they can never have anything like a “normal” life. It is completely understandable to me when some indulge and engage in “abnormal” or immoral behaviours and practices.

    Then again, the exploration of darkness intensifies the light. Love, as the ultimate expression of light, can be more intense and the expression of that emotion in daily life can go both horribly wrong and/or beautifully right.

    And then there are those where coming back to a “normal” society which, when you have enough perspective and have questioned it enough, is obviously so fucked up in its own way, that anything normal is too much. Alcohol, drugs, sex are ready substitutes to ease the pain of living in a real world which you know to be no less an artificial construct than your own imagination or direct experiences from wandering in the dark.

    Am I condoning these behaviours? No. The innocent will always need protection. The challenge for these artists is to leave that darkness behind when they’re not creating. Some can do it, many can’t. They need help just like any other.

    Does this alter the quality of their work. Not to me. Their work stands alone, in its own right. After all, I suspect most creative artists will tell you they don’t feel like they are the ones that created the work in the first place – they were just a channel for something divine, or dreadful.

    “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.”

    Such is the burden of the great artist.

  17. Lara 17
    28 November 2017 at 12:18 pm

    I’m tired of watching the “great art” of men who are abusers. I’m speaking here of movies.

    Outside of movies to me it really doesn’t matter. I’ll still enjoy Picasso for example.

    But the older I get the more I notice the movies put out by these Hollywood men have shallow depictions of women. The women have to be young and attractive, usually white. There’s often sexual violence and it’s titillating. Ugh. The balance of male vs female actors in these movies is so often towards male. And finding a good movie with a female protagonist? Bloody hard. And when you do get one then invariably she has to be put down either violently or some other way by a man in the movie.

    Also, the older I get the more I notice that when an artist is said to be “edgy” that what they’re usually doing is just promoting the same tired old stereotypes about women and sex. Nope. Not edgy. Edgy would be to challenge stereotypes or overturn them.

    And so I think the attitudes of these men to women and sex comes through in the work they produce. And I’m really bored with watching it. Just another sausage fest.

    Just my 2 cents.

    • greywarshark 17.1
      28 November 2017 at 12:24 pm

      A woman actor the other day on radio commenting that there are not the roles for older actresses that there are for the older males. Yet I have an old book – In Praise of Older Women. It is interesting as he discusses his life and the people he meets with this outlook.

    • Psycho Milt 17.2
      28 November 2017 at 12:42 pm

      See Phil’s comment at 1.1 re abusive “great men” robbing us of what would have been better art. The shit portrayal of women in Hollywood movies is absolutely an effect of people like Weinstein running things – not so much appalling men making great art, as appalling men turning what might have been great art into shit.

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    Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • A fortune-telling failure, surely, if the tarot cards can’t see a bulldozer coming
    RNZ reports –  It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • The climate battleground heats up
    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’ s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Tuesday, May 14
    The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on why anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitic
    To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Climate change is making hurricanes more destructive
    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Wayne Brown’s PT Plan
    Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • Potaka's Private Universe.
    And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Our slow regional councils
    The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law after all
    Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • NZTA takes the wheel after govt gives it the road map for regional roads (and puts a speed governor ...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Tolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Change in Catalonia?
    or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Having an enrolment date is not depriving anyone of a vote
    David Farrar writes –  Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Perhaps house prices don’t always go up
    Don Brash writes –  There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Can’t read, can’t write, can’t comprehend – and won’t think…?
    Mike Grimshaw writes –  At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Time for some perspective
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Will NZ Herald’s ‘poor journalism’ cost lives?
    Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to May 19 and beyond
    TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 19 include:PM Christopher Luxon is expected to hold his weekly post-cabinet news conference at 4:00pm on Monday.Parliament is not sitting this week. It resumes next week for a two-week sitting session up to and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Webworm Popup Photos!
    Hi,Thanks to all the beautiful Worms who came to the LA Webworm popup on Saturday.It was a way to celebrate the online store we launched last week — and it was super special.As I talk about a lot, I really value our community here — and it was a BLAST ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #19
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • The Gods Must Be Woke.
    Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • More road
    We have been on the road in England, squeezing down narrow lanes, flying up the M6, loving hedgerows and villages and cathedrals, liking the 21st century less.There have been moments when it’s felt like a movie trope. The pub in Exford, lovely seventeenth century bar, almost more dogs than people, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Seeing the Aurora Australis
    There’s a solar-storm on at the moment, and since the South Island is having a day and night with clear skies, that means Aurorae. I have just got back from a midnight visit to Tunnel Beach – southwards-looking over the Sea, and without the light pollution. Quite a few others ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Welcome to the current welfare mess
    Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • A shovel-ready autopsy
    Oliver Hartwich writes –  Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Why we almost blacked out and how to fix it
    TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • What Is Instagram Trying To Sell Us?
    Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • Precious Little Excitement: Warner Brothers, Peter Jackson, and Gollum
    Back in February 2023, I made the cardinal mistake of getting my hopes up. Warner Brothers declared that fresh Middle-earth movies were in the works: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/02/24/it-never-rains-but-it-pours-warner-brothers-and-impending-tolkien-adaptations/ My assumption, based on which rights were available, and what had already been done, was that this was a stab at either the Angmar ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago

  • Do We Need a Population Census?
    ‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • No, the govt will not be cutting back on every budget – and the Defence vote is among those to be ...
    Buzz from the Beehive Reporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The Treasury and productivity
    Late last week The Treasury released a new 40 page report on “The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections” (productivity forecasts and projections that is, rather than any possible fiscal implications – the latter will, I guess, be articulated in the Budget documents). In short, if (as it has) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • The Controller and Auditor-General’s role
    Peter Dunne writes –  I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • More harm than good
    How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos   Chris Trotter writes –  TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Real reason Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Chhour
    And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction?   Gary Judd writes –  Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Losing confidence in the integrity of NZ elections
    Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Macklemore's Pro-Palestinian Protest.
    Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on miserly school lunches, and the banning of TikTok’s Gaza coverage
    Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 10-May-2024
    Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to May 10
    Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #19 2024
    Open access notables A Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future: Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Losing confidence in the integrity of NZ elections
    Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume VIII
    Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Pretending to talk other people’s languages
    Fakes can come in many forms.A Rolex, for instance.A tan can be fake. Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • What’s new? A social agency with an emphasis on “investment” instead of “wellbeing” – b...
    Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Following the political money
    Bryce Edwards writes –    “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Hipkins would rather no one remember that he was Minister of Education
    Alwyn Poole writes –  After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Fashionable follies
    Eric Crampton writes –  A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Justice for Bainimarama!
    In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • March for Nature in June
    Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Bernard’ s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Thursday May 9
    Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • The non-woke $3 Lunch.
    I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Labour’s chickens come home to roost
    The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago

  • Calvin Reviews Lord of The Rings
    Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago

  • Climate Adam: How to visualise Climate Change (ft. Katharine Hayhoe)
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Pre-Budget speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • New Zealand and Vanuatu to deepen collaboration
    New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says.    “This ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Penk travels to Peru for trade meetings
    Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Minister attends global education conferences
    Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Education Minister thanks outgoing NZQA Chair
    Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Joint statement of Christopher Luxon and Emmanuel Macron: Launch of the Christchurch Call Foundation
    New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.   This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Panel announced for review into disability services
    Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Minister welcomes Police gang unit
    Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand expresses regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners.  “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Chief of Defence Force appointed
    Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government puts children first by repealing 7AA
    Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Defence Minister to meet counterparts in UK, Italy
    Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Charter schools to lift educational outcomes
    The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • COVID-19 Inquiry terms of reference consultation results received
    “The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • The Pacific family of nations – the changing security outlook
    Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests  Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues  Ladies and Gentlemen,  Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru    It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • NZ and Papua New Guinea to work more closely together
    Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Driving ahead with Roads of Regional Significance
    The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand congratulates new Solomon Islands government
    A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office.    “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand supports UN Palestine resolution
    New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Speech to the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium
    Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • $571 million for Defence pay and projects
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Climate change – mitigating the risks and costs
    New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Getting new job seekers on the pathway to work
    Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Accelerating Social Investment
    A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says.  “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Getting Back on Track
    Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with  your Board and team, for hosting me.   I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ – European Union ties more critical than ever
    Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith,   Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States,   Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us.   Ladies and gentlemen -    In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations.   ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Therapeutic Products Act to be repealed
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