No-one should qualify for ACC as a result of what happened in Chch. What happened was not an 'accident'. It was a deliberate act of evil by someone with a sick mind.
So people asked the question: “Why won’t you enforce the rules against parking on the verge?”
AT referred to a legal problem, while refusing to provide any details, and pointed people to the supposed need for a further law change, or additional signage everywhere.
Other councils didn’t require this change to take action. So when NZTA consulted about a change, many people rightly considered it unnecessary.
I have had a licensed vehicle parked and never moved outside my home for months. The Council can't do anything about it because it is licensed till September. I am thinking of checking with the police to see if it is reported stolen.
The streets are clogged with cars parked on the kerb, often because the owners can't be bothered maneouvring into their garages or car parks. At the kerb they sit, ready to go in seconds. Some have bigger vehicles than car parking provided. Some leave them there for days, then use them, returning to the same spot or nearby. Rarely is the street free of cars. When tradespeople, visitors want to park they have to search for a spot. It isn't satisfactory, and the streets are narrowed by cars on both sides. Some park out from the kerb by about 30 cm, which then reduces space for cyclists and cars using the space.
But cyclists don't mind really, they all use the footpath, swishing along behind you before you know they are there. Bells announce them so you can move out of their way. Does anyone think about them having to dismount and walk the bike round citizens using the path, for whom the paths were originally formed?
This fascinating documentary focuses primarily on the use of methamphetamines by the German military during World War II and Hitler's personal drug habits but it also mentions a fact I've found mentioned elsewhere, which is the allies (and Japan) preferred amphetamines which they gave to troops in millions of pills. Among those who were given them were allied troops in North Africa which would have included New Zealand soldiers. But I have never heard of any research etc into drug use among New Zealand soldiers during World War II. I wonder if New Zealand soldiers got addicted and if this might have contributed to alcoholism among New Zealand soldiers when they returned home (not having access to amphetamines). Amphetamine use by New Zealand soldiers during WWII would make interesting area for someone to research perhaps?
I'd heard about the USA giving LSD to airmen as it allowed them to undertake longer flights. (The doses would have to be carefully managed so they didn't forget that they were piloting a plane with a mission.)
LSD sounds odd (not a stimulant), but there was a case over Afghanistan where two US F16 pilots bombed and killed some Canadians. Part of their largely unsuccessful defense was that their amphetamine use for the mission made them more likely to identify unrelated actions as threats.
I remember a sequence in a Nicholas Monsarrat book (The Cruel Sea, probably) where the captain needed to out-wait a submerged Uboat so got the doctor to give him some uppers. The doctor kept them on a tight leash. Yes, fiction, but I mention it because Monsarrat is to WW2 convoy escort duty what Le Carre is to cold war esionage: a practitioner writing about what he knows.
The Alexander Skarsgård one? Yup, really well done.
Apparently Le Carre's written a brexit one – I'll be really interested to see the mix of tech and spycraft in that. So many ultra-modern spy things are gadgets beating gadgets rather than the human touch. Not to mention that they ignore the longer term goals for the immediate ones – e.g. Bond is just using a cover to stay undetected (even officially) long enough to kill someone, he never uses a cover for weeks or months.
Emergency rations for British soldiers in ww2 consisted of speed laced chocolate. It was an offence to consume them unless directed to by an officer. I would imagine, though of course I could be wrong, NZ, Aus and Canadian troops would have had similar provisions with the same level of control over their use.
The Wolves of War: Evidence of an Ancient Cult of Warrior Lycanthropy
"The legendary wine of Thrace was particularly potent through the addition of a psychoactive mushroom. The rituals of the women known as bacchants enacted the fantasies of root-cutters in commemoration of the deity in his persona that predated viticulture. This fungal persona represents the same intoxicant that was known to the Persians as haoma and represents the spread of an Indo-European sacrament into the Classical world, with its association of lycanthropy and the bonding of warriors into brotherhoods as packs of wolves, better known in its manifestation in late antiquity among the Nordic peoples as berserkers."
"According to Falk, Parsi-Zoroastrians use a variant of ephedra, usually Ephedra procera, imported from the Hari River valley in Afghanistan."
Haoma, soma… it's been a while and many interpretations of what the drug was. Some variations I think. From Vedic Hymns with recipes: poppies, weed, speed (Papaver, Cannabis, Ephedra). From other texts, fungi. I think they got folk shitfaced on whatever was convenient.
"There was a media frenzy when it was published at the dawn of the 1970s. This caused the publisher to apologize for issuing it and forced Allegro's resignation from his university position."
"In November 2009 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross was reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with 30-page addendum by Prof. Carl A. P. Ruck of Boston University." So could be that the time of conforming to orthodoxy in acadaemia is over, and we may actually see academics learning something new.
Why do we have a parliament and most here being climate change deniers ?
AS if actions really do speak about what people REALLY think then there would be some direct action, declaring an emergency is doing nothing. If we were really serious there would be an acceptance that the world pop. will have to reduce, living standards will decline. But perhaps the really macro effects are way too serious to contemplate about.
It's not nothing that's been done. The so called deniers you speak of reached bi-partisan consensus with James Shaw's work, diluted though it may be.
There is not nothing being done. You are concern trolling while ignoring facts.
Yes, you'd think more would be done… but if this lot are turfed out and Nats are back in we'd be in a considerably worse position right now. Don't forget there are a large portion of self-obsessed twats landlords in this country who think they're the only game in town. Give them power back we'll be truly fucked.
Not to mention the myriad of other problems the Coalition are currently trying to deal with.
For some people positive action is merely an excuse to start on the not enough mantra.
Count your blessings, positive change is occurring in an atmosphere of resistance and denial via media prostitutes. Those servicing that other mob that would crisp us for a buck.
Asking for more to be done is good and well. Claiming nothing is being done is bullshit.
The Labour and Green MP's most on this site, otherwise there would be strong demands to examine what NZ does. e.g. How do we promote tourism when the effects on the climate are so dramatic e.g air travel etc
Either this is a crisis that requires dramatic changes in everything we do on this planet or it is a nice to do as it makes "us" feel good.
WTH stopping oil exploration is great (What Crap ) if we then expect other countries to continue to supply us, nothing you have listed is dramatic., but it feels good.
With the changes that have been signalled e.g. many to become effective "after" the next election. The sea will be rising, who cares what the sky is doing 😜
I can be dramatic Herodotus. I can just get so depressed reading stuff from you and similar others that i can feel like killing myself.If you would not like even bringing that thought to anyone, then I suggest you don't come on here with your black mood and your allegations of nothing. I get blue, and sadder when I can't even see the Bill for euthanasia of people who are nearly dead get through. I would hope that I can give up one day soon, be resigned that I have achieved something small but worthwhile, and plan my passing ritual legally. But watching the meanness of so many rigid and uncaring is sad, and your approach makes it worse.
Tell us what YOU are doing and encourage us to take some specific action like you, protest, plant a tree etc. Whining and criticising is not going to get us where we need to go.
You could have a look at the vid at the bottom of the How to Get There last Sat post. It should be watched once a day by you to give you some hints about turning your negativity into something useful and supporting others trying to do good.
I do enough to feel that I am doing my bit. Visit a few Hauraki Gulf Islands or Hūnua ranges. Perhaps when you go behind a flax bush or a tree that was was planted by my hands, or you listen to the bird song perhaps I had a hand in the relocation or care.
Now I would like to hear what YOU are doing, many transfer their inaction by attacking others ?
Next time you hear the Greens or Labour spout off about what they are doing; feel good because that is all that the govt is doing and it feels SOOOOO good as long as you are not directly inconvenience.
Compared with Europe and the Americas plus India and much of the Northern hemisphere and Australia, we here in NZ surrounded by cooling heat absorbing ocean waters and the Antarctic to the south, though it's melting too, are not being affected in your face obviously except our glaciers are melting back and the Alps' snow pack is declining. Ignoring reality is a way to keep BAU going: we all do it me too! Earthquakes are a more frightening prospect for us e.g. Wellington central library is still closed for examination and repairs from the last Kaikoura shake.
Trotter's prescription for Labour: populism. He reckons "the really exciting thing is that a huge part of the campaign need not be visible. If Labour in New Zealand is not too proud to copy the extraordinary social-media campaigning techniques perfected by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the recent European elections, then Jacinda should be able to avoid pretty much all of the blood-splatter."
Gabby suggested one of his supporters was. However I'm not convinced Nigel is a true patriot. He has twice failed to name his political parties Britain First. He hasn't even adopted Make Britain Great Again as his slogan.
Perhaps he wants to be a free spirit like the Don? Buzzing around creating frenzy. From what I have heard about Farage, he can be captured, bottled and held under glass. If so that would larn him to say the Right things.
Nope, that wasn't my intent. However, it's true that patriots have done that kind of thing for yonks (whenever they believe it's in the best interests of the nation)…
We already have a talented charismatic leader who is also the most popular politician in Australasia. And who has babies, gets the all-round guy, has a baby in office, and gets engaged.
2020 must surely be New Zealand Royal Wedding year.
If he were talking about the Labour Party of 2012 he would have a point.
To begin with, he knows the difference between Key's and Clark's former holidays and Ardern's trip to the Cook Islands. Key went to a gated community in Hawaii where privacy was guaranteed. Clark climbed faraway mountains and skied in faraway places like Norway. Her privacy was guaranteed by lack of access and distance. Jacinda and Clark have gone to a well known holiday spot where privacy is not guaranteed.
They also have their little girl whose privacy they rightly wish to protect.
And just to be sure we get his nasty message, he throws in a few jibes at the late David Lange.
I recommend the article as the latest reminder of the extent of right-wing vengeance when they don't get their own way – in this case political power and the money and prestige that flows from it for the media sycophants.
That might be true, but the value of the observation is somewhat diminished when it comes from someone who calls a politically motivated liar and calumniator a "hero".
It is from the NZ Herald whose spokeswoman heralded about the time they put up a paywall that the Herald is 'not a journal of record'. So apparently they don't have to try and live up to any standard of valuable reporting. Just drive-by jibes with a bit of gravitas for the business people about the most important matter of money – changing hands and the people in power that enable it.
"Why does Jacinda Ardern want to keep her holiday a secret?"
The PM has often talked about mental health in the country, the use of drugs and all sorts of prevalent maladies. Barry Soper shows the tragic state we've descended too.
A senior political journalist, an adult, a man who's kicked around planet earth for quite a few years getting precious about not knowing where Ardern's gone on holiday? Or that we, I, don't know?
Call an ambulance for Soper, not just for the fact that he was upset for not knowing where she was going, but for all the drivel he comes up with around his little episode.
I find it disturbing on the basis that someone paid him to write that utterly pointless garbage, not because I don’t think that the PM "can't handle" it – likely she just ignores it – or anything else that comes by way of her job. The uneasy feeling is that someone who was paid to write that and those with similar tendencies main intent would be to be the first with anything that remotely looks like "bad news" of some description and it is their fondest dream that that will happen. While they're not worth effort of considering how this is what some "journalism" has come to is really strange.
No of course I'm not surprised I couldn't bear listening to that or similar and can only say that radio via that awful magic talk has only become worse, a few were OK but now it is sickening. One "announcer" I heard referring to a "poll" they had run as relfecting their "listeners" and he was dead right and not I am no longer one of them.
I read the Soper piece as "I have to write something to get my money; I'm bored: I'll stir the pot – oh great, Ardern is in the Cook Islands and I did not know …" End of story -Soper style.
Here is a much more balanced item, IMO, probably much closer to the truth – Gayford is filming for his TV show Fish of the Day in the Cook Islands. Ardern and their daughter accompanied him for a short break – much deserved, and few and far between. Choice of destination boosts the local economy of one of our closest Pacifc neigbours, a former dependency with the main currency remaining NZ dollars, etc End of story – Reality.
'Corrections Association of New Zealand president Allan Whitley said a group of members asked the union to advocate for longer shifts about six years ago.'
Thank f**k, working 8-9 days straight is no joke (well it is a joke but its not a very funny one…)
'Waggott said more work was required before the revised system could be fully implemented and there was no finalised timeframe.'
Paula Bennett this morning talking about Labour Coalition climate change 'posturing'. What posture is this – I think it should become a recognisable badge of courage for those getting on with the mahi!
And then she condemns passing legislation relating to it by emergency. National didn't do this. We know Paula. And National only chose to do it when there was a real emergency – that would be when their funders became impatient to get their requested legislation passed enabling their desired business transactions.
Bennet was 'posturing' as a car-loving Westie, and a very poor imitation it was. She seemed completely unaware that vulgar selfishness doesn't make you look working class, it makes you look like a one-percenter.
Yes, she changes her persona according to the circumstances of the day. In the event of a leadership challenge, she's after the votes of the Blue Rinse Brigade?
Talking about posturing – if one is not careful then one might get eaten by a lion like young Albert. Paula had better stay away from the zoo in case she has not perfected her posture, from a lying-down lion's POV.
Its mid-year break for Parliament and politicians with a full three weeks between sittings of the House, Apart from the summer break (Christmas – late Jan/early Feb) the House sits in 2 to 3 week blocks with only 1 -2 week breaks in between.
The PM has also not been doing her usual weekly media stints so its not just Simon, and things should get back to usual next week when Cabinet/Caucus meetings and House sittings resume.
[On another subject, hope all is going well with the anti-bullying situation. ]
Not my car, Simon, I’d pay less for my car. Lots less. 🙂
Doing quite well, actually. Staying warm with the winter warmth payment as the sleety rain falls outside. Got a free repeat for my hearing aid batteries yesterday.
On Monday I get a free check for bladder cancer at three weeks notice from symptoms to specialist.
This government is working for us older citizens…….
The Human Rights Foundation issued a statement last week, calling for Minaj and other performers to pull out of the show. On Tuesday, the New York-based organization praised Minaj‘s decision to not perform at the concert.
“This is what leadership looks like. We are grateful to Nicki Minaj for her inspiring and thoughtful decision to reject the Saudi regime’s transparent attempt at using her for a public relations stunt,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation. “The July 18 festival in Saudi Arabia still shows Liam Payne as a performer. We hope that he follows Nicki Minaj’s lead. Minaj’s moral stance differs from celebrity performers like J-Lo and Mariah Carey, who in the past have chosen to line their pockets with millions of dollars and stand with dictatorial governments as opposed to with oppressed communities and imprisoned human rights activists.”
My cohort and I are labelled millennials because we came of age in the new millennium. We are also generation zero: the first generation that will live with the palpable effects of climate change throughout our adult lives. The generation invoked, at every business and climate change conference I attend, as the source of ingenuity that will help us deal with the current climate crisis. Yet few (if any) people under the age of 30 sit on the board of New Zealand’s biggest-emitting companies. Few of us are making significant decisions in politics or business. Looking to the next generation for solutions is just another delaying tactic. Instead of denialism, we now have delayism.
… The idea that we’re individually responsible for minimising plastic waste is the result of concerted lobbying, but manufacturers also played a key role in introducing plastic into the economy in the first place. Before corporate entities worked hard to replace existing arrangements, we had a circular economy for wrapping food or carrying liquids.
… If we frame the problem as one that individuals can solve, we ignore the fact that infrastructure, institutions and regulation continue to place real limits on what we can achieve, and work against our best efforts to live sustainably.
… Our dependence on fossil fuels and plastic has been constructed and reinforced by corporate interest and decades of lobbying that thwarted environmental regulation.
This is why racism should be challenged ,,, two ticks national is no excuse for encouraging our sicko's.
And how come no media in NZ …. apart from Nicky Hager ,,,, called out the blatant dishonesty and racism ,,, of the Brash Nats ' steal the beaches ' election propaganda,
I think Brash is still banging away at it …. … who would Hobson votes end up floating too
More pressure on Pharmac – they are damned if they do and damned if they don't
The Pharmac board was advised that the cost of funding OxyContin would be $1.2m by 2008 – it ended up being $3.5m and kept ballooning.
Doctors have told Stuff that after Pharmac agreed to fund OxyContin, Mundipharma began heavily promoting it, including for conditions such as arthritis.
Sales reps would visit GPs, and advertisements were placed in publications such as New Zealand Doctor.
Dr Alistair Dunn, a Whangarei addiction medicine specialist who was one of the first to raise concerns about OxyContin, says GPs would not previously have resorted to using morphine for arthritis.
It’s hard to help citizens who are dying to have addictions to various things. Lachlan Foote, 21, returned to his Blue Mountains home after celebrating New Year’s Eve in the early hours of 2018. He made himself a protein shake before bed, adding caffeine powder, and his parents found him dead on the bathroom floor the next morning.
This about what we are up against by opening up ourselves to the world business that is equivalent to drive-by smash and grab. Our government hasn't a chance in coping with sharp operators like this.
Such a nightmare scenario was not out of the ordinary for renters around the United States after Invitation Homes, a subsidiary of New York private equity firm Blackstone Group, began buying foreclosed homes on the cheap after the 2008 financial crisis. It quickly became the country’s largest owner of single-family homes. The firm soon earned a poor reputation as an absentee landlord that left houses in disrepair and ignored calls from tenants to fix pest infestations, electrical or plumbing problems, and other issues. Report after report by independent groups detail complaints about a lack of maintenance, swift evictions being carried out based on glitches or errors, and steep overcharging for rents….
Episodes like these are why there continues to be fierce debate about the merits of PE firms everywhere around the world – everywhere, seemingly, but in New Zealand. While the public and media remain fixated on the threat of foreign home buyers and property speculators, there has been comparatively little debate about the entrance of large, foreign PE firms into our economy.
According to the journalist and author Graeme Hunt, domestic intelligence and counter-subversion prior to the establishment of the SIS was primarily in the hands of the New Zealand Police Force (1919–1941; 1945–1949) and of the New Zealand Police Force Special Branch (1949–1956). Another predecessor to the SIS during the Second World War was the short-lived New Zealand Security Intelligence Bureau (SIB).[6] The SIB, modelled after the British MI5, was headed by Major Kenneth Folkes, a junior MI5 officer. The conman Syd Ross duped Major Folkes into believing that there was a "Nazi plot" in New Zealand. Due to this embarrassment, Prime Minister Peter Fraser dismissed Folkes in February 1943 and the SIB merged into the New Zealand Police. Following the end of World War II in 1945, the police force resumed responsibility for domestic intelligence.[7]
Being diagnosed early is vital to being cured, avoiding patient pain and suffering along with potential long term health costs in the process. MRI's are a vital diagnostic tool that should be GP referable and shouldn't require such long wait times.
"Is there any action being taken to address this?" [The Chairman @17]
Do you mean action to address the clinical decision not to offer Rachel Terrill an MRI scan? Both better clinical decision making, and more resources for publicly-funded MRI scans, would be one way to go.
Ministry of Health chief medical officer Andrew Simpson said national waiting times were carefully monitored.
"The performance indicator [or target] is that 90 per cent of people receive an MRI scan, within six weeks," he said.
"Capacity across the country has increased through improved efficiency and DHBs investing in new or additional machinery, and more scans are being performed now than in the past, but there are still challenges to be worked through," he said.
"The six week timeframe was introduced in 2012/13, based on advice from the National Radiology Advisory Group."
"In our region [Nelson Marlborough] we share MRI scanners with private healthcare providers which affects our capacity to scan and have plans this year to purchase a new MRI scanner for Nelson Hospital, solely for public healthcare use.
We acknowledge that waiting for a scan is not what people may want to do, but reassure people that this service is organised by order of priority – if you urgently need a scan you will get one quickly," Lexie O'Shea said.
I agree with The Chairman that, in general, public health funding should be prioritised over defense spending. Could there be bipartisan political action on this, once the National party has plugged its leaks?
Graeme Hunt, who died in 2010, was one of the most unpleasant right wing ideologues infecting public life in this country. He was a regular dark and pompous presence on Larry "Lackwit" Williams' joke of a show on NewstalkZzzzzB, where he made a point of bullying, ridiculing, and harassing lesser souls, like Tim Watkin and the ridiculous Josie Pagani.
Even worse than his radio performances was his writing. He wrote a substandard biography of Fintan Patrick Walsh, and this "history" Spies and Revolutionaries was another missed opportunity, muddying the waters for any serious journalist or academic who might have wished to write on the history of security in this country in the future.
In 2003 Hunt's crappy secret persona was outed on Google Groups, much to his mortification….
He would have been wiser and more principled to have made a clear call years ago, one way or the other. This frittering looks indecisive at best and cynically manipulative at worst.
Yet the report makes it evident that UK Labour have agreed to adopt a different position on the situation in campaigning for the next election. "In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, he said there was no decision yet as to what Labour would argue for in a general election on Brexit. He said: “We will decide very quickly at the start of that campaign exactly what our position will be.”
"Pressed on whether Labour was now a party of leave or remain, Corbyn said: “We will give people the choice on this. That is something which is surely very important. We respect the result of the referendum. We’ve been through this whole long parliamentary process over the past three years and we’ve made it very clear we will do everything we can to take no deal off the table or stop a damaging deal of the sort Hunt and Johnson are proposing.”"
So it seems a nuanced principled position. No doubt spooked by the LibDem poll ratings, he's gotten agreement from his colleagues. I think he's done well.
That "nuance" has been a 15 point gift to the LibDems.
Corbyn needs to show he has to chops to actually pull back the voters he's lost to them. That is the measure of whether he's more than an idealistic maverick.
I do agree his lack of leadership has allowed the LibDems to get up past Labour. I was just pointing out that he secured a nicely-nuanced collective agreement from Labour in response. It encompasses a two-pronged strategy & seems coherent.
Getting consensus on both in a complex political context at the top level is a real accomplishment. We ought to acknowledge that. I've been critical of him several times the past few months but I feel he's redeemed himself somewhat.
Labour's political culture has been groupthink since the nineties, remember, here & in Oz as in Britain. Labour leaders only get tolerated if they genuinely represent group opinion. Thus hamstrung, it is rare for them to demonstrate individual flair or initiative. I think the evidence shows he has been successful in steering the groupthink to an appropriate result.
MAGA President Trump supporters are not sick of winning, there seems to be some consensus about among them.
Brexit supporters are….um……well……you know……errrr………still campaigning for their referendum, whatever that was about, of a few years back.
I'd say, to do it with any kind of momentum, & have it be momentous, it needs a no holds barred sack the cabinet, hard take it or leave it deal with the EU, proroguing the people's vote through parliament, strong solidarity with MAGA movement & President Trump on the world stage with an opening shot of a successful deal with the U.S.A.
Have you some recommendation – one or two – on what a forestry company can do for a quick ground cover on hills they have logged to prevent run-off when it rained heavily? I thought if they could fly over, perhaps with a drone, would dropping seed work well and enough come up even if the ground wasn't wet? This time of the year the dew is quite heavy.
If you let me know what you think would be viable for putting over quite a big area I could pass that on as there is concern about a logged area here and while it is being thought about, perhaps some sensible plan for fast growing beneficial weeds could be passed on and tried out (and then done as a regular sensible move. Fast and nitrogen fixing – would clover do it – chickweed?
I reckon forethought would go a long way. Damage control is harder.
You are looking for local fast growing legumes and ground covers that can handle the soil conditions left behind after pines. It might be you can aerial spray seeds but need to add lime. They could maybe get hold of the mountains of discarded oyster shells industry creates and crush and use them to facilitate things (if liming would help).
There's also the question of land use after harvest – another pine crop? A bush regeneration project? A fallow period?
For regeneration and even another crop of pines (why!) I'd be inclined to go in and innoculate stumps with oyster mushrooms, shitaake if they'll grow on pines, mulch down the slash and add Stropharia rugoso-annulata and other saprobes to generate some local crops/small business while turning the trunks and slash to topsoil.
If rapid ground cover is imperative you want something practically invasive to the conditions. Observation of the site will indicate which plants or close relatives of plants might work.
Driving back from the FFN the other day I was actually shocked to see entire hillsides covered with the stuff. Some large, but mostly it was plants of about 1.5 metres growing about 1 metre apart, covering entire hillsides.
I've pulled a few of these out from my place but it seems that they simply love to exploit bare land…too many trees at mine.
And strangely, while obviously it is the time of the year for spraying gorse…woolly nightshade growing alongside the sprayed and withering gorse was thriving.
Got me to thinking that perhaps we could grow the stuff to feed our bio diesel/ethanol plants.
Interesting Rosemary. Good observation. It is a prolific space invader right down to at least the Waikato. Noted as a pest plant, shade tolerance could be a problem where other pioneers typically do the nursery job then die back as other plants canopy forms over them.
Biofuels are impractical unless waste streams of crops/industry. We've gone that route (growing biofuel specifically) to the detriment of food security already. One day we might get the desired bacteria to live outside of certain insects guts but we're not there yet. Once we can crack lignin apart easily biofuels will lend a lot more energy for a lot less input.
Pretty shocking stuff Rosemary. Its spread indicates that some immediate ground cover plants are necessary to stop this relentless weed, and it is so nasty, bad for skin and smelly and the birds should be provided with a better weed that they can go to.
Medical cannabis needs to be accessed by sick people who need it.What I don't want to see is big companies getting a monopoly in the industry and charging the Papatuanuku for a product that people need to have a good life. I can see business manipulating the laws so that they can dominate the market.
What commercial operations is going to grow weed close to a school on the most expensive land not very wise they will grow it on farm land not in the city's????????????????????????????????.
I say that we will have the same problems that the United kingdom and other countries have. Our doctors are all elderly so they have a negative attitude and view on medical weed they will be very reluctant to prescribe it. The elderly have a very different view on our society's that the younger generations they have had it drummed into them over the years that alcohol is good and laughable that weed is bad.
Times are changing we have the internet now so we can find out the TRUTHS about our society the younger generation have a much clearer view on our society's problems.
This is a joke the billionaires get away with what ever they do to make money no matter the harm caused.
Facebook to be fined $5bn for Cambridge Analytica privacy violations – reports
The $5bn fine would be the largest ever levied by the Federal Trade Commission against a technology company
The FTC’s investigation was launched in March 2018 after the Guardian revealed that the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained the private information of more than 50m Facebook users. Facebook had agreed under a 2012consent decree stemming from a previous FTC investigation into privacy concerns to better protect user privacy. The investigation centered on whether this decree .
Critics say the changes required of Facebook are not substantial enough, and the fine will hardly make a dent in Facebook’s bank account. The company had more than $15bn in revenue in the first three months of 2019.
“This isn’t a fine, it’s a favor to Facebook, a parking ticket which will clear them to conduct more illegal and invasive surveillance,” said Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Institute who specializes in monopoly power. “Congress should start defunding the FTC and move the money to state enforcers like Karl Racine who believe in enforcing the law,” he added, referring to the attorney general of Washington DC, who is currently pursuing a lawsuit against Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica
David Cicilline, the Democratic congressman who chairs the House subcommittee on antitrust issues, reacted to the news on Twitter, saying: “The FTC just gave Facebook a Christmas present five months early. It’s very disappointing that such an enormously powerful company that engaged in such serious misconduct ka kite ano link below.
Eco Maori totally agrees with this Wahine view these guys think that they are leaders but NO they are just con artists fooling people that they put their te tangata best interests before their own wants YEA RIGHT.
Ruining a country near you soon: the beta males who think they’re alphas
What could be more insecure than a 55-year-old bragging about Latin, or a literal president tweeting his enemies on the bog
If the Tory leadership election unfolds as widely expected, the UK will basically be ruled by a Fathers4Injustice activist. Boris Johnson is the kind of guy who’d don Spider-Man pyjamas and scale a building in order to see less of his kids. Sorry, fewer. Even so, he remains a remarkably typical hero of our political times. “There are two kinds of women,” Harry explains at one point in When Harry Met Sally. “High maintenance and low maintenance.” “Which one am I?” Sally asks. “You’re the worst kind,” he says. “You’re high maintenance, but you think you’re low maintenance
See also gratefully submissive Donald Trump fanboy Nigel Farage, who has spent much of the past three years hanging wanly around Washington on the off-chance of a half-hour 6pm burger with the alpha male to his beta. And see also Donald Trump himself, the leader of the free world, who spent about 48 hours this week tweeting like some homicidal 11-year-old Justin Bieber fan about the leaked comments of the British ambassador. Who, apparently, we now let him pick. More on toxic insecurity’s poster boy shortly.
Great leaders show, rather than tell, their skills. Yet Johnson never lets up with telling people that he is not “defeatist”, that he will “put some lead in the collective pencil”, that “energy” is needed, that what the EU really fears is a big strong man like him. Mm. I hear they talk of little else in the 27 European capitals. “O Fates, please spare us the dreaded ‘positive energy’ of a guy internationally ridiculed as the worst foreign secretary in memory; and the unplayable charm of a surprisingly indifferent orator who knows the Latin for ‘can we just take out the backstop?’”
And Johnson does know Latin, as he never misses a chance to remind us. No one could accuse him of wearing his learning lightly – or, indeed, wearing any of it lightly. Witness his excruciating promise to reach out to something he pointedly referred to as “Oppidan Britain”. To which the increasingly despairing response has to be: YES YES! I KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU WENT TO! I KNOW WHAT HOUSE YOU WERE IN! I KNOW YOU GOT A SECOND CLASS CLASSICS DEGREE! I KNOW THIS SOMEHOW ENDS WITH YOU CONSIGNING OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY TO THE CATACOMBS THEN BEATING US TO DEATH WITH YOUR RELATIVELY MIDDLEBROW ACHIEVEMENTS! But mate: you are 55 – FIFTY-FIVE – years old. How, how can you possibly still be wanking on about any of this, in public, as though it was still the best thing you’ve ever done? Can it really be because it was? [Spoiler: yes ka kite ano link below.
Eco Maori thanks the wealthy US philanthropist for their tau toko of the Students Strikes and the extinction rebellion
A group of wealthy US philanthropists and investors have donated almost half a million pounds to support the grassroots movement Extinction Rebellion and school strike groups – with the promise of tens of millions more in the months ahead.
Trevor Neilson, an investor and philanthropist who has worked with some of the world’s richest families, has teamed up with Rory Kennedy – daughter of Robert Kennedy – and Aileen Getty, whose family wealth comes from the oil industry
Neilson said the three founders were using their contacts among the global mega-rich to get “a hundred times” more in the weeks and months ahead. “This might be the single best chance we have to stop the greatest emergency we have ever faced,” he told the Guardian.
The new fund has the author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, who set up 350.org, and David Wallace Wells, who wrote international best seller Uninhabitable Earth, on its advisory board.
Global heating: London to have climate similar to Barcelona by 2050
The money will initially be used to support school strike and Extinction Rebellion groups in the US, but will also be available to help “seed” similar groups around the world.
It offers tiers of funding to support different-sized groups, from teenage activists wanting money for leaflets and megaphones, to funding for salaries and offices for established groups in big cities. It has already committed some of the fund to support Extinction Rebellion groups in New York and Los Angeles Ka kite ano link below.
A big Hurricane is moving into the Mississippi river in America while the river is in flood cause trump climate change.
John haven't you been in that or around that type of organization. People like you only care about your own mana you are just sturing the Oranga tamariki stuff to use it to try and get the Auckland mayors job you don't care that you're moves could damage the government that does more for the common poor tangata than the last lot muppet Maori make up a large portion of them. You're backers are just using you to try and damage our humane Labour lead Government wake up fool.
I new a elderly couple who had a daughter on the Earabus flight.
That's a big explosion in Russia.
America sky lad 40 years today it crashed landed in the Australian outback the person describing the loud noise when it hit Papatuanuku Eco Maori knowns that feeling a meteor hit in Edgecome back in the day it was shaking the road the bank window in Opotiki was wobbling and a huge sonic boom .
Tiana turia why didn't you raise this problem about Oranga tamariki and sorte it out when you were in bed with NATIONAL they just stuffed up te tangata whenua.????????????????????. You were played by shonky and you are being played now fool
I have Already given my opinion of john tamahira in the above post.
Karen I oppose any Tangata whenua whenua being sold te Atua is not making anymore whenua they could have just used the whenua as security for a loan to do the development that they wanted in Papamore.
Ka pai to the Wahine who are getting bald heads to raise funds for housespice and the Rainbow community is a awesome cause.
I hit the justice department with a request for all the information that they have on Eco Maori to get JUSTICE. The muppets just stepped up their intimidation GAMES 10 fold lucky I'm Eco Maori I have others who have my Back
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Well-written article about how our govt decided not to cover all people harmed by the Chch mosque terror attacks:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/09/674024/ministers-vetoed-acc-extension-for-terror-victims
No-one should qualify for ACC as a result of what happened in Chch. What happened was not an 'accident'. It was a deliberate act of evil by someone with a sick mind.
How Auckland Transport refuses to act against rogue car parking: https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2019/07/08/auckland-transports-parking-nonsense/
The core problem, that AT is probably aware of, that the law is largely unenforceable because there are more cars than carparks.
I have had a licensed vehicle parked and never moved outside my home for months. The Council can't do anything about it because it is licensed till September. I am thinking of checking with the police to see if it is reported stolen.
The streets are clogged with cars parked on the kerb, often because the owners can't be bothered maneouvring into their garages or car parks. At the kerb they sit, ready to go in seconds. Some have bigger vehicles than car parking provided. Some leave them there for days, then use them, returning to the same spot or nearby. Rarely is the street free of cars. When tradespeople, visitors want to park they have to search for a spot. It isn't satisfactory, and the streets are narrowed by cars on both sides. Some park out from the kerb by about 30 cm, which then reduces space for cyclists and cars using the space.
But cyclists don't mind really, they all use the footpath, swishing along behind you before you know they are there. Bells announce them so you can move out of their way. Does anyone think about them having to dismount and walk the bike round citizens using the path, for whom the paths were originally formed?
This fascinating documentary focuses primarily on the use of methamphetamines by the German military during World War II and Hitler's personal drug habits but it also mentions a fact I've found mentioned elsewhere, which is the allies (and Japan) preferred amphetamines which they gave to troops in millions of pills. Among those who were given them were allied troops in North Africa which would have included New Zealand soldiers. But I have never heard of any research etc into drug use among New Zealand soldiers during World War II. I wonder if New Zealand soldiers got addicted and if this might have contributed to alcoholism among New Zealand soldiers when they returned home (not having access to amphetamines). Amphetamine use by New Zealand soldiers during WWII would make interesting area for someone to research perhaps?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw-JP37q62Q&feature=share
I'd heard about the USA giving LSD to airmen as it allowed them to undertake longer flights. (The doses would have to be carefully managed so they didn't forget that they were piloting a plane with a mission.)
Go pills are a thing.
LSD sounds odd (not a stimulant), but there was a case over Afghanistan where two US F16 pilots bombed and killed some Canadians. Part of their largely unsuccessful defense was that their amphetamine use for the mission made them more likely to identify unrelated actions as threats.
I remember a sequence in a Nicholas Monsarrat book (The Cruel Sea, probably) where the captain needed to out-wait a submerged Uboat so got the doctor to give him some uppers. The doctor kept them on a tight leash. Yes, fiction, but I mention it because Monsarrat is to WW2 convoy escort duty what Le Carre is to cold war esionage: a practitioner writing about what he knows.
LeCarre certainly captures all the tiniest details. Have you been watching the latest version of Little Drummer Girl on tv1?
The Alexander Skarsgård one? Yup, really well done.
Apparently Le Carre's written a brexit one – I'll be really interested to see the mix of tech and spycraft in that. So many ultra-modern spy things are gadgets beating gadgets rather than the human touch. Not to mention that they ignore the longer term goals for the immediate ones – e.g. Bond is just using a cover to stay undetected (even officially) long enough to kill someone, he never uses a cover for weeks or months.
Emergency rations for British soldiers in ww2 consisted of speed laced chocolate. It was an offence to consume them unless directed to by an officer. I would imagine, though of course I could be wrong, NZ, Aus and Canadian troops would have had similar provisions with the same level of control over their use.
The Wolves of War: Evidence of an Ancient Cult of Warrior Lycanthropy
"The legendary wine of Thrace was particularly potent through the addition of a psychoactive mushroom. The rituals of the women known as bacchants enacted the fantasies of root-cutters in commemoration of the deity in his persona that predated viticulture. This fungal persona represents the same intoxicant that was known to the Persians as haoma and represents the spread of an Indo-European sacrament into the Classical world, with its association of lycanthropy and the bonding of warriors into brotherhoods as packs of wolves, better known in its manifestation in late antiquity among the Nordic peoples as berserkers."
http://www.neuroquantology.com/index.php/journal/article/view/898
"According to Falk, Parsi-Zoroastrians use a variant of ephedra, usually Ephedra procera, imported from the Hari River valley in Afghanistan."
Haoma, soma… it's been a while and many interpretations of what the drug was. Some variations I think. From Vedic Hymns with recipes: poppies, weed, speed (Papaver, Cannabis, Ephedra). From other texts, fungi. I think they got folk shitfaced on whatever was convenient.
You bet. Percolated on down the millennia from paleolithic times. I remember the kerfuffle in the media when one of the Dead Sea Scrolls team of scholars broke ranks & advocated heresy: "cult practices, such as ingesting visionary plants to perceive the mind of God, persisted into the early Christian era". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sacred_Mushroom_and_the_Cross
"There was a media frenzy when it was published at the dawn of the 1970s. This caused the publisher to apologize for issuing it and forced Allegro's resignation from his university position."
"In November 2009 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross was reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with 30-page addendum by Prof. Carl A. P. Ruck of Boston University." So could be that the time of conforming to orthodoxy in acadaemia is over, and we may actually see academics learning something new.
Ethnobotany is helping. Also helping pharmaceutical companies to pillage as UNDRIP has no teeth.
Why do we have a parliament and most here being climate change deniers ?
AS if actions really do speak about what people REALLY think then there would be some direct action, declaring an emergency is doing nothing. If we were really serious there would be an acceptance that the world pop. will have to reduce, living standards will decline. But perhaps the really macro effects are way too serious to contemplate about.
So we say we agree but in reality we Deny.
Why do we have a parliament and most here being climate change deniers?
What do this relate to Herodotus? Who are 'most'…deniers?
It's not nothing that's been done. The so called deniers you speak of reached bi-partisan consensus with James Shaw's work, diluted though it may be.
There is not nothing being done. You are concern trolling while ignoring facts.
Yes, you'd think more would be done… but if this lot are turfed out and Nats are back in we'd be in a considerably worse position right now. Don't forget there are a large portion of self-obsessed
twatslandlords in this country who think they're the only game in town. Give them power back we'll be truly fucked.Not to mention the myriad of other problems the Coalition are currently trying to deal with.
For some people positive action is merely an excuse to start on the not enough mantra.
Count your blessings, positive change is occurring in an atmosphere of resistance and denial via media prostitutes. Those servicing that other mob that would crisp us for a buck.
Asking for more to be done is good and well. Claiming nothing is being done is bullshit.
The Labour and Green MP's most on this site, otherwise there would be strong demands to examine what NZ does. e.g. How do we promote tourism when the effects on the climate are so dramatic e.g air travel etc
Either this is a crisis that requires dramatic changes in everything we do on this planet or it is a nice to do as it makes "us" feel good.
WTH stopping oil exploration is great (What Crap ) if we then expect other countries to continue to supply us, nothing you have listed is dramatic., but it feels good.
"nothing you have listed is dramatic"
I see, you require drama.
Just go check out the Herald/Stuff/Shitpublication et. al. reactions to the above listed changes.
Apparently, the sky is falling.
With the changes that have been signalled e.g. many to become effective "after" the next election. The sea will be rising, who cares what the sky is doing 😜
I can be dramatic Herodotus. I can just get so depressed reading stuff from you and similar others that i can feel like killing myself.If you would not like even bringing that thought to anyone, then I suggest you don't come on here with your black mood and your allegations of nothing. I get blue, and sadder when I can't even see the Bill for euthanasia of people who are nearly dead get through. I would hope that I can give up one day soon, be resigned that I have achieved something small but worthwhile, and plan my passing ritual legally. But watching the meanness of so many rigid and uncaring is sad, and your approach makes it worse.
Tell us what YOU are doing and encourage us to take some specific action like you, protest, plant a tree etc. Whining and criticising is not going to get us where we need to go.
You could have a look at the vid at the bottom of the How to Get There last Sat post. It should be watched once a day by you to give you some hints about turning your negativity into something useful and supporting others trying to do good.
I do enough to feel that I am doing my bit. Visit a few Hauraki Gulf Islands or Hūnua ranges. Perhaps when you go behind a flax bush or a tree that was was planted by my hands, or you listen to the bird song perhaps I had a hand in the relocation or care.
Now I would like to hear what YOU are doing, many transfer their inaction by attacking others ?
Next time you hear the Greens or Labour spout off about what they are doing; feel good because that is all that the govt is doing and it feels SOOOOO good as long as you are not directly inconvenience.
So Herodotus, you have done as we have then? Did you vote wisely?
Yes, some changes are too slow. However, this Government knows that to move to fast is to alienate the voters.
When voters start to demand change and vote in large enough numbers for the proposed platform, Governments have a mandate.
At least this Government has made moves to improve our footprint where they have traction.
They are hoping for a greater mandate next time. We hope so as well!!
Compared with Europe and the Americas plus India and much of the Northern hemisphere and Australia, we here in NZ surrounded by cooling heat absorbing ocean waters and the Antarctic to the south, though it's melting too, are not being affected in your face obviously except our glaciers are melting back and the Alps' snow pack is declining. Ignoring reality is a way to keep BAU going: we all do it me too! Earthquakes are a more frightening prospect for us e.g. Wellington central library is still closed for examination and repairs from the last Kaikoura shake.
Trotter's prescription for Labour: populism. He reckons "the really exciting thing is that a huge part of the campaign need not be visible. If Labour in New Zealand is not too proud to copy the extraordinary social-media campaigning techniques perfected by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the recent European elections, then Jacinda should be able to avoid pretty much all of the blood-splatter."
You think?? Labour as sophisticated political operatives? Pull the other leg, it's got bells on. http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/07/can-jacinda-give-national-kiss-of.html
Did I read that someone thought of Nigel Farage being behind the leaking of the Brit diplomat's confidential notes?
Gabby suggested one of his supporters was. However I'm not convinced Nigel is a true patriot. He has twice failed to name his political parties Britain First. He hasn't even adopted Make Britain Great Again as his slogan.
Perhaps he wants to be a free spirit like the Don? Buzzing around creating frenzy. From what I have heard about Farage, he can be captured, bottled and held under glass. If so that would larn him to say the Right things.
Are you suggesting that only a True Patriot would steal and leak diplomatic notes franko?
Nope, that wasn't my intent. However, it's true that patriots have done that kind of thing for yonks (whenever they believe it's in the best interests of the nation)…
How much more populist does he want?
We already have a talented charismatic leader who is also the most popular politician in Australasia. And who has babies, gets the all-round guy, has a baby in office, and gets engaged.
2020 must surely be New Zealand Royal Wedding year.
If he were talking about the Labour Party of 2012 he would have a point.
Not with Ardern.
Trotsker's increasingly coming across as a bit of a tosser franko.
He's been a tosser for a long time, in fact….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/chris-trotter-reckons-zimmerman-jury.html
Barry Soper is a slimy creep:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12248158
To begin with, he knows the difference between Key's and Clark's former holidays and Ardern's trip to the Cook Islands. Key went to a gated community in Hawaii where privacy was guaranteed. Clark climbed faraway mountains and skied in faraway places like Norway. Her privacy was guaranteed by lack of access and distance. Jacinda and Clark have gone to a well known holiday spot where privacy is not guaranteed.
They also have their little girl whose privacy they rightly wish to protect.
And just to be sure we get his nasty message, he throws in a few jibes at the late David Lange.
I recommend the article as the latest reminder of the extent of right-wing vengeance when they don't get their own way – in this case political power and the money and prestige that flows from it for the media sycophants.
yep nasty creep is a pretty nice description for that human imo
That might be true, but the value of the observation is somewhat diminished when it comes from someone who calls a politically motivated liar and calumniator a "hero".
It is from the NZ Herald whose spokeswoman heralded about the time they put up a paywall that the Herald is 'not a journal of record'. So apparently they don't have to try and live up to any standard of valuable reporting. Just drive-by jibes with a bit of gravitas for the business people about the most important matter of money – changing hands and the people in power that enable it.
breen = who?
That observation would be more valuable coming from someone who was lesspissey morpissey.
Quite possibly true, Baggers. Be that as it may, we both agree that the Soper-DuPlessis-Allen partnership is a match made in hell, right?
They might well be jerks, but their relationship is none of our business.
It's entertaining though—like another marriage of NewstalkZzzzzB regulars ….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/07/bill-ralstons-wife-has-go-at-him-on-air.html
Whatever, dude.
His wife is just as awful.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/campbell-lives-sorry-replacement-cannot.html
"Why does Jacinda Ardern want to keep her holiday a secret?"
The PM has often talked about mental health in the country, the use of drugs and all sorts of prevalent maladies. Barry Soper shows the tragic state we've descended too.
A senior political journalist, an adult, a man who's kicked around planet earth for quite a few years getting precious about not knowing where Ardern's gone on holiday? Or that we, I, don't know?
Call an ambulance for Soper, not just for the fact that he was upset for not knowing where she was going, but for all the drivel he comes up with around his little episode.
Why does Soapy want to know? So he can criticise her ostentation, or sneer at her cheapness?
I find it disturbing on the basis that someone paid him to write that utterly pointless garbage, not because I don’t think that the PM "can't handle" it – likely she just ignores it – or anything else that comes by way of her job. The uneasy feeling is that someone who was paid to write that and those with similar tendencies main intent would be to be the first with anything that remotely looks like "bad news" of some description and it is their fondest dream that that will happen. While they're not worth effort of considering how this is what some "journalism" has come to is really strange.
You're surprised? Have you not listened to his radio station at some point during the last twenty years?
No of course I'm not surprised I couldn't bear listening to that or similar and can only say that radio via that awful magic talk has only become worse, a few were OK but now it is sickening. One "announcer" I heard referring to a "poll" they had run as relfecting their "listeners" and he was dead right and not I am no longer one of them.
Keep an eye out for my rushed transcript of Peter Williams' show on Monday. It was, as you may have guessed, simply awful. In fact….
https://tenor.com/view/its-an-absolute-shitshow-shitshow-horrible-mess-problematic-gif-13065118
Miserable Barry is living proof of that great line by Yeats:
"An aged man is but a paltry thing / A tattered coat upon a stick / Unless soul clap its hands and sing…"
Soul-less, whiny, paltry little Barry. Ignore the half-wit.
I read the Soper piece as "I have to write something to get my money; I'm bored: I'll stir the pot – oh great, Ardern is in the Cook Islands and I did not know …" End of story -Soper style.
Here is a much more balanced item, IMO, probably much closer to the truth – Gayford is filming for his TV show Fish of the Day in the Cook Islands. Ardern and their daughter accompanied him for a short break – much deserved, and few and far between. Choice of destination boosts the local economy of one of our closest Pacifc neigbours, a former dependency with the main currency remaining NZ dollars, etc End of story – Reality.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/jacinda-ardern-spotted-holidaying-in-cook-islands-with-neve.amp.html
….just out of interest, a commercial flight or RNZAF private jet?
Teleportation.
amphibious limo with heated seats.
The RNZAF has private jets indinana?
I think you're on the money vv.
The sulky childishness of the article by a grown man is hard to believe. He belongs in Trumpland.
Anne, after working such unsociable hours, family time should be private and precious.
Soper never got over mucking up the flights to Britain when Jacinda and Clarke were such a hit. He is a sour sad man.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113578935/prison-officers-will-work-12-hour-shifts-in-new-roster
Its been talked about for a long time…
'Corrections Association of New Zealand president Allan Whitley said a group of members asked the union to advocate for longer shifts about six years ago.'
Thank f**k, working 8-9 days straight is no joke (well it is a joke but its not a very funny one…)
'Waggott said more work was required before the revised system could be fully implemented and there was no finalised timeframe.'
D'oh!
Paula Bennett this morning talking about Labour Coalition climate change 'posturing'. What posture is this – I think it should become a recognisable badge of courage for those getting on with the mahi!
And then she condemns passing legislation relating to it by emergency. National didn't do this. We know Paula. And National only chose to do it when there was a real emergency – that would be when their funders became impatient to get their requested legislation passed enabling their desired business transactions.
Bennet was 'posturing' as a car-loving Westie, and a very poor imitation it was. She seemed completely unaware that vulgar selfishness doesn't make you look working class, it makes you look like a one-percenter.
Sounds like trying to have her cake and eat it too. That would be something that she would like to achieve, believing she has the talent.
Bennet was 'posturing' as a car-loving Westie, and a very poor imitation it was.
Her current posturing as a blue-rinse conservative is no more convincing.
Has Bennett had speech lessons to give her more gravitas? She certainly sounded different in that interview! More blue-rinse conservative maybe…..
Yes, she changes her persona according to the circumstances of the day. In the event of a leadership challenge, she's after the votes of the Blue Rinse Brigade?
Quite a change from her original persona
Talking about posturing – if one is not careful then one might get eaten by a lion like young Albert. Paula had better stay away from the zoo in case she has not perfected her posture, from a lying-down lion's POV.
He lay in a som-no-lent posture with his face close to the bars.
Just a light moment for those who like Stanley Holloway. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaw-savyK0s
Prompted me to recall another cautionary tale about a lion (Ponto), a boy named Jim, and always keeping a-hold of nurse!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIQJTO_aA8w
That's good. Stanley Holloway is still tops – his world-weary accent and cynical air are great.
Where is simon? That's two weeks in a row he hasn't given Wed morning interviews.
However he's active on the twitter today, and once again he's getting owned.
https://twitter.com/simonjbridges/status/1148705424801067008
Interesting. National Party policy must be to promote inefficient vehicles and build more roads.
National supports the polluters.
Its mid-year break for Parliament and politicians with a full three weeks between sittings of the House, Apart from the summer break (Christmas – late Jan/early Feb) the House sits in 2 to 3 week blocks with only 1 -2 week breaks in between.
The PM has also not been doing her usual weekly media stints so its not just Simon, and things should get back to usual next week when Cabinet/Caucus meetings and House sittings resume.
[On another subject, hope all is going well with the anti-bullying situation. ]
Not my car, Simon, I’d pay less for my car. Lots less. 🙂
Doing quite well, actually. Staying warm with the winter warmth payment as the sleety rain falls outside. Got a free repeat for my hearing aid batteries yesterday.
On Monday I get a free check for bladder cancer at three weeks notice from symptoms to specialist.
This government is working for us older citizens…….
Good one Nicki
actions speak louder than lyrics
Billy Blagg will no doubt be performing though?
God will punish you for that one
Actions do speak louder than lyrics, and credit where credit is due for her action on said topic.
However….. if she could be less skanky in her video's that would go a long way in helping females to not be objectified.
I'm not a fan of her personally – but I applaud her actions in rejecting this offer.
Do you buy firemen's calendars?
fantastic essay
This is why racism should be challenged ,,, two ticks national is no excuse for encouraging our sicko's.
And how come no media in NZ …. apart from Nicky Hager ,,,, called out the blatant dishonesty and racism ,,, of the Brash Nats ' steal the beaches ' election propaganda,
I think Brash is still banging away at it …. … who would Hobson votes end up floating too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfUf1soIsrA
More pressure on Pharmac – they are damned if they do and damned if they don't
The Pharmac board was advised that the cost of funding OxyContin would be $1.2m by 2008 – it ended up being $3.5m and kept ballooning.
Doctors have told Stuff that after Pharmac agreed to fund OxyContin, Mundipharma began heavily promoting it, including for conditions such as arthritis.
Sales reps would visit GPs, and advertisements were placed in publications such as New Zealand Doctor.
Dr Alistair Dunn, a Whangarei addiction medicine specialist who was one of the first to raise concerns about OxyContin, says GPs would not previously have resorted to using morphine for arthritis.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/111691539/pharmac-has-spent-tens-of-millions-on-oxycontin-blamed-for-americas-opioid-crisis
It’s hard to help citizens who are dying to have addictions to various things.
Lachlan Foote, 21, returned to his Blue Mountains home after celebrating New Year’s Eve in the early hours of 2018. He made himself a protein shake before bed, adding caffeine powder, and his parents found him dead on the bathroom floor the next morning.
A Coroner’s report has confirmed Lachlan died from caffeine toxicity when he included too much pure caffeine powder in his shake.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/114118208/a-teaspoon-will-kill-you-grieving-australian-father-warns-of-caffeine-powder
He comes home from a party, had he been drinking?
He makes himself a protein drink and then adds a stimulant to it just when he is going to sleep?
We need to stop advertising medicines.
Yes Mcflock
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-CIggoU4VM
Right, good stuff. I hadn't realised it was all about fox-hunting, but yes, ever so traditional and something any true conservative needs to excel at.
An old 2000 piece on CGT that might be of interest to some. By Robin Oliver then IRD General Manager
https://www.goodreturns.co.nz/article/976485506/capital-gains-tax-the-new-zealand-case.html
This about what we are up against by opening up ourselves to the world business that is equivalent to drive-by smash and grab. Our government hasn't a chance in coping with sharp operators like this.
https://www.noted.co.nz/money/business/what-are-private-equity-firms-really-doing-to-new-zealand/
This was from Branko Marcetic in 2017
Such a nightmare scenario was not out of the ordinary for renters around the United States after Invitation Homes, a subsidiary of New York private equity firm Blackstone Group, began buying foreclosed homes on the cheap after the 2008 financial crisis. It quickly became the country’s largest owner of single-family homes. The firm soon earned a poor reputation as an absentee landlord that left houses in disrepair and ignored calls from tenants to fix pest infestations, electrical or plumbing problems, and other issues. Report after report by independent groups detail complaints about a lack of maintenance, swift evictions being carried out based on glitches or errors, and steep overcharging for rents….
Episodes like these are why there continues to be fierce debate about the merits of PE firms everywhere around the world – everywhere, seemingly, but in New Zealand. While the public and media remain fixated on the threat of foreign home buyers and property speculators, there has been comparatively little debate about the entrance of large, foreign PE firms into our economy.
Yep. A recession is just a land grab to them.
A 'buyers market.'
Anathema to society.
Random Note: Reads like a thriller!
According to the journalist and author Graeme Hunt, domestic intelligence and counter-subversion prior to the establishment of the SIS was primarily in the hands of the New Zealand Police Force (1919–1941; 1945–1949) and of the New Zealand Police Force Special Branch (1949–1956). Another predecessor to the SIS during the Second World War was the short-lived New Zealand Security Intelligence Bureau (SIB).[6] The SIB, modelled after the British MI5, was headed by Major Kenneth Folkes, a junior MI5 officer. The conman Syd Ross duped Major Folkes into believing that there was a "Nazi plot" in New Zealand. Due to this embarrassment, Prime Minister Peter Fraser dismissed Folkes in February 1943 and the SIB merged into the New Zealand Police. Following the end of World War II in 1945, the police force resumed responsibility for domestic intelligence.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Security_Intelligence_Service
Cracker RNZ podcast about Syd Ross' escapades.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/black-sheep/story/201856357/nazi-hoax-the-story-of-syd-ross
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/16-09-2017/nazi-hoax-the-story-of-syd-ross/
Thanx joe90 I've put it aside for pudding.
Unbelievable (read link below)
Big improvements required here.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113542194/invercargill-nurse-collapses-in-australia-before-undergoing-surgery-to-remove-tumour.
Being diagnosed early is vital to being cured, avoiding patient pain and suffering along with potential long term health costs in the process. MRI's are a vital diagnostic tool that should be GP referable and shouldn't require such long wait times.
Is there any action being taken to address this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugjhCSRUpjI
"Is there any action being taken to address this?" [The Chairman @17]
Do you mean action to address the clinical decision not to offer Rachel Terrill an MRI scan? Both better clinical decision making, and more resources for publicly-funded MRI scans, would be one way to go.
I agree with The Chairman that, in general, public health funding should be prioritised over defense spending. Could there be bipartisan political action on this, once the National party has plugged its leaks?
Universal health funding does mean that the Defense Forces should be payed less. It means they are payed differently.
The ACC/Super funds could be used to build private radiologies and the government could focuse on building replacement hospital.
The ACC funds are meant to divest from sin stocks anyway and it's a lot of money just sitting there looking for a place in New Zealand.
Graeme Hunt, who died in 2010, was one of the most unpleasant right wing ideologues infecting public life in this country. He was a regular dark and pompous presence on Larry "Lackwit" Williams' joke of a show on NewstalkZzzzzB, where he made a point of bullying, ridiculing, and harassing lesser souls, like Tim Watkin and the ridiculous Josie Pagani.
Even worse than his radio performances was his writing. He wrote a substandard biography of Fintan Patrick Walsh, and this "history" Spies and Revolutionaries was another missed opportunity, muddying the waters for any serious journalist or academic who might have wished to write on the history of security in this country in the future.
In 2003 Hunt's crappy secret persona was outed on Google Groups, much to his mortification….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-egregious-graeme-hunt-outed-on.html
I didnt know that – he got a good send off – used to edit NBR
Don't start me on NBR editors, Shark!
One of the worst of them was Nevil "Breivik" Gibson….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/minecraft-chat-rooms-are-full-of-inane.html
I've read you hissing at that name.
UK Labour will now back remain if there's a further referendum:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/09/corbyn-says-labour-would-back-remain-in-brexit-referendum
Couple of years too late and 20 polling points down the tubes, Corbyn extracts from being self-impaled sitting on the policy fence.
Too little and far too late.
He would have been wiser and more principled to have made a clear call years ago, one way or the other. This frittering looks indecisive at best and cynically manipulative at worst.
Yes to Ad and McFlock.
It looks like he didn't have the nous to make a stand one way or another. A big disappointment.
he was probably too busy looking out for brutus at his back.
Yet the report makes it evident that UK Labour have agreed to adopt a different position on the situation in campaigning for the next election. "In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, he said there was no decision yet as to what Labour would argue for in a general election on Brexit. He said: “We will decide very quickly at the start of that campaign exactly what our position will be.”
"Pressed on whether Labour was now a party of leave or remain, Corbyn said: “We will give people the choice on this. That is something which is surely very important. We respect the result of the referendum. We’ve been through this whole long parliamentary process over the past three years and we’ve made it very clear we will do everything we can to take no deal off the table or stop a damaging deal of the sort Hunt and Johnson are proposing.”"
So it seems a nuanced principled position. No doubt spooked by the LibDem poll ratings, he's gotten agreement from his colleagues. I think he's done well.
That "nuance" has been a 15 point gift to the LibDems.
Corbyn needs to show he has to chops to actually pull back the voters he's lost to them. That is the measure of whether he's more than an idealistic maverick.
I do agree his lack of leadership has allowed the LibDems to get up past Labour. I was just pointing out that he secured a nicely-nuanced collective agreement from Labour in response. It encompasses a two-pronged strategy & seems coherent.
Getting consensus on both in a complex political context at the top level is a real accomplishment. We ought to acknowledge that. I've been critical of him several times the past few months but I feel he's redeemed himself somewhat.
Labour's political culture has been groupthink since the nineties, remember, here & in Oz as in Britain. Labour leaders only get tolerated if they genuinely represent group opinion. Thus hamstrung, it is rare for them to demonstrate individual flair or initiative. I think the evidence shows he has been successful in steering the groupthink to an appropriate result.
MAGA President Trump supporters are not sick of winning, there seems to be some consensus about among them.
Brexit supporters are….um……well……you know……errrr………still campaigning for their referendum, whatever that was about, of a few years back.
I'd say, to do it with any kind of momentum, & have it be momentous, it needs a no holds barred sack the cabinet, hard take it or leave it deal with the EU, proroguing the people's vote through parliament, strong solidarity with MAGA movement & President Trump on the world stage with an opening shot of a successful deal with the U.S.A.
A people's uprising Brexit another words.
Wethe Bleeple
Have you some recommendation – one or two – on what a forestry company can do for a quick ground cover on hills they have logged to prevent run-off when it rained heavily? I thought if they could fly over, perhaps with a drone, would dropping seed work well and enough come up even if the ground wasn't wet? This time of the year the dew is quite heavy.
If you let me know what you think would be viable for putting over quite a big area I could pass that on as there is concern about a logged area here and while it is being thought about, perhaps some sensible plan for fast growing beneficial weeds could be passed on and tried out (and then done as a regular sensible move. Fast and nitrogen fixing – would clover do it – chickweed?
I reckon forethought would go a long way. Damage control is harder.
You are looking for local fast growing legumes and ground covers that can handle the soil conditions left behind after pines. It might be you can aerial spray seeds but need to add lime. They could maybe get hold of the mountains of discarded oyster shells industry creates and crush and use them to facilitate things (if liming would help).
There's also the question of land use after harvest – another pine crop? A bush regeneration project? A fallow period?
For regeneration and even another crop of pines (why!) I'd be inclined to go in and innoculate stumps with oyster mushrooms, shitaake if they'll grow on pines, mulch down the slash and add Stropharia rugoso-annulata and other saprobes to generate some local crops/small business while turning the trunks and slash to topsoil.
If rapid ground cover is imperative you want something practically invasive to the conditions. Observation of the site will indicate which plants or close relatives of plants might work.
Seed balls.
Thanks Robert i notice some useful stuff on the internet about this.
Seed balling – Kenyans show us the way.
http://www.seedballskenya.com/throw-grow/4592995996
Don't know which part of the rohe you're in GWS but up North, anywhere between the FFN and the Waikato by far the very bestest and fastest growing ground cover for recently cleared land is this…https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/getting-involved/students-and-teachers/plant-pest-factsheets/woolly-nightshade-factsheet.pdf
Driving back from the FFN the other day I was actually shocked to see entire hillsides covered with the stuff. Some large, but mostly it was plants of about 1.5 metres growing about 1 metre apart, covering entire hillsides.
I've pulled a few of these out from my place but it seems that they simply love to exploit bare land…too many trees at mine.
And strangely, while obviously it is the time of the year for spraying gorse…woolly nightshade growing alongside the sprayed and withering gorse was thriving.
Got me to thinking that perhaps we could grow the stuff to feed our bio diesel/ethanol plants.
Interesting Rosemary. Good observation. It is a prolific space invader right down to at least the Waikato. Noted as a pest plant, shade tolerance could be a problem where other pioneers typically do the nursery job then die back as other plants canopy forms over them.
Biofuels are impractical unless waste streams of crops/industry. We've gone that route (growing biofuel specifically) to the detriment of food security already. One day we might get the desired bacteria to live outside of certain insects guts but we're not there yet. Once we can crack lignin apart easily biofuels will lend a lot more energy for a lot less input.
Thanks all for your interest. I'll see what I can do with this to take it further.
Pretty shocking stuff Rosemary. Its spread indicates that some immediate ground cover plants are necessary to stop this relentless weed, and it is so nasty, bad for skin and smelly and the birds should be provided with a better weed that they can go to.
Kia ora Newshub Nation.
Medical cannabis needs to be accessed by sick people who need it.What I don't want to see is big companies getting a monopoly in the industry and charging the Papatuanuku for a product that people need to have a good life. I can see business manipulating the laws so that they can dominate the market.
What commercial operations is going to grow weed close to a school on the most expensive land not very wise they will grow it on farm land not in the city's????????????????????????????????.
I say that we will have the same problems that the United kingdom and other countries have. Our doctors are all elderly so they have a negative attitude and view on medical weed they will be very reluctant to prescribe it. The elderly have a very different view on our society's that the younger generations they have had it drummed into them over the years that alcohol is good and laughable that weed is bad.
Times are changing we have the internet now so we can find out the TRUTHS about our society the younger generation have a much clearer view on our society's problems.
Ka kite ano
This is a joke the billionaires get away with what ever they do to make money no matter the harm caused.
Facebook to be fined $5bn for Cambridge Analytica privacy violations – reports
The $5bn fine would be the largest ever levied by the Federal Trade Commission against a technology company
The FTC’s investigation was launched in March 2018 after the Guardian revealed that the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained the private information of more than 50m Facebook users. Facebook had agreed under a 2012 consent decree stemming from a previous FTC investigation into privacy concerns to better protect user privacy. The investigation centered on whether this decree .
Critics say the changes required of Facebook are not substantial enough, and the fine will hardly make a dent in Facebook’s bank account. The company had more than $15bn in revenue in the first three months of 2019.
“This isn’t a fine, it’s a favor to Facebook, a parking ticket which will clear them to conduct more illegal and invasive surveillance,” said Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Institute who specializes in monopoly power. “Congress should start defunding the FTC and move the money to state enforcers like Karl Racine who believe in enforcing the law,” he added, referring to the attorney general of Washington DC, who is currently pursuing a lawsuit against Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica
David Cicilline, the Democratic congressman who chairs the House subcommittee on antitrust issues, reacted to the news on Twitter, saying: “The FTC just gave Facebook a Christmas present five months early. It’s very disappointing that such an enormously powerful company that engaged in such serious misconduct ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/12/facebook-fine-ftc-privacy-violations
Eco Maori totally agrees with this Wahine view these guys think that they are leaders but NO they are just con artists fooling people that they put their te tangata best interests before their own wants YEA RIGHT.
Ruining a country near you soon: the beta males who think they’re alphas
What could be more insecure than a 55-year-old bragging about Latin, or a literal president tweeting his enemies on the bog
If the Tory leadership election unfolds as widely expected, the UK will basically be ruled by a Fathers4Injustice activist. Boris Johnson is the kind of guy who’d don Spider-Man pyjamas and scale a building in order to see less of his kids. Sorry, fewer. Even so, he remains a remarkably typical hero of our political times. “There are two kinds of women,” Harry explains at one point in When Harry Met Sally. “High maintenance and low maintenance.” “Which one am I?” Sally asks. “You’re the worst kind,” he says. “You’re high maintenance, but you think you’re low maintenance
See also gratefully submissive Donald Trump fanboy Nigel Farage, who has spent much of the past three years hanging wanly around Washington on the off-chance of a half-hour 6pm burger with the alpha male to his beta. And see also Donald Trump himself, the leader of the free world, who spent about 48 hours this week tweeting like some homicidal 11-year-old Justin Bieber fan about the leaked comments of the British ambassador. Who, apparently, we now let him pick. More on toxic insecurity’s poster boy shortly.
Great leaders show, rather than tell, their skills. Yet Johnson never lets up with telling people that he is not “defeatist”, that he will “put some lead in the collective pencil”, that “energy” is needed, that what the EU really fears is a big strong man like him. Mm. I hear they talk of little else in the 27 European capitals. “O Fates, please spare us the dreaded ‘positive energy’ of a guy internationally ridiculed as the worst foreign secretary in memory; and the unplayable charm of a surprisingly indifferent orator who knows the Latin for ‘can we just take out the backstop?’”
And Johnson does know Latin, as he never misses a chance to remind us. No one could accuse him of wearing his learning lightly – or, indeed, wearing any of it lightly. Witness his excruciating promise to reach out to something he pointedly referred to as “Oppidan Britain”. To which the increasingly despairing response has to be: YES YES! I KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU WENT TO! I KNOW WHAT HOUSE YOU WERE IN! I KNOW YOU GOT A SECOND CLASS CLASSICS DEGREE! I KNOW THIS SOMEHOW ENDS WITH YOU CONSIGNING OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY TO THE CATACOMBS THEN BEATING US TO DEATH WITH YOUR RELATIVELY MIDDLEBROW ACHIEVEMENTS! But mate: you are 55 – FIFTY-FIVE – years old. How, how can you possibly still be wanking on about any of this, in public, as though it was still the best thing you’ve ever done? Can it really be because it was? [Spoiler: yes ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/12/country-beta-males-alphas-latin-president-tweeting-enemies
Eco Maori thanks the wealthy US philanthropist for their tau toko of the Students Strikes and the extinction rebellion
A group of wealthy US philanthropists and investors have donated almost half a million pounds to support the grassroots movement Extinction Rebellion and school strike groups – with the promise of tens of millions more in the months ahead.
Trevor Neilson, an investor and philanthropist who has worked with some of the world’s richest families, has teamed up with Rory Kennedy – daughter of Robert Kennedy – and Aileen Getty, whose family wealth comes from the oil industry
Neilson said the three founders were using their contacts among the global mega-rich to get “a hundred times” more in the weeks and months ahead. “This might be the single best chance we have to stop the greatest emergency we have ever faced,” he told the Guardian.
The new fund has the author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, who set up 350.org, and David Wallace Wells, who wrote international best seller Uninhabitable Earth, on its advisory board.
Global heating: London to have climate similar to Barcelona by 2050
The money will initially be used to support school strike and Extinction Rebellion groups in the US, but will also be available to help “seed” similar groups around the world.
It offers tiers of funding to support different-sized groups, from teenage activists wanting money for leaflets and megaphones, to funding for salaries and offices for established groups in big cities. It has already committed some of the fund to support Extinction Rebellion groups in New York and Los Angeles Ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/12/us-philanthropists-vow-to-raise-millions-for-climate-activists
Kia ora Newshub.
A big Hurricane is moving into the Mississippi river in America while the river is in flood cause trump climate change.
John haven't you been in that or around that type of organization. People like you only care about your own mana you are just sturing the Oranga tamariki stuff to use it to try and get the Auckland mayors job you don't care that you're moves could damage the government that does more for the common poor tangata than the last lot muppet Maori make up a large portion of them. You're backers are just using you to try and damage our humane Labour lead Government wake up fool.
I new a elderly couple who had a daughter on the Earabus flight.
That's a big explosion in Russia.
America sky lad 40 years today it crashed landed in the Australian outback the person describing the loud noise when it hit Papatuanuku Eco Maori knowns that feeling a meteor hit in Edgecome back in the day it was shaking the road the bank window in Opotiki was wobbling and a huge sonic boom .
Ka kite ano
Kia ora te ao Maori news.
Tiana turia why didn't you raise this problem about Oranga tamariki and sorte it out when you were in bed with NATIONAL they just stuffed up te tangata whenua.????????????????????. You were played by shonky and you are being played now fool
I have Already given my opinion of john tamahira in the above post.
Karen I oppose any Tangata whenua whenua being sold te Atua is not making anymore whenua they could have just used the whenua as security for a loan to do the development that they wanted in Papamore.
Ka pai to the Wahine who are getting bald heads to raise funds for housespice and the Rainbow community is a awesome cause.
Ka kite ano.
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/wE4TpnYIsW4
I hit the justice department with a request for all the information that they have on Eco Maori to get JUSTICE. The muppets just stepped up their intimidation GAMES 10 fold lucky I'm Eco Maori I have others who have my Back
She made the mess and now she's blaming our Labour lead Coalition governments for the mess
https://youtu.be/a5peOzISOe0