Picked up a copy of the Wilkinson/Pickett updated “The Spirit Level” which has additional data and counter-arguments to the idiocy which masqueraded as criticism of the original issue. If you are unable to trust the conclusions, at least gather the courage to examine the data: its irrefutable. Interesting also in just how prescient the 1980 Brandt Report was in its conclusion that fixing what ails society is intricately bound up with the environment. Alas, it seems only a catastrophe will be sufficient to spur anything other than lip service – if we’re still around and functioning as a society.
Thanks for the recommendation. The wiki page on the Brandt Report, doesn’t mention the environment – its more about the north (developed, manufacturing based countries)- south (providing raw materials) divide.
I took a liberty – the environment issue was less of an overt official conclusion and more of a basis for discussion which has stemmed from the report’s data. The prescience is my interpretation rather than a statement of fact, although I am not alone in this regard. Still, thanks for checking and pulling me up on it. Here’s something which might elucidate:
. . . Two decades ago, the Brandt Commission reports, North-South and Common Crisis offered the international community a forward-looking plan for balancing the creation of wealth with the provision of public goods and the preservation of the environment . . .
“He just essentially noted that the case was ongoing in New Zealand, and I just confirmed that and said yes. He didn’t dwell on that.”
… unquote
They didn’t dwell on it ???
Quote …
Mr Key said the studio heads at the dinner “talked a bit about intellectual property, but really more in the context of TPP and those negotiations”.
“Obviously they’re making the case that they invest hugely in the creation of intellectual property and it’s critically important for their capacity to continue to be able to invest for that intellectual property to be protected.”… unquote
Would seem to be a bit more than just a passing comment, Mr Key.
Ah, now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty – the TPPA and intellectual copyright – and Aussie, Canada, NZ and the UK falling over each other to host the filming of Hollywood movies.
Â
The journalist is not presenting a balanced view of these issues, but it’s all the government’s view on these. Why do MSM journos fall over themselves to “balance views” on, say, climate change, but not issues like the above?
Â
Meanwhile last night’s TV news was all focused on Key’s expensive dinners and celebrity photo ops (while many Kiwis on low income struggle just to put food on the table), and a once-over-lightly of the government-Dotcom tussle.
. . . Why do MSM journos fall over themselves to âbalance viewsâ on, say, climate change, but not issues like the above? . . .
Deliberate under resourcing on the part of the owners. The last thing they want is an informed readership. Far better to keep the punters placated with notions of “everything is okay, good people are onto it and taking care of your concerns, no need to worry your prettly little heads, oh look – celebrity”. Among the reasons for this approach is that readers are more likely to respond positively to advertising if they are not angered or thoughtful about something they might have read.
I have to confess to being less than supportive of the MSM grunts but I do believe the majority are good people who want to present the full picture but lack the resources to provide it. And then there’s the whole “deep capture” thing as well. Long live the Fifth Estate – but perhaps we citizen journalists should help out the MSM wage slaves? Just wondering.
Ah, now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty â the TPPA and intellectual copyright â and Aussie, Canada, NZ and the UK falling over each other to host the filming of Hollywood movies.
Yep – the actual reason for Key to be in Hollywood.
Why do MSM journos fall over themselves to âbalance viewsâ on, say, climate change, but not issues like the above?
But they don’t. If they did then out of 1000 articles we’d get 999 telling us how bad it is and one which was an obvious load of bollocks from the Climate Science Coalition.
If he is visiting Hollywood in an official capacity, then perhaps every conversation is minuted and therefore we should, in the fullness of time, get a transcript…
The PM made an obvious point on departure for LA LA Land that the dinner was a “purely social affair”. Yet it certainly sounds like Government business was openly discussed so roll out the minutes. Or is this just one more slip by the hamfistd haggard of Helensville and the MSM will let it slide.
Oh and spreaking of hamfisted haggards, what the hell is with Armstrong’s declaration that the DotCom affair is all over and let’s just move on shall we as there is really nothing worth looking into and besides there are more inportant things to discuss like . . .
The bit I liked about the John Key in Hollywood news coverage was the showing of tweets by Kim Dotcom e.g. ‘Keynochio reporting to his puppeteer Dodd’, that was the Patrick Gower report I think.
And now there is a problem with Key’s comments about legal changes to the Immigration Act and the effect on Dotcom’s case. Â It appears that the change in the law did not have the effect he said it did.
The story is at  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10838744
How Key must hate the Dotcom case. Every day there is a new disaster for him …
Although it is only just approaching the first anniversary of the second term, why has this John Tui Government got quite a distinct feel like it is the penultimate year of the third term??!
No doubt the bankster in the seat of power has a few secret agenda but, being mired in one scandal and lie after another scandal and lie, this Tui government seems to have lost control of the legislative and policy agenda for the public record.
You’ve got to wonder about exactly how much “governance” National is doing while they’re spending most if not all of their time trying to cover their own asses?
I think Haier Appliances will be changing their tack and putting a bid in for the PM’s media team instead of F&P, as the PM seems to have a more powerful spin cycle
John Key mutters and swears under his breath. “Now what!”
“Sorry Prime Minister. We did warn you that what you were going to say about Citizenship was totally wrong.”
“Yeah but Johnny Public trusts me. I reckon I can say anything and the suckers will believe me. A boyish grin a quick quip and they worship me. Hang on my every word. I am God to them all.”
“Er Prime Minister. There are quite a few who are baying….”
“Get out scum! How dare you criticise me! I am The Leader. Send that idiot to Afghanistan. Put him on mine disposal detail…”
Graeme Edgeler now has an interesting post up at Public Address which provides more detail of the differences etc between the previous immigration legislation on residency visas and permits, and the changes that came into effect just before KDC moved to NZ in Dec 2010.
Edgeler’s analysis explains why a cursory examination only of the before and after legislation could lead one to conclude that KDC would not have had protection from GCSB surveillance; but concludes that this is incorrect if the legislation is examined more fully. [haven’t put that well; see his actual post]. But what he also explains is why Key’s statements were incorrect.
Another attempt at whitewash on Key’s part?
Just read that Key is back in NZ in the next day or so as he is meeting the Singapore PM in Wellington on Monday. No Hawaii holiday this recess, it would seem. Could be another interesting week.
John Roughan. All I can say after today’s howler column in the Herald is dear oh dear oh dear….
The guy basically stakes out a position that would be comfortable to the right-of-ACT Libertarianz (guess he’ll be sure the Herald writes lots of glowing columns and editorials endorsing them in the lead up to the next election then).
Auseful column, if only to show exactly how extreme right Roughan is. So much of the nonsense he writes suddenly makes sense.
No point linking to his ruubbish; You’d be better off spending your time watching cartoons.
A quick edit: I just see that economic dinosaur Fran O’Sullivan is having a tanty at quantative easing. Two of the neo-liberal yesterday having a rant in the paper as the world in 2012 leaves them behind stuck in the 1980s. Sad, but quite invigorating all at once.
Both being flushed out and forced into clearly staking out such radically right wing positions shows that their days are over; increasingly they are no longer players – now they sound more like cranky old people observing from beyond the border.
The powers that be – i.e. those in the global billionaire banker/investor class – are quite willing to hang out to dry the idiot millionaires who, to date, have served as useful idiots facilitating the neolib programme.
The top 0.01% are currently in the process of consuming the top 10%.
Was on the National Radio News this morning. David Cunliffe was given time to point out the connection between the walkout of up-for-sale Electricity and the disaster that the close down of Tiwai Point would be.
Tiwai and Norse skoggs Kawerau reduction on demand ARE the real reasons MRP was parked, bashing those pesky maaris about dem water rights and getting Bill ‘ you’ve been a bad boy’ Blinglish to front the sham ‘consultations’ was pure diversions.
The water rights is still an issue but it’s not the one that’s going to floor the price of wholesale electricity like these 2 power sucks will, and the Nats know that.
Reading Brian Gaynor in the Herald on Haier’s bid for F & P.
Now here’s an idea for all those “Mum & Dad investors that are waiting on Power Company shares..” Any chance of some of our major kiwisaver and investment funds getting together burying out Haier (keeping a marketing relationship) and returning the company to largely NZ onwership. I believe that it has some solid intellectual property of the type that the government says it wants to encourage for the countrie’s benefit. Deal anyone?
I am fully aware that the government is not supposed to direct the NZSF to by F and P, but this can be circumvented by pulling aside the chairman of its board and having a quiet whisper about how it would be a ‘win-win’ for all concerned if a large shareholding is purchased in our premier whiteware company to keep it in Kiwi ownership..
Same thing could have been done with the Crafar farms.
Johnny sparkles probably did but why would he want to retain local ownership, he’s all about lining his foreign masters pockets, US, china whoever as long as its hollow.
IMO the game was up for F&P once Haier were allowed in as that allowed them access to whatever R&D was going down, easy to replicate and mass produce a lot cheaper.
Commodity industries are getting slaughtered by china and F&P isn’t a high margin, high quality brand like Miele, Bosch, Asko etc. I’ve heard they owe a lot to a large euro brand they’ve borrowed some ideas from over the years.
All in all can’t say it’d be something I’d put the farm on being consumer demand driven also.
A team of 4 people collected over 200 signatures on the asset sale petition at an event this morning. Another 200 signatures toward the 300,000 needed.
If there was another 4 such events around the country today thats an extra 1000 signatures. Week by week we get closer to John Key having to face a vote on the issue.
If John Ansell so believes in ONE LAW FOR ALL – does he believe that John Banks and Don Brash should have equally been prosecuted for the strict liability offence (Securities Act s58 (3) ) of signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements?
(To see copies of the above-mentioned Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 – check out http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz )
Does John Ansell believe that ‘3 strikes and out’ should equally apply to ‘white collar’ criminals?
If not – why not?
On 24 September 2012 – the Commerce Select Committee of the ‘Highest Court in the Land’ – effectively decided that ‘one law for all’ does not apply to former and current ACT Party Leaders – Don Brash and John Banks.
“The Commerce Committee has considered Petition 2011/5 of Penelope Mary Bright and 307 others, which requests âthat the House conduct an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009â, and has no matters to bring to the attention of the House.”
Does John Ansell support John Banks effectively being politically protected – given that 5 out of 9 Commerce Select Committee members are National MPs?
Commerce Member Bakshi, Kanwaljit Singh National Party, List
Commerce Member Borrows, Chester National Party, Whanganui
Commerce Deputy-Chairperson Cosgrove, Clayton Labour Party, List
Commerce Member Cunliffe, David Labour Party, New Lynn
Commerce Member Curran, Clare Labour Party, Dunedin South
Commerce Member Lotu-Iiga, Peseta Sam National Party, Maungakiekie
Commerce Member Mathers, Mojo Green Party, List
Commerce Member Mitchell, Mark National Party, Rodney
Commerce Chairperson Young, Jonathan National Party, New Plymouth
Does John Ansell support the House conducting an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009â?
I seem to be having some problem access the standard on my Chrome browser.
It says that there are too many redirect loops, I have cleared the cookies, I have also made sure that third party (whatever they are) things are allowed.
I thought that this was well worth the listening time given the direction that our Government is taking us. Puts perspective on National Standards, League Tables, Child Poverty:
“Pasi Sahlberg – improving education
Director General of CIMO (Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation) in Helsinki, Finland, and expert in educational reforms, training teachers, coaching schools and advising policy-makers, who is visiting New Zealand to speak at the annual meetings of the NZEI and PPTA. ”
Q1. A Minister in your government is shown to have tried to hide election donations. The Minister denies all knowledge of receiving the money or the donor and ‘can’t remember, can’t recall’ the events. He is proven as lying on the matter. As Prime Minister do you:
a. Investigate thoroughly and if the charge is substantiated, sack the Minister.
b. Investigate and if the charge is substantiated, demote the Minister and warn him of the need for honesty.
c. Do nothing, read nothing and try to avoid the issue.
Q2. A Government spy agency is shown to have illegally eaves-dropped on a NZ citizen or resident. You were informed of the illegal eaves-dropping. As the Minister in charge of the agency do you:
a. Make a full public disclosure and apology of the eaves-dropping and your lack of oversight. Get it fully investigated and offer your resignation if it shows you are at fault.
b. Make a full public disclosure, get the matter investigated, explain your part in the event and how it will not happen again.
c. Release as little detail as possible, blame other people and deny any involvement whatsoever.
Answers
a. If you answered “a”, congratulations, your leadership is what NZ needs. You should consider standing for Prime Minister
b. If you answered “b”, you should consider standing for Prime Minister as you can bring a ‘higher standard’ to Government.
c. If you answered “c”, then you ARE the prime minister.
So – why didn’t Adam Feeley ensure that the SFO prosecute John Banks and Don Brash for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Registered Prospectuses date 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009, which contained untrue statements?
A strict liability offence under s.58 (3) of the Securities Act?
Oh – of course – silly me.
‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ doesn’t apply to those politicians who may be pivotal in holding the balance of power in this country ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt in the world’?
Some of you probably think I’m pro-GE and to a certain extent I am, as 3 years of undergrad uni education + bits of pieces of readings in my own time have made clear the opportunities that genetic modification tools provide, along with the issues. So when confronted with downright stupidity over GMO’s that inflates risks beyond teh evidence, my reaction (influenced partly by my depression) is usually to whip out the clue-by-4 and have fun. And since the usual reaction to that from the anti-GMO crowd is usually to pull out more crap there’s usually not an opportunity to treat the subject matter fully, plus my depression causes me to loose interest a bit to often. Which leads unto no chances to actually discuss the damn work and implications.
Especially when certain people go off on tangents about stuff, like how change in science is totes bad, which frankly is the same approach creationists and climate change denialists use to poo science.
Anyhow, the work AgriReseach has done is actually pretty interesting in it’s own right as it makes use of microRNA’s to alter the expression of the target gene. How exactly? The technique makes use of part of our innate gene regulation and innate immune systems, by the name of RNAi, which was discovered in 1998. Depending on what sort of miRNA or a siRNA you use (dsRNA, anti-sense RNA) and the sequence of the RNA, you can get very fine control over gene expression. Usually though in biotech, this is used to greatly lower the expression of a targeted gene via methylation of the targeted gene, and with the right technique can cause inheritable epigenetic gene silencing. A hell of lot more reliably than the usual technique for knockout mutations, although RNAi still results in a very low basal level of expression. And while RNAi is promising as a medical tool for treatment of many cancer types, as well as viruses, unless you package it (say, in a virus, tailored to target a particular tissue type*… Or a bog standard cell membrane vesicle), the immune system will recognise and degrade it. Which means at present RNAi is limited to use on epithelial tissues, and anything close to the surface, or single cells (such as fungi, animal or plant cell cultures or gametes) so thus it probably wont be seeing any mainstream usage for a while.
As for whether or not AgriResearch’s recent work has any utility, from a purely economic perspective, it’s ROI is pretty crap. As there’s already plenty of alternatives for those who suffer milk allergies already avaliable. In fact the market is probably not worth even trying for given the anti-GE phobia in our EU export markets, and indeed it will take decades to produce a sufficiently large enough herd via conventional breeding, plus there are uncertainties on how many generations the change in gene modification will last for. Although if we look at natural, stable hybrids and compare gene expression profiles vs human made ones, typically there’s very close patterns of gene expression, even when the natural and lab hybrids are breed over multiple generations. However, in terms of teh science, it’s a very useful test of RNAi techniques in a large mammal, which provides data on how well it works and potential issues, Like the calf’s missing tail.
So yeah, frankly not the best idea to try and spin it as having dairy industry applications, but given the “your idea must make money” meme that’s infiltrated western universities and government research bodies since the 1980’s, it’s a trade off. One I’d rather do without actually, due to the costs involved to research, in which certain areas are potentially neglected and the pressure to spin research proposals and results towards profit making.
And concerning risks, our environment is full of miRNA and siRNA’s from the food we eat and the bacteria and such we share our bodies with, but that’s what we have an innate immune system response for đ Plus rather awesome gene expression networks and cell suicide triggers. Anyhow though, chemically lab made RNAi sequences are no different from natural ones, so any risk claims centred on that alone should be ignored and the originator nommed on for essentialist stupidity.
What matters is which gene is being targeted, what is it’s place in the gene expression network(s) it’s involved in and does the RNA being used have high specificity to the target gene or will it affect other genes?
With other GMO’s, particularly plants, we need to also take into account escape risks, gene transfer into non-target populations, changes in post-translational protein modification, gene expression patterns, toxicity issues and organism health. Plus ye olde “who owns the fucking patent rights” and the environmental/economic impact of the GMO And no, I do not give a flaming goat to religious/cultural sensibilities vis anything with the phrase “unnatural”** and all synonymies. Because frankly they are useless for risk assessment.
And of course, I hold to the precautionary principle, but with a modifier that asking for absolute safety is batshit insane vis epistemological uncertainty*** and a dislike for anything not backed by strong statistical analysis, preferably done via an independent team.
Me go blob now /meeeeeeeh
_______________________________________
* In theory, pretty easy to do, as it’s merely a modification of present virus based GE techniques: take an immortalised animal cell, transform with viral genes, bar ones for packaging the viral genes, and instead get it to package up your RNA of choice and let stew until you have enough modified viral particles with your chosen payload.
**Which carries with it all sorts of stupidity vis defining “natural”, vis philosophy of science and epistemology issues, which I boil down to “artificial is a subset of natural, and human culture/tech is just an extended phenotype”. i.e. death unto the whole “natural = good” meme…
Broun and Todd “legitimate rape” Akin, RWNJ fundamentalist young earth creationists with a belief that science is a tool of Satan, are tasked with overseeing science at the highest level of the US government.
Paul Broun at highest level? Unbelievable. But wait. John Banks believes as Broun believes and is at the highest level as buddy to the high flying John Key. Amen.
Just politely turned a Jehova Witness away at my door. Lovely smile from a nice appearing lady but potty in my book. She is welcome to her ideas but….
Who was that Scottish madman who shouted through his front door to the pair of female evangelists waiting for him to answer his door.
“I am naked! I have a huge erection and in 5 seconds I will open my door! 1, 2,3,……”
The facts known about Gov. Romneyâs role in Bain Capital entities after 1999 strongly suggest that Gov. Romney made a false statement in violation of the False Statements Act in categorically asserting, in 2011, on his Financial Disclosure Form, that since February 1999, he had not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way. At a minimum, the facts call out for a full investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice
No doubt Mr Key will contact Mr Romney and explain the strategy of deniable ignorance and the usefulness of memory loss.
On the other hand would Mr Obama already have known about the possible charges which may follow so he would be wise to lie low during the debate, and wait for a week or two.
Aww fantasy!
Yeah but if you go back and see how WW2 started then look at whats happening now then a WW3 ain’t far away.
There was the global financial crises 1928- 1935 2007-20??
lots of little wars
over population
bankers playing both ends against the middle
big corporations selling to both sides
arms dealers having a field day
yep the hate mongers are having fun, and wars on the way.
And when its all over the bankers and business men will congratulate each other and rape the losing sides land and resources.. The Military will be happy as they will have been able to play with all their toys and invent lots of new ones, due to the increase in budget.
Oh well, looks like NATO has successfully got a war âofficiallyâ started with Syria, using Turkey
So it would seem! My Turkish student came in late and terrified, I was told by his other teacher… he is less concerned about the rights and wrongs, and more worried about his girlfriend and family…
Poor guy.
The maddest story I’ve heard is that the Syrian regime was responsible for the shopping centre fire in Qatar. Do you know what became of that accusation, muzza?
Â
The problem with âIâm entitled to my opinionâ is that, all too often, itâs used to shelter beliefs that should have been abandoned. It becomes shorthand for âI can say or think whatever I likeâ â and by extension, continuing to argue is somehow disrespectful. And this attitude feeds, I suggest, into the false equivalence between experts and non-experts that is an increasingly pernicious feature of our public discourse.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealandâs biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
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New Zealandâs biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a âmoisture-ladenâ long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
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Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own governmentâs fiscal policies raised issues of substance. âToday in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media â sure enough â have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willisâ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra â that the Budget âwill deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing.  Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Itâs becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-MÄori andâŠ. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you donât like and donât ...
Don Brash writes –Â As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
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TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this yearâs Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran OâSullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm â a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon â note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinsonâs analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana â or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. Itâs a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealandâs highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes –Â Â Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – âIt is often said that behind every great man is a great womanâ. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their âLadies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxonâ. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Petersâ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes â If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshubâs closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague â whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak â has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
âIt is often said that behind every great man is a great womanâ. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their âLadies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxonâ. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Ministerâs ...
The Coalition Governmentâs plan to âget Auckland movingâ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities sheâs meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Governmentâs archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the Americaâs Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it wonât stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Memberâs Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labourâs change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand Firstâs State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared âco-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. âIâm calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to âtake back our countryâ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jonesâ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Governmentâs fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Governmentâs miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesnât act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. âIt was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âThe Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend.  âThis travel will focus on a range of New Zealandâs traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,â Mr Peters says.  Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. âRoad safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. âOur relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliamentâs order paper. âThe Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,â Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams wonât be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. âThe coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. âDam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. âI have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. âThe Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023â24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the governmentâs finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Governmentâs Budget objectives. âThe coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                        âThe Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.  âThese changes are long overdue â the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealandâs growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Ministerâs Prizes for Space today. âNew Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealandâs concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. Â Â âThe Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Educationâs School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. âThere is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âToday I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of Peopleâs Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. âThe use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,â Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. âWeâre sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealandâs ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. Â Â âI am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. âI have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commissionâs online consultation portal.â Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. âComprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. âI would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. âThis is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women donât ...
Good morning, itâs great to be here.  First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Governmentâs ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Governmentâs commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools MÄori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. âThe Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, Iâm proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of todayâs address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and Iâm sorry I canât be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the WhangÄrei site where the facility will be constructed. âNorthland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata MÄori 20 years ago, says MÄori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisationâs 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who havenât accessed support to come forward and engage with the councilâs recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “Itâs official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “weâre in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliamentâs forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the âdisappearanceâ of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people âsequesteredâ in this weekâs raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Itâs Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether youâre a boomer, or an â80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fijiâs Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? â Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems thereâs one luxury most Australians wonât sacrifice â their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Educationâs claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxonâs fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20â24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50â44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayersâ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the Peopleâs Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
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The Governmentâs announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is âshamefulâ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain â a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata MÄori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is âfar-off sightâ. In the contemporary and living language of te reo MÄori, âwhakaataâ as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israelâs war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Governmentâs decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for âDead in Bedâ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research â and large-scale commercialisation. Whatâs beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martinâs favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martinâs fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 28 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasnât showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. âWhen I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Meet John Ansell’s scary friends:
http://www.readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/down-and-out-in-remuera.html
I think pathetic friends might be a better descriptor.
Scary, near zero support, friends đ
.
Picked up a copy of the Wilkinson/Pickett updated “The Spirit Level” which has additional data and counter-arguments to the idiocy which masqueraded as criticism of the original issue. If you are unable to trust the conclusions, at least gather the courage to examine the data: its irrefutable. Interesting also in just how prescient the 1980 Brandt Report was in its conclusion that fixing what ails society is intricately bound up with the environment. Alas, it seems only a catastrophe will be sufficient to spur anything other than lip service – if we’re still around and functioning as a society.
Thanks for the recommendation. The wiki page on the Brandt Report, doesn’t mention the environment – its more about the north (developed, manufacturing based countries)- south (providing raw materials) divide.
.
I took a liberty – the environment issue was less of an overt official conclusion and more of a basis for discussion which has stemmed from the report’s data. The prescience is my interpretation rather than a statement of fact, although I am not alone in this regard. Still, thanks for checking and pulling me up on it. Here’s something which might elucidate:
From here: http://www.brandt21forum.info/
According to the Herald, this guy made a comment about Dotcom in passing to Key.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10838732
Quote…
“The PM confirmed that the chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America, Chris Dodd, had raised the Dotcom Megaupload issue “in passing” during the dinner.
“He just essentially noted that the case was ongoing in New Zealand, and I just confirmed that and said yes. He didn’t dwell on that.”
… unquote
They didn’t dwell on it ???
Quote …
Mr Key said the studio heads at the dinner “talked a bit about intellectual property, but really more in the context of TPP and those negotiations”.
“Obviously they’re making the case that they invest hugely in the creation of intellectual property and it’s critically important for their capacity to continue to be able to invest for that intellectual property to be protected.”… unquote
Would seem to be a bit more than just a passing comment, Mr Key.
Ah, now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty – the TPPA and intellectual copyright – and Aussie, Canada, NZ and the UK falling over each other to host the filming of Hollywood movies.
Â
The journalist is not presenting a balanced view of these issues, but it’s all the government’s view on these. Why do MSM journos fall over themselves to “balance views” on, say, climate change, but not issues like the above?
Â
Meanwhile last night’s TV news was all focused on Key’s expensive dinners and celebrity photo ops (while many Kiwis on low income struggle just to put food on the table), and a once-over-lightly of the government-Dotcom tussle.
.
Deliberate under resourcing on the part of the owners. The last thing they want is an informed readership. Far better to keep the punters placated with notions of “everything is okay, good people are onto it and taking care of your concerns, no need to worry your prettly little heads, oh look – celebrity”. Among the reasons for this approach is that readers are more likely to respond positively to advertising if they are not angered or thoughtful about something they might have read.
I have to confess to being less than supportive of the MSM grunts but I do believe the majority are good people who want to present the full picture but lack the resources to provide it. And then there’s the whole “deep capture” thing as well. Long live the Fifth Estate – but perhaps we citizen journalists should help out the MSM wage slaves? Just wondering.
Yep – the actual reason for Key to be in Hollywood.
But they don’t. If they did then out of 1000 articles we’d get 999 telling us how bad it is and one which was an obvious load of bollocks from the Climate Science Coalition.
If he is visiting Hollywood in an official capacity, then perhaps every conversation is minuted and therefore we should, in the fullness of time, get a transcript…
The PM made an obvious point on departure for LA LA Land that the dinner was a “purely social affair”. Yet it certainly sounds like Government business was openly discussed so roll out the minutes. Or is this just one more slip by the hamfistd haggard of Helensville and the MSM will let it slide.
Oh and spreaking of hamfisted haggards, what the hell is with Armstrong’s declaration that the DotCom affair is all over and let’s just move on shall we as there is really nothing worth looking into and besides there are more inportant things to discuss like . . .
The bit I liked about the John Key in Hollywood news coverage was the showing of tweets by Kim Dotcom e.g. ‘Keynochio reporting to his puppeteer Dodd’, that was the Patrick Gower report I think.
“Keynochio”, classic!
And now there is a problem with Key’s comments about legal changes to the Immigration Act and the effect on Dotcom’s case. Â It appears that the change in the law did not have the effect he said it did.
The story is at  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10838744
How Key must hate the Dotcom case. Every day there is a new disaster for him …
Although it is only just approaching the first anniversary of the second term, why has this John Tui Government got quite a distinct feel like it is the penultimate year of the third term??!
No doubt the bankster in the seat of power has a few secret agenda but, being mired in one scandal and lie after another scandal and lie, this Tui government seems to have lost control of the legislative and policy agenda for the public record.
Jim, that’s what happens when you are taking instructions from abroad, and the script loses a few pages.
Our legislature and policy would almost exclusively be directed by offshore interests now!
That’s what happens when we get empiricists (NACT) in power.
You’ve got to wonder about exactly how much “governance” National is doing while they’re spending most if not all of their time trying to cover their own asses?
I think you’ll find that National think that covering their own asses is governance.
I think Haier Appliances will be changing their tack and putting a bid in for the PM’s media team instead of F&P, as the PM seems to have a more powerful spin cycle
Hahahaha, great.
John Key mutters and swears under his breath. “Now what!”
“Sorry Prime Minister. We did warn you that what you were going to say about Citizenship was totally wrong.”
“Yeah but Johnny Public trusts me. I reckon I can say anything and the suckers will believe me. A boyish grin a quick quip and they worship me. Hang on my every word. I am God to them all.”
“Er Prime Minister. There are quite a few who are baying….”
“Get out scum! How dare you criticise me! I am The Leader. Send that idiot to Afghanistan. Put him on mine disposal detail…”
Graeme Edgeler now has an interesting post up at Public Address which provides more detail of the differences etc between the previous immigration legislation on residency visas and permits, and the changes that came into effect just before KDC moved to NZ in Dec 2010.
http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/kim-dotcom-all-the-fault-of-the-immigration/
Edgeler’s analysis explains why a cursory examination only of the before and after legislation could lead one to conclude that KDC would not have had protection from GCSB surveillance; but concludes that this is incorrect if the legislation is examined more fully. [haven’t put that well; see his actual post]. But what he also explains is why Key’s statements were incorrect.
Another attempt at whitewash on Key’s part?
Just read that Key is back in NZ in the next day or so as he is meeting the Singapore PM in Wellington on Monday. No Hawaii holiday this recess, it would seem. Could be another interesting week.
John Roughan. All I can say after today’s howler column in the Herald is dear oh dear oh dear….
The guy basically stakes out a position that would be comfortable to the right-of-ACT Libertarianz (guess he’ll be sure the Herald writes lots of glowing columns and editorials endorsing them in the lead up to the next election then).
Auseful column, if only to show exactly how extreme right Roughan is. So much of the nonsense he writes suddenly makes sense.
No point linking to his ruubbish; You’d be better off spending your time watching cartoons.
A quick edit: I just see that economic dinosaur Fran O’Sullivan is having a tanty at quantative easing. Two of the neo-liberal yesterday having a rant in the paper as the world in 2012 leaves them behind stuck in the 1980s. Sad, but quite invigorating all at once.
Both being flushed out and forced into clearly staking out such radically right wing positions shows that their days are over; increasingly they are no longer players – now they sound more like cranky old people observing from beyond the border.
The powers that be – i.e. those in the global billionaire banker/investor class – are quite willing to hang out to dry the idiot millionaires who, to date, have served as useful idiots facilitating the neolib programme.
The top 0.01% are currently in the process of consuming the top 10%.
O’Sullivan and Roughan have no clue.
They might sound like “petulant young people” as well.
What happened to the big story of Tiwai point that was headlined yesterday in Stuff?
It seems to have gone.
Was on the National Radio News this morning. David Cunliffe was given time to point out the connection between the walkout of up-for-sale Electricity and the disaster that the close down of Tiwai Point would be.
Yes, but I thought such a big story would have some follow up in the print media , and there is/was NOTHING in the herald!
The herald are too busy writing about dotCom. There isn’t any other news – is there?
Tiwai and Norse skoggs Kawerau reduction on demand ARE the real reasons MRP was parked, bashing those pesky maaris about dem water rights and getting Bill ‘ you’ve been a bad boy’ Blinglish to front the sham ‘consultations’ was pure diversions.
The water rights is still an issue but it’s not the one that’s going to floor the price of wholesale electricity like these 2 power sucks will, and the Nats know that.
Where’s some serious pieces on that in the MSM !
Reading Brian Gaynor in the Herald on Haier’s bid for F & P.
Now here’s an idea for all those “Mum & Dad investors that are waiting on Power Company shares..” Any chance of some of our major kiwisaver and investment funds getting together burying out Haier (keeping a marketing relationship) and returning the company to largely NZ onwership. I believe that it has some solid intellectual property of the type that the government says it wants to encourage for the countrie’s benefit. Deal anyone?
4 words: New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
I am fully aware that the government is not supposed to direct the NZSF to by F and P, but this can be circumvented by pulling aside the chairman of its board and having a quiet whisper about how it would be a ‘win-win’ for all concerned if a large shareholding is purchased in our premier whiteware company to keep it in Kiwi ownership..
Same thing could have been done with the Crafar farms.
Old Johny Sparkles should have thought about that 4 years ago.
Johnny sparkles probably did but why would he want to retain local ownership, he’s all about lining his foreign masters pockets, US, china whoever as long as its hollow.
IMO the game was up for F&P once Haier were allowed in as that allowed them access to whatever R&D was going down, easy to replicate and mass produce a lot cheaper.
Commodity industries are getting slaughtered by china and F&P isn’t a high margin, high quality brand like Miele, Bosch, Asko etc. I’ve heard they owe a lot to a large euro brand they’ve borrowed some ideas from over the years.
All in all can’t say it’d be something I’d put the farm on being consumer demand driven also.
A team of 4 people collected over 200 signatures on the asset sale petition at an event this morning. Another 200 signatures toward the 300,000 needed.
If there was another 4 such events around the country today thats an extra 1000 signatures. Week by week we get closer to John Key having to face a vote on the issue.
A direct approach to John Ansell on Kiwiblog today đ
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/10/rotary_cancels_on_ansell.html#comment-1030809
FYI
_____________________________________________________________________________
Here you go John Ansell – perhaps you would like to respond directly on Kiwiblog?
I’m sure that there will be a lot of interest in your reply?
Kind regards,
Penny Bright.
________________________________________________________________________________
YET TO BE PUBLISHED COMMENT ON NBR REGARDING JOHN ANSELL’S PURPORTED SUPPORT FOR ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/ansell-details-colourblind-state-launch-ck-130190#comment-587615
If John Ansell so believes in ONE LAW FOR ALL – does he believe that John Banks and Don Brash should have equally been prosecuted for the strict liability offence (Securities Act s58 (3) ) of signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements?
(To see copies of the above-mentioned Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 – check out http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz )
Does John Ansell believe that ‘3 strikes and out’ should equally apply to ‘white collar’ criminals?
If not – why not?
On 24 September 2012 – the Commerce Select Committee of the ‘Highest Court in the Land’ – effectively decided that ‘one law for all’ does not apply to former and current ACT Party Leaders – Don Brash and John Banks.
“The Commerce Committee has considered Petition 2011/5 of Penelope Mary Bright and 307 others, which requests âthat the House conduct an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009â, and has no matters to bring to the attention of the House.”
http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/E9BE559F-179A-4AB6-878379ECF71C2387/241261/DBSCH_SCR_5602_Petition20115ofPenelopeMaryBrightan.pdf
Does John Ansell support John Banks effectively being politically protected – given that 5 out of 9 Commerce Select Committee members are National MPs?
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs/Default.htm?pf=CommitteeShortName&sf=Commerce&lgc=0
Commerce Member Bakshi, Kanwaljit Singh National Party, List
Commerce Member Borrows, Chester National Party, Whanganui
Commerce Deputy-Chairperson Cosgrove, Clayton Labour Party, List
Commerce Member Cunliffe, David Labour Party, New Lynn
Commerce Member Curran, Clare Labour Party, Dunedin South
Commerce Member Lotu-Iiga, Peseta Sam National Party, Maungakiekie
Commerce Member Mathers, Mojo Green Party, List
Commerce Member Mitchell, Mark National Party, Rodney
Commerce Chairperson Young, Jonathan National Party, New Plymouth
Does John Ansell support the House conducting an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009â?
If not – why not?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
I seem to be having some problem access the standard on my Chrome browser.
It says that there are too many redirect loops, I have cleared the cookies, I have also made sure that third party (whatever they are) things are allowed.
Anyone able to help a brother out?
Should try re-installing chrome, it’s a script/cookie thing.
I thought that this was well worth the listening time given the direction that our Government is taking us. Puts perspective on National Standards, League Tables, Child Poverty:
“Pasi Sahlberg – improving education
Director General of CIMO (Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation) in Helsinki, Finland, and expert in educational reforms, training teachers, coaching schools and advising policy-makers, who is visiting New Zealand to speak at the annual meetings of the NZEI and PPTA. ”
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20121006-0815-pasi_sahlberg_-_improving_education-048.mp3
Quiz – Can you be the NZ Prime Minister?
Answers at the bottom of the post.
Q1. A Minister in your government is shown to have tried to hide election donations. The Minister denies all knowledge of receiving the money or the donor and ‘can’t remember, can’t recall’ the events. He is proven as lying on the matter. As Prime Minister do you:
a. Investigate thoroughly and if the charge is substantiated, sack the Minister.
b. Investigate and if the charge is substantiated, demote the Minister and warn him of the need for honesty.
c. Do nothing, read nothing and try to avoid the issue.
Q2. A Government spy agency is shown to have illegally eaves-dropped on a NZ citizen or resident. You were informed of the illegal eaves-dropping. As the Minister in charge of the agency do you:
a. Make a full public disclosure and apology of the eaves-dropping and your lack of oversight. Get it fully investigated and offer your resignation if it shows you are at fault.
b. Make a full public disclosure, get the matter investigated, explain your part in the event and how it will not happen again.
c. Release as little detail as possible, blame other people and deny any involvement whatsoever.
Answers
a. If you answered “a”, congratulations, your leadership is what NZ needs. You should consider standing for Prime Minister
b. If you answered “b”, you should consider standing for Prime Minister as you can bring a ‘higher standard’ to Government.
c. If you answered “c”, then you ARE the prime minister.
FYI folks!
ANOTHER ‘YET TO BE PUBLISHED’ COMMENT ON NBR:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/scorecard-media-hungry-sfo-boss-feeley-checked-andready-weekend-review-gb-130168
So – why didn’t Adam Feeley ensure that the SFO prosecute John Banks and Don Brash for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Registered Prospectuses date 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009, which contained untrue statements?
A strict liability offence under s.58 (3) of the Securities Act?
Oh – of course – silly me.
‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ doesn’t apply to those politicians who may be pivotal in holding the balance of power in this country ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt in the world’?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’.
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz
Ug.
While I’m awake enough:
Some of you probably think I’m pro-GE and to a certain extent I am, as 3 years of undergrad uni education + bits of pieces of readings in my own time have made clear the opportunities that genetic modification tools provide, along with the issues. So when confronted with downright stupidity over GMO’s that inflates risks beyond teh evidence, my reaction (influenced partly by my depression) is usually to whip out the clue-by-4 and have fun. And since the usual reaction to that from the anti-GMO crowd is usually to pull out more crap there’s usually not an opportunity to treat the subject matter fully, plus my depression causes me to loose interest a bit to often. Which leads unto no chances to actually discuss the damn work and implications.
Especially when certain people go off on tangents about stuff, like how change in science is totes bad, which frankly is the same approach creationists and climate change denialists use to poo science.
Anyhow, the work AgriReseach has done is actually pretty interesting in it’s own right as it makes use of microRNA’s to alter the expression of the target gene. How exactly? The technique makes use of part of our innate gene regulation and innate immune systems, by the name of RNAi, which was discovered in 1998. Depending on what sort of miRNA or a siRNA you use (dsRNA, anti-sense RNA) and the sequence of the RNA, you can get very fine control over gene expression. Usually though in biotech, this is used to greatly lower the expression of a targeted gene via methylation of the targeted gene, and with the right technique can cause inheritable epigenetic gene silencing. A hell of lot more reliably than the usual technique for knockout mutations, although RNAi still results in a very low basal level of expression. And while RNAi is promising as a medical tool for treatment of many cancer types, as well as viruses, unless you package it (say, in a virus, tailored to target a particular tissue type*… Or a bog standard cell membrane vesicle), the immune system will recognise and degrade it. Which means at present RNAi is limited to use on epithelial tissues, and anything close to the surface, or single cells (such as fungi, animal or plant cell cultures or gametes) so thus it probably wont be seeing any mainstream usage for a while.
As for whether or not AgriResearch’s recent work has any utility, from a purely economic perspective, it’s ROI is pretty crap. As there’s already plenty of alternatives for those who suffer milk allergies already avaliable. In fact the market is probably not worth even trying for given the anti-GE phobia in our EU export markets, and indeed it will take decades to produce a sufficiently large enough herd via conventional breeding, plus there are uncertainties on how many generations the change in gene modification will last for. Although if we look at natural, stable hybrids and compare gene expression profiles vs human made ones, typically there’s very close patterns of gene expression, even when the natural and lab hybrids are breed over multiple generations. However, in terms of teh science, it’s a very useful test of RNAi techniques in a large mammal, which provides data on how well it works and potential issues, Like the calf’s missing tail.
So yeah, frankly not the best idea to try and spin it as having dairy industry applications, but given the “your idea must make money” meme that’s infiltrated western universities and government research bodies since the 1980’s, it’s a trade off. One I’d rather do without actually, due to the costs involved to research, in which certain areas are potentially neglected and the pressure to spin research proposals and results towards profit making.
And concerning risks, our environment is full of miRNA and siRNA’s from the food we eat and the bacteria and such we share our bodies with, but that’s what we have an innate immune system response for đ Plus rather awesome gene expression networks and cell suicide triggers. Anyhow though, chemically lab made RNAi sequences are no different from natural ones, so any risk claims centred on that alone should be ignored and the originator nommed on for essentialist stupidity.
What matters is which gene is being targeted, what is it’s place in the gene expression network(s) it’s involved in and does the RNA being used have high specificity to the target gene or will it affect other genes?
With other GMO’s, particularly plants, we need to also take into account escape risks, gene transfer into non-target populations, changes in post-translational protein modification, gene expression patterns, toxicity issues and organism health. Plus ye olde “who owns the fucking patent rights” and the environmental/economic impact of the GMO And no, I do not give a flaming goat to religious/cultural sensibilities vis anything with the phrase “unnatural”** and all synonymies. Because frankly they are useless for risk assessment.
And of course, I hold to the precautionary principle, but with a modifier that asking for absolute safety is batshit insane vis epistemological uncertainty*** and a dislike for anything not backed by strong statistical analysis, preferably done via an independent team.
Me go blob now /meeeeeeeh
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* In theory, pretty easy to do, as it’s merely a modification of present virus based GE techniques: take an immortalised animal cell, transform with viral genes, bar ones for packaging the viral genes, and instead get it to package up your RNA of choice and let stew until you have enough modified viral particles with your chosen payload.
**Which carries with it all sorts of stupidity vis defining “natural”, vis philosophy of science and epistemology issues, which I boil down to “artificial is a subset of natural, and human culture/tech is just an extended phenotype”. i.e. death unto the whole “natural = good” meme…
***aka “philosophy is fun and melts your brain”
Paul Broun, a member of the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology: Evolution, Embryology, Big Bang Theory Are “Lies Straight From The Pit Of Hell”.
Broun and Todd “legitimate rape” Akin, RWNJ fundamentalist young earth creationists with a belief that science is a tool of Satan, are tasked with overseeing science at the highest level of the US government.
Paul Broun at highest level? Unbelievable. But wait. John Banks believes as Broun believes and is at the highest level as buddy to the high flying John Key. Amen.
Not really surprising given the strong fundamentalist christian factions and fractions in the US đ
Just politely turned a Jehova Witness away at my door. Lovely smile from a nice appearing lady but potty in my book. She is welcome to her ideas but….
Who was that Scottish madman who shouted through his front door to the pair of female evangelists waiting for him to answer his door.
“I am naked! I have a huge erection and in 5 seconds I will open my door! 1, 2,3,……”
ianmac
Was that a rhetorical question? Sounds like Billy Connolly. I could just imagine him putting that into his stand up routine.
Brilliance from Imperator Fish http://www.imperatorfish.com/2012/10/labour-blamed-for-robot-army-attack.html
It is not true is it? Is it martinj? Was it really David Shearers fault? Sleeping on the job indeed!
đ Captivating M8!
Please let this be true.
http://front.moveon.org/legal-analysis-outlines-potential-crime-in-mitt-romneys-financial-disclosures/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/107160020/New-Legal-Analysis-Finds-Strong-Possibility-of-Romney-Criminal-Liability-for-Misrepresentation-He-Made-in-Federal-Financial-Disclosure-Filings-in-2011
CONCLUSION
The facts known about Gov. Romneyâs role in Bain Capital entities after 1999 strongly suggest that Gov. Romney made a false statement in violation of the False Statements Act in categorically asserting, in 2011, on his Financial Disclosure Form, that since February 1999, he had not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way. At a minimum, the facts call out for a full investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice
Are you worried Obama isn’t going to win except by default?
No doubt Mr Key will contact Mr Romney and explain the strategy of deniable ignorance and the usefulness of memory loss.
On the other hand would Mr Obama already have known about the possible charges which may follow so he would be wise to lie low during the debate, and wait for a week or two.
Aww fantasy!
Oh well, looks like NATO has successfully got a war “officially” started with Syria, using Turkey…
Old news now I guess – Its all so staged, now its become like the staging is staged…
Yeah but if you go back and see how WW2 started then look at whats happening now then a WW3 ain’t far away.
There was the global financial crises 1928- 1935 2007-20??
lots of little wars
over population
bankers playing both ends against the middle
big corporations selling to both sides
arms dealers having a field day
yep the hate mongers are having fun, and wars on the way.
And when its all over the bankers and business men will congratulate each other and rape the losing sides land and resources.. The Military will be happy as they will have been able to play with all their toys and invent lots of new ones, due to the increase in budget.
So it would seem! My Turkish student came in late and terrified, I was told by his other teacher… he is less concerned about the rights and wrongs, and more worried about his girlfriend and family…
Poor guy.
The maddest story I’ve heard is that the Syrian regime was responsible for the shopping centre fire in Qatar. Do you know what became of that accusation, muzza?
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No, youâre not entitled to your opinion
Which is what I’ve been saying for awhile.
March on Red Draco….
League tables really are a wonderful idea…dont they?.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57527018/ex-texas-school-chief-gets-3.5-years-for-test-fraud/
League tables really are a wonderful ideaâŠ
dontaren’t they?.can we have the edit function back ..please..
Our teachers are only interested in the children so that sort of thing would never happen here.
Put in place what this government are as far as education goes and you put in place the incentives for corruption.