Dotcom’s going to want something that he is in charge of from the ground up as party president. And do you think Jonkey is going to gift ACT Epsom with Dotcom in it.
It appears from 2 stories in today’s Sunday Herald that the pathetic Paula Bennett is in for a deserved spanking having spent the last couple of days misleading the Parliament on the number of child abuse/neglect cases reported this year,
A ‘computer program fault’ is apparently what will be blamed for Bennett’s ‘mistake’ where She has used Parliaments Question Time lambasting the Opposition with claims that cases of abuse and neglect have been falling when all the time the opposite is the case,
The second of the stories in the Sunday Herald highlights the fact that having refused the Children’s Commissioner the monies necessary to undertake a comprehensive study of ‘child poverty’ Bennett will be less than pleased that using His initiative said Commissioner found the necessary 500 grand from the Roy McKenzie charitable foundation and the report produced is said to paint an extremely bleak picture of ‘child poverty’ in New Zealand which will be made public this week,
Another FAILURE by another shameful Minister in Slippery’s Shameful National Government…
Because people don’t like to go to whaleoils site heres something interesting:
I just wanted to share with you some of my experience as a beginning teacher in NZ and my views on the education system.
Unlike most teachers, I am not a lefty, not a unionist and I am male. I got into teaching with the sole purpose of making a difference in education. So i took the leap and enrolled in a local university and began my teaching degree. It was here that the ineptitude of our education system became evident. Over the next three years, I was surrounded by a ragtag group of people, ranging from recent school graduates to the nearing retirement aged. The year I began was the first year they doubled the size of the intake, from 30-60 and this created a number of problems.
Firstly, the campus was not large enough to hold a larger intake and our teacher training suffered from overcrowding and under resourcing. As time wore on, it became evident that things were not “equal”. Maori students were given the fast track on anything and everything and it soon became clear that they were destined for “greater” things. Some students were being treated differently by the lecturers as well. I remember one guy posted on Facebook, on the morning an assignment was due, that he better think about doing it. He handed the assignment in a week late and still received a pass mark. Uni policy for most assignments states that you lose 10% per day late and this guy was definitely not an “A” student. This sort of thing was a regular occurrence for the next three years and it made it hard for me to respect my cohort and the university.
Fast forward to the final year. Out of 45 people who made it to the end of the degree, only about 10 jobs came up in our area and 5 of them were taken up by new teachers (myself included) at the same school. And now, over 3 years later, only half of my graduating class have jobs as teachers. It was at this school that everything I thought, and knew, became irrelevant. It quickly became evident that most of what we had learned over the past 3 years had nothing to do with actual teaching. Those classes on creative pedagogy and integrated curriculums were pushed by the wayside, as the school had a focus on literacy and numeracy.
Add to this the fact that not one person from the school, took the time to really sit down and explain to us how their reading, writing and maths programmes actually worked and you have a recipe for disaster. So here I was, at a new job, in a new career, wandering through the “dark” with no light in sight. The phrase “trial by fire” is an understatement to what I endured. Only once I had been there a while and got to know people, that I began to get shown things (it took 6 months before I received a tour of the resource room).
It was during my first year at this school, that I began to experience the true bureaucracy that exists in education and its responsibility for the downfall of student achievement. As professional development in the school, we were subjected to an improvement programme that required us to be observed by an “expert” who would attend the school each term and check on our progress. During my first meeting with this expert and all subsequent meetings, he proceeded to identify all of the bad things I was doing as a teacher, never once identifying anything positive. He then ended each meeting without actually telling me how to improve or change my teaching. After speaking with other colleagues, this was the “norm” and happened to everyone, every-time. For this “in-depth” analysis of the school’s teachers, he was getting paid about $40k per year by the school.
Which brings me to his greatest advocate at the school, the deputy principal. Now at most schools I have attended and had the pleasure of interacting with, the principal is the figurehead of the school community. They are usually charismatic, passionate, friendly and a great advocate for their staff and pupils. Our principal was none of these, he had the charisma of a fence post. And although he was the figurehead of the school community, the school itself was run by his deputy, who had affectionately been nicknamed “The Pitbull”. This hobbit-esque woman ruled with an iron fist and her word was law. Because you can’t argue with 40 years of experience right? It became this woman’s crusade to improve the literacy and numeracy within the school and this meant by any means necessary. It was widely known that the school marked harder at the beginning of the year to make the marks lower and therefore increase the perceived “improvement” achieved over the year. But I began to question things when we were told that our end of year marks were to low and we need to “fix” them. To me, this is called fudging the numbers, but to my colleagues this was a common practice that did occur at other schools also.
So over the next 18 months I taught at this school and the last 6 months were rocky to say the least. My class in my second year became known as the class from hell. I started the year with 2 bipolar boys and 2 girls who had been separated at their last school. The class quickly descended into an unsafe environment for the other students. Here are some examples of the behaviour of these students. One girl, assaulted boys on a regular basis, by pulling hair, punching, kicking and stomping. She also threatened to murder a student’s family and threatened another teacher. One boy trashed the classroom in a fit of rage and after this he was moved to another class, flipped out at lunchtime and was removed in handcuffs by police. Another boy pulled a knife on a student in the classroom in front of a reliever. Also, another boy threw tables, chairs and objects around the classroom in numerous rages. Oh, and these were 11 year old students in a decile 7 school. When I approached the management for assistance with handling the class (this was less than 2 months into the year) I was told that it was all my fault and that I was to blame for everything that occurred in the classroom. To cut a long story short, my competence was called into question and I was effectively placed on probation. I chose to fight the school and undertook an advice and guidance programme to clear my name. This did not happen to a colleague though, who faced with a similar situation, chose to allow the school to help her find employment elsewhere. This was arranged by the school management and another local school, and was held over her head even after she left.
As a result of this, I resigned from the school and have left NZ to teach overseas. The grass is much greener over here and I now teach in a school that has a supportive management team and I am able to teach with the advice and guidance of people that I respect wilfully, not because they intimidate people.
I left NZ because there were not many options available to me. There is a lack of jobs, there are too many older teachers in education who are stuck in their ways and the schooling system is run like an “old boys” club. Also, the fact that education is treated as a political football in NZ means that every 3 years or so, it is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. When Labour and National finally decide to agree on actually fixing the education system rather than promoting their own political agendas, I will happily return to NZ. National standards are a good concept, as they give us benchmarks to aim for. But if they are not standard across all schools, they are completely useless. To finish off, I want to add my 2 cents to the recent PISA results discussion. NZ does have a world class education system and it suits “our” people, who are creative thinkers and doers, not robots. But the one difference Asia has that sets them apart, is that yes, you can fail and failure is not an option. When NZ can realise that “working towards”, “below” and “not achieved” are all bullshit ways of saying “FAIL”, the better.
‘..Also, the fact that education is treated as a political football in NZ means that every 3 years or so, it is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. When Labour and National finally decide to agree on actually fixing the education system rather than promoting their own political agendas,…’
I have heard much the same from my daughter who teaches in primary school and it is a fair comment that cold be applied not just to education, luckily she hasn’t experienced any of the other things in the schools she has taught at that your correspondent mentions.
Well I do take postings like this with a grain of salt (could be due to sour grapes and all that) but as an overview he does bring up some good points especially the bit about both parties being to blame
A Few points. (given that I bothered to read anything that might have been posted in the gutter in the first place.
“I was surrounded by a ragtag group of people, ranging from recent school graduates to the nearing retirement aged.”
I understand 45 to be the maximum age of enrolment unless under exceptional circumstances. Of course the young whipper-snappers have all the answers – can never learn from their elders.
“True bureaucracy” – emotive words but not explained.
“Professional Development” – School focussing on Literacy and Numeracy. He should have been an expert already in both of these areas – that’s what he should have been bringing with his diploma.
He proffers a whole lot of criticism of education based on his unsubstantiated claims of experience in one school, and yet in the whole missive does not appear to suggest one solution.
As above really, I suspect theres more then a few sour grapes at work but as an overview he does bring up some points about whats wrong with the system (both parties sticking their oars in)
I mean when I was in uni the fee paying students from China were certainly hogging the lecturers time, making it difficult for everyone else and the amount of collaboration on assignments was more then what was expected so their were a lot complaints made but from my pov they were just being smart and they got the results so fair play but someone else could see it another way
I think hes mostly venting but I agree that both parties play political football with education and thats where most of the problems start with
Having observed young Christopher’s progress over several years now, we are very pleased with his development into a more rational commenter who at times makes useful contributions to The Standard learning environment.
One notes a welcome change in attitude not uncommon in formerly troubled students as the reality of poll results brings home the futility of pointless abusive behaviour.
A capable young lad showing increasing promise: more work needed in the areas of political comprehension and logic, but overall a good result from a difficult personal beginning: end of year rating: ACHIEVED.
@ ak
chris 73 could even become the next Frank Mac (here’s hoping). Maybe there’s something to be said for allowing trolls to enter the site, and be confronted with rational arguments.
After all, there are quite a few Natzis that are now utterly embarrassed by the crass, self-serving, self-indulgent, selfish policies the party they once claimed an affinity with has now become.
(In my experience, they’re usually the ones that can’t stand the likes of trader John, or ladder puller-uppers, or – snobbery aside – nouveau riche Johnny-cum-latelies – but whatever their motivation – they are disillusioned).
Sometimes I wonder why Chris Finlayson has been hanging out so long – but then, maybe I misjudged his character, and maybe he is actually … well – just scared basically and a Limp Biscuit.
Silly Labour (bloody silly, even fucktardinous dimwittery) …. ‘cos Labour still has its equivalents.
Shame we can’t get them all together where they could reminisce – perhaps over a glass of Ch-ch-ch-chardonay – perhaps somewhere in HawkesBay, or even Waiheke Island.
Took me a while to realise Chris that your post was a quote.
Some of the stuff reported is questionable. The violence by kids in the class of 11 year olds is not credible. You would not be placed “on probation” if there were problems.
Note that the greener overseas is not named.
Politicians should leave schools alone. Leave it Education to develop properly researched and tested improvements without political interference, without League Tables, without using kids as footballs, without fear and favour.
For over a hundred years Education has evolved an improved from the bottom up until recently when this Government has interfered with disastrous results. We had had high PISA rankings because of Educational school driven innovation but this was in spite of political interference. (Mind you PISA rankings might cause unintended consequences like narrowing the focus of teaching and learning.)
Earlier I posted this bit (and I’ll put in quotes as well)
“Well I do take postings like this with a grain of salt (could be due to sour grapes and all that) but as an overview he does bring up some good points especially the bit about both parties being to blame”
I spent some time at the Christchurch College of Education a few years back and while there were some worthy people it also had its fair share of ex-hippies and people who were all theory and no practical
… nothing wrong with ex-hippies mate. Generally peace loving people who like to get on with their neighbours for the betterment of all mankind. chris73 some advice – don’t discredit your own discussions by letting your prejudices show through.
There may well have been some friction (may not be the correct term) as I was still in uniform at the time and the people that I was dealing with weren’t the same people that he was teaching about
He was training us to be dealing with nice, well-mannered middle class kids so there wasn’t anything about conflict management or how to deal with troubled kids
Both my parents were teachers. They met and married at ATC and both variously worked in many schools much of their lives. Later my father moved into another career, but Mum taught Intermediate until she retired.
She loved the classroom. She was really good at it. She hated the staffroom; all of the problems she ever encountered started there. So what your source has written has a certain old familiarity to it.
But what has changed in the last few decades is that we have been constantly diminishing teaching as a profession with meddling, micromanagement and over evaluation. Great teachers are not robots, rattling off a narrowly proscribed curriculum according to a tight timetable.
Children are not widgets in an education factory. They are unique, they each have their own strengths that will be uncovered in its own time … with encouragement and care. And some children will respond to some teachers, and not others.
Like many professions, teaching is about 50% science and 50% an artform. Great teachers have learnt how to weave these two coda into a true “educement”; inducing the flowering of emotional, intellectual and aesthetic sensibility in their charges.
It is the same weaving of the rational and the instinctive, the received wisdom and the creative impulse … that makes a great doctor, an outstanding jurist, the inspirational engineer or scientist. Equally if we treat teachers like disposable units in a factory, they will treat their children the same. And we will regret that bitterly.
PS: The incidents of violence mentioned are not implausible. Mum never saw anything quite that bad, but not too far off. Invariably … without exception …. the root cause lay in a grossly dysfunctional family. Incidentally she taught most of her life in one of NZ’s poshest suburbs.
My BF’s vision for education is that Teaching would be a rock-star profession: it will pay well and be highly respected. Instead of the best and brightest going off to become professionals, and those in the (typically) middle-lower end of the spectrum who don’t know what else to do with their lives so become teachers, teaching would be an inviting profession for the best and brightest.
Also when the teachers union demands a pay rise, smaller class sizes and all of the other changes in conditions that they want, they will get everything they ask for except the pay rise… which comes later when they prove the things they asked for are effective.
Expertise :
-“it is not necessary for an individual to have a professional or academic qualification.”-see shepherds.
-Skilled Memory Theory ; Ericsson et al;
– Deep structures ; Chi et al;
-and “dialogic expertise”
from “an ordinary fellow from another town” – Twain 😀
Corruption and kickbacks in NZ business, especially with contractors to councils etc as part of PPPs. The situation is being highlighted with a focus on rading contracts to Auckland Council since 2010:
Simon Everett was formerly managing director of roading contractor Blacktop Construction. His company collapsed in September, and Everett said he was now in a position to call for a debate on business practices that had become increasingly sharp.
[…]
Everett’s concerns were echoed by industry spokesman Jeremy Sole, chief executive of the New Zealand Contractors Federation, who warned recent public-sector contracting changes raised risks.
“There’s a propensity for some clients to move to very large contracts, which raises the stakes considerably. The game is changing dramatically, and the incentives are there to do whatever it takes. We might start to see an increase in corruption as a result,” Sole said.
Dealings between private and public-sector bodies needed to be policed more thoroughly, Sole said. “Most of our interactions are with central or local government agencies, and we would be very upset if anything above a Christmas Card was exchanged.”
The Serious Fraud Office is investigating individuals at Auckland Transport over alleged irregularities in the procurement of roading maintenance contracts. The council-controlled company fired a senior manager in September following an internal investigation into the corruption allegations dating back to 2010.
[…]
Toresen said public-sector organisations had rules against employees receiving gifts from contractors, but these were being skirted. “Most large organisations have a gift register and it’s being breached. It’s a funny sort of no man’s land because it’s not really well tested.”
Its not just auckland but rural areas where big contracts to big players squeeze local contractors out.
Then the locals discover the maintenance cycles and quality of work deteriorate over time and roads that used to be well looked after are let go as thats all the big contractor allowed for OR the local crowd lowballed it to get the work and ends up losing money.
blacktop have plenty to be unhappy about with downers and FH practices.
When is the news media going to drop the continuous assaults on decency?
If they wish to report on a vicious crime, put it in a crime section where those who enjoy such reporting can head to and be satisfied.
My “Bookmark” directs me to the news outlet.
I therefore do not need to be greeted by such revolting headlines.
Being that you wouldn’t answer any of the repeated questions I put to you I see no reason to answer yours
So I’ll try again, what did you mean by this:
“Give the missus a serious seeing to when she got home late with the Maccers dinner and no dipping sauce didya ?”
See I’m assuming you were asking if I’m physically abusive towards my wife however I’d like to know what you meant by it and why you come to that conclusion
No not really, people can disagree with me all they like (and they do) but suggesting I beat my wife simply because you disagree with me isn’t clever and it isn’t funny
Vince Siemer seems to be a very dedicated axe-grinder but every now and then I check in to his site for a read-up on his latest sharpenings. His New Zealand Judge Files are interesting reading.
Relevant part of Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 re name suppression:
” 200. Court may suppress identity of defendant
(1) A court may make an order forbidding publication of the name, address, or occupation of a person who is charged with, or convicted or acquitted of, an offence.
(2) The court may make an order under subsection (1) only if the court is satisfied that publication would be likely to—
(a) cause extreme hardship to the person charged with, or convicted of, or acquitted of the offence, or any person connected with that person; or
(b) cast suspicion on another person that may cause undue hardship to that person; or
(c) cause undue hardship to any victim of the offence; or
(d) create a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial; or
(e) endanger the safety of any person; or
(f) lead to the identification of another person whose name is suppressed by order or by law; or
(g) prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences; or
(h) prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand.
(3) The fact that a defendant is well known does not, of itself, mean that publication of his or her name will result in extreme hardship for the purposes of subsection (2)(a). ”
Interesting to note that Section 393 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 repealed Section 66 of the Land Transport Act 1998 with effect from 5 March 2012:
” 66. Names of drivers convicted of alcohol or drug-related offences may not be suppressed
[Repealed]
Section 66: repealed, on 5 March 2012 (applying in relation to a proceeding for an offence that was commenced before that date), by section 393 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81). “
I’d rather we had blanket name suppression UNTIL a conviction was obtained. Then apply suppression only on the basis of the risk of victims being applied, and/or whether a defense team immediately signals intent to appeal.
Geez I love rhubarb – maybe that’s the problem. It’s a vege (as in animal/vege/mineral) that should be confined to digestive tracts – rather than an animal/vegetable/mineral phenomenon that can be used to bandage up failing ideology.
Christ Draco! I have a marketing idea already! The ‘Rhubarb Bandage’! (Mathew Hooten will be pleased)
John Key, Don McKinnon, Jim Bolger and Pita Sharples are going to Mandela’s funeral.
Personally, I think that Cunliffe should politely decline and send John Minto instead – if Minto would want to go with the Blue boys, that is.
Strangely enough, of the four you mention, it’s perhaps Don McKinnon that can claim the moral high ground – even though he chose to align himself with a bunch of Natz way back when. At least he made some efforts to engage with prisoners and victims of ‘the State’, and ease their plight. As for the others – their record is self-evident.
Abbott claim that nothing is wrong with the kiwi living in OZ policy, that it didn’t hurt his pakeha wife any, is of course classic Australian racism – adopt the whiter babies so you can take the higher moral ground and dictate a racist policy on the rest
So central banks actions for me and you are pretty 2nd degree. None of us use central bank money, we use commercial bank money. An increase in commercial bank money supply (by loan making) can have effects in the real economy, but supplies of cash to banks by a central bank only increases the money supply by effectively giving banks the confidence to lend more loans because they have more central bank reserves to back up any payments they will need to make. However, the link is not simple. If I am a bank treasurer sitting on a book of bad loans, I know that I will need a lot of central bank money in future to settle claims made on me by other banks. Any excess liquidity provided to me by the ECB will be used to shore up my balance sheet, not expand it.
One of the problems with our present monetary system is that neither the central bank nor the government has any real control over how much money is in circulation. That falls almost solely upon the private banks who create most of the money in circulation and they’re incentivised to make ever more ‘safe’ loans which means housing and so we get housing bubbles – just like the one we’re seeing in Auckland now.
@ Draco …. the harder they rise, the harder they fall. It’s just a bloody pain waiting for it all to happen sometimes. (But it is inevitable. Do the smart thing – make sure the entire family is equipped with ear muffs so they don’t have to hear the sound of pigs squealing)
Claims of sea level rise globally. In order for central Australia to be flooded there needs to be ~20m rise in sea levels, but such a vast area being flooded should buffer sea level rises!!!! That maybe good, but there is a problem, the hot environment will necessarily evaporate massive amounts of water into the atmosphere! So if we don’t get the projected sea level rises we may get an even worse scenario of much more rain globally. And a warmer world will also cool faster to balance itself, and that cooling will occur over the northern hemisphere continents (how else did all that ice get there during the ice age). Australia great desert will pump water into the atmosphere and snow will be dumped….
Australia’s vast interior, called the Outback, is ringed by coastal mountains and often quite dry. Because of the low-lying nature of the continent’s eastern interior and the lack of river runoff in its western dry environment, most of the heavy rainfall of 2010–11 remained inland rather than flowing into the oceans. While some of it evaporated in the desert sun, much of it sank into the dry, granular soil of the Western Plateau or filled the Lake Eyre basin in the east.
“No other continent has this combination of atmospheric set-up and topography,” Fasullo says. “Only in Australia could the atmosphere carry such heavy tropical rains to such a large area, only to have those rains fail to make their way to the ocean.”
As much as I follow climate change news, any predictions made on 20m sea rise should be ignored for the fact that it is almost sci-fi-level speculation at the moment. 2m sea rise can happen in the next century and its implications are bad enough that we don’t need to think about after it. If we can’t survive 2m, why should we worry about 20m? 😛
20m rises are indeed implausible in the next century.
Unless the West Antarctic Ice Shelf (WAIS) breaks up. That would lead to a rather rapid 6-7m rise in sea level over the period of about a decade or less.
And that event could easily occur at any time over the next several centuries. It’s happened before and will almost certainly happen again. We just don’t really know when.
What about the fact that water is most dense at 4 degrees? Think of sub 4 degree water as a cold reservoir we humans are using up rapidly, at present heating 0-4 degrees water up to 4 degrees and thus holding back expansion of heating of water over 4 degrees. So we hit a tipping point where expansion begins, although as I point out its non-linear (as sea rise they flood more area and for ever small rise there is more area to inundate).
Of course I’m speculating again, but hey, ain’t like this is a science journal. Also saline water is heavier, as warmer sea water hits the polar refrigerator it becomes more saline (some water freezes) and drops. More fresh water from melting land glaciers means slightly less dense water.
from the article;
-“…Libertarianism in my country is actually being taken seriously as an intelligent mode of political thought…It’s astonishing to me…People are saying ‘I don’t need anything but my ability to make a profit…” then to paraphrase, “We do not care who educates your children, only where ours are schooled, We do not care who funded and built the power generators, who puts out the fires or turns up to medical emergencies and accidents, who else requires water, or how freakin’ hot and turbulent the climate gets…”- Sam Hall…
Yet again, we are gutting our ability to prosecute white collar criminals while putting the boot on the neck of anyone unfortunate enough to not have silver spoons…
Friday spot got lost. But here’s some fast ruminating from Jackie Mason on going to the psychiatrist to find himself.
I went to a psychiatrist. I’m not ashamed to admit it. It’s because I didn’t know who I was. He took one look at me and said right away, “This is not you.”
I said, “If this is not me, then who is it?”
He said, “I don’t know either.”
I said, “Then what do I need you for?”
He said, “To find out who you are.”
I said to myself, If I don’t know who I am, how do I know who to look for? And even if I find me, how do I know it’s me? Besides, if I want to look for me, why do I need him? I can look myself…I need a partner (“shutef”)? Ten years ago I’d be glad to look for anybody. Now I’m doing good. Why should I look for him? He needs help? Why doesn’t he look for me?”
He said, “The search for the real you will have to continue. That’ll be a hundred dollars, please.”
I said to myself, “If this is not the real me, why should I give HIM a hundred dollars? I’ll look for the real me. Let HIM give me a hundred dollars.
…But what if I find the real me and he doesn’t think it’s worth a hundred dollars? Then I’ve stuck my money with the real him.”
Then I said, “For all I know the real me might be going to another psychiatrist altogether. Might even be a psychiatrist himself. Wouldn’t it be funny if you’re the real me and you owe me a hundred dollars?”
I said, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll charge you fifty dollars and we’ll call it even.” http://haruth.com/mw/3minutes.html
By an astonishing coincidence, greywarbler, I heard precisely the same comedy item on ‘The Laugh Track’ (Nat Rad) about an hour before you posted this. Serendipity or what !
swordfish
No coincidence, I heard it on rnz too and it was so good I searched on google for it. I couldn’t find any good youtube items but the shot gun speech of the prose carries the joke well. I said we needed some joie de vivre eh! I like to share some good things to keep our spirits up as we hear the policy filtering through that sounds like deja vue. Soon I’ll be so sick of hearing it that I will be writing French all the time, c’est la vie.
You’re a very good sport, greywarbler. In fact, so much so that I now feel more than a smidgen guilty about my mild teasing over the last couple of days. So, I’ll desist at this point with what, in retrospect, could be deemed borderline troll-like behaviour.
(And if I know Mr Prentice like I think I do, he’ll currently be circling me like a shark, just waiting for another dumbarse comment so he can come down like a ton of bricks. With my next comment, I’ll be expecting to see my beautiful teal-blue gravatar next to the name ‘Total Shit-For-Brains’, much like the said 1prent hilariously did a few weeks ago for some Tory troll purporting to be ‘Peter Davis’ (although in that case he altered the moniker to something like ‘Complete and Utter Dickhead’)).
that was just lovely, and well-timed to coincide with the day’s other rewards. (I didn’t wish to bore you with roguish repetition) .Moved me, moved me when it was released, they played it on our local AM radio station at particular times, usually around 4.30-7.30 PM. Bookmarked a non-research site for a change; progress, otherwise, All Selections Hand-Made.
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It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
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Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
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The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
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FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
Sunday thought: would Kim Dotcom not be the perfect new leader for the ACT party?
After all, he has successfully ousted the previous leader, he is apparently a genuine libertarian, and he is looking for a political vehicle…
Dotcom’s going to want something that he is in charge of from the ground up as party president. And do you think Jonkey is going to gift ACT Epsom with Dotcom in it.
i doubt john key will gift epsom to a truly libertarian act, no corporate handouts for one thing.
Might not need a gift. Might not be Epsom either…
Maya Angelou tribute to Nelson Mandela: His Day is Done
Dotcon won’t support any party that supports the TPPA.
Because of copyright
It appears from 2 stories in today’s Sunday Herald that the pathetic Paula Bennett is in for a deserved spanking having spent the last couple of days misleading the Parliament on the number of child abuse/neglect cases reported this year,
A ‘computer program fault’ is apparently what will be blamed for Bennett’s ‘mistake’ where She has used Parliaments Question Time lambasting the Opposition with claims that cases of abuse and neglect have been falling when all the time the opposite is the case,
The second of the stories in the Sunday Herald highlights the fact that having refused the Children’s Commissioner the monies necessary to undertake a comprehensive study of ‘child poverty’ Bennett will be less than pleased that using His initiative said Commissioner found the necessary 500 grand from the Roy McKenzie charitable foundation and the report produced is said to paint an extremely bleak picture of ‘child poverty’ in New Zealand which will be made public this week,
Another FAILURE by another shameful Minister in Slippery’s Shameful National Government…
Because people don’t like to go to whaleoils site heres something interesting:
I just wanted to share with you some of my experience as a beginning teacher in NZ and my views on the education system.
Unlike most teachers, I am not a lefty, not a unionist and I am male. I got into teaching with the sole purpose of making a difference in education. So i took the leap and enrolled in a local university and began my teaching degree. It was here that the ineptitude of our education system became evident. Over the next three years, I was surrounded by a ragtag group of people, ranging from recent school graduates to the nearing retirement aged. The year I began was the first year they doubled the size of the intake, from 30-60 and this created a number of problems.
Firstly, the campus was not large enough to hold a larger intake and our teacher training suffered from overcrowding and under resourcing. As time wore on, it became evident that things were not “equal”. Maori students were given the fast track on anything and everything and it soon became clear that they were destined for “greater” things. Some students were being treated differently by the lecturers as well. I remember one guy posted on Facebook, on the morning an assignment was due, that he better think about doing it. He handed the assignment in a week late and still received a pass mark. Uni policy for most assignments states that you lose 10% per day late and this guy was definitely not an “A” student. This sort of thing was a regular occurrence for the next three years and it made it hard for me to respect my cohort and the university.
Fast forward to the final year. Out of 45 people who made it to the end of the degree, only about 10 jobs came up in our area and 5 of them were taken up by new teachers (myself included) at the same school. And now, over 3 years later, only half of my graduating class have jobs as teachers. It was at this school that everything I thought, and knew, became irrelevant. It quickly became evident that most of what we had learned over the past 3 years had nothing to do with actual teaching. Those classes on creative pedagogy and integrated curriculums were pushed by the wayside, as the school had a focus on literacy and numeracy.
Add to this the fact that not one person from the school, took the time to really sit down and explain to us how their reading, writing and maths programmes actually worked and you have a recipe for disaster. So here I was, at a new job, in a new career, wandering through the “dark” with no light in sight. The phrase “trial by fire” is an understatement to what I endured. Only once I had been there a while and got to know people, that I began to get shown things (it took 6 months before I received a tour of the resource room).
It was during my first year at this school, that I began to experience the true bureaucracy that exists in education and its responsibility for the downfall of student achievement. As professional development in the school, we were subjected to an improvement programme that required us to be observed by an “expert” who would attend the school each term and check on our progress. During my first meeting with this expert and all subsequent meetings, he proceeded to identify all of the bad things I was doing as a teacher, never once identifying anything positive. He then ended each meeting without actually telling me how to improve or change my teaching. After speaking with other colleagues, this was the “norm” and happened to everyone, every-time. For this “in-depth” analysis of the school’s teachers, he was getting paid about $40k per year by the school.
Which brings me to his greatest advocate at the school, the deputy principal. Now at most schools I have attended and had the pleasure of interacting with, the principal is the figurehead of the school community. They are usually charismatic, passionate, friendly and a great advocate for their staff and pupils. Our principal was none of these, he had the charisma of a fence post. And although he was the figurehead of the school community, the school itself was run by his deputy, who had affectionately been nicknamed “The Pitbull”. This hobbit-esque woman ruled with an iron fist and her word was law. Because you can’t argue with 40 years of experience right? It became this woman’s crusade to improve the literacy and numeracy within the school and this meant by any means necessary. It was widely known that the school marked harder at the beginning of the year to make the marks lower and therefore increase the perceived “improvement” achieved over the year. But I began to question things when we were told that our end of year marks were to low and we need to “fix” them. To me, this is called fudging the numbers, but to my colleagues this was a common practice that did occur at other schools also.
So over the next 18 months I taught at this school and the last 6 months were rocky to say the least. My class in my second year became known as the class from hell. I started the year with 2 bipolar boys and 2 girls who had been separated at their last school. The class quickly descended into an unsafe environment for the other students. Here are some examples of the behaviour of these students. One girl, assaulted boys on a regular basis, by pulling hair, punching, kicking and stomping. She also threatened to murder a student’s family and threatened another teacher. One boy trashed the classroom in a fit of rage and after this he was moved to another class, flipped out at lunchtime and was removed in handcuffs by police. Another boy pulled a knife on a student in the classroom in front of a reliever. Also, another boy threw tables, chairs and objects around the classroom in numerous rages. Oh, and these were 11 year old students in a decile 7 school. When I approached the management for assistance with handling the class (this was less than 2 months into the year) I was told that it was all my fault and that I was to blame for everything that occurred in the classroom. To cut a long story short, my competence was called into question and I was effectively placed on probation. I chose to fight the school and undertook an advice and guidance programme to clear my name. This did not happen to a colleague though, who faced with a similar situation, chose to allow the school to help her find employment elsewhere. This was arranged by the school management and another local school, and was held over her head even after she left.
As a result of this, I resigned from the school and have left NZ to teach overseas. The grass is much greener over here and I now teach in a school that has a supportive management team and I am able to teach with the advice and guidance of people that I respect wilfully, not because they intimidate people.
I left NZ because there were not many options available to me. There is a lack of jobs, there are too many older teachers in education who are stuck in their ways and the schooling system is run like an “old boys” club. Also, the fact that education is treated as a political football in NZ means that every 3 years or so, it is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. When Labour and National finally decide to agree on actually fixing the education system rather than promoting their own political agendas, I will happily return to NZ. National standards are a good concept, as they give us benchmarks to aim for. But if they are not standard across all schools, they are completely useless. To finish off, I want to add my 2 cents to the recent PISA results discussion. NZ does have a world class education system and it suits “our” people, who are creative thinkers and doers, not robots. But the one difference Asia has that sets them apart, is that yes, you can fail and failure is not an option. When NZ can realise that “working towards”, “below” and “not achieved” are all bullshit ways of saying “FAIL”, the better.
‘..Also, the fact that education is treated as a political football in NZ means that every 3 years or so, it is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. When Labour and National finally decide to agree on actually fixing the education system rather than promoting their own political agendas,…’
I have heard much the same from my daughter who teaches in primary school and it is a fair comment that cold be applied not just to education, luckily she hasn’t experienced any of the other things in the schools she has taught at that your correspondent mentions.
Well I do take postings like this with a grain of salt (could be due to sour grapes and all that) but as an overview he does bring up some good points especially the bit about both parties being to blame
A Few points. (given that I bothered to read anything that might have been posted in the gutter in the first place.
“I was surrounded by a ragtag group of people, ranging from recent school graduates to the nearing retirement aged.”
I understand 45 to be the maximum age of enrolment unless under exceptional circumstances. Of course the young whipper-snappers have all the answers – can never learn from their elders.
“True bureaucracy” – emotive words but not explained.
“Professional Development” – School focussing on Literacy and Numeracy. He should have been an expert already in both of these areas – that’s what he should have been bringing with his diploma.
He proffers a whole lot of criticism of education based on his unsubstantiated claims of experience in one school, and yet in the whole missive does not appear to suggest one solution.
That’ll be because the entire thing is made up.
Well of course it is, anything that runs contrary to what you believe has to be made up
chris73
So your comments on the points I raise …
As above really, I suspect theres more then a few sour grapes at work but as an overview he does bring up some points about whats wrong with the system (both parties sticking their oars in)
I mean when I was in uni the fee paying students from China were certainly hogging the lecturers time, making it difficult for everyone else and the amount of collaboration on assignments was more then what was expected so their were a lot complaints made but from my pov they were just being smart and they got the results so fair play but someone else could see it another way
I think hes mostly venting but I agree that both parties play political football with education and thats where most of the problems start with
chris. Buy a keyboard with fucking quote marks on it. I have no idea how many of those words are from you, Jason Ede, or some other subnormal twat.
That’s tough for a “cut and paste” web site.
That makes no sense.
You really can’t work out how much of that is mine…ok heres mine:
“Because people don’t like to go to whaleoils site heres something interesting:” and the rest is his
Dick
Don’t be a fuckwit chris, you often quote people without any indication which parts are quoted.
In the above, for all anyone knows the entire last paragraph could’ve been yours.
It’s annoying as all fuck to read and it would only take you a second to add a couple of quote marks like a normal human would.
The only person who would possibly think that the last paragraph could be mine would be you
or anyone else who has wrestled with your bizarre and arbitrary system of punctuation.
Just use fucking quote marks like everyone else manages to.
Who made you the arbiter of grammar and punctuation? I’ll post how I post and if you don’t like it then either fuck off or don’t read it
Your school didn’t have a focus on literacy, that much is obvious…
“Who made you the arbiter of grammar and punctuation? “
Yeah, I invented quote marks and I’m trying to impose them on the world for my own gratification.
🙄
Moron.
And how DARE you suggest to chris a simple and quick method for making his comments slightly more readable. You utter, utter bastard.
catty 😀 ( avoirdupois )
not putting quote marks is a de facto claim of ownership/authorship of the words..
..phillip ure..
Having observed young Christopher’s progress over several years now, we are very pleased with his development into a more rational commenter who at times makes useful contributions to The Standard learning environment.
One notes a welcome change in attitude not uncommon in formerly troubled students as the reality of poll results brings home the futility of pointless abusive behaviour.
A capable young lad showing increasing promise: more work needed in the areas of political comprehension and logic, but overall a good result from a difficult personal beginning: end of year rating: ACHIEVED.
Not sure if thats a burn or not but its amusing either way
-Could do better in Social Studies.
@ ak
chris 73 could even become the next Frank Mac (here’s hoping). Maybe there’s something to be said for allowing trolls to enter the site, and be confronted with rational arguments.
After all, there are quite a few Natzis that are now utterly embarrassed by the crass, self-serving, self-indulgent, selfish policies the party they once claimed an affinity with has now become.
(In my experience, they’re usually the ones that can’t stand the likes of trader John, or ladder puller-uppers, or – snobbery aside – nouveau riche Johnny-cum-latelies – but whatever their motivation – they are disillusioned).
Sometimes I wonder why Chris Finlayson has been hanging out so long – but then, maybe I misjudged his character, and maybe he is actually … well – just scared basically and a Limp Biscuit.
Silly Labour (bloody silly, even fucktardinous dimwittery) …. ‘cos Labour still has its equivalents.
Shame we can’t get them all together where they could reminisce – perhaps over a glass of Ch-ch-ch-chardonay – perhaps somewhere in HawkesBay, or even Waiheke Island.
Not that I had an issue working out what was yours.
But in case you don’t know, here’s how to quote.
[blockquote]Quoting..[/blockquote]
Just replace the [ ] with the greater than less than symbols to get it to work
Took me a while to realise Chris that your post was a quote.
Some of the stuff reported is questionable. The violence by kids in the class of 11 year olds is not credible. You would not be placed “on probation” if there were problems.
Note that the greener overseas is not named.
Politicians should leave schools alone. Leave it Education to develop properly researched and tested improvements without political interference, without League Tables, without using kids as footballs, without fear and favour.
For over a hundred years Education has evolved an improved from the bottom up until recently when this Government has interfered with disastrous results. We had had high PISA rankings because of Educational school driven innovation but this was in spite of political interference. (Mind you PISA rankings might cause unintended consequences like narrowing the focus of teaching and learning.)
Earlier I posted this bit (and I’ll put in quotes as well)
“Well I do take postings like this with a grain of salt (could be due to sour grapes and all that) but as an overview he does bring up some good points especially the bit about both parties being to blame”
I spent some time at the Christchurch College of Education a few years back and while there were some worthy people it also had its fair share of ex-hippies and people who were all theory and no practical
But thats just my opinion
… nothing wrong with ex-hippies mate. Generally peace loving people who like to get on with their neighbours for the betterment of all mankind. chris73 some advice – don’t discredit your own discussions by letting your prejudices show through.
There may well have been some friction (may not be the correct term) as I was still in uniform at the time and the people that I was dealing with weren’t the same people that he was teaching about
He was training us to be dealing with nice, well-mannered middle class kids so there wasn’t anything about conflict management or how to deal with troubled kids
Chris,
Both my parents were teachers. They met and married at ATC and both variously worked in many schools much of their lives. Later my father moved into another career, but Mum taught Intermediate until she retired.
She loved the classroom. She was really good at it. She hated the staffroom; all of the problems she ever encountered started there. So what your source has written has a certain old familiarity to it.
But what has changed in the last few decades is that we have been constantly diminishing teaching as a profession with meddling, micromanagement and over evaluation. Great teachers are not robots, rattling off a narrowly proscribed curriculum according to a tight timetable.
Children are not widgets in an education factory. They are unique, they each have their own strengths that will be uncovered in its own time … with encouragement and care. And some children will respond to some teachers, and not others.
Like many professions, teaching is about 50% science and 50% an artform. Great teachers have learnt how to weave these two coda into a true “educement”; inducing the flowering of emotional, intellectual and aesthetic sensibility in their charges.
It is the same weaving of the rational and the instinctive, the received wisdom and the creative impulse … that makes a great doctor, an outstanding jurist, the inspirational engineer or scientist. Equally if we treat teachers like disposable units in a factory, they will treat their children the same. And we will regret that bitterly.
PS: The incidents of violence mentioned are not implausible. Mum never saw anything quite that bad, but not too far off. Invariably … without exception …. the root cause lay in a grossly dysfunctional family. Incidentally she taught most of her life in one of NZ’s poshest suburbs.
Personally I think teachers should be paid more
Personally I think we should value them more.
+1
My BF’s vision for education is that Teaching would be a rock-star profession: it will pay well and be highly respected. Instead of the best and brightest going off to become professionals, and those in the (typically) middle-lower end of the spectrum who don’t know what else to do with their lives so become teachers, teaching would be an inviting profession for the best and brightest.
Also when the teachers union demands a pay rise, smaller class sizes and all of the other changes in conditions that they want, they will get everything they ask for except the pay rise… which comes later when they prove the things they asked for are effective.
For outstanding excellence in educational commentary with distinction: RedLogix 6.3.1.1.1.
A must-read on the subject and as always a pleasure old chap, do keep it up.
Expertise :
-“it is not necessary for an individual to have a professional or academic qualification.”-see shepherds.
-Skilled Memory Theory ; Ericsson et al;
– Deep structures ; Chi et al;
-and “dialogic expertise”
from “an ordinary fellow from another town” – Twain 😀
“hippies” have quite open minds which is a good asset when helping children to think critically.
Corruption and kickbacks in NZ business, especially with contractors to councils etc as part of PPPs. The situation is being highlighted with a focus on rading contracts to Auckland Council since 2010:
Its not just auckland but rural areas where big contracts to big players squeeze local contractors out.
Then the locals discover the maintenance cycles and quality of work deteriorate over time and roads that used to be well looked after are let go as thats all the big contractor allowed for OR the local crowd lowballed it to get the work and ends up losing money.
blacktop have plenty to be unhappy about with downers and FH practices.
small players “sleep with the fishes”.
Why such headlines from a “serious” media outlet. “Knife embedded in head”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11168963
When is the news media going to drop the continuous assaults on decency?
If they wish to report on a vicious crime, put it in a crime section where those who enjoy such reporting can head to and be satisfied.
My “Bookmark” directs me to the news outlet.
I therefore do not need to be greeted by such revolting headlines.
The Herald is not serious.
It is garbage.
I dunno, quite a lot of it is serious garbage. John Armstrong and most editorials in particular come to mind.
Aha Arfamo. So does “serious garbage” stink?
Yup.
@ herald:..credit where credit is due..
..the hos has an editorial ripping into paula bennett..
..for doing nothing about child poverty..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11168837
which is described as a ‘blight’..
..the other side of the coin is this exercise is arse-kissing of bennett..
..by ‘tory hack’ audrey young..
..where the interest is not so much in the gag-inducing exercise in hagiography..
..but in the comments-thread..where bennett/young are both hung out to dry..
..the comments-thread was closed off at 162..with the few in support looking like they were written by bennetts’ staffers..
..bennett would need to be made of asbestos..not to feel the vitriol/hatred directed her way..
..her due for her persecutions of the weakest/poorest..
..(and i added my five cents worth of comment..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/tory-hack-audrey-young-delivers-a-master-class-in-arse-kissing-in-a-profile-of-paula-bennett-and-gets-monstered-by-commenters/
phillip ure..
i wonder how the afrikaaner boltholes up in the east coast bays are reacting to mandelas’ death..
..those who fled when apartheid was dismantled..
..didn’t he ‘ruin everything’ for them..?
..hadn’t apartheid been ‘good’ for/to them..?
..is there a (modern day) deep south reaction to kennedy assassination going on there..?
..and what about the reactions in our most racist city..?..
..christchurch..?
..are the skinheads/white-powers out celebrating in the streets..as if after a football victory..?
..phillip ure..
Rich kid wants special treatment on drink driving charge because of famous Dad
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9491090/Teen-wants-off-hook-because-of-famous-dad
Thats the problem we have with the name suppression laws in NZ
Do we have a problem with the name suppression law, or the way different judges apply it?
Both but mostly with the judges
Examples re the judges please ? And a cogent expression of your point.
Being that you wouldn’t answer any of the repeated questions I put to you I see no reason to answer yours
So I’ll try again, what did you mean by this:
“Give the missus a serious seeing to when she got home late with the Maccers dinner and no dipping sauce didya ?”
See I’m assuming you were asking if I’m physically abusive towards my wife however I’d like to know what you meant by it and why you come to that conclusion
Answer me that and I’ll answer your question
being a bit precious, aren’t you?
No not really, people can disagree with me all they like (and they do) but suggesting I beat my wife simply because you disagree with me isn’t clever and it isn’t funny
Fair enough, but you can say that without all the “what did you mean” and twee I’ll-answer-yours-when-you-answer-mine bullshit.
I disagree, if someone wants me to answer a question from them then they should answer mine as well
but why ask a question for which you have already assumed an answer?
Good question McF.
And also, has chris ever answered the first question? The one he keeps going on about, the one about his wife and the maccas?
‘Cos apparently, not answering pointless rhetorical questions can have serious consequences regarding future expectations of answers from others.
Vince Siemer seems to be a very dedicated axe-grinder but every now and then I check in to his site for a read-up on his latest sharpenings. His New Zealand Judge Files are interesting reading.
http://www.kiwisfirst.co.nz/
If his dad “makes people laugh” he has a good chance……..
Actually I see it as a problem with our media.
The case should go ahead like any normal DIC. The names should not be suppressed.
But neither should it be an opportunity for the media to indulge in a feeding frenzy just because the father of the person convicted is a politician.
Family and private lives are off-limits. This is why.
Relevant part of Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 re name suppression:
” 200. Court may suppress identity of defendant
(1) A court may make an order forbidding publication of the name, address, or occupation of a person who is charged with, or convicted or acquitted of, an offence.
(2) The court may make an order under subsection (1) only if the court is satisfied that publication would be likely to—
(a) cause extreme hardship to the person charged with, or convicted of, or acquitted of the offence, or any person connected with that person; or
(b) cast suspicion on another person that may cause undue hardship to that person; or
(c) cause undue hardship to any victim of the offence; or
(d) create a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial; or
(e) endanger the safety of any person; or
(f) lead to the identification of another person whose name is suppressed by order or by law; or
(g) prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences; or
(h) prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand.
(3) The fact that a defendant is well known does not, of itself, mean that publication of his or her name will result in extreme hardship for the purposes of subsection (2)(a). ”
Interesting to note that Section 393 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 repealed Section 66 of the Land Transport Act 1998 with effect from 5 March 2012:
” 66. Names of drivers convicted of alcohol or drug-related offences may not be suppressed
[Repealed]
Section 66: repealed, on 5 March 2012 (applying in relation to a proceeding for an offence that was commenced before that date), by section 393 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81). “
I’d rather we had blanket name suppression UNTIL a conviction was obtained. Then apply suppression only on the basis of the risk of victims being applied, and/or whether a defense team immediately signals intent to appeal.
ooops “applied” should read “identified”
(dotage is prematurely knocking at the door – all those ‘aluminum’ saucepans)
the ‘aluminium’ thesis has not remained current. 🙂 (though not healthy for rhubarb to be cooked in).
Geez I love rhubarb – maybe that’s the problem. It’s a vege (as in animal/vege/mineral) that should be confined to digestive tracts – rather than an animal/vegetable/mineral phenomenon that can be used to bandage up failing ideology.
Christ Draco! I have a marketing idea already! The ‘Rhubarb Bandage’! (Mathew Hooten will be pleased)
John Key, Don McKinnon, Jim Bolger and Pita Sharples are going to Mandela’s funeral.
Personally, I think that Cunliffe should politely decline and send John Minto instead – if Minto would want to go with the Blue boys, that is.
Strangely enough, of the four you mention, it’s perhaps Don McKinnon that can claim the moral high ground – even though he chose to align himself with a bunch of Natz way back when. At least he made some efforts to engage with prisoners and victims of ‘the State’, and ease their plight. As for the others – their record is self-evident.
Abbott claim that nothing is wrong with the kiwi living in OZ policy, that it didn’t hurt his pakeha wife any, is of course classic Australian racism – adopt the whiter babies so you can take the higher moral ground and dictate a racist policy on the rest
Why I don’t care what the ECB does today
One of the problems with our present monetary system is that neither the central bank nor the government has any real control over how much money is in circulation. That falls almost solely upon the private banks who create most of the money in circulation and they’re incentivised to make ever more ‘safe’ loans which means housing and so we get housing bubbles – just like the one we’re seeing in Auckland now.
@ Draco …. the harder they rise, the harder they fall. It’s just a bloody pain waiting for it all to happen sometimes. (But it is inevitable. Do the smart thing – make sure the entire family is equipped with ear muffs so they don’t have to hear the sound of pigs squealing)
Claims of sea level rise globally. In order for central Australia to be flooded there needs to be ~20m rise in sea levels, but such a vast area being flooded should buffer sea level rises!!!! That maybe good, but there is a problem, the hot environment will necessarily evaporate massive amounts of water into the atmosphere! So if we don’t get the projected sea level rises we may get an even worse scenario of much more rain globally. And a warmer world will also cool faster to balance itself, and that cooling will occur over the northern hemisphere continents (how else did all that ice get there during the ice age). Australia great desert will pump water into the atmosphere and snow will be dumped….
Or something else might happen.
Australia’s vast interior, called the Outback, is ringed by coastal mountains and often quite dry. Because of the low-lying nature of the continent’s eastern interior and the lack of river runoff in its western dry environment, most of the heavy rainfall of 2010–11 remained inland rather than flowing into the oceans. While some of it evaporated in the desert sun, much of it sank into the dry, granular soil of the Western Plateau or filled the Lake Eyre basin in the east.
“No other continent has this combination of atmospheric set-up and topography,” Fasullo says. “Only in Australia could the atmosphere carry such heavy tropical rains to such a large area, only to have those rains fail to make their way to the ocean.”
https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/10090/global-sea-level-rise-dampened-australia-floods
As much as I follow climate change news, any predictions made on 20m sea rise should be ignored for the fact that it is almost sci-fi-level speculation at the moment. 2m sea rise can happen in the next century and its implications are bad enough that we don’t need to think about after it. If we can’t survive 2m, why should we worry about 20m? 😛
20m rises are indeed implausible in the next century.
Unless the West Antarctic Ice Shelf (WAIS) breaks up. That would lead to a rather rapid 6-7m rise in sea level over the period of about a decade or less.
And that event could easily occur at any time over the next several centuries. It’s happened before and will almost certainly happen again. We just don’t really know when.
What about the fact that water is most dense at 4 degrees? Think of sub 4 degree water as a cold reservoir we humans are using up rapidly, at present heating 0-4 degrees water up to 4 degrees and thus holding back expansion of heating of water over 4 degrees. So we hit a tipping point where expansion begins, although as I point out its non-linear (as sea rise they flood more area and for ever small rise there is more area to inundate).
Of course I’m speculating again, but hey, ain’t like this is a science journal. Also saline water is heavier, as warmer sea water hits the polar refrigerator it becomes more saline (some water freezes) and drops. More fresh water from melting land glaciers means slightly less dense water.
Science journals aren’t all they are cracked up to be
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/09/nobel-winner-boycott-science-journals
Perhaps you have not included all the ice which rests above sea level.
David Simon, creator of The Wire, speaks of the necessity of Marxism and the horror show of the “Two Americas”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/david-simon-capitalism-marx-two-americas-wire
from the article;
-“…Libertarianism in my country is actually being taken seriously as an intelligent mode of political thought…It’s astonishing to me…People are saying ‘I don’t need anything but my ability to make a profit…” then to paraphrase, “We do not care who educates your children, only where ours are schooled, We do not care who funded and built the power generators, who puts out the fires or turns up to medical emergencies and accidents, who else requires water, or how freakin’ hot and turbulent the climate gets…”- Sam Hall…
karol @7 raised the issue of corruption in NZ but the following is currently buried on Stuff under National News (no headline for it despite it’s far reaching consequences):
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9491510/Serious-Fraud-Office-faces-cutback
Yet again, we are gutting our ability to prosecute white collar criminals while putting the boot on the neck of anyone unfortunate enough to not have silver spoons…
Friday spot got lost. But here’s some fast ruminating from Jackie Mason on going to the psychiatrist to find himself.
I went to a psychiatrist. I’m not ashamed to admit it. It’s because I didn’t know who I was. He took one look at me and said right away, “This is not you.”
I said, “If this is not me, then who is it?”
He said, “I don’t know either.”
I said, “Then what do I need you for?”
He said, “To find out who you are.”
I said to myself, If I don’t know who I am, how do I know who to look for? And even if I find me, how do I know it’s me? Besides, if I want to look for me, why do I need him? I can look myself…I need a partner (“shutef”)? Ten years ago I’d be glad to look for anybody. Now I’m doing good. Why should I look for him? He needs help? Why doesn’t he look for me?”
He said, “The search for the real you will have to continue. That’ll be a hundred dollars, please.”
I said to myself, “If this is not the real me, why should I give HIM a hundred dollars? I’ll look for the real me. Let HIM give me a hundred dollars.
…But what if I find the real me and he doesn’t think it’s worth a hundred dollars? Then I’ve stuck my money with the real him.”
Then I said, “For all I know the real me might be going to another psychiatrist altogether. Might even be a psychiatrist himself. Wouldn’t it be funny if you’re the real me and you owe me a hundred dollars?”
I said, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll charge you fifty dollars and we’ll call it even.”
http://haruth.com/mw/3minutes.html
By an astonishing coincidence, greywarbler, I heard precisely the same comedy item on ‘The Laugh Track’ (Nat Rad) about an hour before you posted this. Serendipity or what !
swordfish
No coincidence, I heard it on rnz too and it was so good I searched on google for it. I couldn’t find any good youtube items but the shot gun speech of the prose carries the joke well. I said we needed some joie de vivre eh! I like to share some good things to keep our spirits up as we hear the policy filtering through that sounds like deja vue. Soon I’ll be so sick of hearing it that I will be writing French all the time, c’est la vie.
You’re a very good sport, greywarbler. In fact, so much so that I now feel more than a smidgen guilty about my mild teasing over the last couple of days. So, I’ll desist at this point with what, in retrospect, could be deemed borderline troll-like behaviour.
(And if I know Mr Prentice like I think I do, he’ll currently be circling me like a shark, just waiting for another dumbarse comment so he can come down like a ton of bricks. With my next comment, I’ll be expecting to see my beautiful teal-blue gravatar next to the name ‘Total Shit-For-Brains’, much like the said 1prent hilariously did a few weeks ago for some Tory troll purporting to be ‘Peter Davis’ (although in that case he altered the moniker to something like ‘Complete and Utter Dickhead’)).
Only $100???? Not a real psychiatrist then 😉
Tracey
I would swear it’s a bit dated though the subject is still current, and quite electric.
ahh, but Are Friends Electric? , or do they need regular winding up…
(a $100, oh what I could do with a $100, let me think…)
I prefer to play Down In The Park myself
…And just for a second I thought I remembered you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Z4Tv1zn-s
Not like you to leave out the link RT. A newer version of that particular alienated angst.
that was just lovely, and well-timed to coincide with the day’s other rewards. (I didn’t wish to bore you with roguish repetition) .Moved me, moved me when it was released, they played it on our local AM radio station at particular times, usually around 4.30-7.30 PM. Bookmarked a non-research site for a change; progress, otherwise, All Selections Hand-Made.
Thanks for the reminder. It moved me too, as a teenager. And still, listening to it again.
An interesting example of what the government can gather from your location data collected from your own cellphone use and licence plate readers-
https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-all-location-data
The man was honest.
The way I remember it, Ted Koppel said, ‘Well, now, the Communists….’ Mandela said, ‘They were the only ones who helped us. Next question.’”
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/the-day-a-newly-freed-mandela-came-to-new-york/
Doctor doctor..
http://forward.com/articles/188881/doctor-cannabis/?p=all
Love to… Love “…well, it’s been too many times and I can’t go back…” 😎 now,off to watch Prometheus !
CV yeah the ying and yang of economics.
Something I had described 3 years ago on this site.
OMG, Bernard Hickey used the ‘d’ word.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11168792
I’ve just seen that piece.