Open mike 11/09/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 11th, 2010 - 46 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

Comment on whatever takes your fancy.

The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

46 comments on “Open mike 11/09/2010 ”

    • BLiP 1.1

      ring ring . . . ring ring . . . ring ring . . .

      “uh, hello . . .”

      “Bazzzzzzzaaah, sssup!”

      “who’s this”

      “its John, John from Nuh Zeeelun”

      “oh, hi John.”

      “Jez wanna say thanks. Thanks for sending out that chap and his kind words/

      “What chap is that?”

      “You know, Kurt, from the nuclear industry . . . the one that says we only need one nuclear station for the whole country”

      “No worries, John, gotta go”

      “the Hobbit says hello”

      “That’s good. Love to Bronagh. Really must be off”

      “We had an earthquake, you know, quite a big one”

      “Sorry to hear that. I sure you have it under control. Bye for now”

      “Yeah, it was a real shocker. Hey, did you hear about the weather in Bagdhad . . . shi’ite in the morning, sunni in the afternoon . . . hehehehe, good one, eh? Maurice told me that one . . . hello . . . hello”

    • Marty G 1.2

      What’s he going to say?

      Not something undiplomatic, eh?

      • Tigger 1.2.1

        Key is defined by what others think of him. He has no personality save what is constructed around him by others.

        He doesn’t take stands, he occupies ‘ground’ within which he can shift either left or right depending on poll results. He doesn’t have principles, he has slogans. He isn’t a leader, he’s an announcer (with the diction of a drunk).

        And by the way Kurt, Key can’t even remember where he stood on the 1981 Tour so don’t expect him to cough up any opinion on nuclear issues that dates back later than about 2003 and that doesn’t change to suit the audience. The idea of that man representing our nuclear-free country on stage is a monumental joke. Him getting kudos from it only proves to me that you need pride before a fall. Fall is coming JK.

        • luva 1.2.1.1

          See Tigger, I agree wth you to a large degree. I do not think Key makes decsions based on any strong principles or ideology. He is more pragmatic and follow public opinion.

          This runs in complete contrast with what some of our friends on the left say who firmly believe he is running a hard right agenda.

          How can the left have such differing views of a man who is in the news every night?

          • Tigger 1.2.1.1.1

            Pragmatic and mob rule aren’t the same thing. Tyranny by the majority, that’s what governs us now.

            • luva 1.2.1.1.1.1

              True

              But isnt that the consequence of living in a democracy. The minority will never agree with the majority who rule them

          • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1.2

            He is running a hard right agenda – it’s just hidden behind the appearance of listening to the public and taking it one cautious step at a time.

  1. The Chairman 2

    Capital & Coast District Health Board has been criticised by a Kapiti kaumatua for failing to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for health
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/4114401/DHB-decision-disgraceful-says-iwi-elder

    • Descendant Of Smith 2.1

      “Board planning and funding director Sandra Williams said that, after taking legal advice, the board decided it would not try to retrieve the remaining $203,000 because it believed Hora Te Pai performed to contract. ”

      So a non-Maori firm who is contracted by the DHB and out of the profits made invests in property and whatever else they wish is OK?

      Apparently they provided the service and what they do with the profit is up to them isn’t it?

      If they provided the service they were contracted for then can’t they do what they like with the money? Do different rules apply to Maori organisations than Pakeha or corporate ones?
      Contracting out of home help to private firms is a good example – plenty of those companies have invested their profits in flash cars, property and so on.

      The real question surely is why if it took such a smaller amount than paid to deliver the service did the DHB pay so much?

      Do the DHB even have a clue whether the service was delivered and how do they know or not know?

      Do the qualifications and pay rates of the workers in these organisations even remotely match the expertise and pay rates of those public servants who used to provide the services i.e. less wages, less skilled people more profit – worse service?

      Is contracting this out even making a difference in actually improving Maori health?

      Has the organisation been set up as a trust? If so then the trust documents will clearly identify what the trust can use the funds for?

      Why do we have a profit making contracting out model anyway?

      • The Chairman 2.1.1

        Apparently the money was earmarked for health but spent elsewhere.

        Furthermore, an earlier report from the board said the runanga repeatedly failed to meet its obligations.

        It smells fishy.

        • Jenny 2.1.1.1

          That over $200,000 unaccounted for by Pakeha health providers is quickly forgiven and written off. Imagine the blaring headlines excoriating Maori if even half that amount was mislaid by a Maori health provider.

          When it comes to how our society looks after the ‘establishment’ and the ‘the rest’ – It’s been a week of double standards.

          captcha – “bizarre”

  2. Descendant Of Smith 3

    What in any sense does earmarked for health mean?

    Is there a clause in the contract that says the organisation is not allowed to make a profit? That if it does so the profit must be returned?

    The DHB provides the funding the organisation spends it.

    It’s no more fishy than a child care centre buying a new building from their profit. While people may believe outcomes were not achieved the legal advice is that they were. While many locals believe that the money invested in the shonky business enterprises was wrong and that nepotism and self indulgence was rife and the money could have better been used to improve even further Maori Health unless their trust documents or contracts restrict them from doing so they can do what they like – that’s just what lots of companies / organisations who take government funding do.

    It’s the model that’s wrong not the behaviour of those getting the funding – as long as a lawyer decides they met their outcomes they are just behaving like many other organisations whether Maori or not.

    It’s a model that drives down the costs to the workers and creates profit out of providing services where their was none (profit) before.

    If the DHB is unhappy with the service they simply have to stop funding them and either provide the service themselves or pay someone else.

    The difficulty in some areas, particularly rural, the public system has been destroyed and there ain’t’ much to choose from.

    Taumarunui is a good example where Waikato don’t care less – in fact many patients going to Waikato get greeted with ” What are you still living in that dump for?” and the local providers have semi and unskilled staff providing services they don’t fully understand.

    They used to have a good hospital.

    It just irks me that it’s so easy to attack the Maori organisations when the model itself is flawed and those organisations are behaving no different to many others or simply lack the support and real monitoring and mentoring from the funding provider to improve.

    Somewhere tucked away in the Treasury guidelines is a clear direction that when funding goes from government departments to third parties it’s not enough to hand over the money and then leave them to it and then moan later if outcomes are not achieved. The agency funding is still responsible for ensuring that the organisation can manage financially and deliver the services. This includes helping them and proving support when things start going awry. Not whinging at the end.

    • The Chairman 3.1

      Earmarked for health sounds as if public funding that was allocated for health services (and not private profit) was spent elsewhere.

      • jcuknz 3.1.1

        If you are going to use private services then you must expect that a proportion will be raked off as profit … that is the difference between public and private service … if private service doesn’t make a profit what is the point of them doing it. Private service MAY be more efficient but not always as NACT would have us believe. It is up to the controlling authority to ensure that the privates perform the service properly and don’t rake of an unduly large profit for the work performed. It is essentially a core function of privates to make as much out of the situation as possible, apart from a few altruistic individuals … it also applies in public services except the profits show themselves in other ways such as flash offices, conferences at expensive resorts, and other perks ….it is human nature I’m afraid.

    • The Chairman 3.2

      Just to clarify, race has nothing to do with this.

      My concerns are with the public expenditure and the message being sent.

      A flawed funding model is more susceptible to unscrupulous behavior.

      Some of the misused funding had been repaid, but the board decided it would not try to retrieve the remainder with the board saying the contracts were concluded satisfactorily, but an earlier report from the board said the runanga repeatedly failed to meet its obligations and demanded all the money be returned?

      We have a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers being described as an audit that the report’s authors deny, which the board used to revise its figures?

      Taxpayer funding meant for health going into other accounts or failed ventures?

      Accusation of a cover-up?

      It sure smells fishy.

  3. joe bloggs 4

    Interesting … more evidence emerges that John Key may not be the Devil after all.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4119569/Key-shows-no-sign-of-shaky-hands

    Looks like his ‘hard right’ agenda is resonating out there in reality-land

    • ianmac 4.1

      Yes Joe. Well spotted. There is a “but” in Tracey’s column however. While The PM and team have been appearing in many places on the ground and saying all the right things, there is a an aftermath. If there are many, especially the poor, who end up worse off in spite of the positive talk, then the goodwill will shrink. For example many are now accutely aware of the importance of clean water, and recent moves to increase dairying (ECan etc) will cause many to respond accordingly. Wait for the other shoe to drop, or the tap to stop flowing.

      • Tigger 4.1.1

        Where are the jobs? No good steering us through a recession if the recovery is in the crapper? And judging the quake at this point is a joke – the rest test on that will come with time. What i read here is that Key didn’t cry in a heap when faced with hardships and should get a medal. Bull.

  4. john 5

    Sorry to be momentous, but we live in momentous times! Here is an article about the end of the Oil Age and we are now in transition to eventually a post fossil fuels civilization! The era of the Growth Fiesta is over, we are in the Century of contraction and coping with the hangover of the 20th Century’s growth Party,which I certainly enjoyed as well!
    http://www.countercurrents.org/whipple090910.htm
    That’s why I argue we need a tight cohesive society where everyone is treated decently but everyone must pull their weight.Among other things that means doing away with large wealth and income differences so that we all feel we’re in this together:-not having one class exploiting another.

  5. john 6

    Here’s a link showing the Irish protesting against the War Criminal Tony Blair. Of course the Irish have been on the receiving end of Brit War Crimes during their long and bitter history till Independence. He was on Close Up the other night saying Saddam had to be removed due to WMD(A Lie) even though UN Weapons Inspectors has certified Iraq free of the same and none were found afterwards. International Law is crystal clear,The Nuremburg declaration, He continues to swan around while Bush skulks in his Crawford ranch.The end of the Oil Age coming up plus sucking up to Israel are the real reasons for this War Crime causing the deaths of over 1,000,000 Iraqis.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5SRS77EW8g

    • john 6.1

      I really don’t have anything else to say about this sickening spectacle — which is being compounded in Britain, where I live, by the sight today of Tony Blair’s murder-tainted mug plastered on the front of the main newspapers, as he makes the rounds pushing his new book, doling out “exclusive interviews” full of crocodile tears for the soldiers he had murdered in the war crime he committed and the “great suffering” of the Iraqi people which, goodness gracious, he never foresaw and feels, gosh, really bad about. All this laced with venomous comments about his former colleagues — those who, like Gordon Brown, sold their souls to advance Blair’s vision of aggressive war abroad and corporate rapine at home — along with, of course, earnest protestations of his God-directed good intentions, and his unwavering belief that killing a million innocent human beings in Iraq was “the right thing to do.” Pol Pot could not have been more blindly self-righteous than this wretched moral cretin.

      I will say again what I have said here many, many times before: What quadrant of hell is hot enough for such men?

      Words might fail me, but wise man William Blum has a few that put the “end of combat operations in Iraq” in their proper perspective. Let’s give him the last word here [the ellipses are in the original text]:

      No American should be allowed to forget that the nation of Iraq, the society of Iraq, has been destroyed, ruined, a failed state. The Americans, beginning 1991, bombed for 12 years, with one excuse or another; then invaded, then occupied, overthrew the government, killed wantonly, tortured … the people of that unhappy land have lost everything — their homes, their schools, their electricity, their clean water, their environment, their neighborhoods, their mosques, their archaeology, their jobs, their careers, their professionals, their state-run enterprises, their physical health, their mental health, their health care, their welfare state, their women’s rights, their religious tolerance, their safety, their security, their children, their parents, their past, their present, their future, their lives … More than half the population either dead, wounded, traumatized, in prison, internally displaced, or in foreign exile … The air, soil, water, blood and genes drenched with depleted uranium … the most awful birth defects … unexploded cluster bombs lie in wait for children to pick them up … an army of young Islamic men went to Iraq to fight the American invaders; they left the country more militant, hardened by war, to spread across the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia … a river of blood runs alongside the Euphrates and Tigris … through a country that may never be put back together again.

      • prism 6.1.1

        John – Put your sunglasses on and get some fresh air now. Looking too closely and for too long without relief at the background to man-made disasters is like looking at the sun, bad for the eyes and the brain and it can lead to depression..

        • john 6.1.1.1

          Hi prism! It’s true a Buddhist insight is : If we truly felt and understood the suffering that’s in the World we would die from grief, otherwise we’d become Jesus figures. I agree to survive and stay psychologically and emotionally healthy we have to ignore and isolate ourselves from the suffering of creation, and there is nothing wrong with that because we have the imperative: we must survive. We also have the imperative to be real which counters: Face reality if you partake of the suffering of others you are actually strangely more alive! But then you must do something to help relieve and cure that suffering otherwise one is not truly decent and Humane.The latter attitude leads to self sacrifice to remedy the ills of this Planet.Yes we must retreat and then return to in kiwi style really do something concrete and real to reduce the misery that’s out there.

    • john 6.2

      The UK’s democratic rule of law is phony in respect to crimes of its leaders: Tony Blair should have been taken to Court( Treasonous betrayal of his own people’s right to reasoned and truthful choice) for the deliberate misleading,indeed outright lying,to the UK Parliament as to the justification for invading Iraq.He treated the British Parliament and People with supreme contempt and pimped their right to choose Peace or War for subservience to a Foreign Power,The US.
      http://maxkeiser.com/2010/09/09/keiser-report-teaser-911-insiders-escaping-extradition/

      • john 6.2.1

        Is the UK State worthy of respect it’s just a bitch to the American shit scene?! Really the UK is rubbish americanised trash!

        • prism 6.2.1.1

          John There was an LP written by Leslie Bricusse et al about Britain and politicians called How to Win an Election or not Lose by Very Much. Think it had the Goons doing it.

          There was a good sketch with an old UK politician mulling over the relationship with his USA counterpart and how he kept sending over large envelopes marked Confidential Nuclear Detergent (Deterrent). The old guy didn’t know what it was about, decided he wasn’t interested and gave all the stuff to some Russian johnny he knew who wanted the stamps for his collection. It was a very funny dig at old guard pollies in the UK trying to keep up with the USA and its ploys.

  6. nzfp 7

    Can someone please explain to me what Afghanistan had to do with the attacks on the WTC on 9/11/2001?

    Especially considering it was the justification for the US to invade and consequently we have lost a New Zealand son in the NATO war.

    If Afghanistan had nothing to do with 9/11 then someone in our government and in NATO needs to answer for the death of one of our soliders!

  7. The rock has a steal a slogan contest and promises cash if you vote. One of the slogans is: Never trust a ticking Arab. Apart from the utter racist stupidity I thought it would pay to remind people that today we remember the victims of the events on 9/11. Today being the 9th anniversary of that fateful day. The events of that day making it perfectly acceptable for a NZ radio station to paint more then a billion people with the same racist brush. A bit like saying that since the Jews crucified Christ therefore it’s OK to kill Jews, and argument used for centuries, not by Arabs by the way but by Christians.

    Who are those victims? About 3000 people died on that day and among them was a New Zealander, in the aftermath more than a million Iraqis were killed, more than four million were displaced. Hundreds of thousand Afghanis were killed both countries were polluted with DU and 70.000 heroes and first responders are ill and dying of the toxins they breathed and swallowed that day and in the days that followed. More than half a million people exposed to the dust in New York are described as ticking time bombs with regards to their health and did I mention that none of those people including the heroes of that day can count on any financial aid with regards to their healthcare?

    All of this based on a very badly thought out official Conspiracy theory telling us that 19 Saudi Arab young men on the orders from an old Saudi man living in a cave in Afghanistan hijacked four planes one of which crashed and two of which crashed into the twin towers of the WTC collapsing three huge sky scrapers as a result and last but not least one plane allegedly crashed into the Pentagon after almost impossible manoeuvres.

    Here are some links to make it easier to understand why ticking people in general should be distrusted and why it is still important to have a full and independent investigation into what really happened that day.

  8. Mac1 9

    A small group of young German men, on the orders of a deranged Austrian war veteran living in a mountain eyrie, on the night of 31 August 1939 dressed in Polish uniforms and seized a radio station, broadcasting a short anti-German message in Polish, making the attack and the broadcast look like the work of anti-German Polish saboteurs. They left a German Silesian dressed to look like a saboteur, killed by lethal injection, given gunshot wounds, at the scene.

    How WWII started. Truth can be stranger than conspiracy theory, FWIW.

    • Locus 9.1

      Thanks for that. I’m amazed that I didn’t know that, despite having been bombarded by dozens of British TV documentaries about WW2. I haven’t researched what you said but I’m willing to believe it 🙂
      Conspiracies are fun though. And it’s so easy for conspiracy theorists to invent something highly improbable as an explanation, by drawing attention to the fact that there isn’t tangible evidence for every single aspect of the highly probable. Isn’t it funny that conspiracy theorists believe every notion and bizarre idea that other conspiracy theorists come up with?
      And if you want to doubt a conspiracy theory because you think it’s wacky? The conspiracy theorists have the perfect answer: you are just another poor deluded fool who is being conned by those all-powerful clandestine forces that really run the world.

      • Mac1 9.1.1

        Now that the point is made, here’s a reference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident

        The Germans needed a casus belli to attack Poland. A bit like the Vietnam war needed Tonkin Bay, and Bush and Blair needed WMD.

      • travellerev 9.1.2

        Hi locus,

        I whole heartedly agree with you. In this case millions of people believed without a shred of proof while the two towers still stood burning that 19 young Saudis got a hold of four planes with box cutters because an old man who needed dialysis living in a cave in Afghanistan told them to and while they had only a few hours of flying lessons were able to fly huge Boeings on improbable courses, manoeuvring at impossible speed. And when they flew two planes into the twin towers three buildings collapsed in free fall speed (6.5, 10 and 11 seconds) making demolition experts obsolete and suspending the laws of nature.

        I mean how gullible do you have to be to believe this crap. Eh?

        But I’m sure you’re smarter then that. You waited until scientific and criminal investigations by independent well funded researchers was done before you formed your opinion. Yep, I’m sure you did.

        • nzfp 9.1.2.1

          Hey travellerev,
          Are you talking about the same “19 young Saudis [that] got a hold of four planes with box cutters” about whom Robert S. Mueller III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation made the following statements during an address to the Commonwealth Club of California
          San Francisco, CA on April 19, 2002
          ?

          […] The hijackers also left no paper trail. In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper – either here in the U.S. or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere – that mentioned any aspect of the September 11th plot. […]

          To paraphrase Mueller – there is no evidence linking the hijackers to the 9/11 plot. More importantly there is ZERO evidence linking Afghanistan to 9/11. So why did our son [our – collectively all NZr’s] die in Afghanistan?!? Someone in the National Government – McCully, Key – needs to be accountable for that and needs to explain it to the rest of us – especially to the family of our boy.

          RedLogix is right – forget about the consipiracy theories – just concentrate on the facts.

        • nzfp 9.1.2.2

          Hey guys, considering that Robert S. Mueller, Director of the FBI stated that the F.B.I had “[…] not uncovered a single piece of paper – either [here] in the U.S. or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere – that mentioned any aspect of the September 11th plot […]” how is it that all of the U.S. corporate media knew as soon as the first building was hit that it was 19 Arab hijackers following the orders of Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan that did 9/11? If the F.B.I could not find any evidence linking Afghanistan to 9/11 by April 2002 how did the media know on the day [9/11 2001] that Osama did it with the complicity of the Taliban in Afghanistan? How did they know but the F.B.I could not find any evidence? How did they know?

    • RedLogix 9.2

      The phenomonon of ‘conspiracy theories’ is fraught with complication. Of course there are conspiracies Tonto. Whenever two or more people plot in private it’s a conspiracy.

      Whenever the public version of events seems incomplete or unsatisfying for any reason, there is the entirely reasonable suspicion that there is a private version of events, as yet unknown, that will fill the missing links or provide a more fulfilling narrative.

      Sometimes events just unfold is such a tragi-comic sequence of blunders that the human mind rebels; we ask ourselves, surely such incompetence was not just indistinguishable from maliciousness, it had to be orchestrated by some malevolent actor?

      Sometimes the pattern recognition machine in our head (the same one that sees a spooky sentience in the captcha word) will derive meanings from a chaos of events … meanings that are not real, but feel very real all the same.

      And the professional machievellian actor will know well how to exploit all these psychological loopholes, by creating a smoke-screen for his actions, re-directing attention as would any stage magician, with his own campaign of misinformation.

      Even the sceptic falls into the trap of projecting from assumptions about everyday experiences; he assumes that just because in the normal run of events secrets are very hard to keep, that this must always be true. Forgetting that the whole purpose of some organisations is to act secretly. It’s indeed what they do best, and that us ordinary people would never so much as guess what they know and do.

      And some people just like using the term ‘conspiracy theory’ as a lazy term of abuse.

      My conclusion, be very careful before investing too much into any ‘conspiracy theory’. But neither is it wise to close all doors forever. There is still plenty most of us haven’t even imagined yet.

      • Locus 9.2.1

        Agreed. The important thing is to keep doubting and keep questioning, and the best questions require CTs to be the simplest and most convincing explanation . “Favour the simplest explanation that fits the known evidence.” And, tend towards believing “the more convincing dramatic backdrop to the events in question.”
        http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2006/08/on_internet_conspiracy_theories.html

        • rosy 9.2.1.1

          …. and then be willing to move with the evidence as it is confirmed, or sideways as further evidence emerges. But it’s gotta be evidence either way, not cobbling together lots of unrelated bits and pieces and drawing a target around them and saying bullseye!.

  9. outofbed 10

    Early Christmas for supermarkets
    Xmas shopping in September wtf?

    • Draco T Bastard 10.1

      Xmas has, apparently, always been about celebrating God. It’s just a question of which god. A couple of thousand years ago before the rise of Christianity a few pagan gods were celebrated then came the rise of Christianity and the worship of Christ and giving and now we have the rise of Mammon and the worship of greed and taking.

      • pollywog 10.1.1

        …and now we have the rise of Mammon and the worship of greed and taking.

        let’s not forget Moloch and the sacrificing of our childrens long term future for present short term gain…

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    45 mins ago
  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 hours ago
  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 hours ago
  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 hours ago
  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    8 hours ago
  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    11 hours ago
  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A StepbyStep Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and thirdparty applications. So, lets dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. Thats why they introduced the Recently Deleted folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Heres how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the Recents tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on Edit. Select Show Recently Deleted. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose Recover to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Heres how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose Erase All Content and Settings. Follow the onscreen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore ThirdParty Apps (with Caution): ...
    12 hours ago
  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    19 hours ago
  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    20 hours ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    20 hours ago
  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    21 hours ago
  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    21 hours ago
  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    21 hours ago
  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    21 hours ago
  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    21 hours ago
  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    22 hours ago
  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    23 hours ago
  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    23 hours ago
  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    23 hours ago
  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    23 hours ago
  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    23 hours ago
  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 day ago
  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    1 day ago
  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    1 day ago
  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago
  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    2 days ago
  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    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 ...
    3 days ago
  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    3 days ago
  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    3 days ago
  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    3 days ago
  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    4 days ago
  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    5 days ago
  • Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts

    Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...

    5 days ago
  • Or is that just they want us to think?
    Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...
    6 days ago
  • Arguing over a moot point.
    I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    Turning Point: What has turned me away from the mainstream news media is the very strong message that its been sending out for the last few years.” “And what message might that be?” “That the people who own it, the people who run it, and the people who provide its content, really don’t ...
    6 days ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Judicial appointments announced
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Taupō takes pole position
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government backing mussel spat project
    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 - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government focused on getting people into work
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research.   “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government redress for Te Korowai o Wainuiārua
    The Government is continuing the bipartisan effort to restore its relationship with iwi as the Te Korowai o Wainuiārua Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading in Parliament today, says Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. “Historical grievances of Te Korowai o Wainuiārua relate to 19th century warfare, land purchased or taken ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-04-19T03:45:56+00:00