It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Puddles and last time I got into an exchange of views with her, I got my arse delivered in a sling. However……I have another view on ECAN.
I have had horrific experience of the “old” ECAN and the subversion of science by politicians both inside and outside the organisation. I have been in meetings where ECAN staff have stated that “no matter what the science showed, they would not budge”.
Series of restructuring robbed ECAN of a lot of it’s best technical staff to the extent that now most of the expertise on Canterbury groundwater resides in external consultancies.
During the Rakaia Selwyn hearing before commissioners, the commissioners took the unprecedented step of issuing a memo of concern to ECAN that they believed that ECAN may not follow the commissioner’s findings.
A few councillors with strong links to green causes and a few key activist staff had subverted a good organisation, driven out it’s top scientists and were waging a war against ratepayers, other councillors and the remaining competent technical staff.
I see that those making most noise currently fall into that camp.
Your description of your experiences of the claimed ‘unscientific’ arguments of some members of the ECan staff is a good example of one of the main points I was making: The idea that collective decisions (i.e., political decisions) should increasingly be seen as technical matters that can be made through objective, science-based, technical procedures.
So, thanks for demonstrating my point đ
The post, in any event, wasn’t about my views of how ECan was or is operating (at the operational level), so I’m not sure why you believe you have a different view from me on that.
My argument is a simple one: Any problems that may have existed with ECan – and that point itself has been debated (e.g., Kerry Burke’s letter to The Press in this morning’s paper) – should have been corrected through the democratic process.
There’s a value in democratic processes that goes far beyond the pragmatics of getting things done. It’s about how best to hold a group (e.g., society) together over the long-term by distributing power evenly (or as evenly as possible).
If you’re right that ECan was ‘hijacked’ by some greenies who scared off all the scientists, then let that be part of the debate during the next ECan elections. That way ‘we’, the people, will hear all sides of that particular argument and ‘we’ will decide who we believe or support.
Democracy, after all, is just a ‘free market’ in arguments aimed at persuading each other. And, there’s good reason to believe that, human reasoning evolved through, and in, argumentative contexts.
As the authors in that link argue, better decisions get made, on average, in groups than by the ‘best’ individuals who comprise the group, largely because our reasoning abilities are all about trying to promote our own argument and trying to find holes in the arguments of others, rather than to get at ‘the truth’. In fact, ‘the truth’ is better attained at the group/collective level.
That’s why humans evolved to do so much arguing:
“While there can hardly be any archaeological evidence for the claim that argumentation already played an important role in early human groups, we note that anthropologists have repeatedly observed people arguing in small-scale traditional societies (Boehm et al. 1996; Brown 1991; Mercier, in press a).”
At the group level these argumentative reasoning skills get used – by the collective – to come to better decisions than anyone could make alone.
That’s one reason I prefer democracy rather than rule by experts.
The interesting thing, grumpy, is that my preference is based on the relevant science – now you wouldn’t not be persuaded by the science, would you??
[And, if it’s any consolation to people who argue a lot on blogs, the authors conclude:
“we note that the argumentative theory of reasoning should be congenial to those of us who enjoy spending endless hours debating ideas â but this, of course, is not an argument for (or against) the theory.“]
The problem with the “democratic process” as regards ECAN is that there really isn’t one. The low voter turnout ( around 25%) threw up a disproportionate result, so that a minority political view was able, with management and staff collusion, to take over – or at least subvert the operations of the council.
The subsequent hounding out of those with different views, usually scientists, led to an organisation ruled by dogma.
ECAN started to lose every hearing on the science.
As you say, I would be persuaded by the science. As an engineer, I think quite a bit of science, that is why I hate to see it bastardised.
It was telling, that in my case, you got diametricaly opposed technical opinions depending on which scientist gave the opinion – and the management refused to allow peer review.
I guess the government just don’t feel enough has changed. Bear in mind that Labour almost got around to the same action but was saved by the election and that cleanout then fell to National.
Terrific writing. Great stuff. Loved that quote no technocratic rationality reigning righteous over democratic input when solving problems – had the same kind of suspicion as Heidegger’s The Question Concerning Technology. Lots of ways to use this article in the office here. Very helpful.
Yes great writing. Would it be presumptuous to ask for some paragraphs. Then can read and pause to take in the points then continue. At present it is a wall of words.
When people post a link, could people please say what it is to, and why we might be interested in reading it. My browsers have been loading very slowly for the last day or so. That link won’t load at all…. just keeps spinning & then times out.
[lprent: I am unsurprised. It is a RSS feed link. I have put a link to the actual post on a note. ]
Given the likely demographics of Herald online Poll of The Day “Which Party would get your vote in an election today?” The Nats must be bloody worried, although it looks like Colin Craig could have been busy on his VPN services.
Amongst the continuous bene bashing and the falling apart of the asset sales program a further issue has dodged the headlines but in the long term may be more important than any other issue.
The Governments Climate Change Response (rendering the ETS practically toothless) Amendment Bill is making its way through Parliament. Â The bill is 79 pages of highly technical law changes but essentially does a couple of things:
1. Â It postpones indefinitely Agriculture’s entry into the NZETS,
2. Â The price cap for carbon will be extended,
3. Â It further subsidizes polluters by extending the two credits for one scheme for a further three years.
The process is eye watering. Â The bill was introduced on August 20 and submissions closed on September 10, a short four weeks later. Â The select committee report is scheduled for October 17. Â The Government is smashing this through.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has in her typical blunt style said that the bill will render the ETS “almost toothless”.Â
In 50 years time what does the Government expect us to say to our children?
OECD says NZ spends greater proportion of govt spending on education than any other country. 21.2% vs OECD average of 13%.
Great that National proves it values education and disproves the ranting here.
[lprent: Fis, do you remember that you should link to support your assertions of fact? Or say why you are not. Not doing so is troll tactic to generate meaningless conversations. I get irritated because the resulting discussions are boring to read – and I don’t like being bored. In this case as Mickey points out the figures you were quoting were probably from the 2009 report and reported the Labour governments performance. So I suspect the omission of a link was deliberate.
One month ban for being a stupid troll again and not linking… You have actually doing pretty well about avoiding moderator attention this time, so we won’t play the full doubleup anti-troll response. See you on Oct 12 and we’ll see if you can resist your old habits then. ]
Federated Farmers ( the Farmere Trade Union) and Fonterra had very very well funded Lobby operation in Parliament that give then 1st dibs on any policy they choose. And that their members contributed heavily to the National Party election fund.
Our children will probably say that the
2012 generation were very easily fooled and bought by interest groups who wanted profit now, without any investment in the future. They will accuse us of massive inter generational theft, greed and stupidity.
I’m amazed that they didn’t just eliminate it but, then, I suppose they have to at least try and look like they’re doing something about climate change even though they’re not.
Free Trade Talks – Key on Morning Report this morning
Apparently the Japanese governement has the difficult position of having to placate its strong “agricultural lobby” – very influential apparently.
Strong agricultural lobby has never ever been a problem for countries like New Zealand in its free trade talks. Yeah Right.
In fact try to get any government policy change in any area (even social ) and the first port of call for cabinet is “what do the cow-cockies think …?
…Broad Band?
Water rights?
Driving license age?
ECAN?
About Japan’s agriculture. Remember that wee incident at Fukushima? Given that more radiation was released than at Chernobyl and given that radiation is still being released. And given that there are still areas in Europe where food production is prohibited (eg certain farms in Wales, areas in Germany etc) because of persistent radiation contamination from Chernobyl…What is this fucking government doing with regards monitoring imports of fish, monitoring of migratory fish catches, monitoring of Japanese food imports and the monitoring of non-food imports from Japan?
The process of monitoring and – where potential risks are identified â testing, is the same approach as that being taken by other countries. (Like the US policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’…ie, no possibility of identifying potential risk? -B) Our assessment and targeted testing activity will complement our work with international food safety agencies and importers to monitor the situation. To date no relevant food has arrived from the areas of interest and as such no testing has been required.
So the tuna and the mutton birds (migratory) and theseaweed, noodles, wasabi etc are all A-OK. Because no fucker is monitoring fuck all. That’s a relief. Pass the soy sauce will you….
What Japan is weighing up is whether to go West with the TPP or to hook into the Chinese Block, squabbling over islands suggests this may not happen, but Governments can be very pragmatic when it comes to their trade interests. Which don’t necessarily lie with Washington.
An interview with Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton was killed at Pike River, on the World Socialist Website. This interview gives a much fuller account from the perspective of one of the miners families than anything I’ve seen on the MSM.
We likes âthem cutsâ very much indeed thank you nice Mr Blue. We glow and warmly thank the poor stressed funders as we humbly look forward to expiring unattended from various hideous medical events.
Two points on that:
a 4% increase a year with 10-15% of current calls being “non-urgent” means that any benefit of cutting “non-urgent” services will be gone in 2 or three years;
   Â
Quite a few conditions that get worse over time can be prevented/treated at the start by going to a GP. Barriers to primary care include a lack of funds (both for the GP and for transport). So it gets left until it gets worse. At which time an ambulance is called if they can’t get to ED themselves. But of course now the ambulance most likely will be delayed until the call centre know it’s an emergency. Â So the poor who were denied primary care also get delayed secondary/tertiary treatment. But who cares how many of the poor drop off due to something that could have been treated with a GP script days or weeks before? They’re non-productive economic units.
  Â
Fucking Nats.Â
I am aware of a situation where a house was being burgled, while the occupants were inside, they called 111, and when spoke to the operator, was told they would have to make a complaint which would be responded to in 48 hours, or they could come to the station.
When it was explained again that there offenders inside the house, the message was repeated that they could go to a station, or wait 48 hours!
Can’t see why Ambulance would be any different if this is the response to peoples safety by the police.
Next up fire brigade – I’m sorry sir, only your lounge is on fire, we are unable to send an appliance until at least 3 major sections of the house are ablaze!
What do they actually consider urgent? I can see how all the things listed could be fatal. Will the NActoids be happy when they’ve finally got the situation that I remember in 2000 in SĂŁo Paulo? One of my students had the people who pick up corpses knock on his door to ask if he had any gladwrap. Someone had died in an adjacent flat and the body was so decomposed that they couldn’t get a decent grip on it. The City Council had cut their funding for gloves on some totally spurious basis and this was what it led to.
In many ways, Brazil has improved since then. Our country hasn’t, and won’t until we change the way of doing things.
Back in good old NZ, a friend of mine was a doctor in the Nelson area. He told me how it was virtually impossible to get an ambulance to a rural address because all the despatching had been centralised in Auckland. Third house on the right after the bridge by the burnt out barn was not something the operators understood as an address.
The decision to wind down the heating grants was made after an Economic Development Ministry report found insulating houses provided much greater benefits than subsidising clean heating, particularly in low-income households.
The report found the $330 million cost of the scheme had delivered $1.2 billion in benefits, mostly in health savings from warmer, insulated houses.
It found no clear economic benefits associated with grants for clean heating, which it said might be because clean heating improved health only if people were able and willing to pay the ongoing energy bills.
Gee, what a surprise.
I actually suspect that people ran out to get a heat pump when they should have done the insulation and then found that it didn’t work because the house was inherently cold (but were, of course, blaming the heat pump).
Tuhoe have reached a settlement involving a form of governance over the Ureweras. Water rights issues are heading through the process. Wind rights have been glanced at. Rights over here and rights over there. It becomes all very confusing.
I propose settling all things once and for all by providing to Maori a consistent 10% ownership in everything in the land. Then we can be done with it. This can reflected in, say, a 10% slice of all taxation going to them for use rights by the wider population. A regular tithe, poll tax, call it what you will, but lets just pay it and be done. Then we can move on from the flaws of the treaty. A specific broad tax payable to people on the basis of their race, and the treaty. Sure, some detail would be lost and gained here and there but broadly the concept is consistent.
Alongside the pan tax there could be a separate set of laws and regulations, criminal justice system, etc. Even separate schools and welfare systems. I think this is good and appears to be what many have argued for.
Give Maori 100% and hope they’re nicer people than pakeha have been.
I was once asked how many seats Maori should have in parliament. My reply of “All of them” met with outraged shock. Personally, I wouldn’t be worried at all. I’m far more worried about carpetbagging pakeha in suits than I am about Maori in the Urewera.
Can a bad/useless/corrupt/putwhatyoulikehere government do good things? Can a bad person do good things?
Obviously this has been a point of discussion around other areas and putting value judgements of what ‘bad’ is aside I want to thank finlayson (I don’t think he’s ‘bad’), personally and as a representative of the government, for saying these things
“Ngai Tuhoe’s history shows clearly why it is so important to settle genuine historic Treaty grievances,” Finalyson said.
“The conditions in Te Urewera, which contains some of our most deprived and isolated communities, show the very real and continued effects of the Crown’s Treaty breaches on the daily lives of Ngai Tuhoe people in the present.”
Huge areas of Tuhoe land were wrongly confiscated and more purchased unjustly, Finlayson said.
“Military campaigns against Tuhoe prisoners and civilians were described even at the time as extermination and the Crown employed a scorched earth policy in Tuhoe settlements.”
This settlement is a strong step towards mana motuhake for NgÄi Tuhoe and I congratulate them.
It is not perfect but it is a step in the right direction and as Tuhoe negotiator Tamati Kruger has said, “he believed the tribe had ultimately won what it was seeking, which was control over the park.”
I wonder about the figure of 170M – is that figure used for relativity or do they calculate it some other way?
edit – snap vto, interesting to see our different perspectives…
On the one hand we have the treaty and colonisation which must be dealt with. On the other we have the settings required for a healthy society as we tootle into the future. As you know, I don’t think the two things lead to the same result. There must be a way that can be achieved but lordy it seems difficult.
A few odd things happening to the comments section on the top right of the screen – periodically disappearing, or turning into an overlaid mess, but only for a few seconds, then back to normal again.
Could well be my computer which is particularly sluggish today.
If that Herald poll was accurate, it surely says that the worse this Government behaves the better the voters like it! How many people who have protested the sale of assets, really been sincere?
If you look at polls of who is against the sale of assets, the age range and which people are active voters, its difficult to see how the referendum will end up backing the sale of assets.
Where do you get that idea from Mark?
Please don’t say the Herald
The herald poll was an on line poll how many working class and poor have access to time and computers or read the herald, how many repeat votes no limit on the number of times you can vote Its pure BS.
Opinions in the herald blogs have changed quite markedly as more and more are against govt.
@Dr Terry – I wish the herald would release some readership demographics, I suspect it would show a significant portion of reader are “likely” to be of the centre right persuasion, hence an artificially high support figure for the Nats.
You could be onto something a good farming friend of mine (National Voter) expressed the following
“I don’t want the assests sold but what are we going to do about the debt” Unfortunately Labour have not been doing a good job of articulating an economic alternative. Although the conservative policy is a no to assest sales.
1) You identify all the corporate income streaming out of NZ and you turn them back to NZ.
2) You sort out our exchange rates so that our manufacturers and exporters are not being crippled.
3) You increase tax rates on the wealthiest 5% of NZers so that we do not have to borrow that same money from China, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
4) You put 50,000 people back to work building up the country so that they are not on benefits.
In response to Iprent calling my support for a new and independent investigation an obsession here is why: 50 different forms of cancer have been added to the list of ailments First responders (Some 70.000 of them) can claim compensation for. That has been an 11 year struggle. For them 911 never ended.
What is really baffling is that in the longs of first responders Nano Thermite residue has been found. Nano Thermite can only be produced in high security Military laboratories in the US. I wonder could the 19 young Muslims who after all were able to evade the US airforce and break the laws of physics also have gained access to those laboratories?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bzyQfHj6fq8
[lprent: You’re treating it as if it was a pejorative expression? Obsessions are what can eventually change the world. Ask any scientist or programmer or blogger or campaigner for any cause through any era. You have to be obsessed with something before you can achieve much beyond the norms. Of course the vast majority of obsessions don’t bear any fruit.
However supporting obsessional people is worth the effort – which is why many people are tolerated commenting here. But I can’t see much reason to be particularly nice about it. I’m afraid that testing an obsession to destruction is about the only effective way to find out if it has merit. ]
Nano-thermite should not be in those lungs for starters Weka and a lot of us have been trying to help first responders and support them in their battle so that sort of kept 911 alive as they were dying. You don’t have to be obsessive just concerned and puzzled by the total lack of support from the US government for these heroes will do.
What relationship does the Chch earthquake and the dust in the air on that day have to do with 70.000 First responders in New York on 911?
I haven’t given it much thought but with the authorities blatantly lying in New York I gave the dust in New York a lot of thought on that day.
It would be an interesting research project though and I would hope that Chch dust victims won’t have to fight for 11 years until they got medical help and compensation like the heroes of 911 had too.
“It would be an interesting research project though and I would hope that Chch dust victims wonât have to fight for 11 years until they got medical help and compensation like the heroes of 911 had too.”
Â
The statement above is untrue. The US Government has been funding medical help for First Responders from the start. All that has changed in yesterdays announcement is that a further 50 types of cancer are now also recognised as potential 9/11 related claims. In other words, the scheme that already exists has been widened in scope.
The statement above is untrue. The US Government has been funding medical help for First Responders from the start.
Yeah except your statement is too vague to be useful. It really means nothing in fact when monthly medical bills for one person can add up to tens of thousands of dollars, and the Federal Gov might pay for a pittance.
See here for an example of Republicans voting down health care funding for 9/11 responders:
A verbal flash-fire erupted on the House floor Thursday night over nine-year battle to pass a benefits bill for emergency workers who were first on the scene of the 9/11 attacks.
Frustrated with Republican votes against the $7.4 billion measure because Democrats suspended the rules to prevent them from offering unrelated amendments — and at the same time requiring a two-thirds majority to pass — Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner excoriated the minority party.
Facts aren’t vague, CV. They’re, um, facts. I wasn’t clarifying the quality of the US Government assistance, just confirming that it has existed all along. So it was a factual and, therefore, useful contribution dispelling some fact free and, therefore, useless hyperbole in the original comment.
For those of you who unlike TRP really want to know how the 911 First Responders fared after they outlived their sell by date as propaganda props to help the Bush administration use the events of 911 to invade and destroy the Arab world which to this day Obama and the other head of the dragon continue to do, here is a link to the Feal Good site. The Feal Good foundation is one of the most important Foundations to provide aid to the First Responders.
This link leads to the News page which gives a good chronological list of the history of the battle for free healthcare for the First Responders, many of whom have died along the way leaving their spouses and Children destitute and with debilitating healthcare bills to deal with.
John Feal who started the Foundation was a 911 First responder and lost half a foot while in the Pit (the name for what was left of the WTC complex) when a steel beam fell on it. He had no money but began to help his former colleagues and people started to give money and help as his project became more known.
Obsession=a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness.
Commemorating an anniversary of what is arguable one of the most devastating and globally influential catastrophes (Mostly so for Afghanis and Iraqis who had nothing to do with the events) and asking questions about puzzling questions that remain does not constitute an obsession.
If it does thousands of Scientists, Architects, Engineers, Fire fighters Military personal etc would have to be classified as obsessed.
In Germany, most Arab countries, Russia and large areas of the US 80% of the population would be obsessive as those are the numbers which come back as either believing that the US government did no tell the truth or was involved in the events.
In New York 50% believe the official story is rubbish and more than a 100.000 signatures were collected to get a new and independent investigation.
In Italy Judge Ferdinando Imposimato who is the honorary President of the Supreme Court of Italy, and former Senior Investigative Judge, and who presided over several terrorism-related cases, including the kidnapping and ultimate assassination of President Aldo Moro, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, other political assassinations and kidnapping cases and several cases against the Mafia. He is a former Senator who served on the Anti-Mafia Commission in three administrations, stated that he would refer the case to the International court of Justice.
Italy has a long history with State Crimes against Democracy and both a former president and this judge have no problem accepting that we need a new and independent investigation.
You also remarked that: Even her science is well argued even if I personally think it is more hopeful than accurate.
I understand that to argue as a moderator with a commentator is a colossal waste of time but I would really like to hear your argument as to how you come to the hopeful bit. Are you arguing that I hope that the events of 911 were perpetrated by our own leaders?
To say so means that you have absolutely no idea how painful it is to have to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t an outside enemy who attacked us but rather a shady group in our own midst. You can fight the enemy at the gate but an enemy in your midst is more devastating and hellish than anything I can think of. Not to be able to trust your own is a hideous thought. To go there is lonely, scary and dangerous and infinitely sad.
Maybe that is why it is so hard for you to actually have a look at the information on offer. Maybe if you did you would understand that to do so means to leave all hope behind.
Would you say that that Italian document is about as solid a presentation of the case as one can expect Eve?
Alternatively, do you think it is strong?
You say that you have reluctantly come to the conclusions you hold. Does that presentation of the case strike you as convincing? When you read it, do you quite often think, ‘well, that’s not quite the whole story there Judge, you are leaving out some very important deatails that go against your conclusion’? Things like that.
Because that’s what I found myself thinkng when reading it. Quite a bit.
And that’s leaving aside this little gem:
The authoritative theologian David Ray Griffin has described
very precisely why the hypothesis of controlled demolition should be taken into
consideration.
Honestly, what is one to make of that? Is it a typo?
If not, why should I listen to an authoratative theologian with regard to a hypothesis of controlled demolition?
The judge doesn’t tell me why I should, I wonder if you can.
Dear PB, Another shining example of taking things out of context!
First of all Judge Ferdinando Imposimato is the honorary president of the Italian Supreme Court. He was given this role after a career that saw him presiding over high profile court cases such as the murder of Aldo Moro a former (39th ) Prime Minister of Italy, the attempted murder of Pope John Paul II.
He is a specialist and investigative judge who knows all the ins and outs of the Mafia, International Drugs trading and State crimes against Democracy.
Italy which was on the receiving end of the Gladio operations while Judge Imposimato presided over these cases, is a country which is very aware of how the CIA and other secretive organisations operate in order to manipulate politics and entire populations through fear.
I hope that if not you readers who actually do believe you donât get to where the Judge is by being flimsy in your reasoning and that it requires intelligence, discipline, hard work, and personal integrity to achieve what he achieved.
To take one paragraph out of an excerpt of the letter the Judge wrote is careless and showing intellectual laziness in the most positive case but is misleading and dishonest in the worst.
For those of you who never heard of David Ray Griffin here is his wiki link. David Ray Griffin used his skills of reasoning as a Professor in Theology and 20th century Philosophy which taught from 1973 until April 2004 to analyse the events of 911.
On his Wiki page you will see that he has published a whole series of books on the subject and if you could actually be bothered to read any of them I can assure you you will find them to be solid scientific analysis. For those of you who canât be bothered but donât mind a lecture on video here is one example of DRGâs intellectual prowess.
To put this aside with a sneer is again dishonest and intellectually lazy because if you give credence to âAuthorityâ (as most do in the case of 911) and the powers that be merely because you ought to you should also give credence to judges with a long history of intellectual and personal integrity who, after studying material they have been given by other persons of authority in subjects and science connected to the events of 911, reach a conclusion not aligned with the Conspiracy theory the Political powers that be want us to accept without critical thinking.
He is a theologian who has written a number of books promoting trutherism. Fair enough, but he doesn’t sound unbiased to me. He takes a post modrn approach to reconciling beliefs with other beliefs. It’s not exactly the sort of thing criminal investigators rely on, for example. It is certainly not ‘scientific’.
RE: The Toronto hearings. Who was representing the other side of the debate? Was there cross examination of witnesses, or did they just present their own theories?
And I have no doubts about the Jufges credentials, it’s his argument as presented in that piece that I was talking about.
But apparently, the only thing we should look at is his credentials, and therefore conclude that his argument must be unquestionable.
This was not a long screed attacking you. This was a long screed giving a lot of links to people who actually do want to know about 911.
Big difference!
I know you won’t put in the hards slog but you know what? Other people do and it is those I aim for. I give them the information and they investigate and make up their own minds.
The Judge did and so did millions upon millions of people and idjits like you are an incredible help achieving that. I don’t want to attack you! You are merely a means to an end.
Have a nice day on your planet, wherever that is!
Sorry for the triple post. The site reported a failure to deliver and I tried again. It seems there was a bug at play. I prefer the last one to stay if you want to delete any of them.
There’s a peer reviewed article about something consistent with nanothermite being found in the dust:
The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, 2, 7-31
This journal is open access and available to anyone for download of articles. Just google it.
I have absolutely no idea how rigorous the peer review process is for this journal, but I know one of the associate editors personally and might ask him if I can ever spare an hour or so for a quick answer. As soon as I get time, I’ll have a more critical look at the article itself. I can actually make a meaningful analysis of a published work much more easily than I can of a youtube video.
BTW nanothermite is even used in fireworks these days. It’s more available than it was in 2001, and appears to have been commercially available in applications since at least 2010: http://research.missouri.edu/otmir/mte2012/featuredtech/abstracts.html
Â
Capital gains are free of tax, which means there’s an incentive to finalize business endeavors
early and take the capital gain. An incentive to short change and cut corners. Oops, look at
our housing stock, cheap nasty, thrown up on unsuitable land… …our government is corrupt.
People don’t usually get criminal records just for smoking a joint anyway. In most cases the cops ignore it, and have done for years unless they’re after you for some other reason. He has less than a point.
Half a million is revealed as the cost for the chch eq blueprint launch (lunch??), and Gerry drops the mask and calls us names. Big time! Read the comments on the second link, couldn’t be hotter, 50 to 1 against Gerry. What a complete idiot.
DAVID SHEARER to the Minister of Education: Has she been informed whether the Prime Minister stands by all the statements he and his Ministers have made regarding the Reading Recovery Programme?
.
Shearer withdrew the question because he is now no longer able to hold the PM to account.
Peter’s has been protesting because it has impacted on his planned supplementaries.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: What did he mean when he said that there is a “level of discomfort about the high level of the New Zealand dollar” in answer to Oral Question No 2 yesterday?
First Lockwood says Blinglish must answer, explain, clarify, or something. Then, Lockwood decided it wasn’t in the public interest to answer….. say what?
Wow, that’s a pretty random comment, Chris. Well up to your usual standard đ Funny how it’s almost interchangeable with this one. Were you and CV seperated at birth?
This summer I accompanied a team to the cascades wilderness in the pacific northwest to document the front line, boots on the ice field work that is revealing the emerging story of global climate change.
This is the first of a series of videos documenting what I learned, and what I saw.
Canada left the Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming  [CAGW] group-think last year after listening to their scientists;  now Germany is preparing to leave the sinking ship
UPDATE: reaction from Die Welt journalist Ulli Kulke here (in German), who says this is a welcome but not surprising conclusion.
*** Â Â **************************Â
So they will now persuade the rest of Europe that the hoax is coming to an end;
economics [aka Global Financial Crisis /unsustainable subsidies for wind/solar etc] always trump feel-good bullshit like socialists “saving the planet” from the nasty capitalists.
Â
Now – if we could just get the Global Warming to open the Desert Road, Rimutakas etc etc we could get on with enjoying the Spring.
You know something, if such a particularly significant even had occurred then you would be able to find it in the news but it just doesn’t seem to be there.
In the 1970’s the ‘hoax’ was Global Cooling – some of the same names from pushing that fraud [front page of Time Magazine etc.] even turn up as the early doom-sayers in the 1990’s proclaiming Global Warming.
As at 2012 we’re into 10+ years of flat lining global temperatures; while at the same time atmospheric CO2 has gone up from about 290ppm to 390ppm. Â Governments are beginning to see the disconnect between CO2 and world temperatures.Â
I read the article you link to; it is not really anything to do with why Governments are making these decisions now in 2012; it is more a wailing about the media [and me thinks the general population] loosing interest in CAGW as life continues on as normal, with the usual rise and fall in climate matters for now in excess of 20 years. Â It is hard to keep yelling doom for 20 years and expect people to still be listening.
And lets hope, also for the good people of Europe who are suffering high unemployment etc.  Good decisions by their Governments will have world-wide implications.
ACT Party leader John Banks says he welcomes changes to the local body laws governing donations, saying he was the victim of a law that is unclear and unfair.
Yeah, I don’t think too many people are going to see him as a victim.
“As Charles Dickens said in 1838 the law is an ass – and it’s important that the Government cleans it up. No candidate for public office should go through what I had to go through.”
Now that one actually gave me a laugh. The man is an utterly shameless piece of sh*t. First why throw in the exact year that Dickens said that? Showing off. Practiced that line in front of the mirror did we John? Second the only reason he got away with his blatant law-breaking is because of the technicality of the incident occuring more than 6 months ago. His second sentence should be “No candidate for public office should be able to get away scot free after fiddling the books like I did.” But he’s the victim here? He had to put up with a tough time because of this silly law? Tui ad?
To me Banks is an even bigger candidate for narcissistic personality disorder than Gerry Brownlee. (Google: narcissistic personality disorder arrogant “never wrong”.)
Ha Ignorance of the law now is the Banks (John that is) excuse! Good at passing them, bad at understanding what they mean these pollies. What we pay them for I don’t know. If we worked at Parliament in shifts ourselves we could make as big a mess at a quarter? of the cost, and our canteen would be Bellamys. We would still keep Bellamys, there have to be some perks.
Not long ago the new ACC board was announced. It will be headed by Paula Rebstock, who already heads the newly created Social Welfare Board as well. I wonder what else she is in charge now. One other board member is Dr Des Gorman, who has over many years been advising ACC on a wider range of claims cases, apparently making some questioned and disputed assessments.
Dr Des Gorman as one new board member of ACC, working alongside the new head of ACC, who is Paula Rebstock (former business operator, Commerce Commissioner, senior Welfare Working Group member), does send serious warning signals. It does show anything else but a supposed âchange of cultureâ at ACC.
Also does he already hold such a wide range of high ranking, key positions in the health and health related training sector, one must ask, can this be in the public interest?
http://healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Discussion Paper – Workforce Requirements for New Models of Service Delivery.pdf
(see especially the already commenced training program to enable GPs to complete some additional modules in training, equipping them with basic âmental healthâ qualification, to be used for treating and assessing mental health clients, also of course, for WINZ)
So Dr Gorman seems to have his hands into most of the health sector somehow. That does scare me, as his influence, combined with other peculiar new ACC board members, is likely to change little, and lead to more secrecy in the way they will operate. ’60 minutes’ last Sunday exposed what has already been going on.
Also I noted new updates in an older thread of discussion they have. And to my surprise they indicate, that the Principal Health Advisor of MSD, who introduced and managed the training of “designated doctors” and also his own internal staff (Regional Health and Disability Advisors, Health and Disability Coordinators, all advising case managers at WINZ) in 2008, is now MOVING OVER TO A JOB AT ACC:
And although not finally confirmed, a WINZ client has informed me, that some informations he has obtained, do indicate, that at least for now, and already for some time, the involvement of “designated doctors” by MSD and Work and Income for medical examinations and assessments has been stopped!?
So some major changes are happening. Very, very interesting, but maybe also worrying, what will come next.
Religion in this case, TM. Poverty, ignorance and superstition led to the film being made and the same combination led to the riots in Egypt and Libya against the film. Time to outlaw god, for the good of humankind.
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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.  âThe 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. âScience, 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 todayâs meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
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The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in TaupĆ as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the TaupĆ International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. âAnticipation for the ITM TaupĆ Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
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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. âThis project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sectorâs productivity,â Mr Jones says. âThe project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Governmentâs plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. âBenefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
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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. âOur 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. âNew 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 Governmentâs intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. âThe introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Todayâs 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 Governmentâs plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. âInflation 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 sectorâs role in the export-led recovery of the economy. âI am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Governmentâs support for the revitalisation the sector.  "New Zealandâs wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. âThe inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. âMy meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singaporeâs 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 counterpartâs almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During todayâs meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. âI am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. âPets are important members of many Kiwi families. Itâs estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iranâs shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.  âThese attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.  "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand â Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.  âDame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,â says Dr Reti. âI have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Governmentâs 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âBoosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Governmentâs plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.  âOur country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,â Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.  âWe cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. âThis is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.  âThe strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin itârule ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara Solomon Islandsâ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency. It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the countryâs next government. Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after ...
Headline: The moment of friction. – 36th Parallel Assessments In strategic studies âfrictionâ is a term that it is used to describe the moment when military action encounters adversary resistance. âFrictionâ is one of four (along with an unofficial fifth) âFâsâ in military strategy, which includes force (kinetic mass), ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term âbulk billedâ refers to a GP visit they donât have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss whatâs in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to whatâs been on my mind for a while. Itâs very important. You see weâve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so weâve destroyed valuable coastal habitat â in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he canât stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
MÄori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of MÄori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao MÄori (the MÄori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, âWeâre here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment thatâs thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didnât find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. âI thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, hereâs our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
ZoĂ« Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new âFast-track Approvals Billâ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister â the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory â gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australiaâs flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But thatâs changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum âre-imaginedâ itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-oldâs seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so itâs wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhardâs rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock Youâd be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesnât require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project Youâre not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesnât fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingwayâs Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans peopleâs self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelonaâs city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoffâs Wellington editor Joel MacManus: âYou can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups âClimate Action VUWâ, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Governmentâs âWar on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiâs popularity has grown exponentially â and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, theyâre better for the environment. No, thatâs not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
âIt will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealandersâ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether youâre watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, itâs not the done thing to know â let alone ask â what our colleagues are paid. Yet, itâs easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The governmentâs plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoffâs morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up â and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. Itâs consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
WOW !!
http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/?feed=rss2
[lprent: probably this post on ECan and the pretty obvious intent by the government to remove democracy from Christchurch and cantabury ]
Freaking outstanding. A must-read.
Thanks for linking.
+1. Frightening and should be a call to arms! đ
It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Puddles and last time I got into an exchange of views with her, I got my arse delivered in a sling. However……I have another view on ECAN.
I have had horrific experience of the “old” ECAN and the subversion of science by politicians both inside and outside the organisation. I have been in meetings where ECAN staff have stated that “no matter what the science showed, they would not budge”.
Series of restructuring robbed ECAN of a lot of it’s best technical staff to the extent that now most of the expertise on Canterbury groundwater resides in external consultancies.
During the Rakaia Selwyn hearing before commissioners, the commissioners took the unprecedented step of issuing a memo of concern to ECAN that they believed that ECAN may not follow the commissioner’s findings.
A few councillors with strong links to green causes and a few key activist staff had subverted a good organisation, driven out it’s top scientists and were waging a war against ratepayers, other councillors and the remaining competent technical staff.
I see that those making most noise currently fall into that camp.
Hi grumpy,
Your description of your experiences of the claimed ‘unscientific’ arguments of some members of the ECan staff is a good example of one of the main points I was making: The idea that collective decisions (i.e., political decisions) should increasingly be seen as technical matters that can be made through objective, science-based, technical procedures.
So, thanks for demonstrating my point đ
The post, in any event, wasn’t about my views of how ECan was or is operating (at the operational level), so I’m not sure why you believe you have a different view from me on that.
My argument is a simple one: Any problems that may have existed with ECan – and that point itself has been debated (e.g., Kerry Burke’s letter to The Press in this morning’s paper) – should have been corrected through the democratic process.
There’s a value in democratic processes that goes far beyond the pragmatics of getting things done. It’s about how best to hold a group (e.g., society) together over the long-term by distributing power evenly (or as evenly as possible).
If you’re right that ECan was ‘hijacked’ by some greenies who scared off all the scientists, then let that be part of the debate during the next ECan elections. That way ‘we’, the people, will hear all sides of that particular argument and ‘we’ will decide who we believe or support.
Democracy, after all, is just a ‘free market’ in arguments aimed at persuading each other. And, there’s good reason to believe that, human reasoning evolved through, and in, argumentative contexts.
As the authors in that link argue, better decisions get made, on average, in groups than by the ‘best’ individuals who comprise the group, largely because our reasoning abilities are all about trying to promote our own argument and trying to find holes in the arguments of others, rather than to get at ‘the truth’. In fact, ‘the truth’ is better attained at the group/collective level.
That’s why humans evolved to do so much arguing:
“While there can hardly be any archaeological evidence for the claim that argumentation already played an important role in early human groups, we note that anthropologists have repeatedly observed people arguing in small-scale traditional societies (Boehm et al. 1996; Brown 1991; Mercier, in press a).”
At the group level these argumentative reasoning skills get used – by the collective – to come to better decisions than anyone could make alone.
That’s one reason I prefer democracy rather than rule by experts.
The interesting thing, grumpy, is that my preference is based on the relevant science – now you wouldn’t not be persuaded by the science, would you??
[And, if it’s any consolation to people who argue a lot on blogs, the authors conclude:
“we note that the argumentative theory of reasoning should be congenial to those of us who enjoy spending endless hours debating ideas â but this, of course, is not an argument for (or against) the theory.“]
BTW, I appreciate your comments here.Â
The problem with the “democratic process” as regards ECAN is that there really isn’t one. The low voter turnout ( around 25%) threw up a disproportionate result, so that a minority political view was able, with management and staff collusion, to take over – or at least subvert the operations of the council.
The subsequent hounding out of those with different views, usually scientists, led to an organisation ruled by dogma.
ECAN started to lose every hearing on the science.
As you say, I would be persuaded by the science. As an engineer, I think quite a bit of science, that is why I hate to see it bastardised.
It was telling, that in my case, you got diametricaly opposed technical opinions depending on which scientist gave the opinion – and the management refused to allow peer review.
I guess the government just don’t feel enough has changed. Bear in mind that Labour almost got around to the same action but was saved by the election and that cleanout then fell to National.
Terrific writing. Great stuff. Loved that quote no technocratic rationality reigning righteous over democratic input when solving problems – had the same kind of suspicion as Heidegger’s The Question Concerning Technology. Lots of ways to use this article in the office here. Very helpful.
Yes great writing. Would it be presumptuous to ask for some paragraphs. Then can read and pause to take in the points then continue. At present it is a wall of words.
When people post a link, could people please say what it is to, and why we might be interested in reading it. My browsers have been loading very slowly for the last day or so. That link won’t load at all…. just keeps spinning & then times out.
[lprent: I am unsurprised. It is a RSS feed link. I have put a link to the actual post on a note. ]
Ah, thanks. That loads much more easily.
Given the likely demographics of Herald online Poll of The Day “Which Party would get your vote in an election today?” The Nats must be bloody worried, although it looks like Colin Craig could have been busy on his VPN services.
Amongst the continuous bene bashing and the falling apart of the asset sales program a further issue has dodged the headlines but in the long term may be more important than any other issue.
The Governments Climate Change Response (rendering the ETS practically toothless) Amendment Bill is making its way through Parliament. Â The bill is 79 pages of highly technical law changes but essentially does a couple of things:
1. Â It postpones indefinitely Agriculture’s entry into the NZETS,
2. Â The price cap for carbon will be extended,
3. Â It further subsidizes polluters by extending the two credits for one scheme for a further three years.
The process is eye watering. Â The bill was introduced on August 20 and submissions closed on September 10, a short four weeks later. Â The select committee report is scheduled for October 17. Â The Government is smashing this through.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has in her typical blunt style said that the bill will render the ETS “almost toothless”.Â
In 50 years time what does the Government expect us to say to our children?
What will our children say about this Government and the many who support it?
Our children will probably say that the
OECD says NZ spends greater proportion of govt spending on education than any other country. 21.2% vs OECD average of 13%.
Great that National proves it values education and disproves the ranting here.
[lprent: Fis, do you remember that you should link to support your assertions of fact? Or say why you are not. Not doing so is troll tactic to generate meaningless conversations. I get irritated because the resulting discussions are boring to read – and I don’t like being bored. In this case as Mickey points out the figures you were quoting were probably from the 2009 report and reported the Labour governments performance. So I suspect the omission of a link was deliberate.
One month ban for being a stupid troll again and not linking… You have actually doing pretty well about avoiding moderator attention this time, so we won’t play the full doubleup anti-troll response. See you on Oct 12 and we’ll see if you can resist your old habits then. ]
Oh Fisi it was for 2009 which is directly related to the 2008 budget. You should be thanking Helen Clark. I am sure the figures are now worse …
Fisani
Our children will probably say that the
Federated Farmers ( the Farmere Trade Union) and Fonterra had very very well funded Lobby operation in Parliament that give then 1st dibs on any policy they choose. And that their members contributed heavily to the National Party election fund.
Our children will probably say that the
2012 generation were very easily fooled and bought by interest groups who wanted profit now, without any investment in the future. They will accuse us of massive inter generational theft, greed and stupidity.
Don’t let the date get in the way of your cool story though.
I’m amazed that they didn’t just eliminate it but, then, I suppose they have to at least try and look like they’re doing something about climate change even though they’re not.
Free Trade Talks – Key on Morning Report this morning
Apparently the Japanese governement has the difficult position of having to placate its strong “agricultural lobby” – very influential apparently.
Strong agricultural lobby has never ever been a problem for countries like New Zealand in its free trade talks. Yeah Right.
In fact try to get any government policy change in any area (even social ) and the first port of call for cabinet is “what do the cow-cockies think …?
…Broad Band?
Water rights?
Driving license age?
ECAN?
About Japan’s agriculture. Remember that wee incident at Fukushima? Given that more radiation was released than at Chernobyl and given that radiation is still being released. And given that there are still areas in Europe where food production is prohibited (eg certain farms in Wales, areas in Germany etc) because of persistent radiation contamination from Chernobyl…What is this fucking government doing with regards monitoring imports of fish, monitoring of migratory fish catches, monitoring of Japanese food imports and the monitoring of non-food imports from Japan?
So the tuna and the mutton birds (migratory) and theseaweed, noodles, wasabi etc are all A-OK. Because no fucker is monitoring fuck all. That’s a relief. Pass the soy sauce will you….
http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/japanese-earthquake/maf-monitoring-japanese-imports.htm
What Japan is weighing up is whether to go West with the TPP or to hook into the Chinese Block, squabbling over islands suggests this may not happen, but Governments can be very pragmatic when it comes to their trade interests. Which don’t necessarily lie with Washington.
An interview with Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton was killed at Pike River, on the World Socialist Website. This interview gives a much fuller account from the perspective of one of the miners families than anything I’ve seen on the MSM.
How do we like them cuts eh?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10833423
Ambulances will not be sent to 111 calls deemed ‘non-urgent’ such as:
“abdominal pain, allergies, animal bites, assaults, back pain, falls, headaches, exposure to cold, lacerations, and feeling sick.”
I’m not a doctor, but it strikes me that some of those can be pretty damn urgent.
The Ministry’s response?
“no significant funding increases were planned, the spokesman said.
“St John is making excellent progress with introducing new ways of working that will enable it to manage demand growth within existing resources.””
St John’s Ambulance scare. I have very recently joined their emergency alarm scheme and already I am getting worried!
We likes âthem cutsâ very much indeed thank you nice Mr Blue. We glow and warmly thank the poor stressed funders as we humbly look forward to expiring unattended from various hideous medical events.
Two points on that:
a 4% increase a year with 10-15% of current calls being “non-urgent” means that any benefit of cutting “non-urgent” services will be gone in 2 or three years;
   Â
Quite a few conditions that get worse over time can be prevented/treated at the start by going to a GP. Barriers to primary care include a lack of funds (both for the GP and for transport). So it gets left until it gets worse. At which time an ambulance is called if they can’t get to ED themselves. But of course now the ambulance most likely will be delayed until the call centre know it’s an emergency. Â So the poor who were denied primary care also get delayed secondary/tertiary treatment. But who cares how many of the poor drop off due to something that could have been treated with a GP script days or weeks before? They’re non-productive economic units.
  Â
Fucking Nats.Â
This is no surprise.
I am aware of a situation where a house was being burgled, while the occupants were inside, they called 111, and when spoke to the operator, was told they would have to make a complaint which would be responded to in 48 hours, or they could come to the station.
When it was explained again that there offenders inside the house, the message was repeated that they could go to a station, or wait 48 hours!
Can’t see why Ambulance would be any different if this is the response to peoples safety by the police.
Next up fire brigade – I’m sorry sir, only your lounge is on fire, we are unable to send an appliance until at least 3 major sections of the house are ablaze!
I guess the response is to lie and say the intruders have gun.
Or better still, you have a gun and have shot them!,
What do they actually consider urgent? I can see how all the things listed could be fatal. Will the NActoids be happy when they’ve finally got the situation that I remember in 2000 in SĂŁo Paulo? One of my students had the people who pick up corpses knock on his door to ask if he had any gladwrap. Someone had died in an adjacent flat and the body was so decomposed that they couldn’t get a decent grip on it. The City Council had cut their funding for gloves on some totally spurious basis and this was what it led to.
In many ways, Brazil has improved since then. Our country hasn’t, and won’t until we change the way of doing things.
Back in good old NZ, a friend of mine was a doctor in the Nelson area. He told me how it was virtually impossible to get an ambulance to a rural address because all the despatching had been centralised in Auckland. Third house on the right after the bridge by the burnt out barn was not something the operators understood as an address.
No ‘economic benefits’ from heat pumps so they scrap the grants.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7658669/Clean-heat-grants-quietly-scrapped
Glad to hear it. Heat pumps are evil on so many levels.Â
Gee, what a surprise.
I actually suspect that people ran out to get a heat pump when they should have done the insulation and then found that it didn’t work because the house was inherently cold (but were, of course, blaming the heat pump).
…or, someone actually read this and then wondered why no-one in organisations like EECA had a frigging clue…..
http://www.theglobalmail.org/investigations/in/power-bill-surge/
Great article thanks.
Don,t thank me, ad mentioned it in another thread. I agree, perfect.
What?! There were subsidies available for oversized fan heaters????
Tuhoe have reached a settlement involving a form of governance over the Ureweras. Water rights issues are heading through the process. Wind rights have been glanced at. Rights over here and rights over there. It becomes all very confusing.
I propose settling all things once and for all by providing to Maori a consistent 10% ownership in everything in the land. Then we can be done with it. This can reflected in, say, a 10% slice of all taxation going to them for use rights by the wider population. A regular tithe, poll tax, call it what you will, but lets just pay it and be done. Then we can move on from the flaws of the treaty. A specific broad tax payable to people on the basis of their race, and the treaty. Sure, some detail would be lost and gained here and there but broadly the concept is consistent.
Alongside the pan tax there could be a separate set of laws and regulations, criminal justice system, etc. Even separate schools and welfare systems. I think this is good and appears to be what many have argued for.
Let’s do it.
Why 10%?
Give Maori 100% and hope they’re nicer people than pakeha have been.
I was once asked how many seats Maori should have in parliament. My reply of “All of them” met with outraged shock. Personally, I wouldn’t be worried at all. I’m far more worried about carpetbagging pakeha in suits than I am about Maori in the Urewera.
Can a bad/useless/corrupt/putwhatyoulikehere government do good things? Can a bad person do good things?
Obviously this has been a point of discussion around other areas and putting value judgements of what ‘bad’ is aside I want to thank finlayson (I don’t think he’s ‘bad’), personally and as a representative of the government, for saying these things
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7653374/Historic-Treaty-settlement-for-Tuhoe
This settlement is a strong step towards mana motuhake for NgÄi Tuhoe and I congratulate them.
It is not perfect but it is a step in the right direction and as Tuhoe negotiator Tamati Kruger has said, “he believed the tribe had ultimately won what it was seeking, which was control over the park.”
I wonder about the figure of 170M – is that figure used for relativity or do they calculate it some other way?
edit – snap vto, interesting to see our different perspectives…
snap true mr marty.
On the one hand we have the treaty and colonisation which must be dealt with. On the other we have the settings required for a healthy society as we tootle into the future. As you know, I don’t think the two things lead to the same result. There must be a way that can be achieved but lordy it seems difficult.
we must walk backwards into the future – holding hands as we step
A few odd things happening to the comments section on the top right of the screen – periodically disappearing, or turning into an overlaid mess, but only for a few seconds, then back to normal again.
Could well be my computer which is particularly sluggish today.
I’m having to press F5 fairly often to reload The Standard, as it seems reluctant to load correctly the first time around.
If that Herald poll was accurate, it surely says that the worse this Government behaves the better the voters like it! How many people who have protested the sale of assets, really been sincere?
Read it and weep losers. You will be smashed in any referendum.
đ
Well then you better get out and get more signatures for the petition. Have to ensure that the referendum goes ahead so that we’ll be trashed.
If you look at polls of who is against the sale of assets, the age range and which people are active voters, its difficult to see how the referendum will end up backing the sale of assets.
Where do you get that idea from Mark?
Please don’t say the Herald
Where do you get that idea from Mark?
It comes out of is head fatty. What goes in and what comes out are two totally different things.
The herald poll was an on line poll how many working class and poor have access to time and computers or read the herald, how many repeat votes no limit on the number of times you can vote Its pure BS.
Opinions in the herald blogs have changed quite markedly as more and more are against govt.
@Dr Terry – I wish the herald would release some readership demographics, I suspect it would show a significant portion of reader are “likely” to be of the centre right persuasion, hence an artificially high support figure for the Nats.
You could be onto something a good farming friend of mine (National Voter) expressed the following
“I don’t want the assests sold but what are we going to do about the debt” Unfortunately Labour have not been doing a good job of articulating an economic alternative. Although the conservative policy is a no to assest sales.
What do we do about the debt?
1) You identify all the corporate income streaming out of NZ and you turn them back to NZ.
2) You sort out our exchange rates so that our manufacturers and exporters are not being crippled.
3) You increase tax rates on the wealthiest 5% of NZers so that we do not have to borrow that same money from China, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
4) You put 50,000 people back to work building up the country so that they are not on benefits.
In response to Iprent calling my support for a new and independent investigation an obsession here is why: 50 different forms of cancer have been added to the list of ailments First responders (Some 70.000 of them) can claim compensation for. That has been an 11 year struggle. For them 911 never ended.
What is really baffling is that in the longs of first responders Nano Thermite residue has been found. Nano Thermite can only be produced in high security Military laboratories in the US. I wonder could the 19 young Muslims who after all were able to evade the US airforce and break the laws of physics also have gained access to those laboratories?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bzyQfHj6fq8
[lprent: You’re treating it as if it was a pejorative expression? Obsessions are what can eventually change the world. Ask any scientist or programmer or blogger or campaigner for any cause through any era. You have to be obsessed with something before you can achieve much beyond the norms. Of course the vast majority of obsessions don’t bear any fruit.
However supporting obsessional people is worth the effort – which is why many people are tolerated commenting here. But I can’t see much reason to be particularly nice about it. I’m afraid that testing an obsession to destruction is about the only effective way to find out if it has merit. ]
That link doesn’t really explain your obsession though.Â
btw, what do you think is going to happen in Chch once the long term effects of toxic dust become evident?Â
Nano-thermite should not be in those lungs for starters Weka and a lot of us have been trying to help first responders and support them in their battle so that sort of kept 911 alive as they were dying. You don’t have to be obsessive just concerned and puzzled by the total lack of support from the US government for these heroes will do.
What relationship does the Chch earthquake and the dust in the air on that day have to do with 70.000 First responders in New York on 911?
I haven’t given it much thought but with the authorities blatantly lying in New York I gave the dust in New York a lot of thought on that day.
It would be an interesting research project though and I would hope that Chch dust victims won’t have to fight for 11 years until they got medical help and compensation like the heroes of 911 had too.
“It would be an interesting research project though and I would hope that Chch dust victims wonât have to fight for 11 years until they got medical help and compensation like the heroes of 911 had too.”
Â
The statement above is untrue. The US Government has been funding medical help for First Responders from the start. All that has changed in yesterdays announcement is that a further 50 types of cancer are now also recognised as potential 9/11 related claims. In other words, the scheme that already exists has been widened in scope.
TRP said:
Yeah except your statement is too vague to be useful. It really means nothing in fact when monthly medical bills for one person can add up to tens of thousands of dollars, and the Federal Gov might pay for a pittance.
See here for an example of Republicans voting down health care funding for 9/11 responders:
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-30/politics/9.11.responders.bill_1_simple-majority-vote-majority-rule-benefits-bill?_s=PM:POLITICS
Facts aren’t vague, CV. They’re, um, facts. I wasn’t clarifying the quality of the US Government assistance, just confirming that it has existed all along. So it was a factual and, therefore, useful contribution dispelling some fact free and, therefore, useless hyperbole in the original comment.
Facts aren’t just facts mate. Are they complete? Are they accurate? Are they contextualised?
Regardless, you do accept that the US Congress stalled for years a multibillion dollar health package for 9/11 responders?
For those of you who unlike TRP really want to know how the 911 First Responders fared after they outlived their sell by date as propaganda props to help the Bush administration use the events of 911 to invade and destroy the Arab world which to this day Obama and the other head of the dragon continue to do, here is a link to the Feal Good site. The Feal Good foundation is one of the most important Foundations to provide aid to the First Responders.
This link leads to the News page which gives a good chronological list of the history of the battle for free healthcare for the First Responders, many of whom have died along the way leaving their spouses and Children destitute and with debilitating healthcare bills to deal with.
John Feal who started the Foundation was a 911 First responder and lost half a foot while in the Pit (the name for what was left of the WTC complex) when a steel beam fell on it. He had no money but began to help his former colleagues and people started to give money and help as his project became more known.
Under TRP’s criteria, 9/11 emergency workers being given free boxes of sticky plasters would be counted as “government assistance”.
You’re being a dick, CV. I have no such criteria, I was just pointing out one of Trav’s many mistakes.
There wurrn”t and isn’t none asbestos in Ch/ch. Nones I tell’s ye!
Iprent,
Obsession=a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness.
Commemorating an anniversary of what is arguable one of the most devastating and globally influential catastrophes (Mostly so for Afghanis and Iraqis who had nothing to do with the events) and asking questions about puzzling questions that remain does not constitute an obsession.
If it does thousands of Scientists, Architects, Engineers, Fire fighters Military personal etc would have to be classified as obsessed.
In Germany, most Arab countries, Russia and large areas of the US 80% of the population would be obsessive as those are the numbers which come back as either believing that the US government did no tell the truth or was involved in the events.
In New York 50% believe the official story is rubbish and more than a 100.000 signatures were collected to get a new and independent investigation.
In Italy Judge Ferdinando Imposimato who is the honorary President of the Supreme Court of Italy, and former Senior Investigative Judge, and who presided over several terrorism-related cases, including the kidnapping and ultimate assassination of President Aldo Moro, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, other political assassinations and kidnapping cases and several cases against the Mafia. He is a former Senator who served on the Anti-Mafia Commission in three administrations, stated that he would refer the case to the International court of Justice.
Italy has a long history with State Crimes against Democracy and both a former president and this judge have no problem accepting that we need a new and independent investigation.
You also remarked that: Even her science is well argued even if I personally think it is more hopeful than accurate.
I understand that to argue as a moderator with a commentator is a colossal waste of time but I would really like to hear your argument as to how you come to the hopeful bit. Are you arguing that I hope that the events of 911 were perpetrated by our own leaders?
To say so means that you have absolutely no idea how painful it is to have to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t an outside enemy who attacked us but rather a shady group in our own midst. You can fight the enemy at the gate but an enemy in your midst is more devastating and hellish than anything I can think of. Not to be able to trust your own is a hideous thought. To go there is lonely, scary and dangerous and infinitely sad.
Maybe that is why it is so hard for you to actually have a look at the information on offer. Maybe if you did you would understand that to do so means to leave all hope behind.
Attacked “us”? Didnae attack me.
Would you say that that Italian document is about as solid a presentation of the case as one can expect Eve?
Alternatively, do you think it is strong?
You say that you have reluctantly come to the conclusions you hold. Does that presentation of the case strike you as convincing? When you read it, do you quite often think, ‘well, that’s not quite the whole story there Judge, you are leaving out some very important deatails that go against your conclusion’? Things like that.
Because that’s what I found myself thinkng when reading it. Quite a bit.
And that’s leaving aside this little gem:
The authoritative theologian David Ray Griffin has described
very precisely why the hypothesis of controlled demolition should be taken into
consideration.
Honestly, what is one to make of that? Is it a typo?
If not, why should I listen to an authoratative theologian with regard to a hypothesis of controlled demolition?
The judge doesn’t tell me why I should, I wonder if you can.
Dear PB, Another shining example of taking things out of context!
First of all Judge Ferdinando Imposimato is the honorary president of the Italian Supreme Court. He was given this role after a career that saw him presiding over high profile court cases such as the murder of Aldo Moro a former (39th ) Prime Minister of Italy, the attempted murder of Pope John Paul II.
He is a specialist and investigative judge who knows all the ins and outs of the Mafia, International Drugs trading and State crimes against Democracy.
Italy which was on the receiving end of the Gladio operations while Judge Imposimato presided over these cases, is a country which is very aware of how the CIA and other secretive organisations operate in order to manipulate politics and entire populations through fear.
Here is a BBC documentary on the Gladio operations also known as State Sponsored Crime.
I hope that if not you readers who actually do believe you donât get to where the Judge is by being flimsy in your reasoning and that it requires intelligence, discipline, hard work, and personal integrity to achieve what he achieved.
To take one paragraph out of an excerpt of the letter the Judge wrote is careless and showing intellectual laziness in the most positive case but is misleading and dishonest in the worst.
For those of you who never heard of David Ray Griffin here is his wiki link. David Ray Griffin used his skills of reasoning as a Professor in Theology and 20th century Philosophy which taught from 1973 until April 2004 to analyse the events of 911.
On his Wiki page you will see that he has published a whole series of books on the subject and if you could actually be bothered to read any of them I can assure you you will find them to be solid scientific analysis. For those of you who canât be bothered but donât mind a lecture on video here is one example of DRGâs intellectual prowess.
What PBâs simplistic and dishonest comment does not convey either is that the letter from Judge Imposimanto is a verdict in reaction to the Toronto hearings which heard the testimonies and scientific analysis of the many scientists and professionals who put their cases before a very erudite panel chaired by the judge.
To put this aside with a sneer is again dishonest and intellectually lazy because if you give credence to âAuthorityâ (as most do in the case of 911) and the powers that be merely because you ought to you should also give credence to judges with a long history of intellectual and personal integrity who, after studying material they have been given by other persons of authority in subjects and science connected to the events of 911, reach a conclusion not aligned with the Conspiracy theory the Political powers that be want us to accept without critical thinking.
Another long screed attacking me for asking questions.
Here is the wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ray_Griffin
He is a theologian who has written a number of books promoting trutherism. Fair enough, but he doesn’t sound unbiased to me. He takes a post modrn approach to reconciling beliefs with other beliefs. It’s not exactly the sort of thing criminal investigators rely on, for example. It is certainly not ‘scientific’.
RE: The Toronto hearings. Who was representing the other side of the debate? Was there cross examination of witnesses, or did they just present their own theories?
And I have no doubts about the Jufges credentials, it’s his argument as presented in that piece that I was talking about.
But apparently, the only thing we should look at is his credentials, and therefore conclude that his argument must be unquestionable.
No PB,
This was not a long screed attacking you. This was a long screed giving a lot of links to people who actually do want to know about 911.
Big difference!
I know you won’t put in the hards slog but you know what? Other people do and it is those I aim for. I give them the information and they investigate and make up their own minds.
The Judge did and so did millions upon millions of people and idjits like you are an incredible help achieving that. I don’t want to attack you! You are merely a means to an end.
Have a nice day on your planet, wherever that is!
Appears to be a blog version of palilalia.
Perhaps with a hint of Aspergers on the side ?
“You are merely a means to an end.”
No Eve, I am a person.
And Yes, your screed was an attck on me. you called me dishonest and balh blah blah, but never even attemted to answer my questions.
I did not quote out of context, so that was a false accusation. A lie.
I quoted the Judge’s report, and asked what the quote was supposed to mean. That is asking for context
That is not attacking you, it is pointing out the fact of what you did.
Sorry for the triple post. The site reported a failure to deliver and I tried again. It seems there was a bug at play. I prefer the last one to stay if you want to delete any of them.
Oh, you object to being objectified and portrayed as a 2 dimensional character. Funny that!
There’s a peer reviewed article about something consistent with nanothermite being found in the dust:
The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, 2, 7-31
This journal is open access and available to anyone for download of articles. Just google it.
I have absolutely no idea how rigorous the peer review process is for this journal, but I know one of the associate editors personally and might ask him if I can ever spare an hour or so for a quick answer. As soon as I get time, I’ll have a more critical look at the article itself. I can actually make a meaningful analysis of a published work much more easily than I can of a youtube video.
BTW nanothermite is even used in fireworks these days. It’s more available than it was in 2001, and appears to have been commercially available in applications since at least 2010:
http://research.missouri.edu/otmir/mte2012/featuredtech/abstracts.html
Â
That’s very interesting.
The government has a costly group of business beneficiaries who they encourage to continue acting irresponsibly, while parent beneficiaries get bashed again by Bennett with a draconian form of social engineering: http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/polluters-benefit-beneficiaries-bashed.html
I note that Eddie has said similar things to me.
Capital gains are free of tax, which means there’s an incentive to finalize business endeavors
early and take the capital gain. An incentive to short change and cut corners. Oops, look at
our housing stock, cheap nasty, thrown up on unsuitable land… …our government is corrupt.
Seen on Shearer live a few minutes ago:
Yep, it seems that he’s still trying the confuse and misdirection method of hiding the fact that he doesn’t have a point.
People don’t usually get criminal records just for smoking a joint anyway. In most cases the cops ignore it, and have done for years unless they’re after you for some other reason. He has less than a point.
Newsflash: Brownlee says what he thinks!
On the day we find what our equake $$$ are being spent on, Gerry tells us what he really thinks about equake people.
Half a million is revealed as the cost for the chch eq blueprint launch (lunch??), and Gerry drops the mask and calls us names. Big time! Read the comments on the second link, couldn’t be hotter, 50 to 1 against Gerry. What a complete idiot.
Shameful goings on in the House today, on the part of the PM and Speaker!
Shearer’s question 1 was originally to the PM and was changed to be to the Minister of Ed:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/2/f/3/00HOH_OralQuestions-List-of-questions-for-oral-answer.htm
.
Shearer withdrew the question because he is now no longer able to hold the PM to account.
Peter’s has been protesting because it has impacted on his planned supplementaries.
And now English says he can’t/won’t explain what he means by “discomfort” in this context:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/2/f/3/00HOH_OralQuestions-List-of-questions-for-oral-answer.htm
First Lockwood says Blinglish must answer, explain, clarify, or something. Then, Lockwood decided it wasn’t in the public interest to answer….. say what?
In an attempt to energize the base, National releases new ad campaign
Nice work, William, probably a bit intellectual for National Party activists though. Iwi/Kiwi is about as challenging as they can handle.
Lovely! I printed it out and put it on the front door of the office.
oooo…. but, sir, that’s pure godw1n!
So Nationals throwing down the gauntlet to Labour already, how will Labour respond?
Wow, that’s a pretty random comment, Chris. Well up to your usual standard đ Funny how it’s almost interchangeable with this one. Were you and CV seperated at birth?
Not really, Labour came out swinging with the food for selected students and now N ational have counter-attacked with welfare.
Will Labour be able to withstand the onslaught or will it be up to the Greens to tag in and make some headway
When you say “counter attacked with welfare” you mean counter attacked with “smashing” welfare, right?
lol – one might say they broke welfare over labour’s head. To early to see if labour was hurt by it…
Smashed ’em bro!
Glaciers and Climate Change: Mauri Pelto Interview
This summer I accompanied a team to the cascades wilderness in the pacific northwest to document the front line, boots on the ice field work that is revealing the emerging story of global climate change.
This is the first of a series of videos documenting what I learned, and what I saw.
more at
http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/
http://glacierchange.wordpress.com/
http://glacierchange.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/easton-glacier-assessment-washington/
http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/easton.htm
Canada left the Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming  [CAGW] group-think last year after listening to their scientists;  now Germany is preparing to leave the sinking ship
http://notrickszone.com/2012/09/10/german-academy-of-sciences-and-engineering-calls-off-climate-ctatstrophe-coping-will-not-be-a-problem/Â
German Academy Of Sciences And Engineering Calls Off Climate Catastrophe â Coping Will Not Be A Problem
By P Gosselin on 10. September 2012
*** Â Â **************************Â
Â
FFS
No surprise that coping will not be a problem for the richest countries in the world…at least for a little while.
You know something, if such a particularly significant even had occurred then you would be able to find it in the news but it just doesn’t seem to be there.
A link was provided – but don’t sweat it;
there is plenty more reversals being put into action.
Here is another one to reverse the trend of bio-fuels;
some are saying ‘why should we starve, while the rich fill their SUV’s with biofuels”?
So bio-fuels are getting close scrutiny; and failing the exposure……
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/10/us-eu-biofuels-idUSBRE8890SJ20120910Â Â
No there wasn’t. Well, not to a credible source – just a couple of blogs.
BTW, I’ve never been a fan of bio-fuels. I’d rather just get rid of the cars and turn trains, buses and trucks electric.
The U-turns from the fear of the  CAGW hoax continue:
Europe are now trying to back-track on their Aviation tax
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-11/europe-mulls-suspending-airline-emissions-chargeÂ
France is moving to lift its ban on Fracking
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/09/12/french-government-open-to-explore-shale-gas-extraction-report/Â
Italy is aiming to double its oil and gas production – resulting in 25,000 real [not green subsidized] jobs and $Billions saved in oil imports.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/uk-italy-energy-idUKBRE88A0JZ20120911Â Â
 Tis a good day for future prosperity.
Nice try, but that’s not evidence of a “hoax” just of governments’ stupidity:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/09/10/820871/abcs-blakemore-climate-coverage-drop-due-to-disinformation-and-intimidation-campaign-plus-immensity-of-crisis/?mobile=nc
In the 1970’s the ‘hoax’ was Global Cooling – some of the same names from pushing that fraud [front page of Time Magazine etc.] even turn up as the early doom-sayers in the 1990’s proclaiming Global Warming.
As at 2012 we’re into 10+ years of flat lining global temperatures; while at the same time atmospheric CO2 has gone up from about 290ppm to 390ppm. Â Governments are beginning to see the disconnect between CO2 and world temperatures.Â
I read the article you link to; it is not really anything to do with why Governments are making these decisions now in 2012; it is more a wailing about the media [and me thinks the general population] loosing interest in CAGW as life continues on as normal, with the usual rise and fall in climate matters for now in excess of 20 years. Â It is hard to keep yelling doom for 20 years and expect people to still be listening.
FIFY
And lets hope, also for the good people of Europe who are suffering high unemployment etc.  Good decisions by their Governments will have world-wide implications.
And Banks has come out with his excuse for being corrupt – it was the law’s fault.
Yeah, I don’t think too many people are going to see him as a victim.
“As Charles Dickens said in 1838 the law is an ass – and it’s important that the Government cleans it up. No candidate for public office should go through what I had to go through.”
Now that one actually gave me a laugh. The man is an utterly shameless piece of sh*t. First why throw in the exact year that Dickens said that? Showing off. Practiced that line in front of the mirror did we John? Second the only reason he got away with his blatant law-breaking is because of the technicality of the incident occuring more than 6 months ago. His second sentence should be “No candidate for public office should be able to get away scot free after fiddling the books like I did.” But he’s the victim here? He had to put up with a tough time because of this silly law? Tui ad?
To me Banks is an even bigger candidate for narcissistic personality disorder than Gerry Brownlee. (Google: narcissistic personality disorder arrogant “never wrong”.)
Agree.
That guy is political poison
Ha Ignorance of the law now is the Banks (John that is) excuse! Good at passing them, bad at understanding what they mean these pollies. What we pay them for I don’t know. If we worked at Parliament in shifts ourselves we could make as big a mess at a quarter? of the cost, and our canteen would be Bellamys. We would still keep Bellamys, there have to be some perks.
A bit on the new ACC Board:
Not long ago the new ACC board was announced. It will be headed by Paula Rebstock, who already heads the newly created Social Welfare Board as well. I wonder what else she is in charge now. One other board member is Dr Des Gorman, who has over many years been advising ACC on a wider range of claims cases, apparently making some questioned and disputed assessments.
Dr Des Gorman as one new board member of ACC, working alongside the new head of ACC, who is Paula Rebstock (former business operator, Commerce Commissioner, senior Welfare Working Group member), does send serious warning signals. It does show anything else but a supposed âchange of cultureâ at ACC.
Also does he already hold such a wide range of high ranking, key positions in the health and health related training sector, one must ask, can this be in the public interest?
His involvements can be viewed in the following:
Dr Des Gormanâs appointment to the ACC Board, announcement National Party website:
http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=39319
Dr Gormanâs qualifications, summarised background and reference to his senior position at the Medical School of the University of Auckland:
https://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/af-des-gorman
Dr Des Gormanâs controversial assessments and recommendations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCecwuwCHb4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QknNdOhOkr8&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCecwuwCHb4&feature=relmfu
Dr Des Gormanâs involvement in the appointment of the Health and Disability Commissioner:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/11451-des-gorman-involved-in-appointment-of-health-and-disability-commissioner/
Dr Des Gorman as Executive Chair of Health Workforce New Zealand (a new business focused organisation set up within the Ministry of Health in 2009, by Tony Ryall):
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/about-us/board-members
Health Workforce NZâs Annual Plan for 2011-2012:
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/HWNZ%20Annual%20Plan%202011-12.pdf
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/HWNZ Annual Plan 2011-12.pdf
Health Worforce NZâs influence on GP training by the Royal NZ College of GPs:
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/our-work/gp-training-review
http://healthworkforce.govt.nz/our-work/gp-training-review/discussion-paper-and-feedback
http://healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Discussion Paper – Workforce Requirements for New Models of Service Delivery.pdf
(see especially the already commenced training program to enable GPs to complete some additional modules in training, equipping them with basic âmental healthâ qualification, to be used for treating and assessing mental health clients, also of course, for WINZ)
Dr Gormanâs involvement with the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners:
http://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/home/SearchForm?Search=Des+Gorman
Dr Des Gorman as member of the National Health Board:
http://www.nationalhealthboard.govt.nz/who-we-are/our-members
Dr Gormanâs attendance NZ Healthcare Congress 2012:
http://www.healthcarecongress.org.nz/page.php?ref=programme
He is not popular on the ACC Forum website, not surprisingly. There is some interesting info to be found on assessors:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/forum/58-acc-asessorscontractors/
So Dr Gorman seems to have his hands into most of the health sector somehow. That does scare me, as his influence, combined with other peculiar new ACC board members, is likely to change little, and lead to more secrecy in the way they will operate. ’60 minutes’ last Sunday exposed what has already been going on.
http://www.tv3.co.nz/September-9th—Exit-Strategy/tabid/1343/articleID/79380/Default.aspx
Also I noted new updates in an older thread of discussion they have. And to my surprise they indicate, that the Principal Health Advisor of MSD, who introduced and managed the training of “designated doctors” and also his own internal staff (Regional Health and Disability Advisors, Health and Disability Coordinators, all advising case managers at WINZ) in 2008, is now MOVING OVER TO A JOB AT ACC:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/7309-drs-anthony-djurkov-david-bratt-peter-jansen/
(see post or page # 12 and so)
And although not finally confirmed, a WINZ client has informed me, that some informations he has obtained, do indicate, that at least for now, and already for some time, the involvement of “designated doctors” by MSD and Work and Income for medical examinations and assessments has been stopped!?
So some major changes are happening. Very, very interesting, but maybe also worrying, what will come next.
The US ambassador to Libya has just been killed. A rocket attack on his vehicle, apparently.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/the-movie-so-offensive-that-egyptians-just-stormed-the-us-embassy-over/262225/
edit: Google translation of this post
Why is it that so many ungrateful wretches still fail to feel the love for the yankee devils?
Religion in this case, TM. Poverty, ignorance and superstition led to the film being made and the same combination led to the riots in Egypt and Libya against the film. Time to outlaw god, for the good of humankind.
As an atheist I agree! The damage done to human progression by theists of various persuasions over the last few thousands of years is immense.
Steve Keen’s NZ lecture.
Alan Bollard: goodbye and good riddance. What a dodgepot.