Most Australians back Assange, poll finds
August 9, 2012
by Phillip Coorey, Sydney Morning Herald chief political correspondent
A majority of Australians believe the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would not receive a fair trial should he ever be extradited to the United States. The nationwide poll, conducted by UMR Research, also finds more than half do not believe he should be prosecuted for releasing thousands of leaked diplomatic cables.
Meanwhile, public opinion is split over whether the Gillard government is doing enough to help the Australian national.
After unsuccessfully challenging moves to extradite him to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sexual offences, Mr Assange remains holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
He is seeking asylum in Ecuador but if unsuccessful could find himself sent to Sweden. Officially, the US government says it has no plans to then extradite him to the US – but a grand jury has been convened to probe the release by WikiLeaks of about 250,000 allegedly stolen diplomatic cables, raising suspicions to the contrary.
[lprent: Small quotes and link rather than whole articles. You’re also lacking any of your opinion. This isn’t a newspaper. We want to see what you think. ]
Idiot. You need to do some reading on this topic; after you’ve learned a little bit, I doubt that you’ll continue with your lame, politically driven “jokes”.
The poll is only about Assange’s chances if he is ever asked to stand trial in America over the leaks. There is no indication that Aussies support his cowardice in relation to the sexual assault investigation and the majority do consider the Aussie government’s consular support of him so far in that matter to be adequate.
Right. So they didn’t go to the police – the cops just turned up on their doorstep saying “we’re going to press charges, you have to go along with it. Oh, and here’s a lawyer who we will make represent you, so when we drop the investigation he’ll appeal the decision ‘on your behalf’ so we can look at the matter again and restart the investigation we already dropped “.
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The Swedish and English judicial systems seem to think the allegations are reasonable enough to investigate/extradite. But you got the interwebz so you know exactly what’s happened.
It does indeed. Which is why I think it’s just an excuse used by groupies who can’t think of a more likely reason someone would want to dodge a sexual assault investigation.
   Â
Apparently Assange has been panning to skip to Ecuador for almost a year. Did he tell this to the people who put up his bail money?Â
Right. So they didnât go to the police â the cops just turned up on their doorstep saying âweâre going to press charges, you have to go along with it. Oh, and hereâs a lawyer who we will make represent you, so when we drop the investigation heâll appeal the decision âon your behalfâ so we can look at the matter again and restart the investigation we already dropped â.
Someone—and it was certainly not the Swedish police—used the women in order to press this ludicrous and uniquely Swedish statute into service as a weapon to use against the most dangerous political dissenter in the world.
The Swedish and English judicial systems seem to think the allegations are reasonable enough to investigate/extradite.
Nobody with any integrity in or outside of the legal system thinks these allegations have a shred of credibility. People like you were persuaded by the compliance and silence of key British legal and government officials in 2003 to accept the bogus case to attack Iraq. You’re impressed and gulled not by authority, but by power.
But you got the interwebz so you know exactly whatâs happened.
There you go with your trivialization strategy again. I know a lot more than you do about this because I read seriously and widely, and I can discriminate between what is serious journalism and what is nothing more than black propaganda. Of course I don’t know exactly what happened; what I do know is what you also know but lack the integrity to admit: that this “case” against Assange is as robust as the 1960 case against Martin Luther King for driving in Georgia on an Alabama license.
Oh my god – are you still promulgating the “sex by surprise” myth? Maybe you need to go to the source. Show me where it says “sex by surprise”.
   Â
I love how you deny the women involved any possible agency in dealing with their own sexual assault allegations – they must have been manipulated or “used” by others. Maybe they are telling the truth and without ulterior motive. Not definitely. Just maybe. In which case it’s not St Julian who’s being victimised and harrassed, is it?
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BTW, if you still believe the “sex by surprise” slur, you “know” fuck all.
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And I cannot believe you just compared Assange to MLK.Â
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“I cannot believe you just compared Assange to MLK.”
Of course not. Martin Luther King was traduced by the FBI—although people like you will deny the evidence of that—and ridiculed by the establishment. He spoke out trenchantly against his country’s destruction of Indo-China, thus incurring undying resentment and hatred from the “liberal” establishment. He also “got with” many of the women who were drawn to him and no doubt had he lived longer, would have suffered a concocted campaign of outrage about an invented incident of rape.
Clearly there are no comparisons obvious to everybody else but yourself.
oh, by the way – if you know so much about it, did Assange tell the people who stumped up his not insubstantial bail money that he had spent months planning to skip the country and leave them out of pocket?Â
Y’know, the accusation is that Assange exhibits inappropriate sexual behaviours. Two complaints from two women relating to (more or less) the same point in time. But where are the other complaints? Don’t know why no-one has picked up on the fact that aside from when the victim of sexual predation (or whatever) is specific and therefore unique, the perpetrator usually has a history of the behaviour complained of. And people emerge from that history when some-one finally does complain or have charges laid or whatever. But in the case of Assange? Nothing. Now, why would that be?
Youâve obviously got a point to make Bill.
why donât you spit it out.
You know perfectly well what his point was. But just to confirm what you already know but lack the integrity to admit: the allegations against Assange are baseless, ludicrous, fantastical, and vicious. The “case” against Assange makes the case—giraffes in the basement and all—against Peter Ellis look robust.
What, Bill? You mean people donât or canât change behaviour (for better or worse) when their situation/ circumstances/ opportunity change?
There is no evidence against Assange, rosy. Why don’t you have the courage to just admit it? Better still, do some reading on this affair. Serious reading, that is—not simply accepting what the comedy writers on the Grauniad staff come up with.
Banks and MMP – this guy actually doesn’t understand the debate.
He is rambling on about this current stable government would have been affected.
Banks did not benefit from either of the two proposed adjustments – “threshold and coat-tailing”. ACT and UF have electorate seats only.
When ACT finally dies I and the thousands of others who went through the Auckland local government restructure will be there to tramp the dirt down on their political graves, good and hard.
My thoughts on his rant on Radio NZ National this morning was that he has also “forgotten” that he is now supposedly ACT not National when he claimed that National will not agree to the changes as if he was their spokesperson.
I think it’s just more bluster designed to cover up how stupid student loans are and deflect attention from more serious problems, such as avoidance and evasion by the rich. Australia told them about a year ago that they weren’t interested.
Bugga ! As much as this is great for Adams it’s a really bad outcome for truth and a fair go as the redneck talkback feeding monkeys that pass for journalists in this country will feel vindicated and ignore the baseless allegations they made and claiim ‘moral high ground’
The fact that Ostapchuk threw, was it 3 national records in about a 10 day period not long before the olympics, in her own country, would have at least begged the question.
Its not like she was throwing world records though, so perhaps not overt in its warnings, but seems to this point was, “enhanced”.
Agree about the red neck media, I find the pundits are simply a mirror of those they preside over, and its a little bit like chicken and egg, which idiot came first the pundit or the fan!
A lot of people, including me, felt that the pattern of her performance over the last ten years did not support the recent radical gain in her outcomes. Speculation is not of itself an indication of redneckery, by which I presume you mean a mean-spirited refusal to recognize merit?
itâs a really bad outcome for truth and a fair go as the redneck talkback feeding monkeys that pass for journalists in this country
From what I just heard on 3 News, yes. They’re talking about the Belorussian woman as if she is the embodiment of all evil…
I wouldn’t care at all, if it didn’t remind me of the American comments in previous Olympics, that all Eastern European women athletes and competitors were all men in disguise.Â
There were comments about how difficult it’s going to be to get Valerie’s medal from around the neck of that evil, lying Russian medal thief!
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That’s the sort of thing that has made me loathe and despise sport all my life.
He was correct, due to sheer dumb luck. He immediately started bawling that the Belorussian was a drug cheat, but he proffered no evidence; as with his rugby commentating, there was no evidence he had done any investigation whatsoever.
Harvard authority on energy claims there could be an oil glut in the next decade.
Maugeri’s report, published by the Belfer Center at Harvard University, states: “contrary to what most people believe, oil supply capacity is growing worldwide at such an unprecedented level that it might outpace consumption.”
Advanced recovery techniques, deep water and unconventional sources could actually postpone a “peak” for some time yet.
Maugeri forecasts new global oil production capacity of 49 million barrels per day (mbpd) by 2020, a number that is âunrestrictedâ by real-world circumstances, and âunadjusted for risk.â This constitutes a whopping 53 percent increase over the current claimed capacity of 93 mbpd in just eight years. While impressive, this headline number obscures some important details.
…
We must conclude that the key assumptions about reserve growth and its effect on decline rates in Maugeriâs report are muddled, speculative and unverifiable. And sprinkling those assertions with repeated declamations about how peak oil is a non-issue, insisting repeatedly that the only real constraints on his scenario have to do with political decisions and geopolitical risks, suggests that his report is more about grinding a political axe on behalf of the oil industry than offering a serious or transparent analysis.
It’s all in the analysis, and I heard a radio report that Maugeri is relying on recovering a lot of hard-to-access oil, through processes like frakking (this is not news) – and that is using processes that cause all kinds of environmental harm.
Yep, there’s plenty of oil, we just need to make the planet uninhabitable to access it. But if thats the price our grandchildren have to pay, so be it, it would seem.
An oil company’s reserve capacity has a direct bearing on its share price which in turn drives executive pay. This is why oil company executives are responding to peak oil by redefining ‘resources’ sich as shale as reserve capacity.
There’s a very good explanation of how this works here:
The Ultimate Corporation
JUNE 7, 2012
Bill McKibben
Reviewing:
Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power
by Steve Coll
Penguin, 685 pp., $36.00 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
All of his stuff is talking about ‘unconventional’ oil, which is the expensive stuff. He may well be right, that we’re still years or even decades away from a peak in All Liquids, but nothing he says suggests that we’ll see a new peak in conventional oil.
In other words, a peak in All Liquids might be some way away, but when it happens, All Liquids will and must be more expensive than they are now for that to happen, because this will only come about by production of expensive and difficult reserves.
Improved technology tends to act more like a super-straw, sucking up the available oil much faster than it otherwise would have been. This gives much higher short-term production rates, and a high peak, but at the cost of longevity in the well. Frankly I’m more interested in technologies that can significantly increase ultimate recoverable reserves, but not the rate of extraction.
This is an aside, although relevant: I’m about 3/4ths of the way through reading Twilight in the Desert
For all oil fields, there is a figure which is the total amount of oil in the specific reservoir, called Oil In Place (OIP). Production of oil fields practically never recovers 100% of OIP, in fact often recovery is around 40-50% of the total OIP.
Here’s a very contrived example to illustrate the point I made above. Imagine you have 10b barrels of oil in a field, but your ultimate recovery with existing technology is going to be 5b barrels. If you produce at 1b barrels per year constant, you will be able to produce the well for 5 years before it depletes. If you create some new technology that lets you produce at 2b barrels per year, but doesn’t increase the recoverable reserves, that same well will now produce for a total of 2.5 years (2.5 * 2b = 5b). If instead you had a new technology that increased the recoverable oil – think tar sands and shale oil/shale gas, then the recoverable oil might go from 5b to 7b. At your original rate of recovery of 1b the well will now last 7 years instead of 5.
Peak Oil is primarily about the rate of recovery, which is what the ‘peak’ is all about. Oil industry people get very excited about new technology that increases flow rates because it makes a field look very profitable, but they often make the basic mistake of assuming high oil flows has increased the total recoverable reserves in a field, but in experience usually all it does is deplete the same amount of oil faster (a ‘super-straw’). Using my example above, some people see oil flows of 2b/year and keep the production life of the well constant at 5 years, now thinking they are going to recover 10b from the field (or 100% OIP in my example), but actually all they end up doing is depleting the field twice as fast as they would have otherwise.
I think Peak Oil, the price pressure and demand destruction world wide is only a good thing for our consumerist society, but on the flip side I’d like to see a very gradual decline in production post-peak as that will give us the best chance of re-organising society to deal with it. A steep decline after peak will be disastrous to society at large. Hence why I’m more interested in technologies that can improve oil recovery, not flow rates.
In short its all about EROEI (energy return over energy invested)…new technologies might make the EROEI better but eventually you go into deficit and the whole thing becomes pointless. Perhaps the real issue is denial, denial that we cant just keep doing this forever because like the last bottle of wine of the night it runs out before the shop opens.
I did once think that it was a desirable thing to avoid a steep decline: for us to live as we are used to, that’s a desirable option. For us to live at all is another issue. Collapse now might be a far more useful thing if this is to be believed. http://arctic-news.blogspot.co.nz/p/global-extinction-within-one-human.html
PS Who knows if the article is good science, true or likely? Could not possibly say, so shall we work on the principle it is too extreme and just ignore it? Or perhaps wait and see whilst we might or might not go past a point of no return? Perhaps BAU and be damned?
A strict focus on EROEI is actually misleading. Broadly it is true, and in the general case going very much below 1 is going to be financially pointless.
But there are cases where it makes sense, for example when you’re converting energy in one form/source to another form/source that is more useful. Lostinsuburbia below highlights one such case: turning natural gas in Canada into tar sands oil. Natural gas is not as easily traded as oil is, because it requires expensive pipelines or facilities to compress/liquidise it, compared to oil which can go on tankers and pipes much more easily. Oil is also a more valuable fuel for transportation than gas is, again thanks to the shipment but also the energy density.
So therefore an EROEI that is below 1 when using gas energy to unlock oil energy is not necessarily economically infeasible, if you had no other direct economic use for that gas energy.
I bet that on an EROEI case this would be well below 1, but the RTG stores and releases energy in a way that other fuels simply cannot, so it doesn’t matter if the EROEI is below 1 because it’s the special properties of the resultant fuel source that you’re interested in, not the net energy.
All you are talking about is an arbitrage, which does delivery utility whilst wasting energy. This delays the evil day energy is all used up , which may or may not be a good thing.
Reading the link I provided might help you think about whether continuing blithely is a good thing?
Lanth is talking about an economic system which rewards the rapid waste of finite, irreplaceable resources (using up natural gas energy to recover a lesser amount of tar sands oil energy).
I bet that on an EROEI case this would be well below 1, but the RTG stores and releases energy in a way that other fuels simply cannot, so it doesnât matter if the EROEI is below 1
Sure, diverting some extra energy doesn’t matter particularly if there is still excess energy available presently.
It will matter when people and communities are starved in order to make available the energy which needs to be invested in a far away elite project. Of course, we have always done this to the third world and the developing world. Now, its becoming increasingly obvious in the West’s own backyard.
I have no doubt the USAF will still be flying F-22’s using jet fuel for years after the rest of us plebs have to walk or bicycle everywhere. In other words, the prioritisation of remaining highly constrained energy expenditures as the ruling classes see fit.
its also the fact that the “unconventional” sources require prodiguous amounts of energy to “extraact” – just look at the dependency of the Alberta Oil Sands on natural gas. There may be huge amounts of energy locked away in such reserves but it would take equally huge amounts to actually access and use it resulting in very low net energy gain.
We’ll just end up trashing the environment in a race to industrial crash unless we use our remaining reserves wisely and start moving towards smarter uses and sources of energy.
“We must conclude that the key assumptions about reserve growth and its effect on decline rates in Maugeriâs report are muddled, speculative and unverifiable. And sprinkling those assertions with repeated declamations about how peak oil is a non-issue, insisting repeatedly that the only real constraints on his scenario have to do with political decisions and geopolitical risks, suggests that his report is more about grinding a political axe on behalf of the oil industry than offering a serious or transparent analysis. Finally we must note that Maugeri is well known for his hostility to peak oil, as is BP, which funded his report. After taking real-world risks, costs, and restrictions into account, the case for peak oilâwhich is about production rates, not production capacity or reservesâseems far more realistic.”
The TV3 Garner smear on Cunliffe initially was damaging to the Party, Shearer and Cunliffe in that order.Â
Â
Following the appalling weak un-real comments from Shearer yesterday that he was happy with Causus discipline, Â the whole affair now damages Shearer and the ABC nasties. Â Cunliffe’s mana is enhanced by Shearer’s handling of this matter.
The Party needs to be united and Cunliffe has the leadership skills to do so.Â
Sometimes you guys sound like Cunliffe is actually Elvis at the 1964 Comeback Special with the slim black full leather jumsuit, singing I’m Just A Hunk-a Hunk-a Burnin’ Love.
The Hawes article he links to is a cold hard financial analysis of the share float of MRP that does not mention Iwi claims or the risks that they pose.  Hawes’ conclusion is that “[o]n all of these measures, MRP comes out well. It is in a good, stable industry providing energy from renewables, but with growth prospects as it sells its expertise in thermal power to other countries. It has strong finances and very good governance and management.”
It would appear that Pagani thinks buying MRP shares is a good idea.
What an unelectable shambles Shearer’s Caucus and it’s advisers are becoming.
They look about as inspiring as the current gov’t….bravo trev and all you other has beens that feared so much for your undeserving arses you undermined the best choice at taking back the power possibly in your own right with DC out front.
Enjoy the warmth of your safe seats, what a disgrace you all are to the history and mana that was the Labour party and the everyday kiwis being left out to dry at the hands of the Hollowmen because of your ego’s…..SHAME !
Well, it appears that the Australian banks aren’t as pure as the driven snow as some would have liked to think:
I received 4,000 emails and in those emails from the banks to the brokers you’d see clearly bank officers instructing the brokers how to have no-loan mortgage insurance, no income necessary, no assets and liability, virtually just get a signature on a document, send it in and we’ll give this person, no matter what their income or affordability criteria is, give them a $500,000 loan.
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned on here yet, but in case it hasn’t.
Steve Keen is going to be giving talks in NZ in September.
The New Zealand and Australian Asset Markets
Friday 7th September in Auckland
The Global Economy
Saturday 8th September in Auckland
Solutions to the Crisis
Monday 10th September in Wellington
Sad grieving families are saying much about the pathetic lack of controls and safety consciousness in adventure tourism as the hearing about the plane crash at Fox Glacier proceeds. It may be that notice will be taken by leading people suffering the responsibility virus. I really hope so.
A young pilot used to automatic trim to keep the rear of his plane in balance was in a different plane at Fox Glacier, which was manual and had to be set before he took off. That’s what I understood from the radio report this morning. I would be trusting this company to know and give the advice its pilot needed so that 9 people didn’t die.
Complacently we undertake selling forays into the world and succeed in attracting tourists, overseas students etc. But then its too often laissez faire which ends up in some tragedy. Disparagingly remarks are made by NZs about other small countries – that we don’t want to turn into a banana republic. But we are already more like a banana republic than we are like an efficient and modern European country to which I think we compare ourselves.
So we must get restraints on our easy-peasy ways and poor oversight of whatever. CAA keeps being castigated. Make sure they do their job and earn their big pay. Bring in an amendment to accident law so that companies can be sued under certain circumstances, even if the government does it as Safety Master. Sharpen up everybody in tourism and don’t try to delegate the overview of work.
Another example of lack of responsibility and hurried, inadequate checks. The CCTV building in Christchurch was signed off, hurried through, certification missed, lacking senior overview. Result 16 people died, or was it more? And the Christchurch Building Inspections Manager under pressure to get things through faster, government made a lot of noise about slow procedures for builders, so in line with current ‘let business govern itself’ he signed off in line with business assurances when there was any argy-bargy. He is dead now, and another one close to the job also. It would make a sad end for a career to face this situation.
And reports about later work that was done to strengthen it, involved boring holes that could have gone through reinforcing rods so weakening the column. The work involved inserting epoxy or something with slurry to set and hold it firm but the slurry may not have keyed to the building and it has been found in that case that the epoxy tube or wedge can be just pulled out by hand. Trust in supposed experts again in doubt.
I see this common theme of she’ll be right recurring through NZ tragedies. We have to sharpen up, be efficient and timely, but thorough. That is if we want to have self-respect as a nation. And the respect of other nations when we speak about anything.
Aren’t those things meant to be the solution for all our energy problems in a post-fossil fuel and post holocene world? Oh, well. Back to the drawing board I guess.
Eventually, engineers could change the Millford reactorâs intake pipe so it draws water from further below the surface, where temperatures are lower, Mr. Holt said. They could also sharpen their pencils and try to determine whether the plant can operate safely with cooling water above 75 degrees, but neither is a short-term project.
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Pencil sharpening, a metaphor for action in the last days of the empire.
The nuclear reactor having the latest trouble was called Millstone. These tech people have no sense of irony, maybe missing some other senses too. Fear?
True lies – it’s all in the pictures. I guess this is why Key does all those photo ops, often while speaking indecipherable gibberish, rather than attempting a rational explanation:
Trusting research over their guts, scientists in New Zealand and Canada examined the phenomenon Stephen Colbert, comedian and news satirist, calls âtruthinessââthe feeling that something is true. In four different experiments they discovered that people believe claims are true, regardless of whether they actually are true, when a decorative photograph appears alongside the claim. The work is published online in the Springer journal, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
Think it was the blocking of facebook that has raisedd Penny’s ‘truth’ antennae McFlock.
Sounds odd, thanks Penny. Am so fed up with deceivers,(so I hope your suspicions come to nought) but it pays to keep watch unless,deceptively, they creep up on you. What a sad old world that we have to live in such an atmosphere of distrust, one that really began in earnest with the onset of neoliberalism and ‘self’ above all else..
Infomercial:
Anyone who wants an excuse to make money by any means, and sod the cost,especially human, look to your bright burnished idols like Thatcher, Douglas, Key (especially key) for any and every wickedly spun reason, answer, mindbend possible:
Change your moral outlook to amoral with these gems that you can add to your business ethics portfolio – “politics of envy”, “mums and Dads”, ‘up to the individual’- “no such thing as society’,”breeding for business”, ‘poverty is a lifestyle choice,’ and my personal more specific favourite phrased proudly by key (credit where credit is due) to mothers of an extra child born for whatever reason, being sent to look for part time work when their child is one year old,
“I personally think it is actually helping …… to actually make sure that they get an opportunity to fill their lives.”
” (translation from me ….sorry kids you are not fulfilling enough, away with you…)
I know key is not known for his intelligent rhetoric but on this occasion, and a few others, when he has to ‘lower himself to the occasion’ on behalf of popularity and money, he can produce ‘stunners’.
I’ve read a couple of his books which have been quite thought provoking and would recommend them. The Institute’s website has quite a lot of good stuff too.
Just thought this might be of interest to a few folks on here!
Seriously??? as Minister of Land Information in the Clark Government how many hectares of land went into foreign ownership while this particular one of the Daves looked on…
Wish i didn’t have to make it really, the point that is, sometimes i feel like i am living in 2 parallel Universe,
My apologies to all you die hard Labour-ites, being able to pretend that the present Labour Party is in any way representative of very much of my view of things is becoming increasingly difficult,
Being able to pretend that it was some other Labour Party that held the Treasury Benches for the 9 years previous to this abysmal National one, impossible…
PS, i don’t even see this as a matter of ism’s, more the sheer dishonesty inherent in a Party that while in Government flicked off New Zealand land like there was a factory making the stuff down the street,
What this makes Labour look like is a Party simply interested in Power for the sake of holding it, no principles,no honesty, if there’s a set of iornclad policy anyplace it appears to be doing duty in the ablutions block as you know what,
Perhaps my expectations are far too high and all we can really expect from Labour is that they sit in the Parliament opposing everything this abhorrent National Government does,
So that once the cycle swings the other way Labour can do it instead, the politics of we oppose what your doing because we think we should be doing it…
Yeah, it concerns me that these kinds of measures further restrict the meagre freedoms of the poor, supposedly for the greater good. Apparently only the poor need to change their ways to this end. Maybe if we had some measures that made their lives less shit….
On a related noted, I was interested to see that Whanau Ora will only help those who agree to stop drinking and smoking completely, into affordable, decent housing*. Those “aunties” get their tentacles into every nook and cranny. They seem to be Big Brother’s sisters, and as the trojan horse into ever increasing privatisation of welfare services, disturbing…
Btw, about how much is a bottle of whisky now?
*Will dig out the link if anyone gives a flying f#$k.
Some can only afford Famous Grouse/Grants Capt Morgan etc. See how many products are well below $50 from the link below. And then think of the PAYE person & what they drink. I wonder if those from Labour/Greens have considered only the rtd’s and low cost wine and not consequence of a $2 policy has on spirits
Those that drink single malts have nothing to worry about under this policy, though for curiosity I wonder what $60 would have purchased 20+ years ago, it must have been good as a classic malt in 2000 was about $45 duty free and that was a 1125 bottle !!!. But not everyone can afford such nectar from heaven. http://www.lk.co.nz/spirits/rum.html
Dewar’s white label sitting nicely on the tongue right now. Not a single malt but quite passable for $40. I have a Talisker sitting patiently in the cabinet for more special occasions.
I prefer anything from Islay. Oldest rocks in the UK and some of the oldest anywhere to be found. You can taste every one of the 600-1000 million years in any bottle from here!! http://www.islaynaturalhistory.org/geology/geology.htm
I think that a min pricing is one of many tools to help cure this problem. But IMO $2 being touted is too steep. Better still would be too increase exercise duty then the added price (tax) would benefit NZ not the alcohol industry & the likes of the supermarkets.
Some can only afford Famous Grouse/Grants Capt Morgan etc.
Yes, and?
And then think of the PAYE person & what they drink.
Beer with the occasional top shelf thrown in.
Those that drink single malts have nothing to worry about under this policy, though for curiosity I wonder what $60 would have purchased 20+ years ago, it must have been good as a classic malt in 2000 was about $45 duty free and that was a 1125 bottle !
Glenfiddich (sp?), Johnny Walker (Black Label) – during the 1990s the prices of liquor came down as tariffs and duties were removed.
Hurrah for the Blackshirts! revisited. The Daily Mail reckons Arbeit Macht Frei. Journo Dominique Jackson advises unemployed young grads to lower their sights:
Â
“The German slogan ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ is somewhat tainted by its connection with Nazi concentration camps, but its essential message, ‘work sets you free’ still has something serious to commend it.
There is dignity to be gained from any job, no matter how menial, and for young people at the start of their careers, there are valuable lessons to be learned from any form of employment, whether that is on the factory floor, on a supermarket till or in the contemporary hard labour camp of a merchant bank or law office.”
I’d say that’s because big charities are now big business in the UK and they’re scrambling for every reduced penny going. Those involved in workfare schemes have sold-out their ethics. I hope they’ve remembered to change their mission statements to reflect their new purpose.
Having walked through the gates of Dachau and seen the remnants of what went on there, that highly offensive phrase needs to be thrown into the dustbin of history.
Fuck the Daily Mail for using it is all I can say.
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Bryce Edwards writes –Â Itâs been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its âFirst 100 Day programmeâ. During this period thereâs been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.âSomebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
Itâs been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its âFirst 100 Day programmeâ. During this period thereâs been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news â packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions â worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writersâ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate â to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlanâs article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlanâs article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hereâs hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and â perhaps â some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from Chinaâs perspective, this weekâs visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from Chinaâs perspective, this weekâs visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Governmentâs key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
âIt hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.âTHUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology â the Internet â is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the âglory daysâ of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching todayâŚ? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trumpâs hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the partyâs decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for âFutures Exchangeâ) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:Â We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This weekâs government bailout â the fifth in the last eighteen months â of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The governmentâs stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes –Â That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labourâs caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
 Buzz from the Beehive  The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the governmentâs official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes –Â Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? Thatâs the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Governmentâs removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes –Â Â The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ârock solidâ $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The MÄori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labourâs change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. âIâm calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jonesâ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Governmentâs fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Governmentâs miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesnât act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own â and itâs hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own â and itâs hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money â but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Governmentâs proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm". He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,â Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand â European ...
New Zealandâs social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. âI want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealandâs social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. âTo coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that todayâs opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. âIt was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealandâs relationship with China, including trade, ...
KÄinga Ora â Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. âEarlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of KÄinga Ora. ...
TÄna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealandâs indispensable strategic partnerships. Â Â Â âSingapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening MĹrena, ngÄ mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, itâs a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. âMarch 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,â Mr Luxon says. âToday we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. Itâs a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asiaâs most populous country. Â âWe are in Jakarta so early in our new governmentâs term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. âWe look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealandâs ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. âThe recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Aucklandâs rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. âOver the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023â24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. âThe Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).âAs it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. âParts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. âA $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.  âWe have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Governmentâs priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,â says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Governmentâs commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says itâs a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Governmentâs commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says itâs a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Governmentâs plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âThe SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Governmentâs plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âThe SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. âLower fruit and vege ...
TÄnÄ koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
TÄnÄ koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. âFarmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and itâs vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,â ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.  Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. âThe Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
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[deleted]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/most-australians-back-assange-poll-finds-20120808-23uwh.html#ixzz23S2qn2xL
[lprent: Small quotes and link rather than whole articles. You’re also lacking any of your opinion. This isn’t a newspaper. We want to see what you think. ]
Just don’t fall asleep around him. đ
Just don’t fall asleep around him đ
Â
FIFY
Just donât fall asleep around him.
Idiot. You need to do some reading on this topic; after you’ve learned a little bit, I doubt that you’ll continue with your lame, politically driven “jokes”.
The poll is only about Assange’s chances if he is ever asked to stand trial in America over the leaks. There is no indication that Aussies support his cowardice in relation to the sexual assault investigation and the majority do consider the Aussie government’s consular support of him so far in that matter to be adequate.
…his cowardice in relation to the sexual assault investigation
I know that you are only trying to provoke, but surely even you know that there is no evidence whatsoever that Assange committed sexual assault.
Only formal complaints from two women. But I guess that doesn’t mean much, does it.
Something called “OneTrack” seems a tad confused….
Only formal complaints from two women.
There were no complaints from them. The women were inveigled, probably threatened, into complying with this bizarre attempt to snare Assange.
But I guess that doesnât mean much, does it.
The Women Against Rape organization does not think the allegations have any credibility.
Right. So they didn’t go to the police – the cops just turned up on their doorstep saying “we’re going to press charges, you have to go along with it. Oh, and here’s a lawyer who we will make represent you, so when we drop the investigation he’ll appeal the decision ‘on your behalf’ so we can look at the matter again and restart the investigation we already dropped “.
    Â
The Swedish and English judicial systems seem to think the allegations are reasonable enough to investigate/extradite. But you got the interwebz so you know exactly what’s happened.
Reasonable enough to extradite him to Guantanamo Bay? That seems a bit over the top doesn’t it? đ
It does indeed. Which is why I think it’s just an excuse used by groupies who can’t think of a more likely reason someone would want to dodge a sexual assault investigation.
   Â
Apparently Assange has been panning to skip to Ecuador for almost a year. Did he tell this to the people who put up his bail money?Â
Right. So they didnât go to the police â the cops just turned up on their doorstep saying âweâre going to press charges, you have to go along with it. Oh, and hereâs a lawyer who we will make represent you, so when we drop the investigation heâll appeal the decision âon your behalfâ so we can look at the matter again and restart the investigation we already dropped â.
Someone—and it was certainly not the Swedish police—used the women in order to press this ludicrous and uniquely Swedish statute into service as a weapon to use against the most dangerous political dissenter in the world.
The Swedish and English judicial systems seem to think the allegations are reasonable enough to investigate/extradite.
Nobody with any integrity in or outside of the legal system thinks these allegations have a shred of credibility. People like you were persuaded by the compliance and silence of key British legal and government officials in 2003 to accept the bogus case to attack Iraq. You’re impressed and gulled not by authority, but by power.
But you got the interwebz so you know exactly whatâs happened.
There you go with your trivialization strategy again. I know a lot more than you do about this because I read seriously and widely, and I can discriminate between what is serious journalism and what is nothing more than black propaganda. Of course I don’t know exactly what happened; what I do know is what you also know but lack the integrity to admit: that this “case” against Assange is as robust as the 1960 case against Martin Luther King for driving in Georgia on an Alabama license.
Oh my god – are you still promulgating the “sex by surprise” myth? Maybe you need to go to the source. Show me where it says “sex by surprise”.
   Â
I love how you deny the women involved any possible agency in dealing with their own sexual assault allegations – they must have been manipulated or “used” by others. Maybe they are telling the truth and without ulterior motive. Not definitely. Just maybe. In which case it’s not St Julian who’s being victimised and harrassed, is it?
  Â
BTW, if you still believe the “sex by surprise” slur, you “know” fuck all.
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And I cannot believe you just compared Assange to MLK.Â
Â
“I cannot believe you just compared Assange to MLK.”
Of course not. Martin Luther King was traduced by the FBI—although people like you will deny the evidence of that—and ridiculed by the establishment. He spoke out trenchantly against his country’s destruction of Indo-China, thus incurring undying resentment and hatred from the “liberal” establishment. He also “got with” many of the women who were drawn to him and no doubt had he lived longer, would have suffered a concocted campaign of outrage about an invented incident of rape.
Clearly there are no comparisons obvious to everybody else but yourself.
oh, by the way – if you know so much about it, did Assange tell the people who stumped up his not insubstantial bail money that he had spent months planning to skip the country and leave them out of pocket?Â
ooo – the Olympics are over! Ecuador will soon be deciding if they’ll let Assange flee a sexual assault investigation!
    Â
Just for you guys. Don’t say I don’t help out.
http://lpickering.net/item/8468
Just for you guys. Donât say I donât help out.
Unfunny.
I thought it was quite topical and in line with your original comment…………
Y’know, the accusation is that Assange exhibits inappropriate sexual behaviours. Two complaints from two women relating to (more or less) the same point in time. But where are the other complaints? Don’t know why no-one has picked up on the fact that aside from when the victim of sexual predation (or whatever) is specific and therefore unique, the perpetrator usually has a history of the behaviour complained of. And people emerge from that history when some-one finally does complain or have charges laid or whatever. But in the case of Assange? Nothing. Now, why would that be?
You’ve obviously got a point to make Bill.
why don’t you spit it out.
Its a convenient reason to get him to Guantanomo Bay with a quick stopover in Stockholm.
Youâve obviously got a point to make Bill.
why donât you spit it out.
You know perfectly well what his point was. But just to confirm what you already know but lack the integrity to admit: the allegations against Assange are baseless, ludicrous, fantastical, and vicious. The “case” against Assange makes the case—giraffes in the basement and all—against Peter Ellis look robust.
What, Bill? You mean people don’t or can’t change behaviour (for better or worse) when their situation/ circumstances/ opportunity change?
What, Bill? You mean people donât or canât change behaviour (for better or worse) when their situation/ circumstances/ opportunity change?
There is no evidence against Assange, rosy. Why don’t you have the courage to just admit it? Better still, do some reading on this affair. Serious reading, that is—not simply accepting what the comedy writers on the Grauniad staff come up with.
Banks and MMP – this guy actually doesn’t understand the debate.
He is rambling on about this current stable government would have been affected.
Banks did not benefit from either of the two proposed adjustments – “threshold and coat-tailing”. ACT and UF have electorate seats only.
Since when has reality got in the way of a Banks rant?
I heard Banks say on tele last night something to the effect:
“it (the recommendations) opens everything up to gerrymandering…”.
Fortunately I’d just put my coffee mug back on the table.
Intellectually and morally Bank-rupt…. (“that donation was anonymous”)
And Bank’s understanding of Gerrymandering, is anything that Gerry Brownlee want’s.
Very good David H.
I believe Banks is under the impression that he still has a party, and that he is a good chance to bring in more MPs on his coat tails next time.
Then again, he forgot how he managed to acquire thousands of dollars, so maybe his mind really is going.
He probably hasn’t read the commissions’ report, so it’s a bit tough to expect him to take responsibilty for his comments on it.
When ACT finally dies I and the thousands of others who went through the Auckland local government restructure will be there to tramp the dirt down on their political graves, good and hard.
Make sure you also plant garlic and spread holy water around.
My thoughts on his rant on Radio NZ National this morning was that he has also “forgotten” that he is now supposedly ACT not National when he claimed that National will not agree to the changes as if he was their spokesperson.
Katrina Williams, an IRD section director, said in the documents: “In Australia, we are taking legal action and when this fails, issue bankruptcy proceedings when overseas-based borrowers have not paid.”
That would mean that the IRD could get a New Zealand court judgment transferred to Australia, where it would then be enforced.
[lprent: fixed the link. ]
I think it’s just more bluster designed to cover up how stupid student loans are and deflect attention from more serious problems, such as avoidance and evasion by the rich. Australia told them about a year ago that they weren’t interested.
New Zealand has won its sixth gold medal of the Olympics after Valerie Adams’ rival Nadzeya Ostapchuk tested positive for drugs and was stripped of gold.
Tony Johnston, correct?
Bugga ! As much as this is great for Adams it’s a really bad outcome for truth and a fair go as the redneck talkback feeding monkeys that pass for journalists in this country will feel vindicated and ignore the baseless allegations they made and claiim ‘moral high ground’
The fact that Ostapchuk threw, was it 3 national records in about a 10 day period not long before the olympics, in her own country, would have at least begged the question.
Its not like she was throwing world records though, so perhaps not overt in its warnings, but seems to this point was, “enhanced”.
Agree about the red neck media, I find the pundits are simply a mirror of those they preside over, and its a little bit like chicken and egg, which idiot came first the pundit or the fan!
A lot of people, including me, felt that the pattern of her performance over the last ten years did not support the recent radical gain in her outcomes. Speculation is not of itself an indication of redneckery, by which I presume you mean a mean-spirited refusal to recognize merit?
From what I just heard on 3 News, yes. They’re talking about the Belorussian woman as if she is the embodiment of all evil…
I wouldn’t care at all, if it didn’t remind me of the American comments in previous Olympics, that all Eastern European women athletes and competitors were all men in disguise.Â
There were comments about how difficult it’s going to be to get Valerie’s medal from around the neck of that evil, lying Russian medal thief!
Â
That’s the sort of thing that has made me loathe and despise sport all my life.
Tony Johnston, correct?
He was correct, due to sheer dumb luck. He immediately started bawling that the Belorussian was a drug cheat, but he proffered no evidence; as with his rugby commentating, there was no evidence he had done any investigation whatsoever.
Oil isn’t running out: expert
Advanced recovery techniques, deep water and unconventional sources could actually postpone a “peak” for some time yet.
Your link doesn’t work.
You mean this Maugeri, who works for the Italian oil company ENI and a senior fellow at a BP-funded center at Harvard University?
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/07/24/1094111/is-peak-oil-dead/
It’s all in the analysis, and I heard a radio report that Maugeri is relying on recovering a lot of hard-to-access oil, through processes like frakking (this is not news) – and that is using processes that cause all kinds of environmental harm.
Yep, there’s plenty of oil, we just need to make the planet uninhabitable to access it. But if thats the price our grandchildren have to pay, so be it, it would seem.
An oil company’s reserve capacity has a direct bearing on its share price which in turn drives executive pay. This is why oil company executives are responding to peak oil by redefining ‘resources’ sich as shale as reserve capacity.
There’s a very good explanation of how this works here:
The Ultimate Corporation
JUNE 7, 2012
Bill McKibben
Reviewing:
Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power
by Steve Coll
Penguin, 685 pp., $36.00 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/07/ultimate-corporation/?pagination=false
The question is rather whether supply of oil will keep up with demand for oil.
At 7 billion world population and rising, there may well be a problem.
All of his stuff is talking about ‘unconventional’ oil, which is the expensive stuff. He may well be right, that we’re still years or even decades away from a peak in All Liquids, but nothing he says suggests that we’ll see a new peak in conventional oil.
In other words, a peak in All Liquids might be some way away, but when it happens, All Liquids will and must be more expensive than they are now for that to happen, because this will only come about by production of expensive and difficult reserves.
Improved technology tends to act more like a super-straw, sucking up the available oil much faster than it otherwise would have been. This gives much higher short-term production rates, and a high peak, but at the cost of longevity in the well. Frankly I’m more interested in technologies that can significantly increase ultimate recoverable reserves, but not the rate of extraction.
Can you explain that a bit more Lanth?
This is an aside, although relevant: I’m about 3/4ths of the way through reading Twilight in the Desert
For all oil fields, there is a figure which is the total amount of oil in the specific reservoir, called Oil In Place (OIP). Production of oil fields practically never recovers 100% of OIP, in fact often recovery is around 40-50% of the total OIP.
Here’s a very contrived example to illustrate the point I made above. Imagine you have 10b barrels of oil in a field, but your ultimate recovery with existing technology is going to be 5b barrels. If you produce at 1b barrels per year constant, you will be able to produce the well for 5 years before it depletes. If you create some new technology that lets you produce at 2b barrels per year, but doesn’t increase the recoverable reserves, that same well will now produce for a total of 2.5 years (2.5 * 2b = 5b). If instead you had a new technology that increased the recoverable oil – think tar sands and shale oil/shale gas, then the recoverable oil might go from 5b to 7b. At your original rate of recovery of 1b the well will now last 7 years instead of 5.
Peak Oil is primarily about the rate of recovery, which is what the ‘peak’ is all about. Oil industry people get very excited about new technology that increases flow rates because it makes a field look very profitable, but they often make the basic mistake of assuming high oil flows has increased the total recoverable reserves in a field, but in experience usually all it does is deplete the same amount of oil faster (a ‘super-straw’). Using my example above, some people see oil flows of 2b/year and keep the production life of the well constant at 5 years, now thinking they are going to recover 10b from the field (or 100% OIP in my example), but actually all they end up doing is depleting the field twice as fast as they would have otherwise.
I think Peak Oil, the price pressure and demand destruction world wide is only a good thing for our consumerist society, but on the flip side I’d like to see a very gradual decline in production post-peak as that will give us the best chance of re-organising society to deal with it. A steep decline after peak will be disastrous to society at large. Hence why I’m more interested in technologies that can improve oil recovery, not flow rates.
In short its all about EROEI (energy return over energy invested)…new technologies might make the EROEI better but eventually you go into deficit and the whole thing becomes pointless. Perhaps the real issue is denial, denial that we cant just keep doing this forever because like the last bottle of wine of the night it runs out before the shop opens.
I did once think that it was a desirable thing to avoid a steep decline: for us to live as we are used to, that’s a desirable option. For us to live at all is another issue. Collapse now might be a far more useful thing if this is to be believed. http://arctic-news.blogspot.co.nz/p/global-extinction-within-one-human.html
PS Who knows if the article is good science, true or likely? Could not possibly say, so shall we work on the principle it is too extreme and just ignore it? Or perhaps wait and see whilst we might or might not go past a point of no return? Perhaps BAU and be damned?
A strict focus on EROEI is actually misleading. Broadly it is true, and in the general case going very much below 1 is going to be financially pointless.
But there are cases where it makes sense, for example when you’re converting energy in one form/source to another form/source that is more useful. Lostinsuburbia below highlights one such case: turning natural gas in Canada into tar sands oil. Natural gas is not as easily traded as oil is, because it requires expensive pipelines or facilities to compress/liquidise it, compared to oil which can go on tankers and pipes much more easily. Oil is also a more valuable fuel for transportation than gas is, again thanks to the shipment but also the energy density.
So therefore an EROEI that is below 1 when using gas energy to unlock oil energy is not necessarily economically infeasible, if you had no other direct economic use for that gas energy.
Another extreme example is the RTG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator
I bet that on an EROEI case this would be well below 1, but the RTG stores and releases energy in a way that other fuels simply cannot, so it doesn’t matter if the EROEI is below 1 because it’s the special properties of the resultant fuel source that you’re interested in, not the net energy.
All you are talking about is an arbitrage, which does delivery utility whilst wasting energy. This delays the evil day energy is all used up , which may or may not be a good thing.
Reading the link I provided might help you think about whether continuing blithely is a good thing?
Lanth is talking about an economic system which rewards the rapid waste of finite, irreplaceable resources (using up natural gas energy to recover a lesser amount of tar sands oil energy).
Sure, diverting some extra energy doesn’t matter particularly if there is still excess energy available presently.
It will matter when people and communities are starved in order to make available the energy which needs to be invested in a far away elite project. Of course, we have always done this to the third world and the developing world. Now, its becoming increasingly obvious in the West’s own backyard.
I have no doubt the USAF will still be flying F-22’s using jet fuel for years after the rest of us plebs have to walk or bicycle everywhere. In other words, the prioritisation of remaining highly constrained energy expenditures as the ruling classes see fit.
its also the fact that the “unconventional” sources require prodiguous amounts of energy to “extraact” – just look at the dependency of the Alberta Oil Sands on natural gas. There may be huge amounts of energy locked away in such reserves but it would take equally huge amounts to actually access and use it resulting in very low net energy gain.
We’ll just end up trashing the environment in a race to industrial crash unless we use our remaining reserves wisely and start moving towards smarter uses and sources of energy.
Maugeri of full of shit. End of story.
“We must conclude that the key assumptions about reserve growth and its effect on decline rates in Maugeriâs report are muddled, speculative and unverifiable. And sprinkling those assertions with repeated declamations about how peak oil is a non-issue, insisting repeatedly that the only real constraints on his scenario have to do with political decisions and geopolitical risks, suggests that his report is more about grinding a political axe on behalf of the oil industry than offering a serious or transparent analysis. Finally we must note that Maugeri is well known for his hostility to peak oil, as is BP, which funded his report. After taking real-world risks, costs, and restrictions into account, the case for peak oilâwhich is about production rates, not production capacity or reservesâseems far more realistic.”
http://www.davidstrahan.com/blog/?p=1576
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/07/24/1094111/is-peak-oil-dead/
http://peakoilmatters.com/2012/08/06/peak-oil-denial-debunking-the-attempted-debunking/
The TV3 Garner smear on Cunliffe initially was damaging to the Party, Shearer and Cunliffe in that order.Â
Â
Following the appalling weak un-real comments from Shearer yesterday that he was happy with Causus discipline, Â the whole affair now damages Shearer and the ABC nasties. Â Cunliffe’s mana is enhanced by Shearer’s handling of this matter.
The Party needs to be united and Cunliffe has the leadership skills to do so.Â
The experiment is over. Finito!Â
Â
Sometimes you guys sound like Cunliffe is actually Elvis at the 1964 Comeback Special with the slim black full leather jumsuit, singing I’m Just A Hunk-a Hunk-a Burnin’ Love.
It’s possible he’s human.
Are you saying Cunliffe was born in 1964, and that he might be a re-incarnation of Elvis? Â
Nah, he was born in 1963 when Kennedy died…Â
I hear the new shave means he’s proposing to reincarnate himself with his baby photos at the next election.
Typical bloody politicians, using their wedding photos on hoardings right into retirement.Â
After thinking about Josie Pagani’s bene bashing comments yesterday on Radio New Zealand I thought I would check out hubby John Pagani’s activities.
It seems that his blog is down. Â I wonder when that happened.
He has recently sent a couple of tweets. Â One of them says “Martin Hawes on buying shares in Mighty River.Excellent analysis. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7466680/Ignore-hype-when-investing”
The Hawes article he links to is a cold hard financial analysis of the share float of MRP that does not mention Iwi claims or the risks that they pose.  Hawes’ conclusion is that “[o]n all of these measures, MRP comes out well. It is in a good, stable industry providing energy from renewables, but with growth prospects as it sells its expertise in thermal power to other countries. It has strong finances and very good governance and management.”
It would appear that Pagani thinks buying MRP shares is a good idea.
Is he still speech writing for the Labour Party?
What an unelectable shambles Shearer’s Caucus and it’s advisers are becoming.
They look about as inspiring as the current gov’t….bravo trev and all you other has beens that feared so much for your undeserving arses you undermined the best choice at taking back the power possibly in your own right with DC out front.
Enjoy the warmth of your safe seats, what a disgrace you all are to the history and mana that was the Labour party and the everyday kiwis being left out to dry at the hands of the Hollowmen because of your ego’s…..SHAME !
Well, it appears that the Australian banks aren’t as pure as the driven snow as some would have liked to think:
So, how many loans in NZ were Liars Loans?
Rich and ignorant
It may be that te reo is not spoken in the limited circles Rodney Hide and Bob Jones move in, however it is far from obsolete…
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned on here yet, but in case it hasn’t.
Steve Keen is going to be giving talks in NZ in September.
The New Zealand and Australian Asset Markets
Friday 7th September in Auckland
The Global Economy
Saturday 8th September in Auckland
Solutions to the Crisis
Monday 10th September in Wellington
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1207/S00499/economist-professor-steve-keen-to-visit-new-zealand.htm
Ahhhhh thanks, very handy
Whose Banking Sector Is It Anyway? – An Infographic
Hint, it’s not Spanish or Greek.
http://ineteconomics.org/blog/inet/katharina-pistor-whose-banking-sector-it-anyway-infographic
Sad grieving families are saying much about the pathetic lack of controls and safety consciousness in adventure tourism as the hearing about the plane crash at Fox Glacier proceeds. It may be that notice will be taken by leading people suffering the responsibility virus. I really hope so.
A young pilot used to automatic trim to keep the rear of his plane in balance was in a different plane at Fox Glacier, which was manual and had to be set before he took off. That’s what I understood from the radio report this morning. I would be trusting this company to know and give the advice its pilot needed so that 9 people didn’t die.
Complacently we undertake selling forays into the world and succeed in attracting tourists, overseas students etc. But then its too often laissez faire which ends up in some tragedy. Disparagingly remarks are made by NZs about other small countries – that we don’t want to turn into a banana republic. But we are already more like a banana republic than we are like an efficient and modern European country to which I think we compare ourselves.
So we must get restraints on our easy-peasy ways and poor oversight of whatever. CAA keeps being castigated. Make sure they do their job and earn their big pay. Bring in an amendment to accident law so that companies can be sued under certain circumstances, even if the government does it as Safety Master. Sharpen up everybody in tourism and don’t try to delegate the overview of work.
Another example of lack of responsibility and hurried, inadequate checks. The CCTV building in Christchurch was signed off, hurried through, certification missed, lacking senior overview. Result 16 people died, or was it more? And the Christchurch Building Inspections Manager under pressure to get things through faster, government made a lot of noise about slow procedures for builders, so in line with current ‘let business govern itself’ he signed off in line with business assurances when there was any argy-bargy. He is dead now, and another one close to the job also. It would make a sad end for a career to face this situation.
And reports about later work that was done to strengthen it, involved boring holes that could have gone through reinforcing rods so weakening the column. The work involved inserting epoxy or something with slurry to set and hold it firm but the slurry may not have keyed to the building and it has been found in that case that the epoxy tube or wedge can be just pulled out by hand. Trust in supposed experts again in doubt.
I see this common theme of she’ll be right recurring through NZ tragedies. We have to sharpen up, be efficient and timely, but thorough. That is if we want to have self-respect as a nation. And the respect of other nations when we speak about anything.
This somewhat covers the reality that the economy is not about creating jobs any more. A reality that the political parties just don’t seem to get.
Remember when the Minister got up there in the house and said blah blah blah? Lies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10826855
Bugger.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/heat-shuts-down-a-coastal-reactor/
Aren’t those things meant to be the solution for all our energy problems in a post-fossil fuel and post holocene world? Oh, well. Back to the drawing board I guess.
Pencil sharpening, a metaphor for action in the last days of the empire.
Oh well. Back to the coal fired power stations I guess.
Why? Wind and solar work fine – just have to build it.
The nuclear reactor having the latest trouble was called Millstone. These tech people have no sense of irony, maybe missing some other senses too. Fear?
heka paratai getting more and more toxic buy the day.
this mornings dompost.
her head is so swollen that nobody can tell her anything.
True lies – it’s all in the pictures. I guess this is why Key does all those photo ops, often while speaking indecipherable gibberish, rather than attempting a rational explanation:
http://www.springer.com/about+springer/media/springer+select?SGWID=0-11001-6-1385843-0
@ Carol
Excellent link!
IrishBill: too much like stalking for my taste, Penny. Tone it down.
So people who work in IT or business aren’t allowed to be pro-democracy without having some sort of ulterior motive?
       Â
Think it was the blocking of facebook that has raisedd Penny’s ‘truth’ antennae McFlock.
Sounds odd, thanks Penny. Am so fed up with deceivers,(so I hope your suspicions come to nought) but it pays to keep watch unless,deceptively, they creep up on you. What a sad old world that we have to live in such an atmosphere of distrust, one that really began in earnest with the onset of neoliberalism and ‘self’ above all else..
Infomercial:
Anyone who wants an excuse to make money by any means, and sod the cost,especially human, look to your bright burnished idols like Thatcher, Douglas, Key (especially key) for any and every wickedly spun reason, answer, mindbend possible:
Change your moral outlook to amoral with these gems that you can add to your business ethics portfolio – “politics of envy”, “mums and Dads”, ‘up to the individual’- “no such thing as society’,”breeding for business”, ‘poverty is a lifestyle choice,’ and my personal more specific favourite phrased proudly by key (credit where credit is due) to mothers of an extra child born for whatever reason, being sent to look for part time work when their child is one year old,
“I personally think it is actually helping …… to actually make sure that they get an opportunity to fill their lives.”
” (translation from me ….sorry kids you are not fulfilling enough, away with you…)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6496132/Key-Mums-of-one-year-olds-better-off-working
I know key is not known for his intelligent rhetoric but on this occasion, and a few others, when he has to ‘lower himself to the occasion’ on behalf of popularity and money, he can produce ‘stunners’.
I suppose it depends on whether Penny’s style came across as harassment to the FB mods.
Richard Heinberg from the Post-Carbon Institute is doing a speaking tour of NZ and Australia next month. Just check out – http://www.postcarbon.org/event/964156-richard-heinberg-australia-and-new-zealand
I’ve read a couple of his books which have been quite thought provoking and would recommend them. The Institute’s website has quite a lot of good stuff too.
Just thought this might be of interest to a few folks on here!
Yay, urgent debate happening in the house right meow.
Kudos to David Parker….. Crafar Farms decision and protection of NZ asset base.
Seriously??? as Minister of Land Information in the Clark Government how many hectares of land went into foreign ownership while this particular one of the Daves looked on…
Good point, bad. He is tainted with neoliberalism. But, still, he’s kept this issue alive. Good to have t he debate.
Wish i didn’t have to make it really, the point that is, sometimes i feel like i am living in 2 parallel Universe,
My apologies to all you die hard Labour-ites, being able to pretend that the present Labour Party is in any way representative of very much of my view of things is becoming increasingly difficult,
Being able to pretend that it was some other Labour Party that held the Treasury Benches for the 9 years previous to this abysmal National one, impossible…
PS, i don’t even see this as a matter of ism’s, more the sheer dishonesty inherent in a Party that while in Government flicked off New Zealand land like there was a factory making the stuff down the street,
What this makes Labour look like is a Party simply interested in Power for the sake of holding it, no principles,no honesty, if there’s a set of iornclad policy anyplace it appears to be doing duty in the ablutions block as you know what,
Perhaps my expectations are far too high and all we can really expect from Labour is that they sit in the Parliament opposing everything this abhorrent National Government does,
So that once the cycle swings the other way Labour can do it instead, the politics of we oppose what your doing because we think we should be doing it…
I’ve a feeling Crafar is not just about the asset base, it’s about Joyce’s ‘intensification of agriculture’.
Oh good one rosy. I have a feeling you may well be correct. “intense” is, unfortunately, a suitable word in this situation.
Will I get banned from The Standard if I threaten to set all the moderators on fire and urinate on the server?
Nah, your too much of a plonker you will just get your thing fried…
Damn, I am trying to martyr myself to the single entity which is the standard who should do things my way
Fry you heathen…
Stop being lazy and ban yourself already đ
I try but I can’t. Some fucker remove me for a month. Damnit
Perhaps you could try some poetry…
Felix red pastel
Oh dear here comes a prolapse
scrumptious ass-tulip
Just call someone a bitch — youll be gone by lunchtime (thank you Dr Brash…)
On the minimum pricing for booze has anyone giving the idea of $2 a serving given any thought what that does for a 1 litre bottle of Whisky/Whiskey/Bourbon/Vodka etc Given that there are 30-35 std drinks per litre then a bottle of top shelve would be ???? $60-$70
http://www.alac.org.nz/sites/default/files/useruploads/Alcohol_YouPDFs/819_stddrinksstraightupguide.dafc3b6c.pdf
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10817774
With such an example how is Labour being relevant to its core blue collar union card holder support base?
At least the left doesn’t appear as self serving as Judith Collins on tv last night
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/government-denies-alcohol-industry-pressure-5021331
Yeah, it concerns me that these kinds of measures further restrict the meagre freedoms of the poor, supposedly for the greater good. Apparently only the poor need to change their ways to this end. Maybe if we had some measures that made their lives less shit….
On a related noted, I was interested to see that Whanau Ora will only help those who agree to stop drinking and smoking completely, into affordable, decent housing*. Those “aunties” get their tentacles into every nook and cranny. They seem to be Big Brother’s sisters, and as the trojan horse into ever increasing privatisation of welfare services, disturbing…
Btw, about how much is a bottle of whisky now?
*Will dig out the link if anyone gives a flying f#$k.
I remember paying that much for a bottle of top shelf 20 odd years ago. Which would be $110.48 to $128.89 today so I don’t see your point.
Some can only afford Famous Grouse/Grants Capt Morgan etc. See how many products are well below $50 from the link below. And then think of the PAYE person & what they drink. I wonder if those from Labour/Greens have considered only the rtd’s and low cost wine and not consequence of a $2 policy has on spirits
Those that drink single malts have nothing to worry about under this policy, though for curiosity I wonder what $60 would have purchased 20+ years ago, it must have been good as a classic malt in 2000 was about $45 duty free and that was a 1125 bottle !!!. But not everyone can afford such nectar from heaven.
http://www.lk.co.nz/spirits/rum.html
Dewar’s white label sitting nicely on the tongue right now. Not a single malt but quite passable for $40. I have a Talisker sitting patiently in the cabinet for more special occasions.
I prefer anything from Islay. Oldest rocks in the UK and some of the oldest anywhere to be found. You can taste every one of the 600-1000 million years in any bottle from here!!
http://www.islaynaturalhistory.org/geology/geology.htm
I think that a min pricing is one of many tools to help cure this problem. But IMO $2 being touted is too steep. Better still would be too increase exercise duty then the added price (tax) would benefit NZ not the alcohol industry & the likes of the supermarkets.
Now that’s a geology lesson I can appreciate. Cheers dude.
I’m guessing they don’t have any industrial scale dairy farming in that aquifer catchment then….
I wondered why Wilson’s was so distinctive.
Yes, and?
Beer with the occasional top shelf thrown in.
Glenfiddich (sp?), Johnny Walker (Black Label) – during the 1990s the prices of liquor came down as tariffs and duties were removed.
People forget that 1L of Vodka at less than $20 is generally only about 20% alcohol anyway.
Half the price half the liquor content.
Go check the bottles at your local liquor save if you don’t believe me
That’s not vodka, its just alcohol byproduct sourced from industrial (dairy) processes.
More to ignore.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/13/1119768/-New-CryoSat-2-Confirms-Catastrophic-Loss-of-Arctic-Sea-Ice-Volume
Even more disturbing, the Arctic could become totally ice free before 2030 if Wimpeus’ exponential fit to other months is correct.
It’s not……..
Fa&*%sm in Greece.
http://www.bostonreview.net/BR37.4/ari_paul_greece_austerity_golden_dawn_kke_liana_kanelli.php
previously
Hurrah for the Blackshirts! revisited. The Daily Mail reckons Arbeit Macht Frei. Journo Dominique Jackson advises unemployed young grads to lower their sights:
Â
Even UK charities are embracing Tory Govt ‘workfare’ schemes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2012/mar/12/large-charities-government-work-schemes
I’d say that’s because big charities are now big business in the UK and they’re scrambling for every reduced penny going. Those involved in workfare schemes have sold-out their ethics. I hope they’ve remembered to change their mission statements to reflect their new purpose.
Having walked through the gates of Dachau and seen the remnants of what went on there, that highly offensive phrase needs to be thrown into the dustbin of history.
Fuck the Daily Mail for using it is all I can say.