Yesterday on Nine-to-Noon, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education (Lesley Longstone, Secretary of Education), responded to questions about whether there was an underlying plan behind the Christchurch school closures that had nothing to do with quake damage. She said the plan was to reconfigure the range of schools with an eye to making positive changes for the future. She explained it as something rational and good for Christchurch.
Ms Parata told principals the rebuild includes some tough decisions.
“At the same time, it’s also about propositions for some new opportunities, for some new ways of providing education, for some whole of life campuses, for some shared facilities. And I think those are exciting opportunities – not just for Christchurch – but for the rest of New Zealand to look at and think about.”
Others are not so sure, and are concerned the government is taking the opportunity to change Christchurch schools, for benefit the better off Cantabrians, at the expense of the less well-off, and to further the NAct government’s agenda for education.
Friday, 14 Sep 2012 | Press Release
…
“It’s right for these decisions be made on the criteria of the state of buildings and land and population changes but we need to know what other criteria were used.
“I want to know if the decisions are based on schools’ educational achievement and if the failed national standards were used at all.
“National standards don’t work and should never be used to make decisions about which schools will be closed.
“Educational achievement is a resourcing issue, not a performance one but actually resourcing the schools that need it in Christchurch is apparently off the negotiating table.
“Moving kids from school to school to school, as will happen if these plans are carried out, is going to be the most damaging for their achievement.
“I have requested an urgent debate for the next sitting day in Parliament as we need to hear more about how these decisions were made.
John Minto is concerned that the Christchurch plans involve introducing Carter Schools:
It appears the wholesale closure of public schools in the city is at least in part to make room for charter schools to take their place.
We saw this happen after Hurricane Katrina devastated the US city of New Orleans and private profiteers worked with the government to close the city’s public schools and reopen them as charter schools run for private profit.
Will some of these 13 schools be closed as public schools only to be reopened in 2014 as profit-making charter schools? Which sites have been quietly earmarked by government ministers and the private business lobbyists as sites for charter schools?
Christchurch was specifically targeted for at least one charter school at the time coalition agreement between Act and National after last year’s election. Auckland was the other centre suggested for a charter school.
Since then Act’s ambitions have grown with Charter Schools promoter Catherine Isaac now talking publicly of up to 30 charter schools. How many of these will be in Christchurch?
People need to keep asking Key, Parata, and the Ministry, exactly what IS their plan for Christchurch schools, and how much this will be followed across NZ.
Disaster capitalism (see Naomi Klein): alive and well in Christchurch.
As usual us poor lefties that raised disaster capitalism happening in Christchurch were dismissed “this is New Zealand, don’t be paranoid” etc. The education unions will leap onto this with a growl hopefully if there is a scent of charter schools being snuck in.
And it’s not just the specter of Charter Schools that’s a problem here, but that involves a new train for consultants to scoop themselves up some gravy:
Education renewal in Canterbury
Friday, 14 September 2012, 6:44 pm
Press Release: Ministry of Education
…
Education renewal in Canterbury
New schools part of greater Christchurch Education Renewal
Christchurch will get new schools and others will be completely rebuilt as part of the $1 billion investment in education renewal in greater Christchurch.
The Secretary for Education, Lesley Longstone, says enhanced provision at Pegasus Town and Rolleston have been confirmed while Halswell School will be rebuilt.
Ms Longstone said: “We are looking to have new and innovative designs for these schools that give learners across greater Christchurch 21st-century learning environments.
“The 10-year renewal plan and investment announced yesterday by Ministers allows us a great opportunity to develop new ways of delivering education for all ages.
…
Over the coming months, the Ministry will be very keen to hear what people have to say.
…
Consultants will also be engaged to begin design work for Halswell as the first step in project planning with a view to physical works beginning early in 2013.
Does anyone else feel that Ms Longstone’s PR-speak sounds a little 1984-ish?
Thanks Carol. You have put together a lot of work there. Much to think about.
John Campbell was assured by Parata that each school will be consulted. John would return to the subject down the track.
Consultation??? But to listen and act on those responses? Yeah right!
Also, on the charter school issue, I’ve heard – through the proverbial grapevine – that the government has been rejecting proposals for ‘special character’ state-funded schools in Nelson (two?) and Auckland that are not ‘special character’ for religious reasons.
That grapevine information came along with suspicion that that was to line-up such initiatives for charter school formats (while allowing religious ‘special character’ initiatives to continue to be state-supported). That is, make it impossible to do something different through the state system (as has been possible until recently) so that the only option is to find some private sector ‘partner’ and go the charter way.
Perhaps others have more information – or knowledge that shows it is only rumour and has no basis in fact?
The simpering John Armstrong misuses his considerable audience reach to try and give two bloggers a telling off. Unfortunately he picks one veteran who has considerable integrity and journalistic skills–Gordon Campbell at Scoop, the other–Bryce Edwards is a new kid on the block who needs more time in the saddle to rate really, as ex Alliance he still seems to have it in for Labour more than the torys at times. But regardless, Bryce does not deserve a pasting from the likes of Nat toady Armstrong.
Meanwhile two bloggers that desperately need a good spanking for all manner of poor and unethical behaviour–Farrar and Whale, are unlikely to get one in the pages of the Herald.
Yeah, WTF is that all about? Armstrong seems to think any number of journalists like him – part of the establishment, complete with an acceptable ambient neo-liberal bias is OK, but ONE blogger like Bryce Edwards pushing an overtly left wing agenda gaining an audience is some kind of threat to civilization. Armstrong also shows considerable arrogance. He is a real journalist. Campbell and Edwards are not. Therefore he will tolerate them until they become a bit of a threat, then they need to be slapped back into place.
a few tried and trusted cliches come to mind…. for Armstrong in his glasshouse…. pot meet kettle:
Cheap shots at press corps based largely on ignorance and show no regard for journalistic accuracy or taste
Here is a blunt message for a couple of old-school Aro Valley-style socialists:
Get off our backs. Stop behaving like a pair of tut-tutting old dowagers gossiping in the salons. In short, stop making blinkered, cheap-shot accusations of the kind you made this week – that the media who went with John Key to Vladivostok and Tokyo concentrated on trivia, interviewed their laptops and parroted Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet press releases.
Gordon Campbell is a far better, critical and well-researched journalist than Armstrong ever will be…. and Armstrong dares to call him and Edwards “blinkered” and ignorant.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Oh, but wait. Armstrong is trotting out his excuses for poor journalism, having a cry about pressures of meeting deadlines within a highly pressured international context, dealing with high status pollies. And is using it for a platform to bash bloggers generally.
If the journalists are not up to the job, they should do something else. And we are all entitled to crtiticise the product journalists turn out…. Here’s another good old cliche….. the proof is in the pudding
A good blogger holds MSM journalists to account. It’s a new environment, John. Get used to it.
In what is otherwise an extraordinarily self indulgent load of drivel it’s the last few paragraphs of Armstrong’s column which I found alarming:
“Edwards’ blog is the extreme example of the fact that most blogsites rely on the mainstream media for their information and then use that information to criticise the media for not stressing something enough or deliberately hiding it.
Unlike the mainstream media, the blogs are not subject to accuracy or taste – and sometimes even the law.
It is the ultimate parasitical relationship. And it will not change until the media start charging for use of their material.”
Is he basically suggesting that charging for content use is a way to stifle criticism?
He might be saying saying people with money have no critical thinking skills, or at least have sufficient “breeding” to be polite.
I disagree about MSM being subject to taste, unless racism and ignorance is a form of polite modern “taste”. In highlighting the parasitical relationship, he nicely avoids his part in the relationship. The dirty dog attracts fleas. In Armstrong’s world, dogs are self cleaning and the best of the best are heavenly creatures with no faults at all – exempt from natural law. If he can’t get rid of his fleas, his owner could give him a bath. Overall, he should be grateful he gets paid for crapping on the carpet.
Fran O’Sullivan has been having a go at Bryce Edwards for a while essentially because he is a leftie. Looks like she has persuaded Armstrong to have a go as well. What is the bet that Edwards’ Political Roundup column will shortly disappear from the Herald.
It is a shame really. The column is usually a good summation of what is happening on the blogs and in reality.
Those nasty bloggers must have hit the spot for him to have such a tantrum in print, and why the f*$k did the editor let it go to print, suppose nothing much happened in politics this week. WTF!!!
Aaaand, Who could forget this zenith of political journalism from his co worker, Audrey Young.
Yeah, Armstrong certainly showed his bias there. Whalespew is just a torrent of vile rubbish, hate speech, and thinly veiled physical threats. He’s hardly even a blogger – he cuts and pastes some rubbish and his “army” starts frothing at the mouth. For all their weaknesses, Campbell and Edwards do at least come across as civilised.
Keith Stewart on Radio Live is doing a series interviewing politicians on Saturday nights at 8pm.
Tonight he has David Shearer on for those interested. Keith is a hard lefty so could be interesting.
“Staff are the best providers of service, of creating a relationship. But staff also give you an opportunity to stuff it up,” said Phil Chant, marketing manager for NCR Australia.
“You could get someone on their off day. But self-service gives you consistency of service. It gives you speed.”
According to NCR, that self-service uniformity will soon extend far beyond the supermarket or airport.
Its machines will see Kiwis able to check in to a hotel, weigh and send a package – even open a bank account by talking to a live video feed of a teller on an ATM screen.
So when machines have replaced the human jobs, what happens to the humans….
To quote an old union official ‘work is disappearing ‘. The scary thing is if that these really bloated inefficient large companies look automation and good process seriously you’d see total carnage in their ranks as swathes of people wouldn’t be required.
Was talking with once of the nice human check out staff a couple of weeks back at a supermarket, and she said that the reason she scanned everything so frantically was that if they dont scan anough units per minute on average, when serting the counter, they get a “chat” with the manager…WTF
The supermarket happened to be Oz owned of course, and no surpirse the wanker above talks negaively about getting people on off days, but positively re consistancy of service &; speed of the machines..
These arseholes do not give a fcuk about human beings, frankly its rather sickening watching it all play out, and have dimwits, some on this site, trying to argue whats happening to us, is in fact not!
Edit: AS soon as it is “appropriate” in terms of time to do so, those processes you refer to will become surplus, just like the people involved in those processes. The finacncial sector is what is is with good reasons, which should be crystal clear by now!
Automation will become the norm, just look at the use of HFT, why the need to people in the front or middle office when the time comes!
Someone needs to come up with a way that people can pay for something using the credit on their mobile. Imagine using your phone as a digital wallet, you pick something up off the shelf, text a code to a number, and the purchase price is taken off your phone credit. Much easier than fumbling with your eftpos card.
millsy 4.2
There is something called Square that has been developed which makes it easy to purchase stuff. Easier than eftpos I think with different way of connecting up.
I went to my local New World the other day, and just because i was waiting in line for a checkout I was accosted by, I presume a manager, who told me to use the self service checkout. I then informed her that 1: I am allowed to use what ever checkout I like. And 2: if I have to spend money then the least they can do is have someone who A: needs the job, and B: who can give you a welcoming smile and a cheery hello. And I also informed her that if they removed all the checkout staff and only left the auto ones open then I would go else where. She was not amused. (you could see it in her face she just wanted to tell me to piss off. Face like thunder lol)
So when machines have replaced the human jobs, what happens to the humans…
That is the question. Under the present system a few get richer and everyone else takes another step or two towards poverty and starvation. The rich will, of course, keep blaming the poor for being poor and saying that we can’t afford to do anything about it.
We need to change the paradigm that we live under.
Design and promote a new paradigm. One that realises that the purpose of the economy is to support everyone and not just a few. One that listens to everyone and ensures that they have an equal say in the direction that society goes in.
I don’t mean to be disparaging, and totally agree that major change is required, but the system isn’t going to simply change because it’s dysfunctional… It will continue to grind on in its dysfunction and the few who have the nous to see it will continue to be ignored by the majority and by those who could effect change.
Conservatives and liberals aren’t going to give up their advantage without a fight… Which is pretty stupid because what we have now is a corruption of capitalism, whereby wealth is mainly being used to try to generate more wealth and not for the betterment of mankind. The thing that capitalists fail to understand is that more wealth can be generated when the people are fed, housed and clothed properly… A wealthy society also creates more wealth for capitalists. Wealth through subjugation and inequality is a fools agenda.
The current situation is entirely unsustainable and it’s only a matter of time before it collapses entirely. The problem is the suffering it causes in the mean time. You can work to increase peoples awareness and reduce peoples suffering, but by and large unless you have serious capital, you cannot bring about the downfall of corrupted capitalism or hope to change the current detrimental system… A catch 22 in other words.
The thing that capitalists fail to understand is that more wealth can be generated when the people are fed, housed and clothed properly… A wealthy society also creates more wealth for capitalists. Wealth through subjugation and inequality is a fools agenda.
Or the agenda of those who like to watch human suffering,!
Who says “the capitalists” , if that is even what they are, fail to understand anythng of the sort!
also, having the Government issue credit into the economy (instead of private banks) to fulfill societal aims, including the setting up of worker owned enterprises and co-operative financing structures.
Its been happening for a very long time. How do you think we moved from the stoneage.
First machine(wheeled carts) replaced serfs carrying things.
More recently cards replaced horse and buggies.
And so it will continue as the “workforce” requirements “adjust” to meet current demands.
The local supermarket I use has self-service which has been in place for over a year. However, on chatting to one of the staff recently, the supermarket is thinking to remove self-service as there has been a great increase in the number of ‘grocery items unaccounted for’ through using self-service.
While they usually have a staff member monitor the use of the six self-service machines they often are not in the position, especially in busy times, to closely inspect the number of items being ‘scanned’ through the system.
I suspect however that rather than get rid of self-service the supermarket will just increase the level and type of surveillance or input additional technology to prevent losses. Self-service will not completely replace the check-out operator but yes it probably will result in loss of jobs especially for our youth.
It will be up to people to vote with their feet, and start thinking about what/where they spend cash be it on essentials, or luxuries etc.
It has to be of concern when there are, and have been for some time, companies producing equipment whose use is/will put humans out of jobs, thats got to ring alarm bells for people surely.
Many Kiwis have voted with their feet and move abroad, plenty will never return, and that leaves the country vulnerable on so many fronts.
I genuinely am concerned about what has been happening to our country, and the direction we are being lead into, and honestly I don;t believe we are too many years away from major social unrest.
Sadly it need not be like that, but people have to open their eyes and realise that just because you believe that “im ok jack”, today, only means that there is some additional time you might have before problems come to your door.
The young of this country, the poor, the elderly, those most vulnerable, are treated so badly, and what are most people doing….asleep at the wheel it seems to me.
It has to be of concern when there are, and have been for some time, companies producing equipment whose use is/will put humans out of jobs, thats got to ring alarm bells for people surely.
Nope, it should be a celebration as it then allows those people to go and do something far more interesting and probably higher paid. The problem isn’t the disappearing jobs but that only a few people benefit from those disappearing jobs rather than all of society.
The young of this country, the poor, the elderly, those most vulnerable, are treated so badly, and what are most people doing….asleep at the wheel it seems to me.
Nope, it should be a celebration as it then allows those people to go and do something far more interesting and probably higher paid. The problem isn’t the disappearing jobs but that only a few people benefit from those disappearing jobs rather than all of society.
Hey B, yes it should be, but I think you would expect that on current course, its got little to no chance to being that way. So the problem is the disappearing jobs, and also the point along the curve at which lack of jobs become a negative sum game, if we are not past that already.
We agree that the sytem needs to change, what it becomes is not as important at this stage, as the question of , how that change will come about!
The only change I am interested initially, is the taking back the control of our money supply. Achieve that and the conversations chnage immediately, and potentially do not require wholesale change.
Which is why I wonder if someone, or someone’s could successfully base an election run on that issue in silo????
well work is not disappearing for some.
make sure you read yesterdays Dompost.
there are two very important article by Chris Trotter and Brenda Pilott on the leader page.
The shadowy Consitutional Advisory Panel and the Local Bodies Act are getting ready to strip the last vestiges of democracy and local input out of the vital institutions that manage the country.
it seems there is always plenty of work for the lampreys who attach themselves to the government to assist them in sucking the lifeblood out of the people.
captain hook
This is awkward. I have been looking at the Dompost and cannot find the articles you mentioned. Can you tell me where to go (on the Dompost page) to see them? Do I look for columnists tab at the top for instance? Or do I put their names in search?
Another top quality link there trav, thanks. But what does it have to do with the Madrid fire?
Do you care that so many truther documents use the madrid fire in a dishonest fashion?
Or do you think that because most people won’t do any checking, that it is all ok. That being dishonest is just the best tactic to get people to think what you what them to think?
It works of course, people don’t check things, telling lies works. I see you skiting about your blog, like I care. But for me, when I see you being dishonest, it makes me discount your views. It is your dishonesty, and the dishonesty of many other truthers, that really convinces me that you are all full of shit.
Start being honest, and you will start being convincing.
If you can’t be convincing without being dishonest, then the claims you are tryimg to convince poeple of are probably false.
You’re calling me a liar now?
For those of you wanting to make up your won mind about the Madrid fire here is PB’s analysis:
Because the Windsor tower was build with reinforced concrete it could withstand 24 hours of intense fire without collapsing
According to another genius here Mike E the towers collapsed because they had not central column but only reinforced concrete.
Here is the reality: both Twin towers had a core of 47 steel columns AND were build with reinforced concrete.
The third tower was build around steel columns and reinforced twice against nuclear blasts in it’s close vicinity. Still it came down in 6.5 seconds (Freefall speed) in the path of most resistance. Breaking every law of Physics known to man.
No Steel framed in human history has ever collapsed due to fire other then the three buildings from the WTC complex. Not even the other four buildings in the same complex which all burned for hours.
It seems to me the it is PB who is trying to turn and twist events and that perhaps it is actually more accurate to call him a liar but I leave that to your discretion.
Search terms you might want to go for are Windsor tower, Phillips building, Failed controlled demolition, Steel framed buildings, collapse due to fire, Newton, gravity, laws of Physics.
People might lie but the laws of physics sort of don’t.
What happened to the top section of the Madrid building Eve?
What was the difference in construction between the top section and the bottom section, how does that relate to the WTC and why don’t truther sites ever talk about that?
Not mentioning these things is dishonest.
Saying that the WTC towers had reinforced concrete, without saying whter or not this was load bearing structural stuff is dishonest.
People can certainly google and come up with thousands of links talking about the madrid fire and saying that it demonstrates that the wtc buildings wouldn’t have collapsed. truthers have been busy, and they link to all sorts of stuff, pushing up the google rankings of crud.
But the facts remain.
So show me your honesty and answer these three questions to the best of your knowledge:
1) What happened to the top section of the madrid building?
2) Was the top section of the buidling different to the bottom section in any respect?
3) If so, were WTC1&2 more like the top section, or the bottom section?
In your own words please. Let’s discuss like humans. Just throwing me alink to some usually irrelevent link is a fob off, one that ought to be beneath you.
They are questions Eve. I don’t need to provide links to verify questions.
Question have answers, you have none however, which is fascinating. It’s almost as if the answers to those questions are things you are not interested in. Do the answers to those questions demonstrate the dishonesty of the truther’s use of the madrid fire eve?
Why don’t you show me up here, and demonstrate your honesty
Here’s another question, this time about the 6.5 second collapse claim. Who said this?
“We screwed up. We had never seen the CBS video when we claimed that it took WTC 7 6.5 seconds to collapse. We only relied on the street video that does not show the Penthouses. By the time we saw the CBS video, we had so much invested in the 6.5-second collapse time, we could not disappoint our supporters who were successfully using the 6.5 free fall time to push 9/11 Truth. We just ignored the evidence.
‘Truth’ funny how you guys keep using that word. A princess bride quote comes to mind.
PB. I just watched the CBS video and the building collapses in roughly 6.5s. It certainly did not take twice that long to collapse.
Further PB it seems that you’ve been had. Jones himself says in a blog post he labels “setting the record straight” that someone has deliberately made up shit (the same shit you quoted actually) and unfairly put his name next to it:
No, I never said that. The blog goes on with its despicable misrepresentations, putting words in my mouth that I never said:
“Responding to the overnight controversy, Steven Jones announced this morning that WTC 7 did indeed take over 13 seconds to collapse. ‘We screwed up. We had never seen the CBS video when we claimed that it took WTC 7 6.5 seconds to collapse. We only relied on the street video that does not show the Penthouses. By the time we saw the CBS video, we had so much invested in the 6.5-second collapse time, we could not disappoint our supporters who were successfully using the 6.5 free fall time to push 9/11 Truth. We just ignored the evidence.’ ”
I supposedly said this in May, 2007. No, I never said that and it is simply not true. I first saw this CBS video in 2005 and I have shown it many times, starting in 2005. I have repeatedly noted that I began timing when the corner of the roof begins to move, and that is how I derived the near-free-fall time of 6.5 seconds for the WTC7 roof-fall. To have me say, “We just ignored the evidence” is grossly incorrect, unfair and despicable.
it only takes 6.5 if you ignore the penthouses, there is no reason to do that. I’ve seen arguments that there were two series of explosions, the first to weaken the structure, the second to bring it down. But that doesn’t explain why we see the penthouses fall. they aren’t holding the structure up, so bringing them down first makes no sense. (and i’ll note here that there are loads of controlled demolition videos on the web. Could you link me to some that sound like the WTC buildings coming down?)
But that’s only a problem for people trying to make the collapse look like something. NIST didn’t have that problem, so they just described what was most likely to have happened based on the evidence.
Other than that it’s one guy’s word against another’s, and Jones denial is pretty shifty,
‘I deny this bit most strenuously, those particular words are not what I said’ etc, and so on.
You’d laugh if John Banks put out a denial like that
How did the building break the laws of Physics? My understanding is that, unlike traffic laws (for example), the laws of physics cannot actually be broken. And what is meant by “breaking every law of Physics known to man”? How was Faraday’s Law broken?
Ev is so blessed with insight that lesser mortals such as ourselves are not even allowed to think about ways her “information” could be checked. She sent me a message mentioning two things I’ve known about for more than 40 years to demonstrate my ignorance of the real world. Blind belief is all that is required, or be labelled a denialist. Pffft.
I had a modicum of respect before this but I can let rip now.
LOL. Fuck, you’re showing yourself to be a nasty vindictive little squirt don’t you?
Great thing you can’t chuck me off here like you did with others on a facebook page who had opinions other than you. And how silly to bring that intolerance and vindictiveness here!
Given the stuff you do respect, I won’t be losing any sleep.
And yes, I am one of the mods of a Facebook group that booted people for abuse, trolling, and constant ranting about all sorts of contradictory conspiracy theories.
Now keep obsessing and not answering questions. It’s what you’re best at, after all. Let rip.
You are giving a quote without any reference to who might have said it and what site you got it from and you are accusing me of being dishonest?
You skirting very close to classic shill behaviour here PB. It is one thing not to agree and try to disprove my assertions but it is entirely different to quote provably false quotes from debunking sites.
For those of you interested in trying to find out what really happened:
First of all steel framed buildings DO NOT COLLAPSE INTO THEIR OWN FOOTPRINT in 6.5, 14, 350 or 3000 seconds as the result of office fires EVER!
That makes PB’s argument moot.
The only reason steel framed buildings collapse into their own footprint is when they are “wired” for a CONTROLLED DEMOLITION.
Here is a video made by David Chandler. David Chandler was the man who forced NIST to admit that WTC 7 fell in free fall speed for 2.5 seconds of the 6.5 seconds it took to collapse.
In those 2.5 seconds 18 FLOORS of the 47 story building fell to the ground without any resistance. That is impossible unless it was imploded with the help of demolition charges.
Here is a Danny Jowenko a Dutch Demolition expert (Who recently died in a freak car accident) and his reaction when he is told that the WTC7 building he just described as a classic controlled demolition
Here is a fragment of an Italian documentary. In it the fire fighters admit to foreknowledge of the collapse and you see the reaction of two policemen when they hear the first explosions after which the building starts to come down.
You see what I mean PB? LINKS so people can make up their own mind!
Do you know what ‘begging the question’ means? It’s a logical fallacy, and here’s an example of it:
First of all steel framed buildings DO NOT COLLAPSE INTO THEIR OWN FOOTPRINT in 6.5, 14, 350 or 3000 seconds as the result of office fires EVER!
And none of your links discuss the simple and relevant questions I asked about the madrid fire.
Why are you avoiding those questions Eve?
You spend a lot of time researching this stuff, surely you could find the answers, surely you have come across them before, surely you don’t just look at one side of the debate right?
For those of you interested in what happened at the Windsor tower and made curious by PB’s insinuating questions the following:
The Windsor tower was a 106m high skyscraper in Madrid, Spain. After an extensive fire which lasted 24 hours the top floors pancaked and collapsed around the inner core.
To PB this proves that all buildings will collapse like the Twin towers and WTC 7 if exposed to fire.
What PB suggests is that people like me don’t want to talk about that because it disproves our theory about controlled demolition.
Here are a few links for you to brush up on the fire, the collapse and what some pre-eminent 911 research websites say about it and I will let you make up your own mind.
Here is a 1 minute BBC video which clearly shows that chunks do indeed fall of the building after huge fires have raged for hours and hours.
Here is a link to a well established 911 research site clearly describing the falling chunks too with the added advantage of actually describing the huge differences in building technique and other significant information such as a timeline showing that the collapse was partial and significantly slower than the freefall speed of the collapse of WTC 7 and more importantly that the collapse followed the laws of physics such as falling along the path of least resistance.
And here is Dr Frank Legge’s take on it illustrated by me with photo’s of both the Windsor tower, the burning Twin tower and of a woman standing in the hole created by one of the planes showing how there was no obvious fire and heat in the area where there were supposed to be furnace level heat bringing the Tower down.
And here is the Journal for 911 studies with articles written by Scientists, Engineers, Architects and others if you want tot learn more.
And PB stop digging that hole you’re already in. You’re getting to be quite desperate with your dishonest fake quotes and innuendo. I wonder why?
So the one link you provide that is at all relevant says that the madrid building was very different to the WTC buildings, but that the parts of the building that were most like the WTC buildings did collapse.
(And we are not talking about ‘chunks’ here, we are talking about the top third of the building)
So why is it used as alleged proof that fires won’t cause collapse?
Surely that information about the section of the madrid building that did in fact collapse, the section more like the wtc buildings, should have been included in the 911 for dummies leaflet you are promoting.
Do you think it is honest to leave that information out Eve?
“To PB this proves that all buildings will collapse like the Twin towers and WTC 7 if exposed to fire.”
I’ll just leave this one here as a fine example of Eve’s honesty for those who can find me saying or implying anything like it.
(HINT: You won’t find me saying anything like that, Eve just can’t help being dishonest. To be fair, her argument requires dishonesty to be at all convincing. Just bear in mind this statement of hers when she accuses others of dishonesty. She just flat out lies.)
Hash comes to mind as the talk revolves about 9/11 which is American coding for 11 September and doesn’t even refer to the year. (So the subject can be revived again each year as if it was just last year.)
Hash – dictionary definition 2. A reuse or rework of old material. and a meaning that holds glamour is 4. settle someone’s hash – to subdue or silence someone.
Personally I am trawling through various events of World War 2 which is full of surprises and shocks for me and there are even new understandings for historians. Now I set World War 2 as winner against your World Trade Centre. Any bets on which was the biggest and most awful and had most secrets and unexplained events.
(The latest is that the Germans told the Allies about the Polish Katyn massacre by the Russians well before the end of WW2 but the Allies kept it quiet because they needed to have the Russian power alongside them or the war and its deathly results would continue longer. And then afterwards the Allies still kept quiet about this sad act of barbarism).
It only took you 70 years to find out that WWII was started with False Flag inside jobs and they kept silent about it???
And you’re only able to admit to them because it was the “bad” people did them?
Oh well, never mind, I’m sure there’s going to be people like you who in 70 years are going to be equally surprised about the events of 911 when it’s “historians” who write about them.
Just the man who should be reading this beautiful book but who won’t.
I hoped you would react to this because it gives me an opportunity to thank you.
Thanks to your responses here my blog has attracted a lot more attention from people than it would have without your inane banter.
People have a tendency to want to see for themselves what is being ridiculed before they join the fray and judging by the fact that a lot more people (44 from the Standard alone) read my blog then the two who left proof of their intellectual fragility I reckon the message gets out there.
Next week I’m going to hit the 50.000 individual IP addresses of which about 46% are New Zealanders. That is at a rate of 117 on average per day over the last 30 days.
The last week more than 3476 people visited my blog with top searches such as:
edna cintron
9 11 twin towers
twin towers 9/11
the real towers on 911
building 7 lights for 9/11
And according to Open Parachute I was number 44 on the August list of NZ blogs. Not bad for a “fringe” blog from a foreigner considering there are now 267 blogs on his list!
But it’s not great link-whoring, now is it? It’s a shame you do not have a background based in recognising the difference between shit and chocolate Ev.
Local musicians are pulling together a concert to raise money for the refugees of Syria.
It’s the brainchild of Tali Williams, a local musician who spent time in Syria in 2006, writing on the plight of refugees. She stayed for a few weeks at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.
“At that time the camp was home to refugees fleeing the Iraqi war,” Williams says. “Now because of the brutal war being waged by Assad on his own people, Yarmouk has faced a deluge of displaced Syrian refugees.”
The situation is desperate Williams says. She’s stayed in touch with workers from the Jafra Foundation whom she met in Syria. Jafra funds relief and youth programmes at the Yarmouk camp.
“The people at Jafra are saying things are really bad there. The camp is being shelled on a daily basis and because of the numbers of refugees arriving at the camp they’re fast running out of basic supplies such as food and water. My friend asked me by email if I could help raise some money for them.”
Williams says she felt “desperate” to help. Her band friends were happy to lend their support to the people of Syria. The result, a fundraising show featuring Wellington acts All Seeing Hand, The Body Lyre, Hutt Old Boys and Von Thundersvolt.
Williams says entry is only $10, all of which will go directly to the Jafra Foundation.
Right bloody Herald doing its usual. Now turn to Radionz doing its regular bloody good job.
This monrning on Kim Hill’s compered by Producer Mark Cubey today were some very informative items that anyone writing blogs here will want to listen to. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday (audio won’t be up till a few hours after broadcast or about 12 noon)
The first goes into the nature of politicians and why Britain has the bunch it has which explains what we have and what the public role in their choice is. He also mentions USA. It’s a pretty grim future for us really, for among other points, the super-wealthy have the money to fund the pollies they want to stand and then to get the policies they want. Hence USA. Don’t be too hard on Obama folks.
This interview was at 8:15 Aeron Davis (a good, clear speaker with nous)
Dr Aeron Davis is Professor of Political Communication at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has investigated communication at Westminster and the London Stock Exchange, and amongst the major political parties and across the trade union movement, interviewing close to 300 high-profile individuals employed in journalism, public relations, politics, business, finance, NGOs and the civil service. Dr Davis is the author of Public Relations Democracy (MUP, 2002), The Mediation of Politics (Routledge, 2007), and Political Communication and Social Theory (Routledge, 2010). He is currently working on a book on the rise of promotional culture.
The second talks about China and how it is changing and casts light on what we should be thinking about it and how to be doing things alongside, in or with it. (Not like John Key building a slanted picture of having ‘tentacles into the Pacific’. What a stupid, ignorant prick he is when he is outside his only skill manipulating other people’s money in a firm that eventually failed.)
Was on at 8:40 Steve Mullinjer (good clear speaker very well versed in background.)
Steve Mullinjer is head of the Asian and Middle-East business for leadership advisory firm Heidrick & Struggles. Based in Shanghai, he also runs the firm’s Asian private equity business.
There was also a third – Martin Snedden who has written a book on the ins and outs of hosting the Rugby World Cup. It gives an overview of it and insight into how NZ can do things like this successfully again. Which we need to to keep money flowing and accumulating in piles to be delivered to education, hospitals and so on.
Prism. The really scary thing from Dr Davis was about the massive dismantling and privatisation of the British Health System. (Coming to a place near you?)
ianmac you’re back! Yes but the whole thing is scary.
I have read about British privatisation from years back in providing housing and the government there has through their lax demands and standards reintroduced slum landlords on probably a bigger scale than Peter Rachman. Wikipedia has coverage of this guy who would now probably be an MP or ex MP. Also this link http://notting-hill.london.myvillage.com/article/peter-rachman
The British are pretty good at doing down the poor and the ‘people’ generally. That’s why our people came all the way out here sailing for three months in crowded discomfort, eating who knows what and with numerous children born on board also dying. But we were brought up with the myth that the good things about the United Kingdom was all there was to know about them. Now the crooks have termited into the heart of the pillars of political and financial probity and services, and the edifice is tottering they are doing a Brownlee and sweeping it all away.
Good info Prism, cheers, and yes the worlds elite certainly have the planet at their mercy, there is no doubt about that! People have let it happen to them, so is expecting them to react to prevent further head stomping too much to expect?
Just one thing to address though “Which we need (corporate events) to to keep money flowing and accumulating in piles to be delivered to education, hospitals and so on.,
We need nothing to ensure that the countrys health, education and general societal well being needs are met, other than to take control of our monetary supply. At that time we can feed, heal, educate, cloth and shelter all those who need the asisstance, and some who may not, throughout our live with some dignity, that has been stripped back to callousness beyond belief in many cases.
Talk about large events and what purpose they serve distract people from core conversations, and given the losses to the country in terms of debt to repay on the back of the event, well we can let the private sector fund that stuff eh, at least until we have taken control of our monetary supply!
Oh come on muzza while it’s true that the people have let it happen etc there is another side and that the people can’t imagine the level of inflated self-promotion masking inherent incompetence and the focussed self-interest and deal-making tendencies that drives the actions of pollies.
The radio discussion talked about who gets elected and why and made the point that people particularly in the USA look for someone who sounds trustworthy and capable of doing the job. Policies are confusing so the electorate is not well informed about them. He also talks about the blatant lies about policies and change of tack once elected, often to the opposite of what was promised. Winston should get in to parliament, he is a consummate politician, but I like his style and if we are to have self-serving, well-paid career politicians (another point he comments on) we might as well have style with it.
And the point that we need to have control of our monetary supply – yes to a large extent. But it’s buying power is always connected to world levels. We could help by making more decisions ourselves true and stopping wealthy people using it as play money mucking up our exchange rate for instance. And we do need to do business and create wealth, or we get more reliance on free health care from old women and otherwise unemployed, and more being done with unacceptable parts of old home remedies. Baking soda on all wounds for instance, Vinegar anyone? T
there is another side and that the people can’t imagine the level of inflated self-promotion masking inherent incompetence and the focussed self-interest and deal-making tendencies that drives the actions of pollies.
The radio discussion talked about who gets elected and why and made the point that people particularly in the USA look for someone who sounds trustworthy and capable of doing the job.
Nah, that side is also called letting it happen to them…Through such traits as laziness, ignorance, arrogance and ego, large helpings of most or all, it is not exclusive the USA!
And the point that we need to have control of our monetary supply – yes to a large extent. But it’s buying power is always connected to world levels. We could help by making more decisions ourselves true and stopping wealthy people using it as play money mucking up our exchange rate for instance
Not in large part, in full part Prism, people got to stop thinking outside of that little box, and fix our exchange rate while we are taking back the money supply, that will stabilise our export markets among other things! Once we have claimed our money supply, we can go about taking back whats left of so called democracy, because time is running very short these days….if its not past tipping point already!
Good on you for reding some history too, get stuck into WW1 while youre at it, I am sure you are already up to speed on the Vietnam lies which kick started that disaster!
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. —Sir Winston Churchill (yes he was one of the bros, and high enough to have known exactly what he was saying!)
muzza
Hell no. I can’t go into WW1 or Vietnam in depth (though did a bit of googling on MIA and was fascinated by how many politicians and scam artists (not necessarily the same) got involved in that emotional idea. One woman mortgaged her house to provide funds for someone who said he was going to find evidence in Vietnam. All for nothing, for her, I think. No WW2 is enough. I have only so much time.
And about the exchange rate, if the market isn’t going to set a second by second rate based on points of a cent advantage to the traders, how are we going to establish a rate that holds and is appropriate for the market as well as for us.? Will we set it at certain times of the year, then hold through one season of agricultural or horticultural exports then at a set date look at how the market/blackmarket is going (economists don’t like floor prices as it encourages devious ways around, though I don’t know if that is worse than hedge funds that are set up to play financial games for the h.funds within the main transaction.) And if USA can have Quantitative Easing why can’t we??
And what exchange rate would we have now if we could eliminate much of the short-term trading that we have now. The rate would be different and higher probably than a rational assessment looking at our total economic situation. 70% against the US$? And what about the basket of currencies rate?
……..NZ$ value PayNZ
Euro 0.632211 1.581750
US Dollar 0.830000 1.204819
Australian Dollar 0.785278 1.273434
Canadian Dollar 0.805266 1.241826
(courtesy of X-Rates)
A 1% increase in the TWI reduces the value of exports by .81%. The so called lobbyists such as the EMA and FF argue that the inputs such as fuel etc negate the increased value ie inputs =outputs. Which they do not.
You need higher returns to increase efficiency both in energy,and in local substitution such as packaging etc.
The fact is we have an external deficit,we have to either increase our earnings,or decrease borrowings,when ideology gets in the way of obvious economic reality it may be indeed time to send the old bulls to the works.
Poission 8 2 1 1 1 +
For the information of those at economics 101 like me –
The trade-weighted index (TWI) is a measure of the value of the New Zealand dollar (NZD) relative to the currencies of New Zealand’s major trading partners.
Thank you Reserve Bank. May we learn and honour your actions to preserve the integrity of our NZD.
I’m a beef lover Poission. Even tough old fatty stuff, with mushrooms and a soupcon of red wine perhaps.
“The basic problem for Republicans is that their highest policy priority is to cut the effective tax rate paid by the richest 1 percent of Americans, but the vast majority of the voters don’t share that goal. Handling that problem is the single biggest challenge the Republican party faces. Normally, when a party has an extremely unpopular position, it just jettisons it. But Republicans care so much about this goal that they won’t give it up, which makes sense — you compromise on your secondary goals, not on your primary goal. Still, this ultimately places them in the position Romney finds himself and Paul Ryan and George W. Bush have found as well — the only way they can get elected is to obscure the real trade-offs and make up a bunch of fake numbers.”
This is only about the Republicans isn’t it? I mean National wouldn’t use these tactics like lowering the tax rate for the benefit of the rich would it? Oh.
Remember people not to be conned by the term “rich”, especially when referring to tax cuts in NZ.
Sure the cuts were aimed at those who possibly did not need them, but that conjecture, does not hide the simple fact that it was little more than the following.
1: Vote buying/securing
2: Class warfare ensuring – Hey those rich bastards to a tax cut, and we got a bloody gst tax rise…
3: Budget blowing – leading to more borrowing, from who, at what rate we are not allowed to know, only that we all become pooer for it
4: Distraction!!!!!
The true rich, not those people belive are in charge, do not pay tax, nor do the corporations they own. Even the lackeys like Romney do their best to steal then hide their ill gotten gains…
No, the “rich” , we in NZ, and the idiots in the USA are told that the “rich”, are those in NZ = Over 65K or whatever it is, and in the USA 200-250k+
These people are not why NZ is broke, they are simply a tool being used, just as the poor are. When people can cut through the obvious misdirections, then can we have real conversation.
People who make things for the rich find often that it is very hard to get payment from them, they delay, complain about some minor thing to bring the price down and just don’t want to pay their bills.
Applies to tax as well. That reluctance to pay a small proportion of their discretionary money, ie what’s left after utilities and other living expenses are paid for, and then the tax just reduces their extra pot of gold, starves the country of the income it needs to provide for all the other people who make do on much less, ie the huge majority. And the more that universal provision of services is cut, the more they want to hold onto their gold to make sure that they have the cash to cover their own needs. Universality is often scorned, but it is essential in a democracy that wants to be fair and reasonably equal.
And we noticed that going house to house for charity collections the people in rich houses tended to be rude and nil donors, but many people in poor seeming houses they gave something.
My plumber brother in law hated doing work in Fendalton in Christchurch because they constantly obstructed paying his bills.
Anecdotal I know, but ask around.
You can actually buy ascorbic acid very cheaply and inject it yourself if you really want to. If I thought it would help with cancer, I wouldn’t wait for a hospital.
After 10 weeks of waiting my IR3 tax return was due to be released yesterday. I checked on-line and nothing had changed so I rand IRD. I was informed that because my return contained an overseas component it could not be processed automatically, and so it will now be processed manually which will take another 15 working days. This is after I rang them twice during the ten weeks to check on the progress and discussing with the employee both times the overseas component.
How the $%^% does it take 10 weeks to figure out a single application has to be processed manually?
Further from Water Care comment a few days ago
A standard family of 4 usage 600l/day or 219 kL
In Jan 2012 the annual cost of water would have been:
Fixed charges WasteWater $426.36 pa
Volume Charges $284.70 p.a.
Total Cost $711.06
Now it would be
Fixed $190 p.a
Volume Waste Water $294.12 @ $1.343
Volume Water $499.54 @ $2.281
A New annual cost to the $983.66
An increase of $272.60 or 38%. No wonder everyone is feeling poorer. And for me this is where many miss the point it is these day to day issues that hit the pay packet that get no attention are the issues. Think what a household has to give up now to be able to afford this increase in water. I hope that the new beer factory of Lion have also incurred this increase ???? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10696787
Water is free just like education – Tui anyone !!!!
Like many of these insidious increases in costs that we cannot escape (Non tradables) and watch deflation form nice to haves that we import and can live without or delay. Hard to delay water, rates etc. These are the every day issues that do have an impact on people not all these beltway issues.
Our town does not meter water. Is your annual water rate of $983 on top of Rates? If so must make Rates + water pretty high? (My total Rates $2,340 pa.)
Rates have had the water component separated for some of the councils that were absorbed into Jakaland others such as Manukau & Auckland had them already separated. Just another small issue that makes all of us poorer and those in severe need ….. Still what is a 38% on top of the rates increase- Just as well we all received a tax cut a few years ago to help us out !!!!
It’s also the first step to privatising the supply.
I’ll wait until leaks become evident, ta very much. given that the only reason my town had a water shortage a few years back was because the reservoirs were too small for the population. Sorted now, I believe.
At those rates it would be advisable to go to this site.
You know, what really pisses me off is that a lot of people actually think that these things such as water can be supplied free. It costs to put them in place and it costs to maintain them. Can’t get away from that. Could get away from the council taking a dividend (profit) but that would require an increase in rates which people will complain about as well but it still comes down to the simple fact that what they want to be supplied costs and they don’t seem willing to pay for it.
Both Key and Shearer will be on Q & A tomorrow (9 am).
Some advice for David Shearer: you know what you will be asked about (water, asset sales) and you need to have a very clear response. Spend the rest of Saturday rehearsing with the bathroom mirror if you have to – just make sure you get it right. It is 100% certain that your soundbite will be featured in the news bulletins, so it’s your job to give the media one they can use.
You will be asked …
“Do Maori own water?”
“Do you agree with the Prime Minister?”
“Would you negotiate with iwi?”
etc
Media Rule One – it is NOT about the question, it is about your answers. And your answer should be that New Zealand assets are not for sale. If you accept Key’s framing of the issue (i.e. it’s about those grasping Maoris) then you lose. So … don’t even THINK about accepting it. You say:
“Our power is not for sale. We’re going to give the people a say, and they’ll say “No sale”.
(Interviewer – “But who owns water?”)
“We’ll have a referendum. I’ve brought a copy of the petition along (*waves paper at camera*) for John Key to sign. Have you signed it yet? Why not?”
(“But who owns water?”)
“Let’s ask the people … if they want to keep our assets, we keep our water.”
etc.
No waffle. Just a clear, principled (and incidentally, popular) position. Please.
+1 I’d like to see DS also throw the issue of falling demand from Kawerau and Tiwai point onto the table which weakens all the generators values.
Shonkeys playing the race card as a distraction from the play Rio Tinto are making to get even cheaper power from our system and overall falling demand.
Taunt the big businesses party with their inability to see this coming from big business, not looking at the global market for aluminium etc etc, as has been stated, answer in a way that sets the agenda.
Yeah but you already know whats going to happen. Umms and errs and arrs and waffle, waffle, waffle. Key will run rings around him, and then Labour really will be a dead duck…Time to start saving my pennies for moving my family out of NZ.
It’s pop-quiz time when it comes to the American way of war: three questions, torn from the latest news, just for you. Here’s the first of them, and good luck!
Two weeks ago, 200 U.S. Marines began armed operations in…?:
a) Afghanistan
b) Pakistan
c) Iran
d) Somalia
e) Yemen
f) Central Africa
g) Northern Mali
h) The Philippines
i) Guatemala
Goodness me. And the outrage of Americans at the attacks on US Embassies and suchlike. What a cheek those non-Americans have to actually molest some of our places. Surprised and shocked. Tsk. Tsk.
joe90
What a smug-looking sh.t. What I can’t understand is why there isn’t a furore about people like Klein calling themselves Christian. If that isn’t taking the Christian religion and Lord’s name in vain I don’t know what is. The established churches who consider themselves following Christian principles should denounce such people. Klein cannot be a true Christian and act as he does, and the Coptic Church should also be calling their people to account if they profess to follow the Christian way.
Having leaders of churches criticise these lowlives plays into their fantasy world, and gives them a chance to have airtime to spout their poisonous filth. Better for the 99% of us who find their views utterly despicable to disempower them with logic, compassion and decency
locus
I disagree. The churches that cling to the idea of integrity and following Christ need to disassociate themselves from so-called ‘Christians’ like Klein and the nasty and stupid so-called Coptic Christian who actually made the film. Jesus would denounce them.
Klein cannot be a true Christian and act as he does, and the Coptic Church should also be calling their people to account if they profess to follow the Christian way.
I don’t believe that he is a Christian at all, much less a Copt. The story changes every 5 minutes, I’ve been discussing it on a rather vicious American board, for the past 3 days, and I have been noting all the changes as they happen…
Watch the following clip. It is the Australian workplace relations minister Bill Shorten, but I’m sure others have seen New Zealand politicians who are just as much of a waste of space….
Actually it could just as easily have been Paula Benefit discussing her future plans for the enhancement of beneficiaries’ well-being – minus a few of the ummms and arrrhhs…
Today Goldworthy spokesperson for Manufacturers is reported as saying no to Green suggestions to ease the exchange rate because it will – put up fuel cost. And no serious politician would consider that. Hey, I think it’s time to recognise it’s already happening. Wakey, wakey.
His message is that manufacturers have to get smart and handle it. This is exactly the same message that they have been coming out with since the exchange rate became a problem. These guys can’t even support a new approach that would benefit all of them in keeping their markets and getting more sales in this world recession! Door closed. Closing down shop. Locked. No new ideas need to apply here.
No wonder NZ is going down the drain. And catching up with Oz, we won’t even be able to hope that if we wait in one spot they will decline to our level. We will be slowly sinking always below them for reasons of size for a start, which gives scale, and also because they are a bunch of tryers, trying yes, but they’ve a bit of the dingo that we haven’t got.
Another move in google’s plan for world domination. ‘Quick view’ in google searches (to save opening DOCs/PDFs etc) is now only available if you are signed into googledocs with a google account.
Scratch that. It seems that I had a gmail account that had been logged out by google, but not by me, and that was what was prompting me to log in. Once I logged out properly, I could view the googledocs fine.
please don’t starve my country
please don’t ruin my economy
please don’t bomb my family
please don’t invade my country
please don’t appoint a corrupt government
please don’t hand my country over to your corporations
please don’t steal our resources
I agree with the Law Society suggesting that we jettison the tv coverage we have at present and instead supply a constant feed with no comments. Jonathan Temm slags the tv coverage we have now as encouraging disrespect for the law, and emotional responses to the process and to the defendant. And concentrating only on particular cases that they can sensationalise. True.
And what about this news.
Road rage case reviewed by Solicitor-General
The Solicitor-General’s office is reviewing a case in which an Auckland investment banker ran over a man and broke his legs.There was an altercation so of course when you are an annoyed banker, or even a disturbed one, you attack someone with your car.
Happened in Christchurch and the guy got away with killing Christine Clark, mother of two.
Perp got 9 months periodic detention and 2 years disqualification. He was a good guy said his barrister, and was frightened by the emotional picketers at Lyttelton and just took off.
Klein USA right wing brain-damaged rabid who was behind the offending film was on radio yesterday or this morning. He talks about Vietnam, which seems to have spawned such a tail of bad attitudes and concepts almost as bad as the war itself. He says his son was injured when in Iraq on some project.
The fast worldwide media gives these crazies and bigots so much power. The First World War I think started after a Serbian killed the ArchDuke of Something which caused outrage and sparked the fuse that went off dragging countries in to support other countries they had treaties with. People like Klein and the southern ‘pastor’ who burnt a Koran are the same sort of dangerous nutters. We have just made closer ties with the USA, our big buddy! What next?
you’re right – the more hatred one side can generate the more it justifies the other side to use the same tactics – putrid attitudes need to be starved of publicity – does the egyptian tv host who broadcast the sick video to the arab world feel any responsibility for the ensuing deaths and escalating hatred?
Re David Bain…
When retired Canadian judge, David Binnie, was appointed by the National Government to assess David Bain’s compensation claim a few months ago, Judge Binnie asked for reading material which included two books written by Bain supporter, Joe Karam: David and Goliath: The Bain family murders; and Bain and Beyond.
But this request did not extend to books written by ant-Bain campaigners. I find that quite extraordinary. The other books included The Mask of Sanity: The Bain Murders by James McNeish; and In the Grip of Evil: The Bain Murders by Judith Wolfe and Trevor Reeves.
To get compensation, applicants must prove their innocence, at a minimum, on the balance of probabilities. In addition, because Bain’s claim fell outside cabinet guidelines, he needs to demonstrate the circumstances were extraordinary. The compensation could be up to $2 million dollars, for the time he spent in prison. He could also be entitled to a public apology or a statement of innocence. I don’t believe that innocence or lack of innocence should be assessed on probabilities. Justice has to be broader than that, surely?
The interesting point that should be considered is that the Prime Minister, John Key, and his Cabinet are not bound to grant compensation. As I wrote above, this claim actually fell outside Cabinet guidelines.
The Government’s decision could take some time. Judge Binnies’ report has to be read by the Minister of Justice, who will then report to Cabinet. There is no right of Appeal to the Cabinet’s decision. It is binding!
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Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
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Yesterday on Nine-to-Noon, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education (Lesley Longstone, Secretary of Education), responded to questions about whether there was an underlying plan behind the Christchurch school closures that had nothing to do with quake damage. She said the plan was to reconfigure the range of schools with an eye to making positive changes for the future. She explained it as something rational and good for Christchurch.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2532193/schools-shake-up-in-christchurch.asx
Parata has also said as much:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/canterbury-earthquake/115789/13-schools-to-close,-others-to-merge-in-christchurch
Others are not so sure, and are concerned the government is taking the opportunity to change Christchurch schools, for benefit the better off Cantabrians, at the expense of the less well-off, and to further the NAct government’s agenda for education.
Green MP Catherine Delahunty sys:
http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/school-closure-criteria-needs-be-made-clear
John Minto is concerned that the Christchurch plans involve introducing Carter Schools:
http://mana.net.nz/2012/09/13-public-schools-in-christchurch-to-close-how-many-will-reopen-as-charter-schools/
People need to keep asking Key, Parata, and the Ministry, exactly what IS their plan for Christchurch schools, and how much this will be followed across NZ.
Disaster capitalism (see Naomi Klein): alive and well in Christchurch.
As usual us poor lefties that raised disaster capitalism happening in Christchurch were dismissed “this is New Zealand, don’t be paranoid” etc. The education unions will leap onto this with a growl hopefully if there is a scent of charter schools being snuck in.
And it’s not just the specter of Charter Schools that’s a problem here, but that involves a new train for consultants to scoop themselves up some gravy:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1209/S00116/education-renewal-in-canterbury.htm
Does anyone else feel that Ms Longstone’s PR-speak sounds a little 1984-ish?
Thanks Carol. You have put together a lot of work there. Much to think about.
John Campbell was assured by Parata that each school will be consulted. John would return to the subject down the track.
Consultation??? But to listen and act on those responses? Yeah right!
I think here’s your answer about consultation, ianmac.
Also, on the charter school issue, I’ve heard – through the proverbial grapevine – that the government has been rejecting proposals for ‘special character’ state-funded schools in Nelson (two?) and Auckland that are not ‘special character’ for religious reasons.
That grapevine information came along with suspicion that that was to line-up such initiatives for charter school formats (while allowing religious ‘special character’ initiatives to continue to be state-supported). That is, make it impossible to do something different through the state system (as has been possible until recently) so that the only option is to find some private sector ‘partner’ and go the charter way.
Perhaps others have more information – or knowledge that shows it is only rumour and has no basis in fact?
The worm that turned.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10834120
The simpering John Armstrong misuses his considerable audience reach to try and give two bloggers a telling off. Unfortunately he picks one veteran who has considerable integrity and journalistic skills–Gordon Campbell at Scoop, the other–Bryce Edwards is a new kid on the block who needs more time in the saddle to rate really, as ex Alliance he still seems to have it in for Labour more than the torys at times. But regardless, Bryce does not deserve a pasting from the likes of Nat toady Armstrong.
Meanwhile two bloggers that desperately need a good spanking for all manner of poor and unethical behaviour–Farrar and Whale, are unlikely to get one in the pages of the Herald.
Yeah, WTF is that all about? Armstrong seems to think any number of journalists like him – part of the establishment, complete with an acceptable ambient neo-liberal bias is OK, but ONE blogger like Bryce Edwards pushing an overtly left wing agenda gaining an audience is some kind of threat to civilization. Armstrong also shows considerable arrogance. He is a real journalist. Campbell and Edwards are not. Therefore he will tolerate them until they become a bit of a threat, then they need to be slapped back into place.
No he’s not a real journalist, he’s a paid shill and company man writing slogan driven spin using his position as a so called informed commentator.
His lack of balance is obvious, a dinosaur blathering on in yesterday’s media.
Hey anybody moticed the ‘new herald’ looks eerily like the independent in the UK, wonder how much someone got paid for that.
Armstrong….. o ha, ha, ha
🙄
a few tried and trusted cliches come to mind…. for Armstrong in his glasshouse…. pot meet kettle:
Gordon Campbell is a far better, critical and well-researched journalist than Armstrong ever will be…. and Armstrong dares to call him and Edwards “blinkered” and ignorant.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Oh, but wait. Armstrong is trotting out his excuses for poor journalism, having a cry about pressures of meeting deadlines within a highly pressured international context, dealing with high status pollies. And is using it for a platform to bash bloggers generally.
If the journalists are not up to the job, they should do something else. And we are all entitled to crtiticise the product journalists turn out…. Here’s another good old cliche….. the proof is in the pudding
A good blogger holds MSM journalists to account. It’s a new environment, John. Get used to it.
In what is otherwise an extraordinarily self indulgent load of drivel it’s the last few paragraphs of Armstrong’s column which I found alarming:
“Edwards’ blog is the extreme example of the fact that most blogsites rely on the mainstream media for their information and then use that information to criticise the media for not stressing something enough or deliberately hiding it.
Unlike the mainstream media, the blogs are not subject to accuracy or taste – and sometimes even the law.
It is the ultimate parasitical relationship. And it will not change until the media start charging for use of their material.”
Is he basically suggesting that charging for content use is a way to stifle criticism?
He might be saying saying people with money have no critical thinking skills, or at least have sufficient “breeding” to be polite.
I disagree about MSM being subject to taste, unless racism and ignorance is a form of polite modern “taste”. In highlighting the parasitical relationship, he nicely avoids his part in the relationship. The dirty dog attracts fleas. In Armstrong’s world, dogs are self cleaning and the best of the best are heavenly creatures with no faults at all – exempt from natural law. If he can’t get rid of his fleas, his owner could give him a bath. Overall, he should be grateful he gets paid for crapping on the carpet.
Fran O’Sullivan has been having a go at Bryce Edwards for a while essentially because he is a leftie. Looks like she has persuaded Armstrong to have a go as well. What is the bet that Edwards’ Political Roundup column will shortly disappear from the Herald.
It is a shame really. The column is usually a good summation of what is happening on the blogs and in reality.
Reading Armstrong’s column “Methinks the man doth protest too much!”
The Poutrage!!!
Those nasty bloggers must have hit the spot for him to have such a tantrum in print, and why the f*$k did the editor let it go to print, suppose nothing much happened in politics this week. WTF!!!
Aaaand, Who could forget this zenith of political journalism from his co worker, Audrey Young.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10610606
Or this one from Audrey Young parrotting Bennett’s lies on Accommodation Supplement instead of checking some basic facts with the MSD.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/audrey-young/news/article.cfm?a_id=164&objectid=10821466
I assume Armstrong has no sense of irony in describing Gordon Campbell as not a journalist.
Conservative tears: cool, crisp, satisfying. Campbell and Edwards must be doing something right.
I had to smile seeing that one of only two comments on Armstrong’s blog post* came from Pete George talking about mutual parasites.
*’cos let’s be honest, that’s all it is.
Yeah, Armstrong certainly showed his bias there. Whalespew is just a torrent of vile rubbish, hate speech, and thinly veiled physical threats. He’s hardly even a blogger – he cuts and pastes some rubbish and his “army” starts frothing at the mouth. For all their weaknesses, Campbell and Edwards do at least come across as civilised.
And the comments section is a chorus of, Piss off John you are a whiny JK suckup.
Keith Stewart on Radio Live is doing a series interviewing politicians on Saturday nights at 8pm.
Tonight he has David Shearer on for those interested. Keith is a hard lefty so could be interesting.
The number of self-checkout machines in New Zealand will increase by half this year – the first wave of technology which is set to forever change our daily interactions
So when machines have replaced the human jobs, what happens to the humans….
To quote an old union official ‘work is disappearing ‘. The scary thing is if that these really bloated inefficient large companies look automation and good process seriously you’d see total carnage in their ranks as swathes of people wouldn’t be required.
Look at most Finance departments as an example.
Was talking with once of the nice human check out staff a couple of weeks back at a supermarket, and she said that the reason she scanned everything so frantically was that if they dont scan anough units per minute on average, when serting the counter, they get a “chat” with the manager…WTF
The supermarket happened to be Oz owned of course, and no surpirse the wanker above talks negaively about getting people on off days, but positively re consistancy of service &; speed of the machines..
These arseholes do not give a fcuk about human beings, frankly its rather sickening watching it all play out, and have dimwits, some on this site, trying to argue whats happening to us, is in fact not!
Edit: AS soon as it is “appropriate” in terms of time to do so, those processes you refer to will become surplus, just like the people involved in those processes. The finacncial sector is what is is with good reasons, which should be crystal clear by now!
Automation will become the norm, just look at the use of HFT, why the need to people in the front or middle office when the time comes!
Someone needs to come up with a way that people can pay for something using the credit on their mobile. Imagine using your phone as a digital wallet, you pick something up off the shelf, text a code to a number, and the purchase price is taken off your phone credit. Much easier than fumbling with your eftpos card.
You’re joking right!!!
Seriously have a think about what youre saying, then think a little further off along the technology roadmap, and try imagine where it will end up…..
flat phone battery = frakked and hungry
Yeah – lose your phone? Buy a new one. Lose your cards? Call for a replacement and cancel the old. Lose both…
Already happening, folks:
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2012/03/with_new_mobile_payment_app_cu.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment
Thats what I was getting at – Its already old technology.
Figured it was well known, but I guess not.
millsy 4.2
There is something called Square that has been developed which makes it easy to purchase stuff. Easier than eftpos I think with different way of connecting up.
I went to my local New World the other day, and just because i was waiting in line for a checkout I was accosted by, I presume a manager, who told me to use the self service checkout. I then informed her that 1: I am allowed to use what ever checkout I like. And 2: if I have to spend money then the least they can do is have someone who A: needs the job, and B: who can give you a welcoming smile and a cheery hello. And I also informed her that if they removed all the checkout staff and only left the auto ones open then I would go else where. She was not amused. (you could see it in her face she just wanted to tell me to piss off. Face like thunder lol)
That is the question. Under the present system a few get richer and everyone else takes another step or two towards poverty and starvation. The rich will, of course, keep blaming the poor for being poor and saying that we can’t afford to do anything about it.
We need to change the paradigm that we live under.
“We need to change the paradigm that we live under.”
How?
Design and promote a new paradigm. One that realises that the purpose of the economy is to support everyone and not just a few. One that listens to everyone and ensures that they have an equal say in the direction that society goes in.
I don’t mean to be disparaging, and totally agree that major change is required, but the system isn’t going to simply change because it’s dysfunctional… It will continue to grind on in its dysfunction and the few who have the nous to see it will continue to be ignored by the majority and by those who could effect change.
Conservatives and liberals aren’t going to give up their advantage without a fight… Which is pretty stupid because what we have now is a corruption of capitalism, whereby wealth is mainly being used to try to generate more wealth and not for the betterment of mankind. The thing that capitalists fail to understand is that more wealth can be generated when the people are fed, housed and clothed properly… A wealthy society also creates more wealth for capitalists. Wealth through subjugation and inequality is a fools agenda.
The current situation is entirely unsustainable and it’s only a matter of time before it collapses entirely. The problem is the suffering it causes in the mean time. You can work to increase peoples awareness and reduce peoples suffering, but by and large unless you have serious capital, you cannot bring about the downfall of corrupted capitalism or hope to change the current detrimental system… A catch 22 in other words.
@ Jackal
If a “tipping point” in the number of people whom develop “capital” within their heads occur “serious capital” can be overcome.
The thing that capitalists fail to understand is that more wealth can be generated when the people are fed, housed and clothed properly… A wealthy society also creates more wealth for capitalists. Wealth through subjugation and inequality is a fools agenda.
Or the agenda of those who like to watch human suffering,!
Who says “the capitalists” , if that is even what they are, fail to understand anythng of the sort!
Draco, you’ve just said the same thing, but used more words. I’m asking how ?
http://rdwolff.com/content/democracy-work
also, having the Government issue credit into the economy (instead of private banks) to fulfill societal aims, including the setting up of worker owned enterprises and co-operative financing structures.
That was the first sentence. Come up with a solution, promote it and then leave the rest to democracy and the failure of the present system.
Its been happening for a very long time. How do you think we moved from the stoneage.
First machine(wheeled carts) replaced serfs carrying things.
More recently cards replaced horse and buggies.
And so it will continue as the “workforce” requirements “adjust” to meet current demands.
Kiaora Muzza
The local supermarket I use has self-service which has been in place for over a year. However, on chatting to one of the staff recently, the supermarket is thinking to remove self-service as there has been a great increase in the number of ‘grocery items unaccounted for’ through using self-service.
While they usually have a staff member monitor the use of the six self-service machines they often are not in the position, especially in busy times, to closely inspect the number of items being ‘scanned’ through the system.
I suspect however that rather than get rid of self-service the supermarket will just increase the level and type of surveillance or input additional technology to prevent losses. Self-service will not completely replace the check-out operator but yes it probably will result in loss of jobs especially for our youth.
.
Hey Adele,
It will be up to people to vote with their feet, and start thinking about what/where they spend cash be it on essentials, or luxuries etc.
It has to be of concern when there are, and have been for some time, companies producing equipment whose use is/will put humans out of jobs, thats got to ring alarm bells for people surely.
Many Kiwis have voted with their feet and move abroad, plenty will never return, and that leaves the country vulnerable on so many fronts.
I genuinely am concerned about what has been happening to our country, and the direction we are being lead into, and honestly I don;t believe we are too many years away from major social unrest.
Sadly it need not be like that, but people have to open their eyes and realise that just because you believe that “im ok jack”, today, only means that there is some additional time you might have before problems come to your door.
The young of this country, the poor, the elderly, those most vulnerable, are treated so badly, and what are most people doing….asleep at the wheel it seems to me.
Be well.
Nope, it should be a celebration as it then allows those people to go and do something far more interesting and probably higher paid. The problem isn’t the disappearing jobs but that only a few people benefit from those disappearing jobs rather than all of society.
/agreed.
True which is why we get rid of capitalism.
Hey B, yes it should be, but I think you would expect that on current course, its got little to no chance to being that way. So the problem is the disappearing jobs, and also the point along the curve at which lack of jobs become a negative sum game, if we are not past that already.
We agree that the sytem needs to change, what it becomes is not as important at this stage, as the question of , how that change will come about!
The only change I am interested initially, is the taking back the control of our money supply. Achieve that and the conversations chnage immediately, and potentially do not require wholesale change.
Which is why I wonder if someone, or someone’s could successfully base an election run on that issue in silo????
muzza, we might well ask that question re incoming robotic servicing AND robots for human care.
Good Morning Dr Terry,
If I read your post correctly, you are saying that that “robots/machines” are possibly being created to help us out, help society etc?
Precisely! I notice that in our local Countdown, customers resist using the machines. I also resist them…
well work is not disappearing for some.
make sure you read yesterdays Dompost.
there are two very important article by Chris Trotter and Brenda Pilott on the leader page.
The shadowy Consitutional Advisory Panel and the Local Bodies Act are getting ready to strip the last vestiges of democracy and local input out of the vital institutions that manage the country.
it seems there is always plenty of work for the lampreys who attach themselves to the government to assist them in sucking the lifeblood out of the people.
The good news is that when the time comes all we have to do is get rid of one group of vampires: The ones in the Beehive!
captain hook
This is awkward. I have been looking at the Dompost and cannot find the articles you mentioned. Can you tell me where to go (on the Dompost page) to see them? Do I look for columnists tab at the top for instance? Or do I put their names in search?
I don’t think that they’re online. I certainly couldn’t find them.
Thanks Draco
Finally!!! 9/11 for Dummies.
Big photo’s, big letters, simple and blunt. Download for free and give to friends and family.
Surely 9/11 from dummies?
I stopped reading when they dragged out the Madrid fire without mentioning that the Windsor Building,
Madrid, was supported by reinforced concrete.
PB,
So true!!! WTC 7 was reinforced twice to withstand a nuclear blast but not a BIC lighter. How silly of them to forget!
Another top quality link there trav, thanks. But what does it have to do with the Madrid fire?
Do you care that so many truther documents use the madrid fire in a dishonest fashion?
Or do you think that because most people won’t do any checking, that it is all ok. That being dishonest is just the best tactic to get people to think what you what them to think?
It works of course, people don’t check things, telling lies works. I see you skiting about your blog, like I care. But for me, when I see you being dishonest, it makes me discount your views. It is your dishonesty, and the dishonesty of many other truthers, that really convinces me that you are all full of shit.
Start being honest, and you will start being convincing.
If you can’t be convincing without being dishonest, then the claims you are tryimg to convince poeple of are probably false.
PB,
You’re calling me a liar now?
For those of you wanting to make up your won mind about the Madrid fire here is PB’s analysis:
Because the Windsor tower was build with reinforced concrete it could withstand 24 hours of intense fire without collapsing
According to another genius here Mike E the towers collapsed because they had not central column but only reinforced concrete.
Here is the reality: both Twin towers had a core of 47 steel columns AND were build with reinforced concrete.
The third tower was build around steel columns and reinforced twice against nuclear blasts in it’s close vicinity. Still it came down in 6.5 seconds (Freefall speed) in the path of most resistance. Breaking every law of Physics known to man.
No Steel framed in human history has ever collapsed due to fire other then the three buildings from the WTC complex. Not even the other four buildings in the same complex which all burned for hours.
It seems to me the it is PB who is trying to turn and twist events and that perhaps it is actually more accurate to call him a liar but I leave that to your discretion.
Search terms you might want to go for are Windsor tower, Phillips building, Failed controlled demolition, Steel framed buildings, collapse due to fire, Newton, gravity, laws of Physics.
People might lie but the laws of physics sort of don’t.
What happened to the top section of the Madrid building Eve?
What was the difference in construction between the top section and the bottom section, how does that relate to the WTC and why don’t truther sites ever talk about that?
Not mentioning these things is dishonest.
Saying that the WTC towers had reinforced concrete, without saying whter or not this was load bearing structural stuff is dishonest.
People can certainly google and come up with thousands of links talking about the madrid fire and saying that it demonstrates that the wtc buildings wouldn’t have collapsed. truthers have been busy, and they link to all sorts of stuff, pushing up the google rankings of crud.
But the facts remain.
So show me your honesty and answer these three questions to the best of your knowledge:
1) What happened to the top section of the madrid building?
2) Was the top section of the buidling different to the bottom section in any respect?
3) If so, were WTC1&2 more like the top section, or the bottom section?
In your own words please. Let’s discuss like humans. Just throwing me alink to some usually irrelevent link is a fob off, one that ought to be beneath you.
And all this without a single link supporting these accusations and distortions and innuendo’s!
Have a nice day PB! I hope you don’t mind me not validating this crap.
Oh, and did I mention it: Lots of people are downloading the 911 for dummies pdf. Keep em coming PB. Keep em coming!
They are questions Eve. I don’t need to provide links to verify questions.
Question have answers, you have none however, which is fascinating. It’s almost as if the answers to those questions are things you are not interested in. Do the answers to those questions demonstrate the dishonesty of the truther’s use of the madrid fire eve?
Why don’t you show me up here, and demonstrate your honesty
Here’s another question, this time about the 6.5 second collapse claim. Who said this?
‘Truth’ funny how you guys keep using that word. A princess bride quote comes to mind.
PB. I just watched the CBS video and the building collapses in roughly 6.5s. It certainly did not take twice that long to collapse.
Further PB it seems that you’ve been had. Jones himself says in a blog post he labels “setting the record straight” that someone has deliberately made up shit (the same shit you quoted actually) and unfairly put his name next to it:
http://www.911blogger.com/news/2010-08-23/setting-record-straight-regarding-accelerated-fall-wtc-building-7
it only takes 6.5 if you ignore the penthouses, there is no reason to do that. I’ve seen arguments that there were two series of explosions, the first to weaken the structure, the second to bring it down. But that doesn’t explain why we see the penthouses fall. they aren’t holding the structure up, so bringing them down first makes no sense. (and i’ll note here that there are loads of controlled demolition videos on the web. Could you link me to some that sound like the WTC buildings coming down?)
But that’s only a problem for people trying to make the collapse look like something. NIST didn’t have that problem, so they just described what was most likely to have happened based on the evidence.
Other than that it’s one guy’s word against another’s, and Jones denial is pretty shifty,
‘I deny this bit most strenuously, those particular words are not what I said’ etc, and so on.
You’d laugh if John Banks put out a denial like that
.
Steven Jones is a really interesting guy. From Wiki:
Jones’ interests extend to archaeometry, solar energy,[2][3] and, like numerous professors at BYU, archaeology and the Book of Mormon.[4] For example, he has sought radiocarbon dating evidence of the existence of pre-Columbian horses in the Americas,[5] though initial results have indicated the equine remains tested are modern in origin,[6] and has interpreted archaeological evidence from the ancient Mayans as supporting his faith’s belief that Jesus Christ visited America.[7]
I’d read that their analysis didn’t cover the actual collapse, only events leading up to that point.
Not a single link and only one provable false quote and you call me a liar?
If you are reduced to this PB I suggest you have nothing at all.
My links will do the talking and none of them are based on lies like your quote.
Calling someone a liar without any supportive evidence is the last resort of the intellectual bankrupt.
Very sad.
Yep CV, very sad indeed but he left awesome testimonials
How did the building break the laws of Physics? My understanding is that, unlike traffic laws (for example), the laws of physics cannot actually be broken. And what is meant by “breaking every law of Physics known to man”? How was Faraday’s Law broken?
Ev is so blessed with insight that lesser mortals such as ourselves are not even allowed to think about ways her “information” could be checked. She sent me a message mentioning two things I’ve known about for more than 40 years to demonstrate my ignorance of the real world. Blind belief is all that is required, or be labelled a denialist. Pffft.
Oh Murray,
I had a modicum of respect before this but I can let rip now.
LOL. Fuck, you’re showing yourself to be a nasty vindictive little squirt don’t you?
Great thing you can’t chuck me off here like you did with others on a facebook page who had opinions other than you. And how silly to bring that intolerance and vindictiveness here!
Given the stuff you do respect, I won’t be losing any sleep.
And yes, I am one of the mods of a Facebook group that booted people for abuse, trolling, and constant ranting about all sorts of contradictory conspiracy theories.
Now keep obsessing and not answering questions. It’s what you’re best at, after all. Let rip.
Interesting PB,
You are giving a quote without any reference to who might have said it and what site you got it from and you are accusing me of being dishonest?
You skirting very close to classic shill behaviour here PB. It is one thing not to agree and try to disprove my assertions but it is entirely different to quote provably false quotes from debunking sites.
For those of you interested in trying to find out what really happened:
First of all steel framed buildings DO NOT COLLAPSE INTO THEIR OWN FOOTPRINT in 6.5, 14, 350 or 3000 seconds as the result of office fires EVER!
That makes PB’s argument moot.
The only reason steel framed buildings collapse into their own footprint is when they are “wired” for a CONTROLLED DEMOLITION.
Here is a video made by David Chandler. David Chandler was the man who forced NIST to admit that WTC 7 fell in free fall speed for 2.5 seconds of the 6.5 seconds it took to collapse.
In those 2.5 seconds 18 FLOORS of the 47 story building fell to the ground without any resistance. That is impossible unless it was imploded with the help of demolition charges.
Here is a Danny Jowenko a Dutch Demolition expert (Who recently died in a freak car accident) and his reaction when he is told that the WTC7 building he just described as a classic controlled demolition
Here is a fragment of an Italian documentary. In it the fire fighters admit to foreknowledge of the collapse and you see the reaction of two policemen when they hear the first explosions after which the building starts to come down.
You see what I mean PB? LINKS so people can make up their own mind!
lol.
Calling me dishonest doesn’t make it so.
Do you know what ‘begging the question’ means? It’s a logical fallacy, and here’s an example of it:
First of all steel framed buildings DO NOT COLLAPSE INTO THEIR OWN FOOTPRINT in 6.5, 14, 350 or 3000 seconds as the result of office fires EVER!
And none of your links discuss the simple and relevant questions I asked about the madrid fire.
Why are you avoiding those questions Eve?
You spend a lot of time researching this stuff, surely you could find the answers, surely you have come across them before, surely you don’t just look at one side of the debate right?
For those of you interested in what happened at the Windsor tower and made curious by PB’s insinuating questions the following:
The Windsor tower was a 106m high skyscraper in Madrid, Spain. After an extensive fire which lasted 24 hours the top floors pancaked and collapsed around the inner core.
To PB this proves that all buildings will collapse like the Twin towers and WTC 7 if exposed to fire.
What PB suggests is that people like me don’t want to talk about that because it disproves our theory about controlled demolition.
Here are a few links for you to brush up on the fire, the collapse and what some pre-eminent 911 research websites say about it and I will let you make up your own mind.
Here is a 1 minute BBC video which clearly shows that chunks do indeed fall of the building after huge fires have raged for hours and hours.
Here is a link to a well established 911 research site clearly describing the falling chunks too with the added advantage of actually describing the huge differences in building technique and other significant information such as a timeline showing that the collapse was partial and significantly slower than the freefall speed of the collapse of WTC 7 and more importantly that the collapse followed the laws of physics such as falling along the path of least resistance.
And here is Dr Frank Legge’s take on it illustrated by me with photo’s of both the Windsor tower, the burning Twin tower and of a woman standing in the hole created by one of the planes showing how there was no obvious fire and heat in the area where there were supposed to be furnace level heat bringing the Tower down.
And here is the Journal for 911 studies with articles written by Scientists, Engineers, Architects and others if you want tot learn more.
And PB stop digging that hole you’re already in. You’re getting to be quite desperate with your dishonest fake quotes and innuendo. I wonder why?
Oops, Purgatory again.
Saddened to hear this.
So the one link you provide that is at all relevant says that the madrid building was very different to the WTC buildings, but that the parts of the building that were most like the WTC buildings did collapse.
(And we are not talking about ‘chunks’ here, we are talking about the top third of the building)
So why is it used as alleged proof that fires won’t cause collapse?
Surely that information about the section of the madrid building that did in fact collapse, the section more like the wtc buildings, should have been included in the 911 for dummies leaflet you are promoting.
Do you think it is honest to leave that information out Eve?
“To PB this proves that all buildings will collapse like the Twin towers and WTC 7 if exposed to fire.”
I’ll just leave this one here as a fine example of Eve’s honesty for those who can find me saying or implying anything like it.
(HINT: You won’t find me saying anything like that, Eve just can’t help being dishonest. To be fair, her argument requires dishonesty to be at all convincing. Just bear in mind this statement of hers when she accuses others of dishonesty. She just flat out lies.)
Hash comes to mind as the talk revolves about 9/11 which is American coding for 11 September and doesn’t even refer to the year. (So the subject can be revived again each year as if it was just last year.)
Hash – dictionary definition 2. A reuse or rework of old material. and a meaning that holds glamour is 4. settle someone’s hash – to subdue or silence someone.
Personally I am trawling through various events of World War 2 which is full of surprises and shocks for me and there are even new understandings for historians. Now I set World War 2 as winner against your World Trade Centre. Any bets on which was the biggest and most awful and had most secrets and unexplained events.
(The latest is that the Germans told the Allies about the Polish Katyn massacre by the Russians well before the end of WW2 but the Allies kept it quiet because they needed to have the Russian power alongside them or the war and its deathly results would continue longer. And then afterwards the Allies still kept quiet about this sad act of barbarism).
It only took you 70 years to find out that WWII was started with False Flag inside jobs and they kept silent about it???
And you’re only able to admit to them because it was the “bad” people did them?
Oh well, never mind, I’m sure there’s going to be people like you who in 70 years are going to be equally surprised about the events of 911 when it’s “historians” who write about them.
Why do you talk about starting WW2 in response to prism mentioning the Katyn massacre?
🙁
Just the man who should be reading this beautiful book but who won’t.
I hoped you would react to this because it gives me an opportunity to thank you.
Thanks to your responses here my blog has attracted a lot more attention from people than it would have without your inane banter.
People have a tendency to want to see for themselves what is being ridiculed before they join the fray and judging by the fact that a lot more people (44 from the Standard alone) read my blog then the two who left proof of their intellectual fragility I reckon the message gets out there.
Next week I’m going to hit the 50.000 individual IP addresses of which about 46% are New Zealanders. That is at a rate of 117 on average per day over the last 30 days.
The last week more than 3476 people visited my blog with top searches such as:
edna cintron
9 11 twin towers
twin towers 9/11
the real towers on 911
building 7 lights for 9/11
And according to Open Parachute I was number 44 on the August list of NZ blogs. Not bad for a “fringe” blog from a foreigner considering there are now 267 blogs on his list!
So thank you and keep em coming!!!
No-one said link-whoring was without rewards.
Not if it’s great link-whoring!! LOL.
Who noticed how this year there was no upping or obvious highlighting of the “terror threat” level. leading into the anniversary of 911?
Then bam, right after, almost without warning (to the public, or the ambassador it seems), there goes deaths, attacks and the like.
Then some “bomb threat hoaxes” at universities in the USA…
Yeah this shit stinks as usual, whatever it is!
And let’s not forget the whole Mohammed film and Libya disaster
But it’s not great link-whoring, now is it? It’s a shame you do not have a background based in recognising the difference between shit and chocolate Ev.
For fuck’s sake? Howdy to you too!
Big BS trav read huffintons Expose on GW Bush’s cover up!
Link please!
Don’t bother. Just remembered Huffington’s post bans everybody who so much as whispers 911 together with the word question in the same sentence.
Concert for Syria
http://www.capitaltimes.co.nz/Concert-for-Syria
Syrian Refugee Fundraiser
8pm, Tonight.
Garrett Street
Be there or be square
Late News: Jon Lemon’s arm is DJing.
http://www.facebook.com/jon.lemmon.7
Right bloody Herald doing its usual. Now turn to Radionz doing its regular bloody good job.
This monrning on Kim Hill’s compered by Producer Mark Cubey today were some very informative items that anyone writing blogs here will want to listen to.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday (audio won’t be up till a few hours after broadcast or about 12 noon)
The first goes into the nature of politicians and why Britain has the bunch it has which explains what we have and what the public role in their choice is. He also mentions USA. It’s a pretty grim future for us really, for among other points, the super-wealthy have the money to fund the pollies they want to stand and then to get the policies they want. Hence USA. Don’t be too hard on Obama folks.
This interview was at 8:15 Aeron Davis (a good, clear speaker with nous)
Dr Aeron Davis is Professor of Political Communication at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has investigated communication at Westminster and the London Stock Exchange, and amongst the major political parties and across the trade union movement, interviewing close to 300 high-profile individuals employed in journalism, public relations, politics, business, finance, NGOs and the civil service. Dr Davis is the author of Public Relations Democracy (MUP, 2002), The Mediation of Politics (Routledge, 2007), and Political Communication and Social Theory (Routledge, 2010). He is currently working on a book on the rise of promotional culture.
The second talks about China and how it is changing and casts light on what we should be thinking about it and how to be doing things alongside, in or with it. (Not like John Key building a slanted picture of having ‘tentacles into the Pacific’. What a stupid, ignorant prick he is when he is outside his only skill manipulating other people’s money in a firm that eventually failed.)
Was on at 8:40 Steve Mullinjer (good clear speaker very well versed in background.)
Steve Mullinjer is head of the Asian and Middle-East business for leadership advisory firm Heidrick & Struggles. Based in Shanghai, he also runs the firm’s Asian private equity business.
There was also a third – Martin Snedden who has written a book on the ins and outs of hosting the Rugby World Cup. It gives an overview of it and insight into how NZ can do things like this successfully again. Which we need to to keep money flowing and accumulating in piles to be delivered to education, hospitals and so on.
Prism. The really scary thing from Dr Davis was about the massive dismantling and privatisation of the British Health System. (Coming to a place near you?)
ianmac you’re back! Yes but the whole thing is scary.
I have read about British privatisation from years back in providing housing and the government there has through their lax demands and standards reintroduced slum landlords on probably a bigger scale than Peter Rachman. Wikipedia has coverage of this guy who would now probably be an MP or ex MP. Also this link http://notting-hill.london.myvillage.com/article/peter-rachman
The British are pretty good at doing down the poor and the ‘people’ generally. That’s why our people came all the way out here sailing for three months in crowded discomfort, eating who knows what and with numerous children born on board also dying. But we were brought up with the myth that the good things about the United Kingdom was all there was to know about them. Now the crooks have termited into the heart of the pillars of political and financial probity and services, and the edifice is tottering they are doing a Brownlee and sweeping it all away.
Good info Prism, cheers, and yes the worlds elite certainly have the planet at their mercy, there is no doubt about that! People have let it happen to them, so is expecting them to react to prevent further head stomping too much to expect?
Just one thing to address though “Which we need (corporate events) to to keep money flowing and accumulating in piles to be delivered to education, hospitals and so on.,
We need nothing to ensure that the countrys health, education and general societal well being needs are met, other than to take control of our monetary supply. At that time we can feed, heal, educate, cloth and shelter all those who need the asisstance, and some who may not, throughout our live with some dignity, that has been stripped back to callousness beyond belief in many cases.
Talk about large events and what purpose they serve distract people from core conversations, and given the losses to the country in terms of debt to repay on the back of the event, well we can let the private sector fund that stuff eh, at least until we have taken control of our monetary supply!
Oh come on muzza while it’s true that the people have let it happen etc there is another side and that the people can’t imagine the level of inflated self-promotion masking inherent incompetence and the focussed self-interest and deal-making tendencies that drives the actions of pollies.
The radio discussion talked about who gets elected and why and made the point that people particularly in the USA look for someone who sounds trustworthy and capable of doing the job. Policies are confusing so the electorate is not well informed about them. He also talks about the blatant lies about policies and change of tack once elected, often to the opposite of what was promised. Winston should get in to parliament, he is a consummate politician, but I like his style and if we are to have self-serving, well-paid career politicians (another point he comments on) we might as well have style with it.
And the point that we need to have control of our monetary supply – yes to a large extent. But it’s buying power is always connected to world levels. We could help by making more decisions ourselves true and stopping wealthy people using it as play money mucking up our exchange rate for instance. And we do need to do business and create wealth, or we get more reliance on free health care from old women and otherwise unemployed, and more being done with unacceptable parts of old home remedies. Baking soda on all wounds for instance, Vinegar anyone? T
Nah, that side is also called letting it happen to them…Through such traits as laziness, ignorance, arrogance and ego, large helpings of most or all, it is not exclusive the USA!
Not in large part, in full part Prism, people got to stop thinking outside of that little box, and fix our exchange rate while we are taking back the money supply, that will stabilise our export markets among other things! Once we have claimed our money supply, we can go about taking back whats left of so called democracy, because time is running very short these days….if its not past tipping point already!
Good on you for reding some history too, get stuck into WW1 while youre at it, I am sure you are already up to speed on the Vietnam lies which kick started that disaster!
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. —Sir Winston Churchill (yes he was one of the bros, and high enough to have known exactly what he was saying!)
muzza
Hell no. I can’t go into WW1 or Vietnam in depth (though did a bit of googling on MIA and was fascinated by how many politicians and scam artists (not necessarily the same) got involved in that emotional idea. One woman mortgaged her house to provide funds for someone who said he was going to find evidence in Vietnam. All for nothing, for her, I think. No WW2 is enough. I have only so much time.
And about the exchange rate, if the market isn’t going to set a second by second rate based on points of a cent advantage to the traders, how are we going to establish a rate that holds and is appropriate for the market as well as for us.? Will we set it at certain times of the year, then hold through one season of agricultural or horticultural exports then at a set date look at how the market/blackmarket is going (economists don’t like floor prices as it encourages devious ways around, though I don’t know if that is worse than hedge funds that are set up to play financial games for the h.funds within the main transaction.) And if USA can have Quantitative Easing why can’t we??
And what exchange rate would we have now if we could eliminate much of the short-term trading that we have now. The rate would be different and higher probably than a rational assessment looking at our total economic situation. 70% against the US$? And what about the basket of currencies rate?
……..NZ$ value PayNZ
Euro 0.632211 1.581750
US Dollar 0.830000 1.204819
Australian Dollar 0.785278 1.273434
Canadian Dollar 0.805266 1.241826
(courtesy of X-Rates)
A 1% increase in the TWI reduces the value of exports by .81%. The so called lobbyists such as the EMA and FF argue that the inputs such as fuel etc negate the increased value ie inputs =outputs. Which they do not.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/115888/ctu-urges-action-on-high-dollar
You need higher returns to increase efficiency both in energy,and in local substitution such as packaging etc.
The fact is we have an external deficit,we have to either increase our earnings,or decrease borrowings,when ideology gets in the way of obvious economic reality it may be indeed time to send the old bulls to the works.
The EMA has long been a right wing neoliberal lobby who represents VERY FEW manufacturers.
The NZMEA is far more representative of the NZ manufacturing sector.
The NZMEA does indeed to seem to have the problem quite clearly identified eg
http://www.realeconomy.co.nz/305-exchange_rate_costs_exporters_.aspx
The NZMEA site has quite an innovative approach to issue discussion,such as links to Steve Keen discussions.
Poission 8 2 1 1 1 +
For the information of those at economics 101 like me –
The trade-weighted index (TWI) is a measure of the value of the New Zealand dollar (NZD) relative to the currencies of New Zealand’s major trading partners.
Thank you Reserve Bank. May we learn and honour your actions to preserve the integrity of our NZD.
I’m a beef lover Poission. Even tough old fatty stuff, with mushrooms and a soupcon of red wine perhaps.
Labour seems to have woken up,that there is an Achilles heel and it is Joyce (culled from vet school )
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1209/S00241/federal-reserve-action-requires-exchange-rate-action.htm
We can always afford what we make from NZ resources.
DTB
Yes point taken that we need to make things, repair things here but we still will need to import some parts or whole items.
Sound familiar ?
“The basic problem for Republicans is that their highest policy priority is to cut the effective tax rate paid by the richest 1 percent of Americans, but the vast majority of the voters don’t share that goal. Handling that problem is the single biggest challenge the Republican party faces. Normally, when a party has an extremely unpopular position, it just jettisons it. But Republicans care so much about this goal that they won’t give it up, which makes sense — you compromise on your secondary goals, not on your primary goal. Still, this ultimately places them in the position Romney finds himself and Paul Ryan and George W. Bush have found as well — the only way they can get elected is to obscure the real trade-offs and make up a bunch of fake numbers.”
Romney: My Magic Tax Plan Will Repeal Laws of Arithmetic http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/romney-my-magic-tax-plan-will-repeal-math.html
This is only about the Republicans isn’t it? I mean National wouldn’t use these tactics like lowering the tax rate for the benefit of the rich would it? Oh.
Remember people not to be conned by the term “rich”, especially when referring to tax cuts in NZ.
Sure the cuts were aimed at those who possibly did not need them, but that conjecture, does not hide the simple fact that it was little more than the following.
1: Vote buying/securing
2: Class warfare ensuring – Hey those rich bastards to a tax cut, and we got a bloody gst tax rise…
3: Budget blowing – leading to more borrowing, from who, at what rate we are not allowed to know, only that we all become pooer for it
4: Distraction!!!!!
The true rich, not those people belive are in charge, do not pay tax, nor do the corporations they own. Even the lackeys like Romney do their best to steal then hide their ill gotten gains…
No, the “rich” , we in NZ, and the idiots in the USA are told that the “rich”, are those in NZ = Over 65K or whatever it is, and in the USA 200-250k+
These people are not why NZ is broke, they are simply a tool being used, just as the poor are. When people can cut through the obvious misdirections, then can we have real conversation.
People who make things for the rich find often that it is very hard to get payment from them, they delay, complain about some minor thing to bring the price down and just don’t want to pay their bills.
Applies to tax as well. That reluctance to pay a small proportion of their discretionary money, ie what’s left after utilities and other living expenses are paid for, and then the tax just reduces their extra pot of gold, starves the country of the income it needs to provide for all the other people who make do on much less, ie the huge majority. And the more that universal provision of services is cut, the more they want to hold onto their gold to make sure that they have the cash to cover their own needs. Universality is often scorned, but it is essential in a democracy that wants to be fair and reasonably equal.
And we noticed that going house to house for charity collections the people in rich houses tended to be rude and nil donors, but many people in poor seeming houses they gave something.
My plumber brother in law hated doing work in Fendalton in Christchurch because they constantly obstructed paying his bills.
Anecdotal I know, but ask around.
Isn’t the job of hospitals to help keep you ALIVE?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbu5eUzTgYA
PROTEST today Saturday 15 September 2012 from 12 noon to 2pm outside Auckland Hospital.
VITAMIN C CAN CURE! So why does Auckland Hospital REFUSE to give it to you?
http://www.vitaminccancure.org.nz
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
You can actually buy ascorbic acid very cheaply and inject it yourself if you really want to. If I thought it would help with cancer, I wouldn’t wait for a hospital.
What is it a treatment for? Broken leg? Blindness? The vapours? Dementia?
After 10 weeks of waiting my IR3 tax return was due to be released yesterday. I checked on-line and nothing had changed so I rand IRD. I was informed that because my return contained an overseas component it could not be processed automatically, and so it will now be processed manually which will take another 15 working days. This is after I rang them twice during the ten weeks to check on the progress and discussing with the employee both times the overseas component.
How the $%^% does it take 10 weeks to figure out a single application has to be processed manually?
I’ve made a formal complaint.
Thats the public service or you.
Further from Water Care comment a few days ago
A standard family of 4 usage 600l/day or 219 kL
In Jan 2012 the annual cost of water would have been:
Fixed charges WasteWater $426.36 pa
Volume Charges $284.70 p.a.
Total Cost $711.06
Now it would be
Fixed $190 p.a
Volume Waste Water $294.12 @ $1.343
Volume Water $499.54 @ $2.281
A New annual cost to the $983.66
An increase of $272.60 or 38%. No wonder everyone is feeling poorer. And for me this is where many miss the point it is these day to day issues that hit the pay packet that get no attention are the issues. Think what a household has to give up now to be able to afford this increase in water. I hope that the new beer factory of Lion have also incurred this increase ????
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10696787
herodotus 12
And who says that water is free and we all own it???? Good old Jokey Hen that’s who. Cluck cluck again.
Water is free just like education – Tui anyone !!!!
Like many of these insidious increases in costs that we cannot escape (Non tradables) and watch deflation form nice to haves that we import and can live without or delay. Hard to delay water, rates etc. These are the every day issues that do have an impact on people not all these beltway issues.
Our town does not meter water. Is your annual water rate of $983 on top of Rates? If so must make Rates + water pretty high? (My total Rates $2,340 pa.)
Rates have had the water component separated for some of the councils that were absorbed into Jakaland others such as Manukau & Auckland had them already separated. Just another small issue that makes all of us poorer and those in severe need ….. Still what is a 38% on top of the rates increase- Just as well we all received a tax cut a few years ago to help us out !!!!
Which is really incredibly stupid. Metering each house gives gives people a way to cut down their water use and also helps detect leaks in the pipe.
It’s also the first step to privatising the supply.
I’ll wait until leaks become evident, ta very much. given that the only reason my town had a water shortage a few years back was because the reservoirs were too small for the population. Sorted now, I believe.
Only if you allow it to be.
And that would have been known before it became a problem if proper measurements (inflow, storage and outflow) were in place.
At those rates it would be advisable to go to this site.
You know, what really pisses me off is that a lot of people actually think that these things such as water can be supplied free. It costs to put them in place and it costs to maintain them. Can’t get away from that. Could get away from the council taking a dividend (profit) but that would require an increase in rates which people will complain about as well but it still comes down to the simple fact that what they want to be supplied costs and they don’t seem willing to pay for it.
If all new houses were required to have rain/roof fed water tanks, the cost of water could start to approach “free”.
It would drop down to the minimum amount needed to maintain the infrastructure which we would need to keep going – especially the waste water systems.
John Armstrong vs Bloggers
It’s free speech stupid and the blogosphere is here to stay…
A heads-up …
Both Key and Shearer will be on Q & A tomorrow (9 am).
Some advice for David Shearer: you know what you will be asked about (water, asset sales) and you need to have a very clear response. Spend the rest of Saturday rehearsing with the bathroom mirror if you have to – just make sure you get it right. It is 100% certain that your soundbite will be featured in the news bulletins, so it’s your job to give the media one they can use.
You will be asked …
“Do Maori own water?”
“Do you agree with the Prime Minister?”
“Would you negotiate with iwi?”
etc
Media Rule One – it is NOT about the question, it is about your answers. And your answer should be that New Zealand assets are not for sale. If you accept Key’s framing of the issue (i.e. it’s about those grasping Maoris) then you lose. So … don’t even THINK about accepting it. You say:
“Our power is not for sale. We’re going to give the people a say, and they’ll say “No sale”.
(Interviewer – “But who owns water?”)
“We’ll have a referendum. I’ve brought a copy of the petition along (*waves paper at camera*) for John Key to sign. Have you signed it yet? Why not?”
(“But who owns water?”)
“Let’s ask the people … if they want to keep our assets, we keep our water.”
etc.
No waffle. Just a clear, principled (and incidentally, popular) position. Please.
+1 I’d like to see DS also throw the issue of falling demand from Kawerau and Tiwai point onto the table which weakens all the generators values.
Shonkeys playing the race card as a distraction from the play Rio Tinto are making to get even cheaper power from our system and overall falling demand.
Taunt the big businesses party with their inability to see this coming from big business, not looking at the global market for aluminium etc etc, as has been stated, answer in a way that sets the agenda.
Play on your own terms not the hollowmens
Yeah but you already know whats going to happen. Umms and errs and arrs and waffle, waffle, waffle. Key will run rings around him, and then Labour really will be a dead duck…Time to start saving my pennies for moving my family out of NZ.
Hateful arses.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2012/09/meet-the-right-wing-extremist-behind-anti-muslim-film-that-sparked-deadly-riots/
Tomgram: Monopolizing War?
What America Knows How to Do Best
It’s pop-quiz time when it comes to the American way of war: three questions, torn from the latest news, just for you. Here’s the first of them, and good luck!
Two weeks ago, 200 U.S. Marines began armed operations in…?:
a) Afghanistan
b) Pakistan
c) Iran
d) Somalia
e) Yemen
f) Central Africa
g) Northern Mali
h) The Philippines
i) Guatemala
related inforgraphic
Goodness me. And the outrage of Americans at the attacks on US Embassies and suchlike. What a cheek those non-Americans have to actually molest some of our places. Surprised and shocked. Tsk. Tsk.
joe90
What a smug-looking sh.t. What I can’t understand is why there isn’t a furore about people like Klein calling themselves Christian. If that isn’t taking the Christian religion and Lord’s name in vain I don’t know what is. The established churches who consider themselves following Christian principles should denounce such people. Klein cannot be a true Christian and act as he does, and the Coptic Church should also be calling their people to account if they profess to follow the Christian way.
Having leaders of churches criticise these lowlives plays into their fantasy world, and gives them a chance to have airtime to spout their poisonous filth. Better for the 99% of us who find their views utterly despicable to disempower them with logic, compassion and decency
locus
I disagree. The churches that cling to the idea of integrity and following Christ need to disassociate themselves from so-called ‘Christians’ like Klein and the nasty and stupid so-called Coptic Christian who actually made the film. Jesus would denounce them.
I don’t believe that he is a Christian at all, much less a Copt. The story changes every 5 minutes, I’ve been discussing it on a rather vicious American board, for the past 3 days, and I have been noting all the changes as they happen…
My apologies to Banksy…….no….the other one
That is good WJ and I’m sure Banksy would love it.
Just had a look at the other pics too. Great William.
Just how useless can a politician be?
Watch the following clip. It is the Australian workplace relations minister Bill Shorten, but I’m sure others have seen New Zealand politicians who are just as much of a waste of space….
http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/i-opinion-told-yet/
There’s this one for starters:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Hekia-Parata-announces-backdown/tabid/370/articleID/257000/Default.aspx
Thanks for that, Anne. We’ve been onto that talent-free timeserver for a while around here…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369467
Enjoyed that one 🙂
Actually it could just as easily have been Paula Benefit discussing her future plans for the enhancement of beneficiaries’ well-being – minus a few of the ummms and arrrhhs…
Today Goldworthy spokesperson for Manufacturers is reported as saying no to Green suggestions to ease the exchange rate because it will – put up fuel cost. And no serious politician would consider that. Hey, I think it’s time to recognise it’s already happening. Wakey, wakey.
His message is that manufacturers have to get smart and handle it. This is exactly the same message that they have been coming out with since the exchange rate became a problem. These guys can’t even support a new approach that would benefit all of them in keeping their markets and getting more sales in this world recession! Door closed. Closing down shop. Locked. No new ideas need to apply here.
No wonder NZ is going down the drain. And catching up with Oz, we won’t even be able to hope that if we wait in one spot they will decline to our level. We will be slowly sinking always below them for reasons of size for a start, which gives scale, and also because they are a bunch of tryers, trying yes, but they’ve a bit of the dingo that we haven’t got.
Another move in google’s plan for world domination. ‘Quick view’ in google searches (to save opening DOCs/PDFs etc) is now only available if you are signed into googledocs with a google account.
weka
Thanks for that information. When is that happening? We just did a test and could get it without doing anything extra.
Everytime I use it now. But just checking… it only happens in Safari. Firefox seems to be fine.
Scratch that. It seems that I had a gmail account that had been logged out by google, but not by me, and that was what was prompting me to log in. Once I logged out properly, I could view the googledocs fine.
Typical 🙄 google being only mildly evil.
This should be first up on the news
He should also have added….
please don’t starve my country
please don’t ruin my economy
please don’t bomb my family
please don’t invade my country
please don’t appoint a corrupt government
please don’t hand my country over to your corporations
please don’t steal our resources
@ William Joyce 21 +1
I agree with the Law Society suggesting that we jettison the tv coverage we have at present and instead supply a constant feed with no comments. Jonathan Temm slags the tv coverage we have now as encouraging disrespect for the law, and emotional responses to the process and to the defendant. And concentrating only on particular cases that they can sensationalise. True.
And what about this news.
Road rage case reviewed by Solicitor-General
The Solicitor-General’s office is reviewing a case in which an Auckland investment banker ran over a man and broke his legs.There was an altercation so of course when you are an annoyed banker, or even a disturbed one, you attack someone with your car.
Happened in Christchurch and the guy got away with killing Christine Clark, mother of two.
Perp got 9 months periodic detention and 2 years disqualification. He was a good guy said his barrister, and was frightened by the emotional picketers at Lyttelton and just took off.
Sydney police tear gas anti-US protestors
Coming to a town near you.
http://rt.com/news/police-australia-protesters-sydney-187/
Klein USA right wing brain-damaged rabid who was behind the offending film was on radio yesterday or this morning. He talks about Vietnam, which seems to have spawned such a tail of bad attitudes and concepts almost as bad as the war itself. He says his son was injured when in Iraq on some project.
The fast worldwide media gives these crazies and bigots so much power. The First World War I think started after a Serbian killed the ArchDuke of Something which caused outrage and sparked the fuse that went off dragging countries in to support other countries they had treaties with. People like Klein and the southern ‘pastor’ who burnt a Koran are the same sort of dangerous nutters. We have just made closer ties with the USA, our big buddy! What next?
you’re right – the more hatred one side can generate the more it justifies the other side to use the same tactics – putrid attitudes need to be starved of publicity – does the egyptian tv host who broadcast the sick video to the arab world feel any responsibility for the ensuing deaths and escalating hatred?
Re David Bain…
When retired Canadian judge, David Binnie, was appointed by the National Government to assess David Bain’s compensation claim a few months ago, Judge Binnie asked for reading material which included two books written by Bain supporter, Joe Karam: David and Goliath: The Bain family murders; and Bain and Beyond.
But this request did not extend to books written by ant-Bain campaigners. I find that quite extraordinary. The other books included The Mask of Sanity: The Bain Murders by James McNeish; and In the Grip of Evil: The Bain Murders by Judith Wolfe and Trevor Reeves.
To get compensation, applicants must prove their innocence, at a minimum, on the balance of probabilities. In addition, because Bain’s claim fell outside cabinet guidelines, he needs to demonstrate the circumstances were extraordinary. The compensation could be up to $2 million dollars, for the time he spent in prison. He could also be entitled to a public apology or a statement of innocence. I don’t believe that innocence or lack of innocence should be assessed on probabilities. Justice has to be broader than that, surely?
The interesting point that should be considered is that the Prime Minister, John Key, and his Cabinet are not bound to grant compensation. As I wrote above, this claim actually fell outside Cabinet guidelines.
The Government’s decision could take some time. Judge Binnies’ report has to be read by the Minister of Justice, who will then report to Cabinet. There is no right of Appeal to the Cabinet’s decision. It is binding!