Joky Hen wouldn’t know what a contract or honour is. His whole philosophy on life is typical of the dog-eat-dog business environment. Their whole raison-d’etre is to do their competitor down. That’s how they increase their share of the cake. The true Joky Hen shone through when he played along with Paul Henry’s game over the Governor General – the man doesn’t have the wit to recognise bad taste or dishonour.
This week, the Jackal has a look at ACC’s hardline on elective surgery, just how much food is wasted globally, Shell’s annual assembly gets a visit from friends of the earth, Another NATO raid into Pakistan, Donald Trump, Huge protests in Spain, MP’s pecuniary interests, Farmers tax dodge and New Yorkers suing China’s biggest search engine.
Prof. Callaghan enthuses about Rakon, the bringers of death National Radio, Friday 20 May 2011
In a panel discussion about the budget, Professor Paul Callaghan lamented the government’s lack of support for “entrepreneurship and industrial research”. He said that high-tech innovation is a field in which New Zealand does very well, and he cited as an example of excellence, a company called Rakon. “Now not many New Zealander people or politicians know much about this good news story,” enthused Prof. Callaghan. “But it’s a case of knowing your customers and providing what they want.”
Well, Rakon certainly knows its customers, and Rakon also knows what its customers use its technology to do. In August 2005, the New Zealand Herald quoted Rakon marketing director Darren Robinson as saying that the company’s technology went into “smart bombs and missiles” used by the US military. Rakon denied the claims, stating the company was not privy to the “end-use systems, equipment or applications used by its customers.
In May 2006 the Herald ran a large expose around Rakon products being supplied to Rockwell for incorporation in U.S. military “smart bombs”. [1] The claims were based around the facts that Rakon had known of the end-use of their products since 1994 and may in fact be in breach of New Zealand export restrictions.
In July 2006, Rakon was the target of protests by Global Peace and Justice Auckland(GPJA). During the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in July 2006, GPJA issued a media release appealing “to the Prime Minister to close the loophole which allows New Zealand’s Rakon Industries to export parts for Israeli bombs being dropped on Lebanon and Palestine.” [2]
Nothing was done, of course, and Rakon, maker of crucial components for the bringing of death and destruction to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of men, women and children in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
As Professor Callaghan noted, it’s a pity that more New Zealanders don’t know more about Rakon.
I just wish we developed and made our own weapons here. That way we wouldn’t be screwed if the supply lines get cut when we need weapons.
We may not want to use them but that won’t stop someone from using weapons against us which, considering the global collapse that is going to happen due to Peak oil, will happen. It really is time to get our defense forces actually capable of defending us.
More evidence of slipping standards at National Radio
Just heard on the 11 o’clock news on National Radio that Obama has said that the Palestinian state “should be based on the contentious 1967 borders.”
“Contentious”?
Excuse me? “Contentious”?
Almost the whole of the international community recognizes that Israel must return to the 1967 borders, and that the Occupied Territories must be part of the new Palestine state.
Why would that newsreader have read out that these borders are “contentious”?
The word ‘contentious’ is not included in the online report, however, it might be that a reporter put it in while reading the news out. It’s an unusual word to use, I agree, but it may be that it is Israel’s theft of the land after the 6 day war that is contentious, not the borders prior to that.
After the U.S. government called settlements “illegal” for years, President Reagan said they were “not constructive.” President Clinton changed it again, saying that “natural growth” was acceptable. President George W Bush went further to say that it was “unrealistic” to expect any kind of peace based on old borders.
So in effect, President Obama’s endorsement of the 1967 lines is a return from the shifting positions taken by his predecessors.
THE TERM “1967 lines” refers to the line from which the IDF moved into the territories at the start of hostilities on June 4, 1967 (the Six Day War).
These lines were not based on historical fact, natural geographic formations, demographic considerations or international agreement. In fact, they had served as the agreed-upon armistice lines from the termination of the 1948 War of Independence, pursuant to the armistice agreements then signed between Israel and its neighbors – Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon – in 1949. These lines remained valid until the outbreak of the 1967 hostilities.
The armistice lines represented nothing more than the forward lines of deployment of the forces on the day a cease-fire was declared, as set out in Security Council Resolution 62 of November 16, 1948, which called for the delineation of permanent armistice demarcation lines beyond which the armed forces of the respective parties would not move. The line was demarcated on the map attached to the armistice agreement with a green marker pen and hence received the name “Green Line.”
Good Lord, joe90! ABC and the Jerusalem Post are about as reliable and trustworthy as President Obama’s statement that from now on the U.S. is going to “support democracy” in the Middle East.
And you appear to have missed the Just saying… part of the post where I try to show that Obama seems to be backing the Palestinians by going back to the original US stance on the issue of the 1967 borders.and that the Israelis don’t like it.
Perhaps you should read the speech before you go into wingnut mode.
joe90, I read what you posted. Obama’s words are nothing new: the U.S., like every other country in the world (bar one), says Israel is violating international law by its occupation of the West Bank and its blockade of Gaza. There is NOTHING contentious about saying Israel must observe the law.
Me….what’s contentious, the US position is bla .bla, the Israeli position is bla..bla..
Morrissey…..I’m right and all the world thinks so too.
Me…ask a stupid..get a stupid
Morrissey…I’m right and all the world agrees with me…how dare you use.. MSM …
Me….I’m just saying..nothings really changed…and you’re starting to sound like…..
Morrissey…..bla bla ..and you called me a name.
Me…. Palestine is a fuck up but at least someone is trying, .. you’re starting to mirror the wingnuts who as long as they get to be on what they think is the right side don’t give a rats about the people on the other side ..
Last word to ME.. he may not have met my expectations but Obama winning another term is the first real opportunity since Begin and Sadat for a lasting peace in the region.
Nice attempt at dramatisation, my friend. You should approach that tired old codger John Barnett about a screenwriting job; the ones he employs on his movies are certainly not much chop.
However, while your dialoguing shows promise, you need to pay attention to your understanding of content, which is sadly lacking. I’ll deal with just the most glaring errors….
1.) Me….what’s contentious, the US position is bla .bla, the Israeli position is bla..bla..
Actually, it’s the US and the whole world versus Israel.
2.) Morrissey…..I’m right and all the world thinks so too.
That is correct. You are trying to scoff at this writer (i.e., moi) as out on a limb; actually, my position is the mainstream one.
3.) Me…. Palestine is a fuck up but at least someone is trying,
WHO is trying, Joe? And who is it that is responsible for it being a “fuck up”?
4.) …you’re starting to mirror the wingnuts who as long as they get to be on what they think is the right side don’t give a rats about the people on the other side.
There you go again! It’s easy to throw around empty epithets like “wingnuts”, especially when you aren’t up to speed on an issue. Have you been listening to that penetrating analyst Leighton Smith on NewstalkZB, by any chance?
5.) Last word to ME.. he may not have met my expectations but Obama winning another term is the first real opportunity since Begin and Sadat for a lasting peace in the region.
On what basis do you make that statement? Obama has done precisely nothing to stop Israel’s depredations in Gaza or the West Bank. You would know that if you had any familiarity with Israeli and Palestinian politics.
And yet Israel doesn’t agree. As ultimately they are the ones that have to do something about the issue, their opinion matters, I think.
In other words – talk is cheap. I’m there are members of the “international community” that think the Israel borders issue is cut-and-dried, but those members may be having their own border disputes with their neighbours.
I think ragging on National Radio by saying that “it isn’t contentious because the international community thinks x y and z” is making a fuss out of nothing. Clearly there is contention about the borders (otherwise they would already be the borders), and so using the word is accurate. You may not agree with it, but that doesn’t mean that National Radio are ‘wrong’.
As ultimately they are the ones that have to do something about the issue, their opinion matters
Ultimately it is Israel’s sponsor, the United States, that has to do something—other than its occasional wringing of hands and the odd stern word to its Israeli protégé.
Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, and its blockade of Gaza, are in flagrant violation of international law. The whole world recognizes that fact—except Israel. The U.S. has chosen to ignore Israel’s multiple violations, just as it chose to ignore similar behaviour by the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Suharto regime in Indonesia, and Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
…there are members of the “international community” that think the Israel borders issue is cut-and-dried…
Every country in the world bar Israel recognizes that Israel must return to the 1967 borders.
but those members may be having their own border disputes with their neighbours.
Which of those countries occupies, locks down the towns, demolishes private homes as punishment for resistance, demolishes hospitals and schools, and systematically terrorizes its neighbours? Which of those countries has its troops treating civilians like THIS?…
None of which applies to the issue of Israel’s violation of international law. There is unanimous agreement on this, even from Israel’s sponsor and enabler, the United States. There is nothing contentious about it whatsoever; the only question is, when will the international community act against this scofflaw regime?
I think Chris Trotter really over-egged it a bit, to the point that it won’t really convince many people. This budget really didn’t do very much at all, and it’s difficult to believe there would be a family that was specifically afflicted by all the changes the budget did actually make. Throwing in other, wider issues from Nat’s previous legislative work would’ve been better I think (no night schooling, an unemployed nephew who goes off the rails…).
So it is a “bad” budget, but Phil Goff won’t promise to reverse cuts too Kiwisaver and WFF.
Shades of the”axe the tax” campaign?
Now that Labour has a realistic change of getting back into power in November, is it time now to ditc Phil Goff and replace him with a 21st century person? Goff is so 1980s!!
Why should Labour commit to these kinds of fiscal decisions now when it has no idea how much extra shit English is going to place the country in over the next 6 months?
Its not logical to expect that Labour will simply reverse this National tax move or that National tax move as a policy foundation. Labour has got initiatives planned which go much further than simply negating the moves National has made in this budget.
And thanks for vainly trying to stir up the leadership debate again when it’s John Key who is going to leave National early and leave the stoush between English and Joyce, why don’t we talk about that for a bit.
I want to dedicate this video to Lanthanide who with his comments made the events on Fukushima another taboo subject and whose comments were of the Oh, she’s just a conspiracy nut sort.
Three fucking meltdowns and not a peep in the mainstream media. A million people died as the result of the Chernobyl meltdown which is a walk in the park compared to the hideous events in Fukushima. Millions of people will die as the result of what is currently happening in Japan and the radiation will damage the entire gene pool of planet Earth and not even a tiny wee peep in the mainstream media.
Oh shit thought I’d uploaded this comment but made a mistake. This is what you get when you have 39 pages open and flick from one to the other. Sorry.
Repost from the other day (with a slight edit):
So basically the Fukushima incident resulted in a release of a huge amount of radioactive material into the environment because there was a meltdown (or >1) and meltdowns always mean that radioactive material will be released environment (not that the fuel rods have just melted)? And we don’t know about this because Tepco/the Japanese government/whoever are controlling the release of information from all the detectors of radiation in the whole world in a giant conspiracy (just like 9/11 I guess)? Even though radiation is relatively easy to detect and there are numerous detectors worldwide? And this poses a huge risk to the whole world (not just the immediately surrounding area where the material would be most concentrated) because we are all going to get cancer, after all its not as if the release of radioactive material across a huge area such as the Pacific ocean/the whole world would have resulted in the radioactive material being diluted at all?
It’s a worst-case scenario simulation. If you look in the comments, someone linked to actual monitoring being done in Oregon that shows there is no cause for concern.
I remember reading about a university that set up some monitoring stations within 3 days of the event, so they could monitor when the radiation first hit California. Sure enough, they got results showing they could detect it.
If there were an actual public health or environmental risk posed to the US, you can be sure it would be in the media. The US media loves to hype that sort of stuff up (as witnessed by the reports in the immediate days following) and there’s no way you could cover it up. I guess Hawaii might be at higher risk, but again that’s US soil. Other smaller pacific islands or parts of Asia could be covered up or simply not alerted, however.
I didn’t bother visiting the link (it was from to a blog, hardly a reliable source), but as you’ve eluded to, a key point is radioactive material is trivial to detect these days, and can be detected in minute quantities. It is simply not possible that a harmful level of material being released could be covered up. You would have to get to far too many people (yes, even more than you would need to cover up something like 9/11).
Washington’s blog is so incredibly well backed up with reliable sources you would be hard pressed to find anything like that in the Mainstream media.
And if you still believe that 19 young Saudi Arab men can force a 47 floor building to implode in 6.5 seconds into it’s own footprint with only a couple of relatively cool office fires breaking all Newton’s laws of Physics I’ve got a bit of rainforest in the middle of the Sahara to sell to you.
Oh, great, back to the madness. You really have the attention span of a gnat, don’t you? Not every debate has to have your 9/11 fantasy trotted out for public ridicule, you know. You could try focussing on the issue you raised about Fukushima and which you seem to be unable to back up, but no, you have insult the 3000 killed in those attacks yet again.
Speaking of insulting the dead, somewhere between 4 and 5 thousand people were lost in the decades after Chernobyl that can be directly related to the event. Many thousands more will have lives possibly shortened by the effects. A million dead is bullshit, utter bullshit.
VoR,
These are a series of Ads we all helped to finance in which representatives of the families who lost someone in those attacks ask for a new and independent investigation.
You see for them 9/11 never stopped. They want answers to their questions. Neither did it stop for the 70.000 first responders who are all falling ill and are dying as a result of the dust they breathed in on that day and the days after.
Neither has it stopped for families of the hundreds of thousands of Afghanis and Iraqis who died in the wars started as a result of that day so if it is all the same to you I will keep bringing it up until all those people feel that their questions have been answered and they can get on with their lives too.
I don’t get it L. Do you think ev doesn’t read the pages she links to, or she reads them but doesn’t understand what they say? Either way, it’s a bit of an own-goal.
I’m beginning to wonder whether the accusation of lacking acumen that she levelled was, in fact, a self-reflection.
Yep – she seems to have a fundamental inability to distinguish between statement of fact, expert opinion, calculated broad estimate, educated guess, baseless assumption, blind guesswork, urban myth, common misconception, uncommon misconception, barefaced lie, outrageous allegation, borderline delusion, outright delusion, and generalised bullshit.
And unfortunately teh interwebz is a gloriously colourful milieu of everything above.
If you want a reasonable discussion then maybe follow the link ev provided in 10.1.1. There’s a (single) comment on the link with another, interesting, link attached.
ev’s link says: Because [the data ev is relying on to prove her point]comes from an internal – rather than publicly-released – portion of Nilo’s website, it cannot be confirmed that these are real readings, as opposed to some sort of fictitious simulation.
and the link from ev’s link says: This is archived information from the 2011 Japan Radiation Event (March 11, 2011 to May 15, 2011). This information is no longer being updated as this is not considered a local hazard at this time.
Which is not to say that Fukushima isn’t a massive fucking disaster, or that the plant owners and government of Japan haven’t been covering stuff up (I’m not going into that in this comment), it’s just to say there’s no need to get your tinfoil hat out. Yet.
“Which is not to say that Fukushima isn’t a massive fucking disaster, or that the plant owners and government of Japan haven’t been covering stuff up (I’m not going into that in this comment), it’s just to say there’s no need to get your tinfoil hat out. Yet.”
The study was not peer reviewed initially. The Ney York Academy of Sciences published it as a book, not a study. Subsequently it was found: ..the book achieves this figure [985,000] by the remarkable method of assuming that all increased deaths from a wide range of diseases – including many which have no known association with radiation – were caused by the Chernobyl accident. There is no basis for this assumption…
More information here.
Which is not to say Chernobyl was not a giant fucking disaster.
One of the reason’s TEPCO is trying to keep secret just how much radiation has been released is because there is a clear link between diseases such as cancer and radiation. You can check out some of the things TEPCO and the Japanese Govt have been trying to cover up in the link below.
I think that a shit load of people died from Chernobyl, more than will ever be admitted to by the authorities. People will still be prematurely dying today from that disaster. You might also like to read this:
Within four years at least 5,000 of the more than 600,000 decontamination workers (“liquidators”) had died from various causes; the fraction of deaths attributable to Chernobyl is unknown, but this figure represents less than 1% of the total.
Yes, there is a well established link between radiation and cancer.
I think saying TEPCO are “keeping it secret” is stretching the facts. Truth is they probably don’t know how much radiation was leaked, nor are they in a position to know exactly what happened, ATM. So sure, maybe they aren’t telling, but that is different to keeping it secret.
We may find that there are a lot of liability issues around the whole thing. Someone has to pay for it all to be cleaned up. Chances are TEPCO’s insurers are crapping bricks and aren’t keen for TEPCO to admit too much liability, so TEPCO will be very careful with what it says, in case it opens itself and its insurers up to enormous costs. However, that’s entirely speculation on my part, and before you challenge me to provide links, I won’t. My objective is to demonstrate there is an alternative explanation. Obviously I think it’s a plausible explanation, I’m not fussed if others choose to see the whole thing as a giant conspiracy.
Also, while TEPCO and others may have an interest in limiting their liability, there are other affected parties (again, large insurers, probably of the “health” variety) who will have an interest in telling a different story, to avoid having to care for people with mild radiation sickness for the next 40 years.
So they released details about the fire that happened on May 8th did they? I must have missed that. What about the fact that unit #1 had melted down within 16 days of the initial earthquake and tsunami? Not telling people about things that could adversely affect their health because they are scared of prosecution is keeping a secret Armchair Critic. TEPCO and it’s insurers have made a decision to put peoples lives at risk to avoid prosecution, there is no question about it.
So they released details about the fire that happened on May 8th did they?
As per my previous comment, I doubt they have details yet. Perhaps we could debate around our different interpretations of what constitutes details. I must have missed that.
I doubt it. What about the fact that unit #1 had melted down within 16 days of the initial earthquake and tsunami?
Do you mean 16 hours?
16 hours after the enormous earthquake, I expect they were busy doing stuff and not in a position to have a press conference. After that, they were probably in damage control mode and didn’t care whether it was 16 hours or 16 days. Fact is they had a huge mess on their hands and were still busy trying to stop things getting any worse than they already were. Not telling people about things that could adversely affect their health because they are scared of prosecution is keeping a secret Armchair Critic.
Unless, of course, they don’t know. The it’s not very much like keeping a secret at all. It’s more like when John Key started on about how many houses needed to be demolished in Canterbury, before he had the full story. TEPCO and it’s insurers have made a decision to put peoples lives at risk to avoid prosecution, there is no question about it.
And that’s their job. Kudos to you for being more open in your opposition to them doing their job than I am (my blog pales in comparison to yours). I don’t think that them doing their job is right, either.
President Masataka Shimizu reportedly is resigning more than two months after an earthquake and tusnami crippled the company’s Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear …
Compare that to the 18,345 hits on Kate and William or 5,588 for Britney Spears or 37,862 for osama bin laden and you get my drift.
And y’all thanks for admitting that TEPCO and the Japanese government have indeed been covering up all kinds of stuff.
Yeah, but Kate and Wills and OBL are actual news events of significance and Fukushima has turned out to be nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The point I was making is that you don’t think or research before commenting. Far from not being a peep, it has been the major science related news story in the last two months and has been covered in depth by people who know what they are talking about.
Just because other actual journalists don’t share your desire to see Japan glow at night to prove an obscure point doesn’t mean their work should be ignored by you. 2265 new stories vs your claim of zero news stories makes you look even less credible than usual, EV. As does the Million dead at Chernobyl claim, which is again completely lacking in research, just a number pulled out of your arse.
Not quite. Check the link provided above. It comes from a book published last year by the New York Academy of Sciences that reviews 5000 scientific articles and studies on the Chernobyl aftermath. Key quote:
“Drawing upon extensive data, the authors estimate the number of deaths worldwide due to Chernobyl fallout from 1986 through 2004 was 985,000, a number that has since increased. By contrast, WHO and the IAEA estimated 9,000 deaths and some 200,000 people sickened in 2005.”
Once bitten, twice shy, ev. You have a habit of linking to youtube videos as a source of reliable information.
I’ve watched enough of them to have discovered the following relationship:
youtube video linked to by ev = full of wild theories, vaguely plausible stories and the rantings of supporters of right wing conspiracies.
If the best you can do is a youtube link, I have better things to do than waste any more of my time.
So? A greater percentage of the population than your 12,041 other supporters think ACT’s policies rock. I still disagree.
1502 verified architectural and engineering professionals is a tiny proportion of the combined membership of ASCE and AIA, which is, in turn a small proportion of the number of architects and engineers.
Numbers alone aren’t enough to create a convincing argument.
Neither are links to youtube, which is what I hoped you would respond to. Instead you are arguing the significance of google search results to support your position. Is that the best you have?
Let me respond to that with a couple of questions.
If you look at the video of the collapsing WTC 7 what do you see?
A/ a building collapsing naturally as they always do when office fires burn for a couple of hours.
B/ A building collapsing as the result of as yet unexplained natural phenomena since the only two other buildings to ever collapse as the result of fires collapsed on that same day.
C/ A building collapsing into its own footprint in 6.5 seconds strongly resembling the only comparable events; controlled demolition!
If you read the New Zealand newspapers are you being kept abreast of the latest developments with regards to the events in Fukushima Japan?
Do you know for example what the no go zone size is and that high radiation levels have been found at twice the distance of the official no go zone?
Do you know that the safety level of radioactivity permitted in foods has changed in the aftermath of the meltdowns? here and here
Do you know that 50 cars (Of which we import a great deal) coming from Japan have been stopped and send back because of high levels of radiation in Russia.
Yes, its news. The first one is not relevant to me personally, but it’s still news by any definition. And finally killing bin Laden is the biggest news story of the year, so far. The point is that you claimed that there was no Fukushima news stories, yet they are thousands.
Still, I agree with the idea of you rolling on the floor laughing. My mental image of you is still the Simpsons’ cat woman, but I can visualise her rolling on the floor laughing, no problem at all.
PB,
I used the same Google News search as Voice of reason. The normal Google search gives 1,030,000 hits on beheaded grandma (The poor lady beheaded by a crazy maniac last week.) to give just a sample.
But go ahead and search Fukushima on google news. VoR’s lower number is not the total number of hits. You are comparing an orange to an apple. Bringing an eggplant into the mix won’t help.
Doesn’t change the point that the story is getting a lot of coverage in the msm.
VOR wanted to establish the amount of actual articles in the “Mainstream News” as I said that there was not a peep in the mainstream news about the seriousness of what is happening in Fukushima.
I used the same method to come up with other “News” articles to stay within the chosen parameters.
So yes, the times Fukushima, Will and Kate, beheaded grandma will be higher in a general search but that is neither here nor there. That would be comparing apples with pears.
All these technical terms being used by non-professionals:
a news “peep” is a million media articles globally inside of 6 months,
a “whimper is half a million,
a “purr” is an average monthly article rate of around 20,000, sustained for 8.3 months,
a “bang” is more than a million articles inside of a week,
and a “britney” is a photo that shows everything you want to know about a situation, goes viral, and when it is finally published in the MSM it’s all blurry.
VoR
Hmm, and here’s me thinking you would actually want to know answers to the questions I put to you. But it seems that denial is more than a river in Egypt with you.
National made a strange strategic move in the budget and it seems Goff has seen his window of opportunity. With so much resting on asset sales and imaginary tax takes on an economy that isn’t growing, the left have an old axe to grind and can also extend their market to include the middle income folks. Either the government is asleep, complaicent or apathetic (very likely) or they saw the next ten years were to be tax increases, no growth, regardless, and decided other people could sell it and take the responsibility. No reason why a coalition government couldn’t cobble together the same tired old slogans of the past and beat National/Act easily.
That sorta had crossed my mind as well. I thought earlier this year Labour didn’t really want the Govt benches, certainly acted like it. Now I think National are weather-beaten by the dog-turd of an economy they’ve had to deal with for far too long so apart from Key playing comedian with Goff any chance he gets they don’t look that enthusiastic. If anything, it’s Labour that’s fired up recently.
Hah, that was good. The interviewer sounded quite upset that he got his arse handed to him on a platter for trying to defend what Nact were doing to the economy.
Focus on securing a sustainable and self-determining future for NZers, reducing foreign control of government policy and foreign asset ownership. Introduce “economic terrorism” legislation to combat tax avoidance. Restore NZ Army as a credible military force for protecting strategic resources such as fisheries. (A ready-made political anthem is already available.)
Unfortunately, at the moment most NZers seem remarkably apathetic about the slow erosion of their birthright and sovereignity. “I’m gonna leave for Australia” seems to the most fashionable way to avoid the issue at present.
Yup, duh. Probably also the Air Force would defend the fisheries too; like a coupla Orions try and do at present.
It’s funny how patriotic sentiment is currently so discredited that the likes of Kyle Chapman seem to naturally spring to mind when one raises it. (Perhaps I shouldn’t have used that word “birthright”…)
A question was raised as part of the debate on the budget “do we thing we should keep funding items within the governments portfolio regardless of deficit or surplus?”(I believe it was Blinglish – but don’t quote me on that)
This is an important question which deserves some discussion.
I have raised previously the notion of some budget line items being determined by something akin to a human rights charter. [My post her onMay 3rd, 2011] This is an attempt to enshrine in law the notion that there should be a minimum spend on looking after your society and that this %/Sum should not be subject to the vagaries of chance as determined by the creative accounting of Politicians and the Treasury.
At what point does a country/ society go broke exactly?
Answer: when it no longer looks after is weakest, poorest and most vulnerable.
Everyone now understands the merry-go-round of international indebted-ness – Blind borrowing encouraged by institutions which then go onto gain tremendously from collapses in sovereignty that they have induced. The Budget rhetoric is currently fixated on the unpalatable policy which National is passing in order to keep some economic disaster at bay – but I believe the discussion should not be about particulars necessarily, but about the philosophy behind a government and the governance of a society.
I do not believe we can subscribe in honesty to a policy position which attempts to assert that ‘in order to be able to care later we must be brutal now’
This path is fraught with danger – the promised caring never eventuates once the brutality has been justified.
Compassion and capability must be the defining characteristics of governance – the National government is really saying that its mismanagement of the county has gotten so bad that it can no longer look after the citizens of New Zealand. We are bankrupt already – National has failed.
The time has come for a more inclusive approach which puts people first – the compass of our nation should be the compass of compassion. There is no point having an ‘economic surplus’ if one has squandered ones heart.
We can easily afford for everyone to have a decent living – we just can’t afford to have rich people at the same time. This is a truth that has been forgotten or, perhaps, never learned.
Bit weird, that Israeli line that keeps getting used about how various borders that they used to have are ‘indefensible’, even though when wars broke out with those borders in place Israel not only defended them, but expanded her territory.
They should get laughed out of court every time they say it, but people just nod at them as if to say ‘good point’.
But what’s wrong with privatisation? Three examples should suffice – Telecom, the Railways, Air New Zealand. You don’t need me to spell out the details of all that was wrong with their respective privatisations (necessitating renationalisation in the case of two of them). Read the Roger Award’s Judges’ Reports where you will find copious material, year after year, on the corporate misdeeds of both Telecom and the former Tranz Rail. People say “who cares who owns the power companies? The State-owned ones behave like bastards anyway” (and don’t I know it, I’m a customer of Meridian – which gave us a $5 rebate off our power bill for our place having no power for five days after the February earthquake. I’m pretty sure we get charged more than $5 when we actually use power for five days). True, but the solution is not to flog them off to a private owner but to enact a policy that State-owned companies supplying an essential service actually be a public service rather than profit-obsessed corporations, which are publicly-owned whilst exhibiting all the worst characteristics of privately owned Big Business corporations. That requires a political decision to change the business model of those and other State-owned Enterprises from profit to service. Both the Railways and the Post Office could have been fixed, updated and recapitalised without needing to be flogged off. They are both textbook examples of what is called socialising the losses whilst privatising the profits.
So, when are we going to get a political party that has the gumption to actually state that we need these public services as public services rather than as profit making corporations?
Methinks, in the short term our SOE should have the mandate of less profit return back to the Govt coffers and more on investment and expansion, with the long term objective of stabilising the economic influencers. During the late 90’s an SOE bought an small australian company in the same sector ( brisbane from memory ) but had to sell due to ministerial decree – not due to lack of profit or australian Govt concerns.
SOE or any other State owned entity are or could be such a positive influencer on society and the economy – point in case the Tories desire for selling State assets off to the elites. This century will be not about outright speculative wealth but who controls or owns a states infrastructure, assets, water and resources.
This link to an interactive pie chart that shows a breakdown of the 2011 budget expenses is truly eye opening. Everyone should check it out. In fact maybe Iprent could repost or transfer it to a main posting. It gives a tremendous ability to see the real proportions of the budget spend on working for families and the unemployment benefit for example.
Hats off to the creators.
has anyone pointed out to our brethren mate in the US that New Zealand will making it to the 21st of May before California (by about 18 hours) – we will have all gone and left him – poor bugger
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
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Joky Hen wouldn’t know what a contract or honour is. His whole philosophy on life is typical of the dog-eat-dog business environment. Their whole raison-d’etre is to do their competitor down. That’s how they increase their share of the cake. The true Joky Hen shone through when he played along with Paul Henry’s game over the Governor General – the man doesn’t have the wit to recognise bad taste or dishonour.
The week that was 14 – 20 May
This week, the Jackal has a look at ACC’s hardline on elective surgery, just how much food is wasted globally, Shell’s annual assembly gets a visit from friends of the earth, Another NATO raid into Pakistan, Donald Trump, Huge protests in Spain, MP’s pecuniary interests, Farmers tax dodge and New Yorkers suing China’s biggest search engine.
Prof. Callaghan enthuses about Rakon, the bringers of death
National Radio, Friday 20 May 2011
In a panel discussion about the budget, Professor Paul Callaghan lamented the government’s lack of support for “entrepreneurship and industrial research”. He said that high-tech innovation is a field in which New Zealand does very well, and he cited as an example of excellence, a company called Rakon. “Now not many New Zealander people or politicians know much about this good news story,” enthused Prof. Callaghan. “But it’s a case of knowing your customers and providing what they want.”
Well, Rakon certainly knows its customers, and Rakon also knows what its customers use its technology to do. In August 2005, the New Zealand Herald quoted Rakon marketing director Darren Robinson as saying that the company’s technology went into “smart bombs and missiles” used by the US military. Rakon denied the claims, stating the company was not privy to the “end-use systems, equipment or applications used by its customers.
In May 2006 the Herald ran a large expose around Rakon products being supplied to Rockwell for incorporation in U.S. military “smart bombs”. [1] The claims were based around the facts that Rakon had known of the end-use of their products since 1994 and may in fact be in breach of New Zealand export restrictions.
In July 2006, Rakon was the target of protests by Global Peace and Justice Auckland(GPJA). During the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in July 2006, GPJA issued a media release appealing “to the Prime Minister to close the loophole which allows New Zealand’s Rakon Industries to export parts for Israeli bombs being dropped on Lebanon and Palestine.” [2]
Nothing was done, of course, and Rakon, maker of crucial components for the bringing of death and destruction to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of men, women and children in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
As Professor Callaghan noted, it’s a pity that more New Zealanders don’t know more about Rakon.
Doesn’t it make you proud to be a Kiwi!
[1] http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=1…
[2] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0607/S00365.htm
I just wish we developed and made our own weapons here. That way we wouldn’t be screwed if the supply lines get cut when we need weapons.
We may not want to use them but that won’t stop someone from using weapons against us which, considering the global collapse that is going to happen due to Peak oil, will happen. It really is time to get our defense forces actually capable of defending us.
High precision frequency generators are a crucial part of military electronics/RF (and civilian electronics and RF). That’s just the way it is.
YES!!
From the budget protest:
http://thehandmirror.blogspot.com/
A good round-up of left wing and centrist perspectives on the budget from stargazer at the handmirror.
budget links
More evidence of slipping standards at National Radio
Just heard on the 11 o’clock news on National Radio that Obama has said that the Palestinian state “should be based on the contentious 1967 borders.”
“Contentious”?
Excuse me? “Contentious”?
Almost the whole of the international community recognizes that Israel must return to the 1967 borders, and that the Occupied Territories must be part of the new Palestine state.
Why would that newsreader have read out that these borders are “contentious”?
Evidently Israel doesn’t agree, therefore making it “contentious”.
Evidently Israel doesn’t agree, therefore making it “contentious”.
No, it makes Israel a scofflaw regime. That, and its massive use of firepower against civilian populations.
The word ‘contentious’ is not included in the online report, however, it might be that a reporter put it in while reading the news out. It’s an unusual word to use, I agree, but it may be that it is Israel’s theft of the land after the 6 day war that is contentious, not the borders prior to that.
Just saying….
The U.S. policy shift on 1967 borders explained.
After the U.S. government called settlements “illegal” for years, President Reagan said they were “not constructive.” President Clinton changed it again, saying that “natural growth” was acceptable. President George W Bush went further to say that it was “unrealistic” to expect any kind of peace based on old borders.
So in effect, President Obama’s endorsement of the 1967 lines is a return from the shifting positions taken by his predecessors.
The fallacy of the 1967 ‘borders’
THE TERM “1967 lines” refers to the line from which the IDF moved into the territories at the start of hostilities on June 4, 1967 (the Six Day War).
These lines were not based on historical fact, natural geographic formations, demographic considerations or international agreement. In fact, they had served as the agreed-upon armistice lines from the termination of the 1948 War of Independence, pursuant to the armistice agreements then signed between Israel and its neighbors – Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon – in 1949. These lines remained valid until the outbreak of the 1967 hostilities.
The armistice lines represented nothing more than the forward lines of deployment of the forces on the day a cease-fire was declared, as set out in Security Council Resolution 62 of November 16, 1948, which called for the delineation of permanent armistice demarcation lines beyond which the armed forces of the respective parties would not move. The line was demarcated on the map attached to the armistice agreement with a green marker pen and hence received the name “Green Line.”
The international consensus is absolutely clear. Where did you cut and paste that nonsense from?
The blue bit Morrissey, the blue bit.
Good Lord, joe90! ABC and the Jerusalem Post are about as reliable and trustworthy as President Obama’s statement that from now on the U.S. is going to “support democracy” in the Middle East.
And you appear to have missed the Just saying… part of the post where I try to show that Obama seems to be backing the Palestinians by going back to the original US stance on the issue of the 1967 borders.and that the Israelis don’t like it.
Perhaps you should read the speech before you go into wingnut mode.
joe90, I read what you posted. Obama’s words are nothing new: the U.S., like every other country in the world (bar one), says Israel is violating international law by its occupation of the West Bank and its blockade of Gaza. There is NOTHING contentious about saying Israel must observe the law.
And….did you just call me a wingnut?!?!?!?!?!?
So we’re back where it all started.
Morrissey…I don’t like the word contentious.
Me….what’s contentious, the US position is bla .bla, the Israeli position is bla..bla..
Morrissey…..I’m right and all the world thinks so too.
Me…ask a stupid..get a stupid
Morrissey…I’m right and all the world agrees with me…how dare you use.. MSM …
Me….I’m just saying..nothings really changed…and you’re starting to sound like…..
Morrissey…..bla bla ..and you called me a name.
Me…. Palestine is a fuck up but at least someone is trying, .. you’re starting to mirror the wingnuts who as long as they get to be on what they think is the right side don’t give a rats about the people on the other side ..
Last word to ME.. he may not have met my expectations but Obama winning another term is the first real opportunity since Begin and Sadat for a lasting peace in the region.
End.
Nice attempt at dramatisation, my friend. You should approach that tired old codger John Barnett about a screenwriting job; the ones he employs on his movies are certainly not much chop.
However, while your dialoguing shows promise, you need to pay attention to your understanding of content, which is sadly lacking. I’ll deal with just the most glaring errors….
1.) Me….what’s contentious, the US position is bla .bla, the Israeli position is bla..bla..
Actually, it’s the US and the whole world versus Israel.
2.) Morrissey…..I’m right and all the world thinks so too.
That is correct. You are trying to scoff at this writer (i.e., moi) as out on a limb; actually, my position is the mainstream one.
3.) Me…. Palestine is a fuck up but at least someone is trying,
WHO is trying, Joe? And who is it that is responsible for it being a “fuck up”?
4.) …you’re starting to mirror the wingnuts who as long as they get to be on what they think is the right side don’t give a rats about the people on the other side.
There you go again! It’s easy to throw around empty epithets like “wingnuts”, especially when you aren’t up to speed on an issue. Have you been listening to that penetrating analyst Leighton Smith on NewstalkZB, by any chance?
5.) Last word to ME.. he may not have met my expectations but Obama winning another term is the first real opportunity since Begin and Sadat for a lasting peace in the region.
On what basis do you make that statement? Obama has done precisely nothing to stop Israel’s depredations in Gaza or the West Bank. You would know that if you had any familiarity with Israeli and Palestinian politics.
The difference between ’67 borders’ and ‘facts on the ground’ as starting points is nicely captured in this french map:
http://bigthink.com/ideas/21423
And yet Israel doesn’t agree. As ultimately they are the ones that have to do something about the issue, their opinion matters, I think.
In other words – talk is cheap. I’m there are members of the “international community” that think the Israel borders issue is cut-and-dried, but those members may be having their own border disputes with their neighbours.
I think ragging on National Radio by saying that “it isn’t contentious because the international community thinks x y and z” is making a fuss out of nothing. Clearly there is contention about the borders (otherwise they would already be the borders), and so using the word is accurate. You may not agree with it, but that doesn’t mean that National Radio are ‘wrong’.
As ultimately they are the ones that have to do something about the issue, their opinion matters
Ultimately it is Israel’s sponsor, the United States, that has to do something—other than its occasional wringing of hands and the odd stern word to its Israeli protégé.
Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, and its blockade of Gaza, are in flagrant violation of international law. The whole world recognizes that fact—except Israel. The U.S. has chosen to ignore Israel’s multiple violations, just as it chose to ignore similar behaviour by the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Suharto regime in Indonesia, and Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
…there are members of the “international community” that think the Israel borders issue is cut-and-dried…
Every country in the world bar Israel recognizes that Israel must return to the 1967 borders.
but those members may be having their own border disputes with their neighbours.
Which of those countries occupies, locks down the towns, demolishes private homes as punishment for resistance, demolishes hospitals and schools, and systematically terrorizes its neighbours? Which of those countries has its troops treating civilians like THIS?…
Here’s a dictionary definition for you:
Here’s a dictionary definition for you:
None of which applies to the issue of Israel’s violation of international law. There is unanimous agreement on this, even from Israel’s sponsor and enabler, the United States. There is nothing contentious about it whatsoever; the only question is, when will the international community act against this scofflaw regime?
A couple of perspectives on the budget as to how it will actually affect people, rather than numbers on a balance sheet:
Chris Trotter‘s well worded fictional tale, and Ruby Martin‘s reality.
I think Chris Trotter really over-egged it a bit, to the point that it won’t really convince many people. This budget really didn’t do very much at all, and it’s difficult to believe there would be a family that was specifically afflicted by all the changes the budget did actually make. Throwing in other, wider issues from Nat’s previous legislative work would’ve been better I think (no night schooling, an unemployed nephew who goes off the rails…).
But good attempt anyway.
So it is a “bad” budget, but Phil Goff won’t promise to reverse cuts too Kiwisaver and WFF.
Shades of the”axe the tax” campaign?
Now that Labour has a realistic change of getting back into power in November, is it time now to ditc Phil Goff and replace him with a 21st century person? Goff is so 1980s!!
Why should Labour commit to these kinds of fiscal decisions now when it has no idea how much extra shit English is going to place the country in over the next 6 months?
Its not logical to expect that Labour will simply reverse this National tax move or that National tax move as a policy foundation. Labour has got initiatives planned which go much further than simply negating the moves National has made in this budget.
And thanks for vainly trying to stir up the leadership debate again when it’s John Key who is going to leave National early and leave the stoush between English and Joyce, why don’t we talk about that for a bit.
Re asset sales. Can somebody tell what Govt revenues currently are from Power companies, Solid Energy and Air NZ?
NZX is rubbing its hands over the thought of the income they will make from Asset sales.
I want to know what we will lose!
go to the COMU website (part of the treasury) and look for the 2010 Annual portfolio report
if you cant be bothered, total dividends for the 4 power companies according to the cash flow statements therein was around $730 million for 2010
I haven’t and there is nothing in trash or spam. It may not have saved?
Sorry Iprent,
My bad.
I want to dedicate this video to Lanthanide who with his comments made the events on Fukushima another taboo subject and whose comments were of the Oh, she’s just a conspiracy nut sort.
Three fucking meltdowns and not a peep in the mainstream media. A million people died as the result of the Chernobyl meltdown which is a walk in the park compared to the hideous events in Fukushima. Millions of people will die as the result of what is currently happening in Japan and the radiation will damage the entire gene pool of planet Earth and not even a tiny wee peep in the mainstream media.
Oh shit thought I’d uploaded this comment but made a mistake. This is what you get when you have 39 pages open and flick from one to the other. Sorry.
Repost from the other day (with a slight edit):
So basically the Fukushima incident resulted in a release of a huge amount of radioactive material into the environment because there was a meltdown (or >1) and meltdowns always mean that radioactive material will be released environment (not that the fuel rods have just melted)? And we don’t know about this because Tepco/the Japanese government/whoever are controlling the release of information from all the detectors of radiation in the whole world in a giant conspiracy (just like 9/11 I guess)? Even though radiation is relatively easy to detect and there are numerous detectors worldwide? And this poses a huge risk to the whole world (not just the immediately surrounding area where the material would be most concentrated) because we are all going to get cancer, after all its not as if the release of radioactive material across a huge area such as the Pacific ocean/the whole world would have resulted in the radioactive material being diluted at all?
p.s Lan: it looks like you made a new friend 🙂
Here is some <a href=’http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2011/05/simulation-shows-high-levels-of.html’>info</a> you might want to read up on.
It’s a worst-case scenario simulation. If you look in the comments, someone linked to actual monitoring being done in Oregon that shows there is no cause for concern.
I remember reading about a university that set up some monitoring stations within 3 days of the event, so they could monitor when the radiation first hit California. Sure enough, they got results showing they could detect it.
If there were an actual public health or environmental risk posed to the US, you can be sure it would be in the media. The US media loves to hype that sort of stuff up (as witnessed by the reports in the immediate days following) and there’s no way you could cover it up. I guess Hawaii might be at higher risk, but again that’s US soil. Other smaller pacific islands or parts of Asia could be covered up or simply not alerted, however.
I didn’t bother visiting the link (it was from to a blog, hardly a reliable source), but as you’ve eluded to, a key point is radioactive material is trivial to detect these days, and can be detected in minute quantities. It is simply not possible that a harmful level of material being released could be covered up. You would have to get to far too many people (yes, even more than you would need to cover up something like 9/11).
Washington’s blog is so incredibly well backed up with reliable sources you would be hard pressed to find anything like that in the Mainstream media.
And if you still believe that 19 young Saudi Arab men can force a 47 floor building to implode in 6.5 seconds into it’s own footprint with only a couple of relatively cool office fires breaking all Newton’s laws of Physics I’ve got a bit of rainforest in the middle of the Sahara to sell to you.
Oh, great, back to the madness. You really have the attention span of a gnat, don’t you? Not every debate has to have your 9/11 fantasy trotted out for public ridicule, you know. You could try focussing on the issue you raised about Fukushima and which you seem to be unable to back up, but no, you have insult the 3000 killed in those attacks yet again.
Speaking of insulting the dead, somewhere between 4 and 5 thousand people were lost in the decades after Chernobyl that can be directly related to the event. Many thousands more will have lives possibly shortened by the effects. A million dead is bullshit, utter bullshit.
VoR,
These are a series of Ads we all helped to finance in which representatives of the families who lost someone in those attacks ask for a new and independent investigation.
You see for them 9/11 never stopped. They want answers to their questions. Neither did it stop for the 70.000 first responders who are all falling ill and are dying as a result of the dust they breathed in on that day and the days after.
Neither has it stopped for families of the hundreds of thousands of Afghanis and Iraqis who died in the wars started as a result of that day so if it is all the same to you I will keep bringing it up until all those people feel that their questions have been answered and they can get on with their lives too.
I don’t get it L. Do you think ev doesn’t read the pages she links to, or she reads them but doesn’t understand what they say? Either way, it’s a bit of an own-goal.
I’m beginning to wonder whether the accusation of lacking acumen that she levelled was, in fact, a self-reflection.
Yep – she seems to have a fundamental inability to distinguish between statement of fact, expert opinion, calculated broad estimate, educated guess, baseless assumption, blind guesswork, urban myth, common misconception, uncommon misconception, barefaced lie, outrageous allegation, borderline delusion, outright delusion, and generalised bullshit.
And unfortunately teh interwebz is a gloriously colourful milieu of everything above.
“who with his comments made the events on Fukushima another taboo subject”
I don’t mind having reasonable discussions about Fukushima based around factual information.
If you want a reasonable discussion then maybe follow the link ev provided in 10.1.1. There’s a (single) comment on the link with another, interesting, link attached.
ev’s link says:
Because [the data ev is relying on to prove her point]comes from an internal – rather than publicly-released – portion of Nilo’s website, it cannot be confirmed that these are real readings, as opposed to some sort of fictitious simulation.
and the link from ev’s link says:
This is archived information from the 2011 Japan Radiation Event (March 11, 2011 to May 15, 2011). This information is no longer being updated as this is not considered a local hazard at this time.
Which is not to say that Fukushima isn’t a massive fucking disaster, or that the plant owners and government of Japan haven’t been covering stuff up (I’m not going into that in this comment), it’s just to say there’s no need to get your tinfoil hat out. Yet.
“Which is not to say that Fukushima isn’t a massive fucking disaster, or that the plant owners and government of Japan haven’t been covering stuff up (I’m not going into that in this comment), it’s just to say there’s no need to get your tinfoil hat out. Yet.”
Definitely agree, and that’s my position.
Indeed, it is a bad disaster for that local area. But not any sort of worldwide threat like certain people would have us believe.
Chernobyl killed almost 1 million people
The study was not peer reviewed initially. The Ney York Academy of Sciences published it as a book, not a study. Subsequently it was found:
..the book achieves this figure [985,000] by the remarkable method of assuming that all increased deaths from a wide range of diseases – including many which have no known association with radiation – were caused by the Chernobyl accident. There is no basis for this assumption…
More information here.
Which is not to say Chernobyl was not a giant fucking disaster.
One of the reason’s TEPCO is trying to keep secret just how much radiation has been released is because there is a clear link between diseases such as cancer and radiation. You can check out some of the things TEPCO and the Japanese Govt have been trying to cover up in the link below.
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/fukushima-cover-up.html
I think that a shit load of people died from Chernobyl, more than will ever be admitted to by the authorities. People will still be prematurely dying today from that disaster. You might also like to read this:
Within four years at least 5,000 of the more than 600,000 decontamination workers (“liquidators”) had died from various causes; the fraction of deaths attributable to Chernobyl is unknown, but this figure represents less than 1% of the total.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_due_to_the_Chernobyl_disaster
Yes, there is a well established link between radiation and cancer.
I think saying TEPCO are “keeping it secret” is stretching the facts. Truth is they probably don’t know how much radiation was leaked, nor are they in a position to know exactly what happened, ATM. So sure, maybe they aren’t telling, but that is different to keeping it secret.
We may find that there are a lot of liability issues around the whole thing. Someone has to pay for it all to be cleaned up. Chances are TEPCO’s insurers are crapping bricks and aren’t keen for TEPCO to admit too much liability, so TEPCO will be very careful with what it says, in case it opens itself and its insurers up to enormous costs. However, that’s entirely speculation on my part, and before you challenge me to provide links, I won’t. My objective is to demonstrate there is an alternative explanation. Obviously I think it’s a plausible explanation, I’m not fussed if others choose to see the whole thing as a giant conspiracy.
Also, while TEPCO and others may have an interest in limiting their liability, there are other affected parties (again, large insurers, probably of the “health” variety) who will have an interest in telling a different story, to avoid having to care for people with mild radiation sickness for the next 40 years.
So they released details about the fire that happened on May 8th did they? I must have missed that. What about the fact that unit #1 had melted down within 16 days of the initial earthquake and tsunami? Not telling people about things that could adversely affect their health because they are scared of prosecution is keeping a secret Armchair Critic. TEPCO and it’s insurers have made a decision to put peoples lives at risk to avoid prosecution, there is no question about it.
So they released details about the fire that happened on May 8th did they?
As per my previous comment, I doubt they have details yet. Perhaps we could debate around our different interpretations of what constitutes details.
I must have missed that.
I doubt it.
What about the fact that unit #1 had melted down within 16 days of the initial earthquake and tsunami?
Do you mean 16 hours?
16 hours after the enormous earthquake, I expect they were busy doing stuff and not in a position to have a press conference. After that, they were probably in damage control mode and didn’t care whether it was 16 hours or 16 days. Fact is they had a huge mess on their hands and were still busy trying to stop things getting any worse than they already were.
Not telling people about things that could adversely affect their health because they are scared of prosecution is keeping a secret Armchair Critic.
Unless, of course, they don’t know. The it’s not very much like keeping a secret at all. It’s more like when John Key started on about how many houses needed to be demolished in Canterbury, before he had the full story.
TEPCO and it’s insurers have made a decision to put peoples lives at risk to avoid prosecution, there is no question about it.
And that’s their job. Kudos to you for being more open in your opposition to them doing their job than I am (my blog pales in comparison to yours). I don’t think that them doing their job is right, either.
Would you have a link to your blog Armchair Critic?
Not a peep, eh? Well, just 2265 news reports pop up when you google Fukushima, so you’re nearly right, Ev.
Report: Japan utility’s chief out
msnbc.com – 11 minutes ago
The Associated Press
Tepco told to avoid sale of national park land – The Japan Times
Japan’s Fukushima Reactor May Have Leaked Radiation Before Tsunami … – Bloomberg
Financial Times – BBC News
all 2265 news articles »
Compare that to the 18,345 hits on Kate and William or 5,588 for Britney Spears or 37,862 for osama bin laden and you get my drift.
And y’all thanks for admitting that TEPCO and the Japanese government have indeed been covering up all kinds of stuff.
Yeah, but Kate and Wills and OBL are actual news events of significance and Fukushima has turned out to be nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The point I was making is that you don’t think or research before commenting. Far from not being a peep, it has been the major science related news story in the last two months and has been covered in depth by people who know what they are talking about.
Just because other actual journalists don’t share your desire to see Japan glow at night to prove an obscure point doesn’t mean their work should be ignored by you. 2265 new stories vs your claim of zero news stories makes you look even less credible than usual, EV. As does the Million dead at Chernobyl claim, which is again completely lacking in research, just a number pulled out of your arse.
“…a number pulled out of your arse.”
Not quite. Check the link provided above. It comes from a book published last year by the New York Academy of Sciences that reviews 5000 scientific articles and studies on the Chernobyl aftermath. Key quote:
“Drawing upon extensive data, the authors estimate the number of deaths worldwide due to Chernobyl fallout from 1986 through 2004 was 985,000, a number that has since increased. By contrast, WHO and the IAEA estimated 9,000 deaths and some 200,000 people sickened in 2005.”
Here’s a glossary of some facts collected by a concerned citizen from Canada.
Wow, it’s on youtube – it must be true.
/sarcasm
Oh, you really took the time to watch this didn’t you?
Once bitten, twice shy, ev. You have a habit of linking to youtube videos as a source of reliable information.
I’ve watched enough of them to have discovered the following relationship:
youtube video linked to by ev = full of wild theories, vaguely plausible stories and the rantings of supporters of right wing conspiracies.
If the best you can do is a youtube link, I have better things to do than waste any more of my time.
1,502 verified architectural and engineering professionals and 12,041 other supporters have signed the petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation into the events of 9/11.
Yep, we’re all nutters.
So? A greater percentage of the population than your 12,041 other supporters think ACT’s policies rock. I still disagree.
1502 verified architectural and engineering professionals is a tiny proportion of the combined membership of ASCE and AIA, which is, in turn a small proportion of the number of architects and engineers.
Numbers alone aren’t enough to create a convincing argument.
Neither are links to youtube, which is what I hoped you would respond to. Instead you are arguing the significance of google search results to support your position. Is that the best you have?
Let me respond to that with a couple of questions.
If you look at the video of the collapsing WTC 7 what do you see?
A/ a building collapsing naturally as they always do when office fires burn for a couple of hours.
B/ A building collapsing as the result of as yet unexplained natural phenomena since the only two other buildings to ever collapse as the result of fires collapsed on that same day.
C/ A building collapsing into its own footprint in 6.5 seconds strongly resembling the only comparable events; controlled demolition!
If you read the New Zealand newspapers are you being kept abreast of the latest developments with regards to the events in Fukushima Japan?
Do you know for example what the no go zone size is and that high radiation levels have been found at twice the distance of the official no go zone?
Do you know that the safety level of radioactivity permitted in foods has changed in the aftermath of the meltdowns? here and here
Do you know that 50 cars (Of which we import a great deal) coming from Japan have been stopped and send back because of high levels of radiation in Russia.
Let me respond to that with a couple of questions.
I’d prefer you responded with some answers.
See 10.2.1.1.1.1 and Armchair’s reply.
ROFL,
Somebody gets married at the other side of the world a fake story about the 9th death of OBL is News?
Yes, its news. The first one is not relevant to me personally, but it’s still news by any definition. And finally killing bin Laden is the biggest news story of the year, so far. The point is that you claimed that there was no Fukushima news stories, yet they are thousands.
Still, I agree with the idea of you rolling on the floor laughing. My mental image of you is still the Simpsons’ cat woman, but I can visualise her rolling on the floor laughing, no problem at all.
LOL.
Comparing apples with apples then Fukushima gets 22,176 ‘hits’.
PB,
I used the same Google News search as Voice of reason. The normal Google search gives 1,030,000 hits on beheaded grandma (The poor lady beheaded by a crazy maniac last week.) to give just a sample.
This is silly.
But go ahead and search Fukushima on google news. VoR’s lower number is not the total number of hits. You are comparing an orange to an apple. Bringing an eggplant into the mix won’t help.
Doesn’t change the point that the story is getting a lot of coverage in the msm.
VOR wanted to establish the amount of actual articles in the “Mainstream News” as I said that there was not a peep in the mainstream news about the seriousness of what is happening in Fukushima.
I used the same method to come up with other “News” articles to stay within the chosen parameters.
So yes, the times Fukushima, Will and Kate, beheaded grandma will be higher in a general search but that is neither here nor there. That would be comparing apples with pears.
You’re still not getting it ev. I’m not talking about a general search.
You used a different thing than the thing VoR quoted.
VoR’s 2265 number is the number of news stories related to just the first item on the google news search.
So comparing apples to apples, the number for ‘britney spears’ would be the:
“all 42 news articles”
from the first item listed at your link (10.3.1)
I just went to your britney link (comment 10.3.1). It’s now showing, by your method 5673 hits.
Put ‘Fukushima’ into the search field, hit go, and I get “20,525 hits” showing up in the spot where Britney got her “5673”.
Apples to apples.
If I put “fukushima nuclear plant” in I get 14,015 hits.
Not general searches, news searches.
Whatever PB. You go boy and while you’re at it why don’t you read some of the stuff you’re “searching” LOL.
All these technical terms being used by non-professionals:
a news “peep” is a million media articles globally inside of 6 months,
a “whimper is half a million,
a “purr” is an average monthly article rate of around 20,000, sustained for 8.3 months,
a “bang” is more than a million articles inside of a week,
and a “britney” is a photo that shows everything you want to know about a situation, goes viral, and when it is finally published in the MSM it’s all blurry.
Thanks for clearing that up, it all makes sense to me now!
VoR
Hmm, and here’s me thinking you would actually want to know answers to the questions I put to you. But it seems that denial is more than a river in Egypt with you.
I really wish we could vote comments up here :/
Ok, we’ll try it for a few days and see what happens – but without hiding or highlighting comments and some higher trigger values. *grumble*
Don’t like it. Won’t vote Lanth’s suggestion down out of spite, though.
Great stuff from Goff on Morning Report
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20110520-0813-labour_says_budget_is_bleak-048.mp3
National made a strange strategic move in the budget and it seems Goff has seen his window of opportunity. With so much resting on asset sales and imaginary tax takes on an economy that isn’t growing, the left have an old axe to grind and can also extend their market to include the middle income folks. Either the government is asleep, complaicent or apathetic (very likely) or they saw the next ten years were to be tax increases, no growth, regardless, and decided other people could sell it and take the responsibility. No reason why a coalition government couldn’t cobble together the same tired old slogans of the past and beat National/Act easily.
That sorta had crossed my mind as well. I thought earlier this year Labour didn’t really want the Govt benches, certainly acted like it. Now I think National are weather-beaten by the dog-turd of an economy they’ve had to deal with for far too long so apart from Key playing comedian with Goff any chance he gets they don’t look that enthusiastic. If anything, it’s Labour that’s fired up recently.
Aye, he did really well. Keep it up Phil.
Hah, that was good. The interviewer sounded quite upset that he got his arse handed to him on a platter for trying to defend what Nact were doing to the economy.
bread and circuses still work dude.
Further erosion of civil liberties in the “land of the free”:
US Supreme Court gives green light to warrant-less searches of homes
I see Bill English is in a rush to sell NZ off to overseas owners.
Perhaps time to begin a “Defend NZ Party”?
Focus on securing a sustainable and self-determining future for NZers, reducing foreign control of government policy and foreign asset ownership. Introduce “economic terrorism” legislation to combat tax avoidance. Restore NZ Army as a credible military force for protecting strategic resources such as fisheries. (A ready-made political anthem is already available.)
Unfortunately, at the moment most NZers seem remarkably apathetic about the slow erosion of their birthright and sovereignity. “I’m gonna leave for Australia” seems to the most fashionable way to avoid the issue at present.
Um – shouldn’t it be the navy that protects our fisheries? 🙂
The trouble is that if you get too nationalist Kyle Chapman starts dropping leaflets…
“…the navy…”
Yup, duh. Probably also the Air Force would defend the fisheries too; like a coupla Orions try and do at present.
It’s funny how patriotic sentiment is currently so discredited that the likes of Kyle Chapman seem to naturally spring to mind when one raises it. (Perhaps I shouldn’t have used that word “birthright”…)
Anyone going to a Political Party? 🙂
[lprent: Ruled out of bounds and moved to openmike. ]
The Ocean of Liquidity and the Moral high ground.
A question was raised as part of the debate on the budget “do we thing we should keep funding items within the governments portfolio regardless of deficit or surplus?”(I believe it was Blinglish – but don’t quote me on that)
This is an important question which deserves some discussion.
I have raised previously the notion of some budget line items being determined by something akin to a human rights charter. [My post her onMay 3rd, 2011] This is an attempt to enshrine in law the notion that there should be a minimum spend on looking after your society and that this %/Sum should not be subject to the vagaries of chance as determined by the creative accounting of Politicians and the Treasury.
At what point does a country/ society go broke exactly?
Answer: when it no longer looks after is weakest, poorest and most vulnerable.
Everyone now understands the merry-go-round of international indebted-ness – Blind borrowing encouraged by institutions which then go onto gain tremendously from collapses in sovereignty that they have induced. The Budget rhetoric is currently fixated on the unpalatable policy which National is passing in order to keep some economic disaster at bay – but I believe the discussion should not be about particulars necessarily, but about the philosophy behind a government and the governance of a society.
I do not believe we can subscribe in honesty to a policy position which attempts to assert that ‘in order to be able to care later we must be brutal now’
This path is fraught with danger – the promised caring never eventuates once the brutality has been justified.
Compassion and capability must be the defining characteristics of governance – the National government is really saying that its mismanagement of the county has gotten so bad that it can no longer look after the citizens of New Zealand. We are bankrupt already – National has failed.
The time has come for a more inclusive approach which puts people first – the compass of our nation should be the compass of compassion. There is no point having an ‘economic surplus’ if one has squandered ones heart.
We can easily afford for everyone to have a decent living – we just can’t afford to have rich people at the same time. This is a truth that has been forgotten or, perhaps, never learned.
Rating comments? Wooohoooooooo
Edit: Moderation??? Booooooooo
Parliament has been quite entertaining today.
Cosgrove slam-dunking Foss over democracy is worth a look.
Best Freudian slip – Shane Ardern – “I say to that Labour Government over there” … must be getting practice in for 2012
Mick Elborado: working class hero?
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2011/05/aftershocks-and-insults-in-christchurch.html
That’s really fucked up. Poor bastard.
Bit weird, that Israeli line that keeps getting used about how various borders that they used to have are ‘indefensible’, even though when wars broke out with those borders in place Israel not only defended them, but expanded her territory.
They should get laughed out of court every time they say it, but people just nod at them as if to say ‘good point’.
It’s fucking barking.
This is an absolute must read:
So, when are we going to get a political party that has the gumption to actually state that we need these public services as public services rather than as profit making corporations?
Methinks, in the short term our SOE should have the mandate of less profit return back to the Govt coffers and more on investment and expansion, with the long term objective of stabilising the economic influencers. During the late 90’s an SOE bought an small australian company in the same sector ( brisbane from memory ) but had to sell due to ministerial decree – not due to lack of profit or australian Govt concerns.
SOE or any other State owned entity are or could be such a positive influencer on society and the economy – point in case the Tories desire for selling State assets off to the elites. This century will be not about outright speculative wealth but who controls or owns a states infrastructure, assets, water and resources.
http://wheresmytaxes.co.nz/
This link to an interactive pie chart that shows a breakdown of the 2011 budget expenses is truly eye opening. Everyone should check it out. In fact maybe Iprent could repost or transfer it to a main posting. It gives a tremendous ability to see the real proportions of the budget spend on working for families and the unemployment benefit for example.
Hats off to the creators.
This rapture business, if no one disappears that just means the church is wrong about what god wants.
I’m hoping that people like Bill English, the SS Trust and maybe even the Exclusive Brethren will all be gone by Monday.
has anyone pointed out to our brethren mate in the US that New Zealand will making it to the 21st of May before California (by about 18 hours) – we will have all gone and left him – poor bugger